Matt Redding

Puppy DJ and Human Pup Lifestyle

[djtatmatt]

Do you keep all your valuables in one place? This was the most expensive location of my flood loss. I lost my inkjet printer and my trade show booth when this part of the ceiling fell. The trade show booth had 3 computers, 1 printer, several photo boxes, mics, and camera equipment. I’m still waiting to see the inventory list from the insurance company. #collapsed #ceiling #humanpup #lookingup https://www.instagram.com/p/BrMwgl6lFiG/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ql6wjiu7mz2y

[djtatmatt]

Do you snoop in bathrooms? Once upon a time I read a report stating that the majority of people will at least look inside the vanity mirror when using someone’s bathroom. About this pic: the first floor bathroom is being gutted and replaced. They found asbestos and had to stop. Asbestos is only dangerous when airborne. You keep it safe by wetting it down. I guess that means I could take a shower here and be fine. 🤷‍♂️ #waterdamage #humanpup #tattooedgay #mybathroom https://www.instagram.com/p/BrIG8zylRyB/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1sa3q7dfz3tx2

[djtatmatt]

How many deadly substances are hiding in your house? Here one of my disaster photos. First, notice the light fixture that fell from the ceiling. Water was pouring out of that. Next, look directly to the left of the light at that dark blotchy stuff on the wall, that’s mold growing. All the plaster behind me has asbestos. Notice how the cabinets I’m standing on are all sagging. This was my office kitchen. Latest estimate says this won’t be back to normal now until mid January. The long waiting game has started. #humanpup #asbestos #mold #waterdamage https://www.instagram.com/p/BrFycr4l2ld/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=x820t9r1z6dg

[djtatmatt]

Thank you, seriously, thank you to all of you whom I have spent time with or have sent me love and support for what I’ve been going through. It’s become somewhat of a tradition to post a collection of photos from my recent adventures every time I cross the pond. This time I was stateside from September 26 - December 5. I expected the highlights of my stay would have been the fun judging the LA Puppy contest and my trip to Atlanta Pride; but after my house was flooded it seems like those events were a lifetime ago. I’ve chosen 25 photos to share from the thousands of photos I’ve taken over the last 10 weeks. The highlights include: Miami Beach, Atlanta Pride, spending time with my IGUP producers, a memorial for a lost friend, promoting PrEP, hanging out with furries, a trip to Boston puppy events, Halloween and then decorating the Yule tree with my rescue pup, saying goodby to damaged internet servers, watching my dead truck get towed away, breaking up water damaged RHPS props I had in my basement, spending time with my fellow LA Puppy judges and watching Tony Bark win, ceiling collapse in my office, pupsgiving with my mom and lost pup friends, spending time with my rescue pup while he was tied up, my play party, the first public NJ-HLP event, Halloween with Viktor, a cute mummy design I did, and working on a farm to set up a WiFi network for a hayride. It’s a lot. More than I usually go through in the average 6 month, naturally the last 3 weeks were the worst. Now it’s time to take a few days off and rejuvenate before I dive into a month of lost web programming work. ❤️🐾🐶 #lifetrials #thisislife #humanpup #reminiscing https://www.instagram.com/p/BrD0vB5lOAW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1fwu7qc4ixkkj

[djtatmatt]

Caption this. It’s over. My job is done. My office is less than a shell of its former self. This is where my desk was before the flood rains fell. Notice the missing ceilings above me, in the hall, and in the far office across the hall. During the water remediation they found asbestos, now the entire office will probably need to be sealed and gutted. We had to remove everything we could, which meant making room for it elsewhere. Luckily, my entire life of memories in the basement also got a good washing and needed to be tossed. Leaving us with enough room to move everything down there. I’ve got a good set of disaster photos to post over the next few weeks, but I’m tapping out. My business partner will pick up from here while I jump to Bordeaux later today. I have to get back on the work wagon. What would your caption be? For very deep reasons all I can think of is “Why would we rather put ourselves through hell than sleep alone at night?” #humanpup #disastercleanup #emptyshell #newbeginnings https://www.instagram.com/p/BrAo0XvlYSW/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1qm2iwp8y0m60

[djtatmatt]

Guess what’s behind this door... If you’ve been following, behind this actual door is my flood disaster. Metaphorically, this door opens to a new beginning; not simply a new chapter. There’s never a good time for a home disaster. Being forced to scrutinize every item in your house is an upsetting experience, but it also has its upside. First, I’ve been wanting to do this for a while. My husband wants me to move to France full time, but I could not do that without clearing my stateside home. Second, my roommate and I have intertwined our lives and living space since 2003, so this itemized scrutiny is forcing us to pull ourselves apart. Third, and most interesting, is the stirring of old memories. Human memory isn’t perfect, often times we need objects, words, or places to help us unlock long forgotten memories. In the last 2 weeks I’ve unlocked and relived so much of my life; the experience has been enjoyable, yet sad, as I have also had to throw out most of those objects. I know I’ll never relive those memories again. I’m feeling sad, but also happy. I have a weight lifted while also feeling revitalized for this new beginning. Lastly, everyone close to me getting what they want, as if the gods designed it all: my roommate gets his own new apartment, my rescue pup gets a new place to live, I get to reboot my life a 3rd time, and best of all, I’m able to step closer to the commitment my husband wants. #deepthoughts #humanpup #behindthisdoor #newbeginnings https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq5RdYwFoiL/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1stgx93wop7z3

[djtatmatt]

Doing your part yet? Please post a selfie with your pill today and tag #ShowYourPill I hear so many coming out stories from younger guys that I am envious of. I had the easy chance to come out when I was 6 years old and then again at 15, but I was in denial. I didn’t admit it to myself until I was 27. One of the things keeping me in the closet was my fear of AIDS. In my younger years all the straights assumes all gays had AIDS. When I was about 9 years old I remember telling myself “I don’t want AIDS so I won’t be gay,” and I held on to that belief for years. HIV education was not available back then and lies were spread by everyone who wanted to see the LGBT community wiped out. Fast forward 30 years... Here I am standing proud to be gay. Proud to be a fetish puppy. Proud to enjoy my lifestyle. I really love it when someone questions me about my open lifestyle because I can put my HIV and PrEP activist hat on and explain how they can also do their part to wipe out HIV. On this World Aids Day I remember a few good friends that I’ve lost; those who helped me understand and are now gone; and my close friends and lovers who are living with HIV today. It’s silly how a stigma against sex and HIV blocks the knowledge of HIV prevention. PrEP has been around since 2012 yet most doctors have no idea how to prescribe it or how to work with patience who ask for it. In my opinion, unless you’ve taken a vow of celibacy, you should be on PrEP. The younger generation is the most at risk, and the new infections spread quickly after 10 days of being infected, long before you even know about it. Protect yourself. #hivprevention #hiveducation #humanpup (at Atlanta, Georgia) https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq23qe2FZ-b/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1xj9rtvt2cdl6

[djtatmatt]

How do you handle times of great stress and adversity? I find it’s always best to keep busy and plow through anger and pour my energy into something positive. It broke my heart to see this wonderful printer completely destroyed. I put it to rest in the dumpster today. There was about a gallon of water inside the machine after the flood. #humanpup #printerproblems #flooddamage #sadtimes https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq03iOhFLSR/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=q9s4a7z6pnuv

[djtatmatt]

Who forgot to flush the toilet?! Here’s another photo from the day my house flooded. The 1st floor bathroom had the most damage with all the walls soaking wet and the entire ceiling collapsing. Actually, there were 2 ceilings in the bathroom: the new drop ceiling and the old 1x1 ceiling above it that both fell. Shown in this photo is one of the 1x1 tiles that looks like a toilet seat. Floating in the toilet are pieces of wood that also caved in. I guess this is another reason to remember to put the seat down after using it. #humanpup #toiletselfie #ceilingdamage #puttheseatdown https://www.instagram.com/p/BqyfCVElCJY/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=ctu8bggo5lao

[djtatmatt]

Do you believe in luck? I throw around phrases like “if we’re lucky” and “as luck would have it” all the time, but I honestly believe we make our own luck, good or bad, everything else is just events in life. I’m loving this old wallpaper we found during the demolition of my house. Behind me are 4 layers of wallpaper dating back to 1925. First layer is a blue cloud design, on top of that is that verticale pattern, on top of that was a scene depicting a southern plantation. The last layer is an off white houndstooth pattern which was painted over twice. Other than my own being damaged by water this month my truck has now died on me twice and my customers are not paying their bills. Some would say that I am having a string of bad luck but I’m just rolling with the punches. #humanpup #badluck #makeyourluck #tattooedgay https://www.instagram.com/p/BqvpVwhll5R/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1gio633uzljvq

[djtatmatt]

How many meals can you get from your Thanksgiving leftovers? So far @sparkypuppy25 and are up to 7 meals since Thursday. While the bone in front of me looks amazing, the house around me is still a mess and being dried out. Notice the green machine under my arm and over my shoulder. Those are blowers and dehumidifiers to stabilize the house. I have 12 of these very noisy machines in the building right now. #leftovers #humanpup #homerepairs #noisy https://www.instagram.com/p/BqpqDVFFQE8/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=9fhdo7bee6v3

[djtatmatt]

Forcibly cleaning my house out after water damage is allowing me to discover many old gems, like this one... This is the thank you letter from when I work a live event for the HOOK organization. It was 2001 back in my sexy youth that I was for hire. HOOK provided education on how to stay safe, not get arrested, and maintain our health. Even though I talk about #PrEP openly now, my education on #STIs goes back to my “#professionalworking” days. My clients were always asking me about safety, symptoms, and treatments. https://www.instagram.com/p/BqoCPLqlujr/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=aad40nknfugu

[djtatmatt]

There’s a sad truth I’m found while traveling from east to west. We journey through life hoping to make the best, while often feeling the worst. People close to us offer honest praise and encouragement but we often believe the shallow negative comments from those we hardly know. We fear what the masses will think of us yet long for recognition from them at the same time. When recognition comes, it still makes us feel empty and alone, which is still the same way we feel before being noticed. There’s no easy solution to feeling alone and unwanted. Try to be true to yourself and outwardly portray that self. Don’t hide who you are. Don’t stand in a corner or outside in the cold dark ally hoping someone will save you while at the same time you are pushing your would-be saviors away. This is life. It’s better to be happy with a few people close to you than worry about how the world sees you. #deepthoughts #humanpup #tattooedgay #lifesabitch https://www.instagram.com/p/BqngIrbFT8P/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=qd7sygd00kqk

[djtatmatt]

What pleasures are you guilty of? I’m guilty of taking selfies sand photos everywhere. I stop and selfie-document many things all day long. As of this post I have 43,039 photos on this phone dating back to 2012. Answers with innuendos are accepted. #guiltypleasures #humanpup #tattooedgay #pleasures https://www.instagram.com/p/BqkcOZflgir/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=eitcrag323yr

[djtatmatt]

Is it true that the one who does with the most toys wins? Over the past 18 months many of the pups who’ve visited my house have admired what I have and how I live. They’ve even gone so far as to say how envious they are are of what I have. Honestly, I don’t have some grandiose life. I consider myself in the struggling middle class. The possessions I have are simply because I’m halfway through my life and have collected a lot of toys. In the wake of this home disaster, which will take until Christmas to fix, I’m realizing that it’s time to shed many of the toys I grew up with because they are holding me back. With the help of some very supportive people I was able to pack the entire second floor into these bins and store them in my workout room. I still have 2 more floors of debris to sift through. I’ve learned that the one who dies with the most toys might have had a good life, but they were also shackled to their living arrangements. Memories and photos (to refresh those memories) are far more important than the things we collect through the journey. #humanpup #reevaluating #toysforlife #storagebox https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqh3sVvF3kE/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=cq74aq2nabsq

[djtatmatt]

Happy Pupsgiving! I’m hosting the Lost Puppy dinner with my mom. We’re now watching 101 Dalmatians (live action) while we eat the bird. #humanpup #thanksgiving #chosenfamily #gayholiday https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqf8ZDJFrRT/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1n88hw2j5yaqy

[djtatmatt]

Name something that tries your patience. It’s now 4 days since this event and the dumpster hasn’t arrived yet. One of my insurance companies hasn’t arrived yet either. #homemakeover #humanpup #tattooedgay #waitingforever https://www.instagram.com/p/BqZyfV2F42f/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1dir3mwxuyfo