neighborly

Mayor Gavin's moved out and up to Marin.  His newly renovated house in the neighborhood, just a few doors away from PeeDee in Ashbury Heights, is up for sale.  And reportedly severely reduced considering the economy!  Apparently, it's a bargain at $2.75 million.

eye of the beholder parlor

I love this. My mother just called me from under the dryer at the Beauty Parlor to tell me how much she loved my article on the Swan Ball in this month's Nfocus. Now Nfocus usually comes out on a Friday and Mom has an early hair appointment with her "beauty parlor person" (Mother is of a generation who do not use the words "stylist" or "salon") so she usually gets a fresh copy right as they are delivered and before they run out.

The Beauty Parlor always runs out of Nfocus.

This month it wasn't delivered until Saturday so she had to wait a whole week to pick up an issue from a replenishing delivery.

She "just loved it." But she's my mother so I would expect her to say so. I feel like it wasn't my best work, and in re-reading it, I fear it was a bit repetitive. But Mom said I got high billing so the editors must have liked it too. This was the hardest Swan Ball piece to write—this year's Ball was lovely but largely uninteresting to me. The Late Party is usually good for some goss', but the later Late Party this year was more messy than I could politely scribe.

Now that the July/Swan Ball issue is out, I feel I can post my column from the June/Iroquois Steeplechase issue now. It's up with the other writing samples on my personal Web site.

Maybe it's all the hot air, but I get a warm feeling thinking about all those society ladies under the driers at the Beauty Parlor reading my rambles.

as long I'm laughing about chickens

We might as well make a visit to our favorite chicken-based comic, Savage Chickens!

.

.

That last one is called "First Draft." Love it.

creeptastic

Birthday Girl Gilly Coomes shared this with me a while back and I thought I posted it here, but it looks like not.

Seriously, this 70s ad for Tab cola is just so creepy in its sexist, quiet, gauzed tone. I mean... just... wow. Enjoy the deep uneasy feeling you get watching this.

And then decide if you want to be a "mind sticker."

Bring me the Big Metal Chicken

This has been cracking me and my family up for days.  I can't believe I never came across The Bloggess before.  I love this woman's writing.  I want to write with her.  Or at least drink.

It started with someone sharing this wonderful entry, because I love anything involving comically large chickens and good-natured taunting of loved ones with irrational tempers.

And That's Why You Should Learn to Pick Your Battles

I also love that there was some follow up action, and that all of this spawned greeting cards:

  .

And that a fan even edited a wikipedia entry thusly.

This has inspired me to start getting back to the funny with the blog.  Life and work have sort of kept me down and away from (1) free time for writing and (2) feeling all that silly.  This has also inspired me to put a lot of those overheards, clever bon mots, and calling card lines on Zazzle or Cafe Press and maybe make some dough off of my shenanigans.  The Bloggess hinted in one of her posts that she is going to name her online store "Eight pounds of uncut cocaine" just to make your Visa bill more interesting.  I'm thinking now "pay no attention to this item and move along" or maybe just "barnyard porn."

There are too many big-red-male-chicken puns to choose just one.


Update:
My sister-in-law is losing her eggs over this and I am loving it.

>I am literally CRYING in my office this is so funny. I love this story. This is absolutely, positively HILARIOUS!!

>I can't stop crying. My funny bone has been tickled to its core!! I think I have to order the cards. I hope my credit card bill says eight pounds of uncut cocaine.

Me: Knock, knock, motherfker.

>Because this chicken will cut you! I can so see the whole TJ Max scene. I can't wait for Carrington to read it. We're having dinner with them tomorrow night at their house. I may have to take a metal chicken to hang out with her real chickens.

Me: I can see you totally pulling this on Mac because that's so you, and the going ape-shit over more towels is so him.

>LOL!!! That is so true. Maybe that is why I cried my eyes out reading this. I still can't stop laughing. I love it. It is totally something I would love to do. And if Mac disposed of the chicken, I'd go buy towels...PINK ones.

Me: Oh God. You realize I am buying you all pink towels now, right?

>I will hurt you. If you buy me a big metal chicken on the other hand, I will love you. Especially if you tuck into Mac's side of the bed with a note that says, "turn off the TV mother fcker".

Finally, I LOL'd at a note from my other sister-in-law, who couldn't quite figure it out because she originally misread the title as "And That's Why You Should Learn to Pick Your Batteries."

Land Shark!

Enneagram!

So last night at Mody Dick, HalaBackGirl was trying to explain to me the Enneagram personality system.  She kept saying who was a 1, who was a 2, etc.  She is certain I am 2 ("Feeler") more than a 1 ("Thinker").

Me:  "I think I'm more of a Thinker."
HalaBackGirl: "No, no.  You're more of a Feeler."
Me:  "Well, when I think I'm a Thinker, maybe I just feel that way."

among the things I don't understand

Poppy seed bagels.  I can find no discernible flavor enhancement from the seeds, but significant mess creation.  Do not eat over keyboards.  Also, there is that false-positives on drugs tests thing.  So...why poppy seeds on bagels?

He told me to call him Mr. "Jobs"

I want to make a new t-shirt:

Can you show me on the doll where the iPod Touch'd you?

How quickly would I get sued?

Happy July

Well, not to sound like Madonna or anything, but I've made it through the wilderness; I've made it throo-oooh-oooh.  Meaning, I've just finally digging myself out of the MacBook crash, MacMini crash, Tivo Crash, demolished bathroom, and car window/dashboard/stereo repair and replacement and frankly would like to just sit here and chill for a little bit thank you very much.

But work and life press on and I've cut the social life into about half, and am quite looking forward to staying home tonight attacking the haystack-sized pile of laundry that has been neglected since before my last trip to Nashville.

Speaking of which I've just finished tagging and edited the 400 or so pics I took at the lake and will be working on a new family video for Father's Day.  Then I can start on the 100 pics from Pride and try to hack together a decent Sundance Saloon Pride video too.  This weekend was chock full of pool party and Independence Day silliness, none of which was captured by me on digital film.  I'm selfish that way.

While I continue to click "ignore" on Facebook event invitations to keep both my calendar and mind clear, I can recommend some specifically manly/bear/cowboy events this weekend:  There is the Bears In the Park, The Bear Week Orphans Edition at McLaren Park this Saturday from noon to 5:00 p.m., followed by the Cowboys and Leather Beer Bust at the Edge from 4:00 p.m. to  7:00 p.m., and PAW at Deco starting at 9:00 p.m. and running until 2:00 a.m.  SUnday afternoon is full of family-friendly barbecues and housewarmings, but Sunday evening you might enjoy "Shaft," a beer bust benefitting the boot black community at the Kok Bar (1225 Folsom) running from 5:00 to 9:00 p.m.  Don't forget that Sundance Saloon supper happy fun country dancing time also runs every Sunday evening at Space 550.

Also this week if you can break away from that pesky day job, stop by the Rules Committee Hearing at City Hall at 1:30 this Thursday July 7th to support Glendon Hyde, AKA Anna Conda, as the Community Representative to the San Francisco Entertainment Commission.

For you amusement however, there is this fun link to NPR's feature on amusing misconceptions, my favorite one being "It took me a while to figure out that Art Deco wasn't a person."

And this new phrase to add to your personal lexicon of horrors:  I actually only viscerally dislike only a few people (Republican politicians notwithstanding) and I was invited to a function recently populated with all of them, with one person singled out to be the center of attention.  Good Lord I could not click "decline" on that Evite fast enough.  When another of similar disposition asked me if I could bear going I had to reply that, "That would be like having a root canal... In your eye."

drama queens

Two theatrical productions you should go see:

Tigers Be Still
at the SF Playhouse

While the productions are really hit or miss and generally landing somewhere at the 80% mark, I love the SF Playhouse for its creative use of a small stage and enthusiasm and sometimes surprising absolute excellence of the actors. Tigers Be Still starts a little slow but the actress may work on this as the run continues and start the show with more of a punch. For a one-room set, which serves nicely as an array of other settings, the action of the piece can get pretty dynamic. And the script is pretty funny by itself—but it's this quartet of actors who really make the show a fun time. I'd prefer a bit more pizzaz to the action, but they put on a great above-community-standards performance. Again, laud applause to these actors who really break the limitations of their written roles.

Side note to the SF Playhouse: Seriously? No decription of your show or decent marketing materials on your own website? There's just a PDF press release people have to download. People hate doing that and typically won't. Your website is an easy, cheap and obvious marketing opportunity. If the rest of your marketing is like this it is no wonder you are struggling to survive. It's clearly not the acting or the material (although your return to the Fantastiks was beyond wretched).

Tigers Be Still is a good date night. The SF Playhouse is on Sutter just a few doors east of Powell Street. Show runs 85 minutes with no intermission, so judge your bladder constraints and wine intake accordingly.

Nikita Schoen’s Left-Handed Darling
premiering at the Exit Theater

Foul Play Productions, whose founders are the best of the best of local theatrical talent from writers to producers, is proud to announce this new production to run July 14 through August 13. I don't know anything about this play beyond the blurbs on the web page, but knowing the talent behind Foul Play Productions, I am eager to see what creative underground angst and entertainment they have concocted.

The Exit Theater is the creative home to local theater, is just inside the seedy border of the Tenderloin, but only a block from the Powell Street Muni/BART station at 156 Eddy Street.  While the theater trends to black box, the performances here are nothing but gold.

good and good for you

okay, not even close. While in Nashville I had a fun time at the HRC Pride blowing fundraiser. I should have mentioned that the food was super tasty, as it was all beer and cheap fried chicken, pizza and "nachos." Such good bowling fare. And explains a lot about America's obesity.

scene from Nashville: hail no.

Just getting to some of the June Nashville pics.  We had pretty good weather, until somebody somewhere started sinner and the Good Lawd Almighty threw some rain and ridiculous hail our way for about an hour.  I felt the need to pull over as I passed McCabe Golf Course because the fairway looked like it was in bloom.  Or a driving range.

.

The hail stones really were the size of golf balls.



Keep in mind that the stones were still this large after sitting on the ground for about half an hour in 90 degree heat.

they're married, but is it natural?

A bigoted coffee company in Texas tweeted this after the NYC marriage announcement:

Sure, it's stupid. All bigotry is stupid, so that's sort of a given. And I'm enjoying a little schadenfreude in that they are losing huge chunks of business because of it. And have since had to take town their Twitter, Facebook, and other networking accounts. Oops. Maybe once the tweeter sent a message out to those beyond his little prejudice-reaffirming circle, it came as a surprise how unpopular it would be among all those addicts to the drugs he's dealing. They/we can get out java fix someplace else, and several businesses are now making pro-gay hay out of dropping them as a supplier.

I tried not to rise to the bait, but this was my initial reaction to the dumbassery: the writer clearly doesn't understand the words "human," "natural," or "law." I would say that this level of ignorance deserves to be ignored rather than given attention, but they took up a megaphone to say stupid things that offends me as an American, gay man, and editor, so I'm willing to go on the record correcting and/or mocking them.

Better yet, the good folks at Second City express nicely what I've been saying for years. (1) "Traditional" marriage isn't; and (2) Stop calling "gay" unnatural. It's prevalence in nature makes it more natural than single-parter marriage constructs.

Second City takes on Point 2 rather graphically. And this should be put on network television during prime time.




See also: Abstinence Only Education Ruined by a Trip to the Zoo

Scene from Nashville: Pride Bowling for HRC

Meet Strike & Spare. They're detectives.
This fall on ABC Family.




Keith's Flickr set.

Wish Me Away

Last night I caught the documentary of Country singer superstar Chely Wright's coming out called Wish Me Away last night at the Castro Theater (it is part of the Frameline Film Festival). I was pretty emotionally raw from the weeks at home and the really bad day upon returning and this Nashville coming out story really hit home. Good Lord I thought my coming out was fitful--this is epic Greek levels.




And it's a pretty excellent film. with some really excellent quotes and lines that sent the theater on a roar. I do wonder if the same lines get the same responses with other audiences. One of my favorite lines was from the Reverend and spiritual adviser to Chely who said of the Christian haters, "I've never known people meaner than those who are mean for Jesus." Amen.

And seeing it in the packed Castro theater was amazing. The crowd was 10% purely Frameline folks, 40% Country Bears and Sundancers, and 50% lesbians. I was struck last night by how many great women were there and many of my lesbian friends and acquaintances. And I lamented that fun gays and fun lesbians rarely hang out together.

There was a Q & A with Chely Wright afterwards, which was pretty awesome. And Dave Hayes and I both got to ask questions (and we both invited her to Sundance Saloon). I had my question ready, wondering of the great country music people who were interviewed, and footage of other people's shows donated (Oprah, Today etc.), which shows refused access to their footage and which people refused to be included (Brad Paisley was notably absent). As I held the microphone waiting my turn, I realized my question dwelled on the negative and quickly tried to come up with another one. What I really wanted to open with but forgot in the adrenaline was a comment on her leaving Nashville to come out, "Hi.  I grew up in Nashville and I visit all the time.  I just got back yesterday actually.  I love Nashville, but there's a reason I live in San Francisco."  I did make a point about the difference between the consumers and the labels, and with so many gay people working in the industry, and the labels full of gay producers and workers, and I noticed that Fletcher Foster was listed as a producer of the film—I asked if perhaps the labels in Nashville might be more supportive of her even if the country radio stations or rural fans were not.

Her answer was less rambling than the way I managed to get my question out but was still a little vague—basically the "commerce of country music" wins out and no one wants to either take a chance or grow a pair (my words). The documentary closes with text slides, one of which notes that as of 2011 Chely has not received any invitations from the country music community.   I find it hard to imagine that she was struck off the guest list of the CMA Awards but I guess so. That's just ridiculous. I can understand Joe Radio Show catering to the lowest mental denominator as they usually do, but the CMAs?  That shit is all gay. I wasn't a huge Chely Wright fan before but I am now.  I should note that her Wikipedia page includes that she was awarded the Top Female Vocalist of 1995 and has released seven studio albums on various labels, and has charted more than fifteen singles on the country charts.

I noticed in the credits she co-wrote a song with Brett James, whom I knew once upon a time back in Nashville with Clark parsons and Dean Miller and a bunch of other local songwriters/artists. I also remember hanging out with Brett's brother when he visited from NYC—who is rocking hot and also gay (we bonded over that as we clued in though neither of us were out yet). I wanted to ask but never would, "I see you've written songs with Brett James. Ever met his brother?"

Nashvillians avoid celebrity, and never bother them in public as it's just bad manners.  I may be social and love a silly photo op as much as the next guy, but I hate the stand in line and bother people thing unless that's what they're there for.  But I saw Dave hayes down front getting his picture taken with Chely and I wanted one too.  And I wanted to show my solidarity in my flood relief We Are Nashville shirt which I thought was pretty awesome.




FUN!

Followed by friends at 440, way too many JDs on an empty stomach, then some regrettable drama with a friend which I hope faded with his blood alcohol levels.

Pride Calendar

Okay, I don't have time to put together a complete Pride-themed What's Going On this week, but I imagine anyone reading this (1) has no plans and are better off reading any of the many guides to Pride out there and they should check Gloss, the Bay Times or the Bay Area Reporter depending on their tastes, or (2) dude, you already live here, have a life, and already have all of your Pride plans made.  Or your straight and have completely unrelated plans.  Perhaps you would like to paint my bathroom.

I have always loved Pink Saturday (Pride tag), but the non-community element has fucked that up just like they did Halloween.  Being gay is so popular we can't even have our own block parties anymore, but we also can't get equal protection under the law.  Yay rah.  So while Pink Saturday is trying to fly under the radar, the no open booze rule will be strictly enforced, and the crowds are expected to be massive, which to me is the opposite of what Pink Saturday is about—the community coming together.  I'll either stay at a friend's Castro home Pink Saturday party, or head to the Hotel Witcomb for the Sundance Saloon Country Pride dance party.  Actually, considering my "save like Jesus" plan, I should not pay for any parties this weekend,  And save the jankle for dancing outside all day Sunday if I can.

So, while clearly not an exhaustive list, here are my Pride plans in case you are looking for fun ideas:

Wednesday (tonight):
• Frameline Film Festival presents Wish Me Away, the documentary about country music star Chely Wright's coming out.  7:00 pm at the Castro theater.  Groups from the rodeo, sf bears, and Sundance Saloon heavily in attendance.

Thursday:
• Pride Weekend KickoffParty and Show hosted by Gallilea and the Empress Saybeline at Marlena's
• Farewell party to the gorgeous in body and soul and San Franciscan nightlife nearly naked hottie regular Julian at the Powerhouse.

Friday:
• The Anita Cocktail Hour at the Rrazz Room (It promises to be a great show, but I have decided to save the cash, even though there are half price tickets at Goldstar!  Go!)
• Bearracuda Pride Party at Public Works
• I'm not going but you might enjoy getting Steamed at the Powerhouse

Saturday:
• Pink Saturday party in the Castro for the queers.  Non-queers please go to the Marina or the Mission or something.  If you have to take BART or a bridge to get here, don't.
• Sundance Saloon's Country Pride dance at the Hotel Whitcomb

Sunday PRIDE
I'll be working the boot check at the Sundance stage 1:30-3:00 pm.  Dancing afterwards, then crashing.  There are a slew of Pride night parties.  Pick one.  I'm taking a hot shower and getting take out.  Or making out with you.

Nota Bene for Pride attendees:  If you have a membership to the DeYoung/Legion of Honor/Asian Art Museums, bring your membership card for access to free bag check and nice clean, air conditioned bathrooms at the Asian Art Museum which is the eastern border building of the Civic Center/United Nations Plaza/Pride Celebration.

Update: See Violet Blue's Sexy SF Pride Guide 2011 at the SF Appeal!

color question

So, do I get out the old 70's style green paint I had mixed 15 years ago and just spot paint the spackle around the new tile, or now that the tiles have gone form green to white and black do I paint the entire room a light, steely gray?

bad day

Okay, let's see. I arrived late from my Nashville trip home around 1:00 AM yesterday morning. What has happened within the first 18 hours back:

The apartment downstairs was getting some water damage from my unit, so the landlord had to retile my bathroom while I was gone.  Which would be fine, and the new tile is nice, but they had to demo the room so I had to move everything (and then back), but the tile guys didn't sand down their spackle, and left globs of red sealant one the tile, walls, floor, ceiling etc.  And soot and grout settled over much of the apartment.  In my opinion, if you have to come into my apartment to do work, you should at least leave it as clean as you found it.  Cleaning that shit up took another hour.  And now I have to repaint the whole thing, at my time and expense.  It'll be a month easy before I can get that taken care of, which bugs me as I left it immaculate and now I have to deal with my landlord's mess as she basically keeps the living conditions to minimum required by law.  And anyone who has undergone a remodel knows how generally annoying and stressful living mid-construction can be.

Then morning comes:  My TiVo is fried, so much so I can't even get live TV.  It's about 18 months old or less, and am told it will cost about the same price as a new unit to ship/examine/repair, but if I replace it I'll lose the $400 lifetime service I already bought.  My media server/MacMini won't start up at all.  It's just past a year old.  My laptop, in which I pretty much organize/live most of my life is only successfully starting up one out of every four times (however, being me, everything has redundant backups, including my portable media drive, which still smells like Whitt's barbecue as the sauce spilled through my carryon during the trip soaking everything, which is kinda gross).  My rental and car insurance premiums are due, which I thought I had already taken car of and subsequently have not budgeted for.

And less than 12 hours after I parked the car coming back from the trip, some asshats smashed the window, took a crowbar to the dashboard, and ripped out the new stereo.

.

I have been pretty good at compartmentalizing all the family-related stress from the trip and status of things on the home front, but I did not need these added stressors, especially one on top of the other.

Although I will say that customer service from the Police Department was great, there's nothing they can do but provide a report. And while honestly that's all I can expect, it still means that they are pretty much useless.  Geico has also had stellar customer service, however they only use Safelite for glass repair and while it was still daylight, everyone was gone by 5:00 and there was no one who could come out then, that night, or anytime today.  Also, my deductible is $500 so I am out that as a minimum anyway.

I admit, thinking about Dad, Mom, all that shit going down at home, my inability to solve those problems or contribute significantly financially, work, career stress and then all of that at once, I started to lose it for a minute.  I like to be organized.  I'm good with a plan.  And lists.  But computers, particularly my laptop, that I need to get shit done.

After hours on the phone with various Geico reps, two different departments of the SFPD (both very kind and patient if ultimately useless), Geico glass reps, Safelite, etc, I called AAA to see if they could recommend anyone to replace the window glass before dark and/or fogfall.  AAA recommended San Francisco Glass Company, which had some really good reviews on Yelp and one terribly negative rant.  But they could come first thing this morning, and would cost more than $50 less.  Booked.

Things are looking better this morning.  Well, nothing is actually better, I'm just feeling better about it.  I'm good with a plan, and generally tackle things in discrete, accomplishable units.  Goals and steps.  Good.  And there is a real satisfaction to taking that Sharpie and crossing off an item on the "Shit I Have to Deal with Now" list.

Baby has a plan.  However, I'm already busy as fck so it's not like I have all this free time to devote to the plan.  Or money.  However, I have now altered my schedule to apply both time, and the money I would have spent on the things I was going to do with that time.    I am also impatient, and I want all this fixed now if not sooner.

But first things first. Well begun is half done. Dude came out and fixed my window this morning and vacuumed up most of the glass. Building manager noted the janky work the tile guys did and I have the oral go ahead to paint it back. I have an appointment with the Apple Store's Genius Bar at the first available, which unfortunately isn't until tomorrow.  I've finally gotten in touch with my insurance claims adjustor, but he can't meet for another three to five days, but then I'll get a recommendation for repair shop to fix the dashboard and install the new stereo.  I've ordered an affordable UPS (uninterrupted power supply) for the TiVo to assure the repair people it's not a power strip current fluctuation issue, and have the name of a hard rive replacement kit company bookmarked.  replacing my TiVo's hard drive will still consume a lot time, money and stress, but it's an issue resolution plan and that reduces the background stress immensely.  Hopefully sometime in July, maybe even over the holiday weekend if I can sprint through this, I can pick out a new paint color and knock out the bathroom in an afternoon with some tunes and some beer.

I'll be going out a lot less—fewer bar tabs, fewer theater tickets, fewer shows, fewer happy hour events and fewer take out meals.  I do have a series of  "you're unemployed and broke" jobless meal recipes handy from my friend Tom's Career Beat blog.   Ironically, I can get excited about staying home to save money because I have a sweet home entertainment setup, but the reason I am staying home is that now it is totally jacked and I need to save like Jesus to repair it all.  I just blew a wad on getting an iPad 2 for the parents and setting up a multi-node wireless network around their house.  Not to mention two summer airfares home (yikes!).

But I also have a ridiculously high stack of "to read" books which has been staring at me since Christmas, so I think it may be the perfect time for a cup of tea and many hours in the comfy chair.  Or, heaven forbid, the gym.

On to the next item on the list...

stake the time vampire

A friend has removed himself from Facebook, on which he was very active, because it was taking up too much of his time.  Clearly, this is a modern malady: Facebook Addiction.

If one is a Facebook Addict, do you have to start going to FAA meetings?  I think those aviators are going to get very confused.

the prodigious son returns

Hey.  It was a nice trip home to Nashvegas.  Thank you all for your comments and e-mails about Papa John.  Here's the short of it:  He is deteriorating, and he's not going to get better.  But he is in much better spirits, is still very present, and loves being around his loved ones or getting to participate in an activity.  His memory is not so much, long term or short term, and you can't really have a one-on-one conversation.  But he is happy to participate in fun times and conversations when you have someone else to play off of.  My deepest worries have shifted from Dad to Mom, and the daily toll this is taking on her.  She is just in another realm of unbelievably amazing.  She cares for Dad, which is intense, takes care of her family, manages a stressful household, is contending with her own health and knee-injury, and STILL serves as a leadership pillar as board member, treasurer, secretary, or other officer of significant institutions such as The West End Home for Ladies, the Canby Robinson Society, the Friends of the Children's Hospital, The Vanderbilt University Medical Center, the H.G. Hill Company, the Swan Ball and others.  Thankfully, she has recognized the importance of taking some time out for herself here and there and escapes to play bridge once a week if she can, and takes Dad out with their friends on Sunday night to "the jazz."

My mother is some kind of crazy productive saint and she never ceases to impress me.  Until I have another iMac/iPad/cable box lesson then I wonder who this person is who used to program mainframes in her youth but still has issues with "drag and drop."  Now the concept barrier is including more WiFi/Cloud-oriented issues (too many buzz words in the news), while we have still not yet moved on from the web-browser versus web- server, or mail-cient versus mail-server disconnect.  Let's not talk of TVs and TiVo (and far too many inputs).  I should note that she very proudly and and correctly inserted a Twitter pun over the weekend.   

But I digress.

It was an important trip and I am very glad I took the time.  I was surprised to find I was spending less time just sitting with Dad or taking him on outings and more time on helping Mom out with a variety of things, homestead maintenance, or just spending time having long non-substantive conversations with my mother.  I was slow to realize that she does not get any real adult conversations at home any more and that must be maddening.  Add the love of company with the clear parental love for an absent son, and it is quite difficult to leave the house for either errand or social engagement.  Those apron strings can be like giant squid tentacles.  

The first weekend I was home was Swan Ball and I enjoyed covering it for Nfocus again.  Although I will say that (1) I had a good time but (2) it was the least fun I've ever had a Swan Ball.  Still a good time of course, just absent most of my friends or my parents' friends, or any particular excitement—save for the gorgeous and very charming young lady who became my friend as her smoldering hot escort whom she imported for the ball turned out to be less Prince Charming and more Talented Mister Ripley.  Except with fewer manners.  His gay vibe was so strong, three times in conversation he leaned in so close and gave me "the look" that I thought we were about to make out.  This was the messiest Late Party I've seen and that, my social friends, is saying something.  

Last weekend was Nashville Pride Fest, to which I was looking forward to as my first Nashville Pride and I know that the Super Awesome Keith has put a lot of effort into making it the success that it is over the years.  However, having all of the Hardcastles together in one place is rare as as the kids would be back for one weekend and I happened to be in town too, Emily arranged for us to have a family weekend vacation at her family's lake house (here's the video from the last time we were all there together in 2008).  

I took several hundred photos while I was home—some will be made into a book, others into a video, and the snarky observations into blog posts.  When my computer decides to cooperate again.  I am saving for a new MacBook Pro as a self birthday present, and my mother desperately need a new iMac, so anyone out there with access to deals, lemme know.  Thanks.

Silliness and local commentary to resume shortly.  

And HAPPY PRIDE PEOPLE!

Naction

Lots of action in Nashville this weekend, with both the CMA Fest and Bonaroo.  The Nashville Scene has a great primer on Bonaroo for the uninitiated, and always good coverage of the CMA scene.

Locals, however, tend to avoid both.  Some of us still refer to the CMA Festival as Fan Fair.  However it has gotten bigger and bigger with amazing lineups all around town.  If you can get into town that is.  CMA Fest is a traffic quagmire.  And as great as the scheduled acts are, and as much as I have come to love pop country now that I don't live here, I still can't bring myself to participate.  Fun Stacy is in town from SF for the weekend and posted this photo to Facebook—they started with general admin tickets and ended up in somebody's suite at LP Field.

Yeah, that is way too many people for me.  And if I want to catch a great musical act, it's going to be in a venue with decent acoustics and a capacity less than 500 people.

Steeplechase 2011

Hey race goers! I'm off to Nashville again tomorrow, and now that the Steeplechase Nfocus issue is out I thought I'd go ahead and post a few comments before I head back.

Steeplechase was wet and cold this year, but as that also meant it was only the die-hard race crowd there, it was an intense amount of fun. Damp yes, dampened spirits, no. Actually, come to think about it, that could have been the title of my column as this year's piece focused on what people were drinking. That also sounds like a good album name, "Cocktails in the Rain: Dampened Spirits."

With the cold and the rain the cicadas were not the problem I anticipated them to be, although their molted shells were still rather omnipresent.

I was excited to see awesome Aussie photog Simon James again, and he tweaked my camera for better photos in the rainlight (I asked Santa for the same point-and-shoot that he uses, which is a bit above my competency), only later to lunch for it as it was being dropped by someone taking my picture and I spilled a greyhound into the open mechanisms. Yipes.

However, I did get several shots which I rather adore and am considering blowing up into poster prints.


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My favorite of which is this one, as the people in it are so much fun, and I really like the composition, separation of three, descending sizes, and the horse running by.




Special shouts to Margaret McAllister, Amy Hornsby and Lance Arnold for joining me in my parents' box and being such fun party people whose spirits, in soul or Solo, could not be damped by the weather. Here's the full Flickr set.

I haven't seen the Nfocus spread yet, but I do hope they included these race drink recipes I put together for the piece. Enjoy!

Hala back girl

My awesome friend Hala became a US citizen today. A friend commented that she has "been upgraded from Resident Alien to Hyphenated-American."

I think "Hyphenated American" makes her sound like a pre-teen, or somehow she managed to get her virginity back.

some spackle and a little makeup

Upon providing creative off-the-cuff copy upon request:

"I need a job that pays me well for writing like this."
"Instead of just working to make me look good?"
"All the King's horses..."

thunk wary

I'm not trusting it yet. In this case it's like an octopus with other shoes dropping.

IGRA Awesome

The International Gay Rodeo Association has put out their own It Gets Better video.  And it's pretty amazing.

Like a lot of these videos, I can't watch it without tearing up.  But I think it hits closer to home for the kids out in rural states and who may live miles and miles from a neighbor much less a gay-friendly city or community.



I love my gay rodeo community, and I recognize a dozen or so good friends who participated in this video (in face, that's the awesome Allen Register in the poster frame). The Golden State Gay Rodeo Association, the California state gay rodeo association that is a member of the IGRA, had their state-wide board meeting in SF this Saturday, so we had some fun rodeo parties and fundraisers all weekend—starting with a meet-and-greet/show/fundraiser at Marlena's and ending with last night's White Trash Beer Bust at the Edge (best satire number: "My Dental Dam's Busted").

Shouts out to all of my lovely and loving rodeo peeps in this video. I can't imagine my reaction if I had seen then this when I was an isolated closet case in eighth grade.

literatini

The Friends of the San Francisco Public Library are hosting another Imbibe event—a cocktail party with literary types in the library—this month.  The March event at the newly renovated Harvey Milk/Eureka Valley Branch was fun, and the next Imbibe event will be held at the newly renovated Marina branch on June 17th.  I'll still be in Nashville and unable to attend, but I can heartily recommend the event.  It's a good time for free drinks, a tour of a revitalized public space devoted to the benefit of its citizenry, and you can be reasonably assured that the guests will be an articulate, or at least literate, bunch.

And if you are the sort of person who gets along with books better than people, you have the built-in conversation opener "So, what are you reading?"

Go Pups!

And the Pups take the AstroTurf at Kimball Field against the Cougars. At Geary and Steiner.

Welcome to June

Pride festivities are kicking off.


I love June in San Francisco.

not only in my dreams

Yeah. We hang with Debbie Gibson.


Ah. A-ah.

Tales of the City Opening Night Gala

Yeah. It was that kind of night.  Kevin knows I know how to work a red carpet. That's right, bitches, the sign said "No Stopping."

Truthfully, it was a really special night. As any regular reader is well aware, Kevin and I are big supporters of ACT, and their Marketing Director now openly introduces us around as "ACT's favorite gays." I take that as the high praise it is intended to be. And so it was very special for us to enjoy the opening night of such a gay and essentially San Franciscan show. I have my own opinion of the show which I believe is a little more critical than others I've seen in the press. The SFist's review is one I like/agree with and I'll happily refer you to their review. We're seeing it again next Wednesday as part of the usual Out with ACT subscription and I would like to reserve my thoughts on this show as a show until I've seen it again, and at orchestra level.

The pre-party, show, and after party were much fun and completely Kevin's and mine element. The open Absolut-sponsored bars were also our element and by the end of the night I was very happy that we took cabs.

Invitation materials encouraged patrons to "put your own Tales of the City spin on 'black tie'." Kevin wore his beautiful western tux she had made in Chico (not necessarily Tales but festive nonetheless). I tie-dyed a tux shirt and planned to paint the Golden Gate Bridge across the front of it, but settled for the more Tales-appropriate tie dye with flower power accessories of the era. I debated wearing the purple tie/leaves "black tie" against the proper black tie or merely an open collar, butACT Man Randy encouraged the foliage option as then I'd "match the set." Which was true.

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A pleasant surprise were our friends David and Sean who were also on hand for the festivities and became our party pals for the night.

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The after party at Ruby Skye was mostly populated with fun people, and we managed to find the PLU rather quickly.



And the highlight of the night befriending our seat buddy and later party companion DJ Myles Matisse in from L.A. for the show. I was worried that the show crammed in so much material one might not understand it if one hadn't read the books or seen the movies. Myles hadn't read the books before and loved the show so there is that to take away. Shout out to Myles who made our fun night out even brighter.

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Oh. Oh yeah. Then there was this:


And... scene.