Happy Mirthday

As painful as turning 37 can be, the angst was beautifully mitigated by Shilpa and company with a fabulous dinner chez elle.



Organized and hosted by The Lovely Shilpa, the amazing culinary creation wasn't the only hot dish in the kitchen.



A few quick highlights of the night before I rush off into a foggy Labor Day weekend—

The lovely Coco gave me some high-end San Francisco stickers in her birthday card. At first I thought they were temporary tattoos. And so they became such. I love having silly friends.






It was also so very nice to spend time with Ing and his new bride Titties Verde outside of their native Club Jackson. They are just such solid people, and a joy to be around.


After wincing during my bear hug (a cracked rib it seems), Ing offered me some sage birthday advice, "If you're ever in Santa Fe, at 2:00 in the morning, and a friend advises you that you cannot, in fact, successfully leap frog over a parking meter, he's right."

Another lovely surprise was the inclusion of Skot Land (aka Fun Scott). Skot is a good friend of mine from the Rodeo and country dancing, and he and Shilpa have become friends via her excursions with me to Sundance Saloon and the Rodeo shopping trip.


And love to Kevin, and his birthday coming up on Monday. I had wondered aloud why one stops getting birthday spankings once you're old enough to really enjoy them. Hours later, he led me blindfolded to the end of the foyer. When the scarf was removed, I found myself facing all of my friends positioned for a spanking machine.

My God it was so fraternity. It was hilarious. Unfortunately my Flickr whore Shilpa was in the other room putting candles on the cake, so there is only this shot...


Of me emerging from the spanking machine.

One of the best presents ever.


Flickr set

Like maple syrup

I am such a sap.



When will Torchwood make it to the US? I heard that BBC-America finally picked it up, but I don't get BBC-America on my lineup.

Just release the DVDs already.

Bad bot

Every now and again, some new "AIM Bot" will appear in my iChat/AIM buddy list. I tend to delete them.

The most recent one to appear is from T-Mobile and calls itself HotSpot. It claims to be an authoritative directory of everything you need to find in a city.

Looks pretty crap to me.

the stank returns

It is another hot hot sunny day in SF.

And the air reeks of manure again.

WTF?

Update: Oh, here's the F.

bullshit.

At least that's what it smelled like. Actually, more like horse manure.

Whatever it was, the wind blowing through the neighborhood last night reeked of it. The whole area smelled of large-animal poo.

And apparently, it was all over the city too.

Happy Mirthday

I know I haven't blogged all day but I've just been too busy.

I have uploaded the (too few) photos from last night. I'll recap tomorrow.

You can go ahead and browse the Flickr set.






Teaser: You should be careful what you wish for.

Quit shovin'

Wow. That's the first time I've felt an earthquake at work. It was a pertty big shove, especially considering I'm in a pretty big building and on Parnassus Heights bedrock.

VERY preliminary data from the USGS reports that it was a 3.0 just ESE of Berkeley.



If we felt the shove this much over here, I imagine it was significantly stronger across the Bay.

When I reported the location to my coworker Heather, she said that was smack in the middle of her 'hood. I asked if it was her fault. I didn't even register the pun.

fragile bits of wisdom

Many folks have been telling me how much they loved the Stardust movie. I loved the comics/graphic novel/novel, and liked the movie a lot (but was too tied to the original work to let it go).

I linked to Neil Gaiman (the author) earlier and I believe it was in Stardust that he wrote that, in explanation for the rules that govern kings and spells and fallen stars and all dealings in the land of Faerie (and perhaps too in Wall): "these things have always have rules."

A fan crafted together the small movie (.mov), and it made an appearance on his blog. I'm going to test Blogger's new video upload feature and share it here:



Update: This appears to be a student project. Original source.

Mac, Daddy

I got a birthday call from brother Mac on the road in Orlando. I love brother Mac (and you too Jay, I'm just sayin'). Mac is hilarious. I am the shy, quiet child compared to the problem middle child Mac.

By the end of the call, I had to wipe away tears I was laughing so hard.

When he's being particularly "loving" he tells me that, sometimes, he loves me "like a brother."

I told him I though that I should start telling certain people that I love them "like a creepy fifth-grade science teacher." Mac added "Love you like that guy who watches you at night from across the street in the van."

Not that our entire conversation was that creepy.

Although I did ask him why it was that you stop getting birthday spankings when you're old enough to really appreciate them?

The call from him totally made my mirthday.

Exhausted

I tried, again, to deal with getting my smog check today. I have been dealing with the "check only" station that replaced the Chevron garage at Castro and Market. I thought I'd pay a little more for the convenience. I am paying more for a great deal of hassle and no results. It's a single-guy operation, and he's a bit of a prick. He can't run the test on my car, and won't credit me back for the full test and submission. It's going to be one of those "have to call VISA" sort of situations.

My mother is a total card.

I got two cards from my mother for my birthday. One was with a pre-present I received over the weekend, and the other came yesterday afternoon.

My mother freaking cracks me up. The first gift was a little bottle of Fat Mama's Knock You Naked Margarita Mix (complete with instructions on how to knock someone naked).

The second card I opened last night and it featured an Apple gift card-- I am thrilled as I have been saving for a fancy schmancy new setup and I really need to upgrade. I waited until after midnight to open it so it would be my "real" birthday. Shilpa yelled at me and said I was crazy. "You're not Jesus Christ!" (uh, what?) "It's not Christmas!"

No, no, but I am a minor diety and there are rules for these things. (These things always have rules.)

True to form, Mom sent some great cards. The first I loved so much I had to take it with me Friday night.



It looks like such a "mom" card, but isn't. I love it. Notice she didn't sign it. She signed it with a post-it note so I could use the card again. Love it.

This one is also all the more funny just because it came from my mother.


Note that my Dad reserved comment.

Hey, Cinderella

What's your story all about? [launches iTunes]

Shilpa called in first thing this morning. She was cleaning her apartment this morning for some high-maintenance friend's birthday dinner tonight and accidentally "found" a shard from a wine glass broken by one of the no-manners-lesbians at the shower she hosted a couple of weeks ago.

She now has a glass sliver in her foot that she cannot extract and is waiting for a cab to take her to Kaiser.

I keep telling her "I told you slipper, glass SLIPPER..."

However, with the snazzy new office MacBookPros, she is able to log in remotely and work from home until her appointment. The office upgraded to the new Macs for several reasons, not the least of which is that we hope to leverage the built-in video conferencing capabilities of the Macs. As such Shilpa and I were even able to video chat.


And undaunted by injury, she is still exited about tonight's dinner.

Clearly.

Feeling the love!

I have already received several calls, IMs, and e-cards this morning. I received a packaege from Mom over the weekend,and another card yesterday (which I opened at 12:05 this morning so it would be on my actual birthday. I am a huge dork.) My mom is hilarious. I'll scan and post them later.

Shout outs to Cousin Barry and the Country Birthday Song, to PseudoSister Margaret McAllister for sharing the pain, the Jamez for everything, and, of course, Alert Reader Paul Day for remembering someecards.com:


Now, about that portrait in the attic.

all about me, continued

Yes, it's a birthday week here at I'm Just Sayin', and a good one at that.

Friday was a looong night-- farewell/expensive drinks at the Metro, followed by the two-for-one goodness at the Badlands. The regulars were out in force, and started on the birthday-drink buying early, which was nice.

We also courted Amy Day's college friends Amy and Kevin. Amy is married and lives in Seattle. Kevin is single living in comparatively rural Kent, Washington. Apologies, Kevin, if you are reading this, but we really think you are a lovely man, and just need to deal already. Come on out, the water's fine. We'd love to have you.

After weeks of brutally offensive customer dis-service from Circuit City, Shilpa finally got her camera replaced. The Flickr Whore is back, and photos will be shared once she uploads them.

After a cheap and non-diet-friendly dinner of pizza and a shower and a wardrobe change, I made it in time for Winnie Bago's performance at Marlena's.

And I am glad I did. Not only was the show/benefit very entertaining, there were a lot of my gay rodeo buddies in attendance/performing and it made for a really fun atmosphere.

That, and the whole eyes-met-across-a-crowded-room thing with Richard. Very John Hughes. To the extent that I expected an Eric Stoltz or Molly Ringwald cameo.

I am memorializing the meeting here for future reference, but am no longer quite so expectant as I have not heard back from him. Alas. Regardless, it was a nice meeting.

And shouts to Rodeo royalty/title holders and stage performers Eric Hanson and his partner Miss Trout. Eric is an engineer at Apple and works primarily on iPhoto and the iPhone. The marketing people have used his name, deliberately misspelled, in many of the iPhone ads. So it really cracks us up to see the whole "Hansen Family Photos" and "incoming call: Eric Hansen" on the television spots.

Saturday was "Wilson's Birthday (Observed)," I spent the morning sleeping in, cleaning, and managing projects at home. I am still putting away costume crap.

One or two years ago, Alert Reader Paul Day and his bon ami Fred gave me a gift card to Always Tan, and I finally cashed it in towards a deep-tissue massage. Unfortunately, their prices had risen by about $50 since I got the GC. But all in all, it was a great treat on a self-indulgent sunny Saturday.

Before getting ready to head over the Barney's/Club Jackson, Barney asked me to load an iPod with a playlist, which I love to do. I found some delicious new mashups over at the BootieBlog-- my favorites of this batch are Amy Winehouse's Rehab mashed with the Four Top's Can't Help Myself, and the very danceable mashup Boogie Woogie Candyman, featuring Christina Aguilera vs. The Andrews Sisters. Sweet.

Considering we had a full schedule, things turned out to be a little rushed. We enjoyed pre-drinks at Club Jackson with T. Verde and Ing, the Gorgeous Jenny, Kevin, Jeff & Bill, PeeDee & Fred, RMJ, Javits, and Jimbo. Having been confined to a wine-country-touring limo all day, Shilpa came stumbling after.

Dinner followed at Thai Spice, which is quite tasty and moderately priced. Highly recommended.

We managed to get to the Plush Room in time for pretty good seating, even though there was a big ta-do over seating us as they would seat a party if there were three of the four present, but not in our case which was four of the seven present.

Okay, this post is more factual than entertaining so I'll wrap it up.

The Joan Rivers show was bo-ring. Her act was just a jumble of bits from her Bravo special, and she messed much of it up. A lot of the room didn't laugh much because we had heard it all before. She seemed lost and repetitive at times, and in some cases was just mean without following up something cruel with a punchline. But still, she's Joan Rivers, a comedy legend, and she was only fifteen feet away. And let me tell you, wow with the surgery.

We finished the night with an unexpected pirate theme at the Cinch, and many thanks our always lovely host Oscar.

And yeah, I don't know what the deal is, but I am keeping the beard.

Sunday the all-about-me continued—

The coffee date never materialized, but I had a beautiful Sunday afternoon, and made it to the Rodeo beer bust at the Eagle. Much, much fun. Although beer is so not SB-friendly. No particularly ribald tales, but it was nice to visit with old friends with whom I have not had much party or quality time as of late. And hanging out with the rodeo guys is always a pleasure. And as Doug was MC'ing the event, my name was called over the din more than once, which gave me an odd feeling of notoriety at the Eagle.

I had a nice chat with Matt, who is no longer with Dana, through whom I met Treat Williams (and wonder if I'll see again), and Matt's friend Chris. And again, there was much incentive to keep the beard.

As the beer bust wound down, it was time to move over to Sundance Saloon, which was surprisingly packed for most of the night. There is a clique of new guys who are becoming regulars, and it's been great fun getting to know them and teaching some of them to dance.

And a shout out to newcomer Bryan P. who turned out to be both graceful and charming on the dance floor. I heard from him this morning and I expect we'll be dancing together again soon.

Tomorrow, the All About Me continues with an intimate dinner, on my actual birthday, Chez Shilpa. I expect the recap of that will have lots of photos to accompany the post.

And then I can go off on how I liked turning 30, thought turning 35 was fine, but am really not happy with this whole "now in his late 30's" turning 37 idea.

But as they say, it is better than the alternative.

When family/friends ask me what I want for my birthday, I tell them I want a portrait in the attic that ages instead of me.

So get on that won't you?

revised

Okay, drunken posting is a bad idea. So I am revising.

But here's the sitch.

I met a nice guy. It seems like more than the usual. I gave him my card. I hope to hear from him.

But as he has my card, he has a link to my home page, and via that, this blog.

Looking over recent posts, I'd say this is far from my best foot forward.

For better material, I recommend that this potential suitor look back to June or July.

An august August

It promises to be another BIG weekend for IJS.

Tonight I really wanted to go to the Shawn Ryan show, but there is just too much going on and I don't think I can commit to being anywhere at any specific time.

The venerable and sunny Metro is closing this weekend (sad!) so many are meeting for happy hour on the deck and toasting a farewell martini. Rumor is that the bar will be relocating to what is now the Expansion Bar on Market at Church. But the lure of the Metro isn't the bar, but the sunshine and the deck.


Amy Day and visitors are joining us. She has some good friends in town from Washington state who need some prodding. A night in the Castro should do it.

After that there is the 2-4-1 fun that is Friday at the Sadlands Badlands.

Sundance Saloon is not getting the attendance they need for their expanded Friday nights, so they are having a big promotional push with lots of advertising, free passes, and coupons. I'd love to support it again tonight, but getting there with all the other things going on would be problematic. There is a benefit at Marlena's starting at 8, show at 9, starring the lovely talented Miss Winnie Bego. I am friends with Winnie's alter ego via the Rodeo and these shows never fail to entertain. From there it's later night fun/show at StarF*cker at Deco.

And speaking of the Rodeo, Sunday is a "Cowboys and Cowhide" beer bust a the Eagle.

It's also the beginning of Bear Week, so there are parties and promotions all over town tonight, tomorrow, and ongoing.

And tomorrow we will be celebrating my birthday (observed)! Woo hoo! Drinks at Club Jackson, followed by Thai dinner on Polk Street, and then an intimate evening (11:00) with Joan Rivers in the Plush Room.

So much fun!

loves me and leaves me

(That's "leave" me, as in "adorn me with foliage.")

Michael has shared his photos from A Midsummer Night's Dream party, but via Kodak's ironically named EasyShare, so I can't link to those from here. (Here's trying.)

Michael is also a professional photog, so his shots are beautiful, and much better than mine.

Morningwood and Peace Blossom
from Michael Smith
For my summary, I posted the photos in the smallest size as there were so many I did not want the post to take too long to load or scroll. Looking back, I think I may have to repost them at a larger size for the full effect.

Reviewing Michael's photos, I realized I did not fully appreciate the scope of the party, how much fun it was, or the tremendous effort everyone put into their costumes.


I must also humbly admit something. I am loathe to make this public in the blog but I made a decision to be honest about everything and put it out there so I might as well share.

I didn't have anything but coffee and a tomato for breakfast that day, and at the party I had a couple of vodkas...and one of the, shall we say "mystical," brownies from Olympus. I have never had a California brownie before, and I'm sure the empty stomach was a bad idea upon bad idea. As I am still South Beaching it, I was more concerned about the sugar than the other contents.

Basically, I was out of it, and don't remember a lot of the end of the night. And looking at Michael's slide show, bits of memory spark, but I am missing a lot.

There are a couple of shots of me near Russ, on whom I have had a bar crush for a couple of years. We talked at the Lupercalia (he was with date/bf at the time) and since had brief yet somewhat meaningful exchanges at Moby's. I was hoping to see him at the Dream.

In Michael's slide show, there is a photo of us together. This sparks some memory. I remember that I talked to him. But not in what manner, for how long, or if I was charming or a complete mess. I have a vague recollection that I formally asked him out, and he declined, albeit politely. I don't imagine I was very suave. Jimbo told me today that at one point, I was petting him.

OMFG.

I am moritfied.

People in SF smoke pot like it's having a beer. I've never smoked. Not for any moral/ethical reason, I just can't handle smoke of any kind (asthma and all that). The hardest drug I've ever done (other than the time someone dosed my drink unbeknownst to me) is Jack Daniels. I love Jack Daniels, which is why I rarely drink it. I will gladly add brownies to the list of things I should try at least once, and now will do never again. Like rappelling.

I feel I need to do some damage control with Russ, but I don't have his contact information. I don't even know his last name.

I should have known it would soon be over.


I mean, the fat lady singing was right there.

(You can see me and Ross to the right.)

Drinkin' for Disease?

Gettin' Hammered for HIV?

No, it's Bar AIDS!
Last night more than a dozen bars donated from 25% to 100% (thanks Mix!) of their sales to the Stop Aids Project.

Shilpa and I joined Alert Reader PeeDee and his recently returned bon ami for a crawl through the Castro. Because it was for charity and we are such good-hearted folks. (Just not too "good-liver-ed".)

Seduced by SkotLand, I hit Sundance for an hour or so before meeting the others getting their Domino Dancing fix back at the Cat.

Thursdays are still the new Fridays. And my ankle has had it.

Think but this and all is mended.

The same folks who brought us the Lupercalia hosted A Midsummer Night's Dream-inspired party this past Saturday night.

These parties are over the top, off the hook, and beyond expectation. And the guests know to bring it.

The rules of attire for this party evolved over several months. Originally, you had to come as a character from A Midsummer Night's Dream, preferably one of the woodland fairies. However, with so many participants and so few characters, it was quickly expanded to any woodland mystical creature or character. Then and Shakespearean character or period dress, any woodland creature—fantastic or otherwise, or any embodiment of "love." Participants must remain in half-mask and in character, revealing only their character's name, until midnight.

I had been shopping and designing for months so I was sticking (no pun intended) with my wood nymph theme.

I received and invitation to the Lupercalia via Jimbo's friend Michael Smith. I ran into Michael while we were both shopping for costume materials and he and I were working from the same theme and palette.

He went as a Wood Nympho, whereas I decided I was a Morning Wood Nymph.

Michael and Wilson as Wood Nympho and Morning Wood.

(Note the condoms in the headdress.)

While my costume wasn't too terribly slimming, I do think my "mask" was flawless.

Kevin, always one for a costume or a theme, would not reveal his costume to me until the last minute. He was afraid he might have crossed a line into fetish wear, but I assured him if any party would welcome it, it would be this one.

Kevin went, I still can't believe it, as Huggies and Kisses.

Yes, that is a diaper.

Jimbo decided his character would be Pea's Blossom. However, he got confused and thought it was "Peace" Blossom, and went as a tie-dyed hippie adorned with flowers. I thought that worked too.

Those that look good nearly naked were assuredly going so. And those of us that do not would not. I thought opting for the clever was better. Those that would get the costume would appreciate it. Those that wouldn't get it wouldn't matter anyway because if you weren't half naked too, they likely wouldn't be paying you much mind.

Jimbo as "Peace Blossom"

Kevin and Jimbo came over to get ready at my house before taking a cab up the hill.

So let's take a moment for that image shall we: Kevin in his...getup, Jimbo in his vines, and me in sarong, cape, and facepaint, loitering on the corner trying to get a cab.

And at just that moment, some event was letting out from the stadium across the street, so we were being passed by and competing for cabs with all sorts of families and small children.

Which, for them, I imagine was a fairly routine Saturday in San Francisco. I'm glad I am Haight-adjacent.

The party did not disappoint. And as expected, the guests stepped up for the event.



The entire atmosphere was, literally, fantastic:

The music was awesome. I loved the DJs, who played some really amazing mashups.


The next morning I could not bring myself to get out of bed for the thought of cleaning the complete and total wreck that was my apartment—covered in much makeup, tissues, wire, branches, leaves, and variety of flora.

And my God the glitter.

The Flickr photoset should perhaps come with a viewer discretion advisory:

If we shadows have offended, think but this, and all is mended. That you have but slumbered here, while these visions did appear, and this weak and idle theme, no more yielding but a dream. Gentles, do not reprehend. If you pardon, we will mend.

Overheard at work - 27

"Well, ever since [so-and-so] left, [the senior staffer] has been working in loco Director. You know, because his Director was loco."

corner of my eye and above the fold

As I stepped out of my apartment building on my way to work this morning, I noticed two or three local tabloids resting in the corner of the stoop. SF has many free papers and I didn't note which one it was. I didn't stop to read it or anything, I just registered the headline below the fold as I stepped down the stairs.

The headline read, in large print, "drugs and nudity," and below in smaller type: "'No-brainer guidelines to be voted on today."

I walk to work, and spent the next hundred yards or so thinking about conservatism for the sake of conservatism and what's so wrong with a little spontaneous nudity in clubs now and then and which busybodies got who in trouble this time and where are they banning nudity now...

I then moved onto other things in my head.

I passed another paper with a partially legible headline "Beyond 'Shhhh': Libraries..." And I got annoyed at yet another puff piece on how libraries aren't what people expect aren't exactly like a government-sponsored educational film from 1954. Why is this continuing to be a surprise to so many writers? Library patrons and communities know how lively the library is. The SF Chronicle did a big Sunday piece on the popularity of San Francisco libraries (there are waiting lines before opening) and how they are extremely active centers for the community.

(see San Francisco libraries have become neighborhood best-sellers at the SFGate.com)

As I approached the parking garage of my workplace (and busy muni stop), there were bits of free papers strewn about the sidewalk. I passed another paper (honestly, my neighborhood is not as full of litter as this sounds), but this time the paper was unfolded, and I could see that I had glimpsed the same paper from different angles.

This time I could read the entire headline above and below the fold: "Beyond 'Shhhhh': Library targets drugs and nudity."

"Well, okay." I thought, "That's different."

It seems my stream of consciousness tends to jump to conclusions when it has just rolled out of bed and hasn't had its coffee.

Design Star Dazzles, but not BeDazzles

I hosted a three-episode Design Star viewing party Tuesday night and we had a blast!

My personal design stars were Barney, Shilpa, RMJ, Alert Reader Paul Day, Kevin and Shawn. Barney, RMJ, and Kevin had all met Josh before, so this was a very personal screening. And let me say DVRs rock. I have a ReplayTV which automatically skips commercials and it made the viewing experience so much better. And it impressed RMJ to no end, as his level of technology (bless his heart, not for lack of trying) doesn't rise too far above the whole "two cans and some string" level. The DVR also allowed for freeze-framing for additional commentary and criticism. Not so much of the designs, but of the participants.

I had promised much Sparkle from the Josh, but all we're getting is really, really good designs. And while his first individual challenge did show some of that white/silver/mirrored sparkle, we all thought he was wronged by the judged. His 99-cent store room looked great. We don't know what the judges were bitching about. Others were much worse.

His fashion sense and banter though, do sparkle.

We think it wasn't that his work wasn't good, but that they expected so much more from this guy with so much potential. They didn't judge him against his peers, but their expectations from him. Which is fine when mentoring someone, but kinda strange for a competition.

Pretty much, we all LOVE Josh now. And we're rooting.

The local (SF) straight guy can't keep his shirt on, which is kinda okay but is getting old. Last year's winner looked amazing shirtless, but he knew how to moderate his exposure. And the local surfer dude is kind of a douche.

I'm just sayin'.

Overall, we felt that the singular, far and away least talented person on this show is the host. WTF is he doing there? Is it the crappy, fake/affected accent? The judges are pretty lame too, but wow, the host is a LOU-zer. (Well, other than hosting a show on tv and stuff...)

The night was a ball and we plan to repeat it. The Jello shots, however, probably not.

Ow.

................
Oh yeah-- Shilpa had never done a Jello shot before, and was perplexed and intimidated by the little cup. RMJ offered this advice: "You've got to use your tongue and be aggressive!"

Which is pretty much good advice for many occasions.

Correction: I have been informed that the actual advice was "You have to be aggressive with your tongue and suck really hard."

Duly noted.

And still good advice all around.

Which Springfield?

Can you guess where these pix were taken?





I know at least one of you Alert Readers know, as I lifted these from your Flickr photoset.

Think about it for a moment and take a guess. I'll post the answer in the comments section.

BiblioAberdeen

Aberdeen University reveals its plans for the Library of the Future (BBC).

From the article:

Plans for a £57m "library of the future" have been devised by Aberdeen University. The project, which will replace the existing Queen Mother Library, will provide facilities for 14,000 students. It will also provide a showcase for a 200,000-strong collection of historic books and 4,000 archival collections. The proposals, to be considered by the city council, intend to construct an "inviting building" for the whole of the north east.
...
Professor C Duncan Rice, the university's principal and vice-chancellor, said the university had "physically outgrown" the current library. "In its place we plan a remarkable new building that symbolises all our ambitions for our sixth century and beyond", he said.

"The practical case for the new library is stark, the architectural vision for it is a glittering one. The £57m library will stand as one of the most significant new Scottish public buildings of the last hundred years." He added: "An international landmark, it will echo the impact of ideas from Aberdeen in distant places. It will represent our past, present and future, our continuing role as intellectual pioneers, here at the northern frontiers of Europe.

"It will be a cultural icon of which not only our scholars and students but all of the people of Scotland can be proud."

on Merv Griffin's "passing"

There are many eulogies for the Hollywood mogul today.

But Michelangelo Signorile has an important reminder:

Merv Griffin accomplished a lot and is, in his death, being held up as a example of a stellar Hollywood businessman. But he should also be held up as man who, like Malcolm Forbes before him, was hugely influential and powerful and yet still allowed the closet and homophobia to manipulate his life, and to cause him to do harm to his own people. That should not be forgotten.

Overheard at the bar

[After a typical "So what have you been up to?" exchange.]

"So, just good, clean living?"
"Yeah, but 'good clean living' kinda sucks when it is not by choice."

aitch to ohhhhhh

Water's back. No more with the stinky. Aren't you relieved.

dry

There is no water in my building, and the water department only has one woman answering the phone, who is being very pissy about it. According to her, no one is doing work in the neighborhood therefore we have water and it's not her problem.

The entire building has no water, so it's not like there's an internal piping problem to my unit.

I only have the water in the fridge (I know I should be more earthquake-prepared but I usually have lots of bottled water about, I just don't at the moment.).

So no shower before or after dancing tonight (gross). I can't do any dishes (gross). I can't brush my teeth (gross). I can't wash my hands (which I do every few minutes so this is killing me). And I can't use flush (exceptionally gross).

I'd be steaming, but you know, there's not even moisture.