I'm flying into SFO tonight - I hadn't flashed this a lot, because it was supposed to be a quiet weekend with Jorge. But that's not going to happen now (keep Jorge in your thoughts - he's had a very difficult week), and as such, I need a couple of things.
I've found a place to stay - and a backup, so that's no problem. But right now, I don't have a ride from the airport tonight, and my schedule is pretty open for the weekend. So if anyone wants to pick me up from SFO tonight at 7:35, I'd appreciate it. And if anyone wants to do something between that time and Sunday night, send me a text or a message and let me know.
Hopefully I'll see a lot of you over the weekend. If not, I'll be back out in a few weeks.
- Location:The Penthouse
I'm grateful for:
-Jorge, who's so wonderful to me. To be truly and deeply loved is the greatest gift we have for our fellow human beings.
-all of the wonderful friends I have, scattered all over the country and world. Each of you enriches my life.
-the educational opportunities I've had and the wonderful advisor I have. All the teachers over the years who've shown me that learning and knowledge are their own reward.
-my family, who have supported me selflessly my whole life, even when I've been a bit of a jerk to them.
-the opportunities and experiences I've had in this, the second greatest city in the country.
-my health, and, by extension, yoga - which helps me demonstrate my gratitude to this body.
-laughter, where ever it comes from. It lifts my spirits and helps me lift others up.
-President Obama, even if he hasn't really fixed anything yet. He still makes me feel a lot better about the way this country is going.
-My job, which lets me do something I love and still be able to afford to eat.
-Dance class, which reminds me that humility is a virtue and that I can do whatever I set my mind to.
-Beautiful words, like finagle and coprolalia, and the authors who use them.
There's a lot more to list, but I need to do some thesis work. I hope you're all having a wonderful day, but I know that's not true for everyone. If it is a dark time for you, remember what you're grateful for, and remember that I'm grateful for you. You're all in my thoughts.
- Location:The Basement
- Music:Ray of Light - Madonna
Twelfth Night was the Shakespeare offering from the Public this year, and thus was quite free, provided you sat in the park for 7 hours on a beautiful summer day to get tickets (it was horrible, horrible!). The cast - Anne Hathaway as Viola, Audra MacDonald as Olivia, Raul Esparza as Orsino - was phenomenal, as it generally is with Public productions. We managed to get a performance without rain, which is also a rarity this summer. Now, Twelfth Night is not my favorite play by a long shot, but I thought they acquitted themselves quite well. Anne Hathaway's expressions were a bit cartoonish at times, but most of her acting was excellent (I'm always suspicious of film actors who transfer to the stage). Audra and Raul - well, we already knew they were spectacular. Audra in particular tore shit up, as the kids say. It is beautiful to watch that woman work, even if she barely sang - she still has this tremendous stage presence.
Now, The Full Monty I went to see because, despite being a rinky-dink regional theatre production, they'd managed to snare Elaine Stritch to perform the role of the bawdy pianist. Now, Elaine is getting up there, and I certainly didn't want to miss what might be one of my last chances to see her perform. Not only did she put on a great show, the whole cast was really quite lovely, and the show itself is pretty darn cute. There's a particular number about friendship from the first act that I may have to download. The one big disappointment was their technical staff - the cast was firstrate, but the lighting and the sound were really sad. It's a large regional theatre, but I guess times are tough all over - and that equipment is quite expensive.
Other than that, most of my weekend has been devoted to yoga and plowing through "Infinite Jest," which I'm roundly enjoying. Hopefully I'll be able to finish it this week, because I'd hate to drag a 10 pound book (I'm exaggerating, but just barely) on the plane to California on Thursday. I also got to hang out some with
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suyana and kiwisquash last night at the Duplex, which was also great fun. suyana has decided it's her personal mission to help the Squash get over his fear of human contact (he was raised by feral kitchen appliances, and thus has never felt the touch of human kindness). They held hands all the way from the bar to 14th street - it was very impressive.Anyway, I'm going to do a little bit more IJ, and then crash crash crash. Tomorrow promises to be a long and math-filled day.
- Location:The Penthouse
- Mood:
tired
- 09:02 Yoga: 35 minute self-practice #
- 10:40 ROTD: Take the stairs (remember, now, that I live on the 12th floor...) #
- 11:03 @Spud31 But it's great for your calves. #
- 11:11 @Spud31 Well, you know - once they're a little mad, it's much tougher to keep them off the stairs. Those baby gates just don't work. #
- 11:24 @Spud31 They're baby cattle. Your logic indicates a false dichotomy between the two. #
- 15:07 @Spud31 You'd beat up a 14 year-old? This does not speak well for Emily's near future. #
- 15:30 @syllepsis I feel this is somehow connected to a random IM I received about quesadilla flipping. #
- 15:30 @Spud31 In that case, what makes you think you could beat up your 14-year-old self? She was a hellion, as I recall. #
Signatures gathered: 154
Scene: The parade, which I spent with Jorge, rather than gathering signatures is probably 4 miles long. The city was absolutely dead, everywhere except the parade route. I've never seen anything like it. It was like they'd closed New York just to celebrate gay pride. I actually gathered signatures at a post-pride party at HK Lounge with my deputies, Stan & Michael. It was a primarily African-American crowd, just because of the party we happened to be at (I'd been invited to gather signatures at the event by the organizer).
What are the gays like: They're like everything - white black brown yellow and the rest of the rainbow, men and women and drag queens and genderqueer and postgender, gay and straight and bi and poly and trans. The biggest thing I noticed was how damn normal the crowd watching was. Not like in SF where the crowd watching the parade is nearly as entertaining as the parade itself. But everyone marching was out and proud, in a major way.
Reaction to the Petition: Great - I think I've found a few more people to help out with the movement (other than Stan & Michael, who have to because I gave them badges). One of whom is based out of Atlanta (he was a riot - he took our clipboards and went around insisting people sign. He also called everyone lovebug - he was hillarious), and another who organizes some events at Fashion Week, which would be a great time to gather.
You're in New York moment: On the way back to the apartment, Jorge and I were treated to a tirade by the cabbie about how it used to be nice to drive on Sundays, but all the damn parades made it a pain. He wasn't bitching about gay pride, per se - just the fact that they close 5th avenue pretty much every Sunday over the summer. An excellent point, but terribly New York.
- Location:The Basement
- Mood:zealous
- Music:Didn't I See This Movie? - Next to Normal Cast & Alice Ripley
Friday morning we headed downtown to have lunch with
trivialt, his friend Michael, and suyana at Sushi on Hudson. It was delicious, as always. After that, and some dithering about what to do, I realized that I hadn't been to the High Line Park yet, so Deb and Jorge and I went to go do that. It might be my new favourite park in the city, frankly. For those of you unfamiliar with it, the city took an old elevated railway that runs about 30-50 feet above the Meatpacking District and turned it into a park. For those of you who don't know about the total metaphorical woody I get from industrial ruins...well, suffice it to say I was really terribly fond. Jorge got some great pictures, too.After that, Jorge and I headed home to get some....ahem...rest and dress for dinner & the show. We had ceviche in the west village and then headed to the Shubert to see Blithe Spirit. Now, the play is Noël Coward, and funny as hell. And the cast...Angela Lansbury, Rupert Everett, Christine Ebersole, and Jayne Atkinson, all of whom just tore it up. Strangely enough, Jorge thinks Rupert Everett is hotter in person, whereas I think he's hotter in movies. Now that I think about it, he's probably even hotter in radio, since it's mostly his voice, for me. That and his habit of playing in Oscar Wilde plays. Anyway, it was a wonderful show.
After the show, we headed south to meet up with the boys and Deb at the Duplex. Soon after, I managed to convince Jorge, Stan, and Michael that we should go to the East Village for frites, which went over quite well (there had been some doubt on Jorge's part about my assertion re: awesomeness of pomme frites). Then we had a couple more drinks at Urge, since we were already in that part of the world. Then, finally, home and blessed sleep.
Saturday was a late morning, with brunch at Henry's on the UWS, and then a walk through the park as we headed toward Chelsea. We met up with the Stony Brook crowd -
freebirthtoad, kepha, hausdorffspace, virtualayla and, eventually, kiwisquash for mojitos at Cuba Cafe. As always, we had a great time with that group. It was really great to catch up with Fatty and Browntron, since I hadn't seen them in quite a while.
Jorge and I had to pop out early, so that we could get dressed for dinner. We had an incredible dinner at Public in Nolita. The food was New Zealand-Pacific fusion, and just tremendous. The service wasn't great, but the food easily made up for it. After dinner, we had a few drinks at the Duplex with Stan and Michael, and headed home for an early night (2:00).
We had to go home early, because I dragged Jorge out of bed at the ungodly hour of 9:30 on Sunday morning, so we could get our Pride on. We found a spot at 47th & 5th to watch the parade. The parade was lovely - lots of great energy. A good mix of protest and celebration and joy. In a further sign that New York is constricting around me, I ran into two people I knew. I'm sure this will only get worse.
We had to leave early to get Jorge to the airport on time (he has this positively maddening habit of never missing his flights, which I'm working on). After I dropped him off there, I had to go on to gather signatures at a post-pride party. But that's an item for another post.
I get to see him in 10 days, though, when I get out to California. That makes this parting much easier, I must admit. I can do 10 days standing on my head (which is good, because his visits always wreck my yoga practice - but then, I just tell myself I get a lot more horizontal postures in ;-).
- Location:The Penthouse
- Mood:
exhausted - Music:Perfect for You - Adam Chanler-Berat, Jennifer Damiano & Next to Normal Cast
- 01:36 @CanadianRabbit I'm totally loving infinite jest. Thanks for getting me started :-) #
- 01:36 Time to put my man to bed #
- 19:53 Off to gather signatures at post-pride party. #
40 years. Just a little over 10 years before I was born. And I live in a world where I can celebrate Pride in Staten Island and Belleville, IL. I can't be fired for being gay, and in the places where I've worked, my viewpoint has been welcomed as part of the diversity that makes this country wonderful. I can kiss my boyfriend at the airport when I pick him up, and kiss him again when I drop him back off. Strangers at the theatre tell us that they hope we celebrate another 54 years together (Angela Lansbury was married for 58 years, and we're in competition now). Homophobia is now perceived as akin to racism or ignorance - it's not a viewpoint that's acceptable in polite society, at least not among the educated classes. We're almost completely ignoring the fight for ENDA (Employment Non-Discrimination Act) because it's accepted as a given that this will happen, and will happen soon. We're fighting for rights - the rights to marry our partners, to sponsor them as citizens, to join the military openly - that those men couldn't have even dreamed of. 40 years. Less than half a lifetime from then to now.
I know what Martin Luther King felt like when he said "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal.'" And on this beautiful summer day, I plan to go out and hold just that truth to be self-evident. I'm going to go stand on Fifth Avenue with the man I love, and I'm going to show the whole world that I love him, truly, deeply. I'm proud to be a gay man. I can't imagine my life any other way, and I'm so happy that I can share that with all of you with no shame, but only a deep, abiding joy.
Happy Pride, everyone.
- Location:The Penthouse
- Mood:
proud
- 10:04 It's so wonderful just to wake up next to him. #
- 18:11 Froggy (with jazz hands) twitpic.com/8i88d #
- 19:23 Jorge: while buckling up in a taxi - "I always think of princess Diana.". How gay is that? #
- 19:45 At the shubert to see "blithe spirit!" yay! #
- 07:36 ROTD: Live your stand #
- 08:53 Goddamit...can't it be 9:26 PM now? #
- 10:48 I should be reading about CP2 blown up at three points, not postgender theory is.gd/1d8RZ #
- 10:56 SCOTUS rules 8-1 that you can't strip-seach 14 yr olds for advil. Thomas dissents (creepy). #
- 15:27 @mwwheatl I use twitterfon - my philosophy on twitter apps is use them 'til they break, and then switch to another one. #
- 16:11 I'm off to a marriage equality rally at city hall...something along the lines of "vote, senators, vote!" #
- 21:13 I'm on my way to the airport. Jorge's flight is a bit late, but not too bad. Soon he'll be in my arms. #
- 21:34 @Kitsunechan the same reason as all the other times people are asshats - they hate to think. #
- 23:25 Got my Jorge and brought him home. Life is good. #fb #
Anyway, that said, I shall be in California from 7:35 PM on Thursday, July 9th until 12:30 AM on Monday, July 13th. You may consider it an early Bastille Day present (
kor27 doesn't seem to have a copy of "La Marseillaise", but we could probably turn that Sunday night into a bitchin' and totally random Bastille Day Party - make French seventy-fives (one of Jorge's favorite cocktails), serve French bread, get French manicures, give each other French braids, do some French kissing etc.). Actually, that's kind of a great idea. I can bring my bilingual puppets.Anyway, that was a bit off-subject. The point is that I shall be in California that weekend. The primary purpose, of course, will be time with Jorge, but I will also be available for public engagements and birthday parties. Jorge might be busy some of the day on Sunday, so that day in particular would be suitable for monkeytime, if you're so inclined. I'll also have free time on Friday during the day while he's working hard for the money (though not in the evening, when he's working so hard for it, honey).
Make plans sooner rather than later, though, because I will be limited sorely in time. That said, I'll be out there again in August if this weekend doesn't work.
- Location:The Basement
- Mood: chipper
- Music:I Miss The Mountains - Next To Normal
- 00:12 @syllepsis invisible cities is delicious. Read the baron of the trees next. #
- 00:13 MIKA concert was AWESOME. Love it! #
- 09:37 Yoga: 25 minute self-practice #
- 09:37 ROTD: Be moderate (last one from my initial batch - I think I'll make more) #
- 14:48 @Spud31 Read the news - he wasn't hiking the AT. He was in Argentina - not the most scandalous country in the world, but pretty decent. #
- 21:34 I survived another dance class! I'm starting to enjoy them, even. #
He's a great performer, and his voice is just as incredible in real life as in the studio. He did a mix of old stuff and new - started off with "Grace Kelly," then did a couple numbers from the new EP, then some of the slower numbers from the first CD. All in all, there wasn't anything I wish he'd done, but he's only got one CD and one EP, so that's not surprising. I'll be damned if he didn't do my favourite song (and personal anthem) "Love Today" twice - once in the show and once for the second encore.
I couldn't have been happier. That said, I got home at 2:00 AM (after a late show and a post-show drink at the Duplex), and I'm kind of still covered in tiny bits of mylar confetti. So I think it's time for a shower. And Jorge gets here tomorrow (!) so there are a million things to do.
Oh, also, met with my advisor yesterday - I need to give her a few more things, make some small corrections, and add some exposition - and then my current paper goes on the arxiv. Progress!
- Location:The Penthouse
- Mood: tired
- Music:Blue Eyes - MIKA
- 07:16 Yoga: 30 minute self-practice, last night: 90 minute class (which felt damn good after a day on airplanes) #
- 08:36 ROTD: Calm my mind #
- 10:13 I told Congress: no more transportation money without real reform at tinyurl.com/l8ewwv - will you? #
- 15:15 @travisccook And GLAAD released a statement condemning the incident-specifically, condemning what Hilton said: is.gd/1aK4B Brilliant! #
- 18:49 @Spud31 I can never remember - is that spelled "kluge" or "kludge"? #
- 19:45 Same-sex marriage is on the agenda at tomorrow's second extrasession of the NY State Senate. I'll be watching the Albany shenanigans. #
- 20:38 MIKA concert. This is a faggy crowd…even for this faggy town. #
- 10:32 ROTD: Do a forward bend #
- 12:33 @princesskiti22 that's out of date. Paterson called a session, but marriage isn't on the agenda. He might call another, though. #
- 12:34 I'm in ORD! Just about to board for LGA. #
- 15:24 Just landed at LGA #
- 17:05 The gas is back on in my apartment! #
Well, I'm on my way back to NY, but I had a lovely time in Dupo. I got to celebrate Emily's birthday (and make chocolate cupcakes with chocolate whipped cream filling and Magnolia's buttercream), Father's Day, and Belleville Pride. I also cooked the entire weekend…it was totally wizard.
Now it's back to the city that never sleeps - I'm going to squeeze in a yoga class tonight, I meet with Dusa and get to see MIKA tomorrow (a friend miraculously had an extra ticket). Wednesday is another dance class, and Jorge comes in on Thursday (yay!). Then Stan will be in town, and NYC Pride. Emily Dickinson said "most madness is divinest sense" - I hope that holds true for this madness. Right now, I'm pretty stoked about it :-)
I should be boarding soon, so I should go. My next California trip should be announced this week, so watch this space. Much love to all of you!
Posted via LiveJournal.app.
- Location:Missouri, St. Louis, Bridgeton, N Lindbergh Blvd, 3457
- Mood:relaxed
- Music:Aftershocks - Next to Normal
- 08:44 ROTD: Repeat my mantra #
- 16:59 A friend has an extra MIKA ticket for Tuesday. Life is good. #
- 17:24 Mom's dog has the brain worms. What they're eating, god only knows. #
- 22:12 Yoga: 40 minute self-practice. I did a half mala (54) of sun salutations to celebrate the changing of the seasons. Happy Solstice! #
- 07:41 ROTD: Calm my mind #
- 11:38 Yoga: 30 minute self-practice #
- 14:36 @flamindice it's possible - I haven't noticed, but I'm away from home so I'm using mine less than usual. #
Signatures gathered: 0 (I didn't have the time or the inclination in the end - it was a long day of birthday partying before)
Scene: Main Street, Belleville. About as Midwest as you can get. Centered around the gay bar (!) in Belleville...
What are the gays like: Midwestern - I saw no trans people, mostly lesbians, very little body mod - very much "let's fit in" kind of looks. A fair number of students from the local university.
Reaction to the Petition: N/A
You're in Belleville moment: The woman who sold me my Metro East Pride T-shirt (!) was telling me & mom about the reaction when she moved into her subdivision in Waterloo (Waterloo would be comparable to Purcell (for the Oklahoma folk) or Los Banos (for the CA folk)). Apparently, the neighbors told them "There's another couple like y'all down the street." Can you imagine that? Not even the first lesbians on the block.
All in all, terribly affirming. Mom got a button with a bible quote ("Judge not, that ye be not judged" - Matthew 7.1) to wear to church. I got a Metro East Pride t-shirt, which I shall wear with pride.
- Location:Dupo, IL
- Mood: proud
- 09:49 Yoga: 40 minute self-practice. Really takes the edge off Mom & Dad's morning argument. #
- 10:19 ROTD: Take a photo of something beautiful #
- 11:42 Sold out: twitpic.com/7t1ii #
- 12:53 My passed-out nephew twitpic.com/7t8vc #
- 13:00 @Spud31 Waterloo wal-mart. I feel like an anthropologist. #
- 13:00 @artistictech beautiful is a funny word, I think. #
- 13:25 Mom's roses twitpic.com/7tcke #
- 13:43 Happy Shallot: twitpic.com/7temm #
- 17:01 21 cupcakes for E's birthday twitpic.com/7u2v3 #
- 21:28 Thunderhead over the river bluffs twitpic.com/7uyz5 #
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