Archive for August, 2003

to http://www.ranchocicadaretreat.com/ for the ManScouts. i hope to be there before lunch, so i can make my sales pitch to them all at one fell swoop.

wish me luck.

i just came back from dmv, where apparently, as of yesterday, they will no longer handle in office vehicle registration renewals. all renewals must be handled via postal service or through their express deposit boxes, which are located in their branch offices. so, i put my proof of insurance and my check and dmv form into the provided envelope and dropped it in the express deposit. the man at the information desk informed me that i can expect to receive my new tags in approximately two weeks. in the meantime, the CHP is supposed to be giving everyone a 30 day grace period on expired tags.

so, i have to drive on expired tags for two weeks? i’m already freaked out about driving as it is without this.

there is a lot going on in my life right now, almost all of it revolving around money, or the lack thereof. i have to get my car registered today before i head off to www.ranchocicadaretreat.com for this weekend’s massage work. i need to launder a good portion of my sheets, too. i need to do a few other things.

i don’t know how i’m going to accomplish all of this today – i’m feeling like i’ve been bad all week, not doing what i need to be doing.

so, it’s time to get back on track.

Ronin – Samurai without a master

What would your Japanese name be? (male)
brought to you by Quizilla

now i’m not sure. i called david out at rancho cicada to confirm that i’m going to be there this weekend, and he told me that kip, the other cmt, was going to be there, which is weird, because back in june when we originally set this all up, kip offered me this weekend.

i called kip, but i haven’t heard back from him yet. bummer.

this weekend i’m going to be working at http://www.ranchocicadaretreat.com/ for the Man Scouts group’s annual get-together. rancho cicada is a clothing-optional retreat on 40 acres along the consumned river in amador county, just east of sacramento.

that is all.

When I was 13 years old, I bought my very first lp: the B-52’s Yellow Album. Yes, it’s true, the B-52’s turned me gay! Truly, though, they rocked my world and have been one of my favorite bands ever since. Everything that I did after that during my teenage years, the crazy hair colors, the odd combination of colors of clothes, the going out in the trenchcoat to the movies, and especially the dancing – oh, how I remember those parking lot dances I did at Garcia Bend Park – 200 drunk teenagers stopped dead in their tracks watching the tall skinny kid with wild hair spinning like a dervish on a speedball – all was influenced by this album. The only thing that has even ever come remotely close to filling me with such ecstacy has been my byzantine chanting, but even that is so wildly different that it’s not fair to compare them.

So tonight, I went to the California State Fair (http://www.bigfun.org/) to see my all-time favorite band perform. I had had so many opportunities in the past to see them, but for one reason or another, I never did. Tonight, though, I was determined to see them no matter what.

I had a later afternoon massage, and then I was heading out the door to get to my car and then the fair. Lovely Rita, my personal parking patron saint, was with me and I got a very close space even with only 5 minutes before the show was to start. The quick jaunt to the gate, paid my fare, and I was in over at the West Gate. The walk over to the concert stage was filled with turns and twists, as all these silly people with their strollers and their aimless stares impeded my progress to my Mecca. I started snarling at them to wake up and move! I think I made one woman wet herself! But the glowing stage lights drew me onward.

The trance I went into was indescribably beautiful. The sweat poured off my gyrating body, as I hopped and jummped, and did the Shy Turtle and the Hip-o-crit! Yes, Virginia, I actually know most of those dances named in “Dance This Mess Around,” one of the greatest songs ever written. Each song they played, and my dancing got more and more ecstatic, so much so that people stepped back to give me some space, even the CHP officers that were standing there to keep people out of the seating area which had filled up two hours before.

I did take a short break and it was then that I saw Marc D. and his two guests, whose names are temporarily escaping my mind. I hung out with them for a few songs, and then they took off to ride the monorail, since Marc was tired – he had worked all day, and was pretty beat down. I said bye to them and went back to my spot and started dancing again.

Their encore songs, “Planet Claire,” “Party Out of Bounds,” and “Rock Lobster” had me dancing like I hadn’t in twenty years. So free and loose and unselfconscious, carefree. I walked over to get some lemonade from the Hot Dog On A Stick booth and saw my three bears again at the roasted corn on the cob booth next door, so I walked up to them and hung with them some more, and we all walked over to a berm to sit down and waited for the fireworks to start.

Fireworks over, we all hustled our way to the Main Gate to get out of there before as much of the crowd as possible. Unfortunately, I was parked at the West Gate, but fortunately, there were these Tricycle Rickshaw-like things waiting out at the gate to ride you to your car. I decided that that sounded fun and fast, so I paid the guy 4 bucks and hopped on board. Whee! The rushing air was great and cooling.

I got in my car and drove on home, listening to the local public radio jazz station. I had all the windows open and the sunroof, too, and the air was wonderfully blousy on my skin.

What a great night.

supposedly, i was going to git on wit hittin’ the rack saturday morning, but right when i climbed back on in to rest, i got the call from gordo and headed on over. we went to the http://www.sacvalleybear.org/ event bears in the sac, the opening pool party. they had jeff glover and his partner, philip faggard, staying with them, as well as a newcomer, chris. he’s from fresno and gordon picked him up at the bolt friday night like the lost little puppy that he is. he’s quite attractive, though, and friendly to boot.

we went over to the pool party, and my new hair was a hit, as was the tattoo – the scenery makes it make so much more sense. the color will just complete it – hooray! i met several nice guys, got in a little kiss and tickle, and had a hot dog and some beans.

after about a couple of hours of basking in the glory of the pool and sun, we headed back over to chuck and gordon’s house to chill out there. gordon, philip and i went over to sam’s club to pick up the salad fixings for sunday’s farewell pool party and while we were there we also picked up a pork tenderloin and some wine and stuff for that night’s supper.

i placed the meat on the grill, and i made the glaze – a reduction of orange juice, garlic, balsamic vinegar, and dijon mustard. i turned out to be a hit, so i was happy. philip’s salad included some bourbon glazed macadamia nuts and a creamy goat cheese and some dried cranberries, and gordon made some scrumptious garlicky mashed potatoes. i almost never get to make the entree at these events so i was kinda nervous, but needlessly. my grandparents were restauranteurs, and cooking is in my blood, but still, with the weird nervousness i’ve been dealing with lately, everything i do is seemingly fraught with tenterhooks.

(  next stop, insanity )

sunday morning, chuck called me and asked me if i was coming over. i told him that i felt better and had just needed a good night’s sleep, which is the truth. when i get really tired, i feel much less in control of my emotional keel. so, back over to the cozy casa i drove, and found chris off on the rafting trip, and gordon and philip had already cut up my potatoes for the salad. i made a dressing for the potatoes of mayonaise, sour cream, bacon, mustard, celery. i dressed 40 pounds of potatoes, and bowled it up in four bowls and put it in the refrigerator. then i helped philip with the beans. i had already cut up the onions the night before and placed them in the beans, and he had been doing some seasoning of them, but he had made them too sweet, so i minced up some jalapeno and some green bell pepper and he minced up some garlic and we put those things into the beans so counteract the sweetness – that helped a considerable amount and the beans turned out fine.

people started arriving at 1400 but the main influx of men didn’t start until about 1600ish. the men from the rafting trip started arriving in droves and they were tired and hungry. the chicken was still being grilled, though. it hadn’t quite thawed enough, so it was being cooked slowly. we were about 30 minutes late with the start of dinner, but i finally got to ring the triangle and holler out to come and get it. almost instantly, a big ole line formed at the serving tables – there is almost nothing as fine as to see a big line of hungry bears waiting to eat your food; it’s very soul-satisfying.

the party kept on until about 2200, when the last of the stragglers left. i gave chris a standing back rub, and he fell asleep on me standing up, so i tucked him into his guest room. chuck had gone to bed already, so gordon and i went out and had our own little celebration, since we were still high from the excitement, and we got to bed at around 0130.

i woke up this morning and wandered out of the other guest room at the house and found chris watching the morning news, chuck had gone to work, and gordon got up right after me. we all went downtown to vallejo’s, a family owned mexican restaurant, for breakfast with seven other bears, for our own private farewell breakfast. i had chorizo con huevos y papas burrito, and it was scrumptious.

we bid each other a fond adieu at the place, and the three of us went back to gordon’s place, where i helped briefly with cleaning up the little left to do in the kitchen. i hugged chris good-bye, gave him my card, and said good-bye to gordo.

i got home, check my email, and headed in to the city, where i sit at bigjohnsf’s desk writing this. i’m thinking that i have a dinner date with a friend tonight, but i’m still waiting to hear.

i have a lot to think about.