Category: uncategorized

I didn’t ever get around to reporting on the Rufus show last month (among many other things), did I? Well, time to bring this out of “draft” status.

So yeah, Thom and I went to see Rufus at Lisner. Amazing. I was still in a daze for days after. First off, Rufus looked fantastic. So sharp and crisp in his suit with flower in the lapel. As usual, he was the belle of the ball, and sprinkled the show with hilarious little anecdotes, cracking us (and himself) up. He and the band took a little time to warm up (“Vicious World” sounded a little off to me), but they were hot the rest of the night. It was great to hear most of the songs with full band (especially “Gay Messiah,” which we’ve heard now and then with different arrangements). I’m sure Rufus is happy about that, especially given the care that goes into producing such lush sound on the albums; it must be a rewarding experience to reproduce it live. My only quibble was the sound that night. The levels were a little off, especially the background vocals. You could hardly hear the usually forceful backing on “Go or Go Ahead,” for example.

Still, it was great to get some of the older songs too. “Beauty Mark,” “April Fools,” “Grey Gardens,” et al. totally took me back to the early days. Okay, “early days” being only a few years ago, but still. “One Man Guy,” fantastic. “Nuits de Miami,” heart-breaking.

I ran into a bunch of my message-board peeps, before and after the concert, and we hung out by the stage door waiting for the man. Rufus was gracious as always. I told him “great show,” and had him sign my Want CD cover. Le sigh. Fantastic night, indeed.

Nick Kristof follows up on his recent Times column on gay studies with a piece in today’s edition (“Lovers Under the Skin“).

I hope that religious conservatives will ponder this question: If homosexuality is utterly contrary to God’s law, why is it so embedded in human biology and in the rest of the animal kingdom? […]

No force is more divine than love, and if some people are encoded to love others of the same sex, how can that be unholy? To me, the blasphemy is not in those who want to share their lives with others of the same sex, but rather in anyone presumptuous enough to vilify that love.

In other queer news, as you may know, the Defense Language Institute continues to discharge linguists for being gay. (Yeah, way to help win the war on terrorism.) Over the past two years, that number has reached thirty-seven. The Post profiles one of them (“How ‘Don’t Tell’ Translates“).

I’m packed and ready to head out to SFO for the return trip to Washington. (By the way, checking in online and being able to print boarding passes from your own computer is cool.) So yeah, I’m on the redeye. I’ll probably be a zombie tomorrow, but hey. It’ll be good to be back. Thanksgiving recap forthcoming. Up, up, and away!

Though, if you eventually become unaware of something’s very existence–like the things listed below–is it really ever “lost”? Anyway. This morning I went through the file drawer of my desk here in my old room, and decided to throw out a few things. It ended up being a lot of things–oh, so many ATM receipts and various incarnations of my resumé; maybe I should create some kind of collage–but some of the more interesting and obscure keepers are:

• boarding passes for the now-defunct Reno Air, from the trip Sandro and I took to Hollywood in 1999, for me to try out for Win Ben Stein’s Money. Remember that show on Comedy Central? Is it even still on the air? No, I didn’t make it on the show. Nor did I get to meet Ben Stein or Jimmy Kimmel.
• various Disneyland employment brochures, from when I applied for a college summer position at the park, which I didn’t end up taking. These include an employee policy manual, and one called “The Disney Look”: “As a Cast Member of Disneyland Resort, you are an important part of the Disneyland show… The following guidelines have been developed for consistency and to maintain the integrity and quality of The Disney Look.” It then goes into almost comically exhaustive detail on everything from hairstyle to wardrobe to jewelry.
• a yellowing copy of the San Francisco Chronicle from Thursday, Oct. 19, 1989, two days after the massive 7.0 earthquake.
• a few brochures for years-old audio-video technology. The Sony Mavica? In case you’re wondering, it started out circa the late 1980s as a digital camera that used proprietary two-inch floppy disks, but whose main intended display output was TV; computers didn’t even figure into the setup.
• two porn magazines I bought when I giddily turned 18.
• written in my handwriting on a torn corner of a sheet of paper, a mailing address for Stephen Sondheim, and next to it, the name of a teacher from my high school. I have no idea how I came into posession of this or what the personal connection is.

1. Do you like to shop? Why or why not?
Of course I do, silly. Well, to be honest, it depends. Once in a while I’m just not in the mood to spend hours on my feet, flitting from store to store. But most of the time, for me shopping (and not necessarily buying, mind you) is a kind of escapist activity, e.g., sitting down in Storehouse Furniture and imagining it to be my own fabulous living room, as Thom and I did last week.

2. What was the last thing you purchased?
Other than a last-minute run to Pak N Save for Thanksgiving groceries, the latest issues of Vanity Fair and The Advocate (whose cover story is on HBO’s adaptation of Angels in America, which I cannot wait to see) from Barnes & Noble the other night.

3. Do you prefer shopping online or at an actual store? Why?
For some reason I don’t shop online much, other than for things that have become e-commerce staples, like airline tickets. I guess I do like to go into actual stores and feel, try on, etc. whatever I’m considering. Kick the tires, as it were. And then maybe buy it online if I can get a better price.

4. Did you get an allowance as a child? How much was it?
Honestly, I don’t remember.

5. What was the last thing you regret purchasing?
Hm. Again, I don’t remember, which I suppose is a good indicator of my shopping habits? Though I may seem to buy a lot of things, I’ve become more picky over the last few years. I ask myself, does this shirt really fit the way I want? Can I get these shoes in a different color? Will I regret this in the morning? Heh. I love to buy things I call “investments.” Like that Kenneth Cole bag I got last week. Smart, basic. A good buy.

(Although, I think I carry this to an extreme when it comes to music. I never seem to buy “current” music these days, since I wonder how much I’m really going to listen to it later on.)

DALY CITY, CALIF.–I arrived at SFO last night without delay, thank goodness. I had a hearty dinner with my folks, and later met up with Subarna. We caught up over coffee and stacks of magazines–a beloved pastime–at the Barnes & Noble in Colma.

What am I thankful for this Thanksgiving? “So many things, really. The smell of jasmine. A kitten’s purr. In Style magazine. Telemundo” (Jack, W&G, “Homo for the Holidays”). But seriously, folks: right now I’m very happy with my life. I’ve been lucky, blessed, whatever you want to call it. I have my health, a decent job, a roof over my head, caring friends and family, and a wonderful boyfriend. I’m getting a little teary thinking about it. Life is good.

Lastly, to help us all navigate through the obligatory family holiday gathering, I leave you with the New Yorker‘s “Thanksgiving Rules Revised.” Funny, because it’s true.

Happy Thanksgiving!

[Update: Oh, and Tivo. Yes, I’m thankful for TiVo. Here I am at my parents’ house–sans cable and TiVo–and more than once, I’ve turned on the TV, wondered what program was on, and grabbed the remote instinctively looking for the “Info” button. Or tried to pause and rewind live TV. Alas.]

Yes, I’m still here. Things were busy at the office–we’ve been trying to get a bunch of work done before the Thanksgiving holiday. And we succeeded for the most part. But I’m done thinking about work. I am now officially on vacation! I leave for the Bay Area in a few hours–National to SFO via Detroit–and still need to get ready. Isn’t the day before Thanksgiving supposed to be the busiest travel day of the year? Oh, great. If you remember my little air-travel debacle this time last year–I don’t have all the earlier blog archives up yet–my outbound flight was delayed, making me miss my connection to the last flight of the day, and so I spent Thanksgiving eve stranded in Newark, N.J. I arrived in San Francisco on Thanksgiving morning, with almost twenty hours elapsing since I’d left my apartment in Washington. Anyway. I’ve since learned, and now choose flights earlier in the day. Knock on wood.

There are a few bits and bobs to catch up on, like the Rufus concert last week (which, for now, I will say was awesome), but further bloggage will have to wait until I’m out there on the left coast, where I’ll be, resting and relaxing, through next Monday.

I was channel surfing a short while back and stumbled upon the BBC’s Cash in the Attic. I recognized one of the presenters, and thought, is that… is it really? Yes, it’s Alistair Appleton! (This screen cap is from House Doctor.) I had such a crush on him back when he hosted an entertainment program called Heat, on the network Deutsche Welle, a sort of German version of Voice of America. “Aus der Mitte Europas.” I have to mimic the motto out loud. It’s a habit.

By the way, thanks to Seyd for rekindling the flame.