I'm so not about to make any proclamations that I'm blogging again.

However, the last few weeks have been odd.  I've been finding many many old friends from the LSU days through Facebook.   It's a bit exciting.

If I'm sure of one thing, it's that I had some amazing friends over the years and they've all grown into pretty cool adults.

It's pretty crazy to skip over 15 or 20 years of a person's life and then reconnect.   When I knew most of them last, they were young and fearless, ready to take on the world.   But, also, mostly single and poor.  

The success I see in all of their lives is pretty gratifying.   As is their own happiness at mine.

It's a pretty eclectic mix of people...   The Baptist Student Union people whose lives I walked out of as I entered the coming out process and discovered who I was and who I wanted to be....  The Xanthus/after-party crowd i partied my ass with...   And Monica and Karen, who I to this day adore ever so much and can't wait to see again...

I'm not sure what the point of this post is beyond melancholy and reminiscence.   But, geez, I really had some great people in my life along the way...

Oh... ok, and I totally promise to blog the hell out of Australia!   So, I guess I lied at the top!  19 days and counting...

Dear San Francisco (and surrounding areas),

I love you dearly.  I've been so many times and had such an amazing time each time I've visited.  I truly believe you're a king among cities.   The shopping (one of my great loves), the people, the views, the culture, the food....   all beautiful in their own ways.

I've been to several of your great restaurants and I'm so looking forward some day to dining at Chez Panisse, The French Laundry and several other wonderful places.

I've been dying to buy a Nice Collective jacket in one of the many Bay area stores that stock them for a couple of years.

I love strolling through the Castro, the Mission, North Beach and so many other neighborhoods.

I love discovering new flavors of gelato at Naia.

And, I was definitely planning on putting you back on the vacation roster for next year.

However...  Proposition 8 passed.

I know it's not your fault.  You (as a city) supported it.  I realize that you must be crushed in its defeat.

However...  I simply can't spend money in California for the foreseeable future.  I guess you're gonna kind of have to learn to know what my life is like as a gay liberal living in Louisiana.  I suffer much for the opinions of the majority of the people in my beloved state.   And for the last three years, I've suffered even more for the opinions of the people of my beloved city, recently named one of the most conservative cities in the country.

Anyways....  I really hope to see you again soon.  Please, do all you can to change the minds of your people and your state government.

I'm gonna miss you.   Seriously...

Ever so sincerely, 

Drew

So, we are well fortified for the next few days... lots of canned tuna and such, wine, batteries, flashlights, candles, bottled water, propane, etc etc.'

We're bunkering down with me, my partner Don and his mother.  There are also two dogs and two cats.   I refer to the cat that belongs to Don's mother as 'the evil orange beast.'  It's pissed off and prowling the house making grouchy hissing noises.   My lab/terrior mix, Molly, is mystified by her.   Perhaps a bit terrified.

Don's mother is in full diva mode.   I think perhaps she has us confused with the staff of a four star hotel.

This afternoon, 24 hours before the storm, we are going to do what you do when you stay behind for a storm.   We're having a party!   Well, we're having people over to grill food...  lamb burgers, moroccan shrimp, caesar salad, wine, etc.

Perhaps we're fiddling as Rome burns...

Shock of all shocks.... I think I'm going to blog over the next few days.

With Gustav bearing down on us, life may be interesting enough to share...   we'll see...

Over the holidays, Don and I made a trip to the Fire and Water Festival in Arnauldville, LA, because we found out that an old college friend of mine was going to be there. And old college friend, Jill Hackney, who is an amazing artist. She paints wonderful pictures that are abstract, yet not abstract at all of fruit. We had bought two of her small paintings last Christmas and we had agreed that we really wanted a larger piece by her. And we discovered a few months ago that her prices are moving upward rather rapidly.

So, we met up with her, hung out with her and wound up commissioning a piece from her. This one to be 4 feet by 4 feet. And it's ready!

Presenting our new persimmons...

Saint Etienne Xmas Songs!

21st Century Christmas

Through the Winter

I guess it's past time to post another song.

We're back in the 80s again.

There's one song that I totally relate to my whole coming out process. Obviously, I came out (mostly) in the 80s. When I went away to college at LSU, I was urged to become active in the Baptist Student Union. So, I did.

The first year or so of college was taken up by activities with the people I met there. One of the cooler people I met there was a little bit of a bad girl. Her name was Jackie. I remember driving across campus with Jackie with Lucky Star by Madonna blasting out of my car, both of us siging along. We also had a shared fondness for seeing movies at the Varsity Theater, just off campus, only half a block from the BSU.

So, we went to see this movie called Parting Glances. And this was the first really gay movie I ever saw. Boy, did I like it...

One scene that I still remember ever so clearly is when one of the characters is making a phone call from a gay disco and you can hear a song in the background that is the most beautiful bit of gay disco ever recorded to my ears.... and the song?

Bronski Beat - Tell Me Why (Full 12" Version)

It wasn't too much longer before I discovered Nieman's and Xanthus just a little bit further down the street from the Varsity and the BSU... and soon I was actually hearing this song from a dancefloor... and loving every second of it...

*sigh*

So... i shall blog about music.

I've been searching for a song online for months and finally found it a couple of days ago. It's a remix of The Unacceptable Face of Freedom by Test Dept. It came out around 1986 and it was a song that I would burn up the dance floor to on those rare occassions that I heard it played at Xanthus, the Baton Rouge bar my friends and I lived in every night of the week.

This song makes me insanely happy. It's a full on sonic assault with all sorts of crazy sounds that leap in and out of the rhythm just driving you nuts.

The Unacceptable Face of Freedom - Face 3