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

So... I know I never post anymore... but... I've had a really busy relatively stressful last couple of months. And I haven't really been able to talk about what has been consuming most of my life of late.

But, I can talk about it now.

So... as of this week, I'm the Store Manager of the Large and Viewed as Evil by Many Corporate Bookstore that I work at... I'm still a little stunned by this turn of events myself.

Weirdly, I have Katrina to thank for it more than anything else. My store manager was pulled out of our store shortly after the storm to help with aiding employees of and helping reopen our two stores that were pretty much devastated by the storm. And he was gone for months. And we got grazed by a hurricane ourselves during that time. Evidently, I did a really good job of keeping things running well (not to mention saving tens of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise with my wonderful pre-Rita preparations).

So, yeah... that's my big news... Sorry, Dave, I guess I'm officially The Man now...

So, this morning, for some reason, I decided to sort through iTunes and make myself a playlist of a lot of my favorite old 80s synthpop, freestyle and um... 80s club tracks. One huge hole in my tracks was the lack of the singles by Secession. On a whim, I check out Oink and, sweet jesus, someone uploaded a torrent yesterday of the complete singles discography of them!

No other band defines my good times in the 80s better to me. I was obsessed with Secession throughout the 80s and once had a complete collection of everything they had ever recorded. I sold all the vinyl singles and their one cd off on eBay years ago, because I got a freaking fortune for them... well over $200 for the cd alone...

But... right now... I'm happily reliving a lot of good moments in Baton Rouge and Houston in the 80s... Fire Island is a song I totally associate with my first days going out to Xanthus in Baton Rouge. The two songs that blew the doors off for me when I first found this new world of crazy electronic synthy dancey goodness were Fire Island by Secession and Stranger by Clan of Xymox. I remember just going nuts on the dancefloor to both of them, total ecstatic dance moments... and this was before I discovered ecstasy...

And then there was Touch, which of course I owned on marbelized vinyl... this was the song that 'everyone' first really got nuts about over them... and it definitley introduced the direction that vocals in the future songs would follow. I boogied down to it too, but Fire Island was still my baby.

Michael was the next single... and I loved it... and could listen to it a million times more, but I remember thinking it was a bit too poppy when it came out...

And then... they released it.... THE SONG of the 80s... the song that I danced to EVERY single time I heard it... the song that the DJ at Xanthus played every time I went out because he knew I would harrass him until he did... still, IMO, one of the absolute godheads of synthpop.... The Magician. It starts with that little synthy sound... then the drums... then the beat... a little change in the beat... the absolutely perfected vocal style... orgasm on the dancefloor every time guaranteed... Oh Magician... how I still still love you ever so much... you'll never understand the joy you gave me...

Promise was next. I remember finding the vinyl single at New Generation on Florida Boulevard in Baton Rouge. It was their last great single. Great drum beats leading into those synths that just vibrated down your spine... but rarely did I ever hear it on the dancefloor...

I don't have as fond of memories of the next two singles, Sneakyville and Radioland... unfortunately... they really weren't that great... especially Radioland...

Perhaps... soon I'll write about THE OTHER SONG of the 80s... (Be My) Powerstation by St Che...

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We're home... we're tired... I'll blog about our trip tomorrow... but... there is one thing you must know...

This is the best ice cream EVER...

So... dinner at Gary Danko...

Overall, I thought it was a fantastic dining experience. The service was impeccable, although there was some sort of weird tension throughout the meal between the waiter and two of my friends that dined with us.

I had the five course dinner. I started with Glazed Oysters with Osetra Caviar, Zucchini Pearls and Lettuce Cream. It was a perfectly lovely start to the meal, but it didn't blow me away like I hoped to be with every course. I followed that with Seared Foie Gras with Carmelized Red Onions and Brandied Cherries. This was the point at which the meal began to blow my socks off. The one ingredient I was unsure about when I ordered this was the carmelized red onions, but they totally made the dish. It was utterly divine and the flavors all melded perfectly.

Next up was Seared Yellowfin Tuna with Blue Lake Beans, Piquillo Peppers and Pancetta. The tuna was sliced in small pieces stacked on top of the vegetables. Again, everything worked perfectly.

Next up was the dish that knocked it out of the park for me... Pan Roasted Bison with Fricasee of Summer Vegetables and Black Pepper Gnocchi. Tbis was just insanely amazingly fantasticly wonderful.

Instead of dessert, I had selections from the cheese cart and I'm a bit foggy about what cheeses I had... I know I had Roaring 40s, a cheddar, a goat cheese and something that I've totally forgotten. They were all good, but I think perhaps Marisol had a better cheese selection.

And lastly, I ended the meal with a glass of 1995 Chateau d'Yquem.

Definitely one of the most decadent dining experiences I've ever had...

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Not a lot of time right now... but SF is great. Blogger was wonky last nite and this morning so I couldn't post about our fabulous dinner last night. But I will soon.

The pictures below are of our day spent roaming the city with Richard & Jonno and our new friends Eric & Brian. Because, I know enquiring minds will want to know... the little hottie with his belly exposed is Brian.