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30 June 2006
A long and busy month draws to a close. I am hoping to spend a relaxing
weekend: reading, tanning, resting, eating.
29 June 2006
28 June 2006
I had dinner with my country
cousin tonight. He’s all growed up now. We ate outdoors at one of those
French places on Belden Place and had steak with pommes frites and gâteau au chocolat (afterward, duh). We ate at the unfashionable hour of 6 p.m. I then took him on a little walk down to the Ferry Building.
I tried to explain streetcars to him. I also made him look into the slot on the
California Street Cable Car line to see the moving cable. When a cable car came by I showed him the wooden blocks that press
against the tracks to slow the car on steep hills. I drank rosé, and I wore my
crisp new lavender shirt from Thomas Pink (if you’re going to be the older gay big-city cousin, you might as well be
Gay about it, no?)
27 June 2006
It’s the 35th anniversary
of Stonewall.
I found out why the youth stood
me up on Saturday. It seems that he left his cell phone at the house of some guy he picked up at an “underwear party”
on Friday. The youth was unable to retrieve it until Monday. I don’t think I need to call him back to reschedule our
date.
 
25 June 2006
It was quite a long weekend.
I worked hard all Friday morning at the office. Dashed home, changed, and drove off to the Marin Headlands to help cook a
little dinner for 200.
Saturday, I got up early to hit
the farmers’ market before the tourists: sour cherries, zucchini, spinach, beef, and white irises. I made it to the
gym. I then got stood up by the youth on our afternoon date to see the BBC film version of Line of Beauty. I ran into a friend outside and let him sit in the seat I had been saving for the youth. I hadn’t known that
the film would be over three hours long (with the intermissions). Golly. We needed a drink and some grub, so we walked over
to Pizzeria Delfina (house-cured salami, a margarita pizza and one with braised radicchio di Treviso, fontina, and guanciale, and a few glasses
of Sicilian white wine). We left restored. We walked up to the Castro for ice cream (so much for my pre-Provincetown diet),
observed the Dyke March, and I bicycled home. The crowds for Pink Saturday at 8:30 PM were already too much for my sensitive constitution.
Sunday: It’s an even-numbered
year, so I skipped the Parade. I made it to the gym and headed home for a big family birthday party. I made a squash gratin
(cooked onions, a little tomato, basil, a layer of sliced raw squash, a few breadcrumbs scattered over, and a little dry Jack
cheese, the whole no more than 1-1/2 inches thick, baked uncovered in a medium hot oven for about 45 minutes. Pat it down
every so often. Serve at warm room temperature). My nephew and niece are getting cuter every day.
23 June 2006
The fog is back. I survived the heat wave. I’m going to be late for work. I have a date on Saturday afternoon with
the youth I met last Sunday at El Rio. Such a nice Southern boy. And I’m
cooking this evening at a beachside dinner.
21 June 2006
Celebrate the solstice.
19 June 2006
I am sorely missing my cufflinks.
I broke both pairs last week and have thus been reduced to wearing shirts with pedestrian button cuffs. Perhaps it’s
for the best. I don’t want to get a reputation for dressing like a gay San Franci. real estate agent.
Long day at work. I felt productive
but I spent the whole time on one tiny project. I was so busy that I had to reschedule my lunch date to an after-work date. Since we both had planned to go to the gym after work, we decided to walk up Market
Street instead of going for a drink. He’s very nice. A little young, maybe, but he’s grounded. He has a cute
Southern accent; he has lived here only nine months. We’ll see where this goes.
18 June 2006
Happy Father's Day to those whom it applies.
Farmers' market report: duck sausages, Bing cherries, strawberries, rhubarb,
and a Pullman loaf from Della Fattoria Bakery.
15 June 2006
Well, my darlings, it has been
a long day. It’s 11:30 PM. I just got back from a trip (for work) to the warm Central Valley. Who knew my job would
bring me to such exotic locales? I spent a long time in traffic, but I finally got a chance to talk to someone before he sat down to his usual supper-for-one menu of asparagus, caviar, and a half-bottle of champagne.
Flag Day, 2006
"Flag Day, is a day for all
Americans to celebrate and show respect for our flag, its designers and makers. Our flag is representative of our independence
and our unity as a nation . . .Our flag has a proud and glorious history. It was at the lead of every battle fought by Americans.
Many people have died protecting it. It even stands proudly on the surface of the moon.
As Americans, we have every right to be proud of our culture, our nation, and
our flag. So raise the flag today and every day with pride!"
In other news, I might be going on my first business trip for my summer job.
Not as exciting as it sounds, perhaps, because it's just to the Central Valley.
12 June 2006
All the extra money I made today
staying late at work will go to pay for the therapist’s visit I forgot about. Perhaps I’ll just tell him that
I was having an amnestic fugue.
The underground Municipal Railway
was having its own disassociative fugue tonight, so I lept out at Powell Street and took the F-line. I was proud of my problem-solving
skills until a large fellow who smelled of dried urine got on and stood right next me. His sexually ambiguous companion did
not seem to mind. Muni, how I love thee.
The Provincetown trip is mostly
lined up. Just a few more reservations to make. The trip to Vancouver is also coming right along.
11 June 2006
A few photos from my trip to Napa yesterday.
9 June 2006
A lovely dinner at Quince last night. We had homemade mortadella with gnocchi friti; lamb’s tongue with sauce gribiche and celery root; farro
rigatoni with squid braised in red wine; petrale sole with a prosecco beurre blanc; squab with morels and peas; and a Bing
cherry tart. And a nice German Riesling.
8 June 2006
Now that I am well into my forties,
as my younger sister likes to remind me, shouldn’t I be able to get myself to work on time?
I got a decent grade in one of
my hardest classes last semester, which is a relief. I’m still waiting to find out about the other two. Keep your fingers
crossed.
7 June 2006
A little evening walk through the financial district.
6 June 2006
Well, what kind of day is this? Faithful readers know.
It's election day. No time for updates, as I must visit my very slow polling
place in the neighborhood community center.
I have installed the Sony photo software that came with my camera, but I don't know how to manipulate
the images (and no, I'm not going to read the manual), so I can't upload anything.
4 June 2006
Farmers’ market report:
beef, apiums (third-generation apricot-plum hybrids). lamb’s quarters (a leafy green, Chenopodium album, which is considered a weed in some circles), strawberries, and
yellow lilies.
I finally bought a digital camera.
A little birthday present to myself. I’ll post some photos when I figure out how. I also bought some new underpants
(on sale at Macy’s). This has become a birthday tradition with me.
I went to a great party Saturday
night. 300 guests in an old warehouse that had been converted to an amazing house. DJ. Doormen. Go-goists. Handsome bartenders
and friendly folks. No real touching to report.
I got up at the crack of dawn
(four hours’ sleep) to go to the Central Valley for a surprise birthday party for my beloved brother-in-law. I drove
200 miles and crossed four bridges today (Golden Gate, Richmond-San Rafael, Carquinez, and the Bay Bridge). I had to have a little nap at the same time as my niece. We were both on the verge of a meltdown.
This week’s plans: rearranging
my travel schedule for Provincetown and Vancouver, work!, the gym, strawberry jam, and enjoying my newly tidy apartment (I
cleaned up Saturday afternoon just in case I had a drag back from the party).
1 June 2006
As I awoke this morning to the
dawn’s early light, it was so quiet and still that I could hear the fog horns out on the Bay. I went back to sleep,
overslept, and was late to work. I think I am more psychically tired than physically tired. I haven’t had much
time to myself to recharge.
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