4th of July Weekend

Well, kiddies. It's been a little over 24 hours. All quiet on the parental front. Hopefully they're processing.

Allow me to fill you in on last weekend before this weekend sets upon us.

Well, the weekend was great. It was the Fourth of July (American Independence Day). we were throwing this barbeque at my house. I had been super stressed with work stuff and then my sister needed me to do this logo and brochure for her business and the weekends are generally taken up with Brandon since that is really the only time I get to see him.

So I was super stressed about getting my bedroom clean, as it is the passage way to the back garden and everyone woudl be waking through it. Also, Brandon had yet to see my bedroom. The roomies were busy preparing delicious fruit. We peeked out to see . . .someone else setting up int he back yard!!! Apparently our downstairs neighbors were throwing a themed costume party (blast! why didnt we think of that?) and had even gotten a keg! I guess we forgot to clear our little soiree with all of the neighbors.

It ended up working out great. We melded the two parties. The other party's guests had some great costumes. There was some great food, including a deliciously ironic three bean salad courtesy of Brandon (which reminds me I need to return his tupperware container) and a surprisingly mild gatorpie (avocado-key lime).It was also a great delight to see my painter friend, Claudia. She is one of my dearest friends and I haven't seen her since I moved to SF. She has been off in Pennsylvania. I don't know, learning Dutch or something I guess.

After the bbq, Brandon and I headed to Dolores Park to watch the fog and listen to fireworks (I think we saw a flash in the sky once). On the way to the park, we stopped off to visit Brandon's friend, MJ. I had never met her before and she was really nice. I think Brandon and I will hang out wiht her again sometime soon.

After the police kicked us out of the park because apparently it closes at 10pm, we had this truly delicious sundae at Bi-Rite: chocolate ice cream drizzled in olive oil and sprinkled with sea salt. I know some of you are grossed out right now, but honestly, it is not that revolutionary (or revolting) i mean, howmany of you have eaten chocolate covered pretzels? Anyway, it may well have changed ice cream for me. The other day I was having some mocha fudge ice cream and my hand twitched towards the salt mill. Only the fear of grossing out my roommate, with whom I was having a conversation, stayed my hand.

I digress. Brandon and I had another wonderful hot tub night after a long day and the next morning we had "the talk." It killed me that since we were both BYU alums we referred to it as a DTR. Actually, while I may have brought up the topic, Brandon was the one who labeled it a DTR. Anyway, the outcome of it being . . . Brandon and I are now exclusive boyfriends! Which made me very happy. I think it made me positively happy and giddy for the rest of the day. :) I just think he is great and wonderful and I am really lucky to be with him.

Later that evening we watched a fun, campy movie at this old theatre in the Richmond. I ts part of a series called Midnight Mass, hosted by this surprisingly affable drag queen, Peaches. I had my third run-in with an old painter friend of mine there. I keep promising to call him and I keep forgetting. I need to remember to do that soon. He is supposed to be heading off to Milan soon. HE does some rather interesting work in ink on paper with gender bending figures. One of his frequent subjects has in fact been Peaches herself. While I don't jive with most of his work, it is nonetheless intriguing, and I cannot deny the excellent craft behind it.

The next morning, Brandon and I had brunch at this nice little cafe-ish place right by my apt. We saw Wall-E, which was just great. Sooo cute and even a bit of a tear jerker (Yeah! I cry in movies! So what?!) My friend, Travis, was saying some people have criticized it for being too . . . well, for lack of a better word (it IS 2 am), being too pedantic about environmental issues and politics. I very much disagree. I think it was pretty much just a cute cartoon. Hey, if it got kids thinking a little bit more about waste and consumerism, about lethargy and being out of touch with real life and nature, then hey I think that is a GREAT added bonus. Then again, I am a crazy liberal who used to love watching Captain Planet, went to Eco-Camp, started a school recycling program, and listened to political talk radio . . . in fourth grade.

Anyway, Sunday matinee was followed by another sundae in the Yerba Buena garden downtown. It was beautiful. The sun was a beautiful golden ball of warmth and it just threw all of the cool, jutting sky scrapers into sharp relief. As is often the case in San Francisco, the evening was windy. For some reason, the wind has always been this very palpable reminder to me of God, almost as if the fingers and hands of God are running through my hair and embracing me, sometimes, when the wind is very strong or the moment particularly . . . right, I feel electrified by the wind as if the creative force of the universe has gained momentum on this speck of earth and is also coursing through me, catching me up in part of it, allowing me to be a part of it. It was windy. And golden. A reminder of the forces of nature with all of this breathtaking handiwork of men on display. More than anything, though what was so incredibly beautiful was that just past the reflecting pool and fountain, amidst the blue skyscrapers was the red brick St. Patrick's Church on Mission St. It warmed my heart; this house of worship, dedicated to good works and devotion to God nestled in this busy downtown area. I can't believe how much time I have spent in the downtown area and had no idea about this beautiful sight. It must be viewed from the terrace in the Yerba Buena Gardens.

Anyway, that was pretty much the end of the weekend. A blustering, windy evening with Brandon by my side. I did go to work, but I dont remember much of what happened there. :)

PS-I apologize for any gross spelling grammatical errors. My sleep schedule has been completely thrown off and so I had to resort to chemical means to induce fatigue and sleepiness. Having run out of sleeping pills, my solution was watermelon and Schmirnoff's (with a bit of ginger ale). Ugh. Not my first choice.