Monday, June 30, 2008

static

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

beers, queers, & cheers—pride weekend was in full swing. it's been awhile since my last pride festival: june 2004. in the past i've spent most of pride behind a booth trying to sell subscriptions, so it was a nice change to experience it as an on-looker. i met up with d & john downtown at around 10:30 am on sunday. the parade had just started. this was the first time i've seen the parade up close and personal. d was decked out in his bridal bear costume and was an instant hit. everyone wanted their photo taken with bridal bear. we were thinking about charging but never did. there were lots of children both scared and intrigued by bridal bear. one girl in particular with the curliest hair ever couldn't take her eyes off bb but didn't want to get too close. we made our way down the crowded sidewalk to the beginning of the parade. it was quite interesting to watch the behind the scenes action. everybody was in the spirit. i got to see margaret cho drive bye giving her best miss america wave. i hung out with bridal bear & john until 1 pm when i made my way to the bus station. before leaving i caught a glimpse of them marching with their float. so fun!

bridal bear

the next part of my day was spent at kate & suzanne's benefit/photo exhibit in mill valley. misty & i got there early to help them set up. they're gearing up to do some documentary work for glean. it was a great turnout. they each sold numerous pieces. how fabulous it was to see kate's work out on display as it should be. bravo to the both of you!

kate & her photos

and that my friends was just the ending to my weekend. it all started on friday when i attended one of the frameline films, worldly affairs, with kiki. i'm so glad i had an opportunity to see these shorts. two of them were defintely great flicks: the postcard & you, me & him. the postcard was by far my favorite. it could be cuz i'm prejuidice when it comes to all things korean. the short was pretty amazing. it's great to see south koreans making queer films. it was both funny and heartfelt. if you have a chance to see this short do so. you won't regret it. the theater was packed which surprised me since it was 3pm. i forgot how much the gays love their films and how big of an event frameline really is. after the film i hung out with kiki for a bit before the other film started. she was staying for the 6pm film. i wandered off into the crowded castro streets to meet up with a friend. we had dinner and chilled out watching some tv. we caught a show, speed grapher, on ifc. it was an anime show and quite graphic. i wasn't quite sure what was going on since it was episode 17. i'll need to look into it.

saturday morning i woke up at the crack of dawn. not sure what that was about. watched an episode of my life on the d-list, then started my day which consisted of laundry, shopping, etc. misty, jojo, & i headed off to concord around 2pm for scott's birthday bash. the weather was awesome. i was putting away the chips & various other snacks like there was no tomorrow. scott grilled a variety of meats. the twins & other little ones were running around wild. beer was definitely consumed. all around a great way to spend an afternoon. we left around 6pm [far too early but duty called] to head back to the big city for yet another party of a different flavor. this one was in honor of the dyke march. the hostesses lived in a prime spot for viewing. a highlight of the evening was watching some girl literally rubbing her fingers across the empty cheesecake plate in hopes of gathering crumbs. seriously!!! from there we met up with pevil, ms. b, & kiki for some drinking at the pilsner. the joint wasn't as packed as i thought it would be. eventually, john, d, & melissa made their way there, too. we never did venture from the place. the boys & girls were out in full force and so was the eye candy. i got a cavity just looking around. misty & i eventually left at 1 am. overall it was a gay old pride…

stay gold & be well…

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

angel of the battlefield

deery lou.
previously on the e-list…

i've been so preoccupied with my photo blog that i've been neglecting my first baby. well, truth be told, not much has been happening in my life. since returning to sf, i've turned into somewhat of a hermit. life definitely seemed to be more interesting abroad. sigh…i got a new haircut this week which i absolutely LOVE. first time ever to like a haircut. i was a bit nervous when she ignored my wishes to leave the top alone. "trim a little", she kept repeating. thankfully she did just that.

misty & i went to see mongol this week. if it's playing in your area be sure to check it out. i found the language to be quite beautiful. one never can be sure when viewing movies on historical figures but this one was quite good. immediately upon returning home i went to wikipedia and read all about genghis khan and mongolia. all i could really remember about him was that he was a ruthless warrior. i found another movie about him which i might try to watch. after all, this one only covered the early years. i did read that they were thinking about making a trilogy.

i'm gearing up for our summer session to start next week. we will be hit with groups of teenagers coming from all over the world. it's definitely going to be an interesting next two months. i started teaching new classes this week: level 5 & toefl. can i tell you how BORING toefl is! my sympathy goes out to those students who actually have to take this test. i practically feel asleep listening to the conversations in the practice test. snore! a couple of my students from level 4 kept asking me to come back and teach them. they said they missed me. how sweet is that. sometimes i question my ability as a teacher but i guess i'm doing all right. pride is this weekend and all the students keep asking about the parade. one would think that santa is coming to town. for most of them it will be the first time to see anything like that. here's to new experiences.

this weekend is pretty jammed packed for me. so much going on and so little of me to spread around. saturday i'll be heading to concord for huegel's birthday, then back to the city for a few parties. on sunday will be meeting d at the parade for some morning festivities. afterwards, i'm off to mill valley for butterbean's photo exhibition & benefit. can't wait to see her work displayed. i'm so glad to be back so i can be there to support her. that about does it for me. i'll try to keep up with my blogging.

stay gold & be well…

Monday, June 16, 2008

ticket to immortality

deery lou.
previously on the e-list…

i knew it what it was TRUE! now the universe will be a much happier place. long live the unicorn!

stay gold & be well…

Thursday, June 12, 2008

the masses are asses

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

my new favorite blog. if photos inspire you, check it out here.
a sample…



stay gold & be well…

Sunday, June 08, 2008

heaven tonight

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

nature hates me! i first realized this back in april 2004 when i was attack by a cactus. literally a cactus ball came out of nowhere and embedded itself into my leg. my leg swelled and i had a giant bruise. while out in golden gate park today i got attacked by nature again. this time it was by some unforeseen flying creature. i did hear it buzzing about right before it stung my face. i suspected it was a bee but perhaps it was a wasp. who knows. thankfully i had an iced coffee with me to apply to the fresh wound. it hurt. the flying creatures came out of nowhere. most likely they were hiding out in the tree we brushed by. this is what happens when i try to be one with nature. it spits back in my face. on a side note: i ran into one of my students in the park. she was glad to see me because she needed directions. hehe. got to love them.


i've decided that i will never shop at the radioshack on clement street. i stopped by there on saturday to ask some questions about hooking up all my electronics. the clerk kept insisting that i needed to buy all these extra adapters to make it work. i was quite skeptical and left not buying anything. i headed to the other radioshack on geary. they were a lot more helpful and didn't once try to "push" the extra adapters on me. all i really need were the right cables.

with cables ready i began to tackle the electronic project: connecting converter box, vcr/dvd, tv, and receiver. i didn't have much luck on friday so i was hoping i'd be more successful this time. i went piece by piece. two hours later i found success. my electronics were all playing nicely together. although for some reason i can't turn the tv on with the remote. but at least every thing is coming out in stereo. YAY!!!

the e-boat went to berkeley on friday. there were twelve students. pretty manageable, at least i thought so. the uc berkeley campus is pretty grand. i had to tell one group of students to pay attention cuz they kept lagging behind. two girls ended up getting separated from us. of course they were the same two i had spoken to earlier. to make matters worse neither one had a cell phone. this meant that i had to traipse across campus to find them. eventually i found them going in the opposite direction in which they were supposed to be going. the rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. i was joking with one of the students about a particular building being very famous. he told the others and everyone started to take pictures of it. the biggest highlight for them was seeing a squirrel and two girls in graduation attire. its the little things in life.

here's to another week.

stay gold & be well…

Wednesday, June 04, 2008

way beyond

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

may's photo theme is now up.
check it out: 20 red, 30 days

if you're curious to see my extra photos that didn't make the cut to the group go here.
remember if you'd like to join the group send me an email to let me know.

stay gold & be well…

Tuesday, June 03, 2008

coming around again

deery-lou.
previously on the e-list…

the butcher, the baker, & the candlestick maker—if only life really was like a nursery rhyme? early last week i busted some man trying to lift my wallet on the bus. i literally watched him unzip my bag and slowly try to remove it from the front pocket. the conversation went down like this:
me: seriously, dude. are you really trying to steal my wallet.
him: ah, sorry. i'm sick.
me: seriously. i think you can come up with something better than that.
he mumbled something else, told me i was a good man, and got off at the next stop.

thursday night we gathered at d&j's pad to watch the season finale of lost. sooo good. and i'm not talking about the wine and humus, hehe. some old questions were answered while new ones arose. although i have some issues with the finale, i do like the direction they're taking the show. can't wait to see what happens next fall.

on friday e-tours went to the haight. it started out good but somehow i managed to lose two students. they eventually called me. the conversation went like this:
me: hello
miki: it's miki
me: where are you?
miki: bus stop
me: which bus stop, there are many in the haight.
miki: [silence]
me: haight and what? tell me the name of the other street.
miki: i don't know.
me: is arisa with you?
miki: a friend.
me: what's your friends name?
miki: arisa
me: don't move we'll find you.
i passed my phone to one of the japanese students so we could find out exactly where they were. they had walked back to haight/central where we started our journey. i found them sitting on the stairs that lead up to the park. all was good. once i made sure all the students knew how to get home, i met up with misty at the 540 club for a much needed cocktail.

saturday was r.e.m. at the greek theatre in berkeley. misty had gotten me tickets for my birthday. yay! john, d, & kate also went. modest mouse was one of the opening acts. i was looking forward to seeing them again, especially now that johnny marr is playing with them. the venue was outside. as it got later it also got colder. we were in the lawn section but had a pretty good view. r.e.m. had a video show going on behind them which made it all the more interesting. i must say they still sound pretty good. on our way home we stopped at the original diner for some much need food. i chowed down on 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, 2 pancakes, and hash browns. hi, mr. piggy. oink. oink.



misty and i went for coffee on sunday. afterwards i headed to the grocery store. i stocked up on veggies and other healthy edibles. i actually managed not to buy any cookies or ice cream. i'm trying to lose a much needed 10 pounds. wish me luck. later that night i met up with and old flame. we hadn't seen each other for 7 years. it was great to catch up with him. the down side was that i drank way too much wine and paid for it on monday.

which brings me to monday night–misty, butterbean, hez, & i went to see sex and the city. i've never seen so many women at the movies before. i had a love/hate relationship with sex and the city. when it first came on i couldn't stand the show or sjp. it took living in korea for me to establish my new found love for both the show and sjp. i enjoyed the flick. it was definitely entertaining. then again, if you like the show there's no reason not to like the movie.

stay gold & be well…