3 posts tagged “vacation”

I can't believe how nicely my little 30-hr vacation fell into place. As usual, no problems at Long Beach airport. I was there with plenty of time to spare (it takes roughly 10 min to go from parking your car to sitting at the departure gate, and that includes checking in)... but it turned out that my flight was running late by almost an hour. I had picked my departure time pretty much at random and consider myself damn lucky that I selected a time that, even with the delay, didn't impact my ability to check in to my hotel and still make it to the Cirque show on time.

The weather in SF was not nearly as cold as I expected but dusk was just hitting so as soon as I got to my room (Hotel Maxwell) I layered up for the night out (wisest tip: tights under jeans). About an hour later, MissScotch called from the lobby. She's a pretty in real life as she is in her pics and twice as nice as she seems in her posts. I was amazingly relieved to find that, though gorgeous, she wasn't a 5'10" supermodel bitch.

We headed out and had a celebratory glass of champagne at a nearby restaurant/bar... my first drink since Sept 29. Certain not to be my last!!

We hailed a cab and headed off to AT&T Park and, after some confusion, hoofed our way to the Grand Chapiteau for the show. After a ridiculously long line, and posing for a souvenir pic, we got to our seats just in time for the pre-show.

The acrobatics in Cirque du Soleil's "Kooza" were AMAZING... seriously some of the best & most difficult stuff I've seen performed. The contortionists were simply ridiculous - bending their bodies all sorts of ways that should not be humanly possible. Have you seen the video of the freaky bendy European gymnast? She may have been one of the performers. I'm not sure. But that's how bendy they were (though a gazillion times more artistic).

There was a solo trapeze act (one trapeze & one artist) that was fairly death defying. The high-wire performance involved 4 artists on 2 high wires - though most of the time was spent with 2 or 3 artists on the higher wire. They used no safety lines, which I've never seen Cirque do before, and one performer very nearly took a serious fall (while I've seen "stunt" slips in some of the shows, this one looked like a genuine accident). He caught himself by his hands and I thought he was going to steady himself and drop to the floor - but he pulled himself back onto the wire and redid the stunt.

At intermission, we got drinks (I wanted champagne but this show didn't offer it), wandered around the shopping area, and checked out the photo taken of us as we came in. It was not good. But still, it was a fun night so I was gonna buy a copy - figuring a single would run $7 or $10 and was worth it for the "cheesiness" factor. But oh noooooes. The smallest "package" sold was two 5x7s... for $25. Big fat pass!!

The 2nd half of Kooza started with The Wheel of Death which was simultaneously spellbinding and scary as hell. The audience was gasping in fear early in the performance and it grew to screams as the artists just kept taking it up another notch - adding somersaults and flips and all other manner of moves that should not be performed on rapidly spinning tandem wheels - especially with no safety nets or harnesses. I simply don't have words to do it justice.

There were many more acts that I don't remember (the "balancing on chairs" act was not performed) - which is not to say the acts and show were not good. In fact, just the opposite - it was so much, and so good, and so overwhelming that it's hard to pick out specifics from the overall impression of "OH MY GAWD - I CAN'T BELIEVE THEY'RE DOING THAT!!" I'm especially happy that it made a good "first Cirque" for MissScotch.

After the show, in the parking lot, we ended up overhearing the most insanely funny conversation involving British accents and the repeated use of the words "hamsters", "gerbils", and "porn". Scotch and I made sure to stay near that group, to hear whatever snippets we could - and I found myself longing for a way to make these strangers my new BFFs... as they were clearly warped in just the right way.

Scotch suggested that we go dancing in the Castro and we headed to Badlands where, surprisingly, I had never been before. $2 cover... that's TWO dollars. Score!! And they had coat check... double score!! And I used their ATM and got an extra $20 (I assume someone before me didn't take all their bills)... TRIPLE SCORE... MEANT TO BE!!

Scotch had a bartender instantly fall in love with her and he made our drinks strong all night. We got our drunk on (HOW many lemondrops did we consume? Was it 1,000?!?) and our dance on (note to self, do NOT wear tights under jeans to a club!!). The gay boys loved Scotch and eventually got around to noticing me too. Some guy told me he liked my "rack" - which made me laugh cause there were girls with much more substantial offerings right next to me. Another guy just kept saying, "You're trouble!!" to which I would earnestly reply, "Yes. I am!"

I think MissScotch and I were considered some cute/fun/flirty lipstick-lesbian couple and, because we were clearly having a BLAST - both grinning ear to ear - we attracted a lot of positive attention from the men.

Of course, it was all over way too soon. Outside, Scotch impressed the hell out of me (as she did all night) by spotting some guy trying to jack a cab in front of her, yelling, "HEY... LADIES FIRST!!", mostly as a joke but causing the guy to actually apologize and move out of the way so she could have the next taxi. Soooo cool - that would never work for me!! She caught her cab and headed off into the night - back to home & her boyfriend (she lights up like Christmas when she talks about him. He REALLY is the luckiest person alive!!) - and out of my IRL life. Awwwww.... queue sad music.

Twenty minutes later, still standing on the corner but now with no cabs in sight (normal for bar closing), I remembered that I hadn't eaten all day and ran into Walgreen's to pick up snackage (I originally tried a pizza place but it was way too crowded). I headed back outside, finally caught a cab back to my hotel, showered, scarfed a little food, loaded up on pain pills (I guessed, correctly, that my knees would be hurtin today), and CRASHED.

The morning came way too early (fortunately, as always, NO hangover for me). Just before checking out of the hotel, I called Sean to see if he wanted to shop with me but he was still in recovery from his night out (Tori Amos concert) so we agreed I'd stop by in the afternoon. I headed to Chinatown and bought waaaaaaaaaaay more silk stuff than I had planned - some for charity, some for coworkers, some for me. I didn't even get what I actually went for - dark blue silk table runners to turn into curtains (I've been thinking of the design for over a year now. The runners are gorgeous and only $10 each - though, if you go to one of the stores at the "official" Chinatown entrance, the exact same runners are $99 each). The shop didn't have enough blue ones in the store so I'm supposed to order them by phone next week so they can pull the needed stock from the warehouse. On a fluke, I ended up in a leather store where I'm sure I paid more than I should have for a long leather coat (the price was totally reasonable but I think it's normal to haggle down - which I don't do). But I really liked the feel (VERY soft leather), cut and style - and am happy with the purchase so that's that.

I got to Sean's around 2 or 2:30 and he was zombified - watching TV while trying to recover from a cold & his night out (his friends said he went into mean drunk status so I'm glad we missed each other) while gathering energy to go to another concert tonight. We talked a bit, watched some TV, and he fell asleep. I was hoping he'd drive me to the BART station, saving me a lot of commute time, but his friend didn't arrive when expected so he couldn't leave and I had to take the bus.

I allowed 2 hrs for the airport commute and check in (I expected it to actually take about 45 min). Like last time, I missed a bus by less than 5 min and had to wait 20 min for the next one. By the time I got on a BART, I remembered that the ride into SF had been MUCH longer than the "20 minutes" Sean drilled into my head - more like 45 minutes - and that I still had to catch the airBART connector to the airport, which would be another 15 to 20 min. A quick number crunch later, I realized that I might miss my flight home - and it was the last flight of the night. I began to freak but quickly accepted that I had no ability to change whatever outcome was ahead and that I might have to buy a ticket on another airline (maybe even to another airport) or spend another night at a NoCal hotel.

A few minutes shy of 2 hrs after leaving Sean's (so much for the 45 min theory), roughly 10 minutes before my plane was scheduled to leave, I arrived at Oakland airport, ran to the JetBlue counter, and was told that my flight was closed. But, because JetBlue KICKS ASS they made some calls, "reopened" the flight, and checked me in. (VirginAmerica never would have done that!) I ran to the security check point, had an asthma attack, and fast-walked to the departure gate (naturally, the farthest one), silently cussing Sean and myself, and feeling horrible that a plane was being delayed because I didn't plan well (allow THREE hours!!) and am too fat to hustle. There were MANY stares as I boarded, huffing and wheezing, sucking on my inhaler, and sounding about ready to drop dead. The attendants instantly handed me a bottle of water - though what I really needed was an oxygen mask!

As I sat down and started hacking up my lungs (side effect of the asthma & inhaler - I'm sure everyone thought I was giving them TB), I watched 4 or 5 other people board over the next 10 minutes and I wanted to kick myself (and the counter attendant) for the earlier running. But... I'd made the flight, had a great seat (first row, window, empty seat next to me), and got to watch "30 Rock" and "SNL: Best of Will Ferris" on the in-seat TVs and laughed for most of the flight home. (note: I read that JetBlue is going to be adding in-flight WiFi next week.)

This getaway turned into one of my best/favorite vacations ever!! Short & packed with good experiences, it left me satisfied, never bored, and looking forward to doing it again.

Bonus: For those of you who wonder what MissScotch is like in real life, all I can say is: She's everything you ever imagined... and more... times 1000. GREAT things are in store for that woman!!

So, it's settled - I'm still flying up to SF tomorrow afternoon but am now arriving home at 7p Sat instead of 9p Sun.

The Maxwell Hotel (in Union Square, part of the same chain as the Hotel Diva, which I loved) said a one night stay is not a prob and let me cancel Saturday night. And since Fri was $40 cheaper than San, that saved me some good cash.

I don't understand how I managed to only pay $35 for my flight change when the website says the fee is $40 ($50 if you do it by phone) - but I did and I'm happy for that surprise. I'll take it as "a sign" that it was the right decision.

Note on the flight change: I tried to pay with my Visa card and got a pop-up for the "Visa Verification" system - where you create a password that is forever tied to that card for online transactions. In the past, there's always been a way to say "no thanks" and continue your purchase. But this time it was mandatory. I have a problem with that because, years ago, I enrolled in that system with another card and was never able to use it online again because I forgot the bleepin password and the system didn't allow for forgotten passwords.

I called my bank and was told that because it's a Visa "feature" there's no way to opt out of it. I purchased with my AmEx instead.

Perhaps Gawd is trying to limit my online shopping?!? If so, it will be successful - I refuse to use that verification system - I don't need yet another password to remember. Now back to our story...

So, no stress about trying to stay up all night, getting to the airport by 6am, figuring out where & when to meet a shuttle, or wanting to stay in the city but not having allowed myself any time to do so.

This will be fun. Just enough time in SF to want more. But not so much that it drains my bank account. I can live with that.

Since Sean is sick, and is going to concerts Fri, Sat AND Sun nights (I just learned this a few minutes ago), the revised plans are definitely working out for the best. We'll have a teeny bit of time together Friday evening and option of meeting up late Friday night (though I don't expect that to happen). I'll get to see Cirque - with GREAT company - and buy her drinks to drown her current annoyance. I won't have to worry about schedules or house keys. I'll have time for a meal and shopping on Saturday, possibly with Sean, then will be back on BART around 4pm to head home.

As an added bonus: I should be back in Long Beach a little after 7pm and could make it to the last home in the Long Beach Holiday Progressive Party (but probably won't do so).

So... now that details are worked out, I need to stop stressing, get off my ass and get dressed (3p and I'm still in pajamas), run errands, and PACK (a big benefit of the no-sleep turnaround trip was that it meant no packing). Though, I guess I really only need to pack a change of undies - anything beyond that is optional (what do I care if people recognize me wearing the same outfit for 2 days!?!)... so I should probably quit tripping about that too.

Sean was up first in the morning. He tried to make some trivial, polite talk but I was still MAD. VERY VERY MAD! So I didn't talk - simply waving him off.

Sean got in the shower and I heard footsteps inside the apt, by the front door. Cracking an eyelid (painful after so few hours sleep on an uncomfortable sofa while filled with booze, and completely dehydrated) I spy a very cute young man. I say hello. He says it back and sits on a chair next to me, putting on his shoes.

A few seconds pass. It suddenly dawns on me, and I say, "Have you been here all night?"

Yes, yes he (soon to be identified as Joe) has. So that's why Sean ditched me. Well, I can almost appreciate that. Abandoning me was still an a-hole move - but at least Sean had a reason. And a cute reason at that!

Once Sean was showered, he took Joe home - or back to his car - while I went back to sleep. When Sean got back, I started to bitch about the events of the prior night. Sean tried to play it off till he realized I wasn't going to let it go. Once again proving that NO ONE CAN APOLOGIZE TO ME, Sean counters with an attack. Everything is either Bradley's fault (Sean told him he was leaving with a trick. Unfortunately, Bradley instantly forgot that part); or it's my fault - cause I was talking to people other than him and cause I was being loud.

EXCUSE ME?? Did Sean just bitch me out for not staying with only him and for being loud?!? Well isn't that just the ultimate pot/kettle situation?

Realizing that the conversation is about to go into a zone of no recovery, I drop it. I'm hurt and disappointed - how could Sean put me in that situation? Why couldn't he skip the trick - agree to meet up with him after I left (in 2 days!)? Why didn't he watch out for me - as I have for him so many times?

But I'm mostly mad at myself. I have major self-control issues... how could I let myself get into that situation? How could I just let go and enjoy myself without carefully thinking through, and planning for, the consequences? I know better!

Of course, I also resent finding myself feeling that way. Why should I always have to be the responsible one? Why don't I pick friends who treat me as I treat them? Why don't I ever get to feel watched over, protected, and safe? (a tangent about missing Castilo starts here - but I don't realize it yet.) And why do I always take the blame? Why would I rather hold myself accountable for everything than to risk fighting with someone else? Why do I always gravitate to "mea culpa" instead of "victim"? Cause I've got no choice, that's why.

And so much for heavy topics best left for another time, and back to the one at hand...

Finally, we get dressed and head off to the Folsom Street Fair, otherwise known as...

Won't You Be My Daddy?

I decided to dress rather simple/neutral - black jeans, black bra, black S&M's-green tank top (black tank top with the M&M's green character modified to be a domanitrix).

Sean drove us to pickup Bradley, Rafeal, and Tony. Tony has a nice little office right at the entrance to the Folsom St Fair. Great - we have a hideway / recovery room - a great idea considering how freakin hot it is (SF was roasting, in the mid/high 80s, all weekend)!!

The streets are pretty empty as we arrive - probably close to 2pm. We set up in Tony's office, talk for far longer than I liked (I wanted to shop!), everyone but me finds their combo of alcohol & drugs (when did Ritalin start being abused as a recreational drug??), and I choose to stay sober and watch. There's simply no way I'll risk being a drunk in front of a nice hot leather man.

Speaking of which - this is where I first spied Gordon, the beautiful man in the photo. Mmmmmmm! So handsome that even as a crowd started to build, it would naturally part around him in awe! He was the first serious eye candy that I spied once our group was finally back down on the street.

A couple times, our group moved about 6" then stopped to regroup about something. The third time it happened, still within feet of the office, a wall of people happened to pass between us, I mumbled, "and I'm off!", and I ditched my group.

Unfortunately, the crowd on Folsom grew rapidly. Within minutes, the streets were too clogged to move. It was nearly impossible to see into booths as people stopped and gathered around various SM demos (usually live whippings). With pauses to photo the more interesting people (link to photos to follow), it probably took me an hour to go 3 blocks (felt like 3 hrs!). I was amused to see the latin olive oil exhibitionist from the Love Parade Fest again! I'm told he's a regular at SF events.

As fun as the sightseeing was, I became annoyed because, much like West Hollywood Halloween, there seemed to be more spectators that lifestylers. I kept thinking it would have been a hell of a lot more tolerable with Kim there to share comments and intrique and shopping.

I discovered the MasterBeats CD booth and must say, success agrees with "Bad Boy Brett"!! We met in the early 90s when we were both in telecom. The day he was hired, I told his boss (who I was crushing on) that he'd made a huge mistake. I was right - Brett didn't do a lick of work in 2 years. But we became friends and I enjoyed when he'd call from his boyfriend's pool, bragging, "My boss thinks I'm at a meeting right now!" Way back then, Brett made his first mixed CD for said boyfriend (mixing CDs being very state-of-the-art at the time) and, unknowingly, launched his new career. He now DJs at Circuit parties (a gay thing) across the country, routinely sponsors parties, and has a successful line of continuous mix CDs (check out SPF2006 - Summer Party Favorites. It's very good!). Very home town boy does good - club style. Good for him!

Brett was great to me (gave me a bonus CD for free) but gave total attitude to friends I brought over. They were annoyed. I thought it was funny... kinda fun to see someone else get ignored for a change!

Finally OVER the crowd, I found that a large side street had been turned into a dance area - complete with gogo boys in cages suspended high about the crowd via an industrial crane! The music was good but, more importantly, there was space to move... and a LOT of very hot eye candy!

While in the dance area, Bill & Joel (from Long Beach & Brunch Bunch) spotted me and said hello - and, most importantly, allowed me to follow them for the rest of the afternoon. As it turned out, B&J (ha, just thought of that!) knew ALL the hot leather men so I got to interact with a lot of the sexy tops I had previously admired from afar. As I explained to Bill & Joel, I only followed them for so long because I could see Gordon's desire for me and didn't want to make him sad (It's my fantasy, and I'm stickin to it!!)... I'm generous like that.

The next thing I knew, the crowds were thinning and the party was ending (shutdown was 6pm). I was finally able to peer into some of the vendor booths but, because most were run by successful stores, didn't find any discounts and only bought a souvenir t-shirt ("Folsom Street Fair. Consent. Submit. Indulge.") and 2 AIDS Ride plastic SM paddles.

Overall, it was interesting but there was no interactivity to the event. The closest I came was when some people, admiring Joel's rear, made eye contact with me and sort of egged me on to do something - so I bit said rear. A good move, if I do say so myself.

I eventually made my way back to Tony's office where Sean greeted me with a beer (my first & only for the day), and I got to hear a bit of "My Life With The Thrill Kill Kult" playing live (but missed their biggest hit, "Sex on Wheelz"). There were 2 new additions to the office - a girl & guy from Brazil who were very nice and, as far as I could tell, as sober as me. I learned that breaking off had been the right thing to do as the group had largely "over partied" and spent the majority of the day out of the heat and in the air conditioned office.

But don't think over partying means the end of it. Oh no! I think we spent at least 2 more hours in the office with me watching the group take something, counter it with something else, counter that with a third, and then start the entire process over again (I just don't get it!). The sun set and the sky turned dark as I watched crews clean up the streets.

Eventually, it was back to the Castro (8pm? 9pm?) to go to another bar, this time "Moby Dick". I sat around, surpised to realize I no longer felt "at home" in gay bars - which used to be the only place did feel at home. I missed Miss Kitty's - with it's diverse and interactive people and "if it's good for you, it's good for us" vibe. Some guy ("Paul") used me to get an intro to Bradley and they talked for awhile, eventually make plans to meet up again later in the week. Sean ran into someone he knew and we were soon off for his house - with the guy (another Joe) meeting us there for an overnighter with Sean (would it really have been so hard to give up guys for 2 nights?!?)

I asked Sean how Joe was going to feel about me being at the house when he got there. Sean said he'd told Joe the situation and all was cool - but I didn't believe it. Sure enough, Joe gave me tons of attitude. I think he thought I was just a friend who was too stupid to go home and, thereby, keeping him from sex. When Bradley & Sean went outside to smoke, I told Joe that I heard he had recently sold a website. He responded, "No." (apparently a lie) and that was the end of that.

Bradley eventually left and Sean & Joe adjourned to Sean's bed (did I mention this is an oddly shaped studio apt?) while I watched TV and tried to go to sleep (physically exhausted but mentally wide awake). As I heard S&J fooling around (yes, Sean, I could hear you. Duh! And, no, I was neither offended nor jealous - but was a tad bit annoyed), I began to reflect on everything "wrong" with the trip. Which eventually became everything wrong with my life. Which became everything wrong with me.

I found myself, once again, missing the feeling of being safe & protected. I missed feeling connected... even for just a few minutes. I missed Castilo. A LOT. I'm proud of myself for not calling him. Especially after a long internal dialog about there being no harm if I dialed without ID display and simply left a message about missing the good parts - maybe he's wondered about me too - maybe I gave up to easily (was I supposed to fight for him when he ended it?) - maybe he'd be interested in getting together again... prob not (I even hope not because i want his other situation to work out for his long term happiness) but maybe - blahblahblah. Instead of dialing, I just got sad.

Sean got up around then and decided to watch TV with me, falling asleep sitting up but refusing to go back to bed because "I still have beer left." He eventually went to bed and I prob fell asleep 1/2 hr later - around 3 or 4am. And so ended day 2.