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Saturday, 31 October 2009 (the morning of the thirteenth night it all ends) 8:52am Heading out on Chicken John's big "It's the Great Pumpkin, KrOB!" Halloween bus trip. Wackiness, I suspect, will ensue. Marta's joining me, her first time on one of these trips. 11:51am Had some really excellent goat-cheese bread at Wild Flour Bakery in Freestone, which I'd never heard of. (The bakery or the town.) 2:54pm In Sonoma, getting the bus washed at an elementary school car wash. Sadly, they refused a payment of Venom Energy drink, fifty-odd cases of which were inexplicably dropped off at Chicken's place last night. 5:23pm The centerpiece of the trip is a visit to White Rock Vineyards in Napa. It's quite lovely. I've never been to winery before, or even really into the Wine Country. I don't get around as much as I should. Anyway, we're picking wine grapes, and eating a few of the grapes right off the vine. Quite yummy. 6:46pm Their cave is quite neat, filled with large barrells and many, many bottles. 7:26pm I just heard someone say It's getting cold. I should put on my gorilla suit. That's the sort of thing I love about these trips. 8:43pm Sometimes you just gotta ask yourself: when is the next time i'll get to stomp grapes in a vineyard under a full moon on halloween? Okay, it's technically a waxing gibbous moon, but the point is the same, as is the answer: probably never. Which is why Marta and I are doing it now. 10:41pm The Bay Bridge is closed, and it would be seriously backed up even if it was open, so Chicken dropped the majority of us off at the El Cerrito Del Norte BART. Like he said, the BART ride into San Francisco on Halloween will probably be our best entertainment value all night, and he's probably not wrong. It's predictably packed with increasingly drunk straight people in costumes, though I do find myself wondering where exactly they're all going since Halloween in the Castro is no more. When Marta and I arrived at Chicken's place this morning, the fellow who would later be wearing the gorilla suit answered the door. He seemed very...dismissive of us at first. I mean, he let us in, but he just seemed incredibly aloof and the way people tend to think hipsters are about non-hipsters (which is odd, because whatever else Marta and I are, we aren't non-hipsters). Of the course of the day he warmed to us, and by the end of the trip he asking us for relationship advice. It was an odd but pleasant character arc. Also on this trip is a girl who was in The Vagina Monologues with me back in '05. She recognized me before I recognized her. That's usually how it works. And someone else recognized me from reading at Bawdy this past March. It's surprising how often I run into people who were at that show. Makes me wish all the more that I hadn't bombed that night, but my energy was just all wrong. 11:58pm For our part, Marta and I ended up at The Power Exchange. It's a Fetish Ball night so we had to actually pay to get in, but at ten bucks a pop it was worth it. The new location is still going to take a while to get used to, but at least both Marc and Rhonda and other regulars are here, and one Sirius XM's dance stations is playing over the speakers so Marta and I are getting to dance. And, of course, there's plenty of sheer spectacle. It's been a good Halloween. sometime after midnight I realize it doesn't technically happen until the next morning, but damn, I'm seeing a whole bunch of Walks of Shame right now. We're heading to Phoebe, who's parked near Chicken's, then heading back to my place. | ||
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Friday, 30 October 2009 (in the early light) 8:20pm Okay, not definitely. I did make it to Rhiannon's to get my roots reblondified, but that was about it. I called the Pharmacy several times to find out if my prescription was ready, but every time I got a recording which said they were receiving too many calls, and to try back later. So, yeah. No thanks. Instead, I just went straight home. There are interesting things happening out in the world, and I'd be going to them—including an Ask Dr. Hal show which will lead into an all-night bus event which will then lead into tomorrow's daytime bus event—except that I want to be as healthy as possible for tomorrow's bus trip, so I'm staying home and warm. And listening to The Cramps, because it's the night before Halloween, and that's how Lux would have wanted it. | ||
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Thursday, 29 October 2009 (on the edge of obligation) 2:48pm Marta and I kept our Wednesday night date in spite of my addledness. We ordered Chinese, the first time I've had food delivered in a very long time, and watched a few episodes of The Office. And went to bed with clothes on, also the first time. No gym today. Tomorrow, definitely, hopefully, before Rhiannon reblondifies my roots. I also need to go to the San Francisco General Pharmacy to pick up my hormone refill. So, either way, I'm leaving the house. | ||
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Wednesday, 28 October 2009 (the road you choose) 6:20am Oh, boy. The first sore throat of the season. Might as well get it over with. And my body's still hurting. If I was employed, I'd probably call in sick. No gym for me today, in any event. As tempted as I am to go in an try to burn it out of my body, it's best to just relax and try to keep warm and stuff. 3:12pm Yep, I'm sick. More or less. My throat is sore and my body aches, and I'm fighting it back as best as I can. Yay hydration! | ||
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Tuesday, 27 October 2009 (a heart needs a home) 4:01pm At The Sea Biscuit, working on my Whorelover piece. I'm being productive, but the mocha isn't kicking in quite the way it should. And my body's still aching from yesterday morning, the first time I've seriously worked out in months. I guess it's going to take a while to adjust, and I'm pretty sure I didn't strectch properly. I did hit the gym this morning, though just to do cardio—Damiel said I should do the machines every other day the very most, to give my torn muscles a chance to repair themselves, which is how they get built up. Physiology is scary. 11:52pm Went to Pete and Sarah's to watch the final episode (so far) of Breaking Bad with them. Pretty soon we'll get to Battlestar Galactica: The Plan. | ||
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Monday, 26 October 2009 (down where the drunkards roll) 2:11pm I had my first-hit's-free appointment at the Y this morning with a trainer, Damiel. It's part of monthly fee, as is our followup in a month, which is the next time I'll see him. (Next time I'll be one-on-one with him, anyway.) Damiel showed me all the various exercises and stretches I need to do—mostly the same sort of thing I used to do with Raphaela—as well how to set up the various machines. They're all networked through a system called Fitlinxx, so all I have to do is enter my ID and the machine tells me what settings to use, beeps when I reach the end of the range of motion in either direction, that sort of thing. It's pretty neat, actually, and the only way I can possibly do it without having someone there to help me. Tonight, I work the door at The Dark Room for one comedy group or another. I need the money. 8:23pm Ugh. Of course, they start right off the bat with a man-in-a-dress joke. Because that's never not funny, right? | ||
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Sunday, 25 October 2009 (after years of waiting) sometime after midnight The new Power Exchange is necessarily different from the old one, being new and all. But it's still jarring. And I don't necessarily mean the physical location, which I of course dislike, but it just feels so different. The Cage (or what corresponds now to The Cage) is there on the first floor as soon as you walk in, for starters. In fact, that's probably the weirdest thing—thus far, it's basically two floors of open space. It's not quite finished, and Rhonda told me there are more rooms that will be opening once they're painted, but, yeah. It's different. Then again, I'm used to different, since my Mom and I moved so much while I was growing up. (That's also what's made me so resistant to moving in the last fifteen years.) I'll just have to give it time. Marta and I actually spent most of our time there dancing, because it's as good a place as any to dance. We went to see Big Fan this afternoon (which I liked a lot), and then to the Marsh Cafe to write. We parted company, and I went to The Dark Room for Bad Movie Night. The Hunger, to be precise. Man, I hate the hairstyles in that movie so much. | ||
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Saturday, 24 October 2009 (little blue number) 1:20pm Some hipster douchebag on a laptop (they're the worst!) was already using my table at The Sea Biscuit, so I'm at Mocha 101 instead. This location has been many other things over the years, including the Sunset Cafe, but this is easily the nicest, plus it has wi-fi. I'm looking forward to reclaiming my table at The Sea Biscuit next week, though. Meanwhile, if the website can be believed, The Power Exchange has finally reopened. Marta and I will investigate tonight. 7:22pm The police cars in The Mission are acting all spooked out. There must be an earthquake coming. sometime after midnight Yeah, it's going to take a lot of getting used to. | ||
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Friday, 23 October 2009 (how i wanted to) 5:30am Oh, sure, NOW the predawn skies are finally cloudless, a few days AFTER the peak of the Orionid meteor shower. 2:11pm Finally, some good news: I qualified for financial assistance at the YMCA, which means the means the membership fees are cut in half. Whew. That's going to make life so much easier. I still intend to use it like I was paying twice as much, though. 11:43pm Went to the gym in the morning, then to The Sea Biscuit to write (I've finally hit a groove on my piece for Sadie's Whorelover anthology, and it's going in a different direction than I expected), then to the gym again, then to The Dark Room for the final weekend of Tales And now home, hopefully to be in bed before midnight, so I can get up earlyish again tomorrow to hit the gym. This is the only way it works. | ||
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Thursday, 22 October 2009 (eli's coming) 11:59am Did my first hour at the Stonestown YMCA this morning. Felt more like the Liliput YMCA ('cuz I'm so much taller than everyone else there, see), the locker room is cramped and the showers are a bit spartan, but all that's okay. There's plenty of machines, and I can do what I need to do. Which I intend to do often. Meanwhile, I'm at my favorite table at the Sea Biscuit. Exercising and writing are two things I've been neglecting lately. No longer. Still waiting to hear back on both job leads. Not to mention from both the agent and the publisher on the book. A lot of waiting all around. | ||
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Wednesday, 21 October 2009 (angels turn to devils) 12:13pm Desperate times: I just joined the Stonestown YMCA. It's the closest gym where I can do cardio and not have to worry about parking. 7:32pm Marta and I are at Nippon Sushi in Pacifica. I knew we'd make it here eventually. | ||
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