Can I just say that I LOVE San Francisco? I mean totally love the place. If I could afford to live there, I'd be very happy, although I'm certain nearly all of my inhibitions and decorum would be shot to hell. Debbie, on the other hand, Ms. Puritanical New England, would be shitting a brick every 5 seconds.
After a nightmare experience with JetScrew (JetBlue) at JFK airport and a 6 hour non-stop flight, I landed at SFO at around 11:30 in the morning. Corbett had arranged an airport van to bring me to her house, where Robin and her PCA were packing to leave to go home to Denver after a year in Berkeley. Not a half hour after arriving, we all piled into Corbett's van and drove Robin and her PCA to Oakland airport, said a tearful goodbye, and Corb and I just hung out the rest of the day. She was emotionally drained and I was exhausted from traveling. We had a great dinner at a hole-in-the-wall restaurant under a bridge and called it an early night.
The next day was the SF Pride parade and festival. We both planned to be up early and head into the city, but Corb slept late, I didn't wake her up, and we got there towards the end of the parade. Oh well. The festival was incredible enough. We met up with her friend/ex Maria and wandered around a bit, looking at booths, and spent a good deal of money. One place was doing airbrush temporary tattoos and as we were looking at the designs and deciding what to get, another long time friend, N, and her partner M came by. All but M got tats. I had one of a pair of lips on my left breast and since I was in SF at pride, egged on by my friends, I simply left my shirt off for the rest of the day, at least until it got cooler. We had somehow inherited a few strands of parade beads and Corbett managed to put a string through and around my bra so it outlined my breast. She, of course, fixed it every time it fell off.
N and M are into S&M, something I'm definitely NOT into, but don't hold it against anyone who is...their life and choices and I can't, nor do I want to, dictate what consenting adults do. At SF Pride, there's several side streets that have been designated for different purposes or focuses. There's Women's, Men's, Family, etc and Leather Alley. Leather Alley is very well marked and allows people who might be triggered by the materials enough warning to avoid the area. Corb knows my history and was very concerned I might be triggered, but I'm not. I don't like it, but it doesn't trigger me. Well, N and M had expected and planned to demonstrate/perform crip S&M, but by the time we arrived, they were already tearing down the fenced and visually blocked area that they would have used. Since we had all been talking about it, they were quite hot and horny and nothing was going to stop them from getting some. They wanted to use my hotel room, but after I refused, saying I had to teach the employees the next day and who knows what they might have heard, we found a small alley/street and went behind a dumpster. Without the details, let me just say it was quite the education. Corbett, in an effort to not get too horny, make me more comfortable, whatever, was explaining everything they were doing and why and what she would do if she knew M and it was safe to get involved.
Not long afterwards, they all went home and I went back to my hotel room and, well, you gotta know I masturbated.
Inhibitions, decorum, shot to bloody hell. Welcome to San Francisco.
Sunday, July 08, 2007
Clearwater
Well, the Clearwater Revival went off with a few hitches, always does. I lost a few years off my life on this one.
We didn't have a confirmation of wheelchairs until the TUESDAY before Revival. That's right, 4 days before the festival I finally knew we had wheelchairs to loan, a MAJOR access issue for this festival. I found a few grey hairs and I swear it's because of this.
The festival itself was relatively smooth. The usual problems but nothing so out of the ordinary it couldn't be handled. In a new twist, one of my volunteers who was under 18 had a seizure and the paramedics wanted to bring her to the hospital. She's 16 and refused, but because she's underage, they had to have her guardian make the final decision. It took at least a half an hour to locate her guardian. She ended up not going and all was well.
The festival itself was fantastic. The weather held up beautifully and we actually broke the box office record. I don't know if that record is number of tickets sold or cash income, but either way, hot shit. We'll find out the numbers and whatnot at the post-mortem meeting, whenever that is.
As happens every year, I was able to connect with long time friends and meet many more. This year, volunteer hospitality was made even more hospitable when a friend of theirs brought a home made bar and proceded to make bar stools out of scrap picnic tables from the stump dump. The beer she was a flowin' and the weed she was a smokin'. I also finally introduced Brenda from Brahalla, the unofficial volunteer hospitality hang-out to the official volunteer hospitality crew. They're planning to collaborate next year.
Perhaps the best news is that the Board is FINALLY getting fed up with the festival director. Sure he may bring in a crowd, but he's an arrogant, self-important, takes-the-credit-for-everything prick. He even takes the credit for the ENTIRE festival. Including coordinators, there are roughly 900 volunteers who work their asses of prior to and during the festival, but he, of course, made it all happen. Yeah, answer your fucking radio during the weekend and we'll talk about how much you do.
Every once in a while, I'll actually try to talk to him as a person. I've learned that he's actually Mexican-American, grew up in CA and was the dark-haired immigrant kid that everyone picked on. He tried very hard to fit into CA world and American culture and basically got stuck between two cultures, not really fitting into either. Ok, so decent human being, just has a few issues. Then WHAM! Just when you think he's made progress towards being human, he shows his true colors and he's a prick again. I think I'm sticking with the "he's really a fucking prick" attitude from now on.
There's several hundred people, mostly coordinators and long-timers who are just waiting for the Board to finally axe the asshole. Party at my house when they do.
We didn't have a confirmation of wheelchairs until the TUESDAY before Revival. That's right, 4 days before the festival I finally knew we had wheelchairs to loan, a MAJOR access issue for this festival. I found a few grey hairs and I swear it's because of this.
The festival itself was relatively smooth. The usual problems but nothing so out of the ordinary it couldn't be handled. In a new twist, one of my volunteers who was under 18 had a seizure and the paramedics wanted to bring her to the hospital. She's 16 and refused, but because she's underage, they had to have her guardian make the final decision. It took at least a half an hour to locate her guardian. She ended up not going and all was well.
The festival itself was fantastic. The weather held up beautifully and we actually broke the box office record. I don't know if that record is number of tickets sold or cash income, but either way, hot shit. We'll find out the numbers and whatnot at the post-mortem meeting, whenever that is.
As happens every year, I was able to connect with long time friends and meet many more. This year, volunteer hospitality was made even more hospitable when a friend of theirs brought a home made bar and proceded to make bar stools out of scrap picnic tables from the stump dump. The beer she was a flowin' and the weed she was a smokin'. I also finally introduced Brenda from Brahalla, the unofficial volunteer hospitality hang-out to the official volunteer hospitality crew. They're planning to collaborate next year.
Perhaps the best news is that the Board is FINALLY getting fed up with the festival director. Sure he may bring in a crowd, but he's an arrogant, self-important, takes-the-credit-for-everything prick. He even takes the credit for the ENTIRE festival. Including coordinators, there are roughly 900 volunteers who work their asses of prior to and during the festival, but he, of course, made it all happen. Yeah, answer your fucking radio during the weekend and we'll talk about how much you do.
Every once in a while, I'll actually try to talk to him as a person. I've learned that he's actually Mexican-American, grew up in CA and was the dark-haired immigrant kid that everyone picked on. He tried very hard to fit into CA world and American culture and basically got stuck between two cultures, not really fitting into either. Ok, so decent human being, just has a few issues. Then WHAM! Just when you think he's made progress towards being human, he shows his true colors and he's a prick again. I think I'm sticking with the "he's really a fucking prick" attitude from now on.
There's several hundred people, mostly coordinators and long-timers who are just waiting for the Board to finally axe the asshole. Party at my house when they do.
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