Fun with Pride Weekend

Friday was unexpectedly sunny, so we had an impromptu barbecue at our house! There were burgers, potatoes, and fresh strawberry margaritas (made with my last bottle of mix from Fat Mama's in Natchez).



Tara was first to arrive:



Conor and Jonathan came by on their way out dancing:



Jonathan and I had three high-fives about various things. High-fives not pictured:



We also had a visit from a new guy who just moved here from Florida. He's the curly-haired fellow in the group photo. In all, it was a fine way to spend a Friday evening, plus strawberry-pineapple shortcake in a cactus glass!



For some reason, yesterday was the day to schedule an event. By the time the morning rolled around, I'd been invited to five: a baby shower, a magazine release, a graduation party, a birthday party, and Blow Pony. I was only able to attend the last two, as I have not yet figured out how to clone myself. Plus, with the World Naked Bike Ride going on downtown, getting to the graduation party would have been nearly impossible. Sorry Ed!

We celebrated Ori's birthday at The Observatory, which is in a cute little neighborhood enclave off of 82nd. The food was good, and the service was pretty amazing considering we were a party of 20. Nobody's glass went empty for more than a minute, and the waitress let us do as many separate checks as we wanted. It was pretty amazing. Once that was done, we headed down to Rotture for Blow Pony, where we met back up with Jonathan and Conor, as well as Matt and Ori who had followed us from dinner. This being Pride Weekend, though, the venue was jam-packed. We couldn't get back upstairs after going to the basement, so we went outside to check out the Sprockettes for a while and cool off. Back inside, there were some (not very good) performances, and my feet were too tired to make it until Leslie Hall came on. Defeated, Bobby and I took our old pathetic selves home around 12:15. Remember the World Naked Bike Ride? We encountered a casualty on our way up Holgate. On the corner of 28th stood three naked gentlemen talking on their phones. One was bleeding profusely. The other two were trying to flag down a passing cab. Not a chance, guys. The injury didn't look too serious, so we continued on home.

This morning, fortified by more sleep than our companions (who went to Montage around 3:00 a.m.), Bobby and I hopped the bus for the Pride Parade. I'm ashamed to say the last time I attended was 2003, when I marched with NOW-NYC in the New York Pride Parade. Oh well. The event has forgiven me, and I was pretty excited. The joy in my face is because I just watched the "Drag Race" (a footrace down Burnside featuring runners in drag, about 15 minutes prior to the parade) go by. Not pictured: the Human Rights Campaign t-shirt I bought in San Francisco last summer. It's under my coat. The morning was chilly.



Here are some of my favorite floats/exhibits from the parade:





And of course:



Back home now, I'm enjoying a quiet evening before this week begins. Somewhere between Monday and Friday, I'll be attending a birthday party, a concert, a goth wedding, and a karaoke bachelorette party. Is there any other way to live?