Rich's Birthday Week - Well, I've been enjoying since last Friday night, seeing friends out and about.  Now I'm 37 (ouch!) - but that's cool.  On Tuesday, I met up with Samael7 at Martuni's after work- Sweet guy gave me Guerlain products he brought from Paris, Vetiver - a signature fragrance I've enjoyed for years.  Later I ventured to the Castro to see friends and revel.  There's a lot of visitors here this week because of these two weekends - Folsom Street Fair, the Love Parade, and finally the Castro Street Fair - whew!  This is a good time here in the city; the season is changing into sweater weather , and soon the time change will mark the holidays approaching - a time where I get to hang with my longtime friends and perhaps meet some new ones.

Footnote: Thanks Samael for a GREAT summer romance and I'm so glad we are friends.

Excellent Time in Hawaii !!! - My gosh, it was so great to visit Hawaii again.  I got back last Tuesday and had such a wonderful time relaxing, sipping tropical drinkies, splashing in the warm Pacific Ocean, enjoyed taking catamarans out on the water, visiting old friends and making some new, etc. etc.  Mark and I are good traveling mates - so everyday was an adventure. The hotel was kind of far from most of the action so I certainly worked off my Hawaiian cuisine day after day!  After a week of fun in the sun, I was ready to come home.  I certainly would make it a second home someday, but not too soon!  Check out these pics!

 

 

 

 

 

My Turn to Flee the City-

I've missed updating my xanga site for quite some time now, and it's time for my vacation with my pal Mark to Hawaii!! I certainly need a Mai Tai and a splash in the Pacific these days.

So much has happened in the past few weeks.  Samael7 is in Paris (I miss you but know you are having a great time) and we're both scheduled to return at the same day next week (Yay!)  I'm including a couple highlights of the past few weeks:

Sat, August 21, 2004

Samael, Jennconspiracy, and I got a chance to enjoy the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers a few weekends ago. I just love that place - it took nine years for it to be rehabilitated after a powerful wind storm severely damaged this treasure in Golden Gate Park

Here's Jenn taking a snooze in the warm sun as she waited for us to emerge from the Conservatory.

Here's Jenn and I in front of a dahlia garden outside the Conservatory.

Thurs., August 19, 2004

After 7 years, my sis-in-law, Socoro, and niece, Savanah (9), came to the city to visit me! It was one of the sweetest days I've had in a long time. We met up the the Hotel Monaco,  cabbed over to Fior de Italia in North Beach for dinner.

Oh course, Samael was a hit with Savanah!

Awwwh!

After dinner, we all walked from one end of Grant Street to the other through Chinatown and it was bittersweet as we said our goodbyes until the next time, and next time not so long.

August 17, 2004

This is Kona, an associate's puppy (mini yorkie) who I sometimes gets to babysit during the workday.  Naturally he is mischevious and playful at 4 months now.  Naturally I had to take some pics.

A comparison pic to a water bottle during his first visit.

Kona at play.

Close up shot!!

Thanks Tom for taking care of Rex while I am away, it'll be a vacation for him too!

Take care everyone until I see you or hear from you next - love,

Rich

Busy, Busy – So last Friday night, I met up with Mark at the Metro and cabbed over to South of Market to Tom’s Martini party.  We were a little early so we headed over to the Powerhouse for a drink beforehand (didn’t want to be the first ones at the party thingee) – Yeech, the bar looked pretty skanky in the twilight.  Anyways, we headed back to Tom’s place around the corner at an appropriate time – party time!  Tom recently bought a beautiful three level townhouse and is a gracious host.  There was about 8 different martini drinks offered and I knew a few people so it was easy to socialize.  Okay, Tom has quite a few amenities for the perfect party (except his hot tub wasn’t one of them that evening) but he did have this awesome massage chair and karaoke system that had some up-to-date songs. It played random scenic videos on the wall and a couple martini’s later yours truly had to partake! It was a great party and all of us had fun.  Check out the pics I posted!

 

The rest of the weekend flew by.  Saw Samael7 briefly on Saturday before he headed in the evening to see They May Be Giants with Jenn at the Fillmore.  Sunday I met up with my friend Sean in the Haight and we went to go see Kill Bill at the Red Vic and headed over to Trax for a couple beers (I reminisced how I miss the T-dances at the I-Beam).

 

Monday rolled around and I kept my silly ass at home after work and finally did some much-needed laundry (plus downtime) for the week ahead.

 

Last night I headed over to my violin repair shop to pick up some strings (I busted my G string last weekend – heh) and a new shoulder rest for my first official lesson tonight with Linda!  Returning to yesterday’s events, I met up with Samael at the Fly Bar for a beer and he a berry-infused sake martini for a quick wind down from the workday.  We were going to call for delivery for dinner at his place but he invited me to try Ethiopian food at the nearby Sawa Eritrean Restaurant – my first time.  The appearance of this restaurant reminded me of restaurants of the 70’s – velvet print wallpaper, dark lacquered beams, smoky glass behind the length of the bar and a popcorn ceiling with gold and silver glitter.  The restaurant soon filled up with its following and the proprietors were hands-on and friendly.  Samael returned from the restroom and asked me if I washed my hands (I thought he was just being motherly and polite) to realize there were no utensils to eat our food!  We leisurely dined and it was a cool experience.  Ask me what I ate? I couldn’t tell you, but maybe I can get Samael to leave a comment on this.

Continuously Learning About One Another – The weekend is almost here!  It took until yesterday for me to shake off lingering fatigue, I haven’t been getting good sleep with the streetcars continuously passing in front of my bedroom at all hours and work has been kind of slow, and the days have dragged.  Last night Samael7 came over after work and we headed nearby to Miyabi Sushi.  This was the first time we’ve had sushi together so that was a fun experience.  Samael7 is a vegetarian and was intrigued by the colors of my sushi, commenting on the rich red of the maguro and the golden glistening tabiko and so on!  Of course, plenty of sake was to be had!!!

 

 

 

We headed back to my apartment with a bottle of wine in hand, and played on the Xbox.  Samael likes to play X-Men, but I wanted him to practice on Halo, as I eagerly anticipate Halo 2 arriving in stores in November, so we played together as a team in combat.  There’s nothing humorous about war, but that doesn’t apply when it’s a video game and your foe are aliens, and I got a charge playing with my war buddy .  It was especially enlightening as to who was going to drive us around in the warthog and who was to be the gunner (I didn’t get to drive, but that’s ok, I don’t drink and drive.)

 

 

Tonite is Tom’s Martini party.  I’m thankful for Mark for picking up a couple of martini glasses this past week.  One less thing to worry about!!

Laterz.

Weekend Update – Wow, what a fun weekend <<yawn>>
Samael7 and I hooked up Thursday night after work.  Neither of us was in the mood to go out and dine, so we had the Sausage Factory deliver.  We watched a few episodes of Invader Zim and had a few good laughs! I look forward to seeing the rest of the episodes.  What the heck was I doing in 2001(?) that I never heard of Invader Zim until recent? 
I had full intentions to stay in Friday night, but I ended up meeting Mark at the Metro and there was a SKYY vodka event happening so it was a great opportunity to get some promotional loot.  These companies aren’t cheap with their promos; I’ve gotten some cool caps, shirts, shot glasses, etc. in the past and this evening didn’t disappoint. 

Saturday morning was beautiful.  I headed to Roland Feller to get my violin fixed which is located on the 500 block of Divisadero, and I met up with Samael and Jenn and we brunched, wined and traded thoughts and stories at Herbivore. 

I certainly needed a power nap afterwards so I headed back to Samael’s for an afternoon doze.

That night was Brandon’s 30^th birthday party a la Studio 54 style.  Rick D. spent the previous week making our outfits.  We were the Studio 54 “staff” complete with cocktail trays, glittering tank tops with the 54 logo, silver shorts and combat boots!  There were some other cool outfits – all in all it was a blast! Too bad we were locked out of my apartment Saturday night, so we trudged to Samael’s place, spent.

Sunday morning, Samael treated me to “Portobello Benedict” (his version of eggs benedict) and mimosas – heaven! Samael had to pick up his pager so we ended up back at my apartment on Sunday and spent the rest of the afternoon playing Xbox, and had Indian food from India Gardens for dinner.  This week I definitely need to put some time into my apartment, i.e. laundry and organizing my room!!  Friday night is Tom’s Martini party – and I still have to find that perfect martini glass for the event.

Thanks, Samael7 for making my lunchbreak fun, and welcome back to the city - yay!

Category VI - The Strange Attractor
Though you're not quite sure why, people are drawn to you like moths to a flame. You really are too cool for words.

What Type of Social Entity are You?

 

Fedex Update - I can't believe my violin was returned to me!  It never left the city!!  No reasons, no one able to give an explanation! Oh well, after all this, I'll just take it to have it repaired myself.  Welcome back home, violin!

Rrrarrgh - Fedex is great when you're sending a package but try your luck returning something damaged.  Customer service can't tell me where my violin is, or where it's going, nor why it hasn't left the city for it's ultimate location in Idaho  

 

Russian River Weekend – Wow, what a blast!  Rick D., Rich M., Mark and I took off from the city around 8:30ish in the morning <<yawn>> and it was smooth driving all the way.  As soon as we got to our destination, the Russian River Resort, we laid our towels on the best lawn chairs around the pool for maximum sunshine and a view of everything, before heading into the attached restaurant, “Aussie Tim’s.”  As soon as we were done with brunch, the sun broke through the overcast sky and it immediately started to warm up!  Before we laid out, we went onto the main street to check out the shops, as well as the weekend flea market.  I’m going to a martini party next week, where the guests have to bring a martini glass, so I was hoping to find the right one. I found that the shops had a few but wayyy overpriced   so I bought an overpriced tank top instead

I’ve been going up to the River with the Ricks for the past 16 years, and it was Mark’s first time, so we got to share some great stories of the past as we walked along.

By then it was time to catch some rays and we walked back to the resort.  I noticed one thing as we laid out - they’ve mastered the music around the pool (mellow in the morning, dance in the afternoon) and by the later afternoon, the poolside was filled with the crowd and the music set the tone (think Kylie Minogue’s video, Slow – nahh, not really.)

I saw two of my dearest friends that I haven’t seen since I started my new job, Wayne and Derrik, who are business partners as well as a couple.  My former company, Herth, opened a satellite office in town, so they joined us in the later afternoon for sun and fun.

Mark’s friend Rob unexpectedly came up so there were a few in our party.

It was back to Aussie Tim’s for dinner and by the end it was time to head back to the city – or so I thought.  Rob was staying the night and offered Mark and I to crash in his room there and a ride home on Sunday, so graciously we accepted as the Ricks headed back to the city.

The next morning, I was hoping for another day of sunshine, however it stayed overcast for the whole afternoon.  We walked around the main street again, took in the beauty of the river at Fife's, and stopped by the Rainbow Cattle Company for an Irish coffee before heading back ourselves.  We decided to take the casual and much more scenic route back along the coast.  We stopped by this cute roadside wine shop in Bodega Bay called Gourmet Au Bay where we sampled a few wines and sat outside and watched the seals bob, pelicans swoop, and small ships sail by – excellent!  About an hour later we were back in the city.  Unfortunately, Rex was the only one who didn’t have such a great weekend, so I’m giving him a lot of attention this week

 

Coming up this weekend – Brandon’s 30^th Birthday Party, Studio 54 style!!