photo album - san francisco 2002
The new year started really well and has continued to get better. In spite of more layoffs at work (including my boss), I seem to be doing ok at Digitas. The year has also been full of travel and excitement with James and I trying to pack in as many adventures as we can. |
|
The cruise left Miami and visited San Jaun, St Croix, Tortola (shown here), Nassau and then back to Miami. There were about 1800 people, mostly guys but also a few groovy dyke girls. As always the great attraction was the people that we met. The take away's from this trip were Bruce and Billy (from LA) & Jeff and Bill from Washington DC, not to mention the likes of Kevin and Mike from SF, Dave and Paul from Ft Lauderdale (their third, James could not make it), Jeff and Jacques from SF Pete and Pete from LA, and Greg from SF. With all the traveling we do, it is REALLY hard to stay in touch with everyone we meet, that is one of the reasons I (try to) keep this site up to date. But every now and then we get a chance to spend more time with the people we meet. |
|
 During
the day people sunned themselves by the pool or went on day trips to the
islands we were visiting. Most afternoons there were Tea Dances on the pool
deck, then dinner in one of the pretty good restaurants and then dancing
to the wee hours (but not sun up) again on the pool deck. |
|
 Jeff
from DC, Me and James on the last day at sea. |
|
 Bill
and Jeff from Washington DC. They are a great couple in their early thirties
who have been together for 10 or 12 years. We are hoping to get to see
them again in the near future. |
|
 They
guys looking up are Kevin and Mike from San Francisco. We had seen them
around the gym at home and then met them on the cruise. Making friends while
away seems MUCH easier than in a crowded work schedule, but we both try
to say hello to folk. |
|
 Jeff
and I at one of the Tea Dances. These were held each afternoon on the Pool
Deck. Each one had a theme like white party or sarong and they were just
about the most fun thing on the boat - apart from my boyfriend that is. |
|
 James
birthday is in March so as a surprise for him, his parents and I conspired
to get them over for a few weeks. They were great guests and we did some
more touristy things together like visiting Yosemite and Tiberon. |
|
 We
met Bruce and Billy on the Atlantis cruise and managed to maintain a friendship.
They are great guys who live in LA and NYC, but visit SF reasonably frequently.
They invited up to visit them in Palm Springs over Easter for White Party. |
|
 The
biggest win at White Party was meeting Gina and Erica - two girls from San
Francisco. Thank god - Girls at last. San Fran is a wonderful place, but
jeese you can fag out. In Sydney I was used to having a bunch of Dyke and
Straight friends - in SF it is a little harder. We see a bit of the girls
now which is great. They are too much fun to fit in a box, I can tell you.
This is Gina and I by the pool in Palm Springs. |
|
 Duey,
one of Bruce and Billy's dogs (the other is Elbee). They are great dogs,
well trained and smart. They mystery is that they are apparently Australian
Sheppard's - the thing is that we, as Australians, have never seen Australian
Sheppard's before. The Marketing Department strikes again I suspect. |
|
The rollover on this image will give you an idea of what the swell was like. Windy and rough, but we had a great day. |
|
At the time James was convinced that I knew everyone on the planet. This impression was significantly reinforced when he started talking to a random American while I was getting a drink it and it turned out that I already knew him. |
|
Gay Day was a pretty hard event to track down. Unlike Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras, it does not have a central organizing group. Instead there are a bunch of promoters who are all looking to cash in on the tourist dollars. Add to that the weirdness that Disney does not recognize the event (although Universal Studios, Sea world et al do) and you have something that is difficult arrange. After a few false starts we got some information from some friends and arranged to get to some of the events over the weekend. The following is a list of sites that could be of assistance if you are interested in going to Gay Disney. |
|
Saturday (after not quite enough sleep) we spent the day at Disney's Magic Kingdom. the minor political slant on the whole weekend is about viability. The idea is that everyone is supposed to wear a red shirt at Disney that day to show how many of the Other variety of family there are in the world. As you can see from the photos, there was a huge turn out. Disney was fun, but in a kind of kiddie sort of way. The sensibility of Disney was founded in the 50's and seems to have pretty much stayed there. The rides were gentle and fun, rather than terrifying. It is also not much of a social event - we didn't meet anyone, but the parties made up for that. After Disney, we went to the Atlantis Tea Dance which was quiet, but we met some good people including Jake from NYC. We went to bed at a reasonable hour that night after hanging around the pool with a bunch of folks from the Hotel. |
|
These big party weekends are always a little daunting. People are very friendly, but the acquaintances can be very short lived. While you meet lots of nice people, it tends not to develop into anything like a friendship. This time we lucked out with Jake and Mark. They are a couple of five years from New York and were so much fun to hang out with. With any luck, and in spite of the distances involved, we are all pretty keen to keep a friendship going. Sunday night James and I went back to Universal Studios where Mark Baker Presents was putting on a party at the Nickelodeon Studios sound stage. It was a very different vibe with lots of guys on the rides and walking around. The night finished up with dancing and then an after-hours at "Arabian Nights" which is usually a theatre restaurant that specializes in Buxom Wenches serving mead, quaffing of same and, get this, jousting. Monday we spent with Jake and Mark again boating on the Disney lake system
and then having dinner. |
|
 Tuesday
morning we got up and went to the Kennedy
Space Centre which was pretty interesting although most of the exhibits
are aimed at kids and are a little low brow. I did a fair amount of science
at school so I would have really liked to hear some of the in-depth stuff,
but it was great to see Discovery sitting on Pad B waiting for launch. Because
it had been delayed a few days, we were able to see the final preparation
for the Wednesday launch. Laying by the pool here in Ft L, we were able
to hear it breaking the sound barrier as it flew down the Everglades. |
|
This year we went along and had a pretty good time. The Pride organization holds a parade and then a big event in the Civic Centre in San Francisco. We missed the parade having gone dancing the night before, but the fair was great. |
|
He has since then moved from Edmonton to Vancouver and significantly upgraded boyfriends. Alej is a complete doll and suits Greg down to the ground. After a pretty tough year in 2001, Alej (who we had never met) emailed us an invites us to come to Vancouver for NYE as a surprise for Greg. I don't think I have EVER seen anyone so stunned when we walked out of the airport. Alej is all round a wonderful man and a fine addition to the family. |
|
The four of us try to get together regularly, although between us we always seem to be traveling. They are not only very fun, but also grounded, which helps a lot in this town. |
|
The smile pretty much says it all, although he seems to have NO CLUE how sweet he is. We are astoundingly lucky with the people we meet. |
|
I have no idea why these boys are not all settled down, but there seems to be a excess of commitment phobia around (David is not guilty of this). I am, it appears, for some reason pointing out my new dental work. Not sure what that was about. |
|
Enough said. |
|
The weekend, or at least the Thursday, after Pride was the 4th of July - American Independence Day. Arron and Olaf invited us to go with them to a pool party in Danville, about 45 minutes out of the city from home. |
In
January 2002 we took a cruise to the Western Caribbean. The organizers, 
I
met Sam, whose birthday it was (age undisclosed) when I came to San
Francisco in '97. J and I ran into him, quite by accident, at Mardi
Gras in '99.
At
the start of Summer 2002, James and I went on Vacation to...the Vacation
Kingdom in Florida. We had both always wanted to visit Disney and we figured
that Gay Day would be a good time to do it.
All
up it was a pretty great vacation. We arrived on Friday morning, caught
up on sleep and lay around the pool at the Radisson. Friday Night we went
to Beach Ball 6 at Typhoon Lagoon which is a Disney Water slide part -
LOTS of fun. 
On
the Sunday we met up with Jake and his partner Mark and spent the day
at Universal Studios Islands of Adventure. This is much more of the sort
of theme park that I am used to. The roller coasters were wonderful, the
Hulk in particular is the smoothest ride I have ever been on.
James
and I had planned to arrive in the US late year (2001) in time for 
Greg
and Alej were staying with us from Vancouver. We had met Greg in Sydney
some years before and stayed in touch.
Gina
Gatta we met with her delicious girl friend, Erika, in Palm Springs. They
both work for the 
David
is yet another example of the fine husband material wandering around free
here in San Francisco.
My
boyfriend has a big mouth - and he makes me laugh ALL the time.