Thank you, Michael Rosenbaum, for being such a stand up guy, for caring about your fans and for making my friend's day (week, month and year, probably!!). You have no idea how much respect and admiration I have for you now.
Mt. Rainier and Lenticular Clouds - Dec. 2008 copyright: JMM
September 17, 2008
A real stand up guy
Thank you, Michael Rosenbaum, for being such a stand up guy, for caring about your fans and for making my friend's day (week, month and year, probably!!). You have no idea how much respect and admiration I have for you now.
September 16, 2008
Alright already, I'm updating my blog!!!
I haven't had a whole lot to say recently, and I haven't felt "funny" either. I've been kind of retreating ever since Brian's lay off and Steve's heart situation.
But I received an email today from my cousin Cookie, telling me to get back on my blog. She must know that I'm Facebooking in every spare minute. OK, so she's right. I am. They changed the entire format of the site and I've been waging a war against the developers, along w/ some other pissed off people, all weekend. It will do no good, of course. What do they care if 5 million people want their old format back, when they have over 100 million who use the site? Fenwayspal will back me up on how cumbersome and confusing it is. Yet Holly thinks it looks neat and tidy. Ellen keeps cracking me up on her status updates; she ends each one with "....and I still hate the new Facebook." I toyed with deleting my profile, but I'd feel so guilty killing off all my virtual pets. And I've gotten back in contact w/ so many people from high school and college, and made new friends. So I guess I have no choice but to grudingly deal w/ the new changes.
No news on the job front for Brian. Nordstrom, a very hoity toity retail clothing/home store wanted Brian to work in their Workers Comp dept. The pay would have been comparable to Weyco. The hitch? It's in downtown Seattle, near Westlake Center. Ain't no way Brian's going to be commuting to Seattle. Driving is out of the question. There is a train, but the schedule is limited and it ends near the stadiums. He'd then have to take a bus, or buses, to get to Westlake. It's not convenient. In fact, I was the one that talked him out of it. He thought he could deal w/ it, but I KNOW he will be miserable. We did not move here so that one of us would end up working in Seattle. I just did not see him in the howling wind and rain of the winter, getting on a crowded city bus which then slogs its way thru horrific traffic to King Street Station, then getting on a crowded train for another 45 minutes to an hour, and he might not get a seat. At his age, and with his health issues, it's just not something he should be undertaking. I should know. I commuted by bus from Fairfax, in Marin County, to downtown San Francisco from August of 1993 through February of 1996. It sucked out loud. 4+ hours per day, round trip, spent on a bus. What made it worse is that my stop in Fairfax was at the end of the line, so after making the hellish trip thru stop and go traffic on Highway 101, we then got off on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. and stopped about 20 or more times in the 10 miles from the exit to my house, also in bumper to bumper traffic. Pro-mass transit people say, "Oh you can read or sleep!" Not when you can't get a seat. And reading/sleeping got old real quick too. I'd look up from my book after what seemed like an eternity thinking we were near the exit to SFD Blvd., and see that we were still creeping along in Sausalito.
I'm sorry but after doing the mass transit thing, I am wholeheartedly against it, unless it can deliver you door to door, the way MUNI did when we lived in San Francisco. My bus stop was on the corner of my street, and the 38 Geary dropped me off at the bus stop in front of my office building. One bus, straight shot. I could even take the express bus if I wanted.
We just don't live in a society that's conducive to carpooling or mass transit. They keep trying to shove light rail down our throats here in Washington and the people resoundingly defeat the measure in every election. Do they get the message? No. They put ANOTHER light rail initiative on the next ballot, only to see that fail as well.
Too many people have things to do after work, appointments, childcare issues, etc. People go to the gym after work, go shopping, schedule their dr. or dentist appts. Whenever I'd commute to SF, and I wasn't feeling well or needed to leave early, I had to wait till 4 pm for the first buses to start going to Marin County from SF. Anything before 4 pm took at the very least 2+ hours, and I had to change buses in San Rafael to get to Fairfax. Then there was the year that a fire broke out very near our townhouses. Brian called to say that he was spraying the cinders w/ our garden hose, but as our place backed up to a hill of dry grass, conflagration was a reality. It would have taken 2 or more hours to get home had I taken the bus. Instead, my boss, Catherine, stuffed a wad of cash into my hand and told me to take a cab, it'd be faster. It was. It was also $75, with tip. No thanks, I like having the convenience of a car, and so does Brian.
Steve's doing really well, but we think he's overdoing it. He has come into the office a couple of times, for about an hour. Everything's fine here. We're busy culling files for closing. We have boxes and boxes of paper that has to go to the professional shredding place. You know what they say, "Save a Tree, Kill an Attorney." But the office looks like a different place. I could kick myself for not taking before and after pictures.
I'll be heading to Portland on Friday morning to meet up w/ Julie for the 2nd annual BFF trip. I can't wait to see her!! Brian suggested I bring my laptop, since the hotel has free wi-fi, but I thought it'd be kind of rude to be on the computer when we're supposed to be spending quality time together laughing and chatting. Last time I checked, the weather was going to be iffy. It figures. It's been hot and sunny for the past 2-3 weeks, but of course when I'm going to travel, we get the ocean air pushing in.
Not much else is going on, except my abject fear that the "Sheeple" of America are going to vote for McCain, and he's one malignant melanoma away from that psycho, right wing, book burner Sarah Palin being our president. She scares the hell out of me. She's a very dangerous woman. I don't see the big attraction to her, just b/c she's a "mom". So what if she's a governor? Most metropolitan areas in the lower 48 have more population than the entire state of Alaska, which tops out around 650,000. It may be our biggest state land-wise, but it's one of the least populated. The Mayor of Seattle has more constituents than Palin does in her entire state. She tried to get a librarian filed when the librarian refused to remove books that Palin objected to. BOOK BURNER!!!! NAZI RIGHT WING BOOK BURNER!!! She couldn't care less about the environment and she's so anti-choice that she doesn't even believe in abortion for rape and incest victims. She's sick.
If she becomes president, she will make faith-based decisions, and this country was NOT founded on Christian principles. Our founding fathers realized that the separation of church and state was tantamount to the new country's success. Those lines have gotten increasingly blurred over the last few years. I do not see a hardcore Christian going toe to toe w/ North Korea, Russia or the middle east. In fact, it is my prediction that should McCain die in office, Palin will lead us into WW3 and we will face certain nuclear anihilation. We're on a slippery slope. Wake up and smell the latte, people. 4 more years of the same bullshit is not acceptable to me.
I urge you guys to go to this site and read this article about Sarah Palin:
http://www.redroom.com/blog/tim-wise/this-your-nation-white-privilege
I am hoping that it opens some eyes, although most of my readers think the same way I do. I apologize to my European and Canadian friends for the boring political post. Although I have a message to Canada: You guys should pay close attention to what's going on down here b/c we share a continent with you. The radiation & fallout is gonna blow into Canada. I hope that, if you do elect a new Prime Minister in October, or even if Stephen Harper prevails, that the PM does something to protect Canadian citizens from the runaway train that is America. We're out of control. SAVE YOURSELVES!!!! In 8 long years, we've allowed Bushco to completely gut the country. Someone please give him a blow job so that we can impeach him!!! Fat lot of good that'll do now, though.
McCain is a doddering old man. He's so fucking elitist that he doesn't even know how many homes he owns. OK, so his wife has money. But still. Millions of Americans are losing their homes to foreclosure and this guy doesn't even know how many homes he owns????? He has no clue about the internet; doesn't even use a computer. Yeah he was a war hero blah blah blah, but is he going to ride the Vietnam POW thing forever? It was 40 fucking years ago. MOVE ON.
(Kris, please don't take offense b/c I don't lump you into the same category that I put other Christian zealots like Sarah Palin. You are more open minded than most).
I received the following in an email from my former boss, Jim, in California:
"* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000
people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable."
So I'll be back with a new post after my return from Oregon, with photos!!
But I received an email today from my cousin Cookie, telling me to get back on my blog. She must know that I'm Facebooking in every spare minute. OK, so she's right. I am. They changed the entire format of the site and I've been waging a war against the developers, along w/ some other pissed off people, all weekend. It will do no good, of course. What do they care if 5 million people want their old format back, when they have over 100 million who use the site? Fenwayspal will back me up on how cumbersome and confusing it is. Yet Holly thinks it looks neat and tidy. Ellen keeps cracking me up on her status updates; she ends each one with "....and I still hate the new Facebook." I toyed with deleting my profile, but I'd feel so guilty killing off all my virtual pets. And I've gotten back in contact w/ so many people from high school and college, and made new friends. So I guess I have no choice but to grudingly deal w/ the new changes.
No news on the job front for Brian. Nordstrom, a very hoity toity retail clothing/home store wanted Brian to work in their Workers Comp dept. The pay would have been comparable to Weyco. The hitch? It's in downtown Seattle, near Westlake Center. Ain't no way Brian's going to be commuting to Seattle. Driving is out of the question. There is a train, but the schedule is limited and it ends near the stadiums. He'd then have to take a bus, or buses, to get to Westlake. It's not convenient. In fact, I was the one that talked him out of it. He thought he could deal w/ it, but I KNOW he will be miserable. We did not move here so that one of us would end up working in Seattle. I just did not see him in the howling wind and rain of the winter, getting on a crowded city bus which then slogs its way thru horrific traffic to King Street Station, then getting on a crowded train for another 45 minutes to an hour, and he might not get a seat. At his age, and with his health issues, it's just not something he should be undertaking. I should know. I commuted by bus from Fairfax, in Marin County, to downtown San Francisco from August of 1993 through February of 1996. It sucked out loud. 4+ hours per day, round trip, spent on a bus. What made it worse is that my stop in Fairfax was at the end of the line, so after making the hellish trip thru stop and go traffic on Highway 101, we then got off on Sir Francis Drake Blvd. and stopped about 20 or more times in the 10 miles from the exit to my house, also in bumper to bumper traffic. Pro-mass transit people say, "Oh you can read or sleep!" Not when you can't get a seat. And reading/sleeping got old real quick too. I'd look up from my book after what seemed like an eternity thinking we were near the exit to SFD Blvd., and see that we were still creeping along in Sausalito.
I'm sorry but after doing the mass transit thing, I am wholeheartedly against it, unless it can deliver you door to door, the way MUNI did when we lived in San Francisco. My bus stop was on the corner of my street, and the 38 Geary dropped me off at the bus stop in front of my office building. One bus, straight shot. I could even take the express bus if I wanted.
We just don't live in a society that's conducive to carpooling or mass transit. They keep trying to shove light rail down our throats here in Washington and the people resoundingly defeat the measure in every election. Do they get the message? No. They put ANOTHER light rail initiative on the next ballot, only to see that fail as well.
Too many people have things to do after work, appointments, childcare issues, etc. People go to the gym after work, go shopping, schedule their dr. or dentist appts. Whenever I'd commute to SF, and I wasn't feeling well or needed to leave early, I had to wait till 4 pm for the first buses to start going to Marin County from SF. Anything before 4 pm took at the very least 2+ hours, and I had to change buses in San Rafael to get to Fairfax. Then there was the year that a fire broke out very near our townhouses. Brian called to say that he was spraying the cinders w/ our garden hose, but as our place backed up to a hill of dry grass, conflagration was a reality. It would have taken 2 or more hours to get home had I taken the bus. Instead, my boss, Catherine, stuffed a wad of cash into my hand and told me to take a cab, it'd be faster. It was. It was also $75, with tip. No thanks, I like having the convenience of a car, and so does Brian.
Steve's doing really well, but we think he's overdoing it. He has come into the office a couple of times, for about an hour. Everything's fine here. We're busy culling files for closing. We have boxes and boxes of paper that has to go to the professional shredding place. You know what they say, "Save a Tree, Kill an Attorney." But the office looks like a different place. I could kick myself for not taking before and after pictures.
I'll be heading to Portland on Friday morning to meet up w/ Julie for the 2nd annual BFF trip. I can't wait to see her!! Brian suggested I bring my laptop, since the hotel has free wi-fi, but I thought it'd be kind of rude to be on the computer when we're supposed to be spending quality time together laughing and chatting. Last time I checked, the weather was going to be iffy. It figures. It's been hot and sunny for the past 2-3 weeks, but of course when I'm going to travel, we get the ocean air pushing in.
Not much else is going on, except my abject fear that the "Sheeple" of America are going to vote for McCain, and he's one malignant melanoma away from that psycho, right wing, book burner Sarah Palin being our president. She scares the hell out of me. She's a very dangerous woman. I don't see the big attraction to her, just b/c she's a "mom". So what if she's a governor? Most metropolitan areas in the lower 48 have more population than the entire state of Alaska, which tops out around 650,000. It may be our biggest state land-wise, but it's one of the least populated. The Mayor of Seattle has more constituents than Palin does in her entire state. She tried to get a librarian filed when the librarian refused to remove books that Palin objected to. BOOK BURNER!!!! NAZI RIGHT WING BOOK BURNER!!! She couldn't care less about the environment and she's so anti-choice that she doesn't even believe in abortion for rape and incest victims. She's sick.
If she becomes president, she will make faith-based decisions, and this country was NOT founded on Christian principles. Our founding fathers realized that the separation of church and state was tantamount to the new country's success. Those lines have gotten increasingly blurred over the last few years. I do not see a hardcore Christian going toe to toe w/ North Korea, Russia or the middle east. In fact, it is my prediction that should McCain die in office, Palin will lead us into WW3 and we will face certain nuclear anihilation. We're on a slippery slope. Wake up and smell the latte, people. 4 more years of the same bullshit is not acceptable to me.
I urge you guys to go to this site and read this article about Sarah Palin:
http://www.redroom.com/blog/tim-wise/this-your-nation-white-privilege
I am hoping that it opens some eyes, although most of my readers think the same way I do. I apologize to my European and Canadian friends for the boring political post. Although I have a message to Canada: You guys should pay close attention to what's going on down here b/c we share a continent with you. The radiation & fallout is gonna blow into Canada. I hope that, if you do elect a new Prime Minister in October, or even if Stephen Harper prevails, that the PM does something to protect Canadian citizens from the runaway train that is America. We're out of control. SAVE YOURSELVES!!!! In 8 long years, we've allowed Bushco to completely gut the country. Someone please give him a blow job so that we can impeach him!!! Fat lot of good that'll do now, though.
McCain is a doddering old man. He's so fucking elitist that he doesn't even know how many homes he owns. OK, so his wife has money. But still. Millions of Americans are losing their homes to foreclosure and this guy doesn't even know how many homes he owns????? He has no clue about the internet; doesn't even use a computer. Yeah he was a war hero blah blah blah, but is he going to ride the Vietnam POW thing forever? It was 40 fucking years ago. MOVE ON.
(Kris, please don't take offense b/c I don't lump you into the same category that I put other Christian zealots like Sarah Palin. You are more open minded than most).
I received the following in an email from my former boss, Jim, in California:
"* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're "exotic, different."
* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.
* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.
* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.
* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.
* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.
* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.
* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000
people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.
* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.
* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.
* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.
* If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.
* If your wife is a Harvard graduate lawyer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.
* If you're husband is nicknamed "First Dude", with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable."
So I'll be back with a new post after my return from Oregon, with photos!!
September 8, 2008
The "Sympathy Card" Goes a Long Way
I'm happy to report that Steve is doing A-OK. Debby and I went to the hospital this morning for about an hour to see him. We were both so relieved to see him sitting up, drinking coffee, with good colour and his sense of humour absolutely still in tact. Apparently he's been quite the cut up in the Critical Care Ward. He wants to go home now and may be discharged today, but he will be out of the office 4-6 weeks.
Meanwhile, we've been canceling everything on his schedule for the next month or so and formerly "difficult" opposing counsel have become extremely concerned to the point of offering their services if an emergency comes up in any of our cases. So our 3 regular "go to" attorneys have blossomed into 5-6 attorneys willing to help. Clients who were selfishly screaming, "ME ME ME ME IT'S ALL ABOUT ME" have been put in their place with the sentence, "Steve had emergency bypass surgery" and have all backed off. I tell ya, the sympathy card goes a long way when stuff like this happens.
Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayers. I am already much calmer than I was over the weekend (when I was stuffing my face with sugary comfort food). Seeing him sitting up and looking so good alleviated my worst case scenario pictures of him hooked up to machines and tubes.
Onwards and upwards.
Meanwhile, we've been canceling everything on his schedule for the next month or so and formerly "difficult" opposing counsel have become extremely concerned to the point of offering their services if an emergency comes up in any of our cases. So our 3 regular "go to" attorneys have blossomed into 5-6 attorneys willing to help. Clients who were selfishly screaming, "ME ME ME ME IT'S ALL ABOUT ME" have been put in their place with the sentence, "Steve had emergency bypass surgery" and have all backed off. I tell ya, the sympathy card goes a long way when stuff like this happens.
Thanks so much for all of your thoughts and prayers. I am already much calmer than I was over the weekend (when I was stuffing my face with sugary comfort food). Seeing him sitting up and looking so good alleviated my worst case scenario pictures of him hooked up to machines and tubes.
Onwards and upwards.
September 4, 2008
I'm running out of shoes to drop.....
And the fun never ends.Please think good thoughts, say prayers, send good karma, whatever, because my boss, Steve, went in for a routine angiogram and has to have open heart surgery, TODAY. You guys know how fond I am of him. I wouldn't work for someone this long if I didn't like him, and we are really like family.
I'm sure he'll be fine. The surgery is so routine these days and I think they do it w/ lasers now too. Still, you can't mess with your ticker. It's always a concern. It was just a bit of a shock to be blindsided with this news today, when we expected him to be at work tomorrow.
He'll be out of the office at least a month, and Deb and I are scrambling to clear his schedule.
Well, gotta run!!!
UPDATE: Surgery went well. He had a double bypass and one of the arteries was badly blocked. But the doctors are extremely optomistic.
September 2, 2008
A Rest Stop on the Information Superhighway
Sorry, I've been busy Facebooking and have neglected my blog. For one thing, I haven't had much to say. For another, not much has been happening since I got back from San Francisco. We spent the long weekend just kicking back, watching TV. I got all 150+ trip pictures put into my photoalbum, with captions and other doo-dads. I'm also studying all my Oregon maps and tour guides in preparation for the Second Annual Jo & Julie Take Portland By Storm Weekend, in a couple of weeks.
I did a bad thing over the weekend though. I'm so pissed at myself. I went on eBay. I saw. I bid. I won. Marbles. 2. Just 2. Shouldn't have done it but I got sucked in. Again. I really wasn't mad about the sulphide b/c any time you can get a sulphide for under $30, you gotta get it. It's the modern art marble that I should NOT have bid on, esp. not when it went over $100. But this sucker is gorgeous. I couldn't stop myself. And the name, "Madame Butterfly Deadhead Shuffle".... how am I supposed to resist a marble called "Deadhead"? I'm not quite sure why, but there is a part of it that does like the Stealie lightning bolt gone mad. Maybe he didn't mean "Deadhead" as in Grateful Dead fan-Deadheads, but I don't care. And Brian's no help either. Most guys would be all, "I'M OUT OF WORK AND YOU SPENT HOW MUCH ON A FUCKING MARBLE?" Nooooooo. Not my hubby. The second I won I was kicking myself, wailing, "what did I just do?!!!!". Brian's all, "oh well, don't worry about it". "We only live once and we can't take it with us. Who cares." That's his mantra when it comes to spending money; I'm the uber tight wad of the two of us. And this is AFTER I've already ordered an Oregon road atlas from Amazon.com, and needing another product to qualify for free shipping, I ordered not one, not two, but THREE DVD sets of Bugs Bunny cartoons. But all our fave cartoons were spread across Volumes 1, 2 and 3. It was a spendy Sunday to say the least. But I digress.
Brian's still looking for work and his demo from the studio sessions in Sausalito came out great. If you want to hear his commercial for Winchell's, click here
http://www.freeworldradionetwork.net/ShakedownStreet/ The audio link is the first blog post, dated today. Hopefully he will get some fill-in voice over work till he lands the boring 9-5'er. In the meantime, I'm absolutely SICK over the health insurance issue. The cheapest I can find is $377 a month, with a $500 deductible. Steve can cover some of it, but said he thinks I'll need to pick up some too, b/c he's going to have to compensate Debby the same amount. I don't think that's fair at all. For one thing, she voluntarily dropped off the firm plan to go on her husband's plan, years ago. I don't know if she was given extra money because Robyn and I were still on the firm's plan, but I don't think she was.
When Robyn left, I voluntarily went on Brian's plan to save the firm a ton of money, b/c I was the only one left on the policy. Now I have more of a need than she does for the insurance and he's going to just outright give her the equivalent of my insurance? I have to use the $ to pay for the damn health insurance bill, she just gets $300 a month richer. That's not fair at all. I told Steve that I need every penny of my paycheck now to pay the bills and can't afford to pick up the cost, so I'll have to go to the $170 dollar plan with the $1,000 deductible and no prescription medication benefits at all. In other words, unless I get into an accident, I'll never use up $1,000 in one whole year of doctor visits, while paying full price for all the meds. Steve doesn't want me to pick that crappy plan. So I'm very stressed out and upset about it right now. And this is just to cover ME. Brian won't HAVE any insurance AT ALL once his severance package runs out. Steve and I are going to have to discuss this more in depth.
So as I was on the MSN homepage today, I scrolled down and discovered that there's a Sagittarius daily horoscope on the page. It creeps me out that MSN knows I'm a Sagittarius. But I had to smile a little bit, because this is what it read for today: "As you take another step upwards today, dear Sagittarius, you may suddenly realize that there is a large portion of the mountain that you had previously unaccounted for. Perhaps this steep portion of the climb was not visible from below, where you started the trip. Do not panic. By overreacting to the unknown, you may lose your balance and go sliding down the face of the mountain. Instead, collect yourself, rest, and plan your strategy one step at a time." Well, the large portion of the mountain is of course the health insurance issue, and I had previously accounted for it, but the rest of the advice about not panicking and planning a strategy couldn't be more spot on.
Meanwhile, I drown my sorrows in Facebook for hours every day and enjoy swapping applications with my many new friends. That got me thinking about how these social networking sites have really made us into that "small world." It occurred to me that being on Facebook with all these people is a little bit like being on Dead tour. You are all coming from different directions, but all headed in the same direction. Now the blogging that I do, which once seemed so instantaneous, is more like a rest stop on the information superhighway. I pull off to the side of the road, check in with the blogs, then get back on Facebook and zoom between Newcastle and Australia for the virtual pillow fights I've been in with Alison and Julie, run up to Canada or the east coast to swap eggs with my many egg hunting friends, send virtual birthday items to my friend Louise in Manitoba, and take care of everyone's virtual pets on Pet Pupz, Pokey Puppy and The Hatchery. Louise in Canada, Jason in Seattle and I sent a round of Canadian beer back & forth on Friday to celebrate the long weekend. And Susan and I have exchanged a ton of great gifts too. My faves are growing gifts, hatching eggs and waterglobes. You have to wait a couple of days for the gifts to grow, hatch or be visible in the globes. It's so cool to see what your friends pick out for you.
The games are addictive as hell. My rock band, Kay Mart & the Blue Light Specials, is a level 49 "Rock Legend" band but struggling financially; but what great rock legend hasn't seen their share of lien times and poor business decisions? The private jet was a really bad idea. lol
My Pet Pupz Alsation, Sirius, is kicking butt with his training and competitions. My dragon, AbraxasToo is 23-32. I have over 3,000 eggs since July 1, and 21 out of the 22 limited edition/special eggs. I get a huge kick out of Facebook, I really do. I know that the virtual gifts aren't real and all, but it still makes me feel good to give them. I have always loved giving gifts and this is the perfect way to do it. You don't even have to spend any real money. Most of the applications just award you "hatchy points","treats", "green bucks", "puppy points", "vampire money", etc. and that's what you use to "buy" everything. It's awesome. And I LOVE the scratch tickets too.
In fact, thanks to FB, I hear from a lot of my friends more often, sometimes daily, and have gotten back in touch w/ people I haven't seen since high school and/or college graduation. I'm very much enjoying catching up with so many old friends, and meeting new ones too. That's because we are all playing on FB at the same time. The other day, I commented on one of the application message boards and mentioned I was from Bonney Lake. One of my FB friends, in Iowa, messages me within minutes that her niece and niece's family live in Bonney Lake!!!!!! And it totally tripped me out the other night when I was having the virtual pillow fight with Julie in Australia....it was 6 pm my time, but well into her workday the next day, yet we were playing in real time.
There's also an application on there that calculates where all your friends are, the average miles for me to travel to get there and how far away my farthest friends are. Care to venture a guess on who lives the farthest away, at 10,540 miles? Axe, Nush and Sir Ivan Bruce!!! I would have thought it was the people in Australia, but apparently S. Africa is farther away. I have about 124 or so friends, nearly half of them only play the egg hunter application called Hatchlings (although as time has gone on I've discovered I have common ground with several of them, like my friend in Manitoba). BTW, Tess, me and Susan miss you on FB!!! I know some of you guys have FB but don't keep up w/ it. But FYI, there are a lot of Vincent/Bobby things out there in FB as well. I'm happy to report that Kris and DH are on there as well!
Yeah I know, some people find it a colossal waste of time and all, but I wouldn't be doing anything at night anyway, except watching TV, so I might as well make some new friends while I'm watching the tube.
Welp, I'm just about done with my rest area break, and I received notification that I have to head back out on the information superhighway, to nail Alison in the UK and Julie in Aussie with virtual pillows and collect a hatching World Egg from my friend in Iowa. See you down the road at the next rest stop!
I did a bad thing over the weekend though. I'm so pissed at myself. I went on eBay. I saw. I bid. I won. Marbles. 2. Just 2. Shouldn't have done it but I got sucked in. Again. I really wasn't mad about the sulphide b/c any time you can get a sulphide for under $30, you gotta get it. It's the modern art marble that I should NOT have bid on, esp. not when it went over $100. But this sucker is gorgeous. I couldn't stop myself. And the name, "Madame Butterfly Deadhead Shuffle".... how am I supposed to resist a marble called "Deadhead"? I'm not quite sure why, but there is a part of it that does like the Stealie lightning bolt gone mad. Maybe he didn't mean "Deadhead" as in Grateful Dead fan-Deadheads, but I don't care. And Brian's no help either. Most guys would be all, "I'M OUT OF WORK AND YOU SPENT HOW MUCH ON A FUCKING MARBLE?" Nooooooo. Not my hubby. The second I won I was kicking myself, wailing, "what did I just do?!!!!". Brian's all, "oh well, don't worry about it". "We only live once and we can't take it with us. Who cares." That's his mantra when it comes to spending money; I'm the uber tight wad of the two of us. And this is AFTER I've already ordered an Oregon road atlas from Amazon.com, and needing another product to qualify for free shipping, I ordered not one, not two, but THREE DVD sets of Bugs Bunny cartoons. But all our fave cartoons were spread across Volumes 1, 2 and 3. It was a spendy Sunday to say the least. But I digress.
Brian's still looking for work and his demo from the studio sessions in Sausalito came out great. If you want to hear his commercial for Winchell's, click here
http://www.freeworldradionetwork.net/ShakedownStreet/ The audio link is the first blog post, dated today. Hopefully he will get some fill-in voice over work till he lands the boring 9-5'er. In the meantime, I'm absolutely SICK over the health insurance issue. The cheapest I can find is $377 a month, with a $500 deductible. Steve can cover some of it, but said he thinks I'll need to pick up some too, b/c he's going to have to compensate Debby the same amount. I don't think that's fair at all. For one thing, she voluntarily dropped off the firm plan to go on her husband's plan, years ago. I don't know if she was given extra money because Robyn and I were still on the firm's plan, but I don't think she was.
When Robyn left, I voluntarily went on Brian's plan to save the firm a ton of money, b/c I was the only one left on the policy. Now I have more of a need than she does for the insurance and he's going to just outright give her the equivalent of my insurance? I have to use the $ to pay for the damn health insurance bill, she just gets $300 a month richer. That's not fair at all. I told Steve that I need every penny of my paycheck now to pay the bills and can't afford to pick up the cost, so I'll have to go to the $170 dollar plan with the $1,000 deductible and no prescription medication benefits at all. In other words, unless I get into an accident, I'll never use up $1,000 in one whole year of doctor visits, while paying full price for all the meds. Steve doesn't want me to pick that crappy plan. So I'm very stressed out and upset about it right now. And this is just to cover ME. Brian won't HAVE any insurance AT ALL once his severance package runs out. Steve and I are going to have to discuss this more in depth.
So as I was on the MSN homepage today, I scrolled down and discovered that there's a Sagittarius daily horoscope on the page. It creeps me out that MSN knows I'm a Sagittarius. But I had to smile a little bit, because this is what it read for today: "As you take another step upwards today, dear Sagittarius, you may suddenly realize that there is a large portion of the mountain that you had previously unaccounted for. Perhaps this steep portion of the climb was not visible from below, where you started the trip. Do not panic. By overreacting to the unknown, you may lose your balance and go sliding down the face of the mountain. Instead, collect yourself, rest, and plan your strategy one step at a time." Well, the large portion of the mountain is of course the health insurance issue, and I had previously accounted for it, but the rest of the advice about not panicking and planning a strategy couldn't be more spot on.
Meanwhile, I drown my sorrows in Facebook for hours every day and enjoy swapping applications with my many new friends. That got me thinking about how these social networking sites have really made us into that "small world." It occurred to me that being on Facebook with all these people is a little bit like being on Dead tour. You are all coming from different directions, but all headed in the same direction. Now the blogging that I do, which once seemed so instantaneous, is more like a rest stop on the information superhighway. I pull off to the side of the road, check in with the blogs, then get back on Facebook and zoom between Newcastle and Australia for the virtual pillow fights I've been in with Alison and Julie, run up to Canada or the east coast to swap eggs with my many egg hunting friends, send virtual birthday items to my friend Louise in Manitoba, and take care of everyone's virtual pets on Pet Pupz, Pokey Puppy and The Hatchery. Louise in Canada, Jason in Seattle and I sent a round of Canadian beer back & forth on Friday to celebrate the long weekend. And Susan and I have exchanged a ton of great gifts too. My faves are growing gifts, hatching eggs and waterglobes. You have to wait a couple of days for the gifts to grow, hatch or be visible in the globes. It's so cool to see what your friends pick out for you.
The games are addictive as hell. My rock band, Kay Mart & the Blue Light Specials, is a level 49 "Rock Legend" band but struggling financially; but what great rock legend hasn't seen their share of lien times and poor business decisions? The private jet was a really bad idea. lol
My Pet Pupz Alsation, Sirius, is kicking butt with his training and competitions. My dragon, AbraxasToo is 23-32. I have over 3,000 eggs since July 1, and 21 out of the 22 limited edition/special eggs. I get a huge kick out of Facebook, I really do. I know that the virtual gifts aren't real and all, but it still makes me feel good to give them. I have always loved giving gifts and this is the perfect way to do it. You don't even have to spend any real money. Most of the applications just award you "hatchy points","treats", "green bucks", "puppy points", "vampire money", etc. and that's what you use to "buy" everything. It's awesome. And I LOVE the scratch tickets too.
In fact, thanks to FB, I hear from a lot of my friends more often, sometimes daily, and have gotten back in touch w/ people I haven't seen since high school and/or college graduation. I'm very much enjoying catching up with so many old friends, and meeting new ones too. That's because we are all playing on FB at the same time. The other day, I commented on one of the application message boards and mentioned I was from Bonney Lake. One of my FB friends, in Iowa, messages me within minutes that her niece and niece's family live in Bonney Lake!!!!!! And it totally tripped me out the other night when I was having the virtual pillow fight with Julie in Australia....it was 6 pm my time, but well into her workday the next day, yet we were playing in real time.
There's also an application on there that calculates where all your friends are, the average miles for me to travel to get there and how far away my farthest friends are. Care to venture a guess on who lives the farthest away, at 10,540 miles? Axe, Nush and Sir Ivan Bruce!!! I would have thought it was the people in Australia, but apparently S. Africa is farther away. I have about 124 or so friends, nearly half of them only play the egg hunter application called Hatchlings (although as time has gone on I've discovered I have common ground with several of them, like my friend in Manitoba). BTW, Tess, me and Susan miss you on FB!!! I know some of you guys have FB but don't keep up w/ it. But FYI, there are a lot of Vincent/Bobby things out there in FB as well. I'm happy to report that Kris and DH are on there as well!
Yeah I know, some people find it a colossal waste of time and all, but I wouldn't be doing anything at night anyway, except watching TV, so I might as well make some new friends while I'm watching the tube.
Welp, I'm just about done with my rest area break, and I received notification that I have to head back out on the information superhighway, to nail Alison in the UK and Julie in Aussie with virtual pillows and collect a hatching World Egg from my friend in Iowa. See you down the road at the next rest stop!
August 24, 2008
A View Above the Clouds
San Mateo Bridge & San Francisco Bay
I think this is Mt. Diablo in Walnut Creek, but I'm not 100% sure.
If you click on this one, you can see Mount St. Helens under that cloud.
Any time you see anvil-shaped clouds, then you know there are severe weather and thunderstorms. The night before I flew back, Western WA had been subjected to a terrible storm that actually grounded the planes. My flight was delayed over 2 hours.
Flying above the Chehalis/Centralia area. I think that's I-5 cutting across the bottom left corner.
I wish the weather and air had been better so that Mt. Rainier would have been been clear. Doesn't the cloud on top make it look like it's erupting?
We flew right above Hwy 167 and I was able to get this shot of the bottom of Lake Tapps and all the industrial parks that have gone up along the 167 corridor. Our house is actually somewhere in this picture, as we live less than a mile from the southernmost shore of Lake Tapps.
August 20, 2008
Donnie & Mike's Wedding - August 16, 2008
I met Donnie in 1990, when I worked at the Monadnock Building on Market Street in the Financial District. He was the gardener at that building, as well as many others in The City. He is also a Deadhead, so we were at lots of the same shows. I'd always stop and talk to him if he was in the building when I got there at 7:00 a.m. I used to run into him downtown during lunch too. But we didn't start hanging out till 1996, after my law firm relocated to Berkeley, and the other subtenants in Good Ol' Suite 690 moved out. Brian & I had always gone to my office in the past to watch the Gay Pride Parade from the windows, and because I was friends w/ the Chief Engineer of the building, Jim, we were able to go back to the empty office space on the 6th floor to watch that year.
I don't remember how it ended up snowballing, but word got around that Suite #690 was empty so why not have a huge Pride party? Jim brought some of the long tables up from the downstairs conference rooms and set them up along the wall in Mal's old office. His longtime partner, Kim was there as well. Donnie and his merry band of friends also showed up, everyone brought food and drink, and there must've been about 40 people in the office space that amazing Pride Day. Thus, our friendship was forever solidified.
After that, we went to several of Donnie's parties when he lived on Fulton Street, in the Haight. The days were always magical, calming; relaxing even. We'd just drift through the amazing garden that he built over the years behind his building. As the landlords of the next door flats saw what he did, the fences between the back yards came down and Donnie united half his block with this huge, amazing garden, that was open to all the people that had access to it thru their back doors. Unfortunately, the hospital next door, St. Mary's, were not as enthusiastic as we were about Donnie's parties. They eventually bought out the entire block and forced everyone out. He'd lived in that flat since 1985 and had to leave last year.
Meanwhile, he'd been in a series of relationships. Then 6 years ago, at the Russian River, he met Mike. Although Brian and I moved up here, we still kept in touch with Crissmiss cards and emails. Needless to say, we were over the moon when he emailed us in June that he and Mike were getting married, now that the Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriage was LEGAL.
To be in Donnie's company is a very amazing experience. Magical. He has this magical aura about him. I've been thinking about it a lot since this weekend, and I finally realized why he's such a special man: He has a pure heart. It's in his nature to love everyone, help in any way he can....give you the shirt off his back. He cares so much for his family and friends. He's one of those guys who knows everyone, remembers everyone, & keeps his friends forever. Since moving to Washington, we've lost regular touch with a lot of people in California; people we saw more often than we saw Donnie. However, even though we only communicated sporadically with Donnie since moving here, we knew that nothing had changed between us at all, despite time and distance. He is an amazing human being. I've never heard him say a bad thing about anyone (except of course St. Mary's, and conservative politicians). He's funny, self depracating, sweet, kind & friendly. He loves children, he loves animals. He's not cynical or jaded. He loves to have fun. Life's just fun for him. Always.
So the thought of not going to his wedding was unbearable. Brian had already made arrangements to be in Sausalito for his voice over bootcamp studio sessions, but there was no way he'd be able to go to the wedding at all. He'd be in the studio from 8-5 for 3 days straight. I decided that I would go and represent us. And boy am I glad I did.
Over the past 6 yrs., Donnie and Mike alternated weekends, at his place on Fulton or at Mike's in Guerneville, on the Russian River. When St. Mary's forced Donnie out, they decided to buy a place in the Excelsior District, near Glen Park. It's a lovely home, in a cute neighborhood. His garden is much smaller now, but he makes the most of the space.
He is a Master Gardener, as you can see. Over the years, Brian and I have even half-joked about crunching the numbers to see if we could hire Donnie to come up and stay w/ us and do our backyard. He's so good at what he does.
He has a lot of little things hiding under the plants and in the pots. That was what was so amazing about the giant space he had on Fulton Street. You could wander around all day and still not notice all the stuff he had tucked away here and there.
This gorgeous stained glass Steal Your Face is in Donnie's bathroom. Isn't it freakin GORGEOUS???? Someone had to have made it for him because I've never, ever seen anything like this before, not even on line. Annie? Daisy? Have either of you ever seen one this nice? If so, let me know!!
I got to Donnie's house at about 12:15 so I got to see most of the guests come in. My goal was to try to take as many individual or couple guest photos but there were so many people that came pouring in that I abandoned all hope of being able to really pull off the "semi-pro photog" thing. lol They had a pro there taking all the official pics. Although, I have to say, because my camera is way larger than most digital cameras, people kind of defer to me if I want to be up front to take a shot. That was a good thing because, being short, if I hadn't been in the front all the time, my pics would not have come out good at all because it got so crowded.
I don't remember how it ended up snowballing, but word got around that Suite #690 was empty so why not have a huge Pride party? Jim brought some of the long tables up from the downstairs conference rooms and set them up along the wall in Mal's old office. His longtime partner, Kim was there as well. Donnie and his merry band of friends also showed up, everyone brought food and drink, and there must've been about 40 people in the office space that amazing Pride Day. Thus, our friendship was forever solidified.
After that, we went to several of Donnie's parties when he lived on Fulton Street, in the Haight. The days were always magical, calming; relaxing even. We'd just drift through the amazing garden that he built over the years behind his building. As the landlords of the next door flats saw what he did, the fences between the back yards came down and Donnie united half his block with this huge, amazing garden, that was open to all the people that had access to it thru their back doors. Unfortunately, the hospital next door, St. Mary's, were not as enthusiastic as we were about Donnie's parties. They eventually bought out the entire block and forced everyone out. He'd lived in that flat since 1985 and had to leave last year.
Meanwhile, he'd been in a series of relationships. Then 6 years ago, at the Russian River, he met Mike. Although Brian and I moved up here, we still kept in touch with Crissmiss cards and emails. Needless to say, we were over the moon when he emailed us in June that he and Mike were getting married, now that the Supreme Court ruled that same sex marriage was LEGAL.
To be in Donnie's company is a very amazing experience. Magical. He has this magical aura about him. I've been thinking about it a lot since this weekend, and I finally realized why he's such a special man: He has a pure heart. It's in his nature to love everyone, help in any way he can....give you the shirt off his back. He cares so much for his family and friends. He's one of those guys who knows everyone, remembers everyone, & keeps his friends forever. Since moving to Washington, we've lost regular touch with a lot of people in California; people we saw more often than we saw Donnie. However, even though we only communicated sporadically with Donnie since moving here, we knew that nothing had changed between us at all, despite time and distance. He is an amazing human being. I've never heard him say a bad thing about anyone (except of course St. Mary's, and conservative politicians). He's funny, self depracating, sweet, kind & friendly. He loves children, he loves animals. He's not cynical or jaded. He loves to have fun. Life's just fun for him. Always.
So the thought of not going to his wedding was unbearable. Brian had already made arrangements to be in Sausalito for his voice over bootcamp studio sessions, but there was no way he'd be able to go to the wedding at all. He'd be in the studio from 8-5 for 3 days straight. I decided that I would go and represent us. And boy am I glad I did.
Over the past 6 yrs., Donnie and Mike alternated weekends, at his place on Fulton or at Mike's in Guerneville, on the Russian River. When St. Mary's forced Donnie out, they decided to buy a place in the Excelsior District, near Glen Park. It's a lovely home, in a cute neighborhood. His garden is much smaller now, but he makes the most of the space.
He is a Master Gardener, as you can see. Over the years, Brian and I have even half-joked about crunching the numbers to see if we could hire Donnie to come up and stay w/ us and do our backyard. He's so good at what he does.
He has a lot of little things hiding under the plants and in the pots. That was what was so amazing about the giant space he had on Fulton Street. You could wander around all day and still not notice all the stuff he had tucked away here and there.
This gorgeous stained glass Steal Your Face is in Donnie's bathroom. Isn't it freakin GORGEOUS???? Someone had to have made it for him because I've never, ever seen anything like this before, not even on line. Annie? Daisy? Have either of you ever seen one this nice? If so, let me know!!
I got to Donnie's house at about 12:15 so I got to see most of the guests come in. My goal was to try to take as many individual or couple guest photos but there were so many people that came pouring in that I abandoned all hope of being able to really pull off the "semi-pro photog" thing. lol They had a pro there taking all the official pics. Although, I have to say, because my camera is way larger than most digital cameras, people kind of defer to me if I want to be up front to take a shot. That was a good thing because, being short, if I hadn't been in the front all the time, my pics would not have come out good at all because it got so crowded.
This is Donnie's step-mom Lonnie, his dad, step sister Judy and step sister Susan.
It does my heart good to see such an open and affirming family. Unfortunately because I never met Mike before the wedding day, I did not catch the names of his family and best man and I really don't know which of the guests and family members were part of Mike's side. But the point is, people from all walks of life were here to celebrate their wedding day - moms, dads, siblings, gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, special needs, babies, kids of all ages. It's times like these when I have a glimmer of hope for America. IT'S ABOUT LOVE, PEOPLE!!
Here's the band, Dreamchairmusic. They are really good; very tight too. David, Elizabeth and Robert. I didn't know many of the people at the wedding...I expected to know no one except Donnie, but I did spend some time in Robert's company in California and he's a great guy too. Their music is available at http://www.dreamchairmusic.com/ Elizabeth told me they have MP3 uploads there.
Mike & Donnie's dog, Kayla. She's a big fluffy sweetheart.
The wonderfully eccentric and funny Lady Y, whose acquaintance I'd just made when I arrived. She is a true San Francisco character, I could tell that right away. The exact sort who you find in Donnie & Mike's very large circle of friends.
I know that some people are uncomfortable going to events, like weddings, alone, but that's never bothered me. I can talk easily enough and it was fun to meet new people. Some of the guests had been at parties we were at, but it was so long ago and so a few looked familiar.
I scored a front row seat in the back yard pretty early on. This couple, Ron & Valerie, sat next to me and I hung out with them a lot. Ron met Donnie over 20 years ago, when they were both cooks at a restaurant. I could kick myself for not getting their email address, although I gave them my blog address so hopefully, they'll find their way over here.
Donnie's sister, Julie, is on the right, and her partner Dorothy.
These ladies were a riot. I remember them from other parties, Yung Suk & Miriam. They, too, have known Donnie over 20 years. Yung Suk loves the fog as much as I do.
The happy couple before the ceremony. Aren't they cute? I had no idea Mike was going to be so tall!! They did a short "meet-n-greet" for photos and stuff in the garage before the wedding started.
The grooms' families.
Looking at the packed yard. There were a few people upstairs looking out the windows too.
Mike's best man, whose name I didn't get (my bad) on the left, the Justice of the Peace, Trigby, in the center, and Donnie's best man Eric, who is the only other person at the ceremony that I knew from SF. He'd even been to our place in Marin once.
Here come the grooms!! Everyone was cheering and clapping!!
Kayla says, "My daddies can get legally married!!!"
Trigby did a wonderfully funny and sweet ceremony. He's known these guys and been in their inner circle for a long time and he spoke from the heart. I think it was at this point that I felt the tears coming. I wish I could have a copy of what he said because I can't remember the specifics of the stories and things he said!!
Here's Mike doing his vows. Again, beautiful words said. Mike's very gentle, I could tell that right away. He's a sweet guy. Donnie's got himself a good one.
Donnie's vows were just as sweet and heartfelt. When he was done saying his vows, he said, really loud, "I LOVE YOU MICHAEL LEE KETTERMAN!!"
This little girl, Eva, and another little girl who was a little older, were the ring bearers. Which, of course, drew a collective, "Awwwww!" from the crowd.
A ring for Donnie.....
....and one for Mike.
A very loud cheer went up when Trigby said, "I now pronounce you legally married!" I was pretty much bawling. There really wasn't a dry eye in the place, to tell you the truth.
After the ceremony, I went back to drifting and chatting with people. I enjoyed a nice chat with Deb and her son Dillon. She was also taking pictures so we were comparing notes and such. Dillon is a super sweet kid, but as he has special needs, they needed to leave a little early. Again, I'm pretty pissed at myself for not getting an email address! I'm just from a time where exchanging email addresses isn't the first thing I think of.
Does this picture say it all, or what? Could they be beaming more? I noticed that they both had their sideburns & goatees cut the same way. I thought that was adorable.
Eric's giving his best man's toast.
I zoomed out to make sure that I got my hand in the shot.
This guy was so cool. I was talking with him for awhile before the toasts were made. His name is Fundi (pronounced "Foon-dee"). He sang accapella the Billy Preston & Syreeta song, "I'm Born Again". Although I've never been a fan of that song, I thought it was a great tribute and gift to give.
Donnie's sister Julie gave a toast, which apparently was a last minute, had-no-intention-of -doing-that thing. Julie's a bundle of energy and very dynamic, like her brother. She told us that, after years of destructive addiction and behavior, she was clean and sober for 6 months (she didn't have real champagne in her glass either). She gave Donnie her 6 month chip. The crowd errupted in another enthusiastic cheer, but I was close enough to hear him say to her that he will always keep it in his pocket for good luck, and how proud he was of her. It was a very poignant moment between brother and sister.
I went inside to get some shots of the very eclectic crowd of family and friends.
Is this kid cute or what? Little Eva (pronounced Ava) the ring bearer. She had a balloon tied to her. You'd be looking at the crowd and see this balloon floating around and it was her.
These guys pulled together an efficient, and delicious, wedding in 2 months time. Every single detail was attended to and several members of their inner circle had specific tasks. It came together perfectly. The food was incredible. This is just one table, and just the hors d'oevres. There were 2 tables groaning under the weight of deviled eggs, breads, cheeses, dips, all kinds of yummy munchies, roasts, spiral ham, salads of all kinds. Instead of looking at the garage ceiling, gold & white helium balloons covered the entire ceiling. White tarps draped on the unfinished walls to hide them. Inside the house, the kitchen was running full bore and only "authorized personnel" was allowed in there. A couple of young girls, nieces or cousins, were dressed up in beautiful black summer dresses and brought the food out and around to the guests who couldn't fit into the garage to get the food. They brought it to us. So much love and care went into planning this day.
It does my heart good to see such an open and affirming family. Unfortunately because I never met Mike before the wedding day, I did not catch the names of his family and best man and I really don't know which of the guests and family members were part of Mike's side. But the point is, people from all walks of life were here to celebrate their wedding day - moms, dads, siblings, gay, straight, lesbian, bisexual, special needs, babies, kids of all ages. It's times like these when I have a glimmer of hope for America. IT'S ABOUT LOVE, PEOPLE!!
Here's the band, Dreamchairmusic. They are really good; very tight too. David, Elizabeth and Robert. I didn't know many of the people at the wedding...I expected to know no one except Donnie, but I did spend some time in Robert's company in California and he's a great guy too. Their music is available at http://www.dreamchairmusic.com/ Elizabeth told me they have MP3 uploads there.
Mike & Donnie's dog, Kayla. She's a big fluffy sweetheart.
The wonderfully eccentric and funny Lady Y, whose acquaintance I'd just made when I arrived. She is a true San Francisco character, I could tell that right away. The exact sort who you find in Donnie & Mike's very large circle of friends.
I know that some people are uncomfortable going to events, like weddings, alone, but that's never bothered me. I can talk easily enough and it was fun to meet new people. Some of the guests had been at parties we were at, but it was so long ago and so a few looked familiar.
I scored a front row seat in the back yard pretty early on. This couple, Ron & Valerie, sat next to me and I hung out with them a lot. Ron met Donnie over 20 years ago, when they were both cooks at a restaurant. I could kick myself for not getting their email address, although I gave them my blog address so hopefully, they'll find their way over here.
Donnie's sister, Julie, is on the right, and her partner Dorothy.
These ladies were a riot. I remember them from other parties, Yung Suk & Miriam. They, too, have known Donnie over 20 years. Yung Suk loves the fog as much as I do.
The happy couple before the ceremony. Aren't they cute? I had no idea Mike was going to be so tall!! They did a short "meet-n-greet" for photos and stuff in the garage before the wedding started.
The grooms' families.
Looking at the packed yard. There were a few people upstairs looking out the windows too.
Mike's best man, whose name I didn't get (my bad) on the left, the Justice of the Peace, Trigby, in the center, and Donnie's best man Eric, who is the only other person at the ceremony that I knew from SF. He'd even been to our place in Marin once.
Here come the grooms!! Everyone was cheering and clapping!!
Kayla says, "My daddies can get legally married!!!"
Trigby did a wonderfully funny and sweet ceremony. He's known these guys and been in their inner circle for a long time and he spoke from the heart. I think it was at this point that I felt the tears coming. I wish I could have a copy of what he said because I can't remember the specifics of the stories and things he said!!
Here's Mike doing his vows. Again, beautiful words said. Mike's very gentle, I could tell that right away. He's a sweet guy. Donnie's got himself a good one.
Donnie's vows were just as sweet and heartfelt. When he was done saying his vows, he said, really loud, "I LOVE YOU MICHAEL LEE KETTERMAN!!"
This little girl, Eva, and another little girl who was a little older, were the ring bearers. Which, of course, drew a collective, "Awwwww!" from the crowd.
A ring for Donnie.....
....and one for Mike.
A very loud cheer went up when Trigby said, "I now pronounce you legally married!" I was pretty much bawling. There really wasn't a dry eye in the place, to tell you the truth.
After the ceremony, I went back to drifting and chatting with people. I enjoyed a nice chat with Deb and her son Dillon. She was also taking pictures so we were comparing notes and such. Dillon is a super sweet kid, but as he has special needs, they needed to leave a little early. Again, I'm pretty pissed at myself for not getting an email address! I'm just from a time where exchanging email addresses isn't the first thing I think of.
Does this picture say it all, or what? Could they be beaming more? I noticed that they both had their sideburns & goatees cut the same way. I thought that was adorable.
Eric's giving his best man's toast.
I zoomed out to make sure that I got my hand in the shot.
This guy was so cool. I was talking with him for awhile before the toasts were made. His name is Fundi (pronounced "Foon-dee"). He sang accapella the Billy Preston & Syreeta song, "I'm Born Again". Although I've never been a fan of that song, I thought it was a great tribute and gift to give.
Donnie's sister Julie gave a toast, which apparently was a last minute, had-no-intention-of -doing-that thing. Julie's a bundle of energy and very dynamic, like her brother. She told us that, after years of destructive addiction and behavior, she was clean and sober for 6 months (she didn't have real champagne in her glass either). She gave Donnie her 6 month chip. The crowd errupted in another enthusiastic cheer, but I was close enough to hear him say to her that he will always keep it in his pocket for good luck, and how proud he was of her. It was a very poignant moment between brother and sister.
I went inside to get some shots of the very eclectic crowd of family and friends.
Is this kid cute or what? Little Eva (pronounced Ava) the ring bearer. She had a balloon tied to her. You'd be looking at the crowd and see this balloon floating around and it was her.
These guys pulled together an efficient, and delicious, wedding in 2 months time. Every single detail was attended to and several members of their inner circle had specific tasks. It came together perfectly. The food was incredible. This is just one table, and just the hors d'oevres. There were 2 tables groaning under the weight of deviled eggs, breads, cheeses, dips, all kinds of yummy munchies, roasts, spiral ham, salads of all kinds. Instead of looking at the garage ceiling, gold & white helium balloons covered the entire ceiling. White tarps draped on the unfinished walls to hide them. Inside the house, the kitchen was running full bore and only "authorized personnel" was allowed in there. A couple of young girls, nieces or cousins, were dressed up in beautiful black summer dresses and brought the food out and around to the guests who couldn't fit into the garage to get the food. They brought it to us. So much love and care went into planning this day.
In addition to the food in the garage, inside the house was a whole table of sweets. That's a chocolate fountain near the window. Cupcake trees, fresh fruit, sweet poundcake-like cake and also pretzels, to eat on their own or dipped in the fountain.
Here's the cake!
The cake ceremony.
"Oops, you got a little icing on your face....here, let me get that for you." lol
Here's the cake!
The cake ceremony.
"Oops, you got a little icing on your face....here, let me get that for you." lol
Fundi and his partner Tom.
By about 5:30, things were starting to wind down. I was hoping Brian would be out of the studio so I called him and he was! So that's Donnie on the phone with Brian. He couldn't be there in person, but he was there in spirit.
What a fantastic, "Tales of the City", utterly San Franciscan wedding and day. Congratulations Donnie & Mike!! I wish them a lifetime of happiness.
By about 5:30, things were starting to wind down. I was hoping Brian would be out of the studio so I called him and he was! So that's Donnie on the phone with Brian. He couldn't be there in person, but he was there in spirit.
What a fantastic, "Tales of the City", utterly San Franciscan wedding and day. Congratulations Donnie & Mike!! I wish them a lifetime of happiness.
The happy couple will be honeymooning at a resort in Acapulco, and returning to their married life in The City.
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