One of those glorious summer days
Jun. 17th, 2008 01:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hrjIt's bright and sunny, and the air out at the Berkeley marina smells of warm pine needles and salt water. And I'm sitting beside the bay taking in the view and thinking, "If I had met the woman of my dreams by now, we could get married today. We could do all those silly sentimental things that straight people take utterly for granted and the State of California would treat us exactly the same as everyone else. And wouldn't it be wonderful to get married on a glorious summer day like today?" Ok, so I haven't yet met the reciprocally-considered woman of my dreams yet, but back when I first came to the conclusion I was gay, there were a number of things I figured I just had to give up in order to be true to myself. But today, and for some as-yet-unknown number of days (potentially stretching into indefiniteness), there is one fewer thing.
As for the weekend, as![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
cryptocosm notes, his Pelican ceremony came off smoothly and enjoyably, if not necessarily entirely without glitch. The A&S event was, as usual, supremely enjoyable and a model for what more events could be like. One of those crystalline perfect moments came towards the end of dinner at the tavern when we were nibbling on the remnants of the roast pig, and the area was lit by the soft glow of oil lamps, and the conversation hushed to a mere whisper to hear Moshe play the viol and sing a plaintive song in Spanish (which I'm guessing was one of the Cantigas de Santa Maria, but that's just playing the probabilities rather than certain knowledge). Then later there was an entire table full of Latin drinking songs. And -- not discounting the work and planning that went into making those moments possible -- it was all natural and spontaneous. And I'm just grinning to myself thinking, It can be like this! It can, and don't anybody convince you differently.
I met up withursule yesterday evening for dinner at the Pomegranite (a sort of Mediterranean/Persian place). She's in town for a couple weeks for a math conference and I made a valiant effort to grasp the basics of the research she was explaining. (I think I got the functional equivalent of someone telling me, "So you do stuff with prepositions, huh? And in Welsh ... that's a foreign language, right?")
The new Element packed like a dream for A&S. I loaded it up more or less the same way I'd been loading the old wagon, but coming back I tried some other configurations and came up with something even more efficient. There's loads of unused space (although using it would start cutting into visibility). I've now been daydreaming designs for a removeable platform thingie to go in the back that could have a foam mattress on top (where platform and mattress fold to one side during the day) and gear stored underneath with a kitchen box/stove platform that pulls out past the tailgate for cooking, and ... and ... and .... Why, I could end up with a micro-RV equivalent! And then I could drive off into the redwoods for a weekend in luxury. And I find myself humming, When I was a kid, back when gas was much cheaper, and summers were deeper and wider and slow ....
As for the weekend, as
cryptocosm notes, his Pelican ceremony came off smoothly and enjoyably, if not necessarily entirely without glitch. The A&S event was, as usual, supremely enjoyable and a model for what more events could be like. One of those crystalline perfect moments came towards the end of dinner at the tavern when we were nibbling on the remnants of the roast pig, and the area was lit by the soft glow of oil lamps, and the conversation hushed to a mere whisper to hear Moshe play the viol and sing a plaintive song in Spanish (which I'm guessing was one of the Cantigas de Santa Maria, but that's just playing the probabilities rather than certain knowledge). Then later there was an entire table full of Latin drinking songs. And -- not discounting the work and planning that went into making those moments possible -- it was all natural and spontaneous. And I'm just grinning to myself thinking, It can be like this! It can, and don't anybody convince you differently.I met up with
ursule yesterday evening for dinner at the Pomegranite (a sort of Mediterranean/Persian place). She's in town for a couple weeks for a math conference and I made a valiant effort to grasp the basics of the research she was explaining. (I think I got the functional equivalent of someone telling me, "So you do stuff with prepositions, huh? And in Welsh ... that's a foreign language, right?")The new Element packed like a dream for A&S. I loaded it up more or less the same way I'd been loading the old wagon, but coming back I tried some other configurations and came up with something even more efficient. There's loads of unused space (although using it would start cutting into visibility). I've now been daydreaming designs for a removeable platform thingie to go in the back that could have a foam mattress on top (where platform and mattress fold to one side during the day) and gear stored underneath with a kitchen box/stove platform that pulls out past the tailgate for cooking, and ... and ... and .... Why, I could end up with a micro-RV equivalent! And then I could drive off into the redwoods for a weekend in luxury. And I find myself humming, When I was a kid, back when gas was much cheaper, and summers were deeper and wider and slow ....
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Date: 2008-06-17 09:07 pm (UTC)(Err, oops. I don't do fanmail. And I realise that I've written Glasgow 06 when of course I meant Yokohama 07 - where *was* my brain???)
Anyway, I think California is doing great, and I wish the rest of the US would follow. It's so *civilised*.
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Date: 2008-06-17 09:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-17 09:38 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-17 10:27 pm (UTC)We have a monthly potluck here, and the next one is around the 4th holiday. I hope to see them with matching rings, formalizing what's been for decades.
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Date: 2008-06-17 10:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-18 12:04 am (UTC)Thanks for sharing your thoughts. I love reading your blog.
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Date: 2008-06-18 12:53 am (UTC)Actually, here's to two: the snowball's chance in hell that the bad guys are going to get a constitutional amendment passed forbidding the first thing.
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Date: 2008-06-18 03:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-06-18 02:06 pm (UTC)Absolutely breathtaking. I'd never heard him before.
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Date: 2008-06-19 05:36 pm (UTC)Tangwystyl, may I have your permission to pass this along to Moshe? He'd be most delighted to hear how much you enjoyed the evening. :-)
The tavern as a whole was not perfect, but -- not to get too gushy -- I am proud and pleased and touched that this little project was the source of a few perfect moments. That's all I hoped for, really.
I don't know if you've seen it yet, but I posted a ridiculously long write-up of the event and am soliciting criticism/comments and suggestions for future incarnations of the tavern. I'd appreciate your comments if you have any to offer, or maybe we can chat about it at Crown if you'll be there? Thanks!
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Date: 2008-06-20 05:15 am (UTC)Absolutely. (I said a few other nice things about him that evening, but we'll spare his blushes and just take it as read that I really really enjoyed the music.)
I have a few thoughts about the tavern concept (although there are never any guarantees that my thoughts and analysis on something correspond with reality). Probably best to grab me sometime at Crown and see if I can remember any of them.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-20 07:57 pm (UTC)