Bunnies!

Nothing really new to report. Actually got to use some of my homegrown basil on some pizza the other day. What flavor! I tried to transplant my cherry tomato seedling outside, but the sun killed it off. Too young, I guess. I've been tired at night, so no going out to Streetbar during the week. Had very good workouts at the gym all week. I have off this week, so I'll see how little can get done around here.

Ehh...

I told him he looked like Andre Previn in his one picture

So I met a guy from A4A for drinks at Hunter's Sunday night. He was late, which was no problem. I started talking to a guy who got there about the same time as me (7PM) because, who knows, it could might as well have been the guy. Turns out his name was Michael, not Gary. The guy I'm supposed to meet finally shows up with another guy; his friend who drove in with him from Pacific Palisades. The friend goes out to the patio and disappears for quite some time. Gary and I get to know one another, and I end up hearing lots of tale about celebrities he has photographed over the years. He was a photographer for Rona Barrett. But he was supposed to be my age; my guess is he is at least 10 years older than me. He knew Travolta before "Welcome Back Kotter" and Raquel Welch in the "Myra Breckinridge" era. I was still in grade school then. So that's kind of a turn off. I don't like guys who misrepresent themselves. Other than that, he has led kind of a fascinating life. We later went to Streetbar, where I sang some karaoke. Good crowd there last night. He kept trying to make out with me on the seats along the side of the room, but I really wasn't into it. I don't think it could work out. I finally drove him back to his hotel, CCBC, and called it a night. He wanted me to hang out with him by the pool today, but I got stuff to do (make soup, go to the gym, lead a separate life).
Oh, well...

Mmmm...

Fresh baked homemade strawberry-rhubarb pie.

A most when I see strawberries on sale at the supermarket. If they have rhubarb, then I just gotta make it. Love that sweet-tangy flavor of the two. This one came out good, the crust seemed a little thick. Used Imperial margarine, so I think that affected the outcome.
I went to the gym, and was able to get through all my excercises. Ran on the treadmill, really pushed to do my forest walk at 7MPH max, 15% max incline. Was a sweaty mess, and had to take a shower. The one guy who was putting on a show for me once came in as I was going in the shower. Saw him stealing glances at me every now and then. He pulled one of my moves by going back to his locker when I was toweling off by mine. I used that so many times with Mr. Blackberry.
I went to Trader Joe's afterwards. Bought some essentials, and a new protein powder. Not sure if it's doing any good, but for muscle growth it's important. My body is looking OK, although I still don't think I'm ready to go strutting around on stage naked yet. I understand the owner of the Thorny Theater decided not to renew his lease, so I think that's the end of that. Oh, well...

Tues Nite

Finally got my butt to the gym on Tuesday, and was able to get through everything. My back was OK, and I was able to run on the treadmill with little problem. My thighs must be getting big; the boxers that I bought fit good all over, except they are so tight in the legs! That's why I don't do leg exercises at the gym. I figure that the running will build the legs just fine. It's funny - when I look down at my legs, they look nice and muscular; a nice curve to them in the right places. But when I look in a mirror, they look kind of skinny. I stopped at Ralph's on the way home, and to much my horror, they no longer carry the Boca Italian sausage. No other company makes veggie sausage as good as them. Damn. Saw Ray C, a customer, in the store. He is Italian, and I bet his sausage is quite nice. Got home and made pasta for dinner. Had a chorus meeting, we made $1290 at the parking lot sale. We were actually able to pay Alan in full what is owed to him. Now we just need to pay back a couple of board members, and we will be debt free. We do have liability insurance renewal coming up in July; hopefully we can raise more money in a fundraiser for that.
I went to Hunter's, and then Streetbar afterwards. Hung out with Tom M, and some chorus members most of the night. Michael who used to sing karaoke a lot several years ago was there. I think he is a cruise ship singer. He has a voice that you love/hate. It's beautiful with great technique/and you can get very jealous of it. I tried to do "This is the Moment" from Jekyll & Hyde, but I think it was up a step too high for me. The scotch & sodas didn't help much. Daniel W stopped by with his latest boyfriend, and Doug of course was there but left early. Laz was there, and some nice looking blond guy was hanging with him for awhile. I wanted to get to know him, but it seemed like it would be odd to go over and chat him up with Laz there. I'm not sure if I will go out tonight; Of course it's Weds with the Zoso crowd pouring in after the cabaret show. It can be fun with all those people. Although nobody really interesting comes in. But you never know...

Time Off

So it turns out I have 4 days coming to me, and so I'm off from work until Friday. I really didn't do too much yesterday, Monday. I made my split pea soup, so I'll have that for lunch the rest of the week. I made a marinara sauce yesterday with one of the giant bell peppers. It came out quite yummy. I was going to work out, but my back still hurts a little bit from when I moved heavy stuff on Saturday. I'm hoping to go back to the gym on Tuesday. My stomach looks quite nice now, amazed at how trim my waist is getting. I want to increase my weight at the gym but I'm not sure that I'm at that level yet. I'm not getting through all the exercises as easily as I should.
I went to Streetbar last night after 10PM. I saw Robert, the latino that I met on Mardi Gras. Turns out he was with his boyfriend, and they have been together for at least a year and a half. Wonderful. And they were hanging out with Doug. It's a small desert and it just does continues to amaze me. I sang at karaoke, but then at some point Lindsey must have lost my slip of paper and I got droppped from the rotation. That bugged me, so I left before 1:30AM. Wasn't really a good night, all in all. At least I know what happened to Robert, so I can put that one to rest. Cross another one off the list.

Charity sale

Caballeros parking lot sale. We need the money!

I worked the Caballeros parking lot sale on Saturday. I woke up early, and headed down to Arenas Rd. Help set up, and brought a couple of items as well. It was annoying to have customers walking around with you, trying to snag "good" items as soon as they were put out. They mostly got in the way. The U-Haul truck pulled up, and we had lots of bigger items inside. After everything was in place, we sat around waiting for the cash to roll in. I spent most of my time by the water & cookies table. Cookies were two for a dollar; water 50 cents each. I kept eyeing a set of cordial glasses, they looked so cute. They had long stems, were each in a different color, and came with a pitcher & tray. Some time after noon, Larry J came back from being with a client, and I went over to Bongo Johnny's with him for lunch. I had the egg salad sandwich with a salad. It was good. Especially the Bud Light. We then went back over to the sale, but it looked like they were winding down on the sale. We started putting things away around 3. I finally went over to the cordials, picked up the box, and asked Charlie how much they were. He said, "Give me a dollar." Wow. What a bargain. Everything was going to Revivals anyway, so I might as well buy them. We loaded up the U-Haul, and had to even load some people's personal vehicles. We went to the store in Palm Springs, but they already had too much stuff in their receiving area. We then went to the one in Cathedral City, and they took everything we had. That was nice. I drove Michael N back to his car, and went into Streetbar with him for a beer. It was crowded in there, and some guys were playing "Show N Tell" in the corner. They moved it out to the patio, where more guys saw what they were doing, and it go reported to the bartender. He went out and told them they couldn't expose themselves or else they would have to leave. Hey, it's not the Barracks!

Big -n- Tasty

Ginormous peppers courtesy of a grateful customer.

Went out Wednesday night to Streetbar. Saw a lot of the regulars there. Had fun talking to Jeremy, the bartender at Azul. Doug was there, sans Art, so I guess he is back in Canada, packing. Whatever. Wasn't in a real good mood for that kind of stuff. I was doing good, otherwise. Had several Scotch & Sodas, that always helps. Helping at the big parking lot sale tomorrow on Arenas. Hopefully we can raise lots of money for the chorus...

Ride'em Cowboy

Pole bending at the Palm Springs gay rodeo in Banning.

My chorus was asked to sing the US & Canadian national anthems at the Palm Springs Gay Rodeo being held in Banning. We got in free as volunteers/entertainers, but had to wait around both days as the events went on longer than they predicted they would. I got to meet Steve, my latest acquaintance on A4A, and he was nice. Funny, he called me while I was at the gym on Friday and left a message that this weekend wouldn't be a good time to meet because his ex was in town for the rodeo. I called him back before my cardio workout to let him know that I would be there on both days and maybe we would bump into each other. He said he was working on Saturday, but would be there on Sunday. When I got there on Sunday, I met up with Cuqui, Theresa, and Jen. I was sitting with them in the sun, and there was a guy sitting just a little behind us. I was wondering if that was Steve. He then got up and said something to a rider who just finished an event. He then walked over to the bleachers in the shade and had a seat. I kept looking over to him, and finally screwed up the courage to go over and say "hi." I walked right up to him and asked him, "is your name Steve?" He said yes, and I then introduced myself. I sat with him for a bit, then his ex came over and sat with us. I then went to the bathroom, then went back to check in with the girls. I went back over to Steve, but had to go hang out with the chorus members because we were going to perform soon. We actually saw Steve walk out the entrance maybe 5 minutes later. He never came back. I hope I didn't scare off another one...