Friday, June 27, 2003

Yoga at home in the morning. Worked from home today. Would have worked on admissions changes for James but didn't get the new document he said he'd send me. Instead (not like I don't have anything else to do) I worked on the Student Directory on the Web statement of work—now retitled the "project plan" to keep it simple. Lots of edits to adjust for the compression of schedule and the removal of meetings that it seems no one wants to go to. Just say the words "committee" or "meeting" and watch the faces cringe with horror! Sent round heads up e-mails to potential reviewers of the project plan. Made the new graduation class photo page live for Joel and Cindy. Put Debrah's vacation notice in place—she's gone for 3 weeks. Dinner at Four Season with Patrick: potstickers, Lover's Dynasty, steamed rice. It was our first time trying the Lover's Dynasty: large sweet and sour shrimp on one side, chicken and snow peas on the other, separated with a row of sliced lemon—wonderful! Potstickers were very good—full of air on the inside, which I'm not used to, but the amount of meat was still acceptable. My fortune: A new adventure awaits you this weekend. Patrick's fortune: Nothing is difficult if one preservers. (Yes, that's exactly how they spelled "perseveres.") Went over to Jamie's to meet Jamie and Aaron before the reading tonight. Discovered that Martha, my co-worker and senior graphic designer for UCSF, lives just behind Jamie's place. We could look down from Jamie's rear window and see her front door. I remembered her address from the baby announcement she sent us just this week. Jamie even kinda knows them, too: "Oh, you mean the two women who just had a baby?" I'll have to remember to let Martha know the next time I see her. Reading at Books, Inc.: Trebor Healey read from "Sacajawea" and Felice Picano read from "An Encounter With the Sybil"—both stories from M2M—with an introduction by Krandall Kraus. These were, coincidentally, my 2 favorites from this new collection of short stories. Trebor's has a simply fantastic fantasy ending that I find unforgettable. Felice's has that indelible aura of Europe feeling so otherworldly. A pleasure to simply sit and listen and be taken to new places. The hunky guy on the cover of the book was also there—Krandall pointed him out, I think to the guy's embarrassment. I looked over and was not too surprised to see that he was exactly my height—about 5 foot 6. Not surprised because Chris De Lay and I already had pegged him as being exactly Chris's type just from the photo. However, Patrick said later (and I'd disappointingly have to agree) that the guy was more attractive in the photo than in real life. I didn't say it (because it wouldn't've mattered to Patrick) but the guy still had a nice smile and a friendly demeanor that I liked. Patrick joked that I should have gotten his phone number for Chris. Ah, the fleeting fantasies of gay men materialize and vanish in the same breath. Anyhow, I think Krandall said the guy's name but I didn't catch it. A few questions from the audience and the reading was over and turned over to book signing. We decided to depart. Aaron was feeling crotchety because the recent heat stirred up all the allergens and bothered his sinuses, so he and Jamie went home. Patrick and I had dessert and lattes at Cafe Flore. He had a coconut cake. I had something—I can't remember the name—but it was like tiramisu but had chocolate powder all around the outside and had cherries on the inside. 2 words, I think it sounded Spanish. The thin bottom layer was chocolate cake. The cherries were the best I'd tasted in a dessert in a long time. Afterwards we simply walked around the Castro watching the hundreds of people enjoying the first night of Gay Pride weekend, many of them high on the political victory announced yesterday that the United States Supreme Court struck down laws banning sodomy. It's an important decision, certainly, but it just struck me as a little odd since it was one won by a 17-year battle by 2 gay men in Texas. It didn't take hundreds or millions of people marching with signs saying "SODOMY RIGHTS ARE EQUAL RIGHTS!" or "U.S. OUT OF MY BEDROOM" or "ANAL SEX NOW!" Just 2 men, probably a few lawyers, and all the people and funds supporting them as they tediously ate their way up the chain of courts that make up the bureaucratic American judicial system. The Supreme Court decision had even affected me a little. Or it could have been the very warm weather we've been having. I'd been in perhaps the best mood in weeks. Accidentally tipped the barista at Cafe Flore $2.50 on a bill of $11.50 but then did a Michael O'Brien and said, "Eh, so what?" Oh, by the way, Patrick said earlier today he saw Little Brian from across Market street. Little Brian doesn't deserve such a mention, but then again, he does. Even if that could possibly have made sense to you, it doesn't matter because I'm certain he'll never read this. And even if he did, I'd certainly never hear about it from him.