Drinksgiving

Since the night before Thanksgiving typically is one of the most fun nights of the year, I was eager to hit the town with my friends. Throbby was in town from New York so I met him, Roommates A&J and Lezzies N&P down at the bar. We hopped around a bit, but of course ended up at Juanita MORE's Booty Call party, which was incredibly crowded. As expected, GarGar and Kitten ended up there as well and we drank a bit too much, took a few photos and celebrated the holiday as gaily as possible.

When it got too crowded and I got too antsy, I went next door where it was equally crowded so I stayed only for one more drink. I caught up with Gymnocent and Turtle, but eventually returned home to eat cheese and crackers while I watched an episode of Friday Night Lights.

And now that it's Thanksgiving, I've been draining my DVR while waiting to get together with my family. I'm looking forward to eating my weight in stuffing!

The incomparable Kathleen Battle!

I'm catching up on my DVR and watched this performance from the past weekend's American Music Awards: WOW!

What's even in Swaziland?

Charlotte York and I are complete idiots when it comes to southern Africa. After dinner at a nice Vietnamese restaurant (where the hostess clearly thought I was trying to wedge my way in to break up Charlotte York and her boyfriend), we spent some time conducting research on African safaris. We hope to visit the southern part of the continent in early 2009, but we realized how little we know about the region and the countries we'd like to visit.

We visited safari tour websites, referenced a few travel books and referenced Wikipedia. Finally, we gave up and e-mailed friends from the area for their advice. If our actual trip is as uncoordinated as our research effort, this is going to be quite the adventure.

Hello, my name is

Every year around this time, my company erects an "angel tree" decorated in holiday gift tags bearing the name of a less-privileged child for whom our employees may purchase a holiday gift. I took a look at the various names and gift requests and decided that I would help out a 2-year-old boy who hopes to receive "alphabet blocks and/or sweats (size 2T)." It wasn't because of his gift request that I selected this particular "angel" - it was because of his name ... Abooksiqun. ABOOKSIQUN!!

Sunday fun

Since I wasn't able to join my friends in Tahoe this weekend, I happily met a few of them at the bar when they returned to SF yesterday evening. I was especially glad to spend some time with Selives before he returned to LA this morning at the ungodly hour of 6:00am.

I hadn't been to Sunday night's hip-hop party in quite a while, and it was nice to see that not much has changed. Selives, Mahogany Sparkle, and the Roommates A&J were already celebrating their return from the weekend when I arrived, and I quickly caught up with a few drinks and a Selives-sponsored shot of honey whiskey.

I was especially pleased that the DJ honored my requests and played "Reach Out" and "Let It Rock" even though probably no one else in the entire bar - or city - wanted to hear my songs.

No Tahoe

I'm so despondent because right now, Mattress, Beetle, Blanca, ChickenHawk, Roommates A&J, Mahogany Sparkle, PorkChop and Selives are all cooking up a storm (and drinking up a storm, no doubt) for a fun weekend away at Lake Tahoe. Meanwhile, I've been at the office for a few hours, getting stuff done and trying to make a dent in my workload. I'm an unhappy panda.

Farewell, Pie Hole

While I'm sad to learn that Pushing Daisies has been cancelled, I can't say that I'm surprised. And I may be a bit relieved that I have one less show to watch each week. I'll totes miss Olive Snook though.

What, no toaster?

Each day in my misguided quest for home ownership brings a new challenge. I learned yesterday that, in order for my mortgage application to be approved, I would have to open a new account with the bank. So, basically, I just forked over $100 to the bank, to keep in a zero-interest account for the duration of my mortgage. And all I got was a lousy calendar.

Busy

The boss-lady came down on me today because I fail to update her as frequently as she'd like. Lately, I've felt like I'm falling further and further behind at work, while more and more is being piled on. At last count, I have 23 distinct projects that I need to stay on top of.

In addition to work, I've had to deal with a potential new home and thinking about moving. Plus, I have all my social obligations and the holidays are right around the corner!

I think I'm feeling a tad overwhelmed.

Celeb sighting: The Great Gatsby

Also present at last night's book launch event was Robert Redford, who is featured in Kenneth Cole's new book. When he took to the microphone to address the crowd, he didn't have much to say except for the fact that he was ambushed into speaking into the mic.

It appears that he was just there to support his friend and to take advantage of the hors d'oeuvres and the open bar, but the event planners decided to shine the spotlight on the (still handsome) man.

Celeb sighting: Awearness

Last night I attended the launch of Kenneth Cole's new book of essays and profiles, Awearness. My invitation came only because I once spoke at an event that the host organization had planned a few years ago, not because I'm a member of the San Francisco glitterati that was in attendance.

A handful of other corporate social responsibility practitioners were present, and we all felt woefully under-dressed and out of place. Who are these people who can show up to an event at 5pm in couture? How do I end up in that station of life, instead of in a position where I actually have to work for a living?

Nonetheless, it was nice to be included in the VIP reception beforehand, where I got to rub shoulders (literally) with Kenneth Cole, his diminutive wife and our fair mayor.

Moved by the man of the hour, I actually did purchase a book, which actually looks quite interesting, and because I was already positioned in the front of the line when Mr. Cole sat down for the book-signing portion of the event, I asked him for an autograph. It was sort of amusing to see that his signature really is the one that graces so many pairs of my shoes.

Inspection day

It's been a while since my bid on a home was accepted, but now things seem to be moving forward. Today was the day of my home inspection, and fortunately, the building I'm buying into is a new construction.

So I walked through the property with the inspector, looking at all the different structural elements, examining the gauges to turn things like power and gas on and off and running the appliances. When he pulled out his ladder to walk on the roof, however, I decided to stay planted on the ground. And even though it's a new building, the inspector came up with a list of things that should be "improved." Some things will be changed by the seller prior to sale and others are general improvements that are strongly suggested and I'll have to decide whether or not to pursue them.

But as I was going through the inspection today, it hit me that I'm going to be responsible for all of this. I can't expect anyone else to take care of things and if anything goes wrong, I have no one else to blame. I'm not quite sure I'm ready to take this all on!

Texas treat

After last night's festivities, I needed to drop a bit o grease into my gullet so Puppy and I stopped at a Whataburger on the way to the airport. Apparently Whataburger is a Texas institution that serves up some of the best hamburgers in the state. But since it was morning, I opted for the sausage, egg and cheese on a biscuit. A nice, flaky biscuit.

It was a nice breakfast meal and I was impressed with how nice and friendly all the workers were, especially considering it's a fast-food joint. I guess I have to attribute it to southern hospitality. Another striking feature was that they delivered your meal to your table and brought over a cute tray of condiments, napkins and mints. But the feature that distinguished it from Bay Area eateries in my mind were the styrofoam cups they used for the soda fountain!

Black tie optional

I wish that, before I had dressed in a tuxedo with a snazzy silver bow tie and cummerbund, that TexyLady explained to me that "black tie optional" in Texas really means that every man wears suits. Puppy and I were the only boys - besides the wedding party and the staff - who wore tuxedos to the wedding affair.

But it was a really nice ceremony and a fun reception that featured songs like "Sweet Caroline" and "Pour Some Sugar on Me." It was nice to meet TexyLady's main squeeze and to catch up with some of my friends from graduate school. We ate some tasty food, celebrated the love between the couple of the evening and chatted with very kind strangers.

Puppy and I cut out before the end to hit some of the Dallas gay bars where people were confused by our penguin attire. In fact, at one bar, some folks thought we misunderstood the date of next week's black tie fundraiser and dressed up a week early.

We went to the circuity bar, the divey bar and the country western bar where I was pleased to see cowboy hats and boots. But then Puppy got a case of some overwhelming hiccups so it was time to put him to bed.

Discovering Dallas

After eleven hours in the Philadelphia Airport yesterday, I finally got on a flight to Dallas. I landed shortly after 2am, made my way out of the confusing baggage claim area, and managed to drive to find the lovely hotel across the street from the church where TexyLady is getting married.

My first impressions of Dallas are that there are many auto dealerships, strip malls, and very few pedestrians. After a nice brunch, we're sort of struggling for activities to fill our time before the wedding this evening.

She's no Daisy Duke

A gentleman of rather advanced age just strolled past me in Terminal C of the Philadelphia International Airport and his outfit was causing quite a few people to stop and stare. What was he wearing? Well, nothing more than really, really short, black hot pants and a red jog bra! And let me tell you, he had no business baring that midriff!

Stuck

After busting my ass to get from The Nonprofit's annual conference (where I committed to speaking on a panel this morning) to the airport, I found that my flight to Dallas was delayed. Then cancelled.

A bunch of other flights have been cancelled due to the weather here in Philly. Apparently, visibility is too poor for incoming planes to land, so many have been re-routed elsewhere. But I've noticed other flights landing and taking off with delays, but clearly not all flights have been cancelled. Other airlines are experiencing delays, but for whatever reason, US Airways has a bunch of cancellations. I just wish there were some consistency from airline to airline and flight to flight.

Fortunately for me, I've been put on the next flight out, which gets me into Dallas around 10pm, but at least I will get there tonight. Other passengers haven't been so lucky and many are complaining loudly to the customer service folks and gate agents.

So now I have about four hours to kill in the airport. I wish there had been some way to let me know about this situation because otherwise, I'd have stayed at the conference for a few more hours.

Who shot J.R.?

Tomorrow I leave for Dallas for TexyLady's wedding and for the past few days, the theme song to Dallas has been in my head. They just don't make theme songs like they used to.

Plan Z

Prior to the start of The Nonprofit's annual conference, the Board of Directors meets for one of several annual meetings. It's a full-day affair and I arrived at the meeting promptly at 8:30am (ahem, 5:30am SF-time), only to finish off my day and return to my hotel after 10:00pm.

During the course of our discussion about The Nonprofit's financial situation, it struck me that we really are at the beginning of a pretty serious economic downturn. In addition to modeling a "Plan B" budget scenario for the next few years, we asked the Executive Director to figure out a "most dire situation," in case funding gets cut by 50 percent. It's not a pretty situation.

No-frills flying

It's been a while since I've checked in baggage on a flight, so I was a bit surprised when US Airways slapped me with a $15 fee to check in my suitcase this morning. Furthermore, every drink was available "for purchase" once up in the air! And apparently, starting on November 1, the airline discontinued audio and video programming.

Next thing you know, I'll be paying to fly the plane myself.

So, how was last night?

In last night's episode of The Hills, the writers decided to give Whitney more to do than twirl her hair and ask Lauren leading questions! They must be getting ready to launch her new show, The City, because she actually had a plotline.

And I have to admit that I was actually pretty interested to see what happens to Ms. Port. Maybe it's because, of all the characters on the show, she's the one who is not constantly in the tabloids. She's ... mysterious!

Brotherly love

Tomorrow, I'm off to Philadelphia, for my last work trip of 2008! It's The Nonprofit's annual conference and I'm once again slated to speak on a panel this week.

I've been to Philly only once before in my life (circa 2001) and it was a fun enough time, but I was there to swim, so I really only got to see the pool at the University of Pennsylvania (okay, I also got to see a gay bar or two with Bullet Tosser, who was living there at the time).

This trip, I'm afraid, is pretty much all planned out, so there won't be much, if any, sightseeing. All work and no play...

Viagens felizes

In one week, Chocolate Thunder's five-month San Francisco stint comes to an end and he embarks on a new, exciting adventure in Brazil! To wish him off, we met for a final sushi and sashimi dinner last night.

Even though I didn't get to hang out with him as much as I'd hoped, it was fun having Chocolate Thunder in town. He often was saddled with way too much work and I was occupied with a new job, house-hunting and general SF amusement. Looking back, I'm pretty sure that we've both matured a lot since his last substantial visit to San Francisco and we're definitely both of a more mellow mindset.

I'll miss our nights being over-served, his Beyonce imitations and dancing at the clubs together, but I'm excited to hear about his new life in Brazil and I look forward to visiting him sometime. Hopefully in the near future. Tchau amigo!

Tina Fey bandwagon

I have to admit that I jumped on the 30 Rock bandwagon this season after Ms. Tina Fey's compelling Sarah Palin impostinators and I spent some time last night watching this season's episodes. I'd seen a few episodes in the past (including one in particular that played at least six times on my four most recent airplane journeys) and had always found them funny, but I think I have to add this to my regularly scheduled couch-potatoing.

In particular, this season's Oprah episode had me lauging out loud, which is pretty rare for a network comedy.

Brunch buffet

Bullet Tosser is in town this weekend for a wedding, and I was delighted to be one of the few people she was able to squeeze into her packed schedule. We'd originally planned to have dinner tonight, but a 7am text message revealed that she faced some logistical challenges and hoped to have breakfast instead.

Since I'm an accommodating panda without Sunday plans, I obliged and we went to a soul food restaurant for Sunday brunch. I'd heard that the brunch was a gospel buffet, but the band that set up to entertain seemed a bit more jazz than gospel to me.

No matter, Bullet Tosser and I made our way through eggs, bacon, pancakes, grits, fried chicken and biscuits with two types of gravy. Throwing caution and carb-counting to the wind, I ended up devouring three biscuits, smothered in delicious gravy!

It was great seeing Bullet Tosser, who, of all my friends I'm in touch with, has known me the longest. We've gone through a lot together, shared some pretty great and some not-so-great moments and I'm looking forward to sharing many more with her.

Bad dog, no biscuit

Puppy and I went to a civilized little dinner party the other night at The Communist's house. The dinner was to celebrate the fact that her mother and PolicyWonkette were in town to help her with some wedding planning.

I hadn't seen PolicyWonkette in several years, so it was really nice to catch up with her. Especially since we used to live around the corner from each other in Washington DC. In preparation for the meal, she prepared a tomato and chickpea spread/salad that was nicely served as an appetizer on the living room coffee table.

As the dinner got underway and the guests moved to the dining table, I looked over to see the dog happily eating all of the leftover appetizers, mostly the cheese. When I mentioned this, The Communist's fiance angrily snapped his fingers and pulled the dog to the other room for a time out, making it slightly awkward for the rest of us. Then he returned to the table as if nothing were wrong.

Several minutes later, I noticed the dog was at the coffee table again, this time devouring all the chickpeas. Instead of getting the dog in trouble, I just kept to myself and watched it happily gobble up all the treats as the humans enjoyed our dinner and conversation.

Party on potrero

Public transit and taxi cab availability aren't San Francisco's strengths. So, when someone hosts a party in the Potrero Hill neighborhood, which isn't easily accessible by muni or by cab, it takes a fairly special occasion to get this lazy panda to the soiree. Last night's celebration of Lezzie P's birthday was one such occasion and I'm very glad I made the (not so inconvenient in retrospect) trip.

Puppy, Periwinkle and I arrived at the party which was already in full swing. Kitten, Roommate J, Mahogany Sparkle, and of course Lezzies N&P were enjoying libations, shrimp cocktail, guacamole and buffalo wings. Before long, Dyson arrived with a co-worker and GarGar, sparking an impromptu dance party in the hallway.

Despite some non-so-obvious drama with Mahogany Sparkle, it was a fun event and I don't think we did too much damage to the venue. And to celebrate the birthday, someone busted out cute little mini cupcakes! Tiny, frosted morsels of tastiness.

Welcome to the...

Frak! I can't wait for Dollhouse to come to television. Please, please, please let it fill the void that my beloved Buffy left.

Butterfly in the sky

The spirit of this project is really neat to me. I don't envy the artist having to deal with middle-school students though, if my experiences as a 13-year-old are typical of what he had to endure.

Pupusa supper

For our monthly dinner, Dyson, GarGar and I hit one of San Francisco's "cheap eats" establishments - a Salvadorean restaurant that specializes in pupusas and other treats. When our little dinner group formed a while back, we would try to hit restaurants that were new and/or trendy. Gerbil would often keep the bottles of wine coming and we once ran up a bill of $150 each for a casual Wednesday night dinner.

Last night's bill came to be a whole $15 each and we were totally content with our delicious and hearty meal! With these increasingly stressful economic times, it's good to know that we have some reasonably-priced options for when we still want to eat out.

I'd never had pupusas before and I sort of want another one right now! They're like delicious, meat- and cheese-filled pockets of tasty!

Take me to your leader

Just a few years ago, who'd have thunk that the American people would elect a black man named Barack Hussein Obama as their next president? Amazing.

I went over to Puppy's last night to watch the returns with a dozen or so flaming liberals who hooted and hollered at the television screen as the results came in. But while it seemed like the entire nation erupted in elation when Obama was declared victorious (and after McCain gave a very nice and very measured concession speech), my fair neighborhood feels wounded after the hateful Proposition 8 passed, writing discrimination into California's state constitution.

In the grand scheme of things, Obama had to win, so I'm grateful. And I'm confident that someday this country is going to come to its senses and truly embrace the sentiment that "all men are created free and equal."

Poll dancing

When I stepped outside at 6:45am, I noticed that people were already lined up at their polling locations to cast their votes. It's been all about the election for well over a year, so I don't feel that the challenge will be to get voters to the polls. My worry is that there's some sort of nefarious Republican scheme to which I'm completely oblivious. Malfunctioning computerized voting systems. "Lost" registrations. Unscrupulous volunteers.

Maybe my conspiracy theory gene is a bit too strong, or maybe reports like this one have got me all nervous. Either way, I hope that my fears don't come to fruition and that I've got ample reason to celebrate in a few short hours.

Halloweekend update

Internets, it was quite a fun, yet productive Halloween weekend. Friday night's party was filled with the usual drunkenness and mischief. Party Hosts Prec and GarGar made quite the lovely Popeye and aerobics instructor, Roommates A&J and Kitten came dressed as the characters from Golden Palace, and discovered their long-lost Dorothy when Dyson showed up as a "sexy grandma."

I'm not going to pretend that I remember everything that happened, but I know that I was ready to leave on the early side and tried, unsuccessfully, to convince the other party-goers to visit Beetle at the bar with me. My night gets pretty fuzzy after that, but I do remember that I made sure to stop by a deli to get a chicken salad sandwich on my way home.

Thanks to Saturday's miserable rainy weather, I managed to do three loads of laundry and to clean my apartment and catch up on some of my DVR'ed shows. Puppy was kind enough to cook a delicious dinner of chicken and dumplings and we made a minor dent in my Netflix queue, but I fell asleep during the flick.

My weekend productivity continued with a visit to the gym (my first in about a week!) yesterday morning before driving out to the 'burbs to visit Gigi and her family. Except for the moment when one of her sons broke down sobbing when he spied a panda in the kitchen, it was a nice visit and a good chance to catch up.

The rest of the weekend wrapped up in typical drunken style with a visit to the bar, where Lucy Ricardo was trying to hide the fact that he lost a tooth. He claims it happened because he bit into a potato chip, but I remain unconvinced. There were no tragic sweater-dress girls to speak of last night, but I'm sure I managed to make quite a spectacle of myself, considering how tipsy I was.