We went to Hamburger Mary’s and to our surprise, there was a bona fide drag show, which I appreciated the song for this one by Ciarra. Jim visits the Bay Area yearly around this time, so it was nice to see him again, as he is one of my closest friends in New York.
Category Archives: Art
Firenze
Video compilation below. Us and our host at Bearsandbreakfast.com (Gallery 1 of 3):
Scenery, Vistas and Architecture (Gallery 2 of 3):
Public Works of Art (Gallery 3 of 3):
Iceland Arrival
We got to meet my dear friend Sharan’s sister from Italy who happened to be interning for her advanced degree in Reykyavik. We brought her a framed picture from Sharan to save a bunch on shipping charges. Valentina’s English is very good, but it was nice to be able to speak Italian in Reykavik too, which strangely I have done regularly both times I visited Iceland.
We got a cute Airbnb rental which was pretty convenient, although quite a walk to downtown if truth be told. The cabs were pretty plentiful, although expensive at this point with the current exchange rate.
QUEER California exhibit at Oakland Museum of California
Day trip to Marin
Artist Kasper Rodenborn had his art on exhibit, which we went to go view. We had coffee and lunch and took some pictures near the Golden Gate Bridge. Fun times!
The Met
Ground Zero
Campo di Fiori, Roma
Post Election Depression
Mom dying this year was hard enough, but then the election and two friend committing suicide has made this a very bleak year indeed.
Sometimes music helps me cry, even if it’s hard to believe the lyrics of an amazing performance like Ledisi’s cover of What a Wonderful World, which takes my breath away.
Likewise, the performance by Alex Newell with a trans choir makes me cry EVERY time, especially when you hear his unworldly last note. This performance alone deserves an emmy!
I also burst out in tears listening to the lyrics of a song I’ve known for many years, My Grown Up Christmas List:
Do you remember me? I sat upon your knee
I wrote to you with childhood fantasies
Well I’m all grown up now, And still need help somehow
I’m not a child but my heart still can dream
So here’s my lifelong wish, My grown up Christmas list
Not for myself but for a world in need
No more lives torn apart, That wars would never start
And time would heal all hearts, And everyone would have a friend
And right would always win, And love would never end, no
This is my grown up Christmas list
As children we believe, The grandest sight to see
Was something lovely wrapped beneath the tree
But Heaven only knows, That packages and bows
Can never heal a heartached human soul
What is this illusion called the innocence of youth
Maybe only in our blind belief can we ever find the truth?
Barcelona with Shando and Alexandra
Shando asked me what country we were when we woke up in Barcelona, as we had changed location quite a few times in two and a half weeks. We had heard so many languages during this trip. Spain is a gem of a place (and yes, I do mean Catalonia, which has a very special place in my heart). We made some impressionable memories during our visit with a particularly spacious and inexpensive Airbnb, where we got to have two cats remain with us, which made us miss our dogs even more.
This was Alex’s fourth time to Barcelona with me, and of course I grew up in Toerella de Montgri, part of Catalonia closer to the French border, when my dad was stationed in Estartit the 1970’s.
Alex had gone into Sagrada Familia the last time she was in Barcelona and said she could see the progress made since then and was thrilled to get a chance with her last minute plans to join us to get in within a reasonable amount of time. There are only eleven more years left until this structure will be completed, which isn’t a lot when you consider it got started in the 19th Century.
This was the first time for me to actually go inside the basilica, so I’m really glad we had made reservations for a walking tour with a guide during our relatively short stay in the city of Barcelona this year. Unfortunately the battery in my headset ran out during the tour, so I had to stand uncomfortably close to the woman who was giving the tour, but I explained why in Spanish, which I think she appreciated. Pictures of course cannot demonstrate the way the light is used to tell stories in this place. The acoustics of the choir must be amazing, but unfortunately all we heard was a lot of construction taking place on a regular weekday.
Pictured with me in one picture is my friend Hugo and his Valenciano partner, Agustin. They were instrumental in making sure we went into the cathedral and some other parts of the oldest part of Barcelona that I had also never seen before.
