Great Thai food dinner with friends of Santa in Vallejo Friday night after setting up for Photos with Santa for Saturday morning.
Getting Ready for Photos with Santa
Category Archives: Friends
Thanksgiving 2023
Thanksgiving pies included key lime, sweet potato, and cherry apple. We joined Greg and Steve for dessert, together with Steve’s brother and girlfriend, Vince and Jillian, visiting from Vermont. We learned how to play an Uno-like game called Mexican Train.
Lunch in William and Patrick’s Garden
Our neighbors and friends, William and Patrick, both of whom I had known for years before moving to Vallejo, invited us over to their fabulous place. William graciously offered to give me a bunch of clippings soon too!
Shando Turns Fifty
We stopped for lunch in Rocklin to see our friend Michael and Chris and their fabulous new place.
Shando’s birthday dinner in Nevada City:
Harvey & John visit
John and Harvey and I go back decades. They were my upstairs neighbors in Brooklyn at one point and moved back to California after years in New York City within months of me while either of us knowing the other was moving. I have since seen them many times in the Bay Area and in various parts of southern California. Harvey took most of these pictures, so unfortunately we have any with him!
Brian Lowe Visit
Shando’s best friend since fourth grade came to visit us from Washington DC. We were honored to have him as Shando’s best man. He was an amazing guest. We dragged him to Point Isabel. You can faintly see the Golden Gate Bridge behind Shando and him. He’s also featured in a lot of wedding photos. This was actually my first time meeting him, although met a huge number of his extended family when we would visit Shando and his hometown in Bucyrus, Ohio.
30 Year High School Reunion
Donita and I have been friends since at least 1984!
Shando didn’t get to his 25th year HS reunion in Bucyrus, Ohio, this year, but he did join me at my 30th Reunion in Fremont. My high school was technically in Union City. It was a lot of fun and I got to reconnect with a lot of people I hadn’t really been in touch with for a long time. I also got to show off Alex because she happened to stop by toward the end after she attended a conference nearby in Silicon Valley.
Jim visits for Easter 2016
My good friend Jim Purpura visited again in March from New York (it was actually Easter Weekend) when he was in town for work. We had brunch at Cafe Flore.
Seacliff Aptos/Rio Del Mar visit
Visited my gay dad friends of many years, Mike and Todd, at their new place near Santa Cruz, where we had taken our kids to play on the beach years ago. It’s a lovely area and the weather was just perfect. Great company, great food, and great conversation were also at hand. We stopped by the visitor’s center where they had a new aquarium on display. The S.S. Palo Alto was also a topic of discussion. The cement-based ship was brought from Oakland and sunk to become a night club and swimming pool for years until a series of storms eventually turned it into a new ecosystem for the birds and marine life.
Oakland Pride
We only stopped by for a little while, but it was nice to see a bunch of people we hadn’t seen in a while. The Yorkie shown is NOT ours, but rather one of a friend of ours who I’ve known for years. I was glad to get the picture with the Hillary placard. I have one with Obama from eight years ago! The corndog prop I’m holding is known as a “porndog,” in case you’re wondering. I’m vegetarian, but it was a prop that my friend John had many of his friends hold. I don’t know if he even ate it afterwards!
