Great Weekend!

It was Reno Pride this weekend and we were actually in town, so we decided to go. It turned out to be lovely! We ran into some old friends and made some new ones, what more could you ask for? So good to run into Alyson again, I love that lady! Any time I have been out and about with her I've always had a fabulous time, she is one of the most genuine and real people I have ever met and I am happy to know her. She has a new chopper and oh my lawrd, it is a thing of beauty! Lovers of Elvis shades unite!I struggle with Pride sometimes due to the exploitation but this Pride none of that seemed to get to me. I didn't feel like I was fighting off the people trying to sell me shit or the heteros just there to photograph the freakshow. It was nice. Pride always seems like a weekend when every gay person in town or in the city, when I have attended SF Pride, is happy and having a blast which is the part I do enjoy. Sometimes in the queer community there can be a real separation between the male and female crowds, but everyone is happy and full of love on Pride. I love that feeling. These two boys were trying on sunglasses at the same time we were and were happy to pose with some of the more outlandish glasses on.
Later that evening we met up with some other friends for a bit of dancing. That too ended up being a complete blast! I had never been to Tronix, the latest and greatest local gay dance bar. It was PACKED but we all managed to have a fabulous time anyway. Some of my favorite shots from there...
My only complaint about Tronix...I went up to request some Peaches be played and was denied...in a rather rude manner. He acted like I had just asked him to play Earth Wind and Fire or something. Get with the program dude, there is not a queer there who wouldn't have totally been diggin' on the Peach!
On the drive home...yes there was a sober driver, thank you Lara! The three stooges decided to take some timed exposures from the dashboard of my car. Fun, Fun, Fun!

Then on Sunday...a nice relaxing afternoon at a semi-private Tahoe beach. I feel loved, refreshed, rejuvinated and yes, ultimately proud!

Tooth and Nail ~ 1/28/01 ~ 7x9

Illustration Friday - COLD

Raindrops in My Rearview ~ 1/27/01 ~ 9x12

Illustration Friday - WISDOM

She may not convey wisdom to everyone...but she does to me. :)
Sorry about the wackiness of the photo angle.

EDM - Appliance - 7x9

My most used appliance. My first Everyday Matters submission.

Circle ~ 1/21/01 ~ 7x9

Heavy Girl and the Flaming Noonie ~ 1/17/01 ~ 5x8

Illustration Friday - Empty

Empty ~ 8/5/05 ~ 7x9

My first submission for Illustration Friday.

Pride ~ 1/14/01 ~ 5x8

Ode To the Dude ~ 1/13/01 ~ 7x9

Variations on an Octagon Tupperware ~ 1/12/01 ~ 5x7

July Faves

10 ~ becoming and Aunt
9 ~ fireworks
8 ~ Son Volt - Okemah and the Melody of Riot
7 ~ my two cats getting along!
6 ~ ice water
5 ~ quiet weekends at home with my special lady friend
4 ~ getting paid to drink mimosas
3 ~ Bob Mould - Body of Song
2 ~ air conditioning - still!
1 ~ having a new car!

Circular Remembrance ~ 1/8/01 ~ 7x9

Checkerboard Square ~ 1/5/01 ~ 7x9

North North West ~ 1/4/01 ~ 5x8

Sunday with Stevie

My girl won tickets to see Stevie Nicks on a local radio station. So that is how we spent our Sunday evening. It was both a good and a sad show in my opinion. Not bad at all, but a little sad. The sad part, to me, was how Stevie looked. She does not look good! I was reading some of her fan sites and boards today looking for the complete set list and people think she looks great. I beg to differ, to me she seems sluggish and a little out of it at times. Every time I looked at her up on the big screens she looked like she was having a hard time keeping the old peepers open. Yikes! It seemed like she might be back on the ole pain pill train. I have no way to know that and it may be an out of line assumption, but one I made anyway. One thing that did not help was the yellow light they had her under the whole show, it lead to her looking a little sickly.

We got there a few minutes late because there is no way I was going to subject myself to Vanessa Carlton. No thank you. Anyway when we got there Stevie was already on stage rockin' it. She sounded great, throughout the whole show. She was not able to hit some of the higher notes or sustain notes for as long as she used to on some of the old recordings, but the back up singers helped her with that. Stand Back sounded great and of course, there is nothing like hearing Landslide live, simply beautiful. L and I were both a little misty eyed after that one. She did some of the FWMac songs she's out front on and those were great as well. Over all a superb show, especially for free! I have been a long time Stevie Nicks fan, I love her voice and her dramatic stage presence. I tried to see her for the first time about 7 years ago, and that fell through. Then again three or four years ago at Shoreline and that got cancelled. I am very glad I finally got the chance to see her live; she is after all a legend and an integral part of one of my favorite bands. I just wish I could have seen her sooner when she had a little more spunk...and didn't seem like she was half asleep.

Bright Idea ~ 1/1/01 ~ 7x9

The beginnings of my use of stencils, I think I got this particular stencil at a yard sale. I vacillate on what I think of using stencils...sometimes I like ‘em sometimes I hate ‘em. Any thoughts on the matter?

BSII ~ 12/29/00 ~ 5x8

No Way Out ~ 12/26/00 ~ 5x8

These mazes date back to high school, doodling in class. I know this because I was looking back at a sketch book and journal from high school recently. Yikes! Lots of drawings of everything heavy metal.

Christmas Tree ~ 12/25/00 ~ 5x8

Cookie Baking ~ 12/9/00 ~ 5x8

A sad sad day in the neighborhood

Tendonitis Sidelines DiFranco For a Year

She built her name on incessant touring, but now medical concerns will keep Ani DiFranco off the road for a year. DiFranco announced that a severe case of tendonitis in her hands and wrists will force her to take it easy for the next 12 months and abandon all tour plans. She already sat out of the tour circuit for three months convalescing, but it wasn’t enough. A spokesperson reported that without rest, DiFranco’s injuries could become permanent. A West Coast tour was cancelled in order to give DiFranco’s hands the rest they need.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------At first when I read this I was distraught that the show I have tickets for was not going to happen. Then I realized (with help) that was horribly selfish of me. Imagine how this hiatus must feel for her. Yikes. I’ll be a wishin’ and a hopin’ that those hands and wrists get better as quickly as possible!

Match in the Gas Tank ~ 11/27/00 ~ 5x8

Dark Energy ~ 11/26/00 ~ 5x8

Kite ~ undated ~ 5x8

Purple People Eater ~ 11/25/00 ~ 5x8

$15 Lamp

The time of day was not right for this shot, but here it is anyway. One time only deal. The lady in the doorway kept asking me what I was doing and if I was going to buy it. Nope, not at this time.

Mill Street ~ Reno, NV. ~ June '05

Pink Pussycat ~ 11/25/00 ~ 5x8

Christmas 2000 ~ 11/25/00 ~ 5x8

7 Years!

June Faves

1 ~ getting together with friends
2 ~ chicken yellow curry
3 ~ wilco live
4 ~ taking photos of my silly little sketches
5 ~ new pens
6 ~ random acts of kindness
7 ~ air conditioning
8 ~ seeing that red tailed hawk every day on the way to work
9 ~ ben davis pants
10 ~ winning free concert tickets

Pumpkin Pie ~ 11/24/00 ~ 5x8

Pussy Trouble

How can it be? My two adorable cats have gone insane and want to kill each other! It's going to make me bust out and cry like a baby. This photo was taken a week and a half ago...and now they cannot even spend a half hour together in the same room.

I hope whatever is between them blows over or we may have to get rid of one. Probably my little black devil, Clutch. Since she seems to be the one being the aggressor.

B.S. ~ 11/24/00 ~ 5x8

Back when this was done I was in a phase where I would have someone else make marks on a blank page for me and I would doodle from that. My friend Barb would always try and "stump" me by drawing recognizable shapes or forms that she did not think I could abstract. I guess she got me on this one, it looks like some sort of pottery, which she intended it to. Crazy Barb.

Pool Shark ~ 9/22/00 ~ 5x8

Krayzelberg ~ 9/20/00 ~ 5x8

Street Vibrations ~ 9/20/00 ~ 5x8

i've always been a doodler
as far back as i can remember
drawing and doodling
has always been a passion
something i feel compelled to do

as a little kid...at my desk in my grandparent’s living room
as a teen...during class and at the library
in my 20’s...on the phone, in class and while waiting
now...in meetings, at coffee shops, on road trips
whenever and wherever i get the chance

in 2000
i decided to start keeping these doodles
in sketch books
i also stared giving them titles

once i got started
i could not stop
and still haven't
i doodle almost every day

sometimes there are recognizable shapes
sometimes there are cartoons
sometimes there are statements and intentions
sometimes there are pieces of other things

other times there is nothing but
shape
form
and color

doodling is my meditation
it keeps me sane

let the progression begin

These Flowers Need Your Help

South Virginia Street Reno, NV. ~ May 2005

Nice Talk Sugar Mouth

So, my special lady friend was heading to Target last night...get me some candy for my work candy dish, I say. Crappy stuff, nothing I will like, because then I sit there and eat it all. What does she come back with? Quite possibly the best bag of candy ever!

Sweet Tarts, Runts, Nerds, Laffy Taffy & Bottle Caps.

Momma's teeth hurt.

Tangled up in Blue Green Red Orange & Yellow

Geary Blvd. San Fransisco, CA. ~ April 2005

Today in history...redux

Michael Jackson is acquitted on all child molestation charges. Meanwhile I heard from another friend over the weekend that someone close to them was molested as a child. What the hell is wrong with this world? I would say that about 80% of the people I know have confessed to me that one person or another sexually abused them as a child, most of them by a family member. WTF?? How does this happen?? What is wrong with people?? I have no idea if Michael Jackson did or did not do what he was being accused of. What I do know is he was robbed of his childhood and supposedly abused by his father. Where does it end? Thinking about all of this makes me ill.

I logged on with the idea of writing about the weekend...birthday parties, love and lovers, surprises, lies and liars, anger, shock, regrets, secrets, crushes, confessions, friends and foes, bad beer, good beer, bad smells, text messages, drinking, bad service, bad people, clogged toilets, smoking, scooters, neck ties, bad hats, sleeping, packing, driving, coffee, hearing great live music, hearing two of my favorite songs played back to back, jokes, California stars, good people, giggling, happiness, shopping, kindness, feeling sick, good conversation, satellite radio, good food, photography, the California sun, and Sunday night sadness...but I can't do it. To many ins and outs and what have yous. Life is a roller coaster ride and I need off to take a breather ~ as I said above, I feel ill.

Today in history...

In 1980, comedian Richard Pryor suffered almost fatal burns at his San Fernando Valley, Calif., home when a mixture of "free-base" cocaine exploded. Ouch!

Mark Growden

Today’s photo is from a year and two nights ago. On 6/5/04 we went to see Mark Growden at the Zephyr Bar here in Reno. This is one of the photos I took that night. I usually try not to flash the musicians in the face too much so I'm working without flash. I like the way this one turned out. Super sexy Mark singing with his eyes closed. I don't think he's played in town since this night. He abandoned the west coast and moved to New York. Drag. I could see him again.

Beautiful weekend in SF

Even though there is a lot of naked ass the closer one gets towards the bridge, I still enjoy visiting Baker Beach. I try and ignore the ass and enjoy the ocean and the view.

Perplexing Placement

I drive by this church on the way home from work most nights.
I'm going to try and post at least one photo a week.
My goal, once I upgrade cameras, is for this to be a once a day photo blog.
We'll see.

May Faves

1 ~ doodling
2 ~ Eagles of Death Metal live
3 ~ watching and rewatching X-Files episodes
4 ~ Thai iced tea
5 ~ planting sugar snap peas, herbs and flowers with La
6 ~ rediscovering that I still feel passionate about photography
7 ~ Andrew Bird - The Mysterious Production of Eggs
8 ~ the art of Ray Johnson
9 ~ ice cold beer in a bottle
10 ~ quiet relaxing weekends at home