My weekend really started Thursday afternoon when Matt and I went to see the two-piano shock and awe of the Labeque sisters performing with the SF Symphony. We were fortunate enough to sit in the conductor’s box which made my first SF Symphony experience truly spectactular.

Later that evening was the recital for Jessica’s students, which was very enjoyable. All her students are around six to twelve years old, but all played well… including Jessica! In spite of a poorly maintained piano, which she later complained about, she glided through Liszt’s Liebestraum beautifully. She impressed a lot of people that night.

I helped out with the setup and breakdown of the reception stuff. What that really means is I tasted all the food before a single note was played on the piano. Afterwards, we returned back to her house to celebrate her success with much drinking and merriment.

Matt came over Friday after work and spent the night here. We made up some dinner and did facial masks. Walt, Frank’s cousin, had also been visiting. Walt is nearly 60 years old and just came out of the closet. How’s that for brave? We all went out to The White Horse and met Marcus, the seemingly well-known bar whore who kept us somewhat entertained or at least gave us something to talk about throughout the night.

Let it be known that Matt Cannon can enter a bar and have a cute guy come up and ask to make out with him in less than ten minutes. That boy knows how to work it.

We spent Saturday morning beautifying the backyard. It was lovely! We also made up a new and improved batch of sausage balls and a key lime cheeseball for Mike, Phillip, Seth, and Cale’s housewarming later that afternoon.

The housewarming was lots of fun. Philip was grillmaster and I ate a buffalo burger! Lots of my friends were there and I met a few new folks, too. The houses are coming together so nicely. They live waaaaay up at the top of Bernal Heights and their entire back wall is solid glass, making their sweeping city view ever-present. I think they’re all really happy with the move.

Sunday, I met up with this guy I’d been chatting with online. I’m not gonna write anything for fear of jinxing it. So yeah… it was a good morning.

Later that afternoon, I headed in to the city and gave Frank a call. They’d just returned from their softball tournament and were having a drink at Uncle Bert’s or The Mix, as it’s called now. I had plans to go see Cotton Candy, Matt’s band, perform at Martuni’s and a bunch of the guys there decided to come along, too.

After the Cotton Candy show, we went over to The Mint, a karaoke bar. Lonnie sang “Father Figure” and the rest of us just stood around enjoying each other’s company. Yanko had his old college roommates in town from Arizona and I was pleased to meet them. Rumor has it some pics from the old days will be appearing on his MySpace page soon.

Matt, Brenda, Brendan, and I left and went back to Brenda’s to play Clue. I didn’t win, but I did have the weapon figured out pretty quickly. By that point in the evening, I’m amazed I could remember what color my piece was. Matt and I walked a couple of blocks back to his house and promptly fell asleep after watching a couple of old episodes of Roseanne.

Ahh… Monday. What a glorious day! Matt, Jessica, Yanko, and I went out to Baker Beach. I didn’t have anything to wear and Yanko got to dress me. He chose a pair little black shorts and a tight blue “Brazil” sleeveless half-shirt. A couple of people honked and waved.

The beach was wonderful. The weather was great and we feasted on fig newtons and champagne while watching naked people play frisbee and volleyball. I’m hella brown, yo.

After the beach, we went to Tommy’s Mexican Restaurant for some dinner and margaritas. The margaritas were fantastic, but the food wasn’t all that great considering it was on the pricey side. Mexican food is sooo good and I’d hoped that the menu for a restaurant owned by people from Yucatan would offer more than burritos, tostadas, tacos and other things commonly found on a Tex-Mex menu. Their salsa verde, however, was a triumph.

We went back to their house and played a fun little game where we each took turns playing 2 songs from our music collection. Some were to torture and some were simply to share. All kinds of music was played, but I’m not sure anyone topped Jessica’s bagpipe music for most disliked.

I spent the night over there again and came back this morning. I did bookkeeping stuff all day and took a break to go to Berkeley Bowl to buy ingredients for a dinner I wanted to cook Frank tonight. He’s leaving this weekend for the AIDS Ride and I wanted to get in some quality time with him before he heads out. I seared some scallops served them on a bed of glass noodles, topped with a spicy papaya salsa (recipe) and did the old acorn squash with butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar for dessert. The glass noodles with the scallops were Frank’s idea and it was definitely a winner.

We also had some time where all 5 of us were together tonight, which was very nice. Derrek is spending his first night here and tomorrow is his birthday! I’m glad he’s finally moving in and that he joined Frank and I for dinner tonight. It’s going to be a great, great summer.

I just deleted somewhere close to 1,000 pieces of comment spam from all the blog sites on which I spread my joy around. This tells me it’s time for a plugin.

Matt had his art show and sold six pieces and generated quite a bit of interest among everyone who came. The reception ended over an hour later than scheduled for because everyone was enjoying themselves, including the Sproos staff, so mucking fuch.

The food was a whole other side. Matt and Jessica also do catering under the guise of Southern Belle Catering. The big hits of the buffet were the petite lemon curd and pecan pies and the sausage balls, whose early loss in spite of large quantity was mourned throughout the evening. The Hello Dollys, bar cookies made with graham cracker, coconut, and something delicious and gooey in the middle were my kryptonite. Sloe Gin Fizzies and Plantation Iced Tea washed it all down nicely.

I made the sausage balls and helped Matt & Jessica get everything to and from the salon. The art remains and you can see it Sproos Salon, located at 411 Spruce between California and Sacramento. You can also, by the way, get a bomb hairdo from really cool people there. They play good music, too.

A beauty salon is a great place to gather. There are tons of places to sit (there chairs go up and down, too!), lots of mirrors which create all sorts of new visual loveliness when art is present, and counter space.

After the queso infamoso, sitting and spinning listlessly in a chair was very important to me. There was even excellent merengue, cumbia, and salsa music (the kind not made in the US) playing in the background. There were many hips a swayin’ even before they had been sloe-fizzied, my nizzy.

This weekend was also Frank’s birthday. A surprise pool party and BBQ at Jerry’s place was the day event and a gathering at Asia SF which later migrated to The Stud was the evening event.

Jason Jackson and I had it planned so he’d buy everything and I would make it all pretty. I love how in five years my reputation can go from slut to domestic goddess. There is hope for you, too, gentle reader. Anyway, everything was pretty! He got some gorgeous tropical lilies and leaves and great food, desserts, MEAT, and salmon for Frank.

Jason never stopped for hours. He arrived to the house and then Mike came to pick me up and we went on a mad quest for a propane tank. We returned back at least an hour later and Jason was buzzing around the kitchen at rapid speed, but sweet and unbothered. I finished deliberately placing things, arranging flowers and cookies and things like that, and Jason was still buzzing. I chopped onions and formed a lotta ground meat in to hamburgers, and Jason buzzed. I smoked cigarettes and drank beer while Jason went right on buzzing. He even cooked all the food.

It wasn’t until after everything was transported, setup, prepared, cooked, and served – that Jason settled in to the hot tub with a beer and remained his pleasant self. That boy is a machine, so sweet, and hey… he’s Southern.

Later that night, we went out drinking and dancing with our group of friends. Our first stop, Asia SF, was overrun by bachelorette parties – 9 future brides, I believe was the total count.

Frank, Derrek, Jerry, and I had stopped by The Stud for a drink beforehand to give the others time to arrive and since Asia SF wasn’t quite right, we returned there to enjoy the rest of the evening.

I gave Frank a copy of Octavio Paz’s “El laberinto de la soledad” which we’re going to read together. I’m looking forward to that!

Such a fun weekend… I know there will be many more just like it.

I woke up this morning and, thinking I was alone, turned on some cumbias and started dancing around the kitchen washing dishes. Frank came downstairs and when I said I didn’t know he was here, he replied smartly, “I live here.” By that time, I’d moved on to Juan Gabriel and sung him out the door and wished him a good day.

I also noticed that according to our house’s newly formed Wheel of Chores, dishes weren’t my thing. A double whammy, today’s the day the cleaning service comes. Doh! My goal was to do something fun and productive that would energize me for the day and that’s what I did. A good start has led to a productive day. I’m even weeding while taking smoke breaks in between crossing things off my to-do list.

Strangely, writing this blog entry isn’t on there… back to work!

I’ve been back for 10 days and feel very even-keeled about it. It all just feels nice and comfortable. I’m living in a house full of friends and have already broken the garbage disposal. It’s good to be home.

Lots of things are going on, too. Katie is having a baby. Mike, Philip, Seth, and Cale just bought a house up at the top of Bernal Heights with spetacular views. Matt is having an art show. Jessica bought a real piano. And Chris has a boyfriend who loves to insult and be insulted by others; I love him.

A few folks have asked if I’m experiencing any culture shock. Shock isn’t the right word, but I’ve certainly been making some observations. People are less polite and impatient with one another here. Everyone is either in a hurry or motionless. The upsides? I learn more about people in a shorter amount of time and can say nearly anything and get away with it.

It’s really great to be around all my friends again. The hugs and kisses feel better here. I’m also glad to have roommates again! I’ve missed having people to banter with, cook for, help with chores or errands, etc. I like being involved with my friends and participating in their lives. Since everyone is so active, there’s plenty of opportunity for that kind of stuff.

Ahh… I’m so glad I’m here!