The world moves on...

The world really does change. When I was back in Kansas visiting my family in January, I went out in Manhattan one night with my sister to celebrate her friend's birthday. Midway through the evening Molly and I were at a bar waiting for her the rest of the gang to catch up. I spied a table of guys and said, "Molly, those guys all look gay!"

"Oh, yeah, this place is gay-friendly," was her casual response.

I was floored. I had spent my freshman year at Kansas State back in the 80s, and the idea that there was now a gay-friendly hangout in Aggieville was a shock. I know, it's been a long time, and it shouldn't have been. But somehow we still sometimes expect that the places we've left behind are going to be preserved just as they were.

AND TODAY IN WASHINGTON STATE the legislature passed gay marriage. Governor Christine Gregoire has said she'll sign the bill.

The world marches on. :-)

Yosemite memories

It's been far too long since I've been there... but this video sure brought back some great memories of hiking in Yosemite.

Yosemite HD from Project Yosemite.

Thanks to James for taking me there for the first time nearly a quarter century ago...

Eleven days in Portland

Pictures from my trip... click on the link below for a full screen slideshow.

(Slide show link - click here and then on the 'Slideshow' button in upper left)

Poolside at the Riviera

The most unusual rest stop urinal ever

Palm Springs windmills

Back in 1984, I took an engineering course about alternative energy sources. Wind energy was one of the topics... and this wind turbine farm near Palm Springs, California, was built around the same time.

(Video link)

Grill-A-Burger in Palm Springs

We had great burgers at Grill-A-Burger after our day by the pool.

I had the Mama Mia cheeseburger (roasted red peppers and grilled onions and mushrooms) but substituted a salmon patty and whole wheat bun. It was so juicy I didn't even think about adding any condiments.

On the side: sweet potato fries with chipotle mayonnaise.

Yum! Totally satisfying.

They're located at 166 N. Palm Canyon Drive in Palm Springs, California.

Hotel Zoso

Back in the day, the Palm Springs White Party was held here when the property was called the Marquis Hotel. Good memories! My favorite party ever was held in the ballroom here in 1995.

Poolside in Palm Springs

At Hotel Zoso. 8-)

In the middle of nowhere...

Gas is still sky high.

A couple of pics from the annual San Diego Pride zoo party

With Northern California friends Mikey and Antonio:

And Southern California friends Martín and Javier:

Tragedy in San Diego

Victor and I returned this morning after spending the weekend in San Diego with friends from Vegas, SF, LA, and San Diego.

We had tickets to a boat cruise on Saturday night, but after overindulging on Friday night, decided to sell our tickets and stay in so that we'd be fresh for Sunday's tea dance at the zoo.

Seems that it was good move: the cruise ended in tragedy when a performer jumped or fell overboard. He was fatally shot by police officers when he attacked them while they were rescuing him. Bizarre.

http://www.towleroad.com/2008/07/performer-fatal.html

San Diego pride...

Queer pink flamingos at Mo's. :-)

O!Burger in West Hollywood

Victor and I had a tasty lunch at O!Burger in WeHo last weekend. The restaurant opened just over a week ago and features a small but satisfying 100% organic menu.

Victor had a free range turkey burger, and I had one made with grass-fed beef (which has a much better fat profile than corn-fed beef, significantly higher in omega-3 fatty acids). We each had a side of grilled veggies... and instead of being the boring-but-nutritious subsitute for french fries that I usually expect, they were really yummy.

I went back a second time and was ravenous, so I ordered another burger but with two patties: one beef, the other their version of the veggie burger. With the addition of grilled onions, it was almost too big to eat with my hands. Halfway through I resorted to using my fork.

One of the owners, Martha Chang, stopped by my table to ask if I was enjoying my meal, and we had a nice conversation about the restaurant, organic food, and the way healthy eating goes hand-in-hand with keeping our planet healthy.

She also pointed out that all of the disposable serviceware was biodegradable. I checked out the bottom of my cup: it was made by International Paper using a polymer from NatureWorks. Knowing that my single-use dishes aren't going to be sitting in a landfill forever makes enjoying fast food that much nicer.

If you're in West Hollywood and looking for a quick and delicious meal, O!Burger is at 8593 Santa Monica Blvd., on the same block as the Ramada. They're open 11am-9pm daily and until 10pm on Friday and Saturday. And in that neighborhood, scoring an hour of validated parking is a real happy ending. :-)

Last meal in LA

A pastrami cheeseburger and fried zucchini, yum!

A drunk came in to order some food: "You want to charge me how much for a burger!? I could eat out of a dumpster for free!"

Wonderland entertainment

Gay pride begins in West Hollywood 8-)

Back from San Francisco

Well, we made it back from our long weekend in SF, but just barely! Happy hour yesterday was so much fun that we pushed our return flight back until 6:30am this morning. Waking up at 4:30 was painful.

We got to see a lot of friends but not a lot of sun. But hey, that's SF this time of year.

I did require a bit of nursing yesterday. ;-)

No longer a Virgin America virgin

Victor and I flew Virgin America today on the first weekend of our "summer California tour": SF this month, LA next, San Diego in July, and Palm Springs in August.

I have to say I'm rather impressed. Web checkin was smooth, no line to drop off our bags, and a generous 70 lb. per bag weight limit. On board we were given coupons for free cocktails (and they served Bombay Sapphire :-). Well done.

Offsetting our Mexican emissions

And I'm not talking about the beans, lol!

On my way back from class today I remembered that it's Earth Day and to go to TerraPass to buy carbon offsets for our trip to Puerto Vallarta. Their website calculated that Victor's and my share of the carbon dioxide generated by our roundtrip flight was 2,200 pounds. Over a ton!

For $14.85, I bought a 3,000 pound offset. TerraPass uses the money to finance wind farms for electrical generation and methane recovery projects from livestock and land fills (like CO2, methane is a powerful greenhouse gas).