Adventures in Gastronomy

This trip to San Francisco has kind of just crept up on me. I mean, there wasn’t much planning involved. Randy got our tickets back in May – before we even went to Europe. His company coordinated the hotel for us (since they’re paying for it all). So, unlike most trips of mine, I’ve not really had to think much about this one until this week. And now it’s only a day away.

I think another reason I’ve not planned this trip to death (as i normally do) is that I’ve already been there before: twice on vacation, plus I lived there for 6 months. But now that the trip is imminent, I’m getting more excited. It was exactly 10 years ago that I lived in San Francisco and by the end of the trip it will also be 9 years since my last vacation there. I’ve heard a lot has changed so in some ways this will feel like a high school reunion where you recognize people (or in the case, places and things) but they just look older or different.

New buildings, extended public transit, closed shops, new shops, old restaurants, new restaurants. I’m very eager to backtrack to my old stomping grounds on Nob Hill and catch a glimpse of my old street, my old office building, my old favorite restaurants. I remember the crispness of the air (none of that humidity like east coast cities). I also remember the negative things, too: excessive homelessness, condoms on the street, lack of trees.

One reunion that I was hoping for but will not take place is meeting up with Matt…my ex. We were together for nearly 10 years. He moved to San Francisco 6 months after our break-up. I emailed him a few months ago that I was finally making it back to San Francisco and that I’d love it if we could get together (either just the two of us or him and his boyfriend and me and Randy). But he (politely) emailed back that he wishes only for the best for me but for his own mental health he needs to close that chapter of his life.

Such a shame..for the first time in 2 years we’ll be in the same city (ironically on what would be our 12th anniversary) yet we won’t be able to see each other.

Oh well, it looks like I’ll be seeing lots of other things instead since Randy and I are going to rent a car and head up to Mendocino for a few days toward the end of the trip. We’re staying at this little lodge overlooking the Pacific – they even bring a contintental breakfast basket to our door every morning! Can’t beat that.

I’m bringing my camera (of course) and Randy is bringing his laptop (of course) so I hope to be updating my blog periodically (of course).

July 13th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

In less than 48 hours I’ll be flying to San Francisco (that’s not the oh-oh part). But it seems as if I’m fighting a little bug of some sort (that IS the oh-oh part).

It all started Sunday night with a bit of an upset belly. That has lingered to this day, though it’s by no means stopping me from going to work and functioning. It’s just unpleasant. But last night I began to notice a bit of a scratchy throat. I should add that Randy started exhibiting cold-like symptoms last weekend. I’ve not been near him since Monday afternoon, but I most likely caught it from him.

I suppose I shouldn’t complain. Unlike in 2006 (when I dated a middle school principal who was constantly getting me sick since he was around kids all day), I haven’t had more than a brief sniffle and some congestion*…and that was back in December, when Randy and I went to Montreal. In fact, looking at my “time off” report at work, I’ve not taken a single sick day in nearly a year (10+ months and counting).

Still, nothing’s worse than traveling when you’re sick (especially for a wimp like me who already has low tolerance for discomfort). So, I’m taking it easy, I’m taking my vitamins, and I’m drinking my Airborne. Oh, and Randy apparently got us upgraded to first-class on at least a portion of our flight to San Francisco so at least I’ll be assured some comfort, I suppose.

Why can’t San Francisco come to me instead?

*Which I also caught from Randy.

July 12th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

Wait, or is it the other way around? Yep, it’s one of the few things I actually enjoy about summer: Big Brother is back on CBS! This year is starting off to be pretty interesting. The “catch” this year is that three houseguests have their worst enemy (or, somebody from their past that they don’t want to see) living in the house with them. There’s the estranged father and daughter, the middle school friends who apparently had a falling out over $5.00, and the two gay boys who broke up after one blamed the other for giving him Gonorrhea. I’m not making this up!

Of course, leave it to the gays to brings STD’s onto prime time TV’s family hour.

I have only seen three episodes so far and I’m already addicted. I already determined the houseguest I hate the most: Jen. Surprisingly, she’s not blonde, but she might just be one of the dumbest people on network TV. Ever! Anna Nicole Smith is part of Mensa compared to Jen.

In the first episode all of the houseguests viewed their professionally taken photographs along the wall (when a house guest is voted out, the picture changes from color to black-and-white). She saw her photo (which actually came out well),blocked it with her hand, and starting crying. She said it was the worst photo she’d ever seen of herself and was angry at Big Brother for humiliating her in public. She just stood there drawing attention to herself crying like a 3 year old whose balloon was popped by her older brother.

She’s also fond of wearing shirts with her name on them. Not just “Jen”, but tacky phrases like “Jen-uine” or “I’m a JEN-ius”.

Um, honey? You’re not.

Then she accused one guy of kissing her…which he didn’t. She was just jealous that he was paying more attention to somebody else.

Oh yeah, this is getting good.

July 11th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 4 Comments

Our trip to Provincetown this weekend was a blast. It was mostly a spur-of-the-moment thing: we decided on Wednesday to go to Ptown that same weekend. The July 4th week is also one of the Cape’s busiest tourist weeks so I doubted we’d find an available room…but we did! For two nights at the Watership Inn!

I must admit I had reservations (no pun intended) since the room we booked was dirt cheap: $86/night in the heart of town during peak season. It had a shared bath and no air-conditioning so my expectations were low. In fact, the room isn’t even advertised on their website…it’s typically used to house the summer staff. However, the property was quite nice (well landscaped, well tended).

Yeah, the room was extremely simple…but it had cable TV and enough space to walk around. We brought a box fan and it kept the air circulating quite nicely. Besides, we spent very little time in the room.

On Saturday, we checked in and headed immediately to Herring Cove Beach. We met up with some friends, Zach and Jeff, and returned to the room in the early evening. After the four of us had dinner at the Thai Restaurant in the Gifford House (I always forget the name), Randy and I went to see Miss Richfield 1981 perform. I found it hilarious…I think Randy agreed.

After the show, we walked around and people watched. And people enjoyed watching Randy, too, as it was the beginning of Bear Week in Ptown and Randy does have that bearish charm about him. We also poked into Wave Bar and Paramount before heading towards Spiritus just before 1AM to watch the “street party”.

On Sunday, we mingled with the other Watership Inn guests over the complimentary breakfast and then headed back to the beach for 4 or 5 hours. There were some (heavy) showers that evening, but we popped into a restaurant for dinner and avoided them completely. After dinner (and on Monday) we walked around town enjoying the shops and people watching.

All in all, it was a great and inexpensive escape. Photos can be seen in my Photo Gallery (see link to the right).

July 10th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: Comments Off on A Quick Escape

I met up with Randy and his friends again last night. I arrived home from work and they were already in my apartment making themselves nice and cozy. After some chit-chat, we decided to explore the new ICA (Institute of Contemporary Art). Getting there from the North End is no easy task despite the fact that from the museum you can see the North End very easily across the harbor. Unfortunately, there is no direct public transit option to get there. At North Station we took the Green Line to Park Street (there was a Red Sox game last night so it moved horrendously slow). From there we transfered to the Red Line. After two stops we transfered to the Silver Line. After one stop we got out and walked a few blocks simply to go around a vast parking lot (the museum was straight across, but we had to go completely around the parking lot because of fences).

The museum is an interesting building located on the edge of Boston Harbor. However, it was constructed very poorly. The building just opened a few months ago and already we found stair railings held together with tape and cracks in the concrete floor (this building is cantilevered so it’s somewhat unsettling to see cracks already). Anyway, the views are quite lovely and the space (outside) under the cantilever is interesting.

The man exhibit on the 4th floor was photoraphry of strippers and hustlers from the 1970’s through the 1990’s. Interesting stuff. But the most interesting part was when Randy headed off to the loo and I sat on a bench overlooking the harbor. A woman walked by who looked shockingly familiar. We stared at each other for a bit until she finally leaned over and said my name. It was the sister of one of my closest high school friends! She lives in Florida now and was visiting my friend, Carolyn.

Anyway, a few minutes later, while chatting, I turned around and there was Carolyn! Hugs, conversation, and laughter ensued. Oh, and Randy came back from the bathroom. The next thing I knew, two more of Carolyn’s sisters showed up (so in all there were 4 out of 5 sisters there). They all have an uncanny resemblence to each other and are prone to finish each other’s sentences. And then it dawned on me (actually, to all of us) that aside from Carolyn, I’d probably not seen these people in over 15 years (they were still in either junior high or high school abck then). Ugh, I’m old.

It was a great, unexpected reunion…and I discovered that Carolyn still reads my blog regularly (she knew things I’d posted just recently). However, she doesn’t appear to comment on here (HINT HINT if you’re reading this, Carolyn).

So after catching up, Carolyn and her sisters went to their car to put money in the meter and get dinner. We bid adieu and continued exploring the museum.

Afterwards, we headed into the South End for dinner at Addis Red Sea – an Ethiopian restaurant. I’d not been there in over a decade, but it was just as I remembered. The food was good (though I do prefer using silverware) and it had the most kick-ass hand dryer in the bathroom! You know those photos (or videos) of people skydiving where the wind blowing against their faces causes the skin to flap around? Well, that’s how strong these hand dryers were. I activated mine twice just for the hell of it.

Good times.

July 6th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 3 Comments

What an interesting Independence Day story I have to share!

But first off, the good stuff. The night before the 4th, Randy and I decided to go to Costco to get a pizza for dinner (we had to go to Target to return something and Costco was next door). We walked in there with the sole purpose of buying a $9.95 pizza. Randy left with a $1,000.00 rug. Ahhhhhh – nothing like a thousand dollar impulse buy! Iit does look quite fetching in his dining room, though…it was a good choice.

On the morning of the 4th, Randy got me kayaking. I can’t believe it. We went out on the Mystic River and ended up in Mystic Lake. It wasn’t as hellish as I had anticipated despite having no upper body strength. And the views were quite lovely and rural despite being only minutes from the city. It actually reminded me of childhood trips to Long Lake in Maine – 2.5 hours north of Boston.

Now here’s where it gets interesting. Randy and I were invited to our friend’s place in South Boston for an Independence Day barbecue. It was taking place in typical triple-decker and our friends were “hosting” it along with their upstairs neighbors. Consequently, people were floating between the two floors the entire evening (our friends were on the first floor, their neighbors on the 2nd floor). The bulk of the activities, however, took place on the second floor.

It seemed like a great mix of people. Randy had friends up from Florida, there was a minister and his family from Pennsvylania, there was an Australian (a friend of the 2nd floor tenants who we met at a previous party in the building), and there was a family from Ireland (relatives of the tenants on the second floor). In fact, it’s an interesting story how those tenants met and fell in love. They were both trapped at an airport on 9-11. He was from Ireland, she was from Boston. They ended up stuck together for a while, enjoyed conversation ,and eventually got married. He immigrated to the United States and they bought this condo in South Boston.

Anyway, everybody seemed to be having a fine time until about 10PM. As I said before, people were floating about from floor to floor and nobody was paying attention to who was where. A small group of us (5, including the Australian) were in the kitchen. Another group (mostly the Irish folks, about 6 people) were in thie adjoining room having their own conversation (there is no wall separating these rooms).

The Australian was asking questions about the origins of the Boston Pops and the the background on Independence Day and the Constitution. This led us to talking about the differences between the United States and Australia: everything from typical benefits packages at employers to politics, abortion, and religion. Nobody said anything directly against religion, though it was alluded to that religion plays a major factor in US politics. We weren’t yelling, we weren’t drunk, we were just chatting.

The next thing you know, the (male, Irish) owner of the condo turned around and snapped at us, saying “Would you keep it down? This is MY house.”

Um, OK.

We all just looked at each other…a bit shocked…then decided to retreat downstairs. As we approached the open door way that led downstairs, the owner followed us to the door and immediately shut it behind us.

When we got downstairs, we discovered our friends down there. We told them what happened so they went upstairs to see if everything was OK. The upstairs neighbors had locked their doors.

I guess the party was over.

The best we can guess was that they overheard the conversation (politics, religion) and didn’t like the topics. The interesting thing was that we NEVER said anything bad about specific religions (such as Catholicism). Hell, two (possibly three) of the people at our table were Catholic themselves. We also never said we were pro-choice or pro-life…we were just talking about the politics of it. One of Randy’s friends (after we had left) made a humorous, though appropriate, comment that “Gee, with attitudes like that, no wonder Ireland and Northern Ireland can’t get along.”

I must admit, I would have much more enjoyed it if he’d joined in the debate (I love a good debate) instead of snapping at us. Or, if he was tired of entertaining, he could have politely said that he was tired and we would quickly have taken the hint.

Instead, ironically, on the 4th of July of all days, an immigrant squelched our right to free speech. Happy Independence Day, everybody!

July 5th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment

I’m really starting to feel like I can’t relate to this country anymore. Just yesterday, Prez. Bush commuted the sentence of Scooter Libby claiming imprisonment was too harsh a punishment. Isn’t this the same man who was Governor of Texas? A state that uses the death penalty? So 30 months in prison is too harsh. Killing the convict…the most permanent and harsh punishment available…is not too harsh?

And then there’s this bonehead who took the Massachusetts Bar Exam recently. He failed by about 1 point (I believe you need 270 points out of 400 to pass). He claims the reason he failed was because of a question about a married lesbian couple filing for divorce. Since this test-taker was against same-sex marriage (which is 100% legal in this state so quite relevent if he plans to practice law here) he decided NOT to answer the question on the test (giving him a zero for that essay question).

Now he plans to sue the Bar. Ugh. I hope he’s permanently disbarred from practicing law here. Don’t get me wrong, he has the right to not believe in same-sex marriage. But the law is the law and the question wasn’t asking for his opinion on the topic…it was asking him what the couple’s legal standing would be under state law. I’m sure test-takers in the past had personal issues regarding various questions that appeared on the test (abortion, church and state, gun control). If you don’t provide an answer, you get no points. Sounds fair to me

On the plus side, at least one saavy entrepeneur is doing something that follows the American dream: Heidi Fleiss is planning to open a new business: Heidi’s Stud Farm. It will be the country’s first male brothel in Nevada and will employ 20 men to serve female customers. I suspect she will have no problem filling the positions. Whether she’ll be able to fill their prescriptions (for Viagra or Cialis) is beyond me. I wonder if their HMO would allow it as a work necessity?

July 3rd, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

It’s that time of year again. The Hope Fellowships Church is out distributing granola bars in the name of god. I got mine this morning (chocolate chip) from followers at the Porter Square subway station. Personally, I prefer the peanut butter chocolate chip granola bars from satan, but I guess I’ll take what i can get. Free food, is free food even if this granola bar came with a bar claiming that “This is our simple way of saying that God loves you.”

I actually don’t think he does. I’m gay and I don’t believe in him. Oh, and I use his name in vain a lot (often in inappropriate times, if you know what I’m saying – wink, wink, nudge, nudge).

Anyway, my weekend was great. Randy and I headed to the Cape on Friday and went to Seafood Sam’s with my parents (a belated Fathers’ Day meal). That night Paul, Heidi, Nicholas and Katie (my brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece, respectively) returned from a medical conference they were attending and we played cards (after my brother spent an hour preparing Heidi’s nightly meds and TPN).

The next day we all went out and lounged by the pool. The others went in…my Mom and I sat in the shade like little old ladies are prone to do. Later that afternoon, my brother and I even played tennis. Well, we were swinging 30 year old racquets at 20 year old balls (which had lost all sense of bounce). More often than not we were missing the balls completely and flailing our arms aimlessly. It was still fun…and fortunately we had my niece there to act as ball girl – preventing us from having to run around too much.

Despite the sobering reality of seeing my sister-in-law (who in addition to having a complelely non-functioning digestive system and being confined to a wheelchair, is now legally deaf), the weekend was actually a good time for all. Randy took a family photo for us (the first I think we’ve ever done with my nieces and nephews) and I hope to post it by Wednesday (it’s on Randy’s computer and he’s traveling right now).

On Sunday, Randy left for his business trip and I got together with my friend, Deano, to share photos of our recent travels (Prague for me, the southwest for him). Oh, and we ate pizza. But this pizza wasn’t from god. It was from Ernesto’s.

July 2nd, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 2 Comments

I arrived in the office this morning only to discover the foulest of stenches. As I left yesterday, I noticed a slight smell in the hallway outside my office. I thought nothing of it since my building is prone to smelling a bit peculiar (kind of that 1960’s elementary school smell…you know the smell I’m talking about.).

Well, by this morning that smell at traveled to my office. This time, the smell was more…well, rotten. Or mildewy. Either way, facilities is looking into it. For the third time, I bitched that my office would be more bearable if I had the opportunity to open the door and get fresh air. I’m beginning to fear it’s a losing battle.

At least I’m only here for a partial day today since I’ll be heading out a bit early to beat the traffic heading to the Cape. My brother and his family are going to also be there this weekend…the first time in ages that they’ve traveled because of my sister-in-law’s disability. And Randy gets to meet the extended family now!

Oh dear.

June 29th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment

Powerless is exactly how I felt last night. Randy and I were at his place watching the last two episodes of Heroes on Tivo when all of a sudden life went black. The power went out. It lasted all of 40 minutes…but during that time the temperature rose from 72 to 76 degrees. If the power didn’t return within the next half hour, we were going to go elsewhere (either my place or to our friend’s, Ben and Sandy).

Alas, the electricity came back on and we were able to finish Heroes. And now today we’re expecting major thunderstorms to usher in a cold front. I can’t wait! Big storms AND the removal of heat and humidity. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Tomorrow afternoon, Randy and I are heading down to the Cape for a family visit. This will be the first time my sister-in-law has been there in well over a year (since her disability made her wheelchair-bound). It’ll be tough for her to get into their house (steps…no ramp), and once in the house she’ll only be able to occupy the first floor, but this is the first time in over a year that she’s had the energy to deal with the 2.5 hour drive from their home to my parents place.

I think the plans are for a BBQ on Saturday afternoon and perhaps some time in the pool or on the tennis court. Neither Randy nor I have played tennis in ages so this could be a sight. It shall be a camera-free zone!

June 28th, 2007
Categories: Uncategorized . Author: snarl . Comments: 1 Comment