So Cal Story - You Say It's Your Birthday

Most of you know that on June 3rd I celebrated my 40th birthday. For those of you that didn't, yes, I am old. Over the years I have written about getting older and how age doesn't really have an effect on how I live my life. But recently that changed.It started with Justin getting his drivers license. As I stood there watching him drive away to school that morning (his first time driving in a car alone - at least that I am aware of) it suddenly hit me that my little baby was driving a car. Sure, I realize he is growing up - he's almost as big as me now - but I guess it didn't really mean anything until I actually saw him driving down the street.

I think part of it has to do with the fact that I could never as a young man picture myself being over the age of 40. I have no idea what I thought was going to happen to me, but I just could never see it. Another part of it is probably that I thought my parents were SO OLD when I started driving so to see him doing it was proof that I am old now too. My guess is that I will actually turn to dust and disintegrate at the exact moment he graduates from high school.

So as the BIG 4-0 approached I thought that I might actually start to be depressed. I was smart however and planned a birthday that was so exciting (to me) that all I felt leading up to it was excitement! During a recent trip to San Francisco one of my good friends told me that she was taking burlesque dance classes and that she had auditioned for a part in a show and got it. She said that the shows were going on the first 3 weekends in June and told us that if we were interested that she'd give us the 411. When I discovered that my birthday was during that time I decided right then that there was no other place that I wanted to be on my B-day then watching "Princess" dance her heart out. You see, my friend Princess is one of the girliest girls I have ever known. She LOVES sparkly jewelry and feather boas and all things pink. One year I drew her as my "secret Santa" at the office and I went & bought all of her gifts at a DRAG shop in SF - it was the best one-stop shopping I ever experienced. Don't get me wrong, she's no priss - miss thang can get down with the best of us, but in the group of the 4 of us that coordinated new hire orientation she was definitely the most fem (and before ya'll start pointing your fingers in my direction, all I wanna say is fuck off - it's my story and I can paint this picture however I want!). Anyhow, the idea of Princess in lingerie (she's VERY tall - like 5'11" - very thin and has GORGEOUS boobs - I know because she was pregnant when I worked with her and not only were all the bitches in SF jealous when she walked down the street, but she had trannies green with envy) dancing with gloves and feather boas was just too irresistible. So I bought the tickets, booked the flight, reserved the hotel room and all was set.

The morning of my B-day came and Allan & I had a early flight. As I am standing in the airport waiting to board the plane I notice a group of people wearing AIDS Lifecycle t-shirts and it dawns on me that my B-day was "day zero" for the ride. All of you know that I did California AIDS Ride 5 in 1998 and worked as a cycle buddy for AIDS Lifecycle 2 - the ride is something that is VERY important to me. It was so cool to be able to talk to a few of the riders on the plane about the event. When we got on BART to ride into the city another cyclist from the ride was on our train and she was so cool. It all reminded me of spending my birthday with Miss Creamcheese one year in SF working at day zero handing out tent assignments - it was one of the best B-day's ever and it was great that the ride got worked into my 40th. Once Allan & I got into SF we rented a car and headed to the Haight for brunch. We ate at my favorite hole in the wall there and then headed to my dad's house. I mentioned in an earlier post that my dad was recently diagnosed with cancer. He & I have never really been close and we have been trying to establish a relationship. Like a lot of people with cancer he has to take it day by day - one day the news is good and the next bad - all we know for sure is that it doesn't look good and he is in a lot of pain. The day before I visited him he'd had a blood transfusion and when I got there he looked really good. We had a really awesome visit and then Allan & I headed off to the hotel to check-in and get ready for the show. One of my other co-workers was coming to the show with us so we stopped and picked up Hoochie Mama and got some dinner. The night was a blast - Princess did a really great job (she looked FIERCE in her lingerie and heels) and after the show we went to this restaurant/bar in Sausalito that had an outdoor patio and we talked for a while and had French fries & dessert right on the water. We took Princess home, dropped Hoochie off at her place and headed back to the hotel. It was an amazing day and I did it all on 4 hours of sleep.

On Sunday Allan & I headed over to Marin County and walked through Muir Woods. We drove up the coast for a bit and then went back over to visit with my dad. My middle sister came over too and we all had a really nice visit. Sunday night we went to dinner with my friends Drew, Renttecca and Renttecca's man Rob. We went to Chow and had a lot of fun talking and eating. After that we went and got dessert and then went to Drews to watch a video of one of Renttecca's "performances". I haven't been to one of her performances in ages, and let me tell ya, things have changed since my baby used to stand on stage dressed as an angel and lip-synch "Fagot" by Korn. Apparently she posted it online and it was so vile it was removed. It was rank, crude, offensive, yet strangely fascinating and very funny. I laughed, I cried, I retched and had to hold back the vomit - what more can you ask for in a Renttecca perfomance?

Monday morning we ran to Specialties for cinnamon rolls, went back to our room (which was on the 16th floor and had a great view of the Bay Bridge) and laid in bed eating cinnamon rolls, drinking coffee and enjoying the view. We packed our crap, did a little shopping and made it to the airport on time. We got home and things are back to normal.So there it is. I had a really AWESOME birthday and think I kicked off my 40's in a truly spectacular way - I surrounded myself with a few of my favorite people and really just enjoyed every moment of our trip. I am fairly healthy, have awesome friends, love from my family and a partner that is the love of my life. We have an awesome home, great kids, and 2 of the cutest dogs ever so who cares if I hate my job - right? Hopefully this year I will be able to spend some time with each of you - that way I can celebrate the entire year.

PS - Thank you again Dean for the most thoughtful gift EVER - I truly love it! Also, I took some pics of Princess after her show - I'll post them on my blog soon. Sorry Hooch - the black eye shows in most of the photos so if you want me to edit you out just say the word!