B e s t v i e w e d a t 8 0 0 x 6 0 0 o r g r e a t e r
- Rod Wood, Christmas '99 -
I-10, Just east of El Paso, TX A burning Bush would have helped
December 24, 1999
(I'll be doing the trek to Houston again this year!)
2000 with David |
 - Kevin Wiese & Rod Wood, Christmas 2002 - On our way to Donna Sachet's "Songs of the Season" Fundraiser San Francisco, CA December 1, 2002 |
2001 with Nathan |
- My Home at the Russian River A View from the Driveway -
Where I plan to spend Christmas this year
Guerneville, CA 1999
As you can see, I look much warmer this year than three years ago. I was on my way to Houston in the Jeep to spend Christmas with Pop. I plan to make a similar trek again this year. I have a lot of relatives in Houston, but very few family members.
For those who are confused, it's really quite simple. I have "relatives" and I have "family". Some of my "relatives" are a part of my "family", but they are notsynonymous. This concept seems to evade most of my relatives, some of whom call me "family", but don't treat me or my father like we are. Too bad for them.
Fortunately, both my father and I have some pretty wonderful people as part of our "family". I had the opportunity to spend several evenings with some of these folks during my recent stays in Houston, either going to dinner, or cooking in.
This will be the first year in a few that I'm officially "single" again. Yes, it's true. As of Labor Day this year, I split up with Nathan.
I know how difficult it was for me when David split up with me. It took nearly a year to get over it. He's moved to Toronto this summer, and plans to become a Canadian citizen. Something odd about the whole thing - but that's another story.
Kevin is someone I've seen a few times in the two months. He's handsome, thoughtful, bright, shares many interests of mine, likes cats, and is gainfully employed. He actually exceeds Murphy Brown's qualifications for a man to date - "A mammal with a day job."
Alas, I don't fit into that category myself. STILL. The job market in California for electronics is down the tubes. Hey, but we'll have a war to fight, so maybe I can get a job there... NOT! The government's silliness about gay people borders on comedic. or is it tragic? Here we are "fighting a war on terrorism" where we supposedly need qualified personell, so we FIRE a bunch of American code-breakers just because they're homosexual? Hello? The British did the same thing to Alan Turing who invented the machine to decode the German Enigma messages, thus saving the Allies' butts in WWII.
Personally, I think this whole "homeland security" is a scam. A way to roll back the clock to a mythical time when there was "law and order". Back to when businesses could do what they wanted to people and the environment, and grow without restraints. It looks like a way to create a worker underclass who can't advance because they're considered "sub-human", not worthy of equal protection under the law. The result? The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. If I were in charge, I'd work to have everyone was employed in SOME sort of job, and cutting "welfare" to both the poor AND the rich. The poor would have some job, keeping them off the streets (busy, out of trouble, and able to buyt products), and the rich would benefit from "bubble UP" economics. I don't have a problem with people being rich, I just hate to pay more taxes than someone who makes ten times what I do, and still NOT be considered a full citizen. What a country!
So during my time unemployed, I've been keeping busy reading the job postings, working on the house in Guerneville, and being Den Dad for the 2003 South of Market Bare Chest Calendar men. The home improvements mostly have to do with energy efficiency. Things go on and off on their own around the house, much like a thermostat does to a heater. While one friend claims that everything in my house is automatic, he's not quite right. Still, I have more energy-, time-, and effort-saving gadgets in the place than most homes.
The "Den Dad" job for the Bare Chest Calendar is part counselor, part coordinator, part "herder of cats" for twelve good-looking men who are willing to give their time and image to make some money for local charities. Overall, this is the best group I've had the pleasure of working with to raise money. In all three official out-of-town events, nine of the twelve travelled to the event. That's an amazing percentage! I'm very proud of these guys.
In addition to the work with the BCC, I've done some smaller fundraisers for the Sonoma County AIDS Emergency Fund. So far, I've put on two "Dating Gayme" productions. This is roughly based on the TV show from the 1960's where a "bachelor" would choose among three "bachelorettes" for a date. But in MY version, the "bachelorettes" are selected by a raffle draw. The "bachelor" is a local single celebrity in the community, and he gets to ask questions, Just like in the TV show, he doesn't get to see the contestants, but only gets to hear their answers. Depending upon the answers he then chooses his dinner-date from the three contestants. So some degree of chance is mixed in with skill. Plus the audience gets to watch the game and their reaction is key to the event. I only claim that the winner will get the dinner or brunch out of the deal.
Oddly enough, the first time I did this game, "Mama" was one of my bachelorettes. She brought one of her boys onstage to voice her answers. Since the "bachelor" was unable to see the bachelorettes, he had no idea that there was a woman competing for a dinner date. Perhaps not surpisingly she had the best answers, and won the date! The crowd loved it.
In addition to my fundraising efforts, I have tried to become more involved with my community. I attended Mama's Leatherwalk, the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund Dinner, Donna Sachet's Songs of the Season, and other community fundraising events. I also participated with the BCC men at the Dore Alley and Folsom Street Fairs. Each of these gave me a chance to see folks I've not seen in a while - time to catch up on friends' lives.
I also attended IML and local, regional, and International Leather Sir contests. The ILS contest is the successor to the Drummer contest where I competed two years ago. While this year's contest was not as well-attended as two years ago, 7 of the 10 "Sir" contestants from my year 2000 contest showed up - representing more regions than any other year's regional winners. We were a great group of guys - never infighting, all supportive. And when we got together, it was like we'd not been apart. Conversations and friendships continued, and we still all got along very well. Three of the year 2000 men, including me, were asked to be the colorguard for the ceremony, an honor we readily accepted. It was nice to find out that we were one of the best classes ever, and definitely the best in recent memory.
As for "classes", I returned to Houston in July for my 30-year class reunion. Oddly enough, I'd been involved in the production of it, and attended "meetings" by conference call for months beforehand. Being the "scoutmaster" type, I had the responsibility of getting the committee heading in a more-or-less same direction. No one had thought about what sort of affair (picnic/dinner/cocktail party), attire (casual/semi-forma/formal), location (school/elsewhere), or finances. Because of my distance in California, I got to be in charge of the nametags, an important but often overlooked part of any soiree. I dressed up and out - leather pants, dress shirt, leather tie and vest. Out of the 100 former students who attended, I knew about a half dozen. But one of those I'd known since first grade.
It's funny how some people don't really change their mannerisms throughout their lives. Cathy was one of them. She may have grown older, but when she swaggered up to the reunion check-in with her "I could give a f..." attitude, I remembered that she'd been that way since elementary school. I don't know why she was suprised when she walked up and said, "You probably don't know who the hell I am," and I immediately greeted her with her full name and nametag. I hadn't really needed the list of people - I just knew.
Perhaps that's one of the things that makes some people stand out in our lives. We ended up sitting together and chatting about our lives over the last 30 years. She'd kept up a bit more than me with our graduating class, and told me of some people dying or moving away. I brought pictures of my family here and my homes in Guerneville and San Francisco.
The "Eureka Palace" in San Francisco is finally plodding along the path to becoming a condominium. After some battles with the City regarding one of their incredibly stupid laws (who dreams some of these things up, anyway?), we were ready to begin the process. The three of us have had electricians and plumbers doing work to bring it up to code. But recent rains have postponed the construction workers from doing anything outdoors. You don't even want to know the pricetag for this mess.
So in my "depression", I did a typical "Great Depression" activity. I went to the movies. The Castro Theater is a great old moviehouse complete with pipe organ and an eclectic selection of shows. Recently, John Waters (of "Pink Flamingos" and "Hairspray" fame) was there for a special Christmas presentation. The guy really is very strange. Brilliant, but strange.
Other than getting ready for the trip to visit my father and Lucille, I don't have any real plans for Christmas Day. I'll probably spend it playing with Trixie in Guerneville. It's not nearly as bad as it sounds, since she seems facinated by anything that I do. And she's invented some fun (for her) games such as sneak-attack, monster behind the curtain, mouse under the blanket, catch the [computer] mouse cursor, and the ever-popular sleep on top of the monitor. Hours of entertainment for my family.
So, while life could be better, it could be a whole lot worse. I still have people in my life who respect me for what I've accomplished, accept me despite my flaws, and love me for who I am. Can't get much better than that.
- Rod
- The Men of the 2003 South of Market Bare Chest Calendar -
Photography by James Scott Geras
San Francisco, CA 2002
= Happy Holidays =
- Adjust Monitor -
For those who are confused, it's really quite simple. I have "relatives" and I have "family". Some of my "relatives" are a part of my "family", but they are notsynonymous. This concept seems to evade most of my relatives, some of whom call me "family", but don't treat me or my father like we are. Too bad for them.
Fortunately, both my father and I have some pretty wonderful people as part of our "family". I had the opportunity to spend several evenings with some of these folks during my recent stays in Houston, either going to dinner, or cooking in.
This will be the first year in a few that I'm officially "single" again. Yes, it's true. As of Labor Day this year, I split up with Nathan.
I know how difficult it was for me when David split up with me. It took nearly a year to get over it. He's moved to Toronto this summer, and plans to become a Canadian citizen. Something odd about the whole thing - but that's another story.
Kevin is someone I've seen a few times in the two months. He's handsome, thoughtful, bright, shares many interests of mine, likes cats, and is gainfully employed. He actually exceeds Murphy Brown's qualifications for a man to date - "A mammal with a day job."
Alas, I don't fit into that category myself. STILL. The job market in California for electronics is down the tubes. Hey, but we'll have a war to fight, so maybe I can get a job there... NOT! The government's silliness about gay people borders on comedic. or is it tragic? Here we are "fighting a war on terrorism" where we supposedly need qualified personell, so we FIRE a bunch of American code-breakers just because they're homosexual? Hello? The British did the same thing to Alan Turing who invented the machine to decode the German Enigma messages, thus saving the Allies' butts in WWII.
Personally, I think this whole "homeland security" is a scam. A way to roll back the clock to a mythical time when there was "law and order". Back to when businesses could do what they wanted to people and the environment, and grow without restraints. It looks like a way to create a worker underclass who can't advance because they're considered "sub-human", not worthy of equal protection under the law. The result? The rich get richer, and the poor get poorer. If I were in charge, I'd work to have everyone was employed in SOME sort of job, and cutting "welfare" to both the poor AND the rich. The poor would have some job, keeping them off the streets (busy, out of trouble, and able to buyt products), and the rich would benefit from "bubble UP" economics. I don't have a problem with people being rich, I just hate to pay more taxes than someone who makes ten times what I do, and still NOT be considered a full citizen. What a country!
So during my time unemployed, I've been keeping busy reading the job postings, working on the house in Guerneville, and being Den Dad for the 2003 South of Market Bare Chest Calendar men. The home improvements mostly have to do with energy efficiency. Things go on and off on their own around the house, much like a thermostat does to a heater. While one friend claims that everything in my house is automatic, he's not quite right. Still, I have more energy-, time-, and effort-saving gadgets in the place than most homes.
The "Den Dad" job for the Bare Chest Calendar is part counselor, part coordinator, part "herder of cats" for twelve good-looking men who are willing to give their time and image to make some money for local charities. Overall, this is the best group I've had the pleasure of working with to raise money. In all three official out-of-town events, nine of the twelve travelled to the event. That's an amazing percentage! I'm very proud of these guys.
In addition to the work with the BCC, I've done some smaller fundraisers for the Sonoma County AIDS Emergency Fund. So far, I've put on two "Dating Gayme" productions. This is roughly based on the TV show from the 1960's where a "bachelor" would choose among three "bachelorettes" for a date. But in MY version, the "bachelorettes" are selected by a raffle draw. The "bachelor" is a local single celebrity in the community, and he gets to ask questions, Just like in the TV show, he doesn't get to see the contestants, but only gets to hear their answers. Depending upon the answers he then chooses his dinner-date from the three contestants. So some degree of chance is mixed in with skill. Plus the audience gets to watch the game and their reaction is key to the event. I only claim that the winner will get the dinner or brunch out of the deal.
Oddly enough, the first time I did this game, "Mama" was one of my bachelorettes. She brought one of her boys onstage to voice her answers. Since the "bachelor" was unable to see the bachelorettes, he had no idea that there was a woman competing for a dinner date. Perhaps not surpisingly she had the best answers, and won the date! The crowd loved it.
In addition to my fundraising efforts, I have tried to become more involved with my community. I attended Mama's Leatherwalk, the Breast Cancer Emergency Fund Dinner, Donna Sachet's Songs of the Season, and other community fundraising events. I also participated with the BCC men at the Dore Alley and Folsom Street Fairs. Each of these gave me a chance to see folks I've not seen in a while - time to catch up on friends' lives.
I also attended IML and local, regional, and International Leather Sir contests. The ILS contest is the successor to the Drummer contest where I competed two years ago. While this year's contest was not as well-attended as two years ago, 7 of the 10 "Sir" contestants from my year 2000 contest showed up - representing more regions than any other year's regional winners. We were a great group of guys - never infighting, all supportive. And when we got together, it was like we'd not been apart. Conversations and friendships continued, and we still all got along very well. Three of the year 2000 men, including me, were asked to be the colorguard for the ceremony, an honor we readily accepted. It was nice to find out that we were one of the best classes ever, and definitely the best in recent memory.
As for "classes", I returned to Houston in July for my 30-year class reunion. Oddly enough, I'd been involved in the production of it, and attended "meetings" by conference call for months beforehand. Being the "scoutmaster" type, I had the responsibility of getting the committee heading in a more-or-less same direction. No one had thought about what sort of affair (picnic/dinner/cocktail party), attire (casual/semi-forma/formal), location (school/elsewhere), or finances. Because of my distance in California, I got to be in charge of the nametags, an important but often overlooked part of any soiree. I dressed up and out - leather pants, dress shirt, leather tie and vest. Out of the 100 former students who attended, I knew about a half dozen. But one of those I'd known since first grade.
It's funny how some people don't really change their mannerisms throughout their lives. Cathy was one of them. She may have grown older, but when she swaggered up to the reunion check-in with her "I could give a f..." attitude, I remembered that she'd been that way since elementary school. I don't know why she was suprised when she walked up and said, "You probably don't know who the hell I am," and I immediately greeted her with her full name and nametag. I hadn't really needed the list of people - I just knew.
Perhaps that's one of the things that makes some people stand out in our lives. We ended up sitting together and chatting about our lives over the last 30 years. She'd kept up a bit more than me with our graduating class, and told me of some people dying or moving away. I brought pictures of my family here and my homes in Guerneville and San Francisco.
The "Eureka Palace" in San Francisco is finally plodding along the path to becoming a condominium. After some battles with the City regarding one of their incredibly stupid laws (who dreams some of these things up, anyway?), we were ready to begin the process. The three of us have had electricians and plumbers doing work to bring it up to code. But recent rains have postponed the construction workers from doing anything outdoors. You don't even want to know the pricetag for this mess.
So in my "depression", I did a typical "Great Depression" activity. I went to the movies. The Castro Theater is a great old moviehouse complete with pipe organ and an eclectic selection of shows. Recently, John Waters (of "Pink Flamingos" and "Hairspray" fame) was there for a special Christmas presentation. The guy really is very strange. Brilliant, but strange.
Other than getting ready for the trip to visit my father and Lucille, I don't have any real plans for Christmas Day. I'll probably spend it playing with Trixie in Guerneville. It's not nearly as bad as it sounds, since she seems facinated by anything that I do. And she's invented some fun (for her) games such as sneak-attack, monster behind the curtain, mouse under the blanket, catch the [computer] mouse cursor, and the ever-popular sleep on top of the monitor. Hours of entertainment for my family.
So, while life could be better, it could be a whole lot worse. I still have people in my life who respect me for what I've accomplished, accept me despite my flaws, and love me for who I am. Can't get much better than that.
- Rod
- The Men of the 2003 South of Market Bare Chest Calendar -
Photography by James Scott Geras
San Francisco, CA 2002
= Happy Holidays =
- Adjust Monitor -