My weekend went fairly well, all things considered. Saturday was a bit of a struggle, getting from one place to the other and accomplishing all I set out to do. Traffic was a bit of a bore, but at least the heat-wave has finally let up and the weather was very nice.
I started the day off with my new housekeeping regime, tidying and dusting and vacuuming the living room and foyer; I've set aside two to three hours of each Saturday morning to do one part of the house in rotation, from bathroom to living/dining room to kitchen to my own room and laundry; that way, every part of the house gets cleaned once a month (purists would have the whole house cleaned once a week, but let's be realistic, okay? Two people who don't cook much and sit down to pee leave rather less mess than, say, a family with children).
After that I got my goods and chattels together, an hour behind schedule, and set out to pick up Madasin from her inconveniently remote fastness in Pinole. On the way back I had to stop at Frederick's to pick up yet another Dream Corset, which seems to be turning into a wardrobe staple for me; the theme of Alameda Imperial Coronation was "A Night at the Moulin Rouge," so of course everyone was wearing corsets on the outsides of their gowns, and since I'd promised to lend Angelique my black corset for her outfit, and also wanted a larger size for myself so that it would close completely at the back, I had to get a new one.
After getting into face and then getting ensnarled in an inexplicable traffic jam on the way to Union City, we managed to arrive at the hotel just in time to get Angelique into my smaller corset and arrive in the hall with just enough time to sit and relax and catch our breaths before we Walked. My gown was fucking with me, though; I'd jerry-rigged my burgundy satin gown with the train (which I totally can't fit into anymore... I couldn't even get the zipper over my waist, I had to pin it closed under the corset) with a similar-color scarf wrapped as a halter bodice, the rigging hidden under the corset (which I'd had to buy a size too large because Frederick's at Hilltop never has the exact size I want), I felt very uncomfortable.
Besides which, the dress kept slipping counterclockwise (as all of my dresses do lately) under the loose corset, and by the time I walked during the presentation of our Court, the train had worked its way around to the side... although it looked good there, the mobility of my costume was very disconcerting; in situtations like that, you need the confidence provided by the security of a gown that stays where you put it.
We left Coronation at the end of the first act, and with little difficulty got ourselves changed (I love changing clothes in parking lots) and then over to the City. Parking in the Castro was a nightmare, of course, but I found a spot only eight blocks from our destination, on my old stand-by street where I always find parking (I'd tell you which street, but I want to keep that parking-space for myself... I'll just say that it's got the same name as the place I was born, and that's why I figure it's lucky). We got to Harvey's in plenty of time, and it was nice to be able to just take it easy from then on, nowhere left to go, nothing left to do but give our little turns on the stage and enjoy the fellowship of friends old and new.
The fundraiser was a lot of fun... great performers, a great audience, a great venue. Pictures were taken, and I hope to have copies soon, but I don't have them now to share with you. My favorite part of the evening was standing outside (it was much too hot inside) and chatting with friends while dazzling my eyes with the passing parades of incredibly cute boys. The show itself was pretty secondary compared to the eye-candy outside. I wished I'd had my camera with me so I could get little snaps of some favorites... I'm going to look into exchanging my cell-phone for one that takes pictures so I can keep these serendipitous sightings forever.
It was a long day of drag, but completely worthwhile... even though I didn't get home until after two and only got five hours of sleep before I had to get up to go to church on Sunday. But what the hell, being sleepy in church is simply natural... and being sleep-addled makes it easier to ignore the whole I-hate-Christianity thing and just listen to the wisdom that is at the base of the added-on superstitions.
And as a bonus, our waiter at brunch was unbelievably adorable, tall and slender and pretty, the softly girlish (rather than shrilly girlish) kind of young man that arouses my protective instinct along with the instinct to defile, with honest blue eyes and the cutest little butt. He had beautiful hands, too, his nails much better-kept than the average waiter's... and the way his red-blond hair curled behind his ears, and the soft voice... I just about fell in love. Something tells me that I am going to be brunching at the Baker's Square on Willow Pass Road rather more often in the near future.
The rest of Sunday I slept and read (The Vampire Lestat, I'm working my way through the Vampire Chronicles in order) and watched a movie (Vatel, a little-known costume epic that was immensely enjoyable despite Gerard Depardieu), relaxing as much as I could from the rigors of the last few days and preparing for the rigors of the next few days. I had wanted to work on my newsletter, work on my novel, and go grocery shopping, but after I woke from my after-church nap it seemed the wisest course to stay horizontal instead. It was really quite pleasant. I feel prepared for the week that's coming.
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Today at work is going to be all about boxing up loose articles and throwing out paper-recycling and other refuse; I spent much of Friday at the same task, with Caroline's invaluable help, and though we stacked up one side of the kitchen with boxes of paper and crap, there's still a lot more to go. After work I am taking the Grandmother grocery shopping (every now and then she feels the need to go into the store and look at what's there), which is always a time-consuming epic. After that, I need to work on my general service duties, especially the newsletter that needs to be in the mail by Wednesday night.Then tomorrow I have to pack up the electronic equipment, disassembling all the computer workstations and carefully wrapping all the phones and printers and whatnot for the move. Everything has to be ready to go before I can leave the office tomorrow... everything. If I have to stay up all night packing, I'll stay up all night packing. The movers come on Wednesday and finish on Wednesday; and there will be no putting off or coming back to finish something afterward, we are required to turn in our keys when we're done.
So Wednesday will be the move itself, with my boss in situ at the old office, keeping an eye on everything, and myself in situ at the new office, telling the movers where to put things. I don't really know how long that will take, but I am braced for an eight-or-more-hour day.
I am also braced for the movers to be unattractive, but I hold out a candle of hope that they won't be... so far, there have been an unusual number of cute men involved in our move: the young man who works for the architectural firm that owns and occupies our new building, and who has been letting me in and out all week, is adorable; one of the realtors handling the transaction is so cute that even my straight male boss noticed his cuteness; and one of the guys who came in to rewire the office for our telephone needs was as cute as a button. So here's hoping for some cute movers; but I don't think my luck can hold out for so long.
After the movers have finished, I will have to hie over to Kinko's to do my newsletter, printing and folding and labelling and stamping a hundred and fifty copies. Then Thursday will be all about unpacking. But it will be more relaxed, as there isn't as big of a hurry to unpack. Still, I'm sure I'll be too exhausted by then to write much. We shall see, though... sometimes when I have a lot to do, I become very energetic, as if my body is rising to the challenge and producing more power.
Anyway, if I don't get to talk to you again in the next several days, have a wonderful week... and may your days be filled with cute boys!
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