Stories from a man who fails to meet media expectations of what it means to be gay:
white, frivolous, over sexed yet sexless, shrill, single, stylish, a clown, unimportant, et al.

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Christmas Time, 2000 Style

Cemeteries are an odd place to be on Christmas I guess, but it is a family tradition of sorts. I was with my mother today visiting my sister Angelica�s grave. She died soon after birth and this ritual has been going on for the past thirty odd years or so. It was fairly crowded there. Lots of people with the same traditions as my family I guess. We cleaned up her grave, as well a couple of neglected ones nearby, then looked at the toys and Christmas trees that had been put on other graves. The children's areas of cemeteries have always been sadder than the regular areas for me.

It has been an odd past few days. John and I have been trying to deal with Christmas and we have been going out a lot lately. There have been long lines and a lot of second guessing on what someone would like. There was also a major health issue for one of our friends.

She had a routine exam on Thursday to check on her pregnancy. Her blood pressure was really high and her doctor immediately checked her into the hospital and started her on medication. She had a condition which can result in Kidney failure and seizures and is very serious. We found out about this late that night.

Very early on Friday morning, the doctor delivered her new son. He was born a few months premature and there are still tests that need to be done to make sure that he will be OK. At this point, John and I are just thankful that the condition was caught before it became life endangering for her or her son. It is scary to think of what may have happened. At this point, we are just waiting for more good news and for her to recover enough to receive visitors.

Anyway, the week:

Thursday 12/21/2000:

My office did not have a holiday party. We did not do a $10 gift exchange. I did not give someone a calendar and I did not get a little organizer in return. Our boss did not force Alisia and me to sing karaoke. Alisia and I did not force the new staff to sing as well. I did not end up singing some country song I never heard of before nor did I end up somehow singing a song that turned out to be far more suggestive than anyone had realized. Although if that had happened, we all should have known better, it was Marvin Gay after all. Except that it didn�t happen.

Something that I can say happened, was that I went to a holiday party at Rick�s that night. It was his dog Digger�s 7th annual �You call that a Christmas tree?� party. Instead of bringing a tacky christmas tree ornament like most guests, I brought the gift of candy in a Chinese food take out box. Rick�s tree was well, interesting. It was a huge flocked thing filled with tacky lights and tacky ornaments, some which were spinning �round and �round. There were hanging cans o� spam, plastic spoke creature figures hawking their wares, rude toys doing rude things, a pair of red underwear and lots of glass and plastic. Apparently this years tree was really tame compared to other years.

I was really tired that night and wasn�t the friendliest of guests, but luckily enough, there were lots of outgoing people there who insisted that everyone have a good time. I got a chance to speak to some interesting people and eat good food.

I decided to drive through Christmas tree lane on the way home. The lane is a street where all these huge pines are decorated and lit up for the holidays. I�ve lived up near the the area for years now and this was the first time I�ve ever seen it in person. It was nice.

Friday 12/22/2000:

John and I went to a Solstice party at Chris C�s that night. She had devised a little ritual for all the guests to perform to celebrate the Solstice. We wrote down something we wanted to change in our lives, burned it in the fire pit out back, then jumped over the fire. Most people took a really large step over the flame instead of actual jumping, but I guess it was close enough. Afterwards we all sang traditional Solstice songs like Solstice bells, The twelve days of Solstice and Rock around the Solstice fire.

That totally reads like fiction. We did sing normal songs that night, but they quickly degenerated into quirky lampoons of traditional holiday songs. It sounds odd, but it was really funny.

I ate beef for the first time in ages at that party. Well, less eat, more taste. Chris C was pushing some sausage saying it was the best stuff ever. It made from some tasty/expensive part of a cow. Everyone else thought it was great, except for the people who thought it was too spicy. I thought it was, um, chewy and plain tasting. I much preferred the crab cakes. Now those were the best ever.

It was really foggy that night and it took us a while to make back home.

Saturday 12/23/2000:

I spent a large part of the day wrapping presents. Being the oddball that I am, I watched Laurie Anderson�s Home of the Brave while wrapping stuff. I haven�t watched it ages, but I was in kind of a nostalgic mood. Coming of age in the eighties has left me with some unusual tastes.

John had dinner with some old high school friends that night and I had dinner and a movie with Kristen. Dinner was Spicy scallops and stir fried bitter greens with mushrooms at Ocean Coral in Pasadena. The Film was Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon at the Laemmle�s Colorado. The theater is old and way too many of the seats were broken and uncomfortable. For some reason, both Kristen and I kept getting the title of the film wrong and the only way Kristen could remember it correctly was to call it Crouching Kitty, Leaping Lizard.

The movie was excellent. Amazing cinematography and unbelievable fight choreography. The entire thing was just way too beautiful. The only review I looked at hated the dialog and said that the plot was far to complicated. While I agree that the dialogue was way over the top, it suited this fable/fairytale kind of story and the plot was no more complicated than say one the Star Wars movies. After many of the fight scenes and the end of it all, the audience broke out into spontaneous applause.

Sunday 12/24/2000:

Christmas Eve supper was lasagna at John�s parents house. Before and after dinner were the traditional games and White elephant gift exchanges. One thing that changed this year was that John�s older brother did not dress up as Santa. The older kids had figured out what was going on a couple of years ago and even the younger kids had their suspicions, so this year the role was played by a friend of the family. It totally threw the kids for a loop. Santa was here, but so was uncle George? Huh? A couple of them were a little nervous, but normal kid greed took care of that once Santa started handing out presents.

John�s family are open the presents on Christmas eve night kinda people, so there were presents and happy kids running around everywhere by the end of the night. It was a pleasant evening.

Monday 12/25/2000:

Christmas day was with my family. After the already mentioned trip to the cemetery, we went down to my sisters place. After working a thirty-something odd hour long shift at the hospital, we didn�t want her to have to drive much. Dinner was Rice, salad and a shredded turkey dish that I can�t recall the name for. All I can remember is that the meat is cooked forever until it starts to fall apart. Presents were opened and thankyous were exchanged.

Everyone is back at their respected homes now and I�m feeling a little sad. I've been thinking about the kids enjoying Christmas yesterday and my trip to the cemetery today and how I hope for the best for our friend and her new son. There haven�t been any calls today, so John and I are being optimistic and hoping that no news is good news.

More later, nico

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