..:. Cracking My Vainpot .:..

Ah. Good old Folsom Street Festival

How long does it take to lose your innocence in San Francisco?

Less than 24 hours.

Castro, Saturday night, bit drunk. Picked up this 23yo muscle boy on the sidewalk (don't ask).

New to the city, he didn't really know anyone. All shy in the beginning, he often stared at his feet. But give him a bit of encouragement, all hell went loose. Soon enough his top came off and he was pole dancing.

The next day, we went to his 1st Folsom Street Festival together and he really came out of his shell. Before we knew it, he stripped to his underwear, signed himself into a fund-raising wrestling match and won 3:0. Whew. As if that's not enough, this Stanford student took it to the stage and did a hot-n-sweaty naked twister with a bunch of SM porn stars.

Why am I surprised?

(The picture above has been censored by Photobucket.com)

Martin Luther King Day today. 

I still have his portrait up in my room back in my parents' house.

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

But since America, even on the eve of inaugurating Obama, only thinks black & white are equal and that gays don't deserve all civil rights, I need another hero.

I need a gay hero!

What about Milk? Harvey Milk? 

One of the 1st openly gay elected officials in the world? 

The one who told you to come out and fight for your rights?

2008 Thanksgiving. Nationwide premiere of the movie "MILK" in San Francisco neighborhood, Castro, where it all began.

The biopic was released to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the double assassination of supervisor Harvey Milk and mayor George Moscone.

In San Francisco, "MILK" was as popular as "Brokeback Mountain". Go see it if you want to be proud.

It was all part of the the gay-rights movement, of course. Right in the heart of Castro, you'll find a small exhibition "Passionate Struggle" about it's history.

Amongst its exhibits, you'll find the sewing machine that made the first ever rainbow flag...

... and panthlets from early 80s, warning against the mysterious "gay cancer" that eventually wiped out a whole generation of homosexuals.

But the most important pieces, were items from the time of Harvey, like this 1978 slogan T-shirt against "Prop 6", which proposed to mandate the firing of all gay teachers from public schools.

How I wish we still have a figurehead like Harvey, canvassing up and down California to defeat Prop 8.

Harvey Milk's business card.

See the blood stain and bullet holes? Harvey was wearing this suit when he got murdered in the SF City Hall.

But all is not lost. Gay rights have continued to enter people's consciousness.

To commemorate Harvey Milk & George Moscone's assassination, SF Gay Men's Chorus once again sang at the steps of SF City Hall, where Milk famously said "I'm here to recruit you!". Milk's nephew was invited to address the crowd.

As a sign of growth in the LGBT political contingent, we now have more than one representatives running for major offices. 

Kudos to Rafael Mandelman of the Harvey Milk Club, organizer of those commemoration events.

Candle light vigil.

Marching the SF City Hall

down Market Street...

Those who don't need walking aids,

together with those who do...

Hundreds...

Thousands...

Back to Castro, back to Milk's old camera shop, back to where it was ok to be different,

to listen to Harvey, whose words still ring true today.

"Gay brothers and sisters, ...You must come out. 

Come out... to your parents... Come out to your relatives...

Come out to your friends...if indeed they are your friends... 

Come out to your neighbors...to your fellow workers...

But once and for all, break down the myths, destroy the lies and distortions."

If you don't change people you know, how can you change people you don't know?

Come out.

I need a hero, in you!

I do miss San Francisco. The vibe, the energy and the forward thinking. 

You'd be as MAD as I am if somebody put your marriage on the ballot for strangers to vote on!

How could this Prop 8 even be on the ballot to begin with?! This is so insulting. Fucking insane!

Might as well vote to say that gays & lesbians are second-class citizens as well as second-grade human beings.

Might as well have separate drinking fountains for gays & lesbians too?!

Might as well make gays & lesbians sit at the back of the bus only?!

Might as well kick the gays off when "real" families are walking the same pavement?!

My blood is fucking boiling!

Each time I relocate, it always took me a couple years to find people I love or things I really like to do, and that usually happens just before I have to leave again. [[Why?!]]

After almost a year in exile, I think I deserve a break. Yay!! Whitewater rafting in California for July 4th. Oh I'm so ready for Class 5, but hey, Class 4 can still be fun. Plus it's kinda nice to know that I'm not gonna die ;P

Just checked that most of the wildfire at Yosemite are now contained and it's not quite so smoky anymore. Speaking great timing hahaha!

Frisky Summer2 here I come!!

[NRP: California Supreme Court Approves Gay Marriage]

* The Court, with a 6/7 Republican majority, ruled ban on gay marriage unconstitutional by a 4-3 vote.

* You don't have to be a Cal resident to get marry there.

* This ruling takes effect in 30 days.

YES! Thank you!

Finally, *all* Californians are equal. (well, until November!)

Something that neither Hilary Clinton or Barrack Obama dare to even think of. John McCain? Forget it.

Stuart Gaffney & John Lewis, thank you for fighting the battle for all of us. I wish you both a long and happy life together.

"It is a basic civil right to marry someone you love, which include all Californians whether they are gay or hetersexual"

"Our recognition that the constitutional right to marry applies to same-sex couples as well as to opposite-sex couples does not diminish any other person’s constitutional rights."

- California Supreme Court 5/15/2008

"Not a day goes by that I don’t think of Richard and our love, and how much it meant to me to have that freedom to marry the person precious to me, even if others thought he was the ‘wrong kind of person’ for me to marry."

"I believe all Americans, no matter their race, no matter their sex, no matter their sexual orientation, should have that same freedom to marry."

- the late Mildred Loving, a black woman who successfully challenged Virginia's ban on interracial marriage at the Supreme Court in 1967, despite an overwhelming opposition from the general public.

2 States down. 48 more to go!

[CNN Breaking News]

[Historic Court Ruling]

[A Moment to Remember in SF]

[Across America: Same-sex Marriage]

[Freedom to Marry]

[Equality California]

1, 2, 3, 4... I still remember.

For three solid hours, I lay there counting, staring at the folds on his blanket slowly moving up and down. 8 breaths per minute, wikipedia said. Anything less than that, I had to call for an ambulance. 

It was Halloween. Picasso had been bobing up and down all night, dancing away, apparently enjoying himself. All of a sudden, he just collapsed. I couldn't sit him up even if I tried. Within a minute, the club just kicked us out, without lending a helping hand. OUT, that's all they us to do. After bankrolling our pink dollars month after month, year after year, they treated us like a stinking street rat carrying a deadly plague from the Dark Age.

Once we're out on the street, I struggled to keep him on his feet, as he weave in and out of consciousness, and his limps waving involuntarily in the air. Between violent bouts of throwing up, he managed to shout "Let me go" repeatedly. Some concerned pedestrians asked if we need help. But the trouble is, I did't even know what Picasso has overdosed on. The cupid in that concoction of his recreational chemical alphabet soup. His ever-present "water" bottle hinted at GHB the date rape drug, and someone suggested giving him Speed as an antidote. But how in Hell can I get that on a busy circus corner full of passers-by whilst restraining a maniac?!

Finally, a familiar face showed up and offered to take us home, but to get a hysterical 6'2 giant into car was no easy task. In a moment of frustration, I smacked him in the face. The first time in my whole life. It didn't work, of course.

I don't remember exactly how I dragged his 175lb of unresponsive flesh up the stairs in the end. In order to keep him from choking in his own vomit, I had to maintain him in the recovery position, which eventually meant lying there holding him tight, baking in a swamp of sweat and organic smell. It has always been difficult to get his pulse, so I concentrated on his impossibly slow and shallow breaths, counting away til the sun came out.

Was it love? It must've been.

I've heard of a couple, in which one date-raped himself so often that the boyfriend has to carry a small bottle of antidote around, whenever they go out.

I can't. I'm sorry, I just can't.

Thank you for the gay twins' birthday party.

Thank you for crowning two sailor boys Prom Kings and Queen.

Thank you for the beautiful Russian river, the de Young and the Baker beach.

Thank you for all the costumes and festivals.

Thank you for freaking me out.

Thank you for all those non-American men with big dick.

Thank you for all those American men with small dick.

Thank you for all the friends I made for life.

Thank you for awakening my will to fight.

Thank you for treating me as an equal.

Thank you for reminding me how it feels to be normal.

Thank you for giving me the courage to love a man.

Thank you for a place on Earth where I know I'll always be welcome.

Thank you for your love. It's not you, it's me. Good bye.

San Francisco beware! [evil smiley face]



My provisional license has collected 15 years-worth of dust, but the time has come for me to grow up, finally!

The written test was easy. Can't believe I was so anal about getting a perfect score. No touch screen in sight. California DMV is still marking our tests by hand - shocking! So I just picked the most expensive driving school in my area, told them I need to get going in 2 weeks, and things got interesting.

Having been driven around all my life, it showed. On the first day, I made my first critical error within the first second - I got into the *passenger* seat! By the second lesson, my wacky instructor got me onto the highway along the Pacific Ocean doing 65mph. Crazy. Then we ran over some Mexicans aliens in Mission, drove away all the hippies on Haight Street and gave some grannies heart attacks in Chinatown. 10 hours later, we went past Nancy Pelosi's house after going up a 45 degree slope.

Although I still have a tendency of mixing up the pedals, still can't do parallel parking and would still very likely fail my driving test on my last day in San Francisco, I can still feel good. I did Lombard - the crookedest street, according to any SF postcards, without a license!