A Little Fun ... A Little Sun ... A Little Moon

That’s a not-so-good picture I took of the eclipse yesterday, but, hey, I’m no Ansel Adams, so there. Carlos’ office closed early and had a bit of a BBQ-Viewing Party, featuring Sun Pop—and Diet Sun Pop, a woman exclaimed—and Moon Pies for dessert. It was a cool experience watching the sun disappear—and I kinda wished that when the sun came back our long national nightmare ... _____ ... would be over; but, alas.

Tuxedo went into hiding as soon as the suitcases appeared last week and stayed there until it was time to say Goodbye ... and then he came out for Angry Smooches.

Off we went to ... Wilmington, North Carolina, right along the Cape Fear River. Carlos had to attend a seminar there and I tagged along for some time off. They say—and I don’t know who ‘they’ are—that Wilmington is a little like Charleston, but in reality, Wilmington is a little like Charleston’s older spinster sister who never got out much. It’s cute—lots of great restaurant, brew pubs and bars—but it lacks the elegance of Charleston, the snootiness if you will.

We stayed at the Hilton Riverside, right along Cape Fear River, though we had the ‘historical’ view and not the ‘water’ view; meaning we saw Old Town Wilmington, which actually was a pretty sight.

While Carlos was in meetings from 9 to 5, I wandered the Riverwalk and throughout the downtown area; Wilmington is an old city, so the architecture of the buildings and the houses is really something; it’s also known as Church City because it has so many churches and while I am not a fan of much of what goes on inside a church, I do love the architecture of them.

And I do love a good old church cemetery, to, though this one was gated and I couldn’t go inside.

Wilmington has some gorgeous homes in the historic district, as well as this Confederate Monument on 3rd Street, and not one protestor demanding it be removed ... yet.

I love this building—the original County courthouse—because of the architecture, of course, and because it looks strikingly similar in size and deign to the Bellingham Courthouse where Carlos and I were married; it was kinda fun seeing the sister building on this coast.

We found several very cool places to eat and drink and drink, from Tapas and Shrimp and Grits ...

to Reuben’s and Brisket sandwiches and beer, to pizza and beer, to pub food and wine; you could definitely eat your way through Old Town.

After Carlos’s meetings were done we stayed an extra day-and-a-half and we got to have some fun time, and relaxing time, and shopping time, and just get away time.

Then, after a two day work week, and a six-day weekend, it was time to return to real life ...

.

Luckily we’re off to Charleston next week, so there’s’ that!

Random Musings

This weekend is supposed to be very cold in Smallville, and there is a chance of snow.

Brrrrr but ... we’ll in Miami for a week so ... yeah, take that, snow storm ... even though, truth be told, I love a Smallville snow.

At any rate, we’re gone, and while I have some preplanned things for y’all for the next week, I won’t be back, blogging or commenting—I’m going off the grid, so to speak—until late next week.

Be nice, y’all, and #Resist!

Earlier this week I posted about gospel singer Kim Burrell’s hate-filled rant, masked a sermon of some sort—see post HERE.

Burrell was set to appear on Ellen this week to sing her song from the film, Hidden Figures, but Ellen isn’t having it, or Burrell:

“For those asking, Kim Burrell will not be appearing on my show.”

Thanks Ellen!

This is our New Year’s Day meal ... it’s said that one should eat Black-eyed peas on New Year’s Day because they bring luck, but I am never one to follow tradition, superstition except ...

I made a Black-eyed Pea soup, with Andouille Sausage and Kale, and then some homemade Sausage and Onion Cornbread.

It may not bring us luck but it filled our bellies!

Donald ____ took to Instagram—I guess his Twitter account was exhausted—to post a meme saying his “administration will follow two simple rules: Buy American and Hire American!"

And then, well, hypocrisy ... because Donald _____ just won approval to hire 64 foreign workers for his Mar-a-Lago property through the government’s H-2B visa program. And not only is _____ hiring foreign workers while telling y’all that his stance is “hire American” he is also paying those foreign workers less money than he’d pay American workers.

So, remember that; he is telling you what the country should do and then he does the exact opposite because it’s best for his bank account.

Oh, and let’s not forget that his clothing line, and that of his daughter, and possible First lady ... ick ... Ivanka, is still being manufactured outside this country although he says he’ll bring back jobs to America.

I cannot understand how those fools who voted for him can still be foolish enough to think that he’ll do what’s best for America when all he wants to do is what’s best for him and that family of his ... oh wait ... fools.

Could this be true? Is Will & Grace coming back to TV?

Leslie Jordan, who played Karen Walker’s frenemy Beverley Leslie—"Well well well, if it isn’t Karen Walker. I thought I smelled gin and regret"—seemingly confirmed last week that the show is returning to NBC for 10 episodes:

“It’s back. NBC has ordered it. They have ordered 10. It will be for next season, and they’ll add the guest cast. I will get a phone call ... I’m not a regular.”

Last September, the main cast sparked revival rumors after they appeared in a 10-minute episode encouraging viewers to vote. A month later, it was rumored that Eric McCormack, Debra Messing, Megan Mullally and Sean Hayes were all in talks to reprise their characters for an abbreviated season.

But maybe Beverly spoke to soon ... Debra Messing has walked back Leslie Jordan’s confirmation of a revival, Tweeting an answer to a fan’s tweet about the new seasons saying:

“Sadly Leslie was wrong. Nothing beyond talks.” 

Get it together ... I’d like some W&G again.

2017’s First Cat Fight .... "Morning Joe" host Joe Scarborough took to Twitter to blast a former CBS reporter for suggesting Joe “partied” with President-elect _____ on New Year's Eve.

His target was Sopan Deb, who posted a screenshot from a New York Times report noting that Scarborough and his co--host Mika Brzezinski were at _____'s party; then Joe shrieked:

“Partied? You’re very good at pushing fake news. You should write for CNN. Apparently making up facts is fine if you’re writing about us.”

Scarborough then criticized Deb, and then called him “a hack” for suggesting he partied with Trump, but, and here’s the gist of the story, Scarborough was at Mar-a-Lago, though he says he was there before the party to set up an interview with _____.

"Nothing that Mika and I did in setting up this meeting was any different than what all good reporters and news hosts try to do daily. I hope we get the interview."

Deb eventually responded to Scarborough, but wondered, as I did, what the difference between partying with _____ and “attending” the party might be.

So, Joe was there, but before the party which still begs the question: why go all the way to Mar-a-Lago on New Year’s Eve to request an interview, Joe? That could’a been done by phone or email on any other day.

Oh, and there is a photo of Scarborough working the red carpet at the party.

Uh huh. sure Joe.

Carlos’ father is not too keen on the whole gay son thing, and especially not on the whole gay son married to another man thing, and he hadn’t spoken to Carlos in decades. But this year, in April, on Carlos’ birthday, after Carlos’ mother wished him well, his father, Carlos Sr., got on the phone to say Happy Birthday.

I suggested that maybe Carlos Sr. is getting old now and wants to remedy all the bad feelings between father and son—Carlos Sr., has also mended fences with his sister, our beloved Tia Gloria—and Carlos just shrugged.

Well, over the weekend Carlos called his parents in Mexico City to wish them a Happy New Year; he spoke to his mother briefly and then hung up. A few minutes later our phone rang and it was Carlos Sr. wishing Carlos a Happy New Year.

Carlos was very pleased—though he tried to hide it—and then he said, “Of course he didn’t ask about you at all.”

I said, “Look, it’s taken him thirty years to speak to you again, I can wait.”

Still, it does my heart good to know that they’re talking.

We watched the movie Race over the long holiday; the story of Jesse Owens’ performance at the 1936 Berlin Olympics amid the rise of Nazi Germany.

Naturally, since Owens was a black man, Hitler was none too pleased that Owens was the star of the games and even refused to meet the athlete or stay in the stands after Owens had won his four gold medals.

Still the film had some hotties ... clockwise from the top ... notably Stephen James as Jesse, and Jason Sudeikis—who I find very attractive in a snarky smirky way—as Jesse’s coach, Larry Snyder. Sharmier Anderson played Jesse’s chief rival for the spot on the US Track team, Euface peacock, and David Kross was Carl ‘Luz’ Long, a German athlete who befriended Jesse and even, egads, shook his hand and hugged him on the field after a victory.

That alone made life quite difficult for Long after the games. And much was made of Adolf Hitler’s refusal to meet Jesse and yet nearly nothing was said about the fact that, after the games, our own president, FDR, did not invite this four-time gold medal winner to the White House.

Interesting story; fairly good film; hot guys. Win.Win.

This will be our President ...

Donald _____ took to Twitter to kvetch about North Korea:

“North Korea just stated that it is in the final stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching parts of the U.S. It won't happen!”

Okay, childish because that’s so not presidential, but then he took to Twitter to bash China:

“China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea. Nice!”

But then his real issue came out, the thing that really pisses him on, and it isn’t nukes and it isn’t China, it’s photography:

“@CNN just released a book called "Unprecedented" which explores the 2016 race & victory. Hope it does well but used worst cover photo of me!”

Yup, that our future president. Not North Korea ... not china ... but an ugly picture of his fugly mug.

After acting to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics [OCE] this week—see post HERE—House Republicans scrapped their plans after _____ stepped in ... ALLEGEDLY ... and it looked like maybe the OCE would stay.

Don’t count on it ... while the House GOP withdrew their planned changes, they say they will “study” changes to the office and make them before the August deadline.

So, while I gave them a slow clap this week for doing the right thing, as usual, I have also taken it with a grain of salt, because you cannot trust the GOP as far as you can throw them.

And, while the GOP is suggesting they stopped because of _____, that’s a lie; _____ didn't object to gutting the ethics office, he just wants to do it later ... once someone tells him what “ethics” means.

Just sayin’.

Jared Louis Valezquez, a gay porn star who goes by the name Tyce Jax—seriously? Tyce?—is on probation for beating, choking and pulling a knife on his partner Bobby Hamill; Valezquez has been arrested on domestic violence charges five times before.

Valezquez is said to have become enraged after ... wait for it ... it’s rich ...,. wait for it ... finding Hamill watching porn on an iPad.

Yup, the porn star was furious that his boyfriend was watching porn.

Now, unless it was straight porn ... ewwww .... I’ve.Heard.Everything.

The Trip ...

… in brief ... kinda.

We load up Carlos’ car—we always use his on trips or long drives because it gets better gas mileage than mine—and as I back it out of the garage and start up the driveway I notice a light on the instrument panel. What’s that? We look it up in the owner’s manual and it’s the dreaded ‘Check Engine’ light. 

Now, I know it could mean anything but I don’t wanna drive all the way to Florida with a ‘Check Engine’ light on, and then Carlos, ever the drama queen, raises his hands to the Heavens and mutters, ‘The universe does not want us to go to Florida! What are we gonna do?’ I turn to him and say, ‘If only we had access to a garage nearby that had another car in it that we could use at the last minute … like my car!’

Car unloaded; other car loaded. Off we go. My car, which averages about 100 miles per week in travel — Hey, I live about 4 miles from my job — packs on nearly 1500 miles in one week, and she did a stunning job of it. When we lived in Miami I had a very compact car, perfect for whipping in and out of the horrid SoFla traffic, but I loved how easy it was to tool around town in my SUV. Daddy was a proud car owner.

Traffic. It was about eleven-and-a-half hours down to Miami, but the last two hours were spent driving about forty miles because of cars and cars and car accidents.

Luckily, we made it, checked into our room at the Dorchester and then headed to Lincoln Road mall and the Van Dyke Café. It’s where Carlos and I had our first breakfast after our first night together and we’d visited many times while living in Miami. 

The café is on the bottom floor of a Spanish style office building, so easy to spot and there it was! Except the bottom floor was no longer the Van Dyke Café but a retail store; a mother-effing retail store! The lease had been lost because Lincoln Road is becoming Rodeo Drive and cafes are out, and high-end retail is in.

My devastation was short-lived because we found another café and it served an authentic Cuban Sandwich. And I love a Cuban Sandwich … along with a glass of Albariño—a perfect light and dry Spanish white wine. I could almost forgive the closing of the Van Dyke … almost.

After a good night’s sleep and breakfast at the hotel we wandered along Collins and Washington Avenue. Lots of people, and a sprinkling of rain, but it was nice to be back down there. I love the architecture, both old and new.

My first job after moving was at the Lowe’s Miami Beach Hotel, and it is still an impressive building — one of the first new buildings on the beach in some fifty years — though it appears almost monolithic compared to the much older, original Art Deco Hotels that line the beach. 

But I also loved the Art Deco hotels, the smaller hotels … and then we came upon the soon-to-open, though it doesn’t look like it, Hyatt South Beach; a bunch of glass boxes stacked atop one another. Very cool.

Speaking of architecture, I was shocked at how much the downtown skyline has changed. When I first moved there, the Freedom Tower in downtown was clearly visible; not the tallest structure but always easy to spot. Now? Not so much. Condos, condos, condos. My how Miami has grown.

And with it the traffic! Oy! The traffic. We talked with a  friend at her job, and she said that while she lives just nineteen miles from her office, each night, every night, it takes her two hours to get home … nine-and-a-half miles an hour. She freaked when Carlos and I each said our nighttime commute was about ten minutes … with traffic!

We met up with old friends — some we hadn’t seen even long before we moved — and had dinner with a friend from New York City who was visiting Miami for a few months; good food, good times.

That’s one long ass drive down there and one even longer ass drive back home … well, it felt longer coming home because …

Never … NEVER … allow Carlos to navigate. There is a beltway around Jacksonville and on the way down it was getting to be rush hour in Jacksonville so I took the beltway; still a lot of traffic, but no dead stops along the way. On the way home, we got to Jacksonville around noon and say … to myself  … ‘Should I take the beltway again?’ Carlos says we should drive through the city because it’s noon and how bad could the traffic be at noon. We’re in two miles and dead stop; stuck in traffic for fifteen minutes until I found an exit, got off the freeway, got back on going in the other direction, and then went back to the beltway and took it again. Lesson learned: Take.The.Beltway.

I do like Miami, to visit. I don’t know if I could ever get used to that traffic again; but the weather — except for hurricanes — and the food — except for the cafes that are now closed — and the architecture are really cool.

Maybe we’ll visit again when we head down to Key West … fingers crossed. Now there’s a town in Florida I wouldn’t mind calling home!

Repost Roulette: A Truly Wicked Getaway .... from 2010

Okay, so I spun the Repost Roulette Wheel once more and it landed upon a post about a birthday, a trip, and Carlos, from way back in January, 2010 ....

Well, as many of you know, I celebrated my farumph-humph birthday this week, and Carlos and I took a much needed midweek getaway up to Greenville, South Carolina.

Greenville, you say. South Carolina? Really?

Well, the reasons were two-fold. One, we had never been up to Greenville and we'd heard lovely things about it; And Two [well, really the Number Two reason was Number One] Wicked was playing at the Peace Center, and I have loved it since I first heard tell of the Witches Of Oz...before that girl came to town.

So, with Wicked coming to Greenville, we were going to Greenville.

Carlos and I took a couple of days off from work, got the sister of Round The Way Gay, David, to pet sit the ShoeBox Dog and Los Gatos, and off we went.

For those of you unfamiliar with all things, or anything, South Carolina, the state is divided into three sections: The Low Country....think Charleston; The Midlands....think Columbia or Smallville; and The Upstate....Greenville. Very close to the North Carolina border and seemingly a world away from Smallville.

Greenville is one of those rare small towns that has revived itself and is reinventing itself, thanks to things like a good strong university, and businesses like BMW and Michelin, which both have factories upthere. Plus, Greenville seems to be able to bridge that gap between old town quaintness and big city life. There are all sorts of restaurants lining main street; art galleries; pet boutiques; gift shop; knickknack stores. And they maintain that sense of small town even with the new construction going on all over town. They respect the old and work with the new.

It really has become one of my favorite towns. And right here in little ole South Carolina!

Go figure.
We spent that first day strolling down Main Street, stopping into Trio for lunch; window shopping and just, Aaaah, relaxing. The downtown area is, and I hate this word but it applies, vibrant, even in mid-day. Business folks out for lunch hour, martini gals stopping by to get liquored up before carpooling the kids home; and homos. While it isn't really cool to be gay in Greenville, you don't get that Go Home Queer vibe you get from other southern cities.

At the Barkery Bistro, where we had to stop so Carlos could get a gift fro the ShoeBox Dog, we met Frank, who moved to Greenville from LA and San Francisco and Arizona. Frank is family and we spent a good deal of time talking to him; he told us where to go, before and after the show; what to see, which shops we should stop into. We found out the next day, at Mia Dimora, that he is affectionately known as Mister Downtown. He's kind of an unofficial Welcoming Committee Of One.

We took his advice and ended up discovering some great places and some fun people.

Greenville straddles the Reedy River, and they allow the buildings to take full advantage of the river, the falls, and the green areas. There are hotels and apartments, restaurants, and the Peace Center on both sides of the river west of Main Street, and then the Falls are on the east side. We strolled through the park, along the bridges and listened to the falls; you get the feeling that you are far away from everything, but you're still right there.

That night we ate a pre-show dinner at High Cotton, right along the river. Two glasses of birthday Champagne; seared rare Tuna with a pine nut vinaigrette, for me. Salmon for Carlos. A wonderful Pinot Noir with dinner; birthday apple tart for dessert with cappuccino.

Then it was off to the main event: Wicked. I've been a fan of this show since before it opened on Broadway and love to see it again and again. While I am considered a Friend Of Dorothy, I am also a friend of Elphaba and Galinda. And Fiyero.....in riding pants!

This production, the touring company, was really well done; though it helped that we had fabulous seats.

Heléne Yorke, as Galinda, before the Gah is silent, was hysterical; possessing the same gorgeous voice as Kristen Chenoweth, who originated the role. She was perky, and sweet, and sappy, and dorky. Totally Galinda.

Marcie Dodd, as Elphaba--the name comes from the original writer of the Oz books, L. Frank Baum--was spectacular as the misunderstood green witch. Her voice soared at all the right times, and she really captured the essence of both Idina Menzel and Margaret Hamilton; a tough feat.

Colin Donnell was Fiyero, the man who loved Galinda and fell in love with Elphaba. I mentioned the riding pants. There weren't the best part of his performance, but they were spectacular. Yum! But he also had a terrific voice, and alongside Yorke and Dodd, he really creates a vivid believable love triangle.

Plus, it didn't hurt at all that, the Peace Center used a full orchestra for the musical; when we saw it last in Ft Lauderdale, it was sung to recorded instrumentals. Good, but not as good as having the musicians right down front.

If you haven't seen Wicked, you should go. It plays along nicely with The Wizard of Oz, and yet stands completely on its own.

Fab.U.Lous!

Funny note, though; while leaving the theater and strolling back across the river to the car, I overheard two women talking about the musical. One said, I can't believe they didn't sing "Over The Rainbow!" it's one of the most popular songs ever!

This was after the show, and yet she still thought she was seeing The Wizard Of Oz. I felt like dousing her with a bucket of water.

The next day we slept in a bit, and then had a lazy breakfast at the Coffee Underground. Full on delicious breakfast for two, for well under $20! I know! Then we took a walk back up to the Barkery Bistro to give Frank a recap of the show, and to trade email addresses and such. If he ever comes to Smallville, we'll show him the sight.....yes, sight. Singular. Oh well.

Then Frank sent us off toMia Dimora, a designer store with all sorts of things for the house. I found a great metal calendar--you use magnets to note the month, date and day--with a lovely pig chalkboard. it's a little bit country, and a little bit cool. We found a great ceramic baking pan for roasting peppers, and a stone you set in a bread basket to keep bread warm all through dinner. The owner of the shop, Elaine McCanless, and I talked kitchens and pets, Smallville and Greenville, while Carlos talked music and orchestra with Derek, who was unloading a shipment of new stuff. It's refreshing to walk into a shop and find the owners and workers so friendly, and willing to talk about, well, nothing really.

We visited the Mast General Store, an old-fashioned emporium that sells everything from camping gear to candy, shoes to mugs. Carlos found a, um, cowboy hat he simply had to have, but, I'll give him credit: he's handsome in a hat, straw or cowboy. I got some flannel jammie pants and a couple of cool Mast General store coffee mugs: Masquerading as a normal person day after day is Exhausting and I live in my own world, but it's okay, they like me here. And, to counter Cowboy Carlos, I got a ball cap.

We continued our walking tour and found ourselves at the far end of town where the revitalization has just begun. Old buildings house new restaurants; new buildings look old and house....housing. There's baseball field, for the Greenville Drive farm team, and I thought, I'd love to come up to a game one weekend. But then I thought of the last time Carlos and I went to a ball game. To see the Marlins. We went with a group of his coworkers, and had a hot dog and drank some beer, and then, just after the third inning ended, Carlos stands up and announces, Well, that was fun.

I told him the game had six more innings. He sat back down.

Maybe we'll do the Shakespeare Festival in Greenville. I don't think they have innings.