Saturday, December 8, 2007

2007 - a year of costumes, craziness and love

This is first year that I am doing a recap to share with my friends and also for my own sake, as I love looking back on a year and review all that has happened.
2007 has been an incredible year. In February, it was my one year anniversary of being a home owner. I'm still loving my new home, and Ellipsis and I are very comfortable here.
Of course it truly sunk in now that I own this place, and with the repairs, maintenance, and property taxes, I really understand now why homeowners always seem to be "broke".

So in February, on Valentines Day, I started dating this amazing guy named Ken. He and I met at work. We've been dating since then, and he's definitely the most amazing guy that I've ever dated, and I really understand now how easy it can be to be with someone when it's "right", and how great it feels to be in love with someone so wonderful.
So the fun began there. I had my 35th birthday party at a roller rink, trying to relive my elementary school days it seemed to be lots of fun for everyone that came to my party. I even gave them all loot bags with stickers, chocolates, necklaces and lube to thank them for helping me celebrate entry into the next year of my life.
My third season in the San Francisco Gay Softball League starting in April. Once again I played on the F-Liners Team, which had 60% new players this year. The team was clearly one of the best teams I've played on since. Not just for their talent, but for their spirit and commitment. The team was almost all "bear" (big hairy gay guys) and me. It was a BLAST.

The team did really well, not only on the field, where we placed pretty well in the season and came in 2nd place in the playoffs, but also in the amount of money we raised in our monthly drunken crazy fundraisers at our sponsor bar, the Edge.









My personal accomplishments this year in softball were that I hit my first homerun, and I was also voted Most Valuable Player for the season. Not too bad for the boy who shyed away from sports his entire life.

And then Hallelujah it was Easter. And the Lord said unto me, "Jeff. dress up as me and invite your friends for Easter dinner, and eat drink and be merry, like it was your "Last Supper". So we did.

As softball season came to a close, one of the big events was the Switch-hitters Ball. It's a fund-raiser for the San Francisco Gay Softball League, which was hosted by our one and only F-Liner Team. This ball is where all the league softball teams attend, and there are skits, numbers, and mainly softball players who are men at the beginning of the ball, "switch" and become "women" by the end of the ball. Not sure where that tradition started. But it was fun. The FLiners started off the night with a staged rendition of "Beauty School Drop Out" from Grease. Guess which character I played.


Then the gay high holy days, PRIDE - kicked off with PINK SATURDAY






















Ken and I went on a camping trip in the Santa Cruz mountains...yes..me, camping.











Then I went had one of the most mind-blowing experiences of my life, Burning Man. This is the event that takes place once a year in the desert of Nevada - essentially in the middle of nowhere. It's almost impossible to describe, but the experience was all about living completely counter to the regular norms of society. People walk around in costumes, or barely anything - due to the heat - all day, and blinking lights and costumes at night. It's a sprawling city that emerges each year in the desert, about 5 square miles, and the culture there is all about sharing, gifting, dancing, partying and just being crazy. And it's all about creativity. It's an artist haven, where people build huge art sculptures, art cars (which look like big parade floats) and open up camps that offer everything from showers, food, drink, body painting, manicures, trampolines, hula-hoops, and huge dance clubs. And it's all free. It was really transformative and mind-blowing. I recommend it to anyone. Here's the link if you are interested in learning more: http://www.burningman.com/
Here are some pictures from the event, and also pictures from the after party which took place back in San Francisco.



Well, Burning Man was a blast, but the rest of the year was pretty fun too. Ken, and I spent a lot of time together in the city.



Then a trip to Toronto where I was able to spend time with my cousin Brian who I hadn't see for 5 years.
Then of course, there was Halloween, where a bunch of my friends got together to do drag!


Then Thanksgiving - where...yes, more costumes. We did a Pilgrims and Indians themed dinner.


That leads us to the holidays. And that's been my year. It's been a total blast.