Pride

An actual weekend in New York City! No, let me rephrase that: an actual weekend in New York City with mi Cariño. It was also Pride Weekend; practically perfect.

We didn't "do" much. Kept busy Saturday Morning and early afternoon in the Upper West Side with messy burgers, singing-while-walking, smiling at twenty-somethings learning to ride a bike on Riverside Park, stories, ice cream, the agony of USA losing to Ghana, book stores, and more stories. We got our gay on down by Bryant Park, where we joined the Dyke March.

Afterward there was Broadway Heartbreak, movie laughs and pizza - pretty low key, but wouldn't change a thing. Sunday was just as good, just as hot, just not as sunny. First stop was Pridefest '10.



We caught a bit of The Red States performance. They were alright, although I wished they would've move about the stage a bit more - or stood in a more organized manner. I've always been an acappella fan - no instrument like the human voice! They looked like they were having fun.

Vanessa Valtre was MC'ing and was not funny at all. Luckily Menage A Twang got on the stage rather quickly. They were rather a great surprise, as I didn't know they'd be performing. Go Emily! Not just a talented writer and teacher, but also a pretty good singer. Their songs are really laugh out loud funny.



We couldn't listen to their entire set, though, since we had limited time at the 'Fest, and so we walked on to find some comida. Enter Empanada Mama.

Typos aside, their shredded chicken was delish. Empanada Mama is in the 50's on ninth and it's a good quick spot for some really tasty empanadas.  We kept on walking, making a beeline to what I consider a NYC Street Fair must have: Mozzarepas.

This Colombian piece of heaven is perfect for the eating and walking of a fair, and it's quite filling. But they will make you thirsty. And so, we walked to the next Fair must have: Sugar water with a hint of lemon. Also known during this day as "Lemonade."

Tastes just like the kind Fabi and I used to make as children. Perfecto!

After the Fair, a mad dash to Times Square, and some Gypsy Kings "Hay un amigo en mi" accion (Yea Toy Story 3!) Cariño, her good friend Mariah and I headed to Ninth for some nourishment. Wouldn't you know it, we chose Thai Food (Ha!). We stopped by one of the Yum Yums.

The meal began with a glass of lychee sangria and some Vegetable Tamarind Soup

which was followed by some Vegetable Dumplings

and in a surprise move, Tofu with Thai Basil Sauce with white steamed rice

Dessert was Red Bean Ice Cream, which I will not show you a picture of because I did not like at all. Yuck.

We walked off the meal by heading to Junior's for some promised Cheesecake before stopping by the craziness that is Toys R'Us.

No, I did not ride "La Estrella" (although I wanted to). I did get me a Parcheesi Board, and the night ended with me showing mi Cariño how to play; unfortunately she's a pretty quick learner, and she beat me. But I'm not worried, there's always next time.

The only shadow during this weekend was the passing of Love personified, Ms. Lillie of ATL. She was one of the best facilitators I've met, and just an all around awesome person. This is an extremely overused expression, but to have known Lillie was to love her indeed, and I will miss her sweet deep voice as she walked in the office, demanded a hug and would proclaim "We'll make a Southerner outta ya yet, wait and see." Listen to an excerpt of her SC Interview here.

Union Square

I love New York City - you can walk out of the subway and then run into this piece of awesomeness. This is Larry and His Flask - a hillbillie band from Oregon in a "tour" around the States. CD's were available via honor system - drop a buck, pick up a CD.

Austin Pride

Friday! Our last full day in Austin. Work was a DRAG, despite some very cool stories of activism and writers. But we got through it, packed up our equipment and headed to our hotel to drop it all off. There we met up with Ben before heading to North Austin for some Thai. Chow Down recommended Titaya's.

When we got there it was chock full. Our waiter was a trip, with what we decided was an exaggerated "work" accent that made everything she said come out in a sing song. In any case, appetizers: Spinach Dumplings. (Because one must always have dumplings when one can.)

BTW, those are bits of fried garlic on top of the dumplings, not peanuts. It made for an interesting and yummy change of flavor. One of these days I'll be able to go to a Thai restaurant and not order Tofu Pad Thai. This was not one of these days.

It was delicious - I cleaned that plate gladly. During dinner we entertained ourselves with World Cup chat. Ben and I disagreed over who sang the official World Cup song this year. For some reason I thought it was Daddy Yankee. Ben said it was Shakira. We bet ice cream. Matt spurred the bet on, knowing the answer full well as he was looking at his iPhone. I should've known better. If you must know, Shakira sings this years' official World Cup Song. Stoopid South Africans, choosing Shakira. We drove to Amy's Ice Creams. All three of us got scoops of Coffee Oreo. I paid for Ben's.

One lick of that and I didn't care one bit about losing the bet. It was fracking awesome. I didn't eat the napkin out of pure luck, cuz I sure ate everything else.

Dessert taken care of, the boys decided to meet up with their friends and head South. Luckily, the Long Center was near our hotel so I chose to stick around town and walk to listen to some music. Austin Pride is this weekend and one of the many activities was an outdoor concert.

Chick at the front was pretty friendly and kept calling me Ma'am, which I thought was funny. For 10 bucks I got to buy this general admission bracelet that if I had stayed around Austin for the weekend would've gotten me into several events.

It was all good. There was more space than Lesbians, and there were mostly lesbians, which I expected since three women were scheduled: Robin Smith, Tribella and Patrice Pike. DJ Chris Cox was scheduled at 11pm, but as you know by then all the lesbians will be beddy-bye and the boys will take over. There were a lot of them - just not enough to fill up the area. The VIP's got to sit at tables set out for them. The rest had to make do with lawn chairs and blankets. I used a blanket from my hotel. I feel kinda sorry for my cleaning lady.

Having missed the first two acts I waited for Patrice Pike, who was one of the grand Marshall's for the Austin Pride Parade on Saturday, but whose music I had never heard. She was scheduled to start at 10pm - but didn't. Her music was good but nothing to go crazy about to be honest. Frankly I was more interested in the dynamics going on around me: There were very few women of color present, which surprised me a bit because, hello, Austin TEXAS? I didn't stay for the whole show one because again, Patrice Pike: feh. Two: Not a very friendly bunch. While waiting for Patrice to show up I made the rounds and attempted to establish eye contact with several groups in an effort to introduce myself but it didn't fly. I guess that lesbians are lesbians, even in a town as friendly as Austin. Three: flying back to good old NYC way early in the a.m. y'all, where I got some lesbians that do want to meet me. I think. They might just be trying to act nice. But nice is good. I wish I could've stayed for more of Austin Pride's festivities, though - Saturday morning they had a Pet Parade going on. How cute is that?!

Quick, quick, slow

So, here we are, back in Texas! This time in Austin, and we're off to an auspicious beginning. I was a bit nervous since I had to pick up the rental car and drive from the airport, but thanks to God, to Steph's refresher lesson last Saturday, and to the light traffic, I managed to NOT crash. I drove slower than I should've, I'm sure, and I kept missing my turns, but I kept my cool and made it to the hotel in one piece and a bit less shaken than I expected to be.

Right away I stopped by Matt's room to see what the plans were. Matt, his friend Ben and I head first to this frozen yogurt shop, Yummy Yo Frozen Yogurt, in Downtown Austin, and after tasting all the awesome flavors I made an unholy mixture of Watermelon, peanut butter and cupcake, and topped it with blackberries, oreo bits, nuts, pineapple, and Lord knows what else. I was too busy enjoying that to take a picture but trust me when I say that although it sounds gross it made me rethink my stance on frozen yogurt.

After some grocery shopping we head out to dinner - tonight's choice? Polvos.

Polvos is pretty festive with Christmas lights everywhere. When you walk inside, there's a "Salsa Bar."

I went for the Puntas de Filetes, which was beef tips sauteed with mushrooms, monterey jack cheese and awesome spices, served with rice and beans and a smidgen of salad.

Polvos was great. its only downside was that it's very popular and thus very busy.

Afterwards we drove to The Continental Club where Dale Watson was having a show. He was amazing, with an old classic country singer/christian singer voice, charismatic and interesting, with a pompadour the size of my house. The Continental had walls painted deep red and there was a dance area right in front of the stage. At first I thought there was no wrong way to dance country, seeing as how everyone in the dance floor danced differently. Some people could twirl! Ben asked me to dance and we did the two step a bit awkwardly at first but eventually I caught on to the quick, quick, slow rhythm. Unfortunately the song finished rather quickly and then it was time to go home. It's hot as hell here. A good first day.