She had rehearsal this morning. She’s had my Mom and me there and relatives from her Mom’s side are visiting from all over the country. She got a job, her driver’s license and her yearbook all in the past few weeks. I’m very proud of her. I just wish I had a VOICE since yesterday it started to go south, and I wasn’t be able to scream and yell congratulations to her tonight from the audience. There were 710 people graduating! It’s a good thing it’s one of the longest days of the year, since it didn’t start until 6:30pm and it was a long ceremony. We also sat in the shade, which was comfortable when we first got there, but soon got kind of chilly.
With her best friends.
With Norman and mother.
Grampa Bob and Phyllis from Oregon.
Alex flanked by her parents.
Alex is looking toward the camera among the graduates.
Here are four videos and about 150 pictures to give you a virtual tour of our new place, which we moved into a few days before April Fool’s Day this year. It feels like I’ve barely been here since with my trips to Phoenix and New York, where I was for 11 days.
I got a 2002 Buick LeSabre with only one previous owner and only 69k miles on it. It’s a V6, so it should last a long time, and seems to be in fantastic condition.
I had three celebrity sightings when I was there this time. Anderson Cooper was eating at Chat & Chew near Union Square, one of my old hangouts. He was with the Parisian guy who is reputed to be his boyfriend (I later saw a link and verified his identity). I also saw Kristin Wiig at the former Dugout/Rock Bar, making out with a woman. She was already my favorite SNL cast member at the moment. Now she really is! Lastly I saw Michael Musto at the Urban Bear Weekend fair. He’s a Village Voice columnist who I used to see around town all the time.
It was so great to see many old friends, but I did neglect to photograph a few special people, including Laura Yellon, Chris Cintron, Ted Habza and David A. Garcia, who I made sure to spend time with as they went out of their way to make sure they saw me. Here are pictures of the various events and people I saw, including my first look from the High Line Park, which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Looking uptown from the Highline.
This building definitely didn’t exist when I moved away three years ago.
Waving to the cars below.
Industrial or pastoral?
Behind Paul is the Statue of Liberty and Staten Island.
It took about six shots to get this unobstructed by the pedestrians.
Joisey.
Entering Highline from the Meatpacking District.
Max at Union Square.
Waiting for Max to bring my shorts at Union Square.
Busy East 14th Street behind me.
Union Square landmarks.
Max being domestic.
Saw this in a Garment District window.
The new hotel over the Highline where patrons were apparently being naughty (but not while I was there).
The view from my temporary New York office on the border of TriBeCa.
I actually saw Village Voice columnist Michael Musto at the Urban Bear Weekend Fair, so that makes three “celebrities” I saw in an 11-day visit in New York. Gallery and (PG-13-rated) video below:
My niece Kristal lives in Phoenix. We had lunch last Saturday morning at Thefarmatsouthmountain.com, an organic farm with three restaurants, including a breakfast cafe, where we ate al fresco. It was conveniently located between her place and where I was staying with friends in Laveen.
Then, on Monday, we drove up to see Uncle Danny Stief (of Sedonatalkradio.com). He gave us a great tour of that stunning area, explaining to us about the vortexes and other metaphysical anomalies in the area (making Kristal’s name quite appropriate). We had lunch and then Kristal and I drove back to Phoenix in time for me to catch my flight back to San Francisco. On the way to Sedona, however, Kristal and I were talking so much that I forgot to get gas, and so to be sure we didn’t have to walk in the desert heat, I let the car coast down a mountainside for about eight miles to get to the next town to fill up!
Sedona is magnificent everywhere you look, with it’s vortexes and it’s manmade and natural monuments. It was great to see my uncle, who is a talented singer, and touched Kristal and me with a few live performances of Elvis songs. It was the first time Kristal and he met each other, so I was glad to facilitate their meeting and for us all to learn more about other parts of our family.
I’m also glad to have a nice base tan from Arizona last week for the two weekends in NYC I’m going to enjoy later this month!
I think that is Cathedral Rock behind us.
An eagle head carving viewed from the temple.
Somebody’s amazing house as viewed from the temple.
Documenting where we went to take some pictures on the cliffside.
From a spot near Sedona Airport
See the Teapot mountain on the right?
Kristal took this of me at Farm By South Mountain, where we had breakfast.
Some of us did the Dining for Life at Alexi’s Grill in downtown Phoenix Thursday night.
I got a nice tan at the pool parties at the hotel, saw a lot of old friends and made some new ones. I got to speak a little Italian, Spanish and ASL (something I’m definitely an extreme amateur in). I really like the dry heat and climate of Phoenix, not to mention the wonderful topography that is visible from almost every horizon.
The luau they we had was amazing with authentic dancers and a fire/sword tosser. The music gave me chills and the dancers were stunning. Unfortunately it started to get dark toward the end of the video, but I’m so glad I got the video footage that I got. The (authentic?) and exotic buffet was awesome and I got to wear my barely ever-used Hawaiian shirt.
Also see my blog on going to Sedona with my niece to see my uncle.
