Atlanta Pride 2004

Well this year's PRIDE celebration for me began on Thursday nite when I decided to go to Karaoke at the Red Chair. There was a possibility that two of the QaF stars were going to be onhand to sing but they didn't show. My friends S and her two straight women L and K did arrive after I sang for the first time. :) I sang "Superman" by Five for Fighting (a song I had been practicing for a week) and I think I did pretty dang good. :)

Friday I got to work from home (and I actually managed some work in spite of only 6 hours of sleep) and I met a gathering of my gay co-workers at GT for lunch at Las Margaritas.

After the rough and grueling work day (yeah rite) I took a nap and had a really bizzaro waking dream. For some reason I dreamt that I was driving in a car and I couldn't open my eyes (I was falling asleep at the wheel) and being pulled over by a police car (the red/blue lights were flashing) and having a serious heart attack at getting a DUI or something. Needless to say I presumed this was an omen and decided to completely and utterly NOT risk driving if I was going to have a drink at all this weekend.

Friday night found me (once again) at the Red Chair for my weekly dinner with S and M. We had reservations at 9:00 and I decided to enjoy myself with some fried catfish and two cosmopolitans.

I can pretty much say that THAT was not on the South Beach Diet (but it's PRIDE and I allowed myself to enjoy it). When we left the Red Chair it was about 12:30AM and there was a line all the way to the street (which is pretty far from the entrance) so I'm very glad we went early. I went home alone, thanx :)

So Saturday I moseyed on down to Piedmont Park where the PRIDE festivities were going on and on my way stopped by my friends' B and M's house (it's near the park) and helped them move this tent that they "rescued" from some lesbians on the beach at Gay Pensacola.

After a hilarious hour or so, we finally managed to A) get all the pieces of the tent to the park B) figure out how to put it together as we had no instruction book.

At this point S and a friend from back in college and her GF arrived and we trundled around the boots picking up all sorts of crap. I bought two pairs of sunglasses (one pair I really really like that are red, the other is a pair of harley biking goggles that I figure might be useful for softball...dorkey but as with everything...safety first). Knowing a long evening was to be had that night I called it a "day" about 5PM as we were heading to the Jungle for their "Studio 54" retro 70's party that night. And I had big plans for my outfit...

So after resting, taking a bath, and generally relaxing, I started my transformation into a 70's disco slave. Borrowing some ideas from the show "Laugh-In" I painted large colored spots on my chest and arms and then put a layer of glitter over it. Dressed in a pair of plastic shorts and matching pleather alligator cowboy hat I took to the club with S and K.

We arrived a bit early (they opened at 10) and were some of the first in the door (which is OK) and they had 70's retro spinning. The crowd slowly grew until around midnight when the party was in FULL swing. I mean everyone was having a good time, singing to all these tunes we knew the words to and THEN around 12:30 it all switched to the 80's and the crowd just about went wild with all the awesome music.

It was such an awesome night that I was sad to go home (alone again, yes) at 2:30 but I had a brunch to go to on Sunday morn before the PRIDE Parade. I wasn't all that tired so I stayed up and watched an episode of Stargate SG-1.

So Sunday I woke up and S called checking in on me and told me she heard it would rain. I thought about what I was going to wear (a pair of jean shorts and a tank) and changed my mind. There is NOTHING worse than wearing cotton when it rains. So instead I put on this bathingsuit with a VERY hawaiian print on it (very loud) and a white tank top with the PRIDE colors on it.

Brunch was a festive event at the home of B and M whom I had dropped in upon the day before. Many of the Wackers were there and had out of town friends in tow and as the morning wore on we ventured off to watch the parade.

Well we didn't get too far into the parade before the rains started...and I'm not talking sprinkle...I'm talking utter downpour with thunder and lightning. I took my shirt off, put it in a pastic bag and proceeded to walk the 10 blocks or so to my car. As I went along I was flattered by a few comments from people and had several point out that I was smart by wearing a bathing suit :)

After I got home, the rain stopped and the sun came out. THEN it rained again and then the sun came out (again). Then it rained again and I was NOT going out (because as you well know, sugar melts in the rain).

So after a few episodes of Stargate SG-1, I was off to bed as I had to work on Monday.

My PRIDE adventures are kind of what my life has become. Fun...very enjoyable with very little drama. This is good, but I'm hoping that Mr. 80% Perfect will come into my life sooner than later. :) I'm not holding my breath because my life goes on...and I'm going to make it one I don't regret!