Does It Always Have to be So Madcap?
Does It Always Have to be So Madcap?
I love San Francisco. I’m not really sure why but every time I’m within 5 miles of the Golden Gate a kind of hush falls over me. That wandering the streets with the wind and cold and the hippies and suits and I’m in heaven.
If I was to blame anyone it would be Armistead Maupin. He wrote one of the most important series of books in my life. He gave me Michael ‘Mouse’ Tolliver and though I’m not the first to be grateful it doesn’t make it any less true or important. Mouse was the first gay character that I ever got. He didn’t wither away and die. He didn’t kill himself or be killed for who he was. He was (is) a happy, charming little guy who’s life showed me that maybe being gay wasn’t going to make me crazy, that I wouldn’t die alone.
And then there were the other characters-like Brian Hawkins who showed me that maybe I could be friends with a cool straight guy that wouldn’t care who or how I loved. Or Mona Ramsey who showed me that being quirky and yourself is worth it-even if you have to shake people up by screaming ‘crotch, crotch, crotch’ at the top of your lungs. Or Miss Anna Madgiral who showed me that you can always become who you should be and Mary-Ann Singleton who proved it’s never too late to find out who that person is regardless of where you come from.
But the biggest character of all is the city. San Francisco came across as a magical place where you could fall in love, find yourself in others, make a family and make friendships in the most unlikely of ways. It’s a small island of whimsy and chance that could always play in your favor. I’m sure everyone has a place like that but San Francisco is mine.
So I decided (after some prodding from Chloe and Lucy) that I needed to take some time and go back to the motherland of sorts. I’ve hard a hard year as of late-broken hearts and bad roommates, surprising truths and harsh runs of luck. So I found a cheap plane ticket and with the end of the Shaq show-it was perfect for me to make a run for the city which always seems to be calling my name.
Then of course the mugging happened. While it would be a bad turn of events regardless-it happened right before my trip and sent me into a spiral of sorts. With no ATM card or license it felt like a bad time to take to the open road but still I pushed my way through. With some luck-thanks again Officer Ricky for finding my ID-as well as good timing-no thanks to Washing Mutual with the ATM card-I managed to figure out that I could still take my trip. What I didn’t plan on was some bad ju-ju getting in the way.
I took a half day on my last day of work-the show was going rather slow and I wasn’t really needed so I felt no real bad repercussions from my choice. I headed home in the early after noon and after some last minute packing and outfit changes Kelly and Johnny met up with me and whisked me off to the Fly Away. We got there close to the time I was hoping for, over 2 hours before my flight, and they dropped me off after much thanks. What I didn’t plan for was the Fly Away being sold out and the next one would be cutting things to close. So I thought for a minute then spied a line of cabs outside and figured I could do better time if I left in a taxi.
It felt rather madcap as we pulled out from the terminal to the highway-something that Carrie Bradshaw would do-and I was excited to be on my way. The cabbie and I talked as we made our way through the traffic which was nice but time was always at the back of my mind. Now after a certain point I knew I couldn’t possibly make the flight but I kept thinking that something had to go my way so I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
Of course it didn’t work out that way. I jumped out of my cab at the airport and realized that I had only a half hour to check in bags and get on the plane which with security the way it has been… I knew I wouldn’t make it. But I still had hope until the guy behind the counter laughed at me and said ‘there’s no way.’ I could try and reschedule but I was so crushed that all I wanted to do was go home and either cry or drink or both. The hardest part was calling Chloe outside the terminal and telling her it wouldn’t be possible for me to get there that night-if at all.
After making my home-with a little help again from Johnny and Kelly as well as a stop by Valeska’s with Dominic and Fritz who all had the good grace to not make jokes-I was slightly depressed. Both Johnny and Kelly gave suggestions of another flight, or a train or even a bus but I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend more money. But after a bit of liquid courage and some thought I decided I needed to be out of town more I needed the money. Johnny e-mailed me some flights he found but nothing was cheap and so I booked a bus trip and threw fates to the wind.
The bus to San Francisco was rather nice. I don’t get car sick and it reminded me of when Edie and I would head into New York back in college. I slept and read and wrote as we headed up the coast toward the Promised Land-I felt a bit like the Pilgrim in ‘Little Women’. I even teared up when we reached the outskirts of the city-I was just that happy.
I love San Francisco. I’m not really sure why but every time I’m within 5 miles of the Golden Gate a kind of hush falls over me. That wandering the streets with the wind and cold and the hippies and suits and I’m in heaven.
If I was to blame anyone it would be Armistead Maupin. He wrote one of the most important series of books in my life. He gave me Michael ‘Mouse’ Tolliver and though I’m not the first to be grateful it doesn’t make it any less true or important. Mouse was the first gay character that I ever got. He didn’t wither away and die. He didn’t kill himself or be killed for who he was. He was (is) a happy, charming little guy who’s life showed me that maybe being gay wasn’t going to make me crazy, that I wouldn’t die alone.
And then there were the other characters-like Brian Hawkins who showed me that maybe I could be friends with a cool straight guy that wouldn’t care who or how I loved. Or Mona Ramsey who showed me that being quirky and yourself is worth it-even if you have to shake people up by screaming ‘crotch, crotch, crotch’ at the top of your lungs. Or Miss Anna Madgiral who showed me that you can always become who you should be and Mary-Ann Singleton who proved it’s never too late to find out who that person is regardless of where you come from.
But the biggest character of all is the city. San Francisco came across as a magical place where you could fall in love, find yourself in others, make a family and make friendships in the most unlikely of ways. It’s a small island of whimsy and chance that could always play in your favor. I’m sure everyone has a place like that but San Francisco is mine.
So I decided (after some prodding from Chloe and Lucy) that I needed to take some time and go back to the motherland of sorts. I’ve hard a hard year as of late-broken hearts and bad roommates, surprising truths and harsh runs of luck. So I found a cheap plane ticket and with the end of the Shaq show-it was perfect for me to make a run for the city which always seems to be calling my name.
Then of course the mugging happened. While it would be a bad turn of events regardless-it happened right before my trip and sent me into a spiral of sorts. With no ATM card or license it felt like a bad time to take to the open road but still I pushed my way through. With some luck-thanks again Officer Ricky for finding my ID-as well as good timing-no thanks to Washing Mutual with the ATM card-I managed to figure out that I could still take my trip. What I didn’t plan on was some bad ju-ju getting in the way.
I took a half day on my last day of work-the show was going rather slow and I wasn’t really needed so I felt no real bad repercussions from my choice. I headed home in the early after noon and after some last minute packing and outfit changes Kelly and Johnny met up with me and whisked me off to the Fly Away. We got there close to the time I was hoping for, over 2 hours before my flight, and they dropped me off after much thanks. What I didn’t plan for was the Fly Away being sold out and the next one would be cutting things to close. So I thought for a minute then spied a line of cabs outside and figured I could do better time if I left in a taxi.
It felt rather madcap as we pulled out from the terminal to the highway-something that Carrie Bradshaw would do-and I was excited to be on my way. The cabbie and I talked as we made our way through the traffic which was nice but time was always at the back of my mind. Now after a certain point I knew I couldn’t possibly make the flight but I kept thinking that something had to go my way so I crossed my fingers and hoped for the best.
Of course it didn’t work out that way. I jumped out of my cab at the airport and realized that I had only a half hour to check in bags and get on the plane which with security the way it has been… I knew I wouldn’t make it. But I still had hope until the guy behind the counter laughed at me and said ‘there’s no way.’ I could try and reschedule but I was so crushed that all I wanted to do was go home and either cry or drink or both. The hardest part was calling Chloe outside the terminal and telling her it wouldn’t be possible for me to get there that night-if at all.
After making my home-with a little help again from Johnny and Kelly as well as a stop by Valeska’s with Dominic and Fritz who all had the good grace to not make jokes-I was slightly depressed. Both Johnny and Kelly gave suggestions of another flight, or a train or even a bus but I wasn’t sure I wanted to spend more money. But after a bit of liquid courage and some thought I decided I needed to be out of town more I needed the money. Johnny e-mailed me some flights he found but nothing was cheap and so I booked a bus trip and threw fates to the wind.
The bus to San Francisco was rather nice. I don’t get car sick and it reminded me of when Edie and I would head into New York back in college. I slept and read and wrote as we headed up the coast toward the Promised Land-I felt a bit like the Pilgrim in ‘Little Women’. I even teared up when we reached the outskirts of the city-I was just that happy.