Too much of a good thing is wonderful. (But tiring....)

So, um, I'm gonna air a personal customer service gripe, just as soon as I calm down and copy an email into a halfway organized web page. Odyssey Men, AKA Juno Enterprises, has got to be the worst organization I have ever done business with in my life. Granted, they are a porn company. But am I too far off base to expect a reasonable level of service?

A little excerpt from their latest insult: "There is no need to reply to this email or to waste any more of our valuable time."

I'm told that people willingly give this "company" their money. Why, I have no idea.

Wheee. Getting a new PC for home. Very exciting.

Well, it wasn't as painful as I expected. Bush's inaugural address, that is. The coverage on NPR was cut short after Bush finished—abruptly switching to "Car Talk," which was rather jarring. I was prepared to groove on the pageantry of it all, but hearing it on the radio was enough.

Maybe it won't be as bad as I thought. Maybe I'm just growing up.

It was very cool to hear the announcer introduce "President and Senator Clinton." I can't imagine what is going on in President Clinton's mind right now. The pundits are spinning trying to figure out just what the hell Bill will actually do now that he's off the hook and out of office. It's gonna be an interesting year.

Computer games don't affect kids; I mean if Pac-Man affected us as kids, we'd all be running around in darkened rooms, munching magic pills and listening to repetitive electronic music.
—Kristian Wilson, Nintendo, Inc.

I'm sorry, what? [Thanks to Kevin & David for the laugh this morning.]

Yep, it's been a fun weekend so far. We braved Charlie's last night.... Surprisingly, there were no lines to get in, and the crowd wasn't really at its claustrophobic maximum. Must have been the rain, which made the rodeo grounds one big mud puddle, I'm sure. Everyone was probably back at their hotel scraping Phoenix mud off of their chichi cowboy boots. Then again, maybe there are other things to do back at the hotel.... Hmmmm. Oy, the stories I've heard.

The crowd at Charlie's was obviously amped up, liquored up, and revving with hormones. Lots of looks from cute (and not so cute) cowboys and cowboy wannabes. But, in the end, we wound up back at home, sans cowboys.

Breakfast this morning was delightful: bagels, coffee, and juice on our front patio. After the pouring rain and hail yesterday, today was remarkably beautiful. It's still muddy as hell, but at least the sun is out.

Tonight is either more silliness at Charlie's, or uber-silliness at Crowbar. In honor of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend, a few enterprising souls are throwing the Black and White Ball. I'm not sure how I feel about the choice of party theme—seems a tad un-PC. The night promises to be an orgy of flashy lights, glowsticks, co-ordinated disco outfits, and lotsa messy circuit boys. [Hello, pot? Kettle calling....] Spare me all the distractions. I just wanna dance.

Craig is here. The rodeo is here. Phoenix will never be the same. This is going to be a fun weekend....

Do you ever feel like you have known someone forever?

Oh God. The Gay Rodeo is coming to Phoenix.

Which means I may be overwhelmed this weekend by honky-tonk and men in tight wranglers. Hmmmm. Maybe that's not all bad. Cowboys and drag queens and bears, oh my.

Friend Kevin's boyfriend-unit David is visiting for the Rodeo with a dozen or so of his closest friends. And a new friend is trekking up from San Francisco. This weekend should be interesting....

A few random moments from this week:

Two 30th birthday parties, both swank and fun. Paul and Burns have never looked better. My liver will be happy when these holidays are over.

Finally sent out thank you notes for birthday & xmas. I'm lousy at writing notes, but one of John's Resolutions for 2001™ is to be better about correspondence of the non e variety. Besides, shopping for stationery and writing implements is fun.

Charming neighbor delivered a birthday gift a few days ago. A nice bottle of wine, and a VHS tape filled with choice bits of kunst, ala Titan Media. Wheee!

Fought a pitched, bitchy email battle with a customer service drone from Odyssey Men video. (Yes, buying more kunst.)

Made reservations for a little side trip to Chicago for the first weekend of February. Praise the gods for frequent flyer miles.... (Jason, wanna meet for a drink?)

Picked up The Naked Chef today whilst spending an xmas gift certificate from the mother unit. I'm trying to reinvigorate my interest in cooking. Unfortunately, I hate to clean up my mess, so cooking can be painful. The Naked Chef looks interesting and fun, though.... (No naked chefs, just in case you were wondering.)

Missing California, a little.

Ready for a beer and a dark bar now.

Happy New Year!

We returned in roughly one piece. The weekend was outstanding, with the perfect combination of beautiful San Diego weather, cute San Diego boys, plus fun and/or sleazy bars. We topped it all off with a fantastic night at 4th and B, dancing with friends and loving Susan Morabito's fantastic set. If you're in to that sort of thing, she's one of the best....

I love, love, love San Diego. I would so move there in a minute if the opportunity came up.

Right now, though, I'm exhausted. Jason is passed out in bed, and I'm ready to put my feet up for a few minutes.... Hope your New Year's Eve was safe & fun. More later.