I loved Star Tours. I’m sorry to see that it’s leaving Disneyland. I wonder if that is true for Disney World as well. I think I rode that ride 10 times. I know that when I took my son to Disney World, we rode it 3 times. I think we rode it twice at Disneyland. Disneyland isn’t that exciting, and Star Tours was the best.

Friday night was one of the rare occasions I decided to go out to bar with a friend. I rarely spend any time with her outside of the activities we have together. I rarely get a chance to talk with her even at parties that we are both invited to.

I’ve had lots to party invitations in the past month to the point where I really had to pick and choose.

So back to Friday night at the bar…

Clara recommended that we go to a gay bar, so we wouldn’t have to deal with being hit on all night long. This bar is considered a “dive,” but it wouldn’t even come close to that in my definition. The people in California have no idea what a real dive bar is like. This bar was small, but there was enough room for tables and couches, a pool table and dance floor.

I was surprised by her bar choice, but then I thought “why not?” We would be able to talk and dance. Gay bars had to have good music, right?

I was right about the good music. Loved the music. The people were great. They initially looked at us a little funny.

Just as I was getting comfortable, and Clara and I were talking, he walked up. A scrawy, scruffy, drunk Russian. He told us he was Russian. Not only that he said he was married and not gay. I heard most of his life story. Apparently he was avoiding his wife’s complaints about how he fucked her. Clara and I danced, and so did this guy. The bartenders eyed him apprehensively. So much for not being bothered. Leave it to Clara to draw the only “straight” guy to us in a gay bar.

When we sat down again, he was back…sitting to my right. His invasiveness into my personal space was infuriating. Then I could tell how much he had been drinking and that he was stinky. So now this stinky, scruffy, scrawy Russian sat within inches of me on a bar stook. Then he had the gall to comment on my posture. I had taken to crossing my arms over the bar. So what? Apparently that meant something to him–mostly that there was something wrong with me. I did make it clear I wasn’t going to talk to him. He interrupted my conversation with Clara two times. Then I was mad. The stupid drunk had no clue. The creep also touched my hair–picked up a piece of my hair and fondled it. I have no idea what else he might have done before I saw him since he was behind my back.

He was very touchy. I was polite, but glared at him. Again, he wondered–aloud–what was wrong with me. Me telling him that I wanted to have a conversation with my friend made no difference.

Clara actually told him to go away…and not nicely. Something she said she never does. It’s more like something I would do. The bartenders got involved. Scruffy Russian then went to the corner and pouted.

He returned about thirty minutes later. I left earlier than Clara who waited for her husband to pick her up.

It was the first time I asked someone in a bar to escort me to my car. We had met a nice guy there who also tried to scare away the persistently drunk Russian. Even in straight bars–the typical pickup scene–I have never had so much trouble or continually been accosted by some stranger who refused to get that his presence was unwanted.

After a brief break from my blog, I think it’s time to get writing again. I didn’t think I had much to write about. Mostly there’s much I choose NOT to write about. I was lucky this Labor Day weekend because I was out of town for a few days for the first time in…well, probably EVER. I visited Carmel with a friend. I had never been. Yes, I have lived here in California for nearly 8 years and never made the almost 2 hour drive to Carmel. It was rather nice. Of course there is the art galleries. I think most people go there either for the art or golf.

It seems that to live in Carmel you must have a dog. Quite possibly even a matching pair of dogs–his and hers, or his and his, or hers and hers. Oh, they must be purebred dogs. No mutts here. I have to say that most dogs are very well behaved. They go into stores and restaurants. Not the library though–they have dog parking around back.

I think my favorite part was the friendly squirrels on the beach. They would touch your hand to get a nut. They even sat in people’s laps to get fed.

I hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th of July. It’s so dry here that I don’t expect fireworks. There haven’t been any fireworks ahead of the 4th.

The smoky haze here is beginning to get to me. It’s quite thick. This morning the house smells stronger than yesterday. It’ stoo warm here not to have the windows open at least part of the day and overnight to cool off the house. I’m having trouble breathing with all the smoke.

Until I did some reading, I didn’t understand the lightning storms. Of course lightning can cause fires. I just couldn’t imagine how you can have lightning and no thunderstorms. It’s possible to have dry thunderstorms–yes–thunderstorms with no rain. Here’s a little more description.

Yesterday my mother asked when we would get rain to put out the fires. I laughed. We will see rain around November.

The heavy cloud cover on Friday night prevented getting that sunset shot over the ocean. The next day the sun came out around noon, so I have some interesting photos. It’s too bad we didn’t stay longer…

Wow! I really should pay more attention to what is going on. I was surprised to hear that the California Supreme Court overturned the ban on gay marriages. Check this out. I wonder what the rest of the country (media) will have to say about “crazy” California. It should be interesting to hear. Probably infuriating. Gotta love this state!

Yesterday I spent the day at the Dicken’s Fair in San Francisco. I have never been to any of these kinds of fairs. Not Renaissance, nor any others. It was lots of fun to see everything and to see people dressed up. I own a custom Victorian style corset, which I wore. Boy, did it hurt. I have never worn it for so long. My ribs hurt while I wore it. I spent the day with the guy I’m seeing.What else can I say except that it was great. Twnety-four hours later I still wasn’t tired of him. I’m sorry that I don’t have any photos. I forgot my camera.
If this fair is your kind of thing and you’re in the area, the fair is still open on December 22 and 23.

Last night’s earthquake was a bit scary because I wasn’t sure if things were going to fall out of the cupboards and off the shelves. Nothing did. The cats hid for over an hour under the bed. We just had another quake (3.7) around 4 pm. The cats hid again. The dog isn’t very happy about the ground shaking either. Last night I checked every room, every shelf, closet and cupboard. I pushed everything back in place. I spent about an hour las tnight afterwards feeling nauseous. A typical reaction for me. This is only my third earthquake (fourth if you count this afternoon’s).