D Sings

Last weekend was the holiday concert for the Oakland East Bay Gay Men's Chorus which D started singing with after moving to the bay. I must admit that I have been un-enthused about the holidays this year. Halloween, Thanksgiving, nothing has had that holiday feeling. I must thank the concert for at least getting me slightly thrilled at the prospect of Christmas. 

N and I had a great time, N watched the Oregon/UCLA game, I took photos and texted. We were very attentive attendees. At one point the choir came out completely dressed in medievalesque garb and sang some tavern songs - maybe you know the opera, I was simply confused. Costume changes are always fun I guess. 

D, ready for the quartet. 

Back in November when I stayed with D & N the quartet came to rehearse their number, I happened to recorded one full song on my phone. You can all now enjoy a little bit of the concert, well, it was one of their first practices, a month before the performance - but still lovely. 

D got his own solo, I got goosebumps. Actually I got them three times during the show, I'd call that a success. 

I wish I had a photo of this, but one of the choir gents had a leopard print cuffed Santa hat, after the performance the local Concord botox queen was hunting down that cat hat, as I overheard her say, "I just must have it!"

Here is the song - sadly I could not for the life of me figure out how to get the music file to upload without putting it to a video and iMovie required photos to go with it, so you may have to look at them all again. Or just close your eyes and listen. 

G's Birthday

I cannot believe she is already 13. I remember being 16 when she was born and thinking that when she was my age I would be 32 - it seemed ancient. It's hard to remember she isn't still 2 years old.

I think everyone else will agree that this is our favorite picture of the night. I don't remember what B or C is telling her, but she was not thrilled about it.

One of her birthday achievements was to finally get her own facebook account. C & I helped her set up an email account and then hopefully laid some fear in the girl over safety concerns on facebook, rules about friending people, adjusting all her securities setting to be what we thought they should be, etc. 

Of course, a facebook account means a profile picture. She brushed her hair and posed.

I had to get some volume in her hair, I couldn't resist, I couldn't let her use the above photo. What kind of sister would I be? 

Then it was perhaps slightly too mature for a 13 year old. 

Ah, that's her. 

The California Governor's Mansion

What does every Governor's Mansion need?

An amazing carriage house with a carved horse head over the door. Check!

A fabulous tour guide named Kent - seriously, get him if you can!

A totally retro TV set to greet you from afar. Check!

An eclectic mix of furniture. Check!

Awesome local visitors. Czech! Check!

Door hinges to rock your socks. Check!

Velvet lounge seats. Check! Awkward arrangement for conversation, no?

Christmas decor. Check!

Rooms you're not allowed to enter. Check!

Rooms you are allowed to enter. Check!

Sea foam green walls. Check!

A fake holiday turkey. Check!

Fabulous staircase. Check! "Banister - as in sliding down the..."

Tile, tile, tile. In a bathroom as big as my living room. Check!

Pink room for the governor's wife. Check!

Vintage gowns. Check!

Damask wall paper to die for. Check!

More sea foam green. Check!

Raggedy Andy doll. Check!

Wallpaper, wallpaper, wallpaper. Check!

C and I toured the Gov's mansion. Finally. It was everything I'd hoped for. Except the late family of about 18 that arrived at the last min and derailed our tour. Poor Kent spent most of the tour doing crowd control. I guess 18 people worth of admissions fees is helpful for preservation funds, begrudgingly accept their arrival. I still feel there was a vast ocean of information and anecdotes stored in Kent's brain we did not get the benefit of hearing. Next time. I've got to go back, if only to purchase every mid-century themed item in the gift shop.

California Museum: Skateboards

The California Museum recently had a colorful & informative exhibit displaying the development of the skateboard. After a couple disastrous experiences in high school, having friends try to teach me how to balance on wheels, I've never been exceedingly interested in wheels on a board, but the exhibit was surprisingly enjoyable. Colorful, historically relevant, and well organized.

I throughly enjoyed all the models of early boards.