Okay, I’m finally posting something, maybe because last weekend was a perfect time for composing a blog (I composed most of this about a week ago, and am just posting it now, a week later. Sigh.). Em was in Toronto, and I was back at home (alone!) in San Francisco, so I had lots of time to myself. Plus, the days were lazy, windy, and sunny - it was a long weekend, both here *and* in Canada, albeit for different reasons. Speaking of which: HAPPY (belated) CANADA DAY, EVERYONE!! Along those lines, and direct from the ray-of-hope-and-light department, I am happy and proud to report that Canada approved same-sex marriage on June 28th, with Spain doing likewise a few days later.
More Canada stuff:
Let’s see - there’s plenty I haven’t blogged about over the last few months, so it’s time to take a stroll down memory lane…. The last time I posted, Otka had just molted for the first time, and I was prepping for a trip to Hawaii. Since then, Otka’s molted *at least* one more time, and is now officially *huge*. And Seb and I (millions of thanks to Seb!) had a wicked time in Hawaii. Waikiki Beach, Baby! We spent a good part of one day in Pearl Harbor, going aboard the Battleship Missouri Memorial, and the USS Arizona Memorial. Another fine day, we spent the morning at Waimanalo Beach Park (thanks to Chris McT for the tip - that was one of the best beaches I’ve ever been to!), and then did some snorkeling at the amazing Hanauma Bay Nature Preserve. On the last night we saw Sheryl Crow at the last of several private concerts our host put on. The highlight of which may have been the really loud guy standing on his chair somewhere behind us, yelling up at Sheryl between songs. After Strong Enough (famous for the lyric “Are you strong enough to be my man?”) he yelled out “I’m strong enough, Sheryl!!”. After the laughter died down, she replied “Ah, but can you ride FAST enough?” That got even MORE laughs. Later, after If It Makes You Happy, the same guy pretty much screamed “YOU make me happy, Sheryl!!” Maybe it was the free booze, but the guy just killed that night. And Sheryl’s set wasn’t bad, either. 
Oh, and here’s a great footnote from history that neatly ties the Hawaii trip back to Canada Day. While in Pearl Harbor, Seb and I stood on the deck of the USS Missouri, in the same spot where formal surrender of Japan took place on September 2nd, 1945. Well, in the same spot *on the deck* - the ship itself was parked in Tokyo Bay at the time of the surrender. Anyhow, there were replicas of the actual Instruments of Surrender stored under glass there, and our tour guide pointed out that Colonel Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, the signatory representing the Dominion of Canada, ACCIDENTALLY SIGNED ON THE WRONG LINE ON THE JAPANESE COPY. (Fortunately, General Sutherland thought fast, took a pen to the document, and corrected it.) Cosgrave had to do just one, SIMPLE thing to represent - and he blew it. Fortunately, it seems most people have never heard of the incident, so Canada’s rep on the world scene may be safe after all.
Oh, and last Saturday night, I attended the Church of Satana! That is, a midnight screening of Russ Meyer’s masterpiece Faster, Pussycat! Kill! Kill!, hosted by the flawless Peaches Christ, and with none other than TURA SATANA HERSELF IN ATTENDANCE. The experience was fantastic - it was the second of two nights, kicking off a summer series of midnight movies, and the theater was *packed*. They were actually sold out when I got there, but I waited around long enough to get lucky, and bought an extra ticket from someone doing a pickup at will-call. Sweet. After the movie, I even scored an autograph - sad, but true. If you’ve seen the film, you’ll know why I had to do it. If you haven’t, then you’d better get your hands on a copy.
In the “big news” department, Em’s brother Nelson was hospitalized in early May for what turned out to be a dissecting aortic aneurysm. He spent over a month in hospital, most of it in the CICU (Coronary Intensive Care Unit) at Toronto General Hospital. He wasn’t a candidate for surgical intervention (which is riskier, anyhow), but they’ve been successful in treating him with medication. From the “good news” department comes the fact that he’s out of hospital, and back at home. Em’s been there a few times since this first happened, and was there last weekend, spending time with Nelson and the rest of her family, and helping her brother kick-start his new heart-smart, low-sodium lifestyle.
Finally, from the “Home and Baby News” department, two breaking stories. The first is that back on June 2nd, our friends Donovan Fones (aka DoFo) and Karie Rubin had a beautiful baby girl!! Her name is Zoe Rubin Fones - but Em and I will forever call her ZoFo. The second is that our friend Melanie Hill and her hubby Lee are also having a baby, due in September. And both couples also recently moved into their first homes, to boot. Looks like everybody’s getting all grows up. Sniffle.
