Pale yet sunburnt white middle-aged gay men for Obama

Today was the big Capital Pride Festival, where some 200,000 folks show up, walk around the booths, see some great entertainment, and feast upon the eye candy.

It seems like every GLBTQ organization had a booth there, plus a lot of straight organizations as well. The politicos have their booths, and the Obama booth was easily the most crowded. I volunteered, and my happy task was to get one hundred to people to sign a petition to show their support for the man. I ended up with 101. It took about 3 1/2 hours: I'm not a hard sell kind of guy. But it was fun and worth the effort.

Even though I put on sunblock, I got red (hence today's title). It was interesting human interplay. Lots of people came up to me, asking to sign. Honest to God. Really refreshing.

While it was hot, it was not humid, and there was a breeze just about the whole time. The sun though was unrelenting. After about maybe 2 1/2 hours of this, there was a point where I must've become a little dehydrated, because I was just not thinking very clearly. When I realized what was happening to me and I mentioned it to one of the guys signing on, he went and got me a bottle of water! And he wasn't hitting on me! Seriously, it was just one of those events that rekindles your faith in people.

After I handed in my petitions, I walked around a little. Throughout the day, I saw a lot of my friends, which was really great. Some knew I was back; a lot didn't.

Before I came home, I went to a bike shop and bought a helmet. Yay! Definitely down on the brain damage thing.

The other great news is that my niece is coming down to DC for Independence Day. I'm a lucky guy to have such great family.

Pride Parade

Today I signed a lease on a place in Logan Circle near 12th & M St NW. Fit almost all my parameters: one bedroom, English basement, gas appliances, close in, relatively inexpensive. It's great.

This evening, I did my first Obama event. I walked with a group of about 60 supporters in the Capital Pride parade. The support from the crowd was impressive: all along the way, people were clapping and cheering, yelling our chants, asking for posters, all kinds of support. It was really touching and exhilarating at the same time. What's more impressive is that it really started raining around the middle of the route, but people stayed and cheered. It was really fun.

After the parade, a group of us met at a restaurant / bar and hung out for a while. Good group of people, really dedicated. Interesting mix: all kinds of genders and races and ages. I stayed a while and then walked back to where I left my bicycle. Right then, V called. We ended up talking a while...

Dreams from My Father

I've almost finished reading "Dreams from My Father" - Barack Obama's autobiography. I can't recommend it enough. Amazing story, and one that I relate to, and one I imagine everyone can relate to.

He talks about what family means to him, what or where home is, all these things that all of us have to deal with. Do we go further out into the big scary world, or stay in our comfortable space?

He's a great story teller. Read it if you can.