A Weekend of Everything

It really was. This memorial day weekend I think I lived through an entire separate life in four days. It all started Thursday night, when Shawn Solaas flew in from Boston, MA. I drove down to the Oakland airport and waited for him in terminal 1 until he came walking through the security point. Greeting him hello after all these years... was very whelming, and wonderful. We drove back to my house and chatted until we were too tired to catch up anymore.

Friday morning we met up with Jaime, Emily, Trisha, Amanda and Debbie at the Sonoma State grill for lunch. It was such a nice day out; and it was nice introducing Shawn to my co-workers and friends. I got a chance to show Shawn my office and some of the campus before we headed off to San Francisco so Shawn could show me some of his world. On the way to the city we stopped off and took some pictures above the Golden Gate bridge. I'm so glad we did, because it's rarely so clear over San Francisco.

We went to the mall at Union Square and bee lined it for the J. Crew store. Since Shawn is a personal shopper at J. Crew he knew his way around their collection. In no time he was putting together outfits "with color". I tried on several, and much to my surprise almost everything was a size or two smaller than I would've chosen. Apparently I buy baggier style and need more form fitting clothes. haha! We picked out two outfits and then had to hit the road to make it down to Santa Clara's Great America theme park for the Gay Days event. We checked into the Hyatt just up the street and luck was with us; we had a room on the top floor- it had a nice view. Then we stopped off at the bar for a drink before hitting up the event.

What an absolute blast! Neither of us had ever been to one of the Gay Day events that are held at theme parks throughout the year. The event started at 6pm and went until 2am, with drinks and rides flowing until midnight. There were three stages with performers ranging from scandalously clad dancers, performers and even impersonators. We enjoyed the "Boomerang" drinks which were vodka and lemonade, quite a few of them actually! The roller coasters were a blast, it wasn't until the Flight Deck ride around 11 or so that night that I kinda had a wave of head spins- I'm surprised it took that long! Below is a picture of the drop zone ride; I was kinda scarred for it, but I made Shawn hold my hand so that helped. ^_^ I ran into several friends while down there; John Davis, Jeremy Bruce and Patrick Knight.

Saturday morning there was no sleeping in, Shawn was up and at-em bright and early...well like 9am. Which seemed early to me! We headed back to San Francisco to get some more shopping in. I picked up some shoes that I'd wanted from the day before at J. Crew and then some Aldo's. Then I grabbed some Ghirardelli caramel chocolates and we were good to head back to Sonoma County. We got a chance to relax some Saturday afternoon; and Shawn made us a delicious dinner! He's very good in the kitchen, I was continually impressed this weekend. We had chicken glazed in a balsamic vinegar topped with tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. Sides were potatoes and a strawberry spinach salad paired with whatever bottle of wine we happened to be on at that point!

That evening we got ready and headed out to San Francisco to hit up the clubs. We started out at Midnight Sun, the best place to start in my opinion. No cover charge, a free bathroom and hilarious video's played up on the big screen. From there it was just a step over to badlands where we decided it was too crowded and landed at my favorite place, the Cafe. We had a lot of fun checking out the people there and dancing. Before I knew it the club was closing and out we went, back home.

Sunday morning came too quickly; seeing as how I went to sleep sometime around 3am. Amanda came over at 7am and we jogged 9 miles. I'm not sure how coherent I was, I think I was running on auto-pilot! When I got home Shawn got up and made us breakfast. The avocado on the eggs was a nice touch I plan to do more often! I was glad to contribute some also; I added some apricots and mango to the strawberries. Mmm!

We caught up on some Avatar Sunday before getting ready to head over to Amanda's house in the city of Sonoma for dinner with Rich and Savannah. Amanda made an amazing spicy hummus that I just couldn't stop eating. Then we had some home-made garden burgers and sweet potatoes. The garden burgers had an avocado dressing to put on them that made the burger- delish! It was nice having an evening with the McGowans! After dinner, we headed to Cotati to meet Jason and Kevin for some drinks at Brixx. Unfortunately they were already closed, so we went to Friar Tucks instead. Not the fanciest place, but the drinks were cold so it worked just fine. We had a good time chatting with them and catching up.

Before I knew it memorial day was upon me and Shawn's last day in California. Shawn made breakfast again - so good. Then he showed me how to make quiche. We'd been shopping earlier on and bought all the various ingredients he picked out for my tailor-made vegeterian style quiche. There was spinach, mushrooms, onions and swiss cheese. MMMM! He baked and saved them for me so that I could enjoy them later in the week after he was gone, so very thoughtful!

That afternoon I kidnapped Shawn and took him on my motorcycle headed towards Sonoma. I only got as far as Glen Ellen before he tapped on me and asked if there was a destination in mind- ok, ok, I got the hint! We stopped there for a break and then rode the bike back home. That afternoon we watched the rest of Avatar while Shawn finished up packing. Chuck and Emily had arrived via car from Idaho earlier in the day so they stopped over for a bit. Emma had just returned from her trip to San Diego so we all got to catch up. Once we'd watched the last episode of Avatar, Season 3, it was time to take Shawn back to Oakland for his flight out. It was really hard on me, seeing him leave after such a great time together. But I'm set to ensure we see each other soon, and so is he. I'm looking forward to it.

Thanks to Shawn (and my friends, too!), I think I ate better this weekend than I have in a long time, and of course the company was absolutely the very BEST!

Windsor Green Half Marathon

Jogging continues to be an important hobby for me. Yesterday I got up and ran 10 miles around Rohnert Park to make sure I was keeping up with my "5-miles-a-day-May" since I missed my five miles on Friday. I also washed my car, watched Jaime's son Cooper play some baseball, took an afternoon nap, rode my motorcycle up to Windsor to pickup my bib number and shirt then relaxed at home that evening. It was quiet around the house as Evan and Emma were in Tahoe.

Sunday I got up bright and early for my third annual Windsor Green Half Marathon. I met Amanda and we headed to the race start. She discovered that she had left her earphones in the car so we ran back to her car and then back to the race start with one minute to spare. There was just enough time to get my Runkeeper activated and we were off! Mile after mile passed and I kept at a sub-eight minute pace. I just kept thinking "use the electric (Aerobic) engine". Once in a while to keep at pace I had to use my gas "anaerobic" engine to get up the hills. I knew by mile 9 I was going to have one of my best, if not the best half marathon times I've ever had. It was thrilling, so much so that I got a runners high while listening to a remixed version of "The Funeral" by Band of Horses that really sped me up for the 10th mile.

Looking back at the Windsor Half, I started out really strong in 2010 in 1 hour 56 minutes. That's about 8 minute 50 second miles. Then in 2011 I ran it just as I was recovering from shin splints and took 2 hours 17 minutes. That's about ten and half minutes per mile. This year I'm back stronger than ever and made a personal record! I finished the race in 1 hour 44 minutes by the race clock, that's less than 8 minutes per mile on average! I'm really thrilled with my progress and know I'm totally ready for the Santa Rosa Marathon on August 26th!

The map, a picture and all the stats can be found on my Runkeeper page. After the race Amanda and I went to get lunch at the High Tech Burrito. The vegan tofu for me, of course!

Late Entry Update! When the official results were posted I hadn't checked them. Amanda did, and saw I finished 7th for my age bracket! She brought in vegan cupcakes (ginger and carrot) and announced it in our team meeting. It was very thoughtful and meant a lot to me. The official results posted for me are:

Place...Name...........City.............State...Bib #..Age..Overall Place
7.......Ross Stivison..Rohnert Park..CA......655....33...87

Chip Time___Gun Time_____Diff____Pace
1:44:29.4___1:44:41.3____0:11.8__7:59/M

Jogging, Commencement & Andrej's Las Vegas Birthday!

No time to breathe this weekend! Sonoma State University's 50th annual commencement was set to begin at 9am. But long before that started I was up at 5:30am so I could get my "5-miles-a-day-in-May" jog in. After I was done jogging, yes, now it's time to- oh, finish packing for Las Vegas! Ok, that done I jumped on my motorcycle and headed over to SSU. There were a couple of protesters in regard to Sandy Weill receiving an honorary degree in the afternoon ceremony, but the day was largely unscathed by the discontent. After spending the morning helping people around in the wheelchairs I hopped back on my motorcycle and zipped home.

Once home, I grabbed the last few things I needed for Las Vegas and left my house at 1:30pm for the Oakland airport. I got there, through security and to my gate by 2:45pm. That's completely unheard of! It was a quick flight to Las Vegas. Upon landing I headed to the Cosmopolitan where Aida, Andrej and Mary met me in the lobby. They took me up to the suite and I was wowed by the view!

The girls took a while to get ready, so I chatted a bit on Grindr. I met a guy that was working the door at Share and he invited me and my guests to get in for free including all we could drink vodka drinks until 11pm. SCORE! I got the four of us on the guest list. Before any of that could happen, first we had to have Andrej's birthday dinner! But before that, we had to get our oxygen levels up at the Kahunaville Oxygen bar! We all sat at the bar and inhaled the various scented oxygen flows we could choose from. We also got an energy drink mixed with our choice of flavored vodka and a back massage!
Well worth the $20 :)

                              Mary, Aida, Ross, Tiff, Andrej

After the oxygen bar we went to the Botero Steakhouse for Andrej's birthday dinner. I had my first five course vegetarian meal. It was delicious! Mary had a lobster, Aida had a whole chicken and Tiff had a delicious Mac n Cheese. Mmm! We all ate way too much and also sent way too much back to the kitchen uneaten (well, except me, I was helping everyone but Mary with all their food). HA! It was a great birthday dinner for Andrej!

                              Tiff, Ross, Mary, Andrej, Aida

Ok, dinner done- time for club Share! Tiff and I made a b-line for the vodka drinks. Cran and Vodka, yes please! Everyone was upstairs in the round bar as the main club hadn't opened up yet. The gogo dancers were walking around and mingling with the crowd. Mary and I found the one Andrej thought was cute, and we all chipped in to have him give Andrej a birthday dance! Andrej really enjoyed it, so I'm glad we did it. Then just enough time for one last drink upstairs before the downstairs opened up. The club wasn't too busy yet, but this place sure has potential. Then we had to zip over to Krave where Andrej had reserved a table for the group.
The cab ride over was insane crazy. The cab driver had the music on full blast and was screaming and yelling with Aida and Mary up front. We went up to the entrance at club Krave and Andrej bartered a bit with the guy and got us a great deal for bottle service at a private table. I LOVE having a private table with bottle service! We all settled right in and the waitstaff came through (in their undies) checking on our drinks. It wasn't long before Avicii "Levels" came on and I was out dancing in the crowd. The club was awesome- as always!

                               Aida, Andrej, Mary, Ross, Waiter ;) & Tiff

The next day we did some shopping and I bought a shirt at the Guess store. Before we knew it, we were at the airport, some more hungover than others... and planes were leaving. What a memorable weekend, thanks to everyone and Happy Birthday to Andrej!

Thank you, President Obama

Equal rights for all Americans, including the right for Homosexuals to marry has been difficult for the nation to come to terms with. It's been a thorn in my side for many years. I remember when in college I wanted to migrate to Canada so I could enter into a marriage with whomever I wanted. Finally, President Barack Obama was first on yet another issue; the first American President to openly support gay marriage.

"I think same sex couples should be able to get married"
- President Barack Obama

Some of the article is copied here, as this was a rather historic day!

Updated 4:50 p.m. ET- President Barack Obama endorsed the right of same-sex couples to marry on Wednesday, a landmark pronouncement made in light of mounting pressure from gay rights advocates.

Obama became the first U.S. president to back the right of gay and lesbian couples to marry, a reversal from views expressed during the 2008 campaign, when he said he opposed same-sex marriage but favored civil unions as an alternative.

Obama told ABC News that, after reflection, he had "concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same-sex couples should be able to get married."

In making his announcement, Obama completes what he had described as an “evolution” in his views on this issue, hastened by growing fervor this week involving gay rights. The growing pressure was capped Tuesday by North Carolina voters’ approval of a constitutional amendment banning not only same-sex marriages, but civil unions for gay and lesbian couples, as well. Obama’s shift not only speaks to a broad swath of the electorate, which has exhibited increasing acceptance of same-sex marriage in opinion polls, but also gay and lesbian voters who compose a core part of Obama’s base, and have been major fundraisers for his re-election.

Obama explained that he had hesitated in fully supporting same-sex marriage because he thought civil unions would be sufficient. "I have to tell you that over the course of several years as I have talked to friends and family and neighbors when I think about members of my own staff who are in incredibly committed monogamous relationships, same-sex relationships, who are raising kids together, when I think about those soldiers or airmen or marines or sailors who are out there fighting on my behalf and yet feel constrained, even now that 'Don't Ask Don't Tell' is gone, because they are not able to commit themselves in a marriage, at a certain point I’ve just concluded that for me personally it is important for me to go ahead and affirm that I think same sex couples should be able to get married," he told ABC.

Meanwhile; this happened earlier in the week: RELATED: North Carolina approves ban on same-sex marriage. Which is why this isn't a "States Rights" issue as some would proclaim. It's a HUMAN RIGHT which sadly has to be enforced at the Federal Level. Shame on you, states and citizens who would come in between others and their human rights.

Teaching Emily to drive

What?! So Emily said she doesn't know how to drive a stick shift. At the end of May, she'll be driving back to California with Chuck and since his car is manual, she'll need to know! We decided to teach her after work tonight. I picked her up in my car and we went over to the business complex south east of M section in Rohnert Park. Emily got in the drivers seat and - zoooom! Took off just fine. She was shifting and starting, stopping, the works. I guess really she just needed to brush up her skills. It was a fun night, without any whiplash whatsoever! Good job Em; you'll do just fine driving from Idaho to California.