Well, it sure has been an interesting week.
I'm finally starting to feel like I've got friends out here - just starting, though!
Saw Fred on Monday or Tuesday & we went to a bar in the Mission that seemed like a fun crowd. Even the guy who asked us for coke three times without recognizing us from one time to the next!
Paul and I got together with our dogs on Thursday, and I scored a surplus chair from him that is super comfy. So, now that I've got two chairs in my studio apt, I can think about entertaining guests here. Still no table, but I'm not sure one would fit in here anyway.
My class on Tuesday wasn't a spectacular success. I got kind of cocky from how well the first two went, and I didn't keep control over the time, and wasn't able to give a decent lecture in the last 40 minutes, so I'm going to have to plan that out better for next week, as well as catch up from what I didn't get through last week. This teaching thing is fun, but it sure is hard work!
Now, here's the best part of the week! Novitiate Mary-Lee Onwards (of the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence) invited me out to a little event in the Castro last night.
I guess some guy who thinks he's not gay anymore is trying to convince people there that they would be better off living in shame and denying themselves to a bizarre interpretation of Christian doctrine. And there are some other evangelicals out there too who aren't connected to the whole ex-gay scene, but just want to make themselves feel better by making us feel bad about the best parts of being gay - the freedom, the playfulness, heck, even the sex.
So, the Sisters decided to put together a little interference plan, and brought down black sheets to hang up around these people so that passers-by wouldn't be visually assaulted by them, and they performed a variety of ministrations to the crowd to keep the blessings rolling along.
It was a beautiful ceremony, very passionate, and equal parts serious and frivolous. One of my favorites was Sister Flora telling passers-by "No Bible-thumpers to see here, please go on having a great night!"
The theatrics and playfulness and singing went on for over two hours, and then we did our best to just ignore them and keep them from the people of the neighborhood. Once largely neutralized, Sister Simplicity urged us to move on ourselves, and we just left these bewildered hate-mongers alone to do their business. Hard to know if they were shaken by the experience, in large part because they were obviously on shaky ground even before the whole thing began.
I was so proud of Sister Simplicity (a former roommate from Providence) for pulling together such a beautiful ministry.
I didn't bring my camera, so no pictures. Maybe next time.
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