Dessert

Scottsdale is full of trendy bars, pretty people, nice cars, extravagant houses, and opportunities for some pretty incredible people-watching.  In photography the best time to take photos is in the muted light of shortly after sunrise or shortly before sunset.  But for people-watching in Scottsdale the best place is at a trendy bar on Friday or Saturday evenings.

A small group of friends and I met last night for happy hour ($7 martinis, half priced appetizers) at one of these upscale places and had fun just watching.  And chatting.  The waitresses all looked like models, and in all honesty the food wasn't bad either.  :-)

Next week they're having a "Little Black Dress" Party.  That looks like fun!  I have no idea where I'll be next weekend but if I'm around that'd certainly be something to consider.

One thing that's funny is that we ended up leaving long before things officially got "hopping".  I was home by 10 and in bed by 11.  I remember when I was in college we usually wouldn't even go out until 10 and my ex-wife's parents marveled that we'd begin our evening at that late hour.  This is one of those times when you realize that you've actually become your parents.  Yeesh.

Some dear friends recently noticed that I have some BluRay DVD's but no DVD player so now I have one.  One of the cool things is that you can hook it into your wireless network and access services like Pandora or Netflix.  I spent the morning today hooking it all up and I'm tickled that it all seems to work.  It's pretty cool to be able to add movies to my Netflix queue and have them streamed to my TV right away.  I'm sorry - it just is...

On another "tech" topic, the iTunes Store has a free song every week.  Some of them are stinkers, but some of them are actually pretty good.  I go there every week without fail to check the latest offerings.  One song from a few weeks ago is by Joshua Radin and is titled "Sky".  I'd like to learn how to play it on my guitar.





I have also decided to set up my drum kit.  I bought a 2nd kit while I was living in Rochester so I could take lessons while I was there - I really enjoyed that - and sold it when I left.  My original kit spent 18 months down here languishing in my storage unit and is out in the garage at the moment.  I'm itching to play on it.  The best part of my set-up is the cymbals - cymbals are very personal to a drummer.  Anyway, I have a feeling it's one of those things that's easier to take down than to put back together but we'll see.  Stay tuned on that.  :)

On the activism front, there's a meeting going on in Memphis this week that I'm watching carefully (details here).

The first meeting of the newly formed advisory board of the National Coalition of State-Level Transgender Organizations will meet July 9-11 in Memphis.

The new group, a coalition of transgender advocacy organizations, will bring together state and city-based transgender-led advocacy organizations for the purpose of networking, organizing, sharing resources, and building grassroots advocacy, according to Dr. Marisa Richmond, president of the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition and a founding member of the new national group.

The meeting, which is being funded by the Gill Foundation, will consist of representatives from the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition, the Transgender Civil Rights Project of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, the Transgender Law Center, the Tennessee Transgender Political Coalition, the Transgender Education Network of Texas, the DC Trans Coalition, and TransOhio.

There has been talk for several years now that transgender people need to take our fate into our own hands rather than hitch our wagon to larger LGBT organizations.  Many of us who get involved in those broader organizations find it to be a frustrating, isolating, difficult experience as we're not taken seriously as a group and our issues remain unaddressed.  The brouhaha over ENDA in 2007 highlighted that clearly, and it's nice to see that state organizations aren't isolated anymore - that there is some sort of tangible connection going on.  Anyway, these kinds of formative efforts are important and I'm optimistic given some of the people who are participating in this.

Updated 10:30pm - It's 99 degrees outside as I write this.  Yesterday we set a record of our highest low temperature ever (I know, it takes a second to think about that one).  Our "low" yesterday was 91 degrees.  They had originally forecast a possibility of rain tonight or tomorrow but from the looks of things that's not going to happen, at least not for most of the Valley.  I haven't seen rain here in I-don't-know-how-long.  It has been a long time, and I don't believe most of these forecasts.

I might see some rain on Monday when I go up north of Flagstaff to hike Mt. Humphrey, but we'll see.  Either way - I rarely complain when it comes to weather here and I'm not about to start now.

Speaking of complaining....if you've never been to despair.com you need to check it out.  It's a take off on those snarmy upbeat motivational sayings and posters, except it highlights more negative (and, I daresay, more realistic) perspectives.  Here's one:

There are a bunch of them there that'll get you laughing.  Honestly - there are a dozen there that are true pearls of wisdom.  I'd make a calendar out of them if the year weren't half over already.  Maybe next year.

Lastly - I've said it a hundred times and I'm sure I'll say it a hundred more but I truly enjoy music in all it's many flavors.  Each of us "surfs" the internet for various things and one of the things that attracts me is music.  One place I go from time to time that's really neat is a site called "Live From Daryl's House".  It's Daryl Hall from Hall and Oates, and he has various people over to his place to make music, cook, hang out, and generally just chill.  The most recent episode features Rob Thomas and they sound great together.  Of particular note are the alternate versions of some of the songs (see it here).  Anyway - it's well done, and cool.