A Not Sad Post

It was Gay Pride weekend in PDX this last weekend and even with my life turned upside down, it felt like a good idea to get out and have some fun.  Plus, there was the work obligation.

We went out dancing on Saturday night.  There's a monthly dance called Hot Flash that is held downtown.  It started out as an old gals dance, but it's open to all women and during Pride weekend it's open to all queers and allies.  It's pretty fun ordinarily, and on Pride weekend it is packed to the rafters and you are likely to run into people you haven't seen in ages.  I had the delightful coincidence of running into some bloggers that I know only in the virtual world!

I was talking with a group of friends and looked over and saw a couple who looked familiar.  I did the usual trip through the mental rolodex trying to place them and finally realized who they were.  It was Jen and Sara from We are (having) so much fun!  I couldn't remember Sara's name at first, but I remembered Jen and I called Sara "The Splicer".  If you read their blog, you'll know that Sara is pretty handy with rope (although we are still waiting for the blog post on splicing, we have seen pictures).  I introduced myself, and we marveled at the collision of real life and virtual.  They are just as nice as they seem on their blog.

When we were ready to go, we were standing outside saying our goodbyes to various friends when someone said, "Hey, it's the Naked Bike Ride!"  How could we not look?  We walked to the end of the block and sure enough, there they were in all their pale glory.  We waved and waved and waved, and the line of naked riders kept coming and coming.  It was actually quite nice out, not too chilly, and not raining.  It looked like they were having fun!  In fact, it looked so fun that T actually said that she wanted to join next year.  We'll see about that!  We found out later that there were something like 10,000 participants.  Ten Thousand!  That's Portland, for you!

Sunday morning we got up too early and made our way downtown for the Pride parade.  I had gotten roped into serving on my work's Pride committee and we all had to be there early and help out.  We sorted, folded, stacked and distributed t-shirts, blew up hundreds of balloons, bagged up buttons, organized the tote bags, and then waited for our turn to step out in the parade line up.  The parade route was not long, I'm happy to say, but what with all the busy work and the standing around and the walking, my legs were tired by the end of the day.  We made it down to the Waterfront, had a corn dog and a beer, picked up some free samples of dog food, some condoms and lube,  and plenty of buttons and stickers and Mardi Gras beads.  Got to chit chat with friends we haven't seen since last year's parade.  It was a long day but fun to see our community in all their colorful glory.

Not a restful weekend, by any stretch, but nice to get out.  How about you all?  Is your city's Pride celebration coming up?  Do you have one?  Go out and get your gay on!