L I F E -------- I N------- A U S T I F O R N I A

    ........"The man who smiles when things go wrong has thought of someone to blame it on" - Unknown ..."Sometimes when I'm angry, I just sing a song. How can you be angry and singing at the same time?" - Marissa Carol Endora LaLuna Tome .......... "Sure, drugs may lead to nowhere. But, at least it's the scenic route! - Heard in a meeting........ "If your library is not 'unsafe', it probably isn't doing it's job" - John Berry, Library Journal, Oct '99.... "Beer didn't make me fat! It made me lean.. (against doors, walls, cars.. etc.) - Heard in a meeting.... "I am NOT infantile - you stinky poopyhead! - Bumper sticker....

Monday, March 13, 2006

Monday, March 13, 2006 @ 1020a; Dave P Departs


Christopher and Scarlett
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.
Well, I've been neglectful! And, for that I'm truly sorry. I've been busy! No excuse I know, so I'll try and catch you up. This is Dave. He left our fun fellowship for Houston. We're so happy for him - so sad for us. But we had a great time while he was here. Now he's off having fun and we miss him!! This was his going away at Kevin and Ricks.

Friday, February 10, 2006

February 9, 2006, Friday; Told Ya There Were Girls There


QueenonaCamry
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.
Check out the nelly one posing on a new Camry. I'm not too sure about the new nose of the Toyotas. These little button logos on the grille may supposed to be puppy-dog-cute, but I don't think they're all that. At least this Camry had a chin spoiler that made it look at least a little more passable as a decent-looking car.

Back in Sac now. Caught a bug on the way home, probably on the plane. So I was feeling a little under the weather, but I'm doing better now. In the process of remodling the bathroom which is a process that.. SUCKS.

But, all the hard work is at least being done by two gentlemen I hired to move the heavy stuff.. like the sledge hammer.

I'm hoping it's done by this weekend.. We have family coming from Michigan to visit in April, and we needed this redo! Unfortunately the kitchen is under the knife too and so the house is feeling very very scattered.. and it's contagious - so now I do to! I hope you're well.. I'll be better once the bathroom is 'usable' :)

Tuesday, February 07, 2006

February 7, 2006 @ 6:30p; Queers, Beers and Trucks


BeersandTrucks
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.
Howdy.
I just returned from Texas and had the most awesome time. Look for more pics in the coming days, or you can always go to my Flickr site.

One of the things I did was go to the Houston Auto Show. What was strange about this one over a California Auto show was the amount of trucks (they do like they trucks in Texas) and people walking around with beer.

I thought that was stange because we don't even have alcohol I think at the autoshow. I'm not sure, I never looked. There were also lots of queens there. Strange combination seeing cowboys and.. well.. swishy cowboys all walking round lots of trucks.

But, I had a great time in Texas - like I did last time! This time I got to see Austin and attend the Austin Round Up. My good friend Rich S. did a terrific job and Edie C. from my homegroup in California did an awesome job too!

I took a few days to visit San Antonio. Loved it too!

Take care and talk with you soon.

Saturday, January 28, 2006

Sunday, January 29th 2006 @ 1:32a In Austin Texas


All Hail.
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.
We've had a great time so far! I'm in Austin with my friend Rich S. from St. Louis and Edie C. from Sacramento. I've bumped into folks from Houston and it's been terrific fun.

Here's a pic of Ann Richards former Governer and always fabulous. We visited the State Capitol on Friday before the Conference started. We walked down Congress and it was a nice stroll. It's nice here.

Wednesday, January 18, 2006

Wednesday, January 18 2006 @ 11a; Birthday for Rob



Ok, so I know it's still a couple of months away (April 11th he turns 40) but I've been working on his Birthday Party and that can take up some time! Who knew?

I still have not received my first unemployment check.. can you believe it? And she's going through the money like a sailor goes through rum. (Wait, I was once that sailor going through that rum). So, I'll have to scale back my budget.

I am looking forward to going to Austin however next week to attend the Austin Round Up. I'll be hanging out with my good friend Rich S. from St. Louis. And we'll be getting into all kinds of trouble, I'm sure. My friend Edie C. from Sacramento will also be there, and I'm supposed to chaperone her to make sure she doesn't get into trouble. But who's watching me?!

The pic above is Rob as a little tyke. He's even cuter now I suppose and just as much trouble. Rob's family is coming from Michigan so it should be a good time. I'm on my way to a noon meeting now so I must run. I'll try and post some pictures from Lake Tahoe this weekend, which should be great fun.

Ciao!

Thursday, December 29, 2005

Thursday, December 29 2005 @ 1:00a; Here's a Fun Link



Here's a fun link to sum up your 2005.

Hugs from afar.

Christopher

Thursday, December 29 2005 @ 12:30a; Up Late Night



Hola! It's been sometime since my last post but we've been busy. Sick really. But, better now! So, Christmas past has been better, but I'm just happy to be up and around! I wish the sun were out. We've had really bad rain here the last couple of weeks, but hopefully it will subsided some and not wash us out! The Corps of Engineers has promised we'll be fine, but after those poor folks in New Orleans.. who knows if you can believe or not!

We spent the evening tonight with our good friends Kelly and Anthony. That was so nice, since we haven't seen them (or I haven't) in sometime. I was feeling guilty about it.. I mean, I'm only across the river. But, more importantly - let me know how your Christmas Holiday was.

Ciao for now

Friday, December 09, 2005

Friday, December 9, 2005 @ 12:35a - Remembering Now


3DollarBill
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.
Alright..

My friend Matthew's memorial service is this weekend. His family are Soldiers for Christ in the Salvation Army. I forgot what a homophobic organization they are, but slowly but surely, I'm being reminded.

We're putting together a photo-montage of his life. We have oodles of pictures of Matthew but they have made us take out the drag pictures. No cross dressing photos allowed. (Hello. That's a good chunk girl!)

Then they won't allow us to have his partner's poem at the service (male to male poetry?).

We're abiding by all this to respect his family of course. The last thing we'd want to do is turn his memorial into a protest but I am reminded of what we can do as individuals.

The photo above is a 3-Dollar Bill (as in: queer as). I used to print these out several Christmas' ago and drop them into the kettle in front of the department store when I passed those seasonal bell ringers. I thought it was a vocal, and non-confrontational way to remind them that there are donors out there who are unable to contribute to some of the good work they do because of their homophobia.

Of course, now that Ms. Kroc (of McDonald's fame) has provided them with the largest donation in U.S. history, they probably don't even wince at my folded three dollar bill. But, if ALL of us did this, across the U.S. EVERY Christmas, eventually over time, maybe they'd do the math of how many real dollars they're missing out on. Even die hard Christian's do math in dollars and cents don't they?

http://www.cultureandfamily.org/articledisplay.asp?id=336&department=CFI&categoryid=cfreport

I, for one, will be resuming this practice, I hope you might too. Be well. I love you.

http://www.glaad.org/eye/stories.php

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Tuesday, December 6, 2005 @ 9:30a - To San Diego and Back


Matthew D.
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.
We were...

in San Diego at our cousin's home of Carlos and Karen. I wasn't feeling well and we almost came home early. But Karen and Carlos were very gracious and set me up with comfy pillows, ginger tea and home made soup!

But, then we received a flurry of calls from Northern California letting us know that our good friend Matthew D. had passed away in an accident in his home. We were horror struck and immediately packed and came home to be with our friends in the fellowship.

Matthew was 28, just getting ready to graduate from college, putting the finishing touches on his home remodel, had been working full time and partnered to a wonderful man Bobby T.

He stole the show in our video production at our conference (rcru.com). He was one of those folks that ALWAYS said 'yes' to every call for assistance. He made everything fun fun fun and we'll miss him so.

Today, December 6 he would have celebrated 5 years of sobriety. We love you Matthew.

Thursday, December 01, 2005

December 1, 2005, Thursday @ 9:00am: Rainy Day in California


Foster Lager Nelson
Originally uploaded by ChristopherSolis.
Not all..

days are sunny in bright in California. Contrary to what you might have heard. It's blustery today and Rob and I are heading the car towards San Diego this morning. We leave momentarily.

The photo above is of Foster who unfortunately, passed away yesterday. He had cancer and had been limping around for a couple of weeks. My sister and family are distraught because he's been such a big part of the family. We'll be going to chop down our christmas tree next week and it won't be the same without the sound of my neices and nephews laughing as they run through the trees with Foster barking right behind them.

I hope the weather in San Diego is nicer than here! It's likely to be. I hope you all are well. And my next report will be from Southern California.