Being in the goth scene really does raise the bar for Halloween costumage. In most any other setting, most of the clubwear that I wear a couple times a week, all year long, would count as an acceptable costume. A corseted dress with a random cheesy accessory would even be impressive. Not so in the goth scene, where people *really* get into the whole thing. The eye-candy is most impressive, but I keep feeling like I ought to contribute more and come up with something witty and original. Meh. So not feeling inspired. And so many costume events in quick succession.... *whine*

Yeah, I know, woe is me. Terrible, horrible that I live in a city that enjoys being silly and creative and fun. Just not really getting into it this year. Bah, humbug! (Wait, wrong holiday...)

See some of you at DG tonight. Not sure exactly what I'm wearing, yet... *sigh*

Some of you needed to see this:

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml

Rob and I have been talking for a while about taking a trip to Australia and New Zealand. We're thinking of trying to do it in October or early November of this year, since we've determined that we actually have some time for it. Yeah, it's short notice, we know, but it's not clear when the next opportunity will be do do it.

Anyone have recommendations of good places to look for flights? I know the standard sites, but was thinking that there might be ones more specific to the region. Suggestions?

We're also looking for general travel recommendations for both Australia and New Zealand. Are there places we *have* to see? We're thinking that we probably won't go up to the Great Barrier Reef. I've heard something about taking a train in Australia being a good way to see things. Sydney, Melbourne, outback, etc... Haven't done research on it much yet, and I know even fewer specifics about NZ.

About to leave for 5-ish days in NJ, with a quick jaunt to NYC in there. We're going for Rob's step-brother's wedding, which is on Sat. Hopefully I'll keep up with everything by stealing some bandwidth on the laptop, but no promises. Have a good weekend, everyone.

Anyone else planning to be at Strangelove tomorrow/Thurs night? Thinking I might make an appearance, albeit a bit late, as I'll be coming from a gathering on the penninsula.

For Fri, I was thinking La Luna Rouge, and *maybe* quickly dropping in at Fencesitter's at Rawhide. What else is going on this weekend? Yeah, yeah, I know about the Dyke March & the Pride Parade.

Survived reunions. So so tired. Must sleep soon, and hopefully I'll manage to catch up somewhat. Reunions were good. Got to see a bunch of folks, and of course there was the Wildcat arch-sing, P-rade and the fireworks. Got a bunch of exercise from baby-lifting & swinging around. My efforts to entertain kids tend to entertain the adults around me as well, which is all good.

Got picked up by Rob's dad & stepmom this morning. We're at their place now. Get to play with the kitten they're baby-sitting. *mrow* My eyes are periodically failing to focus, so I should go sprawl, now...

Futzing arond in Berlin for a few days. Went to a bunch of ancient-stuff museums (poor Rob got dragged through lengthwise, luckily for him the egypt museums were closed by the time we got there). We've done lots of walking, but the distances are so huge that there's only so much you can cover without wearing the soles of your shoes off... Dunno where to find the gothy stores around here, as we haven't yet encountered them. Found a couple of absinthe places, though. So looking forward to non-German food! Sigh. Anyway, back to the states on Tues, albeit NJ. A week in NJ and then back to SF! Okee dokee. Enough for now. *hugs* to you all...

Just drove back down from Seattle. Left about noon after hanging out a bit with some other wedding-goers. Got into SF about 1am. We actually hit snow a couple of times, pretty significant amounts just over the border into CA (dang mountain passes!), and there was some hail in Portland. Over all not too bad, though. Just really tired now. Meh.

The wedding was nice. No disasters that I noticed, the food was good at the reception and there were a couple of amusing toasts made. Went to the Mercury on Fri night and the Vogue on Sat. Noticed that I still have trouble dealing with all of the nasty cigarette smoke. If they got rid of the smoking regs here in CA, I'd likely go out a couple of times a year instead of multiple times a week. Stayed at a nice B&B on Capitol Hill (called the 11th Avenue Inn, in case you're interested).

Catching up with 4 days of lj entries. Did I mention that I have 98 people on my friends list? Sift, sift, sift... Hopefully I catch all of the important bits...

That's it for now. Next weekend we're driving to San Diego. We'll be covering almost all of I-5 between these two trips. Shorter distance to go south, though, so that's good. See some of you at DG tomorrow.

Rob and I are in the midst of anniversary season at the moment (yesterday was the first-date and handfasting anniversary, and the 29th is the wedding anniversary). We went to a nice dinner last night at Firefly, conveniently only a few blocks from our place. We were thinking of driving somewhere (north of here? south?) and staying at a B&B or a hotsprings for a night, perhaps on the 29th. Any ideas/recommendations? We're *not* into camping, fyi.