Yup, that's me. In years past I've just been walking with St. Georges, looking all sweet and innocent, but this year I decided to just let all that go. I've reached the point where I am looking at my hottest than I have been in the last few years (and still working on it) and so since I've got it, time to flaunt it. Also, how many people do you really see walking around wearing a tiger mask in the pride parade? Not too many, based on the pictures I've seen over the years.
So the parade itself; since it started off at 6:30, we got to avoid most of the heat of the day when we walked, which meant more time for us to hang out at the picnic at St. Thomas. It was primarily a good time and there were lots of people there to cheer us on. As usual though, the crowds got a bit crazy as we tried to get through Dupont Circle. That area is the reason why the parade could end up going the way of the Dodo, because so many people decide they will just ignore the barriers and go into the street, and this year it was so narrow that our truck (which was your standard pickup) could barely get through.
I also ended up nearly decking someone in the crowd. I understand that to many, pride is fun and so you go out and you party with your friends and maybe you have a drink or two, or ten, and so you're just so caught up in the moment that anything that comes to mind seems like a great idea. What is not such a great idea is to run out to where we are walking and start smacking the back of the legs of one of my friends with a pool noodle while saying "You've been a bad girl." All that's going to do is get me to step in, get protective, and tell you to knock it off. Then when you smack me on the legs and say "You've been a bad boy." I'm going to let you know that I have no problem with taking you down in order to protect myself and anyone else around me. If Connie had not come over and gotten me to back off, well, I might have been writing a different ending to how pride went for me this year.
Still, by the time the parade was over, I was feeling pretty good. I really get such a charge from being in the parade and seeing the crowds cheering us on. Even after being outside for a good part of the day and then walking well over a mile, I usually feel energized by the time we're done, like I could still go and party all night. This year I didn't, I just wasn't interested, plus I had stuff to do the next day.
Sunday morning I picked up some materials and headed down to the Pride Festival to work the Episcopal Church booth there. The day was pretty standard, nothing to really report there, except for the storm that passed through around 4 PM and left in about 10 minutes, so then it started to get really humid. Since I had been there starting at 10 AM, I took that as my cue to leave. The one thing I did do was find a ring that was a very similar design to one I had lost years ago. While I am still very much a fan of silver, steel is finally coming into its own for jewelry.
The following weekend, I went to the Baltimore Pride festival. I had missed the block party this year due to a wedding I had attended and then a rock concert later on, which was too bad. The festival itself was fine, I was out with DB and RB and we hung there for a couple of hours before the heat got to us and we decided to head out.
So another year, another pride, and already there's some hints about stuff that we want to do for next year, so the plotting shall begin *evil laughter*
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