Pride Weekend

June 29, 2007

Everyone’s response when I tell them that I met Kieran (my boyfriend) on PRIDE last year, is something along the lines of “That is sooo gay”, or “Could you be any gayer?” Well, yes, it is gay …VERY gay in fact. However, it wasn’t amidst the Speedo-clad gyrating hips of the greased up Chelsea boys, or the oddly sweet, barrel-chested leather daddies … it was Marc Jacobs that brought us together.

Well, not exactly. Kieran works at the store and I was shopping, fairly simple actually. After a witty exchange of words, an invite to join my group of friends for lunch and the proposition to possibly meet up later that night … the rest, as they say, is history. So to celebrate gay pride this year (and hopefully every pride from now on) Kieran and I celebrated our one-year anniversary together! It was honestly a pretty low-key day, save for the late night “discussion” that kept us both up for an hour or so longer than we wanted. We headed to the legendary parade after lunch, to not only witness the chaos, but to enjoy the gorgeous weather as well.

READ MORE > >

Big Gay Scavenger Hunt

June 20, 2007

I’ve been so busy these past few weeks (I’M SORRY!), that it’s been difficult for me to keep up with everything that’s been going on. Well, one story that I just had to tell you about involves New York City, about 50 gays, and lots of sweating… any guesses? And no, it wasn’t a group Bikram yoga class down in Chelsea.

It was a gay scavenger hunt! “A gay scavenger hunt” you ask? WHY YES THAT’S WHAT I SAID!

I got an email from adorable smarty pants Mark -- asking me to join in what can only be now known as “The Day Daniel Vosovic Will Never Repeat.” We’re both big on fundraisers, especially for the gays, so though I had no idea what was really involved, we knew it’d be for a good cause, he needed a partner, and we both had the day free… lord save us we had no idea what was awaiting us.

So we met on the corner near our apts and discussed on the short ride to the meeting point what exactly this would be like; the convo went something like this:

Mark: “Should we bail now and go grab some early morning Bloody Mary’s?” (Snickering… long, hopeful, expectant pause.)

Me: “No, I’m good now but if we get halfway and we’re totally losing, ask me again. Is sabotaging another team in order to win at least an option?”

Mark: “I don’t know, but if we get halfway and we’re totally losing, ask me again.”

So as you can see, our hearts may have been in it, but our bodies we’re already crying no more. Needless to say we trudged on, and after checking in, meeting a few other teams and grabbing a coffee, we were bombarded with one of the most awesome sights one can behold early on a Saturday morning… a LGBT flag/dance team…

… Complete with a full band…

…and Diana’s reactions…

(I forgot to mention friend Diana wanted to join because she thought “it would be fun”.) So after some short explanations and rules, we’re off and running to the first challenge, that being to guess the number of sticker penises on the wall of the bathroom within 3 plus or minus (I think there was something like 78). If you got it wrong you went to the end of the line and had to wait again for your one guess. Luckily Mark had to do this one while I patiently finished up my coffee and reorganized my tote.

**Side note: I kind of detest the fact that it had a perverse theme, mostly because I thought it was going to be a bit more “strategic-problem-solve-y”, and less “count the penises on the wall-y”. C’est la vie.

So off we all ran, and I mean RAN, to the next clue, which involved a subway ride across town, running in a tourist-filled park in the rain looking for someone in a red hood who can answer the question “Who is George Bush?” All went well except until we realized that the teams we had passed had caught up to us because we had been waiting for the damn train for 10 minutes – GAHH I hate public transportation and opposing teams in matching outfits! ;)

After that hell we made our way 70 blocks north to Central Park, specifically to “get your photo taken while riding a grey carousal horse”, “find a castle” and “eat five hotdogs smothered in mustard, relish and sauerkraut”… without puking.

It was then back downtown to a random gay bookshop to “find random gay authors who have been randomly placed throughout the store – without saying a word”. Again, Mark too this one since I was still digesting the dogs, so Diana and I wandered around and had some fun of our own.

Honestly, I’ve forgotten exactly what came next, but I can tell you it was hell. By this time we had run our butts off and just wanted to get home and shower, but we persevered through:

The Brazilian Day Parade, a search through Times Square, wandering through the Virgin Mega Store in Union Square for 45 minutes, and being told that we only had one more thing to do… and then being told that we had one more thing to do… and then being told we had… well you get it.

Unfortunately, we lost Diana on the last leg…

With Mark and I throwing in the towel shortly after. In the end, it made for a good blog, some decent laughs, and most importantly, thousands of dollars for a great cause. Will I be participating again next year? Well, maybe I’ll just send in a check.