Many activities to choose from this weekend as well as gallery shows on Friday night.
Posted in my life, politics | 12 Comments »
Sometimes you have to stop being nice and get down in the gutter and fight. Headed to another protest tomorrow.
Posted in my life, politics | 8 Comments »
Daddy and I met in the Golden Triangle a week ago for gallery openings. Daddy’s boy toy was working an evening shift at an Amazon warehouse, so it was just to two of us. The 2026 art season was in full swing with some of my favorite artists exhibiting new works. Checking out the new presentations was a welcome respite from the relentless political unrest as well as a reprieve from the petulant rants from the morally-bankrupt malignant narcissist.
I hadn’t seen Daddy since before the holidays. While taking a break on comfortable chairs in one gallery, Daddy informed me JP was upset with me because I told him I didn’t think we would travel well together when invited to spend a long weekend in Aspen. Daddy accompanied JP on the trip after which Daddy regretted going because of JP’s frugal ways. Who wants to eat hot dogs and pizza from a gas station convenience store to save money when you’re in a culinary paradise? Daddy’s tales of JP’s cheapness confirmed I made a judicious decision.
While walking back to the car at the end of the evening, Daddy told me about a small dinner party he hosted on a Saturday night before JP left for Palm Springs, and Paul (a man I met socially a few times) moved to Bordeaux. The third guest was also a man I know socially but keep at distance as we have diametrically opposed political views. The third guest left just after dinner as he was lectoring at a 7 a.m. Sunday church service. This left JP and Paul to get cozy on the sofa while Daddy cleaned up the kitchen. Neither JP nor Paul offered to help Daddy, which detained him in the kitchen for a while. With the kitchen cleaned, Daddy joined his guests in the living room only to find JP barebacking Paul on his sofa. Daddy was furious. JP and Paul tried to defuse the situation by inviting Daddy to join them. Daddy threw them out.
Daddy had his sofa professionally cleaned. He sent the bill to JP. JP refused to pay the bill, arguing the sofa was not new so it was due for a cleaning and that Paul should help pay too. Paul moved to France the Monday after the party which left JP culpable. JP only wants to pay a third of the bill. The $125 bill remains unpaid.
Daddy cancelled a planned trip to Palm Springs to visit JP. He’s had it with JP and his penny-pinching ways. I’m not sure if the friendship will recover.
I consider myself to be a sex positive guy, yet I can’t help but wonder if JP has lost all sense of decorum. JP has a history of making questionable decisions when hooking up. JP goes to the gym in Palm Springs every day with the hope of hooking up in the steam room. JP boasts of his steam room conquests. He doesn’t consider how his actions will affect others. Having sex on your host’s sofa while he cleans up after a dinner party is deplorable. Failing to pay the cleaning bill further exasperates the situation. Given JP lives a few blocks away Daddy on the other side of the park compounds the aggrievance. One must ask why JP didn’t take Paul to his house?
Posted in friends | 8 Comments »
Tom Holman, White House Border Czar, was accused of accepting a $50,000 bribe. The investigation was closed by the Department of Justice after Holman was appointed Border Czar. Cleary a man of upstanding moral character. Holman is now claiming that protesting ICE can be defined as terrorism.
My day started by enjoying a nice breakfast while scrolling through Instagram. I came across a post announcing an ICE protest on west lawn of the Capitol at noon. In the late morning, I headed to the Golden Triangle to get a burrito at Torchy’s before walking over the protest. The protest was smaller than usual given the short notice. I stayed a little over an hour listening to the speeches and observing the peaceful crowd.
After the protest, I walked over to Spark Gallery to check out their new member’s show. After Spark I walked across the plaza to look for a book in the gift shop at the Denver Art Museum. After the museum, I headed to Cherry Creek making stops at the Container Store, Nordstrom and the Vans store. On the way home I picked up a few items at Whole Foods. I spent the rest of the day watching the last two hours of Stranger Things followed by the Golden Globes.
Sounds absolutely terrifying, doesn’t it?
Posted in my life, politics | 4 Comments »
My Aunt Mack was the life of the party. She was one of my mother’s older sisters. Aunt Mack divorced her husband but retained custody of her two daughters. Aunt Mack started a printing company which became very profitable. As a child in sixties, I remember Aunt Mack always had a new muscle car with a stick shift. I recall riding in a Dodge Charger and a Plymouth Road Runner. She prided herself on how fast she could drive from Chicago to St. Louis without getting a speeding ticket. Aunt Mack always had a funny story and often held court at family gatherings.
I had a conversation about Aunt Mack with my cousin, Lissa, at a family wedding in Los Angeles in the early 2000’s. I told Lissa how much I enjoyed being around her mother and listening to her stories when I was young. Lissa responded by saying, “You didn’t have to live with her.” Those words stung me. It never occurred to me that Aunt Mack would be different at home. Lissa went on to detail what home life was like with Aunt Mack. It was a shocking revelation. I was only exposed to the fun Aunt Mack. Aunt Mack had a public persona which was very different from her private one
My oldest maternal cousin, Pat, sent a holiday card along with a letter detailing important family events along with the accomplishments of her successful children. My father was the headliner of the letter. The opening paragraph was devoted to my father’s passing. She described my father as, “a really nice man with a quirky wry sense of humor.” It was an interesting perspective. It’s not how I would describe my father, but she never had to live with him.
Posted in family, my life | 8 Comments »
I finalized my end of year charitable donations last week. I don’t have the words to describe how satisfying it felt to help others. As a young man, I didn’t understand why it was better to give than receive. As a man of a certain age, it’s clear to me.
I don’t expect to receive any gifts this holiday season as my siblings, and I placed a moratorium on exchanging gifts. I’m fine with this. There’s nothing I currently need or desire. My nephews, being in their thirties are established in their careers and doing well, but do not give back. The money I would have given to my nephews and their wives was redirected to non-profits.
The esteemed TW wrote a post about his dwindling social activities. I have experienced the same. In past holiday seasons I had several invitations every weekend. The pandemic halted many annual parties which were never revived. This season, I have just one invitation to an annual solstice party. In years past I sent out sixty to a hundred holiday cards. I started culling the list a few years ago. If I did not receive a card in return, I removed that person from my list. I only sent fifteen cards this year.
My social circle has also shrunk. People have moved away, some died while others reduced their social outings. I also find it hard to form meaningful friendships with quality people in recent years. I question why it was easier to make friends when I was in my twenties. I suspect it is because I have higher expectations now than I did when I was younger.
While I have experienced a curtailment in social activities and invitations, I still have an active social life. I may be alone, but I’m not lonely.
Posted in my life, Uncategorized | 10 Comments »
I had been looking forward to having another wonderful Thanksgiving dinner in Santa Fe. Plans were made for every day of my visit. The long Thanksgiving weekend went off the rails in way I could have never predicted.
Tuesday evening, I was having drinks and a little nosh with two friends in the bar at Market Steer when a straight man threw a drink on a chicly dressed lesbian. The man was sitting by the fireplace in a communal area when four lesbians decided to share the space with man and his female friend. The man was upset because he was on a first date and felt the four women were intruding on his space. It caused a huge ruckus. The man was escorted out while his date stayed a few minutes longer.
Plans were discussed for the annual gallery stroll on Canyon Road on Friday. My host had obtained two tickets for the Georgia O’Keeffe Museum at noon. Plans for the gallery stroll were moved back an hour. I offered to buy a ticket for my friend so she could join us, but she turned down the offer. My host generously picked up the tab before we parted ways. I have known my host for forty-two years. He’s sixty-eight. I have known my other friend for thirty-five years. She’s sixty-two. The friends have known each other for nine years.
Soon after making it home, vicious texts started arriving from my friend of thirty-five years. The friend was accusing my host of ruining our plans and that there was no time for her. I was horrified by the acromony in the texts. It went on and on. She wouldn’t answer her phone when I called. Why didn’t she discuss the issue at the restaurant? She waited until she was home to send the vicious texts. I have never seen her behave this way. I was bewildered by her behavior.
I texted my friend on Wednesday asking her to call so we could resolve the issue. She respond by saying there was nothing to discuss.
The behavior of a long-time friend with whom I never had a disagreement with caused the dinner plans to implode. I was shell-shocked by the vitriol and toxic statements. Instead of discussing the issue while we were face to face, a text war broke out that resulted in one friend blocking another and shattering Thanksgiving dinner plans. The three of us have spent Thanksgiving dinner together for the last eight years.
The text exchange cast a pall over the long weekend. I had that feeling of desperation and sadness that engulfs one after listening to three hours of Joy Division making you thankful you don’t have a gun to put to your head. My host was equally upset. Vowing to never talk to the other friend.
Thanksgiving morning my friend texted she was looking forward to seeing my host and I at dinner. I replied that only I would be attending as my host secured a last-minute invitation to another dinner. She called my friend a coward.
I was emotionally spent Thanksgiving Day. The stress caused a hellacious headache. I almost pulled off Nine Mile Road to throw up on the way to dinner. I wanted to cancel but I feared that would make the situation worse.
I wasn’t sure what I was walking into at dinner. The hostess, who is a chef and sommelier, was warm and welcoming. My friend, who started the ruckus, acted like it never happened. My family has played that game for years. I knew what to do. Sweep it under the rug and pretend it never occurred. It was a lovely evening even though the texting war was in the back of my mind the whole time.
I met my friend on Friday for the gallery tour. Again, we acted like nothing was wrong. I didn’t want to risk setting her off again by trying to discuss her upsetting behavior. I didn’t want to cause a scene on Canyon Road. I saw great art but really wasn’t in the mood to spend time with my friend.
After the tour I met up with my host who made other plans for the day. We attended an LGBTQ+ happy hour at a local hotel. I was amazed at the size of the crowd. The woman who organized the event told me she has over 400 people on her email list. I ran into my mortgage broker who has relocated to Santa Fe. We got caught up and shared a laugh or two. I met many men my age, but most were couples. The evening put me in better spirits.
The rest of my time in Santa Fe was spent meeting up with friends, touring museums and taking in the farmers’ market. I didn’t see Madame, the wealth manager, as she was hospitalized with a gall bladder issue. My host and I dropped off flowers and a card at her house as she wasn’t accepting visitors.
Sunday brought news of an acquaintance in Denver who died of a heart attack on Friday. Monday brought news of another man who was found dead on Sunday of either a drug overdose or a suicide. Autopsy results are pending. I didn’t know either man well as they were simply standard fixtures on the social scene. I didn’t find the death of either man as upsetting as the petulant behavior of my long-time friend.
I drove back to Denver on Tuesday leaving fractured friendships, blocked phone numbers and social media accounts. I feel the need to discuss the texting war with my friend but I’m not ready to do it. I simply do not understand how a one-hour adjustment in a plan caused such a huge fiasco. I hope one day to resolve this matter.
Posted in friends | 13 Comments »
My father’s house sold after many months of renovation which commenced before he died. My father wanted to sell the house as is for $13,000, which was what he paid for it in 1958. He was angered by the renovation as he thought it was a waste of money. Selling the house for the original price would have ruined the comps for the neighborhood. And the renovations paid off handsomely. A full-price offer was received the day it was listed. A second full-price back-up offer was accepted the following day.
It was a huge relief to get rid of the house as it was empty for over a year and was almost an hour away from my brother’s house. It was also a relief because I have no fond memories of living there. Hopefully, the single mother of one who purchased the house will be able to create many happy memories in the house.
Posted in family, my life | 8 Comments »
Kelly accepted a VP of Marketing position with local computer hardware company last week ending two-and-a-half years of unemployment. While her salary is less than she wanted, the new position comes with a substantial bonus. Kelly could have held out for more money but didn’t want to risk losing the position. It also ended an unemployment stint filled with endless applications and screening interviews with only a few resulting in subsequent interview rounds. This was the first opportunity which included meeting with the C-suite.
I was running out of ways to encourage Kelly and keep her motivated. During her hiatus, both children graduated from college which reduced the financial strain on Kelly’s savings.
I always told Kelly she needed a face-to-face interview to land a position. Kelly shines when she talks about strategy and marketing. I knew if she could meet in person she would land a job.
After her initial interview with HR, she was called for an interview with the CEO, CFO, COO, VP of Sales, and VP of Product the next day. The meeting lasted three hours after which, Kelly was given a tour of the manufacturing plant along with product demonstrations. It was as if they were trying to sell her on the company.
The next morning Kelly received an offer along with a request to start on Monday. Kelly started a week later.
It’s a great opportunity for Kelly. The company’s annual revenue sits at $24m. They hope to achieve $100m in four years. Her last position was with a $16b company. Oddly the company did not have a CMO, and their last marketing head left a few months ago. The company had a lackluster marketing plan. Kelly has already created a new robust marketing strategy along with a new marketing budget. She wants to hire a PR firm specializing in the technology and computer sector. Kelly has also secured booths at trade shows and industry conferences. The company has a loyal customer base and very reliable products. They have a good story to tell, and Kelly wants the CEO and COO to spread the word at industry events.
After her first week, the COO pulled her aside and told Kelly how impressed they were with her after her in-person interview. Kelly was the last candidate to be interviewed. The COO said she was the only candidate who took control of the interview and essentially ran it. They knew then she was the perfect person for the job.
I’m happy for Kelly. The only downside is I miss our daily texts and calls.
Posted in friends, my life | 6 Comments »
The Retired Corporate Slave 