When you're 14 and growing up in Houston in the early 70s and wondering why you're always getting crushes on boys and scoping them out at church during communion, shows like "An American Family" help you smell the coffee. Seeing Lance Loud putting on lipstick in a seedy NYC hotel before he trots out onto the streets of Greenwich Village may not match your image of yourself, but it does tell you there are be others out there like yourself. And given that we're talking 1973, it shows that Lance had true cajones. May he rest in peace.

We went to see the SF Gay Mens Chorus perform "Home for the Holidays" at the Castro Theatre tonight with our friends Chris and Terry. This after an entire day of cleaning the house and washing the bed linens, something our housecleaner Rosa had done this past Friday. Not my idea, but in 17 years of 'wedded' bliss I've found it better to say "OK" even if your gut ain't agreeing with what's going on. We had a great time at the show, Terry showed us his brand new Toyota PreRunner SR5, and, while D went to church, the three of us went Christmas shopping for Terry's roommate.

Terry hadn't planned on buying anything for his roommate, but roommate had left a gift for Terry on Terry's bed, so Terry felt compelled to buy something for roommate. Although SF is a cosmopolitan town, most places do close by 9PM on Christmas Eve, so our shopping choices were pretty thin. A quick browse through Walgreen's was a strikeout, but as we crossed Market to get to my car on Castro, I pointed to a corner grocery that was still open and said, "No queen will ever turn down a bottle of vodka." Problem solved. Terry bought roommate a bottle of Mandarin Absolut and off we went home.

Sunday we saw two good movies: "The Man Who Wasn't There" and (you'll be happy to hear) "Hedwig and the Angry Inch". We enjoyed both, but I thought TMWWT was awesome. A 21st century rendering of a 1940's film noir. Billy Bob Thornton gives a great performance. Tony Shalhoub's scene where he talks about Werner Heisenberg's uncertainty principle is classic. It was awesome to watch.

On Christmas day we're having a small open house. Our friends Chris and Terry should be there as well as our friends Ken and Voltaire. I'm looking forward to it. Poor Voltaire is allergic to cats and is recovering from a horrific bout of sciatica, but he's dosing himself up with antihistimines and dragging his poor self up the hill to spend some time with us. He wants to see our house on the hill one time before we head for New Orleans.

Have a great holiday.