I'll spare a few words to hit the highlights:
11/1-5: Led a group to see the newly restored 4K print of Tampopo at the theater and then dinner at Ramen Ya. Kacey, Chris, Storm, Puck, Jen, Eric, and Low came out that night, which had a nice craic to it, mixing new friends and old. Jen and I visited the New York Audio Show that weekend, where we got to listen to Carver's Amazing Line Source speaker system, an impressive horn system by Sarduri Acoustics, big electrostatics by Martin Logan, among other pricey items. But overall, the show was a lot smaller than it has been in years past and I was disappointed because it was the first time I've actually gone with someone.
11/6-12: Of course the election took the wind out of everything this week, but we managed to have a nice outing at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema in Brooklyn to see The Handmaiden on Thursday. This time Storm brought Ariel, and Kacey invited Matthew.
11/20-26: For Thanksgiving, Jen and I drove up to Troy to have dinner with her family, then on Black Friday we continued north to Montpelier to visit Puck's family at Ella and Alex's house, which turned into a fun board games night with the other guests. The next day we did some touristy things, like visiting Ben & Jerry's and a maple/cider press store before Puck, Jen and I headed home.
12/4-10: On Monday night, Jen helped me host Open Love NY's first Poly Videogame Night at the Postmark Cafe, where Chrissy's husband Charles won the trophy for the MarioKart competition. Friday night Rebecca joined me and Jen at SBSC to watch Battlestar Galactica, which Rebecca and I have been watching together. Saturday we dropped Rebecca off at home and tried to pick up Puck from Pigtopia (Natalia and Matt's apartment, where they have been living while they apartment-hunt) but we missed them because their phone was off, so we continued on to Liz's annual Ugly Mug Party. It was quite a smash this year, with about 30 guests. I brought a Star Wars ugly sweater mug that Victoria coveted (and luckily managed to hang onto) and I left with a substantial mug that Lytle got from Sur La Table (she brought the Star Wars mug last year that I unwrapped, but got nicked by another guest as part of the game).
12/18-24: On Tuesday Jen and I went to the premiere of Julie Taymor's production of Mozart's The Magic Flute at the Metropolitan Opera, Jen's first visit there. It was a sumptuous production, although I didn't realize it was an abridged version in English, so I rather missed the full overture, and there was a fidgety young boy sitting in front of us in the box. But I think we looked quite dapper in our fancy clothes.
On Christmas Eve Puck got sick with stomach flu so I went to Pigtopia to take care of them. In the evening I met up with Rebecca at Jen's place where they were doing a Jewish Christmas of Chinese takeout and movies. We all have problematic families of origin that makes the holidays a little difficult. Christmas itself hasn't been such a big deal to me since I left New Jersey (I'm not Christian, nor do I like consumerism) but I do like being with people close to me on Christmas.
12/25-31: The final week of the year I organized a happy hour at the House of Brews for my women's group where we could bring our partners to meet each other so Jen and Puck both made appearances. We celebrated Sasha's birthday on Friday with Japanese sushi takeout for dinner and then watching a Russian movie about a eccentric car thief. Saturday the parents left for Baltimore, leaving Puck and me to get ready for our New Year's Eve party, which drew about 14 guests, mostly Puck's friends. Rebecca, Jen and I retreated upstairs for most of the evening to watch Star Wars movies on the projector but I did organize the wish-burning ceremony and the midnight toast.
2016 has been a pretty down year in the sense that I had to leave TSMC and I still haven't found a job. Obviously the election results and the possible ramifications on the lives of women, GLBT people, immigrants, Muslims and other religious minorities, disabled and just about every other population that isn't a rich, White, healthy male means 2016 was a pretty bad year for a lot of people. Plus the year started with a quick exit for the Rockets from the playoffs, leading to the summer of uncertainty with a new coach and the loss of a superstar player.
On this last point, we can start the highlights - the Rockets are playing out of their minds right now, breaking all kinds of offensive NBA records and challenging the top two teams in the West for supremacy. They are also darn fun to watch!
The most positive things I can say about 2016 can be summed up in three words - Puck and Jen. For the first time in our relationship, Puck and I cohabitated for most of the year in Staten Island and it was useful in terms of figuring out what we each need in terms of living space. But if it weren't for them and the generosity of their family, I would be in awfully dire straits right now, and I'm incredibly grateful for that. And of course as you can see from this blog, Jen has completely changed my life as my first new romantic/sexual relationship in six years. She has brought me so much joy and a sense of belonging that will profoundly affect my life in the coming years as we continue to grow together.
For this year's holiday ornament, I chose to honor Hamilton, the Tony-award winning musical that Jen and I saw together and that I've been listening to non-stop all year.
