Just call me Master de Vries. ;)

It feels so very good to be done. I am a proud Gina.

(Also, the splotches in the photos were splotches on my cell phone camera lens, not splotches on my actual Thesis!)

Right now, I’m dying my hair a mix of “Mystic Heather” & “New Rose,” doing dishes & laundry, and waiting for Angus to come over. Tonight, A. & I will dress up fancy, eat delicious food, hang out with my beloved brother Aidan, watch New Year’s Eve unfold in the Castro, and toast from the bottle of pink champagne I impulse-bought at Rainbow last night (I have never bought a bottle of champagne before, but I dunno, it was pink & that seemed right). This is all very good. :)

Also, just sayin’: 2011 ended up being a great year, despite the many bumps along the road. So much love, joy, & success came to me, in addition to a clearer sense of myself, my calling, and my life’s work. I’m humbled & very grateful for the lessons of this year, for all the big & small adventures I’ve had. And I’m really excited for what’s next!

Also? THANK YOU to all the friends who stuck by me, held me, lent me your ears to listen, your shoulders to cry on, your sage advice, your beds & couches. Thank you to everyone who fed me, went on long rambly walks with me, and generally reminded me to take care of myself and to be the best Gina I can be. I love you all.

<3

You make me feel mighty real, San Francisco.

I’m just home from Keith Hennessy’s exhilirating “How To Die.” I can roughly describe it as ruminations, dance, & ritual on homelessness, gentrification, suicide, meth, sex, death, AIDS, queerness, masculinity and… Sylvester. I’d tell you to go see it, but tonight was the last show of this run. I feel very lucky I found out about it today and made the time to go.

And? Just sayin’? I love my city. I love that this fantastic show was a stone’s throw from my house. I love that they fed those of us who stuck around to chat with the cast, and that they fed us Tandoori pizza from Zante’s at that — yum! I love that I went to the show feeling kinda exhausted and overwhelmed by what I have to do before school starts again, and that I left feeling lighter, happier, with my intellect engaged and my spirits lifted. Even with the super-duper heavy subject matter, I left feeling warm and held and inspired and challenged. That is what good art does, I think.

And the air has that lovely sexy smell it gets right after a long rain, and my sheets and pajamas are fresh from the dryer, and God — I lead a charmed life. I really do.