Cleveland Gay Pride 2009

Last Saturday (actually the entire weekend) was Cleveland Gay Pride. It's held in Voinovich Park, right next to the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame in downtown Cleveland.

OK, before you even ask, yeah I know...there are plenty of Pride festivals around, is the one in Cleveland so gosh darn special?

Not really, compared to others. But Cleveland is still a steel town (even though the steel has long since left), and Ohio is still in general a pretty conservative state.

So, to see a whole bunch of people at the festival was pretty inspiring. The crowd was huge, well-behaved and just having fun. I had some fantastic pierogies with cabbage and noodles, there was decent (if not overly loud) music, lots of booths to visit...just a decent time. And thankfully, the weather held out, despite the threat over the prior few days of nonstop rain.

One special guest at the festival was Bebe Zahara Benet, (shown below, NOT on the right) who was the winner of the first season of RuPaul's Drag Race. Personally, I'm not into the drag thing and I don't think I'll ever really understand it. But, hey, to each his/her own, right?

In all, it was nice to go. Afterwards, we went to the Clifton Arts Fest. Got a few things there. It really turned into a nice day.

This last pic is of my partner getting Bebe's autograph on an 8x10 glossy she was handing out. She was at the Time/Warner Cable booth, which has the LOGO channel (on which RuPaul's show is broadcast).

"Waterboard the Abortionists" - umm.....wow....

Hmmm...I debated myself. Is this something I should post? Is this something I want people associating with Cleveland?

Well, no. But, yeah. No, as in "I don't think anyone should have this on the back of their truck.". Yeah, as in "Hey, it is a free country, right?"

Well....here it is...


Excellent! A comment about torture and about abortion! This is a serious two-fer!!

While just driving down the street one day, we came across this minivan (with plenty of pro-life stickers) in front of us. We bobbed and weaved lane to lane to get behind it. The driver obviously knew we were trying to get behind it because she started to bob and weave lanes to get away from us.

I got like 8 pics, and this one was the best (actually it was horrible but GIMP helped).

She finally pulled into a Walmart parking lot. We passed her while she was on the phone. Calling the cops? Hubby? Support group? Don't know. She was laughing when we passed her.

Was it just a joke to her? Don't know. But we did see it just days after George Tiller was killed.

Joke? Sorry...not funny.

Bauhaus: Cleveland Branch

We spotted these two homes being built sometime last year (2008).

Me, being a big fan of just about anything remotely connected with mid-century modern (which oddly includes things from the 30's, but we'll leave that for others to debate) I was immediately struck by their design.

Modern, clean, old (as in Bauhaus-ish).

They happen to be located right next to the lake (Lake Erie for those not in the know). Excellent view. It looks like construction is complete, but I can't tell if they are occupied yet. There is furniture inside the front one (which looks like it was furnished by DWR). The second, I can't see much inside it.

Personally, yeah....I'd take one, no prob. But what I find most interesting about these homes is a combination of the design (Bauhaus-esque) and that they are in an area inundated with Victorian and 30's bungaloes (both run-down and revitalized).

But one thing strikes me especially hard about the house in the back:




So maybe the homes are Bauhaus-esque in more ways than one.

OK.....why?

After an evening of fun-time partying (OK, I was out with two people I know, a friend and my partner) I woke up the next morning and two thoughts immediately filled my muddled brain:

• I needed to hit the bathroom
• I needed to show off Cleveland, Ohio.

The first one's value should be obvious.

The second one? Maybe not so big.

But I started thinking about...I was born in Chicago and moved to Cleveland. I have been a "Clevelander" for longer than I have been a "Chicagoan". This is my city. I actually like it here.

So I thought, why not.

Hence...this blog. A low-tech (both camera-wise and medium-wise) to show off some of the interesting aspects of Cleveland that others may not know about.

Again...this is an "occasional" blog for me. I always have my Blackberry handy and I got enough storage in it for plenty of photos. So from time to time I'll post a couple.

Feedback? Thoughts? Any ideas about this site?

Well, all I can say is...all are welcome.