Ah well, today is Christmas day...

I worked really hard for this holiday and we have a good chance of breaking some records for my team, but by six o'clock Christmas eve, I was exhausted! I got home, had something to eat, watched a little teevee, (including French and Saunders x-mas show) and turned in by 9:30 PM.

Luca had to work, (apparently the need for toilet tissue is up this holiday, hehe) and I really had no other plans. I was going to have a party for people from work who might have had no where else to go, but after hearing about a few liability issues I had second thoughts. And I could have cobbled up a few invitations for the eve and Christmas day, but really, I was tired and I also felt the need to be alone this year. I could have been invited to a number of parties if I had mentioned that I had nothing planned, but I just didn't want to.

I got up early this morning and called my brother, (the time difference is 3 hours of course) and had a wonderful time on the phone with my bro, then about four minutes with my Dad, (who was a bit subdued, but mostly there), then some time with my niece and then my nephew, ( 30 seconds with him, but he got a truck and he told me so) and a few minutes with my sister-in-law. All very sweet. I have a few other calls planned for the day, including one to Australia, but that's it.

This Christmas for me this year is in no way traditional. It's the first time in over twenty years that I have not been in New Orleans or with my family for the holiday. I've chosen to spend it alone and take the time to remember.One X-mas memory is of Bill and I, when we had the store and we would close up around 6 PM on Christmas Eve and then go around to all of the gay bars with bags of treats, ( candy canes and hand made cheese straws and salty nuts, hehe). The bartenders had been big supporters of our business all year round and the bars were packed on Christmas Eve; many of our gay friends had nowhere else to go. To many, it might sound odd to go bar hopping on Christmas Eve, but back then in New Orleans it was right; we were together on an important holiday and we became our own new family.We would get home around dawn on Christmas day and watch a movie before going to sleep. At the time, we had video rental at the store and it was up to Bill to pick the film that we would watch. We got home that morning and put the video in the machine; the film that Bill had picked for Christmas morning was "Silence of the Lambs"!Ah... that was Bill. The film was, of course, amazing! And it took us out of the holiday for a while. We slept for a few hours and then got up around eleven to go to three Christmas Day parties, all of which were wonderful.

And thank you Vera, for your memories of the holidays; they brought back some sweet ones of my own.That thing about lying under the tree and looking up at the ornaments and lights; that is so gay, I think. I did the same thing!



I have tomorrow off and I will just take it very slow; lots of sleep and some reading. I go back to work on the 27th and it's back into the grind for New Years, another busy time.

Luca and I will be doing something for New Years, and then there's a couple of weeks where it will be a little slower at work. Then, Bry, from http://www.chaosinaustin.com/ ChaosMen will be in town with "his boys" and the week after, some friends from New Orleans will be here.



My cousin MaryAnn from Chicago mentioned that she will be coming to visit soon...





Perhaps this year will be different from the last...

You better watch out, You better not cry, You better watch out I'm telling you why.

Lil Durlx, is coming to town....

Well. I have been very busy, it's retail crazy right now. I've been working more often than not.

But I have this one day as a break... and this is my one pre X-mas splash.

The pic above is a favorite of mine because my Dad took it many, (oh so many) years ago. It's a pic of me staring with wonder at the Christmas tree when I was a lil' durlx, and when my Dad was a lil' Dad with a brand new Kodak 35 mm camera.

My Dad did wood work, rather good amateur photography, and played in a swing band, as well as running a farm.

Such an amazing man; and now he's staying with my brother as his Alzheimer's has left him with no other choice. He's doing well enough there, in fact very well.

I talked to him a few weeks ago on the phone.

Once again, I said, "Hi! This is Durlx!" And he said "Durlx who?" I said, "You know, your son, durlx!" And then he laughed, because he sort of remembered, and then he did remember and that was funny. With my Dad, now, it seems to be a matter of his sense of humor... that's what works.

Otherwise...

I am listening this evening, as I type away, to a recording of a 1926 Wurlitzer Band organ that used to play for the Rochester, New York, Seabreeze Amusement park for the carousel there. There was a tragic fire that destroyed the carousel there and this most amazing band organ. Fortunately, there were recordings.

I grew up with this amazing machine; as a kid we went to the amusement park and it was there. High school years, it was there. During my college and drug years with Hal, it was still there.

Then, somehow, I stopped paying attention for awhile, and there was a fire. Shit, pussy and goddam! The amazing carousel, one of the oldest in the country and the amazing 1926 Wurlitzer Band Organ were toasted. I mean, I used to ride this carousel with a guy that I was madly in love with... there used to be this thing where you could catch a ring and get a free ride... (hey! it wasn't all that long ago! Just the late seventies...)

Anyway, it's the X-mas 1926 Wurlizter Band Organ recording that I am listeneing to right now, a special memory. Ahhhhh.

HEY! you I-Pod poofters! This mechanical music machine is fabulous in a very special way. There are very few of them left anywhere, you have to gather with other human beings in one place to enjoy the music that they produce and if you are very lucky, you will be spinning around on an antique carousel at the time.

My lil nephew understands.

I'll be totally busy until x-mas eve and I'm not sure what will happen after that. Luca might not have to work then, or I might have a last minute party, or I might spend the holiday alone...


I hope all of you have a very merry (Mary!) holiday!

durlx

Shit happens.

Austin will not happen, at least not now.

There is a lot of why and why not, but we won't talk about it.

It's good enough to be where I am right now.

The second week of January will bring Bry and his boys to Vegas for the Adult Video Convention and that will be interesting enough.

For those of you who have never been here for one of these porn conventions, well, I must tell you that it is like visiting the circus... a very gay circus with the kind of acts you might find in your most delerious imagination.

Well, now that I think of it, your imagination might be weirder than mine....

Listen to me now, from what I have seen, the people that do porn are very much like you and me. They just tend to use different parts of their bodies to express themselves in an artistic way. Or, in a way that can offer a financial gain of course. (I've heard some very amusing stories about how straight boys perform for the camera; a hint, they work harder because they don't know any other way).

But we shouldn't judge them. I mean really! Who are we to judge?

Gurl-fren! Walk that walk!

Like I said; the parties are a lot of fun. You can attend as an observer, a looky-loo, or as an anthropoligical researcher, it's up to you, dear. You are going to have a good time no matter what...

The parties are fun. If you are a perv, well that's very different, but if you are a normal sort of person, then you will just fit in.

Viva La Vegas!

Call me......


durlx