Mo,

I was working at Sega up on SoMo, in sight of what was then PacBell Park, back in 2000 (which is why I was in town to meet Joe and Ronnie with Dave and Robin) and I had to go in on a Sunday to get stuff done. So I park somewhere on the street (parking was always a nightmare up there) and then try to cross the big boulevard to get into the Corporate Headquarters. Well wouldn't you know it but at that very moment there was a Gay Pride parade marching right down the street I wanted to get across. I had to wait about 20 minutes before I saw a gap big enough to run through and get into the office (I was building some EDI interface to track orders from Walmart and KMart, etc). But the whole time I'm standing there waiting to cross there's several hundred guys walking by me in leather chaps with the backs open all smiling at me and calling out spirited little sayings I won't repeat here. All in good fun. I was driving up 280 from San Jose, and it takes an hour, and I was harried to meet a deadline, and I was not in a patient mood, contrasted with hundreds of free spirits who basically didn't give a damn about deadlines. I guess I could have waited in the car and not to have subjected myself to the interesting comments made in jest but I was in such a bloody hurry to get inside of that building I could see 20 feet in front of me that I waited for a gap and ran for it! Got inside, spent the day finishing the task at hand. Kind of a funny story but its a big world and it takes all types and its one big sublime joke on all the humans who run around in this world taking themselves to be important in the slightest. I've lived in San Francisco and been back there many times, including just recently seeing Devo at the Warwick. Its a great place and I love it. I was in Vancouver a year ago for three months on a project and I love that place too. When I retire with free time and money I plan to see about as much of the world and its peoples as possible. 7 billion of us, all with the same genome, hopes and dreams. It will get better to the degree that people won't feel so persecuted at least that's my hope.