The weekend started early

Friday, November 14, 2008. It's 1:00 and past time for lunch- we head to Tully's Deli, a place which Gil has not yet delivered the scoop on! Not only are they the best place in town to get every Italian pasta known to man, you can also order your organic Thanksgiving Turkey from them and skip the long drive to Keller's. Oh, and they have delicious sandwiches that are about twice the length of your average human head.

Normally, I'm a Sergio's Dolce Vita baked goods consumer,. But the new Saratori's shop is worth stopping for.

It's a low resolution picture, so to fill in what you can't tell: Every biscotto known to man is inside these shelves and they're lovely. We pick up a chocolate cannoli, some fudge, an iced sugar cookie, and some raspberry cabernet italian ice (!). So. Unbelievably. Good.

These are just the free samples.

Back to work for a few hours- but I'm full of meatball sub and sugar- the weekend is on! A few hours later, we're at The Planned Parenthood Fundraiser. The most awesome carnival print was hanging on the wall- long since sold. I ran into a fellow DCFer Jen, also a friend from NMSU, and found one more piece to put a bid in on- no call yet. Maybe somebody else outbid us- I kind of hope so- more dollars for PP.

We were still pretty full from lunch, but decided to stop at nearby Sumo Sushi for a sushi snack. I've been meaning to come try the sushi ever since they opened- we have always had the dim sum before. It's good! Try a sexy roll. Or come for dim sum- they were running the carts at night, a marked difference from the old Amerasia where dinner fare was menu based and not-as-cool. We round the night off with improv "The Q" at The Box which was amusing- a couple of the characters really shined- balloon man and the alcoholic newly-revealed mother.

The argument on DCF about Cinemark and Blakes really light a fire under our butts- we made a point to show up and Join the Impact. These were our signs:

When we showed up, we wondered "Will it be us and 3 other people? Who got the word out? Who else will care?" We were half an hour early, and felt immediate relief in there being some 40 people milling about.

Amongst the crowd was the 'mother' from last night's performance! Not only was she there- she told a heart touching story on how when her wife (not legally recognized by the state of NM) was being treated for cancer, the people at Presbyterian hospital gave her the access and responsibility that she was due, even if in NM she legally lacked it. By the time today's event actually got started, there were hundreds of supporters in the crowd.

Did I mention that Blake's Lottaburger was getting some well deserved bad press?

Unlike many of the people in attendance, I have not been discriminated against by the state of NM- my wife and I meet the current legal standard for marriageability. Equal protection under the law is worth standing up for, even when you are not the aggrieved party. Regardless of whether that second chromosomes is an X or a Y, every consenting adult deserves equal protection under the law. Not "separate but equal", not somewhat-similar civil-unions. Equality. The state exists at the behest of its populace. Of the people, for the people, by the people. Anything but equality can only mean a belief that these are not whole people. I thought we did away with that line of thinking a long time ago.

Speaking of a whole lot of people, my 28mm lens couldn't capture even a quarter of the crowd with a single shot. If all goes well, the following is a quick 360 from my camera.


Then, we started marching toward Central.

A quick taste of how many people marched:


In case you were wondering- APD was there. Supporting the marchers. Officers in cars and on foot stopped traffic at most intersections so we could cross during the many, many traffic light changes that took place for us allt o get through. As we walked, onlookers joined in, people drove by and honked their horns in support (or got slack jawed with surprise). As we rounded the corner of 2nd and Roma, marchers were still crossing 2nd at Central. That's 4 city blocks and the line was still going.

After the march we went to Taj Palace for lunch. This really is the best Indian place in town. Today's buffet had 4 different breads, 4 meat dishes, 6 vegetarian dishes, 6 chutneys, sambar, and gulab jamuns for desert. Every time I'm there I share a new hair-brained scheme with the owner to increase business- this time it was to do tandoori turkey and other Indian-themed thanksgiving favorites for turkey day- he's going to do it! We're still going to have our Tully's turkey, but may be the best pre-Thanksgiving-dinner lunch ever.

After lunch, it was off to the High Ridge Theater to see W. I'm not sure what I was expecting- it was all too unnervingly real. It was well done and just as unsettling as your might imagine. Unless you like the guy.

It's been a full weekend, and there's 24 hours to go. Hopefully we'll wake up in time for Church of Beethoven, have weekly brunch at a friend's house, and maybe do some home improvement. Although with as uncharacteristically full as the last 36 hours have been, it's more likely that I'll watch the latest Bollywood flick from Indopak instead.