Looking Forward

2013 was the best year of my life...So Far!

My birthday was yesterday, 2/2, and I plan to work hard to make 2014 even better. Hoping for a good year does not make a good year happen. 2013 was the best year of my life because I worked hard to make things happen. My health, my leisure, my career, my happiness, my relationships. I will continue to work at making things happen and make 2014 even better.


 I had a truly amazing birthday this year. I surrounded myself with loved ones and the things that make me happy. I spent my day touring my favorite vineyards in Napa and Sonoma Valleys. I obtained a wonderful 2005 Stag's Leap S.L.V. Cabernet Sauvignon for a very good price because I showed my "Challenge Coin" at Stag's leap.

The evening was the most fun. We went to the new Graton Casino and I made a lot of money playing Blackjack Switch. What an amazingly fun game and one that is easy to make money at.

The best part of my birthday weekend was enjoying it all in the luxury of my new Mercedes-Benz ML 350 BlueTEC. The big birthday present I bought myself.

Thanks for reading,
~ Becca

SF Pride 2013

Today was my fifth straight year in the San Francisco Pride Parade and this year was very special to me.

The festivities began the Wednesday before the parade when I met with nine wonderful women from Melbourne, Australia.  Two of them I had the pleasure of meeting three years ago and they are all from the Melbourne Chapter of the Dykes on Bikes®. These amazing women really and truly got me into the Pride Spirit and I knew this year was going to be special.

Thursday evening I had dinner with an amazing couple , Susan and Fay. Fay had reached out to me weeks before to make arrangements to have me help Susan fulfill an item on her "Bucket List," to ride with the Dykes on Bikes in the San Francisco Pride Parade. They are really a cute and amazing couple and it was going to be my pleasure and honor to make Susan's dream come true.

Bright & Early Saturday morning I headed over to Eagle Rider in SOMA to meet those Aussie Gals again as they all rented Harley's and we headed out for a ride before the San Francisco Dykes on Bikes® "Pink Saturday" party at El Rio. I had to drop out of the ride early because my bike was overheating in the insane SF Pride Weekend traffic around the Embarcadero. I headed over to El Rio to join the festivities. As soon as I get there it's a non-stop session of hugs and kisses as I reconnect with so many people I just love and am so happy to have in my life. Later in the day I was completely broadsided when Vick, the President of the SF Dykes on Bikes® called me up to the stage. She then honored me with a Certificate of Appreciation for my contributions and years of service. This big strong woman was reduced to tears. Everyone could see the stream of tears running down my face. I've never felt so loved and so honored and it will be a moment I will cherish for the rest of my life.

Leaving El Rio I finally had the opportunity to head home and get sleep for the first time in 37 hours. I was going to need it because the next day is the pride parade and you'll find me at the corner of Market & Beale at 7am every year. This year was no exception.

Boy 7am comes quickly when you are tired but there I was, at my normal post, directing traffic and working with the SFMTA to keep people safe and shut down the F-line and the buses. I'd like to thank Denise at the MTA. Denise, you were a Godsend this year and your efforts made this the smoothest parade line-up I've ever been a part of. You Rock!

Around 9:30 Susan and Fay show up and I take Susan around to my motorcycle and walk her through the crowds so she can meet other members of the Dykes on Bikes® that helped make her bucket list dream come true.  It's 10:15 and the parade is about to start. The energy of the riders and the crowd is at a boil and the goosebumps are running up and down my arms. Soni, the oldest and dearest member of the SF Dykes on Bikes® gets us all riled up by screaming to everyone to start our engines. This is my favorite part of the parade. Imagine hundreds and hundreds of motorcycles all starting up. The ground is shaking, the noise is insane but the cheers of a million cheering spectators drowns out all the motorcycles. Oh, I just got chills writing that as I recall that amazing moment I cherish so much.

I gave Susan an amazing experience as we rode down Market St. We were one of the lead bikes and I hope she enjoyed herself. I know it was an honor for me to give her a ride and to be a part of the San Francisco Pride Parade during this very important and historic year in LGBT history. Days before the parade the United States Supreme Court gave us our Loving v. Virginia and there was great cause for celebration.

Another year is in the record books but I will be surprised if there will ever be a Pride as amazing and important as this year's. I feel so fortunate to have been a part of it.

Synesthesia

Are you a synesthete?  I am.  Mine is number form and/or time space synesthesia.

It was only very recently that I learned the whole of human experience does not "see" numbers, dates, time, history. Nor do they apply a three-dimensional model to all of these things. I do.  I always have. I always will and I think it's pretty cool. I was reading an article (http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/discoblog/2010/04/02/the-rare-humans-who-see-time-have-amazing-memories/) when I came across this topic and to be quite honest it shocked me. Does this mean something is wrong with the way my brain is wired or does it mean I can contribute to things in a way very few others can.

I admit, I know nothing about synesthesia and am now on a quest to learn more. Not because I feel odd or special for being a synesthete but because I would love to know how the Hell people can do math, know what day it is, or recall history and events if they cannot see it in a three dimensional space with applicable color and heat. Seriously, if you can't fold numbers upon themselves to get a result or know the color to determine addition or subtraction/multiplication or division how do you come to an answer?  How do you know what the day is or where it lies in the week and how on earth can you recall history if you can't slide down a path to the exact date of the event?

The coolest part is I can draw all of this out for anyone that asks.  I just need enough room and enough colors.

I want to hear everyone's comments. How do you do math?  How do you know what day it is?  How do you when the heck "Columbus Sailed the Ocean Blue" or when Cleopatra reigned supreme if you can't actually see it?

Student Loans

I was just online to make a monthly payment.  This being my 256th month.  I know what you're thinking.  Good for you Becca! Your mortgage is almost paid off!

 Sadly, no. It was a student loan payment.

But Becca, you used to have so much money, why didn't you pay it off earlier? I wanted to and I was told I would be all paid off in 10 years back when I started paying in 1992, back when I was still living in poverty.  So I just kept paying.

Ten years came and ten years went and then around 2004 the last $6k-$7k seemed to just stop getting smaller. Bankruptcy, moving, a horrible relationship that almost killed me, moving, unemployment, etc., etc., etc. and I just stopped paying attention.  Until today.  Life is good now.  I can take time to look into things and I noticed this evening that I still owe a couple of pennies under $7k.  Where has the nearly $20k of payments gone to since 2004?  Has it all been 100% profit for a bank?

Something is very wrong with my student loans and I am going to ask for an entire accounting of every account and every penny paid since 1992.  If they can't provide it I'm going to court.  Enough is Enough!

Can we please go back to the College system that Thomas Jefferson wanted for the United States and that existed, at least in California, before Ronnie Raygun became Governor.  You know the one where college was free.  The United States cannot compete as a nation if students need to first willingly enter a life of poverty just to get an education.

Do you have a student loan that you need to vent about?  Please share it here in the comments.

Right-Wing News

A recent study revealed Fox "News" viewers are less informed than people who consume no news at all.  On it's face it seems blatantly obvious, but today I saw a perfect example of the right-wing news consumer.  A woman commented on a blog about the occupy movement and she accurately made some comments about the unfortunate corporate clime.  The right-wing news consumer replied with this statement:

Obviously you missed the part of your American History class where they mention how the entire woman's suffrage movement was sponsored by Tampax.

I have a problem with this.  My problem with his statement is:

• The 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920.
• Tampax was introduced in 1936

I'm thinking the Procter & Gamble did not have a time machine available to them to go back in time as part of some amazing marketing campaign to attract female consumers.

Before you say, yes but Becca Procter & Gamble has been around since 1837, let me assure you that I already know that and that causes me even more concern about the comment from this right-wing consumer of news.Has he been told by Fox "News" that Tampax funded the women's suffrage movement? Does he know that the Tampax product was not a sponsor of women's suffrage movement but that possibly Procter & Gamble was? If so was his comment intentionally misogynistic?

These people embrace their ignorance and do not hide their bigotry. The political clime in the country has gone rapidly downhill.

NASCAR 2012

I'm really excited that the "car of tomorrow" became the standard.  However, this year the cars are so slammed it's made racing totally awesome but the wrecks in this Bud Shootout have me concerned.  Do these youngsters actually know how to handle a car that feels like a car?  Given this evening's wrecks I think NASCAR 2012 is going to be very interesting.

Welcome 2012!

Dear 2011,
Good Bye.  Don't let the door hit ya where the good lord split ya.

I started the year in bed recovering from knee surgery.
When I was strong enough to get up and about on a couple of crutches I found my Road Glide Custom was stolen right out of my garage.
During a big company event I damn near broke my neck thanks to the crutches and the blizzard and almost took out my boss in the process as I fell to the ground.
I then got the flu and had to endure a cross-country flight back home from the big company event.  I just wanted to die.

All of that was just in January 2011.

Things only got exponentially worse from that moment on. 2011 was, without a doubt, the worst year of my life.  However...

As this year comes to a close things are already looking up.

• My pulmonary docs know how to care for my lungs to hopefully keep me out of the hospital.
• I am mobile again and feeling strong.  I know I will drop all this added weight from the accident, and get out and do the things I love to do once again.
• I've got my amazing Dykes on Bikes family all over the world that has always been there for me.
• My NYer friends have never left my side and it's been amazing to see Coyote so many times this year.
• My beautiful niece makes my heart swell to the bursting point every time I see her cute little face or hear her beautiful little voice and giggle.
• Finally, my involvement in San Francisco politics and the San Francisco LGBT community continues to grow.  Happy New Year to all my new friends on the SFPD Chief's LGBT Community Advisory Forum.  I'm really looking forward to all the wonderful things we can do for the most beautiful city in the country.

2011 really sucked, but it feels like I hit rock bottom so hard that the bounce back up is heading straight for orbit.  The end of 2011 has been so beautiful and I can feel that momentum continuing throughout all of 2012.

Happy New Year everyone!
Love,
Becca