I hope you all had a great holiday…. As for me, on Christmas Eve my good pal Big Mike and I headed for Fernando Lara’s beautiful loft for a traditional Mexican dinner that was superb… then my other pal Todd Kaufman and I stopped by St. Didacus Catholic Church, where I said some prayers for all my friends. I most sincerely wish you all a healthy and happy 2005.

Well, this year I could not travel for the holidays to visit my mother so I stayed in San Diego and decided that Big Mike and I should have Christmas dinner for two at Martinis Above Fourth. By the time Christmas Day came I had invited 22 people and we had such a blast and fabulous time in Martinis’ private room in the back. The food was so very, very excellent and the service was outstanding for putting up with 22 people. I told everyone attending to bring a present from a 99-cent store and we had an outrageous time exchanging them. Our Christmas dinner guests were Ben F. Dillingham (county veterans board), Adrian Rodriguez, Atty. Bruce Abrams, Fentress Ott, Richard Britton (board member at The Center and co-owner of Numbers/The Flame), City Commissioner Julia Legaspi, Michael Portantino (publisher of the Gay & Lesbian Times), Dr. Pat Washington (NAACP board), Maggie Arlington (San Diego LGBT Pride board member), Robi Cox (co-owner of Bacchus House), Dr. Grey Scott (serving on Congressmember Filner’s advisory board), Todd Kaufman, Nathan Garcia, Shawn Ingram (The Center’s director of development), Tom Brown and Greg Cruz.

On Jan. 4, District 4 voters will elect their new city council member… I, like all of the current members of the city council, have endorsed Tony Young. This election is about moving forward and about giving hope and a role model for a new generation of San Diegans. While I do respect much of what Rev. Stevens has done for those in District 4, I feel he should assume a role as “elder statesman” and give new blood a chance and pass on the “leadership torch” to a new generation. On a side note, “in and out” of the closet candidate Dwayne Crenshaw is still sitting on his fat ass and hardly lifting a finger to help Tony Young… just giving lip service.

Many of you know about the “hate speech” incident at that now infamous condo construction site in the middle of Hillcrest on Park Boulevard.

I again must salute and thank the construction company president, Mr. Daniel Kozubek and Mr. John A Bertsch, president of the condominiums, for their quick and outstanding response to this ugly incident. They are to be commended and in many years of dealing with hate crimes/speech incidents, it was one of my most positive dealings (I currently serve as chair of the police chief’s advisory board)…. The lesson for our community is to report all and any incidents to The Center, myself or any member of the police chief’s advisory board.

The great people at the Alano Club are having another fun “New Year’s Eve Sober Celebration” from 9:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. at the First Unitarian Universalist Church in Hillcrest, and you are all invited. I think it’s so great that the non-drinking and recovering community have a place to party with food and old and new friendship. It’s only $5 for Alano Club members and $8 for non-members. What a deal! I’m going and try to stop by.

North Park’s award-wining Bacchus House (3054 University Ave.) celebrates its third anniversary this coming Saturday, Jan. 1, with special super video star Travis Lee… a very big “thank you!” to owners Robi Cox and Dr. Greg Scott, who have been very generous in giving back to the community’s GLBT organizations, AIDS awareness, civil rights causes and numerous progressive political candidates… and also having two Latino Nights (Wednesdays and Sundays), they give back to the Latino GLBT community as well. Trust me, there are a lot of bars/businesses who have been here a long time and hardly give anything back to their community. Thank you again, Greg and Robi, and congratulations to your entire staff…. See you Saturday!

After many years at a certain nightclub, an event producer moved his/her weekly event from the original site because of growing differences between the producer and bar owner.

Well, the new site of this weekly event had an interesting first night at his nightclub…. First the police called – they received an official complaint that this event draws heavy drug users (not true) then the fire department called and were ready to send fire trucks because of a complaint that the event producer was using “fire torches” in the bar…. All lies, and it turned out the complaints were both from the angry bar owner!

Our community will host the annual Mr., Miss, Ms. Latino California Pageant 2005 on Feb. 25 at The Center, with contestants coming in from all over the state…. It should be one hot night, and contestants are being sought for Mr. (males), Ms. (lesbians) and Miss (impersonations). Franceska will be your hostess with the mostess, and part of the proceeds will benefit The Center’s Latino programs.

We are so fortunate to live where we do that sometimes it’s hard to fathom a world outside of “our bubble”. What is special about our community is our willingness to bind together and help each other. In response to the horrific South Asia earthquake and tsunami disaster, Metropolitan Community Church of San Diego invites the entire community to a special Service of Reflection and Hope taking place at 7:00 p.m. at The Center. This disaster has affected millions of lives, and the images of loss and destruction have touched the hearts of people worldwide. MCC Associate Pastor Dan Koeshall said the service will be a time for everyone to “share grief, pray and find solace and hope in the midst of tragedy.” An offering will be received to go totally to humanitarian relief efforts. For more information, contact MCC at (619) 521-2222.