We’ve waited 521,600 minutes for the release of the movie Rent, which is based on the Pulitzer Prize and Tony-winning play written by Jonathan Larsen and starring a majority of the original Broadway cast. I especially love Wilson Heredia, who plays Angel (the drag queen), and the buzz is he might be nominated for an Oscar. I also love my all-time “Law & Order” favorite Jesse L. Martin, who plays Angel’s lover. Coming soon is the movie version of another Broadway hit, The Producers, which also stars the original stage cast, including Nathan Lane, Matthew Broderick, Gary Beach and Roger Rees. I’m just a Broadway baby ….

If events of the last two weeks are any indication, this holiday season promises to be a very hectic one. On Thanksgiving weekend, Steve Miller, Rick Ford, Tom Felkner and I went to a pre-theater dinner at Sambuca restaurant in Hillcrest. Then it was off to the North Park Theatre for Leslie Jordan’s one-man tour de force performance in Like a Dog on Linoleum. When we got to the theater, there was a very long line wrapped around the building, as it seem everyone turned out for the show. Inside, the theater has been refurbished to its old grandeur. The two-hour show was literally one of the best I’ve seen in years, as Mr. Jordan exposed his life in front of all of us: the years of growing up gay in the old South, the struggle for stardom, the booze, the drugs and the boys.

Somehow we all can identify parts of his life with ours. The après show “meet and greet” was most fun. We were ushered into the orchestra pit and then lowered to the basement level to meet the star, where we enjoyed coconut cake (Leslie’s childhood favorite) and good conversation.

Tuesday was the Rocket magazine calendar cover finals held at Martinis Above Fourth. The calendar is a fund-raising item for Ordinary Miracles. At the end of the evening, Ty, who was the Rocket calendar model winner from Bacchus House, won the coveted spot of the cover. So watch out for the release of the calendar soon.

Thursday night, Dec. 1, was World AIDS Day, and I lit a candle along with hundreds of other folks at the Tree of Life ceremony, which has been sponsored by Mama’s Kitchen for the last 14 years. This is a very meaningful ceremony when the community gets together to pay their respects to those we’ve lost to HIV/AIDS. A special guest of the evening was Ms. Rita Moreno, who holds the distinction of being the only artist to have won all four major entertainment awards – Tony, Oscar, Grammy and Emmy. Also on hand was Congressmember Susan Davis, who has always been a staunch supporter of our fight against this pandemic. If you missed last week’s editorial in the Gay & Lesbian Times, I urge you to go online and read it. After over 20 years, we have become complacent about the seriousness of this disease, and we should re-energize our resolve to keep up the fight.

Later that evening, we trekked over to the Park Manor Suites for the annual GLT holiday party. I swear, the entire community showed up for free food and wine, and to kick off the holidays. There was an abundance of food provided by local restaurants, including a chocolate fondue fountain from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and a perfectly sinful chocolate bread pudding from Hash House A Go Go. Mayor-elect Jerry Sanders made an appearance and exchanged well-wishes with the guests. I was quite impressed with his warmth and ease with the crowd. He doesn’t just say a cordial hello; he actually often stops to engage in long conversation. I first met Mr. Sanders at the last Nicky Awards, and he was gracious enough to pose for pictures. Any male Republican politician who does not mind having his pictures taken with a drag queen gets high marks in my book.

Last Saturday was Nicole’s umpteenth birthday, and he celebrated it with an elegant dinner party for a small group of friends at the très chic home of Rick Ford. Guests included Deputy Mayor Toni Atkins, Dr. Delores Jacobs, Ben Dillingham, Big Mike, Robert Gleason and Marc Matys, who brought their new son, Maxwell. Guests dined on medallion of beef with a multi-colored peppercorn sauce, scalloped potatoes and asparagus. A heated topic of conversation was how old Nicole truly is; with someone convinced that she’s as old as the Shroud of Turin. And on that note, I’m booking a one-way flight to Siberia, if you know what I mean.

That same night, Robi and Dr. Greg of Bacchus House had their traditional holiday party at their home in Kensington. With hundreds of twinkling lights ablaze, and a beautiful tree and the fireplace crackling, close to 100 friends and family gathered to enjoy sumptuous hors d’oeuvres and free-flowing cocktails. By the time I left at midnight, the party was still going strong.

Remember Lynn and Alex, the adorable gay couple in last season of “The Amazing Race”? Well, they’re still together and going strong. In fact, they’re hosting a new show on the Travel Channel called “Gay Getaways,” which is slated to air this spring. As if that’s not exciting enough, they’re also spinning off a book called Gay Couples Travel Book. I met Lynn and Alex last week at the All Worlds Resort in Palm Springs, as they are excited about including the resort in the book. They thoroughly loved the privacy of the Liz Taylor suite and the opulence of the Liberace suite. I left just as they decided to go skinny-dipping!

If you haven’t reserved tickets for the dragalicious “Babette Schwartz’s Holiday Highballs” show at Martinis Above Fourth, you just might be left out in the cold. There are three shows, scheduled for Dec. 10, 17 and 18. Special guests include Chad Michaels, Fifi, Tootie, La Donna Monroe, Cristina Monet and yours truly (at the Dec. 17 show). Tickets are available at Babette Schwartz, located at 421 University Ave. in Hillcrest. For more information, call (619) 220-7048. If you want dinner seating, you should also make reservations at Martinis Above Fourth.

The International Court System will celebrate its 40th anniversary this weekend in Palm Springs with a Court Conference and Gala Dinner on Saturday at The Riviera Resort. It will also be a birthday celebration for the court’s founder, Jose Sarria, who was the first openly gay candidate for public office. Guests include San Francisco Supervisor Bevan Dufty and Palm Springs Mayor Ron Oden. San Diego court royalty Empress Jhigs, Emperor John Laird, King Father Rick Ford and Russell Roybal (of the Gill Foundation) are among the “40 Years /40 Nobles” honorees. A “Command Performance” drag show will take place on Friday night at Heaven in Palm Springs.

The San Diego Men’s Chorus invites you to “Our New Home for the Holidays,” their first performance in the newly refurbished Stephen & Mary Birch North Park Theatre (located at 2891 University Ave.) on Saturday, Dec. 10, at 8:00 p.m., and again on Sunday, Dec. 11, at 7:30 p.m. The 2005 holiday show, which kicks off the chorus’ 20th anniversary season, will feature both traditional and nontraditional favorites. Along with “Jingle Bells” and “Silent Night,” tap your feet to the pulsating drum rhythms of “Harambee,” an anthem for Kwanzaa, and be mesmerized by the haunting harmonies of the song for peace “Shir L’Shalom.” Tickets prices range from $20 to $50 per person and are on sale at www.e-ticketsnow.com or by calling the North Park Theatre box office at (619) 239-8836.

The third annual Holiday Jazz & Blues Festival takes place Saturday, Dec. 17, from 11:00 a.m. to 12:00 midnight at Seventh and Market streets in the Gaslamp. A solid jazz lineup runs from 1:00 to 6:45 p.m., featuring Carl Evans, Jr., Jason Weber, Lee Brown Perspective, Reggie Smith and Stage 4 Jazz Quintet. Down home holiday blues kicks off at 7:00 p.m., featuring Tomcat Courtney, Lady Star & the Bustin’ Loose Blues Band, Brothers of Praise Phase II and more.

Admission is free, but a donation of any amount is appreciated to benefit the Black Historical Society. For additional information on the festival, visit www.holidayjazzandblues.com or call (619) 685-7215.