A NIGHT AT THE AUCTION

Tuesday was relegated as our day/night to go to the local auction. Anstead's is located in the SouthPark/Golden Hill section of San Diego at 532 N. 28th Street.

Not pretentious like Sotheby's can be, this was a real gut-level, move-em-in, move-em-out kind of auction and located not really in the best neighborhood in SD by a long shot (but a far cry from the back alleys of Bangkok or Chicago, for that matter). With these rather dubious qualities, I knew it had to be a good place for treasures...!

We were supposed to arrive at 4pm to preview the numerous box-lots, but didn't actually arrive until 6pm...too late for the box-lots but just in time for the start of the regular auction.

And what an auction it was. For example: Leather couches went for $100 and other furniture sold for as little as $5. My cousin bid on some collectible items like there was no tomorrow and ended up with quite a few nice pieces like a grandfather clock and some nice Asian sideboards.

I only nabbed a group of CDs. I'd love to buy bigger things but I'd have to ship them back to the Midwest. Plus my travel bags are already full and I can only take two pieces on the plane. So it was a bit like torture for me, yet I loved being there.

CRAZY DAYS IN SAN DIEGO

I left Jim's place in Cardiff on Wed. Nov. 16th and headed to a cousin's home in Bonita. I headed south on I-5 , got on 805 South; then 54 East; then off at Briarwood.

I am related to my cousin through my father's side of the family. Today was his birthday so I was glad to be heading to see him. As his Godfather, I was supposed to send him something on each of his birthdays. I never have.

When I arrived at his house, I just couldn't help but notice the clutter in every room, every cabinet, every nook-and-crannie. All closets were overflowing with a myriad of designer-quality, clothing. Two complete rooms have been packed with boxes of "stuff"...I mean right up to the doorway, prohibiting entry of any kind...there's lots of nice furniture (my family heirlooms) and pictures behind all those boxes, but they couldn't be seen.

The hallway remains clear but between the kitchen and dining room there is just a path amidst the clutter where one is totally surrounded by "stuff". It's incredible! It's overwhelming...

The kitchen and dining room are covered with everything from dirty dishes to rare antiques sandwiched between last night's dinner.

The former garage is now a workshop, designed for picture framing. It too is crammed with things like machines, computers, cell phones and just plain workshop-related items like hammers and such. Thousands of items about the place. It's easy to lose something there. Like your sanity...

Such is the domain of my rather eccentric cousin...

It appears that my cousin disregards any form of preventive maintainence/or home chores. In other words, dishes pile up, things remain where he throws them, waste paper goes unemptied, litter boxes go unattended. Housework is a foreign word.

And my cousin has admitted to me that he is.....gay....(I've known it for 20 years or more).
And being a well-to-do and generous gay man, there's always group of his friends around. A nice group of guys.

After the first day, my cousin and I biforcated into two opposite time schedules. He sleeps during the day and rages at night, whereas I tried to keep what I think to be normal hours of being up-and-about during the day.

Last weekend found me at the Spring Valley Swap Meet. Just 5 miles or so away from where I'm staying in Bonita.

On Saturday, I arrived early and watched each arriving dealer being overwhelmed by prospective buyers. They swarmed over any new-arivee. Then, once satisfied--or disappointed in many cases, they'd look for another arriving truck full of whatever...and swarm all over that one, and then the next and so on... The lingua franca was 100% Spanish.

The Swap Meet offered some pretty "common demominator" type items (poor people selling their junk to other poor people) but over two days of hunting through piles and piles of stuff, I scored more than 20 ahola shirts and about 40 CDs for my own inventory.

Then I drove over the Coronado Bridge in search of a certain Coronado Hotel poster I'd seen before. The hotel was grand, indeed; but I had no luck in finding the desired poster, so I settled for some vintage luggage labels which I'll put on my trunks back in the Heartlands.

Freeway driving makes be a little nervous. It shouldn't, as all roads and exits are well marked. Plus I lived in California for a number of years. I'm just not used to or comfortable with the density of the the cars at any given time on the freeway. I guess I got used to those wide-open highways of the Midwest.

JAMES BROWN

Jim had purchased tickets to see the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, at a downtown SD club called "4th and B" and though it was a bit hard for us rockers to get funky, we made every effort to do so last night.

The night opened with an, at-best, lukewarm young rapper called "Braille". We endured his seemingly endless set, followed by a mush-voiced MC who attempted to buy time until JB arrived.

Finally, JB took the stage in his crushed red velour suit amidst 21 other sidemen/musicians/back up singers/dancers. He was actually lost from view a couple of times with all the people on stage.

The crowd was enthusiastic but the show was at best ho-hum. Once again there were ample beauties about, as well as stunning ladies-of-the-night.

This night was nowhere as memorable as seeing the Stones but it beats a kick in the head by a long shot.

ROLLING STONES IN SAN DIEGO

On Nov. 10th, I said farwell to my cousins and hopped a plane to San Diego to see my good friend Jim Schuck who lives in Cardiff--a nothern coast town near San Diego.

The main reason for the trip was to catch the Rolling Stones on Nov 11th where they christened Petco Park with rock & roll.

Jim was the perfect person to attend a concert with, as he has attended more live shows than anyone I know of and has the system DOWN.

We caught the "Coaster"--a local train that services the coastal towns north of San Diego-- from near Jim's place to the Santa Fe station; then a trolley to the Gas Lamp district of SD where we dined on Thai food prior to the concert. Jim got a kick of me speaking Thai to the waitress.

After dinner, it was a short hop to the Omni Hotel where we had 3 Margaritas to warm us up for the upcoming show.

And what a show it was! The Stones were in the best form! I hadn't seen them since 1969 so I didn't know what to expect. Doubt I'll ever forget this show as memories of the concert are really etched into my mind. You can read about it for yourself: http://www.iorr.org/tour05/sd.htm

One thing I'll have to say about San Diego is that the babes here are just about the most stunning I've ever seen in the US. Possibly I have spent too long in the Midwest and gotten used to the unattractive, loud-mouthed, portly excuses for the female gender there.

SEATTLE

The antiques selling season that I participate in fizzled out sometime in October, so rather than sit around until May, enduring months of the frozen agony that the Midwest dishes out a-plenty, I decided to hit the road for the the West Coast.

First stop was Seattle. I arrived on a Southwest Airlines flight from Chicago to Seattle which I scored for only $89 one way.

It was great being back in Seattle although the weather wasn't very accommodating, with cold and wet being the norm of my stay there.

I did the usual: checked out the antique and thrift stores, went to the Pike Street Market and Old Town area, saw the Louis Comfort Tiffany show at the Seattle Art Museum and dined on seafood like there was no tomorrow. I took buses everywhere and got to know the bus system pretty well.

In fact, I took a bus from Lake City, where my cousin lives, and then a ferry from the Fauntleroy terminal in West Seattle. From there I headed to Vashon Island to have a jam session with my former guitarist Doug Pine and his 13 year old son

While checking out the galleries in Seattle, I ran into an old friend, Bob Elam, who has a primitive art gallery called "Between Cultures". It was a chance meeting and we had a real reunion as I had done a show in his Modesto, Ca. gallery circa: 1983-4

It was also a thrill to see my cousin(s) again as family is pretty sparse back in the Heartlands. My cousin Donna takes good care of me on my Seattle trips, doubt I'll ever be able to repay her with such generosity.