This month has been fun, but very hectic

Hello, boys and girly girls. Yes, I am older; get over it! I hope by the time this column comes out, I would have survived my birthday. Within a week, I was in Las Vegas, San Diego, San Francisco, Sacramento and Los Angeles. I felt like a nomad, either sleeping on planes or hotel beds. Don’t get me wrong: some of it was very enjoyable.

Las Vegas

You all know that I am Brazilian and my family is back home in Sao Paulo. After almost five years, my dad finally found time to come visit me. I joined him and my lovely stepmom Debora in Vegas for a five-day family vacation at the Venetian Casino.

I arrived in the morning and had a lot of time to wait for my parents to fly in from San Francisco. What do you do in Vegas when you have nothing to do? Here is what I did; learn from it, and never do it.

I checked in and went to the pool. That was great. While in the pool, I was checking out Grindr to see who was around. After a couple hours went by, I decided to move on to the Grindr, drinks and slot machine combo instead. All was going great. I even hit a small jackpot and was up $400 from $20. However, stupid me, I kept playing and lost it all, plus some more. I did have a good time.

After enjoying the slot machine, I decided it was more economical to hang out with a guy I met on Grindr. The rest I will leave up to your imagination.

That same night, I met up with one of my best friends that live in Vegas. We went to Revolution at the Mirage. It was a pretty good crowd and great music. I loved the Cosmopolitan Casino! It was modern, fun and people were relaxed and all about having a good time.

If you go there, don’t miss STK. This steakhouse was amazing. The concept is good, but not sure if it is practical. It’s supposed to be a restaurant/dance place. The music was fun, but way loud – so if you want to have any conversation during dinner, then don’t go there.

It was great being around family again and it was nice to be spoiled again. I think something was wrong with me when my dad offered to buy me D&G shoes and I said no! What was I thinking?

Sacramento

After I got back from Vegas, and after a brief two-day stay in San Diego, I was off to San Francisco and then to Sacramento.

I landed in San Francisco, got a car and drove to Castro for lunch. The weather was just incredible! On my way to Sacramento, I found an outlet mall and – of course – I had to stop. During that stop, I checked on Grindr. You see the pattern? I made a Brazilian friend whose pictures really looked like a catalog model, but I just went with the flow and we chatted for a couple days.

While in Sacramento, I had the pleasure to attend the Pride month celebration at the state capitol, which included the recognition of eight Californians by the state Assembly. One of those Californians was my dear friend, Nicole Murray Ramirez. I have to say that this was an amazing experience, and at the same time, interesting. Watching the Assembly in session: some assemblymen had their feet up on the desk, texting with not a clue or interest on what was going on.

It was mind blowing to witness three members get up and walk out of the room when the Pride month declaration and awards were being voted. Even more was to see the one voting no! Loud and clear. It just shows we still have a lot of work to do.

I also had a chance to visit some of the nightclubs there. Don’t miss Faces if you go to Sacramento. That place is huge. Terry, the owner, was taking me around town.

On my way back to San Francisco, I stopped by that Brazilian friend’s place. The picture was not a catalog picture; it was really him. I guess that was my birthday gift.

Needless to say, I arrived to the airport with just 25 minutes before my flight was supposed to leave. I was a hot mess running from the ticketing booth to the gate. I felt like I was watching a movie and I was the comedy act.