Happy Wednesday Scribblers, I hope you’re all having a great week and a wonderful day. Is it too soon to start celebrating Pride 2023? That is the question. This past weekend, Eric and I packed up the car and drove to Roseville, CA for Placer Pride (learn more here). This year Placer Pride celebrated its second year. I was part of the group of six from QSac (learn more here) who all shared a booth so we could sell books, talk to folks, and basically have a great time. And we did! This experience was probably one of the best in-person events I’ve been involved with since the end of lock down. The weather was a little warm, but we had a bit of a breeze, which helped. But Placer Pride, for me, wasn’t about the weather or the actual event itself. The day was a chance for me to hang out with some great people and meet others. Selling my books was a plus, a big one at that, don’t get me wrong. Knowing that folks want to read something I created is always a joy.
And sales don’t always happen. Which can be a bummer. So, when I go to event I go with the mindset that I’m going to be hanging out friends and having a good time being out, and being social.
As I mentioned Placer Pride had a great turn out, after the last couple of years as events have slowly been coming back on line having the crowds out and about was wonderful. Still, being out and seeing people, talking to them, getting to walk around and visiting all the other booths, listening to the music, watching the various acts, well nothing compares to the experience. No matter how hard we try to duplicate these celebrations on line. An additional perk of not being virtual is for lunch Eric and I got a chance to try a wonderful local deli, Better Foods Deli, which is a little hole in the wall, but the sandwiches were excellent and the staff were helpful and pleasant (learn more about them here). If you’re in Roseville, give them a try. Thanks to Scott and Mark for the recommendation.
After our day of selling and chatting to community members our first pride event of 2023 came to an end, but since we had a long drive ahead of us, Scott, Mark, Eric and I headed to dinner, where I snuck in a cheeky little drink. After the long day, I believe I deserved it. As the four of us sat around and chatted; we reflected on our day and what a lovely time we had. We enjoyed the wonderful food, including some excellent desserts. Thank you, Café Bernardo (find them here). Yes, we were all tired, but the day had been good and we really enjoyed ourselves. Considering we didn’t leave the restaurant until after 8pm and our day started at before 8am, you can assume we had a wonderful time.
Happily, to start the Pride Season we got to hang out in a welcoming and joyful space, where we could be open and crazy, laugh and have fun. We got to see and celebrate with Drag Queens, and Queer Kids and their families. We got to pet puppies, listen to music and overall celebrate life. We didn’t have to put on any airs or look over our shoulders to make sure we weren’t offending anyone (not that I typically care about such things, but I do try to be careful). This is what all our days should be, and I was glad to start off Pride Season with this event. Is it too early to start celebrate Pride? Absolutely not. We should celebrate like this every day.
I’ll be at several more in-person events over the coming months. Here is my current list of scheduled events:
Davis Pride, June 4th
Sacramento Pride, June 10th–11th
BayCon, July 1st – 4th
Modesto Pride, September 16th
And there might be a few more activities coming up this year, so keep your eyes on my events page (click here), so you don’t miss out.
Well, there you go. My first Pride event for 2023 is in the books. If you are going to be in the area, please come out and say hello. I love seeing and talking to folks. Until next time, have a great week.