Pride

There are few things more annoying (or embarassing) than switching handbags, leaving the house, getting to a destination, and realising that the handbag smells of cat pee.

So I emptied it, distributed my belongings amongst friends, and threw out the bag. Which was a shame - it served me well. Luckily, it was an older bag that I mostly use for travelling and such. Nonetheless, a practical, versatile purse - ah, Roots bag, you will be missed...

Last night me and my friend saw Grow Your Own - it's set on allotments. It's completely PG and so uplifting that I think I floated to the pub on a cloud of general well-being and satisfaction with humanity in general (or at least, that part of humanity that recognises the awesome personal and community healing power of allotments). Then another group of us went into the city to celebrate Leeds Pride 2007. That morning, Nas and I had caught the parade as we came home from the the farmers' market. A friend's band played the main event at a bar down by the river. I always forget how lovely Leeds can be down there. Anyway, the band was great - our friend rocked out on the keyboard and played some mighty mighty power chords. We danced, and swayed, and cheered, and a generally, again, felt pretty at home and at peace with the world.

The more I think about it, the more I realise what a great weekend it was. On Saturday night, we went into Ilkley to celebrate a birthday - with much pizza, wine, good beer and better conversation (and we didn't manage to empty the restaurant like last time!). Sunday morning we went for a long run with the Fleet, followed by the farmers' market, then the movie, then the band. Tonight, we're going to watch some Bollywood - cheaper and likely healthier than a beer at the end of the day! We are so unbelievably fortunate to be part of this brilliant, creative, generous group of friends. I suppose everyone thinks their gang is the coolest - but really, ours is. And damn, we're a sexy bunch too.