Casa Octopus goes Beverly Hills

We all have been waiting with much anticipation to celebrate Austin's completion of a quarter of a century, but the wait was well worth it. The celebrations began with the arrival of Eduardo, "the Chilean friend," who came to visit via Los Angeles. His llegada was defined by a yoga class that created the same euphoric feeling that one gets after sex, and lead to some mysterious adventures in the Castro later that night. The next day was followed up with the weekly soccer match and then with a group swimming trip to Lake Anza, where we let the dogs play frisbee while we enjoyed some delicious guacamole, hairy yogurt, spicy/dirty cheese and delightful Fanshop after a refreshing, if not short, swim. On the way back down, out of the hills, there were amazing views of the lights over the Bay area that made some of us feel restful, while inspiring others to go salsa the night away.
On the final day of the weekend, we all gathered for the famous Curanto that Austin and Eduardo whipped up in a simmering white wine sauce, with some "potato bread" and a sort of pico-de-gallo soup (for those of us who are more Mexican-leaning than Chilean). Accompanying this dish of animalitos, was a delicious Mozambiquean pasta, as well as some fabulous artichokes. To top it off we had ginger/amarula/strawberry cake, pisco sour and fanshop of course! All together is was a very satisfying and it's hard to say whether it was the warm, summer-like sun of the weekend, the yummy food or the sweet-sourness of the pisco that made us all so happy. Or perhaps, it was the uncanny similarity that our community seems to have with the famous one of 90210, at least to some visitors!
Austin closed the picnic party with a moving South African tune, which led us into a vigil for the Global Day for Darfur, where we remembered the atrocities that continue to occur there, lit candles for hope and signed petitions to bring more support for peace and resolution to that region. It was a weekend that cannot be forgotten, and upon remembering, brings a strong feeling of being blessed to be part of this beautiful community that is aware of our surroundings enough to truly appreciate them, and also cognizant of the ways we can take action to improve the world we live in.

Please stay tuned for the photos .....