Lou Reed and Hot-Headed Pumpkins

       Last weekend I met a friend for a drink at Harvey's in the Castro. Visiting from Boston, Derrick had mentioned a Radical Faeries get-together he was planning on attending later that evening. The Faeries have always fascinated me; I feel a kinship even though I don't know a lick about applying makeup or conspicuous dress. How sorely I had been mistaken in my stereotypes.

       The Faeries are a circle of chill, smart, laid-back gay men who identify with hippie culture. The house party I attended was warm, small and quiet. People were carving pumpkins in the dining room and cooking pizzas in the kitchen.

       Jim, our host, lives in a house called "P-Town West" and put together a video montage of the Peanuts Gang Halloween Special along with a few clips and videos of Lou Reed (who had died earlier that day). It was such a lovely introduction to Faerie culture in which I met a few great men and even one woman, a former New York punk who now rescues animals up in Sausalito. There's no lack of opportunity in meeting people in San Francisco but the setting too often is raucous and distracting. This, on the contrary, was a warm few hours on a chilly, windy Castro evening, an opportunity to meet solid people as the monsters would parade in the streets later in the week.
     

       Or as Lou would say, such a perfect day.