We're having a huge storm here this morning. The trees are groaning and shaking and the bamboo is blowing completely sideways. I planted two redwood trees out by the street a few days ago, I hope they are doing OK. It's a nice day to stay inside cozy by the fire and relax, maybe make some Black-eyed Pea Soup with Ham.

Last night we went to a party up in San Francisco thrown by my friend/bridesmaid Brad Noble. He lives in Manhattan now, but comes back to San Francisco for the holidays every year. He has a friend, Mark, who started a company and sold it right at the peak of the tech boom. He cashed out at EXACTLY the right time. More power to him. Anyway, he bought a lovely house on Twim Peaks with a beautiful view of the city. It's something straight out of Dwell Magazine. That's where the party was held.

It was nice to see Brad, and Baby Chic was there too, and a bunch of other people who I remembered from the old wild days in SF. Brad's ex-boyfriend John was there, mixing up Cosmopolitans, and we dished and had a cocktail and watched the fireworks over the Bay at midnight, which very much impressed Julian.

Julian was a big hit, by the way. Everyone was fawning over him, and he was so good and polite and sweet and friendly. He stayed on my back in his Ergo most of the time, with a few forays down onto the floor to pet the cute Jack Russell terrier who lived there (and who would NOT stop jumping up on my new snake tattoo tights)! He took a nap in the car on the way up, so he was pretty fresh when we got there, but he stayed sweet and social all the way up until 1:30am, when we finally left. The party was winding down, Brad was in the hot tub, the stragglers were getting sloppy-drunk, and I was pooped. Waaaaay past my bedtime. We all slept late this morning.

OK, time to go make my famous whole-wheat pancakes for breakfast, and get that bean and ham soup going too.

Wow, after the intense storm we just had, right now there is not even a breath of air stirring. It's like we're in the eye of a hurricane or something. Bizarre.

Here's to health and happiness in 2006!