Alan Ilagan

What wonders of Washington will reveal themselves on this coming weekend? Without a definitive plan, without even an inkling of what to do, my Virgo instincts are slightly askew. All I know is that I’d like to see the Botanical Gardens again – beyond that I’m open to just about anything.

I’ll be staying in the Dupont Circle area , which is fun, but, or so I’m told, not as fun as it used to be. (No fancy Mandarin Oriental this time around, unfortunately.) Hey, times are tough, and I need to take the best deal that Expedia is going to throw at me. Besides, it’s all about the company, and I haven’t seen my friend Chris since November, so there’s a lot of in-person catching up to do. A bit of solitude never hurt me either. (So if you’re next to me on a plane, don’t speak.)

Here we go again: the quest for Madonna tour tickets is about to commence. She just announced her tour date itinerary, and it looks pretty impressive.

Historically (at least, for the last three tours she did) I would purchase tickets for both Boston and New York. The reason for this goes back to 2001, when I got tickets for the first Madonna show I ever saw, The Drowned World Tour. Back then she was returning from an 8-year hiatus from touring, and tickets were insanely difficult to get. I believe I set up a special AOL account to give me special advance access, and I managed to get two tickets for her show in Boston. (I should probably look into whether that AOL account’s been cancelled…)

I asked Suzie to go with me, and in the days leading up to the show, my anticipation and excitement were barely contained. Then, the tour date just before her Boston concert was cancelled for illness. Would she recover in two days for the show I was supposed to see? I couldn’t imagine any other way – I literally did not think I would be able to handle that. Suzie and Andy were preparing for a suicide watch in the event that I didn’t get to see her, and I tried to envision how I’d get over it, but I just couldn’t.

Fortunately, she rallied and put on my favorite show of all time. (You never forget your first.) Since that scary moment, I’d been getting two sets of tickets for her shows – one in Boston and one in New York, in the event that she didn’t go on one night. It was a little bit of insurance that I wouldn’t miss out.

This time around I think I’m only going to aim for a single Boston date. Having seen her seven times, there’s less pressure to insure I won’t miss a show. I’m also a little (just a smidge) less fanatical in my devotion, so if she cancels, it won’t be the end of the world.

Besides, in New York she’s only playing Yankee Stadium – and everyone knows I don’t do stadiums.

The quest for Madonna Tour tickets is about to begin again…

On my last trip to Washington, we had the privilege of staying at the Mandarin Oriental for a family wedding. For some of our down-time, I ventured into the spa, which was the very first time I’d done any sort of spa thing. I didn’t get any treatments – it was relaxation enough to swim a few laps in the pool and spend some time in the sauna and steam rooms. I raved orgasmic over the experience here, and have been wanting to go back ever since.

The Mandarin Oriental in Boston offers a 16,000 square foot spa facility that looks amazing, so I’d been toying with the idea of getting a day pass on one of my Boston trips and recapturing that nirvana, but never quite got around to it. Their FaceBook page occasionally offers photo contests where you could win a day at the spa, or a dinner at their restaurant Asana – and I’d entered a few over Christmas, with some pretty Boston Public Garden photos that never made the cut.

For the Super Bowl, the contest was to submit a photo showing your love of the Patriots, and the prize was one of their Oriental Essence massages. Now, as a general rule, I don’t have many sports-themed photos – certainly not anything I’d consider entering – but since Madonna was at the game this year I’d gone and taken a few silly shots with my brother’s Patriots’ helmet. I figured why not send one in – I love all Boston teams – so off went this ridiculous shot of me Tebowing in the aforementioned headgear.

Lo and behold, as with all whims I carry out without much thought or hope, it worked, and yesterday I got an e-mail saying I had been chosen to receive the massage certificate. The comical uncanniness of this is not lost on me. Five days ago I didn’t even know what Tebowing was. Only when my brother mentioned it and (jokingly) said I should take a picture of me doing it did it enter my radar. The notion of me Tebowing in a football helmet is ludicrous on levels far too numerous and complex to mention here. But the Lord works in mysterious ways, and apparently the power of Tebowing cannot be denied.

Thank you to Tim Tebow, thank you to the New England Patriots, thank you to my brother – and most especially thank you to the Mandarin Oriental. I can’t wait for you to get your hands on me.

Earlier today, a federal appeals court struck down Proposition 8 in California, the one that hatefully banned gay marriage based on a majority voting for the rights of a minority. It’s good to see the Constitution being used as it was originally intended – to protect the rights of the people. ALL of the people.

“Proposition 8 serves no purpose, and has no effect, other than to lessen the status and human dignity of gays and lesbians in California, and to officially reclassify their relationships and families as inferior to those of opposite-sex couples. The Constitution simply does not allow for laws of this sort.”

I think the Washington transit system is one of the country’s best. Better than NY and Boston put together. The political system leaves much more to be desired. In all of the above.

This coming weekend I’m flying back to Washington to hang with my friend Chris and just relax a bit. We were there a few months ago for my cousin’s wedding, but it will be good to return without so many obligations. I have no definite plans, and I intend to keep it that way.