Happy Fourth!

Okay, time to climb back into the saddle.

I had an absolutely fabulous weekend. Jeff M., a long-time friend of Doug M., made a trip up to Baltimore early Friday evening to ferry me back to his home in Arlington and I spent the rest of the weekend with him.

We walked to the Kebob Palace that evening for dinner. The place was packed, so we shared a table with Vonté and Rosemary, a could of nice Christian ladies who were attending a conference for the weekend.

Saturday morning we got up and took his canoe out on the Potomac for a couple of hours, then returned it to his basement and joined Doug M. for a mini pool party at the home of his friend Bill. There were eight of us there, including a couple of men I met for the first time, David and Daniel.

David's partner passed away in March from HIV-related issues, and we spent a little time talking about that. Friends and family have been telling him that he'll "get over it". Thanks, but if I find a man I can care that deeply for, I hope the other folks in my life won't be so dismissive.

Jeff and I went to see Mr. and Mrs. Smith after the pool party, which was a fun flick. No real deeper meaning, but no attempt to pretend there was one, either. Lots of death. Big plot hole, but I didn't notice until after the movie, so that's okay.

Sunday, Jeff and I wandered into DC to visit the Smithsonian Folklife Festival, which was interesting. We didn't see all there was to see, but had a good time. Then we returned to his home where he demonstrated one of his sex toys — a gel-like sheath for your cock that's ribbed on the inside that works very well as a mastubatory aid. So well, in fact, that after we cleaned up, we took a trip to the Leather Rack, so I could pick up one of my own!

Then we drove out to Falls Church to visit the Frozen Dairy Bar — an ice cream shop that's been in business since 1950. It was very yummy, although I couldn't finish mine, despite the very reasonable size of the portion. My palate just doesn't like sweet stuff that much, I suppose.

We wrapped up our evening with a view of American Beauty on DVD. All I remembered about this flick was that I really enjoyed it. Well, I remembered a little more than that, but it was wonderful to see it again.

This morning I wondered if Carolyn would be going to prison for the shooting of Lester:

• Colonel Fitts apparently made it back home without anyone spotting him
• Carolyn had recently purchased a hand gun and had been practicing with it
• She and Lester were having marital difficulties
• Carolyn was walking up the front walk of the house when the shot went off, so she's got no real alibi
• Sure, the ballistics won't match her gun, but she could have purchased another, right?
• The cops will think she was practicing at the gun range immediately before the shooting so she'd have a good reason for having gunpowder residue on her hands.

I don't think things look good for Carolyn.

Anyway, we didn't see any fireworks; we were busy watching the movie.

All in all it was an absolutely wonderful weekend, reminiscent of my thirty-six hour date with Bob R. earlier this year. That was my longest first date on record. This was my longest second date — sixty-one hours. :-)

Ho-hum

I'm at the non-profit client's office right now. I did some work over the weekend so I could essentially walk in and install the changes and they could begin testing, but the woman who will be testing isn't in the office yet. She'll be in later. So I've got some time on my hands.

So what else have I been up to in the past two weeks? Let me check my calendar...

My friend Lee H. came over for a movie in the evening of June 23rd. We saw Nine Dead Gay Guys, which was amusing. Trivial, but amusing. The next evening, Bob S. visited me for sex and dinner.

That Saturday, I started off the morning with my friend Michael. Our original plan was to use my fast internet to download some software updates for his iBook, but then he remembered that we never upgraded it to Panther because NetZero didn't support panther. So instead of starting the software update and running out for a nice bagel, I spent the next four hours installing Panther, then updating it, then updating NetZero and some other troubleshooting. Michael did go out and fetch bagels from Greg's Bagels in Belvedere Square, however, so I did get my smoked salmon fix. (Greg's has many, many varieties of smoked salmon. My favorite is Jail Island.)

Just as I was wrapping up with Michael's iBook, Gene R. stopped in to take me to his house out in Belair for a cookout with his partner, his cousin and a couple of friends. That was lots of fun. Gene and David have a wooonderful home &mdash it must be on ten acres! All of beautifully maintained and landscaped. There's a large wooded lot behind their property, so it's as if you're all alone in the world. Very green.

I found out that David makes and collects teddy bears. Gene showed us the bear room in the basement that was filled with bears of all shapes and sizes. Hundreds of them, I'm sure. Having lived with a collector for thirteen years, I told Gene he had my sympathy. :-)

Testing lady just showed up. I'm going to get some lunch while she's testing.

Hm.

1. Everything depends.
2. Nothing is always.
3. Everything is sometimes.

American Beauty

I'd always heard your entire life flashes in front of your eyes the second before you die.

First of all, that one second isn't a second at all.

It stretches on forever like an ocean of time.

For me, it was lying on my back at boy scout camp, watching falling stars.
And yellow leaves from the maple trees that lined our street.
Or my grandmother's hands and the way her skin seemed like paper.
And the first time I saw my cousin Tony's brand new Firebird.
And Janie.
And Janie.
And Carolyn.

I guess I could be pretty pissed off about what happened to me, but it's hard to stay mad when there's so much beauty in the world.

Sometimes I feel like I'm seeing it all at once and it's too much. My heart fills up like a balloon that's about to burst.

And then I remember to relax
and stop trying to hold onto it.

And then it flows through me like rain.

And I can't feel anything but gratitude for every single moment of my stupid little life.

You have no idea what I'm talking about, I'm sure.

But don't worry; you will someday.