Oh, yeah

Hm. I neglected to add that after I got back to Baltimore from my camping trip last weekend, I managed to charm my way into Jeffrey G.'s bed, not that it's that difficult to accomplish. :-)

Waking up with him Monday morning -- Memorial Day -- we hatched plans to hike downtown to Federal Hill, there to watch the Inner Harbor for a little bit. It was a very nice walk and very pleasant to be sitting in the shade on Federal Hill and talk with each other while watching the world roll by.

We had dinner at Jeffrey's that night and watched Lemony Snickets' A Series Of Unfortunate Events on DVD. All in all, it was a very, very nice way to end a very, very nice weekend.

This evening

Russell's having a bit of trouble with his new relationship. He and Pauly seem to have trouble finding how they fit together. Boyfriends? Best friends? It's causing him a lot of consternation.

I invited him to dinner tonight, and we trekked out to Bethesda to the Mongolian Grill there, which is always a treat. Then we had a leisurely walk back to the Metro station, with a detour through a nice little office park set off from the main drag. I also wanted to find the Olsson's book store that used to be there, but it turns out that it's not there anymore. I'm hoping to find a collection of Alabama's greatest hits sometime.

We ended up getting some ice cream at a deli close to the metro station and talked for a bit. The staff weren't inclined to chase us off after we finished our desserts, so we just hung out.

Russell's been complaining that he doesn't know where his money is going, so I asked him to keep track of what he's spending for the weekend in a little notebook. I explained that the only person that can answer the question of where his money is going is himself, and this expense log is an excellent way to get some feedback instead of not paying attention when he pulls money out of his pocket. We'll see what he comes up with on Monday.

This afternoon

I've known for some time that jhim works in an office building adjacent to my office building, but we haven't thought to make specific plans to get together for lunch. However, he saw me standing at the bus stop one afternoon this week and offered a ride to the metro station, and we decided that we would have lunch today.

It was nice to spend some time with him. We talked about all kinds of things. One moment I'd like to note is when he said to me, "you don't filter much, do you?" It took me a moment to figure out what he was saying -- that I don't really worry about what I'm going to say, that I try not to edit that sort of stuff. Then I started wondering what provoked that comment. Was it the comment about fisting with a friend? He assured me it was no one thing, but just a pattern. I told him that it just seems to make my life less complicated if I just let people decided if they like me or not, rather than someone I might be trying to mimic.

It was a great lunch. We went to a Longhorn steakhouse, where I had a very tender and juicy steak with a baked potato and broccoli. Combined with the Mongolian Grill in the evening, that meant that I was kind of a pig today, but it was delicious!

House sitting again

Jim's out of town again, so I'm house sitting for the two cats. This time, the workers who are remodeling his new house are staining the floor on the first level, so everything has been stinking and I've needed to keep the windows open for ventilation.

Worse, I can't walk on the first floor, so I have to climb onto the second floor balcony at the back of the house from the neighbor's fire escape, and they're having work done as well, so there's a scaffold in the way. :-/

Tomorrow they're going to be putting the final layer on, which will take more than a day to dry, and which will stink to high heaven. They recommend that I find someplace else to sleep tomorrow night, but I plan on playing bridge with Tod and Doug, so I'm hoping that I get back late enough that it won't be too much.

I'm planning to go out to the REI at Twinbrook tomorrow morning to do some window shopping of camping equipment, then meet Eric downtown to see Al Gore's movie. I'll have an early dinner, then go out to Tod and Doug's for cards.

Sunday, I think I'll go to the Museum of the Native American for the first time. When Russell and I were taking the metro out to Bethesda, there were a couple of ladies looking over a picture book of native american masks. The photos were so striking that I had to ask them which book they were reading. They showed me the cover, then told me about how interesting the exhibit was at the museum. I'm looking forward to it.