a true original

 

Today was exhausting but it was all worth it.

I took Ava to work with me so we could go straight to her blood donation after work. She did a great job this time and was completely relaxed as she donated. I was so proud of her. Then, I ran her home and had 10 minutes to sit down before I had to go to the gym. After my workout, I biked home again, showered, walked Ava, then biked downtown to meet Andrew for dinner before going to PHAME's first original performance.

The play was wonderful. It's my friend Jessica's last production with them and it was a triumphant note to end on. The performances were great, the story was fun and interesting, and the music was delightful. It's so exciting and it really really makes me miss direct work with customers. Before the play and during intermission, this girl kept referring to me as "button-down shirt" and grabbed my collar at one point to see what label was on my shirt. I probably should have informed her that it's not appropriate behavior but after working at GW, I'm used to people grabbing me and I just laughed it off.

As delightful as it all was tho, I am exhausted. I need some good down-time, some me-time. I think I may have to schedule that in tho if I want it to happen.

What else?

On Sunday, I was in the mood to clean so I did a deep-cleaning of the house, even wiping down the railing of the stairs for the first time. If I had been the one to decide, I wouldn't have painted the railing white.

On Monday, I met another PA from a different brokerage as we all got together to come up with housing solutions for our customers.

On Tuesday, I met a delightful huskie-mix at Mt Tabor dog park as Ava and I hung out there for a while during the afternoon. I also talked to our new 401K rep at work. It's weird to think about retirement but I hope my retirement consists of a lot of dog parks.

captain's log: stardate 8.10.12

Today, we all went to the fourth season of Trek in the Park: Journey to Babel. It's my third year here. Previously, it's been at Woodlawn Park but they moved to a much better venue at Cathedral Park this year. There was a stage there as well as amplified sound and more of an ampitheater setting that sat close to 1000 people. Insane.

This episode wasn't my favorite but the acting was great, the sets were more elaborate and I got to sit in the captain's chair and hold a phaser for my new things!

It was fun just chillin at the park but I've been on a social kick for the past several days and my introvert meter is running low. I need a day to myself to recharge.

bugsy the musical

Today, I went to Raven's school's play. They put on a musical number called "Bugsy Malone Jr" as part of a program developed through the NBC show, Smash.Otherwise, I guess they don't even have a music or theater program. It's so sad that the arts aren't given more attention, especially considering how much these kids seemed to enjoy doing this. It was a good play and the perfect length for a kid's play, clocking maybe an hour.

What else?
While waiting to go to the play, Andrew and I biked around the Mississippi area, heading to Marine Drive/Blue Lake bike path for a bit of exercise before returning to Mississippi Studios for some food.

mirror mirror

My whole weekend has been ruled by Star Trek and that's been a pretty awesome way to spend a weekend. Today was wonderful. I hurried up and got to Woodlawn Park early enough so I could get better seats than I had yesterday. While I was there, I opened a bottle of cider, ate some strawberries, read a book and waited for Trek in the Park to do this year's production, Mirror, Mirror. This is how all Sundays should be.

What else?
Afterwards, I came back home and Sophia and I took Dean to Cha Cha Cha's for the first time. He's gotten better about sitting around restaurants while we eat. We also went and explored some other new shops on Hawthorne. It was the perfect evening for it. I can stand the nine to ten months of rain if days like today are the pay-off.

reaquaintance

 

I haven't seen Andrew since I before I got Shingles. It's been eight weeks since our last date. Some of my friends told me that he was probably wondering why I hadn't been contacting him. Really, he had my number but it was debatable who initiated contact last so I thought maybe it was my turn and maybe he was waiting on me. Therefore, I contacted him last week and asked if he wanted to see Trek in the Park since we had talked about that on our last date. He said sure and named today as a time to do so.

He made it sound really casual and I thought maybe this was just a friend thing. Hell, I was prepared for him to bring a new guy that he may have been seeing. Well, none of the above happened. He hadn't been waiting by the phone for me to call. He also didn't bring another guy. He brought a former coworker but they were just friends. After Trek (which I will write about tomorrow), we went to dinner (Tofu and Eggplant in Garlic Sauce!!) and then to a house party.

I hate house parties typically and that's even when I know most of the people there. Not only was this a house party where I wouldn't know anybody but Andrew but it was a house party hosted by a friend of his ex-boyfriend's who was going to be there with his new boyfriend. This is one of those occasions that I will look at years down the road and think, 'Wow, I can't believe I ever said yes.' Surprisingly, I am very glad that I did. It was an enjoyable and memorable experience.

The house party was close to my home so I thought I could bail if it ended up being too uncomfortable. It was a late solstice party so there was a lot of woo-woo stuff involving goddesses and fire. I am used to a fair amount of odd but this was new. A lady did 'The Great Sperm Dance' which involved her putting on a big cloth hat shaped like a sperm, running around the bonfire and then she started doing the breakdance, the Worm, in the yard. There was more involving wedding rings, spraying the crowd and lighting erect effigies on fire but let's just say it was oddly fun. Andrew and I ended up heading off to a room in the house to talk and the rest of the party ended up finding us. His ex Mark and Mark's boyfriend Craig were really nice and so was the host Cynthia.

While it definitely was not what I was expecting for the night, it was a great time. I'm glad Andrew wasn't hanging by the telephone, waiting for me to call but I'm glad he did want to see me again. I don't think I'll let another eight weeks go by before contacting him again.

theater theater

Today was such a good day (with the retreat and all) that I kind of just wanted to dwell on it and not do a lot else.  However, I didn't have any immediate plans for the night and Sophia and Jen were going to a play so I went along.  We went to see 99 Ways to Fuck a Swan.  It was...weird as one can surmise from the title.  However it was really well done.  I've been by Theater Theater where the play took place many times but this was my first time in.  I need to make more of an effort to go to plays more often.  I had to work hard to stay awake to as I had already had a long day but it wasn't because the play was boring.  I'm just lazy.

trek in the park: space seeds

This was brilliant!  Sophia, Jesse, his friend Alex, Melissa, Rabble and his family and I went to Trek in the Park today.  It's a free production of an original Star Trek episode.  This is their second year.  They did "Space Seeds" which is the Kahn episode.  I watched it online (accessible through IMDB) before going to the production.

The acting crew did an awesome job, getting the dialog, the tone, the music, the fight sequences and the sound effects perfect.  It was so good.  I'm going to bring my friend Jess back tomorrow for it.

What else?
Along with being able to communicate what I'm doing day to day to my friends, family and fans, I use this blog as sort of a on-line journal.  However, I don't want everyone to know everything all the time.  However, occasionally I want be able to look back and remember when I did what.  So, this next bit is just for me. - Pop, green glow stick means go, a whole lot of metal.  (Sorry to be so weird and vague.  Maybe it's time I kept a handwritten journal again as well.)

a play on the other desire

You would think that a play about female sexuality would be completely lost on me.  I know that the stereotype is that a gay man is really close to a female in terms of sexual needs.  However, I have no idea what goes on down there for women.  But the play I went to today at some yoga studio in Northeast was great.

Inviting Desire 2010 is a compilation of short skits written, produced and acted out by several different actresses.  I think there were seven actresses in all.  One of them work with my friend Jessica so she had an interest in going.  I went with her and was surprised by how much I enjoyed it.  I think I was expecting it to be really abstract and go into the anatomical needs of the vagina.  However, it was just about sexual freedom and expression.  Actually there was a good number of gay men there.  Maybe we are a lot more similar than I previously anticipated.

merry old land of oz

Oh the things I'll do for friendship.  Today, I sat through a 3 1/2 hour performance of Wizard of Oz because Dominic's daughter Mo was a munchkin, a poppy and a ghost in the play.  I was in the mood to sit down and relax and be entertained for a while but after the second hour, I was ready for them to throw the damn water on the witch already.

The play was cute and the actors did an amazing job, particularly Dorothy and the Lion.  It was full of technical difficulties which probably drove the director nuts but the audience took it all in good stride.  The main problem with the play was that they used the soundtrack for the EXTENDED edition of the film with the stupid Jitterbug scene added in.  The kids sang their own songs too but, since they used the soundtrack for the music, the scarecrow had a tremendously long dance scene where the movie actor was bouncing back and forth on the fences and this kid just had to jump around the stage.  While the whole thing was a bit long, it was still worth it to support Mo.

What else?
My housemates are leasing the former Union Hall and are in the process of renovating it.  It was the venue for the last J Party and many benefits.  The name is now Autonomy Hive.  Today was my first day there since they got a hold of the place.  We have a lot of renovations to make so it'll probably be a reoccurring new thing for me.

the kids are alright

Years ago...four years ago (damn I'm getting older), a high school in Beaverton (western suburb of Portland) was going to put on The Laramie Project as a school play. The principal wouldn't hear of it and cancelled. The Laramie Project isn't sexy or violent and it deals with a real issue, hate crimes, which is already a reality for any kid in one form or another but because the play was about a queer boy, it was pulled.

Despite the fact that it was pulled, GodHatesFags showed up anyway to protest the fact that the school had even let it be a consideration and protested outside the school. It showed us as part of the counterprotest but was pleasantly surprised to see the kids take care of it themselves. You can read all about it on indy.

Tonight I was walking Dean down SE 26th St and saw one the Cleveland High School reader board that they were putting on the Laramie Project. I didn't really even have to think about it. I knew I was going. I had a few other plans and dropped them because I had to be there to support this production. Also, proceeds from the play went to the Gay Straight Alliance as well as Darfur refugees.

The play was great. The students were solid actors and there was even good live music performed. I got goosebumps at several points throughout the play. And I left there with a sense that the future holds good things as far as these students societal views. Like Whitney, I too believe that children are the future.

brava!

Ahhh, the theater!

In high school and community college, I was involved in drama. I don't necessarily like acting but it was something I could do and it was an extracurricular activity so I went for it. My junior year, we did a stupid play which was completely forgettable and rightly so. I was a knight, Sir Cumference. My senior year though, we did a play called Up the Down Staircase which was a lot better. It was two years before Dangerous Minds but it was basically the same thing. I played a dropout. It was a good time.

Today I went to support my friends and neighbors as Sydney was in a play at her elementary school. It was The Kid Who Ran for President. Some of the kids, including Syd, were really good and I'm sure will be in many more plays that I will probably go see as well. Some of the kids remind me of me, not so good but still having fun with it. Brava!