The Pines

Dear Jack,

This weekend Michael and I traveled to the Pines with Yetta for a campaign fundraiser.

The trip was interesting. I traveled up on Friday with Yetta, John, David, and Emily. Yetta was in a yellow Corvette, and we were in a Jetta. Yes a Jetta following Yetta. We stayed at Hotel Ciel, which wasn't as bad as the reviews seemed to say. The first night was mostly uneventful. John and I walked on the beach a while. I shared a bed with Yetta, and slept well for the most part.

The next day we went to the beach, and despite putting on Bert's Bees Sunscreen, am now sunburned.John  lost his glasses in the ocean...some lucky Mexican will have some Prada's wash up soon. After that we met Phyllis and traveled to the home of a friend of Yetta's named Dennis. We hung out there and played in the pool. The ladies departed for various events, and us boys went to change to do the Low Tea. Michael arrived around 6:40 with Chef Josie.John , Michael, and I went to dinner at Bay Bar and then walked with David and Chef Josie through the Meat Rack to Cherry Grove.  This was at night... Josie with a flashlight, the rest of us behind, and me leading a blind John.

I liked Cherry Grove in some ways better than the Pines...only in that it was more small townish... but some of the lesbians there were brutal, and I saw four fights break out there. Michael and David ended up at Ice Palace and J4hn and I had ice cream before joining them there. Josie joined the other lesbians from our crew and they all disappeared.

Later that night us Boys marched back to the Pines along the beach. I have the blisters to prove it. When we finally got back to the room, we ran into the lesbians. They decided to go skinny-dipping in the ocean. Michael nearly went--as in he wanted to go, and left to join them, but couldn't find his way to the beach. I went to find him to help him, and I ran into an orgy. It was the first time I saw one in real life. I wasn't expecting it to say the least, although in reality I wasn't SHOCKED--I mean it was Fire Island Pines.

I slept very little that night because of the sunburn and sore legs from the walk. Michael was out like a light. The next day was the event. It went pretty well...the food being one of the better things.

I was exhausted when I got home with Michael...and in pain. I took a Tylenol PM to get to sleep and to ease the pains in my legs.

REGARDLESS, I HAD FUN! :-) Mind you, I think I may have to lay off being around gay men for a while....

Secret Agent Man

Dear Jack,

Today I am in my head. I'm not sure why. As I came to work I was contemplative...almost too contemplative. I wish I could better put into words my thoughts, but when I try to, they sound so cliche and unmoving. I want to be profound and I am not.

There was a homeless man on the train the other day. He would say stuff like.

"I never met a woman who was not a spy. SECRET AGENT MAN!!!"
"Don't trust computers, the government spies with them. They say, put your information in a computer, well the government uses that information."
"Don't walk in daylight, because the satellites can see you. The government loves to see where you are." Stay away from bridges and tunnels too... they can be dangerous."

After a while the guy repeated himself. What was strange wasn't what he was saying. He reminded me of a professor almost, very well spoken. Had he not been homeless, his eccentricities would afford him to be a writer.

I wonder if I could have ended that way...spouting off nonsense that has just a little bit of truth to it.

O'Neil Departs

Dear Jack,

Today I was in a good mood for the most part. I'm hopeful about a possible part-time job. It will be nice if it goes through... just have to make up my mind about it. There are a few logistics about it.

Had a decent day at work. It was John's (our summer intern at KBA), farewell shindig. Blakes, Gina, Greg, and I went with him to Comfort Diner. It was a lot of fun. I needed that time to relax and regroup. It was really nice to relax with the work crew. Katsumi should have been there.

Headache

Dear Jack,

The weekend was pretty nice. We went to Jason and Paul's house for a party on Saturday evening. We had a lot of fun, and got to hang out with some really nice people.

This morning I woke up with a migraine...well to be honest I went to bed with one. It is no fair, as I have not had any caffeine or alcohol. I had a very hard time sleeping, and my neck and back were all tensed up. I skipped church as a result, which is sort of sad because this was the first Sunday we'd meet the rector, as she's been on vacation.

Proud of my Dad

Dear Jack,

I was thinking about my dad today. You know he is really a remarkable man, and I wanted to the world to know it.

He was born in Conneaut in the fifties. His family moved to Los Angeles when he was very young. His father was a drunk and very distant. My grandmother ended up divorcing him. In the process of all this my dad and uncle moved a lot, and even spent some time in a children's home until my grandmother was able to take them back to Ohio and her family. I have heard him speak about his childhood, and he has very little happy to say. He does mention happiness when he moved to Ohio and moved in with his maternal grandparents. My great-grandparents owned a truck-stop in North Kingsville, and he and my uncle spent a good portion of their time there.

When my dad spoke of his father at that time, he did not have much nice to say. It would seem that my grandpa Day was abusive in addition to being a drunk and in LA.

My dad married a girl young, and divorced her. He also was in the Navy for some time. He moved around the US, and does not speak much about this time of his life with me. I gather he was wilder then. I know he had an alcohol problem, as he mentions that as the reason he does not drink anymore.

He is an inspiration with regards to this, he gave up alcohol, and smoking with sheer willpower. I have heard of few that do stuff like that so determinedly.

He married my mom, who had three children already. Taking on the responsibility of three children is a lot. They've been together since 1980. 28 years! They have their times where they fight, but who doesn't. It seems as time has gone on, that has decreased.

I grew up enveloped in his strong work ethic. He worked hard and constantly. I remember when I was young, I asked him if he was going to take a day off for his birthday, and he said he didn't take days off. This is true. Growing up, he has always worked often on Saturdays.

He loves music. I often wonder if we were of a higher class family if he would not have been a professional musician of classical guitar. He knows how to play Guitar, Bass, stand up Bass, Drums, Harmonica, Piano, and can tune all of the strings. He teaches Guitar to various people as it is, and I wish he could focus on that more.

He and my mom are active in Cursillo, and he plays Christian folk music with various churches in the Atlanta area. He's very good at it too.

I know when I came out, it was hard on him. Yet he did not push away, and in the fullness of time has come to be very supportive and loving of not only me, but Michael.

Here is to my Dad!