Dramatis Personae - November 2007

[Names with a * have been changed.]

[People I have to be thankful for:]

[Mom, Dad, Kate, Mike, Audrey: The blood family. The parents are still married, still live in Sonoma, and we get along so much better now than we used to. Sister, bro-in-law, and 2-year-old niece live across the bay in Alameda, and I'm not seeing as much of them as I'd like. Everyone knows about and accepts my sexual orientation; my other quirks, well...]

[Frequent playmates:
Sean*: Friend since early '91, when we were both coming out in college. We've been roommates a couple of times. His lack of urgency about anything will get him Nirvana sooner than any of us, but it can be occasionally infuriating.
Allen*: Originally a friend of Sean's, Allen has become a great friend of mine. He was a roommate at the Downtown House, and moved out when I did. Now he lives with Charlotte* and Carrie* at Dolores House, my other homo away from home. Allen is falling on the cheeful side of the moody/cheerful divide these days, mostly by being really attentive to taking care of bidness. I admire that.
Violet*: My brilliant friend who lured me into law school, where she was a year ahead of me, though two years younger. How someone can identify with Batman, Frank Sinatra, Samantha Stephens, Gloria Steinem and Lucky Santangelo all at the same time is part of her special, uh mystique.
Charlotte*: See Allen, above. She got me my current job, and she and I have become buddies on our own. She is owned by the spectacular Dog Bruno, who's naked without his collar.
Elisabeth: She, Chris (see below) and I live together in the Haight-Ashbury district in a hovel lovingly nicknamed Maison le Trou. Elisabeth is in the movie biz (theatre division), and always waits patiently for Chris and me to stop beating our gums before pointing out the essence of our many 10 P.M. roommate talks. We like Elisabeth.
MyGregory: Theatre, kindness, hilarity and copious, unashamed amounts of Absolut are what I think of when I think of MyG. He's my only friend outside of blog life who also reads this silly thing. Thanks, MyGregory!
Terry*: Law-school buddy. 28, sweet, skinny, queeny, Michigan nasality plugged by constant allergies. He still believes "the gay community" will save us all. He has an unhealthy fixation with Scooby Doo and the Last Supper. Recently moved to a deeeluxe apartment in the Parkmerced sky with his squeeze Horatio. They're happy.
Maria Gomez*: Although I'm currently acquainted with no other Marias, we always refer to her by her full name, a habit stemming from John M. (see below) working with her and several other Marias at an Evil Downtown Corporate Hotel in the late '90s. Maria's life changed when she moved to London in 2000, when it became clear it wasn't the boy, it was the city. Reminds me a little of the immortal quote from Strunk and White's Elements of Style: "Her father's suspicions proved well-founded. It was not Edward she cared for, it was San Francisco."]

[(Quick break: My late paternal grandfather (Huntington the First) used to go on and on about how he was Professor Strunk's teaching assistant at Cornell in the 1920s. And you knew that White wrote Charlotte's Web, among other things, right?)]

[The Out-of-Towners:
Jessica*: My friend of longest duration from the Santa Barbara years. Really one of the best friends I'll ever have. Jess lives with the sweetest dog, Auggie, and the sweetest man, Bob, in the Hollywood Hills. Must. Visit. Them. Soon.
Pete*: Pete was most instrumental in helping me to kick down that evil closet door in late 1990 and early '91. Of course, I thanked him by turning around and developing a huge crush on him. Another friendship thankfully not ruined by my ping-pong heart. (Now, there's a country music song title...) He lives in the Chicago suburbs very happily with his beau Rick*.
Max*: Another best friend from the S.B. years. Right after I got over Pete, I decided I must have Max. Luckily, I got over it, and...are you beginning to see a pattern here? To what may I attribute these friends' patience? Whatever, I'm lucky, is all I'm saying. The best things about Max all start with C: Conversation. Curmudgeonliness Curtailed by Years of California Comfort. Cordial (or can be). Convivial (in small rooms). Car-shy. Cock? So I've heard. Max and I took a great road trip to Portland last month, and now I want to move there.
Rafe*: Lives in Seattle with his boyfriend Antonio.* Rafe and I were inseparable from 1992 to 1999, then we broke up. (Read all about it.) Thanks to him, we became friends again. I'm quite happy about this turn of events...
John H.: Syracuse-Rochester-Atlanta-Denver-Lansing: As you can imagine, his accent is something to hear. Married his dear Matt, John moved to Michigan recently so Matt could be brilliant in grad school.
Susanna: A pseudonym no longer - my friend of really, really longest duration. She and I met in the library during my first week of junior high school. Susanna's and my trip to Baja started the paper journal which I transcribed at the beginning of this project. We tend to drift in and out of each other's lives. Her insight is always welcome (except about my eye color: she says mold, I say hazel), her spirit always boosts, and we both decided to go to law school at around the same time. She succeeded (as we knew she would). but has decided to return to teaching. Also, I attended her wedding to what looks like a wonderful man last spring.
Vince*: Picture it: Fall 1993. The place: That part of Santa Barbara's West Valerio Street that curves up into the canyon over the hill from the Mesa. Jessica, Michelle and I are sharing a house. The cute, Latino guy down the street charms us with his blarney, his ambiguous sexuality, and his way of terrifying celebrities. Now it's much later, and Vince and I have finally reconnected after too many years. Watch him closely...]

[None of my exes live in Texas:
Chris: The twisty road of our relationship makes the fact that we've only known each other a little over two years hard to believe. We took a walk in July 2005, starting a conversation that has yet to end. He gave me an opportunity to save my own life by inviting me to move into Maison le Trou in August, and I gratefully accepted.
John M.: The Major Ex. He knows that my feelings about our seven years together and how they ended vary wildly from day to day. He's been bouncing back and forth between the piney woods of upstate N.Y. and San Francisco lately. I wish him the best.
Ben*: Until John, my only serious relationship. Still lives in S.B. We neither bear each other any ill-will nor keep in touch.]

[Web friends: I've met only a few of them in person, but, among the people on my links list, I have rewarding, ongoing e-acquaintanceships or friendships with Jhames, Jennifer, Marn, George, Mike, Jhames (with whom I shared a memorable weekend in Seattle in Dec. '05), Jeffrey, and Casey. (He and I also knew each other slightly thru UCSB's gay scene, long ago.)]

[In the words of the immortal Bard,
"I should be so lucky
Lucky, lucky, lucky
I should be so lucky in love."]

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