Moleskine Tip

If you use Moleskine® notebooks, and you add some artwork to the cover, I suggest not spraying fixative over the artwork. It turns into a tacky mess. You could use it to remove cat hair from your clothes, LOL.

Not Hiding; Seeking

Sunday afternoon I met F for pho at Pho14 on Park Road. Pho14 is pho heaven. I had the vegetarian pho; F had meatballs. The best thing about meeting over pho is that since it takes time to consume and enjoy, we indulged in plenty of conversation to catch up.

Afterwards we went down to the National Portrait Gallery to take in the Hide/Seek exhibit. The exhibits impressed me greatly. The curators managed to pull together artwork from almost every major lesbian and gay artist in US history. The works include art from Eakins, Wood, Johns, O'Keefe, Mapplethorpe, Warhol, Goldin, Haring, etc. The art is arranged by periods, but they flow seamlessly from one to the other. The exhibit hall was crowded, and not all of the viewers were LGBT folks (although many were; this might well be the best place in DC to meet gay men, or at least intelligent gay men, for the time being). Most of all, seeing this exhibition reintroduced me to the thrill of being gay that I felt during the first few years after I came out. During that time I devoured gay art and literature like a hungry man who's just come upon a feast. The artwork I saw Sunday reminded me of that initial rush, and brought me back to a place of not only pride, but connection and identity. I highly recommend seeing this exhibition; I intend to see it again.

From there F and I walked to get coffee near Metro Center, then made our way to the "Borderstan" area to Local 16, where the Pocket Gays group were hosting a "Spanksgiving" party on the roof deck. Seeing my old friend D and his partner M made me very happy, since I had not had an opportunity to hang out with him for some time. Also, I got to meet some more of D's friends. D has the most interesting circle of friends of anyone I know, and I was particularly gratified to make the acquaintance of Z, who is smart, affable and attractive (rarely are all three in one person, right?). After a good evening of chatting with old and new friends, F and I left, and I made my way home to supper and The Walking Dead. Perhaps due to the full and fun day, I had no zombie nightmares Sunday night.

Single, and Creating Meaning

I embrace being single. I actually do like going home and reporting in to the cat, but not having to worry about someone else. I know, this feeds my tendency toward self-absorption, but it's comfortable right now, and given my 'success' at relationships, it may well be a necessary leg in my life's journey. Besides, no one can completely lose himself in self-absorption if he lives with a cat. Even moreso than a dog, a cat will let you know he has differing items on his agenda from yours, and that some of those differing agenda items require your efforts to get done. "I don't really give a damn that you are watching 'Stargate Universe'—I want the red dot to go; if the red dot doesn't go, I will start pulling books out of your bookcase. We'll just see how fricken interesting 'Stargate Universe' is then."

As I weigh what I need to make my life, cotidie et in toto, meaningful, I am stunned by my lack of creativity. I make no art, and only craft things that I want to have immediately (e.g., bracelets and necklaces). I haven't pursued a creative hobby in years. I would do well to express myself more. Even Manuel will occasionally create 'art' from the toilet paper roll.