Early early this morning I finished reading Mercedes Lackey’s “Exile’s Honor.” I enjoyed this one too. It focused on the character named Alberich who is a soldier in exile from his native Karse. He’s chosen by his Companion named Kantor who rescues him from being burned alive by the Karsite Sun priests, then he lives within Valdemar where he trains soldiers. There was no gay content in this one.
I finished reading “Take a Thief” and another Mercedes Lackey novel called “Storm Warning.” I’m getting a sense of the continuity of plot and characters throughout her entire Valdemar series. I’ll probably have to return some others “Firebird,” “The Ship Who Searched,” and “The Serpent’s Shadow” before finishing them.
I’m also reading “Queer in Russia” by Laaurie Essig.
I finished reading “Winds of Fate” and I’m partway through “Take a Thief,” both of which have the character Skif in them, though at much different stages in his life.
I have six more Lackey books out from the library and there are still many more to go after that. She is quite prolific!
OK, I’m back from Brazil and adjusting to the time zone. I’ve had a little digestive trouble. And I’m missing Paul, the guy I met in Rio. In fact, I called him today. We have a good email thing going, but haven’t figured out chat yet. I’d like him to come visit, but it doesn’t look like that can happen until May when he finishes his architect stint in Rio.
I visited Steve night before last for dinner in the Castro. I felt a bit put off… he didn’t greet me very enthusiastically as he was cleaning his electric toothbrush in the bathroom.
Lance has found a new job! It’s for a good nonprofit cause as well. But his cell phone is cut off and so I can’t call him for a week. He’s getting his act together at home over the weekend.
I tried meeting up with Matthew on Thursday evening as well, but he was too busy with work.
I’m feeling frustrated that after two weeks in Brazil no one I’m “dating” seems that keen on seeing me.
So instead, I’m at home upacking, doing the laundry, and reading Mercedes Lackey’s “The Fire Rose.” I’ve reserved a bunch of Spanish language books from the library so I can start talking with Paul in Spanish. Actually, I’m surprised I didn’t take up Spanish earlier since I live in the Spanish-speaking area of San Francisco.
After the Friday afternoon film at the Berlin & Beyond German film festival, I realized it had been about a week since I last heard from Steve. Since I was at the Castro Theatre, right near his place, I gave him a call and once he reached the Castro on his commute home, he gave me a call on his cell phone from across the Castro & Market intersection. It was funny to talk on cell phones so close to each other!
We met up and went to his apartment which overlooks that intersection and the Castro Theater. His dog Justyn is named after a wizard in one of the Mercedes Lackey books which I’ve read, similar to Vanyel, Guy’s dog, who is a character from the Magic series of Mercedes Lackey.
Jerrold called while we were in Steve’s apartment and Steve invited him to join us for dinner at Chow. There was a wait when we got to the restaurant so we had a drink at the Pilsner Bar next door. I had my usual pear cider and got a Sierra Pale Ale for Jerrold and a Heineken for Steve. The maitre d’ from Chow came over to pull us out of the Pilsner when our table was ready and we sat on the back patio. Those guys ordered lasagna and I ordered spinach pasta with a delicious mushroom garlic cream sauce. We ordered deserts as well– mine was a ginger cake with pumpkin ice cream. Yum!
Steve and Jerrold took me to Daddy’s Bar, my first time there. Most of the guys in there aren’t my “type,” but it was interesting to check it out nonetheless.
Then, we hung out watching videos at Steve’s place for awhile. Eventually, Jerrold took off and Steve and I crashed out with Justyn. After listening to some great music that reminded me of Two Nice Girls, we were both really tired. Steve snored a bit so I didn’t get much sleep, but I really enjoyed cuddling with him and fooling around a bit in the morning.
We went for breakfast at a little place on Castro Street with a cheap breakfast special. We ran into Jeff who I’ve known since my days at MIT, about 20 years now!
We headed back to Steve’s place where he put together a bookshelf and showed me some fun mp3’s which he displayed from his Powerbook onto his TV screen. I logged in to his wireless network and read my email. Then it was time for him to get ready for his dinner guests and for me to head over to dinner prior to the Berlin & Beyond film for the evening.
I really appreciate the time I spent with Steve.
If you’ve been reading this blog, you have probably realized by now that I live a rather nonmonogamous or polyamorous life. Although I may choose to live in a primary partnership at some point in time, I am getting to know and maintaining friendships and relationships with a group of mostly guys for the time being. I’m feeling really good about it for now and issues around jealousy or competition for time or whatever have resolved themselves fairly easily so far. Let’s hope it continues that way! đ
Today I visited Neil in Richmond. We ate a nice cafe in town and cuddled and played a bit at various points during my visit. We set out on a hike up a hill near his house. Along the way, we spotted some interesting erosion patterns as well as great views both inland and toward the bay. I realized I have to do more hiking so I can work myself up to handle some really nice hikes like a repeat of the Na Pali Coast hike on Kauai.
Neil is reading a great book called “The Barbary Coast” written in 1933. We ate dinner at a little Mexican restaurant with his brother and female partner, discussing the Bush administration and the lousy response to the economic downturn as well as the aggression in Iraq. Neil dropped me off at BART and I headed right home.
At home, I was kind of sleepy, but roped my housemate Jack into watching “Forbidden Planet,” an early and really camp, cheesy sci fi movie.
Yesterday was game night at Guy and Jey’s place. Matthew picked me up from work to go to Lance’s place. We waited for Lance to preen before heading out to Guy and Jey’s place. There was a good crowd, most playing a game called Cranium. We also played Pictionary and Aquarius, the rules of the latter calling for the person with the longest hair to play first. I got tired after awhile and Nathan, Lance, and I headed back on the Muni L train and Owl bus. Enroute Nathan told Lance and I some great stories.
Lance and I got off in the Castro and took the 24 bus to his place, picking up some organic chocolate hazelnut ice cream and Odwalla Strawberry C Monster juice along the way. I was exhausted, yet chatted a bit with Lance’s housemate Sammy, who is a great artist, if a bit dark in the subjects of his artwork. Lance and I made love a couple of times during the evening and I got up early to head back home to meet up with Neil for the hike.
I’m nearly finished reading “The Black Gryphon” by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon.