When I woke up Saturday morning I received a text message from my Australian friend that he was in town for the Cyndi Lauper “True Colors” concert. There was no way I could afford tickets, but my friend suggested we meet up for lunch. So I headed downtown and met him at Starbucks near Copley Square. We had chatted and eyed any and all hot guys that happened to pass within eyesight. My friend decided he like to go over to the North End where he thought he could remember how to get to a corner deli that sold fantastic calzone.
We hopped on the Green line and got off at North Station. We ended up walking all over the North End. Eventually we lucked onto the deli and bought some calzones. My belief in the authenticity of the Italian-ness of the place was shaken by the Asian staff. As we left the deli with our calzones heated up in a to-go bag, we passed by several people wearing different team t-shirts with contestant numbers pinned on the shirts. Eventually we asked one of the team attired people what was going on. The contestant informed us that there was a great scavenger hunt going on and teams were all over Boston trying to earn points going to different locations. The rest of the day, my friend and I saw teams roving all over town.
After wishing the contestants good luck, my friend and I walked closer to North Station to find a place to sit down and eat our lunch. I did not live in Boston before the “big dig” was complete. So I do not know what Boston was like with expressways circling down town. However, I can tell you as a new-comer, the project was well worth it! Apparently, the city buried all the expressways underground. In the new found space around downtown, the city has placed small green spaces. My friend and I ate at a delightful park very close to Faneuil Hall. The day’s mugginess was abated by the cool spray emanating from the water fountains.
After lunch we mozied over to Quincy Market and I started to see some of touristy Boston. My friend was tired from his flight up from Virginia so he opted to go take a nap. I knew I had to go back to my place to get ready for my upcoming move. Before we parted company, my friend suggested we go to the Manhunt sponsored “7 Sexy Sins” event that night. I said I would think about it.
I guess I haven’t mentioned it yet, I am moving out of my old apartment and in to a new apartment in Cambridge. The new apartment is much smaller than my old place. The new place is a condo owned by a lesbian couple. The good news is I get essentially the third floor to myself. There is a small bedroom complete with its own 3/4 bathroom. I jumped at the chance to have this level of privacy. I am not thrilled with living with complete strangers, but it is a nice place and they seem like a nice couple. I hope it all works out.
So after getting home that afternoon, I put on some shorts and a shirt and started to move my bedroom furniture over to the new place. Boston was very humid Saturday evening. I was also in a bit of a funk over the downward change in my living standard. I thought I was going to die from heat stroke. I was feeling pretty miserable. My friend text messaged me to encourage me to go to the club. I decided to go.
I looked up the location of the club, showered, and put on my new club outfit. I had purchased some new leather work boots and wore my black jeans and the black Under Armour top. It was weird to feel sexy. It is a weirdness I could learn to enjoy though.
I should have written down the instructions on how to get to the club from the T. Instead, I thought I had it memorized. When I got downtown, I followed the directions I remembered reading. Unfortunately, I mis-remembered the address of the club. Instead of 279 I thought it was 29. So I walked several blocks in the wrong direction. When I got to #29, I found a government. I acknowledge that Massachusetts is a blue state, but I thought not even here would they throw Gay sex website parties in the State office building. I headed back to the T station to try to figure out where I went wrong.
I had conviced myself that I went to the wrong part of town and was making plans to go to a different part of town when my phone rang. My friend was letting me know he just got out of the concert and was heading over to the club venue. I told him I was having a bit of trouble locating the place when he reminded me it was 279 not 29. So fairly chastened, I retraced my steps and found the club.
The club was an old theater converted into a dance venue. The music was loud but the crowd was non-existent. The first lesson I learned is that no one goes to the clubs before 11:30. So I checked my jacket, walked around scoping out the club, bought myself a vodka tonic, and as usual, headed for a neutral wall upon which I could become a proverbial wall flower.
Eventually my friend made it over to the club. The place started to fill up and get more interesting. One thing I didn’t understand was the number of women at the club. With this being a gay hook-up website party, it seemed extremely odd that there were a bunch of women at the club. (no they weren’t trannies or cds — at least not most of them). It was even weirder to see this one couple (a man and a women) grinding against each other on the dance floor. (There was noone else on the dance floor and they were positively obscene — I don’t have a problem with obscene dancing but guy-guy please!) Talking with one of my other friends today, he let me know that some women prefer going to gay bars because they know they won’t be bothered. Okay I get it, but get the hell off the dance floor! I am going there specifically to get bothered!
Yes, I mentioned the dance floor. Usually I am a brother with two left feet. Bolstered by two vodka tonics, I will venture out. I didn’t really dance though. I would describe what I did as basically having sex standing up with my clothes on. My Australian friend is a top. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I am not a top. So my dance moves basically consisted of me grinding my hips into my friends gyrating lap. The variation in my moves basically involved whatever I felt like doing with my hands and arms and deftly trying to avoid stepping on anyone with my new boots.
After a while, I was starting to get hot. When I first entered the club, I thought they had the air conditioning set on high. After “dancing” a bit, I was really feeling the heat. I am not sure why, (perhaps grinding against a guy with a cute as hell accent) but I decided to take my shirt off. There were a lot of other guys that had taken their shirts off. I guess the alcohol gave me enough confidence to parade around topless. Whatever gave me the courage, I am not sure, but I was having a hell of a time!
Eventually the music was loud and my fun meter started to run out; so my friend and I decided to call it an evening. I could not believe I had gone to the leather bar the night before and the club this evening. I realize now that I really have made a lot of changes this year. I owe it all to accepting who I am and trying to reconcile how I live my life with that reality. I have my occassional lapses in confidence, but overall I am moving forward.
A little bit of Mischief... 