September 07

I'm very fortunate to have a circle of friends who, if a little peculiar at times, are really nice and thoughtful people.

My friend Marion decided this morning that I needed a surprise party, so she got together with the rest of this bunch to throw something together -- no mean feat on a Federal holiday, a day I was working, and in a public place. Her method was rather elegant; she invited me to dinner at the Prudential Center Food Court, a place we've gone several times.

Once there, while I was distracted ordering, she texted the rest of the miscreants, who were waiting on the outdoor terrace, to let them know my arrival was imminent. They lit up the candles and we were drawn to the right table by the flames billowing forth. The candles burned brightly, and as we were slightly delayed, they did a number on the cake itself (see above).

Still, it was a lovely party, and really a most marvelous surprise. Gay people often say that they're lucky, in that their friends are their family, and they get to choose that family. I'd point to today's surprise party as proof that the sentiment rings true.

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July 24

It's so tempting to just whisper "Rosebud," and leave this entry at that. Alas, I've never owned a sled.

My friend Marion brought her sister Rebecca to meet me today. It was interesting. I'm not often around young people, but I enjoy the chances I do get to meet them. Rebecca was a charming young lady, and an aspiring photographer. When I'm too interested in conversation to take many photos, you can tell I've been charmed.

Marion and Rebecca had roses with them, so this photo of Marion's rosebud is the best photo of the evening. "Marion's rosebud" ... does that sound dirty?

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June 15

On the spur of the moment, my friend Marion and I made impromptu arrangements to have dinner over my break this evening.

Dining choices near my workplace are a little limited. You can get excellent but pricey food at Sasso, excellent but expensive steak at Daily Grill, an overabundance of food at Cheesecake Factory, or hit the food court at the Pru. We opted for the food court -- both for price and for selection. It was the right decision: Marion got sushi at the Japanese place, Orange Chicken from the Chinese place, and two sodas (the Chinese place sells Dr Pepper). I got Veggie Samosas and Aloo Naan from the Indian Place, and we met in the middle to dine, chat, laugh, and enjoy one another's company.

If this keeps happening, I'm going to end up having a social life despite my best efforts to be a curmudgeon.

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June 07

Today's weekend photo walk was one of the more interesting trips I've taken -- specifically because of the company.

Anna and Brandon busied themselves doing environmental work before the photo walk began. They hauled a shopping cart out of the Muddy River near Fenway. I was invited to participate but declined. I picked them up and off we headed, meandering around until we decided to head over to Charlestown and the Bunker Hill Monument.

Marion had to work until 4 pm -- and then an hour later -- so we picked her up en route to Castle Island. She was sporting two black eyes and a bruise over her left eye from a softball accident, so any portraiture plans with my most willing subject went out the proverbial window. Since she gamely let me take photos, though, I cleaned up the bruising just a teensy little bit in Photoshop. After all, we must look our best. ;-)

In the future, I hope we can get some more folks involved in our walks. The people I've met through National Novel Writing Month and Script Frenzy are really some of the most interesting and unique individuals I know -- and I have high standards. It's just a lot of fun spending time with them.

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April 11

If you're wondering why Belynda is hiding behind a drinks menu ... well, join the club.

Belynda had a birthday last week, and Marion (of Script Frenzy fame) decided that she needed a little birthday party. After batting around various ideas (visiting the IMAX theater, Jasper White's Summer Shack, etc.), we settled on going to Longhorn Steakhouse for chicken parts and assorted dinner stuff.

We took two separate cars to get there, and our original party of five expanded a bit with the anticipated arrival of Tom's girlfriend. After originally requesting a table for seven, we hurriedly revised it to eight after I realized that, being a liberal arts major, I couldn't count straight. (I rarely do anything straight.) Eventually, eleven people showed for the party -- and honestly, I couldn't have had more fun while remaining sober.

Our waiter Jason (nicknamed Spunky almost immediately) was pure eye candy. A nearby waiter, Duane, was nicknamed Studly for similar reasons. When Sparky the Waiter appeared, and one poor unattractive man we called Scary, we had a virtual platter-carrying boy band on our hands.

I got Mary Anne, who is very shy and says she's sexually frustrated, to leave her number on a napkin for Spunky, with the entreaty to call her. We very nearly got Marion, who has a thing for somebody else, to leave her number for the cute waiter Studly, but she demurred. Happily-married Belynda settled for pressing her girly parts into me for a couple of minutes (eat your hearts out straight men!), and to coin a phrase, a good time was had by all.

Considering the widely-held opinion of Script Frenzy and National Novel Writing Month participants as socially-awkward, it's amazing how much fun we can really have when we let loose. :-)

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March 28

The little black letters on this pitcher of apple margaritas says "DRINK RESPONSIBLY."

It was my friend Marion's birthday party today, so naturally, I brought a camera with me when invited to the party. And, I have to admit, it was pretty fun. Marion is a self-admitted geek, and the unusual combination of her friends from NaNoWriMo/Script Frenzy, the Aquarium (where she works with snakes), and her job as a waitress, meshed together pretty well. Belynda, Brandon, and I took devilish pleasure in warping some of their young minds, and even more pleasure in learning how warped the rest of them really were.

I even indulged in a couple of drinks myself. I'm sure the photos of me with the two prettiest ladies in the place sitting on my lap will make it to somebody's facebook page. Meanwhile, it was their keeping me out later than midnight that caused me to be late posting this POTD. But that's OK -- it was totally worth it.

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March 22

This was nearly the edit-in that wasn't.

I've been lazy about showing up on time at National Novel Editing Month events, since I'm not actively participating. I'm there more for moral support than any real editing purpose. Nonetheless, I'm usually there.

This afternoon, I was running a little late. Life interfered, and I took care of life first. While I was taking care of life, about 45 minutes after the edit-in was scheduled to begin, my phone rang. Anna was on the line, telling me to tell everyone that she was on the way. I chuckled at her naïve assumption that I was there, and we began making phone calls -- only to discover that nobody we knew was around.

Marion, meanwhile, was there, but wasn't sure there was an edit-in, since nobody else was at the restaurant. So she went to our other usual venue and discovered nobody there, either. Marion spent a considerable amount of time running to and fro, trying to find the edit-in. Finally, she thought to call me to find out what was going on.

I arrived at the event about a minute before it was scheduled to end, and thanks to Brandon's arrival two hours later, I was not the last person to arrive. Having friends like this is pretty darn cool. For once, I'm among people who are just as screwed up as I am.

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March 15

With enough of these pictures, I might appear to have a social life.

I've been attending "edit-ins" for National Novel Editing Month -- my friend Anna is the Queen of Edmo. Marion, Belynda, and Brandon were there with us; Randy and Arika weren't able to make it because Arika hurt her foot. Still, we had a good time, even if there wasn't a lot of editing going on. There was enough laughter to make up for it.

I have to say, I'm quite pleased with this group pic. It came out pretty well for an informally-posed picture; I guess it pays to have attractive friends.

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February 01

Here I am, surrounded by beauty and brains. Belynda is in purple, Anna in orange, Marion in blue and me in front. Belynda and Marion are taking over the municipal liaison duties for Script Frenzy (SF) in the Boston region. Neither Anna nor I have done well with SF, and while I actually enjoy setting up events for National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), the scriptwriting competition just wasn't as interesting for me.

We all met to chat and catch up, since Belynda and Marion are NaNoWriMo alumni and both a lot of fun to hang out with. Of course, Anna and I were also there to offer advice and support for our replacements, and also to coordinate sharing of certain materials useful to both NaNoWriMo and SF (since duplicating our purchases would be wasteful).

The photo itself isn't really POTD material. It was taken without tripod by crowding around a table and setting the camera right on the Cold Stone Creamery countertop. It does capture some of the fun of the afternoon, and that's the important thing, isn't it?

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