Entry Interregnum

My loyal readers (well, friends that are bored at work) are demanding an update. I’ve been lazy lately, and really busy at work, and I’ve been having difficulty getting inspired. So I’ve decided to throw caution to the wind, and just crank out something. Don’t worry about Thanksgiving, I’ve got notes on Parts II and III, as well as the Sunday (we’ll just call that the Massacre at 13 Coins). But until I can get all that pulled together here are some tidbits from recent days.

Secrets. Here’s a tip for those of you (you know who you are) who are trying to keep secrets. If you have a secret and want to keep it, the last thing in the world you do is post on your blog that you have a secret. All of my friends think I can’t keep a secret, and that I tell everyone everything that I know. Exhibit A, of course, is this blog. But the first step in keeping a secret is not telling anyone you have a secret. So yes, I babble all sorts of embarrassing stuff about my friends. But how do you know I talk about everything? Exactly, you don’t unless I tell you I’m leaving stuff out. And I don’t say one way or the other, that’s how I keep from being badgered into telling things that really should stay secret. I know we all learned this (or should have) in 3rd grade. Not to lecture (well ok, I’m lecturing) but if you can’t keep secret the fact that you have a secret, how can you keep the actual secret? And has the word “secret” lost all meaning for you too, after I used it so many times?

Lies. Lies, to oneself and others, are crucial for some people to get through their lives. Setting for a moment aside the notion that truth is better than lies, people that habitually lie need to track them and make sure one lie, or the occasional bit of truth, doesn’t contradict a prior lie. Case in point: before moving to Issaquah a month ago, JPK had occasion to tell Matty that he’d bought a new dining room set. Which isn’t a big deal, in and of itself, but this purchase was used as an excuse by JPK. Then this week, JPK posted a pic on his blog of a dining room set he and Ross just bought. There are 2 explanation: they decided to replace a month-old dining room set, or JPK lied last month to get Matty off his back. My money’s on the latter, and the lesson is that if your life is substantially composed of lies, you need to stay on top of them.

Intentions. Tuesday night was our last Spanish class. To celebrate we went out for a beer afterwards at R Place. It was just Paul, Matty, and I. Paul’s been sticking to soda lately, Matty had a flight in the morning, and I had an early meeting with a cranky supervisor. Plus, class had gotten out early so there was plenty of time to have a beer and get home by 10 pm. We had one, then another, then Matty wanted to go to Madison Pub. Paul said, “You always say one, and it always gets out of hand.” Well surprise, he was right. Paul went home and Matty and I went to Madison Pub. We had a beer with Mike Meola (who was playing darts with a cute boy named Keo) and had a long political chat with a guy who used to be my barista in the Columbia Tower. Then, for a change, we went to Manray and ran into Jerome and Good Mark. They were finishing a bottle of white wine, so Matty bought them another round, beers for us, and two or three rounds of shots. Sigh, good intentions be damned. I got home at 1 am to a cranky Carlos.

Passage. Last Friday, Woodsy and Jimmy broke up. While I’ve been acquainted with Jimmy for longer, Woodsy is more of a friend and so I’m on his side on this one. Plus, I think Woodsy did everything right. He was open to having a boyfriend, honest about what he wanted, and realistic about the relationship. At least from what I could tell. I was hopeful that this would work out for him, although not terribly optimistic based on Jimmy’s track record. As an outsider, I’m not privy to all the dynamics of the relationship, but in the final days it seemed Woodsy was being poorly treated, and there’s no need to put up with that (don’t tell Carlos). So in the post-breakup ritual we’ve all been through, Woodsy is drinking himself senseless and sleeping with anything that moves. Buy him a drink, and get one for the guy he’s working too.

Missed. How many times has this happened to you: you’re riding your motorcycle down Aurora at 50 mph, when a car pulls in front of you and you go over its hood and skidding on your face down the road? Happened to my friend Tony last week, and he came out of it with a shattered left arm and a nasty concussion, but he got to enjoy a week at Harborview. In the meantime, I was on the bus the other day. We stopped outside Ross, the driver let people on, and then he closed the doors. Except not everyone was on. A woman was partway thru the doors and she shrieked like a hyena going bezerk when they started to close,. I wasn’t paying any attention, so it took me completely by surprise. A guy got killed on that bus outside my office a few months ago, so any acting up on the bus freaks me out. When she yelled, I was halfway under my seat before I realized it wasn’t a shooting. So Tony and I each had a near miss, although Tony’s was much worse than mine. I’m glad Tony’s ok, I’m glad I didn’t wet my pants on the bus, and I’m glad you all missed my blog.