Philadelphia

Friday I went on a quick road trip with Brad and Cris, and Brad’s good friend Rick. Rick is a big fan of the ancient Egyptian art and artifacts, so was quite excited to go to the Tutankhamun exhibit at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia. The museum itself is a science museum with big plastic representations of scientific properties that you can “learn” about. The King Tut exhibit is on loan from the Egyptian antiquities office, and has some very stunning items.

We got into town a little after 11pm on Friday. This being my first Friday off from work at the club in almost 3 months, I said I wanted to go clubbing. Cris was quick to join in. Brad was too tired. So, Cris and I went to Shampoo. Philly has a LOT of one-way streets in the downtown area, so getting close to where you want to be doesn’t necessarily help much. We did a lot of driving to narrow in on where we needed to be. Friday night is apparently an ‘ethnic’ night there. The lower level was latino music, and the upper level was very rap/hip-hop. I was one of about 5 total white people in the building. There were definitely a few cuties there, but not as many as you are probably thinking. And despite being fresh-meat, and fairly day-glo in hue, nobody noticed me. Which can be attributed to one of two things: (A) That’s just the way it always is. (B) I was there with Cris, so they assumed the only reason I would be there in the first place is because I was “with” him – since the lack of other whites would imply that they normally only show up on the heels of a partner. Of course, I wasn’t looking too hard for options, myself. Partly because I would not be able to do anything with anyone, and partly because I was harboring fantasies about Cris leaning over and making out with me. But that never happened either. If it were to ever happen, this would be the optimal environment. Zero chance of anyone we know ever finding out. We did a little bump and grind for one song, but that was it. The usual good-night kiss, of course, but “usual” means just that.

After 6 hours of sleep, got up, got ready, the four of us went to Denny’s, then headed to the museum. It was a fun day, and the Tut exhibit was amazing. To look at a bead-inlaid gold necklace that was almost guaranteed to have been worn during the Pharaoh himself during an actual ceremony of some sort, like 3200 years ago, gives you chills. And most of the items were in amazingly good condition. Painted wooden figurines looked like they could have been on the shelf at Home Goods last week; though the skill and detail on these just blow away anything that is made nowadays. On our way driving back home, we stopped at Chili’s, just outside Hartford. The waiter was really cute.

I got home about 10:30, which was a little earlier than anticipated. Cris (slept part of the way home) decided to go out to the club that night. Brad decided to let him go, but turned to me and said he had been upset with Cris for going out the night before. I quickly said that last night was entirely my fault (Cris would not have thought of it if I hadn’t brought it up, and had a map), but Brad was like “well he didn’t have to go”. I would not have gone alone. But Saturday, again having the rare night off from work, I decided to go, as well. Plus, with all the heavy meals I had eaten that day, a little exercise would do me good. Of course, everybody working there got all grouchy that I took the night off, then came in. I tried to explain that I HAD been out of town, but they didn’t really care. Ronny saw someone there he was interested in, so went over, talked, got a number, they went back to his place after close. I still don’t understand why that can never work for me. Anyone I approach is either unavailable, flaky, creeped out, or just wants to be friends. I’m reminded of a line from a Will & Grace episode (celebrity auction) where Jack says to Will, “Stop it, Will! America doesn’t want to think of you as sexual!”

Sunday I sat down and read “Michael Tolliver Lives” by Armistead Maupin. It is billed as a separate novel, but any Tales of the City fan will tell you it’s book seven. Sadly, it feels like an epilogue. And the 9/11 and American Idol references feel anachronistic coming from our favorite 70’s libertines, even though it is set in 2005 or 2006. There are earlier books in the series that made me cry more, but it was definitely a worthwhile book! A friend also forwarded me his new blog address, so I looked that up. It linked to a myspace page for Gregory Keith, who connects to Darryl Stephens. His page says that Noah’s Arc is simply on hiatus while they put together a feature film. I had heard it was cancelled, and was nearly apoplectic, so that is really good news!