Can’t take me home
Eric, Tom, and I had our second (what looks to be) annual Philadelphia Phags blog meet-up last night. (Tom’s comment: “I like that the 4000 mile away guy always brings the 15 mile away guys together.” That’s always the way of it, huh?) I was probably fine to drive home, but I was nodding off somewhat, so I ended up staying in what can only be described as Eric’s guesthouse. After showing me where the bathroom light switch and stuff were, he pointed out that there was a computer in the bedroom “in case you feel like blogging.” At the suggestion that I might not want to let a single night go without posting something, I just smiled–Eric, honey, I think you’re just the tiniest bit more into blogging than I am.
Of course, this morning, I woke up and realized I didn’t have a book with me, and I don’t want to go making noises in Eric’s living room in case he’s still asleep. So here I am logged on, though I can’t say I’m quite in the mood to be trawling the Japanese media for interesting stories.
So then, just to keep the gay theme of the day going….
We met Tom on-site at his new venture, the Philadelphia AIDS Thrift (PAT for short). Like many crossword puzzles, it has an aerie. Like many gay-friendly thrift stores, it has an entertaining selection of books, housewares, and fashion-victim clothes. Mindful of the weight of my luggage, I confined myself to picking up a few paperbacks; but if you’re in the area, it’s worth checking out. (Unless you’re around twenty-three, my advice is to walk resolutely past the leather pants, BTW.)
Mary at Gay Orbit has a message for straight people: Gay people en masse don’t care whether you see, like, dislike, swoon for, or find major socio-politico portent in Brokeback Mountain. To coin a phrase, it’s only a movie.
Uh, I can’t think of anything else gay to say except maybe that Atsushi sounds even sexier than usual when he’s half-asleep, and I’m almost sorry that when I get back to Tokyo, our nightly phone call will go back to taking place when he’s still up. Speaking of being awake, this might be a good time to see whether my host is ambulatory. Enjoy the rest of the weekend, everyone.
Added at 11:50: Eric has posted about the visit, complete with way too many pictures of my un-photogenic self. It’s worth clicking through to see the great pic of Tom in front of the poster, though. Notice that he and the shark have the same untrustworthy smile.
Drink globally — a Philadelphia Tradition!
I’m late getting to my blog today, and that’s because I’ve been running around with Sean Kinsell, who’s visiting from Japan for just a few days. Yesterday afternoon, Sean drove to my place, where he charmed the socks off Coco,…
Hey, I’m the one who’s un-photogenic! You look great! Besides Jeff (who’s promised to bring Camille Paglia to our next reunion) thinks you look like Eric Bana.
Sorry to hear about the horrible traffic strike in New York.
I think it was Michael who said I look like Eric Bana. I don’t want to know whom Jeff thinks I look like.
You’re right! My mistake; I can’t keep up with all this lookalike business.
(BTW, that Little Red Book/Homeland Security story is looking like a hoax….)
Little red lie?
The other night when Sean Kinsell was visiting, I read this story about Homeland Security agents showing up at the home of a student and intimidating him for checking out Chairman Mao’s ridiculous (and omnipresent) “Little Red Book,” and my…
OHFG – you are SOOO cute. I’ve been reading your blog for a while and was curious to see what you looked like.
Anyway – I read you all the time – you ROCK!
John
Glad you were proved right, Eric.
John, thanks. I’m blushing. (How much extra cuteness, I’m moved to wonder, is each o worth?)
Each “O” represents one standard deviation – so you’re way out there on the right on the Bell Curve of gayboi cuteness.
Oh, honey–you really think gay hotness is normally distributed? I’m thinking we’re overrepresented at the high end of the scale. : )
I totally agree. I have another question. Did you ever post on how you ended up in Japan?
Hm. Sort of. Here‘s a post I wrote about learning Japanese that addressed it tangentially, but basically what happened is this: I majored in comp. lit. (American and Japanese) in college and went immediately into a PhD program for Japanese literature after graduation. I wasn’t ready. My mentor and I had a strained relationship. After a year of coursework, I came here for a one-year language program in scholarly Japanese and ended up just kind of never going back. That hadn’t been my plan, BTW; I was figuring I’d become a professor in the States and just visit Japan frequently. Plans change.