Weekend Upgayt

Dear F,

Clever enough title, if not entirely original. But, it about sums up my weekend--a whirlwind of events, some fun, some sad, but basically a good time. Hope yours was also--except for the sad part. Geez, that Chrysler 300 you rented sounded like fun (especially when you read what I rode in).

We got into Chicago around 5 on Friday, and met up with a friend (J) of my neighbor. He hosted us for dinner and is a marvelous fella, if a little ADHD, in my humble opinion. I think the D also stands for Drama. He's also an amateur/pro photographer and we ended up taking a lot of tasteful pics, which will be heretofore featured across my profile as I take up my new quest to find the man-o-my-dreams.

Anyway, I digress. My friend R and I and J then made it out to Touche, eventually, You see, J got a call from a person close to his most recent ex, (now in S.F.) He had some serious regression in his health and ended up suffering a stroke. Nonetheless, J felt he should go out, celebrate and got himself pretty trashed. Through it all, though I think it was a good distraction and probably good that we could keep an eye on him, because it was pretty clear to J that his ex was not going to make it. (insert specific elements here--suffice to say it was a difficult and pretty tragic story).

Anyhoo, we had a fun time at Touche, and the Jackhammer. However, nothing much was going on in terms of action. We settled for being drunk. Note to Jackhammer: lower the lights in the basement. It's too cheery.

The next day, with all the good, gay intentions we could muster, R and I bailed on the Art Institute, and decided to tour the Steamworks Instititute instead. Curiously, there was no twister inside, as I had been led to believe. We made do, and each met a few friendly locals who could have passed for VanGogh (Kirk Douglas) or someone equally arty like Jackson Pollock. MMMM Ed Harris. Again, I digress.

Returning to our hotel late afternoon, we napped and then later Sat. evening J picked us up in his 1991 Toyota Camry. The curious coincidence of both of us owning near-vintage Camrys was mediated by the fact that his was much closer to the boneyard than mine. Seriously, this baby was a-roaring down Halstead with a hole in the muffler as big as, well, insert your own large hole reference here. J brought a friend, D, along, and the four of us made our way to the Eagle.

F, to be honest, I did not realize there was a lower model version of the Toyota than mine. I have a DX, fer chrissakes. Anyway, this one did not have power windows or a clock. Somehow, that made me feel both better about myself (because my car was better), and yet worse, (since it is still a very old, non-cool car).

OK, back to the narrative.

We get to the Eagle. We have a good time. J took pics. I flirted in the backroom. So did R. Geez, that back bathroom is popular. We left promptly at 3:30, after seeing most of the video best butt contest. A shame that more boys couldn't win. I'm sure they could find some consolation, though, if they only looked around.

Sunday, after church, we had breakfast at the same place you and I ate last summer in Boystown. The name escapes me, but it was yummy. The Huevos Rancheros were nearly as tasty as the young waiter.

Well, except for the nasty 45 min. traffic jam on the way out of town, we cruised on our way home. No, not that way. We got back to R's place around 5 and I got home about an hour later.

I hope your weekend was fun, too.

M