An Interesting Day (A Bland Subject)
So Daddy-O left yesterday (SIGH of relief, SIGGGHHHH), and I've just decided that should I ever write a novel (not a story, but a novel) in which a character very similar to my father appears (it shouldn't be hard, he is fairly archetypical, yet original enough to be fresh), I'm going to call him Daddy-O. That's it, it's settled. No talking me out of it. No editor, no colleague, not even Angela Fleury with her mystical powers of censure and persuasion. Daddy-O it is.
So Daddy-O is gone, gone, gone. And, as if I were a bed and breakfast, my cousin Rod showed up today for the weekend. He is a lawyer, specializing in personal bankruptcy law (secretly I want him to have a commerical, but I would never ask, nor would I imagine he actually has one). Since the passage of the new anti-bankruptcy bill, lawyers like cousin Rod have been scrambling to figure out what to do with their lives. Their business is about to go kerplunk! So they're all convening at a hotel downtown here to come up with contingency plans. I like Rod a lot. He does personal bankruptcy law literally because he believes in relieving people's financial burdens in times of hardship. He's smart and talented, good-natured, a husband and a father. He has all the good, comfy characteristics of a truly settled straight man. And who doesn't love those guys?
So anyhow, we spent the day together, just a-talk-talk-talkin' (mostly I did the talking, but, hey, mostly he asked the questions I had to talk about). I finally had occasion to eat the Middle Eastern (for lack of a more specific term) restaurant on Wells--it was decent. But it was a beautiful day, so we sat outside, chatted, didn't mind. Anyhow, we came back to the apartment, talked more (my throat is actually sore from it), and then he decided (as an amateur wine connoisseur) to go buy a nice bottle for us to share. He brought back this amazing red wine--I don't recall the type at this point, but it was so good. He even, like a good wine yuppie should, brought a big, wonderful hunk of (blue) cheese. Mmmmm. I felt like I was at Ange's, which, of course, I solely associate with wine and cheese.
So we ended up going out again for dinner (this time, his treat) to this outdoor Italian place I've also been wanting to go to--on the same block on Wells, actually. I guess you could call me an Old Town freak, or something. I guess it's the way it kind of reminds me of downtown Greenville (which we also talked about a lot, since he went to Furman). Talk, talk, talk. More wine. Whitefish with lemon. Mmmm. And THEN!--this is the best--the waitress "accidentally" brought us one dish of spumoni instead of two (with two spoons!) because, I'm rightfully assuming, she thought we were "together". Isn't that cute (and possibly weird)? I asked Rod if he wanted to get two, but being the comfortably straight man he is, he said no matter. So we ate the damn thing like a couple. I know it sounds creepy, but, really, on some level it just warmed my heart. It's so nice to go from being around my dad, with whom I'm constantly anxious in terms of what I can say about my life, etc., to someone like Rod, who I really don't have much experience with (he's much older, something like 34/35), but feel totally comfortable talking to about coming out, dating Terrance, my work here and at school, etc., etc.
Anyway, it was just a really bizarrely sweet kind of day, and I wanted to put that down in the memory books. So, now I guess I should sleep if I want to make up tomorrow for the stuff I didn't actually do today. Sometimes I'm a really big fan of this summer.
So Daddy-O is gone, gone, gone. And, as if I were a bed and breakfast, my cousin Rod showed up today for the weekend. He is a lawyer, specializing in personal bankruptcy law (secretly I want him to have a commerical, but I would never ask, nor would I imagine he actually has one). Since the passage of the new anti-bankruptcy bill, lawyers like cousin Rod have been scrambling to figure out what to do with their lives. Their business is about to go kerplunk! So they're all convening at a hotel downtown here to come up with contingency plans. I like Rod a lot. He does personal bankruptcy law literally because he believes in relieving people's financial burdens in times of hardship. He's smart and talented, good-natured, a husband and a father. He has all the good, comfy characteristics of a truly settled straight man. And who doesn't love those guys?
So anyhow, we spent the day together, just a-talk-talk-talkin' (mostly I did the talking, but, hey, mostly he asked the questions I had to talk about). I finally had occasion to eat the Middle Eastern (for lack of a more specific term) restaurant on Wells--it was decent. But it was a beautiful day, so we sat outside, chatted, didn't mind. Anyhow, we came back to the apartment, talked more (my throat is actually sore from it), and then he decided (as an amateur wine connoisseur) to go buy a nice bottle for us to share. He brought back this amazing red wine--I don't recall the type at this point, but it was so good. He even, like a good wine yuppie should, brought a big, wonderful hunk of (blue) cheese. Mmmmm. I felt like I was at Ange's, which, of course, I solely associate with wine and cheese.
So we ended up going out again for dinner (this time, his treat) to this outdoor Italian place I've also been wanting to go to--on the same block on Wells, actually. I guess you could call me an Old Town freak, or something. I guess it's the way it kind of reminds me of downtown Greenville (which we also talked about a lot, since he went to Furman). Talk, talk, talk. More wine. Whitefish with lemon. Mmmm. And THEN!--this is the best--the waitress "accidentally" brought us one dish of spumoni instead of two (with two spoons!) because, I'm rightfully assuming, she thought we were "together". Isn't that cute (and possibly weird)? I asked Rod if he wanted to get two, but being the comfortably straight man he is, he said no matter. So we ate the damn thing like a couple. I know it sounds creepy, but, really, on some level it just warmed my heart. It's so nice to go from being around my dad, with whom I'm constantly anxious in terms of what I can say about my life, etc., to someone like Rod, who I really don't have much experience with (he's much older, something like 34/35), but feel totally comfortable talking to about coming out, dating Terrance, my work here and at school, etc., etc.
Anyway, it was just a really bizarrely sweet kind of day, and I wanted to put that down in the memory books. So, now I guess I should sleep if I want to make up tomorrow for the stuff I didn't actually do today. Sometimes I'm a really big fan of this summer.