bjarvis | Evenings: Past, Present & Future (Reply)

Friends & neighbours Rob & Mike are moving to Martha's Vineyard next week. Despite living so close to each other --perhaps because of it-- we rarely see each other although we're in frequent contact by e-mail. Since their departure is looming heavily on my personal horizon and I'm sure they're doing their best to clean out their kitchen, I called them yesterday to see if we could take them out for dinner.

We opted for chinese food at a nearby restaurant on 16th Street NW. The food was quite good and they filled us in on a great deal of detail about the move, the place their going and the items yet to be handled here in DC. After dinner, we returned to their place to talk more amongst the moving boxes and play with the pets.

Visiting with them reminded me sharply how much I'm going to miss not only them, but also their dogs Beau and Snoopy. I love dogs... they're fun, social, undemanding and each one has his/her own distinct personality. If only Kent weren't allergic to them --well, dogs and, say, any molecule larger than water... And if only our schedules weren't quite so manic... And if we didn't travel so much... I'm doomed to spending the rest of my life playing with and spoiling rotten other peoples' dogs as well as their children.

We didn't stay very late as both Kent & I had early mornings the next day. With a little luck, we'll see them at least once more before they go.

Last September, I gave Kent a pair of tickets to see BETTY RULES! at the JCC in Washington, DC. Tonight is the show, 7:30 PM. Look for us in F9 and F10.

Mid-Atlantic Leather gears up this Friday. I find most of the contests, dances and events to be boring as hell... I frequently slip into frustrated stage manager mode, wanting to have people properly queued up for their moment on stage, remembering their lines and generally not embarrassing themselves and those around them. It's less stressful to stay away.

Despite this, I do look forward to friends Jon & Donn's buffet dinner party in Arlington and generally schmoozing with the crowd in the lobby of the Washington Plaza. There's a lot of friends from around Canada and the US I rarely see outside of events like this so I try to attend as much as possible. And then there's the market & vendor booths: my ensemble is pretty much complete but I'm always on the lookout for a sale, perhaps for xmas presents or something.

I'll have to remember to bring that spiffy new digital camera Kent gave me for xmas... :-)