48 HOUR ROUNDUP

This has been another long and exhausting yet thoroughly entertaining weekend in good ol' Chi-Town. Here's a quick blow-by-blow:

THE DATE

My Friday night date went very well, although not exactly according to plan. Since we really could not find a movie that we could both agree on, and since we were starving we opted to go out and have dinner rather than fight the crowds at the multiplex. JT came over and we had a drink than walked through the little downtown section of my neighborhood, with me playing the role of the tour guide pointing out interesting architecture, funky little shops and the bars and restaurants.

Finally we settled on a simple bar/grill were we drank beers, people watched (we got my favorite table which is surrounded by windows and 3 sides) and ate good food. He ordered a cheese steak sandwich, I had the grilled cheese.

Afterwards we walked around some more to burn off our heavy meals. Rather than sit in one of several crowded, noisy bars, we hit up the liquor store and went back to my place. We drank, listened to music and flirted with one another. Eventually we moved into the to the other room and put in a DVD. We settled on "Jarhead" since JT had never seen it (not to mention I will never tire of seeing Jake without his shirt on).

I must say I prefer watching movies at home as opposed to the theater. Whereas the a movie theater has the huge screen, stadium seating and popcorn, I have an acceptable TV, booze and comfy couch to make out on! Towards the end of the movie JT's eyes were getting heavy so I suggested we lay down. It didn't take him long to wake up and we had some "fun" although we kept it PG-13.

Roomie's cat woke me up around 7AM, crying because he was hungry. I reluctantly unwrapped my arms from JT and fed the little fuzzball, than climbed back in bed and went back to sleep for another 3 hours. Upon opening my eyes I was reminded that I am not in fact dreaming and traced my fingers alongside still sleeping JT's back. Eventually he awoke and I gave him a nice good morning kiss. Damn I like this boy! I would have been more than content to lay there all day with him, but alas, he had things to do and so did I. Sigh.

THE NOT SO FUN PART OF THE WEEKEND

Saturday afternoon I (finally) dropped off the rent check, did some shopping and did a ton of laundry at the laundry mat. Ugh, I fucking hate doing laundry with a sincere passion but at I got to watch the Cubs stomp on the Mets (in your face Billy!). The Mets gave up 5 runs in the 3rd inning and I went home grinning ear to ear. We won 6-2. Hells yeah!

THE BIRTHDAY PARTY

Saturday evening my buddy MarK picked me up to go to our mutual friend's 30th birthday party. Friend's wife selected a "Sopranos" theme for the party and asked everyone to dress up like characters from the show (birthday boy kinda looks like Tony, only Jewish). Since I don't own a jogging suit and I don't wear suits except for funerals or weddings, I elected to dress up like my normal self, in a t-shirt and jeans.

This was a family/friends affair so I knew very few people. Friend's Mom said hello to me and called me Ryan. "Mom" friend said, "his name is Justin". "Well, I knew it ended with an N" she said. Following this exchange I made a beeline for the beer tub. My newly 30 year old friend has 3 brothers in law who are triplets. I know one of them is gay but I can never tell them apart, however, while I was walking over to the beer tub the gay one, who was laying on a couch spotted me. "Heeeey Justin" said he. "Hey man, whats crackin'?" said I. We chatted for a moment but I spotted another friend who I hadn't spoken to yet and I excused myself.

Although I always feel awkward at these family/friends parties, I must say that I had a great time and ate some terrific Italian food (friend's wife can cook like non other).

We left at 9:30 and headed back to the city.

THE SHOW

The plan for the rest of the night was to head down to Wicker Park and see a free show at the Double Door. MarK is awesome about finding out about these things and last night was no exception. Rhapsody.com was hosting a private post-Lollapalooza gig featuring Ted Leo & the Pharmacists, Chin-Up Chin-Up and the Ponys.

We rushed to get back to his place, had a drink and some smoke then hopped on the Western Ave bus and headed south. It was a bit of walk from the bus stop to the venue and I was worried the place would fill up before we could get there. To get in to this show all one had to do was RSVP on-line (you couldn't buy a ticket even if you wanted to) but it was still first come first serve and we got there at 11PM, an hour after the doors opened.

Not to worry, they found our names on the list and we were rewarded with wrist bands. Said magical wrist bands had 2 little tabs on it labeled "DRINK" which I redeemed for some Red Stripes (free music + free beer = happy me!).

Less than 5 minutes after getting inside Ted Leo and his band stormed the stage and proceeded to RAWK THE FUCK OUT. This was the first time I had ever seen him live and he did not disappoint. It helped that he was playing at one of the best sounding venues in Chicago but dude was amped (coked up?) up and wailed around the stage. Awesome.

During set break I noticed a smokin' hot guy with spiky blond air standing next to me. We started talking about music and Lollapalooza. Turns out dude is some kind of important music industry executive and spent the whole day behind the various stages at Lollapalloza and at various VIP shin-digs. I always thought these types of guys were douche bags but he couldn't be nicer.

While talking he extended his hand introduced himself as "Mike". About once every 5 seconds I had to remind myself that I only have eyes for JT and that Mike was likely straight. Eventually the lights dimmed and the The Ponys came on and started rocking out with furious abandon. Gotta give it up for the local boys!

MarK disappeared while I was talking to Mike (more like screaming in his ear over the loud music) but reappeared with 2 Fat Tire bombers. Pinch me! Needless to say I was drunk off my ass at this point and past the point of caring about the heat in the barely air conditioned place. I wanted to stay and watch the next set and continue talking to Mike but MarK was getting tired (pussy!) and we left around 2AM.

Whew, busy weekend. I need to go the gym and burn some carbs. Hopefully the universe will allow JT to have some time to hang out tonight, but I know he's super busy babysitting (awwww) and he has more family functions later this evening. Sigh. Hope you are all having a great weekend and staying cool. It's hot as shit here in Chicago...

If you're interested in what the hotness that is Ted Leo & The Pharmacists sounds like, click here to see a video of their song "Where Have All the Rude Boys Gone" (I would embed the video but Blogger is in a bitch of a mood).

LOST IN TRANSLATION

Thursday night was spent drinking beers with Marco at the "gay sports bar" (which interestingly is about to spawn an "Irish gay bar" - Chicago kicks ass). On the phone before we met up he asked me where I wanted to go. When I mentioned the gay sports bar he agreed and I said "sounds good to me". Then he said "well, do you want to go or not?" I responded that I did and he said "Justin, you must be more aggressive!"

Now I have no idea how people perceive me but I think that I am, in essence, a very laid back guy. It's not that I don't show emotions but the way in which I exhibit them is, perhaps, a little subtle. When I'm in a really good mood I laugh often and I have a tendency to raise my eyebrows but I don't bounce off the walls as some of friends tend to do. My friends can tell when I'm angry because I'll say little or nothing and furrow my brow.

Marco on the other hand, is the extreme opposite. This is not a surprise since Latins are known to be very emotional and expressive, which he certainly is. Since my ethnic background is German, and I'm a Midwesterner, I tend to be more stoic than excitable. Still, when I caught sight of him I lit up like a Christmas tree. We embraced each other and he sat down next me, actually, he was practically on top of me. And for the 2 hours or so we were there he planted his right leg on the bottom rung of the bar stool, as if to say "back off bitches, this skinny white boy is mine!"

More than once he asked why I was acting so shy. I didn't think I was being shy, in fact I was just being myself, but I can understand why he would think that because after he said I was being shy I became of self conscious. Marco said "tell me everything!" at which point my mind drew a blank. When I speak about myself it's usually not preceded by a question. It felt almost like a test question. "Uh, well I was born in Canada" was my answer, if memory serves.

In the middle of my friendly interrogation I noticed a familiar face. At first, I couldn't figure out were I knew this guy from. Then he passed by me on his way to the bathroom. He seemed to be having the thoughts as I did. A moment later, it hit me. He used to work at old place of employment. The source of our confusion, I think, was #1, I was not out when I worked with him (and therefore it would seem odd that I was at a gay bar), and #2, he seemed to have gained the weight that I lost over the last 2 years.

So there I was. Marco ticking off question after question while Guy I Used to Work With bored holes in to the back of my head with his eyes. Marco noticed it too and said "this person keeps looking at you". Every time I looked over he was looking at me, but he never came over to say hello or anything, and I didn't want to confuse Marco by going over and talking to this guy that wouldn't stop looking at me. It was an odd scene (note to self, that might play well in a screenplay).

Towards the end of night, and perhaps emboldened by 4 Blue Moons, Marco loudly announced how Latin men are different than white men. He told me how a friend of his left Bogota and m to Paris, but after 3 years he went back home because he just couldn't figure out the guys there. "Yeah, we can be confusing at times" was all I could muster. A-W-K-W-A-R-D! He then precedes to tell me how much he likes me and that about when I started feeling a little overwhelmed.

It really was a mistake to get naked with this guy after hanging out twice. I like this guy, but I'm trying to get to know him better and my actions seem to be confusing to him (shit, sometimes they confuse ME). One time I said to a friend that "there is compromise and then there is incompatibility" (this is also the prospective title to as yet unwritten relationship advice book - that was a joke). That's not to say that Marco and I are incompatible, and I'm open to compromise. We just time to let this grow, or at least I do.

PS - This might be the first post I have ever written and not found any misspelled words with spell check. Who's your Daddy now?

QUICK WEEKEND UPDATE

Last night I headed to the burbs to hang out at PD's place. We had a few drinks and ventured out into the frozen tundra that is Northern Illinois right now and had dinner at one of my old stomping grounds. We had a nice time but it was also bittersweet to be at a bar that I used to always hangout with my buddy's at and not see anyone I knew. We went headed back to PD's place, had another drink but I was exhausted just past midnight (it was a really, really long week at work) and once in his bed I promptly passed out. I slept like a baby until around 6Am or so when we both woke up and had some fun, then passed out again for another few hours. Currently he is on his way over and we're going to go see "Zodiac" which I'm excited about. The roomie and her BF have thankfully vacated the apartment so perhaps we'll have some "quiet time" after the we get back from the film.

UPDATE TO THE QUICK WEEKEND UPDATE

We went to see a 10PM showing of Zodiac (which is a really great date movie - seeing random couples get murdered by a lunatic is strangely romantic). It's a long movie and we didn't get back to my place until 1AM or so. We poured some drinks and hung out at my kitchen table and just talked about everything and nothing. Before we knew it the it was 3:45AM! We agreed that perhaps it was "time for bed" which basically involved us getting naked and having a session of hot boy lovin' in my bed.

Eventually we passed out and slept nice and late. After getting some food we came back and just sat around watching movies all day. I didn't want to see "Breakfast Club" for the 600th fucking time but he wanted to watch it so I obliged. That movie has really not aged well although I must say when Emilio Estavez gets high and runs around the library, eventually shattering a plate glass window with sheer power of his masculinity is classic moment in cinema history. After that we flipped around and until we found "Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang". I barely remember seeing this movie before but on second viewing I really enjoyed it. Robert Downey Jr. was reason enough to see "Zodiac" and that's the case with this film too. Poor Harry...I feel bad for his thumb. Just to take it down a notch we watched "Syriana" which gets better each time I watch it. There is so much going on in that film that I doubt I'll ever sort it all out. At one point, (after several drinks) I felt compelled to scream "those Motherfuckers" at the screen once every 2 minutes.

Finally it was time draw the weekend with PD to a close. I knew that if he stayed the night again neither of us would get much sleep so we went home and I got ready to tackle another week of work.

Looking back all I really did this weekend was drink, watch movies and fool around with PD. It was a great weekend...

P-DAY BOY PART II

I didn't hang out with President's Day Boy last night but he did come to the city tonight and we went out for dinner. We went to a nice place in my neighborhood that would satisfy his Vegaterian diet and my bloodlust for Cajun Chicken, not to mention our mutual taste of locally made brew. Afterwards we came back to my place and decided to watch "Memento", one of my favorite films. I think we made it to the part where Guy Peirce sits down in a diner with Carrie-Anne Moss but I don't really remember. However, I do remember thinking my roomate might be able to hear what was going on in my room, but I fell back into my "Oh Fuck It" attitude and had fun. I'm tempted to cancel my trip to out of town this weekend to see more of this Boy but I guess I'll be back on Sunday, so I can wait.

I finally understand the phrase "my head is swimming".

ONE HELL OF A PRESIDENT'S DAY

I guess I'll start this post by describing Sunday night. After eating dinner at my Dad's place I decided to take a little detour on my way home and check out a gay bar. The place was not surprisingly quiet but I decided to stick around and have a few drinks. There seemed to be an incessant loop of Madonna videos playing on the huge television right about my head and I noticed they were showing NCAA Wrestling (Army vs. Navy, hot haha) on the television in the corner. I wasn't really attracted to the guy sitting over there but I figure it would be better than sitting alone. His eyes kinds of lit up when I sat down next to him and we talked while watching television.

Right about the time the 280 lb weight class was up a cute boy and his friend asked me and the guy I was sitting next to if we wanted to shoot pool. I enjoy shooting pool and after a few drinks I can hit some crazy bank shots. Guy at the Bar hesitated but I convinced him to play since it was just for fun (no money). Well, I wasn't really on my game (although I did made two shots that seemed to wow my opponents) and we lost but it was really fun. It was getting late so I finished my beer and took off.

Once I got home I decided I wasn't tired and made a drink. I was kinda bored and dreading work on Monday morning so I figured fuck it, and logged onto a chat room. Now, I haven't been on there in about 2 months but I ended up chatting with this guy I thought was hot. He lives in the area I used to before I moved to Chicago so it was fun talking about my old stomping grounds and whatnot. Since it was getting late once again, I decided I needed to go to sleep. We did swap digits and briefly chatted about maybe meeting for dinner sometime.

Monday morning. I hate Mondays. I overslept but still pulled myself together and got ready for work. A funny thing happened though before I was about to leave. Something just clicked in my head and decided that I wasn't going to be miserable and decided, fuck it, I'm calling in. Then I went back to bed for a few hours. After waking up around 11AM I decided to hit up the gym. I totally kicked my ass and felt great. Mission accomplished.

I came home and signed on AIM and was chatting with a buddy when the guy from the chatroom logged on. He also had the day off and we discussed meeting up for an early dinner. I figured even if this guy turns out to be lame or unattractive meeting for a bite to eat wouldn't hurt. We both got ready and I waited for him to arrive. Once he called to say he was near (I didn't want to give him my actual address) I got really nervous. I walked downstairs, turned the corner and walked a block down the street. And then...WHOA! At first I didn't think was could be him. This guy was waaaay better looking than he was in his picture but sure enough it was HIM.

We walked over to the little strip in my neighborhood where all the bars and restaurants are. Nervous small was made and I was practically stuttering at one point. I got some cash and we headed to one of my favorite places. I calmed down a bit after our first round of beers and we eased into a nice, casual conversation about work, school, etc. Cute and smart I thought myself. We settled up and decided to go elsewhere for another few drinks. More talking ensued. I finally asked him if we wanted to come back to my place. I knew my rommie and her BF would be there so I wasn't worried about being alone with him.

We walked in and I had the biggest smile when I introduced him to my roomie and her BF. When he turned the other way to take his shoes off (awww, manners too!) I got the thumps up sign and and my roomie silently mouthed (he's cute). I'll elaborate here: he doesn't look exactly like Grady Sizemore but he was similar features, such as his hair, eyes, and lips although his overall frame is considerably smaller. Carmel skin, yum. Dimples too. Fine by me. We went into the other room and talked some more and had a few more drinks (anyone see a pattern here?). I think my roomies curiosity got the better of her and she joined us, along with her BF. The four of us got along great and when he left the room to take a call they both approved him. Roomie's BF even said "he's one good looking cat".

Later they went to bed and left us alone. We went and sat down on my couch and watched some Six Feet Under. He had never seen it and I was trying to explain to him that it's the second best show EVER, (The Wire being #1). And then inevitably we started making out. I love his lips. The whole thing just seemed so natural. I asked him if he wanted to stay the night and we made a mad dash for my bedroom. It's didn't take long before we were both down to our nearly matching pairs of black boxer briefs. I think I'll stop there but needless to say neither of us got much sleep.

Work was brutal this morning but I was still really happy about last night. I would say it was worth it and I think he feels the same. He might come over again tonight and this time, I have the place to myself...

FRIDAY NIGHT BOY

As I posted earlier, I met a guy on Friday night and got his number. Over the weekend we made plans to do something on Monday night after I got off work. I called and left a voicemail at 5PM. 6PM, nothing. 7PM, nothing. After 8PM rolled around I accepted my fate and decided to take a shower and watch a movie. Damn, stood up I thought to myself. But after drying off I see the message indicator on my phone blinking. "We still going out?" the text read. I texted him back and we made plans to meet around 9:30-10 at one of my favorite bars.

About a half hour later I get a call from my brother. Once we got through the casual chit-chat and what not he ask me what I'm doing tonight, I said I was meeting a friend out for a drink when he tells me that if I want I can meet him and his buddies at a bar for a few drinks. And not just any bar. The same fucking bar I was planning on meeting Friday Night Boy at. Just my luck (or lack thereof). Seeing as I'm not yet out to my brother it's an understatement to say that would have been awkward. I texted the guy and we switch it up to somewhere else.

I arrived before he did and was nervous and anxious, but ultimately relieved when he walked in the door. Damn, I thought to myself, he's better looking than I remember. And he smelled really good too. He ordered a drink, I ordered a beer and we talked and talked for a few hours. I had already made the decision that we weren't going to hook up since I needed to make sure my first impressions were correct and by and large they were. Out of 5 or so guys I went on a date with in the last 6 months he's easily the best one. We click, he's cute and I caught him looking at my ass when I got up to go the bathroom. The only foreseeable problem is that we both have opposite schedules. He's a bartender with odd/late night hours and I'm a paper pusher/9-5-er. So although we didn't make firm plans we did express our mutual wanting to meet for dinner/drinks sometime "soon". I’m stoked.