The Musings of a Confused Man

Reading this book on journaling, I thought I'd try one of the techniques it described. I figured I'd do a bit of a character sketch of Mike. I figure this will be a good way for me to think about him and remember all the wonderful things I love about him, since I've been missing him lately and been a bit bummed about how long it's been since I've seen him.

When I first looked at Mike, there wasn't that moment of immediate attraction there. To be honest, at first glance, I think it would be easy to take him as quite plain. It's until you look into his gorgeous eyes -- which can be steel blue on one day and almost an emerald green the next -- and see them set above his subtle smile he's unconsciously mastered until you start to see his real beauty and charm. That smile provides the first hint to his quiet, almost shy nature. It fades in and out of existence, mimicking the glimpses of deeper personality that lives under the mask of serenity and his unassuming nature.

The eyes, on the other hand, are the key to seeing his more fiery nature, which is always there, but generally kept to himself. Once he begins to talk about anything that truly matters to him -- be it his nephew, his annual vacation to an amusement park, or an argument he's had with someone who crossed his family -- the eyes show the raw and pure fire that fuels his words. His words themselves, are powerful. Whereas I am generally seen as the eloquent speaker, Mike's way with simple, yet emotion-filled speech has a power behind it I can't help but admire. As one listens to him speak of such powerful topics, one cannot help but get swept up in his passion.

I sometimes think that this is why he tends to dart his eyes about. His unique blend of passionate feeling and sense of insecurity seem to play off one another. As he becomes self-aware of his own fervor, he begins to look away, almost getting distracted. It's as if he fears that his own intensity of feeling will chase people away, so he tries to divert it or reign it in as best he can. Of course, by the time that he has done this, I'm usually so enraptured that I hardly notice. Or I find myself yearning for more.

He also has such a tender, caring side. He's a worrier, always being concerned about the comfort and well-being of those who he loves so deeply. In fact, showing that concern seems to be one of his favorite expressions of love. It's nothing for him to spend the entire time we're together worried about whether I'm having "enough fun" and whatnot, despite the wide smile and dreamy look in my face.

It's been a pretty good day, really. I didn't do a whole lot. I was lazy and laid about. I played a lot of video games. I'm currently getting hooked on Phantasy Star Online for the Game Cube. I know, I bought both the console and that game to do embedded Linux development and "home geek time." But I figured, hey, why not get some good old fashioned game playing in at the same time. I just have to remind myself not to get addicted or something.

Of course, I never stay addicted to games long at all. I usually go nuts over them for about a week or two, and then I lose interest. It's been over a decade since I played a game so religiously that I completely beat it. In fact, I think the last game I won straight through was the original Legend of Zelda. I wonder if I still have that game somewhere. I don't even know where my NES console is.

But these days, things just don't seem to hold my attention like that. I sometimes worry about that. Because it's not just about games. I tend to be...easily distracted...about a lot of things. I sometimes wonder how well I can honestly commit to something. And that has me worried.

Though, to be honest, I do know that I can commit to things. After all, I've been committed to Mike. I mean, I've been with him for three years now, when some of my friends can't understand why we're taking things as slowly as we are. I have one friend who can't understand how I can stick with someone who won't even tell his family about me. That kind of commitment has to count for something, right?

Of course, that's something that bugs me about some of my friends. A few of them seem to have a preconceived notion about what my relationship would be like. And they tend to make it well known at times. That gets very frustrating. No one likes to feel like they have to "defend" their relationships. It's something I understand about Christy very well. She occasionally complains about how people criticize her relationship with Noah, and I don't blame her. I feel the same way at times.

Dear Z,

Well, hello there. I doubt you never expected me to write you another letter, did you? I mean, it's been over four years since we've had any contact at all. I'm not sure you even think of me. I don't know how I feel that. For the most part, I'm fine with it. You're out of my life, I've moved on, and I'm happy to keep it that way. That's while you'll never actually "receive" this letter. But that's okay. I'm not writing it for you. I'm writing it for me. So you'll forgive me if I picture you on the other end reading this. I know it'll never happen, but just picturing it makes me feel content.

I'm not sure what kind of letter this is going to be. I'm not entirely sure why I'm even writing it. I just know that even after all of this time, I still think of you every now and then. I even wrote a couple of diary entries about you last Fall. So I figured I'd write you a letter. I don't know. Maybe this is my goodbye letter. Maybe some part of me hopes that once I write this, I can quit thinking about you from time to time. Though another part of me doubts that's going to happen.

At any rate, I just wanted to share my thoughts and memories of "our" past with you. Even if I continue to think of you -- and it's not a totally terrible thing to think of you -- at least I'll have gotten a chance to express those thoughts. And I guess that's all I really feel that I need right now. So anyway, here we go.

We broke up five and a half years ago. No, let's rephrase that. You dumped me five and a half years ago. I'm not exactly bitter about that, you know. As I say it, I'm not even really angry about it. I just want to state how things went down clearly. Maybe it's petty of me. I don't know. It doesn't matter. But like I said, I'm not angry. In retrospect, I now realize that it was bound to happen.

Oh, don't get me wrong. I was angry with you once upon a time. But you know that, don't you? I chewed you out in an email a year after the fact. What can I say? I'm human, and I get angry. I will neither excuse it nor rationalize it. Just don't expect me to apologize for it, either.

Of course, in fairness, I don't blame you for everything bad in that mess I thought of as a relationship. (I'm still not sure whether you ever actually considered it one.) I made my share of mistakes. I was less than a model boyfriend. And for that, I'm sorry. But I've grown since then.

I suppose most people would say the regretted the relationship and the breakup, considering how messy it was. But I'm not most people. I can only look back, nod, and say what a fool I was. But I also have to look at the path leading on from there and realize that my foolishness earned me wisdom. One of the people on a mailing list I frequent often comments that experience is the thing that you get after you needed it. I've always liked that saying since the first time I heard her utter it. I think that's partly because that's how I see the nightmare I went through with you.

I learned a lot about myself and relationships from dealing with the emotional rollercoaster dating you put me through. Or perhaps I should say that I discovered the kinds of things that I needed to unlearn because of it. Either way, it works. And it makes a lot of sense.

I'm dating a wonderful guy now. His name is Mike. We've been together for three years now. I've enjoyed every minute of it, though the relationship hasn't always been easy. Like I said, I've had to unlearn a lot of things. I still have things I need to unlearn, but I'm doing better now. Unlearning is rough business. Especially because things go to hell until you do.

There were little things about Mike that would give me flashbacks to my experience with you. Like the way he's so tightlipped with his feelings. He doesn't wear his heart on his shirt sleeve like I do. So there have been times when I would see him not expressing how he felt, and it would terrify me. I'd become frightened that, like you, he would suddenly decide he doesn't have feelings for me after all. And let's face it, you did that more than once, despite the obvious truth to the contrary.

But I'm slowly learning something. There's a huge difference between you and Mike. Mike simply feels uncomfortable expressing his feelings at any great depth. But he acknowledges that he has them. You'd never do that. Hell, half the time, you weren't willing to admit your feelings to yourself. In a way, I kind of pity you for that. But understanding that has enabled me to start seeing Mike in a different way. I now can rest comfortable on the knowledge that he does have those feelings, regardless of whether he expresses them. Sure, I might have a moment's insecurity. But I can let it wash over me, and then take a serious look at our relationship. And there comes a point when I can acknowledge that while my insecurity -- while very real on an emotional level -- is not rational. And I can live with the occasional irrational fear, I think. Especially considering that addressing them in this way seems to make them quite short-lived.

At one point, I think I was mad at you about all this. Or at least I think I thought that I was mad at you about all this. I was mad that I had to unlearn things. I was made that I found myself comparing Mike to you and getting all emotional on him. But in reality, I think was more mad at myself. I was frustrated.

You see, I'm not even sure how much of this was "you" at all. Oh sure, everything I've said about you is true. YOu did deny your feelings. You did vascillate on how you saw our relationship. You did put me through an emotional game. But in the end, I played that game. I stuck in there. And to be honest, you only played off of things going on in my own heart. I can't help but wonder, if it hadn't been you, would it have been someone else? I think it probably would've been.

Like I said, I've grown stronger. I've grown older. I've grown wiser. And I've been able to rebuild myself into a better person. And in a sense, this all came from my experiences with you. But don't pat yourself on the back too much. As I said, I think that if I hadn't gotten messed up with you, I would've experienced much the same with someone else. So I'm taking 95% of the credit for this myself. I'll leave you 5%, just as a token of my love for you.

Yeah, that's the strangest part. I still love you. I probably love you more now than I did back when we were together. But it's a very different kind of love. For starters, it's not the kind of love that I'd ever build a relationship on. I don't see you that way at all. Besides, like I said, I've been with a man I dearly love in that way for three years.

Instead, it's the kind of love that one has for past memories. It's the kind of love that one has for people and experiences that have touched them somehow. Let's face it, you were a part of my life. In a way, you still are a part of my life. I think you always will be. I'm not sure I'd want you to be an active part of my life, even as a friend. I'm just not sure how I feel about that. But my time with you has shaped what I am now, and that is something I will cherish and honor. After all, it's a matter of cherishing and honoring myself. And I deserve that. I owe that to myself.

So there you go. Take care of yourself. And I hope that your own experiences have led you out of your own nightmare.

Love,
-- Jarred.

I got a pleasant surprise from Mike. First of all, I got a text message from him. Not that this is a surprise, mind you. He sends me a text message at least two times a week, any more. He finds it more convenient than email. I can't imagine how, though. It takes way too much work to enter in any message of any length. But he manages to do it somehow. But like I said, that's not the surprising part of the email. The surprising part was part of the content.

He asked me what I was doing 2 October. He suggested that it would be a good day to get together if I was available. The only thing I was worried about is that my sister is planning a small birthday party for her oldest child and our father that weekend. So naturally, I had to make a frantic call home to find out when the party was. My luck turned out good, because she's planning the party for Friday night. So I'm free on Saturday. I was glad to hear this, because if she planned the party on Saturday. I was going to have a quandary. Gosh darn it, it's not every day that Mike messages me out of the blue and asks if I can get together with him on a certain day. And saying no on one of the few occasions he did would've just about killed me.

That's what really surprised me. It's been almost a month since I've asked him when we're going to be able to get together. Usually, I feel like I have to hound him and pester him to get an answer. And naturally, that leaves me feeling upset. After all, it's disheartening to feel like you have to pester your own boyfriend just to get time with him. So when he pretty much found a date and brought it up pretty much "out of the blue," it really lifted my spirits. It was good to get the feeling like he was putting in the effort to find some "us time."

Of course, in fairness, he probably puts in that effort a lot of times. Just I'm usually such a go-getter that I tend to start asking about it quite quickly. So most of it is probably just perceptual on my part. But it's nice to have this one instance. It really helps me to relax and soothe the insecurities.

As if last night's Mike wasn't enough of a surprise for me, he's gone and done it again tonight. I'm not sure how much more of this a guy can take. But I'd love to find out, that's for sure. I got another text message from him talking about the second. He asked me if I had any ideas on what we should do. Now, I do have some ideas, but as most of them involve a private room, nudity, and some degree of sweating, I won't write about them in depth. Besides, that's not what this is about right now.

He mentioned a few of his ideas, which he wasn't too sure about because of problems he's having with his cars. He mentioned that he had considered going to the Syracuse Mall or touring some caverns about 100 miles away. When I read this, I was a bit shocked. He's talking about day trips here! Considering that one of my biggest points of contention in the last year has been that the time we spend together is usually for rather short periods of time (four hours or less), this was a pleasant experience. It strikes me that he's really trying to make some plans for some extended time this time around. And without recent prompting from me, no less.

I also like the fact that he specifically mentioned going to the Syracuse Mall. It's something he's talked about in the sense of "we should do that sometime" for the last couple years. So it's quite nice to actually hear him talk about it with a definite date attached. Even if we can't go this time because neither of our cars are up to the trip. It's just nice to know that he's thinking in more definite terms than "someday" now. It's really doing my heart good.

I really wonder what caused this change. I'm enjoying it immensely. And who knows, maybe he'll start being more assertive and aggressive in general now. I can only hope.

I think I took my last outdoor walk of 2004. I had my light, nylon jacket on, and until I got heated up and sweating, I was pretty darn cold. I suppose I could keep the outdoor walks going if I switched over to my winter coat, but I'm not sure I want to do that, yet. Besides, that's only a temporary fix, and the way that the weather is feeling, it wouldn't last long. Soon, it will be my face, hands, and feet getting too cool. And I can't forget that my jeans are still pretty loose. No, I think it'll be better to switch to indoor walking. I'll just have to start going to the Pyramid Mall during lunch so that I can walk there. Though that mall is almost too small for a real walk.

My other option is to wait until after work and go to the Arnot mall so I can walk there. It's a larger mall and better for walking. But I think I prefer to walk during the middle of the day. I found it's helping me some with my appetite problems in the middle of the afternoon. If I get a good walk in just before I eat lunch, I find lunch much more satisfying and it seems to keep me satisfied longer. I don't exactly get that, since walking should increase my metabolism, causing my body to burn through the calories of lunch even quicker. There must be a piece to the equation I'm missing. Probably several, if I think about it.

Well, I guess it's time to write about the time of year. I've been putting it off because I don't want to, but it's been on my mind too much to avoid it any longer. I knew I'd have to get it out there sometime, so I might as well get it over with. This week marks the six year anniversary since the nuclear explosion between Z, S, and myself. It's hard to narrow it down past "this week," since the whole thing strung out over a period of seven to ten days. I mark the time period from when S sent me the "I'm mad at you and I don't want to talk to you for at least six months" email on 9 October and she replied to my email telling her off on 17 October with a statement that she didn't care what "my side of the story" was and made death threats. In between, both she and Z told me that they never wanted to talk to me again and lots of other nasty things. I grant you, some of them were deserved. I was no innocent, and I don't want to give the impression that I was, or the impression that I think I am.

I don't know, but part of me wonders if this is why I've been a bit morose and on edge lately. I've been trying to deny that, as I really don't want to admit that this might still bother me. But then again, the fact that it's on my mind suggests that it might. But then I find myself wondering. Am I morose and on edge because the time of year has reminded me of these past events? Or has my mood simply caused my mind to dredge all this back up. I suppose it doesn't matter. I suppose all that matters is that it's on my mind and I have to write it out.

Damn, I really didn't want to write about this. I'm not entirely sure I want to think about it. At least not in this emotional context. It's been six years. I've made new friends. I've met a wonderful man and I'm in a relationship I enjoy. I'd rather just let all the past hurts slip gently away. But I guess they have to do that in their own time, don't they?

The funny thing is, the whole thing with Z himself doesn't really bother me anymore. It seems to me that I made peace with him, and that's all water under the bridge. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that I don't feel a tinge of something -- sadness maybe? -- over how things went with him. But there's a certain peace there. If not perfect, it's been resolved. But I don't have that feeling with S. Isn't it strange that the person I was theoretically closer to -- the one I had a romantic relationship and the first person I ever had sex with -- causes less of an emotional reaction than the one I was just friends with?

I suppose part of that is because of the betrayal involved. It's because I thought she and I were good friends. I let myself be vulnerable to her -- possibly in ways I wouldn't let myself be vulnerable to Z. And she betrayed that. Not only did she betray that, but she practically declared me evil incarnate, and I think that's what really hurt. I mean sure, I was in the wrong in some ways. But evil incarnate was pushing it a bit far.

I think it also is because I took her crap onto myself. For a while, I believed her accusations. I let myself be crushed by her hurtful words. In effect, the hurt and anger towards her is also partly the hurt and anger towards myself for accepting that kind of wounding. Maybe even for making myself vulnerable in the first place.

But I'm not angry at her anymore. At least not as near as I can tell. Anger takes up too much energy. It has to be constantly kindled, and I've quit wasting that energy. Heck, I can't even say that I hold her in contempt any more. Contrary to what I've often thought, I'm finding that just takes too much effort and energy, too.

Do you know what I do feel for her? Pity. And maybe a little sympathy. But mostly pity, I think. She reacted the way she did not just because she didn't know everything and made assumptions, but because she let her own emotional demons rule her reaction. And unless things have changed for her in the last six years, she's still living with that, and may have to live with that for the rest of her life. She's built a cage for herself out of the past and her own bitterness and anger, and she doesn't even see that she's trapped in it. I hope I'm wrong. I hope she's moved on from that point in her life, breaking the bonds she helped strengthen. But I don't know if that's happened. All I know is what I saw. And it's that S of the past that I pity.

I hope I'm not doing the same thing. I want to be free of this past. And I think I've done my best to set myself right. I think I've broken many thigns that have held me from these betrayals and I hope I have the wisdom to recognize those that remain and the strength to break them as well when I do recognize them.

But I still find myself wondering why this is still coming to my mind.

I'm sitting here listening to Enya's album, "The Memory of Trees." I love this album, though I may have to switch to something more upbeat once I get through it. I'm feeling very sleepy for some reason, and I'm not quite ready to head off to bed. So soft music of an almost lullaby-like quality is a bad thing. I'll have to replace it with something like one of Delirium's albums. That usually keeps me awake.

Last night, I slept with Darien. Darien is the small, brown teddy bear that Mike gave me on the first Christmas we celebrated together. He's such a cute bear, but a bit on the small side to cuddle with properly. He slips out of my oversized arms way too easily. It's funny on those nights when I sleep with a stuffed animal. I suddenly feel like a little kid again. There's a sense of vulnerability and youth. It's a very strange thing to feel, really. I'm not entirely sure what to make of it.

Speaking of Mike, he's absolutely exhausted from his trip to New Jersey. Not that this surprises me, mind you. He was up for a full 23 hours on Saturday. He and his family left their home at five in the morning, and he didn't get back into bed until four on Sunday morning. Then the poor guy only slept until about 11:30 Sunday morning. Personally, I think the guy is way too committed to his amusement parks. He should think about getting a bit more commitment to a regular sleep schedule, if you ask me. But I suppose that if it makes him happy to do such things, that's all that really matters.

It's been a pretty good day. I went for my walk on my lunch break. That's the second one for this week. I need to get one more in. I'm looking at Saturday for that. I figure I'll give myself tomorrow off. Besides, I have to run out to lunch tomorrow. I figure I'll need the extra time to stand in line at Subway.

While I was at the mall today, I picked up Mike's Christmas present. I got him one of those "pictures in motion." They're a neat idea. Basically, they're a picture of some scene with water in it. There is a light behind the picture and there is some sort of mechanism that causes the light to shift slightly. The net result is that the water looks like it's actually flowing. The specific picture I got Mike has a watefall flowing into a pool. It's absolutely gorgeous. Hopefully, he likes it. I think he will, because he was practically cooing over such "moving pictures" when we saw them at the Carousel Mall. So when I found the same place had a kiosk set up at the Pyramid Mall, it became a pretty obvious gift idea.

This evening I tested my blood sugar when I got home. It was 55. Needless to say, everything got dropped and I made a quick hunt for food. I ended up having yogurt, six cups of popcorn (the proper serving I'd normally have in the evening is three cups), and a quarter cup of dried pineapple -- which had way too much sugar added. Frighteningly, though, when I tested my blood sugar again at 9:30 or so, it was still only up to a 78. This is just insane. I hope Dr. Lee changes my medications soon-ish.

I haven't put an update in here lately. I thought I'd go ahead and give the basic rundown of my life in a nutshell.

We'll start with the major life change. I am now single. After four years, I have ended my relationship with Mike. It wasn't an easy decision to make and it hurts like hell. But despite my best faith efforts to change things, it became perfectly clear where the relationship was heading. As painful as walking away is, I also know that continuing down that road would be even more painful.

I am leaving a number of message boards. I'm starting to discover that they're little more than "distractions" to me. I really don't get much out of staying there, other than the occasional bout of frustration. And at the moment, I just don't have much to offer there, either. So it's time to "cut bait," so to speak.

In more pleasant news, my old college roommate has now been a Daddy for about two days. His wife gave birth to a healthy baby boy this past Saturday. I just found out this morning from an email. I sent my congratulations to the proud parents and look forward to meeting the little guy. Hopefully, that won't be too far in the future.

I'm thinking over a couple of projects I'm considering working on. I don't want to say too much about them now, but I just thought it'd be good to indicate that I'm looking to make life more productive.

I have officially decided to take a month or two off after my current job finishes. Given all the changes going on right now, I decided I could use some time to just relax and possibly do some intensive personal exploration. I'm not sure what this will really amount to, but time will tell.

This is part of a series I started writing elsewhere. I decided to start cross-posting them to this blog as well.

Dear Lover,

I've been in "hopeless romantic" mood all weekend. I've watched three different movies since yesterday morning that have centered around relationships between two guys. This isn't typical of me, but I guess I'm just in that state of mind where I want to be reminded that such love and tenderness really can exist.

The last movie I watched -- in fact, I just finished it mere minutes ago -- was a nice British film called "Beautiful Thing." It was slow in places (which seems to be common in just about every British film I've watched), but it was a wonderful and touching story. It was about two teenage boys who were neighbors and their struggles as they discovered they loved one another, but had to deal with all of the difficulties in pursuing a relationship.

The scene that really touched me, though (well, other than the scene where Jaime rubbed creme into the welts on Ste's back and told him he was quite attractive) was the final scene. This is the scene where Ste and Jaime end up slow dancing in the middle of the square near their home. As they start to dance, a crowd starts to gather round them, and Jaime's mother and another neighbor (also female) end up joining the young lovers, dancing one another. And as they danced, the four of them talked back and forth, laughing (mainly about what Ste's abusive father would have to say if he was there to see the scene) and just enjoying one another while the crowd watched in wonder.

I'd love to be a part of a scene like that with you, Lover. There was a tender intimacy and sweet love wrapped up into it. It's something that could never be expressed half as adequately in all the grandiose "romantic dates" and nights of passionate lovemaking in the world. It's a gentle beauty and sense of serenity that can only come from those small, simple things, those moments that create a perfect moment of intimacy and love simply by the fact that they are an instant of absolutely sweet and genuine togetherness. I long for those moments, and I revel in the thought of someday finding them with you.

Fondly yours,
--Jarred.

I've been going through some inner conflict about relationships. Or to be more exact, I'm going through some inner conflict about my lack of a romantic relationship, my desire to start looking into changing that state of affairs, and my concerns and fears about doing so.

I'm to that point where I've pretty well grieved over Mike (I think). Sure, there's some part of me hoping that he'll still come to his senses and contact me out of the blue to beg me for another chance. But I think that's more because it would be the "easy path" -- which is much more attractive than going through the whole process of trying to make connections with a new person I hardly know, for obvious reasons -- than any desire to specifically have Mike back in my life. As much as it saddens to admit it, his claims early in our relationship that I would "eventually figure out he's not all that special" has become a self-fulfilling prophecy of sorts. His choices and actions made him "not all that special" (with the possibly exception of making him especially undesirable in the end). That's a weird realization to come to. And part of me still doesn't know how to respond to it.

At this point, I'm to that point of feeling like, "I'm not getting any younger, and Mr. Right isn't going to knock on my door out of the blue." I know deep down that if I ever do want to find a special someone and experience love again, I'm probably going to have to do some looking. I'm going to have to put myself out there, find, and consider the prospects. Heck, I might even have to go on a few disastrous dates with a couple guys I realize later I'm not all that interested in. In short, I need to work to create the reality I want.

But on the same hand, I find myself hesitating. I start asking myself all kinds of questions. Am I really ready? Can I really commit to this? Am I to the point where I can really start and appreciate a real relationship rather than just trying to "get over" my last experience? And can I really look at the person who's there and choose him for him rather than just choosing whoever because, "hey, it's a relationship." In other words, am I looking for a person or somethign less? And I'm having trouble answering those questions and trusting myself to do so honestly.

I'm also at that point where I'm worried about letting such a search for love consume my life. I don't want to let my entire life to become little more than a romantic reltionship. (In retrospect, I can say that I started allowing that to happen with Mike, and I see it for the mistake it was.) So I'm worried about finding that balance of continuing to establish my life here in general with the possible "search" for love.

Of course, there's still the fact that I haven't figure out how to best go about conducting such a search anyway. I still haven't met a lot of people yet, and I'm still trying to figure out how to rectify that. My creative writing class starts tomorrow evening, and I'm hoping that'll help to some extent. But overall, I'm still just confused and worried.

A couple weeks ago, I was looking through my old diary entries. I ran across an "unsent letter" I wrote to my ex, Zech. In it, I talked about my relationship with Mike. I decided I wanted to go back and comment on what I said there, considering how things with Mike finally ended up. Excerpts from the original letter are in italics, while my new thoughts will be in normal text.

I'm dating a wonderful guy now. His name is Mike.

Ah yes. These were "the good old days" when I actually thought Mike was a catch. (Actually, I wrote the original letter almost a full year before I broke up with Mike.) My opinion has changed since then. Funny thing is, I probably am having more fond thoughts of Zech right now than of Mike. That's a scary thought, in some ways. Mike and I had our issues, but the "relationship" with Zech was just one huge mess. So you'd almost think that I'd have less fondness for Zech.

I suppose the fact that it's been over seven years since Zech and I broke up, time has healed those wounds. Compare that to the fact that it's only been six months since I told Mike I didn't want him in my life any more, and I suppose that's understandable. But I think there's more to it than that. Zech and I had real issues back then, both individually and as a couple. And in Zech's case, I can cut him some slack due to the fact that he was a lot younger -- not even twenty yet. In comparison, Mike's turning thirty in January. Being that old and still thinking it's perfectly reasonable to tell someone, "You mean the world to me, but I'm not going to do anything to meet your emotional needs because it'll require me to accept some personal discomfort" is unthinkable. So in that sense, I think he deserves my contempt.

But I'm slowly learning something. There's a huge difference between you and Mike.

Unfortunately, I'm also learning there were a lot of similarities between them, too. It's ironic that I spent so much time teaching myself to not react to Mike out of my issues with Zech, only to find out there really were some things they had in common. Don't get me wrong. I'm glad I went through that process anyway. I did need to learn that not everyone was exactly like Zech.

But in the end, both of my exes were wrapped up in their own little worlds. They were too busy trying to keep their worlds so perfectly balanced, that they were willing to sacrifice my needs and feelings if it came to it. Perhaps Mike wasn't as dastardly about it, but does that make it any better? And besides, he also should've known better.

In retrospect, I think I've decided to re-make my rule against not dating guys who are still "in the closet" -- at least to their family. I made that rule after Zech and broke it when dating Mike. When Mike and I started going together, I told him about my reservations. But I went ahead on the grounds that he was otherwise wonderful and he promised me that he'd make sure that the fact that his friends and family didn't know about his sexual orientation wouldn't get in the way. He broke that promise. And I'm now convinced that when push comes to shove, most guys in the closet will break that promise. So if they're not ready to be honest with their family, they deserve a pass in the realm of relationships. They're just not ready.

In case anyone's interested, I have started yet another new blog. Before everyone groans and call me crazy, let me explain that this is a specialty blog. To be specific, it's the site where I'm going to start posting all of my "Dear Lover" letters. For those who don't know what letters I'm talking about...well, read the blog!

Today is January 25. It's Mike's 30th birthday. I have to admit that some petty portion of me would love to write him an email or text message saying something to the effect of, "Congratulations, you are now thirty and single, and it's all because of your own bad choices." I'm not proud of wanting to be so snotty and petty, but I don't want to deny it either.

To be honest, I have to admit that a small part of me had kind of hoped that he would come to his senses as today rushed in. I had hoped that the sense of getting older would make him realize everything that is slipping (or has slipped) through his fingers, and make a miraculous turnaround. I guess that's why I haven't pushed to find someone else. I knew I was still feeling like this. And even though I intellectually know that irrational part of my heart is holding out for something that will probably never happen, I also know that I wouldn't have been able to give a try at happiness with someone else a fair shot while holding on to that hope. So how does one give up hope.

I have to admit that there were a couple of cute guys at last night's meetup. I'm pretty sure they were both gay, and they seemed great. Too bad they also seemed to be involved with each other. Figures that the truly cute ones are already together. Oh well, they were probably a bit too young for me anyways. If I was to venture a guess, I'd say they were RIT students. Me with a college guy...as fun as it sounds, I just don't tthink it would work.

But on the bright side, it's a step in the right direction. I'm getting out and meeting people. And I've seen that I really can meet someone. Who cares if they were already taken? Maybe the next one won't be. Only time will tell. And at least I'm meeting people and expanding my possibilities.

But damn, I'm still grumpy.

Sunday, I ended up going over to the POC again. Originally, I figured I'd just stop by for a bit of "face time" and then leave after a few minutes. Well, as it turns out, I ended up staying for quite a while. They were sanding furniture to get it ready to be repainted. I'm not big on sanding and it's certainly not one of my strong points, but I decided to stick around and help out a little. After all, it meant being social and hanging out with other people. I've wanted a lot of that lately. And it was fun.

After working, a group of us decided to go out to supper together. We went to Denny's and had quite a good time. Of course, once again, I decided that I really wanted to skip the food and just take our server to go. His name was Jason. He must've been in his mid-twenties and let me just say that he was fine. Both of the women I was with agreed that my taste was impeccable. In fact, they pestered me about asking him for his phone number. I decided against it.

It was a tempting thought, if I could've ever gotten up the nerve to do it. I don't know, I'm still too afraid of rejection to ask a perfect stranger for his phone number or if he'd like to go out sometime. Of course, I also just feel I'm not ready to date someone. I realized the other day that there are just some things about my self-perception I need to change. Otherwise, I run the risk of expecting any boyfriend I have to make up for those issues, and that's not right. I'll probably write more about that sometime.

At any rate, it was a good day.

Apparently, I started an unplanned tradition when I wrote my previous review of the movie, Dorian Blues a couple weeks ago. This past weekend, I decided to watch the 2005 movie, FAQs, and I find myself with the desire to similarly review it.

First of all, let me just say that producer Everett Lewis did an excellent job in this movie. It's a truly moving tale about a group of gay men (and one young lesbian, though she plays such a bit part, unfortunately) trying to not only survive in the face of the hate directed towards them, but to be themselves and thrive because of it. India -- a young man living on the streets of LA after his homophobic parents disowned him -- is rescued from a pair of gaybashers by an old drag queen, Destiny. Destiny gives India a home and begins to teach him to protect, love, and respect himself. Destiny, India, and Lester (a young lesbian Destiny similarly saved and "adopted" in years past) are soon joined by Spencer, who becomes India's main love interest in throughout the rest of the movie. The plot of the movie then revolves around the dual themes of "saving" India's would-be bashers (who turn out to be closeted queers themselves) and India trying to convince Spencer to give up on his plan to kill his parents, who had abused him until he ran away. These dual themes perfectly frame the central message of the film: Love conquers all if you just give it a chance. One of my favorite quotes from the movie was when India tells Spencer, "Our kisses are like bombs going off in the straight world."

Of course, the movie itself had plenty of "bombs." There are several highly erotic scenes in which various boys are shown caressing, kissing, and rubbing up against one another. And while no genital contact is shown (though there are a few scenes involving full frontal nudity in non-sexual settings), I imagine that this might be a bit "explosive" for some viewers. (Personally, as someone who often wryly jokes about "gratuitous straight sex scenes" in most movies, I found it a nice change.)

One of the problems that I had with this movie, however, was that it was too optimistic. There were several potentially dangerous scenes (some of which were created by an overly-optimistic India who tended to make unwise decisions) in which someone could have died, yet everyone made it through the movie virtually unscathed. The particular scene which bothered me was when Quentin -- one of the bashers from the start of the movie -- shows up at the boys' home with a gun after having gotten their address off his answering machine from a message India told Guy to leave. Considering that the movie had been building up a highly distrought Quentin -- who not only held a gun under his chin at one point, but also was shown firing said gun at a roadside sign fantasizing about killing his former friend "turned fag" -- it just seemed like a poor climax. It also sends the message that doing something stupid like giving your home address to a known basher -- even one you think is really gay and needs to be "saved from himself" -- is okay. It's not. It's dangerous, and it's stupid. So Lewis gets points taken off for being too optimistic and implicitly encouraging needless and foolish risk-taking.

In closing, I would like to say that I particularly liked the final scene. Without giving too much away, I will just say that I found it appropriately cyclical.

This past weeken, I watched Lattere Days. This is a tale about a gay man, Christian, living in Los Angeles who meets, sets out to bed, and eventually falls in love with anotehr young man by the name of Aaron. Of course, Christian's plans are complicated by the fact that Aaron is a missionary for the LDS church, just starting his two year mission.

The remarkable part about this movie is that it's not just a movie about a young man from a religiously conservative background coming to terms with his sexual orientation and being excommunicated from his church (and presumably biological) family. This is also a movie wherein a cynical and superficial gay man begins to take a closer look at his own life and initiates a search to give it deeper meaning. In effect, this movie seeks to strike the balance between criticizing harmful repression and taking an honest look at the emptiness that can come from the superficiality we sometimes fall into while trying to escape the latter. In effect, both boys face their own demons as a result of coming into each others lives.

The scenes between Aaron and his mother after he's found out and sent home are well done. Particularly, the scene where Aaron challenges his mother to actually look at him is quite incredible, and something that I think most gay people with religiously (or otherwise) conservative parents can appreciate on some level. Of course, even Aaron's mother has her moment, when confronted with Christian's act of love in coming to Idaho just to tell her how sorry he is for the loss of her son (at this point, Christian was falsely led to believe that Aaron had committed suicide).

This was truly a touching movie, and one I think many people will be able to connect with on one level or another.

Last Monday while shopping at OUTlandish Gifts, I bought a white tee shirt with "2QT2BSTR8" on the front of it. Today was the second day I've warn it. I have to admit that I've been enjoying people's reactions. Surprisingly (at least to me), a lot of people have to ask what it means ("Too cute to be straight," if anyone is wondering"). What's really funny is to watch how people react once I tell them. I think the most memorable incident was today with the guy at the T Mobile kiosk. Once he found out, his expression really changed. I somewhat got the impression that he wanted to make a negative comment about it. However, he also seemed to be struggling with the knowledge that he was in a bad position to do so, considering (a) he had originally asked me to stop just so he could read the shirt and (b) he still had to ask me what it means. It's kind of hard to complain about someone "flaunting" his sexuality when you've gone through so much effort to figure out that he's "flaunting" it. ;)

I didn't get the shirt with the intentions of making such political statements, though. While it's true that I got it to make my sexual orientation more visible, I did it for personal and romantic reasons rather than political ones. Truth be told, I don't feel I'm visible enough. And as I'd eventually like another chance at love without having to force myself to suffer through going to gay clubs, I need to find other ways to let the guys know I'm out there. Besides, I know from personal experience how difficult it is to even consider expressing interest in another guy if you're not even sure if he's gay (and how emotionally upsetting it is if you finally get up the courage to find out only to find ot he's not). So I figure I'll save any guy who's interested in me that bit of trouble.

There's another reason I got it, and this one is at least partly political. I got it as much for the part about being cute as I did for the part about being gay. In some ways, I'm currently at a point where I feel the need to express my own attractiveness despite not fitting some stereotype about what good looking guys are supposed to look like. So to me, wearing the shirt is about giving myself (and others) permission to think of me as "cute."

Yesterday, the New York State Court of Appeals ruled against the plaintiffs who were suing for same-sex marriage rights. The full test of the ruling is available online, and I encourage everyone to read it for themselves. I also highly recommend that anyone interested check out the analysis of this ruling that was provided by Tin Man. (I also recommend his other blog posts on the same topic.) His legal background makes his ability to criticize the flaws in this ruling far superior to my own. So instead of putting my own thoughts (which in many ways run similar to the Tin Man's anyways, but wouldn't be nearly as complete or cohesive), I'll let those with a better grasp of the topic handle that.

However, I do wish to focus on one aspect of this ruling that bothers me. It can be found in the following sentence, taken from page 6 (according to the statements own page numbering scheme; page 9 according to Acrobat Reader) of the ruling:

It [the legislature] could find that an important function of marriage is to create more stability and permanence in the relationships that cause children to be born. It thus could choose to offer an inducement -- in the form of marriage and its attendant benefits -- to opposite-sex couples who make a solemn, long-term commitment to each other.

I find myself wondering if the justices who penned this wording have looked at any statistics that cover the divorce rate lately. The idea that getting married "creates" stability and permanence in a relationship is patently absurd. The only thing that keeps a relationship stable and permanent is when those involved in the relationship not only make the commitment to do so, but lack the integrity and self-discipline to keep that commitment.

Contrary to what these justices are suggesting, no amount of "inducements" will ever replace that commitment, integrity, and self-discipline. Inducements will only make "fair weather relationships" last a little bit longer. But in the end, if the real glue that keeps a relationship hold together is still lacking, the weather will get too rough even with the inducements. And when that happens, the whole illusion will become unravelled.

Those who believe in the sacred nature of marriage should be outraged by this part of the ruling. The justices who penned this have made a mockery of their belief in that sacred nature by suggesting that marriage and marriage benefits are little more than "bribes" being offered to people without integrity or discipline to keep the commitments they won't keep on their own. As someone who holds marriage -- and relationships in general -- as sacred, I know I'm outraged.

I'm not sure how many people read this blog any more. I know I've been silent for almost a month now. To be honest, I've logged in to write something several times since my last entry, but have never been able to get past the blank textbox.

This is one of those cases where many aspects of my life have caused me to turn inward, to work on projects and go through things that I'm not ready to post about yet. There's just so much going on that still needs to be worked out in the stillness of my own mind before broadcast to the world, and as such, I leave what readers I may have wondering what's going on.

What I can say is that my spiritual life is getting rather interesting right now. There are certain things that I need to work on and certain changes in my life that I'm making in order to prepare for the "next big step." At some point, I hope to talk about some of that. But for now, I must leave it at this simple teaser.

I'm also working on a writing project, which I have several guides telling me will eventually coalesce into a publishable book. However, I'm in the very early stages of that process. Currently, I'm at the point where the project involves me spending regular times with a separate journal (as opposed to my "everyday" one) and writing about past experiences, people, and choices that I can remember, and my emotional reactions to them. It's been both a rewarding and trying process, as not all of the memories or the realizations related to them are entirely comfortable. They're not exactly painful, either. But they take a bit of processing at times.

One of the interesting things is that as I continue with this project, I find myself remembering little things that I had completely forgotten about, things that I haven't thought about in a decade or more. That in itself can be a bit shocking. Of course, on the flip side, it's also nice to suddenly discover that I have more memories of my life before high school than I might've thought. They're just there waiting to be found.

Of course, a side effect of this process is that I find myself growing nostalgiac. I find myself wondering what ever happened to old friends, old school chums, and even an old lover or two. I find myself wondering what kind of people they are today. After all, it's been at least a decade since I've seen some of them.

You can't go home again. But at least you can visit. Even if only in your mind.

A while back, while I was in one of my desparate "I want a boyfriend" states of minds, I created profiles on a couple of online personal sites. One of the sites I joined was not to my liking, and I pretty much gave up on it. This was mainly because while the site catered to gay an bisexual men and women, it seemed like almost every other gay man on there was just interested in sex. Being a hopeless romantic, I decided to quit wasting my time there and looked elsewhere.

Apparently, I forgot to disable email notifications, however. The other day, I got an email from the site to tell me about a potential match. The guy lives in Buffalo, which is a bit far away. But if that had been my only objection, I would've at least considered it. However, the excerpt from his profile that they included was the ultimate deal-breaker. In fact, I found it reprehensible enough that I decided it was worth a bit of a rant on my part. So let's take the sucker point by point.

Almost always have sex on my mind.

Now, I'm not generally one for faulting someone for having sex on their mind a lot. I will be the first to admit that it can consume a large amount of my thoughts, too. But to make such an admission the first thing you tell someone strikes me as insane. This line alone tells me that to this guy, it's all about the sex. If I'm looking for romance, love, emotional intimacy, or anything other than a wild ride in the bedroom, I'm just plain out of luck. So on second thought, maybe I should thank him for letting me know right up front that I'd be wasting my time on him.

I am a spiritual person that sees a real connection to the power of an orgasm and a spiritual experience.

Now, given my patroness, I'm all for seeing sex as a sacred thing. But you know, this doesn't sound like seeing sex as sacred at all. This sounds more like someone mistaking self-gratification and self-serving sex for a spiritual experience. I find myself wondering if this guy even thinks about his partners during the road to his so-called "spiritual experience." I mean, if his spirituality is just about him getting off, that's what his hand is for.

I am always ready to cum.

And entirely too eager, if you ask me.

Wanna cum with me.

To his credit, he actually takes a moment to think of his potential partner's needs here, even if only as an afterthought. But again, I'm interested in more than just getting my rocks off, too. (After all, I have a perfectly working hand as well!) I want someone who's going to be attentive. I want someone who is going to look to share the entire experience with me, not just the "squirt at the end." I want tenderness, strength, and many other qualities that this man just hasn't shown.

All this man has shown is that he's an egomaniac with enough smarts to throw some pseudospiritual comments into a personal site profile.

It's been quite some time since I've participated in Witches Weekly. When I checked the site on a whim and read the current questions, I felt they were well worth considering.

If you were to plan your own Wedding or Funeral ceremony, would you create two separate ceremonies for pagan and non-pagan folk, or would you just plan a ceremony around your beliefs. How would you feel if any non-pagan friends or family did not wish to attend such a ceremony?

This is a question (at least when discussing weddings) I used to ponder when I was dating Mike. In that situation, the question was further complicated by the fact that he was not Pagan, but nominally Christian. Because of that fact, I felt that a completely Pagan ceremony made absolutely no sense. So I had always envisioned a single ceremony that we both found acceptable. Because of our difference in faiths, I figured that it would probably be fairly generic, and would not bother any of our potential guests.

If I was marrying another Pagan, I'm not entirely sure what I would do. On the one hand, I'd be inclined to just do a Pagan themed ceremony and not bother with another one. After all, most of my friends would be okay with such a service, as they respect my beliefs and would be willing to respect incorporating my beliefs into my own wedding ceremony. And to be perfectly frank, those who could not handle that choice would also be unable to get over the fact that I was marrying another man. As such, they wouldn't show up, and I see little reason to worry about their sensibilities because of that.

But as I think about it, I think that I don't really want a "Pagan wedding" at all. I want a handfasting, and I want it in the truest sense of the word. I want a private, magical act which not only affirms our bonds with one another, but actually creates (moreso than they already exist) and strengthens them. I don't feel that kind of magical act is appropriate for the normal participant-spectator model that most weddings involve. After all, a huge guest list does not work well with the small numbers needed to keep everyone a direct participant.

Also, such a handfasting does not lend itself to meeting the needs of the civil marriage ceremony and contract (assuming I'm ever granted access to such civil rights, mind you). And even if it did, I'm not sure I'd want to combine the two. So perhaps I will have two "ceremonies," a civil ceremony where the papers are signed and most guests are invited, and then the magical act, which is kept between myself, my love, and those who we trust to work with us in the working of such magic. (Of course, that all assumes I have a lover open to these things, himself.)

As for my funeral, I'm not sure I care much about that one. While I see my wedding as something for my lover and myself, I see a funeral as being for the benefit of those loved ones I've left behind. To be perfectly honest, I'm inclined to let my closest loved ones plan the funeral service in any way that will help them to grieve properly. However, this permission will come with the caveat that if they invite a Christian minister to speak and he goes into an evangelistic spiel, I will haunt them for the rest of their lives.

I've always hated making mistakes. In fact, the fact the ability and tendency to make mistakes is one of the few things that drive me batty about the human condition. Fortunately, I've slowly learned to accept that aspect of my own humanity, and I can usually avoid excessive self-flagellation when I goof up.

What still bothers me, however, is when I make a mistake, only to realize it's a mistake I've made in the past (or at least similar enough to one that I should've realized it was a mistake). It's one thing to make a mistake due to lack of experience. It's another thing to make a mistake despite experience. It's even worse when deep down, I know I made the mistake against my better judgement. I let other factors override my judgement, and that's a bitter pill to swallow.

It seems that some lessons need to be repeated. Hopefully, I do better on the next test.

Today, I watched Serenity again. I'm not sure what it is about that movie that I love so much, but it's one of those titles that I just fin myself putting in the DVD player time and again. I think I've watched it once a month since I bought it.

What really stuck out in my mind this time around was the conversation between Mal and River at the end of the movie. During this conversation, Mal tells River the secret of flying:

Love. You can know all the math in the 'verse, you take a bird in the air you don't love it'll shake you just as sure as the worlds turn. Love keeps her in the air when she oughta fall down. Tells you she's hurting 'fore she keenes. Makes her a home.

As I sat listening to this, I realized that these sentiments applied to far more than flying, let alone flying fictional spaceships. In fact, I think these words can be applied to life itself. Love is the great mystery of life, that which ultimately makes it all work. Life without love is simply not worth living. And a life with love is worth living, no matter what may come. It's what keeps us going. It's what heals all wounds, not time. It's what makes the wounds worthwhile.

I'd face any trial that involves love than a million moments of loveless comfort. Indeed, I find myself wondering if the latter isn't an oxymoron of the highest order.

In a previous post, I mentioned briefly that I was going on a coffee date. I haven't said much more about the experience, which was good, or the subsequent dates I had, which were also good. Originally, I didn't want to right much, as I felt it was more appropriate to see how things went before getting too talkative about it. And then as things progressed, I felt that I needed to spend some time with the young man I was dating talking about everything. It was important to talk to him long before I talked about him or our experiences together.

Unfortunately, things did not work out between us as I had originally hoped. This was particularly complicated by the fact that each of us made some rash choices about our time together, resulting in a lot of hurt for both of us. We've spent a fair amount of time over the past several days talking about what happened, how we each felt, and just life in general. The end result is that we've decided to just be friends, and I'm very hopeful we end up developing a strong, lasting friendship as a result.

As I sit here and think about the past week and the future, I find myself experiencing a myriad of emotions. I'd say that chief among those emotions is disappointment and a bit of longing. To be honest, making the choice of not pursuing the relationship in favor of developing a friendship was not an easy one to make. There's a part of me that longs for more, no matter how strongly I know that this is the right choice. Indeed, I found myself wondering how I'd feel when I saw him again. I found myself doubtful of whether I could spend time with him without it tearing me up inside.

I'm both pleased and relieved to say that those doubts were unfounded. Recently, I had the opportunity to spend four hours with him. And while I won't deny that there was the occasional pang during our time together, it was well worth it. Conversation simply flowed. Not the kind of superficial conversation that feels mechanical or forced, but deep and honest communication. We shared an openness with one another that was beautiful and precious. And I have to admit that I find myself looking forward to another experience like that.

As I've thought about our recent time together, I found myself asking the same question again and again: When did I get this strong? How did I get this strong? I remember being the person who would fall completely apart at the first sign of emotional let-down and take weeks, months, or even years to recover. And here I am today, fresh from a breakup, ready to take it all in stride. I'm even looking forward to a friendship, despite the fact that part of me would still like more than friendship. And ultimately, I don't feel it's that big of a deal. And in many ways, that truly astonishes me. Because I don't remember becoming the kind of person who could feel that way.

Earlier today, Lauren and I got joking around. In the process of our joking, she asked me when I'd be donning a white gown. I gave her an answer that more or less amounted to "never." Silliness ensued, and she ended up posting an obviously edited, but hilarious photo. Of course, this whole thing was particularly funny, because one of the running jokes whenever the idea of two guys getting married that invariably comes up is the question, "Who's going to wear the white dress?" At least I think it's a joke.

But setting the jokes aside, I am inclined to answer that question for myself. At my wedding (unless my fiancé manages to offer me one hell of a compelling reason), no one will be wearing a white dress. Because, to me the idea makes no sense at best and is downright offensive at worst.

I am a gay man. I am not a crossdresser. I am not a transvestite. I am not a transsexual. While I might put on a blouse and skirt on rare occasion just for the fun of a given situation, dressing in women's clothing simply isn't a part of my normal life. So why would I want to introduce it to the solemn occasion of sealing my commitment to the man I hope to spend the rest of my life with?

I certainly wouldn't do it for the "laughs," as was my reasoning for donning women's clothing in the past. Those kinds of "laughs" simply have no place on my wedding day either. Nor does the kind of political statement (in the form of parody) that I've heard some people posit as a reason for doing such a thing have any place there. My wedding day will be about myself, my love, the love we share, and the commitment to one another we're making. Playing around with traditions just for the heck of it would only detract from those themes.

I don't know what my love and I will wear during our wedding. Maybe we'll booth wear tuxes. Maybe we'll just go with suits. I wouldn't even rule out my daily casual attire. But I know there will be no white dress, because it just doesn't fit in with what I want my wedding to be about.

Besides, what would be the point in me wearing white? All my friends know better anyway. ;)

Due to a conversation we got into, Brian commented on the fact that this diary has been pretty focused on my lack of a relationship. I wish I could say he was wrong. But he's not. And that bugs me. I don't want to be desperate for a relationship. I don't want to have it consume me. I really want to get back to that point where I'm okay with being single and stay there.

But it's difficult. Right now, I'm going through this whole thing where I'm becoming more aware of my sexual nature again. And at the risk of giving out too much information, my libido seems to be on the rise right now. It's difficult to be going through these kinds of processes and not feel some stress over the fact that I have no one to explore that side of myself with.

Of course, the other thing I'm starting to realize is that my desire for a relationship is in part a desire to be able to put an end to the socializing thing. As I've said before, this whole thing of getting out more, doing things, and meeting people is all new to me. And while I've enjoyed it, it's not entirely comfortable for me. It's different. And there's that part of me that would like to dream of only doing it until I find my special someone and then retreat back into the familiarity of my comfort zones.

Of course, rationally, I know that'd be a mistake. Truth be told, even if I were to meet the man I'll spend the rest of my life with tomorrow, I still need to work on building up a network of friends and a general social life. I still need to learn to find and enjoy activities. I still need to meet more people and face new experiences. If I was to retreat back into my solitude, even with a wonderful guy who's perfect for me, I'd ultimately be doing myself a horrible disservice.

And yet, I can't deny how attractive or tempting an idea it is right now.

Last night was another COAP game night. It was a fun time, despite the relatively low turn-out. There are actually a number of things I could write about based on last night's events. However, for now, I'm choosing to focus on something that came up during a discussion between Woody and Mark during the "meeting" portion of the night.

Woody and Mark have been involved in COAP for long periods of time, so they got reminiscing. At one point, Woody started talking about his history with COAP and his pattern of disappearing and coming back. One of the things that he pointed out was that often, his disappearances occurred at the same time he started seeing someone, while he came back after the relationship ended. Mark commented that this is common, and even joked that it's the "gay lifestyle."

At this turn of the conversation, a couple of thoughts entered my mind. The first one was a sense of relief that I'm not the only one prone to this kind of behavior. Indeed, one of the things that I realized when I started coming to COAP events was that I'd have to fight the urge to drop out when I eventually get into a relationship. So it was nice to know that other people have those same tendencies.

But then, I had to ask the question. Why is that? Why is part of the "gay lifestyle" to drop off the social circle when you meet that special someone. Is it because we see the social circle as nothing more than a marketplace for picking up our next lover? That's certainly a frightening thought in itself!

Of course, I should note that I don't think this is strictly a gay thing. I've noticed that a good number of heterosexual couples tend to lose track of their friends over time, too. After all, my parents don't get out nearly as much as they used to (though my father does socialize more through their church than my mother does). Often, they're content to do their work, meet a few communal obligations, then head home.

But it seems to me from my observations that it happens much more quickly and suddenly amongst gay people (especially men). While heterosexual couples may become more insular and reclusive over time, it seems like we do it at the earliest opportunity. Which I don't think is healthy, for reasons I covered before. So why do we do it?

Personally, I think it's in part because we're often afraid of finding true love that we've become obssessed with it to the exclusion of everything else. So when we're with someone, all of our attention turns towards building and maintaining that relationship. After all, we're not sure when the next one is coming along (and with only a small percentage of the population to work with, finding eligible, desirable lovers can seem like a daunting task), so we want to do everything we can to make it work. So we allow other friendships and our other activities to come along. Add to this the fact that the early stages of any relationship can be quite intoxicating and addicting, and it becomes an understandable pattern.

But realizing this doesn't make continuing the pattern a good idea. In some ways, I th