Subject: NYC on a Shoe String
Date: Thursday 2/16/06 2:51:00 AM
Tags: blog: edit me,blog: tag me,travels: road trips
NYC on a Shoe String
Ever since I started reading stevivor‘s LiveJournal I’ve wanted to meet him. The problem with that was that he was in Australia and really…I can’t actually justify just going there at this point in my life…it’s not where my academic pursuits lead me and vacations are really limited to a select few locations where I can also do some kind of academic work while enjoying myself so now that he was coming into NYC for a vacation, I was ecstatic.
As I approached 14th street coming down Seventh Avenue (the West Village, where I came out and which will forever remain my old stomping grounds) after taking the AirTran from JFK International Airport to Jamaica and Jamaica to Penn I was relieved that I not only made it to NYC given all the delays coming out of Buffalo International Airport; but that I was early.
I walked into a Starbucks that I knew from a different time in my life; where I had meetings with what are now some of the most vilified people in the U.S. Media (some deserve to be vilified, and those who are, are being vilified for all the wrong reasons. Reasons that will no doubt one day be corrected in a history book that will never be read but that needs to be written); these same people that would be the root cause of the FBI having a file on me and the same people who gave me the training I needed to take on the Klan two years ago, a fucked up time indeed.
I passed by an office building where I knew in the back of a nondescript office, in a discreet room there were people who, at all hours, are working to change the world…and it’s the first time I’m on this street and not stopping in to say hi; and I have some mixed feelings about that…but I’m here on vacation so I brush them aside. Clearly, this is a street that holds many memories for me so it was fitting that it should once again be the start of some new ones.
At the counter I order a tea (not that I’m switching to tea…Starbucks just doesn’t know how to clean their pots properly and they burn their beans. I like my coffee black and the way they make their coffee isn’t conducive to drinking it in such a fashion) and I go to the bathroom and then take a seat and start to freak out “what if he couldn’t make it…” as I stare out the window. Shortly thereafter I saw a giant red backpack with a Canadian flag on it. There, in the flesh, was Steve.
Over the next 48ish hours we would head to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bryant Park, Abercrombie & Fitch (where we were told be a very angry twink that the store was closed and we weren’t allowed in…not only am I not classy enough for Denny’s, I’m not classy enough for Abercrombie), Strand Books, Toasties and more. We went to Club XL where he had the pleasure of seeing me drunk (whatever he says, you can’t prove a damn thing) and he met a friend of mine (Christine) who’s known me for 8 years – as I came out to her as a Gay Man she came out to me as someone who’s in the BDSM community; each of us having an equal respect for the lifestyle of the other. I also got confirmation that two of my friends have H.I.V. (please just wear a God damn condom, I’ve lost too many friends to loose any more)
After Club XL we went to see Naked Boys Singing (which is exactly what the title makes it out to be and while funny, isn’t something I’d pay to see again); one of the actors during the audience participation part asked Steve and I if we were out celebrating anything…I had half a mind to say that he was a Cannuck and that it was his first time in NYC…but realizing that fell under the cruel and unusual punishment section of the Geneva Convention I just told him that we were “having a night out on the town.” After the show, w went back to my Cousins house (just a brief ride on the F Train). My family thinks Steve is awesome…I think my cousin Rachel wants to marry him.
The next day was spent with more exploring (for a full list of activities you can check out Steve’s post) and really all I can say about the weekend is that I’m blown away.
I – like I believe all who get to know Steve and cross his path – not only admire him, but I fell in love with this beautiful human being. This person who has integrity, intelligence, a sense of humor; but moreover is exactly who he portrays himself to be: nothing more, nothing less, no pretense…he just is. It was incredibly refreshing. There are very, very few people whom I admire; of the people I admire, most are dead and the rest are Women or Transgender but I honestly have to say I admire Steve. What an amazing human being and really, I can’t wait to see what’s going to come out of him…what great works he’s going to write or create and who he’s going to wind up loving and marrying, because whether he wants to or not, he’s going to be a mover and shaker of the world and I am incredibly glad I got to meet him, it’s exciting to meet someone and know that they’re going to be something great.
I look forward to eventually making my way to Oz (in a few years)…Steve promised me he’d wrestle a Crocodile and ride a Kangaroo and I plan on holding him to it.
Oh, on a side note…you should see the way his eyes light up when you mention his boyfriend Wes…it’s beyond adorable.
And now as I promised myself, since it’s 3am I need to fall back to my books and prepare for Hebrew class this morning…I have six hours to know all the material…I don’t foresee a problem =)
moocowinthecity