A day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
-- NOT--
Lesson #14045
Dear Journal,
You know how sometimes the smallest things can put you into a gray funk. This week I had one of those days, I had plans to meet up with Charles for dinner and shopping on Wednesday. I must have been looking forward to it more than I thought because when he had to cancel I began a downward spiral into depression. That in and of itself surely couldn't be the reason for the depression but in the end it didn't matter what the reason was I was unable to easily come out of it. So I spent from Wednesday evening through Friday evening feeling tired, depressed and lathargic. I even almost canceled out on cards and cocktails at Christi's and Dylons on Friday night. Often a brisk walk or a good meal will bring me out of my mood but it didn't work this time. I did end up going to Christi's on Friday night. As always she had a diverse group of friends there. She is an English As A Second Language (ESL) teacher at a local university and a number of the guests were her fellow teachers and their spouses. I struck up conversations with two different couples. One was a baptist theologian and her lover from eastern Europe and the other was a lawyer turned methodist minister and his ESL wife.
The evening was very enjoyable, by the end I was pretty much out of my funk. I left feeling a lot better but not euphoric as I had when I left her last party. Before the previous party it had been sometime since I had been out with such a diverse group who also had diverse interests. I now seem to be joining them about once a month. I know that my other close friends, Charles, Andy and David enjoy going to some of the things that Christi et al enjoy but we just never seem to do them. We seem to get together to go to the movies or to a dance club but not much else. I guess I will have to make a point to try to get us all together for other things myself. If I don't who will?
On Saturday I went out to the Bannister shopping district to do some shopping. I like that area because it has most of the shops that I need. It is one of three areas in KC that have that large variety of shops. The other two are in Independence, a suburb on the northeast side of town and in Overland Park on the southwest side of the city. The Bannister shopping district is the only one here in Kansas City Proper and the one I know the most. - Charles and I used to go out there about every other Saturday when we first moved to KC. It is the shopping district that I know best and am most comfortable in.
After that I spent a quiet evening at home and watched a good British/Gay flick. It was called "Get Real". It is a coming out story. I think I enjoy these modern coming out stories because teenagers now seem to have it easier in some ways and harder in others than we did when I was that age. In the late seventies and early eighties most young gays waited until they went away to university to come out. It made it easier in that those around you didn't have as many preconcieved ideas as to who you were and also you didn't have to confront your family and childhood friends while you were trying to adjust to this new open you. It was harder in that you had less support while you were in high school. Today's high school kids have more support, especially if they have private access to the web and are more apt to come out while in highschool than we were.
Each generation thinks the next have it easier than they did, but I think that with every advance comes at least one detriment if not more. Young gays may have more access to general information that we did, but I was part of the last generation who came out pre-Aids. Students starting university now have never known a time before Aids.
Enough of that rant. It should have had a page of its own. As I was saying the movie was quite good, I would recomend it.
On Sunday I met up with Charles for a late breakfast and ended up out at Bannister shopping again. Then home, laundry, and an exciting eveing of ironing. That was my weekend. Boy do I live in the fast lane.
