Wow.

And again, Wow.

To say it was a full weekend is a drastic underexaggeration (is underexaggeration a word, by the way? Well, it is now). Heavy, heavy stuff.

First of all, the Non. He'll be here in three days, but the combination of the collective frustration at our geographic separation and some circumstantial exhaustion led to two, count 'em, TWO faux phone fights this weekend. And really, "fights" aren't what they were. Moreso, they were heavy/deep conversations that alternately took their toll on each of us. By last night, though, we had both lightened up and agreed that we'll feel much better just to be in each other's presence. Sometimes not having the luxury of geographic closeness is difficult. Thank God for Southwest Airlines.

Watched oodles and oodles of Sex and the City this weekend. My roommate is hooked on this show, and it seems like every few days she's rented a new set of episodes on dvd. We'll eventually need to own all these dvds, I'm sure. We're just about into the second renting go-round -- we finished the end of Season Three this weekend which, I'm sure, will lead to the re-rental of Season One (and so on and so forth). Sose and Wow came over last night to watch the last six episodes of Season Three, and even through my bedroom door, Wow's screams of glee were piercingly clear. He's quite a character, that Wow. There's no one more animated than a newly-outed gay man.

On Saturday my friend, Jen, came over for a night out. Unfortunately, I'd been fighting a sore throat and the onset of a fever, so we ended up calling it a night by 11:00. Before then, however, we ended up going to two local places, one of which was that nifty new Martini Bar, where we met the owner who turned out to be a guy we were casually familiar with. He's YOUNG -- my age, or a couple years older at most -- and I couldn't help but feel that I've not accomplished much in a whole 29 years compared to that guy. (Then, of course, I remembered that I've promised myself I wouldn't do the comparing thing anymore cause it rarely comes out in my favor), and before I could think of anything else, I was immersed in the sultry red glow of The Continental Room and any self-consciousness melted away.

I don't know if I've mentioned that Non is an artist. When I was visiting, he showed me his paintings and instructed me to choose one to take with me. I've always enjoyed looking at paintings, but the experience was heightened by knowing the artist intimately and by having him guide me through his work. It was surprisingly overwhelming, and when I came to a particular painting I very unexpectedly began to cry. We both knew that was the one I would take home.

It's simply the painting of a woman's bare back. She is sitting with her face turned slightly toward the front, but not enough to make out too many distinguishing features. I'm not sure why this particular painting struck me -- was it the rich coloring, the vulnerability of the subject, the view it gave me -- I'm not sure. I just know I can't wait to hang it on my wall (Non is bringing it with him on the plane).

I just noticed on my pack of Orbit gum that it is careful to state, "SUGARFREE GUM: not a low calorie food." Really. Is this a necessary advertisement? It's like those small Fex-ex envelopes that make sure that you know they are "not for transporting blood."

Good to know.