Worn Out West

[drscott]

Not just a Castro used clothing store where one of the clerks likes to make out with me, but also a state of mind.

Running on - running on empty
Running on - running blind
Running on - running into the sun
But I’m running behind

I owe Lou a review of his young adult novel set in Oklahoma. I need to call my mother. I'm supposed to contact half a dozen guys for coffee and whatever. It's a beautiful day and I should get down to the gym early to avoid the crush.

When we lived down in Silicon Valley, there wasn't much social to do during the day, so I spent a lot of time online, as a kind of replacement for the casual socializing I can now do in The Big Room (geek talk for the real world.) Social scientists say there's a natural limit on the size of a cohesive social group (Dunbar's Number) of around 150. That is about the number of people whose stories I can keep in my head; I can recognize faces of far more, and remember names of fewer. I currently have over 400 Facebook "friends," about half of them tenuous, so I am really following about 200, which taxes my limits. If I add someone new, someone else falls out; and as I pick up offers to socialize, I forget others. I am starting to lose the ability to juggle it all.

Sunday was the day of BBQs -- left at noon, picking up enhydrasf and Michael down in the Castro, then driving to Foster City for jeffla and likethecandybar's small affair. Fun company, great food, but we had to excuse outselves to get to the gym in San Mateo for a short workout (where I ran into pklexton and a Colt model in the lockerroom (not together.)) Then it was off to a spacious supermarket in San Carlos. "Look at all the white people!"

Picked up flowers, cheeses, and crackers, then it was off to Kate and April's house for their party, held in honor of April's mother ("Big Momma") visiting from Chicago. Interesting mix of guests, straight neighbors, gay friends, with much drinking and conversation. I ended up flirting with the straight next door neighbor, an Italian garbageman and softball coach, while his beautiful teenage daughters texted nearby. It's fun to live here....

Tuesday morning and I'm wiped out, still. I was supposed to call a guy this morning to set up coffee, and I forgot. I can't keep up.

And zzbear and I are talking again.

For your amusement: Paul spent a lot of time on Lurid Digs, a website combining smut with bad decor and snarky criticism. I took a look after hearing him laughing, and here's my friend Steve Bottorf showing off his Lava Lamp collection. Unlike most of the photos on the site, he's totally conscious of the humor in what he's doing....

Comments

[pklexton.livejournal.com]

Those elusive Colt models.

[excessor.livejournal.com]

…are very, very pretty.

Sorry I didn't see you! Perhaps you were in the sauna.

[pklexton.livejournal.com]

I'm surprised the Colt Model wasn't at Jeff and Heath's with the rest of you good looking men. Or maybe he was? :)

Actually, it's just a steam room. Sorry to have missed you - I was just leaving as Curtis came in.

And Lurid Digs is pretty awful.

[foodpoisoningsf.livejournal.com]

I got lost in lurid digs myself this weekend. The guy with the lavalamps seemed to be the only one getting it.

Although his kitchen cabinets were pretty hideous.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I can only take the site in small doses. I have too much empathy for the losers they're making fun of. It's mean.

[pklexton.livejournal.com]

Apart from your friend's post, which was funny (not least because one assumes he is playing along with the joke), the site makes me cringe, and gives me a feeling of physical unease.

But then again I don't have the best sense of humor.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Yes, he may be the only intentionally funny one. I'm not as sensitive as you are, but most of the commentary is not that funny and it does feel bad to think of how these poor guys must feel when they find out they've been featured. Maybe if they did a "Queer Eye" kind of thing and showed up to help them fix up their decor and their looks....

[foodpoisoningsf.livejournal.com]

I don't bother reading the text- and they're just mean, not clever. Like queens on barstools.

The images themselves are enough of a trainwreck.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I agree. I started paging through the pictures, though a few of the comments were very funny.

[tdjohnsn.livejournal.com]

Wow, Steve is adorable.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

You and 3,000 other people on Facebook think so. You can find him at Castro Gulch across Market Street from my gym, selling porn and lube in the evening.

[omero-hassan.livejournal.com]

I'm so totally going to check out Lurid Digs. Because, you know, the backgrounds in my skin pix are totally hot and not at all some random wall in my apartment that I didn't even think about when I took the pic.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

Umm, yes. Like that picture of Barbra Streisand over your shoulder there.

[omero-hassan.livejournal.com]

It's even less hot than that: it's me in drag.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

The resemblance is remarkable. If only you could sing...

[omero-hassan.livejournal.com]

Ha! Sadly, I recall that on that night (it was Halloween) everyone asked me if I was supposed to be Carol Burnett.

[bearfuz.livejournal.com]

WoW is a pilgrimage spot for me whenever I visit San Francisco. I almost always find SOMETHING to buy there, and the clerks indulge my exhibitionism too. I'm a perv.

I hear you about keeping track of social contacts. My FB friend list is huge just because my life has so many varied segments, not because I'm particularly popular. The NYCGMC alone accounts for something like 100 names. Then there are ancient high-school acquaintances, [Mormon] college friends, square dancers, Broadway co-workers, and members of various dance and performing groups I belong to. It adds up. And I sometimes read someon's status update and say to myself, "Who is that again? And why do I think I know him/her?" It's amusing. And my memory is not improving as I age.

I admit to having luriddigs.com bookmarked. Still, I hadn't seen Steve yet. Totally yummy. Thanks for the heads-up! So to speak.

[dr-scott.livejournal.com]

I'm getting ready for the days when I have to say, "I know I think highly of you and I have nothing but affection for you, but I have no idea who you are!"

[omero-hassan.livejournal.com]

The anti-mantra.

[joebehrsandiego.livejournal.com]

Curtis - For the record, I'm the one who gave Paul his first hit of "Lurid Digs".

It's - well, both hysterical and a fine wire to walk. If an intervention is needed (some would say I need one), let me know. :)