I'm back and I'm ready to blog. Not that I've been anywhere; I just wanted to take a little break.

Hellooooo 2004
New Year's Eve, as I've mentioned, was cool. I had almost resigned myself to spending the night at home alone. I was going to blow off the rugby party and just watch some movies. Luckily Stuff called and wanted to meet for dinner. I decided to go, even though I didn't really feel like going out.

We went to a Chinese place around the corner from my apartment. In addition to having a good time with Stuff (he's been in a bad mood recently because of some boyfriend trouble), I had another Bravo sighting. Now that he'll be living in Chelsea, I imagine this will happen more often. Good. He seems like a nice kid.

After dinner, Stuff and I went to meet a couple of his friends at Barracuda. His friends had already taken off by the time we got there, but we decided to have a couple of drinks before heading to Lee's. This decision was in no way influenced by the cute, cute, cute skinny blond waiter.

I swear.

Anywho. A little while after we got there, a group of guys came in from the soccer team. I recognized one of them, but couldn't remember his name. One of the guys in the group was Stuff's type, so he kept looking over at them. I looked over a couple of times and saw one of them looking at us. I figured Stuff had an admirer.

Turns out I did.

Hence my enthusiastic post on New Year's Day.

So Stuff pointed out the fact that the guy, I'll call him SoccerBoy or SB, kept looking over at me, not him. I figured that wasn't the case, but whatever. Then the soccer guys came over to play pool. Right next to us. And Stuff . . . to my unmitigated horror . . . struck up a conversation with them. And got me involved. Eventually, I was just talking to SoccerBoy. And it was great.

They were going to a party; this was just a warm-up for them, too. But before they left, SB asked if he could have my number so we could get together for dinner or a movie or something. Hell, yes, he could have my number.

They left, Stuff went to the john and I was left sitting on the sofa with a shit-eating grin on my face. Then it got better.

SB came back. He'd gotten a card from one of his friends and written his cell number on it for me.

After that, Stuff and I went to Lee's party; Stuff teasing me the entire way. The party was fun. Good mix of ruggers and non-ruggers, boys and girls, straight and gay. And there was cider. It was a more mellow party than last year's rugby New Year's party, but that was okay. I wasn't in a 'get falling down drunk' mood. It was more of a chance to hang out and enjoy myself.

After Lee's party, Stuff and I went to the Web. On the way there, I discovered that SB had left me a message. His party had broken up and he was going to head over to ours. But I wasn't anywhere near my phone and didn't get his message. I called him back to let him know, but just got his voicemail.

The Web was a fun time. Lots of cute dancers, a few drag acts, good music, cute guys. Awesome raffle (porn and champagne), but I didn't win a damn thing. Sometimes the magic works, sometimes it doesn't.

Hellooooo Hangover and Sleep Deprivation
New Year's Day - slept. Made black-eyed peas. Ate black-eyed peas. Watched 'Peter Pan' and 'Amelie'.

"Don't Blame Me - I Voted For Kodos"
Friday - slept. Didn't do a damn thing but watch movies and play on the computer. That night we had a 3 hour board meeting. Add this to the 4 hour pre-board meeting meeting that I had with our new president and the 6 hour board meeting he wants to have this Saturday, and I will have spent more time in rugby board meetings in the past couple of weeks than I did in the first half of 2003.

Productive meeting, but brutally long. I'm sure we're just in the 'getting to know you' phase of things. They'll likely get shorter soon.

After the meeting, Stuff and I got together again. He had gone out with David and a few other guys. I met them at Therapy (hate that bar). Eventually we went to the Web. Not as much fun, but not terrible. I hung out for a while then went home.

A Very Wesley Crusher Christmas
Saturday I hung out with Mike who I hadn't seen for a while. I was finally able to give him his Christmas presents: an autographed copy of Wil Wheaton's book, Dancing Barefoot, and an Ian McEwan novel, I forget which one.

I also got to meet my new nephew (Mike'nDavid's new dog), Mojo. He is adorable, though he kept trying to lick my tongue (eeeeewww) and seemed to enjoy chewing on my beard. But he's a great little puppy.

Then Mike and I went to Mona Lisa on Christopher St. for a long, leisurely lunch. After that was a trip to Creative Visions where I bought a whole bunch of books that I don't really need. The way my apartment is starting to look, rescue workers will someday have to save me from being crushed under a pile of books and magazines.

I spent part of my time with Mike obsessing about the fact that SB hadn't called me back. Coming up with all the reasons that he wouldn't want to go out again. Then I checked my messages and turns out he had called. Four hours earlier. I just hadn't heard the bloody phone ring. I let Mike listen to the message . . . he thought SB sounded hot.

After Mike and I called it a day, I got together with SB and some of the soccer boys. Stuff came with me since he was having a really, really bad day. I spent most of the night talking to SB; Stuff spent most of it hitting on the other soccer boys. Nice.

Do All Actors Have Big Dicks?
Sunday morning I woke up much, much earlier than usual (David and I were meeting for coffee). The announcer on WNYC was talking about the plays that were closing today: 'Cabaret', 'The Caretaker', and 'Take Me Out'. 'Cabaret' I'd seen. 'Caretaker' . . . well, I'd have loved to, but I really, really wanted to see 'Take Me Out'. After coffee with David, I went to the theater and bought a ticket. And I splurged . . . top priced one. I was supposed to get together with SB, but I called to see if we could do it later or maybe this week.

The show was great. Funny, moving, touching. And, of course, it was the closing night, so it had that weird, hyper vibe that actors have when it's their last big hurrah.

Anyway, I enjoyed the show. I thought that the actors did a great job. I didn't really like the lead character (arrogant prick, he was), but that was the point. He was much more sympathetic toward the end.

I was amazed by the amount of nudity. I didn't think it was gratuitous, as some of my friends have maintained. And I think it was handled well. But, wow.

Sunday night, I didn't hear back from SB (cue obsessive worrying) so I went home, played on the computer and did rugby board stuff.

Back to the Bullshit
So now I'm back to the routine. I've made lots of little resolutions, many of which will help make 2004 a banner year for me. For the first time in years, I'm looking forward to the future. I'm going to start writing with David on a regular basis. I've set out my rugby training program. Other good stuff as well. I'll talk about that more later.

Oh, SB called today to apologize for not calling me last night and wants to go out to dinner this week. How psyched am I?