Goal For Weekend: Use Hot Gay Man as Wingman

As mentioned earlier, I'm attended a college reunion Memorial Day weekend. The last time I visited school was the year after graduation. Many interesting things happened during my visit. One of them was running into a boy, we'll call him Dave, who was seriously one of the hottest boys at our school. He used to strut around campus looking all badass in whatever clothing qualified as cool in the middle and late '90s with his equally cool hipster girlfriend, who was stunning in a heroin chic kind of way. They were quite the couple. Dave was also not terribly friendly, which of course added to his hotness.

During our post-graduation visit I ended up spending a bit of time with Dave, mostly because we shared a couple of mutual friends. Dave was considerably friendlier during these chats, like much, much friendlier. And happier, and well-adjusted-seeming. At first I chalked this up to no longer being stuck at a small college populated by nothing but hippy freako weirdos and their pretentious hipster counterparts. I after all, had recently developed these things called social skills, and had been enthusiastically testing them out on anyone who would let me. Dave included. So Dave and I are chatting and I made some sort of sarcastic remark about how funny it would be for somebody to come out of the closet after graduation because our school was so vehemently "gay friendly". I mean, the amount of talk we endured about Kinsey scales, "safe environments", and Act Up events was beyond unbelievable. Sometimes it seemed that being straight was the true alternative lifestyle. Anyway. Dave rolled his eyes at me and said "Coming out after graduation isn't as rare as you'd think." And then he changed the subject.

Wait, *pause*. What?

Dave is happy.
Dave is being nice to me.
Dave is hot and well dressed.


Oooooh!

Dave is totally gay. Of course.

Since then I have run into Dave a couple of times. He lives in New York but sometimes work brings him to DC. He's always surprised and happy to see me and we always spend 5 very lovely minutes together. The topic of his gayness is never addressed specifically, but it's always there in the back of my mind and it makes me giggle.

With reunion coming up, I am kicking myself that I never got his email address. Because it would be totally swell to spend the weekend knocking back PBRs with Dave and hitting on cute boys together.

In the comments section, tell me what sort of clothes you thought were cool in the mid-to late 90s and what Dave and I will name our children should I be mistaken about his orientation.

I Heart Trouble

Yup, I cannot lie. Sure, I complain about the drama once the sh*t hits the fan, but all in all, I am a firm believer that a little trouble is good for the soul. Even better when it simply falls on your lap, saving you the effort of seeking it out. Even even better is when it warns of its decent ahead of time so you can plan ahead with measures such as giving your friends a heads-up, planning a hot outfit, and making sure your cutest set of unmentionables from Coupe de Foudre is ready to be trotted out.

Also hot are girlfriends who fully encourage your bad behavior. I am a firm believer in having a variety of friends capable of giving you all sorts of emotional support. While the settled "responsible" ones are great for granting you a sense of stability and forcing you to repent for your mistakes, it's also key to have a few who help you embrace your inner bad girl. I'm lucky enough to have several of these. While some are overt about their bad-assness, with others it kind of surprises you. I have one in particular who upon meeting her, you think she's the sweetest most innocent person on earth, and then she she'll share a story about dirty text messaging during work or some other similar shenanigans. People who appear to be one thing, and then surprise you by being something even better are awesome.

My life's mantra, which I have shared with you before, is If You Can't Be Good, Be Happy. A hope to apply this philosophy to my Friday night, which is currently quadruple-booked with social engagements. I need to get my fill of the scandal then, as Saturday I will descend into the Land of Couple. This is not to say that I don't enjoy the company of the Land of Couple, because I do. But being there requires subscribing to a different set of behaviors and it's usually quite painfully clear that I am a mere visitor in its lands.

All of this reminds me of a quote that has recently captured my attention. It's in the current issue of Elle Magazine and its source is the actress Christina Ricci. I've long had an affinity for her, mainly because she hit her angsty/rebellious/chubby girl phase at the exact same moment I did, and during that time I could always relate to her in the interviews I read with her in magazines. Well, I have grown up a bit as has she. Reflecting upon how her 15 minutes of rebellion has formed her adult identity she said "You can be a bad girl and still be a nice person. Who says the two says the two are mutually exclusive?" Here, here! I also happen to covet the threads she wore in the spread.