Pride and Spirit

Photo by John Faier

Gay Games VII was life-changing and powerful. I wish that everyone could experience the spirit of the event at least once in his or her life. I have so many wonderful memories. And I came home with some medals:

I won a Gold medal for Surreptitious Drinking. Drinks were expensive in Chicago so I had to come up with some clever ideas for smuggling my cocktails.

I also won a Gold medal in New Friendships. Rick and Debbi and the Evil Gay Lawyer were so much fun. Thank you all for making my trip so great. All of you wrote such nice things about me, and I thank you for telling lies and making me sound way cooler than I am. None of you wrote about what a flake I am, and I truly appreciate it.

Rick and I went to see Margaret Cho together as well as a Sondheim in the Park concert. We browsed at Virgin Records (since we are both virgins) and talked each other out of spending any money. We ate a fantastic dinner and also had drinks at Sidetrack (Rick wanted me to experience the awesomeness of Show Tune Night).

Evil Gay Lawyer accompanied me to the Physique competition where my friend Muscle Chick won a bronze medal! EGL has a much different style than Rick. While Rick stroked my ego and made me feel special, EGL teased me and harassed me at every step. So, naturally, I fell for him. The best way to win me over is to give me a hard time, and EGL was a master at this. He made fun of me for losing my ticket stub. Then he gave me his ticket stub so I could get back into the arena after I went to the men's room. Then I lost his ticket stub, so he had to sneak back in when it was his turn to visit the men's room. EGL is currently being swept off his feet by a guy in Chicago, so I only got to see him that one day, but I had a great time with him. I thought he would be more evil than he was. He's actually a nice guy. As I told him when he exited the train Tuesday night, I'm glad he had a chance to meet me. He is lucky.

Debbi and her daughter came into the city to meet me for dinner, and we had a great meal and a fun time getting to know each other better. She took me to one of her favorite restaurants, where I had yet another wonderful meal. I almost never go out to eat in Portland, so I really enjoyed dining out while I was in Chicago. Debbi reminds me of another wonderful Deb who loves her gays. Just being in Debbi's presence made me feel proud! She rocks.

I won a Silver Medal for Walking My Ass off in Chicago. My pedometer logged 213,698 steps. I'm wearing the silly thing for a contest we're having at work. Let me tell you, nothing attracts the boys like wearing a pedometer. I don't want to talk about it.

I took the Bronze in Friend Juggling. I didn't do as great in that event. See, I was trying to coordinate my time with the aforementioned Chicago bloggers as well as hanging out with Muscle Chick, her girlfriend, Wonder Woman, and my friend The Professor (also in Chicago for a visit last week) and his boyfriend (who I haven't yet come up with a name for). I kept having to call people and change plans at the last minute. I stood people up, arrived late, forgot to return calls and annoyed everyone like crazy. I don't know why people put up with me.

I have a ton of stories about the week, and I'll do my best to recount them here. Tomorrow I'll have to tell you about a very special benefit concert I performed for pigeons. If you don't think you can wait, you could always check out the story on last week's Todd & Pony Show.