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November 1999

Losing Weight

This is starting to creep me out just a little. A LOT of people (including my mom) lately have commented that I seemed to have lost a lot of weight. I figured they were just being polite. Then I went out to the corner queer bar last night and ran into a frind I hadn’t seen in a few months. He said the same thing, worrying, even, that there might be some health issue involved (the standard San Francisco reaction to weight loss).

Frankly, I think I’m as much of a lard-ass as ever, although I realized last night that I no longer own scales so I can’t really tell. God knows I still eat as horribly as ever, although I have been eating at home more lately, which does usually mean more vegetables. I haven’t been eating quite as much fast food, and I’ve just about sworn off booze. But I’m still quite sedentary, perhaps even more so than I used to be.

It’s a little difficult to figure out the truth here. Friends who see me every day or every week probably wouldn’t notice, and it’s not easy to arrange chance encounters with long-lost friends.

Now that I think about it, though, my pants aren’t feeling quite so tight today and my gut may not look quite so prominent. If I have lost a lot of weight, I’m glad, because I really needed to. But it sure would be nice to know how I did it, since I haven’t really been doing anything much differently than before. September and October were pretty rough months, though. Maybe I just sweated it off…

So now I’m contemplating losing still more weight, having a check-up (just in case), and selling my secrets to the world, as soon as I figure out what they are.

***

A little later same day. My friend Paula had the same “you’ve lost weight” opinion today as we headed for the thrift stores in Redwood City. I guess I believe it now…

29 November 1999

This Waffle House in Burlington NC may be the only one in captivity which deviates from the standard brown walls and yellow roof prototype so common in the south. But even in its deviance, it’s still a chain prototype. It used to be a Sunoco station. That said, you’re now ready to read about my trip home to North Carolina a couple of weeks back. Finally. Enjoy.

If you’re inordinantly interested in my past life, you can also check out the lost journal entries from 1988 and 1989-1992 that I found at home, while dodging raccoons and squirrel shit. They come pretty close to filling a big gap in the series. Or you could just skip ’em.

Unrelated to the above:

I seem to have developed a strange sort of Christmas fetish this year. I’ve been listening to the music and watching the assorted cartoons. I have an urge to bake. I’ve even been contemplating buying a tree. I’ve never bought a Christmas tree on my own, although I used to decorate the elephant plant when I lived in Charlotte. I don’t think Irma would let me decorate her.

Maybe it’s because I probably won’t be going home for Christmas this year until sometime in January. Maybe it’s my newfound domesticity. Or maybe it’s because this will probably be my last one in San Francisco. I don’t know. All I’m sure of is that I really want an illuminated plastic snowman.

One Little Link

Apologies to anyone who tried to hit the site but couldn’t on Monday. A strategically placed link at Suck.com resulted in a slight bandwidth catastrophe, blocking access for a good chunk of the afternoon and evening. I don’t envision a repeat performance. I appreciate the link, but jeez, you’d think they’d warn a guy…