Greetings from Dallas County, where one must display one's Amex Platinum at all times to garner attention from wait staff.

Flying up here was .. weird. It's been nearly two years since I've flown Continental, and it's the last week that they're operating from my beloved Ellington Field. The last I flew from EFD, it was on an Embraer turbo-prop seating 18; yesterday was on an ERJ145 seating 50. Let's not say it was full. Then, got to Terminal B (where I used to spend a considerable part of my life) and dashed across the new food concourse (!) and made it over to my gate to DAL. As is historically the case, Continental's service from Houston is PACKED going everywhere. Our ERJ to Dallas was pretty full, probably four open seats, and I was in the row occupied by the official screaming child. We sat on the [very hot] ramp for a while, and the child shrieked, screamed and whined the whole time. Then, we pushed back and taxied for a long while. Shriek, scream, cry. Fourth in line for take-off. SSC. Off we go. Had there been a mechanical emergency, the sounds of the sirens from the cockpit and the sounds of the plane breaking apart would have been masked by the piercing cries of this happy child. Well, happy, sad, demanding, begging. I wonder if her name was Sybil? Forty-one minutes in the air. SSC. Approach, land, roll-out, taxi - does this kid not need oxygen? Then, I escaped. Her mother had gate checked something, so I was able to head out the door without the .. well, you get the picture.

Larry rolled right up in his new Aztek, which is really a lovely car, especially all tricked out the way he bought this one. We went to DFW to pick up the man who flew in from SFO to buy his other car, then came back to his place to deliver same. Then, off to dinner and out to the bars. All of Larry's friends were out, which was great, and the first bar we went to was loaded with stippers. Larry's ex-boyfriend was there, and hitting on me (physically) as per the norm. So, I backed him off HARD, his mood fell apart and he left. Everyone I was with was SO taken with the dancers - I kept hollering "they don't mean it - they just want your money" at all of them. Larry went up to the one who was REALLY built, and came back telling me that the boy/man lives in Houston. Sort of. And that he had asked to meet me.

Clearly, he needed something. So, I went over there. He wanted to know if he could contact me, as the man (undoubedly older) that he had been staying with in Houston "was getting weird." Probably wanting some action after all that flirtation to save on hotel rooms. So, I gave him my card. He said he was going to email me on Monday. About six times. Apparently, he's coming to town soon. Like Monday.

Anyway, we went then to the next bar over, and the place was .. empty. But, there were three young men gyrating .. I went to the bathroom, and one would have thought it was 1983 all over again. My heavens! I quickly finished and left, and after a while, I was sitting there at the table having consumed sixty-eleven cocktails, watching my friends shovel out the money and attention at these young men, and wondering how I came to be in this spiritual place (of mine, not the bar.)

I mean, if "it shall be done unto you as you believe" (the best paraphrase that I can offer) and I'm sitting there believing that no one is going to be interested in me, and I'm better off not evidencing interest in ANYONE, then I'm surely getting exactly what I believe. It's complex. Where did I develop this notion? I've had it for years .. but, I didn't used to. Kind of. I don't know.

Fortunately, it was midnight, and Larry was ready to go. So, off we went to his place, and I went to bed pretty quickly. I slept HARD all night, and had more bizarre dreams. I had the one about being in the Brad Pitt/Jennifer Anniston movie where they're racing around on a motorcycle and traveling through time to Medievel lands, and Brad Pitt is fighting armored knights. On his motorcycle. While Jennifer's hair blows in the rush of air past the speeding motorcycle.

I told you that they were weird. I also dreamed of the new peeler. Briefly.

It's raining today, and who knows if everyone's coming over at noon as they said they were. I've been fiddling around on the computer a while, so it's time to go join Larry in the living room and be social. Adios!