Thursday that's going much better than last.

Today, I have to do some clean-up work, and then tonight at 6:00, I have a seminar about the tax law changes for 2004. Tomorrow, a hearing on my tax deal, an appointment with a business plan client from three weeks ago at 2:00 -

I picked him up about 6:00, then took him "home" to where he had been staying. Oh, my God. What a nightmare! The "roomie" was sitting alone, in the dark, with the doors locked. We went in, Joel turned on a light, and I was horrified at the condition of the place - it looks like someone has just moved in and not yet unpacked. Joel went to take a shower, leaving me in the living room with the roommate, who looks like he should be collecting tolls under a bridge. The roomie whined in a voice that could cut slate until he suddenly jumped up and went into the bathroom where Joel was showering.

The roomie then tried to convince Joel not to leave by promising that he (the roomie) was seeking help. I was just horrified that the guy interrupted Joel's shower to impose himself in that manner. Yikes. Anyway, a few minutes later, Joel was ready to leave, and we dashed out of there. He asked me how I felt about having been there, and I said that I had no idea that there was a male gay version of my Aunt Mary Lou.

I took him over to Barnaby's for dinner, and we talked for about an hour and a half. He's very much like me - hyper-intelligent, self-critical and unfocused. He's been going through a lot for the last couple of years, and he's just feeling like he's never going to have any options. He keeps talking about engaging in self-destructive jobs, like bartending or driving a cab, or something. Ugh. Do I ever know what THAT'S like. Anyway.

I told him, flat out, I was never letting him go back to that vile place. I told him that if he did, he'd die.

I brought him home around 9:30, and we watched "The Adventures of Priscilla," which he had never seen before. He laughed a lot. I gave him an anti-anxiety pill and put him to bed around midnight. He's still asleep. I hope he wakes up soon, I'm hungry.