Making Contact

This week was about making contact with the world of Boulder outside of my daily routine of classes and survival. I opened up a bit to discover some new people.

Chatting on-line last Sunday I chatted with a guy who is 34 and a doctor. He expressed mutual interest and we decided to aim for a get together on Wednesday night. When Wednesday night came around I was feeling cozy in my apartment while making dinner and not up to entertaining a new person. But, he called and was driving back to Denver passing by Boulder. I had three minutes to make a decision before he was past the Exit for Boulder on the freeway. In that three minutes I felt compelled to invite him over for his tenacity and directness. Thankfully I did. He was a good person to meet and helped to broaden my perspective on my life in the Boulder/Denver area.

Also, on Wednesday, I got my haircut for the first time since the end of July when I said a sad good-bye to my hairstylist, Preston, in the City. I had walked by this one salon on Pearl St., the trendy walking mall around the corner from me, and had a vibe about it. I went in and the gay boy at the counter checked me in and gave me a haircut. It was a decent experience. He's not Preston, but he did do a nice cut and told me how he was excited for the weekend to go to Vegas to see Britney Spears. I giggled internally.

On Thursday, Judy Shepard, mother of Matthew Shepard, came to the Boulder Bookstore to present her new book on Matthew. It was a nice event to hear her speak a little, reflect on Matthew, and the work she is engaged in for GLBT folks. I do have to say I found her message to be a little trite-I know probably effective for straight, unaware people to hear from a straight woman and mom of a murdered gay child, but I felt a little challenged that my life as a gay person gets condensed into a sound bite like message...the whole "we are no different than anyone else". Well, yes, and no. But, I still appreciate her commitment and exposure.

On Saturday, I went to a GLBT History of Boulder Colloquium at CU. I rode up the hill and on a gorgeous day spent 4 hours inside listening to various community leaders talk about the past, present, and future of the GLBT community in Boulder. Quite a fascinating history! Boulder was the first municipality to elect an openly gay person to a public office-years before Harvey Milk. And a judge here gave five marriage licenses to same-sex partners back in the 1970s, and it doesn't sound like it was repealed. WOW! Go Boulder! Of course, there have been challenges and now that Boulder is a more trendy spot, i.e. expensive, the diversity demographic has changed-a lot more white and rich around here...sound familiar my San Francisco friends?

After the colloquium I went to the CU library to obtain a book by my previous professor at Pacifica so I can finish my last paper and complete my M.A. in Mythology. Then, I rode my bike to the reception for the GLBT colloquium-mainly I wanted free food-but meeting new people was also part of it. And I did just that. I met a guy name Jim who has a Ph.D. in Literature from CU and teaches an LGBT class at CU and works an administrative position. I was impressed that we made such a great connection talking about mythology, writing, art, and history. We exchanged information and I'm looking forward to our dinner in Denver this upcoming Saturday.

On Sunday, I took Onye's Afro Modern class again-again, GREAT! My toes survived and are toughening up again. Basically, I am learning a lot about flexion in my movement classes and in Onye's class, countering all that extension from my ballet training. My body is saying YES to flexion.

Classes remain challenging on many levels, but I'm staying open and learning to keep throwing myself into the work in various ways. Our ensemble ebbs and flows...we expand and contract depending upon the emotions, the challenges, and the exhaustion. But, I think we are finding our groove the best we can.

And the weather this weekend was gorgeous-just a tease as we slide into Fall...in the 50s today...thankfully Pumpkin Spice Lattes are back!