The table. Set with fresh-cut hydrangeas from the yard. Note my baked beans and potato salad are already on the table.Was lovely. Lee decided to use the Fiestawear, rather than the china, since this was a cookout, and less formal occasion. My baked beans turned out great, and were a big hit. I was disappointed in the potato salad, although it was complimented. I should have tasted it myself this afternoon. I think it could have used more dressing. Lee sets a beautiful table.
Marvin came, flirted outrageously (in response to my own, admittedly outrageous flirting), and then left as usual. He is a cute guy, but I guess nothing will ever come of it. He seems to have an overly responsible guilt complex about letting his mother watch the children (he has two cousins he brought into the country and has custody of), and even if I did want to start a long-distance dating thing (which I really don't), it doesn't seem like we would ever see each other. Apparently he has just decided to be celibate until the children move out.
Lee and Clayton's friend Daniel came. I like Daniel, who unfortunately typifies a certain type of gay stereotype, for whom a fetish seems more important than a genuine partnership. He likes young and Asian men, and if there are none interested, he doesn't seem to want to go out at all. So he has a young Asian guy he is seeing right now, but there is expressly no commitment between them. At 48 (even a good-looking and youthful 48), you can only cling to a stereotype like that for so long, unless you are willing to enter into a more mecenary type of relationship, or are very very lucky. Thus far, Daniel hasn't been that lucky. It was hard to get a read on this new guy though, since he barely said 15 words through the whole evening. He came in late, snuggled up with Daniel, and basically went to sleep.
The conversation was pretty good, for the most part, although Clayton insisted on interrupting the flow to turn on the television at 10pm. Apparently Graham Norton takes precedence over any other activity (he was going to change it from a movie we were watching last night for the show, but for some reason it wasn't on). No one else seemed to think this was strange, so I guess I just don't get it. I would never think of having a dinner party and turning on the television to watch a show rather than converse with my guests. But then I'm not really as involved with television as most people are, so I guess I'm the odd one out. The show was entertaining enough, I guess, if you like that type of thing. Since I only knew who one of the celebrity guests were, and I wasn't really interested in him, it was of limited interest to me. I feel an increasing gulf between myself and the pop culture society in which I live. It isn't just with Lee and Clayton. Russ and Billy follow all that stuff too. I just usually can't bring myself to care much about it. It doesn't seem that interesting or important to me most of the time.
I really liked the other couple that were there. One of them smokes, so we could go outside to smoke and talk together. They are very, very happy together, so they are very lucky. They've been together for 7 years, and apparently the honeymoon still isn't over. I'm happy for them, but happy people generally don't have that much to talk about. They are ensconced in cream-cheese suburbia, joined at the hip, and very content that way. Good for them. I guess I just didn't have enough to relate to with them. Really nice guys though.
So it was an enjoyable evening. It was nice to have people in, since I rarely do so at home. I love cooking for people too, so since Lee and Clayton have the room to enteratain that I don't, I like cooking for their guests, and for them.
Marvin came, flirted outrageously (in response to my own, admittedly outrageous flirting), and then left as usual. He is a cute guy, but I guess nothing will ever come of it. He seems to have an overly responsible guilt complex about letting his mother watch the children (he has two cousins he brought into the country and has custody of), and even if I did want to start a long-distance dating thing (which I really don't), it doesn't seem like we would ever see each other. Apparently he has just decided to be celibate until the children move out.
Lee and Clayton's friend Daniel came. I like Daniel, who unfortunately typifies a certain type of gay stereotype, for whom a fetish seems more important than a genuine partnership. He likes young and Asian men, and if there are none interested, he doesn't seem to want to go out at all. So he has a young Asian guy he is seeing right now, but there is expressly no commitment between them. At 48 (even a good-looking and youthful 48), you can only cling to a stereotype like that for so long, unless you are willing to enter into a more mecenary type of relationship, or are very very lucky. Thus far, Daniel hasn't been that lucky. It was hard to get a read on this new guy though, since he barely said 15 words through the whole evening. He came in late, snuggled up with Daniel, and basically went to sleep.
The conversation was pretty good, for the most part, although Clayton insisted on interrupting the flow to turn on the television at 10pm. Apparently Graham Norton takes precedence over any other activity (he was going to change it from a movie we were watching last night for the show, but for some reason it wasn't on). No one else seemed to think this was strange, so I guess I just don't get it. I would never think of having a dinner party and turning on the television to watch a show rather than converse with my guests. But then I'm not really as involved with television as most people are, so I guess I'm the odd one out. The show was entertaining enough, I guess, if you like that type of thing. Since I only knew who one of the celebrity guests were, and I wasn't really interested in him, it was of limited interest to me. I feel an increasing gulf between myself and the pop culture society in which I live. It isn't just with Lee and Clayton. Russ and Billy follow all that stuff too. I just usually can't bring myself to care much about it. It doesn't seem that interesting or important to me most of the time.
I really liked the other couple that were there. One of them smokes, so we could go outside to smoke and talk together. They are very, very happy together, so they are very lucky. They've been together for 7 years, and apparently the honeymoon still isn't over. I'm happy for them, but happy people generally don't have that much to talk about. They are ensconced in cream-cheese suburbia, joined at the hip, and very content that way. Good for them. I guess I just didn't have enough to relate to with them. Really nice guys though.
So it was an enjoyable evening. It was nice to have people in, since I rarely do so at home. I love cooking for people too, so since Lee and Clayton have the room to enteratain that I don't, I like cooking for their guests, and for them.
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