October 20th

I have been keeping a journal since 1982. It was a project started in an English class in high school and I have managed to keep it going for over 20 years now. Every so often, I will look back on a particular day, just to see what I was doing on that day, say 5, 10 even 20 years ago. And I am instantly taken back to that day recalling my thoughts, emotions, feelings and environment. I am reminded of places I have been and people I have long since forgotten. These are priceless recounts of my life that I have to thank Mrs. Kelly for beginning.

Today being October 20th, for example, I went back through the last 22 years to see where I was and what I was doing on this day many years back:

2004 – Had dinner with Ex#5 in DC then went to karaoke to watch Apple Brown Betty perform, then head out to a conference for a few days in Potomac, MD

2003 – Had dinner with Ex#4 at Buca di Beppo in DC.

2002 – Sunny, breezy Sunday in DC. Had lunch in Georgetown with my friend, Aaron, then did some shopping.

2001 – Took the Jeep to Jiffy Lube in Arlington. I had a dinner date at Pepper’s with my friend, Geoff, and then I saw my friend Aubrey perform at Colours of Fall at Nation.

2000 – My friend Colin was visiting DC from Toronto. I had a date with Bobby and spent the night at his house.

1999 – Doctor appointment with Dr. Rudski at 3:15, and dinner with Eric at Paulo’s in Georgetown.

1997 – Ex#3 and I were celebrating our third month of dating with dinner at my apartment on Capitol Hill.

1996 – My brother, Mike, and his wife Christina and their two year-old daughter Jordan (my god-daughter) visited me in DC. We went to the Zoo and I took them to dinner at the American Café at Metro Center.

1995 – I had only been in DC a month. I worked until 5:00, and then went to happy hour at JR’s with co-worker Todd.

1993 – Kathy, Jelita and I saw “Free Willy” at the $.99 theatre in Winchester, VA. And apparently I shaved off my beard.

1992 – Rented “Rosemary’s Baby” with gal pals Deidre and Colleen at Shenandoah, then had dinner at Ground Round.

1991 – Saw “The Fisher King” and drove to Skyline Drive in Front Royal, VA, with Ex#2. Then a bunch of us went to Deer Park Lodge – the only semi-close gay bar – an hour away from school.

1990 – Home on break, went to “Class Act” – a gay bar in Morgantown, WV with my best friend, Jeff W.

1989 – My mom was cleaning out some stuff and found a box of her children’s elementary school artwork. So Mom, my sister Kim and I spent the afternoon looking at everything.

1988 – Ex#1 had been working in NYC and came home to our house in Sterling, VA, after 6 weeks. I am sure sex ensued.

1983 - A truck loses its brakes and crashes into my sister and brother-in-law's apartment. No one is home at the time.

There are some years where nothing was written down. That happens sometimes now and then. I have, and still do, miss a day now and then - there are days when I just sat around in my sweats and watched a Real World Marathon or something. Admittedly, no one wants to recall days like that.