My friend Joy is a tattoo artist and a good one at that. Recently, her Brooklyn apartment was broken into, not once, but twice. All of her tattoo equipment and supplies have been stolen right before she was to start on a tour.

Joy now needs to spend a lot of money to replace everything that was stolen. If you could help by donating some money to help her replace everything she needs to earn a living, that would be great.

I’ve never been a huge fan of gay pride events. What is there to be proud of? As my friends were wishing each other a “happy pride,” I was jokingly wishing everyone a “take it up the ass day.” Now I know that sounds cynical, and perhaps it is. But really, what do we have to be proud of that others don’t? I’m proud that I have a job, proud that I have a good family, and proud of my Pug. None of these things set me apart from the rest of the world in some extraordinary way. I am who I am.

Besides, after being to Pride events in Chicago and San Francisco, can Boston really hold a candle? The answer is a surprising maybe.

Saturday started by my not wanting to get out of bed. Steven had told me to be at Eric and Michael’s house anytime after 9:00. So I showed up at 9:30 and was the first person there. Fortunately, I know Eric and Michael, so we got to chat for a while. We also started drinking around 10:00. The day was filled with meeting new people and actully meeting a couple people that I had chatted with online. One of them is very hot and is a former Mr. Boston Leather. Hopefully I’ll be seeing more of him in the future.

After a while, we (a group that had migrated from Steven and Michael’s party) ventured out in the rain and saw the tail end of the parade. It was okay but nothing spectacular. I hear the better stuff was at the beginning of the parade. Anyway, after that, we tried to find our way in a bar somewhere to drink some more. Every bar in the south end (we only tried three of them) had lines coming out the door, including the Eagle. We headed back to our original starting point to dry off for a bit. Finally, a few of us headed back to the Eagle, which is only about three blocks from my office. We had a few drinks there and it turned out to be a lot of fun. Who knew that a gay dive bar could be fun?

About 6:00 or so, I decided to head home. I’d never encountered an evening hangover before. It was dreadful. It will hopefully teach me that starting with sparkling wine and ending with beer isn’t such a good idea. I tihnk I was in bed by 11:00.

That was my Saturday.

In the past week or so, I’ve gotten messages from three different friends from college. I haven’t seen two of them since college and the other about five years. It’s weird how something like my space can help you find people you haven’t seen in ages.

I dug up a few people as well. That’s been fun.

I’ve mentioned that I sit by a window that overlooks our cafe. I wave at people passing by way too often. Today, I waved at Vanessa, one of our project accountants. She came running into our office. It turns out that she was having issues with Outlook and needed to get into her email to find out what time her flight left this afternoon. I helped her get into her e-mail via the web client on my computer and she was stunned to learn that her flight left in an hour and a half. She hadn’t even packed yet.

Very quickly, I jumped into travel agent mode, clacked away at my computer for a few seconds and scribbled a phone number on my pug post-it notes. I explained that she needed to call the airline and make alternative arrangements and that most airlines were usually more apt to help reaccomodate her if she called BEFORE missing her flight.

It’s not the only time I played travel agent today, but I’ll let Sam tell the story when she gets back from Texas.

Sometimes I think I should have been a travel agent.

Reggie and I went to see Beth, Paul, and the boys tonight for dinner. It was simply incredible. Fillet Mignon and roasted sweet potatoes. What more could you want?

Now I’m tired and need to get to bed.

Somebody just bought a new car. I think she’s trying to keep up with the Joneses and their new ride. At least its a Honda.

This is the same woman who agonized for over a month about what computer to buy, yet she turns around and buys a car on a whim. I just don’t get that.

This isn’t the first time we’ve had a pug birthday party just to have an excuse for the adults to get together. Sam and Murphy came up from Connecticut. Beth made a fabulous lunch and then we took the boys to the beach. This was the first time Murphy had been to the beach. Reggie had been to the beach, but never quite like this…

At first, Murphy approached the water a little gingerly…

But he wasn’t afraid to get his paws wet.

Reggie, on the other hand, wasn’t quite so happy about the beach.

Brutus always seems to enjoy trips to the beach.

We tried doing a group picture and ended up with an interloper.

Yeah, it was a fun day.  Now Reggie is sleeping on my legs, snoring away.

I got kisses from Murphy, one of my favorite pugs.

Murphy sent me a thank you card because I had sent him some chicken treats when I sent his mom my iPod. I think his mom probably helped him write it. But what was so cute is that the card itself had his picture on the front. It’s absolutely darling. I think Reggie needs some of those.

I mentioned that I was going to be going to go to NYC on May 19. My friend Steve from New Zealand London is going to be there, too.  I need to find a place to crash overnight.