Reality Bites

I'm back from Europe and am slowly adjusting to being back at the job.   I wish I were back in Madrid but it's just as well since I was running out of Euros.    My biggest challenge returning was dealing with London's Heathrow airport.    It served as my one stop between Chicago and Barcelona and later Madrid to Chicago.  I thought having a 90 minute layover would give me enough time to navigate to my next gate.   But unfortunately I didn't account for needing to take a shuttle bus to a different terminal, going to two different security checks, and ultimately on my return trip taking an additional tram train to my final gate.   I barely made my flight back.

The highlight of my British Airways flight returning was watching a couple movies that I missed in their theatrical releases.   My first movie choice was X-Men The 1st Class.   I admit it added some much needed layers to the X-Men story and the initial tight friendship between Magneto and Professor X.    I also enjoyed the softer side of Mystique and understood her internal struggle.    The second movie choice was Moulin Rouge.   I got a kick out of the main characters storyline even if it was a tad bit predictable and felt they all did good with the material they were given.   Nicole Kidman especially I thought was great and kinda wished the movie didn't get completely panned.   I almost cried towards the end but had to keep myself in check since I was on a plane.   I then popped an episode of Community to make me laugh.  

Those, some decent airline food, and a nap helped make the 8 hour flight go by quickly.   The next challenge after that was dealing with US customs in Chicago.    Though it wasn't as bad as when I got back from Toronto a few years back.

Jose was there to pick me up and his timing was perfect, he pulled into the pickup zone just as I was coming out of baggage claim.    I admit I was worried about whether or not he would still pick me up.    But we had chatted briefly while I was in Madrid on my fling with Madro.   He said he was just messing with me.   He had feelings for Madro years back but they became good friends so all was good.

And it's a good thing.   Apparently Madro has Michigan connections and plans to visit his family around the Christmas holiday.    Madro said he'd like to meet me again while we're both in Michigan.   So the saga continues there.    Who knows?   I may visit Madrid again sooner than I think.

Till then it's back to work.

Dumb Luck

I've been in Madrid since Monday the 17th but two nights later, this is the first night I've actually spent the night in my hotel room.     Yeah I sorta met someone via my friend Jose.    As dumb luck would have it, I made the mistake of telling Jose that I spent the night with his friend Madro (didn't tell him about the 2nd night and probably won't) and now I think he's mad at me.    I had forgotten that Jose had a crush on Madro a long time back (we're talking more than ten years ago) but Madro had turned him down.  

When I emailed Jose about my time with Madro and Madra and mentioned the tryst, he immediately replied just saying he'd call me in five minutes.   So he called me and when he confirmed what I said, he didn't believe me since he said Madro always liked younger guys.   But when he realized what I said was true, he cut the conversation short basically saying that it looked I had things under control and that he would talk to me later.  I felt a change in his voice and I realized that I made a big mistake.

I should've known the cardinal rule of not messing with your friend's friends even if nothing happened between said friends.    I had forgotten that he mentioning having a crush on Madro so it was insensitive on my part to mention sleeping with him.    I was so used to being able to tell Jose anything that I forgot that there are some things that should've been left unsaid.

So I contacted him today after seeing him online on a common social networking site and he didn't reply to my message.   What's worse is that he's supposed to pick me up from the airport when I get back to Chicago.   I guess I shouldn't be surprised if he completely bails on me.

I really messed up big time.   Simple as that.

The thing is I had no idea that Madro and I would hit it off so well.   I mean he kept making little jabs calling me chubby when I met him along with his lovely hag Madra.    Madro was hitting on the young waiter that was serving us at the tapas place pretty hard too.    So I assumed he was into younger guys.

He trapped me into asking me to guess his age at one point.   I tried to get out of answering but he wouldn't let me get away so easily.   So I told him he looked about 45 and then he kinda got pissy and said I looked 50.  *LOL*.

But he got over it really fast after exchanging a few more jabs at Madra and myself and then flirting with the waiter.    I was definitely attracted to Madro.   He kinda reminded me of a hotter Ted King.  He had this air of confidence about him that was very alluring.    It was amazing how quick on his feet he was with every quip thrown his way.   So when he invited me afterwards to hang out for another drink, it was an offer I couldn't refuse.   I mean it's not everyday I get the attention of a really hot guy.  

He suggested possibly going to a bar but Madra wasn't up to it.    Problem was that Madra was visiting and staying at Madro's so he would have to go back to his place to drop her off.   So the three of us head back to his place.   He lives in a nice midrise townhome.   We walk inside and Madra excuses herself to go into her room.

Madro in the meantime flips the script and mentions there aren't any real good bars near him but we could either have drinks at his place or head out.   He had a few drinks (about 6 glasses of wine I heard) already and he seemed to went to stay at his place.    I went along with it.

I knew where things were heading as we sat in the dark in his living room.   He laid down on one side of the couch and invited me to relax on the other side.   He started massaging my feet and it felt really nice.   He then starting kissing and lightly biting my feet.   Mind you I walked a pretty mile in them but I guess they weren't too foul.   In the meantime I was massaging his feet and walking my hands up his shorts.  

Moments later he came up by me, took off his clothes, leaving on his sexy draws and kissed me.    I kept asking him if he was sure about where we were going even though we were near the point of no return.    Since he had a few drinks I was worried he'd hate himself and me in the morning.   Also hello it's not like I'm that hot.

But he poo pooed all that and the show went on.   And what a show.   I admit he had a brother wondering if he should relocate but I know that's not realistic.   Though I can't help but think about Madro, my Madrid fling.

I hope I don't lose Jose though.

Meal Appeal

I just got back from having the most wonderful dinner.    I have to say it's a keeper as far as locales in Barcelona to eat.    Vinya Roel in Barcelona doubles as a wine store so you could buy a bottle of wine there to enjoy with your meal.   I will admit that the servers were a bit pushy at times with their suggestion of items but overall aside from that and the occasional language barrier, I had a pretty nice meal.    And I could get used to not tipping.    It was weird at first but I admit it's nice not having to figure that out.    I'll let the pics speak for themselves.

Oh...and sealing their deal on being a fancy place, their restrooms had wash clothes you could dry your hands with instead of paper towels or a dryer.    Only thing missing was the bathroom attendant to hand you the towels.    So since he was gone....

My Foolish Superhero

I'm killing a bit of time in my hotel room in Barcelona. While doing so I came across this interesting article regarding a self-proclaimed Seattle superhero. Superhero Phoenix said he was breaking up a fight but apparently one of the people he sprayed attacked him back and the group said they weren't fighting.

I have to admit he looks dashing in his costume. I always have a soft spot for a guy willing to put his neck out there to save people. But it seems to be a foolhardy thing to do, even if he had a friend and camera crew following him. I mean I don't know how wise it is to put yourself in a situation where things can turn around on you in an instant.

And apparently earlier this year Phoenix received a broken nose from another altercation he broke up.

He looks kinda cute though. I'm gonna need him to be more careful in the future.

Another Year In The Life

I'm starting a brand new life here in Barcelona. I've had to make lots of adjustments to my attitude due to the change of culture, language, people, and locale. Since I made the dramatic change to my life, I thought I'd start anew (yeah again, again...*LOL*) with another blogspot. Different blogspot, different location, same ol' E.

One other change that I've had to adjust to is the change in umm, change. The Euro which actually as of this writing has gotten weaker still wound up costing me a pretty penny to convert my U.S. dollars. Pop quiz: Can you spot the two American coins that are in my picture above?

I don't think there's a 2 cent U.S. coin but there is one in the Euro. Another uncommon one is the 20 cent euro. Also instead of dollar bills, you have 1 euro coins. And the two dollar bills also has a two euro cousin. It makes the task of giving change slightly harder to navigate, lest someone gives you a 50 cent euro instead of a 2 euro.

There are times I question myself for leaving Chicago. Actually that's a lie. I've never really questioned it only because I'm also lying about relocating to Barcelona. Yeah some things never change. I had to do something big to introduce myself back to what's left of the blogging community.

But as of this writing I am vacationing in Barcelona. It's my first ever European trip. I gotten all kinds of advice on the trip from my new friend Jose. Jose and I met over a year ago initially as a hook-up. It was good enough for another followup hook-up. But after the second one, we actually began to get to know each other outside of the bedroom. He's a few years more than half a century old but looks much younger and definitely has a healthy appetite for sex. He's become quite invaluable in my life, offering me career, personal, and of course trip advice. It's been nice having another constant gay friend in my life besides Eugene. He offers me an additional perspective on situations. Plus he lives not far from me so we've been hanging out quite a bit together around the town.

So yeah this year's birthday trip starts off in Barcelona and ends in Madrid, with possible side trips to Sitges and Toledo (not Ohio). The hardest part about this trip is adjusting to the language. Barcelona has the added distinction of having Catalin as its primary language with Spanish being secondary, so it's been a bit of a struggle for me. But thankfully for the most part, Barcelonians (I guess that's the right term.) have been generally nice to me despite my messed up Spanish.

Traveling alone is nice mostly because I control the when, where, and how long aspects of my day. But the hard part for me sometimes is eating alone, especially when everyone else that's there seems to have a date, family, or friends with them. It reminds me once again that I still haven't found boyfriend #2 since my time with Rock ended almost three years ago in December 2008. So clearly "Date and Dash" didn't quite work out for me. One of the best moments of my relationship with Rock was our traveling together to New York (despite the rocky road to get to that point....*LOL*). Eating alone reminds of how much I miss those times.

To add fuel to the fire, I inch closer to the inevitable big 4-0 on October 15th, hitting 39. I can't believe how fast time is flying. On the bright side, I'm reluctantly grateful to still have a job (yeah at that place still....LOL*). It'll be fifteen years there April 2012, assuming I make it. The company I'm at has been a lot of layoffs in the last couple years. Somehow I've managed to hold on for the time being and thank goodness, with the stock market (and effectively my 401-K), taking a nose dive. And of course my crappy penny stocks are barely holding on to their pennies.

It's a wonder I've contemplated having kids this past year. How the hell can I afford them? Taking care of them alone at that. My hat is off to all those doing it alone. Even with a partner, how did my parents afford my sisters and I? Hmm.

On the kid front, the two options I've been looking at primarily at are surrogacy and co-parenting. The main advantage of surrogacy is more control over raising your child (especially since I'm alone...*LOL*) but that same advantage is also a disadvantage. In addition there's the whole cost factor. There's actually a surrogacy clinic I've contacted that is in the Chicago area that has the concept of overseas surrogacy, which is cheaper than having a US surrogate. But even that runs almost 50K for one child. Co-parenting main advantage is having another person sharing responsibility for raising a child. Again that main advantage can also be a disadvantage, especially if you both don't see eye-to-eye on certain issues. There's also the need to split time between the co-parents over who has the child. That could also be good when you have a good set-up as there would be a break (though you never really are on break as a parent, I hear...*LOL*) in when you can have 'me time'. And of course finding the right lady (or ladies assuming a lesbian couple) to co-parent with can be tough. A hookup and occasional chat buddy I have shares co-parenting duties with a lady for their two children and he's constantly bitching about how she handles certain situations. Surprisingly though he wants more kids but the thing holding him back is the thought of having them with his current co-parent since his preference is for the siblings to have the same DNA.

Yeah so that's pretty much in a nutshell my life. Ironically I feel like my 1st blog pretty much ending once my parents found out officially I was 'gay' seemed to be a nice segway since my old blog was my life as a closeted gay man in my 30's whereas this one is about my life as a somewhat old (I mean out...*LOL*) gay man about to enter my 40's. Time for me to rest up before enjoying some Barcelona night life.