Providence and Boston

I'm back from a great weekend in Providence and Boston. It was a bit of a whirlwind tour and it seemed like every hour I suddenly found myself in the company of a new set of wonderful people.

Providence remains in my memory as this glassy-iced, cold and blue, blustery and dark city, much like Milwaukee. All I wanted was for Tom to pour me a glass of wine and make me dinner and have a conversation with me, which was accomplished within two hours of landing Thursday evening. Everything after that was gravy.

I also got to meet a couple fantastic individuals that I've been corresponding with for years...Brian the Book Editor, with whom I've shared a lot of commiserations regarding our shared career, and Scott the Writer and his boyfriend Michael. Also got to meet (and stay with--THANKS!) some of Tom's old friends, exceptional people all.

While I didn't get to Jacques, I did make it out to Paradise in Cambridge for a trashy evening with Tom, Scott, Michael, Joe, and some poet. I expected gloryholes and ugly strippers and crushed ice pipes under foot but instead it was rather like Eau Claire, Wisconsin. It was, I must admit, the most racially-diverse space in all of Boston, which was overall incredibly white. The rushed greasy breakfast we all scarfed down at the South End Diner at three in the morning was the highlight.

On our first night there and on Saturday we stayed with Tom's friends Alisa and Richard, who are an incredibly gorgeous couple and both radiate warmth and friendship. We met up with Scott and got drunk at the Ramrod and the next day they took us on a wonderful walking tour of Boston.

I'm totally a closet Revolutionary War buff. When I was in sixth grade I was obsessed with the opening moments of the Revolution...Paul Revere's famous ride, one if by land, two if by sea, Lexington and Concord. Paul Revere...he was my homeboy.

After a quick rest in the Old North Church, a boozy lunch and some Boston Cream Pie we took a whirlwind tour of the new ICA and then headed to South End to stay with Tom's friend Joe in his great South End apartment. Though he didn't come to my rescue when Tom was sexually assaulting me in the night, he's incredibly sweet and allowed us to drag him to Cambridge for the evening.

I'll be back in a month for work.