We're all living in Amerika, Amerika ist wunderbar

Hi,

I have no idea how many posts this will take, but it's about time I posted about my 'recent' trip to the US. It's not exactly so recent any more, but no better time like the present. Especially since i fly out on another trip in 3 days!

So where do we begin... getting on a plane in Melbourne, to fly to Sydney, to fly to San Francisco where i got felt up by the TSA. That was great. I could've gotten the same thing done to me by some guy on Manhunt and gotten paid for it! Welcome to the USA. Well the next flight was better, especially with free wifi for 5.5 hours. But really what is there to do, even with wifi? Email, facebook, grindr, facebook, grindr, email, grindr, facebook. I followed my flight tried to get some sleep to. It was actually fun using grindr because the wifi signal had me at SFO, so people would message me things like "I'm at the Hyatt SFO, where are you?" And my reply would be something like "I'm in a plane somewhere over Nebraska :)"

I had 2.5 weeks in NYC and other than a few set things i didn't make major plans. I had a friend's wedding to attend (that was the major reason for the trip), i had family to visit, friends to see from when I was living over there a year earlier. It was gonna be great!

I rented a car and drove to a friend's place in manhattan where i was crashing during my stay. Another reason I rented a car because i'd planned on spending the next day shopping at an outlet mall. And shop i did, filling up the trunk of my car! I'd gotten a sim card so my iphone would work, alas it didn't. Gotta sort this out, but have no time!

I had a JQY meeting that night, which was perfect timing, seeing all my old friends was great! Of course afterwards was the obligatory drinks at the Candlebar, and meeting up with those straight people who don't attend JQY stuff.

It was a great night but I needed to get home so I could pack a small bag as I was heading to Boston for the weekend. A friend of mine was in college up there so thought it'd be great to head up and see him. and what fun we had, i took the boltbus up, and ended up sitting next to a jewish italian chick who was freaking hilarious. At the stop she called her mum to tell her all about the gay jewish aussie she'd met :)

Boston was a blast. Dinner at the Paramount, drinks at the beehive with a bunch of his friends, back to his place at Louisberg square to sleep (yes to sleep!), brunch at the Beacon Hill Hotel, ice skating at the Frog Pond, and then back to the station for the bus ride home. And met a cool guy in Rhode Island on grindr, but that's another story. 

I made some plans to meet up with a random facebook friend that night for a drink but i screwed that up. Train took longer than I planned and by the time I got there he'd gone and my phone still wasn't working so had no way to let him know. I ended up at Starbucks and chilled with a cappucino before making the ride back home. 

I got home and at 2am the neighbours decided it was time to party. I know it's saturday night but really?!? I updated my facebook status "so the neighbours are having a party at 2am. Is it some dominican or puerto rican holiday or something?" Well of course it was as I was informed soon after that if they are Mexican or Hispanic origin that day was the feast of our Lady of Guadalupe. Not like i need sleep anyway.

The next day was a hectic day, shopping, meeting my jewish african american friend for dinner (mu mum loves her, lol) and then off clubbing. First Griffin, and when that finished, off with a bunch of randoms to Greenhouse. Love Sundays in NYC :) and made it back at about 6am.

The next day was a trip to Looooooooong Island to visit some family. Great to see them but it went so quick it felt like it was over before it started. Of course the rest of the week meant lots of shopping, and visiting starbucks for their wifi because my phone still wasn't working! Argh! So annoying. And of course meeting up with friends for either a coffee, or dinner. At the end of the week it was time for the bucks party (or bachelors party as american's call it) which was fun and not too crazy. I met a friend for drinks at the Stonewall Inn and went with another one to Duplex to see a show which was hilarious. I went to a friend's birthday party at Plunge at the Gansevoort Hotel which was really cool.

Of course then was the wedding which was great. It was in Jersey, and that was really the main reason for my trip, with all the parties involved with the wedding, from shabbat before, meals, kiddushim and then the wedding. Was really glad i went. Of course then my mate's wife want to hang out with me and get to know me because she has a bunch of single friends. I told him to tell the bad news that i wouldn't be interested.

I was busy being a bit of a foodie, lots of food, eating at restaurants, even some kosher ones ;) exploring the city, the obligatory visit to Splash one night, how could i not! It was Twink Tuesdays, lol. The next night was another barhop with another friend i used to hang with. Wednesday nights always began at the Phoenix, then pizza at Artichoke (can't remmber the exact name but it was good!) And ended the night at boxers for a nightcap. Didn't want too late a night as the next day was a busy day so made it back home at a bout 3am-ish.

The next night was one big party i'd planned on attending - The Jewbillee - which was a gay jewish xmas eve party being held at Slate. Well it wasn't quite on Xmas eve because that ended up being on a Friday, so the party was on a thursday which mean everyone could come :) One of my random fb friends from Oz was visiting and asked if i was attending the party. Hell yeah i was! And so was he, so we made plans to finally meet up. The party was great, met up with a bunch of other friends I hadn't seen yet, and some other facebook randoms. And then my hot Aussie friend showed up. We drank, we danced, ended up pashing on the dancefloor. I'm bad, really bad. Though another of my friends did congratulate me on sealing the deal. Umm that's not quite sealing the deal, and no I won't be elaborating on that ;)

My last few days were to be spent on Long Island with family before heading to JFK just before the big blizzard was supposed to arrive. Of course time with family means a discussion on homosexuality and being questioned about my refusal to see a psychologist who could 'fix' my 'problem'. FML.

The day of my departure it started snowing in the morning, it hadn't snowed once the entire time I was there. I was scheduled on one of the last flights out of there. Sitting onboard, listening to air traffic control (united channel 9, love it), we deiced, taxied to the runway, only for it to be closed so it could be plowed, headed back to the gate for de-icing again. But eventually with the weather getting worse they cancelled the flight and the airport shut down. Well that was great, what happens now? I went back to checkin to get rebooked. With all the cancellations the earliest I could be rebooked was for a week later. Glad travel insurance came in handy, as they covered my accomodation and meal expenses for the rest of the week.

So no more staying with friends and family, time for a hotel. Once it stopped snowing I realised i needed boots. So of course I went shopping! Found some hot blue gumboots, just what frosty the snowman ordered.
I was there for a week and could do as I pleased. I played good samaritan one night when my Aussie friend (aka pasher on the dancefloor) got locked out of the place he was staying and offered up half my bed, yes i'm a gentleman.

Of course I did more shopping, as if my suitcases weren't full enough already. I went to Bryant Park and the stalls there (the hot apple cider really hit the spot). after a few days on the east side I decided to move to Chelsea. Just because I could. And of course now I could attend all the things I was going to miss out on had I not been stuck the extra week. A great friday night dinner in Washington Heights with some friends, the obligatory brunch at Intermezzo in Chelsea, dinner at Elmo, and a post NYE party where I had to wear something that sparkles. Not having my club gear with me I decided on some glitter. It must've worked wonders as the girl in the elevator with me asked if I was also going to the Phish concert. Nope. The Party was fun, then onto Therapy for another birthday party and lots of drinking and then back home.

A good nights sleep with my last minute packing and getting upgraded to business class for the 20+ hour trip home. Life is great :)

The rest of the weekend and then some

Hey,
I guess this could be called a continuation from the previous post.

Friday night and shabbat were pretty boring. I stayed home in Brooklyn and didn't go anywhere exciting. Saturday night rolled around and I was dying to head out. I go on facebook and a friend is on. Have I heard of the Tall Gay Agenda? he asks. Nope. Well it's a facebook group he found and membership requires you to be 6'2 or taller (not quite sure how they confirm that via facebook). Anyway they were having a monthly get together at the Stonewall. Was I interested? Sure I was! It sounded interesting and I'd never been to the Stonewall.

While waiting for him outside some guy offered me some blow on the street. Surprise surprise I did not take him up on the offer. What can I say but there alot of tall men in there. And anyone who wasn't tall suddenly looked really short. We met a few people while waiting for drinks. One cute guy I was chatting to disappeared, but there were some others including a group we went upstairs with. One guy in particular was pretty into me, we spent much of the night chatting. Eventually it was time for us to go but we exchanged numbers and will be hanging out this weekend. The drinks at stonewall sucked though. Like really bad. Bottles only if I ever go there again.

We moved on to another party. This time a house party hosted by the director of Trembling Before God - Sandi Dubowski. It was his birthday, and a few more friends were on their way there too so off to the east village we went. It was raining but couldn't hail a cab so we walked it. And the place was packed! Lots of new randoms, some i'd love to have gotten it on with. And someone thought there was weed in the birthday cake. I'm not sure if there was but not like i'd complain anyway. I also spotted someone there that I knew. I don't know if he recognized me but I certainly recognized him, and he left soon after I got there. Not sure if I should read anything into that. Eventually it was time to head home.

Yom Kippur was coming up the following night and I really didn't have any major plans. I thought maybe i'd pop into the local synagogue for a bit. I probably wouldn't fast. And then something happened. A friend from the city mentioned he was thinking of going to CBST. Well that was all the push I needed. We met up outside the Javits Center in Manhattan. Apparently it's the only (or one of the only) high holiday services in Manhattan that is free, so it attracts straight people as well as GLBT. As you do, you bump into people that you know, or just recognize from facebook - there was a good few thousand people there, how could you not? We saved a few seats for some people we saw. All 5 of us were there and it was a really nice evening. Besides the fact that across the aisle on my left were a couple hotties, and someone that came with one of my friends was pretty cute too. He was too many seats across that I couldn't really start a conversation with him, but at least I could look at him.


Growing up orthodox all I ever knew was one way of praying. Sit there, read the words, understand them or not, just say them. It was one reason I didn't really care for prayer that much. But these services were really enjoyable. It was honestly the first time in a long time I could say I enjoyed synagogue services. Maybe it was the mix of prayer and music and choir and rabbi's comments, but it was fun. Afterwards a bunch of us went outside, there's kind of a balcony overlooking the west side highway and the hudson and NJ since people traffic flowing out of the hall was going so slow. Of course when we finally made it out it seemed almost like a JQY meeting. All the people that you know, but didn't know were there that night. Mr Splash and his baby, and a bunch of others too, just chatting away and socializing. I thought maybe i'd actually come back the next day too (but that didn't end up happening). It was a nice night out and the friend I came with was walking back to Union Square so we headed off together. As we passed through Chelsea, who did we see but the tall cute guy we both noticed at the Phoenix a few nights earlier! That was just random and funny. And again he was alone :(

I got back home and was hungry and thought why should I bother fasting if I don't do so many other things (yeah I know that's a slippery slope). So I had something to eat. I didn't make it back to CBST the next day, I pretty much stayed at home and chilled. I did decide I would fast the rest of Yom Kippur, and i'm glad I did.

The next day was an exciting day. Lunch with Mr Subway :) It had been postponed a few times and was really looking forward to it. I met him near his work and we went to a place called Cosi. I had a really nice time, he seems like a fun guy, and he mentioned he had a boyfriend, who he met a few weeks before he met me. FML. I mean don't get me wrong, it's nice that he has a boyfriend, and when we first met he did tell me his love life was complicated. We did have a nice lunch though and walked around a bit, and he's a really nice guy. It's just that I wouldn't have minded an invite back to his place at some point for some... um you know what, lol.

Lastly I had another date (with a girl) this week. Yeah thats a real FML. And it was bad, like really bad. I ended it as soon as I could without being rude. Really, what a nerd! There's no other way to describe her. Since I had a car I took my sister out to eat in Flatbush at some kosher place which was absolutely packed! While there I saw some people I knew. There were 4 guys, 2 were a couple, and someone else I recognized. Does that mean he's gay? No. But he's single, and older than me. Really made me wonder!

Anyway, I have to head off, going to meet the guy I met at the Stonewall. And yes I'm having a fabulous sukkot, lol.
Jay