It’s been a fascinating few weeks.  The most significant development is a radical restructuring of my social life, in terms of my circle of friends and the scope and nature of my interpersonal relationships.  An update follows.

1. The Southfield Box Party, scheduled for the last weekend of June, went well.  There were a number of people present to help with the schlepping, and Jon rented a large truck to facilitate the move from Southfield to Novi.  With Emilie’s parents attending to food, and a gaggle of folks to lend muscle, the actual move was accomplished in only a few hours.  Of course, ol’ T-Bone showed up after all the work was done, but we managed to turn it into an overnight excursion, complete with a stay at a Novi hotel and brunch the next morning with the lesbians.
2. I really haven’t seen much of Tony since we returned from Las Vegas.  Part of this is because he’s been busy, but I do rather miss seeing him.
3. The week leading up to Independence Day was interesting.  I spent most days with Andrew, watching movies and dining and whatnot.  Having a friend who actually resides in the Grand Rapids area and is interested in being social is something of a novelty.
4. The Sunday before the week of the holiday (and bear with me, the chronology in this post is not insignificant), I had dinner at Pietro’s Backdoor with Dave, a 22-year-old electrical engineer.  We enjoyed a delicious meal and great conversation.  We initially connected through a social-networking site, and struck up an e-mail correspondence that culminated in a dinner outing.  Went well.
5. On Monday before the holiday, Andrew and I went to see the sneak preview of The Rocker (a not-so-bad formulaic comedy scheduled for release July 30) with the free tickets he got. 
6. On the Wednesday before the holiday, I spent quite some time with a new friend, Tony — not to be confused with Legal Eagle.  Tony is a fascinating young man; intelligent, driven, charismatic … and one of West Michigan’s premier gay sluts with a tally that would earn a respectful nod from Wilt Chamberlain.  I like Tony; the conversation was quite good, and the insight I gleaned on a number of things was well worth the six hours’ talk time.
7. The following day, I had dinner with Becca before she went to see her boyfriend in Indiana and then jets off to Paris for a few weeks.  We went to Cambridge House, where we consumed much delicious, out-of-the-mainstream alcohol.  After I dropped her off at home, I joined Andrew at Diversions for a nightcap.  We ran into Dave and his friend Mary — they tried to pretend that they didn’t see me, but I chased them to the door and shamed them into paying attention to me.  Of course, they would argue that they were trying to figure out if they really saw me, and if so, whether they should approach.  But I like my version better.
8. Independence Day was fun.  Andrew and I did some “domestic” stuff, mostly shopping and dining and errands, before heading downtown for the fireworks show.  We were stationed directly at the center of the Pearl Street bridge.  This marks the first time since I was a child that I actually attended the Grand Rapids fireworks display, and I’m glad I did.  Then, we met Dave and Mary at Diversions for a few hours of drinking and conversation — or rather, Mary and I got to listen to Dave and Andrew discuss their favorite reality-TV programs.  Betsy would be pleased.
9. Saturday was a lazy day.  Dave and I went to Carrabba’s for dinner, then we went with Andrew to Diversions (see a theme developing?) to fawn over Andrew in the presence of his ex-boyfriend.  Between dinner and visiting Andrew, Dave and I went downtown to stroll the entire length of the riverwalk, from Fulton Street to just north of the Sixth Street bridge.  Very scenic.  We ended the excursion by sitting along the river, on a bench, under the moonlight, and agreeing to start dating.  Reminiscent of a scene from a movie.  After Diversions, Dave brought me over to meet his friends at the Tribal Headquarters (i.e., the house on Heritage Hill where most of Dave’s closest circle circle reside); there was a fire, and many funny stories about Dave’s foibles over the years.
10. Sunday … bleh.  I spent most of the day recharging and attending to errands, before driving to O’Hare to pick up Jen from her Great Mexican Adventure.  Nine hours of driving.  At least our conversation on the return was enjoyable.
11. On Tuesday of this week, Andrew and I exchanged his crappy cell phone at the mall and then had dinner.  I shared the news about Dave with him, which was tough.  Andrew is a very special person.  We watched the season finale of Hell’s Kitchen, a program we’ve been watching together for a month.  The Dave thing, and the finale, lent the evening a depressing air of finality that I hope doesn’t become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
12. On Wednesday, Dave and I went to Grand Haven after work.  We intended to lay out in the sun, but when we rolled into town, we shared a pizza at Porto Bello instead, then walked the boardwalk, beach, and pier before getting ice cream and heading back to Tribal Headquarters to watch The Real World and have conversations by another backyard fire.  I approve of Dave’s friends.
13. On Thursday, Dave and I went to Rocky’s, a little bar on Ottawa where many members of the Tribe performed as the visiting band.  Very pleasant.  Got to chat more with Mary and her friend Michael, a young fellow who just returned to Michigan from a nine-month stay in Phoenix.
14. Oh, and for the last week, my mother has enjoyed a well-deserved vacation in North Carolina, with her sister and their friend Kathy.

All for now.