so now I know...

Tonight was my first night at a gay bar. So now I know.

My first cross-dresser, for example.

And seeing so many attractive men -- hitting on one another. But not just men my age. Mexican men I'd put at 56, holding hands. Men who were gay long before it was fashionable, in any circle. The people-watching was fascinating.

Mostly I worked on one Long Island Iced Tea, which I found myself drinking out of a mason jar -- I guess that's how they roll at Georgies.... A young man assessed my outfit as a cross between "retro Seattle" and "naughty librarian", both of which I think he meant as compliments.

I was there for my friend Willie's twenty-second birthday, but sat mostly with a pleasant homosexual named Gerard, who marveled that the crowd tonight seemed about 30% straight.

I should have waited a little longer before the drive home.