Last night was pretty fun. In fact ... the whole day sorta just rocked. A bunch of guys from a New Jersey room I chat in sometimes decided to meet up. I thought it was pretty cool. Not like some seedy meeting or anything. The guys there seem cool enough and it's cool that it's a group thing. I of course ... as you know ... don't drive. They weren't meeting in the city. They were meeting here in Jersey. A couple of the guys work in the city. One of them, Logan, was nice enough to offer me a ride. I'd meet him at the World Trade Center and then we'd go from there.

I went into the city around 4. I didn't have to meet Logan until 6 but Husani was in the city. That's the great part about living here ... it's so eay to get into the city.

"You look like a slut," Husani was nice enough to tell me. "Except the shoes. That shirt (somewhat-tight white and red baseball shirt) and the jeans(dark blue jeans with the bottoms turned up)? No."

Gotta love friends. He was actually on phone, pacing in the stairwell like a maniac.

"What? What are you talking about?" I laughed.

He finished up the call and we talked for a while. He was heading out so we left and went to the nearest Starbucks (which never seems far away).

"You're not gonna actually have a latte or something hot in this weather are you?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Dude, it's like 2,000 degrees out."

"OUTSIDE ... not in here."

I went on with this almost pitiful Seinfeld-like explanation of why I can't drink hot coffee or have soup in hot weather, even if I'm in an air-conditioned room.

I was in this sorta high/giggly state. Maybe it was just knowing that later, I was actually going out for once. We ordered. I had a mocha frappuchino. I love those things. We sat there in Starbucks chatting and laughing like morons. For some strange reason, my nipples kept getting perky and showing through my shirt. Our conversation soon switched to nipples and we would burst out laughing when someone with perky nipples would walk by the window. I sorta felt the way I did that night in Chelsea at View. In a buzzed state. Feeling ... I dunno .. free? Like I could say anything I wanted. I think I get high off good moods ... and I was in a good mood.

I got to the World Trade Center after 5. I walked around and flicked through books at the Borders Books there. Logan showed up dead on time and pretty soon we were in Jersey City. I was still in this weird/good mood. Logan's friend Johnny picked us up after 7. I was pretty quiet on the way to the bar. Sitting in the backseat ... staring out at the trees and traffic going by.

It was really nice to see some of the guys form chat, face to face. The bar had this 'Country & Western' theme. Logan told me a little about it before we got there but I was in no way prepared for the actual thing.

I mean ... you see bars like that on TV and usually some gay guy's getting his ass kicked, being in a place like that. I was the only black person there. Everyone else was either ... white or ... white with a cowboy hat and a flannel shirt hehe. Surprisingly ... I didn't feel nervous ... or self-concious like I usually do when I go out. I dunno if it was the weird/good mood or what but I was totally relaxed.

A guy who DJ'ed at the bar died a couple days or so before. They had a moment of silence for him. That was pretty sad. I felt my face crease and reflect the bar-regulars'. Everyone seemed to have had a pretty good time even with what was going on.

Most of the guys flocked to see this chat-regular, AJ. He seems like a nice guy ... in chat and in person. If I managed to say more than two words to him ... that was a lot. The cool part was when his buddy (this guy who looked just like him ... right down to the Abercrombie & Fitch clothes) ... got us all shots.

Some of us said we'd hang out again sometime. Could've been just talk ... I dunno .. but I had a pretty good time. I actually wanted to stay longer but when your ride says he's ready ... you're ready. They dropped me off at the train station and I took a path train back to the World Trade Center. A part of me wanted to just stay in the city a little longer but I got to Port Authority and caught the first bus home.