I think I’ll go to Boston...

Above (left to right) Josh, Kevin, Paul, Jon and me!

Ah yes, that song by Augustana "Boston" makes so much sense to me now!

After six months of living in San Francisco it was time to revisit my home state of Massachusetts. I was pretty excited about going back “home” and even more excited about taking some time off of work! Our journey started out on this past Wednesday night as Paul, Zachary and I headed for the airport to catch a red-eye to Boston. Red eye flights are brutal because I have a hard time sleeping on the plane and it usually puts me out of commission for the following day. Zachary was great; he was excited to get on the plane and was very patient waiting in his pajamas at the airport. While we were waiting to board the flight, Zachary wanted to read Paul and I a book, Peter Pan. Zach was doing a great job telling the story and all of a sudden he turned the page, made a weird face, pointed to something in the book and yelled, “What the fuck is this?” Oh boy!! Zach drops the F-Bomb at 3 ½ years old!! The people waiting near us in the airport were chuckling. Paul and I asked him what he said and told him that it’s no a nice thing to say, but we could not help to snicker a bit.

Above: Minutes before dropping the "F"-bomb.

Once on the plane, one of our seats was in the opposite row and we were hoping that the guy in the third seat in the same row would kindly switch seats so we could all sit together. Nope. The guy was a jerk and basically said no way so we could not all sit together on the plane. I was pissed and was hoping Zach would take a big dump on the plane so he would have to smell it. Even better, Zach fell asleep on the plane and ended up kicking the guy several times during the plane ride. Good boy Zach!

We arrived in Boston early Thursday morning and headed to Ruthie's! It was great to see Ruthie, Scott and Hailey. Scott turned 40 years old the day before we came out so we had a small celebration and Hailey was so good with Zachary and turned 10 years old in June! Hailey is Paul's niece and she is a beautiful young girl, she is going to be a knockout when she grows into a women. We were all still pretty tired and adjusting to the time change so we all just chilled, took naps and later had a great home cooked meal and watched the Red Sox. The Sox lost that game but the losing streak would soon turn around.

Above: Paul's niece, Hailey.

Friday, we headed to Fenway Park to watch the Sox. Before the game Paul and I went to “Game On” a huge sports bar outside of Fenway Park to wait for two of our friends, Kevin and Mike. While we waited at the bar, I could not help but notice how disgusting the men and most of the women were at this bar. Not so much physically disgusting but just their demeanor. It was like these people had never been out in public in their lives and were still learning how to function, talk and walk for that matter. It’s funny when you live in one state all your life and see a certain way of life, you think it’s normal and just “the way it is.” I have been to several games at Fenway Park and been to many bars but the vibe and energy was just ignorant.

Above: Mike and Paul at Game On.

While Paul and I were there they were showing videos on the televisions and spoofs. One of the spoofs was a take on "Brokeback Mountain" but it was not a funny spoof it was more along the lines of, if your gay you suck. It portrayed Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez from the Yankees as being gay lovers. I think it’s a great idea! I would love to see them both “come out” and celebrate their sexuality and be positive role models in the gay community. It would be great. This spoof basically was saying that if your gay you suck like the Yankees, being gay sucks. Boston mentality!! You would never see this in San Francisco and even worse the crowd was laughing and raising their glasses. Sigh. Finally we met up with Mike who looked great and we were both happy to see him and catch up. Kevin made a brief appearance as well and talked shit for a bit before going to watch the game. Great game! Sox won and they would go one to win all three games that Paul attended! Paul was officially the Red Sox’s new lucky charm!



Saturday we were meeting many of our friends at a party hosted by Josh and Jon at Paul’s old Boston apartment. We were really looking forward to seeing our old friends again. Earlier that day, I was primping myself throughout the day, just what I do, and had this stray hair between my eyes that I went into the bathroom to pluck, I grabbed he tweezers and tried to get the sucker but my hand slipped and I stabbed myself in the eye with the tweezers. OUCH! Very painful. So here I am on the floor clutching my eye, crying thinking “ Fuck, am I now blind out of my right eye!?” Luckily no damage just spent all day resting my eye so I could go out later that night. Classic Neil!! Zachary also headed out and was off to the compound on the Cape to enjoy fun in the sun, playing with his cousins and spending quality time with his family. See you in a few weeks Zach!! Rumor has it that Zachary could be potty trained before he comes back to San Francisco, how exciting!!!


Later that night we made our way to the South End to see our old pals. Everyone looked great and it was great to catch up. It was kind of surreal being back in Paul’s old apartment. Paul and I have known each other almost three years and we had our first ‘date” so to speak watching a Red Sox game and playing video games in that apartment. So it was nostalgic to think that all this time has past and we are still going strong and have a great life. Good Times! After the house party most everyone headed to Club Café, one of the few gay bars left in Boston. We eventually made our way to Fritz, then the Eagle. The gay nightlife in Boston is almost non-existent and we saw that things have not changed much in three of the most popular bars in the city.

Above: James and me having a blast, we were reciting lines from "The Color Purple."

Above: Paul, me and Cody a Club Cafe.

Sunday morning, we met up with Jon, Kevin and Charlie for brunch at this really yummy new place called Bacco. It was delicious! We said our goodbyes and headed to Fenway to enjoy another Red Sox victory. By now Paul and I were both ready to go “home” and relaxed on our final day in Boston.

Above: (left to right) Kevin, Charlie, Paul, Me and Jon at Bacco in the South End.

All in all, it was great to see everyone. I miss the many people that we know in Boston. I do have to say that I was not excited to be in Boston as much as I thought I would be. Overall I felt like I was going backwards in a way. Going back to a place where I had spent a lot of time and accomplished so much. Being in San Francisco is like another chapter and a learning experience. I love San Francisco, never thought I would feel that way but I do. It’s funny that six months ago I was fighting NOT to leave Boston and move to San Fran, now I am fighting time to stay in San Francisco as along as I can.

Above: An artsy photo I took while walking in Boston.