Fine Art, Flogging and Vaccines

On Sunday afternoon, I took Double A to the annual Summer Art Market hosted by the Art Students League.  I thought the art fair would be something fun to do.  We spent a few hours at the fair then headed for drinks at a bar on South Broadway. 

JP joined us soon after we arrived at the bar.  He has one last round of chemo before his next scan to determine if he will need radiation.  JP was in a good mood.  He’s looking for a second home in the high country and is planning on going on a cruise in 2023.  I have to admire his positive attitude.

Soon it was time for JP to leave for a dinner engagement.  Double A and I decided to walk down the street in search of dinner.  As we left the bar, Mike pulled up in his Bentley with Jed, a mutual acquaintance of ours.  The four of us headed to an Italian restaurant in Englewood for dinner. 

While at dinner, which was mediocre at best, Mike was texted by a friend letting him know Monkeypox vaccines were being given out at Trade, a local leather/fetish bar.  After dinner, Mike dropped Jed, Double A and I off at our cars.  Mike headed home to feed his dog while the rest of us went to Trade for vaccines. 

While Trade was packed, there was no line for vaccines.  Within a few minutes we filled out the paperwork and were vaccinated.  Kurt arrived just after I got my shot.  I hadn’t seen him for years.  He’s still handsome but in need of a good grooming as usual.  Kurt told me Carol, a friend who was a fixture on the scene for many years, has moved back to San Diego from Sidney.  A few years ago, Carol moved back to Australia after ending a bitter, years-long custody battle for her son.  I’m sure she’ll be visiting Denver soon.

After our shots we decided to check out the bar crowd.  The bar was hosting a fetish event with a robust crowd along with vendors selling a variety of goods.  We watched a guy getting flogged while another man was spanked with thick wooden paddle.  The bar patrons were attired in various types of dress or undress.  A number of men were simply wearing jockstraps, which is not unusual at Trade.

It was getting late for a school night, so we headed home.  What a day! We went from fine art to flogging in a matter of hours.

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The Accidental Gardner

When I was doing garden clean up in the spring, I emptied the soil from a few flowerpots into a bucket for future use.  I placed the bucket behind my garden shed and forgot about it.  A few days ago, I discovered a desert four o’clock growing in the bucket.  The monsoons, which started a few weeks ago, must have been the catalyst for the seed to spring to life as the bucket was not in reach of the irrigation system.  Now I need to find a place in the garden for the plant.

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Cashing In?

Bruce offered to buy my house for almost $1.8m more than I paid for it.  He thinks he can spend a couple of hundred thousand on renovations and make a $500k profit in a matter of months.  I told him I would not sell unless he met all my terms which included a cash sale, no inspections or appraisals, along with the option to rent the house for six months after closing for $1,000 a month. 

I started looking for a new place to live.  I looked in my city of birth to be closer to family.  I found a four bedroom, 3.5 bath, 4,400 sq. ft. house on an acre lot for $899k (the house in the previous post).  A bargain compared to what houses cost in Denver.  Given the profit I would make on my house I could easily buy this house and a second home in Santa Fe.  I looked online in Santa Fe which has a booming housing market.  Cindi wants me to buy a house with a casita so she can rent it from me.  She’s carrying the note on her warehouse so while she has monthly income she doesn’t have the funds needed for a down payment on a house. And she doesn’t want to cash in her stock holdings to buy a house.  I didn’t ask what happened to the large down payment she received.  

A week later, Bruce revised his offer after doing market research, which, he should have done before tossing a number at me.  He reduced his offer by $300k.  It’s still a very attractive offer.  As with all things with Bruce, I don’t expect there will be follow through.  None of his projects have gotten off the ground.  Remember the $1m worth of building lots we selected in the high country?  The land was never purchased.  Then there was the house he was going to scrape in the Highlands west of downtown.  He never put together the investor package so he couldn’t secure financing.  The list goes on.  I doubt he will ever be able to fund a cash purchase.  He always seems to be arguing with his father who controls purse strings now that his mother has died. 

Then I came to my senses.  Do I really want my primary residence in a red state with laws I object to, and political leaders who still believe in the “Big Lie”?  Houses may be a bargain but the politicians in most of the key offices hold beliefs which are diametrically opposed to mine.  Plus my ex lives in this city in a nearby less expensive neighborhood.  Do I really want to run into my ex and his husband at the grocery store?  The climate also sucks.  Hot and humid in the summer while cold and humid in the winter along with the threat of tornados.  While I have family there, I have no friends still living there as I moved away 40 years ago.  Do I really want to start over building friendships? 

I have the luxury of not moving.  I can take my time deciding what to do.  I can avoid capital gains taxes by not moving and renovating my house.  I think I’m simply restless.  I need to figure out why I think moving will solve any of my problems. 

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More of the Same

I haven’t been in a mood to post anything of substance in a while.  I have been completely demoralized by the constant political unrest in our country along with a never ending pandemic and now monkeypox.  In addition, summer has brought relentless heat with very little rain until this week.  I gave up on dating.  Nothing going on in my life really seemed important.  I’ve been doing the usual.  Attending art gallery and museum openings, supporting charity benefits, tending to the garden, going to the gym, hosting house guests and having long dinners with friends.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  Just more of the same. 

I often doubt readers can relate to the life I have which is another reason I have not posted.  Do you really want to read about another art opening or an expensive dinner with Bruce?  I feel most people struggle to make ends meet.  I don’t struggle.  Many of my friends don’t struggle.  My neighbors don’t struggle.  Somehow, I ended up in bubble of affluence.  I realize I’m truly blessed given where I started my adult life.

I’ll explain the house picture in the next post.

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Still Alive

That sums up last night. It’s been an active summer. Been busy avoiding Covid and Monkeypox. More to come soon. Here’s a teaser:

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