Today is Wednesday, September 6, 2023. Yesterday I was missing in action from here because I attended my gay men’s discussion group, and boy am I glad I went, even though it was very uncomfortable and steaming in the city. This was the first time since I joined the group that I was treated to an audience with an author of one of the books assigned to us to read that month, so the group was graced with the presence of Aaron Foley, author of Boys Come First, with his current boyfriend, at around 7 p.m.

This event was not advertised from what I could tell. So it was just casually announced by our moderator, “Jim,” at 6:30 that the writer of the book we were going to discuss that evening was coming, along with his boyfriend. There was a murmur of excitement from the members who were present at the time. Since Foley was expected to arrive at 7, that left us only a half hour to air our grievances with the book. In general, most of the men stated words of appreciation toward the book which concerns itself with three Black, gay men and their friendship as it evolves within the city of Detroit. The book abounds in the atmosphere of Detroit, a city, I’m afraid, I’m not familiar with, so the many Detroit references contained within the novel I didn’t get. The city of Detroit, you would say, is another principal character in the book.

Elliot abstained from attending this meeting to hole up in the apartment and be comfortable with air conditioning in the living room. He also didn’t read the book this time and would not have participated in the discussion anyway.

When I got downtown on the F, I walked to the Washington Square Diner where I ordered just a chicken salad melt with coffee. Then I walked to the Jefferson Market
Branch Library where I took the elevator up to the second floor and inquired about the book assigned for September. One of the librarians said the book for this month was Young Mungo, the second book written by Scottish writer Douglas Stuart whose first book, Shuggie Bain, was hailed by critics and readers alike. I have this book in my library, but have not yet read it. I’ll probably read his second novel first then. I’m proud to state that Elliot has read both novels; he has expressed more praise for Stuart’s first novel which was awarded the 2020 Booker Prize, making Stuart the second Scottish winner of the prize in its 51-year history. Not bad for a former fashion designer who took to writing on the side.

The first half hour was devoted to discussing Foley’s book. Most of the members said they enjoyed the book, whereas there was one note of opposition from one guy who said he didn’t like it.

At 7, the author actually did walk into the room, accompanied by his shorter boyfriend. He sat next to Jim, along with his companion, who said nothing the whole time his boyfriend held court in our large room. I surprised myself when I asked the author one or two questions during the course of the evening. I remember one that I asked: if the three major characters, Remy, Dominick, and Troy, were based on people he knew or not? I believe Foley said they weren’t. Or that they were composites of people he knew. I really wasn’t listening; I was awe struck that a writer of a major book actually graced us with his presence.

It’s getting late here since Elliot and I were out with our Bayside friend “Gene” after 4 having dinner with him at Riviera Ristorante, on Utopia Parkway. When dinner was over, we drove back to Gene’s house where we watched one video featuring a local historian by the name of Barry Lewis – who was a friend of our late friend, “Mark” – who hosted a 90-minute documentary on the history of Queens, the multiethnic borough, with his coanchor, David Hartman. I found this video in a large garbage bag that contained many old DVDs of Gene’s deceased husband, “Keith,” in which I went through before we went to dinner.

Then we watched old episodes of Groucho Marx on You Bet Your Life. Watching one full episode, I was struck by how sarcastic Marx was toward his guests who were not your average American game show contestant. The four that appeared in the one episode all had some strange quirk. Like the male contestant who shredded wood with his teeth; or the brawny middle-aged man who was a wrestler and talked voraciously. Marx’s reactions to his extemporizing were just priceless. The wrestler reminded me of the late Muhammad Ali who loved to spout poetry and just bloviate. This gentleman was white, though. At around 8, Elliot announced he was getting tired, so we both left.

One remarkable event did take place today and I should note it: a Fulton County hearing on the upcoming Dumpf election subversion case was televised earlier in the day. Here two pro-Frump lawyers, Kenneth Chesebro and Sidney Powell, argued that their cases should be severed from the other defendants. The judge in the case, Scott McAfee, felicitously denied the motion for both of them, but was skeptical of the district attorney’s desire to hold a trial for all 19 defendants beginning next month.

As we heard the DA’s team plead its case, we were privy to the stunning number of witnesses the prosecutorial team intends to call to the stand: 150 witnesses. Also, the DA’s office said it planned a four-months-long trial not including jury selection. Given the scope of such a trial, I would expect that an October date is rather unrealistic. But I do trust that this judge will not delay the start of the trial to an unwieldy late date. There is hope yet that this event will proceed within a reasonable length of time.

Stay safe and be well.