Sunday, August 26, 2007 | by nathan

308 - B.

There is literally no stranger feeling in the world than sitting at a Pride parade and having your seventh-grade English teacher come up and say hello.

Saturday, August 25, 2007 | by nathan

307 - C.

I wrote in the Westmoore newspaper about how dumb it was to throw bottles at cheerleaders. Next day you threw footballs at me in gym. Fuck you.

Friday, August 24, 2007 | by nathan

Angles Closes

Angles is closing. I’m a little stunned at how sad this makes me, considering that it’s been months since I’ve been in a gay bar, and I haven’t been in Angles itself since Pride 2006. Still, for a quarter of a century Angles has been the go-to place for the gay community in Oklahoma City, and really Oklahoma at large. It was the first place I went when I turned 21; Todd dragged me on the eve of my 21st, which was a Sunday, to the Sunday Night Drag Show. I was dressed in old jeans riddled with holes and a brown button-down shirt that I’d cut off because it was too long. It was a memorable night, to say the least.

Later, they started charging a cover to pay for the amazing light system they put in, and the lame-ass cheap gay boys in Oklahoma City stopped going. Even when the cover charge stopped, the crowd never went back. It’s one of the things that makes me hate the gay community in Oklahoma City, and my self by proxy, a little bit.

Angles has been effectively shut down for well over a year now, opening only 7-8 times a year, each time hosting a "flashlight" (read: "We’re too cheap broke to pay the light bill") party. I don’t know what the new owners are going to do with it - will it still be called Angles? Will it still be a gay bar? I was a little worried, I admit, that some lame-ass Gen-X church was going to open up in the space, and we’d have to deal with a bunch of tattooed Jesus freaks coming up to us like, "Hey, man! How’s it goin? Listen, before you go in that bar, let’s sit on the curb and rap for minute…"

Apparently that won’t be happening. Sigh of relief.

Anybody else going to this party? I really want to, but I’m also tempted to let Angles close without me, because I stepped out of the OKC gay scene a long time ago in a lot of ways. I used to be one of those faces you’d see out five or six nights a week, looking cute and occasionally picking fights. I was young and looking for - whatever. Friendship. Love. Fun. Now I’m less young, and I have friendship and love and fun, and to be honest I think the gay community in Oklahoma City could do a lot better for itself than the Habana Inn and the corner of NW 39th and Penn. Also, a lot of the time, the thumpa-thumpa gets on my nerves. But I remember Angles fondly, and I’m going to miss just knowing that it’s there. So yeah, I suppose I will go out one more time and wish it farewell. Who wants to come with?

Friday, August 24, 2007 | by nathan

306 - P.

J. and I decided senior year that you could never, ever come out, because everyone knew you were dating him, but you’d never fess up to it.

Thursday, August 23, 2007 | by nathan

305 - M.

Some people have more hours in their day: med student who is among the hottest people I’ve met, but doesn’t take time to not be a douche.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007 | by nathan

You’re Doin’ Fine!

Sometimes I love Oklahoma so much it scares me.

Wednesday, August 22, 2007 | by nathan

304 - M.

She was the only reason I survived being forced to take weightlifting in high school. When recording how many reps we’d done, we’d write nonsense like “π.”

Tuesday, August 21, 2007 | by nathan

303 - Yllow

Tish, Jen and I walked up to the door of JPUSA and knocked, and he spent several hours showing us around, just as friendly as you please.

Monday, August 20, 2007 | by nathan

?

I’m not a huge fan of the Greek system. It worked well at Wake Forest, where no one was allowed to rush a frat or sorority until spring of their freshman year. By that time, everyone already had friends, and when you found out someone had joined a particular house, it was like, "Oh? Really? Hm." Not that interesting.

At the University of Oklahoma, where I earned my graduate degree, the Greek system is out of control, but also has a freakish hold on the operations of the school. I found this out when I arrived there in January 2005. That fall, a freshman had died of alcohol poisoning during Rush Week. As the University scrambled to deal with this tragedy, suggestions began floating around as to a possible restructuring of the whole system. One of the options that was discussed was switching to spring rush so that incoming freshmen wouldn’t feel the need to join a Greek organization if they didn’t want to.

You’d have thought someone suggested that they ban football. There was a major uproar from the Greek community and its alumni, and though it seemed to me, a more or less outside observer, that spring rush might have been the sanest solution - I came from a university where it had worked beautifully, after all, where the Greek system was alive, active and healthy but no one’s self-esteem depended on it, as far as I could tell - it never happened. The University folded to pressure from its students and alumni, as often happens.

*****

This morning I pulled up to my usual parking space. I refuse to pay a zillion dollars every semester to park on campus, when the closest parking lot to my building is next to the baseball stadium, with signs everywhere letting me know how it is: If my car gets smashed by a baseball - or eight or nine - the University is not to blame. There’s no tall fence or any kind of barrier, and so if a stray pop fly comes down on my windshield, that’s just my own cross to bear.

During the summer they let us park on campus for free, and I took advantage. Now that classes have started up again I have retreated to my usual parking space, one street over from my building, on a residential street on the edge of campus, in front of a fraternity house.

Today I pulled up and noticed that, for the first time in over a year of parking here, there was another car parked in front of the house. Oh, and how charming! It had a set of those plastic testicles hanging off its trailer hitch. I won’t post a picture; if you live anywhere in Oklahoma, Texas, the south, you’ve probably seen them, or you will. 

So I get out of the car, and up walks a dude carrying a pizza. At 8:15 a.m. I’m not even sure where you get a pizza at 8:15 a.m.

"Hey, sir?" he calls.

Do I look like a sir? Twenty-seven years old, but babyfaced, and short, and I’m "sir?"

"Yeah?" I ask.

"You can’t park there."

"It’s a public street."

"No, that’s parking for the brothers. This is a fraternity house."

"There’s no sign."

"Our sign got stolen. But if you park there, we’ll have to have you towed."

"Why? No one has ever parked here as long as I’ve worked here."

"Can you not just park on campus?"

"Can’t you?"

"That’s parking for the fraternity brothers."

"The fraternity brothers aren’t using it. They never use it. There’s no sign."

"You’re gonna have to move your car."

"Fine." So, I get in my car, and move it across the street. I literally pulled a 3-point turnaround and parked on the other side, across from the fraternity house. The dude watched me, and I could tell he was getting ready to come out and say something, but I beat him to it. I climbed out of the car, shouldered my bag, and said:

"I’m parking right here. There’s no sign on this side of the street. If you have a problem with me parking here, you can come find me. I work in the law school."

His eyes got wide, and he shot me a scathing look, but turned and took his pizza inside. I felt at once oddly satisfied with myself and also deeply irritated, because I knew he was lying. They’d never had a sign, and they’d never had the right to declare a public street as reserved parking. Tow me, douche bags. I triple dog dare you. I promise, you’ll live to regret it. 

Monday, August 20, 2007 | by nathan

302 - L.

The girl who brought a cake in the shape of a vagina to a sociology class turned out to be one of those “4-year” lesbians. That’s disappointing.