A Day at the Beach(es)
I've mentioned before that I have this arbitrary rule with my Flickr photo sets that for some reason I only feel totally comfortable with them having a minimum of 20 shots in them. Less than 10, they rarely get their own photo set, unless I retroactively create them when I have others that are larger from separate events to include in a collection of sets ("Trikone Pride, as just one of many examples -- this one a collection of photo sets specific to Trikone-NW at Pride events over the years -- includes a 2004 photo set of only 4 photos). In those cases I usually just chuck whatever several photos were taken into the "Misc 2018" (or whichever year) photo set. Between 10 and 20 is a sort of gray area here, where it really depends on a host of factors whether I give it a dedicated photo set -- I usually do if it's something I can group into a collection with other photo sets.
My photo set for Morgan's 14th Birthday Dinner from Friday, for instance, had 19 photos until just last night. That one so barely missed my typical goal of 20 shots that it made my OCD a little twitchy. But! Then Shobhit and I fried up the last of the potato filling into 15 final samosas, and since I never got a good shot of the original samosas that were made for Friday, I got a spectacular shot of these ones to add, and that brought it to 20! Ahhhhh. It's like scratching an itch.
Yesterday Shobhit and I spent the late morning, afternoon and into early evening at two different beaches, and I didn't even expect to take that many photos. I wound up with 11 shots, so I did put those into a dedicated photo set, which I don't usually do for that few photos. But, it seemed like too many from one day to put into the 2018 set, which is already over-stuffed with random shots here and there throughout the year.
What photo set collection to put that into, though? For now, for lack of a better option, it goes under "Misc Shobhit and Matthew" -- which, by the way, features two 8-shot photo sets of Shobhit and me on the paddle boats at Greenlake, one in 2004 and one in 2005. That first one was, I believe, our third date -- June 20, only six days after we first met. I don't remember for certain but perhaps I suggested going again a year later for sentimental reasons. (It's been quite a while since I last went on those paddle boats, by the way. On my Flickr account the most recent I can find is with Becca during her summer weekend visit in 2010. I plan to do it again during my Birth Week next year, as that will have a nautical theme -- and that will be nine years later!) Anyway! If at any point I wind up with another photo set from a local beaches, then I'll start a separate collection based on just that.
It was Shobhit's suggestion, on Saturday, that we go to Alki Beach on Sunday. I had originally planned to see a movie yesterday late-morning, but when I discovered the movie I had planned to see at the Uptown after work today is no longer playing this week, I just moved yesterday's movie to this evening so I could open up yesterday for the beach.
I was also able to use Flickr to search when the last time I went to Alki Beach was -- it seemed to have been a while. Three years, to be exact: June 13, 2015, back when Gabriel and Kornelija were still together. This was the day before Shobhit's and my anniversary that year, and we had just left Anita's graduation party at Karen and Dave's in Magnolia. Gabriel had started texting me and suggested we meet up with them in West Seattle, where we watched the sunset at Alki Beach. We all later had dinner at Cactus Mexican Restaurant, where, as I noted in the photo's caption at the time, "Shobhit and Gabriel got predictably belligerent." Gabriel and Shobhit have now not been in each other's presence since their blow-up of unprecedented proportions at my Birth Week dinner in 2017 (which Ivan delighted in witnessing, like he was watching an addictive TV melodrama), and for a long time after I went out of my way to keep them separated. I've only recently become more comfortable with the idea of getting them in the same room again, and even Shobhit himself offered to make him dinner a few weeks ago when Gabriel was asking what my plans were, but it just didn't pan out. (Gabriel's severe cat allergy is itself a wholly separate issue too.) So, it's been 15 months and still hasn't happened, but I'm no longer actively preventing it.
But I digress! It had been three years. Shobhit and I left late-ish morning and got out there at, I suppose, around 11:30. When we first arrived, the weather was perfect. I wore my swim trunks which are a little short but I don't care; I actually think I look good in them. I've gained just a few pounds but that seems to have stopped mattering to me, at least as far as how good I feel about how I look goes. (I'm still fixated on my weight for other reasons, don't you worry!) I wore them with the idea that I might get into the Puget Sound water. Which I did -- but only up to the calves. That water is fucking cold.
Before we settled on a spot on the beach, we walked through the Alki Art Fair. And Shobhit actually bought something! At first he was admiring these beautiful, bright blue paintings of orca whales in ocean water, but they proved too expensive: between $300 and $350 for the size paintings he liked. At another booth, though, was a bunch of garden decorations, flat metal sculptures on top of long metal stems that stick into the ground. He found one of a shark with its big mouth and sharp teeth open and facing the viewer, for $15, which for some reason he really liked. He wanted it to stick into the dirt in the large pot on our balcony that has the tomatoes he's growing. It only occurred to me just now that I did not take a picture of that and I don't know why. I guess I should! And then add that to the set, so it's 12 photos instead of 11.
There was a long line of these craft booths along Alki Beach Park, which we had walked the length of to the south and back. Once past them on the way back, and into the regular beach area, we settled on a spot, which was in front of this guy with a big bucket from which he had two different pairs of sticks used to blow giant bubbles. That's the biggest reason the day got a dedicated photo set: five of the photos I kept were of these bubbles.
I found it rather pleasant there, a charming area that, even though it's part of Seattle proper, feels like visiting a beach resort town. Shobhit found it lacking in hot guys to ogle, however, and suggested moving to Howell Beach, which is clothing optional (in practice, not exactly officially). I was finding it perfectly pleasant there, though, and said I'd like to stay a while. It had been a long time since Shobhit and I went to any beach together, and it reminded me of our time in Los Angeles. The last beach he and I went to, in fact, was Venice Beach, in September 2016, before he moved back to Seattle the following December. That's not including when he and I went to Madison Park in May of last year, which also felt reminiscent of our beach visits -- but that's less of a beach than a grassy park on the lakeshore.
"Less of a beach than a grassy park on the lakeshore" is also exactly how one could describe Howell Park, the aforentioned clothing-optional lakeside park on the opposite side of Seattle from Alki, which we wound up going to anyway -- after stopping at Costco and then home along the way.
The thing is, yesterday it was hot -- 94°, when normal is 77° -- and it has been most of the month. In fact, "NWS Seattle's" Twitter feed has posted a few times about this. On July 17: Today's brings Seattle's total to 7 consecutive days of 80+ degrees. We've managed to do that 5 straight years now and 7 of the last 9 years. Prior to the 1990s, stretches like this happened only 2 to 5 times per decade. How could anyone not find that ominous?
And then, on July 25: Today, Seattle reached it's 5th 90 degree this July. That's the 3rd time in the past decade. Between 1945 and 2008, it happened just twice. But global warming is "a hoax," right? This is the very kind of shit that I hate, but historically could take comfort in it just happening a few times over a given summer -- now it keeps happening with greater frequency, every summer. When we don't have heat like this it feels like the anomaly, rather than the other way around, anymore.
I heard Scott say at work this morning that this is Seattle's hottest July on record, but I can't yet find any confirmation of that -- although I have found speculation about it, with King 5 from a few days ago saying we'll barely fall short of the record. Not that records themselves are really what we should pay attention to, rather than averages. This is the point that dipshit conservatives in Congress miss when they hold up a snowball on the House floor to "prove" that climate change isn't really happening -- it's a gradual process, with increased extremes on both ends, but with greater frequency on the hot side and less frequency on the cold side. I actually believe most conservative representatives understand this, but want to convince their constituents it's all bullshit so they can keep up their support of industries that corrode the planet. And if the 2016 election taught me anything, it's that a stunning contingent of American voters are, to put it charitably, simpletons.
But I digress, yet again! Back to Howell Park. I had thought Alki would be enough, but the water there was too cold and I wanted to swim a bit. So I decided, fuck it, let's go to the clothing-optional park Shobhit is so fond of -- which, as it happens, I introduced Shobhit to last year, after going to see the Blue Angels show on Lake Washington. I had first discovered the park in 2014 by accident, after searching to see which lakefront park was the most direct walk east from home. It happened to be that one. (And our condo is nearly exactly the halfway point between that and the waterfront downtown to the west, as it happens: 1.7 miles in either direction -- slightly less if you go straight to the water without finding a park.) When I went into Howell Park, which is quite secluded (the park sign itself is half a block off of Lake Washington Blvd, thus not visible from the nearest arterial, and sits at the start of a thickly wooded foot path that opens up to a small-ish grassy area by the lake), I was taken a little aback to find people hanging out there completely nude. Only when I looked it up online did I find that it's basically Seattle's go-to park for nude sunbathing and swimming -- particularly for gay people. (The "straight nude beach," Shobhit informed me yesterday, is at the nearby Denny Blaine Park, itself alongside the curving loop of E Denny Plaine Pl, which is also offset from Lake Washington Blvd, but not nearly as private(ish) and secluded behind dense trees and bushes. The P-I last year said that of "nude friendly beaches," it "might be Seattle's best known.")
Howell Park doesn't seem to have as much online coverage (so to speak) of its nudity, and thus seems to be a better-kept secret -- although it's part of that same P-I gallery from last year, without making note of its large number of gay visitors, noting it "offers a bit more privacy."
The Seattle Times, on the other hand, mentions the gays at Howell Park in this 2015 roundup of area beaches: Gay men favor Howell (with a stray family and aging hippie here and there). Interestingly, about Denny-Blaine Park, they add: For years, Denny Blaine was the unofficial lesbian beach (dubbed Dykiki), but the day we went, it was more a few ladies lounging topless, a guy throwing the ball for his black Lab and hipsters striking Zen poses and meditating.
Yesterday, I saw at least three lesbian couples at Howell Park, if not more. It was still very dominated by men -- themselves a huge majority gay, or at least non-straight, men -- but it still had plenty of women, enough to make any other female visitors not feel out of place. And, even though this was the second time I visited there and actually stripped down completely (the first being when I went there with Shobhit last year -- Shobhit has gone frequently on his own without me in the intervening time; he loves it), yesterday's visit was eye-opening in several ways.
First, I wasn't nearly as nervous about getting naked there as I was last year. I see two key reasons for this. One: I think I've gotten far more self-assured and comfortable in my own exposed skin at the bathhouse, just within the past year, and I think that has had an effect that transcends just gay bathhouses in a way it didn't quite manage to before. Two: having already done it once before, itself seems to have made a big difference. And this was easily the most crowded I had ever seen it before, and 95% of the people there were totally nude, and no one gave a shit. Plenty of bodies in less shape than mine was, although I do have to say -- there was stunning lot of stellar men's bodies there, in numbers, I have to agree with Shobhit here, sorely lacking at Alki Beach. This was Eye Candy Central, even with the diversity of body types present.
There was even a trans person there, whose preferred pronoun I could not possibly tell you, given that they clearly had had no physical surgery done. Their body was fully biologically "male," but above the neck, had a face fully done with makeup, had long hair that was clearly real and not a wig, complete with a cute little bow on the side of their head. And they appeared totally relaxed here, either not judged or not caring whether they were judged, or both. A bit on the older side, with a partner who seemed more like a more typical, older man, except that person also appeared to have lipstick on. The long-haired person was probably at least a few years older than me but in pretty good shape. Slender.
I'd be lying if I said I didn't take a gander at the variety of dicks around. I saw one that kind of stunned me, as I've seen a lot of cocks after my many years at bathhouses, and yet I had never seen this: a penis so tiny, it literally looked like a pimple, resting atop a normal sized scrotum. He walked around nude with apparent confidence, so I say good for him, to be frank. I bet you anything that with a tool that by all appearances is that inadequate, he's far more skilled than most people at pleasuring others in different ways.
I've never seen anything overtly sexual going on at this place, although yesterday I'd say I saw a couple things that I'd call . . . borderline. Several obvious gay couples sunbathed together, and often they touched each other, in not particularly sexual ways. When Shobhit and I got up to get dressed and pack up our folding beach blanket, the couple behind us were laying on their backs, one with a leg over the other's leg, looking at their phones. They weren't paying any direct attention to their genitals but they both had what appeared to be just short of full erections. How often does something like that happen, I wonder? I remember Gail (Danielle's mom) once telling me, years and years ago, about visiting a nudist group of some sort, and when she saw a guy dive into the pool, she said, "Instant hard-on."
Then, as we walked toward the trail back out of the park, we passed another naked gay couple who started making out on their towel. One rolled over on top of the other, and I could see the subtlest of him grinding his going area against him. By all appearances, I was the only one even paying attention -- these guys were the furthest away from the water as they could be, closer to the trees in the back. If they had really started going to town in an overtly sexual way (which I don't believe they did), I have no idea how offended anyone around might have been. There were no children there, but still. My presumption is that either no one would have paid them any mind, or if anyone had a problem they would have said so and they would have stopped. As I said, though, that little bit is all I saw. Still, it was more sexually charged, however subtle it might have been, than I had ever seen there before. It makes me wonder what else might typically go on there. Not that I really care all that much, honestly.
Once we got back home, after taking a bit of a break for maybe an hour, we finally fried up the last of the potato filling from Friday's dinner for Morgan into 15 final samosas. Only two remained from the original 24 made for Friday, and I had those for dinner. But on Friday, before I left just after noon, Scott specifically said "I better get one of those samosas!" And I also promised Lynne one. Shobhit graciously granted my wish to get at least 7 to bring to work today -- two for my lunch; five to give away -- and then went further and just made 15 to go through the rest of the potato filling. And I have to tell you about everyone's reaction now.
Noah: When I came by with my plate of samosas I had reheated in the oven for 10 minutes at 350°, just after 8:00 this morning, he said, "Is it samosa day??" He was pretty excited.
Scott: Scott took his samosa to the kitchen to put in a bowl and eat with a fork -- something just not done by Indian people, but whatever -- because he knew it would be oily. That wasn't a complaint, though. When he was done he came to my desk and said, "With these the filling is so good I don't even worry whether it's vegetarian or not." This because he usually relies on meat for his proteins. I told him I have no idea how much protein is in these -- probably not much, although there is the Beecher's Cheese Curd he now uses in lieu of paneer in the filling. He told me to tell Shobhit the samosa "was delicious as usual."
Claudia: I had to text her on Facebook Messenger last night to confirm she'll be in the office today, because occasionally with her job position, she isn’t. Yes, what? she asked. Samosa coming, I said. And she replied, Yessss. Then, just before 9:00 this morning she replied to my photo digest email about Friday's dinner with, THANK YOU SO MUCH! ALREADY GOBBLED DOWN! I had left one on her desk.
Lynne was the funniest. She arrived mid-morning and I said, "I left you something to eat there," and this 59-year-old woman did a little jig, dancing in place with excitement like a little girl, and literally said, "I'm so excited!" It really cracked me up. Once she started eating it she said, "Oh my god! That's delicious!" As it happens, Lynne sits behind me; Noah and I sit facing each other; Noah and Scott sit back to back. This morning we basically formed Samosa Row. Although I didn't have a samosa this morning -- I had two for lunch. Anyway, I learned last week that "Executive Chef" is actually an outdated title for Lynne, even though that's on the current staff roster. Her email signatures identify her as "Chef and Culinary Innovation Specialist." Either way, she has a huge amount of cooking expertise, so her being that impressed is a particular brand of compliment.
Aimée: I slightly debated who else to bring samosas to -- Scott, Noah, Lynne and Claudia were the only truly obvious ones. Erica would be too except she recently moved to San Diego. I considered Alicia but then remembered she's gluten free (one of the few truly legit ones: she's genuinely allergic). Kibby more often than not declines the offer. A few others in Deli probably would have taken one but I don't know them well enough to know the likelihood of their being in the office today. I finally fell on Aimée because I knew she would likely appreciate it, and she had hosted a potluck brunch a couple of months ago that very few coworkers actually came to -- but Shobhit and I did. I left one on her desk. She told me she'd be in around lunchtime but she's the only one I haven't heard any feedback from; I don't know if she's eaten it yet.
EDIT 2:54 pm: This just in, email from Aimée: I'm eating the samosa now mmmmmm, so delicious! Thank you (& Shobit! [sic]) so much. You’re a lucky man to have such a good cook in your life
[posted 1:03 pm]