new friends

i had the best time last night with my new friends ben and bruce. they are a couple that i met through my co-worker jess, and they invited me to their monday ritual to celebrate my birthday. we kicked the night off by playing the game "talisman" which is a role playing game that's totally dorky and fun. then the 7 course tasting menu began. we drank chilean wine, ate many fantastic morsels and oooohed and ahhhed over ben's cooking and presentation. really, he's a genius. but, the highlight of my night was learning how to fix 8-track tapes with bruce. he's a real collector and he knows every different type of cartridge and how to fix them all. he also cleaned my player in the van and adjusted it so there is no more cross talk. it seems like rare luck to have found someone so fond of this old technology who is willing and actually eager to help me get my system up and running. as an added bonus, he gave me some of the tapes he has doubles of, so my collection is growing! the most important thing i gleaned from the tutorial was the for the most part when you get an 8-track, it needs to be rehabilitated before you play it. 8 times out of 10 it will need to have the splice doctored up, new sponges, and the wheel cleaned and oiled. the sweet thing is, he's happy to have someone else interested and insists on fixing all my tapes without receiving anything in return. it's enough for him just to know that i will be enjoying music through the 8-track medium.
he's also got some awesome vintage cars--a ranchero and a two torino's which he enters into car shows all the time. i have a feeling i might be donning my old-fashioned dresses and riding in those cars soon!
i'm invited next monday to join the festivities, and i can't wait. i finally have some friends here that excite me! gay men throw the best dinner parties:)