When you are engulfed by flames

Living downtown I see a lot of different characters. Its not everyday that you meet a character that was lit on fire by another character. Meet Brian.

Brian just a block from where he was burned f/8.0 s/125 iso/400

Brian is 38 years old from Yakima, WA. His is an interesting story. We ate hotdogs on the sidewalk in front of a gas station and talked about love. Brain was a Kindergarten teacher when he was 23 years old until that is, about the time that he met his lover Karl. This is one of those love stories that John Steinbeck would be writing about if he were still alive or if he ever really wrote a love story Sweet Thursday aside. Which means there is always a slightly sinister twist to it.

You see, Karl was just about the worst thing that could have ever happened to Brains life. Karl was Brains first real gay lover, and he was into some rude stuff. It was alarming to talk to Brain about all of this because he was so candid about it all. It started out like most things do with a little of this here and a little of that then BAM! you're doing cocaine off of a toilet seat in Chucky Cheese. It was a remarkably fast slop that he slipped down.

He has been off and on with Karl for the past 15 years now.

Brian lives for this guy for some reason- his world revoles around him. It was disturbing to hear him talk about Karl like he was some sort of demigod. In fact it was that which got him kicked out of his aunts house. He refused to listen to his family and friends about how bad this dude was for him and he ended up on the streets because he kept bringing him around.

If you were to ever meet Brian he doesn't hold much back. The part of my notebook which I was taking notes on our interview could probably be deemed by the FCC to be unsuitable for publication in any form... I listened to nothing but Disney songs for a week straight afterwards to counter balance that half hour I spent with him. I believe this to be a blessing and a curse.

One night Brian was sleeping under the Maple bridge in Downtown Spokane when some other gentlemen simply came up threw some gas on him and lit him on fire. He didnt talk much about this to be honest, but it seems that they weren't a fan of his sexual orientation, and that alone folks, will evidently get you dern' dun lit on fire on the streets.

Laugh f/5.6 s/100 iso/400

Is it strange that I just finished reading When you are engulfed by flames, by David Sedaris? Probably the most outspoken gay writer currently being published. It's a shame that Brian gets burned alive for kissing a man in an ally way while David gets paid for writing it.

Dont get me wrong, I love David Sedaris in the most platonic, heterosexual, imma gonna love me some females kinda way, but it does make me think. Two societies living in each others bed. Both moving further and further away. like two train cars who started out on the same tracks then with a simple switch of a lever one went to new york and the other to Florida. When they started it was but inches that switched the paths, but as time progressed they slowly become polar opposites of each other. So it seems with our two societies.

Frederick from Southern California is up next. The man with the grandpa shine in his eyes. Much lighter story from Frederick for sure. That or he complete detached from reality.

“Every day we're told that we live in the greatest country on earth. And it's always stated as an undeniable fact: Leos are born between July 23 and August 22, fitted queen-size sheets measure sixty by eighty inches, and America is the greatest country on earth. Having grown up with this in our ears, it's startling to realize that other countries have nationalistic slogans of their own, none of which are 'We're number two!”
― David Sedaris, Me Talk Pretty One Day