«  Mon.01.08.2001  » 4:43 pm EST        21°F (-6°C) in Dearborn Calendar of Updates I had intended all along to make an update today, but I decided that this time of day is especially opportune given the sloth-like Internet speed I'm experiencing right now. Most everything outside of the realm of Larry's Phat Page either doesn't want to come in, or comes in very slowly. Maybe I'll have to kill this computer. I've had a very busy, very interesting weekend. Saturday was actually fairly uneventful until my uncle arrived from Charlotte, NC, in the evening; he stopped by the house around 8:00 pm to pick me up. We went to dinner at Armando's, in the Mexicantown area of Detroit; I had some excellent quesadillas there. (If you like Mexican food, and you're ever visiting Detroit, you should definitely stop by Armando's. Get off I-75 at the Clark Street exit, go north on Clark to the first light, turn right and go a block. ¡Es muy bueno! Tú lo amará.) After that, we drove around most every freeway in the Metro Detroit area. Without giving away too much information, we talked about my situation with my parents, my being gay, my school situation, more or less my entire life situation. He gave me some hints as to what I should do, which I'll talk about in more detail later in this update. I slept way in yesterday, until 12:45 pm; I had to rush through the shower to get out of the house by 2:20. I was in such a rush out to Ann Arbor that I forgot my ticket to the Michigan-Lake Superior State hockey game; I had to purchase one upon arriving at the Yost box office, at a cost of $12. The game ran somewhat long, so I had to run late to a 6:00 pm social engagement. I was meeting a man who visits this site semi-regularly, lives in the Detroit area, and wanted to get to know me better. We toured his work facility, near the place at which we were going to meet for dinner; after a tour and introduction to the facility, we headed for dinner. For nearly three hours, we sat there talking about a lot of things — my parents, being gay, Michigan hockey games; you name it, and it probably came up. I returned home to face my parents' usual tactic of giving me the third degree. This morning, I was up around 10:00 am; after my usual morning preparations, I left for a 1:00 pm appointment with a Dearborn-area psychologist. Again, I was able to talk about most of my life situation. She listened to most of what I had to say, judged the situation appropriately, and made some recommendations as to how I should approach things. It is at this point that I will get into the suggestions I've been receiving. Everybody agrees that I need to get the hell out of this house, and fast. It looks like the optimal method of doing so would be to put up with my parents for as long as I possibly can, while I find a job and start earning money. Once that is done, I have several living options available to me — I plan to at least explore the probability of each one working for me. I still don't have many plans down the road, but I figure if I can take things one day, one week at a time, I'll be able to get back on the path to a better life. I can say that I'm through the worst part of my depression. I never thought I'd make it this far, but here I am. Everything will slowly return to normal, I'm convinced; I will speed that process by getting out of here. I'm sort of pressed to finish this, though, as my eagle-eyed, prying father is about to occupy the basement for a while. I should have more to say here Wednesday.