Noises In The Night

Of course, it is my contention that if one really cares for a person, the sound of his breathing is dear and wonderful and whatever noises he makes in his sleep should be greeted with affectionate indulgence rather than irritation.
-Nial Kent
"The Divided Path"

Twenty-five years ago today:

December 1, 1984
Saturday

I awoke at 7:30am. I woke mom (and probably should not have done so). I think she tried to go back to sleep. It’s good to get an early start on the day. I was telling my mom how my doorbell rang last night. When I answered the door there were three Mexican-looking people, asking me to direct them to 3349 Solomon Lane. My address is 3348 Solomon Lane. I politely gave them directions.

Later, I thought about the doorbell ringing and could not ‘for the life of me’ figure out who it could be. While I was speaking to Bruce I realized a surprise visit from Chris Cordellos 'would be' a surprise. I wonder why I had not thought of Chris when the doorbell rang. Oh well, I was thinking of Chris this morning. Jim Koran and Jeffrey Burr are fading fast now.

Bob Umland is my central focus. Bob is my new buddy. I am glad Chris, Jim (and perhaps Jeffrey) are still pals. At least I believe they are.

I was enjoying breakfast at mom’s house when Suzy called to invite me to Ole’s Waffle Shop.
“Why don’t you just come over to my mom’s house and have breakfast with us?”
And so, she did.

John and Ashley were there, having breakfast as well. We played with Ashley a bit. Then Sue went home while I decided to go bicycling.

I took a ride to Sue’s house and we ended up cycling together. We did some window shopping on Park Street.

By 3:30pm I was home napping when Gilbert (the modeling agency guy) called to give ‘Thanks’ for the Christmas card I sent him. We had a nice chat.

I showered and drove to San Francisco to meet Bob Umland at Wilkes-Bashford. He was really busy and could not give me much attention while I was in the store. We left the store at around 6:30pm and went to his apartment for champagne.

Bob's place was quaint, but dark with a lot of earth tone colors. We simply talked as we sipped champagne. After the relaxing atmosphere I accompanied Bob to some other pad where he was getting some “coke” (as in cocaine) for his pals, Karen and Nathan!
We had dinner at ZUNI’s with Karen, her “les” (lesbian) friend from Chicago and Nathan. It was fun. I was having a good time. Bob and I went to Nathan’s house for a short period and then back to Bob’s apartment. Bob lived near the Haight-Asbury area near Fulton Street and Dolores Park.

I spent my Saturday night with Bob. We had a good time talking, listening to tunes and watching McHale’s Navy, MTV music videos. Bob also shared stories about his seashells, elephants, other houseware collections and memorabilia. He has so much "stuff" but somehow kept it all in order. Bob and I did not sleep very well. We had fun.

Without order, men knew no peace and were no better than beasts.
-Bette Bao Lord
"Spring Moon"