“No noble and exalted life exists,” he once said, “without knowledge of devils and demons, and without continual struggle against them.”
-Hermann Hesse,
The Glass Bead Game, a novel
Twenty-five years ago today,
Oct. 29, 1987:
Photo Collage from the Halloween Party at my gym,
24 Hour Nautilus, San Leandro.
Anne Alberti, dancing as a cave girl with a cone head.
Anne, me 'as the ghost' with Safari hat, unknown chap with hat and Lorraine Garcia.
Lower Right: Patty and Stuart Western.
The Beginnings – Part 118:
A ROMAN GLADIATOR
October 29, 1983
It was 7:30AM and I decided to phone Jim in Martinez. We had a good talk. He wakes up early, so it was no problem.
“Guess what?” Jim asked.
“What?”
“I rented a Roman Gladiator costume for you.”
I thought that was nice of him. It should be fun going to Walnut Creek with him. We also have dinner planned on Sunday: Homemade lasagna. Yum.
At 9AM I spoke with mom and invited myself over for breakfast. I told her about my plans to attend a Halloween Party in Walnut Creek.
At 9:20AM Helen telephoned. We may go bike riding around Lake Merritt today.
At 9:40AM Tammy telephoned. I explained the latest current events in my life and I boosted her ego. I spoke about ‘The End of George’, Jim’s Halloween party and how gorgeous she looked outside of HMS last night. I am very much ‘in like’ with Jim, Vicki and Tammy right now.
I went for that bike ride with Helen. We cruised all around Lake Merritt. It was a neat feeling as we took a break and walked through the chrysanthemum show. We both ate sweet tangerines under a tree. After the ride we went to Helen’s mom where we sipped Amaretto coffee and ate hot apple turnovers. We lounged around, watching a stupid Bruce Lee flick and The Bowery Boys. I left on my bike and was home quickly.
After a quick shower I ate dinner at mom’s house and took a brief nap.
Eventually, I was driving to Martinez to see Jim. I checked out the Roman Gladiator costume and actually looked half-way decent as a Roman Gladiator. Who would have guesses? I paid him twenty-five dollars for going to the trouble. I thought Jim was living in a very nice house in the Martinez suburbs. I was kind of in awe at the sight of a poster of Jon Erik-Hexum, the actor.
Jim dressed up as a punk rocker with Rod Stewart spiked hair with a bright lime green streak. We left for THE HUB together. There were a lot of amusing costumes: Lucille Ball, Chesterfield Cigarettes, three guys dressed as female nurses, and ‘Mel’, a peculiar bunny rabbit. Jim and I danced the night away, having a good time.
Photo: Jon-Erik Hexum Poster
We attended an after-hours party in Pleasant Hill. We didn’t stay there for very long. We watched a bit of the CHIPPENDALES DANCERS in an exercise video on a giant, full-length TV screen. A few people were giving me ‘the eye’. I kept close to Jim. We left for his pad where I made love to him—though not in a climactic sort of way. He seemed to enjoy it. It was so late. I was quite tired. We were happy that we turned the time back an hour. It was climactic in the morning as Jim jacked me off to the point of no return. And of course, Jon Erik’s poster was displayed right there, looking at me. That was too much. Ha-ha. Jim is fun.
“Manual release, if you please,” he implored.
-Paul Russell
THE UNREAL LIFE OF SERGEY NABOKOV, a novel
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