2009 is certainly off to an auspicious start. My life has been so unbelievably good the last few weeks.

Right now I just feel like all the stars have aligned and everything's going right. I'm feel like I'm in a really good place and on strong emotional/relational footing in pretty much all of my relationships!

I'm really enjoying my resurrected friendship with Brian. Oddly enough, I feel like the song "Cool" by Gwen Stefani sums it up nicely:

I also feel like Luke and I are on better footing than we have been in months. I voluntarily sought out, and enjoyed, his company today.

Scott and I have never been closer. In fact I felt like our relationship hit a high point recently.

John's about to leave for his new adventure, and I'm going to miss him terribly, but at the same time I'm pretty excited for him. I also feel like I can actually step back enough to gain some perspective and realize that I'm just fortunate for the times we've had together. Oddly that sorta reminds me of a line the Bright Eyes song "Landlocked Blues":

And I do love him, and he needs to do this, so he has my support.

I also take great comfort in my enduring friendships with Claire and Mandi. They, and Mandi's girlfriend - who I also really like - came to stay with me for New Year's and we just had so much fun! It's nice that after so many years there are still so many adventures and happy times to look back on and so many more left to have. Also, both their lives are in such good places right now!

Meanwhile, I've stayed close with Megan and Jesse and things are as good as ever between us.

It's just so great that while I've got all these terrific gay boys in my life, I've still got my lesbians

At the same time, I'm also developing a really good friendship with Brian's new boyfriend. In fact we had the most awesome conversation tonight about literature, sex, and gender roles (three of my favourite talking points ).

On top of that I've added several new friends to my 'inner circle' and I'm really excited and grateful to have them in my life.

Plus, my boy William is coming into town next weekend! I'm so excited about it!

In the family realm, I also feel really happy with my relationship with my mom. I mean we've usually got a pretty good relationship, but I've really been enjoying our recent conversations. Same goes for my grandparents.

As a nice little 'surprise', I even had a nice chat with my dad the other day. It's not that we have a bad relationship most of the time, it's just that we usually have a pretty much non-relationship. Which really I think is more my 'fault' than his. I'm just pretty disinterested most of the time and seldom put forth much effort. The other day he called me though, and I made a solid effort to be responsive, and I think I was.

I also had a "date" with the most wonderful guy last night! I put date in quotation marks because truth be told it was mostly a hook up. But it was an INCREDIBLE hook up. Best sex I've ever had actually, not to mention the longest. He was so hot, and were both really into it, and not to be graphic but it had all the things I really like in sex, and it was really sensual, but still really passionate. In fact, I've always said that I wanted to experience 'lesbian sex', not so much in the physiological sense but in the relational/emotional/mental sorta sense. I feel like last night pretty much qualified. They say good sex is about good communication and putting the other person's pleasure first, and we were really doing that! It was just so, WOW! Anyway, we connected really well emotionally and afterward we had the most terrific conversation for a couple of hours. I feel like it really did turn into a date because we went out for food and did have such a great conversation. Anyway, the whole experience was just wonderful, so good and satisfying for both of us. Great sex and great conversation with a beautiful, interesting person. Hard to top that.

While we're on the topic of the physical, I've felt GREAT lately. So energetic, and fit, and all around healthy. I've renewed my commitment to cooking and eating fresh, healthy foods and I'm making it a point to go to the grocery store every other day or so, so that I always have fresh stuff on hand. It's just so amazingly delicious and I just adore cooking anyway. I feel like I've been eating better and enjoying my food more than I have in years!

Meanwhile, I've also joined a gym. I'm not usually a big gym person because the kind of look I like for myself, and other guys for that matter, is more of a toned, but not large or bulky look. Besides, I'm more into activities when it comes to exercising. Sitting about lifting weights or walking on treadmills just isn't my thing. But this new gym is fantastic! They have this wide variety of classes and activities everyday! Kick boxing, Pilates, yoga, spinning, salsa, and tons more! It's mad fun! Add to that the rollerblading I took back up recently, and I've been having tons of fun my body of late.

Moving on, I've also felt great mentally lately. Like I've been reading ALOT, and I've just been totally immersed in psychology, sociology, and gender studies - just as I'm meant to be

I've also been taking up several new interests. For example, I'm working on teaching myself HTML and CSS, and I'm also making an effort to get more involved in local activism. My new mid-range goal is to eventually - hopefully in a year or two - begin my own website for GLBT support, resources, activism, and cultural content. Eh, it's what I'm shooting for, but I've got a LONG way to go before I'll even begin to have the skills I need. Still, it's good to be working toward it.

As far as creativity goes, I've been having so many ideas running through my head for all my stories and future projects, and I've managed to get A LITTLE writing done. I've also had this huge urge to get back into painting. Now don't let me deceive you, I have absolutely no skills when it comes to painting. A mildly talented eight year old could do better, but it's a really fun outlet and I don't care that I'm not very good.

I've also been finding a great deal of enjoyment and fulfillment in music lately (hence the song references above). Mostly I just can't stop listening to Ben Folds, Bright Eyes, and Pink. They're the three artists I've been most addicted lately! Geez, their stuff is just incredible! I'd recommend something, but I'd feel compelled to list almost everything they've each ever done so I shan't bother. Oh yeah, Lily Allen is also uber cool! I don't like quite as many of her songs, but she hits home runs every now and then.

Stuff at work is still really good too. Indeed, it's because of the low-stress, regular schedule, and all around pleasant atmosphere that I attribute my ability to partake in all these other fun things.

So, I guess what it all comes down to is that emotionally, physically, sexually, mentally, creatively, socially, familiarly, and professionally all is right in my world right now