We've finally found a salon to shoot our movie in, and we've even fixed the date for the shoot, June 18th. It's going to be an extraordinarily hectic day if we're to shoot the whole movie that one day. With a cast of six, and several crew members, a camera, and a bunch of lights, in a small Castro salon lined with mirrors.

Originally, Jim had suggested that I direct the movie, and he would film it, a suggestion I was very happy to go along with. But - and I knew this would be a problem - as the script progressed, Jim tossed his hat in the ring and announced he'd like to direct it. That's part of the problem in our collaboration - we both like to direct. In the end, to avoid unpleasantness, I decided to be the one to give in and let Jim direct. Which means that I'll be the guy with the camera.

Today, after working out, I stopped by the salon to draw up a floor plan so that Jim and I can figure out where to place the camera for each shot. There were three attractive guys standing in the salon chatting, and they all gave me a long eyefull as I chatted with the stylist. I was feeling tired and haggard, but isn't it funny how the times that you get noticed are the times when you're feeling the least attractive.

On Friday night, I picked up a couple of videos to watch. One of them, "Gypsy Boys", I picked up because the associate producer was the ex-boyfriend of a former friend of mine, and I was curious to see what they'd come up with. Oh, and the other reason was that the voluptuously beautiful Steve Rodriguez was in the movie.

The movie was actually pretty weak - poorly developed characters, in stereotypical situations. I remember running into the associate-producer acquaintance several years ago, when he told me he was working on this movie. That was a couple of years before I developed my own interest in film-making, but even then, I remember being envious that he'd embarked on something so exciting and collaborative. Now, watching the results, it made me realize that hard work and passion aren't enough to make a good movie. I suddenly wondered about the script for our upcoming short.

Two funny things about "Gypsy Boys", though; first, a large role in the movie was played by a guy I was friends with when I first movied to San Francisco. He was actually, come to think of it, my first San Francisco friend. The secretary at my new job in Berkeley had introduced us to each other because she'd already sussed out that I was gay, and she was trying to match us up. But the other guy had shaken hands with me in a very cold and distracted manner, so I didn't think much of it. Until a few days later, I walked into my work-area to see all my group-colleagues staring at me with a look of expectation on their faces. I turned to my desk, and there, in a vase, was a huge boucquet of flowers. They were from that guy I'd been introduced to, briefly, a few days earlier. We eventually became friends for a while, before drifting apart, going our own directions.

The second funny thing about "Gypsy Boys". I'm in the movie! There was a scene shot outside Bank of America, in the Castro, at night, and suddenly this very tall guy in a leather jacket walks through the camera's view point and turns up the street. It's me! It reminded me of the time quite a few years ago when everybody kept phoning me to tell me they'd seen me on TV. For months on end, Channel 5 played this commercial for their news and weather programs which showed me on the same stretch of Castro Street, putting up my umbrella.

I've begun to look into the idea of moving, but I'm finding there aren't nearly as many apartments out there as I'd hoped. No doubt this is because of my twin restrictions: parking, and dog-friendly. It seems that the numbers of apartments allowing dogs is diminishing even further since the notorious Whipple dog-mauling case. Although I really do want to get a dog, there are times when I realize how much I don't want to leave this apartment. I love the neighborhood. And the view of course, which is never the same twice. I love to be able to watch the ships coming and going, like in the photo below. But I guess you can't have everything you want in life.

"Recent aircraft-carrier arrival"