Richard Grayson

We were fooling around and I joked, “You’re the most boring person ever met.” “Well, I don’t tell you everything I do,” he said. Why did I make such an insensitive remark? Probably because I felt that Mark never showed the interest in me that I did in him. But I was childish and cruel and hurtful, and I don’t feel good about it.

At 5:30 AM, I got the paper from my door and found my photo on the first page of the Herald’s Broward section. “Writer Rejects Senior Benefits” was the headline. I still haven’t heard from the Human Relations Division, but I did hear from WINZ who woke me up at 8:30 AM after I’d fallen back asleep, calling to ask for an interview.

“America’s Celebrity Shortage” is definitely a funny piece. It’s so rare for People to use freelancers (Fred told me it had been so long that he had to go look into how much I was going to get paid) that I should consider myself lucky. I can put the credit on my résumé and the $1500 in the bank.

9 PM. I just got home and I’m very tired. Jonathan called and said I was on The CBS Evening News tonight. They identified me as a writer and spoke about my complaint, but I got only one sentence of air time. Still, it was a witty remark: “What’s good for the goose is good for the gosling.”

I filed a complaint of age discrimination with the Broward County Human Relations Board against AmeriFirst Savings and Loan Association for refusing me their “AmeriPlus 55” program. I’ve got the radio on, and right now they’re talking about me, “live from the Broward County Courthouse” – I can’t believe it: this was the lead story on the news!

Everything would just be easier if she were seeing a guy, the way it was when she was seeing Jordan. Then we could just be friends. I love her and I’ll always be attracted to her, but she needs more than I can give. It’s real sad, I guess, but maybe things will work out.

I worked out (shoulders and triceps) while watching The Empire Strikes Back, the second of the Star Wars movies. It was pretty corny, but like all American boys, I identified with Luke Skywalker. (In addition, I think Mark Hamill is cute.)

At break, I chatted with Mark outside. We’ve gotten almost to the flirting stage. I told him about the People assignment and talked about my publicity campaigns, and he remembered once seeing me on the TV news. I could tell I was getting more attractive to him.

I was driving down University Drive on my way to Hollywood when a bulletin interrupted a radio call-in show: first they announced “a malfunction” aboard the space shuttle, and then an explosion. I felt sick to my stomach as I heard the news. At the credit union, someone had brought out a TV set and people were watching it numbly.

Up in Tamarac, I found Pete at his parents’ house. He showed me a videotape of “Love Me Like a Bitter Pill,” the hour-long performance piece he did with Katrinka and Donna. I was impressed with the professional quality of the material. Pete has tremendous stage presence; Whoopi Goldberg would be envious.

Afterwards, like a typical male, I just wanted to fall asleep holding her, so I asked her to spend the night. I always seem to sleep soundly when Ronna is in bed with me. She was hard to wake up, but at 7:15 AM, I started touching her feet with mine, and gradually, body part by body part, I got her up so she could walk back to her apartment and get ready for work.

For me, sexual intimacy is a refuge from the real world. After knowing each other 15 years, and being lovers since 1972 – despite the long gaps – Ronna and I are attuned to each other. Does that mean we love each other, or do married couples who hate each other also have fantastic sex because they know each other so well?