Well, I’ve been out of town for a week, but am finally back in Los Angeles. I had a great visit back in my hometown of Colorado Springs, and am glad to be back but also a little sad saying goodbye to friends.

But what a weird day it was coming back. I was at the airport this morning going through security and the guy checking IDs “ma’am-ed” me. And I wasn’t even dressed – I was in guy mode! I walked away thinking, “What just happened?” On the one hand it’s kind of cool to be mistaken for a women, but on the other hand, being paranoid, I’m not sure if that’s what it was. I was thinking, “Is this guy just giving me shit?” Perhaps he saw a slightly femmey looking guy and wanted to insult me, similar to calling a guy “fag” or something. Wow, that just got my head all twisted around. I’m probably just being paranoid, but “ma’am” is such an old-fashioned kind of word, with possibly negative connotations – kind of like calling a woman “old bag.” My passport photo does perhaps look a little androgynous, so maybe he really did think I was a woman. I don’t know. I’m probably over-thinking this whole thing.

But later it got even weirder. The flight was fine, and I was walking along the sidewalk, just a few blocks home from the metro station. A guy and two girls, they were probably about 18 or 19, were just ahead of me. I pass them with my carry-on bag in hand and as I’m moving ahead, I hear one of the girls say something to one of her friends and then say the word “faggot.” Again, I have a moment of, “Uh, what’s going on here?” I figured I’d just keep walking and ignore them. Maybe I heard wrong or something. I keep walking and then after a moment I realize the guy has moved up right behind me on my left side, so close that he’s nearly touching, and he seems to be mimicking the way I walk. I stop walking and say, “What do you want?” He mutters something and kind of shrugs and just keeps going. I just stand there in shock as he continues on, followed by the two girls, who each make what seems to be rather hostile eye contact as they pass by.

I was thoroughly rattled by all this. I felt enraged and wanted to see them physically suffer, preferably with me administering the suffering. But I certainly didn’t want to provoke some 19-year-old kid into taking a swing at me. I watched them in shock for a while and then just let them walk off ahead. Fucking weird and a real bummer of a way to come home. Welcome to L.A.