Boston Adventure-Spontanaeity in Action

This story involves Gay Marriage, quail eggs, high-tech and new-age conception, and a man who just finished a divorce from his wife who decided she is a lesbian....and much more.

One of my favorite aspects of traveling is the adventure of not knowing where you are and not knowing where you are going. It is during my travels where I allow spontanaeity and serendipity to take their place in my life.

Last night, we had a gathering of the "Friends of Jeremy and Tamar" (Boston chapter) in the lobby of my hotel. Over 2 hours, 11 people showed up.

One of my friends is married according to Mass. law to his gay partner. Currently, there's a state constitutional amendment debate going on regarding the legality of these unions. While there is no chance that his marriage will be annulled, he certainly feels strongly about it...and it is impacting their ability to become parents.

Initially, they went down the path of adoption, but no adoption agency (US or foreign) that they encountered was in a position to approve an adoption to a gay couple. (Note: I've sent him my Advice on Fatherhood document).

So now the game plan involves an "outsourced supply chain" [my term, not his] that involves:
1. a company that matches donors (of egg and sperm) and surrogates
2. a sperm donor (my friend) [input 1]
3. an egg donor (a woman they know) [input 2]
4. a woman who will serve as the surrogate (production facility)

The legal hurdles have been cleared and the medical process is underway. As my friend says, "not only does it take a village to raise a child, it takes the Internet, two women, and a clinical lab!"

Too bad for my buddy Morry, his life update followed this one. By comparison, his job, life, and marriage were pretty straightforward, but we love him anyway!

All of this by 8pm last night.

Next stop was the Union Oyster House. Clearly, not a lot for me to eat there, but there was a party for our partners there. It was a good time. I've really started to enjoy working so closely with so many other organizations in a truly symbiotic relationship. When they win, we win. It's a good feeling.

By this point, I was kind of hungry, however, and I found one partner who was interested in going with me for the old standby: sushi.

We asked around, no one knew of a close-by sushi location. I decided it was time for an adventure.

We jumped into a cab and said, "take us to a sushi place."
"I don't know where one is. What's the address?"
"We don't know. Where is there a sushi place?"
"How about Chinatown?"

Thinking to myself that the cabbie represented the larger portion of Americans who only know that China and Japan are both in Asia, I figured there was probably a good chance of success in that strategy.

Needless to say, on the first street we found in Chinatown, we found "Ginza," which is as authentic a Japanese restaurant I've found since returning to the US.

Why?

1. they had Natto-fermented soybeans-on the menu, which have a taste and smell all of their own and one that is not typically savory to the American palate

2. they had quail egg sushi. Another menu item that most Americans don't seem to resonate with

After a great meal (hey as a company ambassador I needed to show my partner a good time, right?) we decided we only had one logical next step...the cigar bar.

Now, I should say that my wife doesn't like it that I smoke cigars at all. And I don't think playing the "I have cancer so let me do what I want" card will work on her. She's also requested that I give cigars up post thyroid surgery...a request I've taken under advisement.

Before I go any further, I should say that I smoke cigars at most 2-3 times per year so it's not a big habit for me, but I do enjoy it.

Figuring that this was an opportunity not to be missed (although by blogging on it, I'll pay the price since my beautiful bride does read the Blog), I asked the maitre'd to track down a good place for us. He did, Cigar Masters on Boylston Street.

We hit the jackpot with our cabbie on the way over. First off, he said he stopped for us (it was raining) because I was wearing a Boston Red Sox hat. (Yes, I admit, but much like the Yankees grew on me despite my Orioles allegiance--when I lived in NYC, the Yanks won 3 straight World Series, so I jumped on the bandwagon--I figured now that the curse of the Bambino is over, perhaps I could handle the Red Sox. Besides, it's a nice hat) Not only that, but he was a history buff and gave us a GREAT tour as we made our way to the cigar bar.

We sit down at the bar, stogies lit up, and start chatting. There's a guy sitting next to my buddy, Shaun, and I look at him and say, "hey, what's your story?"

Well, next thing we know, we're deep into his personal life and he says, pretty much first thing:
"I've just finalized my divorce because my wife decided she wanted to be a lesbian."

He had suspected that something was going on with his wife's friend who was "quite butch," but figured it out when he walked into the hospital room after his wife was recovering from a surgery and found the two of them making out in the hospital bed together.

You cannot script this stuff.

He confronts the two of them and what else are they going to do? They fess up.

Well, needless to say, we had an interesting conversation with the guy (who is preparing for his Bar Mitzvah simultaneously with his 13 year old son since he didn't have one as a boy) about politics in Mass, radical Islam, the war in Iraq, economics, Microsoft, real estate, the European Union and a whole lot more, until we closed down the place at 1am.

Shaun and I take a cab back to our hotel and call it a night, but I'll tell you, it's things like this that I love.

Get in a cab and not knowing where you are going; Strike up conversations with strangers; Just experience life.

I'm sure there is more, but I've got to get the Blog posted. Truth is stranger than fiction.