dunhaven; ic community.

I'm not apologizing for this.

Ya don't know how real this is. 😩😩



I'm not ready for the day she's gonna sass me with her words.

So [...] for all of you experiencing this dream business, have you found that your dreams parallel your real life, or not at all? Just wondering.

Coming up with a Halloween costume for Andre has been easy the last 3 times, since he was too young to have an opinion. His mom and I picked something cute, and that was that.

This year he has opinions. At first I'm thinking, great, he'll be a dinosaur. Or Daniel Tiger, or Elmo.

Then, out of nowhere, he says he wants to be Black Panther. He hasn't seen the movie, but he has his heart set on it, and all I keep thinking is at least he's not going as the subject of someone else's dreams.

DAVID

Would you be interested in having dinner with me this weekend?

I came into Dunhaven with this idea that you'd go easy on me, but as it turns out when you're one of a handful of lawyers in a DC-adjacent town and you've got one of those faces, you drum up interest. Curiosity, even. And when I say one of those faces, I just mean everybody I meet wants to feed me.

(Bake me cookies, please. I love cookies. Chocolate chip, yes?)

And since I'm still a bit of a newb, I want to hear about your plans for the Harvest Festival. I'd also like to know if you're going to let me horn in on them.

This is about to be a certified Dad Post. Just a little forewarning.

First of all, Zoe has decided that she wants to be a dinosaur princess for Halloween, so that's a thing I need to figure out.

Second, she has a fascination with pumpkins last year that I think stems entirely from having gotten to carve a record number of pumpkins between our house and with her grandparents on both sides. Every time we go somewhere that has pumpkins for sale, which seems to be everywhere in this town (I genuinely would not be surprised if you get one at the dentist with your cleaning), we somehow end up adding more to our porch. She really wants to carve them now and isn't all that impressed with my explanation of how vegetables rot quickly when they're hollowed out and have big holes in them, but I have a feeling that someone (me) will relent and at least one will have a toothy grin by the end of this weekend.

FILTERED TO LGBTQ MEMBERS OF THE COMMUNITY

Hey, everyone!

I wanted to take a second to apologize for not organizing anything for us for awhile. My plate has been a little on the full side recently, and I'm sorry to say I let it slide. I'll try to start organizing some get togethers for us more frequently again. I imagine we could all use it.

What do you all think of getting together for a Paint Nite sometime in the next week or two? I'm also open to other suggestions if you have ideas.

ANA:

Hey. I had a follow up question to your post the other day. Does the name T’Challa ring any bells?

FILTERED TO JOSIE

Hey, little sister. What are you up to?

FILTERED TO DAVID

Has my mom started contacting the entire extended family for my Intervention, or just immediate?

FILTERED TO CASSIA

Do you know if Peeta is here?

This week’s playlist will be all Aretha. These kids need to know soul.

If anyone else wants a link, let me know and I’ll send when I’m done.

WHO: David Harris
WHEN: August 7
WHERE: his living room -> Wakanda
SUMMARY: David remembers the confrontation with Erik.
WARNINGS: Just a lot of the f-bomb lol. And violence.

( 'Is this your king?' )

Every summer, my students and I do this thing where we make playlists for each other. I keep up with what they're interested in and vice versa, we introduce each other to new artists. Sometimes they think my stuff's boring as hell, but then one of them will show up to class on the first day and say they couldn't stop listening to something and went out to get the rest of an artist's album. I live for those days. But even when they don't dig it, the point's more to listen to something outside of their comfort zone.

This week, it's favorite movie soundtracks, and I got caught up thinking about Black P how incredible Romeo + Juliet's was, so I've made no progress at all.

WHO: David Harris
WHEN: 7/18
WHERE: his apartment
SUMMARY: David remembers T'Chaka's death.

( The hurt was still the same. )

Summer break means more time for myself -- namely performing my own music. It's one of the cool things about being a teacher. I don't know how much time I'd have for myself in another job, and this way I get real time to concentrate on my own shit. Can't do that much during the school year as it is. I've been hitting up open mics and other gigs in the area the past few weeks, when my boy's with his mom.

This weekend I'll be at the Jazz House in town, Friday and Saturday nights. Then July 27th, I'll be up at Caffe Amouri in Vienna, VA, for their Singer/Songwriter showcase. Starts at 7 pm. I'm going to try to hit up Open Mic in the Woods at Hard Bargain Amphitheater in Maryland on Sunday the 29th, too. Seems like an interesting location, and different from the same sort of clubs and cafes you usually see open mics at.

Bring a friend or two. It'll be a good time, I promise.

Okay, last week was for dancing. This week, though, I've been told the karaoke at the Pourhouse is especially fun and it is happening tonight. Can this be a thing?

And not just my relations and future ones. Now that we're settled and not living out of the hotel, I want to meet more new folks.

My boy and I went down to Atlanta for his birthday party with the fam there/Father's Day so he could see his great-grandpa/Juneteenth. We're headed back north tomorrow, and he's wiped out. There's been a lot to take in over the last week. He's spoiled rotten down here, that's for sure. Ain't nobody telling Grandma no. It's been good, though. Getting him immersed in the life I had once. The good parts, at least.

He's been asking about drums since he saw some in the parade, so I think I might have a little drummer on my hands here.

On today's episode of "It's a Slow Work Day and Lyra Needs a Distraction," a meme:

WHO: David Harris at 13, at 16, & (briefly) at 21
WHEN: Over the years :)
WHERE: Atlanta, Michigan, NYC
SUMMARY: A brief progression of David's sexuality, in honor of Pride Month :)
WARNINGS: Naaaah.

( He’s thirteen the first time he kisses a girl. )

WHO: David Harris
WHEN: 5/27
WHERE: his apartment
SUMMARY: David remembers meeting a baby sister.
WARNINGS: Naaaah. :)

( 'This is your sister.' )