Yesterday weas a bit relaxing. We didnt have any plans to be anywhere and I was able to take David out and see a bit of Rochester. I remembered how many great places there were to see, and felt a bit sad because its history is ignored by the poverty of the city itself.

We started with the castle in Highland Park, went to Mt Hope Cemetery where we saw Susan B. Anthonys grave. We went to High Falls which looks like the falls have been cleaned up more, and finally over to the George Eastman house.

After that, we came back to the house to relax. Finally heading out to the Forum to meet some friends, and play some darts. It was fun until I got into a slight argument with the host we're staying with. Im not even sure how it started but it left me with a really sad feeling.

From his perspective, I am always talking about how great San Francisco is and cutting Rochester down. This could be true but San Francisco is my life and its been so good to me in comparison. I have a great life there and do I down play it for the sake of making Rochester look better? I believe it stems from my friend feeling trapped here (and he's told me he does at times). He just bought a house, he has an excellent job with security, his family is here, and he will pretty much be here for the rest of his life. Its his choice but just the same, I understand where he's coming from.

The other part of the argument was based on the dying gay scene here. Everyone seems to want to blame the way the city is for the dying gay scene. I was arguing the fact that people need to get off their asses and make it happen. Its people who let the scene die that caused the scene to die. If people stepped up to the plate, hosted more events, helped out with fund raising, and did their part, then you would have at least a little better scene than what Ive experienced. Heck, when I came out in 93, every bar on a Friday and Saturday night would be 3 deep at the least.

Anyway, we are leaving today for Tupper Lake, and he isnt going to be around on Friday when we get back into Rochester, so I wont have a chance to talk to him face to face. Id like to apologize (although Im not even sure I did anything wrong), but unfortunately its going to have to be by phone later.

For those who want to see my pictures, I have several sets posted of High Falls, George Eastman House, Highland Park, and Mt Hope Cemetery as well as Toronto and Niagara Falls.