Barnes & Noble Booksellers Cannot Afford ... ?

10 months ago, I found out that there would be an appearance by Billy Bean to promote his book about his experiences as a professional baseball player and later, came out of the closet after his retirement. As a gay guy who enjoys sports tremendously -- really, I do! Honest! Ask anyone else who knew me!

However, I called Barnes & Noble Booksellers in downtown DC in the same building where Kevin and Larry worked, in order to request about having an interpreter so I can enjoy the reading and lecture by Billy. When I went to the Barnes & Noble Booksellers on that particular day, there was no interpreter. I was offended. I looked around for Billy Bean. I couldn't recognize him. I asked someone else where he is -- he pointed at him. My eyes nearly popped out -- he's shorty and ... EFFEMINATE! It is as if when he finally came out of the closet, he was able to overcompensate for what he missed during his baseball times.

Either way, I decided not to buy his book and solicit his signature because it would defeat the purpose of teaching him and the store a lesson or two about their discrimination. I made it clear by writing an email to Billy Bean via its official website and trashed him on that subject ... ok, I'll get back to this but now I gotta jump off the subject and talk about something else.

Someone asked me about "The Fuck on Chlms' B'day" -- one gal wanted to know who's who. I care about him. He's genuine, smart and sincere. I'll not use his name since he has a boyfriend who permitted me banging his ass when I feel like hooking up with him. Ah, I think I should make a note that ... he is kinda neighbor, about few blocks down the street. Which is convenient, though.

I want to take a vacation to Bora Bora with a guy I love. But I feel it will not happen, for some reasons. Bora Bora is one of these luxury hotels somewhere in the South Pacific. Why them? You have to check it out somewhere on the Internet.

I wrote an erotic story for the first time and submitted to a website. It got published and featured on a certain website. I already got 16 emails telling me that it was hot and they jerked off to it. I'm flattered, dude. And that story is based on a true story. :-)

Few days ago, Mikey and I chatted at Urge in East Village and one so-so guy came to us and said "ILY" in ASL, he interrupted our conversation. And pegged us with most overused sign in the world. I suddenly stood up and tapped on his shoulder while he stared at me as I flipped him my gorgeous middle finger. He was speechless and confused -- but laughed then asked me why? I told him that I did it for shock value to see his reaction. He was pretty cool with it -- even bought us a round of drinks. Gotta love these men in East Village!!

You know, what scared me the most is our liberal use of words to imitate the ASL signs, like "dodo" -- when we say "What you dodo tonight?", it means "What are you going to do tonight?", right? But if you say "what you dodo tonight?" to a hearing guy? The hearing guy would say, "Why did you ask me about shit?"

Now, back to the original subject about Billy Bean, he wrote me an email yesterday. I was surprised to get his email and when I read it, I was not satisfied with his comments. Here is what he wrote:

Subj:
Date: 2/24/2004 2:05:06 PM Eastern Standard Time
From: xxxxx@xxxxxxxx.xxx
To: Ridor1973@aol.com
Sent from the Internet (Details)

Hello Ricky,
Please understand that I made an appearance in 21 cities on that tour. I had no idea the bookstore did not hire a person to sign for you or others. Most bookstores don't have the budget to provide that service. I certainly am considerate of all potential readers with or without disabilities.
I am sorry you had a bad experience.
I wish you well, and hope you will give the book a chance someday....
sincerely,
billy bean

Billy Bean, are you that stupid? Barnes & Noble Booksellers made a lot of profits in selling merchandises, contract with Starbucks and setting up more and more stores around the country, plus its bn.com are gaining grounds against amazon.com -- you think they do not have the money to get an interpreter?

Kiss my ass, Billy. It took you 10 months to think of a small sentence and yet, hoped that I'll give your book a chance? To coin a phrase from Mark's famous words: SYL to your book and SKSK to your face.

R-