Oy veh, what another week. I wrote last time about how crazy my week had been. Well ditto this week. I've been burning the candle at both ends, and a little bit in the middle too. Several different events have just happened to confluence (can you say that?) this week, the result being that I've been making do with only about four or five hours of sleep every night. In the same week, I'm working dot-com hours, going over to Marin every day, starting my film-class, getting ready to go down to Southern California for ten days, entertaining my brother (and his new boyfriend). Oh, not to mention seeing Jed for the first time since we broke up, having a couple of encounters with my surfer dude, and doing all the usual crap such as running, gym.

I suppose I like to complain, but in truth, it's been fun. My work project is very fulfilling. I'm learning a lot of cool new technology, and I get a bit of a thrill from being at the center of such an exciting project.

Dinner with Jed on Saturday was just lovely. We had taken a break from one another, after breaking up, but I always knew we'd resume our friendship when the other passions had been given some time off. And that's what happened: he cooked a three course meal (which is more than he ever did when we were involved!), and we caught up with each other in a most companionable way. He's obviously been working out hard since I last saw him, and, since he was wearing a fairly tight tshirt, everytime he raised his arms and put his hands behind his head, his biceps would bulge impressively. It was a little odd to be spending the evening in his apartment; so close to a guy whom I like physically, emotionally and intellectually, and not be phyiscally intimate. But I suppose we'll get used to it.

That very same day, my brother Neil arrived from England, with his new boyfriend Simon. They're staying with a friend of Simon's one block from my former apartment near the EndUp. I just had time to pop around to say hi before heading off to Palo Alto to see Jed. Neil was looking older than last time I saw him, but I figured that was mostly jetlag. I hadn't been tremendously excited at the idea of seeing him, since last time I saw him, last Summer in England, I'd felt a large gulf of incomprehension between us. This time, though, he was friendly, and sweet. I can see why he's always with a boyfriend, since when he switches himself on, he's really quite charming.

Simon, my little brother, and me. He's actually older than me, and he's almost six feet, so I suppose he's not, strictly speaking, my little brother after all.

We all had dinner together on both Sunday and Monday, which involved some considerable juggling of my schedule. But it was worth it. Neil finally has a boyfriend I like! Simon is an intelligent, sophisticated, unpretentious guy with great conversation (which is a good thing since conversation is not my brother's strong point). On Monday, the weather, finally, had warmed up, and it was pleasant to amble slowly over to North Beach, the four of us (Simon's friend Nick had joined us), in the warm evening, have drinks at Tosca, and then share a couple of bottles of wine over dinner at Pasta Pomodoro. Put four Brits together out of country and before long we were humming the title music from childhood TV series, and mimicking the voices of characters from "Magic Roundabout" (a rather subsersive 60s TV series for children - not everyone cottened on at the time, but at least one of the characters - Brian the snail I think it was - was perpetually stoned).

It was the sort of evening I truly miss from no longer living in England. The easy familiarity of basking in a shared culture and way of life, the comfort of family.