Last night I was walking home after having dinner with a friend of mine. As I began to walk up the steps of the brownstone in which I live, I saw one of my next-door neighbors standing on the stoop of the adjacent brownstone, smoking. He said hi, and I said hi. “How are you?” he said. “Good, how are you?” I said. I’ve lived in my apartment for a year and a half, but for some reason none of our interactions had ever progressed past this. I hadn’t even known his name or anything about him.

But last night the conversation continued. For some reason he actually introduced himself and told me his name, and I told him mine. I asked him which apartment in the brownstone was his, and he told me that he and his partner actually owned the whole building and lived on the three main floors, with tenants renting the basement. I had seen both men before, but I had assumed their building was divided into apartments like mine is, and although they’d both seemed kinda gay, I hadn’t thought to assume that they lived together, let alone owned the whole building.

Then he invited me in for a drink and a tour.

I walked into a beautiful townhouse. I saw a renovated kitchen and a little den in the back that had skylights. The partner was there, and I got introduced. They poured me some red wine. Food was cooking on the stove. They’d just returned from 10 days in London and were trying out a Jamie Oliver recipe: salmon wrapped in prosciutto, with some lentils and spinach on the side. It smelled delicious. They were expecting their gay friend from around the corner. He soon showed up — a middle-aged British man, who apparently has a partner as well. They’d all gone to London together, or something.

I drank wine, and much delightful conversation ensued. I decided to leave before they began eating, so as not to cause any awkwardness, as there were only three pieces of salmon and I’d already had dinner. But before I left, I gave them my number. After all, you can never know too many affluent, fabulous gay couples, right?

I walked down their front steps, took about four steps along the sidewalk, and then walked up the steps of my building, laughing at my good fortune and at myself.

It’s so typical of me to live next door to such people for a year and a half and not know it.
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This weekend I learned that I am a few degrees of separation away from a couple of celebrities.

On Friday night I went out with a friend and some of his friends, and I learned that my friend’s friend’s ex-boyfriend, with whom my friend’s friend still lives, went home with a certain celebrity after the Les Miz closing party. The celebrity’s name rhymes with Gallon Strumming, and he once appeared in a photo with Faustus’s dog.

Later in the weekend, I learned that on Friendster (which I recently mentioned, and which everyone else now seems to be talking about too), I am three degrees of separation away from another celebrity, who was a child on a 1980s sitcom about a single mother and her male Italian housekeeper and who subsequently came out of the closet. His name rhymes with Manny Gin Sorrow, but on Friendster he uses the one-syllable version of his name.

I’m not sure if it’s really him or just an impostor, but at any rate… it’s pretty cool.

New York is such a small town.

I have joined a Success Team. We have our first meeting next Wednesday.

The concept of success teams was started by Barbara Sher, an author I’ve come to love. She’s written numerous books about discovering your goals and then achieving them — books such as Wishcraft and I Could Do Anything If I Only Knew What It Was: How to Discover What You Really Want and How to Get It. Her main idea is that in order to get what you want, you shouldn’t waste time trying to change who you are, because it won’t work. Instead, find ways to accommodate who you are.

Her theory behind success teams is based on networking and community: you might not be able to reach your goals using your own resources, but if you’re in a small group, you will meet people who know people who know other people, and so forth, and you can all help each other reach your goals. You also have the benefit of the other people’s brains, and they might be able to see your situation differently than you see it. Plus there’s lots of mutual motivation going on.

One of my goals lately is to get back into performing. I think I want to take an acting class, or get involved in community theater, or do some singing, or something. For someone who considers himself an introvert, I seem strangely to thrive around other people more than I’d expect to, and I hope to tap into this energy through performing once again.

Wish me, um, success.