I like Patrick a lot. I am not sure how I first met him. I think that it was at some HIV vaccine event in Capitol Hill in late 2010. Patrick says that we only talked during that night, but I thought I had spent a lot of time talking to him since then and I had a foggy idea that somehow when I met him I had known him previously. When I met up with him again in July 2011, I had these memories of conversations with him. We started talking more then one day some weeks later Patrick later told me that we had only met the once and the other memories I had were imagined and I felt disconcerted and doubtful both of him telling me this and of what I remembered. I still feel a bit strange around him because he seems terribly familiar to me as if I have known him a long time. He is exceptionally clever and well-spoken and I often find that he is able to repeat my words to me in a way that shows he effortlessly is able to understand my actions.
He has popped up in odd ways in several things which are important to me. He is interested in access to data and particularly mapping and demographic data, he has a great sense of direction and appreciation for urban environment and architecture, he knows a lot of people, he understands volunteer management and recruitment, and he is perceptive of how people make decisions and has this natural way of convincing people of things. He is a recruiter for HVTN vaccine studies, and that job changes people but I think he has an attitude about it that is different from any of the other recruiters I have met.
His father just died and he had just recently experienced the death of his mother as well. This was in Connecticut, and he was in the city doing some things, so we met up on Sunday 29 April. Before meeting him I was for the first time at the American Museum of Natural History, and he met me at their front door.
We talked about a lot of things. He took me on a tour of the city, described neighborhoods to me, pointed out differences between NYC people’s behavior and Seattle behavior. He took me to the Stumptown on 29th and I had an espresso and it was a huge relief for me. I had been really stressed about moving so quickly and anxious about my job the next day, plus something about the enormity of the buildings and the crowds of people here take acclimating and I was not accustomed to my new surroundings. It felt good to be with a friend and have a proper cup of coffee.
We went to the World Trade Center and to the Brooklyn Bridge at night. We walked to the middle of it and looked at the city. We talked about the right to access health information and our projects. He told me stories about how to relax and Patrick knows how to relax and he knows how to tell stories.
He was going back to Seattle but expected to be returning to the area for a while. I hope that I can meet up with him again soon.