You'll never guess who's a friend of Boston's Homeless

• Friends of the Boston's Homeless Benefit at Avalon: $20
• coatcheck, 2 coats: $6 (+$1 tip)
• Two drinks, $14 (+$2 tip)
• Winning the silent auction for two tickets to Swan Lake: $140 (anything to avoid ticketmaster charges)
• Taking in Jonathan Soroff's presence for 5 minutes, for the second time in a week: cliche.

Next time we'll show up early. Jamie and I missed the dinner (which only would have set us back another $30), missed the Mayor, missed meeting any new people, and missed much of Kendrick Oliver's band playing-- they played one song in the third set. The crowd really thinned out after the dinner; I haver never seen Avalon so empty. And once again, I get that feeling of winning a fundraising contest in weak competition. It would have been nice to learn more about the organizations my money went to. I hope I have the courage to look a homeless person in the face now.