Wednesday, Jul. 02, 2003 | 9:00 AM

Strangely enough, yesterday turned out to be an uncommonly wonderful day.

After I left job 1 and was on my way to job 2, whilst walking down the sidewalk and not paying too much attention to anything, a young gentleman jumped right in front of me.

I love you!, he said.

And I stared at him blankly.

You sang a couple of weeks ago at the Charles Playhouse right?

I dumfoundedly admitted I had.

I saw you sing. You�re like something out of another era.

I chatted him up for a couple of minutes and then excused myself to go to work.

No fucking joke. This ACTUALLY happened.

This is the second time in the past year that something of this nature has happened to me. And I hate to admit it, but I thrive on this shit. I felt like a million dollars.

At Job #2, there is an elderly man whom I adore. He lived in New York in the fifties, and sixties, and was a gopher for Lerner and Lowe as well as working backstage and in clerical positions for numerous Broadway and off Broadway plays. He at one point dated Geraldine Page. He knew James Dean, and lived on the same street as Dylan Thomas. He knew Anatole Broyard. This is all verifiable information, too. He�s not just some crack pot. Last night I sat riveted as he told me numerous anecdotes about his days in New York. He�s currently working on his own musical, which is being directed by another person who works at 2nd job -- this mover and shaker in the Boston theatre scene who�s only like 22 years old and works at the ART. I love 2nd job, even though I still find the new boss terribly irritating. (seriously 2nd job is the coolest part time gig in Boston�everyone there is actually doing something interesting with their lives. Theatre/jazz geeks are to my 2nd job as indie rock hipster snobs are to Newbury Comics.

I felt so good after leaving work that I decided to walk home. I love walking over the Charles River at night while listening to my disc man. Yesterday it was Get Happy as performed by Ella Fitzgerald. And I was right in the middle of the bridge looking out at the Boston skyline when she sang,

We�re headin� cross the river
Wash your sins away in the tide
It�s all so peaceful on the other side

I stopped in my tracks and just laughed with sheer delight at how much like some perfectly scored movie my life was right at that second.

When I arrived home I checked my mail, and lo and behold, some wonderful human being with a heart of gold had sent me the checkbook I thought I�d lost. When I checked my voice mail. I had several wonderful messages from people I adore.

(You know who always leaves the most wonderful messages in the world? Messages I never delete because they are so full of heart and humor? Sean. Usually he sings to me. And he�s always walking home late at night. His messages are romantic in the best sense of the word�in that panoramic technicolor platonic sense of the word. I love him so much. The boy has come up for every show I�ve been involved with in the past couple months. And I haven�t had much chance to actually talk to him. I have to make a pilgrimage to New York again soon. Share another sudsy beer on Coney Island. God damn I love that kid.)

Unfortunately I was too sleepy to call anyone back.

Tomorrow Ivy is coming for dinner, and I feel Ok about things�better than OK. I�m really happy to have her as a part of my life, and however that shakes down it shakes down. I think that as I get older I�m learning how to deal with hurt in a constructive way�I�ve had enough practice and now there�s a part of me that can reason my way through it without letting it eat me alive.

On Friday I have a meeting/rehearsal/get together with Alamda. We�re going to practice and further plot our take over of the Boston cabaret scene. Seriously�our show went over so well and we made such a lot of money � more than twice the highest amount I�ve ever made in the past. That coupled with the random stranger/fan in the street�I really think we�re on to something.

I have a good life, you know? And I�m very very lucky because I�m consistently given opportunities to learn and grow. I try to take advantage of them as best I can. I try rto be a good person and sometimes I fail miserably, but all in all I�m doing OK.

Better than OK.