Sweet Bajeezums, Shut Your YAP! Listening: Summer days are gone too soon... Shoot the moon and miss completely.
*Sigh* Can I just say *sigh* one more time? I need to say it. This work week has been fierce. I've been fighting tooth an nail against Mumbles. I'm not entirely sure what to do, but I do know I will be polishing my resume in the next couple of weeks. I don't think that I will stay much longer if things continue the way they are. I find that he completely distrupts my mojo. I'm generally a laid back, fun loving guy. He taunts the evil beast that lives inside of me, the one that's loud and angry and violent. Don't look at me like that! You have a beast too. Everyone does. It's just that a lot of people try not to acknowledge it. They try to hide it.
On the old Life Update page, I had an entry that had a fake dialogue between Mumbles and I. It was really amusing. However one day, for some reason, it got erased. I would have really liked to post it again. He's such a fucknut. I don't understand why he has to be the way he is, always with a smirk on his face, pretending like he's better than everyone else.
I nearly lost it yesterday. Almost walked right out of the office. Again, he took my work from me. I know for sure he's threatened by me. All of the people in our group will come to me with questions before they approach him. Sometimes, even if I don't know the answer, they won't ask him. They think he will give them a long drawn out explanation that could have taken two seconds. They're right. He would. I'm held in higher esteem by management and I got to the position that he is in in less time. No doubt he has the technical know-how to be where he is, but his people skills suck and it is really what holds him back. I could see him being the prick that he is in a commission driven job, because he wouldn't have to be friends with his team members. Here, we have to work together as a well oiled machine in order to achieve goals and serve the client properly. He breaks down the machine that I feel I am consistently fixing.
Anyways, there was a happy point in my day. For once, I really had no plans last night, maybe I would go out for a drink with The Violent One, OMG and Bombadier, but nothing was really firm. Late in the morning I got a call seeing if I wanted to go get coffee. I was psyched. It was a bright spot in my work day that made me not think about how much I hated Mumbles or how much I despised selling out or being dead at work. It was a refreshing brief change of pace.
Do you ever feel like you talk too much? I kinda felt that way at coffee. It was like I couldn't shut up and the other person couldn't get a word in. This is bad, because I have a friend from college that was like that. I would try to say something and she would run right over it. I don't think I was running over the other person, per se, but I did feel like I was talking a lot more than I should in a typical conversation. Conversations are about giving and taking. I felt like I was taking all of the talk time. Maybe I felt that if I didn't talk the conversation would die. Maybe not. Maybe I was just really pumped. Maybe I just had a lot to say that day. Who knows?
But I did have a really nice evening of coffee... err... tea, cookies and conversation. There's nothing I like more than going out with someone, sharing some food and some drink and talking. I like hearing what people have to think about the world and what surrounds them. I like hearing about when people do things that I don't think I could or I would. People are really interesting once you sit down and really listen to them and try to see things through their eyes. Most people are anyways. Mumbles could be an exception. I think it really is about sharing one's self with another person. We're not talking about a scene from the movie "Alive," we're talking about different perspectives.
Anyways, I'm going to try to get over my work funk tonite at Avalon. Paul Van Dyk is playing and I intend to rock out all night long. I know there won't be, but I hope that there is enough room for me to dance. I just want space to hop-step and turn without clocking' someone. I want to be able to close my eyes without having to worry about someone bowling me over or bowling someone else over myself. I want to lose myself like I do at raves. I want the world to fade into the background and the music to swell up in my chest until my heart and lungs burst. I want to be free of my daily burdens.
Does Anything EVER Go As Planned? Listening: Ain't no love in the heart of the city... Ain't no love in the heart of town...
Okay, I don't want to make this entry seem sad and depressing, because I'm neither sad nor depressed. I may be a bit frustrated though. There may be a little anger thrown in there, but all over I think frustrated and disappointed are the top two that run at the top of my list. I'll explain the last day or so now. Keep in mind... All in all, I'm all smiles with just a few ticks of grumbles... I think.
So as I wrote in the last entry, I installed the NetMD software onto my work computer. Yay, right? Yay, sorta? Umm...eh? Yeah... There are a few bugs in it. Here are the biggies. First of all, most of the application is in English. The pull down menus describ everything in English... You know... "Play" (whereas if it were in Japanese, it would say "Pray"), "Equalizer" ("ekrileyesah"), "Levels" ("Revels"). However, there's a search function that searches for album information so it can take a disc and tell you what it is and what the tracks are. It's all in Japanese and I don't even have the Japanese language pack on my computer, let alone the skills to read 95% of the kanji that would come with it. Now, ordinarily, I wouldn't need this function, but because of bug number two, I would need it. Bug number two is that the automatic CD infor getter function isn't working. This is a very important function to me. I like shit like this. I get off on it. My Real One Player has it. Why can't OpenMG Jukebox? Because I got the ghetto Japanese version (yeah, now watch the Yakuza come and get me for saying that shit), these functions aren't working right.
On the upside, I found a device update for my Real One Player that allows me to transfer music to my MD, but it's slower than anything. Well, it takes less time than actually recording each track, but it's not the five hours of music in fifteen minutes that the NetMD software boasts. *Sigh* I just can't win... Somethings just don't work out like you think or hope they will.
Some crappy work stuff is going on. Today I was forced to do something I didn't want to do. This morning Mumbles comandiered all of my work and told me that the only thing I was to do today was to work on writing out the procedures for the off shore funds. I've been working on them for a long time and I feel that it is a job that requires a great deal of detail. But he took my freakin' work. First of all, he has no real authority to do that, but I let it slide early in the morning, because my new manager, who replaced Boo, we'll call him Scuba, told me to try to keep the conflict to a minimum. I was tired and I knew that if I was to mix it up, I would get loud and that would have been a bad move. Mumbles has a history of power tripping when the manager isn't around, with Boo and now with Scuba. He has a history of condescention. He calls people "Genius" in a very condescending manner. He has done this to me on a number of occasions and he back handedly called me "Super Hero" because I decided that I could handle another person's work in addition to my own when he called in sick. Stuff like that just isn't needed and it makes for an inhospitable work environment. I talked with Scuba about this. Scuba has his own problems with Mumbles that he has elevated to the next manager up and he suggested that I write an e-mail to both him and the next manager up. As much as I hated to do it, I did it today. It took me about forty five minutes to write including the editing and the read over. I hate being the complainer. I hate being the bitch. I hate it. I had to do it today. I had to do it. I hate it. I hate that I did it. I hate that I had to do it because there is another way. There has to be another way. I'm not a punk. For all of the times that Mumbles has punked me, I did not want to go out like this. I did not want to punk him like this. I hate this shit. But, the e-mail is sent and we'll see what happens tomorrow. I sent it after everyone had left work. Fuck this shit.
Finally, under the advice of a few girls, I called OC Girl tonight. I called her at about a quarter to seven. I figured it was enough time for her to have gotten home from work and eat dinner. However, I got voicemail. I was really hoping to talk to her. So instead of getting to go out for coffee with her tonite, I left her a message basically saying that I was hoping to catch her on the fly for coffee along with my phone number. I hope she calls me back. I think that it was the least sketchy phone message that I've left a girl that I was semi-interested in. It was very short and sweet, unlike the long and bumbling ones that I have left before. So have I broken the image for any of you. ZEN!!! is not the smoothie that he always appears to be. But so aren't we all not what we seem. Well, some of us are what we seem. I'm still a sick pervert, but everyone has their little pockets of antithesis.
Can You See The Real Me When You Close Your Eyes? Listening: New York, New York... Temperatures are dropping...
So I had an amusingly fun weekend. It all started out on Friday night. Well, actually Friday afternoon sucked. It just so happened that there were some issues going on with the system at work and shit was not going right. Luckily, I got out of there by four o'clock, home by four thirty, had time to chill for forty five minutes or so, and then left the house for the concert at a quarter to six. I got to the club at about half past six. I was hoping to get there a little later, because I really had no intention of seeing the openers, but I did. The Rolling Blackouts were the opening band and they were mediocre at best. They were a standard three piece band (bass, guitar and drums) that played pretty standard rock. Their drummer kind of looked like one of those kids that every high school has. You know the one who likes heavy metal, computers and drugs. That's neither a stoner or a nerd, but one of those kids who doesn't really apply himself, but is still reasonably intelligent and unreasonably anti-social. That kid. The guitarist seemed like one of those indie-er than thou/ more intelligent than thou guys who just carried the attitude that he was better than everyone else and dressed in old little league t-shirts, corduroy jackets and knit scarfs. Their bassist seemed pretty cool. He was one of those quiet kids with dyed hair. Normal. You know. But, in a nut shell, these guys were thoroughly forgettable.
When the Femmes came out, I was completely surprised. The last time I saw them was in 1995 when I was still in high school. It's amazing what seven or eight years will do to a band. Man they came out and they looked old as dirt. Needless to say, I was surprised. Maybe this is because I see myself in the mirror every day and don't think I look that different from when I was in high school. Hell, I'm still the same height. Maybe I've gained fifteen or so pounds over the last eight or so years, but other than that I look pretty much the same. The way they were set up, Victor DeLorenzo was in the middle and to the left was Gordon Gano (or Nodrog Onag, as he referred to himself during the show), the right was Brian Ritchie. The focus of the show really seemed to be Victor. He did a lot of fuckin' around on the drums which didn't always go with the song. Some things were too syncopated and some things were just weird. Weird is nothing new coming from the Violent Femmes, but I thought it a bit weird to have the one non-founding memeber of the group attempting to steal the show from the two guys I went to see. I guess it might have been okay, because it was Victor's birthday, but I honestly could have done without the tricks. There was a continuing commentary about how dumb it was that Peter Gabriel was doing a "Growing Up" Tour. All in all, they played each and every song that I wanted to hear (aside from "American Music"). They even played "Good Feeling," my all-time favorite Violent Femmes track, along with "I Held Her In My Arms." I didn't expect to hear them play that song. It was a pleasant surprise. I was right in the front row, pushed up against the guard rails. The place was far from packed. I'm sure that people could have still gotten in. Since no one really wanted to go with me, I didn't really have anything to do for the rest of the night. I ended up walking around the city for a while, not really doing anything or stopping anywhere. It was just kind of wandering mind and body time. I got home around one or so and went to sleep.
Saturday... Hmm... Can we say moisture? Rain. Rain. Lots of rain. Sometimes in little tiny drops. Sometimes in big fat drops. I'm losing faith in the concepts of umbrellas. It always seems that they want to turn inside out on me. I hate that shit. All I really use it for is to make sure that the remote to my MD player stays dry, make sure my man-purse stays dry, and make sure that no annoying droplets get onto my glasses making me see spots. Luckily I opted not to gel my hair in anticipation for the geling for the halloween party that night and I decided to wear the rockin bucket hat that PJ gave me for my b-day this past year. Needless to say, that though I had a bit of moisture hit the remote and my man-purse, my glasses stayed droplet free. Rock out, PJ, rock out!
Anyways, the reason that I was going out in the horrible weather was because I was searching for items to complete my kandy raver costume. At that point, I was still looking for 1) a pacifier, 2) temporary hair dye, 3) a kandy raver-ish shirt, 4) a cutesie backpack, 5) glowstix and 6) lollipops. So anyways, I headed up to Newbury Street because I knew I would be able to have the best possible chance of finding everything I wanted in a three block radius. I started off by going to Ozone. I thought for sure I'd be able to find a shirt. And there I found a shirt and a jar of silver hair cement. Since I had friends working there, I just decided to go for it and buy the shirt and the hair cement. However, when I went to Newbury Comics a few doors down, I noticed that it was three or four dollars cheaper over there. Somehow I knew it would be, but I decided to buy it at Ozone anyways. Dumb. Even dumber, I decided not to return it either. While in Newbury Comics, I found a cool pair of sunglasses, but I wasn't sure if I would find a better pair, so I shopped around. When I came back, they were gone. Dumb. I went to a regular costume shop and found nothing, went to Star Market. They had lots of chocolate, but no lollipops. How ridiculous is that? Following disappointment at Star Market, I went to CVS where I found Blow-Pops. I bought three bags. I also found a pacifier that had the same two colors as my shirt and pants. It was a score. Finally, I went to the Barracks to get my glowstix. "Two white ones, please." All in all, the only thing that I couldn't find was a cutesie backpack. It's okay. I just used my man-purse. It has backpack straps that you can pull straight out of thin air.
So I got to the party all glam-ed out. Silver hair as hard as nails, glitter everywhere, glowstix, a little stuffed bunny, lollipops and lots of electronica. he party was alright. It was full of people who already knew each other and the more I tried to make small talk, the dumber I felt. There were a few dragon boat people there. I hung with them mostly. The music there was god awful. Like I don't think you could really torture me much more than that. It was like plucking my hair out one by one, reattaching it with crazy glue and then ripping them out again with the scalp attached. I have a limited tolerance for upbeat Madonna songs and crappy pop. Call me a snob... 'cause that's what I am. Paddleback told me to hijack the music a number of times, but it didn't really work all that well. Man, why do people have to suck so much? I'm sure that's what little sorority girls controlling the music were thinking as well. So instead of rockin' out to quality music, I drank. I drank a lot. I drank to excess. While doing so, I handed out lollipops, gave hugs, asked people if they wanted to hug my bunny, waved glowstix around and smeared glitter on people. I was thoroughly tanked by the time Hardcore got there in his suit. I tried glittering him, but it was deflected. Must be his supreme martial arts training. He didn't want a lollipop either. His reaction was amusing though. By the time I left, I was feeling thoroughly ill. And I was "ill." I got home around two or so. I don't remember the exact time. I just remember stripping off all of my kandy, changing, brushing my teeth, throwing everything off my bed and crashing feeling mildly better since I yaked.
The next morning, my phone rings. I look at the clock. It says, "10:34." It's not half past ten. It's half past nine. Mother fucker. Who is it? It's Hulk. Apparently, Mr. EBay asked him to call me to tell me to get my ass out of bed and to the last dragon boat practice of the season. I told Hulk I would think it over for the next fifteen minutes (meaning I was going back to sleep) and that if I decided to get up then, I would go, but if not then it was sleepytime for the ZEN!!! Master. Ten minutes later, Mr. EBay called me and said, "I'm on Hampshire. Hulk's with me and we got two girls in the back that we can sandwich you between." My reflex response was, "Who?" and he told me. I was like, "Ooh... I know one of them, and she's cute." But then I thought better and decided I wanted to go back to sleep. But before I could tell them no, Mr. EBay said, "I'll be there in two minutes. You'd better be ready or we'll be coming' in to get you." My immediate thought was, "Fuuuuuuuuuuccccckkkkkkk!" But I got out of bed and dressed, drank a glass of water, brushed my teeth and got my shit together for practice. By the time they got there, I was ready... ish. I still had silver hard as nails hair and glitter.... EVERYWHERE.
Just for phun, I brought my leftover lollipops to practice with me. I gave everyone in the car a lollipop and told them that they had to ask Hardcore if he wanted a hug. It was great. Right when we got there, Hardcore greeted us. Hulk went over, sucking on his lollipop and said, "Hardcore, do you want a hug?" then proceeded to hug him. Everyone else followed in suit, even the girl who had never met Hardcore or had come out paddling with our team. It was hilarious. It became a running joke during practice. Since he was running practice from the drummer's seat, we would keep asking him is he wanted a hug or a lollipop or some glitter. It was fun. It was good for an hour and a half of laughs. Everyone got in on it.
That practice we had two people paddling who had never done it before. They had all found out about the activity from Craig's List and decided that they wanted to come and participate in our last practice of the season. One of the two was a girl I'll call Outrigger Canoe Girl or OC Girl for short. I didn't really pay much attention to her much before or during practice, but I started chatting with her and she came out to dim sum with us after practice. Okay... So I thought she was cute... Well, that implies past tense. I think she's cute. Turns out that she just moved to Boston in September from the left coast and is working at the Arboretum in Jamaica Plain. I looked at her and thought to myself, "Hmm.. She looks like she's half Japanese." It turns out that she is fully Japanese, or rather, her parents are both from Tokyo and she was born and raised in L.A. It also turned out that we were in Japan at the same time this past March/April. It was kinda cool. I decided I wanted to know more about her, so I tried to chat her up a bit. It worked really well when I had something to comment about, but that usually revolved either around Japan or around dragon boating/outrigger canoeing. Since this was the last practice of the season, I decided that I needed to get this chick's number and find a way to get together with her to see if she was really cool and all. So I said that we should get together for coffee to compare pictures and such. So I now have her number. I have to figure out what to do about it now.
I came to a conclusion a while ago that I put up a good front, but I'm not really good with women. I'm good as friends, but I'm clueless when it comes to getting dates. I have this overt fear of being sketchy when I'm around a girl that I find attractive. It's like I can't carry a conversation the way I normally do. I'm not the sick bastard that all my friends know and love and hope that some chica will fall in love with. When I have nothing I feel is important to say, I don't say anything. I can't seem to find anything of consequence to small talk about. It sucks. It's like the chances of an awkward silence is multiplied by ten when I think a girl is pretty or really cool in a "I could spoon with you" kinda way. It all goes out the window.
So I have OC Girl's phone number. It could be bogus. I've been given bogus phone numbers before. How long to I wait to call her? Do I really ask her to go out for coffee and bring pictures? Do I ask her to dinner? Do I ask her out in a casual way? Do I flat out ask her if she wants to go out on a date? Since she didn't mention a significant other, should I assume she doesn't have one? See, I'm incompetent. I'm a short guy with iffy skin, a sick sense of humor and great hair. Is this what she could be looking for? She doesn't know who Paul Van Dyk is. Or Sasha, I don't think. Could this be doomed? Is it worth a shot? I'd like to give it a shot. How do I take this shot? How do I not come off like a bumbling idiot? I need advice! *Sigh* Okay... Enough of that. Advice is being looked for. Feel free to write it in the comments.
In other news, I was talking to The Violent One and I finally told her that I always felt weird about when I meet girls that I'm into and I tell her about it, because it always seems that she meets these girls and hits it off better with them than I do. I feel like every girl I meet and I like, she has to like too. I don't agree with that feeling, but it's how I feel sometimes. I have to say that I don't like that feeling and I try to ignore it as much as possible. But somehow I think that this feeling would detour me from introducing girls I dig to The Violent One. She met Raver Girl. They hit it off. She met Rebound Girl. They hit it off. She's been buggin' me to meet Dulcimer and Paddleback when I had things for them. Well, I guess I still dig Dulcimer, even though it has been a long while since I have seen her. It's just weird. And I verbalized it to her over the phone last night. That was weird in and of itself. I'm wondering if verbalizing this will affect anything in anyway. I just don't know.
Oh well... It's time to go. I need to put my NetMD software onto my work computer and then go home. Tea with Boochie tonite. All will be good.
How Many More Nights Out? Listening: Good feeling... won't you stay with me just a little longer...
This is from another online test I took. Does this seem accurate to you? I'll fill you in more on the rest of my week some other time.
Your Temperament is: Idealist (NF)
All Idealists (NFs) share the following core characteristics:
Idealists are enthusiastic, they trust their intuition, yearn for romance, seek their true self, prize meaningful relationships, and dream of attaining wisdom. Idealists pride themselves on being loving, kindhearted, and authentic. Idealists tend to be giving, trusting, spiritual, and they are focused on personal journeys and human potentials. Idealists make intense mates, nurturing parents, and inspirational leaders.
Idealists, as a temperament, are passionately concerned with personal growth and development. Idealists strive to discover who they are and how they can become their best possible self--always this quest for self-knowledge and self-improvement drives their imagination. And they want to help others make the journey. Idealists are naturally drawn to working with people, and whether in education or counseling, in social services or personnel work, in journalism or the ministry, they are gifted at helping others find their way in life, often inspiring them to grow as individuals and to fulfill their potentials.
Idealists are rare, making up no more than 8 to 10 percent of the population. But their ability to inspire people with their enthusiasm and their idealism has given them influence far beyond their numbers.
When's It Gonna Be Summer? Listening: But now I'm dry of thoughts, wait for the rain...
This weekend was kind of interesting. It started out on Friday when I went to see The Ring with The Violent One, OMG and Bombadier. The movie was freaky as shit. I have to say that between the shocking moments and turning my head to see OMG clawing into Bombadier and The Violent One, it was thoroughly enjoyable. I think I would see it again. I even think that if I saw it again, I would still get the same chills that I got the first time I saw it. There were definitely some chilling moments. The funny thing was that there was no blood or gore. It was rated PG-13. I don't know how they could let it be PG-13 in good faith. It was a scary freakin' movie. I'd advise anyone over sixteen to go and see this movie. If you're not of sound mind, don't see this movie. It really fucks with your head.
The next day I took my mother to the airport and then came home only to leave an hour later for the end of the year dragon boat party. It was fun and all, but it wasn't all that exciting. I dunno. I don't think I talked very much all night. It was weird. There's not much more to say about Saturday night.
Sunday, woke up early, like an idiot, to go to dragon boat practice. It's beginning to get a little too cold to be out there on the water. We need to be pulling the boat out soon. Since it was so cold and we were limited by the Head of the Charles Race, we decided to cut our four hour practice to about an hour and a half or so. It was so cold and windy that there was almost more resistance through the air on the recovery than through the water. I think I may have caught a slight cold from being out there.
Later that night The Violent One had her birthday dinner at Elephant Walk. Now, I had never been there before, but I had heard a lot about it. I don't know if I suggested it or if she came up with it by herself, but I remember mentioning it when she was trying to pick out a restaurant. The food there was excellent. I had a rack of lamb over some pasta with mushrooms and some mixed greens. That was great and all, but the real killer was the dessert. I got this awesome lemon souffle. It rocked. Unfortunately I couldn't finish it all by meslf because I was full from the dinner. There were a good number of people there. I would say around eleven or so. But I must say that I felt a little isolated at the end of the table. *Shrug* I guess I'll learn better next time.
Monday was laundry and haircut day. Exciting, huh? After doing both of those, on a whim, I decided to go out dancing. It was fun and all, but I still don't have the love for it that I used to. I'm wondering if there's really anything that could get me excited about it again. I wonder if it's time is just done and it will just be something that I do occasionally when I don't have anything better to do.
Yesterday, however was a wonderful day for several reasons. First of all, I would like to report a death. Mickey was found yesterday with his neck snapped in the jaws of a mousetrap while attempting a nibble of peanut butter. Yes, Mickey is dead. Hopefully there isn't a Minnie or any other vermin running around my house. Hopefully, Mickey was waiting for "that someone special" before he got down and did the nasty. Hopefully, I won't have to deal with the "skritch, skritch, skritch" of mouse claws in my room anymore. I would say "Rat Bastards," but I guess I'll say , "Mouse Bastards."
Booch and I also went to see Badly Drawn Boy at Avalon last night. I have to say that there was a completely different crowd than I expected. A lot of the people were pretty freakin' crunchy lookin'. They looked like they had just stepped out of Foss Hall after putting away their African drum in their fish-bowled dorm room. The show was also very different from what I thought it would be. It was less downtempo/chill and more like a rock show. I'm not complaining. I thought it was a very good show. Badly Drawn Boy didn't look anything like I thought he would look. He was in his mid thirties, had long hair and a knit hat. His beard made him look a little hippy-ish. It was just really different from what I expected. He didn't look like he would have the voice that he has either. Maybe it's all falsetto. He smokes enough to have killed his primary voice and has had to move on to the falsetto. There was this couple in front of Booch and I that danced like those dashboard hula girls. It was really amusing. Actually, I think my brother dances like that as well. I thought that the concert was going to be an hour or an hour and a half at most, but he went strong through eleven o'clock. It was kinda sick. He played some of my favorite tracks. I was psyched.
Tonite, I'm going to see Blondie's spouse perform with Kevin So a few blocks away from me. I'm hoping it's a good show. Tomorrow, I'm going to see Sasha at Avalon. I'm still trying to drum up support to go see the Violent Femmes on Friday at Avalon. I may just end up going by myself. Saturday is Paddleback's Halloween Party and then I'm not sure what I'm doing on Sunday. I think I'm gonna be the complete kandy raver boy for halloween. gonna hug people and flash around some bright lights. Should be fun. Glitter all about. Oh well... It's time to go. Gonna take a nap now before dinner and before the concert.
Batteries Recharged, All I Need Now Is Sleep Listening: Don't go changin' to try to please her...
Nearly a week now and Mickey has seemed to have avoided the Magic Kingdom otherwise known as Mr. Trappy-Trap. Oh, how I long to hear the snap of trap. Actually, Mickey hasn't been annoying as of late. I don't hear him running around. He hasn't touched my food in days. I wonder if he has been suffocated by the crap that my grandparents keep in their house. I think all signs point to yes.
So, last night I recharged my batteries. I went out to see Tiesto play at Avalon with a couple of people. It was nice. I was a little low on my recommended bi-monthly allowance of loud live electronica. Tiesto is a dynamic DJ and he pulled out all of the stops. Aside from one poor beatmix, some ill-timed EQing, and a knock of the needle at the end of the second to last track. He played a rockin' last track, but he cut it short. It was unfortunate. However I did get to dance my ass off. There wasn't much room to dance with the Azn guys to my right who couldn't dance their way out of a paper bag, the sketchy guy and girl who bumped and grinded on the floor to my left elbowing me in the head as they hooked up and the meat heads walking past me fuckin' with my groove. I'm getting old, I've decided too. My knees again began to ache at around one in the morning. That didn't happen to me a year or two ago. My friend, Blondie, from dragon boating, who is from Germany was rockin' out with his bad self. I really dug his enthusiastic dancing. It was reminiscent of some of the ravers that I met at different parties. He is definitely a party kid (as opposed to a kandy kid). It was amazing how much energy I sucked from the crowd though. Though, I wished I had been wearing my big old raver baggies.
There was this one girl that I saw there that was just the sexiest thing I've ever seen. I think it was they way she was dancing. I was really feelin' how she was interpreting the music. She was wearing this cobalt blue camisol that had little sparkelies and plain black pants. She wasn't half naked. She wasn't skanky. She was a petite Azn girlie (go figure) with short hair. She didn't have a cutesey face, like some petite Azn girls have. Shedidn't have a hard face either. It was very expressive. I enjoyed watching her for a half an hour or so. She was up on a platform dancing with a crowd of other people. I quietly watched from the floor. I need to find a way to meet some of these girls that I see.
On Wednesday, I had a rather long dinner with Booch. This isn't long in the bad sense of the word. This is long in the good sense of the word. We went to Fugakyu for dinner, well, she went for dinner. I went for a snack. I think I had her laughing like 75% of the time. It's fun getting laughs out of people. I don't know what I would do if I couldn't make someone laugh or shock the pants off of them. I think it's one of the main staples of who I am. Booch proves to be a great person to amuse and to just bounce ideas off of. Two cheers for Boochie! Yah... This Blog is brought to you by Booch too... She pestered me into updating. Heh.
I still have to figure out what I'm gonna do tonite. It's a strange thing when for six months you really haven't had to think that hard about what you're going to do at night because you've always had twenty options, and then all of a sudden you have negative three options. It's definitely strange. I might go and see The Ring tonite. Who knows?
My mother is leaving town tomorrow too. WHEW! Finally! She's been here for nearly a month. It is time for her to go. She is going back to Atlanta for a couple of days and then she's heading to Disney World and then the Disney Cruise. Spoiled, spoiled, spoiled... I'm not much better though.
In other news, I could be moving out of my house in January. I can't really say why, but I just may be moving out. I'll prolly know for sure by the first weekend of November if I'll be moving or not. If I will be moving out, I'll prolly start renting wherever I go in mid December. I have to start making some contingency plans. Live by myself? Get roomies? If I get roomies, who will they be? Random or people I know? Where will I live? What town? How will it affect my commute? Will I have enough room for all of my crap? *Sigh* Who knows what will happen?
So that's what's been on my mind as of late. I wish I had more time to Blog, but I don't. Well, I do, but it just doesn't feel right. Solitare, reading other people's blogs and checking e-mail, that feels right. Aiight?
Mickey Has Invaded... Listening: And all I ever knew... Only you...
Yes, the living manifestation of a corporate symbol has invaded my house. A mouse. A live mouse has decided to invade my house and bother me. I think it actually lives in my room but leaves my room to feed. I've been hearing it and I've seen it zoom several places. It's really began to annoy me. Last night I could hear it in my room running around, scratching at the cardboard boxes of worthless junk that my grandparents keep around. I could hear them running around for hours. At first, I was like, "Oh, a mouse. Live and let live. As long as it doesn't touch my food again, we're cool." It's disturbing my freakin' sleep now. It's personal. We're gonna throw down now.
I was actually talking to a person from dragon boat who has dealt with mice before up in new Hampshire where he lives. He told me to get regular old mouse traps, put peanut butter on the trigger instead of cheese, and also to have fresh mint plants around because "mice hate the smell of mint." Now, yesterday, my mother, who is in town, bought a bunch of traps, about ten, and put four out smeared with peanut butter. I was waiting for it to work. Last night I heard them running around behind the boxes in my room. I was waiting to hear a snap, but all I heard was the skriter of little claws running about.
After I woke up, I figured it out. I had the door to my room closed, so that even if the mice did want to get to the traps, they couldn't. The seal between the door and the doorjam is too tight. I'll have to leave the door ajar tonite. Maybe we'll get one fo the fuckers. I really want them to go away. Bah!
In other news, I've discovered a show called Trading Spaces on TLC. It's the coolest thing. Two couples who are friends agree to turn one room in their house over to the other couple and an interior decorator to make over. There are some of the most interesting designs put forth. Some people are really psyched and enthused about their new room, but some people are shocked and appalled by the hideous sight of their new abode. I have to say, the designer named Hildi is really a psycho flake who has some of the worst ideas that I have ever seen. There's a guy named Verne Yip who came up with a really cool design that incorporated glass icicles. Another guy turned a master bedroom into a train pullcar. It was amazing. He curved the ceilings and put in false windows that lit up. Honestly, it was fantastic. They do all of these makeovers in under one thousand dollars. It's amazing what they can do on that type of cash. One guy makes a thousand dollars look like ten thousand dollars. I would strongly recommend people watch this show. I think it could give people a lot of good ideas on what they can do to spice up their home with a fairly small budget.
So that's my story for today. I hope when I get home I see the traps full and the mice dead. I hope I can't hear the skritter of the little claws. I hope I can take a nap.
Let's Get Busy... Been Doin' It For The Past Five Months Listening: I'm a man. Yes, I am and I can't help but love you so...
Okay, I spent all day in today and I nearly went crazy. The weather sucked, so I couldn't just go walk around and hit some of the usual shops on Newbury that I usually do. I don't think there was anything to do inside, so I spent the day channel surfing and programming the tracklisting into an MD that I just burned (and for your information, ALL of the music from The Very Best of Chicago: Only The Beginning, Simon & Garfunkel Live in New York City, 1967, and Elvis: 30 #1 Hits all fit onto a single seventy four minute minidisc, but the track listing does not). I took the air conditioner out of the window. So that was the extent of my exciting life. I woke up nice and rested at around twelve thirty, showered and did nothing of any consequence. Around four or so it began to bug me.
The thing is that I've been complaining for the past four or five months that I need time to rest and relax. This wasn't it either. This was freakin' crazy nothingness. This was absence of life. I want life, but I don't want it to wear me down like it has for the last couple of years. It's always something with me. Always. If it's not this, it's that. If it's not here, it's there. It's like I'm always waiting for something right to come along and smack me in the face. It's like I'm always actively searching for it, even though I know I just have to be patient and wait for it. It's tiring, but when I stop, it's all I think about.
So I couldn't stand being bored anymore. It was either leave the house or go to sleep. I didn't wanna go to sleep, so I left the house. I'm at the MIT library clicking away on a crappy Dell keyboard writing pathetic messages that other people will find emotionally stimulating. Well, people will at least find them. They may not think they're emotionally riveting, but they'll find them. So I'm trying to figure out what to do. No one to really call to go out, or at least no one I can think of. I went through my cell phone and I couldn't find a single person that I would want to hang out with that's not out of state. I kinda feel like shooting pool, but that can get expensive when you're by yourself. Sucks, no? It's a quarter to nine and I have nothing to do. Maybe I'll head over to the Diesel to shoot pool. It's probably cheaper than going to Boston Billiards or Jillian's, but there'll be too many annoying students. Man. What to do...
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Club... Listening: I'm sorry... Wrong number.
So yesterday I'm going to see Dave Seaman at Avalon with Carpenter and a friend from dragon boat. We get in line, and who do I see? Stacia. Yup, that girlie from the Bachelor's party. You know the one who sent me down in discrete flames. That one. And her friend too. I'm just standing in line and I see her. In an instant thoughts like, Ain't dis a coincidence! and Maybe this is more than coincidence and Damn! Girl is ca-yoot all pop into my head. Shortly after these thoughts start bouncing around, her friend notices me and smiles at me. She then turns to Stacia and says, "Hey, Stacia, It's that guy from Boston Billiards!" Her response is, "No, it isn't... Yes, it is!" From there we exchange pleasantries for about two minutes across a group of her girl friends. All the while, I'm thinking, This is weird. This is weird. This is weird. If I asked her out again, would she change her mind. If I asked her out again, would I look like a complete idiot. I wonder if she's thinking that this is weird that we're randomly seeing each other again? After the brief exchange, she turns back to her friends and I turn back to mine. It was just a generally weird thing. To tell you the truth, I didn't need the reminder that I had been shot down. Unfortunate. Maybe if I see her again randomly, I'll just say, "It's obvious that we just keep getting thrown together at random times, so why don't we just go with it and grab a cup of coffee." Weird. Weird. Weird.
Just A Quick Blog Listening: C'mon, c'mon (c'mon, c'mon)... Oh.... A little less conversation
Okay, I need to have more time to blog. I know, Hotmail has been down so I really don't have any excuse. I should be writing blogs instead of doing other stuff, but the truth is, I have been busy at work. *GASP* OH MY GOD! You can now pick your jaws and the elderly people who have fainted up off the floor. I've been working on procedures, smoothing over tensions, and just general crap. However, today I had time to fix up two of my friends for some job networking. I find this an amazing phenomenon. I know people who could help other people, but I don't know anyone who can help me get to where I want to be. It's depressing. I wonder if there's someone out there like me who has lots of friends, who wants to get into the science or business fields, but has a bunch of friends in advertising and publishing. Who is that person, and why don't I know him or her? I need to join the Ad Club of Boston. I do.
So I'm trying to figure out what to do tonite. I have these free admission passes to Avalon tonite. A guy from Dragon Boat e-mailed me and asked me if I was going, and I wasn't sure. I'm still not sure, but I'm gonna plan on it. I'll see what happens. Anyways... I should be getting out of here pretty quick. I've got stuff I need to do. I have to take a nap. I have to... just get the hell out of my cube. Quittin time, quittin time.
It's Amazing How Much You Can Get Out of a Web Survey Listening: Everyday... Everyday I get the blues...
So I checked out this web survey that I found via someone else's random blog. Check it out. It's likea love test that bases it's analysis on how you would respond to questions about you and animals. This is what it had to say about me:
1. You are attracted to those who are unbridled, untrammeled, and free.
2. In the process of courtship, the approach that would make you feel irresistable is creative, never let you feel bored.
3. The impression you would like to give to your lover is loyal, faithful, never change.
4. You don't like it when your partner is insecure.
5. The kind of relationship you would like to build with your partner is that both of you can talk about everything and anything, no secret is kept.
6. You care about the society and morality, you won't do anything wrong after marriage.
7. You are afraid of marriage, you think it would take away your freedom.
8. At this moment, you think of love as a committment for both parties.
*YAWN* Listening: Try to keep the frequency in side of me...
I'm tired. What else is new, huh? I've ahd kind of a rough week at work this week. I was coming off of a fantastic week of play (not getting play, just play) and I should expect to be beaten to a bloody pulp at work, but this was just a difficult week. As I wrote before, I have been living without Hotmail at work and it's getting to me. I have three messages in my inbox (I can tell from looking at my MSN messenger), one of which is from my best friend from high school, and I can't read it until I go to a computer cluster. I'll prolly stop by MIT on my way home. In addition to that, Mumbles has been on a bit of a rampage this week. He thinks he's the shit and he knows EVERYTHING there is to know about this job. He also thinks that we owe him for teaching us different things. He thinks that I wouldn't have been promoted without his training. I think that he did teach me a couple of things, but I also think that I made this on my own, by being quick on the uptake and a good critical thinker. I was able to identify issues and push through to a resolution. He tried to be all high and mighty on Monday morning and there was a small verbal altercation between myself, him and another co-worker who sided with me. Mumbles just needs to know how to work with people. He's socially inept. I don't understand how someone can be that socially inept. I thought only MIT students were that socially inept. Just kidding, well, not really. He tried to start another one up a couple of days later and I had to diffuse it before it turned into another public arguement. I was told to diffuse it by my manager. The first time it happened, he told me that it was my responisbility to try to calm the situation down and inform him. So I did. It sucked. I felt like I was responsible for the actions of others. Bah, it sucked. Anyways, I've got to go pay my Sprint bill. Then I have a BBQ tonite, practice, possibly another BBQ or dinner & clubbing tomorrow and practice and Chocoholic's b-day dinner on Sunday. I could have sworn that my life was supposed to calm down after the wedding. I guess not.
More Viruses Than A $0.10 Ho Listening: I think we're alone now... Ther doesn't seem to be anyone around
This BugBear virus sucks. For the past few days, my access to my hotmail account has been spotty at best. The company has turned off access to hotmail due to this damn virus and I just wanna read my frikkin mail. Is that so wrong? I don't think so. Is it so wrong to want to communicate with your friends? Why must people be so uncool? Why? *sigh* I guess I'll just write more blogs during the day.
Mawwidge... Mawwidge Iz Waht Bwwingz Oss Togevah Today! Listening: Would it not be madness to fight? We come 1...
The last two weeks have been a bit of a blur. They sped by without so much as a moment of relaxation. I guess I should start back a week and a half ago, the races. The races in Hartford were by far the best ones of the year. We had two full boats with me as the lone overlapper. Now with all of the drama that was playing out with the rosters between myself and Hulk, I was determined to tool the "A" boat also known as the Furies. Being on both the Furies and the Sirens (th "B" boat) and being a bit bitter about the way that rosters were done, I really just wanted to run the Furies down. So I felt all inspirational and told the Sirens that our job was to have a time trial good enough to put us in the same division as the Furies. We did it too. We went out there and got into the platinum division (comprised of the top eight teams) with the eighth best time overall. The Furies had the sixth best time overall. It was a pretty good first race. Due to our placement in the brackets, the Furies and Sirens were slated to race against each other, so Hulk and Hardcore had to decide what to do about me. Should I stroke or should I drum? I left it up to them. This is actually exactly what I wanted to happen. Hulk was so confident about his team out paddling the Sirens that he thought we would be in two different divisions allowing me to pull double duty. Hardcore originally had the idea that he wanted no overlapping. He backed down on that idea and I felt that it was my duty to have everyone pay the price if he bent his ideals. This is how it manifested itself. So, when we met each other in the semi-final of the platinum division, I ended up stroking for the Sirens telling them that all I wanted to do was to beat the Furies. We didn't end up doing that. The two boats took second and third in the semi-final with times not fast enough to give either boat a berth into the finals. So we again raced each other in the platinum division consolation finals. When all was said and done, we finished right back where we started, as the sixth and eighth best teams overall. We were beaten by a number of great teams including Women In Canoe, Philly Women's Team, Extreme NY and the Wall Street Dragons. It was a great showing and a great way to finish off the year.
The social side of the races were just as good, despite the fact that Princess B decided to show her face. We had nice loud music, people dancing, and a generally good vibe around the tent. We had pretty girlies and barbecued food. Some of the highlights were watching a cutie on my team try to teach a beefcakey guy who isn't very flexible how to salsa. Girl's hips could move. Made me happy. Booch and I did some lindy hop to Moby in the marshalling area. That was interesting. Here's a hint... Lindy hopping in Tevas is NOT easy. I had a lot of fun chatting with a number of my team mates. After the races, we all went to a pizza place for dinner and were generally a rowdy bunch. It took us forever to get to this pizza place too. Booch got some bum directions from the guy who was organizing the whole ordeal and we ended up driving around for at least a half hour trying to find this place. But when we got there, we had a great time.
That night we all got home at around eight o'clock or so. The night was young, but no one was really up for anything active. Booch was thinking about renting a movie. I was considering going out to a coffeehouse or something. When she mentioned movie, I thought of the one DVD that I own, Groove, and decided that it would be great to watch it. Unfortunately, I don't have a DVD player. So, Booch decided she was interested in seeing the movie and said I could watch it at her place on her computer. Isn't technology AMAZING? I think so. So instead of really going out, we watched Groove. Man, I love that movie. Booch almost passed out from exhaustion after the movie. It was her first race. She's allowed to pass out.
The next day I was stupid. Yep, stupid. I went to practice that morning. Yep. That's right. I went to practice. There were only five of us out there. Four people paddling and one person steering. Granted, it was a beautiful day out on the water. It was sunny and warm. But half way through practice, I was done. My arms and back were killing me. But since I was one of the more experienced people on the boat, I had to stick it out. It sucked. After practice, I hauled two weeks worth of laundy to the laundrymat and sat there for a few hours, got my hair cut, and chilled. I stayed in the entire rest of the night. I don't think I could have gone anywhere if I had wanted to.
Monday night, Japanaphile and his girlfriend, Chibi, arrived into town so The Violent One and I trekked down to Quincy where Glare and Totoro live to hang out with them. Japanaphile and Chibi were staying there for a couple of nights before moving to The Violent One's place. We hung out, had some pastries, and looked at pictures.
Tuesday after work, I went to dragon boat practice and then met up with Japanaphile, Chibi, Ye-ah, The Violent One, and Chocoholic for dinner at the Otherside Cosmic Cafe. I kinda knew Japanaphile would dig it. He's into the crunchy foods and doesn't eat much red meat. The same went for Chibi and Ye-ah. We had the worst luck though. Three of us ordered the Paulander Heifeweizen and they only had enough for two. Four of us ordered the corn chowder and they only had enough for three and a half. It was rough. The good news was that we had this great alterna-chick waitress. I had seen her there a number of times. She has the phases of the moon tattooed behind her ears. She also has another tattoo on her arm, but I've never been able to make it out. Now, truth be told, I think this alterna-chick is hot. I don't quite know what it is about her. I mean, she's not conventionally pretty. She doesn't look "normal" per se. I know she has the most beautiful eyes though. They are a really light blue and they contrast her jet back hair really well. Anyways, I digress. From there we went and had ice cream at J.P. Licks and by that time, they were all tired so we all parted ways.
Wednesday through Friday I took off of work because Japanaphile, Chibi and Ye-ah were to be in town and I planned ahead. So Wednesday through Friday, I got to sleep in. I slept in until at least ten thirty each day. It was fantastic. I felt so refreshed waking up when I wanted to, not when I had to. I didn't even need to set an alarm. Anyways, I met up with Japanaphile, Chibi and Ye-ah around half past noon or so at Kendall Square. After bringing their luggage to The Violent One's lab (because they were staying with her for the rest of the week), we headed downtown to get some food and to do some shopping. I stopped at my office to drop off a CD to Falls On Pavement before heading to Chinatown for dim sum. From there we got some bubble drinks and walked Newbury Street from start to finish. We met one of Ye-ah's friends at the Virgin Megastore, did a little shopping and then ended up at the Otherside (again) for some mid afternoon refreshment. The funny part about going in there two days in a row was that the little alterna-chick waitress was there again. Unfortunately she didn't wait on us. But on the way out, I ended up talking to her a bit. I had had a cider to drink so I was a little red. She said I looked like I had gotten some color. I explained that it was the Azn Glow and that it takes me a sip to get red and a lot more to get drunk. She said she understood because she was half Japanese. I was really surprised to hear that. I told her that I liked the tattoos behind her ears. I think she was caught off guard by that seeing as her hair was down. I dunno. I think I should ask her out on a date the next time I see her.
After drinks we went shopping at a bunch of the *cough* naughty stores like Sweet & Nasty and Condom World. The objective was to find fun stuff to send to Glare and Totoro for their honeymoon. It was a lot of fun. Let's just say that we found enough stuff to keep them busy. After a while, Ye-ah's friend had to go, but she said she would meet us for dinner. We, in turn, continued to shop until we decided to meet The Violent One in Central Square on the way to Diva, a really good Indian restaurant, in Davis Square. There we met up with Ye-ah's friend and another one of his friends who had transferred from Colby to Oberlin after Sophomore year. We had been really good friends for most of Freshman year and most of Sophomore year. It was good seeing her. After a nice dinner, everyone seemed exhausted (except for me, go figure) so we went our separate ways. I think I just went home that night and watched the season premiers of Gilmore Girls and Smallville that I had taped. Really good episodes, I must say.
The next day, I, again, got together with Japanaphile and Chibi during the day. We spent the bulk of the day walking around Harvard Square searching for Omiagi (presents to people from trips... it's a Japanese thing). Most of the time was spent in the Harvard Coop toiling over pens or pencils. We did however get to see a "Mad Cow" that laughed and mooed as it jumped around. Both amusing and annoying at the same time. At the end of the afternoon, after Ye-ah had gotten his hair cut, we made another luggage transfer, because the night before he had stayed with the girl who had transfered from Colby to Oberlin. By that time, we had to kick it down to Totoro's place to pick up our tuxes and head to the bachelor's party. Because of the time we met up with Ye-ah, we were running late as hell. we quickly got our tuxes and headed back into town to meet up with the other guys.
Now, I'm not gonna divulge too much about the bachelor's party, simply because I have an audience on this journal. Nothing nasty happened, and to be honest with you, it was quite gentlemanly. There was drinking and eating and some other indulgences, but all in all, nothing happened that I would be ashamed of. Something interesting did happen. I met a girl named Stacia (Like Anastacia without the Ana) just from flirtnig around and stuff... You know, being a guy. Asked her if she wanted to have dinner with me sometime and I got shot down. Truth be told, I didn't press all that hard, because I don't think anyone right now is worth pressing, but I did ask her. It's a step for me. I didn't even feel all that sketchy. But she was a cutie. Maybe I'll see if I can scrounge up a pic of her to put on the blog. It's not like I'm gonna see her again. It's not like she knows where to find me. Hmm... But what happens if she does an ego search. *shrug* I don't gave a damn. She turned me down. Heh. Anyways, the bachelor's party went until about two in the morning and everyone went home drunk. Japanaphile woke up with a hangover the next day. The party was that good.
Stacia
The next day was the rehearsal and the rehearsal dinner. Okay, now, I don't care for churches or organized religion or anything of the sort, but this was a really nice church and the minister had a crazy good sense of humor. Good guy. That night, I plotted to make Glare's mom laugh during the ceremony. I thought about it all day. So basically, I practiced walking Glare's mom to the altar where she lit her family candle and then to her pew. There was also a sort of hundred meter dash once I sat her. Japanaphile and Ye-ah were the two that pulled the runner down the aisle. We all had our own parts. The dinner after the practice was a bit odd. I don't know why. There was definitely the adults table and the kids table. Go figure, the bride and groom were at the kids table. Okay, well, it was more like the twenty somethings at one table and everyone else at the other. It was aiight. It was pleasant. It took place at a restaurant in Plymouth right on the ocean. From there, Japanaphile, Chibi, Ye-ah, The Violent One and I went for a drink and then went home.
Saturday was the wedding day. There was a lot of rushing around. I was originally supposed to meat Japanaphile, Ye-ah and Chibi for lunch and then go down to Quincy to get dressed for the wedding by one o'clock. That didn't happen. The three of them got a late jump and I had some errands to run. I had to get my bottle of Acquavit (alcohol, don't ask...), buy film, send the naughty package for Glare and Totoro down to Disney and get lunch. It took a lot of time. I got down to Totoro's place and randomly met Japanaphile, Chibi and Ye-ah on the train. We just happened to get on the same train. Strange. I didn't even notice until it was time to get off. We got to Totoro's place around two o'clock and changed right away. From there, we drove to the church and hung out for a bit before anyone arrived.
Our job as groomsmen/ushers was to seat people in the appropriate side of the church. Bride's side on the left and the groom's on the right. Let me put it this way... Glare's family is very large. Totoro's is not. In fact it is downright tiny. After a while we realized that we would have to do some balancing, but it didn't really work. Glare's side looked like the floor section of a Billy Joel/Elton John concert and Totoro's looked like an off off off Broadway production of The Princess And The Pea where only the cast's parents and significant others were the only ones top show. It was that inbalanced. I was a little disappointed that a few of our friends were late and I didn't get to seat them. I would have like that.
Here's the bit of comedy that I pulled. Now, you have to understand that for the past six months or so, Glare's mom has been going hysterical. She's been out of her mind in the planning and she has been crying a lot. I knew she would lose it during the wedding. I just wanted to make fun of her. See I know her pretty well. I've been friends with her daughter since our Freshman year of college. She has known me as a guy with a sense of humor and a flair for mischief. She knew this. And yet she specifically requested for me to walk her down the aisle. How could she not expect at least a couple of shenannagans? So here's what I did. In Glare's mom's pew, I stashed a box of tissues with a note that read, "In case of flood, pull white tissue." But she didn't see that until after I seated her. Also, after she lit her family candle, she looked a little misty, so as she sat down, I asked her if she needed a handkerchief. She said yes, so I pulled one out of my sleeve. However, that one was tied too another one, which was tied to another one. She got a good laugh out of that. She almost burst into laughter as the soloist sang when she saw the note and the tissues. It was great!
The bridesmaids all looked great. It was Glare's sister (as the Maid of Honour), her cousin, OMG, and another girl who apparently went to kindergarden with me in Ms. Jacqueth's class. Those were the days... Anyways, they all looked great. OMG was already crying as she was walking down the aisle. She cried throughout most of the ceremony. It was kind of amusing, because she didn't even have a tissue. Finally, Glare walked down the aisle with her father. They both looked amazing. Up until that point, I couldn't put the images together. Glare had shown me a picture of her wedding dress, but I just couldn't see her wearing it. I couldn't comprehend the idea that two of my best friends from college, who were my age, were getting married. The idea was foreign to me. When I saw her, it all came together. White dress, veil, train, bouquet. It was all there. Her father, with a young face and silver hair, walked her down wearing a tux that he was against at the beginning. He looked fantastic. For an intellectual outdoorsman, he looked like an aristocrat.
Throughout the ceremony, I couldn't stop smiling. I don't know why. It was a happy event and all, but I couldn't have a nice serious look on my face. It was just an ear to ear grin. I caught the eyes of each of the bridesmaids except for the girl I went to kindergarden with. Each of them met me with a smile. The ceremony was short and sweet. Before I knew it, I was walking Glare's mother back up the aisle to the social hall of the church. From there, Bombadier and Chocoholic distributed butterflies to many of the guests and instead of throwing rice or releasing doves, they released butterflies. It was really original. Unfortunately about a third of the butterflies were still sleepy from their ice pack inflicted hibernation. But it was still nice.
After the butterflies, we thought we would be off to the reception, but instead, there was about an hour to an hour and a half of picture taking. The photographer had either a serious screw loose or had too much caffeine and needed to lay off. He was the most hyper guy in the world. By the time we were all about to leave for the reception, the sun was going down. The bride and groom were in a Bentley and the bridesmaids and groomsmen were in a ten passenger limo. We had the best time. There was a champaigne toast, and then I brought out the Acuavit. Unfortunately, only the groomsmen took part in drinking that. It took us around a half hour to get from Plymouth to Scituate. Nice conversation and some amusing viewing. We could see everythin that was going on in the Bentley, because it was right in front of us. We were amused for a bit.
Once we got to the reception, we were taken in the back door and upstairs to a sort of waiting room where we were served hors d'eurves, sat around for a bit and took more pictures. From there, we were all announced and were taken downstairs to see the bride and groom do the first dance. After the dance, we went to the head table where the first course was served and Glare's uncle did the blessing. Now I hadn't felt teary at all until he did the blessing. He mentioned some things about family members who had passed on and I know that with in two years, Glare lost her two grandfathers, so I got really teary there. Then Professor (Totoro's brother) made the best man's toast. It was really touching. He gave props to the groomsmen and to Glare and to his brother. I don't think I can really articulate how good his toast was. All I can really say is that I was touched by his words.
During dinner, I was seated between Glare's cousin and her sister. Now Glare's sister is so much fun to teast, because she is so bashful around Glare's pals. She's gotten better though. She now slings shit back at us. It's great. Throughout dinner, I teased her about how the waiter wanted to get with her, that he had given her "the smile." It was amusing. Glare's cousin is absolutely hysterical. The two of us were paired off as bridesmaid and groomsman. What a mistake that was... It was like having two kittens in a box together. Chaos. Lots of laughter. Lots of cracking of jokes. Truthfully, I could have been paired with any of the women, but she and I just had a really fun time.
For a while before the reception and during the first bit of the reception, Japanaphile, Ye-ah and I tried to figure out if we wanted to make a collective toast to the bride and groom. We decided to go for it and we each said a little something. It was nice. I think they got a kick out of it too.
Soon after the salad was the mother/son and father/daughter dance. Totoro's mother was crying up a storm and Glare's father was just quietly making fun of everyone to Glare (or so I was told). Then there was the wedding party dance and that's really where the party started. There was big band music, salsa, and pop. It was generally a good time. Somehow it got around that I was a really good dancer, so I was asked to dance a bit.
Now, I have to give some props here. There were two girls who looked amazing that whole day. Chocoholic and The Violent One. Chocholic had a really great dress/sari (dunno exactly what it was). It really complimented her skin tone and she just looked great. The Violent One, on the other hand, looked amazing. Girl cleans up well. I know she does, because when she comes out clubbing now and then she puts it on, but it's such a transformation that it shocks me each and every time that she does it. Props to her.
Anyways, the night ended at around eleven or so. The bride and groom sped off in a Chrysler Sebring convertable with the top down to the bed & breakfast that they were staying in that night. Half of us treked back down to Plymouth to pick up Ye-ah's van and then back to the city. I didn't get home until well after two in the morning. We had to stop by The Violent One's place to drop off some stuff to Japanaphile. It was a long and exhausting day, but it was also a great time. I think I was smiling most of the day.
The next afternoon, we trekked back down to Quincy for a brunch Totoro and Glare were holding before they went off on their honeymoon to Disney World on Monday morning. I was actually the first to arrive because I decided to forgo the drama of carpooling and took the T. When I got there, Totoro had gone out with a couple of other people to get some groceries and so Glare and I just talked. The rest of the afternoon, we lounged around and went to get pictures developed and ate... It was generally a slothful afternoon. OMG's bro from Japan left the party early because he had a date. I can't believe it. The guy is in town for a few weeks and gets a date. I'm in town for a couple of years and I have yet to get a legitimate date, but I digress.
After brunch, err... hanging out for the ENTIRE afternoon, OMG, Bombadier, Chocoholic, The Violent One, Japanaphile, Chibi, Ye-ah and I all headed back up north to Cambridge to have dinner at John Harvard's Brew House. I was tired so I didn't drink at all. I was stuffed from the food at the brunch, so I only ate a salad. It was a generally pathetic showing. From there,we went back to the T where I said my goodbyes to Japanaphile and Chibi who were going back to Japan the next morning and to Ye-ah who was going back to Maine the following day.
So that was my week of adventure. I came away from it completely exhausted. But it has been one of the best weekends this year, so I can't complain.
Japanaphile, Ye-ah, Glare, Totoro, Professor, ZEN!!! Japanaphile, Girl from Kindergarden, OMG, Professor, Glare, Totoro, Glare's Sister, Ye-ah, Glare's Cousin, ZEN!!!
