So, how does one come out of a festivity-filled weekend feeling more depressed than one started?
Friday: Went down to St. Mark's Alehouse to hang out with our friend Felicia, in from Chicago before school starts again. Drank some Bass. Listened to 18 songs picked by Sanjeevanee. Talked to Stacey about her future trip to Albuquerque. Felt very tired. Realized it was only 10 PM. Felt old. Then, Kate suggested going to Ace Bar to meet up with Tony. So, we did that and admired the vintage lunch boxes there. My friend Arthur pointed out the two lunch boxes that I had used as a kid and I vaguely remembered the designs. I remembered tracing my finger along the outline of all the characters on my Sesame Street lunchbox. Then, we managed to look downtrodden enough for Kate to proclaim that we could leave after she finished her next beer. When did I get so crotchety?
Saturday morning was splendid. The day began and we didn't know it because we were sleeping soundly. The sun was not out to wake us up and we were grateful. We left New York around 3 PM to be sure we made it down to the PA/DE border for a company outing. My boss organized an outing to a restaurant where they teach you how to make the food that you are eating. It was a fun and interesting evening. We got to see Justin and Trisanna perhaps for the last time before they leave for Singapore, although one can never be sure of these things. And of course it was great to see Goon, Jin Yeong, and all the others. Driving back was not so fun, but I had volunteered for the job. There was traffic at the George Washington Bridge. I love sitting in traffic at 2 AM. I kid you not. I am constantly amazed by the fact that THIS many people are awake and on the road at this time of night. There are small towns somewhere in the heart of America where this many people aren't even awake, never mind out and about. I imagine someone sitting in a dark living room with their television lighting up the room.
This one time it was something like 4 AM and I was driving Ben home from work and we took the FDR drive and traffic was completely stopped. We sat there for a few minutes and people were getting out of their cars. These hoodlums in the SUV next to us were blasting Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight," and singing along at the top of their lungs. It was one of those surreal moments. When traffic started moving again we realized that there had been some kind of accident involving a gunshot through a windshield.
Sunday morning was pretty relaxing. We were just sitting around waiting for the party to start. The party was a combination housewarming and birthday party. There was tons of food and lots of people I hadn't seen in a while. At some point during the party (I think it was after our birthday gift was opened), this depression overcame me and I didn't feel like doing anything but sitting in a comfortable chair and leaning back. I don't know where it came from, but it arrived and stuck until we were home and once again asleep.
On a side note, I finally bought some new music the other day. One of the CDs I bought was The White Stripes' White Blood Cells. I was prepared to not like it so much. In fact, I really didn't want to like it because I felt that I had missed the first rush of interest. Much to my chagrin, there are some good songs on this release. I especially like "Hotel Yorba" and "Fell in Love with a Girl."
And then there were boobs all over the place.
Posted at 10:26:55
