There's an energy washing chemically over me

This boyfriend thing is taking up a tons of time I could be devoting to blogging, so I want to apologize straight up for my neglect. I'm going to run a quick overview of things since I've been back from my road trip...

Saturday, July 5
I came home and Chris came and picked me up that night. We hung out for a while and then went out to Mirabar where I was hoping to run into my friends Billy and Jamie who were visiting from LA. I saw them, and we hung with them for a bit. Then Chris and I left early because I was really tired.

Sunday, July 6
Chris and I went down to Connecticut for a barbeque at my friend Doug's house. We left that early too, more because somebody who shall remain nameless was being a drunken asshole. Let's not discuss that, shall we?

Monday, July 7 - Friday, July 11
Typical week all around, but fun. Much time spent with boyfriend. Starting to sense a theme, are we? I worked Friday night at Dark Lady, it was really nerve-wracking being the first time I'd worked since the incident in the basement Pride. They were having a blackout underwear party which was lots of fun, except it was difficult to tell who was working and who was just naked -- especially since they had five of us on -- Adam, Jamal, Matt, myself, and new boy Tony.

Saturday, July 12
I took the night off of work because it was my dear friend Grace's birthday, and I D.Ded for her. It was good that I was not drinking, because technically alcohol is bad for me with the Crohn's and all and I really needed to step back from the celebrating my 21-ness to realize how much better I was feeling overall back when I was 20. Also celebrating with us that night was Naseer, another friend from high school; his boyfriend Paul; and yet another person from high school Brendan. (How many Brendan's can I possibly have in my life?)

Sunday, July 13
Grace's actual birthday, Chris and I joined her briefly for continued partying -- this time with Courtney, Kilian, and Tara Jane -- all of whom I fondly remember from high school but basically never see anymore. I know, bad friend. It was really nice to reconnect with all of them though. :)
(And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen, a picture of Chris and I! Much anticipated, I'm sure. :P)

Monday, July 14
Chris' vacation week began on Monday, so we went to NYC. I know, NYC on a Monday....it seems peculiar. He told me we were going to have dinner and drinks with his mother. I was nervous to say the least, not to mention a lot surprised at how soon I was meeting his mother (a fact that would soon make me a complete hypocrite.) We stayed at the cutest bed & breakfast, called the 414. It's fairly near Time Square. Very centrally located.
After we checked in, we went to lunch at a cute little restaurant, where cute, enthusiastic people provided excellent service. It's too bad the food *sucked* because I really wanted to like the place. Anyways...while we ate, I proceeded to pick apart Chris about this dinner-with-mother thing, more than I already had that is. Turned out I wasn't meeting his mother -- he'd pulled strings and, in just two days, gotten tickets to see Spring Awakening!!!!!! Even though Jonathan Groff is no longer in the cast, it was just as amazing as I remembered it.

Tuesday, July 15
We came back from NYC and made it back JUST in time for my physical therapy appointment. They started me on heavy-duty strengthening excercises that left my arm exhausted and left me not feeling up to very much, so Chris and I headed back to my parents' house, where I am currently residing on the misguided theory that on a Tuesday afternoon nobody would home -- as this is often true.
Instead, everyone was frikkin' home. My brother, who doesn't even live here anymore, was there. Chris spent the rest of the day with me....and my family. Even when Dad took my brother, me, and Chris out for clam cakes. See how I'm a hypocrite? Cause I sure do. And so does Chris, as he will not let me live that down...

Wednesday, July 16
Chris and I hung out more, it being his week off. That night we brought my brother up to the train station, and then brought Topher to work, and then went out for fun at Mirabar. I met a couple of his friends, which was a nice change. :P
Unfortunately, we got into our first big fight when we left. I'm not going to air the details to everyone, especially since it's basically over and done with. If you really want to know, there are plenty of more private ways to get in touch with me, yes? Yes. And then you can blog about it all Gossip-Girl style -- cause we all know how I'd *love* to be in something tabloid-esque.

Thursday, July 17
Chris and I resolved our issues over Facebook. After watching Burn Notice with mom, I went up to Mirabar, where he was working, and Dark Lady to hang out. I got harrassed by a kid who lost Dark Lady's hot body contest and was not happy about it...I decided to be nice and not explain that he might have lost because of how he wasn't actually that hot. I know, normally I'm really honest but that's the sort of thing I like to sugarcoat, and there was just no way of doing that. He lost to a drag queen for crying out loud. (A hot drag queen, but still.) The other people who lost (some of whom were pretty good looking) weren't bothered by it.

Friday, July 18
I got a haircut. Then I worked at Dark Lady. Typical night, with four of us (Adam couldn't work). Drama happened, it didn't involve me. Chris and I went to breakfast afterwards.

Saturday, July 19
Chris and I had a really lazy Saturday, though we went up to the Natick Collection (that's the mall's real name apparently). Then it was Christmas in July. Which was looottttts of fun. Only Matt and I worked, but Jamal and Tony were there -- it was nice to have the added back-up. Cleaning up took til about 4:30 am though. Needless to say I was exhausted when I got to Chris' house. He hadn't had a good night either, though he'd gotten to see several of his friends from MA. So we slept, or tried to sleep, but with both of us being in bad moods at that point it just didn't work out well. So we were exhausted Sunday...

Sunday, July 20
...So we did a lot of sleeping. Or at least, I did, I don't really know what Chris did since I came home. Stayed home too!

Monday, July 21
Today was solidly productive, kind of. Dell is coming tomorrow to fix everything wrong with my computer. The warranty is done on August 18, and if I don't get it fixed I'm betting I'll need a new one about August 19.
Then, Chris and I met up and I brought him to Dark Lady as my date to the surprise birthday party of one of the owners. It was fun, although we left a bit early. I don't really like going out on Mondays, you know? Is that weird? Anyways...that brings us to now.

Tuesday, July 22
I'm going to try this sleeping thing again. I was trying early, it wasn't working out because I was thinking about how I hadn't blogged in forever. Now that I have, hopefully I'll sleep for a few hours before I have to get up to wait for the Dell guy. Then, I'll get to nap again before physical therapy. I hope.

PS Go back to a few of the recent previous posts, there's been new pictures added to some of them! (One of them includes Chris!)

"You're a dreamer, dreaming's what you do"

So, before I update you all on my life in general...I want to tell you about my accident.

You see, I was downloading music and I accidentally downloaded "Sorry's Not Good Enough" by McFly. I've never heard any of McFly's music before, although I've heard of the bad.
As it turns out, I love it.

So, that's my accident.

So, the weekend I was predicting turned out to be a little more out-of-the ordinary than I thought it would.
So, Thursday morning Kat, Katie, and I went to Philly to pick up Katie's sister. Then, it was off to NYC to pick up more of her family. We met with Kat's boss at Punchline Magazine, an enterprise which I think has officially made her the most successful (career-wise) of my college friends to date. I mean, she just graduated and she has two paying gigs for e-zines. Bravo, bravo! (If you want to read her latest article, an interview with Jon Reep, you can see it here.)

Following that, we split up. Katie and Kat headed off to see the Colbert Report, for which they had V.I.P tickets. I headed off across Central Park to meet up with my friends Chris and David. We went to get coffee, and while we did that David got a phone call about a party that night. He asked if he could bring friends and they told him he could.
We'd all just been invited to an exclusive party by OUT Magazine at Saks Fifth Ave. THE Saks Fifth Avenue ON Fifth Ave!!!
When we got off the elevator to the men's department, we were immediately greeted by two beautiful swimwear models. One handed us keychains (which I collect, so that won me over instantly!) and explained that on each keychain there was a combination and if that combination opened the lock on any of the boxes placed randomly throughout the store, you got all of the merchandise that was in the box. We tried all the boxes, but, alas, we did not manage to open any of them.
Chris and I, having been caught totally surprise and not having come straight from a job on Wallstreet (like David had) were terribly underdressed and despite our usual self-confidence I we were a little self-conscious around all of the beautiful models that were wandering around. I thought I was Jonathan Vargas (who seems to have dropped off the face of the earth) as we were leaving, I didn't say anything to him though.
Anyways, that was quite possibly the most exciting thing ever. EVER. I can't wait to do it again.

I met up with Kat, Katie, and Katie's family later that night. We finally made it back to Pennsylvania around 2 in the morning. I woke up, went to Physical Therapy, came back and went to packing.
Downside? I'd been left alone with Katie's crazy religious-nutcase uncle. There aren't any experiences more awkward than that -- especially since I'd asked that he not be in the apartment as much as possible but, uhm, I don't know what happened to that but it's over so whatevs.

Moving on...Friday night, Cody swung by and picked me up. We headed down to Brendan's place and once we got there, it wasn't long before Brendan took Cody, Adam, Jeff, Jason, and I to see the house he's getting and moving to. It's GORGEOUS and I'm totally doing all my laundry there. (Sorry, Brendan, you don't get any say in this matter. The Fates and I have decided without you. :P)
So, then we went back to Brendan's to meet up with the other Jeff and then it was down to Town. Town wasn't anything unusual except that I knew more people as I'd met so many people last weekend. I had a blast. Well before I was ready (but ain't that how it always goes? I say the clubs should all close at 5 am :P), we headed out.

I woke up bright and early, got dressed, and headed over to campus for the graduation ceremony. I watched with Stephan, and then I went back to the apartment to finish packing. Cody, bless him, came over and helped me move things over to the storage unit.
Katie and I went to the diner one last time together. The food was delicious, the ranch dressing was addictive, it was pretty much the usual.
I went out with my straight guy friends and Crystal one more time before Crystal truly departed for the cruel, harsh world of post-college life.

The next day I drove home to Rhode Island in driving rain all day. Nobody in the country knows how to drive in rain, so it was an especially miserable day. When I arrived at my parents' house, my elbow hurt and it was bright red. I paid no attention.

The next day, I woke up and went to my class. The professor informed us that, despite this being Chem 101, it was equivalent to an AP course and was designed for majors. I was all "Crap! I had to get this course pre-approved!" Long story of agonizing self-doubt cut short, I ended up dropping the course and adding a Biology to my fall schedule. No biggie. (Actually, huge biggie, but I'm trying not to think about it. :P)

Tuesday night, all of that school stuff behind me, Grace and I went out to karaoke, which was a blast. She and my friend Francis were the most popular singers there (which was cool, although other people who are not as naturally blessed in the vocal department and who were trying really hard and having a really good time were also really well received). It was generally awesome. And, of course, I got to see a bunch of my friends I hadn't seen yet.
It was the sort of night that a night out in Providence should be like, and I was psyched that I was home.

So, of course, I woke up the next morning with a fever of 102 degrees. My left arm was entirely swollen and bright red -- but I had sleeves on so we didn't know this yet. Still, we suspected my elbow was somehow infected.
So, off we went to the walk-in clinic down the street. And lo and behold, my elbow was infected. They took off the steri-strips, which were still on me because the nurse who had put them on had told me they would come off on their own and not to worry, giving me no time frame and no idea that I could take them off myself. And under these steri-strips; the source of my infection. That self-same nurse had left in a stitch! (Even though I'd asked her to double-check about that....stupid incompetent little bitch...)
So, I was put on antibiotics, including a burn cream (antibiotics that absorb through the skin). I've been holed up all week trying to get better so I can go out and do stuff. Now, I finally feel good again! But I still have a very splotchy, red arm.

Anyways, I should be able to go out again by Tuesday night. I'm keeping my fingers crossed because there is nothing like being stuck in my parents' house with no way out to drive me totally INSANE, right? :P

Oh, but we rented 27 Dresses from the Red Box. I've seen it before, but Mom and Grandma hadn't. They loved it, of course. Cause I've got good taste. I'm trying to decide what I want to get from the Red Box next, but there's so many good choices!

On the Highway to Hell!

Okay...so, last Saturday I had planned to go to Dark Lady and then head to Mirabar. But, as they say, the best laid plans....

So I went to meet up with Grace and Ryan at the Providence Place Mall and then we were going to go over there together. Grace was still with her two younger cousins, so we went to take them home -- of course stopping at Newport Creamery for food and ice cream on the way -- and then we headed to the Dark Lady.

It was PACKED. We were late, but it was still early for it to be that crowded. Matt was over at Mirabar, and he had to leave early, so I saw him for about thirty seconds out on the sidewalk (sad face!) And inside....wowza mcwowza! TONS of people! It was thoroughly exciting and tons of fun.

And the big triumph of the night? There's a guy in Providence, who shall remain unnamed, but I've had lustbunnies for him for like two year now, and he actually flirted with me! I'm pretty much feeling like the sexiest thing ever right now.

So we never actually left to go to Mirabar, but we had a total blast.

So I got up the next morning, went to the Easter Sunday service with my family. We had an Easter dinner, just the family no extended family, around 2 pm. That was all the Easter we did, which was more than fine with me. I never used to get sick (before they put me on immunosupressants) but for some reason I was always sick at Easter. I can remember maybe twice being sick when it wasn't Easter in my whole life, so it's not my favorite holiday.
I did enjoy the couple of hours I spent at Trixx that night though!
We road tripped back from Pennsylvania, and it was quite an adventure. Meghan, Dara, Amanda, and I. Oooh boy! That was an adventure -- and I'm not even talking about the guy that Amanda and I saw peeing at the gas station. Ewwwwwwww. Meghan and I left my house and headed into Connecticutt, up to Massachusetts to grab Dara and Amanda. We switched off driving each time we stopped, so each of us (except Dara) drove once for three or four hours. It was a much longer trip than the usual six hour drive I have when I go it alone. Not sure how or why that happens. We did go a totally different route though, we got on 84 in Massachusetts and took that all the way to Scranton, PA, where we got on 81 and took that down to 83.
At one point we got off to find a McDonald's for lunch. Rhonda was giving us directions to the nearest McDonald's, but she left out a little teeny tiny turn we had to do. Amanda was driving, and in perfect Amanda-style she pulled a double u-turn -- effectively a three quarter circle -- in the middle of the road to get us back on track. That was maybe my favorite moment.

My least favorite moment? We stopped by the mall I work at along the way, since we were going by and I had a paycheck there.
Or thought I had a paycheck there but apparently several hours of work I did have either gone missing, or the check is being mailed to me. Since I'm not getting hours except for the once-a-month overnight, I'm livid. I need the money!! I don't know how I'm scraping together enough for all of the bills this month, but I'm betting I'm calling Grandma for help again this month. And the job hunt isn't going well because I'm seriously busy -- which makes me wonder, could I even work another job? If it's not late at night, I don't know.
Anyways, that's neither here nor there.The best part was discovering that if we photographed cars that were moving slowly in the high speed lane, they would speed up.

PS Since I know that the saga of Katie's foot is becoming epic, I wanted to share with you the latest update: she went to physical therapy and the therapist told her that her foot was not sprain but was in fact broke. Shocked? I'm not. So she's going to see -- surprise, surprise -- another doctor! But she's getting a second opinion and hopefully this doctor won't be so...much like the last one.

And in answer to the question people keep asking me -- yes, I'm still very bitter. :P

(Pictures in this post courtesy of Ryan, Amanda!) (And thanks to Rhonda, below, for the directions and adventures...)

Wrapping up the holidays!

So, I guess you guys want to hear about my holidays, or just want me to write something so you know I'm alive!

First of all, I promise that I am going to get to catch up on everyone else's blogs soon!!! Promise, promise, promise!!

So, me and my holidays...
Well, let's start with Christmas Eve...
I went to Grace's house to participate in her family's massive (they're Italian) Christmas Eve celebration. Topher came too, so that was fun. The food was good. Grace's family is crazy in that way that Italian families often are. :-P

Then I went home to my own family's Christmas Eve dinner. From there, we went to church. Came back, did the traditional stockings and reading of The Night Before Christmas. You know, Christmas.

The next day was pretty quiet, my aunt and uncle flew in on Christmas so we were waiting until the next day to do our real Christmas. We did open a few gifts -- I got a bunch of books I wanted (cause I have so much time to read? I don't know why I keep asking for these things :P) and the Timbaland CD, as well as two Forbidden Broadway CDs. I also got a DVD of behind the scenes Broadway stuff (of course, Matt got two DVDs of movies I had actually asked for, but who's counting? :P No, my stuff was pretty awesome.)
We dropped in on Dad's side of the family for their Christmas -- and Brady was ADORABLE. Ashley, his mother, had a bunch of us shaking his gifts trying to guess what they were. It was pretty bad. :-P And he was having more fun drumming on his presents than unwrapping them, I think. Cutest baby ever. We gave him this stuffed lamb with all sorts of different colors. It reminded me of one of my favorite stuffed animals when I was little -- his name was George and he was a baby blue lamb with a pink and yellow plaid pattern over it. Frikkin' awesomest lamb you ever saw, and so badass too.

The next day we did Christmas fo' rizzle. I got a bunch of stuff, but honestly I was focused more on the best gift that my Aunt and Uncle got me: Darren Hayes' latest CD!!! Yeah, you know, the one I was all excited about this summer???? Aunt Susan and Uncle Robert got it for me!!!
It's been playing non-stop in my car since then.

Sooooo, then there was a whole lot of clubbing at Mirabar and Dark Lady.

And then it was New Year's!!! I worked at the Dark Lady -- it was an ice themed party. All I have to say about that is this:
I looked fucking hot.

Birthday Weekend!!

Okay, where did I leave you guys off at? Oh, yes, yes...I told you it was my birthday but neglected to mention anything else.

So, sad news: I haven't run into car guy again. Not that I haven't tried, but that's beside the point.

So, Friday night I went to Topher's house and happened to be there at midnight when it became my birthday. So yay that! Shortly thereafter we went to Dark Lady where we talked to the manager. He told me to come in Tuesday to get scheduled. YAY JOB!!

Anywho, Adam was at Dark Lady and told us that Jon was at Dark Lady. Now, Jon and I were still in a rather bizarre place because of the things he'd drunkenly said at Pride...so I thought "okay, we'll go over." Topher and I went and hung out outside of Mirabar. That was super fun, actually, as there wasn't much time left for them to be open and everyone kept coming out, so we actually saw a million people. Including Jon. Who was with a boy, but whatever.

So I met a man named Steve who took Adam, Topher, and I out to breakfast for my birthday. We had invited Jon and his boy, but they showed up at the restaurant to tell us they couldn't eat with us. Because, y'know, not coming wouldn't have gotten the message across. :P After I gorged myself on chocolate chip pancakes, I went home and went to sleep.

I woke up, showered, got dressed and went to work at A&F. Work was a lot of fun, especially because everyone was bragging to everyone about how it was my birthday. And my manager gave me a walkie-talkie to use for the day. It was exciting.
After work, I went to dinner just outside the mall with my family. Grace waits tables at a restaurant there, so of course we went to torture her. It was good food, and of course she tried to embarrass me by having the whole staff of the restaurant come to do their birthday chant thing to me. Unfortunately for her, the first line of the chant is "We can't sing, so here's our thing".
So I said to her, "But you can sing, what gives?" :D

We left the restaurant and headed to Providence for Waterfire. There's really no way of describing Waterfire, so I won't...but if they're having one on your birthday, and you're in Rhode Island...there is just no way you miss it. So we went.
After that I headed to Energy and ran into tons of people. Chris and Bill were out, Dave and Josh, Bill, Roland, Scott and Mike...it was a good time. Grace met up with me there after she got off work and we met some new friends there (another Dave...we need more names in this city!). After that, a bunch of us trekked to Mirabar. She and I ran into Kenny there, which was so exciting. His boyfriend John was, unfortunately, not out. I didn't know why, but I just talked to John so I know why now. :P

Anywho, following going out, and almost everyone was out so that was fun, a bunch of us headed out for breakfast. I didn't know most of the group, but they all turned out to be fabulous and amazing. Josh and Grace were actually the only two I knew ahead of time. It was a great time, and I got home at, I think, 5:30 in the morning. I was the first one home.

I woke up the next day, showered, and was almost immediately told that the whole family was there for my birthday and I was the only one missing. Yikes.
So I scrambled to get dressed and ran downstairs and we chatted for a bit, then ate lunch, then did presents. The loot report was such:
-Dungeon Siege II: Broken World (my brother burned it for me because he knows how much I was dying for that! I'm a big fan of the Dungeon Siege games)
-Living Dead in Dallas by Charlaine Harris (the second book of the Southern Vampire novels...of which I have the first, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth.)
-The Dragon King Saga by Stephen Lawhead (he's totally my favorite author and this series, which my dad found all in one book, has been on my list for years)
-A new battery for my laptop, it desperately needed it. Unfortch, my dad got me an upgraded battery and it won't charge on the adapter I have, which I can't explain. It may that my adapter was dead, not my old battery. Who knows?
-Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris
-Son of a Witch by Gregory Macguire (the sequel to Wicked, which I have and read.)
-Eragon (Inheritance, Book 1) by Christopher Paolini.
And plenty of money. All in all, a good haul. :)

Anyways, yesterday I worked at A&F. It was horrible, we won't discuss it.
Today's been good. No work. Jon and I are supposed to hang out soon, and then he Grace and I should be going to Justin's movie night, and then I'm stopping by Energy to see John and Kenny and then I'm going to Dark Lady to get scheduled and then I will returning to Justin's house to finish movie night.

For those of you in the US, please, please, please, please visit this link, watch the video, and fill out the form.

"Why should I worry? Tell me, why should I care?"

Firstly, I apologize for the uber length of this post!

Okay, before I begin I have an anecdote to share. I slept in this morning, went down for breakfast/lunch/afternoon snack and mom comes in while I'm eating and goes "Hurry, you're going to be late!"
"For what?" I ask.
There's this pause. "I don't know, don't you have something to do today?"
"No..."
"Well, I know I don't. I know your father doesn't. Do you mean nobody's doing anything today?"
This is such a bizarre event that mom is like...I thought she was going to meltdown on me for a minute. And that pretty much sums up my family.

Anyways, this weekend started off special aside from Pride. Our cousins from the Carolinas came for a visit! We haven't seen them since our road trip down to them a few years back -- sophomore year of high school, I think. That's a Monday Memory (when I get back to doing those) for another time. Probably three or four Monday Memories actually.
But anyways, we didn't get see my favorite cousin, Ed, that trip because he's been in the Coast Guard for the past several years (we think it's been seven years, and we realized we hadn't seen him in 10 years). Ed's been my favorite cousin since the incident with the giant turtle, which is also a Monday Memory I'll have to share. Anyways, Ed is one of my heroes, for sure. We watched a video of a rescue he did this weekend that kind of cemented that feeling -- Ed did basically all the work. Here, watch this:
It's not as well-done as the video we saw but it's the same rescue. Ed is the one standing up in the rescue boat, doing *everything*.
So we spent Friday with the cousins, catching up on years that we've missed.

Saturday was Pride RI (or, the much-catchier name for it is Providence Pride, because it alliterates). It was in a new, smaller location which wasn't too much of a problem despite the fact that this was probably the biggest turnout Providence Pride has ever had. The fiascos going on with NYC Pride probably contributed to that.
I hung out with Joey, his ex-boyfriend Felix, and his friend Jesse all day because they were the first people I knew that I ran into. I saw a lot of people I knew though -- some of the Crockett Clan (who I went to high school with), Joey and Matt (two of Mirabar's shotboys), Justin, Preston, Bruno and Kenny (two of the strippers from XL and who were caught on film paying more attention to their adorable puppy than to me :-P), DJ (who I think recently quit from XL), Jason....I don't really know why I'm listing all these people. :-P

Anywho, Grace and Ryan and his friends Sam and Mike met up with us part way through and we kept adjourning to Joey's hotel room (to drink). Mike is pretty much awesome, and Sam is pretty fabulous too. I feel super bad because I have Mike's number so we could hang out next time he was in town, but I seem to have lost it. I'm dumb like that sometimes. Anywho...

So we watched some of the acts that were on the main stage...acts that included Frenchie Davis, Peppermint Gummybear, Colton Ford (who is STILL hot!!), and more! I was looking forward to Sean van der Wilt but, alas, he was cut from the lineup do to timing issues...and I'm sure he wasn't happy about it, because the crowd was amazing!
Colton Ford was pretty good, though at first he had the mic too close to his mouth.

We actually missed the parade because we went to get dinner and it took longer to find a place that didn't have a ridiculous line (hour 45 minute wait??? That was the shortest!) and then to eat, so we missed the parade. That was sad.
Then we went to Mirabar. And we stayed at Mirabar because....and this is said, I was gonna have to pay again in order to get in a second time. So...there was no trip to XL, there was no Roman Heart.
I'm not complaining though. Mirabar was amazing -- of course, the numerous other parties at the other clubs had to be just as good! Some of the headliners from the festival were performing there, including the fabulous Alyson whose performance really was great and you could tell she was having a good time, and Jenna Drey and others, all of whom were great! Jenna Drey is frequently on the CD for A&F so it was exciting but simultaneously nauseating just because I hear the songs so often. :-P
I also saw basically everyone at Mirabar.

Really it was two parties, too. The block party outside and the party inside, and everyone was going in and out but it was crowded! Fun though.
Part way through the night Brendan and Cody called me to discuss things about my upcoming birthday extravaganza, where they were coming up to party with me. There was gay drama, which would continue until the next day and lead to the party's cancellation. That's all I'm gonna say on that one, but it contributed to a funk I found myself in after Pride.
The other things that contributed? There was also drama between Joey and I, which I won't get into too much but it ended in, basically, him making a whole bunch of "if we're gonna work, this is what you need to do" demands -- not like to make up for anything I did because he definitely was the one who'd screwed up, but somehow it turned around to I was the one who needed to change for him. And I'm pretty sure I'm cool with A) that little about-face in who's the screw up, or B) the fact that he wants me to change for him before we've even been on a second date. Cause, apparently I'm not good enough as-is?
Then I ran into Jonathon, who got pretty shitfaced, so I helped him get to his car at the end of the night. On the way, we stopped by Energy, which was still open. And who to my wondering eyes should appear? Kyle and Dom -- who had both moved to Florida and I hadn't seen since January!! So that was exciting.
After that, as we went to my car so I could give Jon and "his driver" a ride to their car, he decided (because he's an honest drunk) to regale me with all the reasons we can't date. Or even try to date. Or in fact, do anything more than what we have been doing, which is hang out like friends and then make out just enough to get us (or at least me) riled up and then leave before anything happens.
So I was in a serious funk. Or a "gunk" as they would say on Kyle XY. ("He's in a gunk." "What's that?" "A guy funk." "So what do they call a girl funk?" "Redundant.")

Monday I went out to get a job at Dark Lady. Except, in my funk, I couldn't bring myself to ask without moral support. So I ended up at Energy...which added to my funk. Two guys I had previously liked were there, neither one into me and one of them there with someone else. Ordinarily this wouldn't bother me at all, but, hey, funk!
So when I was introduced to my friend Josh's friend Neil, who was gorgeous and flirty, well...it helped a lot. So, I'm starting to come out of the funk now.

Tuesday was full of little things: new manager at A&F who seems pretty nice, movie night at Justin's, Jonathon called me again (and again today, I don't think he remembers what he said), and, oh, I think I blew the Italian oral exam out of the water.
That's right, this is my last week of class!!

Oh, and for people wondering what's going on with Club XS these days...my friend Jenny just put up this video of their latest amateur drag contest! Cody tells me my ex-boyfriend has been showing up to participate in them lately. You'd think he'd have gotten the hint: you've been doing drag for years and never gotten better than runner-up....they're trying to tell you something.

NOTE: There will be more pictures, I just have to ask my friends if they mind showing up on my blog is all.

"It's enough to drive you crazy if you let it!"

I do have to make a quick entry.
Last night I went out to Mirabar with Grace, Justin came out with Preston and Cindy (who I'd kind of met last week and I met Preston the last night that Ryan was into me). Ryan was there with his entourage, as usual. I didn't talk to him about his bizarre behavior, which continued all through last night, but I didn't really spend much time with his group either.

Anyways, I decided to call him today and ask. So I did.
"Are you mad at me?" I asked.
"No. Why?" he said.
"Oh. Cause you've been acting all weird the past couple nights."
"Oh, really? Sorry."
"Uhm...okay. Hey, what're you doing tonight?"
"Nothing. I'm not going out."
"You want to hang out then, cause I don't have any plans."
"Sure."
"I have a class, but I'll give you a call afterwards, okay?"
"Yeah, cool."

So after class I call him. He doesn't answer. I called later when I got home so I could be like "Guess it didn't work out for tonight, some other time though?" He didn't answer either time.

Too bad, cause I think he was good for what I want right now. I don't think we would have ended up lasting forever or anything, but it would be fun while it lasted, and I think it probably would have ended pretty amicably.

Anyways, checking out my stats, I want to do some shout outs to my readers who seem to be silent. Firstly, I encourage ya'll to leave a comment even if it's just to say "hi", I like to know who's reading about my opera di soap. :P
So, hi to all of you lurkers! I'm especially intrigued by the visitor from Chile?

So much going down!

Oh, this post does get a picture because it's Pride month and I can never turn down a good challenge.

Otherwise, this may be the longest, picture-less post I have ever written. However, I guarantee...not a dull moment in the whole thing. Lord knows I haven't had one.

Firstly, I'd like to let you know...I will not be working at XL. The attitude of the boss during my audition (which ended up being Tuesday) was atrocious. I hate trash-talking people on here, but I can't help it at all. The man clearly doesn't realize that without his dancers, he's getting unemployment checks every month. Not only did he treat me in a condescending, almost contemptuous way...I hung out with some of the dancers after the club closed. Okay, basically I gave them rides then went home, but whatev. I was happy to do it. They were talking about their work, of course, and it occurred to me: this is why the crowds are small there. The club delivers sexy dancers, but the best product is sexy dancers who enjoy themselves. I don't want to work at a club that isn't capable of delivering the best. I don't know what I'll do, but it was suggested by Katie that, even though I'd be a terrible waiter, I'd probably do a decent job of being a busboy. I just have to find a place to do it now. It's an insta-cash job and that's what I want.

At some point early in the week, I forget which night, Jon called and invited me over at like 3 in the morning. I went over and we talked and he microwaved some stolen leftovers from one of the restaurants he works at, which were delicious. And the dessert was this chocolate thing, and it was SOOO gooey and delicious.

So, Wednesday I went out with Grace to Mirabar. She met many of my friends, made some news ones (as did I) and was a HUGE hit. Saturday when I went out without her, one of the shot boys (Joey) stopped me and was like "Where's Grace?" and he seemed rather displeased that I was out without her.
Actually, there was a similar reaction when people saw me Thursday night. And tonight. Geez, I can't go anywhere without her...
Afterwards, Grace and I convinced some people to come out to the Denny's Jon works at. I wasn't sure if he was working, but I was crossing my fingers. And my hunch paid off -- he was! While we waited for the others to show up, a bunch of his regulars came in from WalMart and some of them started hassling him.
"What's your type? Me?" one of them asked.
"No," Jon said, not missing a beat, "My type's sitting right over there." And he pointed at me. And I glowed and pretended to be embarrassed. It was sweet.
He also pulled some strings and it ended up that none of the six of us had to pay for anything. Also, very, extremely sweet.

Friday was when the drama was.
It started at work. I was working, and I saw this hot guy come in with another guy. I recognized the hot one, I'd seen him out at Mirabar. I was busy, so I didn't help them. But I did smile at them, like I smile at all the customers.

That night, I went to Mirabar and the first person I see is the other guy. He flicks me off, and I shrug it off because whatever, maybe he's psycho. I check out the club, but there's really nobody there I know so I make for the door to go see if anyone's at Energy.
As I get to the door, a hand grabs my arm and all of a sudden the hot guy is making out with me.

Now, a normal person would probably freak out over this, but it's one of my fantasies to be stopped and given an amazing kiss in that exact way. So I weakened. Plus, did I mention how he's hot?
So when he said they were going to Energy, and I should come, I agreed. The other guy -- Danny -- didn't seem so keen on the idea. In fact, he got pretty frikkin' angry. But the (totally shit-faced) girls they were out with helped me ignore the drama between Ryan (the hottie) and Danny.

That is, up until they made me laugh. At which point Danny snapped, "If he doesn't stop smiling I'm gonna sock him in the face." Which was ridiculous to say, so of course I didn't stop smiling. So he threw three punches. Fortunately, I can take punches and he was drunk so he may as well have thrown some pillows at me.
Ryan pulled the car over and dragged Danny out where they proceeded to argue vehemently about me. Then things got scary -- one of the girls slid into the driver's seat and took off around the block. After we'd circled the block once, and nearly died several times, we convinced her to park and I took over in the driver's seat while we waited for Danny and Ryan to finish arguing.

They did and Danny insisted that he be taken to his car. So we set off, leaving me absolutely confused because, oh yeah, my car was in Providence and Danny's was in Warwick. Not the same place. Not even nearly.

So I spent the night hanging out with Ryan and his girls, and ended up crashing there and cuddling with Ryan. When I woke up my shirt was missing. Uh.......okay?
Anywho, despite all of his protestations that he was looking for a boyfriend (which I am too, though I was hesitant to say it because I know that can be used as a line and frequently is), he wouldn't give me his phone number. He said he'd give it to me when I was working later that day, and although he did stop in. Briefly. Very briefly.

There's more to this story that I'm not going to go into, but let's just say I'm keeping my fingers crossed but I'm prepared for the worst with this guy.
'Sides, there's Jon, who's sweet and has caused way less trouble. He's just difficult to hang out with, which is extra hard for someone who's an attention whore like me.

Meanwhile, yesterday, Joey and I had a fight which ended up sorting out our issues so now he's back on the "choices" list although I have a sincere feeling that we're going to end up being just friends.

Tonight I was going to stay in, but Justin urged me to go out to Mirabar (it's theirs and Energy's karaoke night, which also means no cover). So I went out (much to mom's chagrin). I walked into Mirabar and saw Justin and as I walked towards him ran into Ryan and the girls from before, all of whom were thrilled to see me. Ryan said he'd found my shirt.
So I split the night between Justin and his friend Preston, Ryan and his girls, and the bartender Henry who I think had had too much of his product and was seriously hitting on me. Not unless I get a job out of it, sorry babycakes. :P (SO kidding!)
Justin and Preston decided it would be cool to visit Energy, so we did -- but I dragged a phone number out of Ryan first. The Karaoke was bad. I ran into lots of people there though -- PacSun (who I rarely see but it's always nice to see him), Josh (who I'd been kind of passively trying to avoid), DJ (from XL), Shawn (Josh's ex who he still hangs out with), Ivan and Jaymes (both bartenders at Energy) and....Kenny and John!! I had tried to reach them for forever but never got through and then here they were! So we caught up and I informed John about my birthday celebrations because I would probably cry if they didn't come out with us at least once that weekend. I was so excited to see them, they're amazing. So that made my night enough that I can overlook whatever drama broke out between DJ and Josh.

I sent Ryan a text, just to make sure it is his number because of how, y'know, I have trust issues especially when somebody's so reluctant to give you their number. (And he was pouty because I couldn't spend the night at his place again.)

So I talked to Jon tonight. Twice, which was exciting. And we're making plans to see each other again which is good. Of my various "options" I think he's my favorite, but I know myself and I am going to be miserable dating someone who I never get to see. Hopefully in two weeks he'll have more time (he just put in his two weeks at one of his three jobs).

So it's been an exhilarating and exciting past few days!

"If you sell your soul, at least you've made a sale"

"It's All About the Green" from The Wedding Singer -- the musical -- is quite possibly the cleverest song about greed I have ever heard. I love it. I love that whole musical, actually. But that really has nothing to do with anything, that's just me being extremely attention deficit.

Last night was insane.
First I went out, in the torrential rain, to Club XL. It was PACKED! There was a Countdown to Pride event that I had forgotten about. I didn't stay long, but I said hi to most of my friends there, including some who weren't there last time I was. Pot Pie said there were seventeen dancers working, and at first I thought "Nobody's gonna make any money!" but considering how many people were there, I can imagine that everyone made out like bandits.

So then I headed to Mirabar to meet up with Grace and another friend of mine from high school, Naseer. Also, Ryan, who I've known for a while but never met in person, came. So we were hanging out having fun and the club started to get pretty crowded too. Apparently I like to dance more than them, so I kind of stayed on the dance floor most of the night and they watched so I didn't end up spending as much time with them as I would have liked to.
The Pennsylvanian I thought I recognized was there again, so this time I grabbed a chance to talk to him. Turned out I hadn't lost my mind -- he really is who I thought he was. I ended up hanging out with him and his friend who, as it turned out I'm friends with on Myspace but hadn't met. They were in RI on a spontaneous little vacation but they left this morning.
I also met a guy named Joey. We may or may not have made out. On the dance floor. Whatever. I gave him my number, I got his. We'll see what happens there, but I'm not convinced. There was drama with his friends, and his text messages are...frequent. And occassionally clingy. I sure know how to pick 'em, don't I?
I also ended up making friends with a bartender named Jim, a guy named Justin who I went to a diner with and who is awesome. I also met some guy named Lenny who works there but I couldn't tell you what his job is.

So, I am still trying to decide where my night job this summer is going to be. I'll have something worked out soon, I'm sure.

Oh, and in other news...I have discovered (through going back to ages-old comments) that Hazzard Ahead is free to be a member of. So now I feel silly, but oh well. :P That's why I threw a Johnny Hazzard picture in here. Also I've had a string of posts with no pictures, and I feel boring and sad.

"All you gotta do is bring the house down!"

Right so....firstly, apparently I missed some comments on one of my posts forever ago -- in which someone advised me that subscription to Hazzard Ahead is free. Uhm, whooooaaaa, missed the boat on that one. Anyways, I'm now a subscriber. :)

The real news of today is this, though: Last night I went insane. Or maybe I did.

I went out clubbing with my friend Grace, who I went to high school with. She and I have gone from being attached at the hip, to less-than-secretly hating each other, to being indifferent to each other, to being like normal friends. It's been a ride, but I love the girl. She's a total homo honey. (That's a new word for me, but I love it. I'm using it as an umbrella term for all the different varieties of fag hags *except* a homobro. :P) (PS, I spend too much time on Urban Dictionary.)

Anyways, we went to Mirabar for their retro night. I have been before, but found it too crowded for my tastes. You could barely move. And, perhaps because of the company I was with, it was determined more fun could be have at another club where, y'know, it was possible to walk. Last night that was not the case -- the most fun to be had was definitely at Mirabar. I saw some friends I hadn't seen yet this summer; Josh, Michael, Joey, and a few others. Also, we got hit on. Both of us. Seperately. Her by an old guy that pretends to be gay but is actually straight, so he can pick up girls at gay bars -- so he says. Providence can be a very strange place.