The blatant proof:

I wish you would
Come pick me up
Take me out
Steal my records
Screw all my friends
behind my back
With a smile on your face
and then do it again.
-ryanadams

Once upon an afternoon

Today, I really did have a lovely afternoon--

Smarler and I left at 1:20ish, and we first went to my Physical Therapy session. Smarler did homework while I was putting my hand in parafin and getting my finger bent.

We picked up Jessie at Chris's house and made fruit salad.

We went upstairs to my parent's room, and watched Addam's Family Values in their nice, comfortable bed. After the movie, Shawn said--so aptly--"It's naptime." So we both fell asleep in said comfortable bed [of course, we were about two feet apart--it's a big bed].

Then, we woke up and went to Community Club and ate good, good food. Wonderful afternoon.

"And that guy over there is the shark I just drew"

Tonight, we went on one of the most interesting Lou's trips of my lifetime, which is really saying something. Smarler invited me to go, and I love my Smarler time, so Joey and I joined him. Also with us were: Adam Wilson, Josh Grimm, Ross Ledford, Craig Goodwin and these two girls I didn't know, but didn't particularly like. Craig had invited him, which severely challenged my perception of him. They kissed at the table--ick.

Anyway, Joey, Adam, Smarler, Josh and I all exchanged distasteful looks about them, and it became a secret club of distaste. Joey drew us all in a boat, and the girls were outside of it.

We are all connected, now. Because we are in the boat.

And Patrick Martin got me coffee--oh, nostalgia!

Tonight, in honor of The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Roberto and I shared a time when we felt infinite. After I finished mine [a treatise on cigarette ash, "Circle City Blues," and hitting mail boxes], Roberto told me I have a special soul.

I don't think there are many better compliments than that.

Go Be Young

I went to a bar for the first time in my life. Erik Lollar invited me to go see him play at an Open Mic Night, and I complied. It had been one hell of a long day, and I was certainly eager to get off campus and do something out of the ordinary. Erik has fallen back into my life, as he tends to do, and I wanted to see him for the first time in about a year. I wanted to go.

I told Jim and Joey about the excursion, and they wanted to go, so we all set out to Maclain's. We missed it the first time, and when we got back to it, Erik had already played his set. He was also quite drunk, which is honestly neither here nor there. He greeted me with a running and flying hug, which also is not that unusual. I decided it was going to be a good night.

He wanted to go meet his friend Gagnog [what a name, I know] at another bar, one he has a membership to on account of his feat of drinking five Guiness in a row. So we went in, he bought a pitcher of beer and shared it in small amounts [which I allowed] with my brother and boyfriend. I had maybe three sips of it, and even I had to admit it wasn't as ass-nasty as the other beer I've had before.

Joey and Erik played pool [in a really hilarious fashion] and Gagnog came up and said "Where did all the striped go" and Erik said "the sober guy hit them in the pocket."

Joey won.

Erik and I kidded around and hugged more and caught up and he messed with me as usual, and I messed with him right back. Eventually, we left to take him to his place, and we met his housemates [which includes Michael Shiles's twin brother Doug] and we decided to roll out when they started looking for rolling papers.

As we were leaving, Erik said to us: "You go be good, and we'll fuck things up. You go be good, and someday you will rule the world. And we will beg for mercy."

And he leaned over and whispered in my ear. "And you will consider it."

I thought: you know me so well, Erik Lollar.

I wouldn't consider it. I would do it in a heartbeat.

With things just coming out of nowhere

Today--Roberto said maybe the most wonderful thing that has ever been said about my writing.

He said that he saw a preview of the Review, and he read my poem An Ode to the South, Which I Detest. He told me that he thought it was one of the best modern poems he had ever read [this from someone taking Modern Poetry this semester(!)] and that he "LOVED" it.

He said when he read it the first time, as a reviewer for the Review [when he didn't know the poet], he thought "This person will be known for this someday."

I was just bowled over. I was like. Wow. Wow. Wow.

It was a feeling of absolute GOOD. We all need more GOOD, I think.