the 30th week

The past week flashed by like Superman on Meth, quite opposite the slowness of the week before. The other day I watched a science documentary "narrated" by Stephen Hawking, and in it he talked about the way time itself, as an alternate dimension, exists as a sort of fabric that can be twisted and bent. I've been thinking about this a lot lately, and I thought about (almost as a sort of tangent) the way the days and weeks and months and years seem to speed up as we exist longer and longer within the fabric of time. Because our existence within time is lengthening, so our perception of it in the present is "shortening". I don't know if that holds any weight as a theory regarding how "time flies by" more-and-more as we get older, but it's sure as hell interesting to think about. Ok, here's my week:


Monday. It was M.L.K. Day, so we were slow at work. I spent half the lunch rush just playing Sodoku, and there was a rag-tag march through downtown with no observers whatsoever. Oh, Cincinnati. Amos closed down early, and when he got home we hung out with Blake. I got Subway for dinner, and then Brandy came over with her ex John.  Before bed I sat on the front porch and smoked cigarettes and listened to US Royalty--or The Black Keys? I can't remember.--and felt great sadness that these days are coming to an end.

Tuesday. It felt like spring this morning--in the fifties, crisp & cool--and so I listened to Florence & The Machine at work, and it took me back to last spring when Jessica C., Carly and I would hang out all the time. The weather turned sour come noon, however, with sheets of rain masking downtown followed by sheering wind, and it actually hurt to walk against the wind a mere four blocks to my car. I spent the entirety of the afternoon "deep cleaning" my room, and for dinner I made a homemade pizza crafted from ingredients nabbed off the salad bar. With leftovers I made brewery nachos and split them with Ams. When Amos got home we shot zombies (something we hadn't done in a long while, at least, like, a week and a half). Amos and I went over to Gabe and Emily's place in Northside for a bit, and we got back around 11:00 and I called it a Night.

Wednesday. An uneventful day at work, made complete with a relaxing evening and dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery. I pounded the ballpark pretzels and polished it off with one of their porters. Spent much of the evening in the East-side with some friends, and when I got home I went immediately to bed.

Thursday. Today was Amos' birthday. His age? I'm not really sure: somewhere between 25 and 27. Work was uneventful and quick, and I got to park at Fountain Square since Rob rode in with me. He sold his white car to Gambill (whose car was totaled 11 days ago by a crazy driver); Rob will have no need for it where they'll be out in Portland. Ams and I had Brother-Sister time when I got home, and she went to school to take an exam, and Mandy visited with her friend Jess, and Brandy was with Amos, and Blake and Rob were working, so I had the house to myself and made nachos, watched TV, and did some writing. I took a hot shower, lit a candle, and read Tolkien before calling it a day.

Friday. After work I hung out with Blake for a while, and then I met up with Mom, Dad and Ams at Red Robin for dinner. I had their Royal Robin, similar to Rock Bottom's 2 A.M. burger. I'd never had an egg on a burger before, and let me tell you what: it's phenomenal. It was great seeing my family, and I'm so blessed to be so close with them. Amos' party was cancelled due to inclement weather, so Blake, Andy, Amos and I spent the night hanging out, with Gabe & Emily stopping by earlier on only to leave once the freezing rain started. More people would've come, but the freezing rain turned the streets to slip-&-slides, and who wants to drive out in that? Thus we cancelled the party and enjoyed the goods among ourselves.

Saturday. Andy spent the night 'cause of the roads, and we went to Indian (without Rob & Mandy, sadly, who were in Indianapolis visiting Jakobi and Onaleasha one last time before the move). After Dusmesh I played "Skyrim," took a long-ass nap 'till 5:00, and then went to Kroger for groceries. Blayne came over to play Carcasson (sp?)( with Blake & Amos. Blake and Blayne went out to see their friend Jeff, and Amos and I played video games and shared cigarettes on the front porch before bed.

Sunday. The temperature rose to fifty degrees, so all that wretched ice is melting. The melting ice left a heavy fog over the city, from sunup to sundown, and the streets were quiet and the air damp all the bleak day long. I slept in till 10:00, did laundry, and ran some errands in Dayton. Lunch was antipasta and olives (appealing to my more reserved Mediterranean side), and Amos and I played video games before the football game. Towards the end of the night, the house filled with wonderful people: Rob and Mandy returned with Mandy's super-awesome grandma in tow; both Andy and Isaac came by; and Jake came by for a little bit. You never know who's gonna come through that door on Sunday nights, but I'm hardly ever disconcerted about that.


POST-SCRIPT. This upcoming week is Rob's last week in Cincinnati. It's going to be awfully sad to see him go, and I'm not looking forward to it. I'll miss his harumphs throughout the house. They make you jump 'till you get used to them. Between Then & Now, however, there's going to be plenty of time to celebrating their "moving forward" departure: we've got a Tazza Mia meeting with an optional(?) send-off hoorah at Rock Bottom, and there's a final house party at the end of the week.