the 36th week

Never, EVER, forget.

Monday. Work was good, and the evening even better. After my nap I hung out with the housemates, and then Brandy, John and C. Isaac came over. We had a free growler from Rock Bottom - "Queen of Hops" - and Ams made brownies, and we crowded Blake's room and watched The Walking Dead.

Tuesday. I hit up The Anchor before my closing shift with Amos. We got out at a decent time, and I went back to The Anchor to meet Jobst, smoke pipes, and catch up. As I pulled into the lot, I saw a man standing in the shadows underneath The Anchor's mural. I parked and readied to go inside, and he approached me, drunk off his rocker, begging me for money. I gave him some change and he dropped his phone, and he was too drunk to know what to do, so I was helping him get it back together when a cop pulled up with his lights flashing, got out, and yelled at us to get down. We sat down against the building, and for the next thirty-five minutes we were grilled about what we were doing out there, and the belligerent drunk beside me couldn't stop himself from trying to jump up off the ground, so one of the cops kept almost drawing his weapon and I was just sitting there thinking Wtf? Once they spread us up against the wall and searched us, I was cleared but he was taken in for having just bought some drugs or something. The cops apologized, were making all sorts of jokes about it with me afterwards. Apparently they'd gotten a call regarding two white males in the parking lot being suspicious, and by the time they got there it was just me and this drunk fellow. It certainly made my night a bit more interesting. 

Wednesday. Last night I finished Richard Dawkins' The God Delusion. It was just okay. And I got to talk to Mandy, who called when she found out about last night's shenanigans. This morning Cat called in sick, and I ran into her out on Vine after work and she looked something awful, poor thing. Later into the night John came over for a while, and then Blake and Andy went to The Anchor but I declined going to clean my room and get laundry done. When they got back we hung out and listened to The National. 

Thursday. Amos had to go in at 7:30 to pull shots for Rock Bottom. I didn't have to be in 'till 10:45, so I went to The Anchor and did some writing. The waitress asked if I was the one stopped by the cops outside two nights ago. "Yup!" I beamed. Work was chaotic; we were slammed all afternoon, at one point doing three pour-overs and three siphon-pots at the same time, plus espresso drinks. We got home around 7:00 and chilled out after the rough (and, for Amos, long) day: Black Ops in the basement, hanging out with Josh and Ams upstairs, and listening to a lot of Damien Jurado. Amos and Isaac are going to North Carolina tomorrow for a long weekend. Thus it will most likely be a quiet and uneventful weekend here at the house. *knock on wood*

Friday. I woke Andy on my way out for my morning cigarette, and a good thing too--poor guy was running pretty late. Work went well, with Cat closing since Amos jetted off to North Carolina. I napped when I got home: fell asleep to Damien Jurado and woke to a thunderstorm and pelting rains. The tornado sirens were throbbing and hail pecked at the windows. Andy went to see The Black Keys at US Bank Arena and Ams worked, so Blake and I spent the evening watching The Walking Dead. 

Saturday. I went to The Anchor for coffee and writing, and another waitress asked if I was almost arrested outside a few days ago. "Yup!" I beamed (for the second time). Mom came down this evening, and we grabbed dinner at Rock Bottom. A Mom-Son Date, if you will. It was an hour and fifteen minute wait, but Keith saw us and grabbed us the next table (and even comped our $50 bill). For dessert we got milkshakes at Chic-Fil-A for free, courtesy of some of Ams' old coupons. Mom headed home, and I spent the evening hanging out with Blake and Andy. Andrew and Megan came over, and we crowded the living room and smoked hookah: Code 69, it tasted like cherry coke.

Sunday. I hit up The Anchor this morning and did a good deal of writing. I got home around noon, and everyone was still asleep. People started rolling out: Ams went to Josh's, I wager, and Blake went out with some people. I did some writing and hung out with Andy. I watched The Dark Knight and had Subway for dinner. Andy and I were poisoned by restlessness and sought to overcome it at The Anchor, and overcome it we did: we drank a pot of coffee between the two of us and chain-smoked nasty cigarettes, swapping war stories in our histories with women, laughing at how our histories (with various girls) seem to overlap. When we got back, Blake was home and so was Ams. I called Mandy K. and talked to her about "the drama" in my "quest for truth" (sketched in recent posts), and she was super supportive and very encouraging, just what I needed.