the 54th week

600 Vine group shot! Not pictured: Amos, Emily, & Sarah

Monday. Sarah and I opened, had a really solid morning. After work I napped till 5:00, and Emily brought Amos home after closing 600, and Andy joined us in the basement to shoot the shit and share work-related frustrations. It helps to get it out. Brandy came over with the gift of Chipotle. People started filing out as darkness fell, and I went for a drive through Eden Park. I like these drives 'cause the world seems to stop and I have time to actually breathe and think.

The 149th Anniversary of the Last Day of Gettysburg. I went to The Anchor before closing shop with Amos. Bob wants us to be open tomorrow for The World Choir Games, so Brandon & I are going in with Ana in case business warrants the salad bar. I'd like to have tomorrow off work with all my buddies, but oh well: I'll be getting paid time and a half! Ha, as if. After work Andy, Sarah & I went over to Rock Bottom for some Summery Honey Ales. Brandy & Aaron came over later in the evening, and we made a fire and played the drinking game Train, and we had hot dogs and s'mores and I was in bed by 11:00. The party raged long after, late into the night, 'till 4 A.M. The party was a success, with not one but two blackouts. Pickett's charge, perhaps one of the greatest mistakes of the Civil War and the landmark tragedy of Gettysburg, took place on this day 149 years ago, thus ending the battle.

Independence Day. Today begins The Choir Games, and when I went into work, downtown was vacant. Brandon & I had no more than two customers from 7:30-10:00, and the building charged us $250 to turn on the AC, and once we learned about it, we shut everything down. We ran by Carew to see Isaac, Gina & Shannon, and then I took Brandon home. Isaac came by the house, and Sarah came over around 3:00, followed by Emily at 4:00. We hung out in the basement, laughing till our guts hurt. Isaac & Amos went out to Indiana and the girls went their separate ways. I grabbed Subway for lunch, took a walk 'round Eden Park, and Andy & I went for a walk out to C.C.U., and we went to the rock ledge and watched the fireworks peppering the hills beyond and across the river. I ended the night on the front porch reading The Last Full Measure and pretending the fireworks were the distant sounds of Bristoe Station (not Gettysburg; we're past that). A misguided firecracker burst low over our roof and showered the street in red fire. Bits and pieces of it fell from the sky and lodged in our maple tree and fell onto our neighbors' S.U.V.

Thursday. The Choir Games are in full swing, and Asians have taken over downtown Cincinnati. And you know they're taking pictures of everything. "Let's be honest," Brandon said: "This isn't The Choir Games. It's the Asian Choir Olympics." Emily & I (and Blake too) refer to it as "The Hunger Games", though that can be politically misleading. I went to The Anchor after doing Food Prep for Ana, reshaping some more of The Procyon Strain: Book One. I just can't seem to pull it together. Amos & I grabbed Wendy's for dinner, and we spent the evening hanging out with Blake & Andy. Interesting news: Matthew & Shelby, who were married in May, are several weeks pregnant. Honeymoon Baby.

Friday. I ran by the bank and got coffee at The Anchor before closing 600 with Brandon & Sarah. It was a quick close, and I went over to Brandon's for a bit before heading home. Blake, Ams, Andy & I went to The Anchor for dinner. The evening service was awful, it generally is. I didn't get my O.J. and the others didn't get their coffee! Back home we spent the night hanging out with John & Brandy and Josh & Isaac. Leah told me today was Carly's last day at Spring Valley. Apparently she's being transferred down to somewhere in my neck of the woods. Jessica S., who used to date Chris way back in the day, found out Chris W. & I don't talk anymore, and wondered why. "You guys were like best friends!" I couldn't give her an answer. We just drifted apart. Life's like that: a revolving door.

Saturday. I went to The Anchor and sent out an email to The Wisconsinite, just filling her in on all that's been happening. I'm glad that we still have a pretty solid, open, and comfortable friendship. I grabbed some McDonald's for brunch, and Blake & I hit up Carew for coffee and a peanut butter cookie and to visit Andy & Isaac. Gabe & Emily came by the house to hang out for a bit. They're heading out to Austin tomorrow, finally getting hitched. I spent the evening writing, finally finished my FINAL revision of The Procyon Strain: Book One. It's around 250 pages, where I want each book to be. Amos spent the day partying with Brandy, Blake went and visited some friends, and Ams worked. Andy came home but only for a little bit. So I sat on the porch for hours and read The Last Full Measure, and Eric & Tiffany were at their mother's, and Eric brought Adler over so she could ask me a question: "Antwonz, can you talk?" I laughed, said, "Yes, Adler, as a matter of fact I do!" I went for a late-night drive with some Sobe and hung out with Ams for a bit late into the night. Carly's transferring to the 'Bux on 4th and Vine, just a hop and a skip (quite literally) from my place on 6th Street!

Sunday. Andy & I got Dusmesh for lunch: it'd been a while, and I gorged myself. I took my ritualistic Indian nap when we got home, and Ams & I had some much-needed alone time, talking about things swirling around us in this weird world we live in. I went to The Anchor to do some more writing, and the rest of my night was spent hanging out with Blake & Amos and watching Civil War documentaries online. Ams and I were supposed to go on a hot air balloon ride today with Dad (Mom's scared of heights, is going to trail us in the car), but the late-evening storms demanded a rain-check.