August 01, 2003 - 12:23 pm
Yesterday was a sad, sad day.
Through a kinda random turn of events, I ended up in the Outrage office at 4pm to see the last day of Outrage...they were raffling off goods and people while some people were saying goodbye, some just gave a wave and a few handshakes and walked out like they'd be back the next morning. Seeing that place so empty, I tried to remind myself that I was throwing the bookend on three years of Outrage memories. There were pictures (Bart with shorter hair, the famous Halloween party of 2001, etc.), dents, stains, all with their own story.
It hit Mike hard and he ran out like ink in a bic pen...I was going to follow suit, but Jeff convinced me to cancel my dinner plans and join the very last Panchero's train ever. It was good times, but a sad reminder of what was going to be missing from my life soon enough. On a side note, Scott is an eating machine! Man alive!
So the depression I'd been fighting to subdue all month just roared back up with a vengeance when we parted ways at the structure. I mean, sure, there are people who might stick around, at least in Michigan, or that I might see on holidays or something when they're in town visiting. Some people I know I'll keep in touch with, no matter where they go (beauty of the internet-distance is inconsequential)...but on the other hand there are some people there I consider friends that in all honesty, I fear I may never see them again after yesterday (or at best, once more before they leave town). You know, the kind of people whose company you enjoy, yet never seek out? People you've known for years yet still don't have their phone number? Yeah, those people. It just makes me feel horrible all over again.
I'm sure you know by now what this is leading up to. Of COURSE we went out and got voraciously drunk shortly thereafter. I'd go as far as to say I was ALMOST more drunken than last New Years (there were many shenanigans, and even more loss of equilibrium, I can tell you that). Good people, good times. I almost cried, but I'm proud to say that I kept the little droplets in their proper place. Mike and I made sweet love to the jukebox, but got stuck in a morass of sad when we started playing Radiohead songs and singing along. We took turns doing toasts before rounds of shots, and on a happier note, we were still there at midnight when August 1st, 2003 happened and Mr. Jeff's birthday occurred. Three hours and $320 (not including tip) later, we stumbled (no, really...) down the block to Babs, where some people (those who didn't have to stumble) drank even more.
I'll spare you the long story of why I only got two hours of sleep last night, but the important fact is that I did, and I'm tired, and I turned in my paper on time, and my eye looks like evil, and I had a piece of stuffed spinach pizza for lunch, so you can put that in your pipe and fuck off.
