Rachel's Daily Diary
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Sunday
18 June 2000

11 40 pm pdt   [ two days ]

Friday was a good day. My throat hurt, but I decided to ignore it. I wore one of my favorite dresses -- the green velvet one -- and some new shoes I bought at Payless the night before. Work absolutely flew by with our Dim Sum excursion cutting into the day. There was little for me to eat, but I didn't mind at all because I had only gone for the social interaction, and one of my co-workers made a valiant effort to find veggie food for me.

By four I couldn't keep my eyes open. I wasn't sure how I was going to make it through the evening, but I was determined. I didn't have anyone to go to the Groaning Mona show with me, so I asked my co-worker Doyle.

Another of my co-workers could hear me sniffling, and offered me some zinc bubble gum. It made me nauseous, but I managed to keep my stomach calm with thoughts of the upcoming BBQ.

The BBQ was lovley, with scrumptious catered food (baked potatoes, garlic bread, and two kinds of salad!). I planted myself at a table with Doyle and we were shortly joined by two friendly web developers. Eli was promoting bustop and Sean had a great accent.

Eli and Sean were so sweet, and I didn't have much energy for shmoozing, so I didn't meet many other people. I scared Eli away from the table by telling him how good looking he was (he was really a cutey!). Doyle and I took off for the show while the BBQ was still in full effect.

The Groaning Mona show was at Luna Park, a club I loved when I first visited, and which I suggested as a locale to hold our highschool prom. The ambiance there is great, and we got in without a hitch, locating it by the dancing gorillas which I guess accompany all Groaning Mona shows.

I cannot begin to describe how much I enjoyed the show. The music was one thing, and the performance was a whole other. There were skits interspersed with the songs that really made the event come alive. Unforunately, the set was much to short, and they weren't allowed to do an encore. I am really hoping to make the July 8th show at the Roxy. I might even bring my sister.

I danced, but couldn't convine Doyle to join me, and wound up next to a completely uninhibited ten-year-old named TJ. He cracked me up, and I told him what a good dancer he was. I referred to him as my boyfriend for the rest of the night.

I got margaritas for Doyle and I, and we waited after the show for Charles to emerge. He was such a darling (and an amazing keyboard player!) and he invited us to join some of his other friends. Eight of us huddled on stools around the smallest table imaginable. Wendy, seated next to me, explained that she is turning thirty on Wednesday, and she is going to jump out of a plane. The went on at length about her hopes of being strapped to a hunk of a man, and I told her I'd say a prayer for her. She said that even if her tandem partner wasn't a stud, she was going to tell her friends he was. That really is the way to go, isn't it?

Dyole then drove me back to the office, where I had left my car. There were still cars in the lot, so we made are way to the BBQ location to discover that a dozen party-goers were still in attendance. As things were winding down, one of the programmers suggested we visit the local bar -- the Snake Pit. Doyle and I joined Kimball, Gram, and Doug for a drink and some riotous conversation. Then I announced that it was past my bed time, and Doyle returned me to the office. The parking lot was locked, with my car inside, but I did a decent job of supressing my panic. I found that my office key worked on the gate, and I had to assure myself (once again) that things always work out for the best. I made my way home and stumbled into bed at two.

I, as a mojor idiot, forgot to turn off my alarm, and was thus awoken at 7 45 to "You belong to the city..." Knowing the there was a high probability of my mother calling and waking me up in the next few hours [she sleeps from 9 30 pm to 4 30 am] I decided to call her and let her know that I was going to catch up on sleep, and I would call her when I woke up again. In the course of the conversation she said, "You didn't hear what happened with your brother?!?" I knew it was something bad.

He is on a summer program in Indiana doing work for the American Red Cross. He is staying in a dorm at a local college, and was swimming in a pool with a bunch of his friends, when one of them drown. The boy who died was named Sam and would have been a Junior at Yale next year. The news absolutely broke my heart, and I gave up on the idea of going back to sleep. I dragged my congested body out of bed and planted myself on the couch where I wept for the poor devestated parents and I missed my brother terribly. Sam was his suitemate, and he will spend the rest of his summer in a suite with an empty room.

When I was in sixth grade, a kid pushed me into a brick wall (in the course of playing a game) and fractured my right wrist in three places. It didn't hurt too much, and I had a lot of mobility still, so I considered that it was probably broken, and I iced it up. I don't think I went back to classes that day, and as I waited outside for my dad to pick me up, everyone else left. My dad was an hour late. I held my arm out awkwardy in front of me the whole time I waited, and when he finally pulled up, he pointed to it with a questioning look and I burst into tears. I hadn't know I was holding that sadness in, and then it all came out like a flood. The same thing happened yesterday, and I let the day slip by. I thought I was ok, and then when I talked to Matthew in the afternoon, I just burst out sobbing and sobbing, and I could stop the flood of emotion, so I just let it roll. My sweet man was so understanding. He actually enjoys taking care of me.

Needless to say, Friday was wonderful, and Saturday was not. My sickness has not gone away, despite my telling it to, so I have spent most of father's day sleeping. I did manage to have dinner with my dad (at Spumoni's), but I am disappointed that none of my food tastes good. Hopefully I will be all peachy keen by tomorrow, and hopefully I will get a chancce to talk to my brother and see that he is ok. Tomorrow is his nineteenth birthday.

* * *

two years ago today: "At seven this evening I will be on a plane to LA for my brother's birthday and for Father's Day."

one year ago today: "... some people in Brazil cloned a human embryo, and then killed it at 12 days. I am surprised people aren't more up in arms about this. Well, maybe they are, and I just don't know."

June 1998
June 1999
June 2000

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Rachel's Daily Diary