I don't know how he convinced me. Matthew was planning on going to his former home to watch the Formula 1 with the normal crew. Matthew had convinced the host to turn it into a Memorial day BBQ thing. I really didn't want to go, but the lure of grilled veggie burgers got to me and I consented.

We arrived to watch one of Matthew's former roommates spray the outside walls with beer in an attempt to get the tap in the keg. I was amused. Our two friends who just got engaged were there. She was discussing dress shopping, and flower buying. I was thinking about my florist friend who would do my flowers and that I'd like to wear a family dress (perhaps my grandmother's) if I can have it altered appropriately. I'd also like to make the invitations myself.

I walked out to the porch, where her fiance was lounging in an uncomfortable-looking hammock. "Does it feel real?" I asked. He said, "Yes! And very exciting!" How wonderful...

He got up for some reason and I invited him to sit with me in the hammock. When he got in it sagged so that our butts hit the porch bottom. We got up and one of the roommates tightened the strap which attached the hammock to the porch railing. Back in I went. Back in he went. Snap went the support.

I smacked down very hard on my tail bone. For a moment I couldn't even move, then I shook my hand as if I'd burnt my finger because I couldn't find any other movement to relieve the pain. I was laughing and saying, "I hurt my ass!" I slowly shuffled to the couch where I slumped over sideways and held ice on my butt for a half hour. It really was very funny.

Later in the evening I would discover I'd also given myself a nice bump on the elbow.

When I was much younger, perhaps eleven, my brother and I got into a substantial fist fight in the car. He opened the door and shoved me out and I landed hard on my butt. I could barely walk for days (I think I took a pillow to school with me to sit on) and the pain was intense. This has turned out to be not as bad as that experience, though there was a moment when I worried I had broken my tail bone. I'm sure I'll only be a little sore in the morning.

When I woke up this morning, I stumbled into the bathroom and in passing the mirror thought, "Hey, maybe that's how I'd look with short hair." So here I am all bleary-eyed documenting my hair.