To my great disappointment, I am at work today. I needlessly took off on New Years eve, so I must be at the office today. And a busy day it is. I could be at home with Miss Charming Melodee, though it's likely I would be frittering away the time playing Halo. I've been playing that too much. Besides the guilt factor, it's various monsters are also starting to invade my dreams. Plus, once I actually finish it, I'm anticipating a big letdown and a feeling of emptiness. I won't have anything else to do. Then again, there are several books I've been meaning to read.
I'm also pissed I'm not home today because Miss CM's now-belated Christmas present is supposed to arrive today. Wednesday just happened to be the day this week when they couldn't deliver it, as it was already attempted on Tuesday and again today. Angry, we're angry. The gift is an easel, which was terribly expensive, though relatively quite a bargain. I ordered it two and a half weeks ago, so it's not like I waited until the last minute. But I had pretty bad luck with ordering gifts online this holiday season. Anyway, all I can say is, she had better bloody like it.
The New Year's celebration was a good time. This was, in my now 27 new years, the first time I attended an actual New Year's party. In the past it's always been at a bar or someone's house, or alone with the ladyfriend. So I was excited to go to an actual party for once. It was also the first time I was able to spend New Years with my girlfriend and my group of friends. So I got to see almost every non-family member person who is important to me, though that's a group that gets smaller and smaller every year. In the late afternoon, two of Miss CM's college friends/ bandmates came over to our Ft. Greene apartment for a little hanging out and shooting of the shit, and also bore a few presents. I hung out for a while, but snuck off to play Halo every now and then.
Since I spent last New Year's with MCM's friends, this year the activities we'd hang out with my friends. But first we went to dinner so MCM could spend some time with her crew. So the four of us took the G and L up to Williamsburg to a restaurant named Bonita. I'd seen this place on Bedford ave before but never really gave it much thought. I looked like a shitty little place. But inside it was warm and festive and pretty nice. I'd mistaken its shabby exterior for dirty-urban when it was actually trying to look old-euro cafe or something. Just the affect of the neighborhood I guess. Anyway, we ended up waiting more than an hour for our table. For some reason other people who arrived after us were seated before us. I figured we were being discriminated against. Not really likely, but possible, with our crowd consisting of asian, hispanic, jewish, and a middle-eastern looking folk. A group like that, it's likely that wherever you go, someone would be discrimated against. Anyway, after an hour or so, the owner gave us a pitcher of sangria and some chips, which was nice. We also got to see all the dishes go by, so we pretty much knw what looked good. Consensus was that the enchilads, mexican corn, and fish tacos all looked yummy. By the time we finally sat down, I'd seen so many cheese-smothered, avacodo-covered enchiladas that all I wanted in the world was a plate of those. So we finally order, and I'm looking at the counter at some ordered enchiladas, and I order them. And the waitress says "Oh, I'm sorry. we don't have anymore enchiladas. Those are the last order." She said something about being out of salsa, which made no sense, so I asked if I could have a close approximation of the enchilada. Mainly, i wanted something in a tortilla covered in cheese and avacado. Unfortunately, english was not her first language, and it was loud, and all I got was a perplexed "Como?" look. So, disgruntled, I ordered the burrito. I was furious. The one goddam thing I wanted, and I must've watched at least three dozen go by, and they're out of it. What kind of Mexican restaurant runs out of enchiladas? I was unable to concentrate on anything anyone was saying for several minutes, and just watched the bar to see if there were indeed any more enchiladas. I have a problem with fixating on these sort of frustrating developments. Eventually I just ate a fish taco and the damn burrito, and it was pretty good. A lot more cheese than I anticipated. So all in all, a fine meal.
So after dinner, MCM and I bid adieu to her friends, who were heading to a party on Marcy ave., and we looked for a car to take us to Park Slope. Williamsburg to Park Slope is one of the worst commutes you could ask for in the city. There's no easy way to do it. So the cab was necessary, as it was approaching eleven. The plan was to meet up with people at Matt's apartment, but we figured if we did that, we wouldn't leave there until almost midnight. So we went straight to the party. The party itself was hosted by a different set of Miss CM's friends, who are really friends of friends. We weren't really planning on going to this party, but Matt and Jed were looking for a party go to, and of the two I knew of, this was more convenient. So even though it was my pick of activities, we still ended up with MCM's friends. Which was fine by me. Nothing like a little social integration. Plus, at Jed's new job, he actually works with one MCM's friends who was hosting the party.
The party had just gotten going before we got there. The place was huge. If I lived there, I'd seriously look into building a skateboarding ramp. Or at least acquiring a shuffleboard or curling set. I met another of Miss CM's ex-boyfriends, and stood there silently whilst they caught up. A bit weird, but not intolerable. I just hate situations like that. Anyway, it was a fun time. The posse at Matt's place didn't show up until literally 10 seconds before midnight, and ran in during the countdown. Jed said "It was just like on the O.C.!" Notable things at the party- yet another home of someone who works in the entertainment industry, this time a cable tv company, who herself does not subscribe to cable tv. I find this very weird. Also, there was a dead cat in the backyard. I'd heard a rumor, but didn't think to look for it until someone else came out to look. And then I saw a jaw sticking out of the ground, and there was the rest of the corpse. Everything but the head was flattended. Dylan found it very cool that the tenants of the apartment had decided to leave it there, as some sort of uber-meta decoration. Myself, I just figured they did exactly what I would've done, which was to recoil in horror at the thought of having to dispose of it, hope for snow, and a quick decomposition. Matt put a cigarette in its wide-open mouth, which many of the party people found terribly amusing.After the party, we walked down to Buttermilk bar on 5th ave. Matt and Dylan were having a debate about fantasy football through most of the party, and it continued at the bar. I was drinking whiskey and coke at the party, and that also continued at the bar. They even put a cherry in it.
On Sunday, after almost getting out of bed several times, Miss CM and I finally arose a little after noon to prepare for a brunch we had told people we were having. Everyone we invited actually showed up, which is almost unheard of. Still, it was only eight people total, but it was nice. It was mostly MCM's friends, two of whom slept on our futon. Matt also showed, being only a short bike ride away. He showed up just in time to put out a near-grease fire that I happened to start. I did most of the cooking, so I kind of lost track of what fires were on and off and misplaced a plate of bacon, which was sitting on a greasy papertowel. My spider-sense started tingling, but i couldn't pinpoint what was wrong until the paper was set ablaze. I tried patting it out, but soon the flames were so high as to be un-pattable (did I make that word up?). Matt smothered it with an oven mitt. Best of all, the bacon was fine. So, in the most real sense, Matt saved my bacon. Huzzah!
An enjoyable brunch was had, with everyone save matt sitting around until the early evening chatting. I excused myself to play Halo, much to Miss CM's chagrin. I felt guilty, and at one point came out to try to be social, but at that exact point the ladies were talking about when they first got their periods. So I quickly went back to Halo. Then I overheard the talk of politics, and as most of Miss CM's friends are leftist leaning, I was glad I wasn't there to disagree with them. It would've been pretty awful, too, since as they were making their arguments, I couldn't think of any viable counter-arguments. I'm a much better debater on paper. And that was how we rung in 2004.
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