2003-03-04 - 4:26 a.m.

Laundry list time--feel free to ignore.

1) Got the hell outta work at 6:30 on Saturday. Took the C Line from Government Center, walked my awesome walk that I miss so much from Coolidge to Allston.

2) This was my first time back since I moved in September. Felt so melancholy, just like I thought, but also kinda triumphant. I had that joy thing going on, I was even skipping at times, across the street or over a dirty puddle of snow. I made the walk from memory too--and there were new things too.

3) Running about five minutes late to meet Randy Research n� Co., ran into this chick and this dude on Harvard Ave. They drove Randy over.

4) Gave Randy massive bear hug.

5) Awesome sushi at Tokyo City with the above n� the Roommate. Two Sapporos each. Sashimi salad jus� for me.

6) The old apartment in Allston has awnings now. Ewwww. (I didn�t cry.)

7) PBRs at O�Brien�s are $1.50!

8) The first band was really good. The second one was very easy to laugh at. I was appalled at how little mental effort was required for a decent joke at their expense.

9) The Roommate and I, really drunk, took the rare 64 to Central (we were aiming for Harvard, but we settled). Beers at the People�s Republic. I got the short bartender with the ponytail on film. With a bizarre shrunken head.

10) Wait, no, his head was proportional to his body. Mine is perhaps bizarre, and, yes, a little big--certainly not shunken. And no, I didn�t use the bizarre shrunken head to coerce him to pose for the picture. What I meant was, he was holding the shrunken head. Duh.

11) Next day, raining, my parents, bottomless pits of generosity that they are, drove down all the way from West Roxbury so my dad (who sells food) could drop off some Barber Foods chicken samples. My freezer is full of individually wrapped chicken parts stuffed with various things. I think that one of �em is fulla pizza. It was bound to happen eventually. Oh, and orange juice. No--not in chicken--a carton of OJ. Oh, and Cranberry juice. Even I�m hating me right now. Oh yeah, and these little pepper dealies stuffed with proscuitto and mozzarella.

My Dad, who loves that his son is living in such a swanky pad, invited himself up. He got to meet Crazy Cory from 6B, who listened at his door for my exit-step-floor-creek. He needed to know if my power went out the previous night too--or did someone just flip a switch?, knowing that it would wipe out some of his important answering machine messages he had been saving. (Yes, my power went out last night too, no I didn�t flip the switch--he thought it was the management company, who he�s been sparring with. And yeah, I�m glad he lives next door--he doesn�t mind the noise, and you�d gotta be an idiot to attempt pulling an inside-job-break-in to my apartment with him next door.) I�m gonna be that guy in about ten years, so enjoy me while I last!

12) Oh yeah, and the folks gave the Roommate and me a ride down Highland to Davis. (Yes, the above sentence is correct--remove �the Roommate and,� and it reads �the folks gave me a ride.� So there.) My Ma fell in love with Davis. All her life, she�s lived in Boston, and had never been to Somerville �till I moved to Somerville One after I graduated college. Never been to Davis. Never been to frickin� Harvard Square even--that�s gonna change this summer. This Christmas I got her a gift certificate to a classy restaurant in Harvard. I have a feeling it�s gonna be fun.

13) My Ma once told me that I have champagne taste and beer money. My reply? I have had beer taste and no money. I think the truth lies somewhere in between. After some tasty Huevos Rancheros, the Roommate and I browsed Pluto, and I fell in love with an $84 pair of jeans. But they�re 40% off! Maybe Wednesday.

14) Maybe.

15) The Roommate and I took the Red one stop to Porter, where we stocked up at PorterStar. That�s always fun. We got somore of those Japanese snow-pea crisps. Oh, and practical thingies too.

16) Back to Davis, and the 88 came right away. Put food away. Cleaned. Did laundry. Played music for hours.

17) Randy didn�t get lost following my T directions! We, the men, watched the Simpsons as the Roommate slaved away in the kitchen. The way it should be.

18) Start-stop dialogue with Randy and the Roommate and Jonee and Debbie. It was fun--tonsa good comedy for comedy�s sake. Like we were workshopping.

Oh yeah, pasta and chicken parm and bread with butter and baked garlic and strawberries with special fruit dip for desert. And all the Buds ya want. I�ll be eating that pasta for the next three days if it lasts--that was my dinna tonight. I think I said it�s like I�m running a marathon tomorrow, but I�m not supposed to do that well.

19) Played music--it had been months since anyone besides neighbors and the Roommate had borne witness to my acoustic genius. My own Somerville, then the Gummi Bears theme song, and an improbable cover of Silent All These Years.

20) Randy n� Co. went home. Immediately began missing Randy.