ericboy's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Birthday Fiasco / First Gig / And so forth... So, I hope that you're in a comfortable spot. Sitting, preferrably, and in a cushiony chair, at that. It's time to unload the events of the past week. I worked Monday night and got off really late. So late, in fact, that it was technically Tuesday. It was two and a half hours into my birthday when I finally got to Katie's place, looking forward to a big birthday hug and a big birthday sleep-a-thon. I arrived and embraced her when the door to her apartment opened and in walked Bo and Preston, two of my best friends from Texas. She had bought them a bus ticket and arranged for them to stay in San Diego and celebrate with me until Saturday. As one can imagine, I was elated. I scooped her up in a big, I'm sure painful hug and then grabbed the two of them and we hoofed it over to Rudford's to catch up and play the "What's up with you?" game. We sat and talked and laughed at Rudford's as if we'd never been apart for even a moment. After only a couple of hours, we were all beat so we headed back to Katie's place and bed down for the evening. The next morning we woke up and tried to plan the day of my birth celebration. Since the radiator incident had crippled the car, our options were limited. We walked to my apartment and watched three of The Family Guy episodes in the box set that they had gotten me for my birthday and, lookout party people, played with my car. Just the way that I wanted to spend my twenty-fifth: playing with a broken down car. Yeah! We patched up the crack in the radiator with JB Weld and then walked to Little Caesar's and ordered two large pies. We took these to Katie's and watched Fargo and waited for her to come home. When she did, there was much rejoicing. After several hours of planning, we left for La Jolla to find a restaurant to eat at before meeting my SD friends at Sparky's for a little party type thing. Before that could happen, however, Katie fell off of the sidewalk while we walked down a particularly dark stretch and twisted her ankle. It immediately swelled to the size of a lime and, fearing it was broken, we rushed to the hospital. We went to the wrong one at first and then, after finding the proper hospital and bringing her in via piggy-back due to the lack of wheelchairs, I dropped her on the floor in the emergency room and then fell backwards on top of her. People with massive headwounds and whooping coughs laughed like they were never happier. Even Katie and I had to laugh about it, even though she was in considerable pain. Two and a half hours later, we left the hospital with Katie's foot in an Ace Bandage, some Vicodin and Codiene, and a fierce appetite for beer. We shot over to Sparky's, only an hour or so late, and met up with the peeps assembled there and caroused and had a great time. Preston took Katie back to the apartment and Bo and I stayed later to kick it at Makana's house. We eventually left there and walked home and went to sleep. On Wednesday, Katie logically opted not to go to work. Bo and Preston and I were granted use of her car and so we drove around San Diego and ate at my favorite pizza place before going to Pacific Beach and watching Preston frollick like a child in the waves. We went back to Katie's place and planned the rest of the evening, which held my band's first gig since my inception in April. We got to Dream Street at about nine or so and ordered beers right off. We watched the first band which was not bad but was most definitely billed in the wrong venue. They had about four people there to see them. I started writing in my journal and then the rest of the band showed up and we kicked it and greeted all the people who were filing in to see us. The second band, a last-minute addition called The Maniactions, took stage with a lot of intensity that was directed at about six to eight fans. They had a fast, punkish Offspring sound to their music but I could not understand a single word that the vocalist said. When we finally hit stage, fifty or so people had assembled to see us play. I did my mic check not really knowing how and John played the lead in to "World of Confusion." The crowd perked up and the set was underway. We ripped throught that song and, by the end, people who were formerly not paying attention were now overpaying it. We had discussed going straight into the second song but, apparently, the rest of the band was so taken aback by the successful completion of our first song in a live setting and the reaction that they paused. I worked the crowd a bit and then we launched into our second song "In My Life". After this song, I did the official introduction of the band and the welcoming of the crowd. I looked down to check to song sheet to see what segue was appropriate only to find that it had blown away from the huge fans on stage. So I said something like "Okay, gang. Here's another song!" It turned out to be "House of the Rising Sun", which I paid particularly close attention to knowing that Bo was in the audience and this song would be the yardstick that he would use to measure me by. We segued into Point of No Return and then the shirt came off. I was remarking to the boys earlier that day that I was getting a little fatter so I spent the rest of the gig sucking my gut in, which isn't really all that bad. However, when you're on stage in front of fifty people, you tend to get a bit vain and superficial. We ripped through "Messenger", my personal favorite, then into "Our Little Secret", my soapbox song. We slowed it down with "40 Days" and then sped it back up with "Mystical Moon", on which I stripped my voice immensely. I must have sounded so terrible from out there. No one chose to judge, however, and we rent straight into "Twisted". During this song, John does a painstakingly long guitar lead-interlude thing. For the first two measures, I jumped off stage and hugged everybody in the audience. Then I hopped back up on stage and introduced each member of the band. We finished off the song and I announced that the next would be the last. We kicked in on "Shine on Me" and heads bobbed like crazy. I leapt from the stage and into the crowd during the second verse, knocking over my beer in the process. Somehow, through all that depression, I finished the song. The crowd roared for more, so we did "World of Confusion" again, for "the late people". After that, Chris and I squacked the beginnings of "Mudshovel" and "Between Angels & Insects". We took off out of there and then Bo, Preston, and I took Katie's car to Sparky's and kicked it there for a while. Bo and Preston cut out early and I stayed behind to get more feedback from Meg and Wes who later drove me home. Not, however, before launching into a boring three hour tale of the incestuous history of relationships in the circle of friends that I've made since moving to San Diego. I crept in at about five in the morning and passed out of consciousness. The next morning, my rock star status had already worn off. The boys and I went to eat at Carl's Jr and then did laundry. Alright, Rock Stars! I went into work at five, miserable out of my mind. I got off at 2:30 am and went back to Katie's apartment to find that no one was there and I had not receieved a call to that effect nor a note. When we finally did catch up and I told them that I was upset by their lack of consideration, they all responded in classic fashion. Preston immediately understood and apologized, thanking me for my honesty and forthcomingness. Bo fought it and tried to reason around it. Katie got all huffy like she always does when she knows that she's wrong and can do nothing about it, and so adopts a "Shoot the Messenger" attitude. We all made peace before falling asleep for the night. Friday came and the guys and I walked to Balboa Park to join Katie for lunch. We opted to take the bus back to her place, something I'd been itching to do ever since I took the trolley to Tijuana. We hung out for a bit longer and then it was back to work for me. I managed to escape at about a quarter to one and took Bo and Preston to The Otherside to meet Eric and talk about how terrible sketch comedy is. We went to my apartment and played with my car some more and then discussed the phases of the moon after driving it to Katie's street. The next morning, I took the guys to Ralph's to pick up supplies for their mammoth trip back to Texas and then to the airport to pick up their rental car. We snapped two last photographs in the street and said our goodbyes. They followed me out to the 8 and we waved goodbye. And like that... they were gone. Depression set in immediately. But that is another story. This one entry is entirely too long. 2:17 a.m. - 2003-08-25 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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