a history of me

Wow, last night was pretty huge.

First off, I had dinner with Dad and an old friend of his at "East" on 44th St. It's one of a series of Japanese restaurants around town, this one apparently specializing in yakitori so that's what I ate. Dad wanted some too so we ordered a 20-skewer おまかせ ("chef's choice") set. It was delicious, especially the mushrooms.

After dinner I went straight out to Brooklyn to Mike's house for a big party. In theory, the party was a multi-purpose celebration; two of my friends had birthdays recently, I'm going to Japan in less than a month and Mike's band (Force Theory) just finished their demo CD/press kit. In reality, it was just a huge gathering of people, many of whom I had never met before. At one point I had considered trying to sing a song (as I did at Mike's New Year's party) but there was some disagreement over my choice as well as logistical problems obtaining the instrumental track needed to sing over. It was for the best, I think, because in order for me to get up and sing in front of people like that I need a lot of booze in my system first. Besides, without worrying about the music we were able to just relax on Mike's roof most of the party.

The big story of the evening, however, was Hyde coming to the party! We had discussed it earlier in the week and then she showed up, along with her neighbor "NDN." Unfortunately, they didn't stay long because Hyde had a lot to do today and it's a long trip from Midtown to Ft. Greene. However, she did stick around long enough to meet all of my friends at the party which meant a lot to me.

The biggest surprise, however, was the gift I received from Kate, younger sister of my friend Ben. Growing up in a small town, it feels like everyone knows everyone else. My family and Ben's family became very close in that Ben and I are good friends, Kate and my sister Salena are good friends, our mothers were pretty close as well and basically we all knew each other and frequently spent time together. So when Kate heard that the party was (in part) a send off for me to go to Japan, she gave me a present! I had no idea she would do this so I was really surprised! She gave me The Superior Person's Third Book of Well-Bred Words by Peter Bowler. It's a collection of obscure, fascinating words (the third such collection, in fact). She gave it to me because she knows I appreciate vocabulary words and she figured I'd need something to read on that long plane ride to Japan. I was very grateful and thanked her profusely.

The party went straight through to dawn. I nodded off at one point but woke up in time to catch the last few minutes of fun. Mike was showing Ben, Kate and I some of the video projects he's been working on, much of it intended to be included in a DVD to promote his band. He's been working a lot with video footage from their past performances (some of which I'm proud to say that I filmed) as well as material collected from the internet and some original footage of Mike "floating" down the street. It's all pretty damn cool looking. I'm always impressed with the stuff Mike produces, music or otherwise.

I made it home around 7 and got a decent amount of sleep. Dad and I had brunch this afternoon at the local diner but I opted for something a little different. Instead of another omelette, I ordered a big Greek salad with grilled chicken. It was ginormous, so huge and filling that I was actually tired when I finished eating. I definitely wanted a salad to make up for all that drinking I did last night. Somehow, I know they cancel each other out.

Well, I'm off to work out now. No major events this week until Saturday, when it's Wedding Time!