tired but unusually happy

it's a beautiful spring Sunday. the birds are singing. the air is cool but the sun is warm. children are playing outside as their parents chat nearby. all is right with the world. despite a fairly busy weekend, i'm so cheerful today. full of cheer. cheer-infused.

i had a family get together at my uncle's house on friday night. i got home from work and freshened up and then i went to pick up my brother and the Mother and off we went. i didn't get home until 3 and not to bed until nearly 3:30. i had been awake and on the go for about 22 hours. not a typical friday for me.

saturday, i finally dragged myself out of bed at 9:30. had breakfast, watched a bit of a movie, thought hard about cleaning up and doing laundry but continued to watch TV instead. at about 3pm, i phoned my visiting friend to make our plans for the evening. we were going to see the Howler's band play at the Pic that evening but his band was going on last. we decided i would pick her up around 10pm and head down. i then went back to bed and slept for three hours. i woke up at 6:30 and decided it was time to clear out my recycling for the week so i did and my place is now clutter-free until next weekend. to reward myself, i ordered in some chinese food. shortly after i hung up with Fortune Palace, the Howler phones me and asks what i'm doing and do i want to meet up before the show and grab some food? i regretfully inform him that i've already ordered dinner and that Doc Tardy had family commitments. i think he was disappointed but that's what you get when you phone me at 7pm to make plans.

i picked up Doc Tardy and we set off to the Pic. after initially stopping in the wrong area of town, we found the place and went in. the Howler was already there with his band - turns out his bass player is smokin' hot! i recall seeing him at the last show but never up close. from where i was sitting, he looked cute but kind of skinny and young. the Howler was chatting with him and i looked at Doc Tardy and mouthed, "HOLY F!" she gave me the same look. he had dark hair, dark eyes, very cute smile, even cuter english accent and let's just say, i hated to see him go but i loved to watch him walk away. oy, the tush!

anyway, i chatted with the bass player's friend for a spell as we marvelled at the first couple of bands that were playing. marvelled, but not in a good way. we were sitting away from the Howler and his bandmates so we all joined them at the bar where we stayed until their band went on. i was having a really good time. the Howler has very nice friends, generally, so i don't really worry about attitudes and the like.

here's where my confession comes in. i invited my OC to meet us. the last time we all had lunch, he kept saying how he was trying to make an effort to get out more and stop sitting in his living room so i invited him to come along to the show. he had expressed interest in going to the previous one but never showed up. i didn't expect him to come to this one either but i asked anyway.

so Doc and i are standing there and she says, "is he coming? did you phone him?" there was discussion as to whether i should and i finally decided that it was 10:30 on a saturday night - why not? as i walked to the entrance of the pub where it was quieter to make the call, there he was at the door, paying his cover fee. i couldn't believe it.

he had brought his friend and most current futon-surfer, Shorty, and the evening at its elevated state, began. it was surreal. not in the sense that i was floating on cloud 9 because i spent my saturday evening with my OC but in the sense that i was actually out on a saturday night, with a big group of people, watching live indy bands in a pub downtown. after that pub closed, we all walked to another pub in a not so great area (where the band played their last gig). we walked in and there was a punk band on stage and lots of people in studded-leather everything, ripped nylons, bullet-belts, and varying-colored mohawks, all watching said punk band. the Howler's guitar player leaned over to me as we sat down and said, "this is their normal crowd, just in case you were wondering!"

this is where i chatted up the Hot Bass Player (he was apologetic about his accent when i asked where he was from. he said, "oh, i'm from london but i've been here now for about eight or nine years but i still have this accent..." to which i replied, "no, i'm not complaining - keep talking!"). this is where i watched the last punk band leave the stage and the dj started playing music that's in my iPod and all of the punk people came alive and started to dance and gyrate wildly to the likes of "smooth criminal", "hurts so good" and "bust a move". this is where i sat there while the OC phoned A at 2 am and left a message on her voicemail saying he was here at the pub with me and to phone us back and let us know what she's up to. this is where i stood and talked to the OC's friend and listened to him tell me to continue asking the OC out because he actually wanted to get out of the house - he was just too lazy. surreal.

when the bar closed at 3, most of our group left us, leaving me and Doc with the OC and Shorty. they walked us back to the car (or rather, Shorty did. the OC disappeared and when i phoned him, he was standing in front of the parking garage i was in. weird.) and i drove them home. the OC invited us up for drinks. i told him that i'd like to but Doc needed to get home and pack. we stood in the middle of 4th avenue for a good 15 minutes talking and joking. Shorty left us there and went upstairs. the OC managed to tear himself away after taking a long time to enter my phone number into his cell phone (even Doc said, "he was totally stalling!"). we said goodbye, and Doc and I got in the car and the OC watched us drive off. I got home after dropping off Doc and was in bed by 5am, probably asleep by 5:15. it was a great, fabulous night. and judging by the amount of time i've spent humming tunes all day, i think this mood will carry over to at least monday morning.

it's a good thing.