Stranded (Part 3).

"People who love to obsess over things are natural bloggers. Not just because they will blog every day and sometimes multiple times per day, but also because they like to tweak, change, edit, redesign, add, remove, and fiddle around with their archives, profile, settings, template, etc. So if you are strange, and you have things to tell people about, or even if you don't, now's a good time to start a blog. You'll thank me later when you sign that book deal." ~Biz Stone (found off: this blog)

Just enjoyed a turkey dinner with my family, had whipped mashed potatoes, turkey of course, dressing, gravy, a nice glass of wine. We toasted to my reading week, but it seemed everyone was apprehensive about toasting to that. Bunch of jokers they are. Nearing the end of dinner we had a laugh when John was pouring my wine, I took my blue cloth napkin and put it on his forearm. He had a disgruntled look on his face and told me take it off. I said dryly: "Oh, was just trying to help out - make you look professional." My mom thought it was pretty funny.

Tartan:


Use the password blackceramic to access the gallery

Jordan and myself reach Nelson's house, Jay pulls into his driveway and the guys slowly get out, talking amongst themselves. "Wait a sec - we don't need to wait here" Jordan said and we pulled away. So we head to Rossland Square, the location of the Tartan. I go to this plaza all the time, ever since I was a kid, cause my dentist is located at the same place. Actually going there tomorrow. We pull into a spot and get out, extremely cold outside surprisingly. We made our way to the door, surprised to see no bouncers out there. When we walk in there is about ten older women and a few guys line dancing to some sort of hip hoppish song that I could not identify. The looks on our faces indicated that we weren't really sure what was going on, or whether we were still a part of reality. "Think they still stayed here man?" Jordan asked. I look around the room but I can't see Kate or her brother. "They must be in another room." We showed our IDs to the bouncer, who was actually inside, and may our way to the adjacent room where the pool tables are located. Sure enough there ws Kate with her bro and two other girls.

So we sit down and kinda start to move the tables around. Nelson and company walk in see us and sit around, getting involved with the table moving as well. The end result was all three tables were pressed against each other, and the people on the bench on the back wall were kinda cut off from escaping to the facilities. But we didn't mind and so we all engaged into drinking and carousing with one another. The introductions kind of fell flat at the beginning cause there were just too many people and those people were more interested in the individual conversations. It wasn't until people had to leave for the washroom and bar that we got introduced to one another.

So I ordered a Guiness and I'm talking with Jay, Steve and Jordan cause they were the nearest blokes to me. The whole night the one table kept getting pulled and pushed back and forth into place and out in the middle of the landing where the rest of the tables were in our section. Jay and Steve started talking about theorems of Psychology, something about machines outputing, and semantics of humans... I understood the semantic part but it was getting over my head when there were getting into the names of the doctors who came up with the theorems. It was funny when Steve would get excited about something, not sure if it was the alcohol, but he'd talk really fast and his words would be jumbled together laughing. I could tell that Jordan was really interested in what they were talking about, I would have offered we switched spots but I didn't want to sit beside Matt B - who for some reason likes to make "connections" with people by physically touching them. Ok being secure about your masculinity is not a factor here if that's what you're thinking; don't fucking touch me is the factor. Kate then noticed that her ex-boyfriend came into the room, I didn't notice it at first but I could faintly hear her talking about Dan's friends. Conversations continued and she wanted to go talk to him. Jay left too for the restroom, and before returning made sure she was ok and wanted to come back. She was actually gone for quite a long time, I did mention it to Steve and her bro decide to check up on things. I had to go the the restroom too so I left.

I walk into the main bar area only to see a huge line up. I'm thinking fuck, this is the line up for the washroom? So I inquired about the line up to this middle-aged drunkard beside me about the line up and it's relevance to the restroom. "Naw this is a line up for another room, I'm really not sure what for." So I try and worm my way by managed to get into the washroom. Nobody there. Sweet I get a urinal right away before any drunkards start to come up and start talking to me. On my way out I grab a beer and make my way back to the table. I ran into Jordan who is just starting to leave. I return to the table and see Kate crying, I assumed that things did not go so well talking to Dan, but that's so expected when break ups happen. I remember when I broke up with Jessie those many years ago I was a fucking wreck, even though she was a total bitch and it was the right thing to do. I say wreck as in I just broke up with her drunk and started to ball my eyes out repeating "what the fuck did I just do?" over and over.

At that point I really wanted to comfort her though, but no way to reach her so I just let her be and let her brother and friends do so. Some of the advice that the girls she came with gave was really just a bunch of tomfoolery though. She pulled herself together soon and demanded to Nelson that they go out for a cigarette. "But I just had one!" He whined. I started to make some jokes soon afterwards, but that did not last long cause after "breaking the seal" and after the shot of tequila - I had to pee so badly. So the table was pulled and pushed again and I escaped to the restroom while Kate, Nelson, Pete and whomever else went outside for a cigarette.

I walk into the damn restroom again and scope out the place. One urinal left - right in the middle. Fuck. So I unzip and try to go, but the two people beside me start mumbling drunken rants to me. Thinking back on it now I can't recall one coherent phrase from either of them. So my bladder feels like it's going to burst but I can't fucking go cause those bastards keep talking to me, so I try to push and push and the end result was just an audible fart. Ok fuck this I'm doing the cycle. I flush, wash my hands and head to the bar, waiting for them to leave and to cycle round back in. I look in my pockets to see if there is anymore money to get a shot. Nothing but a toonie. Fuck. Well I go back into the restroom, still people at the urinals, but I eyed the lone stall and used it instead cause it's enclosed in a niche in the wall.

I get back to the tables and sit down. Since Jordan is gone we put the third table back and moved the other two tables apart from each other. I see Matt B looking and knocking at the window. I turn and peer outside too, looking for a vantage point because only the bar lettering were clear enough to see. As I look through I meet Kate's face smiling back at me with just barely enough transparency for eyes to meet, the rest were lost in a peach hue of translucency. In the close proximity I could see Pete and Nelson too laughing about their own conversations.

I start to talk to Steve's wife Jess and her friend Carly. They both live really close to me and actually knew a lot of the people I knew in life growing up in Oshawa. Like the Tunneys and McEwens, Scott Baggs, Pie (Ryan Lato), Pittmans even. It was pretty cool to talk to people and compare stories like that. Just gives you that feeling of continuity in life. The smokers came back and sat back down with us. I never seen Kate smoke before, but I could understand the situation, because if you read my blog you may remember me talking about my first walkhome experience and wanting a cigarette so badly, even though I didn't smoke. Kate sat beside me and we finally had a bit of a heart to heart - head to shoulder talk, but thinking back at it now I'm not really sure if I was in the best mental condition to be giving advice.

Further along in the night it became practice to shake some pepper into people's drinks which was pretty funny. The bastards got me just as I was taking a sip out of my beer. Then we made an interesting drink of left over remains of other drinks with a coaster and pepper added in for good measure. Matt B was so drunk that he took a drink out of it without anyone daring him or offering money. The night was winding down and I think everyone was ready to go home. Matt B however decided to get another glass of red wine even though he wasn't finished the other one. Fuck. So he leaves for the washroom and I'm purposely spilling it on the floor and other guys are taking sips. Nelson, Pete and Jay go over to another table to hide from him. So we all went over there and watched him return. Seeing no one at the table caused him to fearfully drink the wine fast in order to make sure he catches us outside. He finally sees us and we all head out.

Unfortunately Steve and Kate could not fit into Jay's Echo so they had to cab it home. The rest of us tried to find some sort of fast food joint. We drive by the area which Matt B lives, and we should have dropped him off. But we go down townline to get some food and hit up Pizza Pizza. Matt B at this point is throwing pepperoni from his pizza and the rest of us are just getting annoyed. The pizza was fucking terrible too, oh man, I'm surprised that place is still in business. So we decide it's probably a better idea that we drop off Matt B first even though I'm closer. On the way there he's opening his door on Townline road. Just nearly falling the fuck out of the car. And he's doing that gay shit to Nelson, and I can tell that Nelson is getting really, really annoyed. We finally drop him off and drive off. Man what a douche bag. Why the hell did they bring him along?

Then Pete and Nelson get dropped off and Jay makes his way back to my house. I invite him up the next Saturday that isn't consumed by reading week to come out with me and my friends to the Junction. So I hope that goes down.

I'm so tired when I walk into my house, I type some stuff for the blog and fall asleep like a brick.

And now you know...

The rest of the story.