illusionofjoy | Mirrored TSWP Entry - Sunday, December 29, 2002

I spent most of Friday and Saturday with masochistmonkey and his boyfriend. They had come up to spend time with his family for the Holidays, and since I hadn't seen my friend since he moved to Pittsburgh, I made it my mission to traverse the twenty miles between Potsdam and Massena in order to do so. Obviously the 24^th and 25^th were out of the question, so anything outside of those times up until the day they were to drive back to Pittsburgh were the target.

I managed to convince my mother to allow me to borrow her car while she was at work in order that I could make the drive to Massena. It was my intention to pick up Darkling before she had to go to work and then drive over to Masochist Monkey's house so we could all hang out for a while. I had been wanting MM and Darkling to meet ever since I first met her, and this seemed to be a perfect opportunity.

I got to Massena without incident. Ever since I collided with a guard-rail thanks to a patch of black ice while driving my younger brother back to school, I've erred slightly more on the side of caution in the hopes of not bending another corner of a vehicle I don't even own. It's not that I'm frightened of driving, but I am peeved that forces of nature and twists of fate marred my once-perfect record. That day I had been one of the few people on I-81 driving at 55MPH. The cars around me had to be going at least 70 on the slick roads. I had just made it over a bridge and was moving into the left lane when I lost control of the car. In a split-second I went into a skid which nearly turned me entirely in the opposite direction. As the vehicle was out of control and neither moving the steering wheel nor applying the brakes had any effect, all I could think was "don't hit anything" over and over again as the world passed me by. After that thought, the front, driver's-side corner of the car bounced off a guard-rail and we came to a rest in the middle of the highway.

There are still reminders of the incident that travel with me whenever I drive the car. Before I even get into the driver's seat, I get to look at the missing glass for the front, driver's-side signal light. Also, the front license plate, a new number, now rests on the dashboard of the car. The old one, along with its mount now rests in some embankment alongside I-81 just north of Syracuse. Had I hit that guard-rail with slightly more force, the airbag would have deployed and I would have had chemical burns all over my face as another reminder.

Thoughts of chemical burns aside, I found Darkling's neighbourhood with no trouble. However, finding her house took me over half an hour. Her house is located at the end of a street the forms a circle in relation to the street that the house is actually on. Not only that, but her house is coloured in the exact same shade as the one at the opposite end of said circular street. To further complicate matters, that second house is only one number off from the house that the Darkling lives in; it is as if the city planners decided that it would be a good idea to use a numerical system where the even and odd numbered buildings switched street sides halfway to the end of the road.

By the time I found Darkling's house, she had only a half-hour before she had to go to work. Thus, I drove her to her place of employment (a local supermarket) before and we killed time there before she officially had to clock in. From there, I made my way to Masochist Monkey's house to see if anyone was home.

I arrived to find his boyfriend (whom I've yet to come up with a clever nickname for, however I'm sure he'll have a plethora of witty suggestions once he reads this) there, but no Masochist. He was out on an appointment, which gave the boyfriend and I some time to catch up outside the confines of AIM. We later joined up with Masochist as I drove to pick him up from his appointment and then I introduced them both to Darkling when we swung by the supermarket where she works.

I had to drive back to Potsdam late in the afternoon, because my mother wanted her car back before she finished work for the day, however I would soon be back in Massena. A couple of friends from Watertown were driving up to Massena to hang out with Masochist Monkey and his boyfriend. They swung by my house to pick me up so we could all hang out together. In the end, the five of us, along with Darkling, all ended up at a party together with several of Masochist's other friends.

I settled in and began drinking almost immediately. For hard ciders and two shots of vodka later and…

Memory fails me, as usual. I remember talking to a lot of people that I hadn't spoken to in a while, but damned if I recall much of what was said. I have impressions of what was said, but no actual words to go by. I'm sure things will come back to me, slowly.

I ended up passing out of the couch at Masochist's house and waking up around 10:00 Saturday morning. He and his boyfriend drove me back to Potsdam that afternoon and we all hung out a while. I played a few new songs for them that I've been working on for a while now. They left later in the evening to depart for Pittsburgh in the morning.

I really enjoyed spending time with old friends again. These are people who I've been missing for a while now, ever since they graduated, moved away, etc. It would be nice to see everyone more often, but at this current juncture, it just isn't possible. Maybe someday it will be. I would hope so, that is.