Lunacy

 
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Thu, May 31, 2001 08:30PM -0600

(flying west from Dallas)

I feel positively brain damaged right now, what with the uncomfortable pressure gradients across my tympanic membranes, but I thought I ought to recount my days, though I feel like chronicling it will mean it's all over, when I really want to feel like it's just starting.

Anyway, a bare restating of the facts:

Friday, May 11, 2001

I finished up finals with Neuro... I really don't know how I did, only that I am confident I answered 50% of the questions right, which, by my calculations, should allow me to pass. At least I'm prety sure. Me and Arnel tore through a few bottles of Pyramid ale. Then there was mine and Gerard's little adventure with trying to get to Poonam's place, which transpired in our typical anti-social fashion. We ended up entertaining ourselves at Panda Express along with Vinh, as the two nascent M3s waxed nostalgic about living in the boondocks (which is a horrific misnomer in the Midwest, given the lack of elevation.) We capped off the evening at Red No 5, where we came to the realization of the proximity of a lot of clubs (Rave Gauche, The Drink, Funky Buddha Lounge) and their juxtaposition with the Projects. Eventually I will remember the name of the street but I suppose it is ordained that it shouldn't be known consciously. I also finally figured out what Trance is and what House is.

Saturday, May 12, 2001

In retrospect, I find it disturbing how air travel renders one completely unable to function (and if the incoherence of the last couple of sentences doesn't convince you of my incipient brain damage... well I don't know. That just kind of trailed off...) But I suppose I shouldn't minimize the impact of staying up late and then waking up early in order to burn CDs and pack. Whatever happened to just picking up and going. I hate being a hypocrite.

But most of the day was consumed in air travel. All I did was play PS2 with my brother, who is the subject of a story I will eventually get to.

Sunday, May 13, 2001

Mother's day

Church, lunch at Tony Roma's. Sleep. It's hard to recall finals weariness, which is quite different from the fatigue of illness under which I suffer now. But indeed I slept, then ended up driving to San Diego to get the Corolla from my erstwhile intrasigent sister. (Long story.) After a mishap of forgetting a cel phone, I hunkered down to driving 'til midnight listening to cheesy pop tunes on the radio (O-Town's "All or Nothing" and SClub7's "Never Had a Dream Come True" come to mind.) Egads, just thinking about it makes me tired.

Monday, May 14, 2001

I did precious little sleeping-in on my little escapade to California. Waking up at 5am in order to drive my brother to Davis. He had unfortunately torn up most of the ligaments in his left knee the previous Thursday and was essentially unable to walk, so he needed a car. In the Lost Hills (I-5/CA-46 Jct.), we inexplicably ran into Theresa Masangkay and her parents. We made a pretty good run (6 hours) especially considering we had stopped for a sit down breakfast. After traipsing through Vacaville, my brother dropped me off at the Sacramento Int'l Airport where I eavesdropped on a couple of gun-control lobbyists... only then did it dawn on me--oh yeah, I'm in the State's capital. (I have some bizarre thoughts about Californian independence in light of the energy crisis, but I'll talk about them later.) I don't remember much of the evening, only the sweet oblivion of sleep.

Tuesday, May 15, 2001

This is the day my troubles began, if truth be known. A bit of bad Chinese food completely altered my GI tract, and it basically haunted me for a week. I really shouldn't have taken that Lomotil--all the GI side effects of opiates but none of the pleasure. But little did I know. I basically hung out in Chinatown that day, but the damage had been done.

Wednesday, May 16, 2001

Woke up early to catch my flight, forgetting that I was flying American instead of Southwest. (Flying Southwest has made me develop bad habits.... Because of them, I have taken to interpreting departure times as boarding times.) The trek through Dallas-Fort Worth Int'l left me incongrously drained, but I got to ride a 777 to Chicago, and curiously, I don't remember much of the day. Oh yeah. I watched "Memento" with Arnel.

Thursday, May 17, 2001

One wonders if there are non-stop flights between Chicago and NYC... I rode a tiny, tiny plane to Cleveland (which I recall my dad telling me resembles a developing nation... but things have probably changed.) I made the mistake of flouting Bram's advice about taking a car service and instead tried taking the bus. I then had a snafu with finding a Metrocard, getting crammed in like a sardine, with my legs bent at unusual angles, and finally getting off at the wrong stop. Then I had some fun with the subway system. And then I had to wait for people to show up. But after that, it was continuous going... we watched Kay Hanley (nee Letters to Cleo) perform at the Mercury Lounge, ate a sandwich at Katz's Deli, had a few drinks at Lotus, then smoked a hookah at Kush (that's my approximation... the sign was in Arabic.)

Friday, May 18, 2001

I walked (with Casey and his girlfriend Christy) from Times Square to Chinatown down Broadway, making a stop at Macy's. The rumbling of my stomach and the chills ought to have given me an indication of what was coming next. We had dinner at City Crab, then hoofed it to CBGB's to catch Organic Grooves. Oh, at City Crab, I saw a firl who looked a lot like someone I went to school with--but oh well, I'll never know. But CBGB's finished me off, what with the heat and the smoke, and by Saturday, I felt like I was dying.

Saturday, May 19, 2001

We set off for Boston aroudn 10am. An uneventful, quick drive. I had to deal long-distance with lease issues back in Chicago, but this also was of little consequence. We checked in at the Sheraton in Back Bay (pretty snazzy) and I wish I was in better health to enjoy it. we then hoofed it down Newberry St. through the Garden and the Commons, down part of the Freedom Trail, through Downtown Crossing, Quincy Marketplace, under the expressway, to the North End, where Casey tended a bar. We were well taken care of. We then headed back to meet Charlie and Sara at the Rattlesnake, then eventually went to Nate and Janelle's place for some drinks (i.e., they were trying to dispense of their excess booze.) Later, I collapsed at my hotel room, quite feverish.

Sunday, May 20, 2001

Sara's graduation day: brunch at Thornton's, ceremony at the World Trade Center, dinner at Ambrosia's, and then me and Bram skipped town, making it to Queens by 1am.

Monday, May 21, 2001

I met Aimee and Joce in front of RK Bridal, and then we proceeded to traipse through Manhattan almost willy-nilly. We had lunch at Tazo de Oro, then I went down to Brooklyn to see Joce's place and finally meet Ras. Afterwards, I left Aimee at the Port Authority (wehre she met her aunt), and I proceeded to Greenwich Village to meet Bram and Steve to watch "Memento" again.

Tuesday, May 22, 2001

I went to the Met and walked around until I was practically delirious, then headed down to Brooklyn on a packed B train. I had dinner at Joce's and Ras's. Everyone slowly trickled in, then I jetted back up to Queens.

Wednesday, May 23, 2001

Joce's graduation day: ceremony at Radio City, dinner at Charlie Mom's. Ceremony at the New Chool. Losing my mind at some Mexican restaurant. Oh Sangria and Tequila. There are songs attached here (Tribe Called Quest's "Can I Kick It?") Then a few of us went to Splash and... oh well. I crashed in Brooklyn that night, sharing the ground with Wayne.

Thursday, May 24, 2001

Joce's birthday: trekked back up to Queens, got cleaned up, then met the gang in Soho. Wayne, Kay, and Aimee had to take off... the rest of us went to play on the swings in Central Park, then we went to Obeca, an Asian fusion restaurant in Tribeca. I chilled out that night... after a few train snafus, I finally made it back to Queens.

Friday, May 25, 2001

I met up with Ben and his cousin on 34th and 2nd Av. We had Japanese ffood. Then me and Ben went shopping down 34th St then down 6 Av, partially re-enacting my trek with Casey and Christy. We met Joce and Ras in the East Village at Liquids (on 10th between Ave A and 1st Av, I believe) After a Long Island ice tea, a chocolate martini, and a succubus, we had breafast somewhere. Then we made our way to Vinyl on Hudson and Hubert. Again, I slept on the ground in Brooklyn.

Saturday, May 26, 2001

I was... delayed... in Queens, but it had been a while since I had hung out with Bram. Since my plan to meet at the Met didn't work out, I went down to Soho again instead. We then had dinner in Little Italy, where we discovered that we loved wine. Somehow (by train?) we made it back to Brooklyn.

Sunday, May 27, 2001

Chriscelle and Anna had to leave this morning. Me and Ben made breakfast for Ras and Jane, then we trekked out to the Staten Island ferry, checked out Battery Park, took a train up to Chinatown, walked around Midtown (H&M, St. Pat's), then headed out to the East Village to Xuntun on 1 Av between 10th and 11th. It was a tapas place, meaning Sangrias again, and other stuff. Like soy ice cream. We ended up at the Music Box, completely done, and then me and Bram cabbed it back to Queens.

Monday, May 28, 2001

This was a day to be completely lazy. They had a street fair in Astoria. I was tired, but the day was pretty fun.

Tuesday, May 29, 2001

I had breakfast at the corner of Steinway and Broadway before I left for La Guardia, making it to Chicago by way of Cleveland.

Wednesday, May 30, 2001

Uneventful, except for being sick. I will model my future days of vegging out after this one. Unfortunately, it was quite a nice day that I was unable to take advantage of.

Thursday, May 31, 2001

Which is today, and I'm already tired of being sick. Damn viruses. But I spent an ungodly amount of time in Dallas-Ft. Worth and spent $25 on utter crap to help me while away the time and to load up on carbohydrates, and God only knows how I'll pay for it all.

But my 3+ city extravaganza seems to be winding down as I close in on Burbank and as the sun slowly disappears beneath the horizon. I think I will sleep, then sleep some more.

e-mail: aswang@earthlink.net

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