Boxed In...and Somewhat Behind

No blog yesterday...I was at Sam's. But I will not, WILL NOT cease recording the daily trivia. Maybe someday, a record of my senior year will be valuable to me. Maybe. See, I would've written before I left for Sam's house, but absolutely NOTHING happened yesterday until 5 o'clock (minus a 10-minute bike ride and a tiff with mom due to extreme bitchiness on my part). At 5, Aubsbear picked me up and she, sam, and I headed over to Vince's for the little Mac's rehearsal dingus. I wish more people had come--it was just Kern, Kelly, Llamma, Gavin, Aubs Sam and I, and--some random little kids? -.- That part worried me. Like the black van behind vince should've had 'FREE CANDY' spray-painted on the side.

Buuut anyway. Other than creepy pedophilic vibes, it was one of those idyllic summer afternoons that feels like part of a movie. It felt significant in some way that I couldn't quite identify...I'm sure if I give it time something will develop from it. Maybe, in fact, I'll write about it, since my muse has awoken from her coma thanks to the newest Samantha/Sophie story--an epic tale of a battle between all of the teachers of SAHS. Readers get a cameo in the story, so once the school year starts (or perhaps earlier) jump on the bandwagon. God knows 'The Black Rings' was a hit (by the way, if you want to read that one, I have it. Better yet, if you want to type up the 156 handwritten pages so that the story is preserved outside of the falling-apart notebooks, let me freakin' know). Now that my muse is running around my head doing happy dances, I'm quite sure the prose will start to improve (pre-apologies for the rambling in this note, by the way). As team Kenya said in their first policy vote: Yaaaaay!

So the rest of the night was good--we got mexican queso-loaded appetizers at Applebee's, chilled in the Marley pool (by 'chilled,' I mean stared directly into flashing LED disco lights), then I went over to Sam's and spent a while on the back porch staring up at the stars...I missed them so much in Oakland. On the best nights, you saw about 7. Out here, you look up and the sky is beautiful and dark, pinpointed by thousands of sparkling suns. Gorgeous. And we listened to music, and the music made me cry for the one I miss, and Sam spent the better part of 2 hours calming me down and helping me feel better (thanks to banana wheels, Hershey bars, Coldplay, and a good ol' fashioned cuddlefest).

We went to bed at three, woke up at eleven, and I was soon home repacking for the next adventure--My Popop's 73rd birthday. It's not generally something I'd look forward to--my italian side of the family is predictably loud and dramatic. But he recently got diagnosed with the early stages of Alzheimer's so I'm starting to try to really value our time. The glorious thing is when you put in a little effort and mute that snarky section of your brain, you CAN enjoy time with your family. Lovely. So we knocked on the door, he opened it and said "What's your name? What's your name?" For one horrifying moment, I didn't realize the joke he was making, just that he hadn't seen me in a long time. Then he laughed, I laughed--what a relief.

I mean, I see it. He's changed. But it's pretty much life as usual in the Fantozzi household. The grand thing is the afternoon was not without slap fights, sarcasm, and snark (and, as usual, Uncle Dave and Stef rolling in a good 24 hours late), but as we lounged around, laughing, joking, telling stories, I got that warm feeling inside, and my inner monologue proudly proclaimed: "This. Is. Family." Lovely.

THEN, after everyone else left, I went for another adventure in the grandparents' attic (last time I went through their record collection) with my Summer reading books in mind. I couldn't find Mrs. Daloway, Great Expectations, or Catch-22, but I did find TWO different books called the Invisible Man. Well, I'll be damned, I thought. Am I supposed to read Wells or Ellison? The HG Wells book sounded soooo good. A thriller, reads like a dream (read: nightmare). Awesome. Ellison--yeah, another book about overcoming racial inequality. An important issue, sure. But I've had my share, thanks. Of course, I call Sam and she tells me we're reading Ellison.

Damnit!!! At any rate, I'm taking both home, and will eventually post reviews on each one. Plus, I now have a whole shelf of the attic full of the books that interested me--everything from Shakespeare to Steinem.

Someday, Imma have a house with a library. Off to dream about it, kiddies.