Chrisonomicon

Monday, October 8, 2001

Or should that read, "Happy Violent-Imperialist-Pig Day"? Not that I have a thing against Columbus, because he seems to have become more of a children's storybook character than anything these days. On top of that, the holiday isn't even officially observed anymore. That is, no one gets the day off except for K-6 graders. Ah, to be a kid again.

So, Houston was good. Not great, but definitely a lot of fun. Barry's birthday party -- themed "Heathers" after the 1989 high-school tragicomedy -- went smashingly well a la Corn Nuts, "paté", some blue KoolAid for "Hull Clean" punch, a croquet set, red legwarmers, "Big Fun" t-shirts, and a sign on the door identifying Dianna's apartment as the "Snappy Snack Shack."

I was a little disappointed I didn't get to see John, although looking back, I'm sorta glad. There's a lot I want to say about this, but I don't really feel like talking about it right now. I ended up going to Rich's for drinks on Saturday night, mostly because I was told John would be there, but ended up going home early after getting sick. I think someone slipped some G into one of my drinks, since I only had three and am not a lightweight by any means.

This really disturbs me, because the mix of alcohol and GHB is lethal. To think that one of the guys I chatted with could have considered it a viable means to whatever ends they had in mind, angers me. Fortunately, Scott was there to keep an eye on me and carry me home when necessary, and it could have been a lot worse. My life seems to be turning into a deranged Queer As Folk episode!

Overall, the trip was a lot of fun, though. I got to spend some quality time with new friends and get out of my life for a few days to party, which I haven't done in a couple of weeks. I think that doing that once in a while is essential to keeping an even keel. This is mostly due to the fact that I feel so guilty afterwards I have a tendency to overachieve the following week.

So far, it's worked out pretty well. This morning, I feel relatively human and am again ready to take on the world of embedded systems. Things are good.