Do you believe in... ghosts?
Posted: Mon Aug 25, 2003 3:44 am
This is what I logged in to post about last night. I'm doing it now. Hopefully I can make it funny, but no promises. Saturday's itinerary was:
12:00 PM Wake up.
12:15 Play Vice City in my underwear.
1:30 PM The computer crashes. The computer crashes a lot. Which is why I tend to save a lot when playing video games, but... well, I think we've all been over that here. I turn off the computer in disgust.
1:45 PM Take a quick whore's bath, brush my teeth, put in my contacts and stumble over to Raf's.
2:00 PM Raf's sister is in town from Boston. I am not in any condition physically or mentally to deal with members of the fairer sex at this moment, as is almost always the case when one of Raf's sisters pops up, but one of Marti's many positive qualities is that she either doesn't notice or is too polite to comment.
2:15 PM Marti and her boyfriend want us all to hang out. Raf, being never more uncomfortable than when he's with family, quickly makes his exit, and I obligingly follow. We pick up some Guiness which we sneak in to a showing of Dirty Pretty Things and after that I convince him to return home because really we have nothing else to do.
5:30 PM: One of Marti's friends, John, has turned up. I only kind of know him, but I guess we went to high school together and we have some other mutual friends. Me, him, and Raf talk for a bit. The subject of another friend of ours comes up, and Raf mentions he's been avoiding him since his sister's graduation party, and was apparently under the impression that I had been as well. I don't know what he's talking about, but apparently I got plastered on gin and snuck a photo of my junk with his the girl's camera when she had set it down for a minute. I point out to Raf that I A: have no memory of this and B: could have in no way been identifiable by the shot, even if there had somehow been enough light in my pants for the photo to turn out.
6:00 PM: We head out to TGIFridays to meet up with Marti's friends. In addition to John, there's Ian and Keith who I was passably good friends with in high school, but haven't seen much or at all since. That they run this abomination should tell you just about enough about them to explain why I haven't kept caught up. That they hang out at TGIFridays should remove any lingering doubts. Also present is some guy I don't know and an absolutely adorable eighteen year old girl who I at first assume is the Ian's girlfriend.
6:30 PM: I'm actually having a pretty good time. In person they all find their own humor funny enough that it almost becomes infectious, and I've got just enough Guiness in me to be sociable. So things are going okay. Plus, I quickly discern that the girl is in fact "just friends" with Ian. I'm still as thoroughly unkempt as I was hours ago, but I still kind of manage to be the best looking guy at the table by default. Plus, I'm "on". For me, that just means going from actually rude to "amusingly rude", but I manage to get a couple laughs. Things are looking up.
7:30 PM: We finish eating, and much ado is made of divying up the check. All I had was one of Marti's cheese sticks, so I take the opportunity to hang back and collect my thoughts as the beer buzz has pretty much worn off. People start talking about where we're going next. I'm only half paying attention. Raf suggests this absolute dive of a kareoke bar, but they all intend to go some place called Bachelor's Grove. Someone asks if I'm up for tagging along. I nod absently, figuring it's a bar or something.
8:00 PM: Turns out that this is Bachelor's Grove. Visiting an abandoned cemetary to look for ghosts is scary at fifteen, cool at eighteen, and kind of fucking stupid at twenty-three, natch. But I figure I've aready said yes, and the point still stands that I've got absolutely nothing else to do, so maybe it'll be fun for a lark. Plus, The Girl is apparantly really into the idea.
9:00 PM: Everyone's getting organized with their flashlights and bugspray and shit. It probably should have occured to me at this point that we'd be outdoors in a pretty overgrown area. It probably also should have occured to me that I was wearing shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt. But I'm too busy with Raf debating about the appropriate liquor to bring to a graveyard and whether the fact that The Girl is leaving for college in two weeks is a good thing or a bad thing. Our conclusions: Sangrea and "a good thing".
11:30 PM: After various on the road shenanigans and the discovery of a couple cop cars parked near the "usual" entrance, we wind up parking miles away at some Irish Tavern slash banquet hall. Someone announces that we're going to have to hike through the woods for fifteen minutes or so. It probably should have occured to me that I'm wearing shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt, but I'm too busy trying to think of something clever to say to The Girl.
11:45 PM: After a quick bathroom break we arrive at the woods. When I'd heard the word "woods", I was thinking like a forest preserve type of deal where you kind of walk along a slightly overgrown dirt path past where all the fifteen year olds go to smoke pot and sacrifice squirrels so they can tell their friends that they're "pagans". But, no this is actual honest to Siva underbrush. It occurs to me that I'm wearing shorts, sandals and a t-shirt. I have just cut my toe on something, and I am Not Happy.
11:50 PM: The Girl starts to get jittery and grabs on to my arm for a moment. A moment later, she apologizes but, when I reply that I don't mind she latches right back on. A thorn on a dead tree has just torn a chunk of flesh out of my pinky, but I am Happy.
After Midnight, Time Unknown: Crossing over a log, my foot slips through into the creek below. It's sheer luck that I keep my sandal, but now my leg is covered in mud and crap up to the knee and my toes feel funny. The Girl is still all clingy, but I am Decidedly Less Happy.
After Midnight, Time Unknown: I have officially run out of things to say. The Sangrea's good but, of course, pretty weak. And even with the social lubricant, I just have no jokes or funny comments left that anyone here but Raf and maybe Marti would get. I'm kinda chatting with The Girl, but some friend of hers keeps calling her on the cellphone, which is annoying me for obvious reasons, and not really putting her in the best mood because we're, y'know, lost in the fucking woods at night. What was going to be a fifteen minute hike through the woods has now almost certainly gone on for an hour. I am Not Remotely Happy.
After Midnight, Time Unknown: At last we find the entrance to the graveyard. After a brief speech about all the "eldritch" shit that's supposed to happen there, we head inside. Within moments, we hear voices, which I'll admit kind of creeped me out for a moment. Turns out there's a whole nother group of people who had the same idea we did. At least they seem to be the right age for this kind of sillyness. We all merge in to one group, and Ian and John start playing tour guide. Some guy in the other group mentions how he can feel "sadness all around". The Girl is clinging tighter than ever, so I bury all my sarcasm down as deep as I can. I am Maybe Kinda Happy.
After Midnight, Time Unknown: We wander about the graveyard for a while. The Girl gets up enough courage to snap a few photos, but is soon practically begging Ian to leave. My pointing out to her that "there's nothing here but decaying carbon" doesn't seem to register with her in the slightest. But, nevertheless, the ground is solid, I have a pretty girl on my arm, and none of my cuts seems to be infected. After a moment of introspection, I decide that I am Once Again Happy.
After Midnight, Time Unknown: We leave the graveyard and head back towards the cars. Everyone's talking and laughing and joking. We're trespassing, of course, but the cops seem to have left. But, still The Girl is nervous and tries to ask everyone to keep it down. Of course, she can't manage to speak above a quiet mutter in doing so, so it's up to me to be the pussy and tell everyone to shut up. I figure it's the smart move.
2:00 AM: We get back to our cars and start divying up all the people and equipment for the ride home. I'm trying to figure out a final move but my mind refuses to summon forth:
A. Any particular reason why I and not Ian should drive The Girl home.
B. Her fucking name. I can't admit I've forgotten it at this point. I can't ask for a number because, for one how I supposed to call her parents' house and not know her name, and for two what possible non-predatory reason could I pretend have to ask for it with her leaving town in two weeks? I mean, she clung to my arm and muttered for four hours, it's not like we connected on any deep spiritual level or anything.
So I end up driving Raf, Marti, and her boyfriend home. They all sleep the entire way. I am Fucking Miserable.
3:00 AM: I take a long shower and decide that this might make a suitable story for Jolt Country.
3:30 AM: The story doesn't seem to come together, but just from my name appearing on the "user's present" bar, Robb has decided to give me a big ole' welcome back. I decide that corruptive sexual encounters with bright-eyed naifs is probably not as fun and consequence free in the doing as it is in the plotting, anyway. I make a couple posts to the BBS, yank one off , and curl up for a good ten hours sleep. In the end, I guess I'm Happy.
So now you know... the rest of the story.
12:00 PM Wake up.
12:15 Play Vice City in my underwear.
1:30 PM The computer crashes. The computer crashes a lot. Which is why I tend to save a lot when playing video games, but... well, I think we've all been over that here. I turn off the computer in disgust.
1:45 PM Take a quick whore's bath, brush my teeth, put in my contacts and stumble over to Raf's.
2:00 PM Raf's sister is in town from Boston. I am not in any condition physically or mentally to deal with members of the fairer sex at this moment, as is almost always the case when one of Raf's sisters pops up, but one of Marti's many positive qualities is that she either doesn't notice or is too polite to comment.
2:15 PM Marti and her boyfriend want us all to hang out. Raf, being never more uncomfortable than when he's with family, quickly makes his exit, and I obligingly follow. We pick up some Guiness which we sneak in to a showing of Dirty Pretty Things and after that I convince him to return home because really we have nothing else to do.
5:30 PM: One of Marti's friends, John, has turned up. I only kind of know him, but I guess we went to high school together and we have some other mutual friends. Me, him, and Raf talk for a bit. The subject of another friend of ours comes up, and Raf mentions he's been avoiding him since his sister's graduation party, and was apparently under the impression that I had been as well. I don't know what he's talking about, but apparently I got plastered on gin and snuck a photo of my junk with his the girl's camera when she had set it down for a minute. I point out to Raf that I A: have no memory of this and B: could have in no way been identifiable by the shot, even if there had somehow been enough light in my pants for the photo to turn out.
6:00 PM: We head out to TGIFridays to meet up with Marti's friends. In addition to John, there's Ian and Keith who I was passably good friends with in high school, but haven't seen much or at all since. That they run this abomination should tell you just about enough about them to explain why I haven't kept caught up. That they hang out at TGIFridays should remove any lingering doubts. Also present is some guy I don't know and an absolutely adorable eighteen year old girl who I at first assume is the Ian's girlfriend.
6:30 PM: I'm actually having a pretty good time. In person they all find their own humor funny enough that it almost becomes infectious, and I've got just enough Guiness in me to be sociable. So things are going okay. Plus, I quickly discern that the girl is in fact "just friends" with Ian. I'm still as thoroughly unkempt as I was hours ago, but I still kind of manage to be the best looking guy at the table by default. Plus, I'm "on". For me, that just means going from actually rude to "amusingly rude", but I manage to get a couple laughs. Things are looking up.
7:30 PM: We finish eating, and much ado is made of divying up the check. All I had was one of Marti's cheese sticks, so I take the opportunity to hang back and collect my thoughts as the beer buzz has pretty much worn off. People start talking about where we're going next. I'm only half paying attention. Raf suggests this absolute dive of a kareoke bar, but they all intend to go some place called Bachelor's Grove. Someone asks if I'm up for tagging along. I nod absently, figuring it's a bar or something.
8:00 PM: Turns out that this is Bachelor's Grove. Visiting an abandoned cemetary to look for ghosts is scary at fifteen, cool at eighteen, and kind of fucking stupid at twenty-three, natch. But I figure I've aready said yes, and the point still stands that I've got absolutely nothing else to do, so maybe it'll be fun for a lark. Plus, The Girl is apparantly really into the idea.
9:00 PM: Everyone's getting organized with their flashlights and bugspray and shit. It probably should have occured to me at this point that we'd be outdoors in a pretty overgrown area. It probably also should have occured to me that I was wearing shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt. But I'm too busy with Raf debating about the appropriate liquor to bring to a graveyard and whether the fact that The Girl is leaving for college in two weeks is a good thing or a bad thing. Our conclusions: Sangrea and "a good thing".
11:30 PM: After various on the road shenanigans and the discovery of a couple cop cars parked near the "usual" entrance, we wind up parking miles away at some Irish Tavern slash banquet hall. Someone announces that we're going to have to hike through the woods for fifteen minutes or so. It probably should have occured to me that I'm wearing shorts, sandals, and a t-shirt, but I'm too busy trying to think of something clever to say to The Girl.
11:45 PM: After a quick bathroom break we arrive at the woods. When I'd heard the word "woods", I was thinking like a forest preserve type of deal where you kind of walk along a slightly overgrown dirt path past where all the fifteen year olds go to smoke pot and sacrifice squirrels so they can tell their friends that they're "pagans". But, no this is actual honest to Siva underbrush. It occurs to me that I'm wearing shorts, sandals and a t-shirt. I have just cut my toe on something, and I am Not Happy.
11:50 PM: The Girl starts to get jittery and grabs on to my arm for a moment. A moment later, she apologizes but, when I reply that I don't mind she latches right back on. A thorn on a dead tree has just torn a chunk of flesh out of my pinky, but I am Happy.
After Midnight, Time Unknown: Crossing over a log, my foot slips through into the creek below. It's sheer luck that I keep my sandal, but now my leg is covered in mud and crap up to the knee and my toes feel funny. The Girl is still all clingy, but I am Decidedly Less Happy.
After Midnight, Time Unknown: I have officially run out of things to say. The Sangrea's good but, of course, pretty weak. And even with the social lubricant, I just have no jokes or funny comments left that anyone here but Raf and maybe Marti would get. I'm kinda chatting with The Girl, but some friend of hers keeps calling her on the cellphone, which is annoying me for obvious reasons, and not really putting her in the best mood because we're, y'know, lost in the fucking woods at night. What was going to be a fifteen minute hike through the woods has now almost certainly gone on for an hour. I am Not Remotely Happy.
After Midnight, Time Unknown: At last we find the entrance to the graveyard. After a brief speech about all the "eldritch" shit that's supposed to happen there, we head inside. Within moments, we hear voices, which I'll admit kind of creeped me out for a moment. Turns out there's a whole nother group of people who had the same idea we did. At least they seem to be the right age for this kind of sillyness. We all merge in to one group, and Ian and John start playing tour guide. Some guy in the other group mentions how he can feel "sadness all around". The Girl is clinging tighter than ever, so I bury all my sarcasm down as deep as I can. I am Maybe Kinda Happy.
After Midnight, Time Unknown: We wander about the graveyard for a while. The Girl gets up enough courage to snap a few photos, but is soon practically begging Ian to leave. My pointing out to her that "there's nothing here but decaying carbon" doesn't seem to register with her in the slightest. But, nevertheless, the ground is solid, I have a pretty girl on my arm, and none of my cuts seems to be infected. After a moment of introspection, I decide that I am Once Again Happy.
After Midnight, Time Unknown: We leave the graveyard and head back towards the cars. Everyone's talking and laughing and joking. We're trespassing, of course, but the cops seem to have left. But, still The Girl is nervous and tries to ask everyone to keep it down. Of course, she can't manage to speak above a quiet mutter in doing so, so it's up to me to be the pussy and tell everyone to shut up. I figure it's the smart move.
2:00 AM: We get back to our cars and start divying up all the people and equipment for the ride home. I'm trying to figure out a final move but my mind refuses to summon forth:
A. Any particular reason why I and not Ian should drive The Girl home.
B. Her fucking name. I can't admit I've forgotten it at this point. I can't ask for a number because, for one how I supposed to call her parents' house and not know her name, and for two what possible non-predatory reason could I pretend have to ask for it with her leaving town in two weeks? I mean, she clung to my arm and muttered for four hours, it's not like we connected on any deep spiritual level or anything.
So I end up driving Raf, Marti, and her boyfriend home. They all sleep the entire way. I am Fucking Miserable.
3:00 AM: I take a long shower and decide that this might make a suitable story for Jolt Country.
3:30 AM: The story doesn't seem to come together, but just from my name appearing on the "user's present" bar, Robb has decided to give me a big ole' welcome back. I decide that corruptive sexual encounters with bright-eyed naifs is probably not as fun and consequence free in the doing as it is in the plotting, anyway. I make a couple posts to the BBS, yank one off , and curl up for a good ten hours sleep. In the end, I guess I'm Happy.
So now you know... the rest of the story.