Sonic Party, 1/28/05

Marny and Erica. I haven't seen Marny since she left.	Rudy. Confused? Perplexed? Deep in thought? Wait, I've got it... wasted.
Ray and Kenny, in the midst of a demonic possession.	Kristen, offering cherries that have been soaked in something. I don't want to know what.
Matt, another old face, and Allison, who doesn't like having her picture taken.	Katie.
Freddie, playing Dominoes.	Devon. She's like nine feet tall.
Kristin and Erica. It took three tries to get this picture.	Group shot, including Leslie on the left, talking to Bruce. This is right before I left.

Higher and higher; I'm gonna light your fire

So, skating Monday.

Janelle and I had talked about skating Monday, since it was a holiday and she didn't have school, and her skates had recently come in. I remember Lilie saying she liked to skate as well, so I invited her as well.

We had to clean house first, and Lilie was supposed to work during the day, but she got in an argument with the manager and walked out. We ended up going... I don't really remember when we got there. There was *no one* there. Well, that's not actually true. The staff was there, and I think there were three other people there for about ten - fifteen minutes after we got there. After that, it was just the three of us.

I played PIU first, 'cause, well, even though it's DDR's retarded bastard cousin, it's still a member of the family, no matter how embarrassing. Lilie actually came over and watched, which always makes me nervous and/or self-conscoius. But we did start skating before too long. It was... okay. We even had a free skate in the opposite direction. That's always fun. We held hands while skating a lot, but eventually gave that up, after suffering the dreaded 'slingshot effect' a few times. I finally got to try that thing where two people are holding hands, and one person is skating backwards, and they're holding both hands. Didn't work very well.

One interesting point. We were sitting over on the table, talking about leaving or staying or doing karaoke or what, and somehow, the conversation of being sweaty came up. I mentioned that Lilie hadn't seen me really sweaty (as I get after a few hours of DDR), and she said that she had. It took me a second to realize that she was talking about the time we were naked together in bed, almost going at it. I wouldn't be surprised if Janelle deduced the reference, as well. And that would be funny.

So after that, we went to the LBJ Student Center. I wanted to play some DDR, and she wanted to check out the art supplies at the bookstore. They were closed - it was late, but we realized that it was because it was MLK Day. We started talking about whether or not we've technically had sex. She said that she's including my on her list of people that she's had sex with (and apparently, no one else , not ever her best friend of twenty-something years, knows how long that list is. The only thing she'd tell me is that it's lower than her friend's, which is... um, I think 62. Fair enough.) (For those of you who're curious, my own list is somewhere between 1 and 3, depending on whch circumstances you consider sex. And just saying, "Well, penetration/intercourse is sex." doesn't help clarify the situation at all. More on that later, if I'm in a weird enough mood). Anyway, we went back to the parking lot, and were standing by my truck for a while, engaging in PDA's. Well, sorta. We were hugging. Kinda like we used to in the old days, when we'd stand there with our arms around each other for prolonged periods of time. That's a feeling that I retreat to when I need to re-balance myself and find my center. That lasted for a while, 'til she mentioned that she was cold, and we retreated to the interior of my truck. Oddly enough, though, we didn't drive off, but continued hugging. It was nice. Throughout this, there were instances of the old days - finishing hugging, but still having our arms around each other, and our faces right next to each other. Our faces being close enough together that our lips were almost touching. I mean, I know we're just friends; I think it's finally gotten through that we're apart, that we're probably (Argh!! I can't even bring myself to say this without throwing in a hedge-word. I know why, though. More on that later.) not getting back together, regardless of my feelings for her, or her declared feelings for her.

Then, it happened. She kissed me. I'm sure of it, too - she definitely kissed me. Then I kissed her. Then I kissed her again. Then she kissed me again.

Kinda scary. It lasted a total of maybe thirty seconds, but it felt like an eternity. I hadn't felt that good since... well, before Christmas, to be sure. Reminiscing about it, though, does make me a bit... melancholy. Wistful. Something like that.

Further analysis to come - I've got to go to work. Janelle worked 12 - 5, so I'll get to talk to her about how it went. She actually closed carhop by herself Thursday night, for Ashley. Crazy stuff. Kristin and Katie both said she's really getting it down, doing well. I hope so.

Picture post: Christmas party and a few assorted goodies

Here's the beautiful Lilie sitting in the passenger seat of my truck. I can't quite tell where we are, and this was taken... oh, December 1st, so I definitely can't remember. Lemme check my blog... Nope, no help there.	These are the people who stand across from me in Chem Lab. The girl furthest on the left (Jennifer? Jessica?) is really cute, and had a really cool high-pitched voice, not unlike Ashley.
This guy *hated* me *so* much, and was rather hostile towards DDR as well.	Here's the lovely Lilie (as my mom calls her) again. I *love* the bandanna tied up in the hair. I think it's *so* cute.
Ah, now on to the Sonic Christmas Party. Katie's been bugging me about posting these pictuers for a while now. Here's Tomas Cruz, sitting down. He's really good at that. I never really notice how old he looks except when I see him without his hat on; then, you can really see all of his grey hair.	Here's my first encounter that evening with Big Ray.
And here, he's showing off his... pythons? More like grass snakes.	That's Chelsea in the red (she's only 17) sitting across from Lacey. Chelsea is actually a really, really good bowler. Suprised me too.
That's Ben looking somewhat tired, and Kenny concentrating on the action.	I don't know if Kenny's trying to jump back out of the picture, or just saw something he didn't like and his "fight-or-flight" reflex took over. Either way, here's Sunny.
This is the tatoo on Shelley's back. I like the concept.	Here's Allison and Kristin trying to avoid Katie taking a picture of them with her phone. Of course, that gave me the perfect oppurtinity to hit them from another angle.
Odd angle profile close-up of Shelley, with Dave in the background.	Random shot of Lacey. I don't remember if she bowled or not.
Terrible (at least around the eyes) picture of Ashley.	Allison and Kristin again.
God, I hate him so much.	Katie finally joined the party as well.
Erica and I. She looks so happy here, I miss those days.	Dave, Thomas, and Rick.
Kristin's really short.	Of course, the social situation provided the perfect oppurtinity for the cooks to lay their best game on the front crew. And get shot down miserably, needless to say.
Chelsea and Ashley. I think Ashley was mad at Thomas or something; don't really remember.	Man, he always looks tired or surpised or high off his rocker.
(An)drew, kicking back.	Nice little conversation - Rudy, Sunny, Dave, and Larry.
If you look closely enough, I'm pretty sure Kenny's checking out Sunny's chest.	Shelley saying something as she realizes I'm taking a picture, with Katie listening intently, and Ashley walking by.
Here's me and Ashley.	And me and Katie.
Another group shot: Sunny, Kenny, Chelsea, Kristin, and somebody's arm.	Lacey, Katie, and Erica. How cute.
The boys. Or the "dogs of the kitchen", or whatever the hell it is they call themselves. They still ain't got nothing on the wolfpack of yore.	Rick and Sunny. I desperately want to make a humorous comment or caption for this picture, but none come to mind.
Sunny leaning over and me.	Now, with smiles.
Adam's head and Larry's mustache. I'm not sure which one has more hair.	About three seconds later, with Kristin thrown in for good measure.
See what I mean about pictures of Ben?	A good bowler? Hard to believe, I know.
Erica enjoys the spotlight.	Ray, starting off the weird hand symbol marathon.
W? White? 3? E? Damn kids.	Dennis and Katie. His head looks very oddly shaped in this picture.
Kenny. Odd flash, odd smile, odd boy.	Bruce!
Is he winking at me?	Wow, great group shot!! Ashley, Allison, Chelsea, Shelley, Erica, Rudy, and Kristin.
God, I hate him.	I don't know what I was thinking.
Lacey and Larry.	Eh?
Katie had the camera at this point.	Little did they know that a picture of them had already been taken earlier.
I don't know if they're aware of each other at this moment.	A little closer, and we would have been able to see up his nose.
Ashley *hates* having her picture taken.	Adam and Kristin.
Now, smiling. It's nice to see everybody hanging out outside of work, getting along so well.	This is Emily, who we haven't seen in a while, and her 'date' in the background - actually, just her neighbor that she dragged along for the evening.
Katie and Erica.	And again.
Another group shot - Emily, Allison, Ashley, Bruce, Shelley, that girl, and Katie.	Another attempted group shot.
Kenny and Rudy.	I really don't know what I was taking a picture of here. Ben's butt? Lacey and Chelsea? The little console thing in the middle? Your guess is as good as mine.
The top of Larry's head. Let there be no more doubts.	Rick seemed to be having a good time.
In the few seconds just before this, she was nursing. Don't ask.	Dave carrying his re-gifted presents for us.
An action shot of me.	A chair.
Ben.	Rick. He blamed me for his lousy roll.
But he was good-natured about it.	Another nice group shot. I don't feel like listing everyone.
I don't remember her name.	I guess this would be a profile shot of Kristin's butt.
Random picture.	This was inside the lounge, after the bowling had wrapped up and the little after-meeting was about to begin.
Chris and Thomas.	Ben.
Sunny, as seen across Thomas's breast.	They were the two big "winners" - Sunny got some little bike thing, and Thomas, an equally crappy grill of some sort. Dave had won them both earlier in the year at some convention or something.
This is on the ride back with Rose, when we went to go play DDR. This semi was pulling another one behind it.	Here's Rose with her new look - the hair is shorter and a lot curlier, just an overall new look.