Yesterday was Saturday and today is Sunday. Yesterday had to work at Farfetched with Susan, Jessica and Harpy. I didn’t have to, I was asked and committed to it. I’ve been working there for almost ten years mainly during the holiday season. I enjoy it and the store has a great staff. Susan and Lois have been putting a lot into their store for over twenty years and it’s a fun place to shop and it’s also a fun place to work. I’ve been working with Harpy on and off for about twenty years so that’s fun and occasionally competitive.

It was fairly busy and sometime there’s some jostling for airplay on the stereo between Harpy and myself while ringing up customers purchases. I worked from noon until 8:00. I had a break to go out and get some food so I made a little detour to stop by the box office at Irving Plaza and pick up two tickets to see the Brazilian Girls on December 29 with Juan. I’m taking him for Christmas so if he reads this he’d better act surprised and it had better be a good show. I am sure it will be.

Got phone calls towards the end of my shift from both Juan and Julio, both of them asking what I was up to after work. I didn’t have any clear plans and decided it would be cool if I merged both hanging out with Juan and hanging out with Julio and Stine. Surprisingly I was able to bring both groups together all in Julio and Stine’s apartment. I asked Julio if I should bring anything and he suggested red wine. Since I was drinking at Farfetched, Susan, Harpy and I dispatched three bottles of Italian champagne after Jessica had left, I bought a bottle of Korbel and brought it to the apartment.

Juan arrived soon after I got there and we all sat around the table, listening to Brian Wilson’s Smile album and just drinking champagne and talking. Lot’s of talking. We talked about my job status, working at Farfetched, Stine’s job working as an architect for Julio’s cousin. They are flying to Denmark on the 20th for the holidays and they told tales of previous New Years celebrations in Copenhagen. It all sounds so drunken, at least from the way Julio describes it. Both Juan and I were entranced as we moved from the champagne to the merlot.

I even brought my guitar and promptly destroyed a few Beatles songs much to everyone’s annoyment.

Somehow we wound up discussing religion, or god. Mythology I pronounced it, Julio sort of agreed and Stine and Juan holding up the religious end. It didn’t come to fisticuffs though at around 2:00 in the morning I realized that I was way too fucked up to proceed and getting into bed seemed the best route. Juan was to far gone to make it home so he crashed on the couch as I climbed into bed with Bill who is coming down with a nasty cold.

I was supposed to go to church with him but wound up sleeping in after I unsuccessfully tried to convince him to stay home and get better. He had to read the liturgy so there was no stopping him, just a lot of wadded tissues in his wake. Juan slept fitfully on the couch and Julio and Stine nursed their hangovers. I somehow was able to go out and get bagels and Gatorade and the newspapers, making breakfast for Juan and myself, watched a DVD about Man Ray, then sending Juan back home and me off for a two hour nap, waking up feeling almost human.