Mourning the Wicked: Random Things from the last few days…

Thanks to my coworkers for the crazy video they made and the birthday celebration they put together on Friday afternoon. Had I known that it would be indicative of the celebrations to come, I may have tried to get a nap in—maybe eaten a Zone Bar.

Spent 3-hours in a car with a friend I had lost touch with over the last few years. Aside from the traffic (and a mini-detour), it was a nice road trip—as nice as a trip can be when you are going to be with a friend who’s just lost her father. He sent me a Tom Stoppard quote he thought that I might like. Since he racked his brain a bit and probably exhausted Google, I thought that it at least deserved to be posted here. And so it is…”If Beethoven had been killed in a plane crash at the age of 22, the history of music would be totally different. As would the history of aviation." -Tom Stoppard

No matter what the context, a young man in military dress playing taps on a bugle is bittersweet. It is beautiful and touching and heartbreaking all in one moment.

People who buy old churches, make them their home and then turn the “living room” into an Irish Pub may be going to hell =0) Or, they may be friends of mine who threw a darn fine party over the weekend—complete with a blues band that rocked the church out of its foundation.

Sunday afternoon proved to lead to an evening of debauchery. Complete with a guest appearance by “bad friends speech” guy; two friends of mine being put into cabs and put into bed before 10 PM; 5 Guinness Lunchboxes (not sure what others had); 2 other people celebrating their August 1st birthday at midnight with me and tons of laughter and fun. It ended with me sleeping through my dad’s 3:30 AM “this is when you were born phone call” and grudgingly answering his 6 AM “think I am being funny by calling my daughter again” phone call. All in all, I had a blast on Sunday.

Monday morning, birthday breakfast of an Entenmann’s Crumb Donut was a lovely way to start the day. I saved the cards that had come in the mail for me so that I would have something to open…I am still a little kid that way. My mom came into the city and we went to see the Body Worlds exhibit at the Museum of Science and Industry. Strange exhibit, but excellent. I absolutely recommend it. Had an ice cream sundae before lunch, which is perfectly justifiable on your birthday. My mom conned the waiter into embarrassing me. I loved the gesture, didn’t like holding a sundae over my head. It turned out to be a perfect day.

Last night, my friend Natalie bought me balloons, a card with my favorite Maya Angelou quote on it (The best part of life is not just surviving, but thriving -- with passion and compassion, and humor and style, and generosity and kindness.) and a beautiful spiral book of Maya’s quotes. Jen met me with a gift card for tea (and coffee—she checked) and a book…people came into the bar and bought me more drinks that I could ever consume in one evening—in fact, I think I have a credit at the bar. I looked around the room and thought that life doesn’t get better than this. I have friends who know me well enough to know my favorite quote and well enough to pick out the perfect present for me. I was really touched. My friends and family really made this weekend wonderful. I just wanted to say thank you to all of them.

My Mom and Dad are probably the most generous, loving people I know. I am grateful to have them as my parents and wanted to thank them—they not only brought me into this world, but they have been there supporting me ever since.

Mourning the Wicked