Hangin' on the telephone

The best fun can strike when you least expect it. Unplanned adventures and unexpected guests make for warm feelings and excellent stories.

Saturday morning I found myself over the stove making 25+ pancakes for what I thought might be a small crowd. While the crowd rolled in each at their own time, my living room and kitchen was lit up by free Christmas lights and three beams of radiant light and love—namely two friends from out of town and J. We drank endless coffee (and whisky), talked about the symbolism in Leave It to Beaver, updated my Netflix with some incredible music and danced.

The day was exhausting, quite honestly, but the events played out so smoothly. When distant friends called in with some gossip, I had a support system hanging out with me to deflect the silly drama of friends past. If a relationship is built around gossip surrounding friendships and lovers from a different city, in a different time, with a younger me, let's just cut the cord.

Instead of moping, we romped around town, up and over the hill and ate delicious vegan noms. J and I went to his work party after I napped for a solid hour, and I had my mind blown by a) the strange character of his company and its employees and b) my friends and their incredible pop wonder group, Moonlight Bride. I drank, I danced, and relished in the luxury of a private performance. Afterwards, more coffee and whiskey fueled a hike up to another friend's party. God knows what went on there.

Most recently, I'm facing a three-day workweek and a serious craving for The Nerves. J introduced me to them and I can't STOP listening. Christmas shopping is nearly finished thanks to a friendly local crafter. Tonight I'm finally going to tackle the tempeh and potatoes curry I wanted to try last week. Last night I conquered garlicky kale, rosemary potatoes (notice a theme?) and roasted chicken from the G. This delicious, quick dinner interrupted our three-movie marathon, which consisted of some Mystery Science Theatre 3K, Monsoon Wedding and The Lives of Others. I highly reccomend the last two films. Incredible.