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8:47 AM - Friday 5.27.22
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A Lot Of Goings-On Going on

Well, I just did something I don't typically do before starting an entry - I read my last entry.

(Trying, best I can, not to repeat myself, since I can't count on remembering what I've already said in here from one entry to the next. But anyway...)

Feels like a lot has happened since I last wrote...

The long-awaited final Shameless wrap party was Saturday.

Had spent a lot of time speculating with Jane about what this specific wrap party might be like - Since it was the big series finale wrap party, postponed twice due to COVID, were they going to somehow "do it up" bigger than the previous ones? (The invite referred to it as "The Re-Opening Of The Alibi", so we even wondered if there'd be some attempt to recreate the Alibi set.)

And we wondered - Okay, it was mostly me who wondered, but still - about what the wrap present would be (There had been wrap presents the night we last shot, so I was initially surprised there was going to be anything. But since there was going to be a thing, I again wondered if it would be something that would outdo the previous things, since it was the final thing we'd ever be getting).

Well, the party itself was pretty much the same as other wrap parties of past seasons (And they've always been nice, don't get me wrong - Fact is, I don't exactly know what it would have taken in order to "do it up" more, other than I guess the tricking out of the place to resemble the Alibi...though really, if that had been the plan, they could have just rented out any dive bar in LA).

And, for me, the basic "arc" of the event was the same as always - I'm not really comfortable with the "wondering around making idle chit-chat" part of the proceedings, which means I'm basically just waiting for the dancing to start (And often starting it myself. I have something of a "reputation" in that department), and this outing was no different in that regard.

...except that I was more nervous than usual about the dancing, since I am overweight and out-of-shape, and it's been a couple years now since my last Zumba class.

But happily, I was able to marshall my limited resources, pace myself, and "fake it" well enough that an older guy approached me at the end of the night, going on about how amazing it was that I had danced full-out, song after song, all night long.

(FTR, that did NOT happen.)

Worried a little bit about Jane early on.

Didn't worry about her socially, of course - she's more comfortable with "schmoozing" than I've ever been or ever expect to be - but she seemed to have a bit of uncertainty at one point as to how she was doing physically (She's still in the process of trying to work out this Type I Diabetes business).

Happily, the moment passed, and it feels safe to say "A good time was had by all two of us".

At evening's end, those of us getting wrap gifts were supposed to check in at a table, get our names checked off, and get our gift...but on my first time around things didn't quite work out that way - the guy couldn't find my name - but after Mike M. prompted me to go back and make them double check, I walked away with a new MacBook (Which definitely fit my definition of "A bigger, better wrap gift" than in any previous year).

Then it was just a matter of waiting for the valet - I opted to drive, in spite of a high degree of "vehicular shame" when I go to some special event with a valet - and getting us home.

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On Sunday we had lunch with my buddy Mike M. and his family at the Daily Grill in Burbank (A kind of belated "Birthday Lunch", since Mike hadn't been able to be with me on the day).

I hope I don't offend by saying this, but most of the time, I don't enjoy social outings where someone's kids are part of the mix - adult conversation tends to be impossible, because the kids are always clamoring for attention and the parents are perpetually distracted by constantly having to rein them in, so it all seems kind of pointless - but both of us really enjoyed ourselves (His wife Amy couldn't attend the wrap party, so it was nice to get to spend some time with her. And the two boys at this point are old enough that they can actually engage and be engaged-with, which was great fun).

And Mike gifted me with another awesome action figure, the 20th Anniversary Hulk (The year before he bought me the retro Kingpin figure) - He's not an action figure collector, but he's something of a comic-book geek, so he basically "knows the score" when it comes to cool characters.

(Writing this makes me think about how I'll miss Mike, now that he's headquartered in Vegas. We didn't really hang out a lot - Did I mention he's a family man? - but I enjoyed when we did, and just knowing he was here made me feel better. But anyway...)

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After the fun of the wrap party, then the fun of lunch with Mike's fam, things took a bit of a turn for the two of us...

First Jane got sick, the really fun kind of sick, where you have to pull a waste basket up to the toilet.

Then I got sick, throwing up harder than I have in I-don't-know-how-long (My body hurt for days afterward).

And while I was busy throwing up every couple hours, Jane broke her ankle, on a walk around her neighborhood.

(I felt very quilty that I wasn't in much of a position to help her, but between some good Samaritans on the street, the Lyft driver who carried her to her door, and her producing partner Kimberly, who took her to an Urgent Care, everything turned out all right.)

Can't say I'm too happy about all the health shit Jane's had to endure in a year's time. It strikes me as more than anyone should have to deal with in a given year (Of course, since it's Jane we're talking about here, I'm not too happy she's having to deal with any of it ever...but the constant assault of just one problem after another seems really fucking rude).

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Saturday 5/28/22 (9:50 pm)

Thursday night, went with Jane to a gallery exhibition for her friend Sophie Kipner (Jane knows Sophie because Sophie was the subject of a short documentary with Jane's late friend, former Rolling Stone photographer Baron Wolman, called Sophie and the Baron).

I didn't enjoy the event at all - the only thing that would have been worse is if I'd gone by myself - but I loved the art (I can't really explain why I love it so much, beyond just saying that it's art that makes you happy just to be looking at it. It's fun, and warm, and...I don't know. I look at it and think that the artist wants to draw you into her happy world).

(Jane has paid to commission a painting with the two of us, so it'll be fun to see how that turned out.)

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Hiked with my friend Josh this morning.

It's the second time we've hiked, and initially, I thought we were going to do the same hike we'd done the first time (Which, while I found it fairly difficult, was relatively short).

But we did not do that.

I knew I was in trouble when I was huffing and puffing and wheezing and crying on the walk to where we'd actually start the hike (I think another "plus" of the previous hike was that I could see where we were headed - This time out, I had no idea when my suffering would come to an end).

So the "hike" part of "hiking" was...not completely to my liking.

But that said, I enjoyed getting to spend time with Josh (And maybe more to the point, that he was up for spending time with me). And as I told Jane on the phone today, as long as he's up for doing it more, I'm game (While I don't seem to have any imminent heart problems, on my recent trip to the cardiologist for a check-up, the good Doctor chided me for my weight and my caffeine consumption, and told me regular exercise needed to be part of my routine, challenging me to basically "get my shit together" before my next appointment five months from now).

Right after the hike, I was kinda hurtin', but as I write this, I don't feel any worse than usual, so I'm hoping I won't be crippled tomorrow (The first time out, it took me the better part of a week to recover from our little jaunt).

...and that kinda covers the high points.

Jane's here till Wednesday, so I'm hoping we can sneak in a little more fun between now and then (She's back in a few weeks, so it's not like we have to "get it all in" or anything, but she was considering leaving early once her ankle broke off, so I'd like her to at least have enough fun in her remaining time here that she's at least a little sad to leave).

TIll next time...



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