the season

I can't wait to get home. I want to be in my city for the holidays. I'm not in the music industry, but I work with it--actually, I kinda suck off it like a leach, but still--and their whims and cycles directly affect my regular work day. Things start slowing down around mid-November, and after we all get back from Thanksgiving, the music industry almost completely shuts down. Now, just a week before Christmas, my usual flow of e-mails has all but ceased. No one's ever at their desk. I get no phone calls. My mail consists of greatest hits compilations and holiday greetings cards. I like working. I like to be busy--though not overworked--and as it stands now, I find it difficult to find a reason why I'm at the office for as long as I am. And now that my roommate brought home a beautiful Noble fir Christmas tree, I'm pretty dead-set against working for the remainder of the year.

The holiday parties aren't helping matters. Last night we were at an epic bash thrown by the same people who hosted the July Less than Zero party. This time, we were at an empty office downtown, but other than that, there wasn't much difference. The party was populated by the same local bigwigs and us scenesters who were happy to soak up the free food and drink. A cranking soundsystem blared Blues Traveler and other such things I find distasteful, but I was happy to hear REM's "What's the Frequency Kenneth?" sneak through there. Monster's one of the best albums ever. I spent the majority of the party in the parking lot behind the building and the animated Aeon Flux was projected on one of the adjacent building's brick walls. I have to admit, that was pretty hot.

Nothing really of note happened. After the party, we ended up going to a bar, because it was one of my coworkers' birthday. We were all really sauced and, really, getting more drinks wasn't necessary. But we soldiered on. One of us went running out of the bar; two stayed behind; and I finished my pint of Guinness and staggered toward a slice of lifesaving pizza that turned out to be not so lifesaving. I passed out on the futon in the livingroom until my roommate came home, which scared me awake.

I ended up not going into work until afternoon. The office was like a triage for the hungover. I went to lunch at one and went home right after. I went back to work at 3:30pm feeling a bit more human, but not much. Even through that, I've been in really good spirits lately. I'll ride that wave while it lasts.

Tonight at dinner, I discovered the wonderful world of yellow curry, and after that, saw a great local rock show at the bar down the block from my house. One band from out of town handed out matchbooks with their name and logo on it. Nice merch. Fun night. And I even gave my liver the night off--well, more like half the night off.