A girl I used to know

Tonight, after work, I went over to a buddie's place, had some pizza and hung out until we went to the bar at 9.

My friends go every week. EVERY week.

I've gone a couple of times, but not since I started work at Loffler. It's been about 3 months.

I had to leave early because I have to be at work at 7:30 a.m. tomorrow and have a big interview at 5 p.m.

I said my goodbyes and was just getting to the end of our row of tables when a girl stepped into my way.

I froze.

It wasn't that I didn't recognize her....It was that I was literally so shocked to see her, I was not only speechless, but utterly thoughtless.

I've often thought of what I would think and feel if I ever saw Crystal again.

I could have found out on my terms. She's still friends with people I'm still friends with. But I made a conscious choice not to go out of my way to see her again. I literally had NO IDEA how I would feel when/if I ever saw her again.

I was blown away.

As long as I can remember, there have been 4 girls that have completely killed me.

These are the girls that killed me. The ones that consumed me for large chunks of time. The girls that my feelings were so intense for, I wasn't sure I'd ever get over them. Lyndsay is married and I'm pretty sure I'll never talk to her again. I've almost forgotten abour her entirely. Crystal is also married, and I wasn't sure if I'd ever see her again. I saw Megan at a wedding this fall, and she grew into the absolutely gorgeous woman I always knew she would be. Caroline is still down in Kato, and we're still friends, but I doubt I'll ever see her as much as I did my last couple weeks down in Kato.

Maybe it's the fact that I never dated any of those four that makes them stick out so much in my memory. I mean, I've dated a few really remarkable girls and after it ended, I pretty much got on with life. No ghosts.

Thinking back on my infatuation of Crystal makes me feel.....a lot of things. I tried really hard to be the kind of guy I thought she wanted. I mean, I tried REALLY hard. She was the driving force behind my regrettable "Grandmaster T" phase.

It's funny thinking back on things too. Crystal was the subject of the second song I wrote, long since retired (Jimmer, I'm sure you remember it). The first time she gave me her number I took my picture with the piece of paper and kept it for years.

A friend knew how much I liked Crystal, and begged her to give me some action. He literrally begged her. It's an embarassing act, but I guess I should be touched by my friend's display of devotion.

I'm a different person then I was when I was chasing Crystal. As I like to say, I'm far more EVOLVED. But I'll tell you one thing, once the shock that I was actually seeing Crystal wore off, the high of seeing an old friend was awesome.

I'll probably call her in a couple of days, catch up a bit, and then she'll likely go into the pile of extremely beautiful girls I used to be friends with......that just sort of drifted away.

See also: Theodora, BriaNNa, Erinn, Y, Kaysie and so many more I could list them until I go to work tomorrow.

Every Bus Ride=Adventure

Yesterday, I was waiting at my bus stop after work. At 5:36 (otherwise known as 1 minute after my bus is scheduled to arrive) a bus pulled up.

I ride the 6I home from work. This was the 6U.

I saw the 6 and got on.

The fact that the driver wasn't calling out streets very often was kind of annoying.

When he finally did, he called 17th.

On the 6I, I know exactly what 17th should look like. This was no it.

The bus stopped to let someone else off, and I jumped off to try to figure out where the hell I was.

Turns out, I was on University, about half-way in between my house and my homeboy Eric's. I figured my roommate (not the one from my last post) would be working late (turns out he was). I do not drive the Batmobile, so I could not simply call my car. I called Eric.

Eric has a habit of picking me up when I'm lost, stranded and/or (usually) drunk. This was no different.

I had wanted to hang out with Eric anyways, I just wanted to go home and get a couple of things taken care of first.

I had also forgotten that it was 24 night.

Eric and a couple of my other friends are HUGE 24 fans. They TiVo it on Monday and watch it an hour later Monday night. I hung around.

It was entertaining.

They were silent during the show.

It seemed cool.

I'll probably go home.

After 24, and a couple of Tivo'd episodes of the Simpsons, I asked "Does anyone who's known me for more than 4 hours want to bring me home?"

And one buddy did.

Every bus ride is an adventure.

The War at Home (drunk)

Tonight, I lost my fool.

I flipped out.

I know, for a lot of you, that's hard to believe.

I live with a guy that I graduated with. Drew. I live with Drew because he made me a better offer then two of my other friends did, and Drew's house was in a much better neighborhood.

Also living in the house is a girl from Holland, Allona, and Drew's charming girlfriend, Jodie.

Jodie is a big fan of coming home drunk from the bar with the friends, on weeknights.

I'm a much quieter, more domestic Tom than most of you remember.

I'm in bed, hopefully asleep, by 11 p.m. I'm waiting for the bus, showered and in shirt and tie by 7:52 a.m.

All I really want from my rent is the opportunity to sleep weeknights.

Twice now, Jodie has kept me up for an hour on weeknights, and it seriously wrecks the entire rest of the week for me.

Tonight, Jodie was yelling at Drew for something, and I lost it. I pointed out her faults, and she said something to the effect of "was I talking to you?"

And I was gone.

I was angry Tom.

I yelled, I swore.

I called her a cunt, and then Drew said "You were over the line there."

And I was back.

It was odd.....One moment I'm screaming at someone who desperately deserves it, the next I'm feeling ashamed for calling her something I should never call a woman.

It's odd....how I feel bad.

I might move out in the next week.

It sucks, I really, really enjoy living here.

I like Drew as a roommate.

But I absolutely cannot tolerate her as a roommate anymore.

I'm going to talk to Jill and Luther, maybe move into their house after all.

It sucks, but I guess I'll see how it goes.

T