Saturday, Aug. 16, 2003
My birthday celebration, posted at 2:57 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com The birthday celebration was very fun. We started out at the Thirsty Dog pub, where we enjoyed pizza and incredibly cheap blueberry beer. A few hours later, we headed to Rope Walk, then to Magerk's, then Little Havana before finishing the night off on a Federal Hill rooftop.It was fun to hang out with my friends, and highlights included a spirited debate as to whether I was in my mid-twenties or late twenties. Bill, who just hit the big 3-0 last week, swears that 26 is the late twenties, since it's in the second half of the decade. Others swore that 21-22-23 were early twenties, 24-25-26 were the mid-twenties, and 27-28-29 were the late twenties. It was hilarious how long that discussion lasted, before finally devolving into a tequila shot.
When we first went into Magerk's, I thought, "There's no way I want to be here. It's hot, crowded, sweaty, and everyone seems younger than I." But as soon as I realized I was on a dancefloor, I was lost in the moment. Actually, to call it a dancefloor is a gross overstatement. It was more a tightly packed area in which everyone grinded against each other to songs as disparate as Bruce Springsteen's "Glory Days" and the Black Eyed Peas' "Where is the Love?". I eventually requested my two favorite songs to dance to, "Groove is in the Heart" and Justin Timberlake's "Like I Love You," and they played the former, and it was a blast. We left drenched in sweat and ready to cool off. We did so at Little Havana, where London Lou and J. met up with us. Soon thereafter, it was back to Michelle and Rob's roof. Rob offered up his couch and I slept well.
Writing that up has lifted my spirits a bit, which is good, because I've been suffering some serious post-birthday blues today. Even though my longrange finances seem okay, my shortrange ones do not. Somehow, I need to get a lot of money in a hurry. $750 for August's rent, then another $750 for September's rent. $500 for car insurance. $392 for another car payment by the end of the month. $150 for heat/electricity. Luckily, I have found a roommate and he's overnighted me a check for $600. My other roommate will owe $300 on the next rent. I still have not cashed my $150 check from my roommate who screwed me over, and grandma sent me $50 for my birthday yesterday. That's $1100, so I still need to figure out how to get $1400 by the end of the month. I have an interview tonight at 2:30 am at a bar, and I get paid again on Aug. 29, so hopefully things will pull together. It's bumming me out, big time. You guys are probably so sick of hearing about it, but, believe me, I am too. Yesterday, on my birthday, the car people called me, and the man on the phone haranged me for about 20 minutes about getting another payment to them, after just last week I had paid them a whole car payment to prevent repossession. He says it'll be scheduled for repo again on Sept. 1 if I didn't set up a postdated check with them yesterday to cash on Aug. 29. I did so, though I have no idea how I'll have enough money to cover it. I am so upset that my district does not offer a 12-month contract. I think it just sucks. I know of no other districts that do not offer it.