Alabaster crashes down

After the disasters of practice on Friday, my great cheering mood - all week - fled. This nite - my birthday, I'll finally out myself - I was surrounded by frenz who I love, celebrating Vitos return (and his bday) @ a kick ass restuaraunt, seeing people I haven't seen in awhile - and all I could think about was todays conditioning.

But it was important that I had people about me last nite. It was a great nite. i was often staring off into space - not the usual reason, for for that there was none reason - because I just kept replaying the incidents in my head.

However, what A nite. We eventually met @ Osteria Via Stato (about 600 N. State) @ 8.15, and y I was on time.

But first: After practice, even though I was 1/4 of a mile from where I would meet GF to carpool up to the North Loop, I had to drive to my house just so .......... I could have some motherly love from MOM. (Note to parents - please don't baby yr boys of they'll end as an embarrasing failure comme moi). But yeah - I wanted to see Mom. It was hard to leave too - "Bye Mom", i yelled out to the kitchen - but through the crack of the open door, i watched as MOM stuggled to eat, stand, drink, etc etc ... and I didn't want to leave. So I ran back in, decided if this was the last birthday I would even have w/ MOM, I should desperaley try to document it - so her, not understanding my deep distress, placated me by posing w/ her only still living son.

And then, bases in Mt. Greenwood released it's raiders - me in the Strasser* - to wreak havoc in the nite. The ride to collect my Love and then to eatery was well steamed, and I dropped of Gf and seeked a mooring shed. Oh, they were there. The Drawinas, the Patiences, the Shipleys, Liz Bustamante, Kahla no O, and old friend Sistuh (et mari), and latecomers the di Lammermores and - I didn't think y'd make it- Papaerplane. Others were there, but if y think I talked the these strangers, w/ Pearl Harbour breaking out in my head and me trying to raise steam on Neveda - well, let me hit y w/ 15 Vals, 15 Kates, one squadron of Zeros providing top cover and another squadron strafing the AA sites.

Dinner was as large as Bari is south. I knew I'd be eating, so I kinda starved meself. It was all great - meatball-itos, fancy onions, duck pasta, main course off a bone. I ate as much as I can, but since I'm basically an aneorexic (no, Im not- don't worry), I didn't eat way much.

Vito was a little woried in the run up to to-nite. He wanted to make sure that celebrating his bday on my bday was kool by me - of course. Our plan was to keep it secret so no one would know - but Gf had told shipley last week and then Shipley -not knowing it was a secret - blurted it out. no biggie. He wanted to get a correct restuaurent - shamedly, he was concerned about my cheapness and making sure I was kool w/ the $$. But it all went well. The place was perfect. Food was beyond perfect (but, again, I'm no food expert critic - yeah, Jackson?), people were happy (Even this temporary Captain of the Neveda was happy enough), and it was fun.

And more. Vito and Rocky haven't gotten along in years, but they were to-gether this nite again. Fact is, there were four of the six Sisters there last nite - one is 500m south in a border state (c. 1860) and the other was ...... where? Where was he? Since Rocky and Vito have mellowed their friendship - well, started to- the Sixth Sister vacancy to me indicated a gap of some sort in our lives. Listen: We all read this blog, and I damn well know all of you are reading these words. Please - life is too short - please, get it done. Pas raison.

Aloft went NS1 again, rising into the atmosphere for a cruise to base. On returning to The Exchange, Gf and I watched this mini lapin bounce about concrete city sniffing this or that past midnight on a below zero degree nite. how do these rabbits live? Or the birds?

And I worry about..... wait, what I worry about is real. Fuck the lilies and the sparrows!
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*=sometimes the NS1 Peter Strasser is a WW1 naval ship - ususally a capital ship - and others it is a Zepplin. My call, always - ya just gotta deal, yeah?