st. mary

this past weekend the city of cranston celebrated their hundreth st. mary's feast. this whole "feast" thing is new to me, but apparently larger catholic churches in the northeast sponser them. they entail parades, block parties, carnivals, and a bunch of people and a solemn bullhorn reciting prayers.

the bar i work at happens to be located within the block party area. so we were jammin'. all the bartenders were on just about every day. this seemed like a good idea a few months ago--a good way to make some extra money. but i forgot that i work weekdays already, so that by thursday, i will have worked 11 days straight. it's not the worse deal in the world, and i know lots of folks have it rougher, but my feet and my smile are TIRED.

not to mention that there was a near riot at the carnival on sunday night, requiring paddy wagons to be brought in from three surrounding cities, and a couple in our parking lot who were separated when the wife got hauled off in an ambulance to have her stomach pumped and the husband got cuffed and stuffed by the cops for being, basically, a giant asshole. both incidents seem very un-saintlike to me.

now i'm off to shower in preparation for another day of smiling at jackasses.

independence day

i blew my july fourth load early, so was just kicking around the house yesterday listening to all the illegal firecrackers explode in my neighborhood. it struck me as i was sitting on my back stoop smoking a cigarette that a year ago from that very moment i was on an overpass in new orleans watching fireworks light up the downtown skyline.

that moment feels like it happened in another lifetime. i have managed to create this whole other life since landing in providence. it's not perfect, and i don't have everything i need yet, but it's going well. lives take a while to set up, i suppose.

i'm happy--that's something.

(note to myself: remember to write something about the golf tournament, the boring weekend, and the practical/romantic debate concerning dr. penis's married girlfriend.)

hope everyone had a rockin' fourth. yay america!