Celebration Of Friendship

My friend Jackie had her cabaret performance on Friday night and it was a night of celebration – of her talent, of her life and ambition – and also of long-lasting deep friendships. I was surrounded by people I love – people I’ve known all my life (my cousin Kerry was there – so we’ve been in each other’s lives since we toddled about in diapers struggling with one another over Fisher Price people) – Kerry brought her dear friend Jen (who told me she “lurked” on my blog and while she was a little bit afraid of my obsession with Dean Stockwell, she had to admit that she would throw down with me over Scott Bakula, if it came to that) – my dear dear friends David and Maria – my good friend and former roommate of 9 years Jen – and then Jackie herself – her husband Stuart – his good friend Rob, who was best man in their wedding, the wedding I sang in … it was a cornucopia of people I love. Rather overwhelming – my favorite kind of night. There was a funny moment where I complimented Kerry on something she was wearing. She then pointed to her T shirt, her jacket, her pants, and her bag – in succession – and said, at each point along the way: “Target, Marshalls, Filene’s Basement, TJ Maxx.” hahahahahaha We all convened on The Duplex for one purpose only: to support our friend Jackie. The only thing missing was the presence of Mitchell – and man, we felt it. David kept saying, “I feel like it is a literal tragedy that he is not here …” I shoud have held up my cell phone so that he could have experienced it vicariously. I had moments, staring up at Jackie on stage – as she told funny stories, as she sang with her beautiful belting voice – when my heart swelled up like the Grinch’s, and I was so proud of her that I felt like I would make a spectacle of myself. It was so moving, and I felt so blessed to be there.

I had two vodka tonics and I’m such a lightweight now because of this training regimen I’m under that I came home, passed out – and pretty much slept all day yesterday. I took a 4 hour nap which is so not me … I only sleep 4 or 5 hours a night, normally – so I basically took a nap that was like a full-night-o-rest. Disorienting. I woke up at 7 pm, watched two Quantum Leap episodes (hi, Jen! I love Scott Bakula – but I love Dean Stockwell more – so we’re safe!) – found myself dissolving in tears at the end of one of them – crying sincerely about poor Al Calavici’s messed-up fate – hahahahaha GEEK – and then crawled back into bed and slept for another 8 hours.

I cannot blame all of that on 2 vodka tonics, can I???

Today is a gorgeous day. I am doing laundry. I took a 5 mile run. My new workout mix is a “thing of beauty and a joy forever”. It involves:

The Weather Girls (Michael will scorn me – but he’s a brat/snob about disco, so he doesn’t count!)
ELO (naturally)
My Chemical Romance
Kelly Clarkson
Hellogoodbye (thank you, Emily!!! I LOVE THEM)
Metallica
Foo Fighters
Eminem
Stevie Ray Vaughn
Stray Cats

Oh, this workout mix should win an award.

But I’m still riding high from the energies and joy unleashed on Friday night.

Jackie dear: I am so freakin’ proud of you, and it was an honor to be there for your debut. More to come!!