indiana***
the weekend consisted of largely cmbaa events, centering mostly around the game, against never-before-have-we-played indiana (which a lot of my latiny friends attend or attended (including meeting one when i convention was held there, with whom i/we kind of had a thing going for each other but then quickly died out after convention ended)). MA's roommate also went there for undergrad, and is now at uva for grad, so that made it amusing for an "it's a small world after all"-type connection. since kato actively refused to be associated with them in any way (even as my guest and a former member), he didn't come to any with me, including the game (since i'd be sitting with them), which was disappointing. so friday, i managed to make it to baja bean's upstairs about an hour after the start time, wandering around a bit before sitting with mcclelland, tanya, and a friend of theirs. as more people starting coming in, they eventually got up to play darts at the unoccupied board, and i moved to sit with sarah (current dm), veronica, and a few others, including an alumni from the 60s, tryon, whose name it took several tries for us to get right. teri (guard) joined us, as well as rachel (tenor sax, uts). sarah of course, was sitting next to this guy i'd spotted earlier, playing pool with our old drumline captain, chris. turns out he was the guest vocalist for the halftime show (featuring three disney medleys), ivan rutherford—who happened to have actually been roommates with pease back in college, and went on to star as valjean in over 1800 performances of les mis on broadway, among other notable roles, along with guest starring in the holiday concert last year.
as the crowd of band people kept growing, he bought a round of coronas for the girls, and the conversation went from meeting the clintons while in his dressing room at a show (while bill was still president), to a stint in japan (including trying to help a piss-drunk clubgoer laying out on the street)—one of the first big things he did as a performer, to a little old lady remarking how he reminded her of a celebrity while he was at lunch the previous day with pease and koch (amusingly (and to his chagrin—he was expecting someone like brad pitt), she said "robin williams," which i'd find even more amusing the next day, because one of the show selections was "friend like me," from aladdin..sung by genie, i.e. robin williams). he was a really easygoing guy, and every one of his stories was as intriguing as the last..and perhaps best of all, no different-looking than you or i, and rather humble about it all..though his stature (maybe 5'8ish?) probably didn't help that much, lol. things finally started wrapping up, as we headed downstairs.
thought about leaving, but wound up sitting with idz, dk, hondula, and his g/f whom i'd ran into earlier, when she came with a non bandie. had a good talk about randomness, before kato called as midnight drew near, wondering where i was. headed back soon after that, ending the night quietly, i think. long saturday ahead of me, as it were..
***
woke up early for the cmbaa meeting at 9AM, with bodos and oj, over at this room on the bottom floor of ruffner (ed school), which i'd actually never been inside, all these years. went through a lot of things, showing the new rehearsal hall floor plans and rendering on culbreth, electing officers..got snubbed again for treasurer, as familiarity with someone who's been doing the job takes precedence over qualifications. headed over to practice with erik, rick, breanna, and lauren? watched for a bit before walking back to kato's because i forgot my ticket, then grabbing the usual mcdoubles before having him drop me off at mcclelland/rachel's house. it's at events like these that i remember the dominance kkpsi has in so many aspects of the band, from leadership positions to our own alumni association, and it's irritating because they have their own alumni association that they can build independently of the cmb one, and yet the entire exec board and members at large are now run by them. what's even more frustrating is that by the time i could finally rush/pledge, i decided it wasn't worth the effort, and that making sure i didn't get a third academic probation (meaning suspension) during my fourth semester (spring of second year) was more important, or otherwise i more than likely could've been in just as easily as anyone else, especially with the people who were in it at the time.
anyhow, so a good number of people were there; ben (from my hs) brought his gf from johns hopkins, and we watched some other game that'd already started. tj, kyle, and others was there as well, along with various others as i dug into some classic american food (cheeseburgers and potato salad), and tried some new sierra mist. several people splintered off in groups to attend other tailgates and/or get to the game earlier, while the residents and a few others stayed to clean up. i wound up leaving with chris (former dm), as we tried to track down q, who had lance's ticket, and wound up intercepting (yay football term) him and his gf on the way to the stadium. they didn't even bother checking me for anything, and we took our seats in the rows a few up from the very front. colin and hayley spotted the lot of us and joined two rows in front of me, while i had an entire row to myself saved with jackets for other people, directly behind jimmy and erik. some random girl who'd gotten there earlier was to his right, on the end, which became amusing as the game went on.
things got off to a good start though at 3:30PM, with us taking an early lead, and dominating on both sides of the ball. band had an amazing halftime performance with ivan, and it was a huge hit with the crowd.
eventually indiana finally got its lone td and pat in the fourth, thought it was perfectly preventable. a solid win (especially after the previous week's low-scoring showing at unc), as i stuck around afterward to sing the good old song down on the field. heading up the stands, i called kato, who tells me he's at this bus driver friend of his's apartment over on wertland, and for me to meet him over there—i suggest dinner and a movie. as i'm still on the phone, leaving the stadium, i turn around to see all the alumni getting their picture taken on the field. unable to decide whether to try to run down and join them, i eventually head back that way, running into taylor's parents up top, waiting for her, and strike up conversation with them as we leave with her and tiago, headed for o'hill. pass caitlin near the truck and say hello with a smile, and stick around for a while longer before they go, chat with diane a bit about plans for the night, and head off to u-forum to retrieve my car.
i manage to find a random empty spot outside the apartment, and head on up. jillian opens the door, greeting me: "we didn't order any chinese food.." which i sarcastically laugh off. we play guitar hero a bit (solo, since she'd messed up the world tour situation with a newer controller), and i meet casey (whose room is on jillian's side of the apartment), who sits down with us as she has a yocrunch since she's just gotten back from the game also. she eventually heads back to her room as we attempt to decide where to eat, but come up empty. as jillian goes into her closet to change, i look around her room a bit and hang around in the hallway, eventually attempting to convince casey to come with us. seems she'd stayed out until 7AM the previous night, and'd gotten limited sleep before the game, but reluctantly agrees to go on one condition: that she gets to chose the place we're eating—qdoba. as we head out to drive over to the corner somewhere, we see a parent attempting to get his car un-towed, so we decide to take my car instead, snugly slipping into an empty spot in front of the white spot.
qdoba's surprisingly empty except for a group that can be heard in the back. we go through the line getting our food, casey knowing what she wanted and going first, with me behind her (since kato and jillian are sort of paired off in conversation). the two of us get our food and water, and sitting at some tables up near the front. the group of us seem to hit it off immediately though, as casey bounces back and forth just like me and kato, talking about her late night, the musical perfection of jay sean's down and keri hilson's knock you down, and her previous two-year stint on the dance team, among other things. i was pretty surprised, since she seemed rather reluctant to come out initially, but without any prompting actually said that she was glad she decided to come. an hour and a half later (by now trying to finish my burrito has given way to nonstop conversation), we finally head out, dropping casey back off over on wertland, and agreeing to facebook each other, since she's somehow the only casey brown at uva.
when we finally get back to kato's place, he tells me we basically don't have any more time to watch a movie, to which i protest but begrudgingly agree. we get changed and head over to t and duck's (those are nicknames) with wes and jillian, and eventually down to x-lounge and/or rapture. this time however, i don't really wind up dancing with anyone other than occasionally sandwiching jillian between me and kato. as x-lounge closes up, this girl who's crying and been left by her friends somehow winds up stuck with us, as we try to decide whether to go somewhere, or just go back to t and duck's to keep the night going. jillian kind of goes from person to person to try to stay warm as i deflect her; most of us have worn long-sleeved dress shirts, though the cold cuts through even them. this girl is lisps through tears on the phone with her ex, trying to track down her friends, as we strongly debate calling a cab. kato and i sit down on the curb, taking a bit about jillian's behavior, and wes finally calls for a van cab. two arrive and as we attempt to get into one and wave the other off, he denies us trying to fit seven people in, so me, kato, and wes stay behind and we're left cabless again. wes calls a cab friend of his and we go (off the clock) back to t and duck's, where we hang out for a while longer before eventually having wes drop us (me+k+jillian) off, back at kato's.
sunday's a typical sunday, mass and all, with a movie before briefly stopping through fredericksburg on the way back to falls church.
