Early in June I got a text message from Amanda telling me to make sure I take June 26 off from work. The message said, that since she was going to miss my birthday, she was planning something legendary on the 25th and would not be in any shape to go to work the next day.
Amanda told me she, Matt, Chelsea, Adam from CT and I were going out to dinner and then birthday shenanigans would later ensue. The dinner reservations were at 9:30 p.m. and I was hauling ass to get to Staug (St. Augustine for you not-in-the-loop folks) so the restaurant wouldn't discard our reservation time. When I get to the Hopcrafts' apartment, I notice the place was candle lit, there's a long table in the center of the living room, and Amanda had a look on her face that indicated she'd been up to no good.
SURPRISE...HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
It is imperative that I talk about how much planning went into this party and how great everything looked. The powers that be managed to wrangle up about 11 or 12 people for whom I really care and probably had better, more productive things with night. Since Amanda and Chelsea were at Bonnaroo music festival during my birthday, they put together a swagtastic gift bag complete with Adult Swim merchandise, Family Guy lottery tickets, two condoms and two 40 oz Buds. The latter of that list is the most impressive because you can't get 40 oz beer in Florida; they went out of state to get that gift. Then there was the wall, which the Hopcraftshave fashioned into a giant chalk board, that had personalized, non-generic birthday messages, such as "TWSS," "Red drink," and for whatever reason, a pennis drawing. I know how i spelled that. And when I thought "these guys and gals have really outdone themselves," Amanda brings out my buddy Andrew who drove all the way from Tallahassee. And then -- yes, there's more -- Amanda and Chelsea manage to get Jake Seymour, my favorite teacher from any school I've attended, on the phone for a brief chat.
So if this humongous, booze-filled, dick in a box-like gathering wasn't great enough, after dinner we headed out for phase 2. The group headed to the Clover Room, a hole-in-the-wall bar/club near the beach, where my night and ears were rocked by Silver Lake Drive. If you don't know who SLD is, you need to Youtube them immediately. One of my classmates is in that band, and they do astounding covers of songs of varying types. Hearing them play "Crazy," "You Got Me" and Dirty Diana is audio equivalent of watching hot naked Brazilian women on a trampoline. And then there's the liquor; try to keep count: Two-thirds of a 40, three cups of sangria, two gin and tonics, three gin and OJs, a Jager Bomb, an Irish Car Bomb (that I don't remember drinking), and shots poured into me by dancing bartenders when "Pour Some Sugar On Me" came on.
Fast forward to the day after; I now know why Amanda practically ordered me to take the day off. I slept until almost noon, and the latter half of that sleep was with a cat on and or next to me. I got "sick" three times, and at 10:10 p.m. on June 26, I'm still a tiny bit hungover. But I did get to eat a $2.99 breakfast, after all the "sickness" was out of me.
I haven't blogged in a while because nothing note-worthy has moved me to write anything longer than a Facebook or Twitter message. But I had to share with anyone who would listen or read what a great time I had. I tried not to make it obvious, but the past few years for me have been awfully shitty, and in January 2010, I felt lower than I would have ever thought was possible. But instead of letting me wallow in self-loathing and sorrow, certain family members and friends have done everything they could to lift my spirits. Whether that be letting me move back home, buying a huge bottle of Seagram's that literally had my name on it, or writing me uplifting messages on social networking sites, these people have helped me turn my life around and have forced me to see the positivity in life and in myself.
When I saw my friends gathered together, saw the extensive planning that obviously went into throwing this all together, the only thing I could do was take a moment to myself and thank God for allowing people to be so thoughtful. So if you were present for either of my birthday celebrations, had anything to do with them or merely considered showing up, thank you for being awesome.
B.Rand
