Friday Nights Are Becoming a Luxury I Can No Longer Afford

Two weeks into the semester and patterns are starting to emerge. I was tired after clinical, and my instinct was to come home and spend the rest of the evening in the apartment, studying (not likely) or watching DVDs (more likely).

Instead, I went to the team Happy Hour at the 18th St. Diner. It was pleasant, but not very crowded (it seems everyone else likes to stay in on Fridays too). Talked with Jonathan for awhile, who asked why I was drinking Miller Lite. I explained to him some of the Casualties of Returning to School, and he told me I needed to milk my student status for all it's worth (literally) by simply walking up to people, introducing myself as a poor college student and asking them to buy me drinks. There might be some merit to this plan.

After two more drinks (neither of which I paid for - thanks Jonathan!), I headed over to the Black Cat to join up with my friend and ex-neighbor Son for a YogaActivist fundraiser party in the Backstage. I arrived about 20 minutes before they did. The party itself started slow, and I wasn't feeling very social but at least now I know another place (besides Wonderland) where the Dirty Hipster boys & girls hang.

Son, her boyfriend Richard and I then headed a block up to Cafe St. Ex. I hadn't really been there since I left and while the upstairs crowd seemed a bit more upscale than I remembered, downstairs was the St. Ex that I remembered and loved. Richard is a rum enthusiast and bought us an expensive round, and by now I was buzzed and feeling happy. It felt great being back in DC, back at St. Ex, and I was feeling optimistic about the program. It had been a good week at school, but I also recognized that things were about to get really hard really fast.

After saying goodbye to Son and Richard, I biked over to Nelly's to try to catch up with some friends. By the time I arrived they'd gone, but I ran into Mackenzy and we talked a bit about school. He was surprised that I hadn't really started studying for Patho yet (groan), and he was disappointed that there were too few social people in the cohort. It was interesting because our perspectives are so different. We have very little in common due in part to the age difference, but I felt bad for him because I could see he's trying to get something social from the experience, more so than I am (not to say that I'm not looking to make friends, but he's looking for people to party with). Oh, to be 21 again.

He asked if I wanted a shot from the flask he'd brought in, and I declined. While getting bounced out of Nelly's would make for a good story, I'm too old for that shit, right?

This morning I woke with the alarm but felt like death (I wolfed down a bag of tortilla chips and some brownies before I went to sleep) so I went back to bed.

Much more sober today. I've got a lot of studying to accomplish this afternoon, and I have got to start eating better than I have been this past week...

IN SUMMARY:

• I don't see myself going out on Fridays for a long time
• free drinks most all night
  
• I need to start studying more, and eating/drinking less