All right, then, Alan's bachelor's party. Memory fades, and if we dawdle it will lose more of its richness.
We were going to spend the night at Embassy Suites after hitting a bar in the Old Market. I was to bring my PlayStation 2 (and memory card with Gran Turismo 3 save), and Bill was to bring GT3. Alan told me to plan on spending about $40 on food and drink and whatever else. I decided that it was time to buy another two-player game (which I wanted anyway) and that afternoon, after a little research, purchased Ace Combat 4, a flight combat game. Shortly after Bill picked me up, as we were heading to Alan's mechanic (where he was waiting), I learned that he had thought I was bringing GT3. Alas. It was a good thing, then, that I had brought AC4.
The first item of the evening was dinner at the AmeriStar casino. I ate quite a lot, to the marvel of the others. Then we gambled some. More accurately, Alan, Charlie, and I gambled; Bill and Dan preferred to watch - and Dan was busy expelling his dinner in the bathroom. Poor guy. We're still not sure what it was - I'd eaten some of everything he'd had (and more).
For a little while I watched Charlie lose money on slots, and then I found a space at the $3 blackjack table, where I played with Alan for a while. That night I did pretty well; I was up $15 (not counting dinner); the last time I played I left down $16, so all in all I got two nights' entertainment for a buck.
We went to the hotel room, then, to wait for Ed (who was getting into town just that evening, and whose attendance we hadn't earlier been sure of) before hitting whatever random Old Market bar. He eventually showed up, and we headed to Mr. Toad's.
Everyone ordered drinks; I ordered a Tequila Sunset (based on my previous enjoyment of a Tequila Sunrise) and was a little surprised when the bartender didn't know what it was. I was a little doubtful, anyway, that my request even *could* be fulfilled - he could not provide me with a piña colada(my original request), and so I wasn't sure the grapefruit juice would be available. It was, though, and so after I instructed him on its ingredients, the bartender was happy to provide me with my Tequila Sunset.
When we had all finished our drinks, Alan, being Alan, bought us all drinks. I asked for a Mudslide, remembering Zelda's comment from the other day. Others decided to trust Alan's judgement with their order - except perhaps Ed; I don't remember it clearly, but I think he ordered a Guinness. Well, I got my Mudslide, and [maybe] Ed got his Guinness, and everyone else found themselves with a shot of vodka. Heh; they should have known - that's Alan. He likes his vodka.
I didn't really like the Mudslide - it had vodka, too - and realized/remembered that "Mudslide" is the moniker for two different drinks; one occurring as a shot and the other as something larger. I still didn't realize that the *content* of the two drinks was different, however; I assumed merely that I had discovered that I did not like Mudslides. I suppose, in retrospect, that the alcohol content in what I had had wouldn't really be appropriate in a larger quantity - at least not without carrying along a reputation that I certainly hadn't heard of.
A few didn't want the vodka, and… I don't remember who, but I think it was Bill or Ed (whichever it was, he hadn't taken Alan up on his offer earlier), downed it, much to Alan's approval. "Now there's a man who knows how to drink his liquor." Silly Alan.
The six of us then went to Cubby's for more alcohol, which we would take back to the hotel. While the others browsed the beers, Dan and I went to select a bottle of wine. After our heavy meal (poor guy), Dan wanted a white wine, though I favored a red… mmm, tasty. I no longer remember specifically what I purchased, but it was a white.
After some trouble with the hotel's television hookup, we installed my PS2 and nobody played. I wanted to try a Corona [Light], and Alan gave me a whole bottle (which I did complete eventually, though I didn't like it). We watched _Office_Space_, and afterward Charlie and Ed left. I played AC4 for a little while, but everyone else was quite tired (and, I imagine, a little tipsy), and we soon retired.
Thursday I did not need so much "recovery time" as I had anticipated, and so, of course, I went to see if Zelda was free. She was not. I began to remember that e-mail unresponsiveness was not my big problem - it was only an extension of the frustration I'd experienced before. And that same frustration was returning. True, it had only been a few days, but it was beginning to look like last summer was going to be repeated, and all that buildup was still there - even if the e-mail thing was discounted.
Friday I picked my sister up from school, and got the tux I'd been fitted for a month or so earlier. It was said by many a friend that I look quite good in a tux, and the compliments rose my ego - and spirits. The wedding rehearsal was that evening, and the wedding rehearsal dinner was held at the Brazenhead, an Irish restaurant where, we discovered, live music was to be had on Friday nights. The food was good - I had a Rueben - and I learned that I like whiskey on the rocks. The ice dilutes the whiskey enough that I can overlook the alcohol and enjoy the flavor of the whiskey.
An interesting item of note was my personality at the dinner. The way I acted with the other guests was… well, interesting. I was kind of A, but had a definite mix of B in with it; that is, I was controlled. But rather random and free. Or "loose", I suppose. And, in case you were wondering, this was before the whiskey - which wasn't much, anyway, and was the only alcohol I had that evening. I'd been feeling a little cautious lately, and was looking to avoid alcohol for a little while.
The day of the wedding itself was actually rather uneventful (well, as it directly affected me, anyway); it was a nice, small service, though the pastor had a small slip of the tongue - he used the Christ-church analogy for husband-wife found in Ephesians, and he slipped a phrase, speaking of how Christ obeyed the church and submitted to her (it is the church who submits to and obeys Christ; Christ loves the church and gave himself up for her). After the wedding I planned to go see Zelda, and I asked Dan to wish me luck. He did, and then I asked him to "pray me luck", which, as he did, I noted the etymological incongruency (the word "luck" is derived from "Lucifer", implying some demonic charm or what have you) and amended my request to "pray me fortune". It lost its parallelism, but… whatever.
That day I was able to add dinner (and thus time) to our planned Star Wars outing. We spoke some of talking the next day, and she said she'd call after returning home from church.
Guess what? She didn't call. Eventually (around five o'clock) *I* called, to find that they were about to eat. I asked her to call when she was finished; she said she would. When I asked, "Will you really?" she replied, "I'll try." Guess what? Yeah.
Monday was Memorial Day, and I didn't (and won't) intrude on family holiday time.
Ok; good enough for now. See you next time.