I actually had a pretty decent night. There was no surprisaphobia for the first time in quite a while. It would have been the perfect time for a surprise, but it didn't happen. So yay!

Let's see, I stopped and saw VigilanteGirl first. She's stopped being grouchy long enough to remind me to pick her up a shirt from "anywhere in Las Vegas" while I'm there. The girl is simply beyond cute. My intentions toward her are not entirely honorable, so buying her Hard Rock shirts and shit helps ease my guilt a little.

When I walked into Rich O's, SpikeBoy was sitting out in the loser area with some girl. I didn't recognize him with a girl.

Compared to Friday night, the place was dead. This Russian dude with a fucked up website was playing in the front area, with a half-dozen or so people listening.

Walking into Rich O's proper, I immediately saw HatGirl. Without the hat again. My peripheral vision seemed to detect that there were several cute girls scattered around, but, of course, none of them mattered, not with HatGirl in the room.

So I sat on the loveseat and ordered a Spezial (900) and talked with HatGirl and LuckyFucker for pretty much the entire night. After a while DooRagGirl came in. She also failed to distract me.

LuckyFucker was asking me for advice on what beers to try. I think that so far he's liked my recommendations, except maybe the Rogue Imperial Stout - that one may have been a bit too much for someone that's only been to Rich O's like three times.

My second beer was another Spezial (920). When this beer goes on tap I usually drink a lot of it, but after a week or two it gets a little boring.

My third beer was a Guinness (974) and then I switched to Diet Coke.

Oh yeah, I was asking DooRagGirl if she knows GlassesGirl, since they both know my sister Neisha from school. DooRagGirl wasn't sure if she knew her or not. Right after I asked, GlassesGirl walked in. She seems to be dating MusicalHippyDude.

By the end of the night, I'd started feeling a little bad that I chose LuckyFucker as a nickname for HatGirl's boyfriend. He's a nice guy. He actually reminds me of my sister's ex-husband, who used to be one of my best friends. But, he is a lucky fucker so the nickname will stay.

Anyway, once HatGirl and her boyfriend left I sat for a bit with DooRagGirl, just to foster the illusion that I hadn't stayed for as long as I did for the obvious reason, then I went to White Castle and came home.

Whew!

I made it though the last three nights, and this fuckwad of a month is effectively over for me. Tonight I'll get to enjoy a relatively stress-free Saturday.

It'll probably be boring.

Anyway, last night I got to Rich O's at around 8:30. The parking lot was only about half full, plus there were about 20 people all leaving at the same time. It looked like they were having a fire drill or something. So it was strange to walk inside and see that the place was completely packed. Not a place to sit anywhere.

I waved at SpikeBoy, who was looking quite miserable on the throne surrounded by weirdoes, and went and stood at the end of the bar. I had myself a Spezial (880) and talked with GlassesGirl for a few minutes, then LibertyGirl, and then RealTrainGirl came in so we moved four feet and stood in the annex for a while.

After a bit, MisunderstoodGirl came in, and actually talked to us. No, really. She was in a talkative mood. That was quite a nice surprise.

Finally, some idiots left the island. About fifty people scrambled for the seats, but only six people succeeded. My friends and I were three of them, the others were some PBDs that I don't know.

So we spent the rest of the night just drinking and talking. My second beer was a Rogue Imperial Stout (36), available on tap. Yummy, but deadly.

My last beer was something new for me:

Schneider Aventinus Weizen Doppelbock (20)

(draft) Good, but not as good as everyone else seems to think. Nothing noteworthy at all. I'd describe some details but there really aren't any. It's just a beer.

When my voice becomes weak and raspy, is it because I've gone hoarse from screaming, or is it because I no longer have the strength to shout?

I can still whisper my thoughts, but there's nobody close enough to hear.

The thing about jigsaw puzzles is this: it can be the most beautiful puzzle ever made, but if there's a piece missing it's nothing more than a pile of cardboard, capable of bringing nothing but disappointment.

For those of you with lives, those of you that don't have the great beers of the world memorized so you can recognize them simply from the bottle, this is Delirium Tremens. One of the world's finest beers.

This is my desert island beer.

And it's fitting that I'm drinking this now, because while I often feel like I am very much alone on an island, this day, with its crowding and its socializing and its obligations, this day magnifies that feeling more than any other. You can be completely surrounded, but if the right person isn't there, you're still alone.

That's an official Delirium Tremens glass, too. I used to have two of these glasses. This one's mate is far away now.

Part of my problem is that I read too much into things. I look for hidden signs everywhere. And not just signs. I have to look for the bad in everything I see. And I keep looking until I find it.

I can take the most heartfelt compliment and twist it into an insult. I can take the simplest greeting and turn it into a goodbye. This is my super power. But I don't use it to ward off evil, I use it to ward off everything and everyone.

Well, almost everyone.

Why, I wonder, can't I ever recognize good for what it is? Why is it that I can immediately see the bad, but when something good presents itself I must transform it into something else?

I dunno. Probably because I'm a dumbass.

So I'm drinking my symbolic beer (379), my second of this night. Later I'm going to have a third. Good thing I'm staying home tonight. After I drink my beers I'm going to go downstairs and shoot some pool. Maybe make some movies if I can remember to turn the camera on.

It's midnight now. November 24th is over. Good riddance.

President Bush's aide said, "Mr. President, I've afraid I have some bad news. Something terrible has happened."

"What's happened?" the President asked.

"There's been an uprising in South America, and over a thousand Brazilian people have been killed," the aide told him.

The president buried his face in his hands for a few seconds as he tried to come to grips with this news. In his head he was already preparing the statement he'd make to offer his sympathies. But he needed more information.

He raised his head and asked his aide, "How many people are in a brazillion?"