magicbeans. nothing if not awkward.

Garth, Chris, and I had planned to meet up around 11.30 this morning for brunch. After a network of phone calls and messages exchanged between the three of us (Garth to me, 'Chris told me he woke up late and was distracted by something, I think it was his boner.'), Garth and I met at Union Square. Chris was stuck on a shuttle bus somewhere between the Morgan and Lorimer L stops, but would be along shortly.

'I want to go somewhere with fresh juice,' Garth said. 'Something with ginger to settle my stomach.'

'Of the vegan-friendly brunch places, I'm pretty sure that Organic Grill has juice. They don't have liquor though, so Chris won't be able to get his bloody mary.'

We found out when we got there that they don't have a juicer, although I still think that at one point they did. 'So no one's going to be happy,' Garth said, somewhat tongue in cheek.

Brunch turned out fine though, other than the slow, forgetful waitress. It was nice sitting down with Chris and Garth again. Afterward, it being a beautiful day, we walked uptown for a while. Then West. Bought socks at Burlington Coat Factory. And headed up to my office where I showed them some of the stuff that I've worked on, and we played a few games of pool.

Sarah.P met us at my office, and then all of us headed over to meet Julia at the Lower East Side Print Shop, which was having an open house after their recent relocation from the Lower East Side to the middle of the Fashion District, a block from my office, and where Liz.Z is a member. Cybèle, in town for a horror convention also met us there.

And after the brief RISD reunion, Sarah went off to glue pieces of plastic animals together in new animal combinations and later see her indie-pop star roommate perform, Cybèle headed back to the horror con, Garth left for Brooklyn to meet Evy for dinner, and Chris, Julia, and I made our way downtown for falafel and the Sin Destroyers, an ironic Christian rock band (half of them are Jewish) that Chris has dubbed the future of rock and roll. Entertaining, sure, but somewhat limited in my opinion by its parodic nature. They followed a jam band of 17 year olds whose parents were in attendance, and were in turn followed by a Foo Fighters tribute band. We drank at the bar, ignoring the former, and left when the latter started for the East Village and more drinks somewhere else, first some random bar with pool and darts and later a Japanese-style karaoke bar with private rooms.

Cybèle tried to get back in touch, but ended up on a bus back home to Providence. Chris said that Garth had called him to say he was exhausted and not coming back out. Caitlin.K, who joined up with us at the Sin Destroyers show, a friend of hers whose name I didn't catch, and some other boy who I'm sure I've met but don't actually know, stuck around after our private room time expired to sing more at the bar. Chris set out for Brooklyn, Julia for Queens, and I made my way home to the tippy-top of Manhattan.

At 59th Street I got on an A and sat next to a girl who I never got a good look at but whose warmth in the seat next to me was a comforting reassurance all the way up to 207th.