summer: part two, official

So one person with whom I've become acquainted over the summer is an undeniable new facet on the beautiful diamond that is my life. And that person has the largest Transformers collection of anyone you've ever met.

The man is known as Eddie Ray, but let not the rockabilly moniker fool you, the penchant of this gentleman lies mostly in the realms of horror cinema, '80s sci-fi and fantasy, and dolphins. Lots of dolphins. I officially met Eddie at James and Cherry's mutual birthday party back in the winter, but he has quite frankly been an ever-present specter for several years in the worlds of MySpace and other social networking sites due to his prodigious talents with a camera and connections to other friends of mine from Cherry to John Paul. And in the past year, I've come to learn of Eddie Ray as the guy who sits in the front row of every Twinhead show and takes loads of photos. Eventually, Eddie, Julian, and I went to see Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull on what I think was supposed to have been Eddie and Julian's first date. Nevertheless, soon after that, Julian and I were both spending an inordinate amount of time with America's #1 fan of Halloween, whether watching the masterfully crafted made-for-TV poltergeist drama The Haunting or taking honest-to-god ghost-hunting excursions to the site of a terrible, fatal turn-of-the-century train derailment less than an unexpected mile from the house where I grew up in McDonough. We also made our way to the Starlight Drive-In for the debut of an exceptional reel of excrement masquerading as a film (I'd like to thank Tarantino for inspiring such accidental mockeries of masculine cinema as Hell Ride and its ilk), but due to the collective presence of unexpected friends, music, and Sass Parilla the Singing Gorilla, we had a grand time laughing at something that was I guess supposed to be serious. And all in the process, we've made a new friend of Eddie Ray's friend Mattie and have both become enamoured with Eddie's living situation, a loft in a hollowed-out former high school overlooking Glenwood Avenue on the southeast side of the city. I hope to spend some time living there myself.


A specific day of note here is the one day in the summer that can actually claim to be an official holiday (excluding Earth Day, I think, and maybe Flag Day?). No, not Father's Day, that's a fake one invented by Hallmark; I am, of course, speaking of 4 July, the day these united states officially became These United States. We kicked off celebrations at Germain's place, wherein I finally met the guy's freshly Americanized mother and two of his good friends who quickly became some of my own; we all had burgers and fruit salad, you know. And then it was off to Krista's, an alcohol-soaked extravaganza in the front yard, complete with a slip-n-slide that made it clear to all party-goers that such a summertime distraction is clearly meant for those under the age of 12. Despite suffering numerous ground-level waterslide-related bruises and lacerations and also despite the half-hour fruitless excursion made by Julian and myself to what was apparently not supposed to be a funeral at Brooke's dead 4th party, Krista's party was an American success, with the eclectic mixture of Vortex staff & patrons, Twinhead members, and whoever else with whom Krista associates making for a goddamn interesting time indeed.

When the next weekend rolled around, Krista, Alicia, Julian, and myself waded through major thoroughfares flooded with rainwater to get a glimpse at the annual Pride Parade from special reserved spots on the Midtown Vortex patio itself. Although God truly seemed to be testing his beautiful gay & lesbian children with a thunderstorm (yes, testing; I mean, look at what he does to the Jews, and he just loves them, right?), the parade was undoubtedly as fabulous as you just know its participants had hoped and claimed it would be. I even got to see a co-worker of mine standing eight feet tall in a shimmering, sparkling green outfit inspired by Lady Liberty herself. Plus, it was the Vortex, so we totally got free beer and hot wings.