The midweek, Fourth of July weekend started off with a bang Tuesday night when Brook invited all those he has had to mooch off of for the past year and a half out for an open bar at DBA in the East Village. A check finally arrived from MTV over the weekend and he's no longer in the poor house.
So at six on the nose, I came when I was called and arrived at the bar. We sat for a while alone and chatted about politics, the internet, and our latest endeavours before slowly people began to dribble in. It was a really fun night, the most exciting thing that happened was ordering Mexican food from the place next door, but it was still fun. Jason M. was surprisingly there which made me exceedingly happy and he helped me brainstorm some ideas for After the Jump after he caught me up on his mini European trip with Caterina.
I think some people got a little overzealous with the open tab but Brook was generous and paid for it all. I didn't want to know what it all came out to in the end. I just wanted to bundle him into my car and drive him home. Which I did, along with Ryan R. I was home myself by 4am and nearly fell asleep on the LIE getting there.
By 11am yesterday I was up and conferencing with Akshay and Brook online about our Fourth plans. It was decided that we would hit my friend Betty's apartment in Brooklyn along with Deb and Jason for a bbq before heading to the waterfront to watch the fireworks.
Somehow, there was no traffic going into the city so I was able to stop on the way for groceries. I went a little overboard and bought $50 worth of all American fare, apple pie, (veggie) burgers, Budweiser beer and a big old watermelon. When we got there, Brook, Akshay and Jason did what men are suppose to do; crack open a beer and fire up the grill. A burger and some side salads later, we were all playing beer baseball, a high school creation by Jason, while Brook snoozed on the couch. Thankfully when he woke up, he was sober and able to drive us all over to Matt's, where it was decided we would watch the fireworks on his roof instead of the Brooklyn promenade. Good decision, it was a great view.
After the fireworks, I forced my apple pie on everybody before Deb, Jason, Brook and I made an irritating trip to Queens in an attempt to find the 59th Street Bridge. Not only was getting lost incredibly annoying, it was heightened by the phone call amidst the getting lost where my Thursday plans I had been talking about for a week were abruptly cancelled. On top of that, they couldn't be rescheduled until after the weekend when he got back into town from visiting the girl he is seeing. It was disappointing all around, even though his reason for cancelling was a good one, and put me in a funk.
When I finally dropped the Schers off, I discussed the cancellation with Brook on the way to meet Kramer on the UES for a drink. He asked if I just wanted to know if the guy liked me.
“Well, yes. I suppose” I mumbled.
“I think the answer to that is in his trip this weekend.”
SHIT.
“Perhaps it would be helpful if you tried not to date guys with girlfriends.”
DOUBLE SHIT.
After one drink on the UES, us freelancing folk made it an even later night by playing Nintendo Wii at Kramer's new apartment until 3:30 in the morning. The golf I wasn't bad at. The tennis however...that was a tad embarrassing.
I walked to my car after we finally won a game of tennis in the pouring rain. Somehow, it felt appropriate and I just didn't mind.
Labels: 4th of July, akshay, brook, brooklyn, debbie, eric, jason m, josie, kramer, nyc, ryan r
