After quite an awkward week I felt it was appropriate for me to hit a bar on my way back home before I booted up my computer to get more work done.  My phone has bricked, the booking company that was supposed to put together tonight’s show at the bar has bailed on us leaving us to scramble for new acts for a straight week, I can’t call the bar or other bands to get replacement acts because I CAN’T CALL ANYONE, the freelance market is looking a little dry so I haven’t gotten the chance to pick up any disposable income, and the regular old complaints anyone could have about their day job.

Thus, alcohol.  The source of and solution to all of life’s problems.

What I didn’t know was that a friend of mine was also having a pretty bad week.  She was living like me – for other people.  She has been endlessly catering to her friends coming in from out of town, she’s got her own work gripes, and to top it off, her car brakes failed.  And that was a breaking point for her.

So I gave her a ride back to her place – but on one condition: that she join me in getting a drink.

And for the first time in a long time, we were able to relieve all the built up pressure we’ve been feeling lately.  After all the bitching and moaning we did about our jobs, we reminisced about musicianship, and how we both missed being on stage and performing.  How we missed the music and hated being embroiled in the business.  We caught up on all the drama that has been swirling around us and made a mental map of all its interlocking parts.  We talked about our families, why suburb culture frightens us, when we were going to get the new iPhone, tattoo care, our astrology and that of our friends, re-enacted what it was like to be a dog living in her house, why she keeps getting picked up by a-holes, how you can’t name a band before it’s formed, why my convictions and values are shining examples of how men and women CAN be just friends, ice cream, the popular misinterpretation of feminism, and how we really needed to get away from everyone and everything and just have a nice drink, a nice conversation, and talk to only one person.

I think what made it better was that we hadn’t hung out in a long time.  There was a lot of catching up to do, and that fuzzy feeling you get when you re-discover why you made friends with someone in the first place.

It was refreshing.  It’s a perfect platonic date – all the fun of really connecting with someone without all the sordid anxiety that comes with trying to impress a date.

I knew there was a reason I kept her around as a friend.  Good company.

Now, I get ready for work, for a job that’s been causing me a lot of stress lately.  But because of a good friend, I don’t feel so resentful about it.

Tonight’s Toast

Ad Fides Ex Fraternitas

“To confidence from brotherhood”