my lap top is whirring with the sounds of "erasure." who doesn't love "erasure?" okay, don't answer.

friday night, the bergers and the doughertys went out for a night of expensive sea food and drunken revelry at the karaoke bar. i only say "the bergers" and "the doughertys" instead of "chris and jackie" and "dan and rachel" because there was one point in the bar where rachel and i were planning our weddings. "chris is going to be one of your groomsmen, right?" i said to dan, to which he replied to chris, "help."

ah, yes.

it was a load of fun. some of my other friends met us at the bar as well, and since i was in such good company, i kept drinking and drinking and drinking, only to pass out later and wake up the next afternoon with a lot of questions of where everyone went. yesterday, i felt a bit ill all day. chris and i spent some time at the hospital as well; his aunt had emergency surgery to remove a newly found tumor from her liver. they're saying she should be okay, but there was one point in the hospital when the doctor came out to talk to chris' uncle, and the waiting room, filled with family (and me), became so horribly, deadly silent that i felt like crying a little myself. it's hard to imagine anything bad happening to this particular aunt; she's a gorgeous, youthful lady, and bad things just don't happen to people who appear so happy and healthy and totally together. that's just my take on things, but i'm a little naive. anyways, again, she's doing okay at the moment, and since the tumor's now gone, let's hope that the problem itself is completely solved.

what a family chris has-- so close knit and always there for one another. it's a large family, not like my little handful, and being there last night made me think of how lucky they all are, and what's really important- the people in your life. so it's ironic that i wasn't able to hang out with carole last night due to how tired and drained i was. carole's one of my best friends. i'm considering introducing people to carole by saying that she's my sister-- and instead of drunkenly announcing to people that i've known dan since i was ten, i think i'm just going to tell people that he's my brother. it's close to the truth, except for all those genetic details.

and now it's sunday morning. it's a gorgeous february day, the kind that reminds you that spring isn't all that far away. a morning like this, sunny and not very cold after a dull, grey, frigid winter, is like a taste of chocolate after being on a bran and grapefruit diet. or a piece of steak or a baked potato topped with cheese and sour cream and bacon. depending, of course, on what you're in the mood for.