I managed to con my father into giving me ten more dollars to buy Cathy's birthday present. He was shocked and offended when he found out how much I planned to spend...hey, he should try paying tuition, gas money, food money and car insurance on part-time pay. I ended up getting her two bottles of nail polish (blue and glitter blue), a box of valentine's day candy (75% off! You can't beat it!), and a book (The Blood Countess). I was going to get her a trashy romance novel, but I just couldn't bring myself to bring it to the counter. Besides, Cathy reads so many of them that I couldn't be certain which she's already read.
The party was interesting. Her mother hired a band to play for her party. They were in the downstairs den, which is pretty small, and they filled the room (there were about 7 or 8 musicians, altogether). This den was also where Cathy's friends had to sit. Any thought processes were drowned out by the music, which I'm certain I would have enjoyed more had I understood a word of Spanish. I found myself staring at the guitarist, watching his fingers move. He was, without a doubt, the worst guitarist besides Ken that I have ever encountered. Dirk was staring at him, too.
We couldn't even talk to each other, and since Cathy's family has very traditional values, resting my head on his shoulder was out. Nicole and Jerry, Cathy's other friends, came in at about 6:30, and sat down. Nicole was trying to get us to go out back, so we could all talk, but Cathy had no choice but to stay in the room, since the musicians had been hired especially for her.
Cathy's family is also very Catholic. I don't know too many other families that have a priest bless the food at their daughter's birthday party. I used to be Catholic, and whenever I'm in that house, with a sconce of holy water next to the front door, and those candles with pictures of saints that are always burning, and the prayers in spanish right before they eat, I always feel myself backsliding. It's vaguely uncomfortable. But Cathy's the most genuinely nice person I know, and I value that. What does a little religion matter between friends, anyway?
I'm still trying to write an article.....It's not really working out very well at all. I get about halfway throught, stop, and end up tearing up what I've written. That's alright. Katie hasn't finished her article yet. I sometimes doubt she ever will. I feel like such a loser compared to Dirk, though. He's written 2 or 3 articles for this issue, and he's already begun his articles for the next issue. I'm lucky if I manage one article per issue.
Krisco probably spent today getting stoned again, since Dirk refused to hang out with her. I can't imagine what the attraction is....the stuff makes you stupid. Jerk-off, who is a frequent user of the stuff (no imagination, I guess she can't help it) is incredibly slow now. She was trying to tell Dirk the other day that he needed to "prioritize" (meaning he needs to realize that Krisco's the girl for him) and he kept distracting her by telling her that he loves anal sex. This would mess her up so bad that she'd lose her train of thought. And she wasn't even stoned right then. You know, Dirk's brother wants to sleep with her. He's always had lousy taste in girls.