Well, it's been an ok weekend, it's been very busy because of Homecoming. Homecoming is one of these American traditions which I've yet to understand and which nobody has been able to tell me why it exists. Well, as I mentioned it was indeed Homecoming weekend here for the University and since this is a college town it's a big deal. On Friday night I wasn't able to find anyone to do anything with and so I went over to the post-volleyball activities which were happening in the gym. There was a climbing wall, pizza giveaways, a dunk tank and the usual various activities for all the unfortunate people who are under 21. I saw Brandon and talked to him for a little bit and then called Tiffany briefly. She was around at her sisters place doing laundry and programming, I didn't want to disturb her and so I let her be. I came home about 11 pm and talked to Ally for a bit.
I woke up on Saturday morning a little after 9 am and lay in my nice warm bed for some time. I finally got out and got ready as the Homecoming parade was scheduled for 10 am on Main Street. It was a cold morning, but cycling soon warmed me up. I found a spot in the sun and waited for things to kick off. Like I said, college towns make a big deal of these sort of things and the parade was no exception. There were many hundreds of people scattered along the long parade route, and when it finally kicked off, it went by slowly, but continuously for over an hour. There was the marching band, the ambassadors, alumni, fraternity and sorority houses, political groups and various local organizations. It was a nice time, and the buzz was mellow and friendly. About 11:15 am it finally wrapped up and I cycled over to the lab for a while to check on things, the cold weather was making me feel somewhat hyperactive so I came home and danced and jumped around for a bit. After that I had a shower which put me to sleep a little so I got back into bed. I went back to the lab and then about 4:30 pm I went over to say hello to Tiffany. She was busy with stuff so I just sat on her bed and did some reading.
She told me that after initially cancelling, her mother was now coming to town. This wasn't good news with the Queer dance that night, so we talked for a while as her week had been busy and I hadn't seen much of her. A little after 5 pm we went downstairs and ran into Doug and Richard. Richard had arrived from up north earlier in the day and they wanted some quiet time. We were happy to give them that, and I got home about 6 pm and started to think about getting ready. This was a smart move as Doug called me 45 minutes later to say they would be leaving soon. I managed to get my clothes and makeup together in record time, and they were a little late so we left my place (Doug, Richard, Tiffany and I) about 7:30 pm. Fortunately for Tiffany her Mum was cool about seeing her Sunday instead of Saturday night, so that was good to hear.
We drove to the hotel room where Eric and Jason (who had ridden down with Richard) were staying. This was right across from the Baxter Hotel where the dance was being held, so it was convenient for me as I was working the first shift on the door. We sat around talking and more people arrived, including Bonnie who is a friend of Tiffany's. Pizza was ordered and it had only just arrived when I had to walk over to start early on the door. There were people already there, but because of a restaurant downstairs we weren't able to crank the music up for a while. I was doing my usual spiel as people came up the stairs to come in as well as talking to Betsy who helps coordinate the group. She is very cool to hang out with and we had a nice rapport going.
About 9:30 pm everybody came over from the hotel and it was cool to see them all ready to party. I kept working the door for another hour which was fine as we still weren't able to turn the music up. There wasn't any trouble at the door despite the presence of a large alumni crowd downstairs. Once I got off the front desk I went inside to chat, dance and drink. The music was ok, but the flow from one track to another and the switching between genres wasn't well done which made it hard to dance much. I got an offer of a joint, but I went to the bar for a minute and everyone had vanished in the interval. That always seems to happen to me, and everyone seems to think that I don't like to get high, whereas it's more a matter of I never get the opportunity. Tiffany unfortunately had been mixing drinks and so she got ill in the bathroom which wasn't good, she just vanished and then reappeared 20 minutes later looking very ill and sorry for herself. I was a little annoyed, but decided not to worry and just enjoy myself, which as I mentioned would have been easier if the music had been better.
About 1 am they drew door prizes and had a moment of silence for Matthew Shepard who had died on that day five years ago. The music went back on for another hour, and finally around 2 am the lights came up. Tiffany was feeling better, although very tired and we were trying to figure out what was going to happen now. I was happy to go home, but instead after I found my jacket we ended up at an after-party. Tiffany decided to stay and sleep in the truck which was probably a good idea as I didn't know many of the people there who were mostly gay guys. We left late and got home a bit before 4 pm.
Today I lounged around in bed till about midday and then dropped by Tiffany's to see how she was doing. Her hangover was kicking in and so we just chilled out. About 1 pm Julie dropped by in her usual hyperactive state and tried to convince us to come for a hike. We declined, Tiffany especially so and after watching some South Park episodes I left about 2 pm. I walked home had a nice long shower and a nap which took me through to about 6 pm. I went to the lab to work on some things and to set up the printer which we'd bought on Friday in our little shopping spree. I worked on a report and then after coming home I talked to Ally for a while.
It's been a fun weekend, a lot of stuff has been going on and I'm sure next weekend will be much quieter which is fine. I have reports and presentations to get ready as well as continuing to bang my head against the inertia in the University.