weekend - release: part 1

it looks like i'm going to have to do this in installments - the weekend was brilliant and its energy has flowed through until now... my mind is stuttering in exhilarated anticipation, and i *definitely* haven't slept enough.

there's a semblance of chronological order here, but no more than that :)

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tgtbt: good lord. she just graduated summa cum laude. even though i'm not completely surprised (she's phi beta kappa, my mum duly informs me) i'm extremely proud :D

i discovered this on my way to breakfast with ze irish german and grootbek, which was a brilliant breakfast even by gilad and daniel's usual standards :)
the post-breakfast debate turned a bit hardcore, though... we argued the whole walk back to my area, and broke it off only to keep the peace and "agree to disagree". i can never do that, though, and i carried it on in my head all the way to bialik square, eventually reaching a conclusion that (i hope) should please their side of it as well.

gasoline and a friend of hers joined me at the square, where karolina was shooting the music video for her new hit and we were extras dancing joyously and having a good laugh. it was very cool, and i wish i'd known to dress up because there were some terrifically outlandish costumes!

from there i went to meet chc at the beach. she was there with a couple of friends, and we didn't stop talking until it was past time to be heading home for a pre-party nap. i had a quick shower when i got home, and then experienced the most beautiful rest i've had in a long time: an incredible song was playing at one stage, and i actually fought (and beat) the urge to jump up and find out what it was... it was a cross between tribal african and traditional indian, and while i'm sorry that i didn't write it down i'm also very pleased that i did nothing but enjoy it thoroughly ^_^

the festivities began with confused packing - everyone was late and arriving from opposite ends of the city... i walked to meet up with chc (having to report a run-over cat on the way: unpleasant) and we got back to find scrapper's friend and fn outside my apartment. the girls made me feel proud of my apartment :D

scrapper's friend pulled out what appeared to be a bottle filled with mineral water - it turned out to be something along the lines of a neutral grain spirit. mixed with water, maybe, but i took a tiny sip that was so strong that my mode flipped instantly and i was *not* in my right mind. acute loss of dexterity and the inability to remember what i was doing, and i felt disconnected.

i demanded that he leave it behind - trance parties are for having fun, not getting stupidly drunk as quickly as possible.

scrapper picked us up in a very nice pretty 4x4 (i must remember to let him know that although nothing bad happened, that's usually just asking for trouble). i didn't think to bring any music with me - this left us with some really awful stuff and eventually silence won out. we talked a lot, told a lot of jokes, and generally had an interesting drive there.

i said interesting? i forgot about the police check - scrapper didn't realize that we were going to an illegal party, but i managed to rescue us with my officer's ID and some fast talking :)

fn was being decidedly weird, though. she has some very odd ideas. also, a lack of tact that can be charming when it's not deeply offensive. you're not supposed to tell the driver that he's doing a terrible job, especially when he's aware that he's not handling the vehicle comfortably (he couldn't get the breaking distance right).

a) we arrived too late for the pre-3am driver discount on account of having missed a turn for bad signage

b) chc wasn't on any "free" entrance list, but i at least managed to get her a discount because i know the birthday boy's girlfriend.

c) the music that was playing when we arrived there was nice, but had no oomph

d) the crowd when we arrived there was surprisingly raver.

e) i'd given the two new guys (scrapper and friend) a talk about not getting drunk and about moving with the music. they only listened to the first part, though, and by the time the sun began to rise they were already tired and ready to leave.
at first, i was horrified that they'd only danced for the most uninteresting music and with the most uninteresting crowd, but later on i realized that it might've been for the best. i think it's going to take a while before they can handle something a little more grown-up.

that was confirmed when i spoke to scrapper on sunday evening and discovered that the two of them had been blown away by the experience :)

f) scrapper and i agreed that my fascination with chc was approaching spiritual paedophilia... it would take a few conversations with her to realize that that isn't entirely the case.

g) my stomache was hurting, i developed a headache before dawn and that disconnect from the earlier sip (seriously!) was still strong... i wasn't a happy camper... the bad sandwich that i bought didn't help at all. what did help was breakfast at the car - nuts, then nutella and an energy drink :P

h) scrapper left us the half-watermelon he'd brought. around 10am chc and i decided it was time to do something about it, and i found a knife and sliced it up in such a way that the sizes were fair and i hadn't had to touch anything - i'm seriously proud of myself!

that watermelon did a few rounds; it was delicious, and really brought out the best of the morning ^_^

i) around 9.30am the good guys began to arrive. that included not only a bunch of the regular crew, but even a couple of highly irregular members - like karnaf! i haven't partied with him (not including street parties) in years, and it was great to see him on the dancefloor :)

j) i had a chat with click girl's friend, and it was interesting to talk with someone who'd arrived at such very different conclusions from the same stimuli. i'm becoming more and more confident in my views the more i have them challenged by others; in this case we were considering the "dropping of masks" reality of the people on the dancefloor and the inherent goodness of any human being.

k) one of the djs did something really beautiful with the dancefloor - memorably so - by playing a grinding sample and messing with it until everyone was all wound up: when he brought in the beat, it fitted so perfectly that the entire crowd had been resynchronized and for the first time that day everyone was bouncing together as they should have been :)

l) it was blazingly hot, and by mid-afternoon i was decidedly sensitive to the sunlight (i was worried that i'd gotten burned, but i hadn't).

chc and i got a ride back to the haifa shuttles with click girl and two of her friends, one of whom doesn't speak any english. it was a really fun ride, with everyone on the same wavelength and me translating bits and pieces across and managing to tie it all together :D

we didn't have enough cash for the shuttle, so i had to jump out and draw cash on the way. a pity that it was only the third atm that accepted my card - the driver was pissed off that i was waiting at red lights on a saturday when there were no other vehicles around :P

i slept (albeit uncomfortably) for quite a bit of the ride. we got back to a ridiculously bright tel aviv, and walked and talked until we arrived at her apartment (she and two others are renting an unused office). we walked and talked to the coffee stand on rothschild, then sat talking by the pool until sunset began to approach.
then we walked and talked back to her place, i picked up my things and made my way back to my side of the city.

in all that talking, we managed to click on a whole lot of levels and share so much - it was a perfect afternoon filled with a lazy, honest love. i don't recall so thoroughly enjoying connecting with someone so easily, and although i don't know where this is going i went home with a light heart and an enormous smile on my face.

i passed through cafesito's second headphone party, saying hi to a few people before getting home for a shower. i sat for a bit on facebook, then went to sit at coffeeholic with the chef over coffee... i'd seen the tank on my way home, and wondered if i was ready to forgive him. after talking to the chef for two seconds, the answer was a bit negative.

i took a fast walk to meet up with dp and a few friends - it was time to say goodbye. that's the second time (and in the same circle of friends) that i've been really sad to do so... such an amazing group of people!

i was smiling (from the day in general, from chc, and from being grateful for having met dp and all her friends) the whole way home; the last thing i saw before going to bed was a note from chc that put me *just* over the moon.

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i'm now deeply exhausted. part 2 on the way...