2.14 ~ ~ first quarteR
i walked with marissa and her roommate the few blocks from their house in riverwest to bremen’s cafe. when we got there we could hear a band in the back that was covering pedro the lion songs. it was an event marissa’s friend was putting on and marissa seemed to know the majority of the people there. i rarely go out and even though marissa introduced me to most of the people she talked to i still felt uncomfortable. we watched the band for a little bit and then got more drinks. jake was sitting at the bar and he bought the three of us a round of rail tequila shots. i went back in the room where the music was playing and a my chemical romance cover band was setting up. i didn’t know where marissa was and i was starting to feel extremely anxious and upset with myself. i’d really been looking forward to tonight and going out and being social again but i think i’ve spent an irreversible amount of time alone and instead of enjoying being out i just wanted to cry and be teleported back home so i could pet my cat and listen to beach house in bed. i took a sip from my beer and still felt exactly the same. i didn’t know where to look so i looked down at my feet and instead of seeing my feet i saw a large black dog with brown markings looking up at me. i pet the dog and asked if it was having a good time. it wondered off and shortly after that marissa found me in the crowd and then jake found us and we all danced and sang along to songs i hadn’t heard in years.
3.17 ~ ~ waxing gibbouS
zuul is a 7 month old pug whose owner is staying with us for a few days. he's basically the naughtiest dog in the world but so adorable he gets away with everything. this dog could literally murder me and i'd still love him.
7.18 ~ ~ full
today’s my last day in the midwest, i fly back to arizona at 10pm tonight. it took a long time but i convinced jake to wake up early this morning and walk down to the lakefront to watch the sunrise over lake michigan. i used to do this all the time by myself when we lived together in milwaukee but i needed him to come with me otherwise i couldn’t get past the security checkpoint and back into the dorms. on our way back we stopped at walgreens on state and roosevelt to get some food. when we walked out we had to wait to cross the street and standing in front of us was a medium sized white and dark brown pit bull. its owner had his back turned to us and i pet the side of the pup’s happy face and it licked my hand all over. after we crossed the street jake said “sneaky dog friend.”
8.6 ~ ~ waxing crescent
tonight was the second night of ‘this lil lit fest’, a 3-day event for small publishers in denver put together by catch business. spy kids review’s showcase reading happened tonight at a nice bar. catch, scout, and steve all read. a lot more people showed up for it than i thought were going to. afterward catch had an open mic style reading in her backyard and a lot of ppl showed up for that too. someone brought a medium-big white lab and i don’t remember what his name was but it was something wacky and adorable like booper. i was in the living room with a few other people when the dog walked in by itself and i said i was really happy it was there bc 1) i love dogs and 2) it meant i could write about tonight in this journal. someone asked to hear what i have so far so i took out my phone and read condensed versions from the beginning up until zuul and stopped there bc i thought that was the funniest entry so far and i wanted to end it on a high note.
10.5 ~ ~ waxing crescent
a couple weeks ago i started working at a call center for verizon wireless and i made friends with a lot of the people in my training class. one of those people was emily and after she found out i’m vegan she insisted she set me up with her best friends krista, who’s also vegan. i dm’d krista on instagram and we talked for awhile and made plans to go on a ~6 hour hike as a ‘first date’. when i got to her house she walked outside carrying a tiny and super skinny rescue pup she had adopted ~5 days before. we walked in her house and 2 small adult dogs started barking. one was a lil wiener dog named rigby and the other some kind of chihuahua mix named mordecai.
after the hike we were exhausted and sweaty and she asked if i wanted to go hang out with her friends and i was like, “okay.” we went over to her friend brandon’s place and he had a small and energetic dog that i kept referring to as “pristine”. krista told me brandon named the dog toulouse bc he’s obsessed with ariana grande and ariana grande has a dog named toulouse.
after the hike we were exhausted and sweaty and she asked if i wanted to go hang out with her friends and i was like, “okay.” we went over to her friend brandon’s place and he had a small and energetic dog that i kept referring to as “pristine”. krista told me brandon named the dog toulouse bc he’s obsessed with ariana grande and ariana grande has a dog named toulouse.
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| Joseph Parker Okay is the author of 3 books, including "every time i park my car i feel like i'm doing something wrong" (winner of Nostrovia Press's 2017 Chapbook Contest). He's the founding editor of Spy Kids Review and 2Fast2House. He tweets @verysoftlake. |
