My weekend went fairly well. I slept in, and then Heather came over and we made cake. We decided to dye it purple, but didn't have enough red, so it ended up blue. The bottom layer was square and the top was round (those are the only shaped pans I had), and we decorated the top in the shape of a banana slug with yellow M&M's, almonds, and chocolate chips. I think it must've been THE most awesome cake I've ever made. And then we had an hour or two to kill before the show we were to attend, so we sat and discussed asexuality, since Heather is also asexual and was interested in hearing my perspective, as was I to hear hers. Apparently, she'd heard of asexuality before, but had written it off as a possibility, thinking that being asexual meant that you didn't want romantic relationships. However, then last year, she was in a Psych class and decided to do a paper on asexuality, and discovered that yes, relationships were possible, and this led her to identify as such herself. I think that was a really interesting story. From what I gather, most people discover asexuality for themselves by independently inventing the term and googling it on a whim (like I did).

It was interesting to share stories with her about relationships, too. Apparently she also has a gay best friend whom she would've liked a romantic relationship with, but who she is satisfied to simply be really good friends with (as I am with Ricardo). But she's been in that situation longer, and she told me that, while this relationship satisfies her romantic needs, it wasn't so good because the guy eventually thought that she was getting to close and then put her through a painful distancing. And then he got a boyfriend, and that's obviously somewhat sucky for Heather because someone else has taken over the main position in his life. I thought about this, and it occurred to me that this could very likely happen to me as well. Ricardo has told me himself that, though I am a good friend, I don't fit that position, and he is actively looking for someone to be in that kind of relationship with... so, eventually, he'll have a boyfriend, and I'll have to back off a bit.

Then me and Heather went to a show called "Accidental Lesbian", which is basically a stand-up-comedy-esque performance of "chapters" in the director's life. It was REALLY good - she's had a really interesting life, and it was an excellent first show for her. After the show, I sat around waiting for Ricardo, who'd said he would stop by and have some cake/food before he had to go to the Rainbow Theater performance he was attending with our friend Kevin. However, he was coming from downtown, and by the time he got here, it was almost time for him to leave again. He ate my food very quickly (people seem to eat my food a lot this year, haha), and then I decided to go for a run, so I put on some shorts and said I'd run there with him, since he was so late that running was necessary to get there on time. We ran across the campus, we lagging behind because I'd just eaten cake, and cake doesn't go well with running. But eventually my stomach settled, and we were going at a pretty steady pace. We got there only a couple minutes late, and he was able to buy a ticket and enter. I, myself, headed out to the track, stretched, and then ran and ran and ran. I ran a good 2 1/2 miles, almost running into a big deer with huge antlers that was standing right in the middle of the track at one point. Then I walked back, and waited until the show would be over, for Ricardo had said he might stop by for some cake afterwards. But it was getting really late, so I thought that he wouldn't be coming, and it was just as I was moving from the living room to the bedroom to get ready for bed around 11pm that a knock came on the door. And there was not only Ricardo, but Kevin as well. He apologized for coming unannounced, but I waved the apology away. He suggested that we play Scrabble and I readily agreed, quite happy to ablige. Ricardo wanted to play and see if I really was as good at Scrabble as I told him, for, he said, he was pretty confident that he could match me.

He was wrong. I beat both of them by a landslide, as usual. Ricardo even got a 7-letter-word 50-point bonus at one point, and I still beat him by about 100 points. But it was fun anyway, and they gave me a pretty good run for my money. We had some really funny words, and I got the idea of making up a story with the words on the board, and we all came up with the most hilarious, if somewhat inappropriate, stories. I still can't believe that Ricardo had the 7-letter word "maenads"... that was amazing. We had just been talking about maenads and thyrsus wands and Greek plays the other day, and he just happened to get that word! After the game, we watched more music videos, true to Ricardo's nature. And then Ricardo, sugar-high from eating most of the cake, grabbed the cake knife and performed in a spontaneous mock-play for me and Kevin, dramatically brandishing the knife and investigating the mystery of the eaten cake, and, at one point, even pretending to stab the TV. It was 2 am, and I had Ricardo in my living room doing Modern Dance moves to the song "Barbie Girl" by Aqua, with a knife in one hand and this ridiculous look on his face. Well, at least he wasn't laughing hysterically this time. And then we all sat on the futon and talked for another hour before finally and reluctantly retiring to our respective beds.

The next day, I slept in, and then in the evening, went to Imani's show at the Rainbow Theater with Kim. Ricardo was supposed to meet us there, but he was late, and he arrived just as the director was introducing the play, exhausted from studying all day. I didn't like the first play so much - it was somewhat boring - but it had some funny characters in it. The play dragged on for a full hour and half, and then, after an intermission, Imani's Poet's Corner finally came on. They were SO GOOD. Imagine really good poetry combined with choreography in multiple acts with different characters, combined into one movement of poetry that came together in the end and left you haunted with these last words: "It never ends." I can't decribe it, but it was amazing. And Imani did not only poetry, but piano as well, and singing. And they accompanied their poetry with body motions, visually representing the words they were saying. At the end, they got an encore applause from a standing audience, and we went up to congratulate him. He said: "My house is here!" and gave us all a hug and said we smelled like the tea at our apartment - that we smelled like home.

And that's the end of the weekend. But today was a day off, so it felt like the weekend. And it was also a very good day.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I should tell you about last night before I move on towards the present. Last night, I was at home, and everyone had left, and it was just me in the apartment. I resigned myself to a night by myself, chatting online. I decided to watch a movie on the futon. But just before, Patrick sent me a message saying he wanted to come bug me, so I said: "So come bug me then. I've got milk..." And that teaser was all he needed. The next moment, Patrick was coming through my door with a smile on his face. He gave me a hug, ate Kim's cookies, drank my milk, and then we sat down on the couch. I asked him, have you seen this movie? It was Sex and the City: The Movie. I'd found it in Imani's collection, funnily enough, and Patrick said, are you kidding? I own the special edition. That's my favortie movie. Then I got my fuzzy blanket and my two cushiest body pillows, and we curled up in them and turned off the light and watched the chick flick, leaned up against each other like little children. It was a great movie, too. Just what I needed - a love story with a happy ending that leaves a warm feeling inside. Patrick left, since it was late - 2 am. But I stayed on the futon, happy, warm, and more comfortable than I'd been in years. I wanted to stay there forever. It felt like home again. Not home as it's been for the last few years, but home as it was years ago on holidays, when all my relatives were around, and I'd have to sleep on the couch, with my cousins beside me, and I'd stare up at the Christmas-light-lit ceiling, pull my blankets around me, and smile at the thought of the morning to come. Those were the days. And to have that feeling back, here at Santa Cruz, in my very own apartment, was the best thing that's happened to me this year. It's so nice to feel at home again. To have that sense of comfort and closeness, that sense of family, like so many years ago.

However, I did end up moving back to my bed. At first, I stayed on the couch, ready to sleep there... but I wasn't tired, and I stayed up thinking happy and warm thoughts, remembering things that I haven't remembered in a long time. And then the allergies hit, and suddenly my nose itched and my eyes watered up and I was snuffling. I don't know what triggered it - perhaps I inhaled some of the fuzz from my blanket - but I took some medicine, took a shower, and went to bed. I woke up today with a stuffed up nostril, and crusty eyes - yuck - and messaged Toro. He'd invited us to climb Tree 9 today, assuming it wasn't raining. It wasn't, so we set a time. Ricardo was late again - he'd gotten caught up listening to a friend who'd decided to confide in him - and we had ot wait for him to eat lunch. But finally, he was ready and we set off. When we got there, there were a lot of people already in the tree, and many other people besides, waiting to start up. We waited a while for some people to come down and then Ricardo led the way up the rope ladder. I followed him up, finding it much easier than before - kayaking has paid off in that respect - and then began my ascent into the main part of the tree, stepping from branch to branch, stretching to reach, stitting, pulling, and clutching onto the tree. Surprisingly, I found that it wasn't as scary as I'd thought. In fact, it was easy and fun, and I out-stripped Ricardo, who'd climbed the tree once before. He was surprised that I climbed so fast, and had a little more trouble than I in getting across some of the more difficult gaps. Half-way up, we found a little toy parachute that someone had presumably thrown from the top of the tree. After that point, it got to where you couldn't see the ground anymore, all the branches hindering your view. Which is good because no doubt the view from that height of the ground would've given some people a panic attack. We scaled the tree, and reached the top. The top was kind of scary because, with more than one person up there, it swayed if anyone moved. I was glad that it wasn't windy, for I've heard that the top of the tree sways in the wind. I don't doubt it.

The view was phenomenal. From the top of the tree, you could see the bay, from Santa Cruz all the way across to Monterey. The sun was beginning to set, but we were so high up that there was still sunlight on the top of the tree, and on the tops of the trees around us. It was beautiful and peaceful and such an awesome and fun experience. I hope to do it again very soon, and more often, for I enjoyed it very much. Then me and Ricardo headed down again, me leading the way, weaving around the people coming up under us. I was halfway down the tree when Ricardo yelled from above: "How did you get down there so fast?" I said, "It's easy!" Below me, Toro and Kevin were waiting on the ground - they were too freaked out by heights to climb to the top, although, before, Toro did climb the bottom of the tree. He said it was easy climbing, but it was hella scary and that he didn't want to go all the way. So instead, he took pictures. I posed in the tree with Toro's roommate, Bryan, and then Ricardo caught up (or down, haha) to me and posed with us, hanging from the branches, looking down. Then we went the rest of the way, shimmied down the rope ladder (the hardest part of the climb) and rested on solid ground once more. Although, to be honest, I was so calm and peaceful up in the tree, that the tree was pretty solid too. I could've lounged up there all day. One person even remarked that we should have a book club up there - I thought, that would be so awesome!

Then we followed the trail further to the Wishing Tree, where people's wishes papered the limbs and were stuck on the ends of twigs. There was every kind of wish on there, from "I wish for world peace" to "I wish I didn't have to pee so much" and "I wish I could teleport". It was really interesting to read them all. And then a stranger offered us his notebook and pen and we put up our own wishes. Mine was as follows: "I wish for another night that feels like home, and many more to come."

After that, the others went home, and Ricardo expressed a wish to go to the Kresge swing. So I took him there, racing against the sun as it set. We arrived, and there were people already there. We took our turns, and I felt that familiar wonderful swooping sensation on the first drop from the tree out and over into the empty space over the ravine. I honestly think that the swing is scarier than being at the top of tree 9. It would be really easy to fall off or to swing the wrong way and run into a tree. But it was fun.

I told my mom that I'd climbed a tree and gone to the swing today. She thought, my lovely dare-devil child, climbing trees, swinging over ravines, and kayaking on the ocean. I thought, what an awesome life.