new_year's_day tender_square at 3 am, we trudged toward his parents’ house on uncleared sidewalks, our prints an unwavering stamp on the new year. drunk with love and warmed by whiskey, we looped our puffy jacket arms and laughed, the streetlight halos illuminating the falling flakes in that living snow globe. we slept together in the same bed, in the spare bedroom, in the clothes we were wearing, even though we weren’t supposed to. his strict irish-catholic parents welcomed us with smiles and bacon next morning, still. how happy i was waking beside him, our morning breath mingling as we turned toward one another in bed, recounting scenes from the party a few hours prior through our fog of hangovers. i resolved to always stay this way with him. but like so many intentions for a new year inevitably turn, i couldn’t keep it up. 211114 ... tender_square means "the twilight zone" marathon on syfy. i wish i had come to my parents house sooner to watch along with dad. 230101 ... epitome of incomprehensibility Woke up early, convinced that the soreness I felt in swallowing related to the dream homework I hadn't completed. In fact, it relates to me catching a cold - for the first time in almost three years. Luckily it's not too bad so far. The dog ate a bunch of turkey he managed to bat off the counter last night, which made him sick in the kitchen today. I've had an email I was avoiding; I was impulsive and decided to write to someone who's had a longstanding feud with my dad, for reasons that seem kind of ridiculous. But he's a person who doesn't change his mind easily. On the bright side, the grading is almost done! 230101 ... raze the day's most momentous event was likely the unveiling of a new toilet seat. the only mark against it was its profound lack of comfort. back to the familiar, then. it might be cracked and fading, but it gets the job done despite the damage it's incurred just by being itself. i never thought i would relate so much to a curved piece of plastic tasked with holding and hiding the parts of me no one gets to see. 240101 ... e_o_i Continuing last year's tradition, I caught a cold. Yesterday I was cleaning and dusting things, so at first I thought my sore throat was due to the dust being stirred up. But I woke up four times last night, weary and headachy; my brother is just getting over a cold, so I must have caught it from him; and now I have sniffles and a sinus headache that's like a hand gripped over my nose, cheeks, and forehead. Other people here were sicker just recently - I'm lucky this isn't so bad - but, dear fickle Fates, couldn't it have come at a time when I'm not worrying so much about money and plans and everything? No? Grblhzgrr. That's how I feel about this. 240102 what's it to you? who go blather from