32 softly focused, brightly colored eyes

I just spent some really relaxing time in Durham. I went down to meet Karen as she was getting off work, but there was a pretty cool show at a coffeehouse a block away from her restaurant, so I went there until she got off. I feel really bad because I'm really horrible with remembering folks' names, and I ran into a group of her friends whose names of course failed me. They're all really nice people, and they make me feel welcome. I often have a little trouble with new folks, especially if it's a group of new folks, but I haven't had any problems with being alone in a group of her friends.
So we did that, then we went to some party out in the country. Yeah, I know. Like we're 23 years old or something. It was alright, but we didn't stay there very long.
We slept in, then we lazed around most of the day. I haven't had the chance to do that in a VERY long time, and on one hand I felt bad, but the weather was nasty and I really needed (and still need) some true relaxation. It's hard to notice when you're in the grind all the time, but I really was a mess.
I know I was talking this big talk about going to a Bulls game and how excited I was about that, but at gametime, it was about 50°, overcast, and windy as all get-out. So we nixed that and just lay on the couch watching these ridiculous programs on National Geographic Channel about how the Golden Gate Bridge could collapse any second now, and how if they had spent an extra nickel in the construction of the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City, it wouldn't have collapsed in the wake of Timothy McVeigh's Ryder bomb. That's the thing about Discovery Channel and National Geographic Channel. They love to get us all worked up about the what ifs and the holy crap, we're gonna be wiped out by a megavolcano sometime tomorrow afternoon.
Later, we went to a simple dinner with some more of her friends. A girl from her work, and that girl's husband, who is the kitchen manager at Lantern in Chapel Hill. Yeah, that's the one owned by Mac Superchunk's wife. You should go there if you get the chance. It's really tasty pan-Asian food. Quite spendy, but worth it. The four of us went to a bar for dinner, so it was simple and comforting.

I had another night like that last night, although I had to leave Durham. I was going to have to come home at some point to feed the cat, and Karen was working a special function anyway, so I had to leave Durham Monday lunchtime. Some friends called me over to their house for grilling out and playing board games. Between playing catchphrase at their house, and watching The Family Guy at Karen's house, I laughed a LOT. Something else I've denied myself over the past few months. It felt really good. Maybe getting fired was the best thing that could have happened to me. I've relaxed and I've let myself really laugh.

Tomorrow, I'm going to Charlotte to hang out with my parents for a couple of days, and then I'll hopefully head up to DC for a few days. Then I'll be ready to start thinking about working somewhere.

Today, the only thing I have to do is get my hair cut and go play some Scrabble.

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