"Ain't Nothing Gonna Break My Stride"

"Comedy is acting out optimism."

-Robin Williams

I went out last night.
I straightened my hair, broke in my awesome makeup brushes (thanks again, Mom) and changed outfits several times, jammed out to Naya Rivera's rendition of "Valerie" and actually got picked up and driven to a restaurant with silverware and enjoyed the night with a handsome suitor and had a wonderful time. Who was my wonderful date, you may ask? None other than my awesome friend Brian, my date to the Prom, the most influential man in my life thus far, the owner of my domain name for my blog, and a true gem to have in my life. And ladies and gents, he's the first gay guy I officially met. (And I really had you going,didn't I?) ;) (Note: Although I've known Angel, my childhood best friend for much longer and he's gay, I had no idea he was gay until he came out my Sophomore Year in High School) Brian and I have a long friendship that spans from my early adventure in junior high when I was just a kid with a contraband CD player in her backpack and a notebook full of lyrics to now as a girl with a notebook laptop and an iPod.

This is us at his senior prom :)

Bri graduated a year before I did and he went to school in Dallas which means I don't get to see him very often anymore. When he offered to go catch dinner and a movie while he was in town, I was more than thrilled to see him. We went to eat at a new seafood restaurant in town that opened when Applebee's used to be (and where I think 3 or 4 restaurants have replaced it and all closed down) We were delighted with comic relief when what is supposed to be a nice dining establishment turned into something that only my hometown could get away with. We were first greeted with menus in Spanish that had 1/3 of the listings with English translations underneath as if English speaking was in the minority... In Texas... a part of the United States... a country first settled by Englishmen but MOVING ON!

Then the things that were translated were translated in a horrible manner. They misspelled "chicken" and "coffee"...  We were then given a bowl of tortilla chips (at a seafood restaurant of all places) and at my request for lemonade (they spelled that right btw), I was greeted by a thick glass goblet that looked like a fishbowl with a straw sticking out of it awkwardly. I could have put Foreman (my Betta) inside of my drink and aside from the ice, you'd think that was an actual bowl.

All English fails aside, we nibbled on the tortilla chips and started talking about life and how so many of our friends have changed and yet how for the most part we've retained our original selves. We talked about school and how our diets have changed due to meal plans (and yes, tamales came up in that conversation. lol) We discussed my upcoming trip to Dallas where I will put alot of things on the line  and auditioning for Glee in the national casting call (and staying with Brian). And we discussed his potential budding relationship (which I desperately hope I don't jinx by mentioning in this blog) and how that's going.

Then we mulled over our dinner (and laughed at the horrible mistranslation of Brian's order. He read stuffed shrimp. He got big shrimp wrapped in bacon.)

I got two more refills of my fishbowl and soon we wrapped up dinner. He paid.

Brian has always had a tendency of acting like a gentlemen and respecting women and treating us girls better than straight men. In high school, he always got me something for Valentine's Day since we were both always single on Valentine's Day and even bought me something when I was with my ex during my Junior year and dinner was proof that he was still the same gentleman. He seemed to remember the same thing when he jokingly said, " I really hope I don't end up with a girl this Valentine's Day like I always do. I think no girl should be alone on that day but I need a man."

Well said, Brian. :)

On the ride back, we said our goodbyes and he even walked me to the door. I had a blast at the movie and got my fair share of laughs. And true to this small town's standards, I was home promptly at 9:45 because nothing is open past 10 other than Wal*Mart and maybe McDonald's if you're lucky. I also only paid $5.50 each for movie tickets, the least I've spent on tickets in the last year, even with a student discount. But with every high comes a low and I got mine 5 minutes later when I was taking off my makeup in the restroom and

...

Let's just say I made it to the sink in time. Clearly food isn't agreeing with me this year for the holidays. Romance either but that's another story. I'm going to keep a good face though. My promise ring is supposed to arrive from Tokyo any day now and pretty soon I'll be back home in my dorm... where the food hopefully will go down alot better. :)