friday fever

There's a chill in the air and getting up every morning has become a Herculean task. I'm not much of a late sleeper anyway, the urge to read the newspaper in the morning is too strong to ignore. On those rare occasions when I don't have the urge, the paper boy gives his best shot and makes sure that the thud of the newspaper falling on the balcony is extra loud.

My colleagues have always told me that I'm the most cheerful person on Fridays. And every Friday night, I would go to bed with a head buzzing with plans for the next two days. Inspite of all the ups and downs of life, I go to bed every Friday night, happy and excited. Call it innocence, call it an idiosyncrasy but I would rather call it the Friday night fever.

I always think of making something new for breakfast but when Saturday morning finally arrives, it's just tea or coffee with french toast, most of the times. And I would enjoy it slowly, with some 60's rock music playing in the background.

After that the planning starts. Should I play the guitar, should I catch up on my reading, should I go out for browsing in the book/music store? And depending on my status at that time, should I go out on a date? I leave out the mundane household stuff - cleaning the room and washing clothes - for Sunday.

And then these plans can be broken up into smaller ones too. Playing the guitar - should it be the acoustic or the electric? Should I play the lessons or some ol' rock n roll I already know? The possibilities are endless but there is so little time. I think you must have got the picture by now. I'm excited on Friday nights but I'm a very confused guy on Saturdays.

But I don't belong to that group of people who makes New Year resolutions just for the heck of it. So by saturday evening, I end up doing a bit of everything I've planned.

The evening brings in the few close friends I have. Friends you hardly find in these days of egos and status symbols. Friends so rare in these days of big talks and small deeds. They come for drinks, food, music, and movies. They come to just sit and talk.

As the night grows, a brainstorming session soon starts. What shall we eat? Should I cook or order? What shall we drink? Rum, vodka, whiskey? And what shall we drink with? Water, cola or fruit juice? I've always marveled at the difference between drinking and all the other things that give you a high. You can dope, you can pop, and you can sniff all alone. And people normally don't like to share these kinds of stuff; they do it alone and enjoy it alone too. But drinking? It's a social activity. I've never come across anyone who's that happy when he's drinking alone. Includes me too.

And when the lights are out; when everything's over, I'm in bed, a little tipsy, a bit warm and very happy. Life's worth living after all, as long as you can look forward to your weekends. Life's still beautiful with a few good friends, good food, music and drinks.

55 word story

I've been tagged by flame and have to write a 55 word story about anything. So here it is :-)

He was drunk, walking around the mall;nowhere to go. Suddenly he smelled something heavenly and saw a woman approaching. Without thinking, he opened the door and stood aside. She walked out, barely noticing him. But she stopped, turned around and smiled, "Thanks!" That's when he remembered, that's when he walked back home, happy and sober.

Arunima, you are next!!!