Change is good. I had a marvelous weekend! Friday, as I mentioned, was my sister�s birthday. And, coincidentally enough, it was also the first time I spent an entire evening partying with my family (namely my sisters, 2 brothers-in-law, and some friends of theirs) without running off to meet up with friends. I almost gave in. Almost. We were at a pool hall downtown, and around midnight, I started getting very antsy. Looking out the window, looking at my watch every few seconds, it was like having some kind of social panic attack. They noticed immediately, saw all the signs, everything familiar from every other family gathering; that moment when I start to drift and look at my watch, they know I�m getting ready to bail. And, smelling that sense of flight in the air, they moved in expertly.

�Don�t leave, c�mon, you never stay and hang with us.� I opened my mouth to argue, but then took a sec to listen to what they had just said. What the fuck was I thinking? Here I was, all of my sisters in the same place, hanging out and laughing, and I wanted to run off? This does not happen very often, that I get the opportunity to spend time with all of them together. I was so happy they stopped me. Someone put a drink in my hand, and I looked up, noticed that I was standing with all of them, Jane, Heather, Jenny, in a line facing a pool table, and they were dancing and laughing. I couldn�t help but smile, I felt my body fill with joy, warmth and comfort, pride at being with these 3 beautiful and wonderful women. I�ll never pass up that opportunity again.

Saturday, I spent the day getting pampered. My manicurist had a cancellation, so I got the feet done too, the whole shebang! Very nice. I know I�ve mentioned this woman�s magical ability to massage feet. I was in heaven. Saturday night, heaven again. Well, maybe I�m exaggerating a bit there. There�s no way I could get away with those things in Heaven, so let�s say, for arguments sake, that this was some kind of lawless resort instead. Okay? I�m good with that. But I digress. I spent some time with some wonderful people that I haven�t seen in awhile, let alone partied with. I�ll tell you now, I could have had a crazy story for you today. I could have written about the VIP after-hours party and the penthouse overlooking the city, rooms of drugs and pretty people. But Barb went lame like a cougar with a broken ankle. I�ll start from the beginning.

Had some people over, it was wonderful to catch up, laugh and hang out. Went to the Casbah to see Billy Midnight, a good band, and friends of my Luvah. It was a fun time indeed, dancing and drinking and laughing at the crowd, at the band members� antics. The music was awesome, and my friends were ecstatic to be doing something different � out on the town, listening to live music, new venue, old, familiar faces. It was a blast. After that band, the only one I went to see there, we all split up. A few went to a party, and I left with 2 ladies and a gentleman to begin their evening�s adventure. We went downtown first, the venue is called Aubergene, the club (opening night) was called Halogen. VERY LA. Everyone was beautiful, men and women alike, you could smell the money in the air, the fur coats (real sable), the jewelry (not costume). My champagne had a strawberry, pierced by the lip of the glass. I loved the sensation of smelling it as I sipped. At least, of course, until someone pointed out that I had stained my nose red from that blasted little fruit. Luckily, I recovered quickly, licking a finger and wiping it away. Whew!

In one room, 3 bars, separated into alcoves and side rooms, a few booths, and a live jazz band. In another room, a female DJ, dancing up a storm and playing to a house of people, dancing and grooving to her tunes.

My girlfriends were in their element; this was their kind of place. High-class, beautiful party-people, all gathered together in one swanky place. I had fun watching everyone. I like to play this game with myself, reading body language and seeing what I can deduce from a person�s actions, facial expressions, tone of voice. Oh, what fun it was with THAT crowd. Could have been the drinks in me, but I found everyone particularly easy to read that evening. Maybe from all my training in Beverly Hills, reading the rich and snotty. But this crowd wasn�t snotty at all; they were actually pretty cool, for the most part. But still, easy to read, like One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. 2am. We had passes handed to us for this after-hours club, Ultra, at 4th & B. After which, there was talk of heading to this guy�s place at the top of the twin towers, overlooking the city (sound familiar?). My friends had been to this place before, and attested to the wonderful time to be had there.

But I would have to go to the club first, as we had the tickets, and were offered the party. I deliberated for a bit, annoyed myself because I couldn�t make up my mind, and eventually, asked to be dropped off at home. WHAT?? You wanted to go home, Party Barb? Did I just see a pig fly by my window? Yes, it�s true, sleep sounded more appealing to me at that moment than artificially keeping my body awake to dance till dawn. Not to say I wouldn�t do that given another chance. It�s just that, I know what to expect, for the most part. I had a choice: have a blast, feel good, party with friends, stay up all night, be tired for a few days, God only knows what stories I�d have to tell. OR, go home and get some sleep, I was already tired with a bit of a headache, and really did not want to sleep for a whole Sunday, I wanted to go see a movie and spend some time with my sister in the evening, without a cranky hangover.

So, I went home. The movie, BLOW was good. Hanging with my sis last night was fun. And when my head hit the pillow, I was out like a light, already entering a dreamy state which began with a pleasant reflection of my weekend, and onto stranger, surreal, dreamy-like things. Last night, I was happy. Couldn�t stop smiling. I love that feeling.

-Barbarella

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