Last night I hung out with Greg&Co. to watch the England-France soccer game. dudeitwassogood! You must have heard! Amazing upset by France in the last five minutes of the game! That was sweet. Luckily I had chosen France to root for. It's not like I actually know anything about the soccer league, but when I was informed, pre-game, that they play "sexy soccer", that they play with finesse and style, I knew where my sympathies lay.

It's true that it was my fondness for poker, and then for Aaron B., that originally had me coming back to hang out with those guys, but now I'm just fond of them. Period. They're so much fun. It's totally a dude crew, there's no denying it, and they are men's men (man's men?). It's obvious I'm a girl. It's not that they really treat me differently; but they are all, each one of them, testing the waters. I am a cool cute girl that has suddenly started hanging out with them. And they don't have that many girls among their ranks; in fact, the girls they do have that hang out with them are actually girlfriends. But the girls, in and of themselves, are awesome, so I feel I'm in good company.

These boys are "alcohol connoisseurs". Now in the past I thought that meant "drunks"; and a couple of them do walk that fine line. But they actually know alcohol. Greg cellars fine wines in the large closet of his studio apartment, and he will never make a bad recommendation. Aaron S. is a bartender/DJ. At least 6 out of 10 of their core group works at Beverages&More. They tend to prefer Irish whiskeys. Know what I mean?

But the thing that really gets me is the banter. They banter as though they are of one mind. It's So Freaking Cool. You know how you mentally comment on the things you see, and the things you think about the things you see, and it's all quick and clever and funny and honest? Yeah, they do that. With each other. Watching the England-France soccer match last night was a joy. (We recorded the match and then watched it later that evening.) Sure, they know way more about the players and the sport than I do. But it's hard to feel like a fish out of water when they take equal enjoyment in bad graphic placement.

(replay of a foul on Zidane where he tumbles over an England player, then showing the soccer ball graphic of the European tournament to segue to commercial break)
Greg: Dude, that soccer ball just flew right out of that guy's ass.
Andy: I thought I was the only one that noticed that.
Me: Yeah, it just came right outta there, FOOM!
AaronS: Okay, now we're gonna have to rewind.

And henceforth, Zidane was also known to us as "Assball". Ah, men's men, I tell you.

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So today I finally got on my bike once more, and rode it to my parents' house, which is a good hour-long ride for an amateur like me. It was a great day for it, and just as I reached my parents' house, the ice cream truck came along, and I flagged it down for an Astro Pop.

I'd like to get better at riding the bicycle this summer. I'm really not very good at it--well, I mean, I can ride on streets, but I still fear it a little bit.

Now, what's funny to me is that the prospect of working to get better at bike-riding didn't seem all that entertaining until I structured it in my mind like a videogame. Like, after riding for a while, and riding in certain conditions, I could gain 'abilities' and levels. I even began to identify what it would take to gain specific abilities, and attain levels. Once I put it that way, I was like, Yeah! I immediately began seeing how I would fit it into my life.

For me, gaming is totally addictive. RPG gaming, specifically. It's like, I actually like being methodical when there's a payoff. So when the payoff comes, it's like, Yesss! I'll do the next one! Yes! Another! Just a little more, I'm so close to getting the next [level/item/stage]! Must... stop... Ahhhhhhh. So by turning biking into an RPG, I totally got that acquisitive rush of motivation. I guess I'm semi-obsessive when it comes to mental organization.

This entry feels unfinished, but I'm done writing. So there.

10:15 p.m. 2004-06-14�