rockin' weekend in Albany

This weekend was a rockin' good time, I tell ya. I got the keys to one of the huge 15-passenger vans 'Wick has for student organization purposes, and was soon on my way to the 11th Annual SUNY Albany GLBT Conference. Maryann, Chelsea, Katherine, and Liz went with me, while Jess and Heidi met us there. We got to Heidi's house, unloaded our stuff, ate dinner with her family, then headed over to UAlbany for the opening concert. The music was pretty good, but we wanted to drink, so we left early to head to Jess' boyfriend Chris' dorm. A couple of us went out to buy some beer, and the evening was spent hanging out and having a good time away from O-town. We made it back to Heidi's house around 12:30, and Maryann and I were asleep (sharing a twin bed, mind you) by 1:00.

Saturday morning's workshops started at 10, and lasted until 5:30. Most of them were really interesting, and we walked away with a lot of new ideas and concepts. Oh, that and a shitload of condoms, dental dams, and lube.

We made it back to Heidi's around 6:00 to get changed for the night, then back to the school for the 8:00 dinner and drag show, which was okay. Pre-gaming in Chris' room went from about 10:00 to 11:00, then we all piled into the tank and drove to Water Works, the biggest gay club/bar in Albany. The directions I got were pure crap, so we ended up getting lost and had to call everyone we collectively knew from the area for help. We finally made it there a little after midnight.

Walking to the club, I patted my back pocket and realized my wallet wasn't there. That's when I realized that I had taken it out in Chris' room and never put it back. That meant I was driving a massive, conspicuous 'WICK van through downtown Albany (full of beer, both unopened and open) without a license. That also meant I had no ID or money to get in. They let me in as 18+, and Liz paid my cover charge for me.

Not 15 minutes later, I decided I had to go get my wallet in order to be able to enjoy myself. On my way back to the van, I passed Albert and Tony, whom I hadn't seen in several months. Tony was lookin' fucking hot, too, so I gave him a quick hug and said I'd be back.

For the trek back to UAlbany, I'd enlisted the help of Simone, the director of the conference. Unfortunately, Simone was fairly drunk, so her directions didn't work out. I'd been driving for 45 minutes when I finally gave up, pulled over, and called Matt for help. Granted, I still haven't spoken to Matt since December, but I was desperate. He helped me out, and I finally made it back to the school and got my wallet.

But now I still had no way how to actually get back to Water Works. Another call to Matt and a grand total of two hours later, I made it back to the club. I got inside (as 21 this time), downed a few well-needed beers, and shook my booty with Tony for the rest of the night. I normally don't dance, but Tony is charismatic like that, and did I mention hot?, so I kinda had to. We ended up leaving at 4:00, and Tony rode with us in the tank since there wasn't much room in Albert's car. We followed Albert back to his apartment, and I got out to hug Tony goodbye. Standing next to the tank in the apartment complex, at 4:30 in the morning, Tony attacked me and started making out with me hardcore, much to the delight of everyone else in the van. I need more of that.

We got back to Heidi's house at 5:00, but Tony kept calling me, asking if I'd go sleep with him on Albert's living room floor (as I did in November), so I said ok. Got back in the van, got to Albert's at 5:30, and crashed kinda soon thereafter.

I told the girls I'd be back by 11:30, so my cell phone alarm was set for 11:00. I got up, kissed Tony goodbye, and arrived at Heidi's at 11:28 like a good boy. Of course, for being on time, I was rewarded by...finding everyone still asleep. That didn't last for long.

We finally made it back to O-town around 3:00, and the rest of the day has been pretty relaxing. Erin's wedding is in two weeks, so I'll most likely be crashing with Tony again then. He said I'm more than welcome to visit whenever I want, which is nice, and I'd kinda like to, but I'm not sure how to address the "are you still a cokehead?" issue. I think I'm still allowed to be in the Ignorant and Unaware phase, so I'm just gonna go with that. It's easier that way.

There are four weeks of classes left. I'm excited about the summer and working and all that, but am absolutely positively terrified of graduating next year. I keep hovering between excited and scared, but for some reason I'm feeling the crunch right now. I'm the kind of person that needs things to be planned out, but that's really hard to do, especially considering all the unknowns going on at home right now. Erin is considering moving to Cincinnati for her PhD, and wanted me to be aware of that since I'd already been thinking about Ohio. This is scaring the shit out of me, and I don't want to think about it.

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One Thing I Did Today: