April 4
Woke up & watched three or four episodes of Dateline (aaaaah that is the only thing I miss about having TV service) & then I had to dress fancy because I was going to photograph a friend of a friend’s wedding.
I don’t really like weddings. The main plus is that there were many candles, so I spent almost the entirety of the time lighting things on fire. I burned toilet paper, chocolate, carrots, salt, pepper, croutons, & chalk. This was very educational. I was sitting with my friend (who was the maid of honor, so she wasn’t there a lot), her boyfriend, & her friend entropy-enabler+her boyfriend. Unfortunately, I kept extinguishing some of the candles by accident, so I soon ran out of candles & no one would give me a lighter.
This, combined with the fact I was the only person there not drinking & my increasing sleepiness & the fact I was about to have to drive four hours to get home all caused the reception to feel exponentially worse the further it dragged on. Plus, like, you know when you’re around happy people but you’re not really WITH them, it makes you feel sick & your brain starts screaming GET ME OUT OF HERE I WANT TO FLIP OUT & SCREAM? Yeah, that was happening. I got a few shots of people dancing & then I went outside & hid on the pier for a bit while watching the sun set. The gnats were godawful but it was still better than being inside, so I sat out there for a while, probably longer than was socially acceptable, but I don’t think anyone noticed I was gone so it was okay. I felt very alone.
The drive home felt soooooo long & I was way too sleepy to be driving. I have bruises all over my legs from pinching myself to stay awake. My car was absolutely packed, my grandma gave me a bunch of stuff & so I had to put Alan & Lyle’s cage in the front seat. It took up the entirety of the seat & I couldn’t get the glovebox open without getting out & removing the cage. I came upon a roadblock about halfway home & there were eight police cars & they asked for my license & car insurance--I could get to my license, but I was struggling to try to squeeze my hand into the glovebox to get my insurance card. The cop just said “Don’t worry about it, sweetie, you’re fine, have a nice night,” which was nice (if condescending), but it also really pissed me off because there was a young black guy sitting by the cop car that they had detained just before me (for not having insurance) & I was really irritated he waved me through with no problem. I could have just as easily not been insured & nothing would’ve happened to me because I was a skinny white girl wearing a tank top & short shorts. I almost refused to go on & said I was gonna get out to get my insurance, but I was a little scared to get out of the car because I knew I was way too sleepy to be driving & I didn’t want to make it obvious. Fortunately, the roadblock incident woke me up enough that I at least felt (barely) alert enough to be driving. Got home, it took an hour to get unpacked, & then I showered & immediately fell asleep despite the fact the dogs & cats & rats were all going crazy with excitement to see me.
Berliozmouse passed away while I was gone. :( I had kind of been expecting it because she was pretty old. I only have three girlmice left now (Toulousemouse, Pigeonmouse, & Jay Zmouse, who is ancient).