The Crazy Olympics

[offbalance]

This week was the crazy olympics. Work was just chock full of so much craziness and fail I can't even put it into recognizable words. The less said, the better. However, please not there were plenty of nights where I could have stayed later than 6 had I chosen two. I just was basically monosyllabic by 5, despite having to power through a couple of times.

All through this crazy, stressful week, though, I was looking forward to one thing. On Friday, I was supposed to be heading to see St. Vincent at the Bowery Ballroom, accompanied by whtegrlwthehair and New Orleans Girl. The way the evening started, I had no reason to believe that anything was going to go the slightest bit awry. Granted, I had that nagging feeling that I sometimes get, but I chalked that up to the Excedrin I had to take earlier in the day making me a little edgy. We had a lovely dinner at Cafe El Portal on Elizabeth street, everyone was getting along, and all seemed to indicate a fun night ahead. We got to the venue when the doors opened, had a drink in the lounge, then headed up to the area in time for Basia Bulat's set. She was adorable, and so was her band, and the girl has a very impressive set of pipes. I love her even more now. Foreign Born was at best, eh. The only thing notable about Foreign Born's set was that halfway through, New Orleans Girl complained about how much the bass was throbbing. I didn't think anything of it at the time.

St. Vincent took the stage about 11:15. Annie Clark was in fine voice, and I was delighted by the setlist. They played the two songs I was hoping to hear ("All my stars aligned" and "Humans Racing."). Not long after "Humans Racing," I felt someone jab my shoulder. I didn't think anything of it, until whtegrlwthehair grabbed my arm and said, "I'm going to go and get somebody!!!" I turned around to see where New Orleans Girl was, and didn't see her.

UNTIL I LOOKED ON THE FLOOR.

There are few things more terrifying than seeing a friend of yours face down and unconscious. Except, perhaps, being unable to revive said friend. I shook and eventually pounded on New Orleans Girl's shoulders, yelling her name over the music. She wouldn't move. She was just down. On the ground. Thankfully, the security guards arrived quickly and managed to get her up and outside into the air. When they first picked her up, she grabbed on to my hand, and clutched her other to her chest. It was probably only a few seconds, but it felt longer. Much. longer. So, anyway, we get her outside. She claimed that she'd never fainted before in her life. The bouncers kept asking her how much she'd had to drink, but since she was sober, they just kept giving her bottles of water and making sure she was okay. Once she was outside in the cold for a bit, she was fine. We're not entirely sure why she passed out - she was wearing a lot of layers to keep warm, it was warm in the venue, we were in line with the bass in the speakers, and the headline act had a lot of flashing lights. It could have been one of those individual things, it could have been a perfect storm of all three. She was conscious and talkative after a minute outside in the cool air. Me? I was still a wreck. No one knows. The important thing is that she's okay now. We put her in a cab, and I spoke to her yesterday, and she's still fine. whtegrlwthehair and I went back in for the last few songs and to get our coats, but there's no real way to enjoy yourself after something like that.

We left after the last song, and then it took several years to get home, thanks to a host of F train shenanigans. We did run into lwoodbloo on the way, which was nice. I had some shopping to do early the next day, and it was not fun to get up that early. Thankfully, last night I had the opportunity to watch Torchwood and veg. That was very needed.

Today I helped leopard_lady with some room organization. My payment was pizza and beer. I have a feeling the latter is affecting this post. The momentus thing about today is that I have spent the ENTIRE day playing with the new kitten in the house, with no ill effect. Granted, I'm on plenty of zyrtec and some nose spray, but I am playing with a KITTEN with no ill effect. I can not express how awesome and amazing this is. I've been on the allergy shots for cat long enough, I guess. I'm still having a few problems (some sneezing, some wheezing, and some itching of the skin and throat) but I didn't need to be carried out into the oxygen after a few minutes. It is awesome.

But yeah. A whole cornucopia of crazy. Pray that next week will be dull as dull can be. Please. Do it for me. *sigh*