life is okay.

yesterday i almost posted a depressed, mopey update about the misery of preparing for orals, blah, blah, blah. but then something amazing happened.

joe kliegman from san francisco made a surprise appearance with three other friends of ours: alyssa, will draper, and another will. it was so nice to get the chance to give the kind of hugs where you know you can hold on as long as you want, and it will never get awkward. solid, super hugs. i usually only find them in portland, but joe k. knows all about these hugs.

they landed, and the five of us piled onto the three bikes i own (one bike was an xtracycle and another a tough touring bike with a killer rack). it was a hilarious slow affair, with copious giggling and shouting. we made it to a fancy bar, called the 515, in one piece, and met some chemistry gals for drinks. catching up was wonderful. there was plenty of reminiscing and a lot of laughs. after everyone was good and tipsy we headed to the ocean, something i seem to never do without company, which is a damn shame.

joe quickly discovered that you can explode the pneumatocysts on the macrocystis that it scattered all over the beach, and it makes a popping noise, like bubble wrap. Suddenly we were off, running like crazy people, stomping all the algae we could find. the moon lit up the crashing waves, and the empty boardwalk rides. it was nice genuine fun. i forgot all about my synthesis, and how miserable i'd been just hours before. it reminded me how much i love my friends. people who are always up for making their own adventures. people who are serious about the things they love. it reminded me that i am one of these people, and that i will be done with my qualifying exam soon, and then i will have the opportunity to play again. this is a small blink of time, and it seems like tomorrow i'll be back to my normal bike riding, scuba diving, pop-up crafting, stencil cutting self.

all 5 of us found our way back to my home, and we all piled into my room. there were people sleeping on every bit of empty floor space.

it was nice. i was happy.

thank you joe! i love you.