Fun was had last night at the VAC. Fern and I arrived to partake around 8ish, sometime after the establishment's prior event had ended and the crowd had thinned out. The key word that drew us to the Collective that night was "fondu". Other reasons for showing up included extremely quality art of the alternative and "hip" variety and VAC in particular. B is one of those special people who can juggle the busiest of schedules while retaining particularly jovial and attentive social relations with everyone she comes in contact with.

Shortly after walking in the door and procurring two glasses (plastics) of generic but drinkable merlot, Fern and I were accosted by B. I mean, we engaged in very friendly conversation. During that time, it was revealed that I am "up to" "having fun" and "art". Its always a little tough talking about what one is "up to" when one is focused on seizing the day, connecting neurons, and reaching new emotional heights. Also, its somewhat challenging to slip one's long term goals of stripping religion of its monopoly on morality and contributing to the science of happiness into any conversation, let alone a Thursday night art party conversation. Alas, I managed to hold my tongue and help steer the conversation towards the subject of absurdly expensive jeans that are worth every penny because they hug in just the right ways. I couldn't help notice that once B learned that I was wearing $150 Levis, she bent over and placed her face not far from my arse, I guess in order to find some measure of my jean's fit and quality. Once or twice her hand seemed to come dangerously close to that area, supposedly in an effort to determine the texture of the $150 Levis. I think you can conclude from her behavior last night that B is a fan of expensive jeans, is a fun-loving sort of person, and can enjoy quality adult beverages.

With a second glass of wine in hand paid for by B, we made a smooth transition from one threesome to another. For some time, Fern and I mostly listened to a fellow by the name of Gary who is an aquaintence of mine through my job at Georges Cycles. Gary is a pal of my boss Mike, and a pal to the Boise cycling community in general. Thanks to a decade of racing in New York, Gary had the experience and passion to throw together a professional race team from some local and foreign riders as well as organize a few races over the last five years. Apparantly, that part of his life is mostly behind him, as he's excelling in some other interests. He is now the president of his class at ZaZaZoom beauty school in Nampa, Idaho. For what seemed like over a half an hour, Fern and I listened as Gary explained what led up to his past and current successes (life) and the reasons for choosing the paths he followed (passion). Though Gary could really talk, our conversation was all the more entertaining thanks to our shared passion for cycling, our shared knowledge of the subject, and Gary's face. I tell you, his face was so interesting to look at. He's got these intense blue eyes and black hair that's curly and gelled. The prominence of each feature (nose, chin, lips, mouth, etc) really captures every disntinctive characteristic of his Roman/Greek ancestors. As impressive as all this was, his eyebrows were definately the star of the show. They were jet-black and sharp, rising up on the outside, Spok-like, but quickly dissappearing above his upper eyelid in the same manner women's do when they pluck their eyebrows. For a long time I tried to determine whether or not Gary's were indeed plucked. Of course, there's nothing at all wrong with that. In fact, while I did not personally want to shag him, a part of me admired Gary's look, if only for its definite beauty and distinctiveness.

The rest of our stay at the VAC consisted of idol chit-chat and joking with some of B's friends (lady-with-long-hair and spunky girl from plays). I also spent some time looking closely at the excellent artwork displayed. Fern and I had some quality moments guzzling our wine in a more private manner.

Earlier in the night, before our VAC fun, we walked down to Bodo for some First Thursday shop hopping. We were awed by a large tree at the center of Bodo that had all its large branches completely wrapped in white Christmas lights. At Shoes, I tried on a couple pair of normal fitting AG Jeans. At the eyeglass shop next door, I found a pair of glasses I really liked. Our search for free goodies (an important part of First Thursdays) brought us to a new shoe place on 8th street. As soon as Fern turned to me and told me not to make fun of the ugly shoes they had, she ran to the corner of the store that displayed the ugliest, funky shoes and asked to try them on. The shoes were called MBT (something-"barefoot technology") and their distinguishing feature was the convex, rounded shape of their outsoles. To put it bluntly, they looked like retard shoes. So, Fern had to try them on, and then she had to act as though she was somewhat serious about the shoes. Therefore, she spent some time listening to the salesperson passionately tell the story of barefoot technology, and tell her all the benefits they offered the wearer (like walking on a pilates ball). I too was genuinly curious about the shoes. It turned out that they were quite comfortable and fun to walk on. I was totally willing to pay, say, $20 for a pair, but it turns out the shoes cost $240. $240 for some retard shoes! Pshaw!

Ok-It's my second day off in my three-day weekend. I took Thursday off because I've got a couple more vacation days to burn before the end of the year. Today I'll try to finish a drawing that I made a lot of progress on yesterday. Yes, it involves nudity. Tomorrow, Fern and I are going snowboarding; that is, if all the snow doesn't melt or pack down today.

More later. I meant to make a list of things I've done in life that made real contributions to my happiness, and discuss those things.