Angry Little Tree

so Y2K is here, with a decided lack of fanfare. for all the hype and panic, it’s nice to see that the Big Round Number came and went without bringing society to its knees. it’s an appropriate time to reboot my subconscious, though, so here i am.

in three hours, i leave for ohare to fly to los angeles, home of nate, home of maria, and probably home of many other things as well. it’s a big city, after all. then i’ll be meeting up with my boss paul in san francisco for macworld expo.

jason and i connected on New Years Eve around sixish, after frantic packing on my part. strange days and a copy of wired in hand, i drove over and met him at the door. an impromptu rave ensued, complete with camcorder, and Lunatic Calm. Jason and I thrashed and jumped and stop-framed in the black-and-bright of the purple strobes – it’s shocking how cool anyone can feel in the right lighting.

strange days followed, a disturbing movie not just for its content, but also the los angeles new years eve connection. the movie was pretty solid in its technology projection, save the whole ‘neural movies’ business. jason and i amused ourselves by rating all the bands that played in the background of various scenes. faith, the protagonist’s ex girlfriend, was lead singer for a super angsty girl-rock band that leaned heavily on sex appeal and Visible Nipple.

I tried to call maria’s apartment a couple times, thinking that supernatural forces might’ve put her next to the phone in time for a call. i ended up leaving a message on her machine wishing her a happy y2k before trekking to aurora for the warehouse church new years eve party. Fur was there, wearing eyeshadow… something i didn’t notice but everyone else commented on extensively. of course, she threatened to hurt them. as josh was talking about how ‘she was doing all these girly things now’, and ‘trying to make Fur blush,’ I called over that it was a daaaangerous, dangerous game he was playing. laughter followed.

jason hunkered down and played scattergories with a bunch of junior high girls, probably his sunday school students now that i think about it. scary stuff. pictures were taken and other such things, and deacon and danny and josh and a guy named lance who had the rock star look about him all shuffled off to practice for their post-2k show.

when the fireworks started going off, we piled outside into the crisp of the night and watched them, sounds of gunfire in the distance scaring the younger kids and drawing sirens like flies. as they thundered and everyone ooohd and ahhhd, fur jumped Jason, dipped him, and kissed him resoundingly. after twenty seconds or so, he staggered back upright and mumbled happy new year into the camcorder. then fell over again. it felt right.

after the cold had chilled our bones and huddling together for warmth stopped helping, we migrated back inside for the set. they kicked off with a cover of New Years Day by U2, then slid into Fascination Street by The Cure.

as the evening wore on, it degenerated into a haze of mountain dew, digital camera hijinks, light saber fights, and extended jam sessions that wove led zep and steppenwolf into a guitarist ego-fest. looking out over the night streets: the liquor store’s drive through window, the jewel down the street, the police cars cruising, riffs from Magic Carpet Ride echoing behind me…

welcome to the future. bring on the flying cars.