This is the view on a motorcycle drive-by...

I finished my Life Soundtrack, and I'm not sure if I posted it, so here goes...

Mae - Summertime
Keane - Is It Any Wonder?
Anberlin - Never Take Friendship Personal
Goo Goo Dolls - What A Scene
Fuel - Bad Day
Motion City Soundtrack - L.G. FUAD
Snow Patrol - Hands Open
Bloc Party - Storm & Stress
Deathcab for Cutie - Summer Skin
Aqualung - Easier to Lie
Augustana - Sunday Best
Stroke 9 - Tail of the Sun
Tegan and Sara - Where Does the Good Go?
The Format - On Your Porch
Dashboard Confessional - A Plain Morning
Mark Joseph - Get Through
Josh Rouse - Sad Eyes
Ben Harper - Walk Away
Third Eye Blind - Motorcycle Drive-By
Mat Kearney - Where We Gonna Go From Here?

It's a great mix, I feel like. I want to learn that Ben Harper song for Open Mic. I started this blog with a lot of thoughts swimming in my head, but now I don't know where I was going with all of it...

Lauren got mugged and sexually assaulted on Thursday night. She was walking by herself from Taps to Z's and was in between the Comerica and National City buildings, where we all always walk all the time by ourselves when we're in uniform, and a black guy about her size with glasses jumped out from all this construction crap that is there right now, knocked her to the ground, started strangling here and sticking his fingers down her throat and between her legs and all that. She started hitting him in the head and trying to scream, and when he took his hands out of her mouth she told him she had money and he could have it, so he kind of got off of her, she reached for her purse and got out her wallet, and 2 girls came running up from Monroe because they had heard her screaming and the guy grabbed her wallet and took off with it. So she and the girls ran into Z's and Holly was working, they called the cops, who ended up finding her wallet (he must have chucked it once he took the money out, thank God, so he doesn't know where she lives). Anyway, she's all right. She went to the doctor and a clinic to get everything checked out on Friday and had a therapy appointment today. I haven't talked to her about that yet, but I've talked to her about some of the stuff from that night. She's doing well for the circumstances, but it's just a terrible situation. Ben gave me pepper spray for my key chain, and we're all being a lot more careful at work now so that we're not walking out by ourselves. As Lauren said, thank God she wasn't any smaller or she would have gotten hurt much worse than she was. It was just the week before that, that the managers were all saying how we weren't allowed to come into or out of work in our uniforms partly because of the safety issue. Wouldn't you figure. It freaks me the hell out. Thankfully Lauren is okay. She wasn't even in uniform, she was in plain clothes. Ugh.

I don't remember what I did on Friday, but I ended up at Ben's house...I didn't work that late. I think I came back to Ben's, took a shower, and went back downtown to Z's and hung out with Kim & Cory for the night. Producer Joe showed up after awhile, and he's always a good time. Oooh, that's the night we all went to Squirrels house at 3am. Yes. Jake, Ashleigh, Squirrel and I hung out on his porch while they drank the High Life in a 24oz. can, and took pulls off a pint of R&R whiskey. Yuck. Got back to Ben's at 6am.

Saturday night I closed at work.

Sunday night I was supposed to work in the morning, and had 2 alarms set. The first one went off, and I'm always in a weird state of half-consciousness until the 2nd one goes off, and I must have looked at my phone and seen that Brooke had called me from Friday's because I dreamed/imagined that I'd called her back and she'd told me that she didn't need me to come in. When in fact I had NOT called her back, nor had she told me not to come in. So I woke up at 11:40 to 2 missed calls (from Lauren & Julie) and an instant sinking feeling in my chest. Called Brooke, ended up going in to do some things for Bar Champs which was Monday, and expo'd/did dishes for a couple hours. Cassidy came out to meet Andrea. I made a few things for bar champs. Then Cassidy, Tony, Lauren & I went to Uccello's. I picked Lauren up on my way there because we'd talked earlier about going to Z's and she hadn't wanted to stay out that late so she came to see Ben instead. In 45 minutes each had a drink (I had an Absolut peach madras, Lauren had a beer), and 2 shots: Coop's Bar Cider, which has Jack, apple Pucker, sour, vodka I think, and something else. And mint chocolate chip ice cream, which has Rumple, Kahlua, creme de cocao, and cream. After a good buzz, Lauren came with me to Ben's to let Rumple the Puppy out and we each had a beer, a cocktail I made out of Starbuck's coffee liquor, Bailey's, Grey Goose, and cream, and a half a glass of Mirassou Pinot Noir because Lauren had never tried it before and we have it at work. That happened in, tops, an hour. Then we decided we needed to get a pitcher at Z's for last call (they close at 1 on Sundays). Then I decided it was a good idea to come through on my promise to Andy to come back and see him, so after driving Lauren home and coming back to Fridays and having a very skewed sense of time, Andy came with me to get gas. Then I had to wizz when we got to his house, so I ended up being there until 4am sitting on his porch and talking while my drunk ass sobered. I felt bad about that, to say the least.

Decorated for Bar Champs on Monday afternoon and then met all of the Kentwood kids at Uccello's to caravan to Tye's parents house for The Great-American Grill-Out. Ben & Tye competed for the title of Grill Master. They each did a pork loin, burgers, Ben grilled duck and Tye grilled tuna. He made a tuna sashimi that was quite tasty, and Ben's duck breast was quite flavorful. He used it to accent a salad for everyone. We all left Tye's parents around midnight and relocated the party to Tye's place just off of 28th St. Ben left around 2 and I didn't realize that I'd left my keys in his car so I couldn't leave Tye's until he got back. So at 3:30 I'd given up hope for his coming back that night and settled in with Tye and Gen and had my first drink of the night. By 5am when we'd polished off a bottle of ice wine, and over a bottle of a couple dry reds I was a little drunk and laughing a lot at Tye. Gen and I created "Peeber" and "Peeberina"; faces we made on Tye's kitchen window by pressing peanut butter from the middle of peanut butter Ritz crackers on the glass. Then Gen used sour cream to make hair on Peeberina, and the night was set. I woke up at 10:30 this morning to Ben calling to see if Tye and I were still there. I went in and told Tye that Ben was there, and he was like, "I need a few minutes". He came out and was like, "I'm feeling all right" which meant he was still drunk...seeing as he drank for 12 hours straight. It was a good time, though. I love that kid.

I figured out if I make $500 every week for the next 5 weeks I'll be in okay shape. Yikes.