A LITTLE BIT OF MADNESS
OCTOBER 22, 2003
Well, rewind back to September 27. I was telling you my little plans and stuff for the upcoming week. Just for a quick recap...I was going home to go to the Mid South Fair with my mom as an early way to celebrate my upcoming birthday. Well, let me say that things did not go as planned. In fact, plans have been totally derailed thanks to a few factors. This is what happened. I got home that Saturday at about 6:00 p.m. or a little later. My mom comes for me, and we decide that we wouldn't go straight to the fair that day, but we would go on Sunday. It's all good. It would be the last day that the fair is in town, and on top of that it was Wrist Band day (you know...wrist band for a certain amount of cash = all the rides you can handle). So, after getting something to eat I go straight home. I go through the normal routine: seeing Rocket (my dog, in case you didn't know) go crazy over me, look at my rusty bum-face dad sitting on the couch, crack at my sister as usual, and talk more with my mom about what's been going on with me and stuff. So, I spend a short Saturday night at home looking forward to the next day.
Now, let's go to Sunday Morning. I get ready to go, and everything is set. I look at my dog, and he's looking all sad and stuff. He's probably thinking that I was getting ready to leave to go back to school. So, I figured I might cheer him up a bit by playing with him. We run out to our back yard to frolick and act the fool and stuff like that. Well, as usual my dog runs over to the corner of the gate to bark at these big husky dogs on the other side of the fence. I tell him to come back to that nothing would get started. See, there's been some history with my dog and these other uglies. My dog got into fights with both of them (one at a time at different times, and on both times the other dog started it). Well, I don't know if my dog and I were about to go in the house or what, but I was heading in that direction. As soon as I turn back around, I see one of them fools jump the gate once again. Now, these dogs were supposed to be chained up. I did see some kind of string or something. I should've known better. Well, the dog jumped the fence and then my dog and that fool started fighting. Let me tell ya...my dog had that mud-duck in the beginning. He was scrappin big time. The other dog saw this and decided to jump in, so my dog was outnumbered. Then, something triggered in my brain that made me think like..."oh, hell naw!" So, what did I do? I jumped into the altercation too. Yup...stupid little me got into it. I was kickin' and beatin' them dogs to get them off mine. I was doing whatever I could, but I didn't have much success. It was bloody. I got torn up in the process. My hands suffered, but I didn't care. I was trying to save my dog. This lady that lived in the house came out, and she was trying to call the dogs' names to bring them back over to their house, but these punk ass dogs were stubborn. She then told me not to get into it. I showed her my hands to let her know it was too late for that. I was still trying. Then, my dog tried to escape the back yard. I opened the gate and I had him run into the front side of the house. My sister saw what was happening to her dog (oh yeah, it's really her dog) and she got pissed...I mean straight up hot. That's when I ended my involvement, and I ran to my bed all injured and drained out of energy. My dog laid down trying to recuperate. I didn't see what my sister did, but I know she chased them away some kind of way. I also know that some kind of spontaneous weapon was involved. Those punks ran away and went back to their yard acting like they didn't do anything. This was the third strike for these dogs and the family they belong to. They are going down. Now, one of the interesting things about this episode was that there were witnesses. One lady who lived a couple places down kinda got in my way as I was trying to get Rocket back into the house. I figured she saw what happened from her house and went to go tell someone in my house about it. This dude who lived in the same house saw what was going on and he came over with his shotgun as if he was going to shoot those ugly fools. He should have. The funny thing about it was...this same dude was once threatened by my dog (not intentionally...my dog was just barking like any other dog would do) as he was mowing the lawn of the neighbor that lived between us. He just about pulled his gun on Rocket too. This happened sometime during the summer. After this dog fight, he was on our side because he knew these huskies were far worse. He and the lady who lived there were telling us that they couldn't bring their little puppy outside because of what the husky suckas would do. Oh yeah...this episode got neighborhood attention. It's kinda funny when I think back to this. My sister called the police, and they came...not just one set of police. Five police cars came, along with a fire truck and an ambulance. Now, I was hurt, but not that hurt...lol I was outside by that time. Yet, my energy was totally drained and I felt sick for a brief period, so I was laying down on the porch as they were trying to help me. Finally, I got to do something that I have never done before. I got to ride in an ambulance. I really didn't need it, but they took me anyway. Oh well...it was actually kinda fun being treated like an extreme emergency case even though I was really just a regular emergency case. To try and make this already long episode short, I�ll say this. This hospital that I went to was incompetent (or at least the people were). I stayed in the emergency room for five hours before actually being treated. Meanwhile, my sister took her dog to the emergency vet so that he could get treated. He had to stay there for a while, but he did get home before I did. I had to get prescription and some first aid stuff before going back home. I didn�t go to the fair, although I wanted to try some kind of way to go. I knew that I couldn�t, though. When I got back home, I just went to bed before I left to go back to school. My dog laid on the floor right beside my bed like he always did. He looked so goofy though. Parts of his head were shaved (along with the ears), and he was all doped up with medication. It was kinda funny, but I felt so sad at the same time. Had I not took him outside to the back yard, none of this would have happened. I could�ve had fun on that day, and Rocket would have been safe. Yet, at the same time, I should have the luxury to allow my dog to play around in the back yard without having to worry about anything or anyone else. We were here before those other fools. Ugh�this was all so ridiculous. I feel so guilty for everything. It�s my fault no matter what.
Well, anyway I go back to school the next day. As soon as I get back, I contemplate whether going to one of my classes. This class would be Intermediate Digital Animation, the one that is actually worthwhile. I actually decided not to because I really needed my rest. Meanwhile, I get a call on my cell phone from my boy Patrick who wants to know why I was not in class. I don�t know what made him do that, but it was quite nice of him. I told him the story, and he decided that it was a good excuse for me to miss class. After that, I felt a little bit better. Someone was actually concerned about me. Well, I did get a bit of sleep. I didn�t go to any classes, but I did go to work. Doesn�t make too much sense, right? Well, I knew I wouldn�t be able to do much of anything, and I did want to be around some of my friends, so I decided to come along just to say that I did something on that day. I knew that nearly everyone I would come in contact with would ask me what happened, so I did tell the story quite often. I didn�t want it to be so obvious though. That was hard to do, unfortunately. Thankfully, my recovery efforts have been astounding, so in almost no time most of the pain and swelling were gone.
Days after that incident, I celebrated my 21st birthday. I hit the age that is celebrated big time by most people, but for me it was pretty much another day. Well, I treated it as such, but my friends didn�t. I received a few gifts and a lot of birthday wishes. I�ll name everything that happened in order. First off, I get a gift from my friend Jessica. She knew of my birthday already (although I didn�t tell her�I don�t think), and she told me that she would give me some gifts. She knew of my fandom for the one and only Michael Jackson, and she hinted that I would get some rare MJ stuff. Well, as soon as I stepped into my Intermediate Digital Animation class, she spotted me and then came in surprising me with my first gift, a copy of Michael Jackson�s Dancing the Dream book. I was shocked. That was one book I read a few times, but never owned. She got it for me. That already made me happy. Then, throughout class, I got birthday wishes from a few people. One person even thought of initiating a class sing-along of �Happy Birthday� to me, but not everyone in the class was present. Plus, it probably would have embarrassed me, so it was okay that it didn�t happen. Later on in the day while I was at work, I received a birthday card, two regular-sized packs of M&M�s (plain and peanut), and a little toy race car. Totally unexpected�lol. To briefly explain the contents of the card, it had dogs on the front of it and it had a dog theme to it. I know that was purposely picked out for me following the events on Sunday. Thinking back, that would be expected from the work officials (and a certain kid) that I'm always with. Anyway, a little over an hour later, I was told that Jessica was looking for me as she had my second gift. So I, along with my friend Karen decided to look for her. It took us very little time to find her. Since Jessica and Karen didn�t see each other for a while (well, I guess ever since school started), they were reunited on my day. I indirectly felt good about that. Well, anyway. Here was my second gift�a vintage Michael Jackson doll from 1984! Talk about surprise�that doll brought back memories. I had one of those back in the day. I told Jessica the story of how my sister and I had one, and we both lost the pants, then my mom made customized blue jeans for our little Michael dolls�lol. I really could not believe that she got that doll for me. That was incredible! After that great moment along with some time of just chillin with my friends, I had to go to my Drawing class. That was a dull moment on this day. Fast forward to two hours and forty minutes later. After my class, I go back into the Digital Animation lab to chill with whoever is in there, and my friends T.V. and Seth decide to sing �Happy Birthday� to me�in style. Seth had his guitar, so it was a full-fledged song. They sang to me�I felt so special. Still, the festivities did not end there. My friend Hayley decides to pop into the building so that she could give me a birthday card. Well, I thought that was what she was giving me because she called me the day before to make sure that I would be available for her to give it to me. As it turned out, I had more than a card coming from her. Well, first off, let me say that the card she had was a little ridiculous...in a funny way. It poked fun at MJ and his "changes" throughout the years. I won't lie...it was funny. Oh yeah, and the envelope that enclosed the card was decorated with SpongeBob SquarePants stickers on the back and stickers spelling my name on the front. Nice touch. Hayley said that the card she picked for me was the first one she stumbled upon, and it was too hilarious to pass up. Fate had a role in this, I guess. It was clever, huh? Now, not only did I get this card, but I got this birthday brownie decorated with a white glove and the initials �MJ� on it and 21 candles. That was very nice. Hayley and her friend Mindy decorated the brownie for me. They wanted to give me a cake, but they couldn�t find one suitable for me, so they opted for the brownie instead. They also wanted to decorate the white glove with glitter, you know to get that full MJ sparkly glove effect, but glitter isn�t edible. Plus, rainbow sprinkles are to colorful so they didn�t go for that. It didn�t matter though because it was wonderful anyway. Hayley called Mindy soon after so that Mindy could sing Happy Birthday to me. She sang the song�and also added some little trademark MJ-style �hee-hee� and �aaow� yelps. Nice attempt�lol. Oh yeah, and I got one more, well�two more gifts from Hayley. She knows that I love Kool-Aid, so she bought me two boxes of Kool-Aid Jammers�hahaha. The flavors I got were Grape and Kiwi Strawberry. That was so nice of her. After all of that gift giving, Hayley, Jessica, T.V. and I ate some of my birthday brownie. It was quite tasty...although Jessica later admitted to me that she didn't like it very much. Finally, to end the day, I heard my mom sing happy birthday to me over the phone and I told her how my day went. Overall, I had a wonderful birthday. I've gotten two major gifts, one little gift, three edible treats, two boxes of yummy refreshments, two cards, four people singing Happy Birthday to me, three online cards that my mom sent to me, and many people saying Happy Birthday to me throughout the day. This was one eventful birthday, and I did not plan to have it this way. It was the most Michael-filled birthday I've ever had, to say the least. All in all, I think it is the best birthday I have had in a long time. I was truly happy on this day, and it felt great turning 21. Fun times, I tell ya�fun times.
Now, the fun didn�t end there. The Friday after my birthday would be a day of fun, fun, fun. See, it�s like this. Weeks before, my girl T.V. decided to prepare a little get-together for me and some of my other friends that hang out in the Digital Animation lab. This event would involve a little feast that T.V. would create and just chillin with each other and having a ball. However, that would not be the main attraction. The two of us had the idea that would make this event the most fun ever. We thought of having a dance contest. T.V. thought it would be the perfect opportunity for everyone to make fools out of themselves. I would have been the judge because apparently I wouldn't be able to participate without being better than everyone else. So, I accepted that duty. Still, I wouldn't have gone through the night without doing something. So, I decided that I would do a Michael Jackson performance for the others (I was planning to perform "You Rock My World"). Oh yeah, there was also another reason for this potential contest. We were going to help out my friend Ryan to learn how to dance. Well, when the night came along, the events didn't go quite as planned. We all arrived at T.V.'s place. It was me, Jason and his friend Jim, Chris, Nate, and Ryan. Oh yes, and T.V.'s roomate Christine was there too. We did have the dinner that T.V. prepared (and it was delicious...and a little unique too). We did start the dance contest. However, it really didn't go to well due to lack of music variety and it was just unorganized. Through it all, we did manage to make Ryan do a few little moves. The highlight of the short-lived dance contest was my boy Chris. The dude busted out with this move that was hilarious. I can't totally describe it in words, so I'll just call it...the "giddy-up" dance. He even got Ryan to do it. It was a sight to see...lol. Well, everyone attempted to dance in one way or another...everyone except Christine. She always had some kind of excuse to not do anything. Anyway, since the dance contest went kaput, Jason came up with a better idea...that everyone would go to a club. At that point, I was thinking to myself, "me...at a club?" Of course, I didn't voice that thought. I realized though that the time had come for me to go for it. When Jason asked me if I would go, without hesitation I said that I would. He was satisfied with my answer. Chris decided not to go. Everyone else, including Ryan, did want to go. Yet, when Christine was asked to go, her answer was..."I have a bedtime"...lol. So, with the exception of those two, everyone went down to the club...the Inferno to be exact. We were only planning to stay for like a little while because some of us had to be up early, but we lost track of time and danced for like three hours. I was on the dance floor nearly the entire time, and when I wasn't dancing I was at least nodding my head or something. One of the highlights of this night was when I got into a dance battle with this other guy that was in there. I was figuring that he was a veteran at the club. We were all looking at him dancing in the middle of the dancefloor, and my friends were trying to persuade me to ease my way in there as well. I was hesitant at first, but I figured I might as well do it. So, I side-moonwalked my way in there and next thing you know, the other dude and I were showing off. It was tight. I've never been in a direct dance battle before. I'll admit...Lil Man had some moves. That's what made it so good though. A while after that, he acknowledged me with a pat on the back and I did the same. It was cool. I had a lot of fun at the club, and my crew had some great dancing skills...well most of them. Jason was a really good dancer. T.V. kinda surprised me with her subtle, yet seductive little moves. Ryan made a complete 180 on us and as the hours went on he got into it more. Jim was doing his thing too, no doubt. Nate had some...interesting...moves on him. I cannot describe his dancing (if you wanna call it that), so I'll just leave it at interesting...lol. So, all in all, it was a very fun night indeed. I guess it was a good thing that the dance contest fizzled out because it led to something better. I'll reflect on that night many, many times hereafter.
Well, I think I caught you up on everything up to that point. It took about a few days of typing on and off to do this. I'm sorry it took so long. I just never got around to actually telling you the events as they happened. I figured I had to finish this while I was at home on my Fall Break and I actually had some time to go for it. However, I didn't sit at the computer that much while I was at home. So, I took more time than expected. I actually had a little bit of fun while I was on Fall Break too...well, the first day of that break. I went to the Universoul Circus. It was my first time going to an actual circus in ten years. The last time I've been to one was back in July 1993. I forget which circus it was though. Anyway, yeah...the Universoul Circus was great. I had a wonderful time there. I'll tell you about it later...haha. Oh well, I've done far too much typing and storytelling for you all. I'll end it right here, and I'll probably give you all something else to read in the not too distant future. Take it easy everyone. Peace.