well it's a marvelous night for a Moondance:
THE PHENOMENON KNOWN AS APRIL 13, 2008

you know you're in for a fucking fantastic day when at 8:30am it's 75 degrees out and you already find yourself at the beach. Dave dug a hole, there was a naked, pregnant baby running around, and i met a little boy named Liam who apparently was a mute. Staci appropriately categorized him under "Silence of the Liam".

around 12:45pm i was making my way back to the beach for no less than the third time that day, this time with Joyce and two carafes of sangria in tow. after Joyce and i watched Jessie, Ian and Brett try to bring out the maximum amount of Mexican-ness in Dave by kicking around a Dodger blue soccer ball (* please see below for more Mex-tasticness), we polished off the sangria and headed straight to The Whaler for what else but more drinking. thanks to my pseudo-celebrity status, (at one point me, Nikki and Dani were such regulars that every time we even approached the bar there would be three Scooby Snacks waiting for us, minus the whip, of course) we skipped the waiting list and scored a table outside where we then proceeded to throw back pitcher after pitcher of Hefeweizen. except Brett. Brett is apparently too cool to drink the everyday man's wheat beer, but did redeem himself with many a pint of Stella. i've always been a fan of the Artois.

but i digress...

after losing one soldier and playing musical sunglasses, we went through more rounds of the "damn it needs a better name and more defined rules but for now i'll just call it the letter game" than i can remember. we did, however, in our drunken state, manage to come up with the brilliant of addition of the comma followed by explanation/justification feature. for example, on the letter "w" my twisted mind brought out "what what, as in can i get a." this new feature made me feel much better about myself due to the fact that the only word that started with a "w" that i could think of at the time was "what." so proud to be an English major...

cut to Jessie and i giggling together as we sat on the railing of the Venice Pier. don't fret, i'm not attempting to leave out embarrassing anecdotes or important information - i just don't remember much in between fighting with the waitress over how many pitchers she charged us for to frolicking down the pier maniacally. but yes, we some how thought it would be a good idea to jump off the Venice Pier, which Jessie and i successfully did. Ian however, bless his soul, had a bit more difficulty with the task. he made the jump, kicked his feet twice toward the direction of the beach, and then decided he couldn't make the swim back. at the time i was legitimately frightened for his safety. my concern actually caused me to feel the need to jump in yet a second time to save his life, but thankfully Brett did the honors and dragged Ian back to the safety of the shore. one of the onlookers must have called the cops and/or lifeguard because before we knew it there were trucks with sirens on the beach in front of us. luckily they just made sure we were ok, offered us towels, then drove off on their merry way.

looking back at the whole situation in hindsight, i sincerely wish i had taken a pictures of Ian clutching to the pier's pylon because the whole scene was pure magic. both arms and legs hugging the post, the priceless look on his face, the people standing on the pier who had gathered, wathcing everything unfold... i could have made a photo montage to the late 90's Third Eye Blind song, "Jumper" reminiscent to something straight out of a made for tv movie. i love you, Ian, but i wish you would step back from that ledge, my friend.

Monday morning found me with a cheesy grin painted across my face as i recapped the madness that was Sunday night (comma, as in "Oh What A" - copyright Jessie Reder) in my head. all and all, i had a great weekend. i was with my friends, we shared a banana, had some laughs... no one drowned. what more could a girl ask for? well, there is just one thing. in the words of Van Morrison, can i just have one more Moondance with you, my love?