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By the time my usual parnter in crime, Billy the Kid arrived at my house, I was so fed up with Clara "Dustin Diamond as 'Screech'" Jane's eardrum-shattering whining, and so angry with B. for piddly crap I won't disclose, I had banished them to the basement. Don't worry - it's not too dungeony down there. I met Kara at the door and said, "Do you need to pee?"

"No," she said.

"Good. You're not coming in because that means I'll be in this house a few seconds longer and I need to go. Now. BRIAN!!! I'M LEAVING!!!!"

I'm not sure if he heard me, but I know all of my neighbors did.

We hit the neighborhood Thai hole-in-the-wall, where I drowned my anger in red curry - the angriest of the Thai curries - and Thai iced tea, which is far too pleasant and congenial to ever scream a farewell to her banished basement-dwelling spouse and offspring. And I was feeling much better after that. Good food, and a good friend willing to listen to me rant in public can go a long way.

As for the free sneak preview of Rent? No dice. They were turning people away by the time we got there. Not that we were too upset about this. I know I'll be seeing it again this weekend with B. (if I've let him out of the basement). We'd already decided that if we didn't get in, we'd go for coffee, which actually suit my mood much better.

Do you know what made me feel better than anything? As we were pulling out of the theater's parking lot, apropos of nothing, Kara announced what she'll be doing on Saturday. Again, I'm unable to give details, but suffice it to say that hearing her state her intentions outloud left me screaming and shrieking with a mix of joy churned with a tiny, itty bitty smidge of mortification.

Oh, and the yarn shopping. That made me joyful, too, but with a bit more mortification because shit, there are some ugly, scratchy yarns out there.

Kaldi's has their toasted chestnut coffee. It's impossible for me to feel anything bad when I have access to a toasted chestnut cafe au lait.

While hanging out at Kaldi's and imbibing in my favorite seasonal coffee beverage in the world, I took cameraphone photos of Kara's new hair, which I unsuccessfully tried to email to someone along with a rather randy message. Stupid phone. But that's okay; I still had half a cafe au lait and all was well.

Many more announcements of her weekend intentions. Much more screaming on my part. Yeah, I'm feeling much better.