4:44pm: hovering near line at deli now. Holding 12oz sugar-free red bull and a monster zero. The things keep happening:

THIRD FAVORITE THING I’VE SEEN TODAY:

little boy puts a green Palmolive soap bottle on deli counter

deli man says something

little boy says ‘that ain’t $5.50’

deli man says ‘you want straws’

little boy says ‘i ain’t gonna drink that’ and disappears

6:42PM: have been sitting in library typing in/organizing liveblog. told [omitted] i would write an article. he said ‘you should do that, write other things besides liveblog too.’ i don’t know what to write about. i don’t like losing track of days. since i’ve been back from maryland it’s felt like the same day and i’m never sure what day of the week it is.

7:10PM: [omitted] texted something funny about his name around 4PM. i haven’t responded.

7:24PM: still sitting in library. no article dice. listening to ‘colors and the kids’ on repeat. the part where she says ‘i could stay here, become someone different. i could stay here, become someone better.’ oof. i don’t know. before i typed text in front of ‘7:24PM:’ i had typed ‘i think i have a problem with drugs.’

8:08pm: leaving library. Meeting [omitted] to eat before 9PM game. Wish I hadn’t slept so much today and I didn’t have plans tomorrow. Walking fast. Unsure where I’m going. He said to meet at [name of restaurant I thought was maybe fake].

8:14pm: the place was real. Real restaurant. Saw the sign for it and crossed street and he was standing outside with a plastic bag. Snuck up/ran to him and went ‘AHHH’ and ‘hi’ and we hugged and started walking to a liquor store. He said ‘do you want wine?’ I said ‘yeah yeah, wine, I want a wine.’ he said ‘white? Cold? Maybe the cat I was talking about is here.’ I said ‘uh. The cat?’ he said ‘the cat I come here fo—’ I said ‘the cat! I remember. The cat. White wine, yeah. Cold.’ then we were in the back looking at a fridge. He said ‘should we get champagne?’ I said ‘champagne! Yeah. Prosecco.’ All of this felt like a ‘rising action’ musical comedy number where the characters are acting determined yet unsure and like they know something the audience doesn’t.

8:30pm: eating take-out at apartment. Jerk chicken. Have been hurrying, hurried pace. He said ‘eight thirty, we have plenty of time.’ I said ‘but we should still hurry. Just because it’s fun’ and he looked excited.

8:38pm: now we’re done. Finished food 8:33PM. One of us said that. He started streaming the game on his phone. I sang along to an ‘800-588-2300 empire’ commercial and said ‘I’m always going to know that.’ Asked if he’d seen the eagle man commercial. Showed it to him at a commercial break. He liked it. Remembered ‘lakers champions’ video Nate and Seth and I used to watch and laugh and said ‘oh there’s another funny thing like that I want to show you later.’ Started to describe video and said ‘no wait, I shouldn’t build it up, it won’t live up to the hype.’ he said ‘the eagle man lived up to your hype.’