Afterglow 2015 - Day 9 Sunday

Today was Jenny Reck's birthday, which means that we had to rage. After all, Jenny being born is one of the greatest things that has ever happened to me. I can't imagine my life without her. If that isn't a good reason to get together with friends and family and have a Concrete Jungle Rage, I don't know what is. Brandon cooked up somma THAT MEAT!!, we got the kiddy pools out and me and Kevin took our shirts off in the rain. If that doesn't equal one perfect Sunday (to cure the Afterglow blues), then I don't know what does.

You always pray for perfect weather when you want to spend the day outdoors. At Afterglow, we pray to every god we have ever heard of to get perfect weather for the entire week. Today we weren't so lucky. It was raining, which doesn't sound like ideal for hanging outdoors. But fortunately for us, we were having a pool party. Since when does rain matter when you are already wet?

It's no big deal if Kevin and I act like idiots and dance around in the rain. That is actually to be expected in our circle of family/friends. But we didn't expect Jenny Reck to join us, especially now that she is officially in her 30s. I thought she would act like an adult and not participate in this sort of tomfoolery. I guess I was wrong. And I've never been more happy to be wrong. What is the point of growing up anyway? Grown-ups don't splash around in kiddy pools and drink whiskey in the rain. It must suck to grow up. I wouldn't know.

While the weather didn't necessarily cooperate with our plans, we still carried on. If there is one thing that I have learned from life it is that the World doesn't give a f*** about your plans. Things happen and you have to deal with it. So if you want to rage, you just rage balls to the walls until the wheels fall off. And that is precisely what we did. But the nice thing that the weather did was provide us with some pretty impressive scenery. Jenny got an elevated view of the clouds from the balcony but I preferred to stay at ground level. After all I've been through in the last week, I'd like to keep both feet on solid ground. That way I don't get hurt when I fall down.

The worst day of my entire year (which is debatable) is the Monday when I get back to work from Afterglow. I keep a one-a-day calendar at my desk counting down to that week. Having to reset it to a number in the mid-300s is the worst. Next year seems so far away. How the hell can I possibly wait that long?

Sunday is either a day of rest or a day to do the Lord's work, but today I wasn't going to do either one. That is because today was Jenny Reck's birthday! Afterglow is always the last full week of July, but every few years it overlaps into August and we get to celebrate her birthday before going back to the daily grind that is our normal lives. It was kind of a hot one today, so Korben Dallas was laying around and doing his best not to exert himself. I turned on the fan for him and let him cool off a little. Don't say I never did anything for ya pal.

It was a Sunday. That means that the majority of us had to go back to work tomorrow. But it was Jenny's birthday and we didn't want to take it easy. So I can understand how you can get partied out. Afterglow and birthdays take a lot out of you. So pass out on BB couch Jenny Reck. You totally earned this one. Big time.

I'm going to give you a glimpse inside the workings of the creative machine. It took me a real long time to finish Afterglow 2015. For those of you who have been following along at home, you know that this final day was posted well after we got home from Afterglow 2016 (almost 3 months to be exact). For whatever reason, I just struggled with completing this on time before creating a brand new adventure. But the important thing is that I finished it. If you start a story that engages the audience, you damn well better finish it or risk losing that audience when you try and tell another story. Sorry for the wait, but I hope that it was worth it. Onto the next story!