Can I just pass out and die here now?
Crazy doesn’t even begin to describe the past couple of days. The Vigil went well, save for the fact that, despite my best efforts, there was no press there — not even the campus paper, which put last year’s Vigil on the front page. I was nervous at the beginning when I gave my opening remarks, but, as always, the others in Spectrum proved themselves to be up to the task of their performances. And of course it should go without saying that Councilman Escobar and Reverend Yates were stellar to say the least.
After the Vigil was over, though, it was right back to work on the Homecoming float, where most of us stayed until midnight, and people started going back at 0700 this morning to finish up. I got there a bit before 1100, with Red Bulls (and the people working on the float fucking deserved it), we got the float finished up in the nick of time, drove it over to campus — only to have part of it break off. (The float was based on the work of Keith Haring — google him if you don’t know who he is, but I’m sure you’ll all recognize his work.) We got it rebuilt just before judging, though, and then we got to walk in a parade. In near-eighty degree heat. For over ninety minutes. Suffice it to say I’m not on my diet tonight.
After the parade we got the float dismantled and the car cleaned (both were loaned and both will be returned in tip-top form), then some of the gang went on to the Homecoming game (which UT won handily, but we were facing a pretty easy opponent) while I had other things to do, including a Media Play trip for Replay weekend. More details on that to come.
I’ll tell it to them on Monday in our big weekly e-mail (we’ve got another Issues Night Thursday so I won’t have time to address them then), but I’ll just say it right here and right now: the current membership of Spectrum is totally fucking amazing. The extent to which everyone is helping out and getting involved just blows me away. Honestly. Everything that seemed to go wrong last semester with Spectrum has done a total 180 and is so good right now, I can’t even begin to describe it. If we can survive the end-of-Coming-Out-Month craziness (more construction for Live Homosexual Acts and the CHIC Halloween Party, getting people to come to the GLBT Political Forum, staffing the Questions for Queers hotline, trying to find a time and place for our Soap marathon), we will be so fucking solid.
Yeah, that thing with my best friend is still weighing me down. But Spectrum’s sure as hell making each day a whole lot easier to get through at this point.