(no subject)
despite the nights spent sleepless in my overwhelming guilt, things continue to be pretty lovely. i spent this morning lost in the labyrinthine chicago pedway looking for an office with a client. she and i have a nice rapport, as she used to stay in the shelter many years ago. she has a childlike manner, and here and there would hold my hand or announce "i'm happy you're the one here with me!" at one point she exclaimed i had gotten us lost, and broke into a little dance number while atonally singing "it's all you're fault! it's all your fault!"
last night at the shelter was a nonstop 911 party. jerry, a previously average fellow who was rendered (for lack of a better concise phrase) retarded and seizure-prone after a severe head injury a few years back, appeared outside without a coat on. he didn't seem able to register communication, and our efforts to simply pull him in from the cold went nowhere. it was sweet to see ephraim, my most hard-ass and grouchy german, pleading with jerry to put on a coat ephraim had found for him. 911 took him, and a few others. the most noteworthy being a psychotic woman who was shrieking, not yelling, but shrieking her intent to kill everyone in the dorm. it was my first time trying to do the petition for involuntary hospitalization on a guest--the police officers initially just wanted to walk her out, but we were pretty horrified by that proposition given that just a bit earlier we had to haggle with her to make her put clothes on as she wandered about the dorm nude.
i met kimberly and ben down at bernice's, where doreen had made a huge pile of food, including a wonderful vegan shepherds' pie. kimberly and ben endeavoured to find a way to make my behaviours last week seem less reprehensible, advancing increasingly preposterous theories (such as dude roofying me, or planning to date rape or murder me and just being thrown by my suddenly becoming so aggressive). i chatted with our pal charlie a moment, and then our super flakey acquaintance alex strolled in. in his style, he invited me to another bar, then told us to await his return, then texted me three hours later to express surprise that i didn't wait on him. i've said it before, but bridgeport is pretty magical. it's like living in a small town. whether it's bartender diane starting to date a one night stand of holly's, ben joining in on gossiping about alex, charlie knowing various details of my life from second hand reports he's heard, etc etc. i also like that kimberly tells stories wherein she "felt like [me]," which involve her drunkenly shouting problematic things (at a party, a peruvian named luigi was babbling and kimberly began to shout passionately "he's stoned!").
it's too bad that the shelter was so raucous last night...downstairs neighbor miner invited me in for a beer, and alex invited me to come back out to bernice's. normally, you know, i'm opposed to denying such invitations. however, i'm so sleepy that i feel pretty bowled over by the one beer i drank while eating ten pounds of free food.
last night at the shelter was a nonstop 911 party. jerry, a previously average fellow who was rendered (for lack of a better concise phrase) retarded and seizure-prone after a severe head injury a few years back, appeared outside without a coat on. he didn't seem able to register communication, and our efforts to simply pull him in from the cold went nowhere. it was sweet to see ephraim, my most hard-ass and grouchy german, pleading with jerry to put on a coat ephraim had found for him. 911 took him, and a few others. the most noteworthy being a psychotic woman who was shrieking, not yelling, but shrieking her intent to kill everyone in the dorm. it was my first time trying to do the petition for involuntary hospitalization on a guest--the police officers initially just wanted to walk her out, but we were pretty horrified by that proposition given that just a bit earlier we had to haggle with her to make her put clothes on as she wandered about the dorm nude.
i met kimberly and ben down at bernice's, where doreen had made a huge pile of food, including a wonderful vegan shepherds' pie. kimberly and ben endeavoured to find a way to make my behaviours last week seem less reprehensible, advancing increasingly preposterous theories (such as dude roofying me, or planning to date rape or murder me and just being thrown by my suddenly becoming so aggressive). i chatted with our pal charlie a moment, and then our super flakey acquaintance alex strolled in. in his style, he invited me to another bar, then told us to await his return, then texted me three hours later to express surprise that i didn't wait on him. i've said it before, but bridgeport is pretty magical. it's like living in a small town. whether it's bartender diane starting to date a one night stand of holly's, ben joining in on gossiping about alex, charlie knowing various details of my life from second hand reports he's heard, etc etc. i also like that kimberly tells stories wherein she "felt like [me]," which involve her drunkenly shouting problematic things (at a party, a peruvian named luigi was babbling and kimberly began to shout passionately "he's stoned!").
it's too bad that the shelter was so raucous last night...downstairs neighbor miner invited me in for a beer, and alex invited me to come back out to bernice's. normally, you know, i'm opposed to denying such invitations. however, i'm so sleepy that i feel pretty bowled over by the one beer i drank while eating ten pounds of free food.