Bit of a hangover this afternoon when I got up. Another one of those days where I was certain at 2pm that I wouldn’t drink tonight and by 8pm I was looking forward to it again.

The guild raid went quickly again tonight and we took down Ragnaros first try. It was a close battle that got our blood pumping but that made it even better in the end.

Right after we finished, I called a cab and Shawn and I headed off to Abstract, where Laura was waiting for us outside. The bouncer checked out Laura instead of her ID when he let her in and once inside, we grabbed drinks and a table until her friends showed up. Her cousin Rachel and friends Robyn and Elyssa came. Four hot girls. Lucky Shawn.

Once they had arrived and Shawn had been introduced to Elyssa (he already knew the others), Laura and I took off to get lit (which took a while since her lighter died which meant an extra trip to 7-11) and then returned and got people out on the dance floor. Shawn got to spend that time alone with three hot girls. Not bad. Later, he bought drinks for everyone - damn expensive in a place like that.

Shawn: I’m going to get a drink… do you want a drink Jerome? What do you want? Actually, I’ll get you all a drink. What do you want?
Jerome: I’ll have a Jagerbomb
others: Are you serious? Are you sure?
Shawn: Yes. What do you want?
others: I don’t want to take advantage of you, are you sure?
Shawn: It’s fine, what do you want?
Rachel: Rye and Coke
Laura: Corona
Robin: Corona
Elyssa: I can give you money…
Shawn: No, it’s fine, I got it. What do you want?
Elyssa: Rye and Coke. Are you sure?
Shawn: Yes
Elyssa: Are you loaded?
Shawn: Yes
Elyssa: Are you taking me home?
Rachel: Don’t answer that.

You can ask around if you don’t believe me.

It was a good time though. Lots of dancing, good music and did I mention we were with four hot girls? Hell, they even played William Shatner’s version of Common People.

When they ushered us out of the club at 2:30, we headed over to Tim Horton’s where my camera’s battery finally failed me. It was the worst possible timing but wasn’t surprising, I guess. I hadn’t charged it since the initial charge and I do use it a lot. And most of the time in low-light conditions, which uses more power. Whatever. It sucked ass, but you’ll understand in a bit.

From Tim Horton’s, Robyn and Eleyssa took off on their own while Shawn and I escorted Rachel and Laura back to Rachel’s place. Once there, a makeshift bucket bong was crafted and we smoked up some more. This time, Shawn and Rachel joined in, which was cool. We hung out there for a while and then left around 5am so the girls could sleep.

A block away, I heard a loud pop and when I looked, I could see smoke billowing up above the nearby trees, accompanied by a large amount of light emanating from somewhere below, between some houses.

We started walking and then ran to find that it was a fire. A fucking car on fire, parked between two houses. Looking in the front door, I could see the people who lived in the house on the phone, hopefully calling the police or someone, ’cause no one was there yet. Shawn and I were first on the scene.

God damn battery. There were no police or fire people there to keep us back so while we were afraid of shit exploding, we were close enough to feel the heat and smell the toxic melting plastic and paint. I could have gotten some fucking awesome shots - even when the firemen got there and started putting it out, or of the burned wreckage afterwards and melted siding on the house. Craziness.

After it was out and the policeman had talked to the people who lived at the house, he talked to Shawn and I (since we were the only ones there when he arrived). We couldn’t tell him much other than a rough timeline of things.

Once that was over, we headed home. It was now daybreak and the sun was beginning to come up. Once again, very cool shots were missed, including a racoon staring at us from atop an apartment building and a leather chair sitting in the middle of someone’s yard that just begged for Shawn to collapse into.

The only consolation I have is that when my camera was being passed around at the club, there were a number of pictures of hot girls taken. Somewhat makes up for missing the other stuff.

Still, watching that husk of a car engulfed in flames, dripping flaming plastic and paint was probably the coolest thing Shawn and I have ever seen up close. And overall, I’m sure Shawn would agree this was one of the coolest nights we’ve had in a long while.

while I formulate denials of your effect on me

[Edit: Complete pictures from the night can be found here]