Blind Guardian

          I had a stunning dream in which I was part of a young, capable samurai lord's armed escort. We faced many trials and fights in fields, forests, seedy bars and snowy mountain passes; the prince was more like a Hercules or Odysseus than a simple military commander. Near the end of the dream, we were matching blades with a gang of mercenaries in a wooden longhouse, dimly lit and full of smoke. In the middle of the struggle, a soldier that had been with us all the way paused. This man was a grizzled adviser maybe 60 years of age, but clever and strong; he rounded on our leader and stabbed at him with a long, wicked dagger. The traitor may have slipped, or perhaps the prince melted away from the first strike, but it gave me enough time to cover the distance between us and cut him down. The lord was safe, and we had prevailed; tomorrow, we would stay on the move, and fight and win again.
          I went to Tasty Burger with Jared Jaruto, Alaric and Sean. Anti-highlight: Staggering home from Boylston feeling drunk without having consumed any alcohol; I'm pretty sure it was the onion rings.  Soon, we gathered the forces of darkness for the hookah's party debut. It has been named, but we've sworn each other to silence (and that in itself is a clue.) Regina and her friend Elizabeth met us at the back door and tragically dropped a jar of salsa immediately outside. Michelle and Niki brought along some new friends, Naomi, Kat, and Ryan; Clay appeared as well. There were lots of get-to-know-yous and plenty of hookah experimentation. (So far, we've tried the watermelon mint and guava shishas; I prefer the latter for its soft, sweet flavor.) Some of us climbed to the top of the Columbus parking garage to see the "supermoon", which was not harvest moon-status in size but was ultra-bright. Regina and I caught up and chatted about home life and the Mexican school system.
          Quote of the day:
"Your mom is a rounding error!" - Kat
...
Sean: "I would never drink during the week."
Alaric: "You have. Several times."
Sean: "I would never regularly."