January 21, 1996

Only now do I realize that I scribbled "1995" two entries ago. Ah, well, I was mad, forgive me. But by now you should realize two things: a) I am seldom true to any promises I make, & b) I am fond of marking momentous occasions. The latter came into play today as 1/21/96 marked the first, & let's hope the last time, I was carded at a movie theater¹. Adam & I had gone to see the much-hyped Twelve Monkeys & well, I'm going to try not to attach too much blame to him for proceeding directly to the only middle-aged cashier, but she fucking asks us how old we are & if she can see IDs! It was cruel & insulting, because I'm not so sure two months from now I'm going to be so much more mature as a wise 17-year-old, and then, when you think about it, I must be a lot more mature than a substantial amount of post-sixteeners. Suck these, Jack Valenti. The funny thing, of course, is that it was indeed the first time, and I'd gotten into Natural Born Killers (mega-violence & sex) when I was 15, Interview with the Vampire, The Crow, etc. (why were these all movies with Ryan, I'm wondering? did I get in because of his then-beard², now recently shorn?). Dracula when I was 13, though I didn't buy the ticket³. Whatever. It'll change soon enough. The rest of this weekend was a bizarre blend of pleasant relaxation & down-to-the-last-minute/against-the-wire things -- well, really just my Hamline Univ. scholarship application, which I was putting the finishing touches on barely nine minutes before the post office closed. It got there, though. So, I mean, apart from that, it was pleasant, if not boring. Attended Jay J0rdan's 18th birthday party & won a fierce game of pool, Ryan & I vs Katy Blanch@rd & Cyndi J0hnson, in which, if I may boast, I sank all of the balls (we were only playing nine-ball)⁴. Stayed at Stacie's house practically all of Thursday afternoon & evening, something like 3:15-10:45 PM. Had a couple good dreams in between days (hey, that's a Cure song) -- one involved auditioning for a play, but an overwhelming sense of setting in my dining-/living-room, and me sort of running things, like saying hi to Robyn Ly0ns, but calling her "Denise," which would've been an insult because that's implying that I though Robyn was as large as Denise C0bb & easily get them confused⁵... And then, whatever, but I saw some guy who I guess is on Saturday Night Live, but I couldn't remember his name, and none of my fellow auditioners could either, since virtually nobody watches SNL anymore. The sole name that came to my lips was Cheri Oteri -- but she's a woman of course. Turned out to be Will Ferrell⁶, as I discovered last night. That's kind of pointless, but who cares? A sense of blackness, then a dark overcast, very early spring or very late autumn sky, like a scene out of a foreign city in a foreign movie where white Volkswagens are always parked on steep cobbled streets, under balconies with flower pots. Don't know how that came into play or what it signifies. Maybe it'll all come to me later...
Good night -
JMC 11:37 pm

1 It actually wasn't the last time! A few weeks later, I was carded trying to see Four Rooms.

2 Ryan had grown a beard for the All-State play two years in a row (Man of LaMancha and Fiddler on the Roof), which certainly called attention to himself, as having a beard at that age was a pretty big deal. Teachers, even, made jokes about him all the time.

3 It was a cast party for A Midsummer Night's Dream.

4 I'm perfectly comfortable with this boast, since I was then, and am now, no better at pool than I am at bowling or any sport or game that requires a modicum of coordination.

5 As it was, both were hefty African-American girls.

6 ! (You mean there was a time when Will Ferrell wasn't a household name?)