Jackie's R.A.N.T.S.

(Title taken from Less Than Jake's "All My Best Friends Are Metal Heads")

An old coworker of mine once decided that I had been an Egyptian cat in a former life. After hearing my confused laugh, he described that like a Egyptian cat, I was loved and adored by those who knew me. Granted, it is a bit of a stretch, but it does sum up my relationships with my good friends.

I’ve always held my friends in extremely high regards, with my best friends being considered part of my family. Thanks to crazy schedules and just life, I don’t see most of my friends as much as I would like. The same serendipity  that keeps me from seeing everyone also allows me to run into them all over the city, usually ensuing in some hugging and a quick catch up session. Even for this short amount of time, I am usually touched that the friends I run into are excited to see me and I walk away with a big smile on my face.

The last couple of weeks, I’ve been able to see friends that I see only about a couple of times throughout the year.

The first batch was my four best friends from high school. It had been a trip we had all first thought of when we all came to San Francisco during our senior year of high school. I was stuck in jury duty most of their visit, but the few hours we spent together were filled with laughs, stories and just all the love we have for each other. The time was short but I spent every moment with them was just amazing. Those four women are still the same silly girls I first befriended all those years ago, but the love for each other is still there. The cherry on top was dancing and belting out “Single Ladies” at Q Bar in the Castro district.

(The ladies, 2011, five years after high school)

My second visit was from my touring buddy. This guy is from the East Coast and pretty much spends the year in some form of moving vehicle or in London, so even the time I do get to see him, he’s usually working or exhausted. Still, he’s a person that I admire as he and his wife pretty much are following their passions in life. We met about two years ago at a concert where we pretty much hung out all day and have been friends ever since. This last time we hung out, he got properly pissed, thanks to Edinburg Castle “Recession Drink” special. As I was saying goodbye to him, he told me hopes that I never change and that he’s still so grateful that I had hung out with him all those years ago. Considering he deals with so many people in his line of work, I was deeply touched that he did think highly of me (yes, I’m ignoring the 7 or so drinks he had had at this time). He then sent me off with a promise to never go back to being straightedge, as he has more in common with me now that I drink (love you, Dave!).

(download)

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all-my-best-friends-are-metal-heads-xqDsGsysBbqHycxHHCql.zip (224 KB)

(2 years later and we're still that classy)

I’ve always said that my friends are the reason I am the way I am. I value my friends highly and usually, it is their opinions that I listen to loudest. Of course, not everyone that meets me or has to deal with me falls in love with me. Most of my guy friends see me as an adorable little sister type and my female friends see me as their problem solver (I am not complaining about this role in anyway). But there are always those people who will not like me and I’ve learned to accept that. I may not have a lot of friends, but the friends that I do have are amazing and I wouldn’t trade anyone of them. But pretty much, once you become my friend, you will always have a place in my heart.

(EDIT: Not mentioned but equally important are Grandpa and Cherry, whom I also hung out with this past week. Love you both!)

“I’ve got friends in all the right places.”-Manchester Orchestra "I've Got Friends"