What did you bring me my dear friend to keep me from the Gallows Pole

Rugby hurt

First off, I've been on this Led Zeppelin kick ever since I heard they're recreating Live Aid with Live 8. When Zeppelin reformed for Live Aid, I almost burst into tears a la stupid chick at a Beatles concert. See, I've always been a big Zep fan, ever since I was a baby boy. My sister Lorraine said that I knew the words to Zeppelin songs before I knew nursery rhymes. I loved their mysticism, Misty Mountain Hop, Battle of Evermore, Stairway to Heaven, No Quarter, Gallows Pole--that shit was good!!! And their straight up rockers were even better. But I loved their slow songs the best--very bluesy yet with a rock edge.

But, the real reason of this post is to prove that I have truly gone off the deep end. Saturday night I had to go to an end-of-the-year awards banquet for our local gay rugby team. Echo gave them a lot of press over the past year and they wanted to thank us. Since Buddy was being stalked in Flagstaff at the time, I got to go.

I had an absolute blast. The guys were wonderful and sweet and funny and very welcoming. They took me in under their wings and showed me a good time. Of course, by the end of the evening they had me convinced that I needed to join the team. And after viewing a movie of a game, I knew I was born to play rugby. I could be a scrappy little guy.

Today I realized that I made a colossal mistake. WHAT THE FUCK WAS I THINKING??? These guys are huge. And when you get hurt in rugby, you get REALLY hurt. There is no padding and the desert ground is fucking hard. Three guys on the team are going in for knee surgery within days of each other. Some guy cracked his ribs and CONTINUED playing. Um.. My back goes out if my cat ends up sleeping on my stomach.

Of course, I can't wimp out. I told them I'd show up for practice next Saturday. So, next Saturday it's going to be 110 degrees and I'm going to be running drills with people twice my size and getting my ass kicked. Sometimes I wish I didn't drink at parties.