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So I�m still stuffy, and still rather miserable, but my throat doesn�t hurt quite as much, so I guess that�s a good thing.
In reading through a few of my favorite diaries lately, I�ve found a few new people I like to read. All three of them are guys, which is unusual in these parts. This is a total coincidence, but interesting nonetheless.
Joe, Argyle Socks and Jon are all good reads, and if you haven�t read them before, check them out.
When I was in junior high and early high school, my friends and I went roller skating every Friday night at Roll Land. We�d spend all week planning it�"what are you gonna wear?" "I dunno�what are you gonna wear?" "Jennifer says she�s wearing a skirt!" "NO WAY!" We�d work out whose parents were dropping off, whose were picking up, who would sleep at what house afterwards. It was a huge production.
During the week and on Saturday afternoon, Roll Land was all organ music and roller dancers going through routines, but Saturday nights were top 40 all the way. Most of the songs were All Skate, but they�d do a few "Couples Only" skates and one "Singing Trio." Sometimes, we�d be paired off in couples, but generally we were all scoping out the rest of the Roll Land crowd. Sometimes, there would be this boy there that you�d been watching all night, hanging with his friends in the back corner by the quarter-operated lockers. You�d see him look at you a few times, breaking his stare when your eyes met. Finally, your friend would skate over and ask his friend if he wanted to skate with you. His friend would ask him. You�d hold your breath as they both looked back in your direction. If you were lucky, they�d smile and the other boys would all tease him good-naturedly as the friend with the message skated back toward your group. If you weren�t so lucky, you�d suddenly become invisible as the boys all pointedly looked away.
I was both lucky and unlucky on different occasions.
I met Richie Ridlon at Roll Land. He lived in West Roxbury, far from my suburban home. A city boy. His friend asked me if I�d skate with him. I said yes, impressed by his blonde hair and his tough guy skate swagger. Before the skate session ended, he gave me his watch to wear home, his phone number, and the promise to be there to skate with me the next weekend. Our roller romance lasted through three Friday nights. Then I came in to find him skating with some other 15-year-old floozy. I left his watch with his friends and stomped off to get my skates.
I was thinking about Roll Land today because Joe and Jon both recently signed my guestbook, in response to my signing theirs, and I got that same giddy feeling I used to get at Roll Land when the boy I wanted to skate with smiled in my direction.
Finding a new diary I like, signing the guestbook, reading through the archives is a lot like that whole Roll Land process. I like what this person is writing. I�m going to tell them so, although I always think I sound like a dork in my guestbook entries. That�s like sending your friend over to talk to his friend. Then you wait. Will they follow the link back to your diary page? Will they stay and read a few entries, perhaps sign your guestbook in return?
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