Washington, DC. A fascinating place, by any standard. I've visited Washington several times in my life, for conferences, workshops, family vacations, et cetera. However, after my last visit I felt like this was the first time I actually got a chance to visit the District of Columbia. There is a distinct difference, if you didn't already know, between the two. Washington: the seat of the federal government. The suit-and-tie, stick-up-your-ass, work in a monolithic building part of town. Most people who work in Washington do not actually live in DC. There are plenty of other cities, in other states, around the area for them to commute to and from, and the commute is not bad. Washington is pretty cool, with its museums, its monuments, its federal buildings. However, only visiting Washington leaves out a big part of the area.
The District of Columbia, outside of the federal complex around the Mall, is a very different place. With a population consistency of something like 80% african-american (in terms of permanent residents, at least), a complex mixture of "dangerous" and "safe" neighborhoods, and ridiculously high costs-of-living in areas where you can walk around without feeling like you're going to get mugged, DC is an American city like no other. They say that the population of DC increases something like 3-fold during the business day, and even the vast majority of residents of DC are transitory, constantly looking for a place to live outside of the city, in areas of Maryland or Virginia.
What this ended up meaning for my experience is that pretty much everyone I met while in DC was not from DC, nor did they plan on staying in DC any longer than they had to. The population is always changing, and if I were to go to visit DC in 6 months I'm sure there would be completely different people to visit, different places to stay, different subways and busses to ride. In that sense, the city is always changing, and I have a feeling would always be interesting to visit, with new experiences every time, as long as there are still people in the city worth visiting. So the city is cool, the people I met were cool, and I had a great time.
But you want to hear about the Inauguration. I was there, along with the other 2 million people who descended on the Mall that day. I really did feel like I was a part of an historic moment, even though I couldn't see the capital and had to follow the proceedings on a jumbotron with sound delayed a few seconds from the video. Just being there, among all those people, listening to such a great and inspiring speech, was so powerful I was almost moved to tears. Some say that it was as if the District finally came to Washington, and the makeup of the crowd totally felt like that. Everyone was so joyous and celebratory, the energy was so positive, it was just awesome.
I'm not really sure what else to say about the Inauguration. It was fun, despite the cold, despite the 6 mile walk, the hours of standing around in a big crowd. But you saw it all on TV, so you know what happened. Yes, I booed when Bush came out, yes, I understand that it was somewhat disrespectful, but no, I don't regret it. And when his chopper flew overhead, we all waved and cheered and it was awesome. Saying goodbye has never felt so good.
I am now in the Old South. Charleston, South Carolina, to be exact. I passed through Lynchburg, VA and Charlotte, NC on the way, and it has really been an eye-opening experience. The people I've been staying with (couchsurfers), are all very liberal, so I haven't gotten in any political arguments yet, but it was pretty funny when I got here and my host was like "so...you voted for Obama, right?" Everywhere else I've been so far everyone has just assumed that I'm an Obama supporter, but being asked that question down here made me realize the huge change in culture from the East and North. Democrats are not in the majority down here, and you can totally tell. But to be honest, it really doesn't bother me that much. I'm not a big fan of arguing anyways, so being surrounded by republicans doesn't mean that much, aside from the feeling that I shouldn't bring up political sensitive subjects. Republican or Democrat, liberal or conservative, what I can tell you is that southerners are just generally more friendly people. I've gotten several compliments on my jacket, I think most of them were just because someone wanted to spark conversation. And it felt great! I love that people want to be nice and open to each other down here, I feel better smiling at strangers as I walk down the street, knowing that they'll probably smile back. It's a great feeling, and really makes me feel like I could fit in down here, despite my liberal leanings. It's like Obama said; there is no liberal america or conservative america, there is the United States of America, and I want to put that theory into practice as much as possible.
Charleston itself is a beautiful town. Steeped in history, there are so many old old houses with big big pillars and gardens and fountains and all kinds of stuff, I really do feel like I am in the Old South. Haven't seen any confederate flags flying yet (though I did see an american flag with fewer stars on it), but there's a building in the center of downtown where they used to auction off slaves. And it was restored by a group called "The Daughters of Confederacy". Interesting... But at the same time, there's graffiti on the wall of a construction site that says "Less Ronald McDonald, more Dali Llama". The two cultures seem to be coexisting pretty well down here, which gives me great hope for our future.
So today I drive to Savannah, GA, for another couple days of Old South revelry. Then it's off to Atlanta for a few nights, then New Orleans for a few more, before finally making it to Austin, thereby ending the first leg of this cross-country tour. Let's hope I still have some money by then.....
Until next time!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Baltimore: History, Culture and Pride
Several people asked me before I left why I was going to Baltimore. Fewer still understood once I tried to explain. I've been here before, I've got friends here, and it's a cool place, despite its setbacks. Now, after two fun-filled and enlightening days, I have come to the realization that these words don't even come close to encapsulating what it is about Baltimore that I find so fascinating. It's so much more than just the friends and familiarity... it's the Pride that the citizens show toward their hometown. It's the complex diversity that permeates every facet of the community. It's the life and breath of the city. It is wondrous, unique and awesomely inspiring.
Yesterday morning, after a restful night on Meg's antique pullout couch, we went out to a nearby service event helping homeless by assembling lunch packs and blankets to be delivered to a shelter downtown. It was a fun 45 minutes of sandwich-making, and even though I did not get a chance to interact with any homeless directly, I did get a chance to mingle a bit with some Baltimore locals and get the first feel for the local community. Above all, I felt an enormous sense of compassion and neighborliness among the volunteers, and even though that attitude is pretty much to be expected at a service project such as this, it still impressed me and left an endearing impression. These people weren't just doing this to feel good about themselves once a year, they were just performing another service for their community, something they seemed to do every day.
That afternoon, Obama came to town to give a speech at the local war memorial plaza. It was bitterly cold outside, so Megan and I elected to stay in, but we caught the speech on the tube, along with all the people speaking before Obama came on. They really milked it too, bringing out speaker after speaker, all saying the same thing, using the same buzzwords, it did get repetitive after a while. Nevertheless, I did notice a few very impressive aspects about the event that left me speechless. First was the Star Spangled Banner. As you may or may not know, our national anthem was penned right here in Baltimore, by a guy hunkered down in the fort on the harbor, holding out against the shelling of the british navy (or something like that). For Obama's speech, the powers that be chose an extremely deep-bass black man to deliver the national anthem. His voice was so deep and so powerful, his character so strong and deliberate. He delivered the anthem in the city where it was written, where race relations have boiled and cooled countless times, a city dwarfed by its neighbor but steeped in much deeper history and culture, for a President who is about to change everything. The performance, for me, represented the extremely powerful moment in history that we are in better than any other performance of the Star Spangled Banner I have heard, and I found it indescribably moving.
After the song began the speeches. I have no idea who the first guy to speak was, but his attitude just made me love Baltimore even more. He had an air of joyous exultation of the event, enormous pride in his City (which was heartily echoed by his crowd), and a glimmer in his eye that said, "This is it, Baltimore. This is our Future, and it is wonderful!" His ramblings led into some other person's ramblings, and this went on for 3 or 4 more people. By the time Obama came on, neither Megan nor I were paying much attention, and the bits we did catch really didn't sound much different from any of his other recent speeches. It's no big deal though, he will be giving much more important speeches in the next couple days.
That evening we went to a curry cookoff at Katy's house--er, sorry, Katherine's (KT for short). There, we met a slew of friendly new faces, ate some delicious thai curry and had some very interesting cucumber-chili martinis. It is an event better remembered in picures, suffice to say it was yet another experience affirming my love and respect for Baltimore and its people.
Today Megan took me on a tour around the Johns Hopkins campus before heading over to the Baltimore Museum of Art to meet up with Katy. I found the campus very beautiful in its uniformity and elegance. Schools with strict guidelines for architecture have always fascinated me. I like to look at the newer buildings and think about how the architectural design styles of the time they were built affected the design of the buildings, especially when having these strict guidelines to work around. It often leads to subtle and interesting touches that take a trained eye to notice. Other times it just leads to a boring, monochrome campus, but I try not to think about that.
The BMA was pretty awesome too, they had a really great modern art exhibition that had lots of interesting pieces. My favorite was the video projection on the wall of about 2 dozen mouths humming a tune. Afterwards, we went out to the Golden West Cafe for brunch and conversed about Baltimore, Marilyn Monroe, and churros. It was a great morning with great friends, and these are the times I treasure the most.
Tonight the Ravens are playing for the AFC championship (football, for the uninformed). We may or may not head out somewhere exciting to watch it, but at this point I don't feel that I need to do anything else, I've already fallen in love with this City, I don't need football fans to convince me. Tomorrow I'm off to DC, more excitement to come!
Baltimore: It's like what I've always wanted Detroit to be.
Yesterday morning, after a restful night on Meg's antique pullout couch, we went out to a nearby service event helping homeless by assembling lunch packs and blankets to be delivered to a shelter downtown. It was a fun 45 minutes of sandwich-making, and even though I did not get a chance to interact with any homeless directly, I did get a chance to mingle a bit with some Baltimore locals and get the first feel for the local community. Above all, I felt an enormous sense of compassion and neighborliness among the volunteers, and even though that attitude is pretty much to be expected at a service project such as this, it still impressed me and left an endearing impression. These people weren't just doing this to feel good about themselves once a year, they were just performing another service for their community, something they seemed to do every day.
That afternoon, Obama came to town to give a speech at the local war memorial plaza. It was bitterly cold outside, so Megan and I elected to stay in, but we caught the speech on the tube, along with all the people speaking before Obama came on. They really milked it too, bringing out speaker after speaker, all saying the same thing, using the same buzzwords, it did get repetitive after a while. Nevertheless, I did notice a few very impressive aspects about the event that left me speechless. First was the Star Spangled Banner. As you may or may not know, our national anthem was penned right here in Baltimore, by a guy hunkered down in the fort on the harbor, holding out against the shelling of the british navy (or something like that). For Obama's speech, the powers that be chose an extremely deep-bass black man to deliver the national anthem. His voice was so deep and so powerful, his character so strong and deliberate. He delivered the anthem in the city where it was written, where race relations have boiled and cooled countless times, a city dwarfed by its neighbor but steeped in much deeper history and culture, for a President who is about to change everything. The performance, for me, represented the extremely powerful moment in history that we are in better than any other performance of the Star Spangled Banner I have heard, and I found it indescribably moving.
After the song began the speeches. I have no idea who the first guy to speak was, but his attitude just made me love Baltimore even more. He had an air of joyous exultation of the event, enormous pride in his City (which was heartily echoed by his crowd), and a glimmer in his eye that said, "This is it, Baltimore. This is our Future, and it is wonderful!" His ramblings led into some other person's ramblings, and this went on for 3 or 4 more people. By the time Obama came on, neither Megan nor I were paying much attention, and the bits we did catch really didn't sound much different from any of his other recent speeches. It's no big deal though, he will be giving much more important speeches in the next couple days.
That evening we went to a curry cookoff at Katy's house--er, sorry, Katherine's (KT for short). There, we met a slew of friendly new faces, ate some delicious thai curry and had some very interesting cucumber-chili martinis. It is an event better remembered in picures, suffice to say it was yet another experience affirming my love and respect for Baltimore and its people.
Today Megan took me on a tour around the Johns Hopkins campus before heading over to the Baltimore Museum of Art to meet up with Katy. I found the campus very beautiful in its uniformity and elegance. Schools with strict guidelines for architecture have always fascinated me. I like to look at the newer buildings and think about how the architectural design styles of the time they were built affected the design of the buildings, especially when having these strict guidelines to work around. It often leads to subtle and interesting touches that take a trained eye to notice. Other times it just leads to a boring, monochrome campus, but I try not to think about that.
The BMA was pretty awesome too, they had a really great modern art exhibition that had lots of interesting pieces. My favorite was the video projection on the wall of about 2 dozen mouths humming a tune. Afterwards, we went out to the Golden West Cafe for brunch and conversed about Baltimore, Marilyn Monroe, and churros. It was a great morning with great friends, and these are the times I treasure the most.
Tonight the Ravens are playing for the AFC championship (football, for the uninformed). We may or may not head out somewhere exciting to watch it, but at this point I don't feel that I need to do anything else, I've already fallen in love with this City, I don't need football fans to convince me. Tomorrow I'm off to DC, more excitement to come!
Baltimore: It's like what I've always wanted Detroit to be.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
The MASTER PLAN (part 1)
As I'm sure most (if not all) of you have figured out by now, I am planning a cross-country road trip over the next couple months. In this post I will discuss my plans for the first leg of my trip. If, while you're reading, you think of a place I should go along the way, know someone I might want to stay with, or just have any general tips for the region, hit me in the comments! I want to make this trip as interesting as possible, and the best way to do that is through collaboration!
SO. Stop 1: Baltimore. I know, I know, when I tell people this they give me this funny look, like "have you been to Baltimore? What in god's name would make you want to go there?" Well, it just so happens I have been to Baltimore, and I enjoyed it thoroughly! In addition to this, I have a couple close friends in the area who I can't wait to see, so it's going to be fun. I'll be in Baltimore for the weekend of Friday, January 16th. If you're in the area, you should gimme a call and come visit (unless you're in DC, in which case keep reading).
Después de Baltimore is Stop 2: Washington, DC. Yes, I will be in DC for Inauguration Day. No, I will not be attending any of those official functions. Tickets are either too hard to come by or too expensive for poor ol' me, so I'll be partying it up with what I'm sure will be a great turnout of other poor bastards who wanted to be there but couldn't afford to "Be" there. Where will you be for Inauguration? Will you call me to find out what DC is like? I hope so!
Since parking is ridiculous in DC and it's going to be even more ridiculous on the days I'm in town, I'm just going to leave my car in B'more and take the MARC in. Apparently MARC is running their regular schedule on Monday (which is remarkable because that's MLK day and they usually don't run on national holidays), so it'll only cost $7 one-way. Can't beat that! So Wednesday or Thursday I will return via MARC and continue on my journey from there.
The next three major stops are as follows: Atlanta, New Orleans, Austin. It's quite a drive from B'more to Atlanta, so I've been asking around as to where I should stop in between, and right now the top pick is Asheville, NC. Not sure how great it is in the winter, but I've heard good things from friends and there are a lot of couchsurfers in the area, so I'm sure there's some reason to go there, right? If you have any thoughts on Asheville or really anywhere between Baltimore and Atlanta, let me know! Come to think of it, thoughts on stops between ATL and NO, or between NO and Austin are welcome too! I can do 8 hour drives, but I'd rather not, you know? I wanna take my time on this here road trip. No hurrying allowed!
From this point things are still hazy. All I know is I have to be in Austin by February 6th to catch the plane to Chicago for the NASCO Board Meeting. Since there's about 2 and a half weeks in between Inauguration Day and the 6th, I've got plenty of flex time and so I hope to use it to experience the Old South as fully as possible (preferably the culture and people more than the tourist attractions). Lemme know if you have any tips.
I'll be keeping this blog updated regularly during my travels, so if you want to know what's going on with me on this crazy road trip, keep on top of it! I'll also have my mom's DSLR camera with me, so will hopefully be posting some really pretty pictures along with my ramblings for you to stare at in awe and wonder.
That's it for the pre-trip update. See you all on the road!
SO. Stop 1: Baltimore. I know, I know, when I tell people this they give me this funny look, like "have you been to Baltimore? What in god's name would make you want to go there?" Well, it just so happens I have been to Baltimore, and I enjoyed it thoroughly! In addition to this, I have a couple close friends in the area who I can't wait to see, so it's going to be fun. I'll be in Baltimore for the weekend of Friday, January 16th. If you're in the area, you should gimme a call and come visit (unless you're in DC, in which case keep reading).
Después de Baltimore is Stop 2: Washington, DC. Yes, I will be in DC for Inauguration Day. No, I will not be attending any of those official functions. Tickets are either too hard to come by or too expensive for poor ol' me, so I'll be partying it up with what I'm sure will be a great turnout of other poor bastards who wanted to be there but couldn't afford to "Be" there. Where will you be for Inauguration? Will you call me to find out what DC is like? I hope so!
Since parking is ridiculous in DC and it's going to be even more ridiculous on the days I'm in town, I'm just going to leave my car in B'more and take the MARC in. Apparently MARC is running their regular schedule on Monday (which is remarkable because that's MLK day and they usually don't run on national holidays), so it'll only cost $7 one-way. Can't beat that! So Wednesday or Thursday I will return via MARC and continue on my journey from there.
The next three major stops are as follows: Atlanta, New Orleans, Austin. It's quite a drive from B'more to Atlanta, so I've been asking around as to where I should stop in between, and right now the top pick is Asheville, NC. Not sure how great it is in the winter, but I've heard good things from friends and there are a lot of couchsurfers in the area, so I'm sure there's some reason to go there, right? If you have any thoughts on Asheville or really anywhere between Baltimore and Atlanta, let me know! Come to think of it, thoughts on stops between ATL and NO, or between NO and Austin are welcome too! I can do 8 hour drives, but I'd rather not, you know? I wanna take my time on this here road trip. No hurrying allowed!
From this point things are still hazy. All I know is I have to be in Austin by February 6th to catch the plane to Chicago for the NASCO Board Meeting. Since there's about 2 and a half weeks in between Inauguration Day and the 6th, I've got plenty of flex time and so I hope to use it to experience the Old South as fully as possible (preferably the culture and people more than the tourist attractions). Lemme know if you have any tips.
I'll be keeping this blog updated regularly during my travels, so if you want to know what's going on with me on this crazy road trip, keep on top of it! I'll also have my mom's DSLR camera with me, so will hopefully be posting some really pretty pictures along with my ramblings for you to stare at in awe and wonder.
That's it for the pre-trip update. See you all on the road!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Ponderings and Panderings
Today is my last day of work until 2009. Seeing as how all the students are done with finals and have gone home, I have picked up a double shift in the hopes of working 14 hours in one day without answering a single question. Wish me luck.
I got my wisdom teeth pulled last Friday. The pain is starting to subside, but yesterday, my sixth post-operative day, was particularly bad. I think I got a dry socket in the former home of my lower-right wisdom tooth. I guess that's what happens when you decide to self-medicate with certain herbal remedies 24 hours after surgery and only swish with saltwater 4 times a day, instead of 20. Oh well, c'est la vie, it hurts much less today, the ibuprofen is working and hopefully I will not need the vicodin I brought along just in case. I think I'll be able to kick this pain by the end of the weekend. I got dis covered, SON!
The snow today makes me wonder how much GOD really hates Michigan. It's kind of ironic that the day G-Dub announces the $13.something billion loan to the auto industry, GOD decides to drop a foot of snow all over southeast Michigan. It's like GOD and the Federal Government are doing battle over who has more influence over Michigan's fate. G-Dub, "We are gonna save the Amr'kin Auto Industree with thurt-EEN billion dollers in 'mergencee fed'ral loans. Keep on truckin', Mitch'gan!" GOD, "Oh, so you're going to save the auto industry, eh? Well let's see how you like it when cars without spikes in their tires and 4-wheel drive are rendered completely useless! Bwah hah hah hah! I will DESTROY your pesky little human civilization! This is MY peninsula, bitches!!"
Or at least that's how I would envision the conversation... "Coming in 2009.... G-Dub leaves the White House and moves on to tackle the biggest project of them all. You thought the War on Terror was bad? You think Global Warming is being caused by Humans? Well get ready to have your world ROCKED.... Straight from the Heartland of Texas, George Double-U Bush brings us the ultimate fight, the coup de gras, the last-ditch effort, the WAR ON GOD!!!"
Enter press conference: G-Dub, "The Almighty has aligned himself with Al Qaeda in the effort to bring down western civilization. His repeated behavior with these so-called "natural" disasters and the increasingly unpredictable nature of the so-called Global Warming phenomenon has convinced me that God Himself is against us. But His attacks have gone on long enough. America will not tolerate these acts of agression against our values, our people, and the very notion of Freedom itself. Together we stand as a united front against the brutal and unprovoked actions of God, and together we will defeat this threat to our nation. Viva America!"
Or something... Okay, Bush probably wouldn't have said that last little bit. He probably doesn't even know Spanish. Anyways... moving on. Vicadin is awesome. Vicadin plus Ibuprofen is even more awesome. Mix in a little herbal remedies and you've found the secret recipe for destroying all feeling in your body. Last night I was in a ton of pain. My jaw was sorer than Rocko's cock after a long day's work. I had a headache the size of mount rushmore (presumably due to the epic storm front that was coming our way). I was easily irritable and quite snappy. Then I dosed myself in medication and, not 15 minutes later, I was numb to all pain, physical, mental or emotional. It felt great. Then I got a full 8 hours of sleep and this morning, lo and behold, all it took was a couple ibuprophen and the pain has been satiated for the past 4 hours! Score one for drugs and rest. Huzzah!
I've been invited to go drinking tonight with a friend and some of her friends (who I've never met before). I haven't drank any alcohol in probably about a week and a half, so I guess on one hand we could say it's due time for some boozin. Plus I got a phat paycheck today that covered all my christmas expenses and then some, so it's not exactly as if money is a huge object. But then again, I am still recovering from this operation, and alcohol in my system probably won't do much good to help with that. And I'm working at the computer lab ALL day, so maybe I won't even have the energy to go to the bar and be social. I guess we'll just have to see what happens when I get off work tonight.
While we're on the subject of alcohol, let me be clear. I am a very happy drunk. I smile, I laugh, I say yes and end up doing ridiculous things. It's good to be a happy drunk. The only concern is that I might enjoy drinking too much and end up doing it more than I should (read: become an alcoholic). It could totally happen. Sometimes when I drink I can see myself as an alcoholic. It runs in the family. I can drink beer 'till the cows come home and not feel drunk off my ass (liquor is another story entirely). Maybe drinking every night wouldn't be so bad..... No! Not going to happen! Must. Control. Drinking. Habits...
It's all good though. I won't be an alcoholic anytime soon, I've got too much ambition, self control, and other things to occupy my mind. Get back to me in 20 years and I'll let you know how it's going.
Damn! Not even noon and my goal of not answering any questions has already been broken! Damn you color printer........
Ok well, I've run out of things to rant about for the time being, so I'm just gonna go ahead and hit that publish button. Maybe you'll get one more thoughtful post before the New Year. I guess that all depends on whether or not I feel the need to say something.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! Er, day. Er, couple of weeks.... Whatever.
I got my wisdom teeth pulled last Friday. The pain is starting to subside, but yesterday, my sixth post-operative day, was particularly bad. I think I got a dry socket in the former home of my lower-right wisdom tooth. I guess that's what happens when you decide to self-medicate with certain herbal remedies 24 hours after surgery and only swish with saltwater 4 times a day, instead of 20. Oh well, c'est la vie, it hurts much less today, the ibuprofen is working and hopefully I will not need the vicodin I brought along just in case. I think I'll be able to kick this pain by the end of the weekend. I got dis covered, SON!
The snow today makes me wonder how much GOD really hates Michigan. It's kind of ironic that the day G-Dub announces the $13.something billion loan to the auto industry, GOD decides to drop a foot of snow all over southeast Michigan. It's like GOD and the Federal Government are doing battle over who has more influence over Michigan's fate. G-Dub, "We are gonna save the Amr'kin Auto Industree with thurt-EEN billion dollers in 'mergencee fed'ral loans. Keep on truckin', Mitch'gan!" GOD, "Oh, so you're going to save the auto industry, eh? Well let's see how you like it when cars without spikes in their tires and 4-wheel drive are rendered completely useless! Bwah hah hah hah! I will DESTROY your pesky little human civilization! This is MY peninsula, bitches!!"
Or at least that's how I would envision the conversation... "Coming in 2009.... G-Dub leaves the White House and moves on to tackle the biggest project of them all. You thought the War on Terror was bad? You think Global Warming is being caused by Humans? Well get ready to have your world ROCKED.... Straight from the Heartland of Texas, George Double-U Bush brings us the ultimate fight, the coup de gras, the last-ditch effort, the WAR ON GOD!!!"
Enter press conference: G-Dub, "The Almighty has aligned himself with Al Qaeda in the effort to bring down western civilization. His repeated behavior with these so-called "natural" disasters and the increasingly unpredictable nature of the so-called Global Warming phenomenon has convinced me that God Himself is against us. But His attacks have gone on long enough. America will not tolerate these acts of agression against our values, our people, and the very notion of Freedom itself. Together we stand as a united front against the brutal and unprovoked actions of God, and together we will defeat this threat to our nation. Viva America!"
Or something... Okay, Bush probably wouldn't have said that last little bit. He probably doesn't even know Spanish. Anyways... moving on. Vicadin is awesome. Vicadin plus Ibuprofen is even more awesome. Mix in a little herbal remedies and you've found the secret recipe for destroying all feeling in your body. Last night I was in a ton of pain. My jaw was sorer than Rocko's cock after a long day's work. I had a headache the size of mount rushmore (presumably due to the epic storm front that was coming our way). I was easily irritable and quite snappy. Then I dosed myself in medication and, not 15 minutes later, I was numb to all pain, physical, mental or emotional. It felt great. Then I got a full 8 hours of sleep and this morning, lo and behold, all it took was a couple ibuprophen and the pain has been satiated for the past 4 hours! Score one for drugs and rest. Huzzah!
I've been invited to go drinking tonight with a friend and some of her friends (who I've never met before). I haven't drank any alcohol in probably about a week and a half, so I guess on one hand we could say it's due time for some boozin. Plus I got a phat paycheck today that covered all my christmas expenses and then some, so it's not exactly as if money is a huge object. But then again, I am still recovering from this operation, and alcohol in my system probably won't do much good to help with that. And I'm working at the computer lab ALL day, so maybe I won't even have the energy to go to the bar and be social. I guess we'll just have to see what happens when I get off work tonight.
While we're on the subject of alcohol, let me be clear. I am a very happy drunk. I smile, I laugh, I say yes and end up doing ridiculous things. It's good to be a happy drunk. The only concern is that I might enjoy drinking too much and end up doing it more than I should (read: become an alcoholic). It could totally happen. Sometimes when I drink I can see myself as an alcoholic. It runs in the family. I can drink beer 'till the cows come home and not feel drunk off my ass (liquor is another story entirely). Maybe drinking every night wouldn't be so bad..... No! Not going to happen! Must. Control. Drinking. Habits...
It's all good though. I won't be an alcoholic anytime soon, I've got too much ambition, self control, and other things to occupy my mind. Get back to me in 20 years and I'll let you know how it's going.
Damn! Not even noon and my goal of not answering any questions has already been broken! Damn you color printer........
Ok well, I've run out of things to rant about for the time being, so I'm just gonna go ahead and hit that publish button. Maybe you'll get one more thoughtful post before the New Year. I guess that all depends on whether or not I feel the need to say something.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night! Er, day. Er, couple of weeks.... Whatever.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Rejected.
The butterflies have been replaced by molasses.
The giddiness replaced by melancholy.
Once again, the object of my desire has found someone else.
It's not that I'm sad she chose this other guy over me. To be honest, I'm not all that surprised. They've known each other for years. They already had something going before she met me. He was there first. It makes sense. Can't leave one knot untied before starting on another.
What displeases me the most is that she preached honesty and full disclosure, yet never told me about this guy in the first place, who, obviously, was a very important part in her life. Maybe she didn't want to complicate things. She said she thought he was going to break it off anyways. But even still, it is a bit ironic, isn't it?
The strangest thing, though, has nothing to do with her. All of the emotions I feel, or should be feeling--anger, spite, self-pity, loneliness, sorrow, rejection--they are all muffled by a strong sense of "well, this happens all the time." Just one more scar on my heart. Just one more reason to not get caught up in women. I have been rejected so many times--whether it be for her reasons or mine--it just doesn't seem to hurt anymore. I know it should, but I can't help the feeling of a recurring pattern. Another one bites the dust.
Maybe the next one will be different? No. Who the fuck am I kidding? Maybe I'm just not meant to find "The One." Maybe I don't have "One." Maybe my destiny is to travel the globe, making women fall for me and then breaking their hearts. Like James Bond. Minus the secret agent bullshit.
I've always envisioned myself eventually settling down and starting a family. But if this keeps happening, I don't think I'm going to have enough of a heart left to love someone enough for that. I know it's pessimistic and maybe even a little defeatist, but seriously. How can someone with no ability to trust or be trusted ever commit themselves to someone for the rest of their life?
Once again the Human Condition has ruined my trust in humanity. Alas, if only we could be completely honest, no matter how much the truth hurts. I will never buy into that whole "I lied to protect you" mantra. Horse shit.
My heart feels like lead. There's gotta be some way, some One, who can heal my heart. I hope I find them one day...
PS, I'm not giving up on my road trip. If anything, it's going to be even MORE awesome and spectacular. Bring it on America, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
The giddiness replaced by melancholy.
Once again, the object of my desire has found someone else.
It's not that I'm sad she chose this other guy over me. To be honest, I'm not all that surprised. They've known each other for years. They already had something going before she met me. He was there first. It makes sense. Can't leave one knot untied before starting on another.
What displeases me the most is that she preached honesty and full disclosure, yet never told me about this guy in the first place, who, obviously, was a very important part in her life. Maybe she didn't want to complicate things. She said she thought he was going to break it off anyways. But even still, it is a bit ironic, isn't it?
The strangest thing, though, has nothing to do with her. All of the emotions I feel, or should be feeling--anger, spite, self-pity, loneliness, sorrow, rejection--they are all muffled by a strong sense of "well, this happens all the time." Just one more scar on my heart. Just one more reason to not get caught up in women. I have been rejected so many times--whether it be for her reasons or mine--it just doesn't seem to hurt anymore. I know it should, but I can't help the feeling of a recurring pattern. Another one bites the dust.
Maybe the next one will be different? No. Who the fuck am I kidding? Maybe I'm just not meant to find "The One." Maybe I don't have "One." Maybe my destiny is to travel the globe, making women fall for me and then breaking their hearts. Like James Bond. Minus the secret agent bullshit.
I've always envisioned myself eventually settling down and starting a family. But if this keeps happening, I don't think I'm going to have enough of a heart left to love someone enough for that. I know it's pessimistic and maybe even a little defeatist, but seriously. How can someone with no ability to trust or be trusted ever commit themselves to someone for the rest of their life?
Once again the Human Condition has ruined my trust in humanity. Alas, if only we could be completely honest, no matter how much the truth hurts. I will never buy into that whole "I lied to protect you" mantra. Horse shit.
My heart feels like lead. There's gotta be some way, some One, who can heal my heart. I hope I find them one day...
PS, I'm not giving up on my road trip. If anything, it's going to be even MORE awesome and spectacular. Bring it on America, you ain't seen nothin' yet!
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Preoccupations
I'm not going to say too much, for fear of jinxing it, but things are looking up. Something that happened within the past couple weeks has breathed new life into me. It's putting butterflies in my stomach. It's making me lightheaded musing on the possibilities. Opportunities. Changes. Everything is too up in the air to talk about it right now, but some serious life changes are in the air. Which direction they go remains to be seen...
In more concrete news, the parents are going to be out of town for New Years, so my brother and I are going to throw a party at the house. You know you wanna come. Also, I'm going to DC at the end of January for Inauguration day. It's gonna be a big awesome party/reunion that will be super-awesome-funtime. Afterwards, I plan on road tripping down to Austin and staying there for a while (length of stay remains to be seen). There's a NASCO Board Meeting in Chicago the first weekend of February, so I'll probably fly up from Austin for that and then come back afterwards. Then, depending on what happens in Austin, I may or may not continue my road trip west to California. Or I might just stay in Austin. That's more up in the air. Suffice to say, a road trip is in the cards, and it's coming up soon.
I'm too excited...... 2009 is going to be quite a year. Anyone else as excited as I am?
In more concrete news, the parents are going to be out of town for New Years, so my brother and I are going to throw a party at the house. You know you wanna come. Also, I'm going to DC at the end of January for Inauguration day. It's gonna be a big awesome party/reunion that will be super-awesome-funtime. Afterwards, I plan on road tripping down to Austin and staying there for a while (length of stay remains to be seen). There's a NASCO Board Meeting in Chicago the first weekend of February, so I'll probably fly up from Austin for that and then come back afterwards. Then, depending on what happens in Austin, I may or may not continue my road trip west to California. Or I might just stay in Austin. That's more up in the air. Suffice to say, a road trip is in the cards, and it's coming up soon.
I'm too excited...... 2009 is going to be quite a year. Anyone else as excited as I am?
Friday, August 8, 2008
The Future and Karma
Tiiiiime to faaaace the chaaange (ch-ch-changes!)
Not posting in about a year leaves a lot to be said... but I'll try to keep it short. It is now August, 2008, and I have completed school, successfully helped a co-op get on its feet, and significantly improved my love life, but I still have yet to find a new job, a new location, a new life. I'm still working at the computer lab (43.5 hours a week), getting ready to move back in with my parents in about a week (whoa! coming up fast!), and sort of half-heartedly searching for a job, but I'm actually feeling pretty good about life at the moment.
Let me tell you a story about karma. The other day, I went down to BTB Cantina to grab a beer and some churros while my bro and his bud Tom scarfed down some serious burritos. When we walked in the Cantina, I noticed that the girl working the register was really cute (I had seen this girl before but never really talked to her). I was pretty high at the moment, so flirting probably wouldn't have worked out too well. But I figured hey, I'll throw a little body language at her, some intonations in my voice, see if she responds. So I try this and what do you know, I feel some positive vibes in her response! Plus she didn't card me for the beer, which is always a good sign :P
So anyways, cute girl aside, we get our food and sit down. I pull out my churros only to notice at the massive amount of cinnamon they had put on them. Cinnamon was flying everywhere! Cinnamon on my shirt, cinnamon on the floor, it was ridiculous. But oh my god it was tasty! Now I'm not sure what BTB's system is with churros. I do know that after we paid the girl working the register went in the back and when she returned she had my churros. So that would logically lead me to the conclusion that it was her who had doused my churros in that sweet sweet sugar. But then I thought to myself, why would the cute girl make churros when there are a couple hispanic guys back there who could do it just as well? And what were their reasons behind the preferential treatment? Did the girl do it cause she thought I was cute? Or did they just do it because it was a slow Monday afternoon? I never came to a conclusion on this question, as I was too high to inquire at the time...
But at any rate, the churros were delicious, and once I had completed my feast I felt the need to leave them a tip, regardless of who was responsible for this good fortune (especially considering how empty the tip jar was). I reach for my wallet and, Damn!, all I have are fives and tens! Anyone have change for a five? No... So I pondered for a while whether the $2 churros were worth a $5 tip, and just when we were about to leave I pounded the rest of my beer (Corona with lime, mmmm), which brought me the clarity to see that they totally deserved a $5 tip. So fuck it, I said, and pulled the bill out of my wallet. Unfortunately, when I went to leave the tip the girl was not around, so I had to give my thanks to the mexican guys in the back. I think they appreciated it.
I left BTB feeling pretty good about myself. I don't leave a tip there all that often, so I kinda felt like I was making up for all the times I had gone there and left the workers nothing. The rest of that evening and the next day went well, if fairly uneventful. I worked, I napped, had a conference call, chilled on the porch for a little while with some old friends, and (this is the only part important to the plot) made plans to go to the lake the next day after work.
So Wednesday rolls around, I get off work, call up my buddies and get ready to roll out to the lake. Silver Lake, to be exact. I drive out to Ben's to meet up with them, we all pile in my convertible and drive over to Max's house to pick him and some food up, and then we hit the road.
The past few days my car has been making strange, fairly loud screeching noises when I turn it on, and a slight burning smell presents itself. These occurrences typically faded away after a couple minutes of driving, but not today. Driving down Dexter road right by Knight's, my engine makes a horrible screeching sound and just goes dead. Power steering fails, the oil light comes on, I really start to smell burning rubber and shit is going down! Thank the stars though, I was going about 35 mph downhill when the car died, and right up at the corner up ahead was an auto repair shop! So I keep rolling down the hill, keeping my momentum up, and muscle the steering wheel to land me right in the middle of the auto shop parking lot. We made it without needing to get a tow! Awesome!
After a few failed attempts at jumping the car, the auto shop guys take the car in and say they'll get it fixed the next day, my buddies and I walk back to Ben's house and pile in his car, drive up to the lake (no disasters this time) and have a dandy old time. We even got to watch a house burn down across the lake! It was quite an exciting day in all. But despite the fact that this is the 4th time I've had to take my car in to get repaired in the past 8 months since I got it, I am still feeling pretty good about the whole thing. The $5 tip gave me some good karma that I was able to cash in on in my time of need.
So now I feel like I need to keep the good karma rolling, you know? To me, karma is like a steam engine. Good or bad, the karma you accrue will lead to more karmic situations down the road, so keep it going in the right direction and all will come your way. The past year has not been a particularly good year for me, and maybe it's because I haven't been good enough to my fellow peers. Well that's all changing now, and I am feeling better and better about it as the days go by.
There is so much more to write about, but I will save it for later. For now, I'm going to watch the HBO series John Adams and learn how the revolution started. Happy Friday!
Not posting in about a year leaves a lot to be said... but I'll try to keep it short. It is now August, 2008, and I have completed school, successfully helped a co-op get on its feet, and significantly improved my love life, but I still have yet to find a new job, a new location, a new life. I'm still working at the computer lab (43.5 hours a week), getting ready to move back in with my parents in about a week (whoa! coming up fast!), and sort of half-heartedly searching for a job, but I'm actually feeling pretty good about life at the moment.
Let me tell you a story about karma. The other day, I went down to BTB Cantina to grab a beer and some churros while my bro and his bud Tom scarfed down some serious burritos. When we walked in the Cantina, I noticed that the girl working the register was really cute (I had seen this girl before but never really talked to her). I was pretty high at the moment, so flirting probably wouldn't have worked out too well. But I figured hey, I'll throw a little body language at her, some intonations in my voice, see if she responds. So I try this and what do you know, I feel some positive vibes in her response! Plus she didn't card me for the beer, which is always a good sign :P
So anyways, cute girl aside, we get our food and sit down. I pull out my churros only to notice at the massive amount of cinnamon they had put on them. Cinnamon was flying everywhere! Cinnamon on my shirt, cinnamon on the floor, it was ridiculous. But oh my god it was tasty! Now I'm not sure what BTB's system is with churros. I do know that after we paid the girl working the register went in the back and when she returned she had my churros. So that would logically lead me to the conclusion that it was her who had doused my churros in that sweet sweet sugar. But then I thought to myself, why would the cute girl make churros when there are a couple hispanic guys back there who could do it just as well? And what were their reasons behind the preferential treatment? Did the girl do it cause she thought I was cute? Or did they just do it because it was a slow Monday afternoon? I never came to a conclusion on this question, as I was too high to inquire at the time...
But at any rate, the churros were delicious, and once I had completed my feast I felt the need to leave them a tip, regardless of who was responsible for this good fortune (especially considering how empty the tip jar was). I reach for my wallet and, Damn!, all I have are fives and tens! Anyone have change for a five? No... So I pondered for a while whether the $2 churros were worth a $5 tip, and just when we were about to leave I pounded the rest of my beer (Corona with lime, mmmm), which brought me the clarity to see that they totally deserved a $5 tip. So fuck it, I said, and pulled the bill out of my wallet. Unfortunately, when I went to leave the tip the girl was not around, so I had to give my thanks to the mexican guys in the back. I think they appreciated it.
I left BTB feeling pretty good about myself. I don't leave a tip there all that often, so I kinda felt like I was making up for all the times I had gone there and left the workers nothing. The rest of that evening and the next day went well, if fairly uneventful. I worked, I napped, had a conference call, chilled on the porch for a little while with some old friends, and (this is the only part important to the plot) made plans to go to the lake the next day after work.
So Wednesday rolls around, I get off work, call up my buddies and get ready to roll out to the lake. Silver Lake, to be exact. I drive out to Ben's to meet up with them, we all pile in my convertible and drive over to Max's house to pick him and some food up, and then we hit the road.
The past few days my car has been making strange, fairly loud screeching noises when I turn it on, and a slight burning smell presents itself. These occurrences typically faded away after a couple minutes of driving, but not today. Driving down Dexter road right by Knight's, my engine makes a horrible screeching sound and just goes dead. Power steering fails, the oil light comes on, I really start to smell burning rubber and shit is going down! Thank the stars though, I was going about 35 mph downhill when the car died, and right up at the corner up ahead was an auto repair shop! So I keep rolling down the hill, keeping my momentum up, and muscle the steering wheel to land me right in the middle of the auto shop parking lot. We made it without needing to get a tow! Awesome!
After a few failed attempts at jumping the car, the auto shop guys take the car in and say they'll get it fixed the next day, my buddies and I walk back to Ben's house and pile in his car, drive up to the lake (no disasters this time) and have a dandy old time. We even got to watch a house burn down across the lake! It was quite an exciting day in all. But despite the fact that this is the 4th time I've had to take my car in to get repaired in the past 8 months since I got it, I am still feeling pretty good about the whole thing. The $5 tip gave me some good karma that I was able to cash in on in my time of need.
So now I feel like I need to keep the good karma rolling, you know? To me, karma is like a steam engine. Good or bad, the karma you accrue will lead to more karmic situations down the road, so keep it going in the right direction and all will come your way. The past year has not been a particularly good year for me, and maybe it's because I haven't been good enough to my fellow peers. Well that's all changing now, and I am feeling better and better about it as the days go by.
There is so much more to write about, but I will save it for later. For now, I'm going to watch the HBO series John Adams and learn how the revolution started. Happy Friday!
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