29 May 2007

What's Right In Front

You're 23 and watching a Friends rerun on a random Tuesday night and wondering when your Chandler Bing is going to walk in the front door with your Monica and your Phoebe and then the door does open and it's....the guy from downstairs whose name you can't remember (Adam? Aaron? Rob?) wondering if you know why the dryer isn't hot (you don't). Point being, groups of friends just don't seem to 'be there for you' whenever you might like. Downer alert: Adulthood can be a little lonely when compared to...TV. (So many things pale in comparison to entertainment media...)

I mentioned that I went back up to New England for a mini-college reunion. Nine girls, two nights up in the mountain lodge 50 miles from campus and one night in ye olde sorority basement for old times' sake. Fantastic! Despite a three year hiatus (haha, get it?), we fit right back in like the pieces of the whole we always were. Everyone was so happy to see each other and so sincere in their interest in everyone else. It was like a Norman Rockwell painting, only colder and rainier. (And dirtier. It's pretty hard to get in the shower when it's 40 degrees in the cabin.)

The patterns are the same (the doers are still the doers, the comic relief still the comic relief, the night owls still the night owls), but it was incredible to realize how we had all matured. Don't get me wrong, I thought they were great before, but everyone had more compassion, more direction, more clarity even than I remembered. Despite different backgrounds, different cities and different careers, we had grown together.

24 May 2007

Tool.

Hiya! More posts to come after the second weekend in a row out of town (last weekend - AWESOME mini college reunion, this weekend - baseball tournament in Baltimore, sure to be hilarious). I'm the busiest person with no job EVER.

I thought I would share with you the story of how I looked like a huge tool last night. As background information, I rarely see anyone else in my building. I often catch L. and her grumpy dog, Brutus (too good to keep anonymous) walking outside, but I'm usually quite surprised to see anyone in the stairwell. Anyway, I'm getting my laundry together last night, singing Maroon5 *very loudly*. Let's pause to mention that I really don't like Maroon5 and can't escape the general feeling that anyone who does like them and is over the age of 16...well, you might want to ask some questions. Songs are ubiquitous, though. On my way out the door, I dropped a bra, picked it up, and tossed it over my shoulder. I then opened the door, underwear draped over my shoulder, belting out 'Sunday Morning' only to find some guy literally less than one foot away - I just about hit him with the laundry basket, he was that close - holding flowers, knocking on my neighbor's door.

Me: Oh! Sorry...I...

Some Guy: Uh, hi.

Me: Hi. Uh...She's not home?

SG: Guess not.

Me: Uh, okay. Uh, good luck

As my brother pointed out, should have told him I was in a Maroon5 cover band.

12 May 2007

All Roads Lead To Perryville

I went to Rockford last weekend to try out for a professional softball team. Didn't make it (they were only looking for two players) but wasn't the worst player there either. And I'm still the best bunter I know. It's not too useful, but it's something.

I hate to be cliche, but it was one of those days that reminds you that all you really need is good company. When I think about what I did -

four hours of chasing a softball around, got nailed in the kneecap with a line drive (I swear it bounced because why wouldn't I catch a line drive? Others differ.), went to some weird fast food restaurant in an old firehouse, took a mini-hike (more like a slow walk) in Rock Cut State Park (which has no rocks, incidentally), had a incredibly hard time trying to turn onto Perryville road when we were *already* on Perryville road (that's what happens when you put two people with no sense of direction together), got some ice cream in a place with construction paper creations on the walls, attended approximately 15 minutes of an extremely strange brand-x Arena Football game, and got home after 11:00 at night, really sore and really happy -

- I can't say it would have appealed to me as a plan. But it turned out to be the best day I've had in quite a while.

09 May 2007

Roadkill

I was on my way home last night when the traffic slowed through the Six Corners intersection. I could see that something (a lot of somethings, actually) had spilled all over the road. The light changed, I got a little closer, and guess what it was? Probably about 30 hot dogs, hamburgers, and their respective buns strewn along the roadway. I have no idea how or when it happened, but I'm sure glad I got to see it.

02 May 2007

Update

Just in case inquiring minds want to know.

Yes, I did quit. It was...well, it was kind of crappy, but it sure proved that I was making the right decision. Gotta deal with two more weeks, two weekend trips, and then hopefully, a new job in the near future.

Also, about fifteen miles after the tire incident mentioned below, I heard a rock hit my windshield. Seemed pretty hard, but upon cursory inspection (I was driving, waiting for another tire to blow at any second, trying not to speed, and answering several "are you back on the road?" calls), there didn't seem to be any lasting effects. Lo and behold, I got into my car after work yesterday to discover a footlong crack on the lower right side. Why didn't I notice a smaller crack before? Well, it was directly behind the city sticker. Karma indeed. I'm going to go ahead and assume that this means I'm due for some good luck soon.