Reindeer Games

Since I returned from Seattle, I have been in a huge funk. I think part of it is due to the fact that I had to say goodbye to some really great friends. Unlike with some other friends, I don't really know the next time I will see any of them. The other part is that now that I am back in Vegas, the next part of my life needs to start. My trip to Seattle was the official end to my summer and now I need to get working on the various projects that will get me where I need to go. First things first though, I need to start studying for that freaking GRE. Unfortunately, in order to not hyperventilate when thinking about my future, I sit on the couch all day and watch T.V. so that I don't have to think. I know I sound like such a productive member of society. 

In other news, I went out a couple nights ago to get drinks with my dad and some of his coworkers. Jordan met me in front of the MGM and we went inside and met my dad at this swanky lounge. Jordan and I felt like we were put at the little kids table because we were kind of off to the side of my dad and his friends. It was a pretty good time and Jordan and I talk about various things. At one point Jordan got up to go to the bathroom so I was sitting alone and listening to the conversation my dad's group was having and I swear they sounded like they were twenty. Whenever an attractive woman walked by they would comment on her or one of them would talk about how his wife was driving him crazy. At various points I was included in the conversation as well. As far as I could tell, my dad had not clued his coworkers into which team I played for, and why should he have. I felt like I was in bizarro world, or that I was behind enemy lines or something. Being part of their conversation demystified my ideas of what straight men are like. Even these men who are quite successful, talk like they are in freaking gym class. When it comes down to it I think I am happy where I am, with the girls and the gays.

Watching: Forrest Gump

I'm Half Italian, Half Jessica Simpson

This past week I was lucky enough to be able to visit some friends in Seattle. Upon my arrival I was informed that Seattle is known as the Emerald City due to the amount of trees and various flora that surrounds the city. Without sounding too much like a gay cliche, by nightfall I definitely felt like I wasn't in Kansas anymore. I was staying with some friends who live on Queen Anne Hill which is right across Lake Union from Capitol Hill, the gay neighborhood. It took less than 8 hours for me to be drinking in various establishments with the typical thinly veiled names: The Cuff (my favorite), Purr, R Place Neighbors. To best explain my foray into gay Seattle I will break it down into the few encounters I had with the locals.

Anthony- about 5'3" somewhat squirrelly, and quite chatty.

"Hi, my names Anthony, what's yours?"

"Um, my names Joel, what's up?"

"Not much, just so you know I'm part Italian and part Jessica Simpson."

"What does that even mean, like are you buffalo chicken wings Jessica or Chicken of the Sea Jessica because it matters?"

"Hey I gotta go find my friends, see you later Joel."

To my surprise Anthony kept popping up when I would least expect it. At one point Kyle had to tip me off that he was nearby seeing as how I was talking about how weird he was.

Rando- I was too drunk to notice fine details like height and name

"Do you have any coke?"

"Huh?"

"Do you have any coke?"

"What about a joke?"

"COKE!"*taps his nose*

"Oh uh sorry I don't."

Jerry- 6'3" at least 250lbs, leather harness

I was with Kyle because we were about to head to the dance floor and boogie down when he ran into the guy who sold him and Josh their sweet T.V. I was standing just kinda looking around when this large bear, Jerry, came up to me and asked me what my name was. Now at this point in the night I was only able to tell him my name and then proceed to laugh and smile like an idiot. Do not be confused that I was reacting this way because I was into Jerry, I just couldn't get over how ridiculous of a situation I was in. Jerry and I talked for awhile, he told me I had cute dimples, finally Josh found me. As I was turned away from Jerry to talk to Josh, Jerry took it upon himself to give me an unsolicited back rub. Needless to say I booked it out of there as fast as possible. 

There you have it. I experienced the diverse mosaic of gay life in Seattle and I was able to escape with no scars, physical or emotional, and some awesome stories. The biggest surprise of all though was the fact that I feel in love at first sight with a man wearing only a leather vest and jeans. I shit you not, I froze when I saw this man. Even better when he saw that I was staring, he smiled back at me and asked me how I was doing. Unfortunately his friends pulled him away before I could get his name. 

Ahh Seattle I will be back soon!

Listening to: Mamma Mia Soundtrack

Hindsight 20/20 or 40/30?

So last night I had the craziest dream. So that you don't tune out on this post I won't go into details but lets say that it involved an old friend, Mike, from high school. It wasn't so much what the dream was about but the fact that I haven't really thought about Mike all that much since freshmen year of college. Due to this dream, all day today I have been thinking about my four years in high school. While the rational part of my brain knows that high school was hardly the best time of my life, the emotional part remembers it as a series of cliched clips that could be taken out of any teen movie. Before I go further I want to address the people who thought high school was the best time of their lives; I pity them. I would hate to think that the best time of my life happened when I was so young. I am looking forward to my 20s like woah. I even think that my 30s will be something to write home about. It just seems to me that those people are selling their futures short.

Back to the main point of this post, my memories of high school don't seem to coincide with what actually happen. I met up with my best friend from high school, Elyse, tonight for coffee. She and I were having a great time reminiscing about all that we had been through together during the last two years of high school. When I really think about the past I can come up with many memories that are particularly happy but those aren't the ones that readily surface. I think that that is one of life's small blessings. When thinking about the past, it seems that the memories that resurface are predominantly the good ones.

Watching: Michael Phelps win his seventh Gold.

Peace Out Madison!

So today was my last day in Madison for the foreseeable future. Yesterday was supposed to be my last day in Madison. Liz and Gina drove me to the airport and we had a tearful goodbye, promising to keep in touch and that this isn’t the last time we were seeing each other. I went inside up to the check-in counter and gave the person my I.D. He asked me if I had already checked in; I had not. Well long story short, it turns out that priceline.com, may they burn in hell, cancelled my flight due to fraud issues. The thing is I buy my flight home on my dad’s credit card and I have never had a problem before but I guess this time they finally caught me for identity fraud. I would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for that meddlesome Willy Shatner.

So I ended up calling the girls back and asking them if they could pick me up because as of then I wasn’t going anywhere. Things didn’t turn out as bad as they could have been. I was able to have one more night with my roommates and I was able to help them clean the apartment. We also got to watch our late summer obsession: the games of the 26^th Olympiad. Last nights 4x100 freestyle relay was the most insane thing I have ever seen. All three of us were screaming and our upstairs neighbors were pounding on the floor. I can’t even lie and say that I didn’t feel a little patriotic when Phelps and the others were on the podium while our national anthem played. I will agree with Gina though and say that Japan’s Anthem was surprisingly beautiful and majestic.

Right now I am sitting in the Cleveland Airport, nothing special, and I am thinking about all the things I have to look forward to. I am headed to Seattle in 10 days to visit some friends that moved out there earlier this summer. After that it is a short month until I take the GRE. I am definitely worried about the test but people I talk to tell me that it isn’t anything to worry about. I should be moving to Minneapolis in early October which I think will be an amazing adventure. I don’t really know what is going to come down the pipeline but as of right now I think I can handle it.

I promise to not wait another 2+ months to update this blog. Now that we are all scattered to the winds, this blog’s importance in keeping in touch with everyone has majorly increased. I hope you all do the same and update as well.

Artist: Bright Eyes