Saturday, March 21, 2009

New Begainings

The age of the throw away culture. My lease on my car was up so what did I do, I leased a new car. Damn it is a nice car. Graduating, new guy, new car, new city, new hair cut, does this give way to a new life? Maybe. That question will be answered in a few months.

In the mean time, why wouldn't someone want a whole new start? It is such a refreshing thing to leave your past behind and start with a whole new slate. While I believe in reinventing yourself everyday, moving away and starting over is a whole different ball park.

This has happened for me before. It is refreshing. Which leads me to ask - Why don't more people do this? What do people have that is so great that they don't just walk away into a new city, a new scene, a new home, a new life?

Thursday, March 19, 2009

Spring break

What does gay clubs, hair plugs, my hatred of Starbucks have in common?

A few years ago I made a trip to Chicago with a couple of friends of mine, Dylan and Mary Jane. The 8 hour drive was split up between us, Dylan drove the first leg then Mary was in the middle, she's always in the middle. I of course was the only one who willing to drive into Chicago itself. We were staying in down town and managed to get in during rush hour. Once again, I always end up in large cities during rush hour, Albuquerque, Phoenix, Chicago, St. Louis, etc.

Funny thing is I suffer from anxiety. I hold it together and try and pretend that it doesn’t bother me. None of my friends have ever figured out that I am scared as hell to be driving in mass amounts of traffic. The fear comes from the fact that the larger the group of people the more stupid they act. Now put all that idiocracy into large metal death boxes. Add into the equation that people are competitive which leads to offensive driving. If everyone would just take a deep breath and respect the mightiness of the car then my fear of the road would not be so great.

We make it the hotel just fine, go out to eat, and then crash out for the night. Although our first day is not that exciting, it get better.

Day two starts out with us getting up early and going to a medical office. Dylan needed to get his hair plugs checked. It was the one-year mark and I guess they needed to be checked. The view from the doctor’s office was amazing. The high rise next to us had a pool and garden on the roof.

The food in big cities is amazing. Compared to the food I had in Chicago, every restaurant in Kearney taste like I’m eating out of a trash can. This makes no sense because the meals in Chicago were not more expensive then eating out in Kearney. I love food but I have been spoiled by my travels.

This trip to Chicago also leads to my hatred of Starbucks. I am ad major and therefore a brand whore. I do love brand name stuff but it has to be quality. First off Starbucks is not quality. Second, there is no need for two Starbucks to be on the exact same block. They were even on the same side of the street. I consider this overdoing it. That was the day I swore I would never drink Starbucks coffee.

Later that night we go out on the town. We hope on the L train and head out. We get off in an area of town known as “boys town.” I have never seen so many Leather, porn, and bondage shops in such a short walk.

We get to a club, have some drinks, and are having a good time. Next thing you know Mary Jane and I get kicked out for being strait girls. There was no way they could prove we were strait but we were asked to leave because they didn’t want “strait girls” in their club. WTF?!?

Well a couple of men there over heard this and invited us to an afterhours club down the street. We ended up seven sheets to the wind and I was the only one sober enough to get us back to the hotel. This included getting on the right L train and navigating the 8 blocks after we get off the train. Not to mention the trying to talk the drunks into believing I knew where we were. So how did I end up being the only one who was hung over? I don’t know but I now know what gay clubs, hair plugs, and my hatred of Starbucks have in common. It was my spring break trip to Chicago.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009