Sunday, October 31, 2004

I have yet to mention my roommate, Brad. Brad is a really cool guy, maybe a little too cool though. He receives a high rating on the "I'll make fun of you if I find out you watch Star Trek" scale, which requires that on average 'cool,' 'dude,' or 'yeah' be used every 2.7 words. My sister and her family left on vacation this week: which is awesome because I get to house-sit. I wanted to let him know that I wouldn't be home much, because I'd be staying at her place:

Me: Dude, yeah my sisters on vacation dude. I thought it would be cool to let you know I wouldn't be around all week... Cool dude? Yeah?
Brad: Yeah, man awesome... blah blah (something about smoking pot and surfing).
Me: Thanks dude, cool, later man.
Brad: Hey, your not gonna bail, are you dude?
Me: No dude, I'm cool.

I'm at my sisters right now. It's nice cause I can eat her food and watch whatever I want on TV, although I was one of fourteen people who missed the Steelers stomp the Patriots and their winning streak because I live near Oakland and their crappy team. I do have to man the Trick or Treating responsibilities. This is the first time I've ever been on the giving end. It's been slow so far for the area she's in; candy is expensive, and I'm getting afraid I bought too much. For the record, my first ever Halloween visitors were Spider-Man and some sort of hippo person.

  Friday, October 22, 2004

I guess I wasn't complete clear in the last post, but I still did move out of my sisters'. I know almost everyone reading this has had to get their own place at one time or another, but finding your own place when you can barely afford to live, is a scary ordeal. Especially in California, and especially in the real world: I'm talking about the gunky world. These places are neither cheap or nice. I had to find out if the places are in a good neighborhood or not, I had to know whether my roommates will be cool or illicit drug users. I had to call people up who don't speak English and I had to write emails that say:

"I'm 23, male, a year removed from college, and I work in a children's learning center. I personally don't drink or smoke, I have no pets and my personal hygiene is quite exceptional. If that's enough to get me a look at the place then great, if not then there are a lot of other cool things about me."

in which I had to lie about both my hygiene and my coolness. Plus throw in checking for meth-labs, dead bodies, Indian burial grounds, and soft water; there's a lot to consider.

After visiting three places, and figuring what the hell have I got to loose anyway: I picked the guy with the cool aquarium. I've been there about two weeks now. It stinks paying rent and not having someone take care of you, but as Alyssa at work said, "Now you can take girls home and romp."

  Sunday, October 17, 2004

So I didn't make it to homecoming last weekend. That lack of hall-sports and random oddness was my fault. Many of you may not of noticed, I think Keacher did:

"Unlike previous homecomings, this one felt more subdued. I can recall homecomings of yore being rambunctious soirees, but this one was comparatively quiet. Maybe the belligerent alumni stayed home..."

I decided about a month ago that I was leaving my sister's house. I just had too hard of a time constantly dealing with that atmosphere. It was difficult to make that decision, knowing why I came out here and that I hadn't done it yet. It was especially hard knowing that I would be leaving Sam and all the fun things we did together: I taught him to sing back up to Hermans Hermits and he told me my pee sounds like music. I felt like coming home, and I figured I could time it right so that I could make it through Indiana during homecoming weekend.

But then something unexpected happened. It's totally amazing what little school children can do when they think they won't see you again. They can be cute or weird like those that drew these pictures:


They can also bewilder you with how they can write you notes and letters that say the oddest thing. Often times they say, "you smell man!!" Sometimes they say, "I ROCK!" Other times they seem to hit just the right spot at just the wrong time:

"Dear rory,

I hope you find somewhere where you are happy! just remember you are a wonderful teacher and you deserve something better... I will miss you alot"

It's a good thing all my attempts at giving a two weeks notice were ignored. I didn't want to stay, but I started to believe that I could, and maybe more importantly, that it was the right thing to do. I love living life by the wind, but I need to learn what it means to be responsible. So no homecoming for me this year; I already missed my high school reunion as well. I may decide to leave again, but right now I've got lots of reasons to stay.

  Sunday, October 03, 2004

Well, September sucked.