weekends update

So during another absence in writing I've had two amazing weekends out of town...with one actually being a relaxing and desperately needed extended weekend. The usual updates are to follow with tonite coming double feature style. Some extra words to come as well...

Two weeks ago I took Thursday and Friday off from work to head home for my best friend's wedding. An event I'd been looking forward since the day I found out they'd be getting married...it definitely lived up to every expectation and even provided some funny things to think about. What really struck me was how nice it was to be home, albeit a shambled, cold, and messy version of home as my parents are in the midst of an expansion.

Trips home tend to confound simply because they provide what is an alternate sense of what life back in Ann Arbor would be like. I say this because most every trip home is for a certain, specific occasion, one that many of my nearest and dearest friends are also heading back to a2 for as well. As such we all make sure we gather to kick it and spend quality time with each other [even if a good handful of us just hung out in California the weekend before]. But in the end, few of us are actually living in Ann Arbor...and so living there must be a different experience. These glimpses of an alternate reality or of an Ann Arbor that could be are truly tempting enough to at the very least give one pause about his Western existence and stay on the left coast.

Combine the great company with the absolute beauty of Ann Arbor during fall...when the leaves change to the most amazing, vibrant, and autumn-like colors imaginable [on top of the desire to be away from work], it makes for a place that is hard not to miss and yearn for desperately. It was enough to convince me of the need to return home for Turkey Day...and I'm really looking forward to seeing the improvements on the house which are already amazing.

**********

As for the reason for the trip home, the wedding was amazing. It was great to actually get to spend so much time with my best friend, something I have done since summers during college when we were both back home, living with the 'rents. It's nice that as much as we grow and change in ways as individuals...we're still the same and still able to just go about being our stupid selves as if we never missed a beat. It's what defines lifelong friends and is all the difference in the world.

The bride, another close friend of mine, was radiant all weekend long and a blast to be around as she is at all times. Chris and Alexa are truly two of my favorite people in the world and it's easy to see just how right they are for one another and personally it's amazing to really see, knowing both of them well, how happy they are together and how happy they make each other.

The ceremony was great, the reception was a blast...and I did my best to not embarrass myself [or Chris] when I was prompted to speak at the reception after being told such niceties were not necessary. Getting to be a part of their day and also getting to see all of our close and great friends and family there too was really special. Definitely not an event that will be forgotten.

Highlights from the wedding weekend...

• the Chris Taylor bachelor party experience
• hearing Nelly, just like the old golfing days [i'm still kinda in shock about this one]
  
• Dora the Explorer
• almost seriously injuring Chris whilst pushing him around the parking lot at high speed in a shopping cart
• getting kicked out of the coin shop
• getting scolded [i was not scolded as i was still not listening]
• friday nite dinner like when we were kids
• Cafe Felix, part 1
• Groomsmen unite!
• the wedding itself
• hearing Nick song
• Bill throwing the ring into the Bible
• providing Michigan updates
• impromptu speaking
• hearing Alexa sing
• the Greenhills fotos
• Cafe Felix, part 2
• trying to do some dancing
• The Fleetwood - outside at 2 am in 35 degree weather...but it was tasty
• the continuation of the "a man doesn't cut his burger in half" argument
• sleeping on an air mattress in my now twice the size it used to be room
• the expanding home
• texts to and from the LA visitors
• getting to see and catch up with so many old friends and teachers
• getting to meet some new people
  
• the amazing fall colors
• simply being home

*********

As for this past weekend, another couple of days in the City as usual for me. But this weekend was a little special...it was milo's first road trip [and he handled it fantastically] and there was a Greenhills alumni reunion Saturday nite which was a ton of fun. It's amazing how well connected so many of us Greenhills stay over the years...we meet up and are able to just enjoy each others' company. It was definitely a special experience for me and I think the shared experience so many of us had, even tho we may be of slightly different ages, allows us to come together for such events and feel a sense of comfort among one another.

The weekend more generally was accidentally epic...it was not as planned but it was as big as could be in many ways. In talking with one friend who was also back home for the weekend, he sounded as tho he were ready for another tame weekend...while another friend was looking forward to some quality time out and about...in the end their roles reversed but a good time was generally had by all. You definitely cannot plan for such epicness to come about...sometimes things just align right and the ludicrous amount of fun is had...

• milo's first road trip up to the Yay
• the Marina
• the bartender - it was just unfair and stupid
• moving on to Gravity without it even being said...the pattern
• Ed getting some T.I. put on right away!
  
• street corner breakin' on some random cardboard box
• breaking the pattern
• another discussion about Stacks
• the brilliance of combining KFC and Taco Bell
• "are you an ambidextruos masterbater?"
• pictures at Comet Club
• "do you work for nbc?"
  
• Tequila!
• Ed's green volvo
• rolling to Cybelle's late nite style and the funny dood sitting outside who was into the tunes
• not hungover
• watching the Michigan game...as painful as it was
• Los' poison oak...ew
  
• halftime at Safeway [a lil fried chicken]
• Beer Pong/Beirut and backing up all the talk
• Al, Henry, Deefs, Henry's fotos, and me all in milo...barely
• sloped parking and milo fitting
• the stupid good food at the reunion
• catching up and talking with a bunch of Greenhills peeps
• giving Mr. Zellers a ride
• awesome parking spots
  
• a few drinks at the White Horse with Mr. Zellers
• Henry's work being much better than any of the other stuff at the show
• souling out for a bit
• the giant group hug
• Beer Pong/Beirut til the wee hours of the morning and Greek domination
• "retirement"
  
• trying to pick up a Smart Car on our way home...and the funny old asian dood who spoke no English but tried to help
• heading home at like 5 in the a.m.
• not hungover [again]
• a little time at du Soleil [the pecan sticky bun...mmm]
• the shame [this is a lowlight...and i apologize to all who had to put up with my antics Saturday nite...i'd been drinkin' =/]
  
• Thai House Express
• an afternoon with Los
  
• first rides in milo for: Peter, Al, Henry, Laura, and Los
• a good drive home
• quality time with quality people

Anywho...i'mr eady to throw my laptop out the window at this point as it frustrates me to no end...i should have been done with all this like an hour ago...g'nite world...ugh i don't wanna work manana.

weekend down! [it's not what it sounds like yo]

i was lucky enough to have a group of friends come down from the City to stay with me for the weekend...after a somewhat later than ideal arrival we still managed to get out Friday nite and have some good times...overall it was a great weekend and it's always nice to see and spend time with good people. per the usual, highlights:

• Happy Hour
• dinner and strolling
• the awaited arrival
• Ed's no gentleman
• taking Grover for a fast ride...and just getting to know Grover all weekend
• first-timers to Los Angeles
• the dood in shorts and sandals...well, sandals after going barefoot...at the club
• Los complaining that the DJ wouldn't play T.I., only for "Whatever You Like" to be the next song
• the cougars
• throwing down on the dance floor
• "Armenian" burritos & Beerfest
• morning jog
  
• Foxy's and pinkberry and laying out a bit
• rolling caravan style in milo & Grover
  
• the Getty and the competing songs and the funny tram ride
• cold beach
• tag-teaming traffic
• Los: "Lou, do u got any Cheez-Its like last time?"
• the Rock Band rotation
• dinnering up with some good Sangria...but NO cheese breads!!!!!! (WTF???)
• meeting up with Jeremy for a drink
• dancing it up, again
• "Whatever You Like" (again)
• Carlo showing some moves
• Los getting wild
• Atonement and Old School
• Roscoe's [with Jeremy too!] & pinkberry
• Los' Feliz shirt
• finally getting the right street for the Hollywood sign
  
• hosting and spending time with people I love
• somehow fitting 4
  
• all the laughs and jokes and good times
• the keeping of traditions...and introducing the traditions to others
  

*********

as my late nite post last nite indicated, i find myself mentally preoccupied much of the time...something lurks and quietly nags. it's there, tho its presence is not necessarily always felt. the weekend added some additional weird element to it...and after the friends departed and i realized this week brings the end of monday nite dinners with my brother in law...well, a certain sadness hit that could only be stemmed by passing out from exhaustion, with the exhaustion itself playing some role in the feeling...

as i found myself on my bed the other nite, full of thoughts and hopes and wishes...thinking about some of the things i want in life i felt a small sense of total disillusionment with myself and the silly life i lead. i have much to be thankful for...so much that it makes me almost feel guilty for ever being down in the dumps and having woes of my own...for wanting some of the things i want in life.

it's hard to explain...and i guarantee this sounds weird and like much more than it actually is in reality. it's just funny to realize that you have a lot, that there is so much good out there...but to still want something else. i guess the best thing to do is to be thankful for what you've got and let the rest take care of itself. and it always seems to do just that somehow.



* tonite's pic was taken by either Laura or Meaghan
** the current Top 5 is based on tunes rocked out to as we cruised around this weekend

ha!

a short entry tonite...as i'm sitting in my living room with my out of town guests, watching Old School...as Ed sings along...haha.

fun times tonite...yet i find myself preoccupied in many ways even as i have a great time. what's up with that?

altered perspective

I had a life-changing experience tonite.

That is a much grander claim than it sounds...mainly because of how the phrase is commonly used. Yet at the same time it's a true statement.

Another monday nite, another monday nite dinner with Jeremy...always a good time full of goofy antics and inane trivialities. We headed to Los Feliz Village to eat at a place I've longed to checkout, simply based on walking by on many a Sunday afternoon and seeing tables full of people outside in what I could only perceive as ajoyful, blissful existence [in stark contrast to the Sunday doldrums I am often afflicted with as the start of another week looms.

Knowing nothing about the place aside from appearances, for some reason I longed to check it out...maybe to find some of that joy and bliss. And that we did. The food was really great [we're yet to go astray on our monday nite quests for delisciousness...but this was towards the top of our list], the ambience and atmosphere were simply amazing: a perfect evening with a temperature around 74 degress, clear skies, and wonderful outdoor seating.

For whatever reason I found the sense of complete and utter contentment I've written about in this very space before. While that makes me sound like an often depressed sad sap, that is far from the truth. I enjoy much of life, from the simply and the mundane to the more epic times with my epic friends...to quality time with family [a big part of the last week...and something I needed and am grateful for]. Yet there are moments...extended moments...where I find myself not quite manic but just in a state that must be something nearing nirvana.

As I find myself in these time a part of me has a bit of a panic attack, thinking that I'm doomed to fall and find a phase of disillusionment. In part it stems from my theory of emotional homeostasis and the fact that no matter what the difficulty I find myself spending at least part of the down time happy and balancing the negativity out. Another part of it simply relates to a lack of faith...a faith in a grander thing, a faith that one can just float along and have everything be ok...yet the faith concern I realize is entirely normal. Faith isn't about a blind belief where one never questions or worries...rather one believes in the best and do so even with or inspite of concerns. And so I found myself believing as I drove home for the evening.

So tonite changed my life...at least for the evening and on some subtle level more permanently. Sometimes it only takes a small alteration to result in a big difference.

**********

The post script to this evening was the hostess at the restaurant. I simply fell in love with her...in part from the moment I laid eyes on her and more so from the simply and fleeting interactions we had with her as she brought us to our table and also refilled out water glasses on ocassion.

In typical fashion I fell for her on the drop of dime and for no good reason beyond some silly, hopelessly romantic, goofy, idealistic, intuitive feeling...and as with the other times this has happened it's a funny way of saying you fall in love with someone...as my days will [unfortunately] go by without her and I'll continue on whatever goofy path I'm on in life.

But still, it was refreshing...she was truly refreshing.


* foto by my brother

where?

I wonder on a pretty daily basis where my urge, desire, need to blog has gone...because it sure feels lost. *sigh*. To me it seems like an indicator...of something less than positive. I find myself dwelling ins useless and fruitless activities...spending my time in non-beneficial ways at times.

Obviously I've done a lot of positive stuff as well, like spending time with family and friends here in LA more than I normally do. Yet I also end up just wasting some of my spare and precious time...not even doing nothing [sometimes u just need to do nothing, it's necessary and positive on occasion] but rather being either counter-productive or just wasteful with my time.

Being an adult is weird and difficult...a constant level of responsibility is a bit tiring and exhausting. It takes more than its fair share of adjusting. Alas...we do all have to grow up...but I hope to maintain my inner child at the same time. But I do need to manage time and just everything generally better I guess...fun. Uggggghhhhhh

Well...I should do some work, a little cleaning...and so on. Busy week ahead of me and I'm really looking forward to the weekend...hopefully the week will go by quickly.