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["Ten O'clock Titty. Oh, yeah, right...Bareback titty"]
So I am really, really officially procrastinating on homework right now. I do feel 100% better after my week of vacation from school and work and even Chicago (sorry about the lack of posts), but right now that good feeling is manifesting itself in feeling so good that I don't have to do my homework. I'm not sure if that works any better than the dog story did in grade school.
Okay, so I'm not going to rehash all the stories from my vacation that I've already told a million times, but I will recap. To preface, it was all a part of my birthday celebration, which isn't actually until this Sunday. But I had to consider all of that my bday present for various and sundry reasons. Okay, recap:
I drove to Las Vegas with my friends Jeff D. and Sam. We took the north route to avoid tornadoes and flash floods, and so ended up in the worst blizzard I've ever encountered (and I'm from Michigan). El Nina, you saucy bisky. We almost died a little, and ended up taking the south route the rest of the way anyway to avoid becoming the new Donner party in the mountains. Saw the Hoover Dam and the World's largest truck stop, which was actually more like the world's largest drive in chapel. It had figurines of cows that looked like they were drunk for sale at rates above and beyond $50. People are so weird. In Vegas we stayed with our friend Jim whose family has a condo out there. Jeff won $600, Sam won $500, Jim broke even with a $250ish hand and I found $100 in my pocket, which I promptly spent. We also sang karaoke and watched dueling pianos. Jeff and I drove home the south route, which entailed little more than the western hemisphere's largest cross. It was white. We drove straight through after a certain point and I got 0 hours of sleep before getting on the train home to MI. I stayed with my sistoro, who had a fabulous 30th bday party, even though her bday isn't until Tuesday (we're alike in the dragging out of birthdays). She was brave and managed to get our parents in the same room for an extended amount of time for the first time in 15 years.
So that was pretty quick, considering all the details I could have included. Anyway, it was fun, and refreshing. Besides all that, though, it gave me soo much perspective on so many things it's ridiculous. That's why I hightailed it through that story, because I want to spend a paragraph or two on my new insights.
First of all, I understand America a little better now. Sure, at least 80% of the population lives in cities now, making us an urban nation, but the bulk of America is this vast, open space. I know that is something we all know technically, but until I actually saw it with my eyes I don't think I ever understood. It was like the first time I saw a mountain. It's an easy concept to grasp, but the awe from reality always gets me.
The first thing I really noticed was how easy it is to erase the highway and signs from your view and see what it looked like when people first saw it, when the first natives of this land spread out over it far and wide. It's bittersweet really, I mean - there was and is still room for everyone out there. There's just these miles and miles of land, as far as the eye can see, of nothing (like Iowa. Iowa is the most boring place I've ever seen, like ever. And I'm not apologetic about that statement in the least).
The expanse of space is amazing, especially in Oklahoma and Texas, which we only went through parts of, where the ranches look peaceful. I'm not even really one for nature, but I was dumbstruck. I can only imagine what it would be like to sit on the top of some big hill and look around at the acres thinking how proud I was that this was all mine. I don't know if any of this sounds like a conclusion persay. Even if there was a conclusion in all of this, I don't know that I could put it into words. I just know that before the furthest west I'd been in a car was Iowa City. I've been south and east in cars, but never west. And the west is America, when you consider land mass.
When I talk about elections, I'll have some idea of what I'm saying, because just knowing where people are literally coming from can make all the difference in the world. And when I'm talking about history I'll button my lips and listen to people I might not have otherwise. I'll have the memory of the windy plains or the rusty windmills or the houses in the sides of the plateaus and next to the signs for handmade blankets at a rate of $5.99. They're coming from a knowledge base and generations of a totally different though pattern than I have ever had.
Well, I was going to say more, but I think I just heard the buzzer for my pizza. That's a lie. I actually just heard the buzzer in my brain telling me that if I don't get started on this paper I really won't finish it. But I guess I didn't really have to share that with you.
Before I sign off, two things: I saw my sister's friend Adam for the first time in awhile which was awesome. He told me a funny story about his friend Jim, who apparently sounds a bit like Bobcat Goldthwait, who used to go around asking people if they'd ever heard of the "So" bus. They'd say no and he'd say, "It's this bus to hell and when people found out where they were going they'd say, 'so?'" It's pretty rare that you meet a young person who already sounds like what they will sound like when they are 78.
And zwei:
New favorite music = Thin Lizzy and CCR. All we wanted the entire trip was to hear some Thin Lizzy on the radio, and we didn't at all. Finally, we were in gridlock at 8 in the morning near Gary, IN (P.S. A question I'll elaborate on another day - what the hell do people drive to the city for? Seriously? I'm not listening to one more commuter complain about gas while the Metra is still even remotely running) and this song came on, which we thought was a little bit appropriate. But we were also running on no sleep, so that might be why. I'm subjecting you to it anyway.
The Boys are Back in Town - Thin Lizzy
Guess who just got back today?
Them wild-eyed boys that had been away
Haven't changed, haven't much to say
But man, I still think them cats are crazy
They were asking if you were around
How you was, where you could be found
Told them you were living downtown
Driving all the old men crazy
The boys are back in town
You know that chick that used to dance a lot
Every night she'd be on the floor shaking what she'd got
Man when I tell you she was cool, she was red hot
I mean she was steaming
And that time over at Johnny's place
Well this chick got up and she slapped Johnny's face
Man we just fell about the place
If that chick don't want to know, forget her
Friday night they'll be dressed to kill
Down at Dino's bar and grill
The drink will flow and blood will spill
And if the boys want to fight, you'd better let them
That jukebox in the corner blasting out my favorite song
The nights are getting warmer, it won't be long
Won't be long till summer comes
Now that the boys are here again
[won't be long, won't be long until summer comes]
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