One Last Bell

Lines composed above a fountain

Sometimes the hardest thing to do
Is simply say goodbye
It's a commonly known truth
Yet we pretend that it's a lie

And as a time falls through the sieve
And memories unwind
It's not too hard to take a leave
But hard to leave behind

And so I sit in superstition
Ending with a shower
Some say bye and some good luck
I go. Guided by my higher power

------

Said my goodbyes to the university today. Wandered the campus listening to the bells reminiscing and taking it all in.

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Time to Close the Book

It's been a good run. I've had a really amazing time. I've met some awesome people. Tried some once in a lifetime things. And really grown and changed (much to my resistance) for the better. But now it's time to go.

On Thursday I leave for Ohio. I've decided that since I've been so open about the place I am going to, I will acknowledge my California location. As if I have any reader who don't actually know me anyway, and therefore know the many details of my stories. The aliases really are more for fun than to hide anything. I still will use codenames for a lot of the places I mention, but one thing that is going to be key is differentiating locations and where I met people. And I also want to say how I miss good ol' CA. Because I know I will. I'm going to miss living in my beach city. I'm going to miss having Disneyland with a reasonable distance. I'm going to miss my great weather. But most of all, I'm going to miss the people.

I've heard it said that Cali people are rude (and for the record, i'm not sure how i feel about the term Cali, but its convenient so we gunna go for it- side note: I've also heard the Cali people use a lot of abbrev.) Compared to the Midwest, that's probably true. And a lot of people out here are self serving, image conscious, and aggressive. But those aren't the people i'm talking about. I'm talking about my friends, my family, my cast of characters as listed on the right, the people i've gotten to know and love over the years and the people that I'm already looking forward to visiting during Christmas. So to everyone, most of whom I've already bid my farewells too, I say my favorite form of goodbye: See you when I see you.

Looking back on my week, I was taking a lot of steps to reach those levels of closure I want from my time here. I've been spending time with Tenshi. I've been wrapping up my transition letters for work. I've been eating at places and chains only found here on the West Coast. I've been trying to have that "last hangout" with as many people as I could. So here's how I did it this week.

Monday was my last DnD night with the guys. Tuesday was a night with Tenshi, trying to make the most of our last time together, Wednesday was time spent with my old staff. We went to a certain burger joint that's only out here. Thursday was a night out with Alejandro, RC Tequila, Brock, Bridges, Kareem, and Settler Type. Friday was packing day and Saturday was move stuff home day, as my folks and sister came up to help me move things. Saturday also was Pokeboss' 21st birthday celebration, which I will describe below.

And then there was today. Today felt like an important day in finding closure. Today I went to Disneyland, and it was University Day at Disneyland. Now I've been part of the University for 6 years, as a student, a staff member and now professional employee. My dad went here and so the tradition's been in my blood forever. The University has been a big part of my life, and I plan on spending some time Tuesday really saying goodbye to it. But to spend University Day at Disneyland, doing our tradition cheer and call out, with people who have shared this experience with me, my last Dland and University tradition day, really felt good. Tenshi, Dungeon Daddy and Heavy Spy all joined me as we met up with King Wrangler, Terrific Craniac, Math Magician, and many more for a hot, happy day. We rode rides (once last time for me until December- I still have a pass), and talked about our time spend at the University, we caught up, we just had a blast. It really felt like a good bookend to my time here. Fall Girl even was kinda enough to drive me home. I feel today, satisfied, with what i've done during my time here and ready now to start looking toward Ohio State.

There are still things left to do. For one, I have a ton of packing left. For another, I have to spend some more time with Tenshi and my family. My family in particular is a group I don't really worry about. I think I take them for granted, and I want to change that. But they are such constants in my life, so wonderful and amazing, that I'm not worried about losing touch with them because they will always be there for me. I am going to try to spend all of Wednesday with them, before I leave on Thursday. So Soon!! But I'm looking forward to some fun times and how great visits are going to be! And, afterall, as I keep telling myself, it's only 2 years.

Regarding Pokeboss' birthday. Pokeboss is one of the oldest in her group of friends, so she doesn't have many people to help celebrate 21 in the more traditional way. On the other hand, she is terrified of alcohol, but open to it. So after some bad experiences with wine with her family, she tasked to me and a few others to introduce her to alcohol without destroying her. I feel we made good progress. A margarita, a mojito and a hard cider for the evening, not enough to get her even much buzzed, given her pace of drinking but enough to say here's what alcohol is like, do you want this? Captain Peanut, Shyly Sue Hoo, Noble Dancer, Shy Rider and Tenshi took her out to dinner and the back to my place for some "Asshole" the card game I taught them in training that is really a drinking game, but they didn't know. Now they know. It's funny seeing the youngins growing up and remembering my own first drink when I turned 21.

Yes, I was and still am a pretty big rule follower and didn't have my first drink until 21. That night, my friends blindfolded me, wandered me around campus to my friend P-Diddy's (she was the person that lived in singapore if you recall and now lives in DC), where she, El Bandito, and Mother Mapster bestowed upon me some nice Vox vodka, a shot glass and some Dr. Pepper. My first drink was straight vodka chased by DP. I hated DP before and this did not make us friends. The vodka, however, wasn't that bad. And mind you, I to this day, don't take shots properly and thus taste it before I swallow, it doesn't just go down the back of my throat like I'm told most people do. So the thing I thought was going to taste like rubbing alcohol only tasted bad. I had a mere two shots that first night, and after a bar visit a week later, found out my annoying high tolerance for alcohol, that sometimes gets me in trouble when I don't feel the side effects but suddenly am very drunk. When you can drink enough alcohol to kill a small child but don't even get that buzzed, you're bound to cross that limit sometimes. My limit is somewhere around 12 shots... Not smart choices. I talk about this because one I'm feeling reminiscent. Two, I'm feeling like sharing my alcohol experiences to others, both to my shame and pride I suppose (never play quarters with me). And three, because I'm leaving behind some drinking buddies and not sure what I'm going to find in Ohio. I know alcohol will be common place, but I don't know the people there. I don't have that same companionship and comraderie that I associate with drinking. I'll be starting from scratch. Though I suppose people may be more accepting of my allergy to beer (Before you ask, It's the hopps, it makes me feel super sick to the stomach with very very small dose and it runs in my family). People here think I just made it up because I don't like the taste. And while it is true I don't like the taste, thats largely because I have been unable to acquire it due to my poor experiences with it. And who needs beer. Whiskey serve me just find. If only more places served hard cider like in London and Ireland...

Well I don't know what else to discuss. I haven't been sleeping well at all, stressed about all the things coming up. Friday night I only got 3 hours of sleep, finally passing out at 730 am. I've been reading a lot of the Game of Thrones books and that also has done more to keep me up than calm my mind. At one point, I was reading and playing video games at the same time! So it's time to close the book, literally and figuratively, pack my bags, and make my journey way out East, to the land where people flip out over earthquakes but where the snow doesn't just stay in the mountains where it belongs. To the land of kind smiles and no traffic. To the land of new experiences, classroom time, homework, new friends and an important step I know I must take in my life.

God, guide me, help me and thank you for everything you have given me here. I know there will be pain and joy, but it is through you that I will make the most of this opportunity and learn the latest things that you have sent into my life. Thank you and may my guardian angel help me travel safely. Amen.

See you on the other side!

-JTY

Reading: Storm of Swords by George R. R. Martin- Math Magician says this one is his favorite. I'm inclined to agree. But man is it a bloodbath.

Playing: Fallout New Vegas now and forever it seems. Clark is definitely going to miss the ps3.

Listening to: Leaving on a Jet Plane- John Denver. Kinda a sad song, I know. But leaving is bittersweet. "Tell me that you'll wait for me!"

Summertimes

This week I felt I had a bit of a summer. Even though I've been working and its been pretty light, I haven't really crossed off a lot of things I wanted to do this summer. But this week, as I wrap up my 3rd to last week here, I was able to knock some things off.

I had dinner with Steakhouse and company at Naysayer P Squirrel's apartment. Steakhouse was staying with him for a while and on her last night there, she wanted to have dinner with folks from her time at the University. I've known Steakhouse since her first year (my second) and she's feels like one of those friends i've known forever and am pretty close to. Besides her, others were there including Tenshi, El Bandito, Fontaine Patisserie, Sarcastic Sasser-friend and more. I cooked my stuffed tomatoes without much trouble and we had a grand time playing games and eating the potluck food and just catching up one last time. I'm starting to say my goodbyes, which feel significant and heavy, but I also get that reminder that departures are a part of life. So its not goodbye, its "See you when I see you" (remember last year's post about this?)

Tenshi and I spent an evening watching King's Speech, which I've been trying to see for a long time. British setting, WWII time period, good acting, and a bunch of Shakespeare references to boot. I loved it. That said, I have to remember that not everyone paid super close attention to history class like it did. Just as the memories of basic algebra have faded from my mind, so have the memories of history departed Tenshi's. And due to that fact, I accidentally offended her making assumptions that she had the same detailed knowledge of the war that I did. Sorry!!

I also had a nice burger dinner with Pokeboss, Captain Peanut, King Wrangler, Fall Girl and Shyly Sue Hoo. We are trying to figure out Pokeboss big 2-1 birthday, which isn't a surprise but also kinda is. I've been instructed by several of Pokeboss's friends to keep her alive but also make sure she has fun. Since only a few of us are actually older than Pokeboss (which seems illogical to me but thats another story hehehe) Pandita and I have been tasked with helping her celebrate. When is the tough question...

Mama Goldfish came to visit and she, Alejandro Brock and I lamented over poor Clark, who busted his ankle in a shark attack... or maybe it was falling off a mountain... something like that. Regardless he's been on crutches all week, poor guy. At least its his left foot and he can still drive! I had Boy Scout flashbacks as I wrapped his ankle for him one night, lashing on a bag of cold peas. This is especially fitting since the Facebook page I subscribe too was posting pictures from back in our day. There's some winners of Spam Boa hehehe. It was a nice conversation with Mama G though. We even got Clark to open up a bit about his life. Clark doesn't exactkt keep secrets but he also very much does his own thing. So hearing about his trips to the gym or the times he's bent the rules of the universe (those that are defined by the things Clark never does, like sing, or dance, or drink), giving us an insight to the everyday Clark that we his roommates don't even always see was kinda fun. Clark is usually guarded about talking about that stuff, but his ankle must have put him a little out of sorts and more open to putting himself out there a bit. I'm glad he felt we were that safer space.

Speaking of putting himself out there, Brock has had some winner quotes lately. I'll only share one, which is relevant to a later story. "Maybe post-apocalyptic Mama G is just a huge bitch".

Ooo Ok one more. B- James, can I experiment with you. It feels really good... I promise you'll like it. Remember when I put acid on Alejandro's face- he liked it!

We went out to a bar the other night for dinner. It was a good Irish pub with good food and hard cider which is infinitely superior to the hopps-ridden thing known as beer. While there, Brock was making conversation. One of his favorite topics is me. Go figure. First he started with, "Guys, let's all go around the table and say our favorite memory of James since he's leaving". People groaned because they felt like they just did that... and they probably did while waiting for me at my surprise party. But anyone, only Clark played along, describing a that's what James said moment which in fairness i'll relate:

Clark had a cold and wanted to leave our hangout sometimes during first year to go rest. He stood up and declared "I'm sick and I'm tired..." and it lingered like that prompting me to wonder if he wanted us to do something about it. So I said, "Do you want some action?" I was going to say more like "action in response to that statement", but everyone was already laughing at me at that point so yea. fail.

Anyway, the conversations shifted to that one time Brock had the idea to imagine our family of friends in a post-apocalyptic world. I happened to be amused by the idea and wrote some of it down, taking a lot of creative liberties. With Bridges recording and RC Tequila, Clark, Mama G, and Kareem all listening, Brock and I took turns describing the story, first as Brock imagine it in his head and second as I actually wrote it. It's amusing hearing both of us tell the same and often very different tale. It's also just a testament that our friends are so close we can create alternative universes for ourselves (and not be offended either).

I had a tabletop game night with Heavy Spy, Tiana Gamer, Dungeon Daddy and Clark. A game played almost completely in your imagination is on one level limitless. The few rules that limit it however, can really mess up your imagination. Like when Heavy Spy can't roll higher than an 8 for 10 turns. He lost interest a lot faster than usual that night. We only have one more night of this though and I don't anticipate playing again for a long time. Kinda a bummer because it is fun with good friends.

I also went to a local museum I'd been meaning to attend. This was the home of a rich benefactor, whose Villa was modeled after one in Pompeii and has now become a great museum. Full of greek and roman art and artifacts, it was a fun little place to tour for a few hours with Terrific Craniac, who also hadn't been. Pokeboss had gone a few weeks ago and said it was nice, but I still wasn't sure what to expect. The fountains and gardens were the most amazing part. You really felt like a lord or wealthy emperor looking out over your land, which the ocean in the distance and white pillars lining your backyard, complete with fountains and sculptures nestled throughout carefully planted and groomed shrubs and flowers. There was even a mummy, not Egyptian but a Roman who wanted to be mummified like the Egyptians were. Kinda like people want to be vampires today. A trend that may or may not have been a good idea but makes for great history.

Saturday may have been the climactic day. Afternoon spent playing Left 4 Dead with the guys and then meeting up with Dungeon Daddy, Heavy Spy, Tiana Gamer, and my brother to take Tenshi to her first Hometown baseball game. It was a good one too. Lots of double plays, a home run (rare for our scrappy style), and even extra innings where we went down by two in the 12th and then rallied to win in the bottom. It was great! We then went to Heavy Spy's house and had martinis and Woodchuck cider for Tiana's 21st birthday and played Balderdash, and incredibly fun definition creation game. Just so you know, a palliard (pal-yard) actually is "a tricky beggar whose parents where also tricky beggars". Good times. The night ended with me defending my lady from the menacing assault of a cockroach and being woken up Sunday by well intentioned by far too early dishwashing.

My weekend concluded with a fabulous Armenian lunch by Tenshi's mom, full of humus, a magical salad, and kabobs of beef and chicken and great flatbread and rice. So good! Are there Armenian's in Ohio? I kinda don't think so but I guess Tenshi will have to visit a lot and cook for me :)

It is these nights I am so thankful for and want to secure in my memory. I'm going to miss these good times so much. I have been blessed with wonderful people in my life and no matter how many times I say it, I am really lucky. I've been going through the various stages of "grief" or "leaving": Stress, Excitement, Nervousness, Apathy, Nostalgia, and even Fear. These are natural, and I know I'm going to have a great time these next two years. But if nothing else, it really ruins my attempts at packing. There are so many other things to do, people to see friends to spend one last day with! I really need to be done with work early... No more time for such frivolities like making money! Ha! Who am I kidding? But seriously, next Sunday is my last blog post from this time zone. That kicks off all those emotions again. I don't like lasts. I don't like change. But I have to do this. I know that. So I guess that's one more emotion. Determination.

-JTY

Listening to: I'd Love to Change the World- Ten Years After one of those one hit wonders that are just really fun to still listening to. I've been jamming and singing out loud (rare) for a lot of classic rock this weekend and its been great.

Reading: Storm of Swords- George R.R.Martin keeping up that Game of Thrones theme.

Playing: Left 4 Dead 2 and Fallout: New Vegas- Fallout in particular is shaping up to take forever. I want to finish before I go but I prolly won't oh well...

Random Thoughts

This week I spent a good amount of time and energy creating a page for the cast of characters in this blog. You can see this new creation on the right side over there>>> Feel free to click on it, find your name and know that anytime I add people I'll try to put them onto that page. I found I kept changing peoples names or forgetting what I called them, so this should help. The groupings are designed on how I can best look people up, though I still have a large catch all at the end. I may tweak it into more groups but this will serve for now. Enjoy!

I don't really have a specific plan for what to talk about today. I was driving home thinking about it and here are some thoughts I had:

It was really nice to spend this weekend with my family. Saturday some friends of the family who I basically consider cousins came to visit and we caught up and had a Just Dance competition. It was great. I've noticed more and more when we have family events sometimes I spend a lot of time just talking to my immediate family, in order to catch up. So I had great chats with my parents and brother too. Sunday was Cheeky Monkey's birthday celebration and we had wonderful ribs for dinner. It's the little things about family gatherings that are the best: my sister and I poking each other while trying to eat, causing us to jerk suddenly and drop our food, random wrestling matches with my siblings even though we are all "adults", my mom being worried that they are going to help my sister pay for an apartment because she's afraid we'll think they only spoil her (they do but I don't mind and I know that my parents will help us out if we ever need anything and I take so much comfort in that), Tia Favorita still being the coolest and most down to earth person ever, my grandma asking me how my potato salad went and being so proud that I used her recipe, my grandma scratching my back like she did when we were kids, my grandpa and I holding a conversation him talking in Spanish and me in English, and a hundred other little moments that I cherish. I'm going to miss that, even though my family are the people that will be least affected by my leaving. I see them mostly at holidays anyway and while I won't have these random weekends, I'm still not going to see them too too much less than I did before.

Speaking of Ohio, I'm starting to get excited/nervous/stressed. I leave in less than 3 weeks! I have started taking stuff home. I'm going to miss all my books that now live at my folks house. It's intimidating to pack up your life and decide what is worth paying to bring thousands of miles away. I sold my desk to Naysayer P Squirrel. I'm trying to sell my car. I probably need to sell some stuff to Clark and Brock too since they are trying to stay in our apartment. It's wild. Today I'm feeling stressed. I want to see everyone as many times as I can but I don't have time to pack and go out every night and I have to save money to actually move. Oy vey...

I went out to see Captain American on Friday with Dungeon Daddy and Clark. We all like it. I put it on level with Thor as a pretty solid movie and among the better superhero movies. My favorite Marvel one is probably Iron Man and I like several of the Batman movies too. In fact, we watched the original Tim Burton Batman after Captain American cuz Dungeon Daddy hadnt seen it. The first thing he said was Dark Knight was better but I think he actually liked it. Dark Knight is a really great movie but Batman is from a different time and does different things, and it does those things well. I think the mood Tim Burton creates the dark, kinda quirky but eerie Gotham City and a Batman who appears like a shadow out of nowhere is just really really cool. There is a good comparison video that I think is worth watching. In general, the Nostalgia Critic is. Enjoy http://thatguywiththeglasses.com/videolinks/thatguywiththeglasses/nostalgia-critic/7184-batmanvsdk

In staying with the pop culture theme, music is a reoccurring topic in this blog. This weekend, one of my favorite radio stations was playing live versions of Classic Rock songs all weekend. In our music convos, Pokeboss and I have agreed we generally prefer the recorded version to the live recording of a song. However, this weekend really challenged that thought in a positive way. I spent a lot of time driving between home and my apartment, and the music really carried me through the 7 freeways, traffic, and several hours of travel. Hearing Stairway to Heaven live puts a different feel to it and I could just imagine these guys really rocking out. 30 minutes of a Peter Frampton concert (who is generally considered way better live than recorded) had me feeling like I was actually there in London, hearing Eric Clapton just slow-hand his way across solos and refrains alike was pure bliss. I love classic rock and I think with live songs, if you get into it from the beginning, you get swept away in the music. This station has really helped me appreciate the music so much more, and deepened my love for classic rock. Ahh what a great weekend.

Finally, some observations. Take 4 gay men including our visiting friend Gaga Hair(only cuz the fifth isn't into this sort of thing). Send them out to the gay district on a Tuesday night. Give them two free drinks. Play bad music so they go bar hopping to escape. Add a 5th gay man who says his boyfriend just died two days ago and he needed to get out of his house. Add more drinks. Throw in the 4 gay men leaving and seeing the fifth widower wandering down the street without his pants. Sprinkle in some drunken compassion. See 5 gay men in a car trying to take a super drunker widower home. Liquid courage changes near-unconsciousness into oral between a widower and one of the 4 gay men, in the car! Do you watch or look away? If you are in this car, you have one who stares out the window as hard as he can, pretending this isn't happening next to him in the back seat, another who focuses solely on driving the car, and a third who can't help but watch because A)one of the two getting it on is telling him to and B) its like a train wreck.. you can't look away. Mix that all together and you get another great story from people in my life. I think Ohio is going to be boring ;)

Brock quote about his bachellor/ette party for Jordan and Penny: Sometimes, you want to know what flavor your cock is!

Gnight!

-JTY

Listening to: Breakdown, Jack Johnson. JJ helps me destress.

Reading: Clash of Kings, book 2 in the Game of Thrones series. Its really really good.

Playing: L4D2- we gunna have a gaming party soon and Spam Boa and I were practicing. We got cut short when I got a surprise visit from El Bandito on his way back from his jog. He's marathon training. Sorry Spam! Maybe again Tuesday?

Holy Cooking Parties Batman!

Lately, the summer laziness has hit me hard. It tough to concentrate at work. I don't feel like practicing guitar. Haven't been working diligently on the memoirs. Haven't been packing for Ohio. Just kinda going through my days relaxing before the wild storm that will be next month. In part this was because I was sick early last week. In part this is because I don't have a student staff that brings out the energy and drive that I have during the school year. And partly because we've managed to keep the house relatively clean (we are going on almost three weeks here!). I think more than anything I'm just a bit burnt out and know I'm not going to get a break if I don't take one now. Unlike Tenshi, who has this inhuman and brilliant ability to focus on work and emails and everything in between every day, I can only get things done in bursts and right now I don't even have the motivation to do that.

That said, it was a great week! Friday saw the planned cooking party with myself, Tenshi, Pokeboss, Red Button, Captain Peanut and Shyly Sue Hoo-his gf, King Wrangler, Terrific Craniac, and Noble Dancer. The goal of the cooking party was to make something that we hadn't made before and experiment with our cooking prowess. I successfully made my grandma's potato salad and semi-successfully pan fried some salmon with a semi successful pineapple salsa garnish. Pokeboss created an interesting quiche with giant slices of tomato on top. Tenshi graced us with Burek, an Armenian cheese crisp. Noble Dancer brought us various Indian cuisines including a very delicious Naan. Captain Peanut and Shyly Sue Hoo created a tasty casserole that reminded me of enchiladas. Terrific Craniac kept us healthy with an apple tinged salad. King Wrangler brought back his specialty, guacamole. And Red Button brought us dessert in fresh strawberry shortcake with vanilla ice cream. In all we had a feast and nobody was burned, poisoned or in any other way harmed by our food experimentations. I call that a wonderful success!

This was followed by epic rounds of Super Mario Bros Wii, which was fun both to play and watch my staff play as they struggled through teamwork and backstabbing. I think I should use this as a team training and develop game with my future staffs. Too bad it's only four players. We then turned to "Presidents" our go to card game. That lasted for a good three hours well past the 2am mark. At one point there were 14 of us playing. The 9 of us from the cooking part plus Alejandro, Clark, and three of Clarks friends who were passing time before they went to see Hedwig and the Angry Inch sing-a-long version at a local theater. THAT was epic. It was a great night though I felt bad that our shouting kept Brock and probably our upstairs neighbors up a little late. Still... good times.

Saturday saw the bachelor-bachelorette party for Jordan and Penny. They are the first couple in our group of friends to be getting married and they are definitely paving the way for the rest of us to take notes on what works and what doesn't. At first, the concept of the co-bachelor party seemed strange. I mean its the time when the guys all do their thing and the girls all do theirs, with the supposed message of do whatever you want before you're tied down in marriage. While none of us take that "do whatever" approach, in looking at our group a co-party seemed to make the most sense, since we are all so tied together anyway. And while there's definitely been drama about who's invited to what and who gets cut for financial reasons or "political" reasons or simply gets overlooked for stupid reasons, from what I understand, that's how weddings are. And that's why we are all taking notes, so the next one and the one after that can keep going smoother and smoother. And at the end of the day, it is Penny and Jordan's party, so if they are happy so should everyone else be. And they had a blast last night. We went out to the eastern version of a bar by my apartment. Brock Alejandro and I showed up at 9:30, about an hour and a half after it had started. Or was supposed to have started anyway. Turns out, everyone else including Nemesis, Kareem, Mama G, Bridges, Settler Type, AVP, Green Suited Pastaman, and Diet Lemonade all went out to dinner. I thought they were just finishing at 9:30, so in my confusion we decided not to join them. However, they were just sitting down and didn't show up until 10:30... so yea we had to kill time. Which while inconvenient again was not really a problem when you think about how this party was about Jordan and Penny. When we finally got going it was a good time. I got to talk a lot with Nemesis which doesn't happen to much as well as Kareem and even Jordan and Penny, who now live in Georgia. In one of the more rare occurrences, everyone including myself went out on the dance floor and just had fun (AVP was able to escape this by hanging with Clark, who in accordance with one of the three rules of the universe, doesn't dance). As the night went on and AMFs started getting people too drunk, we trickled out at the bar's close. Jordan and Penny had a great time, though they sadly lost Brock's present to them, a support bar for shower sex. During the drive over, Alejandro and I heard all about how he went to a sex shop to get the perfect fun, useful gift for newlyweds and old people: A metal bar for the shower. Everyone was sad but also kinda amused at the shortlived adventure of the sex bar. We had a pit stop while Brock found a nice stone box in the middle of the sidewalk to relieve himself in. It looked like a pillbox, but I suppose that makes it a pissbox. Just another drunken Brock moment.

I think that's all I'm going to chat about today. Another eventful weekend but I have to really buckle down on this moving thing. I did remember a few other things I did this week. It was actually really busy. Besides going a baseball game (at last!) that we won I had something almost every day last week. Check out some of the recaps below.

-JTY

Listening to: "Last Friday Night" Katy Perry, Brock just came back from her concert. This song is really catchy. I think Katy Perry consistently entertains me but doesn't drive me crazy more than any of the other big female pop stars right now.

Reading: Clash of Kings- the sequel to Game of Thrones. I bought it Wednesday on my way to the beach with a bunch of my staff members. I wasn't sure if we were just chillin' there and so I love to read on the beach... we played Volleyball instead and they made fun of me for buying a book. I love reading and I'm getting a lot done this month!

Playing: Fallout: New Vegas- This actually owned my life this weekend. I spent all day today playing it. It's been my first truly video game day in a long time. Yes, I played smash and Mario Bros wii with Dungeon Daddy, Heavy Spy, and Math Magician last Thursday, but this was the first time I really plugged through a previously unplayed game. New Vegas is like Borderlands without friends. I'm really really enjoying it though.

Surprises

I have to say, I've been blessed with some of the best friends and family one could ask for. Seriously, I have been so lucky. I've known this, and even often wondered why I was so lucky when I've seen others have such tough lives. (The only answer I could come up with is for me to return that fortune to those around me). So, as most of you read this blog anyway, let me just say, thank you. Especially to those of you who threw me a surprise party last Saturday.

Let me back up. I'm hard to surprise. It's not so much that I don't like surprises, I do. I just tend to be paying attention and can, if I choose to, put the pieces together. I have this intense desire for information, a curiosity that is rarely satiated unless I know the answer. And if you try to hide something from me, and I notice, I will get suspicious and start paying even more attention. This has happened before and I have unwittingly (and wittingly) uncovered surprises. This weekend was not the case. For one thing, this party was a going away part for Ohio. I don't leave for another month. I had no reason to be suspicious. Another factor, Tenshi told me this was going to be a day just for us. If she wanted to blindfold me and stuff me in a car despite my proneness to carsickness, I for the most part would go along for the ride. That said, when you are blindfolded, you spend a lot of time trying to figure out where you are going.

So after a day on the beach, we jumped onto the freeway. Blindfolded, I knew we were on the freeway and had a good knowledge of which direction, but I didn't realized we'd taken an interchange until Tenshi mentioned a carpool lane. The first freeway we were on didn't have a carpool lane, I thought, where were we going? We drove for a while at a pretty good speed. We must be going south, I thought, north is trafficky at this time of night. We finally exited and then drove in a straight line another long way. What place is a straight line from the freeway where we could drive pretty quick? I thought. A few quick turns and we arrived. Tenshi opened the door and I smelled bonfire. We were by the beach, but not in our city anymore... had we gone to my home county? There were more bonfires there... I listened. Silence. Are we in a neighborhood? I asked Tenshi. Quiet. She said. She guided me up some steps. Until that point I had really thought we were going out to dinner. But then I knew we were at a house. Brick steps, door open, wooden floors... familiar... Suddenly I had a thought. Are we at Mama G's house? I said out loud.

SURPRISE EVERYONE SHOUTED. And I took off the blindfold. Before me was Tenshi, and Spam Boa, Jules Drew Yorke and Kirbs, RC Tequila, Brock, Clark, Heavy Spy and his girlfriend Tiana Gamer, Steakhouse, Diet Lemonade, Sunshine Knives and her bf Faithful Filmer, Jabbertalky and El Bandito, Bridges and Nemesis, Kareem, AVP and of course Mama G. There were others never before mentioned in this blog, like Math Magician, Fontaine Patisserie, Daughter Pleasant, and Sarcastic Sasser. All there to send me off to Ohio a month early. I was so humbled, so flattered, so blessed. It was really wonderful.

The party began! I hugged each of them. Spam had flown out the night before and hung out with me and I had no idea this was coming. Friends from all my college experiences were there. I heard that Naysayer P Squirrel sent his regards, as did Dungeon Daddy from Seattle and Beeker Flips. Another friend, Attorney Artemis came later. And the whole thing was James themed. Sunshine Knives made a green cake and Mama G saved me some mexican food, both tributes to my favorites. We even had a pinata that I had the honor of destroying all on my own, not with the replica Legend of Zelda sword I own, though it was present, but with a bat provided by El Bandito. It was very satisfying to destroy something, even the wonderful Luigi pinata that it was (a tribute to a former halloween costume). There were pirate flags and buttons with my face on them. And smash brothers and twister. All the things that have been a part of my experiences the last few years. I was so touched by the depth and effort.

The party was a blast full of games and stories and too much alcohol. But i look fondly back on each conversation, long or short I had with my friends, with great love and satisfactory closure. Now to through that closure out the window and make more memories in my last month here.

Thank you all, again.

I don't have much else to add today. For once, I feel I had a story that will entertain most of my readers because all the groups were alluded to. I will say my past staff including the likes of Red Button and Pokeboss among others were not there, but we are trying to find a date for our cooking night soon, so maybe they'll be the next group I talk about. I have been under the weather since before the party, and trust me, feeling sick then adding alcohol doesnt help, so again a day late post. But with cooking in my future maybe you'll get a freebie.

Until next time, I say my traditional, see you when I see you.

-JTY

Reading: Game of Thrones. I haven't seen the show but the book is pretty good. I haven't put it down most of the weekend.

Listening to: Arms by Christina Perri. A gift from Tenshi <3

Playing: Finally started Fall Out New Vegas. I think I'm really going to like it.