Road Trip Shenanigans

For the past 2 weeks, I've seen cornfields and mountains, rivers and lakes, dogs and cows. If you cannot figure out what I'm alluding to, allow me to translate: I traveled to Iowa, Nebraska, and Colorado.

This journey was remarkable. I have thoroughly enjoyed the Summer of 2009, but I craved more adventure and spontaneity; therefore, 3 of my co-workers and I decided to execute a road trip across the country.

Two of my co-workers decided to stop in Iowa to visit another co-worker, Anna- that was a blast. There is more to Iowa than Corn- I can assure you. We toured the Iowa State Capitol, ate in some of the most trendy neighborhoods I've ever seen, shopped at Jordan Creek Mall, and swam in a Lake. Afterwards, Alice and I traveled to Western Iowa to visit a friend from school--Chelsea. She had a lot of land, so we 4-wheeled and star gazed near a bonfire in her backyard; the stars have never looked so beautiful! We also traveled 20 miles west to Omaha, Nebraska. To my surprise, Omaha was filed with great restaurants and shopping! We actually stopped at a Sushi bar called "Blue Grille;" it was neat. The following morning we traveled back to Minneapolis to rest up in time for our second road trip to Colorado with 2 other co-workers, Dylan and Alyse!

To keep ourselves entertained on the 13 hour drive, Alyse came up with a game called "The License Plate" game. She printed off blank maps of the U.S. and as contestants, we had to identify vehicles with license plates from other states. The person with the most states or the first to get an outlier state like (ALASKA) wins the game. I was winning up until everyone in the car was somehow able to find an Alaska license plate. UGH! I still think it was a conspiracy. Anyway---

Colorado was breath-taking. The first day, we went up to Horsetooth Resevoir, which is nestled in the Foothills. We swam, hiked, and collected a myriad of rocks. Later that afternoon, we headed to Old Town and ate lunch with childhood friends; I was ecstatic for my MN friends to meet my CO friends! Following our adventures in Old Town, we met with ATO's from CSU and went to a drive-in! Alyse and I feel asleep during the second movie, but the experience was still worthwhile.

After Fort Collins, we traveled to Boulder to stay with Alice's family for a night. During the day, we toured the CU Boulder campus and strolled along the trendy Pearl Street shopping district. Boulder was so fascinating; it was unlike any other city I've ever seen. As Alyse's aunt says "Boulder is not a place. It is a state of mind." I concur. The streets were perfectly trimmed. The mountains towered over the city in every direction and the city had an eclectic mixture of people; laid back professionals, grungy hipsters, entertainers (like the box man), average college students, and DOGS every where. Last but not least, EVERYONE was so fit! We saw people biking, running, and walking their dogs EVERYWHERE-it was unreal! We even saw several people BIKING up the steep mountain trails.

On Thursday, we drove through the mountains to Estes Park and Rocky Mountain National Park. We figured if we were in Colorado to hike, we might as well hike up a real Mountain. After stopping in Estes first, we got advice from an apathetic Park Ranger on where to hike. We chose Deer Mountain (Deer Mountain Junction). The hike was 3 hours, which took us about 2.5 hours to hike up and and 1.5 hours to hike down. Nevertheless, the hike was overwhelming. Words cannot truly convey my inner thoughts and emotions as we made it to the top of the summit (beautiful would be an understatement). Anyway, that evening, we drove out of the mountains to Denver to stay with Alyse's family.

DENVER=fabulous. After we unpacked, we drove around Denver. Unfortunately, it seemed like an average city; however, we soon realized there was a lot more to Denver than we ever could have imagined. On Friday, we woke up and headed to the University of Denver. I toured the Law School and spoke with an admissions counselor while the other toured campus and checked out the Greek houses. Afterwards, we went to the Denver Zoo! It was exhausting. The Zoo is full of lush paths and indoor exhibits. We were there for over 2 hours and still didn't see every exhibit.
that evening, Alyse's family took us out for delicious Pizza. After dinner, Alyse's uncle gave us a tour of all of Denver. He even stopped on busy streets, made us hop out of the car and explore some of the most historical buildings in the city. It was awesome! The tour lasted for well over an hour, but I enjoyed Jim's passion and enthusiasm; I hope he opens his own tour guide business one day.

The following day (Saturday), we headed back to Minneapolis. The drive was long, but we occupied our time with great conversation and activities, some of which were trivial; however, as we arrived in Minneapolis, the skies appeared dark and dangerous. We knew it wasn't a good sign. ha. We quickly learned that we had arrived just in time for Tornado weather!!! Ha, oh how I missed the Midwest...

Summer '09

Hi ya'll!

It's been nearly 5 months since I wrote my last blog.

I do not know where to begin, so I'll start off with an overview of my summer.

After school ended in mid-may, I flew out to Colorado with my family for my brother's graduation. I enjoyed my short visit and loved catching up with old friends and observing the ever-changing FoCo Utopia; expansive shopping centers crowd the tree-lined boulevards and patches of suburban housing developments conveniently guard the perimeter of these areas. ISH.

Following my trip, I came back home to Rochester with my family and relaxed for an entire week and a half. For so long, I had longed the comfort and familiarity of home. To little surprise, I was anything but satisfied. Rochester is and will always be BORING. I sat around and caught up on as many TV shows as possible (it took me no more than three days to do that). To further my boredom, my friend Lisa and I resorted to our sewer rat tactics of freshmen year. GOOD TIMES.

Eventually, my time in Rochester came to a end and I headed back up to Minneapolis to begin summer training for Orientation. That was HELL. We trained for 14 hours every day during a two week time frame where we were expected to study and pass exams with at least a 90%, practice the POP production 4 hours daily, and function healthily regardless of all of our sleep deprivation. In the end, it paid off. I loved every moment of Orientation. I strengthened some great bonds with many of my coworkers and I was able to impact the lives of first-year students. Could I ask for a greater reward? No

In early July, I had a huge birthday celebration for 20th. Over 30 people showed up for my dinner at Figlio's and several other came to hang out with me at Lake Calhoun. Although, people stressed e out and annoyed me with their drama, I still had an awesome time. I value birthdays so much, so the support and love I received was very meaningful! Thank you!!!

Following orientation, we had a closure BBQ at Lisa's. I hadn't cried in so long. I don't know what came over me, but i cried uncontrollably in the arms of my co-workers. For some reason, I couldn't stop. Everytime someone walked up the stairs and faded from close proximity, my tears became thicker and saltier. Talka bout a downer, right? This episode certainly dampered my mood for the rest of the evening, but proved the fact that I am human being with emotions. Later that evening, I pondered the root of my emotional outburst and determined my fear of abandonment accounts for most of what happened that day, but the rest of me figures I just need a good outpour of emotion every good while.

In the midst of all of these fabulous endeavours, I spent time all over the Twin Cities at parades and festivals: Gay Pride '09, A Taste of Minnesota, and Grand Old Days. I also traveled to Duluth and Stillwater and was overwhelemed by the charm and character of those two cities.

This week, I'll be going to Iowa with Alice and Dana (two co-workers) to visit Anna and Alice's friends. Afterwards, we're going to meet up with some other OL's and drive to Colorado! I'm ecstatic.
All of this has been great, but the thing I value the most is how introspective I have become. Instead of treading through nostalgia every few week and publishing it on here, I've kept it all hidden from the world I think i'm just figuring some things out. After all, all I'm interested in is what's real: real people and real things.

Summer of '09 you have been great to me. I can't wait to see what lies ahead as I wrap up these next few weeks of freedom and introspect.

Authenticity

The time reads 3:30am on the first official day of Spring Break '09.
It's weird that I am awake because I am beyond sleep deprived. I pulled an all nighter on Tuesday, followed by about 9.5 hours of sleep on Wednesday and Thursday (combined). Quite frankly, I am incredibly tired, yet the thoughts plaguing my mind somehow continue to prevent me from resting my body.

Nevertheless, I'm not here to give you a psychological analysis on sleep deprivation- I am here to share my thoughts, for I know you have been dying to read my latest post (my profile views have gone up significantly over the past few weeks).

Tonight I hung out with a good friend from high school, Ms. Alyssa. She and her roommates welcomed me into their home without hesitation. Every single person made a genuine effort to introduce him/herself. I was appalled because I don't necessarily encounter that much anymore, especially now that Sophomore year is coming to a close and people have nestled comfortably into their friendship groups. It amazes me to see that authenticity prevails over shallowness (still) because after the past few weeks, I've lost a lot of faith in humanity (due to circumstances). If you know me well enough, you know why- but then again, some of you that consider yourselves close to me probably don't have the slightest idea as to what I'm alluding to.

However, that's not the point I was making. Again, speaking of authenticity...
I was impressed by the captivating and compelling dialogue I had tonight about racism in loo of the anti-racism campaign in the Barbara Barker Dance Center here on campus. Why does it exist? How has history shaped cultural interpretations of racism? And where is racism going to go from here?It was the topic of Bry's birthday party (coincidentally) and also created the tone for the remainder of the night. I am so proud to know that there are people out there that recognize all the privilege they have and the lack privilege so many others experience daily. ON that note, i was even more impressed with the willingness of these individuas to discuss these controversial issues in a safe place. Furthermore, I am glad that I can encounter people that are willing to discuss highly relevant topics and not be afraid of doing so! I love thought and knowledge, especially recently. I've never had so much time to reflect about the world and all of it's dysfunctional discourses in which all of are guilty of following- oh the ambiguity never ends! I could go on forever about how amazing tonight's conversation was, but my eyes are getting heavy.

Keep in mind: Authenticity prevails-----

Melancholy

Over the past few days, I've been in a melancholic state of mind, 

 I find myself drifting off into deep thought at the most obscure moments;

sometimes forgetting about my entire existence. 

 I zero in on all of my surroundings and absorb everything around me.

As a result, I decided to embark on an exploration: A bike ride on a cold winter night. 

 Everything around me plays in my head like a movie:

I see happy faces, pissed off faces, and apathetic faces.

I smell tar, asian food, air pollutants, and pine trees.

I feel the bitter cold wind thrusting against my face and frozen snot hanging at the tip of my nose, while the gaseous rays of the sun provoke a slight tingle in my eye.

Splash. My clumsy ass steps into a puddle of slush; scarring my brand new moccasins.

Reality sets back in and I realize I have so much shit to do. 

Endless readings. Analyses. Poems. Facebook. Cleaning. Text Messages. The list goes on.

It's days like today when I realize some of the most simplest things around me are the best pleasures.