Here's To Turning Over A New Leaf
What feels worse than turning a life corner unexpectedly? Not much, if you ask me. Late teens and early twenties tend to be a bit turbulent when it comes to life definition. Every year, the situation must be re-evaluated, and usually every year it's quite different than the one preceding. However, I turned 24 this year. I have decided this means I'm categorically in my mid-twenties. It's not supposed to continue to churn like this. Unfortunately, I can't be that naive, because we all know life doesn't stop changing after 23, and come to think of it, it's a much longer period on the horizon but it's also probably far more unlike anything before it. Last year was the year of the college graduation, and the "real" job. This is the year of the wedding and the first promotion. Next year might be the year of the baby and perhaps the second "real" job. Of course, unless it's career-related, it probably won't apply to me any time soon. But that doesn't slow down anyone else I know, and thus I've found myself the recipient of an inordinate number of wedding invitations.
The Bachelor Party
Dave is getting married. Dave graduated college on time (that is, one year earlier than I did, although we're the same age), but did not have the greatest of luck in finding a first job. He went back to our hometown and got some temporary work at a prominent retail electronics store while his girlfriend worked on finishing her last year of college back at the school where they met. One weekend, Dave decided to come visit me. One night, after some pretty superlative drinking, Dave told me he was thinking about proposing to Nicole, his girlfriend. I immediately threatened to punch him. Needless to say, Dave eventually proposed anyway, and I did not punch him, and now Dave is getting married.
Dave's bachelor party was this weekend. I'm not going to go into details, because that's not the point of this story, but I drove all the way back the six or seven hours to my hometown for it. As I got on the road, I realized I was only going to be gone for a total of two and a half, maybe three days. It felt like it was going to be at least two weeks, and it felt like I was leaving a lot of unresolved messes behind. Truth be told, I was. Not much that I can think of surpasses the feeling of knowing you have the next six hours to yourself in a car, with a loaded iPod and infinite night-time.
Long story short, I felt like I was in a movie about having some really profound experience returning to a place I once called home, and all that really happened was I drove for a very, very long time by myself. It wasn't bad, it wasn't some particularly trenchant or even interesting experience, but there was a lot to write about and then I left this post unfinished in draft form and would now like to write about something else instead. Sorry.
