Stop lights swinging like a pendulum. The streets are deserted and the neon hues of the signs wash out the road. They become but a blot on my rear view as the countryside comes into focus. First four, then two the road narrows. Skid marks dot the pavement as visions of near-wrecks and conjures up burning rubber seeping through the windows.

Twisting and turning, navigating treacherous curves at near reckless speeds. Body and machine slowly becoming one as we thread the needle that still gets a thrill…the road straightens out, engulfed in darkness, passing a solitary flickering street light. Why only one? Perhaps someone had great dreams to expand their small town until they saw their budget drain slowly…

A truck flashes their lights at me and I nod back though he can’t see. I’ve found my counterpart in the night and wonder what brings them out. Going to work? coming home? Perhaps finding solace, warmth and comfort from a solitary drive. Windows down but a fresh cup of coffee balancing it all out. Balance. Warm/Cold, Silence/cacophony, enjoying my isolation but craving company from one who’d appreciate it.

The crisp nights of fall grab hold of my heart in a way no lover could. I find myself on a dirt road in the middle of a field. The winds breathe purity into my soul and the vibrant stars fill me with energy.

Things I’m excited about

• Just in case there’s not enough people talking about it… the Dark Knight was an awesome movie. Heath Ledger did an incredible job. Also, there was a really good preview for some movie in September that I can’t seem to recall =P
• Smashing Pumpkins, August 12th in Louisville!!!
• Break in classes

 Oh, I thought of another addition to my “weekend off” list. How about a weekend in Cumberland Gap? It’s still early enough to make reserversations for some of the guided tours. I definitely wouldn’t mind taking a tour of gap cave.

At least it’s fairly cool in the morning. I want my percolated coffee! =P I don’t know if doing this alone is a good idea, but, I want a couple of days away from it all

X

Tomorrow marks the countdown. One week left of summer classes. I don’t think I can explain how stoked I am. I don’t mind my history class but I’m starting to get a LITTLE bit tired of Biology (although the Community Based Ecotourism stuff sounds kind of cool.. Potential good use of a PoliSci degree?) ;)

things have been going pretty well…massive case of SSDD. Going with Angela to see the Pumpkins, Tim has tickets as well… all three of us are pretty huge fans and were at the concert in Nashville last fall. Works still going great, still doing good in school…I do believe this is the first job I’ve had where I really don’t bitch about =P

I want a wii.. I want a wii fairly badly after discovering the joys of Wii Boxing and Mario Kart.

I’m trying to get my vacation planned for next year…Hopefully I’ll be able to reserve a spot for Spring Break, otherwise I’ll have to wait until summer. So far I have one idea…and that is driving historic Route 66–with a couple of nice side trips on the way. One of the only ones I’ve found so far as been Meteor Crater..It sounds kinda cool =P

I found a sample travel itenerary on <a href=”http://wikitravel.org/en/Route_66″>WikiTravel</a> They estimate 9 days—which will be as long as my vacation. I’ll have to look into shortening it a bit, or maybe rent a car and fly back.

Top Places I want to see

1.) Petrified Forest National Park - I’ve wanted to see this place for about two years now. It seems awesome!

2.)Meramec Caverns - I’ve passed it several times on my way to Oklahoma so I might as well visit it

3.) Canyon de Chelly National Monument - Does it really need an explanation?

First job I’ve ever been with long enough to get a vacation. lol. I have a week for this year but it has to be used before Thanksgiving. Sadly(well, not really) it’s right in the middle of the semester. But, it’s still a weeks paid time off work. ;)

Training is officially over and I’ll be on the floor selling this week which I’m pretty psyched about it. Although, I’ll feel a little bit better when my business cards get here…Opened up an account at another bank since BB&T had screwed me over for the last time. As I was meeting with the banker to get my new account setup he was asking me about my work since I signed up for a chase-at-work package. Turned up selling both him and his wife a family plan and a couple of features. In the proper establishment, sales can be a really good thing to be in. Not all salesmen are evil and out to screw you..

Ever since I started my new job things have been going incredibly well. I think that’s all I needed was something worthwhile to keep me busy. Between that and school nothing beats the feeling of accomplishment and working towards something.

The weather was absolutely amazing on Friday so I checked out that new coffee shop on 2nd, the Creme Coffee House I believe is what it’s called. Free wifi, very aesthetically pleasing arrangement–not to mention the coffee is absolutely incredible. Hope it does better than Beyond the Brim. The Chamber has a project to try to bring more businesses in downtown and I’m hoping they succeed. Especially with the riverfront development going on there is a lot of potential down in that area…It’s not a downtown until they get one privately owned record store with rare imports and bootlegs though =P

A summary

Love my job
Finals are next week, ready to kick some ass on those
That research paper I was sweating about got an A
Enjoying the weather–really wanting a road trip.
It’s a very small world
Some strange unexpected things have been happening here lately
My cat never did come back
FreeBSD 7.0 is a massive improvement over 6.x
I love Time Warner 10mbit and probably won’t switch to AT&T DSL..even if I do get a discount

Week 2 of training over
< 1mth until my birthday
and a little less than a month until I go see Radiohead

While I was at the hotel I finished up Flight to Canada by Ishmael Reed– this postmodern satire about slavery…not really set in a fixed time. It’s set around the Civil War but throw in some Jumbo jets and helicopters. I brought my school books with me but didn’t get too much studying done…Wound up calling a few friends from Louisville and grabbing some supper / walking around aimlessly and I was once again reminded of why I shouldn’t eat ice cream cones in public. =P

I was SOMEWHAT productive and finished up a couple of the psych homework assignments that we have to turn in before the end of school. On a related note, it’s official and I’m scheduled. I’ll have my associates for sure at the end of December…just a matter of figuring out where to go after that. Also, I got some really good news relating to that but I’m gonna see what happens first. Damn irish superstition!

Everyone in my training class is starting to get a little antsy–I know I am. Ready to hit the floor and go running! After our class was over Saturday I wound up driving down to Lexington and meeting up with my old friend Chrissie. It’s been so long since I’ve been that direction it was slightly like I was stepping backwards in time. The “blue bank” skyscraper shining like a beacon letting me know I was about home. Without conscious thought my car was driving itself back towards the Yellow House. The windows were boarded up and a large “For Rent” sign stood in the front yard. Somehow I wasn’t surprised that its still vacant. I hated living in that house, I truly did, but as Chrissie pointed out later that night…We’ve got a lifetime of stories that happened in those four months. one of my friends told me I should write a book about everything that happened there…said at the very least it’d make for a good show on MTV =P

It is slightly funny..or maybe interesting that though I was in Lexington, with the exception of the house, nothing there reminded me of anything in that town. If that makes any sense.

Still, the night was good and was spent in the way that two old friends who haven’t seen each other in ages should. Copious amounts of coffee, mixed with nostalgic stories that somehow become funny now that it’s all in the past. Politics, literature, current events… this is my buddy who I used to skip first period at Apollo with to go sit at a diner, drink some coffee and finish up our papers.. haha. Before long, it’s 5am and time to call it a night I vaguely thought about driving straight home so I could catch the sun rise. Windows down, arm propped up on the window watching the sun rise over the fields? Perfect…except I determined I needed some sleep and wound up leaving the next afternoon.

The drive back was still enjoyable, a perfect spring day. It was pretty nice actually seeing green (and a couple of blooms) on the way back… I like to think this trip put a lot of things in perspective. Everything happens for a reason.

So, I’m really thinking about flying overseas for a few days..not too long. Nothing fancy. Just. Get out there.

But, I’ll only do it if I can get there and back before school starts

This shall be interesting

I’m not committing myself to this.. but, I am definitely considering it. If I don’t I’m a fool

and..if I don’t fly overseas I will settle for a nice compromise such as Maine, Oregon or Washington State

What to do what to do?

So, for those who don’t know I was working on being in ROTC @ EKU in Jan…Yesterday I had to go to Richmond for my medical exams…I think the fates are telling me not to go. Starting by the fact I spilled a cup of coffee on myself, got a flat tire which actually required it being replaced, my knee giving out on me at my exam (GREAT TIMING) causing me to fall flat on my face…and a couple of other things I’ve decided to