About that picture

We went walking from her parents house down to the beach. We drank some beer and some brandy. We accidentally interrupted another couple enjoying the moonlit night. We stood a few hundred feet from the spot on the beach where the picture on the top of this blog was taken.

I didn't have a plan. I didn't have a ring. I didn't have an idea what the reaction would be. But I did it anyway. I got on both knees and asked her to marry me. If one is good, then two should be better, yeah? And she said yes. It was 1:16 in the morning. And only us, the moon, and the oceans knew.

I woke up in the morning, and we were both curious if we were still going to do it. We were. And we are. Phone calls were made to parents and the closest friends. Text messages and emails about the news were sent out. And now you know too.

If you read this, you are invited. We seem to be aiming for May of next year. When the official date comes, you will know. And you will get to see Whit marry people, in person!

So I'm going to start planning a wedding, you should start planning your next visit to California.

12 hours ago...

I was at LAX. I was dropping of friends for a trip to New York City. I was driving one of their cars and I thought about parking it and buying a ticket to somewhere. I love flying. A little part of me hurt, literal pain in my stomach, from being so close to security and ticket agents and 5 dollar pints and baggage claim and not participating. My bank account got the best of me. Time to plan another trip!

a warm welcome back to california

I flew jetblue back to california. I had a whole row to myself. I watch espn on one tv, the google map of the plane on another tv, and listened to xm radio 80's alternative hits on the third tv. I slept sprawled across three seats, which resulted in me getting dirty looks from the older woman across the aisle from the seat my feet occupied. She was next to a mother and her son. When I woke up we had just entered california, and as we crossed over some mountains by riverside the plane bounced and shook and dropped with turbulence. It made the kid throw up. It didn't make my heart feel as good as normal, but it still made me feel good to be home. Here are some pictures of the things I've been doing the last few days. Now I'm going to ride my bike to whit's. (bike ride with bill, drinking at a desert preserve, pina colada's, veggie pot pie)

the trinty of blog posts. -mix, update, video day

Three things in one day. Pretty exciting.

When I was moving out here to Chicago a friend from high school said all road trips should have The Weight by The Band as part of the soundtrack. So as I embark on another path in life, I figure I'll start it out with that. My time in Chicago has come to an end. Come sunday around 11 am I will be a California resident. I am moving back into my old room. I don't have a job. I don't have a car. I don't have a bike. These things will work themselves out when I get there.

I could probably explain why I am going back, but I also can't. It is pretty much everything. I'll get in to specifics, but till then I have this mix. It might help explain. I fly on sunday, keep your fingers crossed for turbulence.

some things in my head - mix - http://www.megaupload.com/?d=4N4007AZ
Last Songs - The Gunshy
Attention All Pickpockets - the Mountain Goats
3am Qvc Shopping Spree Hangover - The Lawrence Arms
Francie Nolan - Lifetime
Tire Swing - Kimya Dawson
Get Big - Okkervil River
The Black And The Red - One Reason
Keep The Car Running - Arcade Fire
One More Time - Joe Jackson
People II: The Reckoning - Andrew Jackson Jihad
Bring on the Dancing Horses - Echo & the Bunnymen
Wherefore Art Thou, Elvis? - The Gaslight Anthem
P.S. New York Is Burning - Jawbreaker

how to get to Chicago while trying very hard

I made it to Chicago. It is a wonderful city. I am using someone else's computer, so no pictures or anything fun. Here is a summary of my trip pulled from myspace bulletins I was able to post while on the road. My shitty phone could access myspace, but not blogger. Strange. Enjoy. (I was going to clean up the spelling and everything, but this is more exciting.)

Dec 26, 2007 11:37 PM - i'm in bosie!
it is 1230 bosie time and i am sitting in a bus terminal. Bosie doesn't seem to be very awesome, but at least i'm not one of the poor folks waiting. there is no room on our bus and greyhound apparently likes to over sell. i don't know if it's the awesome lighting or what, but the world looks sad here. the buses are running about two hours behind, so i'll probably miss my transfer in denver tomorrow at 6pm. if you live there send me your number, i might need someone to drink with.

Dec 27, 2007 7:20 AM - salt lake city - homeless lady on the bus!
Someone gave a homeless lady a ticket, maybe. She has too much stuff to be homeless, so i think she just talks outloud a lot! We're supposed to be out of here at 730, and i think its 8 right now. There has been rumours about wyoming being fucked by snow, so we might be here a while. Greyhound is like the government, it doesn't tell you much, and he it does it's probably a lie. Anyone live here? I need a beer!

Dec 28, 2007 12:42 AM - and with that, the hero's journey changes suddenly
Apparently it snows in december. So much so that the entity known as greyhound has decided to send no busses east or north for at least 24 hours. From denver i still have 22 hours left on a bus. So instead of staying with the pigs in the sty and possibly missing the bears game sunday, i bought a plane ticket. Yup, the bus journey is over. It was better and worse than i had hoped. Expect a full recap when i can use a real keyboard and not my phone. I now must kill 5 hours in an airport. Easy!

Dec 28, 2007 9:19 AM - 36 HOURS, 3 TIME ZONES
i typed that and got that lip gloss song stuck in my head. strange. anyways, i'm in columbus ohio. they tried to land in chicago, but it was too awesome. so here i am. pretty much my life has turned into a holiday travel movie. the guy sitting next to me right now is big like john candy ;)

a very complete list of airports visited in 2007

in chronological order (repeats not shown)

• Burbank, CA
  
• Oakland, CA
  
• Seattle, WA
  
• Redmond, OR
  
• Eugene, OR
• San Francisco, CA
• Ontario, CA
• Tampa, FL
• Orlando, FL
• Los Angeles, CA
• Dallas, TX
  
• Salt Lake City, UT
• Denver, CO
• Columbus, OH
  
• Chicago, IL (Midway)

I think that is it. What a year for flying. Going to try to hit some new ones in 2008. Any suggestions?

things are falling into place

As of today, december 6th, at 2:06, I have a plane ticket to oregon, a bus ticket to chicago, and an apartment to move into in logan square. To say I am happy is an understatement.

And my crazy 85 year old grandmother thinks I am gay.

Good thing she doesn't know how to use the internet, she might think I love machines!

to california to texas witha belly full of whiskey

In twelve hours, I will be in an airplane. It will have been in the air for probably an hour. I will be trying to convince Bill to drink something silly with me. It will be like most thursdays.

We are going to Dallas, to hang out with my Dad and StepMom, to attend the impending slaughter of the packers by the cowboys (GO BEARS!), to drink lone star, to celebrate my stepmom's birthday, and thanksgiving, and christmas.

If you aren't doing anything tomorrow night, and you are lucky enough to get the nfl network, watch the game. We'll be sitting in section 101, seats 3,4,5 and 6. We might show up for field goals. We made shirts tonight. My parents get cowboy colors. Bill and mine are Orange and Blue. They say:

"Tank's Gun Club"

Go BEARS!

its time for a wedding

Tomorrow there is a wedding. People will be sharing memories of the participants before they ever met, and how much they have changed since. There will be children undoubtably making noises at inappropriate times. Whit will be drinking. So will I. And I will be playing DJ.

I need to come up with a song for the money dance. It should be long and slow, to achieve maximum currency collection. Stairway to heaven maybe?

Anyways. I have a couple nights of slinging drinks and setting up trays of food, then I am flying to Florida. I'm going to spend almost a week watching a hundred bands and drinking a million beers. And hopefully I'll see the Atlantic for the first time in my life.


When I get back I'll tell you where I'm moving.

there are such a thing as man hands

I am sitting on a flight from Seattle to San Francisco. My row has myself and a couple sharing an I-pod. We are all drinking bloody marys. He has man hands, I do not.

My hands are small (not like Jewel's hands though). They have very little hair and the hair that is there is very light. There are a couple of callouses, nothing exciting. My fingertips and parts of my palms look like I slice them up with razor blades. They are smooth and soft. They are not man hands.

Which is fine. I like my hands.

I love flying...

...and my favorite thing about flying is turbulence.

Turbulence makes me feel alive! The knot in my stomach, the racing of my heart, my mind thinking of what people will say at my funeral if the plane goes down. I love turbulence alone, I love it sitting with family, I love it holding the hand of someone I wouldn't mind dying with. I want to get a job that has me travel by plane for business. I want to feel the jumping/hoping/shaking of the plane once a week, every week, for the rest of my life.

I get to fly from Burbank to Seattle to Redmond, OR a week from monday. I can't wait for the shaking to start.

An update to yesterday: I actually had a really good time with all the craziness. I think taking the second nap really made things turn around. That and the shot of whiskey that made me throw up. Those two things made my night end well.

I guess tomorrow I will do the 5 things I dig about Jessie MeMe Island Girl tagged me with. She keeps this up and I'll have to tag her.

I got an email last night about the one that got away, or, more accurately, the one that if I had ever had the chance to, she would be the one that got away. That's a bit confusing.

Have a good rest of the day.