For the Future in 2015

I went to Medford Monday-Friday. It was really fun, as always. I saw far more people than usual, so that was nice.

Monday I grabbed my friend Jessie when she got off of work and we hit up Jasper’s, the best burger place in town. I hadn’t seen her in a few months, plus it was her birthday, so that was cool. I played Magic with the usual friends that night. I won our group’s championship, only to lose it back 10 minutes later. Just like wrestling, haha.

Tuesday I kind of bummed around, hung out with Chase when he finally woke up, and went hiking with Fred and Chase.

Wednesday I hung out with Elle, her boyfriend DJ, and his son Denver. Elle is a friend I’ve known for 10+ years, going way back to my online forum and AOL messenger days. When I lived in Arizona I roomed at her house. She visited in 2011 just to visit, and this time she was there since her boyfriend inexplicably has family in the area. It was great to see her, though it was kind of an odd dynamic. Despite being quiet, she is social and extroverted. Her boyfriend seems stoic and serious, perhaps because he has some sort of military background. At first glance he seems kind of like a dick, but I think it’s just sternness and probably distrust toward me. Understandable, perhaps, as that is how many guys are toward male friends of their female significant others that they don’t know. Still, she wouldn’t have fallen in love with him if he wasn’t a good guy, and a few Weird Al songs came on while we were driving, so I think he’s OK. We tried hiking Lower Table Rock, but Elle’s ankle was acting up, so instead we stopped by Sonic and then went to Lithia Park in Ashland and walked around for a while. This is where my diet started to fail, haha. Mango Limeades are unfairly delicious. That night we went to Kaleidoscope, a relatively legendary pizza place in the valley. Some friends that she’s met before showed up for dinner, and then I played Magic with some of them afterward at Skyler’s house.

Thursday I hiked Upper Table Rock with Bubbles, aka Mitch, the friend I stayed with. I’ve known him for five years, but that was one of the first real heart to heart conversations I’ve had with him. Some people get the wrong impression of him, and he can come off slightly cocky sometimes, but he’s a really good fella. It was good to talk about stuff, I told him about everything that had happened to me and about Mayumi and all that stuff, and he told me some of his backstory that I had always wondered about. Afterward I met up with Jared, one of my best friends that I haven’t seen in three years. He and Kayla, who is kinda like a sister to me, dated for years. It was never a great relationship, and it ended very badly. I was there for her, as she had a far less stable situation, but wasn’t there for him, and he went through some pretty rough times. I’ve been guilty of running away when shit hits the fan for my friends instead of being there for them, a few times. I sent a message apologizing a couple weeks ago after there having been silence for a couple years, and he was super receptive. We caught up at Buffalo Wild Wings, got some yogurt(I wonder if it would be healthy if I didn’t put an excessive amount of candy on it?) and then hung out at his place, and I met his wife. They seem really happy together. He’s doing great, I think he overcame his demons just as I’ve been overcoming mine. Hopefully they are going to come up here in December for a couple days so we can hang out and go to an Atreyu concert.

Friday I hung out with Matt, my childhood best friend who I haven’t been as close to the past few years. He moved to the valley four years ago, and we had intentions to move to Portland at the time to start a band, but it didn’t happen. I feel bad because he absolutely didn’t fit in with my big group of friends, so he’s been mostly on his own. He has a roommate now and seems to be doing well after starting to go to church. I can relate in some ways, though my journey is perhaps spiritual, not religious at all though. Maybe someday. We basically hiked around town, as there are some pretty steep streets in Ashland. We played an hour or two of Mario Kart and Smash Bros. and then I went back to Bubbles’ house to hang out with the guys there before leaving to head back to Portland. I did get In N Out shortly before leaving, super unhealthy but delicious, it had been several years since I’d had it. People are shitting bricks over there finally being one in Medford, and I get it. It’s pretty damn good, and rather cheap.

I really, really like driving at night. Like, long road trips jamming out to music by myself. That’s how driving to and from Medford went. I used to dislike driving long distances, but now I look forward to it.

So yeah, I had a lot of fun. Slacked off on dieting and kinda exercise, but I did hike. Still, it’s good to be back in my routines and playing bass again, my calluses were starting to go away. I just got back from doing 70 minutes on the elliptical at the apartment gym, which nearly killed me. It said I only burned 400 calories, but that is wrong. I don’t think I’ve ever sweat so much in my life, all I could taste for an hour was salt. I’ll get a FitBit once I have some extra money.

I think about Mayumi here and there. I thought about her on the drive home from work last night and wrote a song as soon as I got home. It sucks thinking of lyrics on the road, I can’t really stop to write anything so I just keep replaying whatever song I was listening to at the time so I won’t forget the new words. It’s time to make another dating profile, even if I’m not where I want to be physically yet. I seem to take not great pictures, which would mean I’m better looking than they entail. That should be great, but it doesn’t matter if you never get that opportunity, hah. Still, I always used to wait for the perfect timing to do something, and there is no such thing. It’s time to move on and explore new territory, with new people. I haven’t talked to her since she replied to my message. I’m hoping whenever someone from work organizes a hangout that she shows up. I may be throwing a going away party for a co-worker who just got a new job and put in his 2 weeks, maybe she will show up to that.

I haven’t been able to catch up with my roommate yet. She was asleep when I got back Friday night, was running off to the Evil Dead play last night when I got back from work and was already in bed tonight when I got home. Oh yeah, I bought her a ticket to the Evil Dead play as an early birthday present. She loves theater and wants to break into the scene here, plus she has the potential to become best friends with one of my co-workers who was already going to the play. They hit it off something fierce the first time they hung out, so I figured I’d nudge her toward making friends that aren’t her co-workers. Hopefully she enjoyed it. Also, she was waiting til I got back to watch the new episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. She’s the best.

I’m glad to be back and not going anywhere for a couple months. It’s really time to buckle down, eat well, play lots of bass, start trying to learn a new language, become more efficient with my exercising and give it my all. For the Something that I want in my life. For the Somewhere where I want to be. For the Someone who I want back in my life. For the future.