In the past two days...

I've seen approximately a dozen police cars/officers as I've been driving around.

And you know why?

Because yesterday morning the guy at the gas station alerted me to the fact that my inpsection sticker was expired. So now I'm paranoid about it. I hope to get it renewed either today after work or tomorrow morning, but until then I'm noticing every single cruiser and traffic cop that I probably would just overlook on a normal day.

The bad thing? Not only is the sticker expired, it's been so since May.

Sometimes I'm just not observant.

I do enjoy Autumn

I didn't like it so much when I was younger. I was more of a summer guy. But as I've grown older I've enjoyed fall more and more. I still don't like winter, but that first bite of cool autumn air is kind of nice. Halloween season, football, better nights for sleeping. All good things. It's a bit of a lonely season, but not necessarily in a bad way. I always think of it, somewhat poetically, as the dying season.

Yes, I do enjoy Autumn....

JUST NOT IN THE MIDDLE OF AUGUST!

Let's get on the ball, Mother Nature. Cut this shit out and lets get back to some semblance of summer.

Social Anxiety

It's great stuff. No, really.

I partake on an online internet board during the day. Ostensibly it is a local music board, but the topics are more far ranging than that. About a month ago, someone suggested a CD swap. The idea is that anyone that wants to partak creates a mix CD. Those people then get together and swap them. So, if there were 5 people, you get 4 mix CDs, and you make a copy of your own for everyone else.

It sounded like a good way for me to get my hands on some new music, so I agreed to be part of it.

Well, the swap date was last Friday night, and if I'm going to be honest, I spent a good part of last week trying to think of a good excuse not to go. Not because I wasn't ready; I was. My mix had been created, burned and was ready to go. No, I was trying to get out of it because I didn't want to deal with having to meet umpteen new people that I had never met before, (except for online.) It was of course based on fear, and social anxiety. I had no reason not to want to meet these people, except for the "What if they don't like me?" factor. To make matters worse, the one person I had met in person, bailed midway through the week because he had to work.

However, as the week went along, and people talked about the get together, (which was going to be at one of the poster's apartment), I noticed something. There was a fair amount of joking about just that same subject from a lot of people.

So, I sucked it up. Friday night rolled around, and I got my ass out there. (Which is not to say I didn't cheat a little with a couple of bottles of liquid courage beforehand.) I packed up my CDs, the snacks I was bringing (cheesecake filling, graham crackers, and chocolate syrup; oddly enough it was by request), and hopped in my car and over to Inman Sq.

I got there about 15 minutes late (planned), as I didn't want to be the first person there. Walked up to the door, rang the bell before I could think too much about it, and.....WAS THE FIRST PERSON THERE!!!

D'OH!

But, honestly, once I got past that initial awkwardness, it was fine. People showed up. There was small talk. We selected peoples' mixes at random to play. Mine was one of them, and did not get shut off after one song (another fear I had.) People laughed at my jokes. All in all, I really can't complain about how the night went.

At this point, I'm just waiting to see what kind of feedback the mix gets now.

Somewhere in between vacations

That's where I am right now.

A couple of weeks ago I was in South Carolina. That was pretty much exactly the vacation I was looking for at the time. The first half of my week went basically like this:

Wake up. Cook breakfast and eat it, watching country music videos on CMT. Run an errand or two (i.e. going to the supermarket, mailing something to my dad, etc.) Sit on the porch, reading, listening to music, enjoying some kind of summery cocktail (mojito, gint and tonic, Jack and gingerale), and futzing around on the internets. Cook dinner and eat it. Drink some beers, smoke some weed, and watch a movie. Go to sleep. Repeat.

Sweet, sweet relaxing.

For the second half of the week, Eric and Matt came down. We then actually did some stuff. had dinner with my cousin Melissa and her husband. Went to Charleston one day. Walked around, Had awesome BBQ. Enjoyed looking at the southern ladies. That night we out to a bar/club on Hilton Head one night. Met a couple of girls, one of whom said she was a stripper, (but wasn't), and left Eric's credit card there. Went to Savannah the other night, and partied there. Enjoyed beers, dancing bartenders, and late night pizza. Went back to Hilton Head the last day and just walked around some. All in all, some good times.

Of course, I'm back at work now. Even still, I'm feeling more relaxed. That vacation drained a lot of work-related tension. That and the fact that someone here reminded me that I now have less than a month before my next vacation.

And that's the BIG one, as far as I'm concerned.

Italy.

10 days in Italy.

It's big for me for a few reasons. One, because I've wanted to go for a while, and now it's actually happening. And two, because this is my first trip anywhere that requires a passport. Being that I really dig travelling, I'm sort of surprised it's taken me this long to reach that milestone.

For that kind of trip, for some reason, there's a different sort of conotation in my head. It feels sort of like a "new level" of vacationing. And as such, it feels like the 28 days (or so) between now and when I leave is not enough time to get ready. Hell, in my mind, it's going to take at least two weeks to get to Radio Shack and buy the power adapter so I can plug in my iPod or computer over there. Of course, this isn't true, but it feels that way.

I had hoped to learn a little Italian for the trip. I even went out and got a book. But it seems like there just hasn't been time enough to sit down and get past Chapter 2. Or even when there has been time, there hasn't been motivation. So, looks like I'll be going the dumb American route. Oh well, at least I'm holding up the proud heritage of the good ole U.S. of A. I'll just talk louder and slower if them dern Eye-talians ain't understanding me.

But anyway, yeah, I'm looking forward to it. It should hopefully be awesome.