Consider that an act break...
Clearly its been months since I made a proper post on this thing. And what eventful months those were, such that if I told all the stories and anecdotes from them I'd be here all night, and I've got shit to do. So...consider that abscence of posts an act break.
As of two months ago, I've been at USC for a year and, given that I'm at a very different place in my life from then, this seems like as good a time as any for the words "begin act four." So, after the intermission we return to find that our beloved narrator has had quite a life these past months. When we left him, he'd just celebrated Thanksgiving and was readying for a long awaited trip home for the holidays.
Several weeks later marked 20 years of existing for me. It's a nice round number, and with nice round numbers comes reflection. Here I would trace my evolution from an ugly fetus to a very beautiful man (I ain' gay or nothin'). When I thought about it then, I'm sure a lot of things came to mind. Looking back now though, the main thing is that most of the things that needed to change did, and the things I was too stubborn to change got me in trouble time and again. So it goes, so it went. When it comes down to it, after 20 years, I've already had a pretty interesting life, moreso than many people have in thrice that amount of time.
Through the rest of the break though, I was really 18, which was good. Something I realized over the break was, though a few people drop in and out here and there, the pancake house is closed now, and the band is defunct, going home all the best stuff about that calm before the storm of college is mostly there.
Two months after coming back to LA after the break, my life's as awesome as ever. It took me some time, but I'm pretty damn happy here. It's the leaving that doesn't get any easier. And so, after the debut screening of me, Jad, Jonny, and Mike's latest masterpiece "The Movie About The Lung" I said my hardest of goodbyes yet, giving Amie our last kiss for the next couple months, getting my late birthday present from McKinley, and comforting Jesa as she cried on my porch. Most people seem to get further from home the longer they're away, but as I waved goodbye from my porch, I realized that, as much time as I spend away, that was really the closest I'd ever been to home.
So the next day, I did the usual transcontinental flight, feeling lonelier than the average crossing. Charles picked me up from the airport, and as I listened to him familiarly complaining about something, it felt a little less strange to be back in LA. As I stood in the kitchen and talked to him and Sam and Nathon later that evening my mood continued to improve. The next day Peter and most of the rest of my house got back and things started to get back to normal. The next two months would be the best I'd ever felt at college.
Between writing a play, starting a new band, and getting in every movie I could, I've come to really kick ass at being in two places at once. In four days I go home again for spring break. In the time I've been away some things have changed. Mark left for Iraq a week after I left for LA. Can't say that doesn't worry the shit outta me at times. But when I talked to him the night before he left, as he rambled on about all the exciting things he wanted to do when he got back in August, maybe it was his drunken enthusiasm for life that gave me the idea he was going to be all right. Back on the home front though, we had a death in the family. Not a person or a pet, but a place: our beloved Pancake House. As much as my friends tried to save it, at midnight on February 18th, 2007, the pancake house closed its doors, as the IHOP next door looked on mockingly. Knowing how I loved the place, my friends called me as they left for the last time and put me on speakerphone as we talked about our favorite memories of the Beckley Pancake House.
So there's what passes for a recap of the intermission. My life is pretty much kicking ass right now. So....begin act IV: the part where things really do work out for Nick. In act three you saw him at the height of dysfunction only to parlay it into...I dunno, either way, I'm pretty sure I can take anything now, except maybe some people dying.
Anyway, I promise now I'll update a bit more. To the kids at home, see ya in four days. As Royal Tennenbaum would say, "I've missed the hell out of you."
As of two months ago, I've been at USC for a year and, given that I'm at a very different place in my life from then, this seems like as good a time as any for the words "begin act four." So, after the intermission we return to find that our beloved narrator has had quite a life these past months. When we left him, he'd just celebrated Thanksgiving and was readying for a long awaited trip home for the holidays.
Several weeks later marked 20 years of existing for me. It's a nice round number, and with nice round numbers comes reflection. Here I would trace my evolution from an ugly fetus to a very beautiful man (I ain' gay or nothin'). When I thought about it then, I'm sure a lot of things came to mind. Looking back now though, the main thing is that most of the things that needed to change did, and the things I was too stubborn to change got me in trouble time and again. So it goes, so it went. When it comes down to it, after 20 years, I've already had a pretty interesting life, moreso than many people have in thrice that amount of time.
Through the rest of the break though, I was really 18, which was good. Something I realized over the break was, though a few people drop in and out here and there, the pancake house is closed now, and the band is defunct, going home all the best stuff about that calm before the storm of college is mostly there.
Two months after coming back to LA after the break, my life's as awesome as ever. It took me some time, but I'm pretty damn happy here. It's the leaving that doesn't get any easier. And so, after the debut screening of me, Jad, Jonny, and Mike's latest masterpiece "The Movie About The Lung" I said my hardest of goodbyes yet, giving Amie our last kiss for the next couple months, getting my late birthday present from McKinley, and comforting Jesa as she cried on my porch. Most people seem to get further from home the longer they're away, but as I waved goodbye from my porch, I realized that, as much time as I spend away, that was really the closest I'd ever been to home.
So the next day, I did the usual transcontinental flight, feeling lonelier than the average crossing. Charles picked me up from the airport, and as I listened to him familiarly complaining about something, it felt a little less strange to be back in LA. As I stood in the kitchen and talked to him and Sam and Nathon later that evening my mood continued to improve. The next day Peter and most of the rest of my house got back and things started to get back to normal. The next two months would be the best I'd ever felt at college.
Between writing a play, starting a new band, and getting in every movie I could, I've come to really kick ass at being in two places at once. In four days I go home again for spring break. In the time I've been away some things have changed. Mark left for Iraq a week after I left for LA. Can't say that doesn't worry the shit outta me at times. But when I talked to him the night before he left, as he rambled on about all the exciting things he wanted to do when he got back in August, maybe it was his drunken enthusiasm for life that gave me the idea he was going to be all right. Back on the home front though, we had a death in the family. Not a person or a pet, but a place: our beloved Pancake House. As much as my friends tried to save it, at midnight on February 18th, 2007, the pancake house closed its doors, as the IHOP next door looked on mockingly. Knowing how I loved the place, my friends called me as they left for the last time and put me on speakerphone as we talked about our favorite memories of the Beckley Pancake House.
So there's what passes for a recap of the intermission. My life is pretty much kicking ass right now. So....begin act IV: the part where things really do work out for Nick. In act three you saw him at the height of dysfunction only to parlay it into...I dunno, either way, I'm pretty sure I can take anything now, except maybe some people dying.
Anyway, I promise now I'll update a bit more. To the kids at home, see ya in four days. As Royal Tennenbaum would say, "I've missed the hell out of you."