Lordy, Lordy, won't you come help me please?
I've got some problems. I will often just do things for no apparent reason. Stupid, time-consuming, self-destructive things. And I never understand why people find this odd. I mean, I don't see how people are able to avoid going completely insane without doing idiotic, unaccountable things now and then. I remember when I was in college at IU, my girlfriend at the time lived outside of Bloomington, like eleven miles from where my dormitory was. And I would sometimes just walk to her house in the middle of the night with no particular goal or stated purpose. I think maybe the first time I did this it was just to prove that I could. I walked all the way out there in about three and a half hours and arrived at approximately 5:30 am. I walked all around the house, which seemed totally empty and very cold and impersonal. My girlfriend's father saw me from where he was in the kitchen and probably thought I was someone there to rob him. When I saw him, I simply left. I walked all the way from that house in Smithville back to Bloomington, to my brother's apartment. I later discovered that this return leg covered more than eight miles itself. My brother then gave me a ride back to campus, but I still had to walk about 20 minutes to get to my dorm room. I was very tired and sweaty, and every joint in my body ached terribly. I went to sleep at that point and woke up nearly 40 hours later. I had missed at least five classes by the time I really understood where I was again. I told my girlfriend that I had done this and she didn't seem to believe me; therefore, I had to make the trip again less than a week later. This time I resolved to wake her up, which I did by throwing rocks at her window. Unfortunately, this woke up not only my girlfriend, but also everyone else in the house. She and the others did not seem amused. Her brother gave me a ride home and not a word was said the entire way. I think I must have walked out there at least two other times as well, and I would usually leave something in the mailbox for my girlfriend to find. This system seemed to work out the best for her and her nervous family, but not for me; I would generally have to rest for at least half an hour before starting off again, and the trip back was always a lot worse than the walk out to the house.
The reason these strange memories have come to mind is that I never gave up doing such stupid things; just this evening I drove to Louisville for no reason. I cruised around aimlessly for a while before noticing the neighborhood I was in, which just happened to be one of the ones my dad used to live in. I remember he got a break on the rent because he always mowed the lawn for the building's owner, some rich lawyer who always used to complain about other lawyers having television commercials. Of course, legal advertising used to be illegal, and apparently Mr. Edwards felt it should have stayed that way. I tend to agree with him; all the ads for Becker Law Office and the Kentucky Hammer Darrell Isaacs that invite people to file frivolous lawsuits tend to get annoying after a while. I remember one time we had to get rid of a nest of bees that occupied a hole in the lawn of the old house. My dad poured bleach into the hole to kill the bees and this seemed to work pretty well. The yard kind of smelled funny for a while, though. Anyway, after seeing the old house, I drove to the gas station where Lydia works to see what was going on there. The store was nearby but it still struck me as an odd thing to do. I was actually somewhat relieved when I got there and the store was closed. So then I went to the University of Louisville campus, my old alma mater. My plan was to get into the all night study room to look things up on the internet and maybe chat with the security guard. But of course, that was closed too because the University is currently in an intercessional period. I became irate when I discovered that the convenience store near campus, where I had always gotten my cigarettes during all-night paper-writing marathons, was no longer open 24 hours. I ended up walking around the campus with a police officer stalking me the entire time until I had to urinate, which forced me to leave. Even this turned out to be a struggle, however, as the credit card reader was not working and I had to scramble to find the three dollars I needed to get out of the lot. So then I came back to New Albany, stopping at a gas station to buy chewing gum, Blow Pops, and Marlboro cigarettes, despite the fact that I have an entire carton of Camels here at home. And when I pulled into the driveway here at the house, I couldn't help but notice thick clouds of smoke billowing out from under the hood of my car and some liquid dripping on the pavement. I wish I knew something about cars so I could say if this is something serious or not, but that would require that I take some sort of interest in the subject, an idea that I find objectionable. Anyway, it would be nice if the car worked tomorrow morning so that I could get to work, but I am not optimistic by nature. I am convinced that whatever this problem is will end up costing me hundreds of dollars that I do not have.
I'm going to bed now.
The reason these strange memories have come to mind is that I never gave up doing such stupid things; just this evening I drove to Louisville for no reason. I cruised around aimlessly for a while before noticing the neighborhood I was in, which just happened to be one of the ones my dad used to live in. I remember he got a break on the rent because he always mowed the lawn for the building's owner, some rich lawyer who always used to complain about other lawyers having television commercials. Of course, legal advertising used to be illegal, and apparently Mr. Edwards felt it should have stayed that way. I tend to agree with him; all the ads for Becker Law Office and the Kentucky Hammer Darrell Isaacs that invite people to file frivolous lawsuits tend to get annoying after a while. I remember one time we had to get rid of a nest of bees that occupied a hole in the lawn of the old house. My dad poured bleach into the hole to kill the bees and this seemed to work pretty well. The yard kind of smelled funny for a while, though. Anyway, after seeing the old house, I drove to the gas station where Lydia works to see what was going on there. The store was nearby but it still struck me as an odd thing to do. I was actually somewhat relieved when I got there and the store was closed. So then I went to the University of Louisville campus, my old alma mater. My plan was to get into the all night study room to look things up on the internet and maybe chat with the security guard. But of course, that was closed too because the University is currently in an intercessional period. I became irate when I discovered that the convenience store near campus, where I had always gotten my cigarettes during all-night paper-writing marathons, was no longer open 24 hours. I ended up walking around the campus with a police officer stalking me the entire time until I had to urinate, which forced me to leave. Even this turned out to be a struggle, however, as the credit card reader was not working and I had to scramble to find the three dollars I needed to get out of the lot. So then I came back to New Albany, stopping at a gas station to buy chewing gum, Blow Pops, and Marlboro cigarettes, despite the fact that I have an entire carton of Camels here at home. And when I pulled into the driveway here at the house, I couldn't help but notice thick clouds of smoke billowing out from under the hood of my car and some liquid dripping on the pavement. I wish I knew something about cars so I could say if this is something serious or not, but that would require that I take some sort of interest in the subject, an idea that I find objectionable. Anyway, it would be nice if the car worked tomorrow morning so that I could get to work, but I am not optimistic by nature. I am convinced that whatever this problem is will end up costing me hundreds of dollars that I do not have.
I'm going to bed now.