Well hey there folks. A full month after my previous post of substance, I’m back again, refilling your waning reserves of my trademark wit and self-hatred. Covering the last month in serious depth would be folly, so I’ll try and hit the highlights if nothing else.
The pinnacle of the past month was, without a doubt, my 22nd birthday extravaganza that included Elise’s weekend visit, traveling all the way from the greater Richmond metro area to celebrate with me. I went to pick her up at the airport early Thursday morning. She flew AirTran, which meant she came in through the Humphrey Terminal, which I had never been to before. It was a little confusing trying to figure out exactly where I should meet her, but I bought a Mint Condition latte at Caribou (alas, I didn’t notice the trivia question until after I had paid. The answer was American Gothic. Couldda saved 10¢.) and a copy of The New Yorker, so I was content even in my confusion. We actually found each other without any trouble, had our joyous reunion, then hopped on the light rail to make our way back to Macalester. After stopping by a Starbucks near campus (no more coffee for me, just a mango Naked juice) we made our way back to my place and hung out for a bit before grabbing some lunch at Shish. Then she joined me for my Chaucer class, where we discussed “The Miller’s Tale.” After that it was a quick jaunt down to the river, takeout from Pad Thai, a brief stop by the Tea Garden, The Office, then off to meet some people at the Blue Door, an excellent (and cheap) new bar near campus. We got back and I worked on my non-fiction piece until 5am after she went to bed. I wrote about various embarrassing dancing experiences I’ve had throughout my life. Needless to say, I had a vast reservoir of painful memories to cull from.
Friday morning I got up for class, then grabbed some lunch with Elise afterward. I blew off Non-Fiction for the first time all semester to go biking into downtown Saint Paul. In a flash of brilliance the night before Megan had suggested that Elise borrow a bike through the bikeshare program, so we didn’t have to worry about bugging my housemates all weekend for one of their bikes. It was a nice ride, but, predictably, there wasn’t much to do once we were actually downtown, so we just wandered around for a while. We then stopped by Starbucks for some coffee, bought ridiculous bike chain bottle openers/keychains, inquired about Double Espresso Van Gogh Vodka at 1st Grand Avenue Liquors, browsed through some Birkenstocks and biked back to the house, where we met up with Will and walked to a nearby park, where the three of us relived our childhoods on the swing set. Walking back from the park, we ran into Hannah and decided it would be fun to have a little wine and cheese party before going to the Step Forward event in the Leonard Center, where free Ben and Jerry’s was promised, and a specific Macalester flavor of ice cream was rumored. Will ran off to buy some wine while I ventured off to Whole Foods to buy cheese and crackers. After almost buying a five-year-old Gouda from the Netherlands, I settled on a more economical gouda, some brie, and a Minnesotan cheese that I had never heard of. Arm with the cheeses and a couple varieties of crackers, I biked back to the house, where Will was waiting with the wine. He was impressed by my selection; he had been worried that I would drop the ball (of cheese). People came over and we drank wine and ate cheese and it was nice and then we left for the Leonard Center and the promise of ice cream.
The Leonard Center was crowded with rich alums and students looking for handouts. On the way in we ran into Matt, who had just won the $5,000 grand prize for his short film about Macalester. He confirmed to me he was going to spend his entire winnings on blow and hookers, which I had suspected. From there it was into the Field House where we received our Ben and Jerry’s. Unfortunately, the rumors of the Mac flavor proved to be entirely fallacious, though I had no complaints about the Half-Baked I received instead. Our group stood and talked for a while like the social butterflies that we are. Then we decided it was time to move on after Jessie revealed that she had some SoCo back at her place. We went to Jessie’s, had a couple of shots, then went over to the Tea Garden where Ryan was playing DJ. We hung out there for a while, talked to Tiarr, made a few drinks, then biked back home. Then we realized people where over at Stephen and Elliott’s watching Iron Man, so we went over there, and caught 3/4th of the movie. I dozed off in the hard plastic chair I was sitting in. After the movie it was back home for good. Travis, Will and I hung out on the porch for a while, probably watched some iTunes visualizer, and finally went to bed around 5am again.
Wowwee, so many words, so little actually covered. Looks like I might be back in the blogging business, folks! Check back soon for updates on my birthday party, fall break, and what I’ve been drinking lately.
Apparently the midwest (or at least Minnesota) regional distributor of Van Gogh Vodka doesn’t have their shit together, leading to the conspicuous absence of Double Espresso Vodka in Twin Cities Liquor stores. I learned this after asking the very helpful clerk at 1st Grand Avenue Liquors whether she could special order a bottle for me. She said she would try, and took down my name and number.
