The reason for the leavin'

People keep asking me why i'm moving home. I've got no answer. It's a mix of 'well, i was gonna try to go to school...but that didn't work out' or 'well my family and friends are out there' or 'i guess i like to move every 2 years'
this move just seems..kind of random. not just to other people, but a bit to me the closer it gets. every other big decision that's worked out for me has always ended up just falling on me. moving to baltimore? i had to cause i was getting out of school. going to las vegas? had to-my lease ran up. breaking up with a dude?-he stopped liking me. started this job?-i got fired at my other one.
i'm sure there's been many other times that i made a decision just because, and not due to anything pushing me. but this seems bigger, like it's the only time i've really done something so rash for no apparent reason.
i'm not sick of las vegas. if anything, it's the only place that has felt like home besides hanover. there's more restaurants i could go to. there's more open bars that i would enjoy. i meet new people every month that are fun to go out with. my boyfriend and i have a lot of fun and it feels so comfortable with him. i'm sure i'm just getting sentimental at this point and realize how much i'm going to miss about this place. but maybe it is that this is a random, rash decision with no greener grass on the other side.
i'm sooo excited for my road trip and i'm just trying to take it day by day and not worry too much about what i'll feel like after i move. hope that works!

Doggy Days

OH MY DOG!

(should i be taking a detour just to stay here?)

First week of the adventure [CA to OR]

I've been looking forward to my cross country trip for sometime now, but as it's getting closer i've been nailing down my definite plans. I guess i could just pull up to any cheap motel and spend the night and pull over when i see something entertaining on the highway, but i'm a bit of a planner (i am related to hilary after all), and figure it might save me a bit of money to book in advance.

So i've officially made my plans for the first week of the trip.
I will no longer be going to cinco de mayo in mexico :(. but will still start out in san diego. My hopes are to go to seaworld, the zoo, and/or the gaslamp district, but we'll see what the friends i have there can actually afford it-and which ones even decide to let me stay on their couch.
then i'll be heading up to la to meet with hanover friends and just party in hollywood/silverlake, or wherever the hits are. i've never hit up too many touristy spots in this city, though, so i hope to see the cat face drain covers and maybe the tar pits. If i end up staying more than a day, i wouldn't mind heading down to venice beach again or seeing the dodgers play!
after that i'm taking the pacific coast highway all the way up san francisco. i hear it's going to be an amazing view and a really fun road to drive. i haven't come across anything too funny for the way up yet, but that's alright.
once in san fran (though i'm not sure if chade still lives there or in san jose), this time i'd actually like to see monopoly park and fillmore street and maybe super gay pride things! Bigfoot should be a pretty good spot to stop and drink, and i hear there's a really fun sushi/saki bomb joint. I wouldn't mind seeing a Giants game either
I go to one of my favorite parts of the trip the next day-Napa Valley! I'll be staying in a nice Bed and Breakfast. But when i first get there, i'll be picked up by the winery shuttle to help me explore all the wonderful wineries in the area. Then i'm sure i'll be down for a delicious dinner in one of the surrounding restaurants. The next day before i'm off, i'll have to stop by the farmer's market
i was considering heading to sacramento to check that city out, but i've decided to just keep heading northeast so i can look at the all the amazing trees. On the way will be 2 very interesting breweries, North Coast (im really digging pranqster) and then Lost Coast (great white is good). Hopefully i can enjoy the trees after the beers! Most importantly, and hopefully still open, will be Hobbiton, USA. An area completely reinacting the Hobbit!!

It's a shame i'm not stopping by Lakehead, CA because this sounds absolutely amazing!

On the way to Mikey Mike's in Eugene, OR i was hoping to stop by the Oregon Vortex but it looks like it closes too early.
After that I head up to Portland to visit Morgan. Hopefully she's down to go to The Enchanted Forest! The rest of the time she better have some great tour fun all planned out!

Maxed Out

I watched Maxed Out last night, the documentary about the credit card industry of America. Very interesting, and i wish people that actually ran up thousands of dollars in credit card debt would be the ones to watch it. But overall i was dissapointed in the view they took in this movie.
They placed so much blame on the credit card companies for charging outrageous fees and interest rates. They make you feel bad for these families that lose their houses and their cars and end up wanting to commit suicide because the companies want their money.
Am i the only one who finds a problem in that? The real wrong is people who are spending all this money. They think they're victims because their belongings are being repossessed? They spent the money! You can't just except to buy all these things in credit and never have to pay it back. You're borrowing money-that doesn't come free.
I wholeheartedly agree with the collection agencies that they made out to be assholes (or maybe it's because i thought it seemed like a great job!). They said: if you spend the money-you have to give it back. They track down people everyday to get the money back. I've been around friends who ignore these calls every single day-they don't have the money. But they're going to have to get it!
The real problem is that people live incredibly outside their means. Why do you have to buy a house? Because that's what families do? What's the big deal? If you can't afford a mortgage payment, what is the joy in even having the house? The people in the movie were upset that they had to sell their collectables-why do they need them? What about these material things make their lives complete?
The only people to blame in debt are the people who are making debt. They believe all ads that say they need the right clothes, the best cars, this service and that service to be happy. Why?
There was a point where i was living paycheck to paycheck. I'm not saying it wasn't stressful of how i would pay my bills-but i certainly didn't go buy things or take myself out to dinner and just charge my card so i could pay when i would somehow miraculously have money. Now that i'm making better money, I'm definitely living different-but i'm still living within my means.
I will charge something in my card when i know i can pay it off. That's a simple fact that if everyone followed-there would be no debt.

Heartset

It's weird how sometimes I'm completely able to roll with the punches, and other times ill stick to my plans no matter how good doing the opposite would be.
For example, when i quit/got fired/whatever craziness happened in january-no biggie. i just chilled out, practiced, made some clothes, and didn't have a full time job for about 2 months. I started a new job, it's going great.
A lot of times I'll get really upset about how things are going, but they always work out in the end. Having to leave my friends in my previous cheap house? Upset at first, but now i like my new roommate. A dude totally dicks me over? Fine-i meet another dude next that treats me way better.
But sometimes I have my heart set on new opportunities and can't change my opinion on it. Like when i went for my audition at Temple. I made up my mind that i hated Philadelphia before going there. I auditioned and probably wouldn't have gone even if i did get in. Same with Los Angeles, I'd already made up my mind that I didn't want to live there. Well I'm planning my trip back to Pennsylvania. Moving to Pittsburgh has become a failsafe option for me, but now I've totally convinced myself of loving it. I suppose if i really build something up, it makes me not regret leaving things behind. At any rate, I'm leaving a great job here that has such potential. Besides that, there are a ton of jobs in LA right now that i could be applying for in the music industry.
I just feel like I wouldn't even want them because i'm already so excited for this cross country trip and living near my friends. But that's pretty stupid-friends with a probability of a job, or somewhere else where i'm guaranteed one. I guess it comes down to the fact that i'm afraid of settling somewhere too soon.

Baseball Glory

I love baseball games. Prehaps it's that they're cheap and so am i. or maybe it's that they're kind of trashy but a bit suitable for an entire family. Like me!!!!
Anyway, I've decided that it would be totally fun if i can try to see as many baseball games exploring the country as possible. I'm going to attempt to watch the Twins, the Cubs, the Mariners, the Brewers...ok so that's all i have so far.

Anyway, remember that game that one of the hot dogs knocked over the other one? Or was that a peirogi?

http://cg.channel.aol.com/photo-gallery/weird-baseball-traditions