lots of stuff has gone down since i last wrote…i’m about to tell you all about it.
but first, who invited this guy?
what was with that hair? and the smirk? man, i was a little punk. that picture is from 1994. check this one out:
in 1997, i entered college. and, thankfully, i had already done something about the hair. apparently, i was less of a smirker, too.
that being said, here’s a summary of what’s happened to me: i’ve graduated, i’ve gotten married, i’ve spent a week in vegas, and i still haven’t found a job. if you’d like more details, click the “read more” link. if not, you won’t offend me if you skip them.
where to begin? hrm…
on may 15, i graduated from texas tech with an MS degree. i didn’t walk, though, so the actual time of the graduation was pretty uneventful. we slept in that day, and then liz and i went to see Mean Girls. very funny film. after that, i went to my friend j3ph’s mom’s graduation party (she’d gotten her PhD in music that morning) and hung out with him and his brother and some other people for a little bit. we played frisbee; it was neat. i then went home and had a quick dinner with liz before going out with friends as a sort of “party” to celebrate the graduation. yeah. check out photos from said event right here (sure, there’s only one picture there now. there’ll be more, as soon as i scan them). we met up with seth, tara, and joel at the library (not the place they keep the books OR the old dance club here in l-town, but an all right bar in the depot district), and had a few drinks. noel and trevor and their respective lady-friends joined us after a bit, as did fastmikey. the bouncer was giving noel’s girlfriend stephanie shit about being underage, so they left shortly for klusoz. eventually, we all joined them there. i don’t remember too many details about what all happened at klusoz, except that 1) thriftstore cowboys were playing, 2) i drank a lot of beer, 3) i bumped into a table and spilled the drinks of everyone sitting there, and 4) i bought 6 shots of jim beam for me, liz, seth, tara, noel, and stephanie. a good time was had by all. after klusoz, the six of us who had shots went to seth’s parents’ house and drank some more, i think. we sat around and talked for a while, then noel gave liz and i a ride home.
the next morning (5/16), liz and i woke up and i went to taco bell to get our post-drunk breakfast. after that, we went to seth’s parents’ house again for brunch, and saw seth’s parents, sister, brother-in-law, and niece and nephew. that was pretty fun, aww yeah.
the next few days weren’t very interesting, really; just hanging out and going to work and stuff.
but that thursday (5/20), liz and i drove to san angelo to see the burden brothers. this was completely insane, especially since we were already planning to see them the next night in lubbock at a weird festival-thing with a bunch of other bands. every once in a while, though, you’ve just got to give the universe the finger and remind yourself that you aren’t really as old as you usually feel. anyway, we napped that afternoon, ate dinner, and then drove to san angelo (about a 3 hour drive). we got there around 10:30, so we missed the opening bands and the first few burden bros. songs. it was weird; when we’ve seen them in lubbock, it’s usually been pretty packed. when we saw them in amarillo, it was really packed. there were under 20 people there in san angelo. the show was good, though. afterward, we met the band (again), and they signed the picture that we’d taken at that amarillo show. we told the drummer, taz, that we’d come from lubbock and that we were looking forward to the show the next day. he told us that he’d give us passes, but we’d already bought tickets. he got us backstage passes instead, which was pretty cool. aww yeah. anyway, after the show and stuff, we drove back home, arriving here at about 3:30am. we had to be at work at 6am that day, so we didn’t bother sleeping, just came home and showered and did a little packing for our trip to las vegas. we did stop by krispy kreme on the way to work, though, since we were up early enough to get donuts before work. work was long and slow that day; i was like a zombie. after work, we ate lunch and then napped for about 2 hours. after that, we went to the “x-fest” thing at the west texas canyon amphitheater. it was pretty cool, i guess. lots of bands. i was too tired to appreciate it fully, i think, but i did have a good time. we found the burden brothers’ manager and he gave us our backstage passes. we watched the first few bands (i forget who all played), and were up front for the bros’ set. it was cool. i caught a drumstick, aww yeah. after that, we met up with them where they were signing autographs, then went backstage and hung out for a bit. we decided, though, that we’d like to sit down, so we went back to the main amphitheater and watched the other bands. drowning pool was pretty cool; better than i expected. we also saw damageplan; also pretty cool, but not as cool as pantera. we actually left during their set, due to the tired-ness. also, we didn’t want to stick around for the last band, saliva, since we had no desire to see them. just like last year. yeah. anyway, we went home and ate dinner, and all was well as we went to bed, not too late that night, but pretty late considering the lack of sleep. yes.
saturday (5/22), we got up at 9ish, finished packing, and went to the mall so liz could by the shoes she wanted. from there, we went to the airport, where we caught our plane to las vegas. yet again, we didn’t get to sit next to each other on the plane; alas. anyway, when we got to vegas, we were stuck in the terminal for a few minutes because of a “security situation” (i never did figure out exactly what was up), but then we were on our way. we stopped by the tropicana, where i’d reserved a tuxedo. i tried it on, and, well, it rocked balls. then we went to the treasure island to check in for our wedding the next day. we thought, “hell, we can walk there, it’s not that far.” no, it’s really not. however, when unsure of exactly which direction it is, and when carrying one’s luggage + rented tuxedo, i highly DO NOT recommend walking from the tropicana to the treasure island. anyway, it all worked out. after treasure island, we checked in at the time share where my aunt was generous enough to have gotten us a room. we hung out for a while, then went back to the treasure island to catch the limo that took us to the court house to get our marriage license. $55 + legal IDs is all you need; it’s open 24 hours on weekends. after we paid the fee and signed the forms, we were heading back to the limo and this guy (who was waiting in line with a female companion) said to me, “hey man, do they like check IDs and shit?” “uhh, yeah.” yes, mr. guy, these marriages are legal. that was pretty funny. then it was back to treasure island, then back to our hotel, then sleep.
the next day (sun. 5/23) we got married at the treasure island wedding chapel. here’s some photos (3, as of right now - more coming when i scan them) taken at the actual event. after the ceremony, we ate lunch and then walked across the street to the venetian, where we rode in a gondola (photo also in this album). that night, we went to some hawaiian restaurant (the name of which i forget) and had a good time. ‘twas a good wedding day; i had lots of fun.
the next week (mon. 5/24 - fri. 5/28) was spent in las vegas, seeing the sights. we took lots of pictures, some of which might be scanned someday. highlights of the week: star trek: the experience on monday; gambled at the mgm grand, went to the m&ms and coca-cola stores, went up in the eiffel tower at the paris hotel on tuesday; saw the white tigers (and other cats, as well as the dolphins) at the mirage on wednesday; went to hoover dam and the shark reef (at mandalay bay) on thursday; and went to see The Day After Tomorrow on friday. we walked a lot, including walking through many of the other hotels and casinos, as well. it was an awesome honeymoon. sat. 5/29, we checked out of the timeshare, went to the airport, and waited for our plane. in the airport, we ran into jeff j., a guy i went to high school with, so i chatted with him a little bit before we got on the plane. liz and i actually got to sit next to each other that time, so that was cool. once we got home, we took a nap, and hung around the apartment.
since the vegas trip, not very much of note has really happened. just working and looking for a job. we went to lunch with oscar and colin the week after we got back; that was fun. last weekend (fri. 6/4, to be exact), we went to see nosmo king play at jake’s. good show, good show. we’ve watched a lot of movies, too. Shrek 2 is really cool. today, we saw The Stepford Wives. an updated version of the original (which we saw a few weeks back), i think, but the remake played up the dark comedy aspects more than the original. also, thankfully, it was more fast-paced.
this week, (wed. 6/9, to be exact), i drove to austin for a job interview. i also drove back from austin after the interview. that was a long day. lots of really hard rain, both on the way there and on the way back. i wish i would have brought a camera so i could take pictures of all of the weird signs one sees between here and there. my favorite was an apartment complex (i think…not sure exactly what it was) with a big sign that said “lobo village.” anyway, i left our apartment a little before 6:30am and got back here right at 12:30am. long day. but it’ll be worth it if i get an offer. i think the interview went well. we’ll see. i’m supposed to hear within a week.
April 7th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
