BumF*ck Middle of Nowhere, VA

This weekend, a few buddies of mine rented a cabin in Floyd, Virginia. Where is Floyd? Good question! It's southwest Virginia around the same area Roanoke, Christiansburg, and Blacksburg are, about an hour or so away from those places. Most cities in southwest are very small and antiquated, so if you are not familiar with any of the geography related to that part of the state don't take it too hard. If I had to point on a map where we were this past weekend I probably couldn't do it.

I almost didn't go due to my job(s). I completely forgot that I am a volleyball coach everyday of the week and can't really miss practice. Luckily, the head varsity coach came in the clutch and covered for me. I was hoping he would have told me earlier than Friday which is the day that I left for the cabin trip. My plan was to get confirmation from him sometime early in the week so I could pick up a server shift at Mellow Mushroom and use the money from that shift on miscellaneous garb. Since I couldn't work the day that I left, I spent the weekend with $10 in my wallet. But, I only spent 4 dollars and some change on a McChicken and medium fry from McDonald's on our way out of the small town of Floyd.

I drove with my pals Brittany and Brianna. They are both great people, but are maniacs behind the wheel. Speeding, swerving, you name it. They can't be too bad of drivers though since I made it home and back in one piece.

A quarter of the way into the drive we're on I-64 and Brittany's car starts smoking. We panic for a second, debating whether we should continue our endeavor out west. The ultimatum ended up being us turning around, dropping Britt's car at the auto shop, then taking Bri's car for the trek. With her kind of driving we at least shaved 30 minutes off of our trip time.

The last 3 miles of the trip getting to the cabin were treacherous. Paved ground turned into gravel, road got windier and windier, and the sunshine soon sifted away into the night sky. With our luck up to this point, all that we could think was "We're going to this cabin in the woods in the middle of nowhere and we are all going to die." Although that mental preset was the only thing going through my mind, once we stepped into the cabin all sense of fear went away. We were miles away from most civilization and our closest neighbors were about a mile away. We blasted music, cracked open a few cold ones, and just kicked it. I was enjoying myself with in the middle of nowhere with booze, bud, and my bros.

The next day we went hiking at Buffalo Mountain. This was my first hike and my excitement levels were off the charts. Once we got to the peak of the range my mouth was wide open trying to take in the beauty that was bestowed right in front of me. I've always wanted to go hiking just for the experience and to see what the world looked like from above. I was not disappointed whatsoever.

Tons of other shenanigans went on like shooting .22 rifles. grilling hotdogs and hamburgers, and setting off fireworks in the middle of the night. Needless to say this was a fun ass trip and plan to enjoy times like this with my buds more in the future.

Also, school starts this week and summer is officially over. That shit just blows my mind!

A good weekend and a bad weekend

This past weekend was a blast, in fact in was fun as hell.

My really good and best friend Martin Stellato gave me the privilege to stay at his cribbo from Saturday to Monday. We drank a little, played darts, just bro things. Good times, good times..

Even with the fun times at McFly's crib, there was havoc raining down southwest of McLean in Charlottesville, where Neo-Nazis and White Nationalists/ Supremacists came together to reclaim what was rightfully theirs, at least that is what they thought they were doing.

The whole point of what they were doing was to conserve their culture, a culture that they demonstrated to be hatred and bigotry on major levels. I am not an anthropologist, a history major, but I am an educated young man who can see that what those groups of people who came to terrorize the city of Charlottesville had no right to be there doing what they were doing. Why go around telling others of different creeds and colors that they are below white people? Why attack peaceful counter-protestors that obviously had better intentions than those of their own? That shit doesn't make any sense to me.

It baffles me that grown men and women have the audacity to think they are in the right. It baffles me that KKK members can walk out without a fucking hood and their ugly ass getup and not receive any sort of punishment. The idiotic, unethical ideals that these men and women uniting together to preserve are sub par and are only fit for degenerates.

What could possibly be worse, a president who doesn't care about the condition of his country's states and the turmoil that has been left? Pff, that would never be the case!

Sike, because it actually IS the case.

Trump delivered two speeches, one of them on Saturday and the other on Monday. Saturday's address to the media about the situation at hand was absolute garbage. His delivery, his tone, everything about it was terrible. He didn't even make it known that Neo-Nazis and White Nationalists/Supremacists were and still are the root of the issue. Monday's speech was a notch better, but still nothing to be impressed about. This time he actually called out the two groups that were responsible for most of what has happened these last few days and struck down the ideas of racism, hatred, and all things evil. Still, the execution of his speech was trash.

I would be lying if I said I'm not worried about what the future holds for our society. For lack of better words, this shit is crazy.

3am Thoughts

My parents have started to notice that I never am home as much as I have been in the past. I don't think they have a problem with me being out late and doing other things besides staying at home, but I feel like I am in that part of a movie of a kid who grew up to be a semi-mature adult. Ya know, the part where the guy's parents are standing on their porch saying "They grow up so fast" while a tear drop falls from the mother's eyes and the father has to bring her inside so she doesn't make a scene in the neighborhood. That's where I am at right now, at least that's what I think.

A major reason as to why I stay out so late is because majority of my buddies are either working super long shifts or are asleep during the day, making the time frame of 10 pm to 2/3 am prime time for shenanigans.

Although I didn't hang out with anybody or do anything crazy last night, I just couldn't fall asleep as easily as I should have. So, I stayed up for hours upon hours just thinking about anything that came o my mind.

One of those random thoughts that came over me is how humans pronounce words. If you think about it, words are just a bunch of letters strung along one another and we pronounce them as such. It just blows my mind for some reason and I am not too sure why. Especially when you stumble across a word that you just said and take a second to think about why the word is like this. "Why does "especially" sound the way it does and why is it spelled like that?" Questions like that and others rattle my psyche to no end.

Another concept that I thought about is how great dogs are. They are some of the most pure animals on the planet. My dog is old and sleeps a ton but he is the apple of my eye undoubtedly. Most dogs that I have met are always so nice and genuine and like to make you feel welcome. And, no matter what, they are always by your side. There have been times where I accidentally have stepped on my dogs paw or tail and he just licks me as if I had just given him a treat. Needless to say, I love dogs. A lot.

In other news that is unrelated to this blog post, I am going to D.C. this weekend to see one of my best friend's new house that he and some others bought for this upcoming school year. I plan on getting very belligerent this weekend and hope others around me choose to do the same. Cheers!

Coffee

We all start our mornings out in our own unique way. It could be your mom yelling at you for not doing the dishes the night before, birds pecking at your window, or having the sunlight peek through your blinds enough to force you out of your slumber. While all of those ways one could start their day sound thrilling, I think a lot of people turn to coffee to begin their day instead of those mentioned previously.

Why coffee? Is it the taste, the aroma? Does drinking coffee make you feel smarter? All valid reasons, especially the latter.

I enjoy drinking coffee to start my mornings because it is an instant pick-me-up. As soon as I feel the coffee hit my body I am automatically locked in for what my day (at least a few hours of it) has in store for me.

The amount of flavors and tastes that reside in the coffee spectrum are almost endless. French Vanilla, Brazilian, Colombian, the list goes on. Plus, you can get your coffee in more ways in than one. Frappe, frappucino, latte, you name it. There is always something right for everyone when it comes to coffee. Some people don't like coffee and that's ok, maybe they're a tea and crumpets type of person. Who knows...

A fairly big reason as to why I enjoy drinking coffee so much, paired with all the others that I have named, stems from the fact that there are coffee shops all over the Richmond area. It's really cool going to different places and trying new types of coffee and just taking in the experience you're having while you're there. It truly is a great feeling. Maybe I am going too in depth about a drink that I sometimes spend way too much money on, or maybe I am just giving the nectar of the gods its rightful credit. Either way, I foresee a long and everlasting relationship with the coffee and all that comes with it.

Vacation

These last few days have gone by so fast, and I don't know why. Could it be due to the fact that it's starting to get darker earlier, or could I have slept majority of those days away? I can't even answer that question.

School starts back up in about two and a half weeks and I'm more excited than anything. I told myself that this year was going to be excellent for me academic wise and hope that I can hold myself accountable. Jesus, I hope so... (I mean that in the most lighthearted way possible).

I'm going to visit one of my buds in Arlington/D.C. this upcoming weekend and the weekend after I am going to Willis, Virginia (???) with a few of my other friends. We booked a cabin that has five acres of space which is more than enough for recreational activity of all sorts.

It's crazy how summer is steadily coming to an end, but I am pretty sure I say this to myself every year at the end of summer so I'll just end on that note.

Mid-Point of Summer: Thoughts and Reflections

The halfway point of summer.

Around this time of year, I always think about what I previously had planned for this time of year and put it against what has actually happened.

In March/April, I designated this time of year to visiting my friends in New York, D.C., and Boone. The New York trip is at least $200, going to D.C. for a few days is no more than $150, and the only problem with Boone is the 5 hour drive on a super busy interstate. Fun fact: the last time (and my first time) I went to Boone, the person that I hitched a ride with got a reckless driving ticket in Lawrenceville, Virginia (hilarious) and I saw my first overturned car on the freeway. Landmarks in my mental fortitude.

Those were all things that I had PLANNED for this time of year. Life has a funny way of putting detours and road work signs in places where you would least hope they would be. As much as it sucks, it teaches you how to roll with the punches and learn how to run straight through those detour and road work signs. In real life you should never actually run through a road work or detour sign though.

Even though my big summer plans are still on hold, these last few months have been great. I got my first article published by my internship about a week and a half ago. I received the email about it while leaving the skate park and I had to jump for joy. I've been enjoying the river as much as possible with the hot summer air looming all over the place. The thing is that it really isn't that hot outside, it's just so damn humid outside! Virginia weather is something else...

I also started my new job at Mellow Mushroom which I fucking love. The hours are long, but it's nothing new. My managers are awesome and my coworkers are just as great. The pizza is even better. At first I was afraid that I'd get tired of eating the restaurant's food over and over again, but it's been about a month and I have yet to get tired of their cuisine.

So, even though my summer didn't go as planned it has turned out to be an awesome one! I've tried to stop focusing on what is not there and looking at what's staring right at me. At times it is tough to not get caught up in the normal mental rhetoric of always questioning yourself "Why don't I have xyz?", I still even have issues with it. I believe we all expect great things for ourselves, which is normal and should be expected. But, when what you're expecting doesn't happen don't freak out! Examine what is in front of you, see what can be changed/fixed, and make the best out of your situation. I promise it will lead to not only great summertime fun but an exuberant everyday life as well. Cheers!

Money

The Andrews Sisters made the song "Money Is the Root of All Evil". But what about it makes it so evil? I mean, what is money anyway? To put it simply enough, it is a piece of paper. A damn piece of paper. A piece of paper that we ALL, no matter how much we deny, give a damn about. The benefit of the doubt is that we do need money to do everyday things. We use money to buy groceries, personal items, mortgage, all of that jazz. Money is a means to an end, and we all need it. So is the actual money evil, or is it the person behind the dollar dollar bill, y'all? It has to be the person behind it. How can an inanimate object with a dead president's face on it be evil? A piece of paper literally does not have a pulse, a heart beat, none of that nonsense.

Why are so many people infatuated with them racks? It's understandable as to why. Some think that the more money that you have the easier your life will be... Not entirely true. I am an extremely broke college student who made $4 after working 8 hours as a server at my job. It wasn't really necessary for me to share that but man was I pissed off.

Anyway, some think that with more money then more of your problems will just dissipate into thin air. Almost as if the problem never existed, right? Sadly that isn't how life works. I was watching Forensic Files with my dad and brother the other night and an extremely wealthy doctor decided to kill his wife after she figured out he was spending quality time with an enchantress after hours at the local strip club. Racks upon racks were tossed at this lil mama and the trend never seemed to end. I came in halfway in the show, so I am not too sure why he was being unfaithful to his supposed soul-mate. Maybe it doesn't even have anything to do with money and this guy's intentions were absolute shit to begin with. But, maybe he was in it just because he could afford to do it. And if that was the case, it just goes to show that just because you have money doesn't mean you have to spend it like he did and it DEFINITELY doesn't give you the right to be an asshole. Spending money just to spend it is called conspicuous spending. Like I said before, it's just spending money because you have it. It is almost as if those who participate in conspicuous spending feel like they NEED to spend it since they have that kind of wealth. In reality, that's not the case. Side-note: I learned the term "conspicuous spending" (at least that's what I think the term is) in my Modern Novel class. Turns out VCU's education is kind of working.

The whole paragraph prior to this one is a little messy and isn't as concise as I intended. The moral of the story is that we all need money to survive. It is awesome to make money because you can do cool things with friends and family and all that good stuff. Just don't let the greediness that often accompanies money creep into your lifestyle and turn you into a money hungry twat.