Day 173 - 179: Holy Hell.

Again, I'm doing terrible on the updates. I promise to return to a regular schedule soon. Escaping from one's life is a massive undertaking. But on to the past week:

Friday: I met up with an old high school friend and I went to GottRocks for the first time. We shot pool for a while and caught up on each other's lives. It's a nice little place to chill out, but kind of skeasy at the same time.

Saturday: I snubbed a child trying to tell me about Jesus. I'm amazed that parents force their kids to approach strangers and offer up the word of God. Holy hell, can I enjoy my sandwich and drink out on Main Street without having to read passages of the Bible?! I have no problem with whatever religion people want to practice, just keep it away from me while I'm eating. And don't use a little kid to do your dirty work.

Sunday: I posted something on Craigslist for the first time. Actually, my entire furniture collection. I needed to get rid of everything quickly and that seemed like the best solution. Plus it's freakin' free.

Monday: I managed to complete an entire day of work without doing anything productive. While my old job was certainly super easy, I always had at least one thing to do each day that qualified as work; even for a few minutes. Today, I spent the entire day playing flash games on my computer. What are they going to do, fire me?

Tuesday: Today, I gave a crapload of kitchen appliances to a few people that are less fortunate than myself. I needed to get rid of such things before I make my grand exit and it was certainly more productive than throwing it away.

Wednesday: I never drink too much. In fact, I've always been able to hold my liquor. But not tonight. I spent the late, late evening praying to the porcelain god after drinking far too much vodka at my going away party. That's the first time I puked, caused by drinking anyway.

Thursday: As I woke up on my ghetto yoga mat bed around 11.a.m (the mattress sold quickly), I hopped in the shower and strolled down to Tsunami for lunch. Fuck me if I didn't run into Tabatha. We got to talking for about 10 minutes about pointless chit-chat and she wanted to know if she could call me again.

Considering my current situation, I probably could have been a real asshole and got away scot free since I'm leaving town. But there is no way I'm going to get involved with that crazy, crazy girl again. I told her about my plans to relocate and she was shocked. We parted ways after lunch and I won't be seeing her again thank goodness.

Day 168 - 172: Wrapped up in change

Sorry for the lack of updates lately. After I quit my job last week, I've been engrossed in moving on. That basically entails getting my finances in order, searching for a new job, researching places to relocate, and clearing out of my apartment by the end of the month. I've barely had time to breath.

Anyway, the following are very brief descriptions of the new things I have done for the past few days.

Sunday: I donated blood for the first time at a downtown blood drive. I've needed to find out my blood type anyway since my parents haven't the slightest idea.

Monday: I listed an entire hobby on Ebay. Video games have consumed endless hours of my life over the past couple years and made me a hell of an introvert. While I still like to write about the industry, I'm obliterating something that never made me truly happy.

Tuesday: I accidentally disrupted a shot on an amateur movie set because I was in need of some coffee. Some asshole college kid yelled in my direction, but shut up when I stared him down.

Wed: I threw away about 10 30-gallon garbage bags of my life. Useless electronics, stacks of paperbacks, sacks of clothing, piles of paperwork, and endless items that somehow seemed worth saving for years. I'm keeping truly important pieces of my life from now on; childhood memories, gifts I treasure, etc.

Today: The news of my departure went public today and I spent the day fending off folks who were mad I didn't say anything. I'm surprised how many people were shocked that I was leaving. I must have given off the vibe that I was a lifer.

Day 167: Boo!

Today, I scared the living hell out of a runner in the park; completely on accident. It's standard to let someone know you are running up behind them when passing another jogger on the skinny trail out in the woods. I must have waited until I got far too close to her before I let her know I was passing her. She freaked out and did one of those "I've got a spider on me" moves. We both had a nice laugh about it. She must have thought I was a crazy mugger or something.

Day 166: Blew off a coworker

This was a little bit mean tonight. I went tonight to meet some friends down on Washington and got a call some someone I knew from work. I haven't been on good terms with this guy for a while, but made plans to meet up with him later. Anyway, I said I would meet him down on the West End, but changed my mind after I hung up. It may have been the alcohol, but I just didn't want to mess with that at all.

Day 165: No worm for me

Branching out on the alcohol repetiore, I tried tequila for the first time tonight; specifically a tequila sunrise. Orange juice and something else I think. It smelled ridiculously awful, almost like a weak paint solvent. But I did like the mixture.

Day 164: Barefoot leaps.

Today, I went out with the girl from yesterday's update. We stuck around downtown, got some coffee and wandered around the park. I got the strange feeling that she was trying to figure out my dating situation, even though she said she had a long term boyfriend. I remained coy about my status and that just seemed to make her want to know more. The mystery, I suppose.

But on to the new thing. We ended up hopping the giant rocks on the Falls section of the Park. That's something I've always wanted to do just for fun, but never took the time. I have no idea how some people take a kayak down that drop. It's all jagged rocks at the bottom.

Day 163: Two-fer

Today, I did a couple exciting firsts.

Yesterday, I ran into a girl from my old high school who's in town for the week. She was definitely in the clique of popular kids way back when and she's still cute to boot. We talked for a while and then I kicked myself later for not taking it a little further. Today, I got a second chance. We chatted for about 20 minutes about Charleston, college, and we made plans to go out this week. Not too shabby. :)

Secondly, I ran in a hailstorm after work. The sky ripped open about halfway through my run and drenched me to the bone. I dodged golf ball sized pieces of ice and made my best attempt to not trip on the way back. That was just crazy fun.

Day 162: Quitting Time

Hmmm, today I quit a job without having a new job waiting in the wings. Typically a horrific idea, but I want to escape to a new city. It went relatively smooth, but I didn't leave much room for response. The uncertainty is a bit of a bitch, but it's exciting at the same time.

Day 161: Clean Shave

I shaved off all my chest hair just for the hell of it. I don't know what possessed me to do it, but it is silky smooth now. I was trimming the body hair and just kept cutting until I had nothing left. I don't remember having this many freckles on my skin though.

I'll just let it grow back out as it's far too funny looking.

Day 160: Spoons

I tossed some money in a street performers hat today. I've never given a bit to those types of people, but this guy playing spoons was pretty good. He probably makes more than I do.

Day 159: Typed it up.

What? My first resignation letter. I haven't delivered it yet though. I taking a final weekend to deeply ponder my options. I'm thinking Seattle is my best bet this time around. It's well versed in the tech industry and I think I could pick up an editing job. If not, I have about nine months of savings to keep my company until I land a job I'm actually passionate about.

It was actually enjoyable to write that resignation letter. I feel like nothing is left for me in Greenville. Everything that meant something to me has moved away.

Day 158: The Moviegoer

I was told to read this one over the summer since I'm supposed to be exactly like the main character. I've got to say I'm pretty darn close. Binx is a guy who glides through life without seeking honor, fame, or fortune. He meets a girl that's similar to him, but needs direction in her life. Rather than taking a backseat to his own life anymore, he changes his entire outlook to keep the girl and direct his own destiny.

I'm kind of shocked how close it was.

Day 157: Artistic night

Sorry about not updating these days on time. My mind has been pondering some big questions lately.

Today, I perused all the little art shops at the bottom of the new west end Riverplace development. I walk past there everyday, but havn't taken in the time to check out the local art. Most of it was pretty horrific. I wouldn't display anything on my blank walls. Hell, my wall looks better blank than some of that kitchy crap. Needless to say, it wasn't impressive.

Day 156: Synchronized running

I've been running around the park at the same time lately after work. I also run in the mornings, but I like to loop down by the zoo and the tennis courts after I escape from my job.

Anyway, I met a fellow runner at the water fountain and she started talking to me about jogging, exercising, etc. Anyway, we decided to run together for a while back up to the front of the park. I suppose that's my first running partner. We are going to meet up again tomorrow about the same time.

Day 155: Brown Street

Tonight, I went out to the Brown Street Jazz club for the first time. It's a very slick place to kick back and chill out after work. The bar was surprisingly packed for a Monday night. Besides the alcohol, I split some potato wrapped shrimp with the friend that I met there. All in all, a fun little Monday night. I liked it a bit more than the Roper Jazz Caverns.

Day 154: Running fool.

Today, I just started running and didn't stop until I had polished off 7.63 miles. That's the furthest I've ever gone in one constant jog. I really don't know what came over me. I just found my stride and ran all the way out to Haywood road and back. That's a new record for me.

Day 153: Saturday Morning flirting.

This morning, I strolled across the street to the always empty Joel's Java and picked up some caffine to start my day. I sat down and perused the paper while people gazing the folks at the Saturday Morning market. After about 5 minutes, a strikingly attractive woman walked in, got some coffee, and sat down at the table right beside me.

I have no idea what came over me, but I started a conversation and began flirting with her. With all of the shit going on in my life, approaching this woman seemed so insignificant that I didn't even need courage. We must have talked for 20 minutes about a million different topics. After I got a text message from my sister, she started perusing my cell phone pictures and ended up calling her own cell phone for obvious reasons. I'm going to call her tommorrow, I think.

Day 152: Jimmy Johns

Sorry about being slack on the updates this week. I've been dealing with alot of stuff, the good with the bad.

Today, I ate at a new sandwich shop called Jimmy Johns. Appartently, it's a chain, but I've never heard of it. It's a bit off the beaten path, ala Main Street. But still close to my abode. Anyway, I tried the Gargantuan which wasn't really that big. But it was ridiculously fattening and just the treat I needed after my run. I won't be eating too many of those 1000 calorie monsters though.