beware the end of march, or, how i learned to stop worrying and love the moment

some things you go your whole life hearing about so often that you think you know all about them, but you don't really "know" them until you've experienced them firsthand - you know? like getting your heart broken, or having sex, or getting high, or (i'm assuming) childbirth. like overhearing a dirty joke when you're too young to know it's dirty and you ask your parents what it means and they don't really give you a straight answer and you all but forget about it until one day in middle school when you suddenly remember the joke and go "ohhh, NOW i get it."

saturday last, i packed up my worldy possessions for the umpteenth time and dashed off to new york city. i'm still here, i'm employed, and i'm not homeless, so it's going well. this morning i hopped a bus from phil's place on the ues and rode it downtown to this little cafe i've been in love with since september '07; successfully completed my first ever sudoku puzzle over coffee and a bagel. afterwards i walked up houston in the noontime sunlight and felt generally positive about life. for some reason walking up houston on a nice day always puts me in a good mood. i don't know why, it's not like there's anything that great about houston, but i can't seem to remember any time i've walked along it and not reached my destination all blissed out.

i think each generation ends up being retrospectively defined by its recreational drug use. which is why kids who do drugs always kind of look down on the straight edge kids. it's like, guys, you're missing out. i mean if i had grown up during, say, the whole 1950s reefer madness thing, i would be much happier today knowing that i was one of the kids who experimented despite the propaganda. that's all i'm saying.

did you know there's a whole subculture of new york city youth based on really intense burn rides? god, i need to start documenting my generation.

until next time: tune in fridays at 9 on the travel channel to watch a meathead in a muscle tee hunt for ghosts. it's AWESOME.