Nashvegas

What do you know. It's been 2 months to the day since the last time I posted here. I guess it's time for a little update.

I went to Chicago the first week in October and had a great time. Hanging out with the other interns was lots of fun. I have had classes with Whit, Somer, and Lacy, but never have spent any time with them outside of class. We all go along really well. Somer and I were preoccupied most of the time teasing Superman and Boy Wonder! And I left with a new nickname G-Racy (or Racy Gracie)...don't ask. The 5 days we worked at the trade show were probably the hardest I've ever worked in my life, the most draining to say the least. It was fun to get to interact with customers and all of the Heidelberg employees. We didn't get to explore much of the city at all which was really disappointing. Chicago seems like a really fun city and I would like to visit again with more free time. There were lots of interesting museums, parks and restaurants that I would like to be able to visit. I think the week in Chicago did me in though. After I got back I was completely drained. Later I found out that I had mono. So that's where I've been all this time! As far as I know I'm over it now, but I have to go back to the doctor next week to be tested again. I feel so dirty...

Moving on to more recent news. I went to Nashville with my sister this weekend to look for an apartment. We spent all day Friday and Saturday driving around and looking at apartments. I finally decided on a complex called 'The Grove' in the Bellevue area (southwest) of Nashville–about 14 miles from the city, 8 miles from work, and bordering the Edwin and Percy Warner Parks. I am renting a 2 bedroom/2 bath apartment so there will be plenty of room for anyone who wants to visit! My address will be 2828 Old Hickory Blvd. #1412 Nashville, TN 37221. I'm going to be moving in on the 17th of December, so anyone that wants to help with that is more than welcome. My official start date at work is January 10th.

Nashville is an interesting city to say the least. This was my first "real" visit outside of my interview. The good thing is the city appears to be fairly eclectic. There are all different areas of town. The Vanderbilt area seems most like what I'm used to, but there doesn't seem to be a lack of entertainment in any area of the city. It looks like the whole country atmosphere can be easily avoided, but it also looks to be a very good place for people-watching. The city looks pretty old, because it is pretty old, but it also looks like they are doing a major revamping now, instead of having gradually updated the city over time. I have never seen a city with so much construction–road and building–in my life! Every road we were on was under some sort of construction. Evidently road construction in Tennessee isn't like North & South Carolina. Lanes/roads aren't closed for months at a time, but sections of roads are closed for hours/days at a time without warning. So one day the road will be 4 lanes, and the next day it will be one lane. I'm just glad I don't have to commute into the city every day. Oh, and did I mention Tennessee drivers are horrible!

The highlight of my trip was VICTOR WOOTEN (the bass player for Béla Fleck & the Flecktones…one of the best bassists ever) sat behind me on my flight from Nashville to Charlotte!! So if you fly to see me in Nashville, there’s a chance you’ll share a flight with someone “famous.” There was also a band (I didn’t bother to ask who they were) sitting beside Gina and I that was whining about how sitting in coach was so demeaning. I guess I’m just out of the know, because I didn’t know who they were but they sure thought they were something special.

That's all for now. Hopefully I'll get a chance to post more often now that I'm not sleeping 18 hrs a day.

Do you know the muffin man?

So this weekend didn't turn out like expected, but still turned out good nonetheless. Anne and I went to see Costa play but we were too early and there was still some sorority function going on. Turns out he didn’t start playing until 11 and he played a 3 hour set so we probably could have caught most of the set even after I picked Jeff up in Greenville. Jeff and I went to the Sunrift sale on Saturday. They didn’t have one thing that I wanted, a new pair of chacos, so that was a drag.

The Will Hoge show was fun. The California’s were the first opening band, not particularly my kind of music, but they still put on a great show. The second opening band, American Horse, sucked major ass. Will and the guys were great as usual, but he didn’t tell any of his funny stories, but there were funny moments to make up for it. Towards the end of the show, a girl screamed for Will to take off his hat, which happens at almost every show. He refused saying that he would take of his hat if she took off her shirt. A few seconds later he followed with “I don’t see any shirts,” then a shirt came flying on stage. Will kept his end of the bargain and took off his hat. I think this was the first show I have seen him at without a hat. To his disappointment, when he looked out into the crowd to find the girl who threw the shirt, she was still wearing a tank top. He ended up putting his hat back on and giving her back her shirt. Then it was on to funny moment #2. During ‘All Night Long’ when he got to the part about black lipstick, a lady in the crowd waved a tube of lipstick in the air. He took the tube from her and opened it to reveal brown lipstick. He proceeded to messily apply the lipstick while making a vulgar remark to the guys. Then at the end of the song, Will gave Brian a kiss on the cheek leaving a brown impression of his lips on Brian’s cheek.

People watching at the shows is the most fun out of the whole experience. There was one lady I see at most of the shows I go to at the Handlebar, who is always blistered. She was writing Will’s set down on damp napkins with a red sharpie, looking more like she had a bad nose bleed than anything else. Jeff called Will muffinhead the entire show because he thought Will’s hat looked like a muffin, which it does, but that’s beside the point. Anything would have been better than American Horse, and I think Jeff enjoyed himself so it all turned out well.

This week has gotten off to a shitty start. Just between yesterday and today, I have been informed of too much crap that I have to do between today and next Tuesday, especially since I’m only taking 12 hours. This semester was supposed to be easy, and it sure isn’t turning out that way. I was on campus today from 9-8 doing something school related the entire time. I had a test in environmental science that completely kicked my ass. When I thought today couldn’t get any worse I turned to Will’s ‘From the Road’ posts for a little comic relief. I wish I could link directly to it, but flash sucks and I can’t. If you would like a good laugh, go to www.willhoge.com, click on Tour, then road journal, then the ‘Left over from last week’ post. Will’s from the road posts and strongbad emails are the highlight of my week every Monday, or whenever they decide to post an update.

Since I have so much crap to do between now and Tuesday, and I would like to go out of town this weekend, I’m going to get to work.

I could make a habit out of you...

Jump @ the Joint was great. There was a big crowd for a Wednesday night at a private club. The opener was a band called Rubyhorse. I had never heard of them, but they were a pleasant surprise. They’re from Ireland, and very U2-ish. I’ve been listening to Jump since my freshman year, but this was my first show. At the beginning of the show, they mainly played new songs off the new album, which I like so that was good. They also played ‘My Guitar’ with Jay and Ward playing the intro on the same guitar…very sweet. I can’t remember the entire set but some of the standouts were Dim and the Dark, Mexico, Hold You Down, Dancing Virginia, Just a Second, Copper Kettle, Cathedrals, Habit, and Vertigo. The guys sang Happy Birthday to Evan (the drummer) after midnight, and then they played Daylight at his request. The only disappointment was that they played an abnormally short set compared to how long I hear they usually play. They only played for an hour and a half, and Jay is known to do 3-hour solo shows. I guess I shouldn’t complain since I did have class at 9 the next morning.

Last night I got an email from Moore Wallace (the company RRD acquired in February) asking me to interview with them for an outside sales position they are hiring for in the Atlanta/Greenville/Columbia/Charlotte area…dammit! Not that I would get the job if I applied for it, but I’d be a lot closer to everyone I want to be close to if I was in one of those areas instead of Nashville. I guess there’s always hope for a transfer in the future. I actually think it may be nice to be somewhere new for a while.

Today is Jake's 2nd Birthday!! He is now an adolescent and Brian predicts that he will now begin shutting himself in his room and listening to metal, and he will no longer want to go mountain biking or be seen in public with me. Jeff should be here late tonight to see his baby on his birthday. Don't expect another post until Monday at the earliest! hehe.

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Surprisingly, some of you are actually reading this so I guess I’ll keep posting. Clemson is the most retarded university when it comes to our academic calendar. We have had classes on Labor Day every year that I have been here. Since I had class, the highlight of my day was the Homestar Runner Labor Day puppet show. http://www.homestarrunner.com/toons.html It's called 'Labor Day' and it's under the 'Puppet Stuff' menu if you want to check it out. If having school on Labor Day wasn’t bad enough. Our fall break is the first weekend in November, NOVEMBER. I don’t know what masochistic person they put in charge of the calendar, but at least most businesses have standard holidays and when I get vacation will be my choice.

Frances is moving through today. It hasn’t even been raining for 24 hours yet and I’m already tired of it, and it’s supposed to keep raining through tomorrow. So today has been a ridiculously nasty day, but I actually got more done than usual. I officially sent in my offer acceptance packet to Donnelley, so I’m on my way to being an official employee. Since there isn’t a BB&T branch in Nashville, I have to change banks. I closed out my accounts with BB&T and opened up new accounts with Bank of America. It was a rather painless process, and now that’s one less thing I have to do once I move.

I emailed an acquaintance that transferred from Clemson to a school near Nashville this semester and he emailed me back today. It looks like I may know someone in the area after all. It would be nice to have someone around that I could ride or climb, or just hang out with.

I’m already looking forward to the rest of this week and especially this weekend, but I’ve got way too much work to get done between now and next Tuesday to even think about. Tomorrow night Jump (J,LC) is playing at the Joint. Friday night Anne and I are going to eat sushi and listen to Costa play at Uptown. Jeff is coming down sometime Friday evening, hopefully before Uptown closes so we can all get sushi together. Saturday, Sunrift is having their annual rental equipment sale. Saturday night while everyone else is at the Georgia Tech game, I have persuaded Jeff to go with me to the Will Hoge show at the Handlebar, since I already had tickets. At some point this weekend, we hope to get to see Will and Kelly.

That’s all for now…

So Sad

I can't believe I'm actually going to start one of these things. I'm not sure that anyone really cares to read them. As you all know, or should know, I'm graduating in December. I figured I'd start this blog to keep anyone who cares up to date with what's going on in my life.

I thought I was ready to leave Clemson until today. Today was a perfect fall day, and it made me remember how much I enjoy the fall in Clemson. I took Jake for a walk and everything was perfect - sunny and cool with a nice breeze. It made me want to go for a mountain bike ride, and made me feel bad about how rarely I ever ride anymore. Even though I don't care much about football, it was also nice to see such a close game today. I'm a slacker and only watched some of the first half and both OTs, but it was good nonetheless. I feel like I've just settled in good here and now I have to leave.

As of next Tuesday, I will have accepted a job with RR Donnelley in their Nashville Sales Office. I've started looking online for apartments and I think Gina and I are going to go to Nashville sometime in November to look for a place. I think everyone else is more excited about my job than I am. I am excited about the job, just not the location. I guess I should just be grateful to have a job at a good company before graduation, but I'm sad to be moving away from all of my friends and family. Luckily, plane tickets are cheap and I'll be making enough money to afford them. I've never been to Nashville except for the day that I flew up for my interview. Everything I've heard about it makes it sound like a pretty cool city, and I've been assured there's more to it that country music – I sure hope so. I start work on January 10 so there won't be much of a transition from Clemson to the "Real World." I'll be in training most of my first 9 months so I won't actually be in Nashville a lot of the time. I still expect to have lots of visitors when I am home, yes, that means you!

I think that's good for tonight. If anyone cares enough to read this, maybe I'll post some more.