Left A Dusty Trail

Well, I suppose we’ve reached the point where I update everyone on life changes. Cause god damn a lot has changed in the last few months.

I’ve maintained my choice to not use social media by and large. I don’t quite count discord as I know the handful of people I actually interact with on a nearly exclusive basis. As such, the updates I gave out to folks have been relatively narrow and isolated to only close contacts. And I’ve come to appreciate it more than the serotonin hits from a social media crack pipe.

The friends I do talk to, I *actually* talk to proactively. We call each other. We hit each other up on facetime or snap video calls. We get together on Discord to hang out, play and stream games, or just using it to have the homies lull you to sleep while fighting to stay awake during the Demon Slayer stream on Sunday nights. I mean, staying up until 11 or 12 and getting up 5 hours later isn’t my cup of tea. Really, it sounds more like tepid rancid still-water that I willingly stomach.

I’ve travelled more in the last year than the prior 31 years collectively and I absolutely love it. I always had a reluctance or rather a disinterest in flying around the world. But holy shit do I love the feeling of a plane taking off and using the thrust from those big ass turbine engines. Instinctively, I want to yell out “LET’S FUCKING GOOOOOOO!” every take-off, but I understand the social faux pas it would cause.

East Coast to West Coast. Loving that shit. The more I travel, the more I *want* to travel. Talking with a flight attendant homie, I espoused the value of seeing different locales and micro-cultures. I haven’t left the country (yet), so I wouldn’t call it truly culture shock as America is America. However, I enjoyed going to Atlanta and seeing so many beautiful Black people at restaurants. Now, that came with a bit of self-reflection on the limited exposure that Albuquerque facilitates and fosters.

I never had a super strong relationship with basically anyone on that side of my family growing up and I hate it to be frank and honest. For so long I felt like the white sheep of the family and the odd-man-out of family events. I can probably count on both hands how many times someone made an actual point of just telling me when and where I should drive. My brother frequently knew and communicated, but he gave no shits about treating me with respect or an iota of caring. I came to terms with that abuse for the most part over the last so many years, but missing out on those experiences remains.

So, yeah, I enjoyed it. Getting back to attending concerts has brought back so much pleasure and joy to my life. Covid distanced those experiences so far away from normal life, that each concert feels special and significant again. I attended a few at the end of 2021, a few so far in 2022, and at least three more planned in the next so many months.

Let’s get to the big updates.

I moved.

And not just kind of moved.

Like, I now live in Las Vegas, NV and enjoy it so far.

Granted, we haven’t gotten to the miserably fucking hot months of the year yet, but that’s fine. I’ve done a ton of work on my Accord. The old guy across the street made a point of stopping me last weekend to say, “It looks like a whole new car!” I figure that means I’ve done something right with it. Within the next few months, essentially the whole car will have a fresh rebuild. I’ll probably write a separate blog about the car though, otherwise this will turn into a super long entry.

I have had quite a few people tell me to watch out for myself due to how crazy people act in a town like Las Vegas. Honestly, though, I’ve found it far more mellow and relaxing than Albuquerque. Not once have I felt the need to carry a firearm when simply walking to the trash can outside. Which sounds ridiculous, I know, but Albuquerque really be like that sometimes. I had visited over the Thanksgiving holiday and had mostly decided upon moving. The opportunities presented her far outweigh Albuquerque.

After getting home, back to life, and back to reality, I found myself very unhappy and dissatisfied, but had not yet made a choice. I sat uncomfortably with a fence up my ass for about a week or two. And then, Albuquerque did what Albuquerque does, and some asshole decided he wanted to play guns. I get really upset and angry when people point guns at me. Thankfully, this guy chose to not find out that day, but it made my mind up.

So! I resigned my job, packed up my apartment and Azula, and left within a week. Time to rebuild my life.