Here's to the nights we felt alive..

I have been a mostly useless heap of flesh this summer, and I am thoroughly enjoying it. Since my last post, I have found out that I am going to India, which both scares and elates me. I have returned home from school, the only downfall is that the weather here has been very un-summer like. I have spent time gardening in an effort to earn money without ending up in food service. I have read multiple books, like Under the Banner of Heaven, Me Talk Pretty One Day, a good chunk of Guns, Germs, and Steel, and All Quiet on the Western Front. All of which are phenomenal books, especially the last one. It's such a haunting portrayl of war and what it does to those who are forced to participate in it. I'm planning on watching the movie (from the 1930's) later today.

I wasn't expecting anything even remotely exciting to happen last night, but I ended up having a strange night, full of unexpected events. I went to the Milt to go hang out with a good friend of mine, and we went for a walk and caught up with each other. We ended up at a get-together at someone's house I've never been to; people I had vaguely known in high school, but only from a distance. I saw people that I haven't seen in ages - and the most surprising thing of all was that everyone seemed genuinely nice. Now that I think about it, this could have something to do with the booze present, but it was really refreshing. In high school, I had all these pre-conceived notions about people and I assumed a lot about them. Everyone just seemed so shallow and pretentious. But now, it's like all those contrived barriers and all the fakery has just fallen apart. Most of us have realized that the people we were in high school were just these creations - none of us knew who we were and so we all put on a show, doing what we thought we were supposed to. I guess there is hope for people after all. Anyway, my friend and I spent the night around the bonfire watching the festivities since neither of us drink (for different reasons) and making conversation with the people who were passing in and out of our view.

Mostly I enjoyed it because it was an oppurtunity to be social, and lately I've been afraid that I've become antisocial, since I stay in and read so much and see all of 4 people on a regular basis. I was worried that I didn't have any friends except my books, my journal, and Zack and Jess. It's good to know that I can still be put in a social situation and make conversation with people, even if it is banal and pointless chatter. Plus, when you're one of the few sober people, everyone seems to think you're very profound and esoteric - it's good for the ego!

La belle vita!