Summer Insights: Crescent Moon, Shining Stars, Rising Sun

Labor Day weekend is usually the time when people take some of their final vacation time and say farewell to the Summer. The days start growing a bit shorter, the air gets a little crisper, the kids go back to school - the status quo resumes.

Sunday night was devoted to the end of summer party amongst our circle of friends. It was a time to kick back, relax, have some brew and say farewell to another short lived sunny season. A time to be among friends and to look forward to the months to come and shed the annoyances of the past - or at least bring them to light.

The night was fun, jokes were made, music was danced to (awkwardly) and people stepped in dog shit - all the makings of a swinging shindig.

There were however also some lower points. The kind involving shitty situations, a dash of self-loathing and a vehement need for venting. Luckily I was in a decent space for said venting, as friends have a tendency of being able to relate to your shenanigans and let you open your proverbial can of worms with some kind of fiery apocalypse breaking out.

At around 4:45AM I took a cab towards home, got out as a gas station, paid my fare and walked the remaining twenty minutes to my house. The street light outside my place was flickering on and off, and in the quasi-darkness the night sky was clear for the viewing. The stars were bright, the moon gleamed in the shape of a crescent and the sounds of Baroness' Blue Record resonated through my head.

There's something about sitting out on a cool night, looking up into the night sky, gazing up at the stars and listening to music that makes you feel, like nothing else really matters. Especially when you're doing so sitting up on the back of some random car that isn't yours - but that's beside the point.

I sat outside and stared up into space for over an hour, literally until the sun started to rise around 6:30AM, thinking about anything and everything under the sun (quite literally) - though mostly of the conversation points from earlier in the night.

Classes start back up in two days in what should be my last year as an undergrad and what will hopefully be a year that ushers in some much needed change in this life of mine - academically, socially and otherwise.

Change is what I want. Change is what I need. And the time for it might as well be now.

But those are just words and talk is cheap, so we'll just have to wait and see.

The 5 Year Plan: I'll Get Back to You in 5 More Years

Alright, so officially summer doesn't come to an end until September 21st, but for all intents and purposes this summer is starting to run out of gas and will surely fall short of the mark.

It seems like it was only a month or so ago that I tossed the books and shenanigans of University aside for another year. Truth of the matter is that was four months and one more summer has officially been pissed down the tubes. While better than the last few that passed before it, summer has a tendency to go by way too fast to really be enjoyable.

There's still a week of full-time work hours to sink and a weekend full of shenanigans to be had, but it already feels like the plug is being pulled on the summer - except for the fact that it's hot as hell out this week.

Come next Wednesday I'll be back with my nose to the grindstone in what should be my final year at University, at least as an undergrad. As for beyond that, I'm still at a bit of a loss. Once I'm done, I don't know what's next, despite how long it's taken for me to get to this point in time.

I'm sure that I'm not the only person who's been asked the next question before:  

Where do you see yourself in 5 years?

Someone asked me that just over five years ago - and my answer is still more or less the same: Hell if I know, ask me in five years.

I've always been more of a person who goes from day to day. I don't have an ultimate goal in life, no real dreams to speak of; my future is basically a shroud of uncertainty. And that's kind of annoying. I wouldn't say it's because I lack perspective, but more that I lack it in the right places. That or I just haven't had my eyes opened fully yet. I see the world but I don't necessarily see my place in it.

What I can say is that in this past year, I have learned more about myself than I have throughout the rest of these paltry 23 years. 

I've come to a few realizations, changed some of my ways and in general things are somewhat on the up.

Too little too late? Just in the nick of time? Who knows. All I know is that I don't have the time, nor the desire to have to deal with certain types of trivial bullshit anymore. My time would be much better served focusing on other things and less on things that bring me nothing but grief. So consider this is an open letter:

To whom it may concern,

Fuck you.

That is all.

- J.K.A.

Summer: A Farewell to Friends

So it's August 23rd - 24th in about an hour from now. I just realized for the fifth or sixth time in the past week that this summer has really flown by. It seems each summer goes by without a second notice these days.

And that really sucks. But that's just the way she goes.

The end of summer usually epitomizes a few things. The end of full-time hours at the office and my return to University, to name a few. But this being my (hopefully) last year, means that come the end of next summer I'm not sure exactly what position I'll be in - or what I'll be doing necessarily.

One thing I can count on is to be around some genuine classy individuals in between then and now - and most likely after. One of these Duder McDudington's (yeah that guy) is packing up his saddle and moseying across the pond for a month in our ancestral homeland - Euroville (a.k.a. Europe).

Summer's coming to a close in a couple weeks, so there's still some time left to get a few kicks in before it's back to the academic grindstone. This past Monday night was the first of many of these shindigs as we showered our comrade in chicken wings, delicious Strongbow and really, really awkward jokes.

Bon voyage mon ostie d'tabarnak.

p.s. - Bring me back a Vildhjarta t-shirt or we're not friends anymore.

p.p.s. - I'm serious.