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View from my window

Before I left for KS I finished up another whirlwind working week at the ad agency. They are always working late nights and weekends. I am not sure why. There were a slew of christmas and birthday parties. I was pretty beat by the time I got on the plane to Kansas. Flight was nice and all that. Matt B picked me up and he showed me his new house, ill spouse and puppy. We got some beers on his gift-card at the local brewery pub and talked about mortgages and money and jobs. I holed up in his house the next couple of days working on some stuff and walking the dog and eating various baked goods and cookies. Darren and Sam arrived on Friday and we barely navigated ourselves to Arthur Bryants (apparently my fault) and had some good BBQ. Usually I don’t care for it, but Sam did the ordering and it was better than I remembered. Then we headed to the WWI museum to try and figure out what that was all about. There were guns and trenches and laser light pens. Friday night everyone in town came over to the Blume’s for a pizza party. I snuck off to bed around midnight and woke up with Dave next to me. Sam drove me back to the Wam with a pants buying pit stop.

Got home and caught up with Scott. Later that night the locals gathered at Mama Cass’s for some nachos and miller lights. Then we headed up to a high school reunion-esque party at the Purple Pig. All the party dudes from the class of 98 were there and more. I felt like it was a sitcom scene when we walked in and everyone turned and looked at us. I could see a few people mouth my name and I thought “oh man I am in for it.” Most of the night was spent with usual greetings, but I think I managed a few real conversations prefaced with my disclaimer “listen, I am really drunk…” I woke up in a chair at Ted’s. The next couple of the nights were spent at Jake and Alison’s drinking more miller lights with all sorts of special visitors, we discussed mortgages, money, jobs and babies. Christmas was at Grandma’s and we ate soup. That night Scott and I met up with fellow Brooklyners Dan and Jennette to see The Good Shepard, which was too long. We opted to skip smokey Auntie Mae’s.

My last night in town we all went to the union to do some bowling. I think most everyone won a game. We drank more miller lights and just after last call Ted fell down while bowling. It was agreed that bowling is fun and as I’d predicted my arm was sore for a few days.

Got back to Brooklyn and met up with Mike K for some beers and we discussed how we didn’t need to drink any more beers. Jennie came home from LA the next night. Saturday we headed up to Shaker Meadows in upstate NY for NYE weekend. We got a flat tire in the Bronx and it was a nightmare that we calmly managed to get through. We finally got up there to meet up with everyone at this cool old house Kelly and Miranda rented. We ate and drank and partied and around midnight I decided I should stop ignoring the sharp pain in my gut and my need to visit the toilet every 10 minutes and call it a night. I woke up a few times in the night to puke and that sealed the deal. Mike says he had the same thing the day before and we determined we’d both got it from the bar we were just at a couple of days ago. On New Year’s I was still feeling like shit so I hid out in this separate cabin Brooke rented and kind of popped in and out of the party around midnight. When we got back to Brooklyn I slept for 2 days.

Greg had a post NYE dinner party were we traded CDs and stories and drank some beers. I worked at the ad agency all weekend. Jennie and I went to the PBR bull riding event at Madison Sq. Garden on Sat night. It was pretty down home and cool. These dudes were into riding on the backs of bulls, America and God. Sunday Dan and Jennette had a party with lots of cookies and snacks. I’ve been working on the artist’s guide and some other freelance stuff this week and I have a bunch of art to make for my group show coming up in Chicago… I’m actually busy. That was an epic post!