"Round here..."

"...we always stand up straight."

It comes with a sort of grim dawning that I realize it really is less than two weeks until liftoff. On September 4th I set sail for voyaging the treacherous waters of Ramapo College of New Jersey (I realize that I neglected to mention my school last night. oops). It's a little bit funny and a lotta bit sad watching each of my friends parting ways and, one by one, disappearing into the gathering dark. I don't know how anyone can stand watching relationships they've invested so much in flicker and die. How can anyone just let four years lived be four years passed? How can I, in the time it takes to say goodbye, let these people know how much they mean to me? And how much I'll miss them?

It would be a good night for fog because there is gloom over Freehold tonight.

I spent my evening driving aimlessly with my good friend and fellow graduate Steve (you can keep up with Steve here) and partner in political turmoil Johnny B, a new senior in a high school I'm now sufficiently qualified to call Hell. Stops on our journey included Best Buy to play "Guitar Hero" and check out the Snakes on a Plane soundtrack (the inclusion of Panic! At the Disco frightens and disturbs me. This is a horror that cannot possibly be unintentional. Curse you, Samuel L!), Applesomething or other Farms for ice cream (now the story here is that there's an assisted living home called Applesomething Estates, and I can never ever ever get the two straight. Sue me), and Walgreens so I could pee and drink Sobe. I sure love Sobe. Naturally conversation ranged from sex to rock and roll to parties and everything associated to wisdom teeth to literature to people we'll never see again to the future and beyond to three hometown boys with nothing to do, as always, back to sex. It's a vicious conversational cycle and I love nearly nothing more.

"Round here... something radiates..."

Steve leaves for Temple U this Friday. He is a symbol of everyone before him and everyone who will follow him on the path to a future without me in it as much as I wish I could be.

But of course, every new beginning comes from some other beginning's end. And a host of "goodbye"s means limitless opportunity for "hello"s. I'll be meeting a number of my fellow Ramapo '06ers next week. With that, allow me to digress and sing the praises of the internet:

Never before have I seen such incendiary use to online resources as a medium for friendship and interaction. I am referring, of course, to the Facebook. Someone in my incoming class, who I'll leave nameless due to the inevitable throngs of people who will want to stalk him, decided it would be pretty sweet to meet people before move-in day. So he planned some meet-ups. Not one. Not two. Like... twelve... or some crazy shit like that. How awesome? For someone to afford everyone the opportunity to forge relationships before semester even begins? I'm meeting him at the train station next week and I hope it's the beginning of a long friendship.

End digression.

They say that you can make new friends and keep the old. But can you? I can't imagine not doing so. I can't picture myself updating this thing in three months having replaced the people that keep me going and who have without a doubt made me who I am. Watching names drop off my "call to hang out" list is like a countdown to drowning. But still I look forward, engraving in memory forever driving down route 9 head-banging to Muse and laughing about how much promise there is.

It's 1:52 am.

"Round here we stay up very very very very late..."

Bomb the Blogosphere,
Mike