I seem to do this every time, I have a good spurt of blogging, and then nothing for a long period of time. But the fact is, Spring is upon us, the birds are chirping, the grass is growing, and the thaw is here. As for me, I seem to be in the same place I was almost 2 years ago. I have come to learn that relations are a tricky thing, they suck and are amazing at the same time. Right now I am in the middle of figuring out where this bus is going. In no way am I lost or off the beatin path, but I think we missed a few stops. Since were on the topic of buses, I will try to sum up relationships and compare them to a bus ride. When I was kid I used to take the bus about 3 times a year to travel to the other end of the state. The great thing about getting on a Bus was magically a 5 hour trip would turn into a 2 day affair. During that time you would be seating next to some interesting characters, you really didn’t mind, but really it raises a red flag. This is much like a person you are getting into a relationship with, there might be a few red flags, but you tend forget about it and let it slide under the radar.

When you get on the Bus you realize you have no control over this metal Sub sandwich. True it ain’t a plane but at the same time there is something a bit uneasy about it. Like a relationship you really have no true control over it, there could be a pothole about 40 miles down the road, you could get a flat, hit a deer, or have a blowout and re-enact the day Cliff Burton played a game of smear the queer with a tour bus. With that being said you take a beat and go and let the wheels turn. As the bus rolls on you look around and realize there is allot to see, and you get the choice to sleep or can see and enjoy every bit of the trip, this is not to different from real life, you can sleep through a relationship, or keep your eyes open. Now here is where things start to get a bit crazy. The first few hours are awesome, you are totally take by the magic of the bus, then you take a look at your watch and realize for as long as you have been on this bus you somehow have traveled only about 20 miles.

This is the point you begin to weigh your options. You think wow this was fun and I was into it, but now I take a good look around me and see the junkie in the seat next to coming down from a 4 day bender. The smell of urine, sulfur, and cat crap, overtake your senses, and you realize the seat you are sitting in has not been cleaned since Welcome Back Kotter was in prime time. At this point you really hit the wall and consider getting off the bus and taking your chances hitchhiking, or riding this basted out and getting off at your said destination. So this is where I am. I’m 20 miles out of the city, I have been on this bus for a bit to long, and I am thinking about getting off this bus. At the same time I want to get to my destination without having to take my chances as a drifter and risk becoming a skin lamp…. I will say this for that lame attempt at an over played analogy. I really love taking the bus ride. I choose no other mode of transportation for going from from point A to point B. It’s crazy and amazing at the same time, and I love my metal sub sandwich… Irr I mean my girlfriend. So at the end of the day I love it all, the ride, the trip, the cat crap, and more then anything I love the fact that I want to go back.

I can say without a doubt that it has been awhile since I have submitted a blog, or a thought, or a bit of dating knowledge or anything of any value in any way what so ever. But I will say that last time I submitted something, allot has changed. I have moved into a new house, I got a new job, and had my city over run by democrats and became a rent a father. I know that is allot to omit, but let me break it down one by one. The first thing on my list is moving into a new house. Up to this point in my short life away from living at home I have only rented apartments. I will say there is a up and down side. On the upside you can meet some very cool people, and if you feel the need you can get blitzed at a neighbors house and then stumble down the stairs to your bed. On the downside, some people don’t realize it’s community living and treat everyone like an asshole, demand silence, and have there “C” word of a cat crap on your porch.

So renting a large house feels very satisfying, and may I say gives me a sense of pride. Also living in Colorado, there is something called the “Make my day law” and since I’m not one to argue with the law, I will not think twice to pop a cap in a burglars ass, be it of the feline brand or not. The second thing is that I got a new job. I decided that it was time to see what else was out there. The job I found was a night job. All and all it’s not really that bad. I get a weird sense of things at night. Everything is quiet, and when it’s quiet you can let ideas and thoughts flow a bit easier. I figured since winter is coming and I will be working at night and sleeping in the day, I figured I will call this blog tales of a vampire. I guess you can call it irony, but I think I am trying to be cat catchy.

And the last point I want to bring up is the Democratic Nation Convention that took place last week. I did go downtown, I did try to spot a political figure, or a member of the press, but no dice. It seemed that if you lived in Denver you were not allowed to attend any function at said Democratic Convention. The thing that made me go crazy was how many cops were downtown. They prowled the 16^th street mall in packs of 10 or more, decked out in full riot gear and giving the old stick eye to anyone of middle Eastern decent, or for that matter anyone with a shade of skin darker then off white. And by stink eye I mean ready to blast someone with there taser or gun filled with rubber bullets. I am not saying that it wasn’t awesome, but really I got the impression that people who lived here were really not welcome. Also Bryan Williams blasted Denver on NBC, by saying that it’s good to see reporters getting out on the tough streets of Downtown Denver.

While I walked downtown I noticed how clean the city looked and how there were no homeless people. As I walked I had a vision in my head of Denver, and if this was how the city was originally suppose to look. With clean streets, in perfect view of the Rockies, with city goes walking the streets, happy, and with smug looks on their faces. With gangs of roaming law enforcement types making sure the colored people don’t step out of line. People from all over the United States coming to our little city and commenting how cute it is that, us, simple country folk, built a city with tall buildings and land marks. How even though we don’t have a Dunken Donuts, we still have Starbucks. And how some day we hope to be like New York or L.A. with it’s fast city life and movie stars. No I think for the time being I will take Colfax with it’s loose woman and Wash Park with it’s……Umm…..loose woman.

I don’t want to come off as a stickler against religion but for some reason I find the whole Pope coming to American somewhat over rated. I first want to state that I am not a Catholic, nor am I any denomination, or belong to any church. Thought I thought I would say a few words about the new pope coming to America since the whole Priest touching scandal went down. I don’t profess to know everything about the Catholic church or say that I have attended more then two Catholic services in my entire life, but from what I gather, the religion on a whole is formed like many other Christian based religions out there. They believe in the father and the son and the holy spirit. The believe that Jesus did die on the cross, and from the Cathedrals I have been in, they make sure that image is burned into your brain. I am not downing what they believe, but I would be in a bummer mood if I came to church every Sunday and saw a wax figure of Jesus crying blood and being nailed to a cross.

All that aside, I do realize that every church has a figurehead, a leader or president for said religion. There have been many throughout history, but no one even comes close to the Pope. He is flashy, has his own city, and drives around in a bullet proof Mercedes. One thing that prompted me to write this was the fact that the new Pope was virtually an unknown, then all of the sudden, a poof of smoke and this guy is a Rockstar. I will agree that his over-the-top attire fit’s the role of entertainer very well. As I watched CNN and saw the Pope plain land, I was reminded of the Beatles coming to America. The crowd was going crazy, young girls were crying and jumping up and down, and the media was all over it. From what I heard the Pope is bringing back all his old outfits, which have not been seen since before Pope John Paul II. This of course includes the Pope shoes made by Gucci and the robe designed by Versachi.

As I watched I thought, Wow, this Pope won’t let a few child molestation charges, by priests, stop him, or the fact that the church knew about the holocaust, no this guy had a spring in his step, and a twinkle in his eye. I started to think that going to school and getting an education was a waste. Had I just gone to seminary and given my life to the church, I could have become Pope. True I would have to give up the flesh, but that is what the young boys are for. All jokes aside, I think we need to knock the Pope down a few pegs. This is someone who is draped in gaudy wears, and is worshiped like a deity. Now I don’t know the bible as well as others, but I believe one of the Ten Commandments does say something along the lines of not worshiping false idols. I respect tradition, but since the church has been under fire the last 10 years, they need to be a bit humble and not go flashing there poster boy to the world.

In the end it’s about the connection with God, not the connection of God to one man, to a collection of people. I am not Catholic, but I can say honestly I would not want this man to represent everything that I stand for. A leader should be someone who is on the same level as the people he leads, and do whatever he can for the good of his people. And if the Pope is just a symbol of his church, I think I will take the wax statue of Jesus over this guy. At least I know he suffered and has seen the rough times.

Maybe you can answer this.Why would a guy want every free moment a girl has for a couple years and then say she’s smothering him?

About a year ago I was in a really bad place, emotionally, and really one the outs of a very bad relationship. I had just moved out of my place, I was in debt, and was on the verge of a mental breakdown. The year prior, I was consumed in a relationship that was born to fail. I was with someone who was needy, insecure, and had really low self esteem. As a result of this I had been dragged through the mud and actually contemplated taking my own life. Once that thought popped into my head I knew I had to seek help, or change something. I started reading everything I could regarding mental health and wellness. Once I was done with that I started reading books regarding relationship dynamics, then when I was done with that, I moved to human behavior and human relationships. By the time I was done reading I was in a much better place mentally and was a shoulder to lean on if anyone needed it.

So hala, here is my answer to your question. I don’t personally know the guy you were with, but from what you have said before it sounds to me that this guy really needed allot of your attention at all times. I can only imagine that he was very possessive, very controlling, and almost always things revolved around him and what he wanted to do. When you weren’t doing things for him, you were outside of his circle and on his bad side. When he had gotten his fill, he was done with you and accused you of being clingy right after he demanded all of your time. I can only imagine that you are left with questions and wondering what happened. In my opinion, a good relationship comes down to a constant flow of ups and downs. The best example of this is illustrated in the picture below.

You will see that there is a gradual increase and decrease, it’s constant but there is always movement and change, and as soon as it dips, it begins to go up again. I like using this example because it represents how we as people change, and thrive on constant progression to be happy. Below is a series of plateaus in a row.

 What this shows is a low point, a huge spike, a period of no change, and then a sudden drop, and bottoming out and period of no change once again. As you can see this is much more erratic and doesn’t represent constant change, it represents sudden change and periods of no progression. Now to apply this to your situation, you did say that the guy demanded allot of your time and was almost to the point of being clingy. This is the plateau that I am talking about. During these periods the emotion would spike and stay at a high unchanging point, and then very suddenly drop and he would be distant until there was another spike.

I can only imagine this is not an easy person to deal with, let alone be in a relationship with. However I do feel this is not all on him. Sometimes we enable our partners, or people we are in relationships with, to do things that are counter productive or destructive to ourselves to maintain a relationship. This requires that both parties take an active roll in this. I think you might have let him overstep his bounds, and that opted him to take you for granted and to compensate you let him almost walk all over you to keep the relationship a float. I will say that it’s not the first time someone in a relationship has done this, so it’s ok. I will tell you that the relationship was almost destined to fail. The reason being that allot of clingy people wear thin on the other person and the relationship, and almost always are in the business of self sabotage. I have seen it with my own friends and relationships and to date it has been a 100% failure rate.

Right now things are still confusing, as they should be, but give it a little bit of time and you will have that moment of clarity about the relationship you were in. I think the best idea for you would be to get out and meet some new people, get into a new activity, and in your case start over. Above all else the most important thing is getting back to who you are, rather then waste your time and energy wondering what happened. Like I said he would have sabotaged the relationship in one way or the other, and you would have been in the same spot or worse. Everything takes time, and sooner then later you will find that guy who won’t ask you to sacrifice what is important to you to make him happen, and will, excuse the pun, be on the same wave length as you. I hope this helps.

-Ty

It’s been a spell since I last posted something. Personally I have had a flurry of things going on all at once. In addition this, we are on the heels of a new presidential election, and hence brings me to my next point of contention. I have noticed that everyone is singing the praises of Obama, and how he is the leader for a new world. Everyone is standing behind him, and singing his praises. Now the reason I bring him up is this reason, the guy does not make mention as to what he is changing. I have been asking as many people as I can as to why they are voting for Obama, and each one of them is answering the same thing, “We need a change”. On the most basic level, yes there will be change. The change I am eluting to is the change in the president. By law there will be a new president. The president cannot serve more then two consecutive terms in a row, so he will be gone, and that is the change he is talking about. The funny thing is how he is paying lip service to everyone, and the girth, or youth, of America is buying it. 

I realize that what’s spinning on your ipod and the current mood of your friend on myspace is more important then say the next president, but giving power to someone is a big deal. Since no one stepped up to the plate the last time around, we now have a president who has ravaged our economy and gave the green light to a war that has not only soiled our world relations, but sent young men and woman off to die. I know when it comes to politics people get really heated about the issues, but not knowing what you are saying yes to is just as bad as not doing anything at all. This is not a call to arms, but it makes me sad that we would much rather vote for someone who thinks they can sing rather then the next leader of the free world. What made America so great is that we didn’t want to do what we were told and we asked to many questions. We didn’t like how we were being treated so we did something about it pushed back. Because trust me, in 30 years it’s not going to matter who won American Idol or which celebrity was dating who, what will matter is how our way of life was, and what we have to pass on.

For about the last 3 weeks I have heard nothing but Valentines Day advertisements on the radio. They have come in the form of car, flower, house, yes house, food, vacation, and of course jewelry adds. You know that guy who has a monotone voice and fly’s to Bangkok to buy his diamonds, yeah you know that guy. Well I got to thinking about this Valentines Day thing and realized it’s not only a pointless holiday, but also what I like to call an “obligation holiday”. First I realized that I needed to do some research on the day, and this is what I came up with. The day is a hodge-podge of allot of different traditions that fall within the month. Most of them relate to love, but more to fertility. There is about 20 some traditions that get even vaguer, and cover the January to March months. So like allot of modern holidays, it’s a grouping of a whole mess of traditions from every corner of the earth. So sort of like we are celebrating love and the tradition of people shacking up. Or if were going off what the Romans believed, it was the day to get it on.

So now that I understand the history, I looked at what it means today, and realized it has nothing to do with past traditions so basically I wasted 30 minutes of my time. The way I view it today is, that one day where no matter how much you love someone, you have to show them that. The week prior you could have confessed your love for that person, and bought them a new car. Though if you don’t have anything come February 14 you get the shun and the potential for your “love” to use it against you later on down the road. Now I thought maybe I was crazy or just filled with so much rage that I couldn’t think strait, but my girlfriend back up what I thought. She agreed that 364 days of the year I love her, and she knows that. I show here with my words, thoughts, and emotions, and setting aside one day where everyone is trying to do the same thing, really means less to her then someone who shows there love year round.

But as I mentioned there is a shame factor involved with this. As a guy I could care less if I get anything on Valentines Day, or if anyone even mentions it. I know I love or care for things, and I show my love and gratitude towards them all the time. I don’t need to set aside a day to say I love you more this day, but tomorrow I will return to loving you like I did the day before yesterday. Now I don’t want to point out woman as the blowhards of this holiday, but let’s be realistic. As a guy I don’t need a new diamond necklace, I don’t need a bear holding a heart, or a box of candy to get the point across to me. But woman seem to won this holiday. And the monotone guy on the radio agrees that if you don’t have something for your lady, she will be pissed. Now understand she won’t say so, she will slowly beat you down till you will want to die. Now my lady is the exception to the rule, but the only way this is going to stop is if we change tradition. If we can do away with Christmas, then we can do away with this waste of a Holiday.

Also we need to realize that there is a dark side to this holiday. The dark side being, that all the single and lonely people are getting the snub on this day. And trust me, a sympathy card from your mom or a co-worker is not the same thing. So ladies realize that your man is going to love you despite a day saying so, and it will take allot of stress off of him, and will prevent you from having that special dinner with about 4000 other people. So let’s just retire this holiday and call it good. Couples will not fight over what the other person was not obligated to get them, single people will not feel especially lonely on February, and we can go back to saying how we really feel rather then shell out 4 bucks for a card written by someone else. So if you must make February 14 the day you say something nice to someone else, or say 10 nice things about your significant other. You will get the same effect as an over priced teddy bear would produce, and it will be from the heart, which trumps anything that can be bought. Or we do like the Romans and take the day to get it on.

So last night I caught the Grammys. Every year, before last night, was a snooze to say the lease a 3 hour tune in and tune out event. I was really surprised that it was entertaining as well as compelling. I make that statement in a tongue and cheek sort of way, but really compared to previous years, last night was the most entertaining Grammys to date. I liked what I saw, but there was a moment that stopped me dead in my tracks and made my A-hole meter shoot to 10. The moment came when Kanye West accepted the award for best Rap album. The night was riddled with Kanye giving “props” to his mom. Not the people who came before him, or to the music, but his mother who died in a non-tragic plastic surgery incident. Now before the death of his mom late last year, I had never heard of Donda West. I am not saying that it’s not sad when a family member dies, but really what has Donda West done for the music world, or for the world in general. She did give birth to one of the most over rated rap acts in the last 10 years, that she did do.

Now here is where I am going to lose my cool. Years prior to this, Kanye has thrown a man tantrum over the fact that he didn’t win a Grammy for his music. Stop the presses!! Kanye is not satisfied with his fame, his money, his notoriety, his fans, his praise that every music critic with a pulse gives him, support from Mtv, BET, Rolling Stone, Vibe, Source, XXL, and of course his own view of himself. So last night he stopped the music to praise his mom for popping him out. Not to say that the man doesn’t make some catchy tunes, but 20 years from now we are not going to remember this guy. Chances are we will be talking about the newest rapper called Lil’ JizzyMc. Jezzerton who is the greatest rapper ever, and samples the Beatles, The Who, or anything he can get his hands on. God forbid the guy pick up a guitar and actually fall under the category of musician not rap artist. The whole night was not a wash, the highlight for me came when Jazz legend Herbie Hancock won for album of the year. That’s right, a man who writes his own music, can play an instrument well, and doesn’t thank his mom for birthing him so he could make great music that he feels everyone should like. So here’s to you Herbie. Who says Jazz is dead.

Stardom is something that I have dreamed about for years. When I was 12 I knew that I wanted to be a Rockstar. And now as I type this and look around, I realize that my dream hasn’t come true yet. Not that I hate my cube, but really if I was living the life, I would be either in between two hot woman, or passed out from the night prior. The reason I bring this up is that last night I was given word that the bass player in the band that I play in, is leaving. Now it’s not for some other band, or anything like that, in fact he didn’t give us an answer or reason. Let me though give you an idea about who this kid is and how I came to know him. In the Denver music scene, you will find kids who have known one another for 10 plus years. Being from Seattle, I was a bit outside of the loop when it came to knowing people when I first came to Denver. Previously to this band, I was in another one that was moderately successful in Denver.

After the fold of my last band, I started my search for greener pastures. In my search I had gotten a few calls from some already established bands looking to add a guitarist. In the few bands that I jammed with, it was made very clear that I would be playing what someone else was writing, and if I wanted to add something, I needed to look else where. To say the least it frustrated me, and help me put into perspective what allot of musicians in Denver fall into. It has many names, but I like to call it being a pre-Madonna. Yes the terrible stigma of thinking you are the greatest thing since sliced bread. The bands that I played with all felt that they were the only band in the world doing what they were doing, but traveling around the country you know that for every one band in Denver, there are 20 more doing the same thing in another cities around the country. Frustrated I turned to want ads on Craig’s list.

Hitting the online want ads, I felt good that I would meet some cool people who were like minded. At first it seemed like I was on the right track. I met a really cool person guy who now I would consider to be my best friend. We wrote some music, but it didn’t really go anywhere. During that time I also met my now former bass player. He introduced me to some people he knew, and one thing led to another, and bam we were a band. Up until last night things were going really well, and from what I thought we were planning to record and expose the fruits of our labor to the public. After I got the text, yes that’s right text, I was pissed, not only because he was dropping out, but because it was done via text. After I got off the phone with the singer, I thought long and hard about why he was having cold feet.

Laying in bed, I remember that the three bands that my former Bass player was in, he quit. I never asked him why, but I did ask the former band members he played with, and they all said he quit within a few months of joining because they said he didn’t like what the band was doing. When thinking about this, everything began to come to light. He mentioned that he wanted to play a certain type of music. I don’t like to define what music fit’s into what, but I am open to playing whatever is brought to the table. I was finally able to get a hold of my former Bass player, and yes my suspicions were, in fact, confirmed. I chalked it up to creative differences, and said goodbye. Once I was done talking I really wasn’t that surprised, and he sounded like another Denver musician who was to big for there britches. I wish him well, but I have met about 300 of these people in Denver, and to my recollect there are no record execs breaking down the door for these people. It’s hard not to have sour grapes about the whole thing, but when you thrive in a music scene that is fickler then most, you get used to it.

-Ty

I can’t help but read blogs and other bits from around the web. I have been reading stories and accounts of teenagers and people who are talking through e-mail and text and chat. I have noticed that they are able to have a conversation with another person and form a relationship with someone, but when it comes time for them to have face to face contact they are not able to hold a conversation with the person that they have formed such a deep connection with. This also goes hand and hand with people who break up with people over a text. I had to take a step back and really look at what was going on here. I grew up with computers and I have always had a phone, but I never saw the shift where people communicated better over a text then in real life.

I do understand that when I read something like an e-mail or a blog, I don’t know who these people are. They create a voice from the piece that gives the reader an idea of who they are. Writers have been doing this for years, but really I think this is something different. When I write, I try to have the closest voice to who I am. If I give advice, it’s usually the advice I would give to someone if they met me on the street. I think people are starting to get lost in the anonymity of the image that they create for themselves. First it started with Chat rooms, and then e-mail, and then Friendster, then My Space, then AIM, then text. We have progressed to the point where picking up the phone is taboo. Now, I do have personal experience in this because I had an ex who freaked out on me via text. I picked up the phone to call her, put she refused to answer, when it went to voice mail I got a text message that said she would only talk to me via text. To that I responded with “when you’re grown up go ahead and give me call”. And yeah that was the last thing I said to her.

For me, just like many other adolescent boys, I had to take my fair share of bumps and bruises in the ways of talking with woman. With every awkward approach that I made, the more I became versed in the way of woman, or at least approaching them. I did play a few games of phone tag with girls when I was younger, but the bulk of conversation was done with said girl right in front of me. No way would I ever consider having a long drawn out conversation with someone via text. Words can be powerful, but really what effect can abbreviating “laugh out loud” with “lol” really have. I think this is the least of my worries about this issue. One huge factor is people going so far as to not answer the phone and talk with someone. This brings me back to my ex. Now in no way was she a teen, in fact she was 26 year old woman. In the end it came down to the fact that she acted like she was 16, but I digress. The point is, over the phone, you still have to be able to carry a conversation, and it does require some form of interaction on the part of the talkers.

Also I notice that people are getting depressed over the fact that they are broken up over a text. Really as a society are we that starved for affection and attention that we will take any form interaction. I don’t know if I’m alone, but can you really beat human contact. I have always looked at human contact as the best way to really understand someone. I’m sure back in the day people used to write letters to there loved ones, but each letter would end with the hope that they would see them soon. They never confessed there undying love and said they only wanted minimal contact with that person. At some point we as a society need to take thing back about 15 years. We need to take it to a time when online communication was just starting to really take off. To the time when text messages were sent via a pager, with the assistance of an operator typing it in. To a time when a cell phone was considered a luxury, and only was used by businessman.

This was the time that people were forced to meet up at an agreed upon place, when teens and kids would meet up after school and hang out and talk to one another, and if you were going to be broken up with, it was done face to face or a friend would tell another friend to do it for them. That was how it used to be. So I figure at this rate within 15 years we won’t communicate at all, and all relationships will take place via text. There will be occasional contact for sex and maybe a good laugh, but that will be all. The club scene will die, dating services will fold and the only thing that will exist will be phone services that match people up via text. There will still be My Space so people can air there dirty laundry, but with the invention of You Tube, all confessions and breakups will be taped and posted.

It’s only happened a few times, but I have gone into a bar and seen men and woman, by themselves, going to town on there phone. I figure if you go to a bar alone and decide to carry on a text conversation with someone, what’s the point of even leaving the house. If it’s just for the atmosphere, then turn your stereo up and pour yourself a Cosmo. The kicker is I did go up to the girl and started up a conversation with her. At first she seemed more interested in texting then talking, but I got her attention and we ended up having a conversation. During our conversation she picked up her phone mid sentence, I stopped and asked her if maybe I should go. I began to get up and she grabbed my arm and sat me down. She said sorry and picked up right away I was not cool with her interrupting me to answer a text. We talked a bit and ended up getting her phone number. I told her I have a habit of calling people and talking to them, she laughed and we said good night.

She found the encounter refreshing and was surprised that I would take the initiative to come up and talk to her. To me it was nothing, it is a bar, and that’s what a bar is for, if you didn’t come with someone then you have to expect someone is going to see you in the corner and have enough nerve to talk to you. I will say I do text, but it’s in moderation, as it should be. All the books I have read on how to have a strong speaking voice would be in vain if I didn’t practice it. So I urge anyone who reads this to put the damn phone down, stop communicating solely through AIM and My Space and practice talking to someone face to face. It would be a bit hypocritical of me if I didn’t mention that I do use this blog to communicate, but I practice what I preach and go out on the weekends and week and don’t check My Space or really talk on the phone or text. If I am it’s usually to set up something or meet somewhere. So stop wasting your time creating new abbreviations and get out and swim in the social scene that is the world. I mean wtf?

So New Years Eve has come and gone, and to my surprise I woke up the next day without a hangover and feeling somewhat confused about the night prior. I am not saying that I had a bad New Years, it was actually the opposite. I had to work on New Years eve, but nothing that I didn’t expect. We were given the choice to leave early from work if we so chose to, but the catch was we wouldn’t get paid. I decided to stay the full 8 hours and left around the same time I always do. The plan was to go downtown for a bit, but then end the night and ring in the New Year with my friend Joe. I decided to double check to make sure everything was to go off without a hitch, so I double checked with all parties involved, as usual Joe backed out so the night was to be exclusive to downtown. To be honest I really didn’t mind, since I was in the part of Denver that I wouldn’t be around allot of people, or run into someone I didn’t want to.

When I got home from work I decided to take a nap to make sure I had enough energy for the coming night, and ultimately kill some time before my girl got home. I nodded off and awoke as my girl came screaming through the door. I had mentioned previously that we should grab a bite to eat before we go out to eat. Now I was in no mood to get fast food, so I opted to hit up the Sushi joint down the street. Other then it being somewhat overprices, it was good. From there we headed downtown to the Whisky Bar. I had been to this place a few times. It was awesome because the bar was being rented out by my girlfriends friends, so most everyone who was there was an acquaintance of my lady. We got there around 9:30 and was treated to a man being beaten by the DPD a block away. I am not going to say it was unwarranted, but 4 cops on one twenty something black guy was a bit of overkill in my opinion.

When we got into the bar it was at about ¼ capacity and filling up fast. I hopped up to the bar and ordered myself a Jack & coke. Man that mother was strong, I wanted to end the night without paying my respects to the porcelain god’s so I didn’t suck’em down like I normally do. We mingled a bit and decided that the whore to normal people ratio was getting a bit to much. I have to say that New Years is notorious for this factor coming into play. I don’t know why it happens, but it’s the one day a year that there is an abundance of sub-par woman that any guy, I mean an guy, has a chance. We decide to walk down the street and hit up the Giggling Grizzly. When we arrived we saw that there was a 10 dollar cover and promptly booked it back up the street to Scruffy Murphy’s. With a name like that, you can kind of guess the theme. We plopped down at the bar and ordered a round.

We conversed with the present party and me and my girl got in a heated debate about wither or not it was ok to bring a woffle ball into the bedroom, or a pitching machine. She told me that it was out of the question, but I think I may bring it back up come my birthday. We counted down till midnight and then I planted a big wet one on my lady. It was somewhat predictable, but a tradition that I like to keep. I hugged a few par patrons and was feeling good. I bought a round of Irish shots for the present party and downed them with a smile on my face. I was able to sneak a bottle of champagne into the bar and proceeded to down it as well. The bar tender spotted me but only smiled and said something along the lines of it being New Years. I think it was due to the fact that he was so plastered that he didn’t know the difference between a whisky sour and a vodka and tonic.

It was about one in the morning, and we decided that we should get a bit to eat before heading home. We all decided to go with the Denver Dinner. Now something interesting about the for everyone who doesn’t know about this place. It’s the one place where time seems to stand still and people who fall into the background of your life make a cameo. I can say this time around I was not disappointed. Though I didn’t directly interact with the people in the background, only let them take there bow and move on. I saw one of my flings from the Summer, and she still had that empty look in her face, like she was waiting for something. I was a bit saddened, but really observing it but allot of things in perspective. As I ate my grilled cheese and fries, I saw some people coming and going who I knew through other people, or through my ex. The funny thing was, the people I saw took off for other states and cities around the country vowing never to return to Denver, but in true form they returned.

They didn’t see me, but I saw them, it played out like a movie or a well written final chapter. One secondary character comes back for one final hooray, but doesn’t have enough to be a central character. The chapter ended and I headed home feeling really good and somewhat bittersweet about the meal. We drove home, hopped into the bed, made some whoopee, and called it a night. The next day I made a plan to do nothing but lounge. And sitting here I can say that I successfully accomplished that. So this is somewhat a reflection, but more or less a recap. So happy New Year to everyone, and hopefully you survived to read this, because lets face it’ ringing in the New Year with death is just a downer.

-Ty