stylevsstyle (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} stylevsstyle) wrote,@ 2005-02-15 23:03:00 |
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You can't go back again goddamnit.
Here’s a little tale I’ve been meaning to tell for a while.
Last May Angela and I went to Saint Petersburg, FL to see our friends Kelly and Joel get married. Without a doubt that weekend was one of the best times in my life. The wedding actually took place on Treasure Island, and the entire wedding party stayed in a Holiday Inn right on the beach. Every morning we would wake up to the sound of the ocean waves and the laughing seagulls that nested on the roof next door. The weather was perfect-the exact temperature where you don’t have to wear much clothing, but can if you want to without being too hot. We spent a lot of time with Kelly and Joel and their families, drinking and laughing and having tons of fun. Angela and I snuck off a few times to go thrift store shopping-I found some awesome old tiki mugs and she found the coolest embroidered jacket that has ever been thrifted. I was managing Gildid at the time, so I had plenty of money to spend-in fact, I was talking to Joel one night about my job and he commented, “Man, that sounds like an awesome job,” and I remember thinking for the thousandth time that year that it was by far the best job I had ever had. The actual wedding was one of the most beautiful I had ever seen. It was on the beach-I mean, 50 feet from the ocean. At the Bride and Groom’s request all the guests were dressed in black, and the wedding party was dressed in white. When Joel saw Kelly walk down the aisle he burst into tears at how beautiful she looked. The ceremony was short and sweet, the setting sun casting the entire scene in pinks and oranges and reds. A pirate ship passed by about 100 yards offshore, then turned around and passed by again-it was that kind of strange and beautiful weekend where every little thing went right and I remember looking out over the ocean and thinking that very few times in my life had I been so happy.
Flash forward to November and its funny how much can change in six short fucking months. Joel’s brother Justin was getting married, so Angela and I were back in Saint Pete. We had made plans to attend the wedding, purchasing our plane tickets and such, but somewhere in there we had gotten pregnant. Which was great, except the weekend was filled with two of my favorite pastimes that I had recently given up-drinking and smoking. Crap. No problem, we would just use our spare time looking for houses-we had been talking about moving to Florida for 3 years, so now was the time to get serious. Somehow though, all the neighborhoods we had looked at back in May weren't as cool as I we remembered-the schools weren’t that great, the homes were small for the price thanks to a recent price boom, and suddenly a “transitional” area translated into “dangerous for children”. The night of the rehearsal dinner was fun-we finally got to see Joel play with a band and that was awesome. After the show the party was just getting started and we were just getting tired as hell. So, we skipped out and decided to get a near-by hotel room and relax and watch some cable. However, that weekend just happened to be Wing Fest in downtown Saint Pete. No, I’m not kidding-an entire weekend devoted to fried chicken wings and general red-neckery. Every hotel room within 15 miles was either $250 a night or booked solid. I had been laid off my job at Gildid at the end of May, so I was watching my money and wondering when my job at the Doctor’s would end. Angela and I decided, what the hell-we’ll drive the 30 minutes to Treasure Island and stay on the beach. What we didn’t know was that November is apparently peak tourist season-EVERY hotel on the beach was full. We decided to try the Holiday Inn we had stayed at in May (which, according to my parents, has been there since before I was born). We pulled in the parking lot and realized that the Inn was closed-for good. The inside was in mid-demolition, and the huge green Holiday Inn street sign had the letters ripped out. Thankfully, Kelly and Joel, being the coolest ever, let us stay at their place. We had to drive to a bar all the way back in St. Pete to get Kelly’s keys, then drive another 30 minutes to her house before we could put poor Angela to bed. The wedding itself was nice and in a really cool old building and hanging out with Kelly and Joel and their families was great, but by the end of the weekend we were glad to go home.
Lately, I have been crushed by nostalgia. This is a common thing for me-I always remember the past as being better than where I am now-but its been really bad lately and anything can set me off-music, people smoking, trees without leaves, pictures of trees with leaves, cold, heat, sleep, no sleep, etc. Soon I’ll have to leap forward or be stuck in a morass of reliving half-imagined past glories.
We’re having a baby. I’ll find a new job. Spring will come.
I’m making the jump.
Hey not all things are bad!
I like: Garden State (Zach Braff rules!), “Hairstyles of the Damned” by Joe Meno (a book about your high school life story written by someone else-some of the similarities to my own time in school are downright eerie), Sleepytime Tea by Celestial Seasonings, feeling the baby poke at me from inside Angela’s tummy, bright beach-blue baby rooms, and the thought of chopping down some motherfucking trees before spring.
Here’s a little tale I’ve been meaning to tell for a while.
Last May Angela and I went to Saint Petersburg, FL to see our friends Kelly and Joel get married. Without a doubt that weekend was one of the best times in my life. The wedding actually took place on Treasure Island, and the entire wedding party stayed in a Holiday Inn right on the beach. Every morning we would wake up to the sound of the ocean waves and the laughing seagulls that nested on the roof next door. The weather was perfect-the exact temperature where you don’t have to wear much clothing, but can if you want to without being too hot. We spent a lot of time with Kelly and Joel and their families, drinking and laughing and having tons of fun. Angela and I snuck off a few times to go thrift store shopping-I found some awesome old tiki mugs and she found the coolest embroidered jacket that has ever been thrifted. I was managing Gildid at the time, so I had plenty of money to spend-in fact, I was talking to Joel one night about my job and he commented, “Man, that sounds like an awesome job,” and I remember thinking for the thousandth time that year that it was by far the best job I had ever had. The actual wedding was one of the most beautiful I had ever seen. It was on the beach-I mean, 50 feet from the ocean. At the Bride and Groom’s request all the guests were dressed in black, and the wedding party was dressed in white. When Joel saw Kelly walk down the aisle he burst into tears at how beautiful she looked. The ceremony was short and sweet, the setting sun casting the entire scene in pinks and oranges and reds. A pirate ship passed by about 100 yards offshore, then turned around and passed by again-it was that kind of strange and beautiful weekend where every little thing went right and I remember looking out over the ocean and thinking that very few times in my life had I been so happy.
Flash forward to November and its funny how much can change in six short fucking months. Joel’s brother Justin was getting married, so Angela and I were back in Saint Pete. We had made plans to attend the wedding, purchasing our plane tickets and such, but somewhere in there we had gotten pregnant. Which was great, except the weekend was filled with two of my favorite pastimes that I had recently given up-drinking and smoking. Crap. No problem, we would just use our spare time looking for houses-we had been talking about moving to Florida for 3 years, so now was the time to get serious. Somehow though, all the neighborhoods we had looked at back in May weren't as cool as I we remembered-the schools weren’t that great, the homes were small for the price thanks to a recent price boom, and suddenly a “transitional” area translated into “dangerous for children”. The night of the rehearsal dinner was fun-we finally got to see Joel play with a band and that was awesome. After the show the party was just getting started and we were just getting tired as hell. So, we skipped out and decided to get a near-by hotel room and relax and watch some cable. However, that weekend just happened to be Wing Fest in downtown Saint Pete. No, I’m not kidding-an entire weekend devoted to fried chicken wings and general red-neckery. Every hotel room within 15 miles was either $250 a night or booked solid. I had been laid off my job at Gildid at the end of May, so I was watching my money and wondering when my job at the Doctor’s would end. Angela and I decided, what the hell-we’ll drive the 30 minutes to Treasure Island and stay on the beach. What we didn’t know was that November is apparently peak tourist season-EVERY hotel on the beach was full. We decided to try the Holiday Inn we had stayed at in May (which, according to my parents, has been there since before I was born). We pulled in the parking lot and realized that the Inn was closed-for good. The inside was in mid-demolition, and the huge green Holiday Inn street sign had the letters ripped out. Thankfully, Kelly and Joel, being the coolest ever, let us stay at their place. We had to drive to a bar all the way back in St. Pete to get Kelly’s keys, then drive another 30 minutes to her house before we could put poor Angela to bed. The wedding itself was nice and in a really cool old building and hanging out with Kelly and Joel and their families was great, but by the end of the weekend we were glad to go home.
Lately, I have been crushed by nostalgia. This is a common thing for me-I always remember the past as being better than where I am now-but its been really bad lately and anything can set me off-music, people smoking, trees without leaves, pictures of trees with leaves, cold, heat, sleep, no sleep, etc. Soon I’ll have to leap forward or be stuck in a morass of reliving half-imagined past glories.
We’re having a baby. I’ll find a new job. Spring will come.
I’m making the jump.
Hey not all things are bad!
I like: Garden State (Zach Braff rules!), “Hairstyles of the Damned” by Joe Meno (a book about your high school life story written by someone else-some of the similarities to my own time in school are downright eerie), Sleepytime Tea by Celestial Seasonings, feeling the baby poke at me from inside Angela’s tummy, bright beach-blue baby rooms, and the thought of chopping down some motherfucking trees before spring.
