Regrets?

So one of my biggest things is to not regret things. Could be a bad quality, I don't dwell on the past, but I like to think I learn from it and it has made me who I am. For better or for worse.

Well there was this one trip, and this one girl, and this one regret, that to this day I still wonder about. Was laying in bed the other night, and for some reason it came up. This is the story of that great weekend as I recall it now, almost five years later.

New York, Dave Matthews, and the girl

If you don't know already, I'm an avid Dave Matthews Band fan. I don’t quite compare to DMB fanatics of course. For me, however, six concerts is pretty good. Well, three of those concerts were packed into one summer. It was a pretty great summer, the summer between my junior and senior year of high school. The way it all worked out is a story in itself.

I lived in South Boston at the time. The whole big city thing was new to me, and I had no friends in the city. The second semester of my junior year of high school had been spent at a boarding school hours away, and none of my friends from school lived in the city. I spent most of my time at home, or just riding into the city and exploring. I learned to appreciate the city a lot.

The summer gave me a good bit of free time. I spent a while visiting family in my home state, and while I was there I went to my DMB show number one for that summer. That was my fourth, and while not the best was still a great time. I remember riding to the show with my friends, possibly a bit drunk, bit other things, and walking from the car in the parking lot barefoot to the grass on the hill for the concert. Good times. The set list was mediocre, but the time with the people is what mattered. Dancing in the grass, singing to the music, and just having a great time.

Well the rest of my summer was spent at home, in Southey. I spent about half of my time at home and half in the city. Ended up talking my brother into buying tickets to my second Dave Matthews Band show for the summer, and we ended up taking our sister and his wife. Yet another great show. The Fenway Park concert, which is actually recorded and up for sale. We had great seats, and going to DMB shows with family was always a great time for me. Plus, I had never been to Fenway Park for anything, so getting to watch my favorite band while sitting in the field was pretty cool.

My third show this summer was a mini music festival, and one of the most memorable weekends I have had in my life. It was the end of the summer. During my explorations of Boston, I discovered the Berklee School of Music. Music has been one of the few passions of mine, and while I'm not quite skilled or dedicated to become a professional, I felt compelled to see what this place was all about. Did a five week summer course, and while I was there for my audition I met my buddy Jona. We both were DMB fans, and became great friends pretty quick. Towards the end of the summer me, him, and our friends Bob and Rob went to NYC for the best DMB Concert I have seen to date, and one of my top weekends ever.

We were only down there for a weekend, so my first time in NYC was not really about the sights. We stayed at this really nice hotel, not even 3 blocks from Times Square. It was awesome. We went out about 11pm, regardless that we were going to the show around noon the next day. Standing in Times Square was pretty awesome. We checked out some stores, ate at a pretty tight little restaurant, and spent a few hours just exploring. I still remember ending up about 50 blocks from our hotel just by exploring, and somehow getting a cab back up to times square and finding our hotel. It’s crazy how we didn't get lost.

The next day we drove over to Randall's Island. I don't even know how to describe what I remember to someone who hasn't been there. We parked in a baseball field or something, and in the field where the show was to be held was a side stage where throughout the day a bunch of bands played. We made random friends, had beers among other things, and had a great day. The view was pretty great too. I mean, you’re on this island right in the middle of NYC. It’s a big field with water on three sides, an abundance of trees, and then just across the water these huge, shining buildings. It only got better at night, and that’s when the real fun started. I can't count how many times I watched the DMB Central Park concert on DVD when I was younger. Central park had shit on this. The buildings were much closer, the crowd may have been half as big but 50,000 compared to 100,000 isn't something you can really describe. The set list was 10,000 times better, and not only did Warren Haynes play Cortez the Killer, we got #41 with Bela Fleck & the Flecktones (If you’re interested to see how epic this set list was, check out this LINK).

Well the show was the best show I have been to, Ever. Not just DMB, but of all the maybe 50 various concerts I have seen, that was the best.

The next day was pretty cool, we did a bit of shopping and then headed to Long Island. We hit the beach, and either that day or the next we headed home. One of the best weekends ever, with some of my best friends ever. A weekend I will never forget, because its times like these that have made me who I am.

Then there was the ferry from NY to CT. It was probably a two hour ferry ride, and my friends and I had this hobby of scaring people. We found a booth next to a window where we could walk by, and we did, but upon leaving the view of the family at the booth I stopped, turned around, and jumped out at them. They all jumped up yelling and we ran off laughing. My friends ran one way and I ended up running around to the rear of the ferry. 

I was going to keep going and run around to find my friends, but there was this girl by herself at the back of the ferry, obviously my age, having a cigarette alone. I asked if I could bum one off her, and seeing that she looked down about something I asked if she wanted company. We talked for maybe ten minutes, but within five this girl was telling me she wanted to break up with her boyfriend (He lived on the other side of the country and was cheating on her), and for the rest of the time we just talked about each other. For a high school kid, especially with how I was about girls then, I'm still pretty proud of how I handled this situation. 

Let me back up for a minute though. This girl was gorgeous, and I don't think I have met a girl in person that was as good looking as her before then or up to this day. Like, if I had to choose between Marisa Miller and this girl, I would have chosen this girl.

Anyways, I guess my friends had gotten curious to where I had gone, and ended up finding me. It's never good when three friends in the mood to fuck with people find their friend talking to some hot girl instead of having gone to find them. They instantly decide to cock block the shit out of me, just because. It sucks, and I still don't know if I should regret it or not. I mean, what is there to regret? It's not like I could have done anything... right? 

Wrong.

We ended up pulling into port as we were parting with this girl (she had to find her friend), and when we went down to our car her and her friend were parked right next to us. I came up with a great idea and asked them if they would give me a ride home. They said yes, even after I told them I was joking and that it was over an hour out of their way. They said yes. That should have been enough for me to know, right?

Well, I guess the fact that back in high school I was horrible with girls, combined with the fact that I thought I just got cock blocked (I have decided since I wasn't, this girl was smart), must have killed my confidence that day. Almost two hours in the car with these girls, they drop me off and even come in to "use the bathroom". They hang for a few awkward minutes, and I don't even get up the balls to ask for their number. So yeah, maybe I should regret it. But hey, I learned a good lesson- A girl that hot should never be brought around friends, no matter how good of friends they are...

It Begins...

Sorry to those who were following my previous blog. I have decided to set that one aside for now, and I am going to continuously update this one. If you are still interested in following 'Me, The Extroverted Intuitive Thinking/Feeling Judge', let me know. It's going to be private for now, but I will add selective people to the read list and update that one as well when I deem necessary for my mental stability. Otherwise, I will continue to update this blog, but am going to start of with an old story from MTEITJ. Enjoy!

My First “Legal” Night on the Town

Probably the greatest tragedy of my past year was that only a week after I deployed to come to Afghanistan I turned 21. Since my leave wasn’t until October, I had a lot of time to be pissed that I didn’t get to celebrate. Well, when October finally came, I made sure my first “Legal” weekend out was epic, with the help of a few friends of course. Obviously, I took the opportunity while traveling to get a taste for being able to go into bars and legally order drinks. But it wasn’t until the Friday after I got home (I got home on Tuesday) that I was able to actually go out with friends. This is the first night of what turned out to be one of the best weekends of my adult life.

So the night started off around seven or so with a BIG dinner including family and friends. We were in my hometown, and between my siblings, grandparents, and family friends, we took up a 20 person table. It was pretty awesome. The restaurant is an out of this world little Italian place my mom took us to as kids, the food is absolutely the best “restaurant” Italian food I have ever had, and between the piles of food and bottles of wine at that table you can ensure we had a great time.

Well, the liquor stores in North Carolina seemingly close at 9pm, a horrible practice in my opinion. So only an hour or two into the dinner my buddy and I had to leave and get a handle of something, I cannot remember what, for the Sangria our hosts wanted to start the night with.

A bit of a side note/story: Upon my arrival at the RDU airport, I was greeted by a large AVIS bus with a picture of a gorgeous 2010 Camaro on the side. I decided at that moment I was going to rent that car. It was totally worth it.

So my buddy and I met up at the Liquor store, got the alcohol, and I let him drive the Camaro around for a bit. We dropped the Camaro off at his parents’ house, stopped to pick up another friend, and headed out to UNC for good times.

The night started off pretty slow. My sister wanted me to meet her friends, so I complied. I lost interest fairly quickly, most of the conversations consisted of their classes so I hovered around the pot full of sangria trying to get my buzz on. The most fun I had while at this house was when her boyfriend showed up, and in a bout of spontaneity I took my chance to play the “Bad Boys” role, and scared the shit out of this kid (he was literally shaking and calling me sir). 


Basically, this kid had no clue who I was when he got there, and was facing the other direction talking to his friends. I was standing right next to him, all of us out on the front porch, and for some stupid reason my sister decided to motion to him indicating he was her boyfriend. I place a solid hand on this kids shoulder, turn him around, and introduce myself as "His girlfriend's older brother". Knowing my sister, she had told him all about me, how I'm in the Army and have spent the past 11 months in Afghanistan. I had been waiting for this moment for a while, knowing the jist of what I was going to say to him, mixed with the buzz I had going I let loose on him. Sadly, I don't have a transcript of the conversation, but as I remember it went something like this:


ME: So what do you do?
HIM: I go to school here, Sir
ME: What's your Major? (A bit more intense)
HIM: -INSERT MAJOR-, Sir
ME: What are your plans with my sister?
HIM: Blah Blah


I think you get the idea, but I kept this up for a good five or ten minutes. I honestly don't remember shit said except that he was scared out of his wits and finished every sentence with a "Sir". Most likely due to the fact this kid was torched, but other than that he seemed like a good guy. It has just been a long running desire of mine to mind fuck my sister's boyfriend, and I can now say I'm pretty satisfied in that regard. Gotta love being an older brother.

Around ten pm, I decided I was bored and insisted we move out onto Franklin Street, a somewhat famous location for college kids in the area. We hung out at one bar for a while, met up with some other old and new friends, took uncounted shots of patron and drank a dozen or so bud lights.

We moved on to another bar close to midnight that was fairly popular, and for that reason was packed to the doors. Not really my kind of place, but I was getting sloppy and didn’t care. I decided one of the girls with us was into me, and thought things were going pretty well. I Bought rounds for everyone, along with a few for just me and her. Nobody noticed us, the place was pretty crowded and by this time the awe factor of me being home had dissipated.

Well the bartender decided it was time for last call (another horrible practice), so I bought a final round of patron for everyone. I was probably somewhere around 8 shots of patron and 10 beers this night, and remember I had not drunk heavily for about 10 months. As soon as I downed that shot, I realized it was a bad idea. Luckily the confusion of the bar closing caught everyone off guard. I snuck outside, let that shot out, wiped my mouth and was good.

This event took all of 20 seconds from the time I gulped that shot to me wiping my mouth. I look up and my sister is standing over me in awe. Her comment was something along the lines of “that was amazing”, likely referring to how I casually yakked up what was only that one shot and was fine. I explain how it’s somewhat of an acquired ability of mine after a year of heavy partying EVERY weekend (after last deployment I bought a house and had 40-50 people there every Friday and Saturday all year long; The stories I can remember will come later).

The night from here on out is pretty blurry. I remember the friend we picked up on our way out being very belligerent and creeping on the girl I had been talking to. So badly that she left. Cock blocked my first night out, and he would go on the next morning to say he had blacked out, didn’t know I had been hitting on her and didn’t remember scaring her away. I still hold a grudge.

We walked around downtown Chapel Hill for an hour or two, being normal college aged drunks in a strange town. I’m surprised nobody called the cops. Somehow we ended up in the care of my friend’s cousin, and slept in her house while she went and stayed with her boyfriend.

Pretty normal night. However, it was the next morning that things got really interesting.

We got to sleep around 4 or 5 am, only to awake about five hours later. After shaking off some of the hangover (none of us recovered at all that weekend), getting fully clothed and a bit hydrated, my buddy realizes he lost his keys. We tear apart that house looking for them. Mind you, there were beautiful, half naked girls getting ready for the day from the time we woke up, acting as if we weren't there and somewhat drawing my attention away from the keys. We eventually gave up our search there, and decided to backtrack the whole night.

We returned to where we had begun the night, at my sister’s friend’s house. I feel like crap, and really don’t give a shit if we find the keys or not. I have decided I don’t mind spending another day out here. My friend is not fond of this idea. While I sit around outside enjoying a beautiful morning, he goes inside and wakes everyone up to find his keys. The people inside are not fond of his idea either. I see my sister’s car parked out front, and so go over to check out her wheels. A while later, my buddy comes out without any luck, and I ask him if he checked her car. It’s locked, but he looks to his feet and there they are, lying in the grass. We all are happy. Still hung over, we set out to find some food.

If you have never been to Franklin Street, then you are missing out. It’s one street for everything, and I’m not surprised I have met people who have never been to North Carolina who know about it. Not only is this a great place to be, but it was a beautiful "Carolina" morning, and being late summer everything was still warm, green and beautiful.


Anyways, this street is littered with restaurants of every ethnicity, awesome little stores and some pretty odd people. I guess it’s like your normal college town, but I wouldn't really know. We walk about a mile down this road, the temperature regularly getting hotter and no satisfaction with our early morning food choices, before my buddy decides he’s happy with the last restaurant on the strip. It’s a little Italian sub shop; he gets lemonade, I get lemonade and some chicken cacciatore. It’s amazing.

After eating and praising the VERY Italian family running this restaurant, we step outside only to realize we have NO idea where we are, and even less idea where we parked. All we know is we are on one side of campus, and my sister had us park in a parking lot on the other side of campus. After another hour and a half quest to find our car, meeting quite a few people in the process to ask for directions to a parking lot we could only guess the name of, we end up turned down a road towards a staircase that descends down into a parking lot, and somehow all three of us instantly know this is the right lot.

We are excited. We run to the staircase, only to come to a screeching halt at the top, our jaws hitting the pavement. My sister had failed to mention that today was the UNC/ Clemson game. We had parked in a main tailgating lot, and my buddy’s borrowed truck, something along the lines of an F-250 raised about four inches sitting on around 38s, was in the dead center of hundreds of comfortable pre-gamers. 


45 minutes of politely asking people to accommodate our escape, a 20 dollar ticket tucked neatly into the drivers side door, and one blazing hot black truck cab later, we are on the road and finding our way home.

I have had many more epic nights, but due to the people involved, and the fact it was my first night of truly enjoying my long due legality, this was one of my absolute favorites. We spent the day re-cooping for another awesome night with another great group of people, a story to be told another day.