The Road Back Home...

Here I am -- another September without the classroom. I miss the crack of fresh, overpriced textbooks. I miss the bustle of campus life and the small hints of autumn settling across our university town. Heck, I even miss the self-important, overconfident air of academia that seemed to seep up through the ground itself.

Though, I was given the chance to return to my undergrad days this weekend with the very same gentlemen I used to live with.

Ooh, I'm sensing a list coming on....

Saturday, September 12/2009

• Hit the roads at 9:20 am. Treated myself to a calming drive with none other than disc one of Must I Paint You A Picture: The Essential Billy Bragg as a soundtrack of sorts.
• Arrived at around 10:30 am. Surprised the gents with premium chocolates (Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Chocolate-Covered Cherries, aka "Creepy Cherries")
• Caught up on various odds and ends, mostly relating to films, television, and video games. Headed to the old stompin' grounds on campus including the UC, Mr. Lee's grad student headquarters, Mountain Cafe (mmm, diabetes-inducing cookies....), and Townhouse 84 (our home for third and fourth year).
• Visited the local comic book store. I get the impression the boys were surprised that I was the one to recommend the trip. What can I say, a lot can change over the course of one year. The store relocated to a larger and much more posh space -- no more crushing into a small room and dodging the War Hammer nerds. Huzzah! I poured over their manga section quite thoroughly -- managed to reign in my desire to purchase EVERYTHING.
• Subjected the gentlemen to more Japanese television -- I wish I had invented the batsu game. Serious.
• Headed out for a delicious pad thai dinner. Showed off my newly-acquired chopstick skills. Slipped into a coma of aromatic, vegetarian cuisine. Ooh, it was also a tea-infused meal which is always a good thing.
• O'Neill and I stopped in for some ice cream at a new store across from their apartment. Oh, side note -- I got my hair cut on Friday night and I get my hair dresser to straighten it, right? I was wearing the same button-up shirt I wore on the night I encountered Jessy from Boston Pizza -- O'Neill and I ordered one-scoop cones and a certain gentleman behind the counter hooked O'Neill up with a double-scoop and me with a TRIPLE-scoop cone! Honestly, that was the first time I have ever been rewarded for my appearance. Hey, no arguments here -- it was damn good ice cream.
• Had another great queer-focused conversation with O'Neill. I never realise how pent-up I am about these topics until the two of us just sit down and share all the gay gossip we've compiled between visits. I'm glad that, despite the fact we live in two different towns now, we can still be blunt and direct with one another when it comes to all things queer.
• Headed out to Club Renaissance -- I was anticipating this trek for quite some time. It was the first time I'd ever been to a gay-exclusive club and, well.... I discovered I'd built it up a tad too much. It was all shades of awkward, let me tell you. I felt disconnected from the moment we stepped into the joint. I felt old and sober and kind of creepy...? Don't know where that all came from. And it didn't have the same weight as it might have a year ago. O'Neill's already been there a few times, so there wasn't that element of, "WOW -- here we are discovering a new queer space at the same time!!1!" Nope. It was just me wishing I was ANYWHERE BUT THERE. We stayed for half an hour then booked it the hell out.

Sunday, September 13/2009

• Defined the term "Lazy Sunday" -- Slept in until 9:30 am; Ate a delicious breakfast of eggs, toast, and chamomile/spearmint tea; Watched random clips on YouTube and sat around in our pajamas talking until 4 pm. I know, I passed my, "It's still worthwhile for me to shower" threshold. So, I got to extend the number of days I could maintain my lovely, flat-ironed hair.
• Headed out for an early dinner at the local Japanese restaurant. OH MAN -- VEGGIE BENTO. If you were curious to know the definition of "love," look no further than the bento box. It starts with miso soup and a salad; it continues with a sampling of veggie teriyaki, spring rolls, tempura, fried tofu, rice, and a veggie maki roll; and this one ended with a scoop of green tea ice cream -- all for $11.29. LOVE, I tell you -- it is love at its most fundamental level.
• Headed home at around 7 pm, accompanied yet again by Billy Bragg's vocals. O'Neill gave me the rest of the chamomile/spearmint tea (it's a nighttime brew that's supposed to help with insomnia which I am in sore need of) and Mr. Lee provided me with a disc containing all of the current Batwoman comics as well as some ample background information for her character. Will definitely have to dedicate a post to Batwoman. Serious.

All in all, it was a refreshing weekend. It was surreal to return to the campus after a full year away, but I can't deny the connection I have with the place. So, here's to all the kids out there who are headed back for another school season -- may your GPAs hold strong and your social scene expand even further.