Great Minds Making Potentially Stupid Decisions

For a week and a half, my room mate and I had been planning a camping trip for MLK weekend on Lake Michigan...

Yes, it is the middle of January, but where I am it appears to be spring, so a camping trip didn't sound like a terrible idea. We prepared ourselves for it to go completely wrong while holding onto the excitement of an adventurous weekend away. We had little to no expectations for our "camping" excursion. 

We left on friday for the great outdoors with two of our friends, a tent, 4 sleeping bags, and duffel bag of food, and 4 backpacks nearly 100% full of wool. Our plan was to camp outside my cottage, which we did not have a key to. After our departure we learned that we could use the cottage although there would be no heat or running water. It was my mother's attempt to deter us from staying outside in a tent for 2 nights. Little did we know at the time, the cold would defeat us, and my mother's "attempts" became a success. 

The tent was pitched, but only 3 of us tried sleeping in it including myself and my roommate. After an hour, I could stand it any longer. Although it wasn't the cold that got me, but rather the scarf around my neck that was strangling me. I went inside the cottage into the one room we filled with space heaters and closed off from the rest of the house. I woke up at 7:30 to find that the other two still had no come inside.  I  was about to go outside and check on them for fear they had frozen to death, but then I heard foot steps on the patio. They had barely slept all night and had been up since 5:30 to wait for the sun to come up. They crawled into bed to de-thaw and fell asleep until 1 or 2 in the afternoon. To say the least, we decided to stay in the house the second night. 

Later that day, we wandered down the beach bundled up in our winter gear with lunch trays in our hands, climbed a dune of at least 1000 feet tall, and sledded down it. That night the sky was cloudless and filled with stars. 

Even though the first night wasn't ideal, the second night was magnificent. The trip was more than we could ask for. At the end of the day, it's great to have friends who will make stupid decisions with you whether they go horribly wrong or incredibly well, although this trip proved that some day it may be the death of me. 

It's that Time of the Year: Where's My Winter Coat?

I recently read Alone for the holidays? It could be worse, an article in my local newspaper. It's about a craigslist ad a man from San Francisco posted in hopes of finding a temporary girlfriend for the holiday season. He didn't ask for much; simply someone to accompany him to holiday parties, to make being single during the holiday season a little more bearable, a drama-free break-up after the new year, and the possibility of friendship if there was a connection.

The holiday girlfriend is similar to what I call the "Winter Coat." If Alone for the Holidays had been from the Midwest, I think the stakes for his seasonal relationship would have been a little higher. While I relish in the joys of the single life, whenever winter blows in during late November, I find myself looking for my Winter Coat.

The Winter Coat is not a down-filled waterproof wind-breaking jacket with a fur lined hood, but simply a temporary boyfriend or fling to keep you warm during the winter months. It might have the promise of back massages, someone to share hot cocoa or watch movies with, but most importantly someone to fend off the bite of Old Man Winter.

Since winter is not necessarily blowing, but rather creeping in, it has given me more time to find my Winter Coat, but it seems this year, it will be that down-filled waterproof wind-breaking jacket with a fur lined hood, and me braving Old Man Winter.

And so I say, Alone for the holidays? It couldn't be better.

Happy holidays and happy New Year!

XoXo Strange Sailor

Peacocks and Ambrosia

Woke up early this morning after being haunted by french dreams which is still better than waking up in a hot sweat after having an army of albino peacocks wielding daggers at me. The french nightmares successfully got me out of bed because I kept sleeping when I should have been studying for my french exam which I had this morning.

Right now I am in the basement of Ambrosia studying for Biology which will probably haunt my dreams tonight. Water and sugar transportation in vascular plants, how the body deals with stress, and the kidney. Thrilling and completely unrelated. Somewhat like my life.

Before sitting down to study, I ordered a black coffee and a vegan cookie. I then put a splash of soy milk in my coffee. It was too full for me to carry down stairs so I started quickly sipping it so I could settle in and begin studying. Upon walking downstairs I noticed that it had accumulated milky snowflakes which floated around and gently settled on the bottom of the glass. The bottom of my glass seemed to be getting thicker and thicker and turning into a solid. This is generally not what my coffee looks or does, but it made me feel nauseous thinking about how many flakes I had just drank. I got a new one which I refrained from putting milk in...but I still don't trust it.

The cookie was delicious.

\'Aut\: to go out in the open

Recently, I switched up my jogging course. Instead of going where I wanted, I decided to let the walk signs decide. I chose a direction to run in and whenever I hit an intersection, I would go wherever the "Walk" sign led me. Not only freeing my mind of trying to decide where I wanted to go, but also not having to wait on street signs. On my run, I passed by a small cul-de-sac where there were small shops  can cafes lined up along a brick pathway, strung with lights, christmas bows, and a small fire pit in the center. One shop in particular interested me called Aut Bar, a small "coffee" shop dimly lit with enlarged photos covering the walls. Since then, I have decided to keep that route and after running past the cafe multiple times, I decided this past Saturday I would finally go.

Ella and I gathered up our laptops, books, and notebooks to prepare for our exams at the little cafe. We passed down Main Street where we came across 2 fairy doors. We continued on until we reached Aut Bar in Kerrytown. Upon entering Kerrytown, I noticed on the door  it said "/Aut/: adverb: to go out in the open." Once we got inside we immediately realized that Aut Bar was not a cafe, but a restaurant. Despite having already eaten breakfast, we sat down anyway to enjoy eggs and toast with home-ade jelly because the restaurant was so small that it would have been rude of us to leave right away. There was a christmas tree in the back corner strung with tinsel, ornaments, and lights. Portraits of people young and old hung on the wall. 

While we sat there waiting for out meal, I noticed a book case full of books, and one which read "Know the Legal Rights of Gays and Lesbians."  Shortly after the waiter, wearing tight khakis and a tight blue polo that read "Aut," came up to fill out waters. It slowly occurred to me that we were eating at a gay breakfast bar. All the waiters were males wearing tight khakis to emphasize their tight little asses and the same tight blue polo to emphasize their tight little pecks. In purple letters along the glass windows, it read "Out-rageous, Out-landish, Out-standing." It became certain that it was a gay bar when a transvestite sat at the table next to Ella and I. 

If Ella and I had been mistaken for a lesbian couple at the Aut Bar, it would not have been the first time.  After having become friends with several boys from down the hall, one day Dan blurted out, "Are you lesbian?!" They all leaned in and waited in anticipation for our response. Despite having each hooked up with a guy in the hall, it took us a while to establish ourselves as straight and strictly friends.While at Aut bar, Ella and I laughed because we were well aware that we looked like a couple. We used to joke that Ella had the same hair cut as Justin Bieber....

Recently she decided to grow it out, and as it has been growing from a pixie cut into a bob it has started to look something like these finnish children from Rare Export: A Christmas Tale...

In the end, when her bob has grown out I hope it will look something like this....

After eating at Aut Bar, we stopped to warm up by the bonfire while Charlie Brown's Christmas played throughout the cul-de-sac. We went stopped in some shops to look at art and jewelry for the Tiny Expo and concluded our day in Kerrytown with Tea Haus across the street for some caffeine and enjoyed a holiday chai by the tea pot. Inexpensive and a great place to study and on our way out we found ANOTHER fairy door to add to our count. 

Saturday night we wore christmas sweaters and went to see a dark comedy called Rare Export: A Christmas Tale. It was magnificent and I highly recommend it, in fact, I will probably see at least one more time before Christmas. It strays away from the typical Christmas flick redefining the meaning of Christmas and our modern day representation of Santa Clause and the term "elf."

Make the most of the holiday season and most importantly go to a gay breakfast, sit by a bonfire, enjoy tea, and watch Rare Export: A Christmas Tale. 

Phil Collins

About 5 years ago, my father went to the Genesis concert and brought me back a black shirt with Genesis encrusted in blue and silver diamonds on the front. It never appealed to me until this past friday when I came home inebriated and tired. It was the chosen shirt for my drunken slumber. And during the night, my mind was flooded by dreams of Phil Collins and Genesis. The next morning, I decided that the shirt is much more powerful than I initially gave it credit for.

In lieu of my t-shirt, my friend and room mate, Ella, decided to dedicate the following Saturday to Phil Collins. In his honor, we acquired his full discography and blasted it through the halls of my dormitory on my larger than life speakers. I folded laundry while listening to Phil for as long as I could resist dancing. And then we danced. Sang. and made rum pineapple mixed drinks. It was a glorious beginning to what would later become an amazing yet unfortunately forgettable night.

With two of our friend's 21st birthday parties to attend we decided to stop at D Nug's apartment first where there was delicious Latin American dishes, a lot of good people, and chill music. We ate. Mingled. laughed. and raised our glasses to Phil Collins. And of course played phone roulette. We rolled out at about 11:00 to head to our friend Chris' Birthday party..which would prove to be a little more "rowdy" perhaps.

At Chris', there was a lot of jungle juice, beer, beer pong and flip cup, Katy Perry, and gay men. We danced and drank the night away...almost a little too literally. We decided to leave Chris's early, for unknown reasons. Got back to home by 1:00 and then our night of the unforgettable begun.

There is a period of 2 hours which we both do not recall...whether it was because we weren't doing anything or we were blacked out, it is uncertain. But from 3:00 to 3:30 I found myself locked out of the room talking with my Brazilian neighbor and pounding on the door to be let back in. Meanwhile, Ella was sitting in the room on her bed. Annoyed at my knocking and under the impression that it was one of the boys from down the hall. And so she consciously ignored it in hopes that it would go away. While wandering up and down the hall in search for some help, I finally found my friend David who took care of business by pounding on the door. Ella, then realized I was not in the room. And was probably locked out and that the knocking had in fact been me. Upon getting back into the room, we both fell asleep immediately. Thus, our night of Phil Collins came to an end.

So for those of you who doubt the power of Phil Collins, remember my experiences of the nights at the beginning of December. His eminence is overwhelming and not something to be toyed with, but it should be appreciated in respectful Genesis-kind of way.

Market to Market

10:30 AM Farmers market. Bought an apple fritter, loaf of bread, a giant cucumber, a bunch of apples, a coffee, and a banana nut muffin.
12:00 PM Book shop. Bought a novel of short stories called Nightfall by Isaac Asimov
12:20 PM Record shop.
12:40 PM Home
1:00 PM Ragstock. Tried on gaudy ball gowns.
1:30 PM Urban Oufitters. Bought a shirt and ankle boots.
1:45 PM Vintage Clothing shops
2:30 PM Smoke shop. Bought a cigarette holder and 2 cigars
3:00 PM Another Vintage shop.
3:30 PM Ragstock again. Tried on more gaudy ball gowns. Bought a silky  red dress for my costume and long black gloves. And a gentleman's mustache for our Colonel Mustard.
4:00 PM Home
4:45 PM Dinner at La Marsa.
6:00 Home

My wallet lit up in flames moments ago and is currently burning a hole through my wood floor. Expensive, but a perfect day nonetheless. Freezing my account for the next 2 months. 

10:00 PM- 2:00 AM Snowboard Club progressive...tonights gonna be a good, good night. I can feel it.

Halloween

In celebration of the fall season, so far I have eaten any pumpkin baked good that has come into my sight, enjoyed carmel and apples (ensemble of course), drank at least 3 different Octoberfest beers, ran or walked on many beautiful brisk fall days, and the last thing on my list is to send a giant box of colorful leaves to my friend in California who doesn't have the blessing of autumn.

Just today I went halloween costume shopping at Salvation Army. My room mate and a couple friends are going as the Clue gang. The boys were very successful in finding a Plum, Green, and Colonel costume, but my room mate and I struck out as Peacock and Scarlet. Thrifting and the farmer's market in the morning. Hopefully we will have a little more luck.