Sunday, March 19, 2006

The last day of Spring Break and I am stuck working all day.

Oh well, probably for the better. There is snow covering the ground outside right now anyways. Leave it to Wyoming to be nice the week before spring break and dump snow on us all throughout the week of Spring Break.

Miles Driven: 1,995
Miles Walked: 16
One new tie
One new hat
A new pair of shorts
And a couple more comics

I started off Spring Break with a weekend trip to Vegas. It was awesome, we got into Vegas around 1:00 in the morning on Saturday and we were all to excited and to much adrenaline pumping to actually go to bed, and since in Vegas there are people up 24 hours a day, we all got dressed up and went out on to the strip, wandered around part of Caesar’s Palace and ended up in the casino at the Excalibur until 5:30 in the morning. Walking back to our hotel at 6:00 in the morning we were rained on a little and watched the sun rise over the Strip. Saturday was spent wandering around shops and getting our tickets for KA the Cirque Du Soleil show we went and saw Saturday night. Words cannot explain the show, I was on the edge my seat the entire night with partial audience participation (mainly just actors running into the seating area), the staging and lighting were fascinating and the pyrotechniques were fabulous. The rest of the weekend was mainly more walking around.
We're not letting go this time, days wasted together can be the most valuable in a life.

I have finally gotten my leaner's permit (yes again, someday I swear I will get my license) and drove Sunday night from Vegas up to Cedar City, UT. Wednesday some of my friends decided to steal away to Ft. Collins and Denver for a couple days, so we invaded the comic book shops, video arcades, and yes had bed jumping contests in our hotel room.
To find a soul so like your own can be scary some days, hold on to those friends.

On the way to Ft. Collins, Jim called me to see what I was up to. What followed was an enormous opportunity for youth in the area. Next weekend is the Matthew Shepard foundation's "Bear to Make a Difference" Dinner in Denver, CO. Jim found out that there was a scholarship available for youth 15-20 who submitted an essay on "What Embracing Diversity means to you." There were a limited number of scholarships available, but soon after I submitted my essay I received an e-mail stating that I have been selected to attend for the 5th Annual Bear to Make a Difference Dinner and Celebrity Teddy Bear Auction. So next weekend I will find myself in Denver, again at what hopes to be an amazing evening. The dress code for the evening is black-tie optional and instead of wearing a formal dress I might be looking into renting a tux for the evening :)
I wouldn't give any of it up for second try, growing into ourselves is the greatest time of our lives. It will be hard, but there are days that make up for the rest of them.



On a more solemn note, back in February I lost a good friend of mine that lived in Jackson. I received the news on a Sunday that Travis had been found dead by his mom in his bedroom. Travis was one of my dear friends and my best friend Sarah's boyfriend. He had taught me how to skateboard, and introduced me to Tool. When Sarah figured she had no other options except to runaway in the 8th grade she stole away to Travis's house in Jackson for about a week and half, and I went with her. Travis was one of the most caring, easy-going guys I've known. In 2003 Travis was diagnosed with HIV. It was the most difficult thing for him to swallow. Shortly there after I lost contact with him as did most other people. Last December the HIV had developed into full blown AIDS, Travis couldn't handle it and took his own life. This though is to the Travis I knew, to the inventor of the sign GAME CROSSING game (Parcheesi, and Sorry), to sneaking into movies and love a of snowboarding, who taught me to play Grand Theft Auto, and how to unlock all of the secret codes in Tony Hawk's Skateboarding. To contemplating why the stars really existed (to be full of beauty on dark nights when you cannot find yourself) To the guy full of love.
“Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life” ~The Fray

1 comment:

Mandyfish said...

Yay you posted!

I'm sorry about your friend..



HOW...(let me stress that) HOW..could you be in Vegas and not tell me? It is a little less than 3 hours away!!!