So, you might be thinking, “Hey, I thought you started this blog to keep track of your 101 in 1001 progress, and you haven’t updated it in about a bajillion years. What gives?” Well, the reason for my hiatus is that I’ve been too busy being awesome (going on vacation in Florida, straight road-trippin’ to Columbia) but as a result not doing anything on my list until recently.
I’m proud to say that while I was in Columbia this weekend, I accomplished my goal of obtaining a [preferably used] bicycle by whatever [legal] means necessary. It’s a little Schwinn Frontier mountain bike, which isn’t that “fashionable” compared to what most of the Little Rock kids are riding these days (vintage road bikes and cruisers) but girrrrrl, you know I don’t even give no care. My bike is cute as HELL, it only cost me $170, and it’s about as hearty as a roast beef sandwich. In fact, I’m thinking of naming my new-found mode of local transport Ragtime Roast Beefy in honor of the aforementioned comparison and my never-ending love affair with Wizard People Dear Reader (click here for Chapter 1, and click here and watch from :55 to 1:08 for an explanation of Ragtime Roast Beefy).
At the suggestion of my particularly lucid elder sibling Michael, I added selling the Jetta to the master list and — with the help of said brother, my dad, and my brother-in-law — was able to accomplish this goal in mid-June.
So, at a little more than two months after beginning 101 in 1001, I’m averaging meeting one challenge every 20 days. At that rate, it’s going to take about five-and-a-half years to finish everything on my list. I gotta step it up!
On the subject of Columbia: It was good, I guess. I’m glad I went back because it had been more than a year since I visited — the first time since moving to Little Rock — and I was anxious to see some of my favorite faces and go to my old haunts. Several of my friends were out of town for the holiday weekend, which sorta stunk, but Liz was there, which is the whole reason I went in the first place, and all of my favorite haunts (Shakespeare’s Pizza, Main Squeeze, Uprise Bakery) are still present and accounted for.
I had a pretty good time in college, but I always felt sort of out-of-place in Columbia. Back then, I thought it was really just my problem that I never fit in. But now that I’ve lived in a different city and learned what people outside of Columbia are like, I realize that most of the people in that town are just really superficial and clique-y. I went to a 4th of July party, which ended up being a blast, but only because a) Liz and Nay are fun, b) the food was good, and c) we had Trops, not because anybody else there was particularly friendly or warm. Most of them — many of whom I had known in college — made no attempts to even say hi, and from what I could tell, spent most of the afternoon picking at their food and trying to look like they didn’t know how ridiculous their clothes were. That’s another thing: Life in Columbia, at least among the indie kids, is just one big avant garde fashion show. I’m not saying that I don’t like wearing unusual clothes, but it seems like these people base their entire social circle on it. Truthfully, some of the things I saw were just teetering on the brink of absurdity. And now that I think of it, it was really just the guys that were the problem. The party was, no lie, segregated into two camps — hos and bros — and the bro camp was reaaaaal busy hangin’ out by a kiddie pool-full of Stag the whole night and talking about whatever guys in Columbia talk about. Which, by the looks of things, most likely includes vintage road bikes, really tight pants, and eating disorders. And just to give you an idea, there was also a guy with a feather earring. For real.
Los Angeles this weekend!
Tags: bicycle, columbia, jetta, wizard people dear reader
