the adventures of buckaroo bonzai
My friend Meagan invited us over for a potluck last night. I made a kickass squash casserole off the top of my head (if anyone wants the “recipe” let me know and I will write it up). It was pretty much gone during the first serving. After dinner we walked downtown to see The Wailers play a free show at Moore Square.
Click the photo to see a short video snippet (ignore the poor audio quality, it was done with my digital camera).
Fun!
This past Tuesday, we met up with Brett (amtrekker.com) through the couchsurfing website. He originally wanted to sleep on our floor on Saturday, but we were at the beach. I gave him a call anyway, and told him that if he was still in Raleigh on Tuesday, he should join us for trivia night at Napper Tandy’s pub downtown. So he was, and he did.
Right now, he’s traveling all around the country trying to cross off a list of 50 things he wanted to do before he goes back home. A few examples of ones he’s finished: Enter a hot dog eating contest, see a live taping of the Colbert Report, and tell Donald Trump “You’re Fired”. He still hasn’t gone into a coal mine or learned to make moonshine yet, but it’s only a matter of time.
So far his journey has lasted about 10 months. His family didn’t think he’d last 6. At this rate, he should be home around September.
He’s just a normal guy on a mission, proving that anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it.
Check out his blog for some inspiration.
Laura moved here a few weeks ago, the day that I returned from Mexico. The first weekend, we went down to GA to see my mom in the hospital and LSB met some more of my family. For the past few weeks we have been really enjoying our time together, going out, meeting people, drinking Strongbow, and making new friends. And yes, getting bogged down in school (me) and looking for jobs (her). I’ve got nothing to complain about though.
I love waking up next to her every morning and snuggling up close every night.
I can’t imagine it any other way.
I found us a cute little (cheap!) studio apartment and we’ve been busting our asses to make it spiffy. I built some shelves and a bed and she’s been organizing and decorating the whole thing. She made a photoset of the progress so far [not included are the 6 police cars and SWAT team that stopped by last week].
Here’s the LSB with Scooter at my mom’s house:
Is there anything cuter?
I found out today that my old landlord, Donald Keyes, passed away in May. He was hiking in the Grand Canyon with his wife and a few friends and had a heart attack. I guess if you’re going to go, it’s good to do it while you’re having fun with the people you love. He was a great guy, more like a good friend than a landlord. And you gotta respect when a guy with a degree from Yale does all of the maintenance and repairs on his properties.
Athens misses you already, Donald.
Former Museum Curator Dies While Hiking in Grand Canyon
I wish I could have said goodbye.
I just got this letter from my friend Maria. We worked together in Oregon at Al’s Garden Center. Isn’t this one of the sweetest things you’ve ever read?
Hey Ben ! Do you remember me?… It’s me Maria. It has been three months since you left and I’m realy missing you. You didn’t know but you were a friend to me. You are a realy cool guy. Do you remenber the times when we sang together? And also when you scarred me? Do you remenber my food that I bake for you.?. those gorditas and tostadas. Do you know that you were the fist men that I cook for? It was good. I’ll never forget those days that you work with us. Where are you now? I know that you are traveling around the world but I don’t know where? Please if you have time write me. I’ll be happy if I know somethin about you. Your friend Maria Ortiz
[Her english is better than my spanish!]
She’s the one in the middle, with the camera.
Bad Behavior has blocked 801 access attempts in the last 7 days.