While I Drink this Wisconsin Wine

this past wednesday and thursday (my former "weekend" before getting fired and turning every day into a saturday) andrew craig and his friend alex of wisconsin came through san francisco as a part of their gigantic road trip. they spent a night at andy's sister's place before eventually heading over to mine and telling me that she hardcore stalks me. yeah, they said that. in those exact words.

at first, i felt a little bad about my sleeping quarters because the floor-space would really only accommodate one person or at the very most one spooning couple. but andy managed to tetris himself onto my tiny love-seat-- which takes some applause-worthy skill.

ultimately, we ended up climbing through a small cave just beyond the sutro bath ruins at the edge of ocean beach. we had a good mix of beer (pale ales), wine (wisconsin's door county courtesy of mr. craig), cigarettes, weed, and conversations about racism, the days of gimptard, and ridiculous bosses.

i felt like the black pearl should've shown up and said a hello. it would've been quite fitting.

but all of this got me to thinking i need to travel. i've always known i needed to travel and managed to calm my desire by saying, "one day" every time the idea came into my head. one day.

and what day is that? when i have money? when i have time? that's just a clever way of saying "never."

when we were all kids, i rarely got to go on vacations because of a mixture of bad paychecks and my dad's bad back. i know when we were real young we must've done some light traveling because i've seen photos of me in front of fairly famous american monuments-- but if i can't even remember going, i can't say i was old enough to appreciate the experience.

i'm sick of being the behind-the-scenes guy in the vacation world. i was your tour guide when you visited the winchester mystery house, i was your tour guide in san francisco, too. i sold you the camera you bought before going to rome and i printed the photos you brought back. i planned your one-month scandanavian travel as your credit card concierge and i even helped you find good restaurants while you were overseas.

i'm sick of vacationing vicariously.

i want to go where my accent is funny. i want to talk with strangers not just because i like to talk to people but because i am a tourist and i'm fucking lost. i want to bring home 3,000 pictures of buildings that are only interesting to visitors. i want to see your dive bars, too.

when i was a tour guide, i gathered nearly a hundred business cards from friendly folk-- i was even offered a job in new orleans "if you ever make it out there." and maybe that's what i need to be doing. maybe i need to just grab a backpack, call some friends, and do what david did and what andy and alex are doing.

if i don't do it soon, it won't happen. and maybe i don't have a ton of cash like my former clients, but i do know people across the world in all sorts of spots.

i guess what i'm saying is... ready your couches and floor-spaces. i'll bring high-fives, alcohol, and semi-decent stories.

by the way, i'm sorry my mirror almost killed you in your sleep, alex.

and thank you both for cleaning my kitchen-- that was almost too nice. hope you enjoyed your stay and continue to enjoy the rest of your epic adventure.