Life Lesson Number 56

I spent the weekend in Louisville Hanging out with the Mulkeys and going to the IRL race there along with some Indy friends that came down for the race as well. The race was fun, but nothing at all like the Indy 500. There wasn't even a quarter of the number of people there and the stands were empty by comparison to Indy. I think a large reason for this was that you can't take coolers into the track and beers cost $6.50 on the inside. After all was said and done, though, we still managed to have a good time.

The night before the race I was hanging out with Mulkey, who had recently purchased a bottle of absinthe. Before we got into that we went to a brew pub to grab a bite and then over to another bar to play some Golden Tee. There was some sort of loser convention at this bar, though, and after an hour or so we had to leave because of the lame-ass music they were playing on the jukebox.

Now it was time to try the absinthe. For those of you that don't know, absinthe is a liquor that supposedly drove people insane. This was a grossly exaggerated lie built up by the conservatives of the late 19th and early 20th centuries and since then no proof has been shown to indicate that absinthe is any more dangerous than ordinary liquor.

Now on to the life lesson. I guess this could apply to any alcohol, but especially so to absinthe as it is considerably stronger than drinks such as vodka or whiskey. So as part of Supertrippin's public service, I would like to urge you to avoid the practice of Aikido after splitting a bottle of strong liquor with someone trained in the martial art unless you know what you are doing. Especially if you have a weakened shoulder from a previous injury. I have not done extensive research on this, but the results were 100% the same from all research I am aware of (1 for 1). For me, it was a dislocated shoulder. Luckily I got it popped back in on my own, but it is still a painful experience that I recommend avoiding if possible.

That's all for today. Be sure to check back for future life lessons which may or may not involve alcohol, martial arts, and/or semi-hilarious injuries or not so funny injuries. I guess those last two just depend on which side of things you're on.

Chicago

The trip is drawing to an end, but here are some pictures from Chicago. Stef and I were there for a few days staying at her sister's place. Stef is still there and I have moved on to Indy in route for Atlanta and eventually Honolulu.

in Chicago

Chris seems to be boycotting the blog, so you get another short one from me.

We've been in Chicago staying with my sister for the past couple of days. Yesterday, we went to Millennium Park and to the top of the Hancock building for drinks, and the previous day we took my sister grocery shopping... good times. We're missing Lollapalooza due to a lack of funds for tickets, so that's a bummer. Soon I will get the pics of Chicago posted.

Buuuut, I also have pictures from New York here and some Pittsburgh shots here. Our friend Jesse from Hawaii is now a travelling lumberjack and we stayed with him one night in PA. We also got to stay with the entire lumberjack gang as they all live and work together. Besides feeling like I was in a mini frat house, it was pretty fun. In New Jersey, we stayed an extra couple of days to go sailing. I promptly threw up off the back of the boat and then a serious storm blew in. We got back to the yacht club in time but then had to wait in the boat for the storm to blow over (the motor boat would not come and get us in the weather) and we saw 45 knot gust. So I got about an extra 45 minutes of feeling like I wanted to vomit.

Today we might go to the art museum and stare longingly through the fence at Lollapalooza. We'll see.

Chris leaves tomorrow for Indiana and I am staying here until my parents come next week. So I guess out little adventure is about over, which is sad and I don't want to think about right now.

Back in the USA

We made it back to the US of A last week and promptly skipped Miami (due mostly to a lack of a cell phone and no way to get a hold of people), rented a car, and drove straight up to the Atlanta suburbs. Exhausted, we arrived to Chris’s mom’s house and after two nights, borrowed her brand new Civic and drove up to Washington DC. My cousins Jill and Kristin just moved there and Chris had never seen DC (besides the airport) so we spent the weekend site seeing and drinking and having a good time. You can see the pictures here.

Oh yes, and you can see our remaining Colombia pictures here and here.

After enjoying The ONC (Our Nation’s Capitol, I stole that from the cousins) Chris and I drove up to New Jersey and are staying at his grandma’s house in Wayne. Hopefully tomorrow we will drive into New York, and take the ferry into the city. I’m not sure how long we’ll stay around here, but not too long, and then maybe go see a friend in Pittsburg.

So busy busy. I am pretty much out of money and Chris needs to return the car soon so I am not sure how long our great American road trip will last. We are just trying to get adjusted to the lack of hepatitis in the water, the surplus of shops and restaurants, and the pace of everything else. Hopefully soon I will stop staring slack-jawed at the people at the fast food counters due to the overwhelming options in front of me…