Season Premiere

I got a job and an apartment in Kansas City, MO. The parents helped me move in over the weekend, but I have more stuff to take this coming weekend. Right now, I’m at my brother’s house again, then I’m going to visit Hannibal again Saturday. Sunday, I’m loading up my car with my remaining crap, then settling in for good. I allegedly start work Tuesday.

My apartment is an entirely new living atmosphere for me. Since dorm life, I’ve lived in two semi-dilapidated houses, each with a unique set of problems. While they were cozy in their own way, it’s kind of nice to live in a place that doesn’t look like a college bachelor pad. I figure, since I am not a student anymore, a slightly higher standard of living is appropriate. Therefore, I live in a quiet apartment complex with a balcony overlooking a pool. Instead of buying other people’s discarded crap at a thrift store, I have furniture that doesn’t make the place a complete eyesore. I even bought matching bathroom items such as a toothbrush holder, tissue box cover, tray, and soap dispenser. I even bought a new comforter and sheets to go with my new bed. I got new towels that color-coordinate with my comforter. Uh… does that make me gay?

For the first time in four years, I’m not sleeping on the floor. And for the first time in seven years, I’m sleeping in a bed that’s larger than a twin size. One man’s bare minimum is another man’s luxury. Maybe if I feel like a guest in my own house, I’ll keep it clean.

It’s my own Fortress of Solitude.

As for my job, it’s… a job. It’s not music-related, but it pays well and it’s high-class enough that I have to dress appropriately. It’s an office job. It’s a two-pronged business. One side of it is being an agency for prospective office employees around the city, and the other side is where I come in. I handle files, sort stuff, upload stuff on the internet for clients. I can’t really describe it in much detail because I haven’t actually started work yet, and we’re not allowed to discuss clients anyway.

And so begins life after grad school. Quiet dignity, at last.

I was contacted by one Dean Yzon. We chatted on the phone for a while… both eager to hang out again on a regular basis. He hadn’t emailed me in several months, and I wasn’t sure if he was in KC at all. Had he not called, I was prepared to search for him Outer Rim style. There had been Dean sightings in Kirksville earlier in the spring, and I was going to investigate. I was about to stop by the Mos Eisley cantina and ask around, when I got a message on the HoloNet. It turns out he’s been skifting around Nar Shaddaa for a while. I heard about his little maneuver at the battle of Tanaab, and I was going to follow the trail, when he contacted me. He’s in KC, north of the river, and we’re looking forward to getting together and falling into our old rhythms.

After talking with Dean, I noticed that basically I’m keeping alive most of the best parts from my Truman years: consorting with Brad, absconding with Dean, and training with the old karate posse. The only thing missing is the Too Talls experience… but my lifestyle has far evolved anyway.

It’s pleasing to think of it that way. After two years, the positive parts of Truman carry on. The hard part is going to be doing that with Bowling Green, too. Cumulative upkeep? Anyway, I come full circle back to the quantum physics / spin-off discussion with Aaron Marx. He said (and I’m paraphrasing here) that, since people change over time and through experience and circumstance, the person you remember is always dead. That is to say, a person is necessarily never exactly the way you remember them. Two years later, after my own epic trials and conquests, a new chapter begins, rife with crossovers of other characters’ story arcs. Dean and I mused about this: it’s like we’re all main characters in our own series, and the crossovers really boost ratings.

Here’s to reprising old alliances. There is no such thing as “good-bye”… only a curious smirk and hopeful glance down the road not taken.