Goodbye Gainesville! Hello Las Vegas!

Goodbye Gainesville. Goodbye to opossums, water moccasins, and every other weird creature that runs rampant in Florida and I could never quite get used to. Goodbye to the "Gainesville beard", which locals say in reference to the fact that the majority of young men in Gainesville have beards of various sizes and lengths. But most have beards, nonetheless, a uniquely Gainesvillian phenomenon. Below is a picture of my friend, Sean, shaving his beard. I convinced him to. Rebel!

Goodbye to year−round allergies and frequent, freak occurrences of ringworm. Goodbye to Maude's, Common Grounds, and Brophy's. Goodbye to lush trees and plants, and green stuff in general. Goodbye to the Duckpond, which has quacking frogs rather than ducks. Goodbye to my awesome bike and to the opportunity to ride a bike safely around town. Goodbye Gators, I really could not stand all of you crazy Gator fans who treat game days like national holidays nor could I stand the fact that almost every Walmart, store, or other establishments bore Gator colors and on game days the streets are lined in Gator colors as the entire town seems to be wearing them. Goodbye to having a 90% chance that anywhere I go I will recognize about 3 or more people, and often those people are not people I want to see. Gainesville had a way of providing exboyfriend minefields for me. That's part of what instigated my recent fall on my face last month. Goodbye humidity. Goodbye Atlantic Ocean. Goodbye to all things uniquely Floridian and/or Gainesvillian. But most importantly, goodbye to all the people I met, all the friendships I formed, the people I fell in love with, and even the people I ended up becoming near enemies with. I will never forget you. And, someone in particular deserves a special goodbye. Goodbye Tom. You will always hold a special place in my heart.
I am currently writing this on the airplane headed to Las Vegas. Crazy technology. Who would have thought you could surf the internet with wifi on your laptop from an extreme altitude such as this?! Nuts!
Anyway, I am currently listening to a song from the Rocky Horror Picture Show, "I'm Going Home", and the lyrics are remarkably perfect for how I feel about moving back home to Las Vegas. Here's an excerpt: "On the day I went away, goodbye was all I had to say. Now I want to come again and stay... I'm going home."

Now I'm listening to Tom Wait's song, "Mr. Siegal", a song about Las Vegas. This line in particular sounds like the perfect description of Vegas, if you consider Las Vegas to be the "porch light". Here's the line, "How do the angels get to sleep when the Devil leaves his porch light on?"
HELLO Las Vegas! Hello home! Hello slot machines in grocery stores, the airport, and gas stations. Hello to everything being open 24/7. Hello to all my old friends, some of whom have been my friends since preschool or kindergarten. Hello to knowing a city like the back of my hand. Hello to a place where it is NOT safe to ride a bike around town. Hello to casinos. Hello to multitudes of buffets. Hello to UNLV and CCSN. Hello to black widows, water beetles, scorpions, rattlesnakes, coyotes, mountain lions, chipmunks and all other critters that I am completely used to. Hello again to modeling. Hello dry, brown, desert. Hello Jack In the Box, In N Out, fried Oreos, fried cheese curds, and foot−long hot dogs. Hello to the Pacific Ocean. Hello to all things uniquely Las Vegas; things I hated when I left and love and appreciate now that I'm returning. HELLO to having a true sense of having a home, as opposed to the fleeting "homes" I felt I belonged in Dresden, Gainesville, Toulouse, and every other place I got a crush on while traveling. Hello to the next chapter of my life!

1 week quit / How Will You Celebrate?

That's what my quitting booklet page is titled for those who have made it one week without smoking. It says, "Congratulations! You're a non smoker! You deserve a reward!"

Well, when I read that yesterday, on Day 7, I couldn't help but laugh bitterly because I had just gotten out of bed around noon and had to head to work soon after. I knew that not only would I not have the opportunity to reward myself, but that this particular day would make me question why I bothered quitting smoking in the first place. And I was right.

However. Today is Day 8. And today I have rewarded myself doubly for making it so long despite a terrible work week.



I quit. Granted, I put in my two weeks notice a week ago, and working today would have meant I only had one week left to put up with their disrespect and treating me like crap. But I rewarded myself for quitting smoking with the gift of time. My life has been absolutely miserable for the last few weeks largely because of work. So now, I can enjoy my last month in Gainesville in peace. And when I go back to pick up my last check and return my work shirts, you can bet your ass that their also going to get a piece of my mind. I'm going to write them a long letter explaining every single reason that I feel I have been slighted, disrespected, unappreciated, and lied to since the day I started working there 9 months ago.

DOWN WITH MOTHER EARTH / NRG!!!!! I hope this economy makes them go bankrupt.