For Me to Stay Here I've Got to be Me

Here is another photo from Coadster. This one is of our iced over alley.

Sometimes I love my town. Sure, I'll probably never meet a guy I can date here, but everything else is pretty good. So, why stress-out about the one thing I can't have, when there are so many other great things I can have? Don't get me wrong, I'm sure you'll also read plenty of "I hate Iowa City" posts from me, but tonight I'm have a little fling with my town. Ah, hell. Let's just count some ways, okay?

First - I've decided for sure to go see Dinosaur Jr play next Tuesday night at the Picador. I messaged my friend J. about it, because he works there, and he told me it was an early show, so it should be done by eleven. Even I'm not so lame that I can't make it to an early show on a school night, right? Plus, it only takes me less than ten minutes to get home from there.

Second - I work almost downtown, so I was able to go kidnap my friend A. from her job at 126 for a half an hour right after I was released from the agony of my job. We went into the Deadwood and had a Pepsi. It was angry hour there and beer was really cheap, but I had promised Coadster I'd go to the rec building and run with her. Sadly, I'm not coordinated enough to run without tripping when I'm sober, let alone after a beer or two.

Third - While A. and I were at the Deadwood, we were talking about a fairly famous folksinger and his also fairly famous folksinger wife who just recently moved from their acreage outside of Fairfield into A.'s neighborhood. She was talking about their daughter who they adopted from Russia and has a fairly distinctive name, when a guy approached our table. I had my back to him, so I couldn't see who he was until he spoke. "Hey, I'm sorry. I was over there playing Sudoku, and I overheard you talking about G.B. and his daughter. They're actually friends of mine..."

"Oh, that's cool. I really like them too," My friend A. said. I recognized the guy. He lives kind of by my friend K. and he's a friend of this guy I know named B.C., so we both said hi and I introduced him to A. He asked if he could join us and so we all talked for a while, before Coadster called and informed me that I was really late and needed to get going. I both love it and hate it that in this town anyone sitting near you, knows someone you're talking about. But I only love it and don't hate it, that that person will have no qualms about introducing him/herself, and if they sit down with you, will almost always be entertaining in some way.

Fourth - Coadster and I finally made it to the rec building. It's an awesome 200 meter track with indoor tennis courts in the center, and best of all, it's completely free and open to the public. Tonight they were having indoor youth soccer practice, so there were plenty of things to watch while we were running. Because I was a little delinquent earlier in the evening, I really only had time to run a few miles, but my iPod was feeling all groovy and playing a lot of sixties music. I heard "Good Vibrations" by the Beach Boys, "Go Where You Wanna Go" by the Mamas and the Papas, "If you Want Me to Stay", by the Chili Peppers (it's a cover of a Sly and the Family Stone song, so it totally counts as groovy) and "Police and Thieves" by The Clash - which is not so sixties at all, but a song I like a whole, whole lot.

So, people always want to talk shit about Iowa. I agree that the weather sucks. It's crazy cold in the Winter and stoooopidly hot and humid in the Summer and usually the weather is the most exciting thing going on here, but I can work around all that and love everything else... At least I can tonight.