A Beautiful Mind

This past weekend was more fun than a barrel of monkeys (which are a lot of fun)! On Thursday I drove down to Huntington to eat lunch with Megan Breen. We went to the Sugar Shack, a place where "everyone in Huntington has to eat at least once a week." The food was good, but the service was redic. As the waitress was placing my plate on the table, I turned (not seeing her) and was hit in the nose with my plate. Caught off guard, I replied: "I'm really sorry (in a very sincere tone), I'm blind in this eye." The girl felt terrible! Megan, feeling a little embarrassed, told the waitress that I was lying. The waitress, feeling like an idiot, called me an A-hole (she said the actual word)... I quickly responded: "I'M THE A-HOLE (out of anger, I actually said the real word)? YOU JUST HIT A BLIND GUY IN THE EYE!" She continued to give me the business, but I shut her down by saying: "Could you please speak up (pointing to my left ear), this is my bad ear." Much banter was exchanged throughout the next half hour. It was concluded with her saying: "Just eat your food so I can go home." My response: "I'll eat your tip with it too."

After lunch, Megan and I drove down to Coronado to surprise Sam on his birthday. After hours of searching, we finally met up with Sam He was very surprised to see me... we hadn't talked once all summer. It was a fun evening of crazy-loud times and embarrassing people in public (if you can imagine Sam and I acting that way).

The next day was "Aubrey Marks Day," which consisted of me making a list of things that I'd like to do and allowing Aubrey to hang out with me (I kid). It was a lot of fun! Last semester Aubrey and I would go on random missions at 1 or 2 in the morning and I really missed those times. Friday was a good opportunity to relive the fun that we had at school, but on her home turf. We went thrifting in the gay district of San Diego, rode bikes for a really long time (the highlight of my time with her), and watched Full House, among the various other things we did that day. That evening, before I had to leave, we did the last thing that was on my list: eat rugged mexican food. To testify to how authentically rugged the food was, I still have an upset stomach three days later (no joke).

After dinner it was time to do what I came to San Diego to do: SEE SUFJAN STEVENS!!! I got to the concert an hour and a half early and was the first person there. This allowed me to walk directly up to the stage, dead-center. The opening band began to play and there were hardly any people at the venue. As I looked around, I noticed that Sufan was standing just behind me. I casually and discretely went up to him (so as to not blow his cover) and got his autograph-- it was awesome. An hour and a half later, Sufjan and the Illinoisemakers [scroll down to see a picture of them] took the stage. I've seen some good bands in concert, but never have I been so impressed by a person's talent! Sufjan's ability to compose complex and beautiful music, combined with his phenomenal voice, floored me. I couldn't help but smile the entire concert. On top of that, I was just three feet from him-- it was unreal. I can't even put into words what seeing Sufjan meant to me, but of course I will try. Think back to 1998, when the Backstreet Boys were huge and girls were crying and screaming at their concerts. These girls were extremely excited to see these dudes. On the inside, that's how excited I was! Sufjan is my Nick Carter and I was mesmerized by him every minute he was on stage. In a few words, Sufjan is a genius and the concert was the bomb!

If you ever get a chance, see Sufjan in concert-- he will not disappoint!