Back to CA

The longest I've ever been out of Californa for was about 3.5 months when I was studying abroad. I haven't been back since a few days into 2009 (or the last time the Sharks were playing well), so this will be a new record. I'll be headed to Mannywood (at least Barry to man-roids) though, so it won't quite be home. The weather here hasn't cracked 65 in almost a week now, so I'm ready for the California sun.

On a side note, the thing I'm most excited for (besides various visits from friends) is Josh Ritter with the New York Pops at Central Park in June. He's one of my favorite musicians (great live) and I'm really excited to go to one of his orchestra shows.

("California" live from Ireland just to tie everything in here):



When I get in tomorrow night, destination number one will definitely be In-n-Out Burger. There have definitely been replacements for it - much better burgers (though not so cheap), almost-there fries, and a shake/custard that must be from the blender of God himself. The magical thing about In-n-Out is that when you mention you are from California, the first two things people say to you are sunshine and In-n-Out. It's the symbol of California, they might as well replace the bear on the state flag with the giant yellow arrow. I'm sure half of the amount that I miss INO is attributable to the fact that it burger-sonifies all the intangible things about home that I miss.

Anyway, I'm sitting here watching USC play Penn State in the NCAA Men's Volleyball national semi-final on ESPN2 which features a guy a few years younger than me at my high school and one of my old club coaches as assistant coach. I've never really felt much nostalgia about my youth before, but it's a weird feeling to think that I'm past that stage of my life and I'll never lace up the Asics and step on the SportCourt in an overly air-conditioned convention center in a relatively undesirable city again. Hopefully this summer there will be some relatively competitive volleyball at the park near my apartment that I can join in on. It's somewhat unsettling to think that the only outlet for my competitive drive is beer-league hockey. I think that's why I'm so set on launching my own website - I'm so competitive that I'll have to find a way to make it work.

Well that was quite the ramble. On that note, see you tomorrow CA!