we've got everything down to a science

Sparky and I took our first trip out of state together in over a year, making our way the 250 or so miles to the vast utopia typically called Columbia, South Carolina. After arriving at Kelly and Taylor's stylish and improbably tall loft apartment gouged into a former mill of some sort and subsequently eating Chick-fil-A on the USC campus, Kelly and I went along with a group of his schoolfriends to see Of Montreal at the local bar slash venue. I had reluctantly forgone seeing Of Montreal in Athens in lieu of visiting Kelly and Taylor in South Carolina, so I was rather pleased to happen upon them playing in Columbia the night before; the show was incredibleofcourse, and I spent much of it drunk and singing along. We then found ourselves at a party being thrown at the home of a friend of Kelly and Taylor's for much of the night and early morning, and I ended the day sleeping peacefully on the couch after a considerable amount of time at the toilet. The next morning, Kelly and I, along with friend Jack, took a very memorable trip as we roamed the USC campus (pausing to vomit and smile at passersby on the quad), relaxed with Yoshimi the kitten in the widescreen dimensions of Jack's apartment, attempted and somewhat succeeded in playing MarioKart, listened to Modest Mouse and watched Kids in the Hall simultaneously and were amazed at the parallels, and of course, wound down along with Taylor at a local uncrowded Chinese buffet. With pudding. We rounded out the night with a viewing of the brilliant Alex Winter (of Bill & Ted fame... he's Bill) movie Freaked. And on Sunday morning, I ventured back to Atlanta, filled with the Holy Spirit and glad to be reminded of the short distances between friends.

The following Friday, that being last Friday, Joshua, Roberta, and I left the city once more, heading towards the foot of the Appalachians in the late afternoon. Upon arrival in Suches, we donned our backpacks and walked into the darkness of the North Georgia forest. After hiking for about three miles in the moonlit wilderness (well, aided by headlamps much of the time), we set up camp by a stream, tucked away our equipment, smoked a bit, and prepared our dinner of instant mashed potatoes over a portable gas stove. After waking up around 8 or 9 the next morning, we packed up, got some fresh water from the stream, and headed towards our next destination. We hiked most of the afternoon and early evening for about six miles, most of it uphill; when we reached the peak of Blood Mountain, we set up camp again for the night, along with about a dozen other hikers, most of them starting the year's trek up the Trail. Josh and Berta fell asleep while I wandered around the peak of the mountain, feeling particularly peaceful sitting out on a rock precipice looking over the other mountains, at one point finding myself in the same airspace as a few nearby hawks who seemed to look at me rather hungrily. I was glad to have made it up what is apparently the tallest mountain on the Georgia strectch of the Trail without feeling weak and exhausted or having to push myself too much; I'm sure I'm not exactly ready to hike 2000 miles to Maine, but it's nice to feel somewhat physically fit. And I was genuinely very surprised at how much I remember and love about being outdoors; I spent a significant amount of time camping and backpacking when I was younger, and I think I'm going to be doing a lot more of it soon. Nonetheless, the three of us spent that night on Blood Mountain huddled together eating noodles and drinking hot cocoa; we all woke up several times to deafening rain and wind, but the storm had mostly let up by morning. We made our way down two miles of wet, cold mountain before arriving at a local hiking shop/hostel where we had some food, hung out with a few guys in the hostel we'd run into while hiking, and hitched a ride back to the car.

This week has seen most of its action here in the city; Brooke, Sarah, and I met up with a few of her friends (and one awkward, somewhat gay pseudo-blind date of Brooke's) at the Local Wednesday night, and we went to MJQ afterwards along with Stacy and James (though Stacy, James, and I lost sight of Brooke somewhere between the two), and we all danced 'til we couldn't dance no more. On Friday, Julian and I went out for lunch at the Waffle House on Piedmont, and after swinging by Oxford Comics, read our issues of 52 and Buffy (season 8) on a cold green hill in Piedmont Park. Saturday night, the 705 gang painted pastel Easter beer bottles and on Sunday, I spent Easter with my family in McDonough.

Now, I sit, await surgery on Wednesday, contemplate new job opportunities, and watch more and more of Discovery's Planet Earth because it is the best thing to ever happen. Also, the new Modest Mouse, Kaiser Chiefs, and !!! albums are pretty great. Oh, and Me & My Bot is one the 16 finalists in the national running of Campus MovieFest this year.