New Theory

It's interesting to read what I wrote on this blog around this time last year (see "New Terrain"). At that point in my life, I had recently graduated college and was already going through withdrawal. I was also tossing around the idea of moving to Maryland, but I wasn't really considering it as a realistic option. I would've never guessed a year ago that I'd be where I am today. And with that said, it's hard to imagine what this time next year will bring.

My blog entries over the past few months have mentioned that I want to explore Baltimore to a greater extent, establish a better social life down here, and live in a city some day. And now it appears I can kill three birds with one stone. As of mid-July, I'll officially be living in Baltimore! City life will be a big change for me, but I'm looking forward to it. Mike is moving down to Maryland for grad school, and we just recently signed a 12-month lease for a two-floor apartment in the Mt. Vernon neighborhood. The apartment has a private deck as well. I've known Mike for five years now and this is the first time we'll be living together, so I'm really excited.

I'm hoping people will visit and hang out in Baltimore with us. I feel like I'm always pestering people about visiting me though, and that obviously hasn't been working (with some exceptions), so I'll stop. I don't want to become annoying. I'm taking a more passive approach going forward, which will include less of me nudging people to visit and more reliance on people to choose for themselves if and when they'd like to see me and where I live.

Mark actually visited me in Abingdon last week and we went to Baltimore to see Portugal. The Man. The concert was awesome; they played almost all the songs I wanted to hear. We stopped off at a bar afterwards and continued to hang out at the house until 3:30 in the morning, even though we both had work a few hours later. It was absolutely worth the sleep deprivation. We had some really meaningful chats, which was something I sensed we both needed.

Speaking of things that are much needed, I went on a vacation to the Outer Banks during the week of Memorial Day. It was my sixth time in OBX, although I didn't go with the usual crew; this time I went with Jen, Shawn, Emily, Corey, and a few others. We had a solid group of people and perfect weather as well. It was great to be able to see Jen and some of my friends every day when I usually live so far away from them. One of my favorite moments of the vacation had to be the Beer Olympics, which consisted of Beer Pong, Flip Cup, Drink Ball, Chandelier, Civil War, Disk Chug, and Relay all in one night. My team (Ireland) got in last place, but we won Civil War and easily had the best team spirit (we danced an irish jig and high-fived an awful lot). My other favorite moment of the trip was when we were all laying on the beach at night and looking up at the stars.

I've been watching a lot of new TV shows lately. After countless months of my twin brother and Corey telling me to watch Better Off Ted, I've finally seen the pilot and have started watching the series. I also finished two seasons of Parks and Recreation in just a few weeks (I highly recommend it to everyone who likes The Office), and I've been watching Shameless as well. It's funny how obsessed I get with shows once I start watching them; it's like an addiction.

I bought Portal 2 a few weeks ago, Little Big Planet 2 a few months ago, and Super Mario Galaxy 2 almost a year ago, and I haven't played much of any of them yet. I've also borrowed Chris's copy of Kingdom Hearts for over a year now and have yet to make much progress. I feel like I'm slowly starting to get into video games again though, so atleast I'm covered for a while with plenty to play.

I'm seeing Yeasayer in Philadelphia tonight, and tomorrow is the Governor's Ball at Governor's Island. I can't wait! Good vibes all around.