2life+

Check it: 

Sunday night, I told myself that I would get through Monday without spending a SINGLE dollar.  Not a cent.  I had some groceries left over from the weekend and enough random food to get me through the day that I wouldn’t have to buy anything and enough gas in my car that I could go to and from school without a refill.  Said I could get by without spending any more money on top of the things I already had.

This endeavor may sound stupid or self-absorbed…I don’t know.  I don’t know how it sounds to you, and I hope it’s not offensive in any way, like I’m some douche who wants to “choose” not to spend money for a DAY, but think about it.  When was the last time that you went through an entire DAY without spending a CENT? I’m not talking about percentages of your rent or power bills that are included on that day, but spending on top of what you have already paid for, like buying added groceries to what you have, or useless items and coffees that you don’t need.  Can you remember? 

I can’t.  I hit the grocery store up pretty much EVERY DAY, even when I have veggies and meal materials in the fridge.  These things go bad sometimes because I don’t get to them in time, thanks to the added things I buy during the week.  I also go through days where I BUY my lunch at school.  I’ll drop $3.50 on a couple of carrot sticks and a coffee when I HAVE all of this at home, but didn’t take the time to prepare it for the road. Ridiculous.  And then there’s the useless stuff on top of this, which can include anything from parking costs to a new t-shirt to that ONE song on iTunes that I HAVE to download for my commute.  Stupid. 

So I tried it. Monday came, I went to school, hit the gym, and made dinner with food I already had, and it felt pretty good.  Thought it was something I needed to practice more often.  

And then I remembered I downloaded a song on iTunes that morning while I was getting ready for class.  I broke my own promise before I even left my HOUSE and spend 99 cents on a download of the “What’s Going On” cover by the All-Star Tribute from 2001. It’d been stuck in my head and I did it without even THINKING.  I hadn’t heard the song in a LONG time, and Marvin Gaye’s version was stuck in my head, so I wanted to hear it again. Took like 12 seconds to download it straight to the touch.  Twelve seconds to spend a buck on a day I said I wouldn’t.  Idiot. 

Anyway, I wanna do this successfully, but it’s HARD to go a day without spending money, and that makes me sad.  It sucks that we live in a society where it pretty much HAS to happen on a daily basis, but I have to admit that I’m as guilty as anyone else in this area. 

It’s a weird thing to think about, but why not give it a shot?  It could be the cool thing to do, like jumping onto a trend before the rest of the world does.  Give up spending for a day and see how you feel. Use whatcha GOT and work with it.  Because, dang it, most of us PROBABLY have everything we need already.  No need to spend.  Just live.

Ramblin’ on,

D.

I just read that Warner Bros. is doing a casting call for the role of Clark Kent/Superman in the next movie. They want an unknown. 

I know I’m about six inches short and 75 pounds light, but hey, they have “Rocky” training programs in Hollywood, right? And they know how to make Tom Cruise look tall.

Besides, I’d be playing MYSELF, right? How hard could that be. I was born for this…haha…Head shots will be in the mail by Friday.

Age 3:

With my “Wonder Woman”, Halloween 2009

I got this, right?

Went back to NC State this weekend for homecoming and I became a 25-year-old 18-year-old.  My friends and I are seven years removed from our freshman year there, but we’re skilled in taking trips with the metaphorical time machine made up of our memories. 

The game was great. State beat Wake Forest 38-3, but the score and the action were only pinpoints in the weekend. This trip was more about catching up with old friends and calling each other out for how we used to be…and re-living certain aspects of our old selves. 

We’ve all been through a lot since then. Every year since has been a tally-mark in the age column and a step forward in maturity, but through everything, we pick up where we started as kids in college ready to tackle the world.  Our only problems then were finding out where to go and what to do every night. The drama wasn’t finding and keeping a job, but dealt with who was dating who and if this party was worth going to over that one.  And we thought THAT was hard…

The main difference between then and now, though, is that in 2003, we were all in the same boat. We were starting school, confident, and nothing was jaded. We lived in the same building and we came together as a family at the start of COLLEGE, where no matter what “they” say about class, you’re gonna learn more about YOURSELF than anything else as you go through the process.

Now we’re all in different places and points of our lives. Some are married, some are back in school, some are states away, and some have big kid jobs.  Regardless of where we are, though, we had that first year, and we went through one of the biggest one-year leaps of personal change together: the transition of being a freshman to being a sophomore.  People came into and left our group as we moved forward in the next few years. Younger folks joined up and some moved away, but we stayed close, and whether we see each other every day or once every four years, the gap apart is easily closed, and it’s just like running into each other by the entrance of Owen Hall between class or at Fountain for a meal.

So this weekend was great. It was a break from everything of today and a true trip down memory lane.  I’ve been wearing nostalgia like cologne lately. Like cologne temporarily covers up the fact that I didn’t shower today (no shame), nostalgia brings back the past in a way that you can hear it and feel it, but you’re not THERE.  I can see it, but I can’t cover up the fact that as always, time is flying forward and those days are over (just like I won’t be able to cover the non-shower smell much longer…gross). 

Don’t get me wrong, I LOVE where I am today and I’m super-happy with life. But the memories I hold on to are what brought me to this point, so I’ll always have a soft spot for those times.

Raleigh is different now, and there’s something new every time I go back. Hillsborough Street is a living juxtaposition of the past and the future, with its run-down shops and restaurants but futuristic airport runway of lights and automatic parking meters.  It’s fancy, but the roundabouts suck.  Downtown has LINES in front of bars now, and Carter-Finley Stadium hosts a winning Wolfpack team. 

Faces are different everywhere we go, but for ONE weekend, we owned the city again, brought back 2003, and made it our HOME.

I love you guys, and I can’t wait until we do this again, wherever and whenever that may be.

Drew

The crew, c.2004…

Saturday night: