Fuck it, let's go.

Kalamazoo, MI

I was standing outside 4th coast café in Kalamazoo, Michigan around midnight doing the usual can-kicking that the rift raft around there does. Mostly, we just bullshitted, chased off panhandling bums, and stared threateningly at people who drove into the parking lot the wrong direction. We drank coffee too, but that was more or less an excuse to be there. Welcome.

Anyway, I was leaning up against the grill of my van when my friend Lotten, from the Nevada adventure (also from Sweden), bullied* her way into our circle and said hello. Quickly, she took over and decided the subject. The subject is: let's go to New York; time - now. A bit taken aback, not that I mind spontaneous adventure, I stopped a second to chug my coffee and replied, "Okay, when?" She goes on to say she wants to leave as soon as possible. Normally, I'd pick up and go, but I was in the process of transferring all my photos from a copy of windows, that was performing at about the same performance you'd expect out of a person having a seizure, onto my friend Laura's computer and then back onto mine after a new install of windows, so I told her it'd be a minute before we could leave.

Lotten, not one to let her optimism about things get dragged down by a setback, asked, "okay, when?" We decided on Friday at 10 p.m., and left it at that.

I had a lot of shit to do in Kalamazoo. So my mad rush to do everything began right then and there. I quickly turned to my side and recruited my friend Jon for the trip. The conversation went a bit (or exactly) like this:

Me: Wanna go to New York?
Jon: I don't know...
Me: Fuck it, let's go.
Jon: Oh, alright then.

Other recruiting attempts died about as quick as an ant under a shoe, so I returned my attention to Lotten and put her to work finding a ride share. Then I was off, I ran up to my friend Matt's house, where I had been living in my van/his couch for the past couple of months, and began ripping two bikes, a bench seat, and bits of carpet that were left over from the Van Renovation Project 2010tm, out of his garage. One bike I decided to leave for my friend Anya, and the other was about 50% put back together, but it was eventually for my friend Syd so I took that one down Grant Hill** to her house. Then it was off to Laura's shack to watch random T.V. shows while I entertained myself with a screen full of loading screens as I transferred all my files. I didn't get to finish this entirely because she had to work. I decided I should probably make a list of shit I had to do. I did that, and went to bed early so I didn't wake up at 4 in the afternoon pinch-eyed and pissed off about wasting most of the day when I had bags to tie up.


*Lotten doesn't take a lot of crap, and never let's things get in her way. By bullied, I mean elbows drawn and ready to take over the conversation. She also stands over six feet high which helps.

** Grant Hill is a nightmarish creation that sits in between Stadium Drive and Grant street in Kalamazoo. Its only benefit is that it will build your leg muscles in such a way that they'll resemble a brick. I am unaware of anyone who enjoys it.