The OH in Ohio

Right now I'm home for the holidays chilling with family and friends in not so lovely Centerville (Dayton) Ohio. I almost didn't make it here. Yesterday morning I awoke to a flat tire. I was leaving Chicago, or trying to leave, to go to Ohio, when a couple of miles into my journey, I realized my car didn't feel right. I pulled over and what to my wondering eyes should appear but a flat tire. I never had one of these before. I made the mistake of driving it back to my apartment then to a repair shop down the street. The tire was gnarled, basically unfixable. The mechanic first told me he didn't have the right brand of tire and called around to other locations. No one had my tire. After an hour, the mechanic finally said he had a similar tire, it wasn't the same brand, but it'd work. He replaced the tire and $118 later, I was on the road. Merry fucking Christmas to me. More credit card debt.

I got home safely and had dinner with my mom and brother. They sit there and bicker like an old married couple. Sometimes their relationship creeps me out. My bro is 30 and still lives at home. He's Ricky from the movie Better Off Dead. Seriously. Later, I met up with my Brooklynite friends Mark and Julie and headed to our friend Martin's place. He and his girlfriend renovated their condo and it's very nice. They were having a party. I didn't know most of the people there, but it was good to see Martin after three years of not seeing him. Mark and Julie are getting married in October, so all they talk about is the impending wedding, which is natural I suppose. I am in the wedding, but on the groom's side. I never heard of this before. I keep trying to convince them to let me wear a tux, but they are anti-tux for me. Damn. I got home after 2 a.m. and when I awoke this morning, my mom was a little ticked I didn't call to tell her I'd be late. I mean, I didn't realize I had a curfew!

This afternoon I met up with my friend Ken, who I've known for a couple of years yet never officially met. Today we officially met for lunch and had some good conversations. Being the end of the year, I've been thinking a lot about the year ahead and what I want to accomplish. I need to decide if I really want to move to NY, and if so, when and how I'm going to do it. I really hope I can find a job I love in the new year or figure out a way to be able to get by on the money I make from writing and forgo having to have a day job. Everything feels so uncertain right now, yet I feel like the possibilities are endless. I can do whatever I want, really. I'm not restricted or confined to any serious obligations like a lease, or a relationship, etc. In the new year, I also really want to focus on the people who put time and energy in being my friend. There are a lot of people who don't respond or communicate with me and I hate that. I hate when people can't take a single fucking minute to respond to an email or a myspace message, phone call, etc. I don't do one way friendships. And I'm not just talking about DePaul guy who is seriously pissed at me for whatever reason, but he's a perfect example. There are others, though. And those people I will shed in the new year. I'm done trying. There are so many other people in my life who are worthwhile and do put the effort into it, so I will focus on them instead.

Tomorrow I will celebrate Christmas with my brothers, my sister-in-law, mother, and nephew. We are having something for dinner called Tur-duck-en. It's a turkey with a small chicken and ducked cooked inside it. This concerns me, especially since I don't like duck or turkey. I'm frightened by the very thought of it. It's like one of those Russian dolls when you open one, there's another one, then another, and so forth. My mom has a tendency to cook very gourmet orientated dishes. I appreciate her effort, but just give me some cheese and crackers and I'm good to go. Skip the tur-duck, what?

I will post more on my holiday happenings later including some more thoughts on the year that was and the year that I hope will be in 2007.