the garrison show

…unless they’re asian.

the vietnamese are notorious for not being good best friends (at the one vietnamese guy i know is). i think it’s genetically related to being suck at sport, but i could be wrong here.

anyways, this guy goes on a round-the-world adventure, including australia–the land i’ll be visiting in less than a month–and writes me no email, gives me no call. it’s like he’s secretly mad at me because i made his sister fall in love with me. not that that actually happened. it’s just a simile.

carry on.

and that’s why i’m interested in real estate. my latest kick (as of this weekend) is a new-construction condo in SE Washington. koon, blair and i were wandering around the city and we stumbled onto this opportunity right by the site of the new baseball stadium.

we’re talking about $300,000+ for a luxury 2 BR condo that, for the next 2-3 years, is uncomfortably close to the ghetto but in 5-10 years could double in value. i like doubling my money.

the other complicating factor is that very soon i will not live in or near DC. the logistics of buying and then renting a luxury condo are not really appealing. that doesn’t mean it’s not worth it, though. just a healthy pause for thought.

i also found this site for condo news and this one for information on the SE area development. cheers!

a week ago, hooper and i went down to georgia to see what was the deal with housing. i’ve been debating between a cheap apartment, a condo and a house. it looks like we found a place.

new construction, 3-bedroom townhouse with a garage/basement. all told, it’s going to come out to be around $145,000. which is a lot of damn money, but virtually free compared to the DC market. if i had all the time in the world (or i thought that people actually read this blog), i would make an amusing list of other things that cost $145,000. the list would make you laugh, you would have a nicer day and i would somehow be responsible for that in a small way.

but i have no time and the three people that read my posts already know how funny i am. so i’ve got nothing to prove.

i did try to upload a video i made of the inside of the place to google. i’m still playing around trying to figure out the best way to post video to the blog. what do you think?

i lose $hit like it’s my job. i was going to start a list of the crap that i’ve lost, but i don’t have that kind of time on my hands. the most recent addition to the list, however, appears to be my nano. which makes me a damn moron.

i need some sort of device that remembers where my $hit is. either that, or knows when i’m about to lose something and shocks the hell out of me to remind me to remember where i put it. do you have a device? do you know someone who does?

somebody help me.

but i found my ipod. sometimes i just get anxious. don’t worry out there.

now i just have to buy a house, get a loan, get car insurance, move, pack and say all my goodbyes!

i am about to lay my head down on the soft, cushiony warmth of an air mattress, courtesy of ransford. he picked me up from the airport only moments ago after a very long flight.

it’s not a good sign that a four hour flight felt long. tomorrow night i’ve got 14 hours in the air in front of me. of course, take off is at 11:00 pm so i will make sure i’m asleep for as much of that as i can be. which shouldn’t be difficult considering i used to sleep through my mom vacuuming my face when i was a kid.

finally, suzy q (yes, that’s her REAL NAME) has posted a photo gallery of our goodbye/birthday party. i pretty much look like a douche in most of the pictures, but what’s new.

koon, if you’re out there and you want to upload your photos to some online sharing thing, i’ll post the link. and the videos. of the keg tossing. you don’t want to know.

you’ve made it - this is my blog. consider this the red carpet.

below this post you can read just a handful of the inanities that occur in my daily life. they’re not interesting, even to me, and i lived them! they were really just a warm-up to what i’m facing now: solo international travel.

tomorrow night, at 11:00 pm i will board a flight to auckland, new zealand. a week later, i’ll fly to sydney. after a month or so, i’m back to georgia. hopefully in that time, i’ll have lived through a few stories worth telling - this is where they’ll be. it will be a multimedia experience, as well. i’ve got my camera and camcorder and plan to use both. anything i can post, i will.

so thanks for at least clicking this far. check in every week or so; leave comments; tell your friends. maybe one day i’ll be as widely read as my friend zigler. no matter what, i love you all.

now let’s go on a ride…

i got on board a 747 with 392 of my closest friends in los angeles and 14 hours later, i am in auckland, new zealand!

now what?

i have found the hostel i’m staying at (at least for the first leg), but it’s been relatively sedate on this friday morning. hopefully that just means everyone is taking their time recovering from thursday night.

it seemed like i had more to write about before i sat down to write. hmmm…i met a hypnotist on the plane. that was cool. speaking of cool, it’s cold as arse down here! no sunshine to speak of, rain, wind, and all sorts of miscellaneous coldness! i had to buy a hat!

wasn’t that amusing?

okay, i gotta go get some more material. try coming back later. seriously.

so i’m walking around downtown just sort of checking out the sites and getting a feel for environment. auckland is trendy but edgy; there something here that wants to be new york, but it can’t quite cut it. anyhoo, i drop into a clothing shop to peek at the fashions and strike up a convo with one of the fellows working there. sidenote: these kiwi’s are nice as hell!

he’s got a friend in the store, a young lady, and we happen to leave the store at the same time. we chat on the sidewalk, she invites me across the street for a cup of coffee and inquires what my plans are. of course, at the point i’m not really making plans for more than the next 20 feet or so of storefront, so it’s not a lie when i confess i haven’t got any.

she invites me to an 80’s party. on a farm. in new zealand.
i’m not joking. it’s a 21st birthday party of a friend of a friend, tons of people will be there, you can hitch a ride with us, all locals, etc, etc. so obviously i’m in. we hang around the rest of the afternoon, meet up with a couple of her flatmates, buy some 80’s garb, and pile in the car.

THREE HOURS LATER we arrive at the dairy farm of the party. there’s a band. there’s more than one keg. there’s a lamb carcass inside. it’s a new zealand party, what can i say. there are probably 120 people there and i quickly become known as “that crazy fucking american.” oh, it was a great time.

my personal highlight was my new french friend telling me, “if you weren’t here, we would have to invent you.”

as soon as i can, i’ll get some pics uploaded. in the meantime, just ponder…who flies thousands of miles to a foreign country to celebrate bon jovi and madonna?? i didn’t even think they HAD the 80’s outside of the us…look what an idiot i am.

oh, did i mention the name of the band? Furious Masturbation. i like new zealand.

last night i caught up on sleep - about 13 hours worth.

today so far i’ve been walking the auckland city streets. i checked out of my hostel this morning intending to stay with new NZ mates in their flat. “flat” is new zealander for “apartment.” but then you proably knew that.

i don’t know how crazy things can get on a sunday night, but i’ve only got three more days until i hit sydney, and then - watch out.

good thing i’m catching a damn cold from this stupid weather.