a musing julius…

the last 3 weeks of my life have been crazy, hence the break from blogging. my mind has been on overdrive consistently over these past few weeks. here’s a sampling of what’s happening.

• mom’s surgery, fairly self explanatory
• work. i recieved a promotion to leave my current team and go elsewhere to become a team lead.
• that offer was promptly matched by my current team in an effort to keep me. no decisions have been made yet
• i just had the most amazing weekend in dc with my aspiring radass, and i ache when i have to leave her
• work wants someone to go to germany for a month, and my name is on the list
• i want to start studying for the gmat
• my apartment is a disaster
• i haven’t seen my friends in many weeks, and i haven’t been in the d for longer than a week at a time in the last 2 months

i just want some sense of normalcy to return, first with mom, then with the remainder of my life.

each spring, a co-ed group of various ages and backgrounds gathers at a grassy field in old t-shirts, cleats and colorful nike shorts to play a game with a plastic disc. ultimate frisbee is ridiculous, a sport more closely aligned to basketball without dribbling, and football without downs.

i hadn’t seen the people i play frisbee with in nearly 5 months. but many of the people i play frisbee with are my good friends during the season. i trained for the detroit marathon with one girl who plays frisbee with us, one guy became a close friend of mine, and i mentor another in life and career advice (weird, i know, i’m so young.)

frisbee was the first social group i met in detroit after i moved here. its strangely exciting, because each tuesday, we talk about life, children, work, relationships, vacations, religion, politics, and more life. i know more about the people i play with than m neighbors. my fellow frisbee-ers were some of the first to know about my girlfriends, my breakups, promotions and stuggles at work. they were the first to know i decided to run a half-marathon. people announced pregnancies, engagements and new jobs. the group is incredibly unique and diverse.

come winter, we all split ways, and wait 5-6 months until we can see each other again. when we do start up, we say happy new year, and pick up where we left off. like nothing has changed. new people join the group, old people leave, but the pulse of the group is constant, positive and vibrant.

 so that all happened today. a happy new year to a number of people, and a start of a great season, on a sunny 70 degree day, with great field conditions, 7 on the line, and subs, my first day of the season set a great template for how the rest of the year will go. it’s gonna be a great season.

if there’s one thing detroit doesn’t lack, it’s loud car stereos. i have the privilege of living on the main street in detroit, just 2 blocks from many consider to be the heart of downtown detroit, and 1 block from 2 of the busiest nights clubs in the city. for me, the party actually starts at 2:30am, when these clubs finally get people out the door. that’s when “cruising” becomes the center of the party.

a few dozen caprice classics, oldsmobiles and crown vics with 22 inch dubs and blacked out windows contain anywhere between 2 and 6 gentleman, headed home from a night of partying.

what i’ve learned in the world of post closing time detroit, that it’s not the size of your dick that determines how manly you are, but the size of your sub, and if your stereo is capable of waking the 800 people that live near the two night clubs.

i was educated last night, as i returned from a poker game in the suburbs, that “whipping it out” in post closing time detroit, is the same as cranking your car stereo. if a posse rolls up in a delta 88, and you’re chilling in your crown vic, and you don’t like each other, the requisite action is to crank your car stereo. see 3 attractive women walking to their car? easy; hoot and holler, and crank that shit. the louder, the more impressed they are. to date, my experiences observing the hoot-and-holler-then-turn-that-shit-up-to-11 method of attracting women has not worked, or maybe, everyone i’ve seen attempt the maneuver, simply can’t cut it to the other, more powerful car stereos that are out there.

i just know, the next time i’m out driving, and need to settle a dispute with the driver next to me, i’ll promptly lower my windows, and crank my stereo up. now…where’s my yanni album?

i was telling my aspiring radass on friday night that northwest hates me. each and everytime i book a flight i’m seated next to someone that’s either:

• abnormally large
• has a quirk of some kind

so on my flight to d.c. this past friday, i was surprised to be seated next to a very LARGE person. and while there’s nothing wrong with this, i kept hearing from them how the airline seats are TOO small, that “normal” people can’t fit in those “damn seats” and “man, these seats are tight.” maybe they were uncomfortable, but i can tell you, on a flight to seattle two weeks ago, the gentleman i sat next to was so large that i couldn’t put my traytable down to enjoy my beverage.

granted, he was a nice person, but his thigh took up a third of my seat, and imposed on my airspace so much i felt guilty even trying to use my tray table (even after i lowered it, only hitting his thigh, leaving the tray at a 45 degree angle)

so on the flight back this morning (god awfully early) to detroit i thought, “maybe i’ll end up next to someone that isn’t huge.”

well, i got my wish. instead, the person sitting next to me was a snorer. a loud one. he would wake himself up he was so loud. the guy sitting across the aisle from me kept looking over, expecting me to do something to fix the grave in justice served him even though he was one seat and an aisle separated (about 7 inches) from the perpetrator.

anyway, i’m thinking when i book my flights, northwest must grab demographic data and put me next to people they know will annoy me. strangely, i’m sure the people i was sitting next to wanted to sit next to anyone than some d00d in his mid-twenties listening to his iPod all flight.

i hadn’t been to eastern market since my aspiring radass visited in december. at that time, even in december, eastern market was bustling with business, shops and vendors sold their goods. today i returned with the intention of acquiring everything i needed to make some baby back ribs for consumption (i had a taste for it recently)

despite arriving earlier than i usually do, eastern market was empty, and under construction. walking into the rafal spice company was my first visible evidence that michigan is on tough times. the shelves, normally filled with different hot sauces, spices, mustards, rice, beans, teas, coffees, oils, vinegars and everything in between were barren. a store that has over 250 jars of uniquely different herbs and spices had run out of most everything. even italian seasoning was no longer available. my only source for smoked paprika had run out long ago, and even simple bbq sauce (of which they usually stock 30 kinds) was tough to find. their usual stock of 30 different whole coffee bean barrels were reduced to just two. the 20 barrels of decaf were all out.

it was shocking. i instantly remembered the stories my parents told me of communist poland, where store shelves were empt, and finding something “special” was difficult. i’m happy i spent money in the store today, because its seriously one of my favorite places in the world. the michigan and detroit economy is bad. but i had no idea it was this bad. in many ways, it hurt.

it’s a stark contrast, as i look outside my window downtown, i see development, a 25 story casino, luxury condos, wine bars, et cetera, being built just steps away. but take a 5 minute stroll east of my front door, and it feels like the city is crumbling, and i’m just one of the few souls remaining until someone forces me out of here.

i want to help as much as i can….i just don’t know how. :-/