A Quiet Day...

I tried to wake up around 1 p.m. so that I could make it to Rachel's performance in the plantations. Then I just tried to get up.

After succeeding sometime around 3:30 p.m., I wandered out, had a bowl of ceral and decided to wait it out till I could go for a run. While waiting, I was flipping around and found the Graduate was on, so I watched it (with the occasional flip to ESPN or MTV during commercial breaks).

The film is simply amazing, and everyone should see it for the soundtrack alone. Simon and Garfunkel's greatest hits weave in and out of the background of the film and softly into you ears as Here's to you Mrs. Robinson, Sound of Silence, and several others come and go. On top of that, Dustin Hoffman headlines a stellar cast of females that just served to make me more depressed. But that's okay, surf girls is on MTV on Monday.

Just about the time I was going to get up for my run, I decided to check with Matt Tyhatch to see what he was up to for the evening. He suggested playing lacrosse, and since the opportunity rarely presents itself, I skipped the run for an evening on the Schoellkopf green.

It was great. Matt, Matt Sheinkopf, and I ran around for about 45 minutes. Passing to the net, taking turns playing a poor man's goaltender, and running after the ball. Just about the only thing we did more than run after the ball was to laugh. Jokes about ourselves, each other, and anything else we could think of flew for the same time our passes did, and then some. We continued Matt's night out at Shortstop Deli and then at the fraternity house. It was there we watched Clerks.

I had never seen the film, and while it would have been lame if viewing it by myself, seeing it with friends put it into a new context. It seemed to mirror my life.

Well, not my life, but rather the lives of the people I used to live with. All I could think of while watching the film was of Lancaster and the people who still live there, mainly Paul, Bryan, Tim, Marty, Huefner, and the rest of the crew. Afterall, they work at convenient stores, play hockey in strange places, and have even stranger trials with women.

It truly embodied the romantic yearning to go home, except for the fact that home isn't how you really remember it. The people, places, and faces all change until one day, "Home" changes too. I guess from that stand point I'm a bit of a vagabond, not really having a place to call home anymore, especially beucase I'll probably never permanently return to Buffalo.

Clerks the movie turned into Clerks the animated series, and then disc one ended. Matt S wanted to keep going, but I knew better. It was better not to push a good thing, and besides, Matt T would soon be recieving his nightly phonecall from his girlfriend. It was time for Matt S and I to depart.

I got home to find a new message on the answering machine. It was my parents, specifically my dad, telling me about some Bill Mahr special on HBO. It was good to hear his voice, and even better to hear he was taking some time to enjoy himself, even if it is just by watching TV. Things have been rough for him lately, and I know that certain people are trying to professionally run him into the ground. I think that's why he's pushing me towards law school. My father sees it as an answer to life's problems, and by it I mean the money that can be made after you're done.

My brother is going to be making serious bank next year (provided he passes the bar exam), and if he ends up making partner some day, he has a real shot at job security and flexibility. And so maybe my father is right. Plenty of people do things for money (like leave school early to go pro), and while the argument may be made that they enjoy their lives, how do we really know that? There's a huge difference between playing pick-up, or high school basketball and playing in the NBA. Still, most try to make the leap because of the money, becuase of the things they will be able to provide their families.

I'll be the first to admit that money isn't everything, but maybe it's something.

Anyway, that's for another day. Now it's time for bed.