like an owl: Halloweenies and beanies

Sigh. Good times.
Correction, funny times.
I never knew it, but I've always enjoyed Halloween.
Although, its not as anticipatory as it was when I was quite younger.

My best recollections of the annual event were spent in the consecutive years that I went out to Taylan's house in Black Hammock (Definitively, the best place in the world). Trips consisted of shooting guns, interesting sleeping arrangements, my first (real) adventures with alcohol (and embarrassment haha), and just simply making memories with my best of friends.

But one of my favorite parts bar none, have always been the trips to and from Taylan's.

Particularly and one of the most memorable moments in my life was the year me and Jonah rode together. I believe my sophomore year. In brief, the night was quite blur, but it was the morning after that I never seemed to forget. With the windows of his rooms open, allowing the draft of what was soon to be winter through, I recall walking into Taylan's room. A Miles Davis CD was playing, and just remember sitting in there, breathing it all in. Adding to that sense of liberation and serenity, Jonah and I rode back home. It felt oddly as if, we were on that one empty road with its trees encompassing every direction, for days. We listened to minimalistic Steve Reich that whole ride back. Eventually the restless night caught up with me. I fell asleep. But, I wish I didn't.

If that was my sophomore year, that would make it 5 years ago.

Its crazy to think how much times have changed.

The next year later included the presence of Daniel Moody, Jay Jenkins, and Max (and of course other lesser important people lol). But since not every one knew how to get to the house, we all met up at the Gate gas station on Heckscher. I believe there was a convoy of like 5 or 6 cars. We had the road to ourselves the whole way to Taylan's (since it was at night), so we fooled around the whole time; swerving, tailgating, and driving off the road. It was quite amazing.

But just last year I recall, me and Tonee were driving back from Taylan's and my car totally hydroplaned around a bend at the end of New Berlin Rd. It was equally one of the scariest and most exhilarating moments of my life. Haha.
Good times.

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As for last night, it will never compare to those Black Hammock years, but it was surely a refreshing experience.

I left Fleming Island with a whole carload; Ivan, Ritter, and Devin. Got to Will's (formerly Bill's, although that can always change) somewhere around 4. With no definitive schedule to go by, time lapsed hours until any activity worth mentioning. With no one arriving at the "set" time of 9, I began to wonder the intensity the party would measure. Clearly that bothered me, but I hold no grudges (especially to Will, although he does owe me $15 still, lol). So patiently, we proceeded without everyone. People eventually came. But I left prior to this.

I decided to stop by for Jeff's 21st birthday party at the Shuck residence. I was there for 5 mins, because they decided to move the keg a couple miles down the road. I followed with Jeff and Lane. Clock eventually struck midnight, and Jeff openly accepted his introduction into the grown up world. Although technically, he was born at 8am, so he really was no different than me at that particular time. Lol. I'm just really happy that I got to be there for him at midnight, cause me and him have had a deep history.

But soon after, I got back on the road, swiped up Tonee, and got back to Will's. Corey and Lauren were present, I wasn't at all expecting that as I walked in. Lol. I also realized that Ritter no longer was wearing his bumble bee costume. And after getting the full story, of how the cops showed up (which happened to be a set up) and Ritter and Devin bucking out and jumping fences to flee the scene, we went to go get his costume off the ground on the other side of the block. Bahaha.

From that point, the rest of the night was a complete blur.

I woke up this morning on a couch, in the fetal position. To my left were 2, maybe 3 people on another couch. I wasn't paying any sort of attention at that particular moment. Lol. It was kind of cold, too. I wanted to get up and get my sweater out of my bag (which was 10 steps from my comfy couch) but I couldn't quite muster up the motivation to make that move. At 9, I was rudely awaken to the voice of Will. I reasoned with myself, that Will was gonna act like Will, as usual. Correct. He was in demand mode, and I was in "I don't give a shit" mode. It worked out quite nicely, in my favor. Haha.

The guys filled me in on what I missed, since I guess I fell asleep early. For example, the second run in with the cops in one night. Lol. I guess there's no hiding from the fuzz. Devin, Tonee, and Ritter decided to take a midnight stroll around the neighborhood. Except it wasn't midnight... it was like 4am. I guess that tends to look more sketch than normal, thus attracting the attention of the cops. One 4am stroll = 4 squad cars (that makes sense, I guess.)

They also filled me in on this one dude at the party, Will's boss at T-Mobile. Dude was straight Chicago status and straight out of "My New Haircut". Guy was surely a bloke, in my mind.

Moral of that story: Eric does a damn good impression of blokes

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The Pictures Of The Evening
(all pictures can be expanded)

I was (supposed to be) straight edge. Haha.

And under closer inspection, you will see that I wasn't completely uninspiring.

The intention was to subtle and not overkill.

Iono, I'm just not much for transformations, but this did allow me to trial run the tattoo and piercing lifestyle. And after much consideration, I have a little more than mixed feelings on it. Lol

I also had a really dope Gator Bait tat at the bend of my arm, that had the years (1996, 2006, 2008, and 2009*) included, but unfortunately it was hard to shoot.

(*Confidence. GO GATORS!)