Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Country Roads, take me the hell out of here!

So I have returned from my holiday in Texas, a day late and a dollar short! The day late was due to American Airlines, the dollar short is due to me paying way too much for a chopped beef sandwich at the Salt Lick stand in the airport.

There were many fun and exciting things that happened, some of which I will only mention in passing (I saw one of her boobs) , others I may expand upon later (like the wake I went to for a dearly departed chicken named Dusty Bottoms, which I need pictures of if anyone has any).

But what I wanted to talk about today is what a judgemental prick I can be. As mentioned above, my flight back home was delayed, thus causing me to find a place to hunker down for the evening.

I called my oldest and dearest blog buddy Beau, and he grudgingly agreed to house me for the evening, and even to get up at the ass crack of dawn to take me to the airport. For this I am ever grateful.

My gracious host

Beau lives with a few other friends from college in a nice house in north Austin. As we pulled up I looked at this sizeable home (compared to what I live in out here) and thought how nice it must be live in house that size. I'd like to stop here and make a disclaimer. I love these guys, I really do, they have always been great friends, and I am glad they were able to assist this wayward traveler.

That being said, let me continue. As I walked in I was immediately reminded of two things. First, I was reminded of how I lived in college, and two, I was reminded of why I needed to get out of Texas.

This house was disgusting (love you guys), I mean absolutely horrid! There were bottles and cans and stale food laying all over the place, not just food from lunch, but food from the party they had when they moved in a year ago. The sink was full of dishes, pictures askew on the wall, lawn unmowed, the carpet had never seen a vaccuum, I was appalled. I was probably more upset that I have 800 sq ft, and keep that pretty clean for having 3 dogs and 2 cats, and here they have probably 2500 and no pets and couldn't keep it up. I had forgotten what it was like to live like a fraternity guy, but was quickly reminded. I'll admit, I'm not the cleanest person in the world, and my room is often cluttered, but I have gotten good about keeping the common areas clean.

But even though I was afraid to sit on the couch, I was comfortable around my friends (though probably won't be after this) and enjoyed "just hanging out" like I haven't done in a long time.

That night as I settled onto the couch to sleep, I heard the sounds of a guitar wafting down from upstairs. One of these wayward hippies was playing the guitar, and playing it damn well. It was a nice montage of songs we all know, Norwegian Wood, by the Beatles stuck out the most, but there were many. That's when I realized what an ass I am. These guys went out of their way to help out a stranded traveler, and there I go making horrid claims about their lifestyle.

I stopped to think about the guys that lived in this house, a college student musician, a high school theater teacher, a budding filmmaker and excellent air guitar player, and a another musician with a band. All damn hippies.

As I looked around at the squalor I was nesting in, I made a realization. These are all creative guys. Creativity blooms amidst chaos, not order. Maybe it was the environment that caused their creativity to flourish. Maybe if their floors were clean and dishes in the cabinet, their personal muses would all die a little inside. (their neighbors would be happier, but their muses dead, you decide)

I remembered the note posted on the wall in the bathroom, apologizing for accidently knocking someone else's toothbrush into an previously unflushed toilet, but graciously offering up his own toothbrush until he could replace the tainted one. It reminded me of the true graciousness and friendship that we all shared in college, and still do to this day. It reminded me to look beyond the unflushed toilets of the world and see the true beauty of people for who they are on the inside.

In a clean house, there is no room for robots! There is no room for a Pac-Man arcade machine. There is no room for outside the box thinking. I then realized, that even though I had made different life decisions, that didn't mean those decisions were right for everyone.

Robut says "Clean, BAAAD!"

I also realized that deep down inside, I am still the slob I was in college, just now, I am a closet slob. (literally, my closet is filthly!) I have always viewed my room as my sanctuary and that is probably the reason it is always the most disorganized place in my life. But perhaps if I started strewing that crap out into the living the room, my muse would perk up and I would be able to post more often.

So to my many messy friends out there (if I have any left), I say throw another beer can on the living room floor for me! HUZZAH!

Posted by timothy :: Direct Link 2 comments

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