May 2010
I'm working at Creekside Cafe and living with my girlfriend, AJ, and our two cats and a dog. My grandmother used to own the company, but sold it to this guy named Mike, who decides that this is the month he's going to fire me. So I'm out of a job. All of a sudden, everything changes. I spend two weeks interviewing around Sacramento for work, unable to avoid the food service industry. The dormant rift between AJ and I spreads a little wider, our relationship strained to its limit, and we both know this but we stick together until I've found a job. And I find two of them. One coffee-shop in Fair Oaks and another in Midtown.
June 2010
I get denied unemployment, not surprised, and I'm fine about that because I've got two jobs. Of course my car decides to break down this month and I'm using public transportation to both coffee-shops. It's the middle of summer and scorching and miserable outside. I don't like the Fair Oaks place. I don't like all the commuting. I don't like where my life is going. I get myself involved with some craigslist-posted freelance music video editor opportunity with Raquela, this singer back from New York with some remixed 80's song to promote. With my buddy Doug, who I worked with at the 48 Hour Film Fest, and a fairly large cast and crew, we film the video at some mansion near ARC, and then I begin editing the thing into a video. It's crap.
July 2010
I break up with AJ and move out on the 4th to stay at a family-friend's house. I reconnect with my childhood friend, Jessica, and her mom, Rhonda, and boyfriend, Jason. I quit my job at Fair Oaks and start full-time at Old Soul. Things are weird. I have my own room and don't spend much time at the house. Out of the trance of my relationship, I see the potential value of staying in Sacramento. I start looking for a place to live closer to Old Soul. I help AJ with the old apartment bills, rent, and struggle to save money. I hear Mumford and Sons for the first time.
August 2010
I find a place to live, and it's not going to be Zoe's room after she moves to Portland. It's even better. A customer, Drew, tells me that someone is moving out of the blue house at the end of the Old Soul alleyway, a hundred steps away from the entrance, actually. I apply for the place. I get in. By the end of the month I'm living in Midtown. I also get accepted for an internship with Sacramento Press. I also decide to drop and walk away from Raquela's music video. It was all bullshit anyway.
September 2010
Now I'm really living. I become better friends with coworkers, some of whom move away (to Portland), and I start to form a family. I start walking around the city to take photographs. I'm writing articles for Sac Press as an intern, attending events about town, previewing events, interviewing people, being edited, sitting at the Intern Station, helping at workshops, meeting deadlines, taking assignments. It's all new and fun and a tad stressful, but reminiscent of the way school kept my mind active, and I like it. I do my laundry at a laundromat now and hardly ever cook. This is the month that Aly comes back into my life, a girl I remember from junior high.
October 2010
I start the month battling a cold. Defeat it. Then my dad comes to visit and we spend the day in Auburn bar-hopping between his favorite watering holes. Old Soul goes through some serious renovations. My internship rolls along and my reporting skills gradually improve. I probably stress out about it way more than I have to, but always meet my deadlines and do my best. I start to wish that I could work less at Old Soul and spend more time with Sac Press, but I need the cash. I try yoga for the first time. I also go to a Vampire Ball with Sean to write coverage for Sac Press. Weird night. Aly and I meet up a few more times during the month. Meet the new employee, Kirsten, for the first time at the Crocker Art Museum's grand-opening party. Halloween is spent briefly in Old Sacramento, a relatively lackluster holiday, but at least I get to wear a coffee-bag as a costume during work. Meredith finds out that she has a brain tumor.
November 2010
See coworker Shaun's band for the first time, H. Letham, and they are great. Spend a morning as Old Soul's delivery driver. Hank gets accepted to Law Enforcement Academy. Meredith starts taking care of herself with raw foods, meditation and spiritual cleansing. She's in a remarkably positive mood, despite everything. I try yoga again. Hang out with Aly some more, find out she just wants to be friends. Start sleeping with Kirsten. Start gambling. Start waking up late for work. Spend Thanksgiving in Auburn with my mom and grandma.
December 2010
My internship ends with a whimper, not a bang. I go on a date with Celena, who springs the boyfriend news on me the same day. Hank leaves. I lose direction after Sac Press, grown tired of minimum wage. Lance gives me his old iPhone. Go to the Old Soul Christmas Party. Continue sleeping with Kirsten. Go through a vicodin phase. Eat at Hot Italian a lot. Kirsten drops a knife on her foot on New Year's Eve. See Pinback. Spend Christmas with mom and sister and walk away with a Nook Color.
January 2011
Start meeting lots of girls. Kirsten is transferred to the other Old Soul @ Weatherstone. Continuously looking for other jobs, missing Sac Press, wanting better paychecks. The bike shop next door hires Cayla. I'm going to the movies with Kelly, visiting Sierra at Jack's, flirting with Tessa, hitting on Celena, going to lunch with Stephanie, and introducing myself to all the pretty girls who pass by the counter. I'm still sleeping with Kirsten when I meet Katie, and Katie and I start sleeping together, and that's about the time that I meet Jenny. I also apply for the Peace Corps. Sean turns 24 and I puke that night.
February 2011
I renew my license and turn 24. I go to the Crocker Art Museum a couple times. Things get weird with Katie. I start falling in love with Jenny, with whom I escape to Santa Cruz for a weekend. Kirsten meets a guy through Twitter who lives in San Francisco and we unofficially break up from our unofficial relationship. Around the same time, Shaun meets Chelsea. Zoe comes back from Portland. I have my Peace Corps interview and afterward apply for the TESOL graduate program at Sac State. I start doing yoga again. Find out that Sean is moving to San Diego in April. Visit Bryce in Concord on my way to visiting my dad's side of the family in Redwood City. Get a new camera. Jenny turns 23 and I have a lot of fun at her birthday party.
March 2011
I start hosting bonfires in the backyard every Monday night. Jason and Jennifer and Baby Jack move and I bring Jenny and Arielle to their going away party. Jason gives me a projector. Nick quits Old Soul. I can't afford yoga, so I stop going, though Jen gives me two free passes to Yoga Shala which I never get around to using. My ex-girlfriend sends Jenny a link to this blog to sabotage our blooming relationship and it freaks her out. We talk through the ordeal, I make some edits, and even though Jenny reads into my thoughts a lot more than I expected, we end up growing closer. Shaun and Jenny both start blogs. Hank leaves the Police Academy. I get tested for HIV and STDs at CARES and the results are negative. I wake up early to buy two tickets to the Railroad Revival Tour. I get invited to see Foster The People (in June) with some customers and I buy an extra ticket for Jenny. Start learning French. I go see H Letham perform at Old Ironsides. There's an earthquake/tsunami in Japan that fucks shit up. Jenny and I drive to Santa Cruz one night to look for damage on the shore. Old Soul starts closing at 7pm. My status with Sac State moves up to "Pending Department Review" and in the meantime I start a volunteer tutoring gig with middle-school kids and love it while the documentary "Waiting For Superman" solidifies my urge to become a teacher. I walk across the train bridge in Auburn on St. Patrick's Day. The Sacramento River runs high after a series of hard storms. I become obsessed with the new Grouplove album. Kirsten and Collin don't work out. Shaun and Chelsea don't work out. Then Joe's girlfriend (and baby mama) leaves him, and he's better off because of it. We also go to war with Libya. Sean moves to San Diego on the last day of the month. I reconnect with Iven when he comes to one of the bonfires. Shaun decides to move to Colorado this summer. I officially switch to using the iPhone when my Samsung kicks the bucket. Jenny and I fall in love.
April 2011
Hello allergies. I lose my sunglasses. Tutoring is going well. Six hours a week isn’t hard to do. I get a new pair of sunglasses. The Acura overheats and sputters to death, though at least I’ve managed to park it at home, and I have not the money nor patience to take care of it. A week or so later, I’ve cancelled my car insurance and put the Acura up for Non-Op. Until I get a bike, I’m taking the bus to Oak Park for tutoring. I get my new ID in the mail. Shiny. I find my old sunglasses. Joe starts seeing Jessica. Trying to get used to being regular friends with Kirsten. It could work. She’s still trying to figure out her own life while I’m busy keeping track of mine. I guess we’re all doing that, all the time. David and Laura get mugged. They’re okay. Rework my resume for the Peace Corps, this time with an emphasis on teaching English. Jenny buys me Toms. My mom, sister and grandmother come to dinner and meet Jenny and my grandma donates her old bike and bunch of books to me. I stop buying weed. I finish reading “Rules of Attraction” and pick up “Whatever It Takes.” For one afternoon, I get to play softball with the middle-school kids. Jenny and I have fun on bikes during Second Saturday. Bonfires continue as normal. I start riding the bike to Oak Park. I get accepted into Grad School. An old favorite SSU professor, Robert Coleman, passes away. Drew sells his truck, gets a job at REI and hates it. Jenny and I see “Win Win” and love it. Jenny goes on a business trip to San Francisco and simultaneously sets her sights on going to Korea. I find out which prerequisites are required for the TESOL program. I tell my Peace Corps rep that I’ve been accepted, but she needs proof. Emma visits briefly. My knee aches for half the month, but the pain fades. I haven’t been to yoga in two months. Laundry. Go to a couple local, forgettable shows at Ace of Spades, Luigi’s and Marilyn’s. Get a haircut. I attend the “Waiting For Superman” event at Old Soul, furthering inspiring me to become a teacher. Andrew comes to town, donates seeds from the Santa Cruz farm he’s been working on. I go with Jenny to the farmer’s market for the first time. Meet Jenny’s dad and step-mom and Luke, first at Zelda’s and then later during Easter. Paul gives me a Macbook that needs a hard-drive. Joe breaks up with Jessica. The Railroad Revival Tour is amazing (Mumford and Sons steal the show) and the day spent with Jenny in San Francisco afterward is equally wonderful. I buy another pair of sunglasses, out of necessity, and by month’s-end, I’ve got three pairs. Hank gets his old job back at Old Soul. Jenny gets depressed, then the universe gives her permission to quit her desk job. I listen to “When The Levee Breaks” a lot. I buy mouth-wash. I request further loan deferment. Jessica moves to Midtown. I pop a tire on a staple and John repairs it for 10 bucks. I make goals for May and get ready for summer.
May 2011:
I go to the Sacramento Mobile Food-Truck extravaganza with Jenny, eat a tamale and watch people wait in long lines. See Emma at a bonfire. Have a flat tire repaired. Try the mocha at Ginger Elizabeth for the first time. Delicious. Eat at Shoki Ramen for the first time. Also delicious. Jenny’s addicted to ramen. Start a garden in the backyard with Daniel and Jenny. Tomatoes and bell peppers and lettuce and basil. Daniel upgrades the fire pit. Osama bin Laden is caught and killed, big news that falls flat to desensitized ears. Complete a full year of employment at Old Soul. Complete a full year of blogging. Glad to see Iven at the bonfires. Good to catch up with an old friend. Joe and Jessica have an off-and-on thing for a while, then give up. Joe has a near-death experience. Jessica has bad luck on a few first dates. Kirsten’s sister attempts suicide and she gets her dad into a retirement home. Drew gets a job at REI and hates it. I’m touch-and-go with my relationship with Old Soul, needing more money but liking the environment. Volunteer tutoring goes well, when I find the time or energy to bike out to Oak Park. My grandma wants to get the Acura fixed, but I don’t really want to deal with it. I have my student loans deferred. My Peace Corps representative officially nominates me for service, now I just have to get all my medical and dental paperwork taken care of. Jenny buys a ticket to Korea leaving in September with a return-ticket in March and starts looking into jobs over there, where she’ll live with an old friend. Crazy news to digest. I get a call about a tutoring gig but it never becomes anything. I find out my Dad is dating a 26-year-old. Go to the Whole Earth Festival in Davis. Wear my TOMS until my toes pop through the burlap. Suffer allergies on a daily basis. Get a visit from my Grandma Fryer and Aunt Joanne. Jenny’s purse is stolen. Meredith’s tumor shrinks and otherwise totally vanishes from her brain―and all this from weed and colonics. Have to move the bonfires to Wednesdays because of a work-schedule change. Proctor the STAR testing at PS7. Jenny quits the office job and starts working at the Sacramento Co-Op. Jessica offers me her spare bedroom when I move out in August for cheaper rent. I get addicted to Washed Out and anything that sounds like the music of Pretty Lights. Go to a birthday party of Jenny’s friend, Miriam, and wear that fancy jacket I took from the lost-and-found. A tomato starts to grow in the garden. I meet Jenny’s brother and sister-in-law and nephew during steak dinner. Go to the new Shoki Ramen location on R Street. My sister turns 13. Good Day Sacramento films around Old Soul for some local-business coverage. I go to a Stand Up meeting and listen to Michelle Rhee talk about education reform. I find out I’ll be Peace Corps ready by June 1, 2012. I go to Shaun’s show at Ironsides and get an H. Letham t-shirt. Jenny and I spend “Judgment Day” at Lake Berryessa with Arielle. Work in the café inside the Sacramento Bee for a day while Mort’s on vacation. Eat dinner at Kupros. Over-dose on a weed brownie. Hear mediocre poetry at Luna’s. Have homemade pizza with John and Amy. Help run a yard sale so Jenny can get rid of some stuff. Find it strange how often it’s raining in a month that’s supposed to be hot. This is Sacramento, isn’t it?
June 2011
Start with an e-mail from the Peace Corps that tells me I’m slated for a July-September 2012 departure, plus a reminder to get my Medical/Dental taken care of ASAP. Work with Meredith again for the first time in a long time. She’s basically healed. Bonfires continue with new faces each week, good turn-outs and great conversations. Weather improves. I get a free dental check-up and x-ray from a dentist whose part of the International College of Dentists and he finds fourteen cavities and recommends I get my wisdom teeth removed for a grand total of 2600 bucks. I can’t afford that. I start educating myself on dental insurance. Old Soul adopts an elementary school with Reading Partners. Kirsten moves to the Bay after getting her dad into an old folks’ home. I flub a chance-encounter with a band member from Foster The People, then go see their show with Jenny and Ross and Jessica that night at Harlow’s. Great show. Jenny gets a flat-tire repaired at Walmart. We finally find out Alley Katz isn’t a strip-club. I may or may not have taken ecstasy, and if I did it wasn’t enough to feel it. Jenny keeps working toward her FBI Background Check. I buy Christmas lights at a thrift store. We have drinks in Davis with Liz, a past roommate of Jenny’s, and they reminisce. It rains a little bit. I register for my fall classes at Sac State. Shaun’s Portland girl comes down to visit. Old Soul gives me a fifty-cent raise after recently passing the Year Mark. Jenny meets Erin. I meet Jenny’s mom and brothers when they visit from Montana and we go to a little water park in Folsom. I buy two tickets to the Washed Out show in July. Lance comes back from a trip to Louisiana where he’d been helping tornado victims. Later, he takes me and Jenny out to the shooting range. A .22 Magnum and a 9mm. It’s addictive. Jessica crashes her bike near Old Town without a helmet and needs stitches and shaves her head. I start wearing my helmet again. Jenny and I try out the new Bows and Arrows location. I decide on Delta Dental, enroll, and get my membership card. Watch a hockey game with Jenny’s family at her brother’s house during her mom’s visit and I feel like one of the gang. Drew decides to go back to school. I figure out that my school plans will leave me with a Masters of Arts in TESOL, which means I’ll be more valuable as a teacher overseas than in the United States. I apply for Medi-Cal. I pay money to see “Midnight in Paris” and “Conan O’ Brien Can’t Stop” with Jenny, “Transformers 3” with Nick, Ashley and Shaun, and “X-Men: First Class” with Ariel. Max and Kat become parents. Shaun puts in his one-month notice. I start a new story idea about ghosts. I buy a fan when the temperature reaches 100 degrees. Ashley’s car window gets smashed. Vancouver goes on a riot. I call my dad on father’s day. I see Katie and AJ again on the same day. The bike shop takes down the Obama wall to make room for the dumpsters. I get a watch from Lance and give Jenny the Chrome bag he donates. I find out Bobby knows people in the publishing business. I go to the Wild Mountain Faire with Jenny and Arielle for a night. There’s a trip to the river with Jenny, Erin, Nick, Ashley. There’s a freak thunderstorm. Arielle makes plans to move to Mt. Shasta. I start drinking wine while writing. Jenny and I try Pub Quiz at de Vere’s with some Old Soul regulars, she meets Howard and gets the motivation she needs to keep her journalism drive alive. She repairs her engine mounts and the car runs like a hybrid. Daniel and Annie break up after she moves back to Sacramento. Jessica’s boyfriend leaves her after she shaves her head. Shaun is quote-unquote dating the girl from Portland. Drew is still waiting for the right time to break up with Amber. And Jenny and I are feeling the approach of September, the weight of our future, and we’re both hopeful that it can work. This is the month I realize how quickly summer will pass. This is scary.
July 2011
I adopt three pairs of shoes from Lance: cowboy boots, rugged boots, and what I like to call loafers. I devote myself to the new book, and I mean it this time. Old Soul grows ever closer to a corporate behemoth. Jenny and I watch the end of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. Still reading “Neverwhere.” The espresso machine falls apart at work and I spend the day cleaning mold out of the ice machine. Jenny and I host a Fourth of July barbecue in my backyard with a slip-and-slide and water-balloon fight. Find out Kelly has a blog. Go to San Francisco with Jenny to see Washed Out at the Great American Music Hall, spend the night with a bunch of drugged-out hipsters and visit the Fryer Family the next day. Bryce visits for an afternoon―beer at deVere’s with a Left 4 Dead chaser. I go to another Stand-Up meeting at the Guild Theatre and find out about Teach For America―why didn’t anyone tell me about this earlier? I have to convince myself that the Peace Corps is better because at least I get to travel. Bonfires continue with increasing popularity. Groups of 30 have shown up, not always all at once. Shaun brings Portland Chelsea to one of the bonfires. I befriend Brady and Anna, my neighbors. Meredith meets a guy who wants to take her to Peru and apparently she’s in love with him. I get my teeth deep cleaned, for a hefty price, and begin the Great Dental Recovery of 2011. Shaun has his last day at Old Soul and he wears a suit. Jenny and I take a nap on the lawn of Fremont Park, then go to Jessica’s barbecue. Jenny leaves for Montana for two weeks, a sneak-peek at life after Jenny leaves for South Korea. I don’t like it. Megan gets hired as a new barista. Lucky gives his two-week notice. Cody smokes with me in the backyard and explains atoms in the universe in such a way that it blows my mind. I host two bonfires on my own. Jade reintroduces me to chess. Kelly and I go on a photo-walk and we find a wooden Buddha on top of a copy of “History of the Past 500 Years.” I start watching Wilfred. My mom and sister and grandmother visit, I bring them to deVere’s for dinner. I get two cavities removed. John, Amy and Iven and I spend a Tuesday afternoon at Paradise Beach. I feel this new urge to learn all of my favorite regulars’ names. Meredith steps on a bee. Kasha asks Drew out, he denies her. Iven and I start thinking about getting an apartment together soon. Jenny sends me a postcard. We talk every night she’s gone. Kelly gives me her old bookshelf. Ariel and I see Captain America and it’s actually a good movie. Brady and Anna and I watch the Animatrix. Kelly moves into an awesome pool house surrounded by nature. Lance’s company gains a new investor and he takes a bunch of people to dinner at 58 Degrees. I finish writing my book at just a shade under 50,000 words and start editing.Jeremiah gets hired by Old Soul, so he’ll for-sure be taking Jenny’s room when she moves out. Jenny gets a better job offer in Korea. We try to plan a way for her to move into my room for the last month of her United States residency. Summer swings around third and sprints for home.
August 2011
Jenny comes back from Montana. Hugs and kisses, awkward at first, soon become second-nature. Jenn and I pick her up from the airport and afterward, Jenny and I pick up her car from her dad's house. The car still smells like rotten chicken. With Iven, Kelly, Daniel and Patsy, I see H. Letham's final show and I get a copy their debut album. Awesome show. Not looking forward to not looking forward to seeing their next show. I smoke a few times with Jade. I play a few more games of chess. I hang out with Cody a few times, find out how paranoid he is. Finish editing the first draft of my book. Bronwyn prints out a paper version. Megan comes to visit Jenny from South Korea for three weeks. We meet. It's like meeting Jenny's sister and it goes well. Drew breaks up with Amber, then gets back together with her. I become a big AWOLNATION fan one night and buy tickets to their show at Ace of Spades, which turns out to be one of the best shows I've gone to all year. Jenny, Iven, Tessa and another guy were there to share the moment. Shaun attends his last bonfire, then moves to Colorado. Find out that Amy's brother committed suicide. I go to his memorial in Auburn. Jenny and I spend a weekend with my family in Truckee. Hang out a few times with Brady and Ana, my neighbors. New-Girl Megan starts to get on everyone's nerves, including mine, as she struggles to grasp the essential bits of customer service. Cody crashes the delivery van and gets fired. Hank leaves for a job at a hotel. Meredith leaves for Peru. Jenny moves in with me. I inherit her bed and record player. Jessica gets transferred to the Oak Park location and hates it. Daniel and Landon are transferred to the Warehouse location. I try to teach Jenny how to play chess. I buy chess pieces from The Dollar Store and start my chessboard project. Jenny makes friends with Lauren from work and she visits a few times with her boyfriend, Justin. I finally finish reading “Neverwhere” and start reading “Trainspotting,” which this eclectic customer, Lindsey, gives to me. I take hike at Hidden Falls with Jenny and Iven, we eat dinner at Strings and catch the late showing of Final Destination 5. Draft Three of “Shepherd's Ark” is finished. Jenny introduces me to Petra and the glorious gyro. Mellow bonfires. Summer is starting to fade. I see Fright Night and Another Earth on the same day. Megan goes back to South Korea. Mary finds an apartment in New Orleans. Jade leaves to visit her mom in Portland. Jenn breaks up with Nick. Financial Aid arrives and I pay off my credit card, finally, resetting the balance to zero for the first time in two years. I go to the TESOL Orientation, meet my teachers and realize how beautiful Sac State campus is. Dinner with Lance and friends at Hot Italian. Lance sells me a MacBook Air for 600 bucks. I find out what the Pre-Flight Lounge is with Jenny, David and Meg before we finish the night at The Backdoor with a lounge singer. For Kathy's birthday, my mom and Rhonda come to Midtown and kidnap me for an afternoon. I meet the principal of Peter Burnett Elementary. I pass my one-year anniversary of living in Midtown. Jenny and I eat at Tuli's and I think they charged my card twice. Another bonfire is skipped when Jenny and I go see The Naked And Famous at Harlow's. Andy and Rob and his friend, Chris, come with and Andy bumps into an old friend and Rob bumps into an old fling and the band rocks the house and we all get midnight dinner at Ink afterward. I start school. I love it. Shaun ends his long-distance relationship with Chelsea. Jenny finally sells her car. I buy a Modest Mouse album on vinyl. In the meantime, Iven and Andy want to get a house and I can't quite imagine a life outside of this blue house. With school starting, summer is officially over and I forget how it feels to do homework at night.
September 2011
