Trevilian: the road to the zoo

What’s up world. Sorry it’s been a while since I’ve last blogged. Between school and ROTC and getting a motorcycle it’s been quite some time since I’ve had the desire/time to blog. Again, my apologies. Nothing bad ever comes from this blog. EVER.

So I did buy a motorcycle. It’s sick. It’s my badass bro that successfully makes me more badass. It’s great. Riding on that thing is like my happy place, where I’m just left alone to think to myself and reminisce on happy thoughts from my past. Sunday actually I rode around the highlands a bunch and ended myself up at the Louisville Zoo, which spawned a whole new realm of both nostalgia and peace for me. The reason being, is the Louisville Zoo, for me at least, is a magical place for several reasons. Let’s dive right in.

The Louisville Zoo is one of many physical locations which represent my childhood entirely. In fact, not only is the zoo a tangible totem for just my childhood, but childhood as a whole; everyone’s childhood if you will. Every kid who grows up naturally conforms to society and goes to the zoo frequently and loves every minute of it. Birthday parties, field trips, what-would-be boring summer days otherwise are all spent at the zoo. [God the kid in front of me right now looks like an idiot. Sorry, distracted.]

It’s as if the zoo captures a piece of your childhood and holds onto it for you. Like a bank. It doesn’t steal your imagination or hold it hostage or anything bad. It’s simply just stored there. So whenever you go to the zoo in the future there is imagination, fun, and a carefree day ahead of you. Thus, when you revisit the zoo as an adult, it’s all still there. Every ounce of fun the zoo has been holding on to is given back to you for the day.

As it would happen, I discovered this day of timeless fun the day before I moved to UK. My best friend, Doug, told me of a silly idea he’d concocted to finish out the year with a bang. And that was to get really really fucked up, and spend the day at the zoo. I was happy to go along with him, but before anything could happen I needed to get a day off work.

This problem was quickly solved by offering a five dollar reward to whichever individual would work my shift. When asked why I wanted a substitute so badly, I responded with I wanted to go to the zoo. The question was then why did I want to go to the zoo so badly. So I told one person, ONE PERSON, that I thought it’d be super fun to go to the zoo hammered. And he of course told everyone I worked with.

Word quickly got around to my manager. Who also curiously asked me, “So what’s this about getting drunk at the zoo?” Of course I stuttered a bit, but bottom line I could care less if my manager was concerned with it. So at the end of the day, I had found a sub, and had a running joke with my workstaff.

The big day came and Doug and I departed to get hammered at the zoo. We started with breakfast at McDonald’s, and then we were on our way. I began drinking in the car from my McD’s super big cup of spiked lemonade. Half of Trevilian (the road to get to the zoo) was closed and my tipsy-ass had difficulty navigating us to the entrance, but nonetheless we made it not soon after opening.

We ended up getting in for free, due to Doug’s sexy negotiation techniques, and I had to throw the lid from my cup away. Not soon after Doug and I were having a fantastic time looking at animals and kids while vaded to a satisfying level. We had ourselves a great time. I took a picture of every animal we saw and put it on Facebook, so everyone could follow our progress. At about my peak drunkness, I somehow ran into my manager. Who gave me a strange look which I interpreted as “Wow, he’s really drunk, at the zoo. I wasn’t expecting him to really do it.” It was quite silly, and made for some laughs in the break room at work the following day, but certainly did not slow us down!

That final day in Louisville which was spent with my best friend Doug was probably one of the most enjoyable days of my life. I completely can’t wait to do it again. The zoo is a place where if you’re a kid or really really drunk, you simply can’t have a bad time. A piece of my heart and childhood will always be waiting for me at the entrance gate to the zoo, awaiting my return.

Now be right back because I really have to fucking pee.

K I'm back. I relocated to my dorm room. It's a little bit more comfortable than the grass.

So recently I've really been craving the cabin. As far as the history of the relationship between me and the cabin, it's quite a rocky road. At first I hated the cabin. Between ages 7 and like high school I thought the cabin was a waste of a weekend. Also, at that age I was forced against my will to go to the cabin. There was no opting out. I was always having to cancel plans in Louisville because I had to go to the cabin. Then I was given the option to stay home by myself all weekend. So I stopped going. Then recently, I would choose to stay home because with the house to myself I could host dinner parties and shit.

But now, I'm definitely missing that place. Just like the zoo, a piece of me is located there. With a calming drive down, a chill night spent doing essentially nothing, a morning of sleeping in and some water sports, an afternoon of fun in the sun, an evening of drinking, and a second night of chilling, it's an extremely relaxing way to spend a couple days. 

The cabin is where adventure meets serenity. Cliff jumping to island hopping, jumping wakes on the kneeboard to a cold beer on the deck. I've never realized as a kid how easy it is to have at least a solid time. The only thing I dislike about the cabin, is that it simply doesn't compare to half the shit I do on a yearly basis. It's not Hollywood, or South Beach, or Chicago, or a rainforest. Those are all places I experience and thrive in, but the cabin is the only option for frequent visits.

In other news, national news actually, I actually experienced Project X. The movie Project X is about a crazy house party that turns into a crazy riot and the youth of America seems to be on a mission to recreate it. AND ITS ONLY BEEN DONE ONCE--at Lexington Kentucky. Riot police, tear gas, big fires in the middle of the street, 100's of arrests, yeah it was pretty bad ass. And I was there. 

Well I'm really ready for this year to be over. I have so much fun shit to look forward to over the summer. I already blew my money on a motorcycle, so money won't be spent as superfluously as in the past, but regardless I'm positive it won't be a bad one. I mean I'll have a fucking motorcycle. Game won. I just need to make it through 3 more weeks of ughhhhhhhhhhhhhh and drag my feet to a few more classes that seem like they never end and BOOM! Finals week. Which is the best week of the year. I can't even fucking wait. And there's an additional chance that I won't return to Louisville until I move out on Derby day. I'm in it for the long haul ladies and gentlemen. No more fucking around. Until next time...