the daily routine

any clue how long it’s been since i last tumbled? the 1st football game. 1st official week of marching season. and here i am about to experience my last one of the season. i’m terribly excited. =] but before that, a sad tale…

i woke up this morning in tears. tomorrow is thanksgiving. and i’m 2,000+ miles from home. yes, home is los angeles for most of the year. but atlanta will always be my true home. with my family… and my puppy. of course, i’m blessed to have an uncle out here that’s willing to have me for dinner tomorrow — some people don’t even have that and are stuck in the dorms. but naturally, for someone like me that has always spent the holidays with my parents, this year is a bit of a shock. there are certain “traditions” as it were that i won’t get to partake in this year… waking up for the macy’s parade and shouting at the top of our lungs that santa’s there, followed by blasting christmas music for the rest of the day; putting up the christmas trees and other decorations on friday… that sort of thing. so yeah. i was sad. but as i’ve posted before, tears really are an all-heal. i feel 3469117x better now, and i’m ready to take on these next 20 days with vigor. notice something? 20 is a pretty cool number. i left home on july 20. and now there are 20 days until i return. the first 20 days of july were a bitch to get thru… and i expect these next 20 days will be no different. but i’m set and ready for anything this world has to offer. =]

so here i am. laying on a pillow at Tommy Trojan. i’ll have to give you some insight to the last 12 or so weeks of my life. there’s an organization on campus called the Trojan Knights. sounds fishy, doesn’t it? google it—you’ll be pleasantly surprised. so i “pledged” the Knights, and had no clue what i was getting myself into. 10 weeks of fun. agonizing, annoying, terrible, fantastic, joyous, painful… fun. =] but i really made some of the closest friends ever. the experience was surreal. but i wouldn’t trade it for anything. i’m now a Trojan Knight, and enjoying the hell out of it. 

one of the big things that we do is guard Tommy Trojan during Troy Week—it’s the week of our big rivalry football game against crosstown bitches and whores, the ucla bRuins. so i’ve spent two nights here at Tommy, who is clad in duct tape. its fun. =]

bah. i’m starting to ramble. but the point is that fun things happened this semester. fight on. =]

i love mondays. =]

whoa. that’s all i can say about the last 3 weeks of my life. don’t get me wrong—it’s a positive whoa. i mean, let’s see…

moved into my dorm at USC;

survived a full week of band camp with the Trojan Marching Band;

began classes at the university of my dreams;

met and still meeting some of the most amazing people around;

marched two shows and beat the gophers in the coliseum;

the list could go on. point is—i love it here. standing in the coliseum yesterday? something hit me: you guys remember about a year ago, i said “this time next year, i’m gonna be at USC, playing with the Trojan Band in the LA Coliseum” … and you didn’t believe me? guess what? teehee—and may i say, i love proving you wrong. 

it’s such a surreal feeling. i like it.

fight on. 

los angeles and san francisco are two cities cut from a hugely different cloth. i love both, but i’m not sure… los angeles gets my vote in a fight between the two. there’s just something magical about it…

so i titled this post “welcome back.” part of my self-proclaimed “welcome” series of blogs, detailing my transition to life here in california. but you already knew that. i call it “welcome back” because it’s as if i belong here. and the city welcomes me with open arms everytime i return to it. last sunday, i rode the coast starlight into union station downtown, and was met by my uncle. naturally, before going to his house, i had to make the return complete and get more in-n-out; i’m officially addicted. i got up the next morning and we trekked (using public transit, mind you) to USC. that campus is just… i’m in awe everytime i’m there. the architecture, the people… gosh…

but i digress—we walked around a little bit. then went to santa monica. i had never been on the pier—it was an… interesting experience. definitely something i recommend, no matter how much of a tourist you’d look like. tuesday? the grove and the farmer’s market. there was this cajun restaurant… seriously to DIE for. wednesday? hung out with a classmate i actually met thru facebook, as crazy as that is. we live in a world where it’s totally possible to do that—kinda crazy once you actually think about it. but cool nonetheless. learned that i absolutely stink at bowling… no seriously. i stink at it.

break time for a mini-rant: I HATE MY BLUETOOTH HEADPHONES! okay, that’s a lie. i love them. they sound amazing. and cut down on wires, which i seem to always break/fuck up. but they die. unexpectedly. they last an extraordinarily long time (i haven’t charged them since i left atlanta, and have used them at least every other day if not more!). but there is no audible warning that they’re gonna shut down. there’s a light that flashes blue normally, until the battery is low—then it flashes red. but it’s positioned BEHIND your head. i’m not sure about you, but i don’t have a little alien man traveling behind me all the time to check the color of my light. once it’s dead, it’s DEAD. it makes this rather pleasant sound, then goes caput. -__- so now i’m back on my shitty regular headphones while they charge. =[

anywho—rant’s done. where was i? thursday? i went to the california african-american museum with my uncle. that was fairly interesting. we were gonna do the science center, but it was closed, i think… or something. so we went there instead. thursday evening/friday morning? relationship termination. but that’s for another post. maybe. if i feel like divulging into all the gritty details. =]

saturday? went to santa barbara for fiesta! it was soooo much fun! food like you wouldn’t believe—authentic tacos, burritos, tamales, and pozole. it was off the chain! sunday? chilled out, did a bunch of nothing. monday#2? went down to exposition park with the intention of going to the science center again. instead? chilled out on campus—walked around. played on my ipad. gave a man directions to “oj hall”… then today, tuesday#2? hung with someone my age for the first time in almost a week! went to universal citywalk—its pretty cool. nothing like the orlando one though. this one is far better. bigger too. saw rise of the planet of the apes—it was SO good. caesar? “NO!” #nuffsaid

so yeah. that’s my week.5 in a nutshell. i could go into more shit for ages and ages, but i’ll save that for the movie. =]

tomorrow? my mom comes out from atlanta. she’s helping me move into my dorm. by the way—i move into my dorm in 4 days. i’m terribly excited. dorm life, band camp, campus… it’s all so surreal.

—mitch

greetings, peeps. it’s been a mighty long while since i last tumbled. it doesnt seem like that long, because i just posted a week and a half ago about my flight, yes? no. that was queued a week before i left home. so for me, its been ages. 

“home”. 

funny word isn’t it? what is home? home is where you make your comfort. home is, and will always be, atlanta, georgia. but i’ve gotten the opportunity to make a new, albeit temporary home, in los angeles. so now i’m here. =]

well… not here, i’m actually writing this from a warehouse district in san francisco. but yes. los angeles is my new home. and honestly? i love it. I attended orientation at USC. it was cool. nah… it was great. i absolutely loved it. being on campus, meeting new people—the Trojan Family really is something magical. as cliche as it sounds? once you experience it, you know. you feel it, you breathe it, you enhance it, you live it.

got my in-n-out. got a cool jacket. spent a week in san francisco. RIDING PUBLIC TRANSIT. sightseeing, being a tourist. lots of fun, actually. wrote out the loose script for the video blog my friends pushed me to start. much of it was this, actually… oops. teeheee

tomorrow, i head back to los angeles. at which point i’ve got photos out the ass to post. riding the coast starlight down the coast. 11hr train ride. i’m excited. but worried i’ll be terribly bored/disconnected from the world all day tomorrow. oh well—we’ll see. =]

Preeeeetty Mounnnnnntainsss. (Taken with Instagram at Somewhere in California…)

whoa. this time last summer i was probably at work. not even thinking that i’d be where i am right now. who would’ve thought—little old mitch, packing to go off to USC, to los angeles… to his dream school. i’m at a glorious moment this morning—getting ready to fly off into the sunset. bye georgia, it was nice knowing you. see you at christmas. 

It’s HOT. (Taken with Instagram at Mable House Arts Center)

8. The number of days remaining until I go to California for 5 months, to return to Atlanta at Christmas. Honestly? SUUUUUUUUUPER excited! But my stomach is getting increasingly stuffed with butterflies. I am, after all, going out into the big world that is Los Angeles. USC. Anywhere BUT home. 8 Days Remaining…

i want one…