...is usually the first month out of the year where I start having midterms...and sometimes, depending on how many classes I might be taking, all of these midterms will stack up in one week like a wonderful, all-you-can-eat shit package.
This phenomenon usually results in a breakdown of my immune system.
For whatever reason, March also happens to be a time of year when all kinds of interesting things start permeating through the air. My sinuses react to them violently, and I become incredibly ill. This has happened to me every single year...for the past twenty-four years.
This year, I didn't have any midterms. No classes. Nothing...but I still got sick.
In the beginning of March my dad asked me if I'd be willing to fly home for a while if he paid for the plane ticket. At the time I wasn't really doing anything very interesting anyway, so it seemed only fair to accept his offer.
So I flew back to New Mexico...for an entire month.
The trip was on such short notice that I had very little time to inform everyone what was going on...so things kind of just unfolded haphazardly. Once the word got out that I was within 300 miles of all my best friends in New Mexico and El Paso, all hell pretty much broke loose. I was kind of supposed to be there for counseling to help initiate a more organized, proactive job search...which I did accomplish for the most part -- but ultimately, what resulted from this visit was a series of some of the greatest hang-out sessions of the year so far.
It would be unfair to say that March wasn't a very productive month though.
The first weekend back in town my best friend invited me to a poker game with a ten dollar buy-in and an option for a second buy-in...a poker game with a bunch of engineering nerds from New Mexico State University...a poker game...with alcohol involved...and at least ten people.
I saw this as an opportunity to be an asshole.
And so I showed up with ten dollars...and absolutely no interest in drinking alcohol. Sixteen people ended up showing up for this poker party (a few of which bought into the game twice), which broke down into two separate tables. You do the math.
Taking things very seriously, I knocked out a player from the first table. When the opportunity arose to knock out a second player who was low chips, I called his all-in on pocket aces. I LOST TO HIS HAND BECAUSE OF THE RIVER CARD. Then a new person showed up to the table because HE WAS LATE. He was not interested in drinking alcohol either. This made me angry.
The game went on for many hours until both tables were small enough for the remaining players to consolidate at one table. I helped knock out two of the new players from the other table and lasted until fourth place out of sixteen. Why? Because I went all-in with face cards and lost to a low flush on the river AGAIN. The pot was 180 dollars. I hate everything.
Later on I finally did a clean install of Windows Vista on my brand new HP notebook, which was by far the biggest pain in the ass ever (a very uninteresting postscript to this story is that I had to activate the OS via telephone earlier this month and that might have actually been an even bigger pain in the ass).
My friends from Albuquerque and a friend of theirs from El Paso made a trip down to Las Cruces for a show at an incredibly random venue. I met up with them and we partied instantly. They told me they would be staying a night in El Paso in order to drop off their friend, and that they would be returning to Albuquerque the next day. After less than five minutes they convinced me to go with them. Why? Because the following morning they were all going to Kiki's for "breakfast." Fuck the world...
For those of you who have never been to Kiki's...or just, have never eaten Mexican food in El Paso for that matter...well, that just fucking sucks for you.
I road tripped down to El Paso with four other dudes and we all pretty much crashed as soon as we got there. The next morning we woke up and showered...sketchily...and headed for Kiki's with the intent of eating far too much food and then possibly vomiting at some point. Afterward they would give me a ride back to Las Cruces, which was on the way to Albuquerque.
What happened during the next two hours was very interesting...
--Insert the most punk rock romance story ever told--
After missing our exit for I-25 North, she reached out her window and waved at us as if to say goodbye...not realizing that we needed to take the University exit. Oh how the awkwardness settled in like the stench of a fart on a submarine. It had not occurred to me that she might have actually been going to the school. We ended up driving right next to her on University and she was nice enough to wave at us and blow kisses a few more times.
After that happened I was sure she wouldn't bother to call the number. However, it didn't matter to me because what we had accomplished was amazing.
And then she called the number.
I got a chance to spend a little bit of time with my best friends in El Paso. We shared a couple of pitchers together at Hooters, we watched two series of Wonder Showzen, we played Left 4 Dead for several hours and we watched a bunch of horror movies.
When I returned to Las Cruces, March was already half way over.
I spent some time with my best friends in Las Cruces and finally saw Gran Torino.
I made plans to visit Albuquerque for a few days, and this is when my friends in Dead Hours asked me to learn their songs to play the second guitar for their show on March 22. So...I road tripped up to Albuquerque, borrowed a guitar, and learned five songs in a little over a day.
We played. People raged. It was the first time I have ever played a show. Sickest feeling ever...and I want to do it again...and again...and again......
During my visit to Albuquerque I got to see a lot of friends I really missed. I got a chance to hang out with the girl I met at ladies night and convinced her to go watch me play the show on Sunday in exchange for help with her math homework. Cutest deal ever. I told her I would be able to do her homework in five minutes...and instead took two hours.
But alas, it was time to go back to Las Cruces and spend the rest of my time there with my family.
Then I got sick.
My sister flew into town for her birthday...with my niece. By the time they got to my parents' house I had quarantined myself into a bedroom by the kitchen in an attempt to avoid getting everyone else sick. I literally spent the rest of March laying in a bed, using my laptop to watch episodes of South Park on my Netflix account.
I think one of the nicest things about staying at home with my parents again was the freedom to buy a shit load of healthy food and experiment with it...and yet with all the healthy meals I ate for an entire month my body decided to shit itself again, almost like clockwork, as it always does...EVERY single year. I lost six pounds, and passed the cold on to my mom, my dad, my sister (which manifested itself on her birthday) and my niece...regardless of my efforts to stay away from them.
I suppose it's the thought that counts.
