I spent this past Wednesday through Saturday at San Luis Obispo with Martin and Dustin. Quite the adventure. Martin goes to CalPoly so we stayed at his place down there. He turned 21 on Saturday, and the plan was to hit the bars on Friday night at midnight. Ends up Martin and Dustin decided to drink every night we were there. I ended up driving them and Martin's friends around every night in Tin's car.

(FYI it's Martin with a Spanish accent over the i...so Marteen...we call him Teen sometimes, but its spelled Tin. Just wanted you to be able to read this right)

Anyhow, I volunteered to be the DD for a variety of reasons. First of all, while they assured me ways home would be found, I saw from the start that once people were drunk they insisted on driving when they shouldn't be. I didn't want to risk that happening.

Secondly, Martin's house was a dirty. Superfund site dirty. Food in various levels of decay dirty. So dirty it stank and made my stomach turn dirty. It made the messiest the Pink House has ever been look sparkling clean. (in fact, it made me realize how damn good I have it at that house!) Thank god Martin's room was comparatively clean. The bathroom however, was awful. I didn't want to wake up with a hang over in that house.

And third, I'm low on cash and drinking is expensive. I only had 10 bucks in my wallet when we went to the bars. I had one beer. With no job this summer, I feel really bad about spending money on things I don't need.

I won't go into more detail...but Martin and Dustin weren't the most fun people to be around when they were drunk. Up till this weekend, every drunk person I've been around has been a jolly drunk. But after a certain point, Dustin gets angry and aggressive and Martin get moody and emotional. Much cooler when they're sober. Haha. Nevertheless, it was still kinda cool to see what the CalPoly party/social/bar scene is like. Worlds apart from Cal. Or at least the Cal I know. I can see the benefits, but I know now more than ever that when I chose Cal over CalPoly, I made one of the best decisions I've ever made or will ever make in my life.

The days however, were great. We went to Morro Bay and checked out the tide pools, went on an awesome sunset/night hike to the top of Bishop's Peak with two of Martin's housemates, and spent an afternoon in Pismo. Fun times. Martin's friends down there are pretty cool. I had fun hangin' with them.

So yeah...the trip had its tough times. Survivor: SLO times. But overall I'm still really glad I went. Even the parts of the trip that weren't so great at the time are already funny (or at least absurd) memories.

Tonight Martin's family threw him a bday party/BBQ at their house. A sizeable grouping of my high school friends were there. Dustin, Martin, Matt, Kim, Jamie, and Lauren B. We all really had a great time. Martin was the only one of us who drank (as it should be, he is celebratin his 21st after all..but he was only a little buzzed).

But the night, in a way, reinforced why I love my group of friends from high school so much. We are that rare group of SFHS alums that can have tons o' fun together without drugs or alcohol. God I sound like an afternoon special. But it's true. Tonight was the first night we were all together as 21 year olds, and while we all enjoy drinking every now and then, it's not something we think we need to loosen up or feel comfortable enough to have a really good time together. I'm glad to see that hasn't changed now that we're all 21. Some nights just being around them gets me on a natural high and I become really goofy and feel really at ease. Tonight was one of those nights. We can make each other drunk I guess...without alcohol if that makes any sense.

Long live Team Fuzzy Bunny Unicorn Zebra Pants!

Don't ask.