Farewell sweet Athena

Well, everything's packed up and tomorrow I'm on the road to wondrous Duluth, Minnesota. I came home one day last week to a nasty letter taped to my door requesting my immediate vacation of the premises. Wednesday afternoon was spent in panic attacks and taking the long way to Columbia, SC. I holed up with lada for the better part of a week (say thankee), drank her beer, played with her dogs, and finally with a little bit of pushing I broke down and talked to my parents and my roommate and his father.
So now I'm off to the Great White North for an indeterminable period of time. Could be 2 weeks or 2 months. God help me if it's any longer. My goal is to be the hell out of there and somewhere new before the first snow falls. Unfortunately, the spur-of-the-moment move has prevented me from saying proper goodbyes and has not left enough time to throw together a last minute ticker-tape parade to see me off. If this caught you by surprise then I'm very sorry to leave without going through all the formalities. I promise to be in touch with people over the next few days especially and the next few months as well. And I'll do my damn best to get back for the Tennessee game. I'm glad to be gone but I'm a little sad to be going. I've spent the better part of 6 years in this town, which accounts for a full fourth of my life on this planet. So you'll have to excuse me if I'm a little attached, even though Athens has seen some of the worst moments and periods of my life.

Some things I will be missing:

- Agua Linda: the best margarita in town and some of best Mexican you've ever eaten. Try the goat meat burrito!

- Saturday football games and tailgating with some of the best friends a guy has ever known (shucks, I just teared up)

- Arguing with Matt over college vs. pros, politics, Mel Gibson, religion, and everything else you can imagine.

- Southern girls in sandals, halter tops, and white cotton skirts.

- One of the best college bar scenes in the country.

- Alf & the Frat Guys -- these are the best guys in the world to rock out, party hard, and have a great time with. Even though college turned out to be a great personal failure (at this point at least), I'm glad I came anyway just for the freshman-year roommates I had in the dorm.

- I talk a lot of shit about it, but for the most part I really did enjoy my days working for the AJC. I met a lot great people, got some killer job experience, and learned a lot about myself and the way the world works.

- Father Jack, Father Tom, Sister Joan and everybody that made the UGA Catholic Center such a wonderful experience. I have never enjoyed going to church as much as I did there, and I will really miss Father Jack's Masses and his good Franciscan humor and point of view.

I won't miss:

- Seeing Deven randomly downtown, on campus, or at the games and having to go through that kind of emotional upheaveal all the time.

Gotta go for now, but I'm sure there will be more to follow in the days to come.