Smoky Mountains trip...

I wrote this on my trip around June 22nd or so...

For lack of a computer out here in the Smoky Mountains, I have to blog in my dream journal - the xmas present from my brother Dan that I haven't used yet. We're on vacation in some cabins on a mountainside. The view is breathtaking. The drive up the mountain is pretty steep, but it's worth it. Anyway, I just realized how slow I write compared to typing. Man. Well, at least transfering it to my actual online blog won't take too long. Shit, my penmanship is atrocious! Well, I've got my acoustic guitar with me, and I thought I'd finish writing a song I started writing about 7 years ago or so. Plus maybe I'll work on a few things Chris (guitarist) and I were playing around with. Be right back... Alright, I'm back. Sitting on a big, comfy leather couch in front of the big widescreen tv. We watched Monty Python and the Search for the Holy Grail a bit ago. It's one of the 30 or so DVDs we brought. We also brought about 40 boardgames. It's good to have options. Hanging out with E's family has been pretty fun. It's great that they find the time to get together with each other every once in a while. The only time I ever see my whole family is at funerals or weddings. We're so spread out now, and no one really wants to make an effort to stay in touch these months between christmases. I remember telling my cousins, whom I saw at my mom's wedding, that we should get together sometime. I meant it, but I think in the back of our minds we knew it wouldn't happen. They've all got kids and houses and pets and SUVs and basement repairs and lawns to mow and Little League games to attend. What I want to know is WHEN the hell did we become part of this freakin' age category? I mean, my cousins are about 10 years older than me, but it's the same with a lot of my friends. I try to be the guy who calls the group of friends every few months just to keep in touch, because I know most of them won't do the same. I know some of my once-close friends would probably never speak to me again until one of us dies or gets married, unless I make the effort to remain friends. It's not as if I'm complaining, though. I like doing it. I figure if I invest 5 or 10 years in hanging out and getting to know someone, I'm not just gonna let it go because I've made new friends. A lot of people do that, though, and I guess it's their perogative, but I think there has to be a certain amount of regret there, ya know? I mean, my mom and dad told me plenty of stories of great times they had with what's-her-face and whose-his-name, and when I ask where their friends are now the answer is usually "I don't know. I think they moved south. Had some kids. Maybe he's dead. We lost touch." I don't know, I think that when I think of how much work keeping a dating-type (or married) relationship going strong takes, then in comparison a regular old hang-out-and-drink-a-beer-together-every-few-months relationship is a piece of cake. Minimal effort is required to stay in contact, but I think a lot of people see other friendships fade away after kids, houses, and moving away come into the picture, and they just assume that's the way things are. I'm glad most of my friends are geeks and use the internet a lot. It's a lot easier to keep in touch with groups of people who each live hundreds or thousands of miles from each other when you've got email. And blogs, of course. Well, speaking of blogs, I hope my next entry can be actually typed, because my frickin' hand hurts from writing all this. Maybe I'll continue to use this book for what it's meant for. Writing down dreams. Believe me, I've got some weird ones.