Definition of "Leafing"-C. Webster's Dictionary

Leafing (Verb): The act of acquiring many, many garbage bags filled with leaves throughout a neighborhood, throwing them into the back of a Mitsubishi Montero, driving to a particularly despised and/or random target's house, running out of the car giggling profusely and regressing to an eighth-grade mental state that you never really grew out of, ripping the bags open, scattering leaves everywhere with emphasis on entryway, throwing now-empty bags (and some partially full) into trees and/or roof, bouncing.

Halloween

October 31st is just around the bend, and this is the first year I won't be trick-or-treating. That's not to say I won't have my share of follies. I'll be in Greenville, NC, home to what is supposedly the best Halloween celebration on the east coast. I'll be sure to take many mental notes and report back on the validity of that. 

Doyne and I are coordinating our costumes. I'm a young child, complete with spinner hat and knee socks, while he shall be my pedophiliac tempt, beckoning me to him via candy taped to his genital region. Should be in the running for best costume duo.

This holiday used to conjure up feelings of joy only rivaled by Christmas. In fact, I think I actually preferred Halloween. I can remember being in first grade, and Halloween was once again on a Friday. I was sitting in Ms. Comer's classroom, literally about to shit myself thinking about the hours between 6:30 and 8:30 in which I would bounce around the neighborhood with David, Steve, and Dad, accumulating what I thought to be a just ridiculous amount of candy (later pictures reveal, that upon emptying of my satchel, the amount wasn't as large as I had remembered). Then I remember after it was finally time to come back in, I'd sort out my candy into chocolate and fruit piles, and then subdivide each type into a group of its own. I lived for that in first grade.

Also, when I think about past Halloweens I think about silly string. I also think about how I argued with a kid who swore that it was actually called "Silly Strink." I remember someone sprayed it on a street sign near my house, probably around that first grade Halloween. It was there for literally six years. I remember spraying it on my kitchen window and pissing my mom off really badly. 

Tea is getting me in the spirit of Halloween. I'm not sure why. I wish I had a pumpkin. Someone smashed one outside the suite the other day, purpose or culprit unknown to me. I wish I could have gotten to them before they did the deed and told them that if they were just going to smash it they could just give it to me instead. I can hardly believe that they bought a pumpkin just to smash it on a walk where all of about 15 people will see it.

So yeah, ECU for Halloween. Should be a good time.

Here's Johnny!

Many things have happened in my life. Revelations have been made, relationships have been dashed and new ones have been made, and previously dashed ones have been rekindled while others lay dismantled in the dust and grime of my not-so-distant past. I am accepting all that has happened slowly but surely. In due time I feel like I will be stronger. 

That isn't to say that I'm a mess right now. Aside from a bit of sleep anxiety every now and then in which I wake up with a start and, in my forever-hypochondriac state, think I just had a seizure, I'm doing quite fine. I've been going home a lot, and I like that. I think it's well-worth what has become a relatively reasonable $40 tank to see those that I miss, and those that miss me. It puts my mind and heart at ease. It lets me know that my base, the reason I'm still stable, is still out there.

I haven't been blogging recently, nor have I done much writing. I don't like trying to sort my thoughts out in a 12-point arial, times, what have you. Hence my short blog posts. Obviously I'm not putting that much out there. My mind's a good sorter of material, not needing its thoughts displayed on screen or paper to have a powerful release.

An update on me follows.

College is good. The ocean is good. My mind is getting better, as is my body. I didn't think I'd have to do so much rebuilding at such an early age, but then again, what can we account for these days? If someone told me a year ago 'hey man, this is what will be happening in your life a year from now,' I don't know if I would think I'd have it in me to cope with it. But I guess when it happens, you have no choice but to face it head-on. I've quit many things, but not this.

Now to the smaller things.

Our frat got reinstated. As of November 7th, I will officially be a member of the Delta Tau Delta Fraternity, Zeta Tau Chapter.

I have started swimming again. I'm training with Waves of Wilmington, a club team down here. I am going to try to walk on for the school next year. I'm glad I didn't give up on this, because I always felt like I could have done so much more in the sport, and now I'm going to.

I have been following the UNC Football team closely, and have gone to every home game except the one against UConn. We're playing quite well, and could easily be undefeated. We beat Boston College this weekend, and afterward I stayed up at the Hill with Lyle. Good times were had by all. Good to be buds with that guy again.

I have seen two Perpetual Groove concerts in the last week. I am seeing Minus the Bear in Raleigh on Wednesday, and perhaps Cool Kids in Chapel Hill the day before. Be jealous. And yes, I realize how homosexual I just sounded.

I got a Bl(Cr)ackberry.

I now drink coffee and tea.

There are more things, and I will update as they become available in my mind.

It's now 12:16 and my schedule hasn't been the best lately, so I think I'll begin the sleeping process. Actually, I take it back, Celestial Seasonings has already been consumed so the process has already begun. I'm looking forward to getting in bed and reading a good book. God, haven't done that in awhile, but the prospect of it right now is pretty damn glorious. I think I'll open my window as well (so climb on in ya crazy kook!). 

Good to be home

Today marks the first time I've been in Charlotte since August 16th. Easily the longest period of time I've been away from home. Despite that, not much has changed. Physically. A lot has changed personally, but that's a depth that this blog won't explore. You'll have to hack my Word '08 archives and jack my monogrammed, leatherbound journal, a gift from Virginia, if you really wanna know. But at least on the surface, I'm greeted with familiarity.

My cousin dropped me off at On The Border this afternoon and I threw my supplies (guitar, textbooks, MacBook) into my dad's car. Then I was greeted with the tightest, warmest bear hug that only my dad can give me. It's always good to see my dad, and there's not much more I can say about that.

Went back to the apartment and a certain Miss Jones came by for a long-awaited rendezvous. The reunion was crisp and warm and the shivers still abound. Good to be back on the block with that chick.

I'm staying here at least for tonight. If I can find a ride going back toward Dubtown tomorrow I may hop on. Missed "Eddy's 21st Drunk-a-thon" back in Wilmsies tonight. The title's a bit misleading if you think about it (Is this really the twenty-first drunk-a-thon? Nay, it's Eddy's twenty-first birthday, but you probably assumed that), but C Woods assured me that it was an excellent bash. Sure, wish I could have been there, but sometimes, you just need family. And they need me. So you make do.

As it stands, I'm locked in to an early morning gym trip with Pops. Guy's a machine. It's 2:46 a.m. now. I think I'm gonna go slice up an orange, drink two Blue Moons, and pass out. Ah, good to be home.

Evac?

"Oh man, school at the beach, guess that means no snow days for you mwah mwah mwah!!! lala!!!" Well yes, that is true sir, but snow isn't the only type of inclement weather that calls for class cancellation. Can you say a little thing called 'Hurricane'? Namely, a bitch named Hanna, presumed to be closely followed by a mean older brother named Ike who just might ass rape you if you mess with his sis (Don't worry Ike! I wasn't planning on it! I heard she was kind of a bull dike!).

They issued some sort of 'voluntary evacuation,' whatever the fuck that means. The whole student body's dipsettin at any rate. I will join the mob, but my route won't end in the 704. I'll be taking a little trip to the state's capital where I'll hopefully be greeted with some old high school friends and have a grand ole time. I better. We're toting three handles of some of the finest booze known to man (Sophistafunk biatch) so we're going to be having fun with somebody. Hopefully it isn't aforementioned bull-dike Hanna, although I think she might be a bit hung over by the time she reaches Raleigh and just might have to sit her ass down.

So I guess we'll be coming back on Sunday, but then in all likelihood will be evacked again on Wednesday because of Ike. If that happens, I think I will go back to Charlotte. It's been awhile since I've been there and I have some people that are about to shit themselves if they don't see me. I couldn't stand being the cause of soiled britches, so I'll drop in. 

I bought a guitar a couple nights ago. No, I do not know how to play. But I really want to learn. It was 3:30a.m. and as usual, I was sitting at my computer. I began surfing. I went to Guitar Center's website. They had a great deal on what is supposedly a very nice guitar. I bought it. I really think I can learn. All it's going to take is some motivation. All I'm listening to is acoustic rock. I can't wait to get that thing. Hopefully it will be here before I leave for Raleigh. I would hate for it to get messed up in the 'cane. I still can't believe I bought it.

Read Kevin Canty's short story "Blue Boy" immediately if you are anything like me.

"The Thrill"...

I went to Chapel Hill this weekend and (thankfully) was not too impressed. The school that I had put on a pedestal for so many years during my childhood didn't hold nearly the same draw as it did when I walked around the business school with my dad one afternoon after a football game, or as it did when I went to my cousin's wedding at The Old Well. Sure, everything still seemed nice, but now that I was in college myself and could supply my own images of other schools, including my own, I realized that UNC wasn't all that great.

Walk anywhere on campus and you'll see endless construction. Walk by the frat court and you'll see tons and tons of white males out on their front lawns in matching tucked-in Polos and a pair of Costa del Mar sunglasses adorned with those queer "croakies" around their necks. Go a little past that and see hordes of very plain and (not-so-)innocent girls dressed in prim and proper dresses and the like walking around, hoping to make a good impression on various sororities for reasons unknown. It was all fine, just fine...if you're into that sort of thing.

Some of you might be saying "Ah you're just saying this because you're still bitter that you didn't get in." And you'd be partially right. I never really will recover from getting the immediate rejection. But at least now I know that I'm not missing much in "The Thrill," and that, at least for now, I am in the right place.

I do still exist.

I have gotten numerous--well, at least one complaint that I have not been doing nearly enough writing in this lil blog of mine. I know this is true, but to be honest it has been a bit difficult finding the time to do so. It's weird. Everyone told me I was going to have a ton of free time in college, and so far I have not found this to be the case. I have had a pretty good amount of homework and reading to do, and of course there are the never-ending extracurriculars, some of which are healthy, others which might not fall into that category. Nevertheless, I realize that I do need to put forth a slightly better effort in supplying the general public with more info on the happenings of Chad Thomas. So I will try to do this.

So I've been to all of my college classes now. I only have five, which is nice. Even nicer is that they are only 50 minutes and an hour and 15 minutes, respectively. I have three 50s on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday and two hour-pt-two-fives on Tuesday and Thursday. I actually have my father to thank for this: he recommended that I fashion my schedule in this manner. 

Although it's early and I'm still feeling out all of my classes, I think my favorite is going to be my fiction writing class. I don't write a lot of fiction, but I could definitely see myself getting into it. The professor is actually a young T.A., probably not older than twenty-five. "But," he assured us on the first day, "I won't bullshit you. I know what I'm talking about." And he definitely seems like he does. The class is one of the 50 minute ones so I can stay really focused the whole time. Additionally, he is constantly playing really chill music. His favorites seem to be Sufjan Stevens, Band of Horses, and Wilco, all of which I myself really enjoy. It's really great music to get the creative juices flowing. On the first day of class he asked us write the worst story we could possibly write, full of cliches and overused adjectives. I wrote the best worst piece I have ever written, all about a girl and her one-minute existence between the time she woke up and the time she went downstairs to eat breakfast.

My other classes aren't too bad either. Freshman Seminar is nothing like that vulgar class I took in high school that was nothing more than an extension of my shitty english class. We actually do shit relevant to being a freshman in college, which is refreshing. I have a Political Science course which is going to be hard, although the teacher was out of town today so class was canceled. Yes, no substitutes in college bitch. Also have History 202 and College Albebra. Neither of those deserve any description. They are tedious but necessary I suppose.

The first couple days I was here, I was a bit homesick, despite thinking that I wouldn't be. It's just part of my personality. But I have become sufficiently acclimated now, and I am quite comfortable here now. I have been drinking entirely too much. I need to get more sleep. But I am staying on top of my studies, which is something I haven't done in about seven years. It is weird to sit down and just read a textbook because I was assigned pages to read. And it's going to take some practice, but I'm catching on.

I really like my dorm room. I don't have a roommate. I am pretty sure I have mentioned that. I really like the privacy I have. It allows me to remain naked most of the time, as I frequently did in the comfort of my own home. Speaking of nakedness, a buddy of mine who lives above me and I went to a no-clothes party hosted by the swim team a few nights ago. We did adorn our respective packages with small hand towels however. Had to show some courtesy.

Tomorrow Colie (the guy who lives above me) and I are driving down to North Myrtle to a Slightly Stoopid concert. That should be pretty good. I have been listening to those guys a lot lately and they never fail to put me in a really relaxed mood. Lyrics are nothing to write home about (pun?) but the guitar and reggae-punk-hip hop-blues feel supplements lack-luster words with really good instrumentals. Plus I've heard they're awesome live. Tickets were around $30, North Myrtle's about an hour away, we're in fucking college. It was a no-brainer.

Tomorrow my earliest class is at nine. That has become really early for me. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I don't have one until 12:30. I like those days. 

Let's see, what else? Oh, I am thinking about pledging a fraternity. I have been partying and hanging out with Delta Tau Delta a lot and they are some of the coolest guys I have ever met. But you really can't go wrong on frats down here, except maybe Kappa Alpha. So I'll have a little look around during Rush Week and see what really tickles my fancy. Doubt I'll pledge first semester though.

I may be coming home this weekend, so you may or may not see me. But I miss all of you, and I will see you soon.

College: the beginning

Your boy CT is officially moved in to his new home at the Dub. Yes, University Suite S, room 104 is now occupied by yours truly. The rents and sis have said their goodbyes, and now it is just me, alone in the world for the first time. A bit scary, but right now all I can see is upside. Finally, I get a chance to be me. No longer is my life tainted and limited by the restrictions put on me prior to this point.

But that's all good and well. What I'm really excited about is this suite. First of all, it isn't nearly as small as I thought. Sure, it isn't big. But it's damn cool. I lofted the bed and put my bike and golf clubs under it. I may regret this when I come in extremely intoxicated and have to climb up to the top. But oh well, we live and we learn. Additionally room accessories include a giant, soft plush rug, and my zebra print comforter. Oh yeah, the Logitechs are blasting some loud tunes, which prompted one of my new suitemates to pop his head in and ask who was playing the dank music. 

Which brings me to my suitemates, they all seem to be pretty cool, into similar music as me for the most part, and partaking in similar illegal activities. So it's all gravy. Can't wait to see where the night takes me.

I'm back

It's 5:00am and I have now redeemed myself as an official night lurker. Reasons for this affliction? Perhaps insomnia, perhaps being a werewolf, perhaps dreading the images I'll see in my dreams (likely isn't the latter; Klum's been making regular appearances as of late). Whatever the cause, it is a non-issue, at least for the next week or so. But come next Wednesday, classes will officially start down at the Dub. I guess I'm looking forward to them. They'll certainly be a lot different than those wonderful, diverse courses offered at my former center of learning, East Meck. I look forward to comparing and contrasting.

Tomorrow (today) I must go work out at the J. I am getting miserably soft, and just plain miserable as a result. It doesn't help that The Olympics is on at this time, driving home images of world-class athletes with world-class bodies, and aside from that echoing to me that I should have continued swimming, if not for Olympic gold than at least for those eight-packs, bulging biceps, enormous thighs, and enormous pull with the Beijing females (a sexy Asian is a very close second to one of Caucasian breed in my book. Well, I am fairly impartial to races as a rule).

Now I think I will pull this blanket over my head as I fall asleep to some Olympic coverage, continue wallowing in self-pity at how out of shape I am, and sleep until 1 in the afternoon. I am very productive.

I can't even write about what I just saw. I am still in shock. If ever there were a time I wish I were in a pool, it is now.

A beach blog

Friday, August 8

One week from tomorrow, I will be in college. I'm ready to go. I've got all my new clothes bought. I made sure to cover all the bases so that I'll be accepted by all clicks: Vineyard Vines, American Apparel, Gap, etc. It's an eclectic mix to say the least, but you never know. I want to go into this thing well-prepared. Plus, I haven't bought new clothes in about four years so I figured I might as well go hard. 

Clothes now covered, but something's still missing. It couldn't be any of the dorm room essentials. I've got the oversized mini fridge (oxymoron), plush rug, and zebra print duvet cover for my down comforter. 

Fresh kicks? I guess this may be an issue. Although I did just purchase a pair of hemp Rainbows. The beauty of these is that they get me in with all crowds. They're classy and preppy enough for the frat type, yet the hemp proves to the surfers that I am one with the earth, not to mention environmentally conscious. Perhaps this will warrant a free surf lesson at Wrightsville? Wishful thinking, I'm sure.

But this does bring me to another issue: surfing. I think I can do it, but how am I going to learn? Youtube? I really need to get a board, which leads to other issues, such as longboard or short? Are longboarders considered a joke by the locals? All of these questions need to be resolved in short time. I want to get off on the right foot.

Surfing can wait though. First order of business is getting acclimated to the school itself. But it would be great if my parents would let me take my car down. I didn't realize how hard it is to actually get into the town of Wilmington from the campus. Everything is closed in around the school so one really must drive to get somewhere. Then again, I am a damn good biker. 

I keep seeing these countdowns on Facebook statuses. "Ten days to freedom!" "Twelve more days til I am in college! "8IG[-]+ [)@ZE 2wo ApP [(luvs0**0]!!!" I am getting a bit tired of them. No one cares, mostly because they are focused on their own move-in date and don't give two shits about the move-in date of some person they met once in high school. So please stop doing that if you are. And if you're one of the people who likes to keep it a big mystery ("Ten Days."), it's just as stupid. You thought you were very cool with the very direct, concise two-word statement followed by the period that Facebook inserts by default. It looks good, I'll give you that. But it's quite annoying.

Well I am actually at the beach right now so I think I'm gonna head out. Bye.

...

"Reject a woman, and she will never let it go, one of the many defects of their kind......Also, weak arms." -Dwight Schrute