If I could put a title on this blog entry today, it would be...

My Adventures with Ken: A New Friendship

Yesterday was a trip. I mean, really! It was just something else. I want more just like it. I hope to have more nights and times like I had last night. They were just so cool and so enjoyable. It was awsome!

After class, I dropped off all my stuff in Ken's trunk. It was pretty much empty with the exception of an ice scraper and a red back pack. We then went to his place because a friend of his came along and we were just going to play it all by ear. I like Ken's appartment. I don't know what it is about me, but I like other people's living quarters better than I do my own even though I know now that I'm a hell of a lot better off as far as how I sleep at night goes. I'm weird like that. Ken's roommate, Brad (who is also in my Creativity class with Ken), suggested OpryMills as a place to go. We all went along.

OpryMills was fun and way different in atmosphere for a Thursday afternoon. It's a lot more relaxing and feels a whole lot better as far as being able to just do whatever. On top of that, I don't feel awkward being surrounded by people that just got out of church who I know look at my lifestyle as a sin. Ken introduced me to more of his friends and we went all over the place. We first played some DDR. I showed off my skills much to the delight of Ken. He seemed really impressed. His friend, on the other hand, felt really bad seeing as how I showed her up and beat her ass at the game for lack of a better phrase. It was all for fun though. We ended up going to Hot Topic and Ken got some things there. I also got a warning from him saying that not to tell anyone at Watkins that he or anyone else, including myself, shops at Hot Topic because it is frowned upon as a dorky thing to do. It didn't make sense to me, but what the hell, right? We also hit up the two video game stores. He was looking for the game Knight Rider. He couldn't find it. He did find everything else he needed for a film project he is doing for class. He needed to find a spegetti jar that he could film through from the bottom. Not really all that original, but I can tell while he was searching he loves his work and is really passionate about it. I like that in an artist. It helps me take them seriously, especially when I see it first hand.

After OpryMills, we went back to his place to relax for a few hours. We played alot of video games. Ken introduced me to the wonderful world of Grand Theif Auto. Talk about addicting. And now I see why that game is the media's favorite escape goat since Mortal Kombat. Still, it's fun to beat up hookers with a bat and then steal all their money. We also played DragonBallZ: Budikai, which I suck at. I also got to play Enter the Matrix, which was interesting... and hard. That game requires a fast brain and even faster reflexes. Somewhere between all this, I felt like having a pizza. Since Ken likes to cook, he said he'd make some homemade pizza. Now there something you don't get every day.

At 18:00, Ken and I left to go back to school for an art opening and letchure from a featured artist. He had an alternate motive for going, though. He likes a girl by the name of Jamie in our Creativity class. He calls her "Red Boots." Cute, if I do say so myself. There was free food and drinks there, so that was a plus too. I was shadowing Ken most, if not all the time. I got introduced to several of his other friends too. I was introduced to his friend (I want to say Brad, but I know that's not right. I think it's Bret.) who has this really laid back and mellow voice. Ken said he could easily fall asleep listening to his voice. I also got introduced to a rather cute, tattoo'd blond by the name of Austin. That makes two Austins I am aware of that are blond. What's up with that? I also got introduced to Ken's best friend Charlie. Charlie reminds me a lot of Dan. Both are older, talkative, interesting in their own way, and friendly. It was like de javu all over again. Interestingly enough, Charlie did say that he heard a lot about me. Makes me wonder what Ken or anyone else for that matter said about me. The actual event itself was intersting in that you got to hear the points of view of an artist in the professional sense. I took it as if I was looking at a time portal and seeing what it is I was going to end up doing later in my life. Showing slides of my artwork and explaining it to the masses as to why I did this piece, what the symbolism is, what interesting materials it is, etc. To think that I am going to be trained to be like that.

When the whole thing was over with, I waved down Jamie and helpped her find Ken. Since Ken was going to make some pizzas, he needed to go pick up alot of items for it. Unfortunately, he forgot his purse. Yes, Ken, a straight guy, has a purse. Actually, it's a man purse in the legitimate sense. And here I thought a man purse was a messenger bag. Who knew? So, anyway, it was back to the appartment and then to Harris Teeter. In the process, Jamie, who was following us, ended up losing us. Ken started to get really mad at himself for running that yellow light and trying to loop around the block to get behind her. I tried to think like her as a way to second guess where she would might be while also looking for her car. Eventually, we just gave up and Ken went to get his purse and buy items for the pizza. That's when I remembered that he meantioned where he was going, namely Harris Teeter. Jamie lives in the same area as Ken, so, logically speacking, she would probibly also know where that is. Lucky us and much to Ken's delight, Jamie was there! The panic was over for the most part. We went around getting toppings and pizza crusts. Pineapple, bacon, tomato sauce. Just the things that Ken didn't have a home.

I tried my best to leave Ken and Jamie alone in the kitchen. Hey, he fancys her, so it was only the right thing to do, right? I ended up drifting back and forth all over the place, but for the most part I stayed out of Ken and Jamie's conversations as best I could. The pizza he made for us was excellent! I mean, it was really EXCELLENT! You can tell that he has a lot of kitchen experiance. Our conversation over pizza drifted back and forth between school and people and interests and ideas and everything in between. Eventually, Ken introduced Jamie to the wonderful show of Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Sometimes I can't watch that show because it goes over my head a lot, but this time I was able to enjoy it. This only further proves to me that some things, especially entertainment, are tons better when you are with other people. After a while, Jamie left.

I looked at the clock, and it was late. I didn't want to just go home, walk in while everyone is trying to sleep and then wake up everyone. I opted to see if I could spend the night. I first asked Ken if I could, since that is the proper thing to do. He said that people crash at his place all the time, so that's always cool with him. I then called an notified the family. Mom didn't sound to please. Knowing her, I bet she thought that I made Ken let me stay the night. Sure enough as soon as I got home, I found out that is what she though, that that's still about 10 hours away from where I am in the story now.

Ken takes nightly walks, and I got to join him. That walk was something I'll never forget, nor want to. It was one of those walks with a person that everyone in the Christian and Catholic faith says I need to talk with Jesus. Yes, I'm comparing this with something from the Bible, because, quite frankly, the walk we had was a bonding experiance as far as I'm concerned. While we walked for those three miles or so around the Vanderbuilt campus and around that area, Ken told me alot about himself. He told me about all the girls he dated and almost dated and loved and everything. The whole time I was listening to him, I took everything in as best I could. I wanted to be friends with him, and now I was able to actually be a good friend to him and listen to him. Then something happened that I hope I never forget. After listening to him, I realized that my problems and all that drama and everything that I went through during the last two years of my life were nothing to get upset about. The scars, however there, weren't really as deep as I made them out to be. Yes, it still hurts, and remembering Andrew, James, and everyone that I loved still hurts. But in the big picture, it's nothing compared to what other people have gone through. Compared to Ken, at least, my problems don't look all that bad. In fact, they see pretty normal. It was around then that I felt comfortable enough to talk to Ken about Andrew and James and Dan and everyone else. I didn't want to because I knew if I did I'd look like a nut. I guess Ken's openness about himself just made me feel like I can share things with him and that I could trust him even though the past two years have taught me to be a social hermit. When we got to his apparetment, we sat on the couch right next to each other and just talked some more about all our problems and shared pieces about ourselves. That was cool. That was really cool. I thank Ken for that, but the thing is he will never know how much that means to me, what happened last night.

After playing a few rounds of some mech fighting game, I passed out on the couch while Ken retreated back to his room to sleep. I was the first to wake up at 09:00. Neither him or Brad had woken up. Hey, no one has class tomorrow, so why not sleep in? When Brad did wake up, he noticed taht I was still there. He asked if Jamie had spent the night and is in Ken's room. I told him that Jamie went home, but Brad told me that even if that did happen, that it wouldn't even surprise him. I wonder what he meant by that. Since I had nothing to do, I read some of Ken's rejected scrips that were sitting out on the table. They were really good and really funny. I loved the one he wrote about the bank robbers and how three people tried robbing the same bank on the same day. It was a classic! The one he wrote about time traveling had several referances to The Matrix and Back to the Future, which were pulled off perfectly! Probibly one of the funniest comedies that I have ever read. While I was reading, I was able to see everything happening right in front of me. That right there is a sign of a good script writer. A damn good one.

Anyway, I've been typing since about 11:00 right now just telling you about my day yesterday. Looking back on it, I really enjoyed it. I made a new friend, and I loved it. I want to have more days like this. I want to hang out with Ken more, because he is just the coolest person I have ever had the honor to meet. I love him as a friend so much now. I am so looking forward to the next time I can meet up with him and hang out.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have work to do... too much work to do... after a nap, of course.

Thank God for Labor Day!