i thought i'd put some pictures up of my states side trip. there are many, and of course i could have put several more. it started off as a whirlwind tour and ended even faster. i felt invicible that tuesday night i hurried from the airplane to the area just past the security checkpoint to see my mom and brother, hank. overwhelmed, exhausted, and discombobulated, i welled up with emotion and tears the moment i set eyes on my family. i knew i would with the hurricane i was feeling in my chest. every moment was filled to the brim with activities, albeit fun, it was a little too rushed and busy for my tastes. i could have stayed happily for another week, taking a vacation from my vacation. before i knew it, i was emotionally overtaken going back to the airport two weeks later in the middle of the night. i got a new camera friday. after i got home. unfortunately, i didn't have one for my first couple of days.

nick and i at yo burrito, a locally owned restaurant in columbia, to eat mexican!!! for dinner. it's not a place i would prioritize on my list of places at which i had to dine while being a glutton for two weeks in america. in fact, i wouldn't have gone at all, but we wanted to catch two of our friends who play there regularly friday nights

you better believe it! there are no frozen daquiris or margaritas where i live in japan. you have to head to the bigger cities, like tokyo. i had several of these at different times during my trip. it's got to be red, no sour lime for me
this is james and kenley, old friends of mine. it was james' last show; he was moving to san fransisco. he should be there now

being a friday night, well what am i talking about, it doesn't have to be a weekend night for me to head to art bar. which i proved night after night through the duration of my vacation. let me rephrase, being nighttime, we headed to art bar, my favorite bar in town. this is jordan, a guy interested in the JET Program (the program i'm in).
heyward and i, late in the evening

not letting hangovers discourage us, we headed for some good american deli sandwiches. this is probably my most missed food in japan. this is my favorite sub sandwich joint, ten times better than any of the rest - i speak with authority - i was a sandwich artist in high school for almost two years

and the next night, gearing up for another night of drunken art bar, at new brookland tavern

mandie and myself

being a saturday night with a disappointing close time of 2am, we headed to our friend, jason's, house. we wanted to play with fireworks. jason, nick, and i

the cops didn't seem so concerned about the noise we were making, although the neighbors were. me, shauna, and mandie

then on sunday, off to my mom's house for some barbecuing and southern homecooking. it just didn't get any better!

my brother, hank, and i

nick and i getting to relax, while my family cooks

my mom, as if you can't tell, and i

heyward and nick showing off their similar space tshirts

of course i had to spend some time in minglewood playing pool and talking to kevin and kelly. kelly, kevin, me, nick, heyward, kate, and geoff

later that night, allston came into town, just getting back from traveling all over the states

i was infatuated with candle shots that evening, heyward

the night started early when greg, an old friend from high school, strolled in from his new hometown, charleston

it ended late involving a hotel room, late night mcdonalds (come on - american fast food! i can justify anything), me taking pictures of myself in boys underwear after the other two had passed out, and allston, greg, and me stuffed into a tiny bed - i ended up crawling to the floor sleeping on that night's clothes rolled under my head. wasn't the best for my headache in the morning

jonathan came to town from where i can't remember, with josh the hammer on the right. the night started at delhi palace, and indian restaurant; this was at the oyster bar in the vista

we tried to keep javed happy, if you look at the bottom of the picture, you'll see his crutches. he broke his foot in drunken antics (sorry javie)

in my old laundry room, now currently heyward's and geoff's house