“Not all those who wander are lost.” – J.R.R. Tolkien

One of the things that I got sucked into believing about dating was that it would be far easier for me to meet likeminded people online than in real life, because life was simply too random and chaotic for me to easily find the kind of people I could relate to and hang out with (especially hot looking wimmins.) I mean seriously, am I really gonna run into an avid fan of Sarah Palin (who also happens to look just like Jessica Alba) at the local supermarket, in NEW YORK? The odds simply don’t work like that in my favor.

Or does it?

One thing about pursuing this new hobby of geocaching, it’s definitely taken me to some interesting places. Last weekend I climbed to the top of a lighthouse, then drove to a Target and found a space right next to the door, shopped around and went to an empty checkout, all this only a day after Black Friday too. Then I ran into a tea party that was having a demonstration inside a Lowe’s parking lot of all places. It was amazing. I simply did not expect to see any Tea Party dudes in New York, but there they were, protesting against Obamacare and the corruption of Albany, with Derringer’s “I am a Real American” blasting in the background. It was a wild scene. And I never would have found them either had I not been out geocaching.

The day after that, each cache I hunted took me on a trip down memory lane, one at a park where I used to be a camp counselor, which also happened to be the same park where my grandfather used to maintain the grounds. Another took me to my old college, where I also took the LSAT exam that would start me on my failed journey to law school, and still another took me right past the house I was once evicted from so many years ago. So many memories, most of them painful too. And yet when I revisited all these places from my past, it was like I had never really been there. It all seemed only vaguely familiar to me now, like trying to remember an old dream, the faded memories of a distant life best left forgotten.

After I had wrapped up my cache hunting, I drove off and stopped by a 7-11 nearby for a drink. It was past midnight, yet even then I saw a cute girl behind me coming in as well. I held the door open for her and though she ignored me, I wondered: if I simply did this long enough and often enough, eventually the pieces would all fall together, and someday I’d be holding the door open for the girl of my dreams, and she certainly won’t ignore me then. Or maybe I would meet her at the top of a lighthouse. Or at a Target. Or at a tea party. The geocaching hunts that I’ve been doing all weekend were randomly put together, and yet they didn’t seem very random at all. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it’s that the true value of things is often found in the journey itself, rather than the destination. I’ve been avoiding the journey too long, trying to live it out instead on the Internet. But I’m beginning to realize it should have been the other way around.

Tags: college, cute girl, demonstration, geocaching, girl of my dreams, internet, journey, life, lighthouse, memories, online, remember, tea party
Categories: Lincoln's Personal Log
 
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So I drop by Blockbuster tonight to grab up some DVDs for the weekend, and I’m seeing this cute-as-a-button brunette prancing about the store.

Hmmmmmm… 

She was finally at the checkout, so I quickly grabbed a DVD and casually got in line behind her.

I looked over her shoulder.  “Oooh, Street Kings.  Good movie, you’ll like it.”

“Oh yah, I looove Keanu Reeves!”

I grinned, then happened to notice a really big, fatty, fat boy standing next to her, paying for, um, her rental??

“So you’re gonna be watching it with your brother?”

“Oh this is my boyfriend,” she said in a sing-song, cheery voice.

I broke out laughing for a few seconds, then paused.  “Seriously?”  I looked at him.  He seemed to be grating his teeth.

“Oh sure!  He’s such a sweetheart too!”  She held his arm.

“Wow… WOW.  Dude, you must be so loaded.  Was that your Corvette I saw parked out there?”

He didn’t say anything, but his face turned purple with…. embarrassment?  Rage, maybe?  I think it was rage.

Needless to say I quickly excused myself and made like I had forgotten my wallet, or something.

Ahhhh Friday nights.  Gotta love it.

Tags: blockbuster, boyfriend, cute girl, dvds, faux pas, friday night
Categories: Comic Relief
 
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