Farewell, EL

 Oh, the home of the 2004-2005 Second Team Academic All State Girls Ski-Team. 

Living, biking, playing, stumbling, sleeping, pokey-stix eating, dancing, tandeming, blading and running on the streets of East Lansing, I experienced so much these past four years. 

I ran the streets wearing only buns; dressed as an avatar creature; in an eighties sweat suit; covered in poison ivy; with my friends; alone; carrying a turkey sandwich; after eating a donut; while eating a banana.

I ran in the woods; in the stadium; through skywalks; over tractor tires; under signs; through the children's garden; the hobo trail; the arbs; jenison track; the river trail; THE LAVA TRAIL; backyards; frontyards; backyard sidewalks.

 
Mid-run pit stops included buying sunscreen, Rockying up the capitol steps, drinking a slurpee, getting a free hug, depositing cash, peeing, doing more than just peeing then wiping with poision ivy, drinking water at TA's, petting her dogs, bonging a beer, jumping in a pool, laying on my back panting, tying my shoes.

All the while, laughing, parcouring, complaining, learning, and sweating. 

Blah, blah, blah verb vomit, sorry. Don't even get me started on my time spent not running.

The past four weeks that I spent here were probably way too much fun and made it even harder to leave. (hopefully I get my shit together enough to write about them and can put a convenient link here).

On Sunday, I finished the painfully slow process of moving out my life. The careful twitter/instagram follower/chosen text receiver knows by now that I'm not currently in Chicago.

That ticket wasn't exactly my best $20 investment.

This, on the other hand, was.

Now, I be moving to LA.

 Liana's reaction is pretty on-point.

He did. And, after talking with my parents, friends, dental hygentist, neighbor, and everybody else who is alive, I realized it's what I really need to do. Probably of equal importance, it's what I really want to do.

I am currently in Lake Orion memorizing my AAA map and desperately piecing together a plan. It looks like I'm going to follow the same couch-surfing/exploring plan as Chicago. It'll just be ten degrees warmer and a lot closer to the ocean. 

The ticket is a bit more expensive, though, so let's hope this one sticks.

It isn't even fun anymore to list how unprepared I am because it's too easy. But I'll tell you this: I haven't been on a plane since age 7 when we flew to DC for a mathletes' competition. I wasn't even a mathlete. I was a helper. 

Regardless, on Wednesday, June 20th I will hop off the plane at LAX with my dreams and no cardigan because it is summer and f'ing hot.

I'm going to take a shuttle up to Panorama City and stay with a friend from high school for a little while. I'm hoping I can piece together a place to stay for the two weeks after that (things will work out because they have to). 

I'm going to spend my time there looking for jobs, finding roommates, a place to live, scoping out the improv scene and experimenting with the hardest of drugs. 

After three weeks, I fly back for my brother's wedding. The day after he gets married, my dad and I will drive all of my belongings west 2,000 miles. At least the blog posts will be enjoyable.

This doesn't really fit, therefore it's perfect:  

"I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman, 'Where's the self-help section?' She said if she told me, it would defeat the porpoise. " -George Carlin

****COMMENT CONTEST OMG******

Nobody leaves comments, so I'm changing that. Whoever posts the best EL running memory that I've forgotten will get a postcard from me professing how much I love and appreciate you. You don't even have to write a full story. Just a sentence is all I ask.
Deadline is one week from today, people.