The Places I Will Love You

Originally published by Thought Catalog at http://thoughtcatalog.com/brian-wong/2013/10/the-places-i-will-love-you/

I will love you in Washington DC – the city of Presidents – because that’s where we met. You say it was fate and I say it was luck, but maybe it was a little bit of both. I will love you on the National Mall, in a hipster coffee shop, and in a basement apartment in a back alleyway. I will love you when we realize this city is a revolving door, and we decide to move somewhere else.

I will love you in Boston, the city where I grew up. I really lived in a suburb, but I tell people Boston to keep things simple. No one knows where a little town called Southborough is anyway. I will love you by the Commons, on a Duck Tour, and on the docks of the Harbor. I will love you on a Freedom Trail. I will love you during a Tea Party.

I will love you in Cleveland, the closest city to your suburban home. I will smile at you through mouthfuls of bratwurst at the West Side Market, and hate on Lebron James with everyone who hears his cursed name. I will love you while we shop with the Amish at Walmart and watch five-dollar movies with old people. I will love you while we rock out at a museum.

I will love you in Chicago, your old college town. I’ve heard so much about this city that I can’t wait to go together. I will love you at a Northwestern game, on the rocks by the water, and in a quiet library. I will love you by a giant bean. I will not endorse the University of Chicago. I will not put ketchup on my hot dog.

I will love you in Los Angeles, a city of starving artists. It seems so far away right now, but I believe we can go everywhere. I will love you at an In-and-Out Burger, eating tacos at Grand Central Market, and at The Last Bookstore. I will love you when we get forced to tip Superman because we decided to shake his hand when we exited the metro to Hollywood. I will love you during a Sharknado.

I will love you in Ireland, our dream vacation. Ever since you mentioned you wanted to travel here, my mind hasn’t stopped thinking about romantic travel plans for two. I will love you with a salty piece of corned beef, a hearty helping of cabbage, and a tall glass of stout. I will love you in a Gaelic Storm. I will love you when The Old Dun Cow catches fire.

I will love you where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re going. I will love you if we end up seeing all of these places or if see none of them. I will love you when I hold your hand, touch your hair, and kiss your lips. I will love you. I will love you. I will love you.

10 Reasons To Become A Vegan

10 Reasons to become a vegan...which I am not. But here are some reasons anyway! http://www.theflamingvegan.com/view-post/10-Reasons-To-Become-a-Vegan

10 Surprisingly Vegan Celebrities

Surprised me at least...upvote me and I might make money!
http://www.theflamingvegan.com/view-post/10-Surprisingly-Vegan-Celebrities

Uhhhhhh Livejournal

So, about 10 years late to the party, I've created a Livejournal account. BUT don't worry, I have a reason! There's this thing called LJ Idol where we get weekly (I think?) prompts to write about and then one (I think?) participant is eliminated each prompt. I didn't really read the FAQ well. If you wanna check out the rules yourself, here's the link: http://therealljidol.livejournal.com/648151.html

Anyway, the first practice prompt was posted, so here's the prompt:

"This week your task is to Introduce someone else!

That's right. Pick someone else who is signed up for this season, and write an entry introducing them!

Can it be fiction? Yes. Can it be non-fiction? Sure. Can it be interpretive dance? If you can find a way to fit it into an LJ entry, sure!"

...and here's what I wrote! I kind of was really late on posting and almost missed the deadline, so you will be able to tell there has been no editing: http://ugawa.livejournal.com/1376.html

Also, here's the text:

Introducing...Majesticarky

Born and bred in a briar patch, majesticarky used to sneak into Mr. McGregor’s farm to steal food for her family. As a young child, she displayed various feats of unfathomable strength, which ended when she rescued her friend, Meg, from the underworld and claimed her rightful place on Earth as a mere mortal like the rest of us.

When she was young, she also was able to sneak into the army in order to replace her aging father, ultimately defeating Shan Yu in a spectacle witnessed by the emperor. By the time this had all finished, she was able to begin her journey down Route 1 to Viridian City.

On her journey, she met a scarecrow in need of a brain, a tinman in need of a heart, and a lion in need of some courage, however that takes its form. Fortunately for the group, she was able to get all of her friends their respective desires, but became lost in the water temple during the celebration. In order to get out, she had to escape on the underbellies of sheep while the blinded Cyclops felt around to try and eat her.

It was at this point in her life that she decided to go to college. She attended Hogwart’s School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where she met Bella and Edward, who introduced her to the deadly game of Jumanji. College was a blast for majesticarky, including the one night she and some of her sorority friends found the hidden world of Narnia within their wardrobe and crossed the Bridge to Terabithia.

When she graduated, she spent the first year of her adult life accompanying Benjamin Gates around the world, stealing the Declaration of Independence, and looking for an orange clownfish with one small flipper. She finally decided to settle down in the quaint town of Sleepy Hollow, but was forced to move to California due to “night terrors,” heavily induced by her location.

In California, majesticarky followed her heart and released a large social network to the world with the help of Justin Timberlake and Brenda Song. You may know it as The Facebook (now known as Facebook due to Justin Timberlake’s contribution). Eventually, she became bored with the Facebook life and decided to get back in touch with her grandmother, who had just sent word she was to be crowned Princess of Genovia.

Over the past few years, she has wandered from place to place as a Rurouni, or wanderer, helping anybody who needs it with her reverse-blade sword, all the while planting apple seeds in order to grow large apple orchards all around the world. She has currently settled (for the time being) at the Xavier School for Gifted Youngsters, and is excited for LJ Idol.

Ritual Of The Strings

Darkness falls and suburban basements come alive with sweaty teenagers and home-grown music. You were the lead guitarist of a high school band called Faded Matrimony, and I was a permanent member of the audience at all of your shows. I like to think of myself as a mix between a cheerleader and a science geek, but I think I only got into science club because they thought I was a cheerleader, and I only got into cheerleading because they were looking for “intellectual diversity.” I didn’t identify much with either group, but it was fun to pretend.

We met when we were young, and we had been best friends since a crib was a prison, rather than an MTV show. You were always into music and I was always pretending to be the flavor of the month. Sometimes it was science and cheerleading, sometimes it was basketball and woodshop. My only consistent interest was in your music, and I liked to think you kept me slightly grounded in that way. You reminded me I wasn’t defined by the masks I chose to wear when it wasn’t Halloween. You were comfortable in your own skin and I was comfortable when I was around you.

Tonight, your band was playing at a house party hosted by Katie Colligan, one of my cheerleading counterparts. Her parents were out of town for the weekend, and the party promised to be a real rager. Tubs of ice and cheap beer lined the basement walls, and hormones were flying rampant as everyone found a warm body to rub up against.

I stood in the corner, sipping a beer and watching you play the guitar with the intensity of a lion on the hunt. I was not much of a dancer, and the dedication and passion you showed your instrument was much more interesting than having someone I didn’t care for sweat all over me. You wrote all of your band’s original songs, and I felt a sense of pride for you as they echoed through Katie Colligan’s basement. I hoped one day you might write one for me.

Hoping you would notice me.

The band stopped playing when you wanted them to stop, and you packed up your instruments like every other night. Someone’s iPod took over the night’s soundtrack as I wandered over to congratulate you on another successful gig, feeling drunk enough to dance but sober enough to know I shouldn’t ask. These parties were always strictly business with you—you came, you played, you left. I admired your professionalism, but I wish you’d stay and dance with me every once in a while.

You asked me to join you for a bite to eat as you headed out, and I accepted like every other night, trading my dancing shoes for diner food. Even though we were just friends, it felt good to leave parties with you. I liked the thought that I could make all of the other cheerleaders jealous by leaving with the band’s frontman, even though your only love was made of wood and strapped around your neck when you played your music. Secretly, I wished you might have room for one other to love at some point in your life.

We left Katie Colligan’s and headed out to Ed’s Diner, the only spot still open at this hour in our small, suburban town. Dimly lit with waiters and waitresses more maternal than our own lawyer-and-doctor-parents, Ed’s Diner was the late night rendezvous for high school seniors like us with nowhere else to go. As we pulled into the five-car parking lot, we were greeted by the stench of cigarette smoke coming from a group of skaters hanging out by the entrance. We passed by them with a friendly nod, while the empty tables and fluorescent lighting beckoned us.

You were quieter than usual tonight, and even as we were seated in our usual corner booth, your eyes alerted me of a story you didn’t want to tell. You ordered a black coffee and I ordered a side of fries. The post-party ritual began, but your mind was somewhere else.

I watched you as you shifted uncomfortably, left, then right, then left again. You made some joke about a princess and a pea, but I was too worried about you to laugh. This seemed to make you more uncomfortable, and I instantly regretted my silence.

I reached my hands out across the table to comfort you, and you grabbed them as though they were a life preserver and you were being washed out to sea.

You touched my hands gently. You looked me in the eyes. You told me you loved me. You told me you always have. You said you wanted to be together.

“I believe this is what you ordered,” our waitress said, placing our food on the table in front of us. But the post-party ritual had been broken, and I was no longer hungry.

Vegans, Stahp

Stahhhhp http://www.theflamingvegan.com/view-post/Vegans-Stahp

Why Are People So Surprised When Vegan Food Tastes Good?

What what? Another vegan post? Upvote me or something http://www.theflamingvegan.com/view-post/Why-Are-People-So-Surprised-When-Vegan-Food-Tastes-Good