Monday, January 31, 2005
For those of you who do NOT know, Friday was the last show of Randy's band Fratelli.They were great, and now they're gone. I had already seen them play in Baton Rouge once before, so I could not miss out on this event ( the fact that Randy is super cute and I like him a whole lot also factored into this decision making process). What's a like-smitten boy to do but hop on the train and get to Birmingham, Alabama as soon as he can. So that's just what I did. In doing so I was forced to miss class on Friday, but I had already told my teachers that I was going to a wedding (if any of my teachers are reading this, I'm sorry for my dishonesty, but it was all in the name of like) . So then it was only a matter of weaseling the right info out of Randy as to where he was gonna be, and how to get there. Ahh, yes, I forgot to mention. Randy had no idea I was coming. So with the assistance of Randy and the internet I was on my way.
First things first I had to get to the train station. I had called NORTA the day before and asked them the quickest way to the Amtrak station from when I was, and the man gave me some route numbers. SO at 5:45 or so Friday morning I dragged my half drunk/ half hungover ass to the appropriate bus stop and waited... and waited... FINALLY after somewhere between 20 and 40 minutes the bus rolled up and took me over to the corner of Broad and Washington. That's the ghetto yall, the ghet-TO. Luckily it was during the wee hours of the morning, though still dark, where the only people up were homeless or going to work. It was at this time I transferred to the Martin Luther King bus. This proceeded to take me through a good number of housing projects before finally depositing me across the street from the train station. The man who gave me this route over the phone was either a sadists or severely misinformed, as that was neither the quickest or most covieniant way to get there. I made the train with about 5 minutes or so to spare (they left a man walking toward the train luggage in hand standing bewildered on the platform even though his wife was on the train already shouting "you can just leave him!". They can folks, and they will. Be on time for them trains)
I ended up sitting across the aisle from a guy named Reggie. He seemed to think I was quite interesting, and was thoroughly amused by seemingly almost all of my actions. I know this because he verbalized it. Constantly. Don't get me wrong, he was a nice guy and all, and I was thankful to have somebody to speak to for the 7 hour trip that felt like two days ( I tried sleeping but I was way to excited to do it for very long). But he didn't really bring anything to the conversation. I had hoped to get him to give me a ride to Randy's work, because he informed me that it was not as close as I originally had thought, but he said he couldn't. I came up with several ways he could, but he didn't seem interested in pursuing any of them. THEN he gave me his number! Why should I call somebody who is so chintzy with rides? Gay boys these days. The only other part of the train ride worth mentioning is the awesomeness of such cities in Mississippi as Hattiesburg, Laurel, and Meridian. There are so many buildings that have none been touched since the 50's or 60's it seemed, I can't WAIT to go on a road trip and take pictures there.
Upon arriving in Birmingham, since Reggie was no help, I needed a way to get to Randy's job. Reggie DID tell me there was no bus to The Summit (the plaza where Randy worked) so I was intent on taking a bus that would get me close enough where I wouldn't have to pay so much for a taxi. A very kind woman pointed me in the direction of the busses and I was on my way. I bought a hamburger at a place around where I was waiting for a bus, and they were even more helpful, informing me I had to go back almost exactly where I came from because the bus depot was right next to the train station. In fact it was visible from where the woman had walked me to and pointed me in the wrong direction. It was then I found out Reggie was wrong and there was in fact a bus that went to The Summit. Randy bear here I come!
I was SO nervous/ anxious for most of this day that my stomach was doing back flips and I thought I was going to puke ( I don't think the "special sauce" from the burger place was helping any either.) I got off and walked in the direction of the department store where my guy was. Did I mention how frigging cold it was? ANYWAY, I walk in and of course Randy is standing right in front. I had pulled my hood over my head so he wouldn't recognize me, but he was staring at my so intently I was sure he knew who it was anyway. I removed my hood and it became clear that he did NOT know who I was because when he did finally realize, he looked like he was going to throw up too. He scared me actually, because he seemed less happy to see me and more in fear for his life. But after the initial shock faded, he took me around and introduced me to all the people he worked with. It was really cute, especially because he just said "this is matt!" meaning that he had told them all about me already. Its nice to be liked.
To be continued.....
