Time to explain some things from this post...

The concert that I went to was pretty fun. Missed Naughty By Nature due to G's stomach being illin', but the three acts we saw were okay. We caught Amos Lee, Mat Kearney, and the Roots. (Actually, the two couples I was with decided to leave a bit early, I saw most of the Roots' set on my own.) I may have to go get an Amos Lee record after what I heard. I could do without the incessant "rapping" from Mat, though...

One thing that struck me was the unofficial uniform I saw the Vandy students wear. All the girls were in spring dresses, the guys in polos and khakis. I almost felt like I was walking through an Abercrombie catalog; there was even a token guy with his shirt off.

One of the hardest things I'll ever have to do is make conversation with a friend's significant other. Even harder is for me to actually appear interested.

At the concert, I was listening to the indie music and bemoaning my luck with women up to that point, when a fairly attractive brunette walked the blanket the five people in our group were sitting on. I made eye contact with her, gave her a semi-smile, and she smiled back. "Holy crap!" I thought, feeling that my luck was about to turn around. She then proceeded to walk towards me and hand me a promotional flyer for some event being sponsored by Scion. Somehow, I figured it was too good to be true.

The day after saw G become engaged. He asked the next morning when they were in bed, I only heard shouting from her man while I was in the guest room. Apparently, his friend was knocking on the bedroom door saying that they needed to get back to Memphis while it was going on. I just never knew proposals were filled with such rage.

After G's newly-minted fiancee and his friends left, G and I went to a local park to toss around a frisbee, see the Parthenon, and talk about stuff. I jokingly gave her my blessing during our heart-to-heart, which she (seemingly jokingly) was happy to receive. I also came to a bit of a realization, that I've had an overly simplistic view of relationships up to this point. Instead of fighting with my ex, I'd just simply avoid any sort of uncomfortableness or conflict. Could be a reason we were on and off so often.

So, what did this trip teach me?

1. Happiness is not found at the bottom of a glass or bottle.
2. Maybe my folks were right about me coming here. (You may remember I ended up going to Portland back in '05 when my original plan to roadtrip it to Nashville was stopped by them after, among other things, they said I shouldn't make such a trip without some sort of "commitment.")
3. I either need to start reading, or stop hanging around PhDs.
4. There are a lot more hipsters in Nashville than I would have thought.
5. Don't judge a person until you've listened to their iPod. (Unless they have Bjork...)

And now I begin saving money for my next trip. My folks came back from Italy on Tuesday night, maybe I'll try that. Maybe go see some friends of mine in Chicago, maybe somewhere totally different. Only time (and my reward points) will tell...