addicted to fun

catherine fleming is trouble. and don't let anyone tell you otherwise.

ever since she came home, i have been trapsing around town as though there is no such thing as finals. and my impending cross-continent move doesn't make matters better. to think i have just a little over a month left with my favorite people in the world is the ultimate excuse for tuesday night shenanigans.

last weekend, i fell asleep at the bar. 4 am, irish times, head in hand, passed the fuck out. this isn't the first time i've done this (there are two rules, al: you keep your shoes on, and your eyes open!) and i think it a testament that my life has far too many early morning obligations.

i spend most days of the week holed up in the library, doing work for about 20-30 minutes at a time before my mind wanders, and before you know it, i'm surfing craig's list for argentine real estate. spending this much time being quiet is a real challenge for me and i swear a depression sets in after my 3rd hour in the library. when i'm not procrastinating on the internet, i'm day dreaming about fun. i think about how much i hate obligations and responsibilities and i wonder why society has placed these restrictions on free thinkers. i stand up on my proverbial soap box and profess "Who's to say that an entire life spent traveling and working odd jobs isn't the best way to live? Who says I have to start a career in order to be successful?! And what the hell does 'success' mean anyway?!"

anyway. back to last weekend. catherine, aly, ericka and i spent all day saturday laying on the beach, drinking mojitos and enjoying miami's perfectly unpredictable weather. it was second saturday, which means the design district's galleries stayed open later than usual and welcomed the bourgeoisie for boozin' and beholdin' someone else's version of art. looking at art whilst getting intoxicated is only my FAVORITE thing to do. did i mention the alcohol is free?

at danny's insistence, we left the design district for fox's lounge. how can i best describe fox's? fox's is the kind of place you take your sleazy mistress to. it's the kind of place that has a 2 for 1 special on a saturday night. it's dark, seedy and obscure. a south miami legend. in other words, it's bliss. two dirty martinis later, i was ready to go so we went to bouganvilla's where theres always live music. i didn't plan on drinking anymore because i'm low on funds and was already pretty drunk, and then danny handed me a beer and it was all downhill from there. we started jumping up and down and dancing like crazy people, mouthing all the words, and then i heard the first few chords of Four Non Blonde's "What's Going On" and i lost it. what is it about that song?!

as the night wore on, aly and ericka dropped like flies but catherine and i had a second wind and decided to stay out. that's pretty much the last thing i remember. only when i looked at my bank account the next morning did i recall the couple of stellas i bought at the bar before we went to the times, where danny (fucking danny) bought me some more alcohol. i blame him for the bar sleep. and catherine, for being fun.

when danny finally woke me up (i was asleep for like 20 minutes before the bartender "suggested" he take his friend home) i awoke to catherine talking so loudly she was practically screaming. wasted. hilarious. i finally dragged our asses into a cab and she yelled at me saying she wasn't gonna pay for it. i can only imagine the sight we were in the cab, catherine laughing hysterically and making phone calls, me half asleep and hysterical over catherine. we walked into the house like bats out of hell, oblivious to the fact it was 5 am. catherine turned on all the lights and woke up aly and ericka, i flung my clothes to the floor and catherine said something about being a twelve year old.

we woke up late and everyone had made us breakfast. i decided to continue to live in a world where finals don't exist, and enjoyed my sunday laying around catherine's and laughing about the night before. i may be addicted to fun, but at least i'm good at having it.

Nicolasa [nee-co-la-sa]:

Last week someone I had known for about 15 minutes asked me if I used to get into a lot of trouble as a kid.

I thought back to my childhood and out of the blue recalled the name my family had coined and that I hadn't heard in years: Nicolasa. That was the nickname they came up with when they realized I was a handful. I was an adventurous little kid, always curious and always inventing a new game, an entreprenurial scheme, or a one man show. Reflecting on my years in school, when I'd get a conduct card sent home with comments from my teachers such as "too much talking" or "late back from recess" or "won't sit still," I chuckled to myself and replied: "Yeah, I was pretty mischievous."

At 23, not much has changed. So it only seemed appropriate that I name this blog to reflect what it will be: a forum for my crazy travels, the predicaments I always seem to get myself into and out of, and the rants and raves I have inside my own head (that you lucky spectators can now observe!). And just the experience. I am a product of experience and those experiences are more valuable than any education I have received. and that is definitively "Nicolasa."