Like last month, I went over to St. Louis to take in the protest against the Church of Scientology.
I don’t have much to say this time, mainly because it was more of the same. The dogma and message are still the same and I honestly don’t feel it’s worth repeating. There are much better sources of information, anyway.
This is a story about road trips, rally racing, and finding saints in the most surprising places. If you’d rather just see my photos, go here.
Flashback: Friday, February 22, 2008
I wake up late, so I take my time showering and eating breakfast. Last night, the weather was sleety like crazy and I decided to call off my trip to the 100 Acre Wood Rally. Started planning for the weekend. You know, giving up with the white flag flying and all.
But on a whim — I think it’s the leisurely morning I’m having — I change my mind. I think to myself, why the hell not? I’ve been looking forward to it since last year’s event.
I know: I’m the worst at being indecisive.
In a couple hours, I’ll have turned 21. And I can’t say that it didn’t sneak up on me: it’s been the last thing on my mind lately.
To tell you the truth, I’ll probably be sober tomorrow, too. (Minus an exception for a possible couple glasses of Framboise or Guinness.) I’d given it up — not for Lent, but for the hell of it, on a whim, to see if I could do something so absurd. With the amount of consumption that goes on around me, I just wanted to see if I could do it and what I’d do if I got rid of that vice.
To tell you the truth, I gave up a lot of things at the end of January because I wanted to go above and beyond what other people do for Lent. People do it just to go through the motions for Lent. The past handful of years have bent my faith and honestly, I’m not sure what I believe, and nor do I regularly practice anymore. I decided — on a whim — to get rid of not just alcohol, but most vices I’d indulged in lately: energy drinks, espresso drinks, smoking (anything), and alcohol. You know, to see what I’d do if I got rid of those vices I’d used as a crutch.
I even disabled my Facebook account for three weeks to see what would happen if I got rid of that obsession. (Which, honestly, affected other people more than it affected me — “Why am I not your friend anymore?” “You are, I just got rid of my Facebook.”)
Why the whole straight-lacedness all of a sudden? (I wanted to say “Why so serious?“, I really did.)
