Being home in the South Bay means one may inevitably find me driving to my dad’s pad in Cerritos at ungodly hours.

Last night I didn’t sleep a wink. I drove home a little bit after 3 a.m. to pack for my flight, and I was struck by just how great these last few days have been. The fact that I was listening to HOT 92.3 may have helped my nostalgia and the all-around good vibe I had.

There’s something about belting along with Luther Vandross to “Always and Forever,” I suppose. Yes, I am a major cornball and the only time I sing with any “heart” is in the car on my relatively long and lonely drives home.

Come on, how could I not?

And I know tomorrow
Will still be the same
‘Cause we got a life of love
That won’t ever change…

Yep. It’s a cheesy love song, but I have a habit of equating such songs to good times and good friends. Screw that romantic crap. Give me that good ol’ platonic love and I’m set for life.

I typically don’t recap events in my blog. It’s a little tedious, and I believe I don’t do justice to them anyway.

But Monday through Wednesday was the SHIT.

No doubt.

—–

Monday, May 26:

After a bit of a late start, Mare, Cozette and myself drove down to visit Guevarararara in Santa Cruz. I am a bit ashamed that it has taken me four months to finally make the short drive, but eh. Seeing Chris is always amazing. One reason I love him is because even if we’re only in contact through Facebook or text messaging, whenever we do get together we pick up right where we left off. I’m ridiculously lucky because Time has never proven an obstacle between my friends and I.

Chris took us to a great sandwich shoppe in downtown Santa Cruz called Zoccoli’s. I’m trying not to think about the chicken artichoke sandwich I had there because I’m pretty hungry at this point.

We also visited his new living arrangements for the next year or so. Cool digs. Of course, being the cool guy that he is, he immediately invited all of us (the gals I was with and the guys back home) to crash at his place some time over the summer.

The SC excursion was short-lived, otherwise we faced arriving home at midnight or later. But all in all, it was fantastic. I was able to hang out with Chris and Howard, cement plans for Comic-Con, and play catch-up.

—–

Tuesday, May 27:

We got home from NorCal by 11 p.m., but I didn’t get to Cerritos till midnight. I woke up late, which was great. I’ve been plagued by allergies in the Bay, so sleep had hardly been peaceful before I drove home. My cats were hovering over me all night though. I could feel them pawing at my blanket.

Matt called me and we had our traditional breakfast burrito at Amigos Tacos. Well, strike that. That location is now AMIGOS TACOS presents SAM’S FABULOUS CAFE. A bit much, but now they’re like every other “cafe” around town. The menu was very similar to that of say, Yellow Basket or Omega Burger. They serve everything from tacos and burritos, to tuna melts and spaghetti. Other than the name change and the updated interior design, the place was very much the same. Ah, well, I must add that when it was just Amigos Tacos, the giant flat screen TV was always set to a soccer game. That day it was stuck on CNN.

After hanging out with Matthew, I met up with my cousin and my brother. We drove to Cerritos to watch Game 4 of the Western Conference finals with Dad. Because they’re all crazy, the options were to go out to dinner after the game, or order Olive Garden and make ME pick it up during halftime. They opted for the latter.

Hanging out with the family is strange to me. I realize that although I love them, I prefer David’s company over theirs, sometimes.

—–

Wednesday, May 28:

I have to give it up to CJ for organizing a great graduation blowout. First, we all got up at around 5 or 6 a.m. just to ensure we’d get seats for the ceremony at CSULB. It was the first time I was on that campus. I have to say, SFSU is a hell of a lot prettier.

CJ stood out.

I was amazed that his gown was the proper length for him. As you can see above, Mare made T-shirts with his face stenciled all over them.

After the ceremony, his family treated us to lunch at Bubba Gump’s at The Pike in downtown Long Beach. I love that place.

I sat on one end of the table with Mark, Justin, CJ and LJ. It was great catching up with Mark, who was almost always MIA when I was home. I’ve known the guy since sixth grade. That’s almost 10 years now. Gah. Thanks to CJ, I was able to hang out with many people I haven’t seen in a while.

After the restaurant, we all took naps before heading out to Dave & Buster’s at The Block in Orange. Drinks were half-price after 10 p.m. Huzzah for happy hour and $5 shots of Patron!

Needless to say, I had a big cheesy smile on my face for most of the evening. And for once, we hardly played any video games. It was just a giant booze fest.

CJ was so drunk, and so happy, that he started crying in the parking lot.

He was also crying at Spires while he was telling each and every one of us how much he loves us.

It was great. There are plenty of photos on Myspace and Facebook.

—–

Thursday, May 29:

I got home at 3 a.m. after the graduation festivities. Needless to say, I konked out until at least noon.

I finally hung out with Jeremiah for a bit. Grabbed some tacos with him and Aaron, then a milkshake from an old candy shop called Marcy’s. My choice of chocolate is apparently boring. Well, screw it. I’m old-fashioned and chocolate is a classic.

Jeremiah and I then caught the new Narnia movie. It was certainly better than the last, but maybe I mostly enjoyed it because it had a wonderfully animated Reepicheep voiced by Eddie Izzard.

Yep. I’m fairly certain the Mouse won me over.

After the movie, I caught the last half of Game 5 with Pop (grandpa) and the rest of the family, sans Nathan.

I then proceeded to Berenice’s. Cris and I ended up talking in the backyard for most of the time. We were eventually joined by a few others, but we still remained outside.

It was wonderful. One of my favorite things to do is talk to a person one-on-one. Personally, I think it is when I shine best, and it allows me to focus all of my attention onto one individual. When more people are added to the mix, I feel a bit stretched because I want to include everyone.

—–

The week was great. It was characterized by good people and good eats, two things that greatly remind me of home.

Or at least, some of my best memories involve people and food.

Meh. This sort of entry gets ridiculously long-winded. Then I get bored. Then my writing suffers.

Nonetheless, the week was still awesome and I wish I could have stayed longer. I miss everyone so much.