Back from the US, back to blogging

Alright, so this is my first post in about a month because of my trip to the United States, which was AWESOME!!! I figure that most people who read my blog knew I was in the US and hopefully I was able to see you. I'm actually proud to say that the list of people that I wanted to see but couldn't is much shorter than I thought it would be, so if you're reading this and were in either NYC or Chicago in the last few weeks I probably chilled with you, probably had a beer, probably had 6...

It is actually great to be back. I think there was a moment when I was in New York City with Jake Nissly and a bunch of crazy music fools from Northwestern, enjoying myself too much at a club where Fred's rock band was playing, when I said to myself "Nate, they're gonna have to drag you kicking and screaming back to India..." Luckily that wasn't the case. It was tough the night before I left because the trip went so quickly but I forgot how much I do enjoy my life here in Bangalore. We went to brunch at the Leela Palace yesterday and that was just incredible! I just got back from the US and I thought the food at this buffet was off the hook!

So most people don't read this to hear about what I do in the US, so I'll keep the details to a minimum, but here's a Top 10 list for my trip back to the US.

10. Speckled Hen Beer in NYC with Nissly and Connor Hannick at 2:00 AM

Maybe my favorite beer of the trip. Good times late night after seeing some incredible music in the city.

9. Seeing Symetric Freddy's band, Ionia, play at Guesthouse in NYC

They actually were pretty good. I was worried that Fred had fallen in with a bad crowd of Emo fans, but the band had a great sound. I think Fred gets laid a lot more than he was previously used to as a result, so good for him.

8. Getting smashed with Bruss the night I got back into Evanston

Barring myself, never before have I seen a man defile himself like Bruss did this night. Don't get me wrong, we were all toasted but Bruss was the star of the show. I think he kissed me and told me he loved me 20 times in the closing hours of the night. And I gotta say, I liked it. I think he put it the right way. Chris said that people were excited to have me back and thought it would be an intense week of partying, but it wasn't anything like that at all. It was just like I had never left.

7. Hanging out with Noelle in Chicago

I had an incredible time hanging out with Noelle for a few brief hours in Chicago. I saw her apartment, which is awesome, and we went to a local bar to get dinner and watch the Mich State game. Good conversation, good drink. I miss that girl. And she doesn't even read my blog.

6. Concerts

Two concerts that I will NEVER forget. First, Wayne Krantz Trio at the 55 Club in NYC with Jake. Best 1.5 hours of music ever, by FAR. His trio features Krantz (guitar), Keith Karlock (Sting's drummer) and Paul Jackson (played in a little band called the Head Hunters with Herbie Hancock). There are no words to describe. Second, the secret Prince concert with Patty Dropps. We waited for 2.5 hours in 20 degree weather for a concert that didn't start till almost 1:30 AM (ended at 3:45 AM) but every minute was worthit. Heck I could have been out there for 2 more hours and it still would have been a defining moment of my life. 30 ft away from Prince. All I gotta say.

5. American TV

I watched copious amounts of sports while I was back. Never before did I realize the beauty and perfection that is ESPN. The .com version is great, but nothing beats SportsCenter. Also, the Colbert Report on Comedy Central just blew my mind. Changed my whole perspective on shit. Just hilarious.

4. Driving

Driving is fun, even if it's through a blizzard on the highway heading to Illinois. Jamming out to tunes with friends while traveling on well-paved roads is way underrated. I should have done that more in high school... actually, I did quite a bit of that in high school.

3. Grandparents

My awesome grandparents came to hang out for the weekend and it was a ton of fun. Really nice sushi dinners at night, playing cards during the day, cocktail hour starting at 4:00 PM... all the things that make my extended family as fantastic as they are. I don't care what anyone says, nobody works hard and parties harder than the Linkons. Respek.

2. My little bro Adam

For one of the first times in my life (or more appropriately, his life) I had a great time just chillin with my little bro Adam. He's a freshman at Universiry of Minnesota and has really made a great life for himself. He seems to have a great girlfriend and does some sweet stuff, like coreographing fight scenes for student films. That's pretty awesome. And he's not partying his way through school like I did. He'll remember much more.

1. Parents

My parents rock. Always have, always will. I only wish I could have spent more time with them. This is what makes them so awesome: they help me pay for a ticket home knowing damn well that I'm gonna be pulled in a thousand directions by friends and they will probably get the shit end of the stick. And they did. We had some great times hanging out, looking at pictures of India, eating good food, drinking good wine, and just talking about life.

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Don't worry, Mom. I'll be back in the United States for good before anyone knows I've been gone.

Good stuff, guys. I'm sure I could have made a list of 20, but with your busy schedules you can't possibly read all of them. Great vacation, but glad to be back at work and with my friends here. The best part of a vacation can be coming home.

Peace, ya'll.