<editorsnote>Hi, I'm Jen Friel, and we here at TNTML examine the lives of nerds outside of the basements and into the social media, and dating world. We have over 75 peeps that write about their life in real time. (Real nerds, real time, real deal.) Sit back, relax, and enjoy some of the stories!!</editorsnote>
Holy shit! I had the bejeepers scared out of me last night. First up, I haven't slept in over 24 hours at this point. I pulled an all nighter getting Vidblogger Nation season 3 edited and finished all while I was flying cross country after my epic weekend in Philly.
No dudes, for reals - last night I was filming my intros in the middle of Penn Station.
Normally whatevs, not a problem ... but this was at 3am ... and we caused quite the scene ...
It was kinda scary, and for the first time in all of my crazy bat shit adventures - I legit didn't feel safe. Dudes, I slept in a car in Venice ... and THIS scared me.
It was gnarly, I was grateful that I wasn't alone ... and yeah, I'll tell you all the story once I get some sleepy deepy.
HAHA at least I survived. Thanks for the memories!!
Holy fucking sweaty shit-balltastic ... dudes this day FLLLEEEWWWWWW by. I get when people tell me that I have to figure out ways to manage my time. I have a lot a lot a lot of projects going on right now, and running this website in and of itself is a full time job. Between writing out posts, managing the content, managing the writers, handling the SEO and ORM - it's a lot of S-H-I-T.
What people don't understand though is that it's a personal brand. You haavveeee to have all of these components, I just need to learn to delegate and also train people to come on board to help out. We've already gotten started in that department, but I'm just ready man ... very very very ready.
That being said, I'm currently chillaxing at 30th Street Station here in Philly before I catch my bus to NYC where I am going to hang out, and finish editing Vidblogger Nation season 3. Traveling the day before the the deliverables are due was literally the dumbest thing ever - but I am trying, and fortunately I am sleeping in the airport anyway so might as well put that time to good use!! Whoop whoop!
Dudes, Ashley Hans (the chickadee I crashed with in Philly) is literally the most AMAZING person on the planet. She friggen gave me a care package for my airport sleeping ...
I don't want to open it yet since I have to get on the bus with it but the ENTIRE bag is FILLLEEEEDD to the brim with Doritos, various caffeine products, twizzlers, granola bars, water bottles - like for real, I want to marry this chick.
So fucking unbelievable. The hospitatlity was absurd, and her and her roomie Rachel now have room in my casa til death do us all part.
Oh! One thing I didn't include though in the post was my little neck lanyard ...
These things are the SHIT!!! I can fit my phone in it, and my ipod touch, along with my ID, debit card, cash, and pen for my journey. This one is made by some crowd named Travelon - but I got it from my grandmother back in the day. It is SEERRRIOUUUSSLLYYY the most important thing to travel with. You can put your boarding pass in it obvs too, so everything you need while traveling is right within reach. Sure it can look a bit dorky, but whatevs - I will own that shit!!! I'd rather be efficient than worry about what others are thinking of me. I can't STANNNDDD having to rush around looking for things in my purse. I need everything to have its own little place.
Super super super important while traveling to conserve your energy.
Also too, if you're a chick, don't wear makeup while traveling vagabond style. Like right now for example I am sprawled out on the floor of the train station typing this up. I look pretty freaky I'm sure - but if I was wearing makeup and dressed to the nines, I'm sure dudes would prolly think it was hot. This is not a moment where I want to be hot!!! I want to fly below the radar, I don't want people to notice me - and I certainly don't want them to notice any equipment I might be traveling with.
AHHH nerderinos! What a great trip I've been having here in Philly. OMGGGGGG first up, my date with Steve Ward? Are you kidding me? What a rad mother fucker. For reals, some next level shit on intelligence but all around just a rad dude. Mucho respecto.
I am in town for my date with Steve, but have had quiittteee the adventures in between. (Literally, I flew all the way out here to see him. Kinda bat shit, but also pretty fucking cool that I was able to get it sponsored by Southwest, and Blowfish Shoes. DUDESSS!! If you haven't seen Blowfish's shoes GO. RIGHT NOW!!!! I'm not even kidding you, they hooked me up with a pair of Valora booties and those things are LITERALLY the most comofrtable things on the planet. Like literally ... right now I am sweating with beads of excitement. They're just awesome, man - and the more I talk to people about them they go oh! oh! oh! I have a pair too and love them! It's not just me! These things are like crack - and that shit AIN'T whack! Click here to see for yourself. It's cool, I'll sit here and twiddle my thumbs)
Doop dee doo ... lah dee dah ... you back? RAAADDDD!! =)
I am staying with these two girls Ashley and Rachel. Ashley has been a friend of the site for a while, even being featured as a Hot Nerd of the Micro Nano, and writing for us n'stuff. She offered up her couch which was the catalyst for me asking Steve out on Ustream in the first place.
So on Thursday, I missed my first flight - which I've never done before in my entire life. It was gnarly, I got the time right, but COMPLETELY wrote down the wrong day. I was able to rebook the flight for a little bit more money, but since I was going to take a super shuttle to get to the airport in the morning anyway, I just got a ride from the roomie and slept at the airport. Not before however some gnarly free booze at this Jazzed/ CBS/ stand up comedy/ twitter/ I don't know how much more was going on that party and how many more of these / I can put in, but I got pretty toasty - which was prolly the smartest idea EVER!!!!
For reals, sleeping in the airport blows man. It's cold, loud, and you're among other creepy people doing the same thing as you. It's not the safest thing in the world, but it gets shit done, which it me right now is all that matters.
To sleep in the airport you need a few things.
1. A pair of noise cancelling headphones.
2. Sleeping mask
and ...
3. Big blanket (the bigger the better really)
First up, park yourself close to an outlet.
Next, plug in your phone, put in your headphones, and set an alarm. Security at LAX opens at 4:30 am, so set it for like 4 and you'll be fine.
Then turn on spotify or pandora to drown out the sounds from the janitors and get yourself as cozy as possible. To make sure though no one jacks your charger (which would be stupid but stupidity can really be called into question when you're the stupid one sleeping in the fucking airport in the first place) make sure you wrap it around your leg at least one time. This way if someone pulls on it in any way, it'll wake you up ...
In the case of last Thursday, it was also SUPPERR cold inside the airport, so to stay warm I slept with the power adapter from my macbook pro in between my calves. Totally keeps you toasty and as long as you also wrap that chord around your leg, no one will bother you.
So keep all that plugged in, and wrapped around you. Then place your bag on the floor, and stick your legs on it (like you're kicking your feet up) and place the blanket over both your bag, and your legs. This is surprisingly an incredibly comfortable way to sleep and also keeps people away from fucking with your shit since they'd have to move the blanket to get at your stuff - which would wake you up. No bueno!
By having your headphones in and by using your phone as an alarm - it will override Pandora or Spotify waking you up, by keeping it charged all night you will also be safe from it running out of battery.
Super important to not run out of battery while you're traveling!
Then, put on the sleeping mask, and I tend to make my hair as UNBELIEVABLY messy as possible while doing so. This makes me look crazy.
No one ever wants to fuck with the crazy girl. For reals, if someone was going to either try and hurt me, or rob me it wouldn't be personal, I would just be a low hanging fruit. By looking insane and like I could potentially be on something it immediately negates that "low hanging-ness" and I stay safe. When it comes to this type of vagabond lifestyle you have to GO BIG OR GO HOME!! Go for it! Be the craziest among the crazies and you will for sure be aight.
Then once you are all bundled up and settled, you can fall asleep. Realistically you can't sleep for more than 2 hours at the airport (as people are still moving around from 12-2, but between 2-4 are your prime hours so make sure you're in and settled in your chair before then). It's rad as well because going on only 2 hours of sleep means you'll pretty much pass out the second your butt hits the seat for your 6am flight. Super smart if you're traveling cross country. I literally slept the entire way from LA to Philly and felt fresh as a peach when I got off the plane.
Also, make sure you don't take any sleeping pills or are too intoxicated while sleeping at the airport. The bathrooms do stay open, but you need to stay alert. I move the headphones sliiigghhttlllyyy off my ear to still be conscious of my surroundings, but it's super super super important for your inner ninja to at least still be awake and alert if you have to end up throwing down - or frankly, to make sure you don't oversleep and end up getting poked in the morning by a 5 year old named Polly that just picked out a gnarly booger from her brother's nose.
That. Would. Suck.
I then caught the plane, landed at the airport in Philly, and via google maps figured out where I had to go transit wise to get to her house. Not a problem, I thought - google maps is amazing.
I then took something called the SEPTA, which is not the female version of "septic" but rather the South Eastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority.
<tangent> The Septa's not bad, btw. It'll cost you either $7 or $10 depending on your destination, and make sure you have cash on you as it's a cash only ride. (You can pay on the train, and they can make change for you, so you don't need exact change, but again, you do need cash.) </tangent>
2 trains and an hour and a half later I ended up at her place. Dudes, look at what greeted me when I got to her house ...
ARE YOU SERIOUS!!! First you offer up your couch, THENNN you have cold beer for me when I get there? Are you ... whhhaattttt is going on here?!?! Ah-maz-ing.
Then, she got a BIIIGGGG group together and pregamed at one of their apartments, and then headed out to this club called Voyeur. I wasn't mad at it man, pretty cool place. It was funny though, everyone there was unbelievably attractive and I kinda felt like I was inside the movie Garden State and that Frou Frou was going to bust out of the speakers ...
As a lifecaster I broadcast only my life and experiences. I am conscious of keeping other people's faces and what not out of pics. Just too big of a pain to have to edit if they have a prob.
This is one of my favorite things about couch surfing - every where I go do I not only have a place to stay, but people to kick it with. Traveling by yourself can be a pretty lonely thing, but by not staying isolated in a hotel and very literally THROWING myself at people and the world I have some pretty rad experiences. I never ever ever would have known to go to this club, or met any of those people otherwise.
It was pretty cool too, man - a few of the people there had independently discovered the site, and shit like that makes my life. I'm really really really genuinely appreciative of everyone that reads us, and really proud of this community, so hearing it IRL to my face just WARMS. MY. SOUL!!!
Well that, and alcohol which I grabbed a solo for as we walked out the door.
DUDES!! PINK SOLOS!!
Epic moment of epicness.
Then, after everyone did a ton of shots (I am personally not a shot girl. I stick to beer as I have to get up and write every morning and trying to be creative with a hangover is just not possible. Love love LOVE ME SOME BEER!!), one of the hosts screamed out "I need to hear Empire of the Sun, walking on a dream! Get it on Pandora!"
Well, anyone with a Pandora account knows that you can't pick what comes up, but fortunately I had spotify on my phone so I opened it up, searched for Empire of the Sun, and just like that - handed the host my phone and said, here ya go!
Way to be the hero Friel. Whoop whoop! Moments like this where I can explain how rad apps are to people make my life. I have different needs for Pandora and Spotify. Spotify is more where I go to listen to tracks that I adore, and Pandora is where I discover new music.
So that happened. Then we all headed out the door to the club, and I had a blast. Really really really good time dancing and kicking it with new people, but I gotta say man, the unisex bathrooms there gave me the heeby jeebs. I'm just not a fan.
I have no desire to see men peeing in urinals while I'm adjusting my eye liner. For reals, it gives me nightmares and I SWEAR 90% of the dudes shook it more than two times - which you know what that means ...
I left with more questions than I ever wanted answers to.
Good god, that was just ... creepy.
Then we peaced in the middle east sometime around 2 or 3, and headed back to the house.
I woke up nice and toasty but jazzed and ready to go out on my date with Steve (which is what I was here for anyway).
OMMMMGGGG I had my ass handed to me. It was great though, and I was incredibly appreciative of his intelligence; people like that keep me on my toes. It's hard when you live in your own little world and people reach out to you every day for help - you forget to switch roles and become the student. We are ALWAAYYYSSS learning in life, and the second I stop learning, I'll be dead. I might have "wanted" a date with Steve, but what I really needed was a lesson. Stay on point, Friel and stay humble. ALWAYS.
Very rad dude, and I very much needed that.
Then from there I spent the afternoon writing and reflecting, followed by around 11 getting an invite from Ashley and her friends to go to a costume party.
Costume party I thought. AHHH FML, I don't have a costume.
Wait a minute, I thought - I'm SURRRREEEE I have something I can whip up. I then went upstairs, through my backpack, and using my hoodie and headphones came up with the most epic costume ever.
Ladies and germie men, I present the accidental DJ ...
It was really rad too the entire evening when I felt like an awkward moment was coming, I slipped away to my happy place and started playing Sussido on Spotify.
I really need to figure out my obsession with that song.
Fortunately the awkwardness subsided sometime around the 3rd corona, and then I ended up with a booty call. No, literally ... look what Ashley found ...
High-larious too, because my fornication under consent of the king buddy totally called me the other night, and has sent me Facebook messages. I told him that I was good, but I genuinely think the duderino got a bit attached. Was cute, atually. Ohhhhhhhh silly boys!!!
No booty call - but I did have some epic conversations, meet some really rad people - and sometime around 4 we peaced out, and grabbed some WaWa.
OMMMMGGGG!!! Wawa is the TITS!!!!! DDs for IZZLES!!!!
Their subs or, "hoagies" are so friggen fresh!!
It's great too, you can be SUPER drunk and not even have to talk to anyone - you just push a series of buttons and a few minutes later a fresh and delicious sandwich is delivered to you.
OMMMGGGGG!! It. Made. My. Life. So yummy in my tummy it hurts.
Actually this particular sandwich looks pretty unfresh and gross ... but use your imagination. I was too toasted to take a pic - haha you get the idea.
Then this morning, I woke up headed into town and met up with my Fiesta Movement buddy Mikey and his beautiful girlfriend Allie!!!
OMMMGGG I missed that face.
He took me to Campos where we grabbed a REAL philly cheesesteak in Philly.
Which was high-larious btw, because when I went to the counter I asked the woman if I could have a Philly Cheesesteak with the works. She shot me this look of, oh- hello local.
Maybe that's like going to buffalo and asking for buffalo wings.
Wait, no ... not the same ... but, you get the idea.
Hey I'm a Philly n00b! What do you expect!
But LOOK AT THIS THING!!!
Was sober enough this time to take a pic - WINNING!!!
OMMMGGG it was so delicious. Like for reals, I need more of that in my mouth more often.
Now I'm just kicking it editing season 3 of VidBlogger Nation before I head over to the radio station tonight to kick it again with Steve. Genuinely surprised he even wants to see me again after handing me my own ass. Whatever, I'm ready this time - and by ready I mean not, and by handing me my ass I mean I hope he grabs it instead. Wait, did I just say that out loud? God damnit, he's so fucking smart, and hot. I don't know what to do about that. He's a rad dude, but I can't imagine how difficult dating must be when you are genius level smart. I consider myself more street smart. I'm good at breaking things down and figuring out how to make them more efficient then team building to get people really excited about projects I am working on. That's my value add. His value add is in actually building platforms, and actually coming up with new ways to monetize. I get it, but we're apples and oranges. Going to be a good night regardless.
I leave Philly tomorrow afternoon, am then taking a Megabus to NYC where I am going to kick it for a few hours (and drink my ass off) then head to La Guardia for my 6am flight back to the city of angels.
Peace love and lollipops TNTML!! Thank you all SOOOOOOOO much for the amazing adventures in the city of brotherly love. I totes get it now man. Everyone here has been so effin friendly!!! So amazing! So grateful! So blessed!!!
OOOOHH my goodness nerderinos, what a night in Philly. I'll do a recap later in the day, but I got to explore the wonders of unisex bathrooms at club Voyeur tonight here in Philadelphia.
Living in LA, you see a lot - but unisex bathrooms are one of those things that I don't encounter very often. OMG OMG OMG dudes, do you not know how to aim? What was that?? Very. Very. Very. Disappointed.
Gross on SOOOOOOOO many levels. Having to "hover" is bueno for the thigh muscles, but not something I enjoy doing on a regular basis. Whatevs, lesson learned and YAYYY for new life experience!!
I walked to the store, picked up the jerky - all while wearing my snow leopard spirithood ...
Dudes, it is in the FIFTIES HERE!!!! So so so effin cold.
I walk in, and everyone in the store is staring at me.
Whatevs, I'll own that.
But then, I get up to the register, and the lady behind the counter goes - "you lucky I don't have red paint on me right now."
Rather than getting angry I take this as an area of opportunity, and explain to her that Spirithoods is actually pro animal using only high quality faux fur, and they even donate to Pro Blue.
She shot me this look of - wtf, and said "that look too real."
People started to turn around even more at this point, as this woman was seriously saying this shit with some hardcore disgust.
I say, they're run by a bunch of hippies in downtown LA, and they're amazing - maybe they're just not your cup of tea.
Yeah, whatever. She said as I continued to pay.
Dudes, if for no other reason, I was at least a customer - was that really cool, man? From this point forth anytime someone is a douche to me I will tell them that, "Excuse me, your Boston is showing."
Completely unacceptable.
I travel all over, and never in my life have I met such a collective of close minded individuals.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011 at 5:13PM
