It Hate This Time of Year

I hate this stupid holiday.

Okay, it's not a stupid holiday. Independence Day is pretty cool. There's fireworks, BBQs, family, not to mention it makes the foundation of our country. Or at least when we say it was founded. If we would have lot the war (which we really should have considering England was the most powerful country on the planet at the time) we wouldn't have been "founded" so much as thrown a minor tantrum.

But Independence Day in Provo sucks. Provo is known as Freedom City, U.S.A. The city throws a huge Freedom Festival, sparing no expenses and making driving anywhere a hellish ordeal. People come from all over to celebrate our freedom, mostly for the Stadium of Fire. It's a huge concert held at LaVell Edwards Stadium and there's a fantastic fireworks display at the end. They usually book some pretty cool singers/bands/performers, most of whom can be categorized as being very, very patriotic (or just a country singer whose voice sounds so backwoods that any poor soul who listens to them speak automatically loses 10 points on their I.Q. See: Toby Keith) or just someone who will bring in big numbers (see: Miley Cyrus. THAT was a fiasco of the ages...). Luckily for them, they got both this year with booking Carrie Underwood.

If you don't want to go out and battle insane crowds of overweight and undereducated Americans, you're pretty much stuck at home or within walking distance of anywhere you might want to go. Considering that my general distaste for humanity is higher than normal on just a regular day, I am confined to my house/neighborhood.

This poses a problem for two reasons. One: the city, in order to prevent some idiot from lighting the freaking mountain on fire (again), no one is allowed to light fireworks past Timpview Drive (aka 650 East). My home is past Timpview Drive by two blocks, which means no fireworks. No fireworks equals no happiness. True Story.

Reason Two: my family has been irritating me more than usual. Now, before you all stop reading because you think I'm going to get all Disney-Channel Teen-Angst on you, give me a little credit. I recognize that no one wants to hear about how "unfairly" I've been treated. It bores me to even think about it. So just be satisfied knowing that I'd rather not be stuck with them. This is where another problem comes in. It doesn't deserve to be called number three so lets call it Problem 2.5. It's Greg's birthday. Today we celebrate the fact he exists. Normally I have no problem celebrating his birth but this year, it just comes at a bad time. Greg has got me so angry lately, it's amazing I haven't attacked him with a blunt and heavy object (yet). And because of the irritating fact that he's my brother and family is important, I'm not allowed to leave until we have sufficiently celebrated his existence, which means I'm stuck here, smiling and singing "Happy Birthday" while trying to suppress the desire to stab him in the eye with a plastic fork.

Of course, even if I were able to leave, I really have nowhere to go. Yesterday after Greg and I had yet another argument (one where I called him a self-righteous prick, but only because he was acting like one) I left the house. I could not even stand to be under the same roof as that pretentious waste of space. And I drove to UVU. There was no one there. It was 6:30 on a Friday evening. But I sat in a chair in the Student Center (if you're ever there, notice how it's all chairs. There's not a couch to be found) and I just sat until I felt like I could return without a) beating him to a bloody pulp or b) call him a lot of terrible things that would just get me in trouble. Besides home and UVU, I really have no other place to go. How depressing is that.

Anyway, like most things I write, I started off talking about one thing and by the time I reach the end, it's all been about something else. In this case, I started off being mad at being in Provo on Independence Day and I ended up being mad at my brother. This happens a lot.

Anyway, happy 4th of July everyone.

And Greg,
Happy goddamn birthday.

Love you.
Mean it.