Hey followers, Quinn David Furness writing to you LIVE from Bloomington, Indiana, population 85,000, and about half of those are Indiana University students. So I spend a lot of time on the road every fall recruiting …On average I’d say I probably go to about 10-15 different states. Off the top of my head, this fall I’m hitting 13 states, and no, Hawaii (my white whale, state #50, the last one I haven’t visited) is not on the agenda. I’m still hoping to go this winter but need to figure out when that’s gonna happen from a timing perspective. Then I just need to bite the bullet and do it. I’m thinking about going for about 5 days and doing an Airbnb close to Waikiki Beach. Ever since I saw the Wackiki Wabbit cartoon as a kid (link here) I’ve just had that itch to go visit ya know? My favorite part is that cool native drum music they get goin’, I really want a piece of that action. I will probably just stick to Oahu/Honolulu and do the touristy stuff and some hiking there. I think I would really enjoy the big island and the volcano hiking there seems sweet but I’m also pretty cheap and doing Hawaii on the cheap takes some finagling. Did I use that word right? Anyways, I haven’t talked about my love for Arcade Fire much in the past year, so if you wanna listen to what I’m listening to while writing this, check this out. Damn that’s the good stuff.
So you might be wondering to yourself “Hey! I forgot the Beantown Blog even existed!” Well I would say so did I, but I didn’t, I just haven’t been writing much lately. In fact I haven’t been super “creative” in general lately. Haven’t been playing much music, haven’t been performing standup, and haven’t been writing that much or really doing that much with the podcast honestly. It’s not a depression thing. I’m just in the middle of travel season and that has taken up September and August was busy just trying to squeeze the last bits of summer out then work picked up so I really just haven’t had as much time sitting at my desk. Rest assured though that the Beantown Blog is still here and new episodes of the Beantown Podcast do in fact still come out on a weekly basis!
So I’m in Bloomington, Indiana tonight, and although I’m not really looking to date anyone on the road (or do one night stands for that matter, ain’t nobody got time for that), I do like using social dating apps here and there to meet interesting people to see if they wanna get a drink, go to a concert, play trivia etc. Although I’m an introvert, I do like spending some of my free time getting to meet new people and learn from their experiences, particularly when I’m in a new environment like Bloomington, Indiana. I got a great introduction to the local culture through some of the fine god-fearing right-wing radio programs I was listening to on the drive over, but I yearned for more. I should also mention that I had a 4 hour drive yesterday from Iowa City to Champaign and the first 3 hours and 45 minutes were pretty bland as far as the radio goes. I was listening to this one rock station that was taking requests so I requested “I’m Still Standing” by Elton John and they said no. That was too bad. But anyways I finally find the classical station and of course RIGHT BEFORE I get to my hotel, they come out with Rach 2, which is more or less the greatest piece of music ever written. So I only got to catch the first movement! You better believe I turned on the 2nd and 3rd movements once I sat down with dinner Some people watch Fox News or porn or stuff while they’re eating dinner. I listen to Russian music.
So I’m talking to this IU student on Hinge, she’s perfectly attractive (again, not looking to date, just meet interesting people) but she’s one of those girls who describes herself as a “potato” and that whole culture and it’s not like those types of people are inherently lacking in self-confidence because they’re trying to make a joke out of it but after you continually self-deprecate yourself over and over again enough, it can really mess with your psyche. So it’s funny the first time, but when they keep on with that line of humor, I really start to worry about those people. That’s why I’m confident in my dad body. Hey, I welcome the lifestyle I chose. Work out 6 days a week. Don’t eat like complete shit but enjoy yourself. If that’s the recipe for a dad bod then I’m the head chef. So I’m talking to this IU girl and I’m like “what’re you up to tonight?” and she says “I’m playing trivia then I usually get a drink afterward” so I’m like “oh that’s perfect I would love to join you” and she’s like “sounds great!” and this was at about 4pm and trivia is apparently at 8. So I get to my hotel and quickly get a run and a shower in, then I drive 15 minutes to the trivia spot and I get there and it’s pretty deserted and I don’t see her. So I text her and say “Hey where are you at?” And time passes yada yada yada all you need to know is she definitely was not there, and I got trivia ghosted. That was a bummer because I don’t get to socialize that much on the road for obvious reasons so I was really looking forward to it. Oh well.. So I had to decide if I wanted to stay and play alone or go back to my hotel room and get work done, and me being a responsible adult, I left after my one beer and one round of trivia to go back to my room and do expense reports. No word on whether or not I won, but I can confirm that I did know the 10th chemical element that was also a car model was “Neon.” Who’s the master of science now, bitch
Update: I texted this person again on my way home just saying something kind like “Sorry I missed ya!” I’m a big fan of the kind text. And she responded right away and said “Omg lol I didn’t know you were serious.” This is why 20-year olds have such a bad reputation. Maybe next time I will use Grindr to find trivia mates.
(i still have this bathrobe by the way)
Quinn David Furness presents the Beantown Podcast 