Caffeine and nostalgia
Not sponsored by Celsius
Some days really stick with you - like visually, you can always take yourself back.
October 31st, 2021 is one of those days for me. Moving day.
I had refused to pack the entire month, hoping somehow I wouldn’t have to. My final 24 hours arrived quickly and the greatest barrier to getting out of my apartment was an organ I had recently acquired. 5am, baggy eyes, I shuffled it onto a skateboard and pushed it down a few hallways.
Eventually I loaded it into the back of my truck and drove to a skatepark down the road. I met a few local skaters early that morning who helped me unload the organ and find a nice spot for it. I’m not sure they had gone to sleep yet but they were eating it up. They thought it really added to the whole vibe of their concrete kingdom. I completely agreed.
I was a bit envious of the energy there as I left. I had a long day of solo moving ahead of me and they were just plotting their next kick flip — who really knows what the rest of their day looked like though. Mid90s coded none the less.
That day took many turns for me, and packing everything you own into the back of your truck is a very specific experience. I was on a quest to start over in Tennessee, very hesitantly I should add. This is actually something my parents had done around the same age I was at the time. Only, my grandparents helped them load and head South (a story I heard for the first time recently in Iowa).
I was living in Little Bohemia near downtown Omaha. There was a friendly coffee shop a few blocks away that I frequented but on this morning, I went to the gas station for rations instead. I can’t remember who introduced me to Celsius but I’m pretty sure it was either Jonah Hill or my ex. Either way, instant fan.
It’s been almost four years now and I’m sure it’s an addiction at this point, but holding a Celsius always brings me back. We often abuse the 200mgs of caffeine in our office for efficiency. However, I secretly love a Celsius in the morning for the nostalgia. For whatever reason, it’s a reminder of how I continued to move forward that day — though I wish I had chosen something healthier — I’m grateful I have something to hold onto.
A lot of the time we feel that our lives the worst, but I think that if you looked in anybody else’s closet, you wouldn’t trade your shit for their shit. So let’s go.
— Ray, Mid90s
Film by Lee Weng and David Weflen
Thanks for reading — or for mega scrolling all the way down here.
The internet is an overwhelming mess of headlines, ads, and mid takes from the worst people you know. Big Tech owns our attention spans. Everything is content. Nothing makes sense.
We’re not here to “fix discourse” or “build a better internet.” Relay is just our attempt to riff on what we’re already talking about at happy hour without feeling like we’ve been hit by a content truck. Some analysis, some memes, call it a day.
You might like it. Tag along.
Not the peaky blinders haircut