An Intimate Interview With…
Joseph McGrath. Oct. 2, 2010 12:46 a.m.
Background:
Joseph (Joe) McGrath was raised in the heart of Clifton Springs, NY. He attended SUNY Fredonia for some major, probably history, and has since relocated himself to Colorado.
In this intimate interview, McGrath unveils his new life in Colorado by revealing his involvement in a cowboy brawl, the truth behind couch surfing, and what John Denver is full of. And other than attending the same high school and growing up in the same unruly town as me, I learned that McGrath and I also share the same favorite grocery.
Name: Joseph McGrath
Age: 22 (23 in 12 days)
Location: 408 Laporte Ave. Fort Collins, CO (Matt Evans’)
Zodiac Sign: Libra
Handedness: Right
Eye Color: Blue
Chinese Birth Year: Rabbit
Q: What was for breakfast?
A:I had a cold slice of pizza for breakfast
Q: If you’re listening to music right now, what song is playing?
A: The Riot Before - Words Over Coffee
Q: What is your next obligation today?
A: It is 10:11 at night, I’m going to go to a bar/bike shop/venue later and I work at 12:00 tomorrow. I’m going to Greeley to campaign.
Q: How was the trip itself to Colorado?
A: The train ride to Chicago was pretty lame. I met a cool dude who was fluent in French and spent a year in Montreal, he was visiting his Grandmother its Pittsford who gave him a suitcase full of daguerreotypes of relatives from the 19th century. He let me look at some and he had a slight resemblance to some of them in a multitude of ways. It was creepy.
Chicago was awesome. I hung out with some Fred Friends and checked out all the sights and got drunk. Went to an indy record shop wasted and I was wearing headphones and yelled “vinyl smells like shit” we promptly left.
Second leg of the train ride was better. It was mostly during the day and I hung out on the observation car most of the time. The prairie trains are double-deckers and awesome. I hung out with a black dude named Lamont from the south side of Chicago for a few hours. He was 22 and moved his family consisting of a girlfriend and two daughters to a podunk town in Iowa to get away from the violence in the Ghetto.
I also happened to sit randomly next to a sixties hippy burn out, who progressively got more annoying. You can drink openly on trains, I had a bottle of jack and he keep mooching hard, I eventually cut him off. I also met a nice young couple from northern California and we played cards and got wasted basically until I got off in Denver.
I then took a greyhound from Denver to Fort Collins in which I was the only English speaker and they charged me extra for my bike which really pissed me off. I also saw the Department from Homeland Security bust 5 illegals in four hours at the Denver bus station. They checked my ID twice. They don’t play.
It was a good trip for sure.
Q: What was the first fun thing you did there?
A: The first fun thing I did here was ride my bike up to basically the first hill of the rocky mountains which you can see the entire city as well as the neighboring communities. You can also look north and see the flats of Wyoming which looks ridiculous. I’m really looking foreword to finding the time to ride farther up. No one wants to go though. The ride from CS to ROC was closer.
Q: What was the last fun thing you did there?
A: Got in a brawl last night, we met cowboys. They “wupped” some bro ass. Then a crazy shirtless six foot five shaved head jacked apparition appeared and ran around our neighborhood screaming and shouting until his friends rounded him up. It was ridiculous.
Q: Is couch surfing a glamorous lifestlye?
A: Couch surfing is a so much of a glamorous life style that Good Charlotte wrote a song about it.
Q: When do you want to not couch surf anymore?
A: Yes, I am ready to be done with it. I’m at the will of the living room and whatever happens in the communal space of the house. No personal space, its hard to accomplish much like this. I have been looking at apartments and should be out soon.
Q: Do you want to live in Colorado?
A: I have not yet decided if I want to live here long term or not. I need to get more settled. I am looking at grad schools and americorp programs but only really at arms length. I need to get a little more settled before I can focus on that. I really miss certain aspects of the east especially the music scene. I fucking hate hippies and jam bands and thats all they got to offer besides the occasional bone thugs and Tim Barry. I also miss people.
Q: Did you think that last week?
A: Same opinion as last week.
Q: Are mountains as big as they sound?
A: That John Denver’s full of shit.
Q: Do you like your job? Do you have a job? What’s a job?
A: I work at Clean Water Action canvassing for Michael Bennett Senate Candidate. I used to canvas for renewable energy. A job is a general term for employment. I ride in vans and knock on doors.
Q: Have you become an artist since you’ve moved out there? Why or why not?
A: I have become more of an artist in a multitude of ways. I am going to buy a type writer and start manually typing letters. I have some written drafts for people but my hand writing is atrocious and I’m embarrassed to send them. I should have one by Sunday.
Q: Do you need any groceries right now?
A: I am in complete need of groceries right now. Farmers market tomorrow morning if I make it in time.
Q: What’s your favorite grocery?
A: My favorite grocery is for sure potatoes so I can make home fries and eggs at all hours of the night.
