Things on My Mind
Apr/091
- I suppose that the swine flu thing could actually turn into something terrible but I’d like to think that it really won’t. It is just another strain of the flu and if you are healthy and generally smart about your exposure to germs you’ll be fine. I imagine that our scientific achievements are somewhat to our own demise. Disease like this has probably gone through cycles throughout the history of mankind but thanks to our understanding of disease and the media, a normal process because a pandemic. Too bad we don’t have a Panda-demic. That would be sweet.
- I’m trying to figure out what marathon I want to run this year. It will definitely be between September and December. Baltimore, DC and Vegas are possible locations. I’m going to try really hard to keep up a balanced amount of running throughout the summer so that once I go into marathon training mode it will not only be easy to transition but I’ll be able to target a decently fast time.
- Squirrels keep digging in my herb garden. I’m going to stay home one day with a bb-gun and shoot the little rodents.
- I haven’t been to Dunkin Donuts all week and I think it has seriously affected my ability to function. I am going to stop there tomorrow morning and I have this funny feeling it will be a good day.
- I feel like I’ve been doing a lot lately. I’ve been having a lot of fun lately. Life is good and I can’t wait to see what happens next.
Phillies
Apr/092
I went to the ballpark last night to what the Phillies play the Nationals. It was the perfect night for baseball. It’s the type of weather I like to refer to as “it is neither hot nor cold, it just is.” The Phillies hit 4 homeruns and the Nationals hit one. That is the only way runs were scored. The Girl payed for tickets and I payed for hot dogs and drinks. I like balance like that. Definitely fun times.
Nashville Part 2
Apr/095
This might be a pretty bold and controversial statement, but I’m not convinced Blue and White weekend could have topped the fun I had yesterday. It was simply clutch. In fact, this long weekend was an absolutely great time and I’m glad I made the effort to make it happen.
I think it all starts with the fact that I was able to utilize some Marriott points and stay for “free” right in downtown Nashville. I learned a great lesson that despite the cost, staying in the heart of the action is the right move. We were right near everything.
Secondly, it was a lot of fun hanging out with Jamie. She is a super low-key fun woman and I’d think even Derrick would agree that she is a very good person. She was lots of fun to hang out with and even though I’ve only ever spent time hanging out with her in a group. I wasn’t quite sure how we’d get along just hanging out but we talked for hours about everything as if we had been good friends for years. Some people wear me out but she was cool and even put up with my supposed release of noxious fumes in my sleep (the price one must pay for my company I suppose).
Thirdly, waking up at 4:20am to go run 13.1 miles takes a little bit of craziness. It was totally worth it though. The race was incredibly well organized. The course was challening though interesting (I didn’t expect the number of hills there were). It was very hot (around the 2-mile mark I saw a sign saying 73 and I’m pretty sure it was mid-80′s at the finish) and that added a real challenge. My time wasn’t a PR (which is 1:47 and change) but I did finish under 2 hours at 1:54:39. I was quite happy with that and felt great at the end of the race. I had an amazing final kick (which probably annoyed a lot of final people) and felt great post-finish.
Fourthly, Girl was also in Nashville running. We got to spend some time together with friends and it was really fun. I like her friends. We had some good laughs. Jamie and her danced on the bar Saturday night. Excellent.
Fifthly, Jamie and I met this fascinating guy named Tristan (and his sort of maybe girlfriend) at a bar Saturday night who had to be the most outgoing person I’ve ever met. Words can’t really begin to describe his antics but we laughed so hard. He was a cross between the look of John Mayer cross with the humor of Dane Cook (he did a pretty good Dane Cook impression). I felt like he was my long lost best friend. We had fist bumps, shots of Jack and laughs beyond belief.
Sixthly, despite the heat, the weather was awesome. It was hot/warm and sunny and I loved every moment of it.
Seventhly, even though I was thrown into a variety of new social situations (which I often find very challenging), the fact that I had to run a race, the fact that I was in a new place and the fact that I was in a new situation with Girl I had such a relaxing time. I really felt very little stress on this trip. I just had a really splendid low anxiety time.
Eightly, I shall simply bullets some other great points from this trip.
- On Friday I gave up my policy of no drinking on the day before a race (thanks to Jamie). As long as you don’t get drunk you’ll be fine. Also, going to bed at a decent time is advised.
- When you aren’t drinking on a Friday night and you’re in a new city, finding something to do until you are tired is difficult. We ended up wandering the streets and questing signs like “Pan-Asian food” and “Nude Karaoke.”
- Saturday afternoon we were bar hopping and Jamie suggested we have a shot of Jack and a beer to settle into the spirit of Nashville and the south. Brilliant!
- We went on a quest to find a good cowboy shirt. I found a nice one that isn’t too over the top that I can see myself wearing it out again. The highlight was the shop owners. Jamie asked them how they stayed married for so many years. Their answer was in two parts. 1) The guy was a traveling salesman for many years 2) A relationship with God. Wise answers.
- Tootsies is the place to go on Broadway.
- I really really like traveling to run a race with the one caveat that you must have good people to spend time with before and after the race. I will definitely plan another one of these trips in 2009.
- I’m feelings pretty good about the Broadstreet race next Sunday. I’m in decent shape and with a few jogs this week I will be in a good position to beat last year’s time.
- I really wanted a “cowboy” steak but was unable to locate one. I don’t know what this really means but I’d imagine it would be a giant steak fit for a cowboy. I might need to head further west for such a meal.
- Spending time with fellow runners, who also appreciate good beer, and are perfectly happy to sit in silence and enjoy being alive are my type of people.
Nashville Part 1
Apr/091
I flew into Nashville tonight with no major issues. The plane was small, but I still managed to doze off for a little while. This week really wore me out and I think that 3 nights I didn’t get to bed until after 1am both due to work and the need to have some time awake relaxing (happens when I get home late since I can’t seem to force myself to go right to sleep).
Jamie had some work to take care of so she wasn’t able to meet me tonight. In some ways this was a good thing as it gave me a chance to settle and wind down. I was prepared and made the most of it.
Before I get to that, I must comment that it cracked me up when I got into the taxi headed to the hotel. I would have expected a pickup truck with a cowboy hat hearing dude with a nice smooth southern accent. Instead, I found myself in a minivan driven by a man with a challenging accent of Indian decent. This is indeed America.
So, after checking in I headed down to this bar named the Beer Sellar. They had 50 beers (technically 47 as they had 3 malt beverages) on tap and a fair amount of micros. On top of that they had a 2 for 1 special. You got two beers for the price of one even if you didn’t want 2 beers. Oh, and the prices were pretty reasonable at a max of $4.75 for 99% of the beers. I spent $9.50 for 4 pints of craft brew. Amazing! They also had a tasty chicken sandwich (though they forgot my onion rings). Additionally, there was live music of the blues variety which was neat because it was like open mic night. Musicians just kept filtering in and out of the band yet it all sounded so good. The best part with the trumpet player who had Miles Davis-esque improv skills.
So far, I like Nashville.
Man’s Greatest Invention
Apr/093
I believe that the garlic press was perhaps man’s greatest invention. It makes the use of garlic in cooking such an easy task. If I recall correct, the movie Goodfellas depicted some Italians slicing garlic with a razor blade. I tried that and you can slice it pretty thin. However, the efficiency and practicality of mashing garlic through a press just makes much more sense. If you love garlic and don’t own a press, you are missing out.
Pat’s Versus Geno’s Cheesesteaks
Apr/092
This past extended weekend (including Thursday night) was simply awesome. The weather was amazing. The people I spent time with were amazing. I did a lot of relaxing. My older brother and his wife visited and we had an excellent time. I was able to stand being around my brother for multiple days without him burning me out (just get him drunk so he goes to bed early). I got to go out for some drinks with his wife, who is awesome and has my permissions to divorce my brother if necessary with no hard feelings as long as we can still go out for drinks and judge people.
The runner-up highlight was the fact that they approved me staying in Philadelphia for now. They understood that I’ve got a good thing happening right now and there is no rush for me to move to Boston. If it weren’t for the fact that it took 9 hours for them to drive down and 8 hours to get home, I think they would visit more often (terrible traffic).
The highlight of the weekend was when my parents came down on Sunday to see us all. I was happy because I stayed very pleasant and I think I did a decent job of getting us where we needed to go. Oh yeah, we went to both Pat’s and Geno’s cheesesteaks. My mother was able to consume one from each place which was most impressive. The fries from Pat’s were much better. The entertainment at Pat’s was much better (all of the staff chased after a guy who was angry about his sandwich and yelled “f-PAt’s” to the guy at the counter). And, drum roll… Pat’s had the better cheesesteak. However, Dalessandro’s and Chubby’s in Roxborough are much better than them both.
What a great time.
The Best Night Ever?
Apr/091
I believe last night went down as one of the best nights I’ve had in Philadelphia to date. It had aspects of exercise, drinking, socializing, trying new things, meeting new people, exploring the city, appreciating life, staying up late, playing drinking games, singing along to classic songs and taking advantage of the fact that I was taking Friday off. I did wake up at 8am and got sucked into some work things that could have ruined my mood, but it was just such a good night that I don’t really care.
The real core of why this was so great is that I went with Derrick and our pilot friend Kyle (aka Swollen Cockpit) to the Ben Franklin’s Mob Hash House Harriers event. I invited girl along and she invited her cousin who happened to be in town looking for places to live and trying to meet new people. In turned out to be a great mix of people.
Taking a step back, I suppose I should explain the hash thing. So, hashing is social activity where a bunch of people come together a designated bar to go on a scavenger hunt of sorts followed by raucous celebration and ceremony. A person known as the “hare” leaves the bar before the group and marks a trail using chalk or flour with a bunch of symbols meaning various things. The group then jogs/sprints along the trail trying to follow it. You really need to experience it to understand fully. The trail could be anywhere from 2 miles to 5 miles long. Typically, it will have a beer stop at some point along the way. Eventually, the trail lands you back at the original bar.
We didn’t have a beer stop and lost the trail but had a blast running along. Actually, borrowing words from Dane Cook, I’d say it was a “blasty blast.” I had no idea how far we went but I saw a lot of Philadelphia. Whenever pedestrians would ask what we were doing or what we were running for we’d respond with “beer.”
The ceremonies after the running can best be described as what would happen if you cross a fraternity, a bunch of computer nerds, some hippies, running geeks and rugby fans together. There were all these obscene songs and drinking punishments. Again, you had to experience it to really understand. The only downside is that it is on Thursdays and I have soccer. I’ll definitely try to make it when I can.
Other notable points were:
- I wore a running shirt (from a race) which was a foul so Kyle had to chug a beer
- When you aren’t a made member of the group you are supposed to refer to yourself as “just __insert name__” so I was “just Matt.”
- I, Girl and cousin were all hashing virgins which meant we had to stand in the circle of everyone and say our names and who made us come. Of course, I stumbled on Kyle’s name and said something like “I’m just Matt and Swollen Cock, ugh, Cockpit made me come.” Yes, this group is incredibly vulgar but absolutely hilarious.
- There were probably 40+ of us following this trail with people ranging from my age to 50 I’d suspect.
After the hashing we all headed back to Apple St. The fun continued. We played pong. We played flip cup. We laughed about how Derrick had to work the next morning. We listened to music. Allagash met everyone. Everyone else seemed to be having a great time. I think I finally went to bed around 4am.
The Wrong Things
Apr/093
I recently made the following statement and I think it is actually very wise.
“It isn’t so much that I know the right things to say but rather that I’ve been able to not say the wrong things.”
I don’t mean to imply that this is only applicable to the current Girl situation, but my life in general. Part of where I’ve gotten is due to the fact that I didn’t say the wrong thing. Of course, there is some luck, fate, experience and skill mixed in there but when it comes to actions, it had been my lack of action or rather wisdom to not act which has given me an edge.
I’ve been called indecisive. I’ve felt inadequate in my ability to be proactive. I’ve missed opportunities because of an innate inability to act or even be aware that I should act. All the same, I like the way I roll. And I’d like to think that when I do act, it is because I feel it is worth it. I’m slightly, well, perhaps overly analytical at times and I’m proud of it.
Friday Night
Apr/092
I went out again with the Girl. Tonight we got some dinner at the place suggested by Murphy. And, Murphy gets two thumbs up on the choice. Now the funny thing about the dinner was that I don’t have much to say about the food or drink. It was all good of course, but I honestly focused very little on it. There was just some really good conversation going on and that’s about all that really stood out to me. I’m not trying to be all dramatic or anything but that is honestly how it all played out. Oh, the waiter was pretty entertaining too. One of those types that really cares about his job and shows a lot of class but isn’t so over the top that you see a pretentious ass.
I suppose that I feel very comfortable in this current situation and that is why I’ve been having such a good time.
Blogging
Apr/091
Being a blogger is a challenging job. There are basically 3 things I struggle with.
1) Writing often enough to keep the nice base of readers checking in for the latest but making sure that I’m not writing so much that people get overloaded with useless content.
2) Writing stuff that is either generally interesting or personal enough to satisfy that voyeuristic tendencies that are in all of us.
3) Not being so personal that I create some sort of risk on my career or personal life.
To be honest, I’d love to write what is exactly on my mind because it actually would be very interesting and would considerably increase the fan base. The problem of course is that my mom reads this, I have a good job of which I’d never want to compromise by having something crazy bad in my personal blog and I’d probably offend a lot of people. Therefore, I have to put this totally annoying censorship on everything.
I’ve often thought that I’d like to write a book about select events in my life but the same challenges exist. I think I’ve got enough priceless stories that would make for a very interesting collection but the truth of my life would offend a lot of people and also have some legal implications I imagine. Maybe someday.