I’ve been home now for about 3 weeks (essentially 2 as I spent a full week down the shore) and I’m adapting fairly well. The drive to work eats up about an hour of my day more than it used to but I’m starting to get used to it. I’m waking up earlier and getting home later. It’s nice though because everything is so close by that it’s never like I have to wait for what I want. My running routes have already started to get routine but I like the change of pace running through residential neighborhoods. Beats the crowded streets of Manayunk. I’ve also been getting in better shape from just doing more activities. I’ve been playing a lot of golf, chess, basketball, ping pong, and been running as well so I’m really active. I can’t tell if I’m more active than before but it certainly feels like it. I even watched the Green Hornet which was the first movie I’ve seen in ages and I thought it was hilarious at moments and I recommend it to anyone who doesn’t take life too seriously. I also think my plans of buying a place might give way to renting an apartment in the city. This home situation was just temporary and I don’t think I’m ready to permanently commit to a place. Rather than force it I’m starting to lean in the other direction. A final comment on living at home, we went to the bar last night and Sam (didn’t drink) and his friend Gourlay came, who I’m sure would enjoy a mention in this blog. Gourlay basically thinks for about 1 second before he says what he’s thinking and is pretty hit or miss but I find him entertaining. Aside from that though everything is run of the mill. Till next time.

An unusual situation occurred at dinner the one night where two children, ages 1 and 3, were messing around the restaurant unsupervised. There was an odd spot in the restaurant that contained some old lumber (I actually didn’t see it) with a nail sticking out of it. My dad went over and stopped them from playing with it at my disapproval. Am I dick for this? Yes. I honestly feel though that the stupid kids should get hurt for punishment to the neglectful parents. This is how I view life, you get what’s coming to you. If I had 2 children I promise you they wouldn’t be running wildly around the restaurant with no supervision. I suppose I have less emotions than most. Now I will agree wholeheartedly that small children are pretty much clueless and don’t deserve punishment for things that aren’t their fault. Someone, anyone should step in and stop that from happening. It just won’t be me.

I’ve just spent a week at the beach and didn’t score. I essentially went out 6 or so days to bars and there was plenty of opportunity but in this paragraph I’m going to explain how a decent looking, 28 year old with a job doesn’t close. There are two main ways not to succeed and they are 1. Getting too drunk (which wasn’t really the case for this but has been before) and 2. Not trying.

I’m going to start with an example of a conversation I had with a girl and then explain where things went wrong. So I start talking to her and we go through the normal job and school and then we just come to a pause after a few minutes. So I’m standing there and thinking to myself “oh man, this is awkward, what should I do?” I can’t just walk away, I can’t think of anything else that isn’t moronic, so I pretty much just turned my back on her and started acting like I was into the band. Small talk just doesn’t interest me that much. I look back on it and could have been like so “what’s your favorite movie, mines Breakfast Club.” So that’s one instance of running out of things to say which seem to occur.

The other problem of dancing in front of bands or with DJ’s is challenging as well. First of all, girls are usually in groups and being a guy just invading a group of girls is nearly impossible without major dance moves and that just isn’t the case. So that situation of just going up to girls with super loud music and trying to grind your penis into their ass doesn’t work. Not to mention feeling like a total creep after a certain amount of time standing in an area and then not starting to dance with the girls starts making the situation even more difficult. This was the case last night at the Pool at Harrah’s. So there are tons of girls, just like complete whores, but the ease of initiating anything was futile. I don’t have confidence in my dance moves and girls aren’t flocking to me so what am I supposed to do?

These thoughts are what is going through my head as I’m thinking of how is this situation going to play out. I’m not like “I’m going to go up to this girl, talk to her a little bit, and then ask if I can pound her over and over.” I am too much of a pussy to do that but I feel like if you don’t, then you just sit here writing blog entries about how you didn’t get any ass. Sadly I need to act more like the above quote and less like myself. Myself over thinks every situation until the point of nothingness. Being a closer really is about self confidence and I don’t feel like I lack it but obviously I do. One night Steve was like “just go up to those girls and talk to her, you have nothing to lose.” I sit there and think yeah that will really go great going over there and talking to 3 girls… That is the problem. I make a way bigger deal out of conversing with other humans than it really is. And unless I get totally shitfaced, I bring myself back to conversation A above with running out of things to say. I’m not even sure why I post this but I’m sure other people out there have the same problem because without major drugs or alcohol, try picking up girls at bars.

Random update for no other reason than because. I had some decent jokes the past few days that I’m going to share. I was in the ocean in OCMD and the waves were coming very strongly in random intervals and I said “The strong ones really come in waves.” Also, Sam and I were having a frizbee catch and on one of my bullet throws he tried to catch it between his legs and I said “be care, you might get dismembered.”

I’ve pretty much spent the last 6 days on the beach which isn’t too bad. The first 4 days I was in Ocean City, Maryland and got by without any incidents. The nights there are just insane. Without going into real detail we spent the weekend at Seacrets, Monday at the world famous Fagers, and Tuesday at some wild 80’s party at Mackay’s filled with 18 year old girls wearing neon. Wednesday I left there to drive to Avalon where it is much more low key but also much needed to recover. I’m feeling back to normal but I had a run today that was unpleasant. I did 5 miles in 100 degree weather with about 10% of my body’s water level. After 2 and half miles I was completely dehydrated, head pounding, and my legs barely working. I eventually completely the run but that was the hardest run I’ve done in ages. Life is good though and I wanted to take a few moments to make everyone else realize that if they aren’t doing what I’m doing, your doing it wrong.

I know I haven’t been posting much and that trend will continue. I’m heading to OCMD for a few days and then Avalon after that. This is where life gets fun. All the work you do leads into times like these.

If you haven’t noticed here in PA, it is hot. I sweat way more than the average person. Probably 2.5 times more. I like to think it’s because I work 2.5 times harder than the average person but that’s hard to be determined. Yesterday, I moved 100pcs of pipe about 20ft in 90 degree heat and completely drenched through my shirt. I have to wring out my shirt every basketball game to give you a better idea. Even something as easy as playing ping pong gets me dripping on the table. Obviously the heat doesn’t help. To a certain extent I like it because it makes me feel like I’m doing something but in some situations it just gets annoying.

How this sweating leads into my real topic of momentum, I’m not sure but I wanted to post that first paragraph just because. Something I’ve noticed is the key factor of momentum. It happens in just about every game and there is a level of mental momentum in different games. I’m not always sure people of even aware of it but its always there. To use a bball reference, I missed an easy lay up, the other team nailed a 3 and we promptly lost game a play or two after. It’s like me missing the lay up inspired the other team. When Sam and I play ping-pong, most of our games come down to the wire, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have long stretches where the other player can’t get a point. It’s like we play different when we start winning (or losing) a few points in a row. It’s really an odd topic and something that I’m sure coaches try to control with timeouts and such. I just wanted to point this add because I believe it is real and my perception is everyone’s reality.

Sam and I were having a normal conversation about poop yesterday. I was just about to play basketball and had to take a dump. So I took a dump and wiped clean. I alerted Sam that I couldn’t just go play basketball immediately after pooping. You have to walk around a little bit because (most of the time) you just don’t get all the poop residue after the first attempt. It usually takes about 2 minutes and you have to be constantly walking around and then you just wipe again and you should be all set. This is really important in life because poop residue can be a huge problem. As a runner you learn this quickly and I’ll explain why. Whenever you want to go for a run, you never want to have to take a dump. So it’s normal to have to want to poop just before you run. Now if you aren’t aware of the information I just shared, you might poop, wipe, and then try to run. This isn’t the best way. That 3-5 minutes of walking around is the ticket. I don’t always herp, but when I herp I derp.

Life has been pretty good as of late. On Friday, we went to a few bars in Doylestown which was much better than I would have thought. A fun golf round on Saturday came down to 18 where I hit the one of my best drives and chickened out for going for the green in 2. Shee and I were tied (with Bud being 2 back which I wasn’t even aware of) and we both bogeyed after a few botched putts. I thought I played better than a 95 but two relatively easy holes nabbed me with an 8 and a 9. We finished the round and sped home to catch my horse Dullahan get a 7th place in the Belmont Stakes. I concluded the night with watching the bball game where I was actually happy to see the Heat get there and then I hung out at the Cohen household which also proved entertaining. I was impressed with the game baseball which was the first time I played it.

I woke up late today and just finished playing 7 games of basketball where I was honing my skills. If I had to rate my play I’d say it was a solid 5. I play hard, get good spots, but just can’t put the ball in the basket. Casey, Bud, and Evan also rounded out the crew and it was a pretty fun day. I’m completely spent now though and am looking forward to bowling tonight. Anyone is welcome. Should be around 8 or 9, let me know. Let’s get Jaweens and Mugsey reunited on the alley.

A nice Kurt Vonnegut reference. Since being “home”, I’m waking up earlier and getting home later. This trend will continue and doesn’t exactly lead to a happier quality of life. I have been able to catch full Howard Stern interviews which I must say I enjoy. Yesterday was Joe Walsh and today was Joan Rivers, both of whom you should know but most probably don’t. Walsh being a guitarist in the Eagles (and a decent solo career) and Joan Rivers being a 79 year old comedian. Aside from that though this is just something that I’m going to have to get used to. It took me all of Monday and most of today to recover from the Saturday night and following bike race. I swear I know why this type of ill feeling takes place after long periods of drinking and my bet it is complete body dehydration. You’d think just chugging water would cure it but that’s not the case. Your body just starts pissing a ton if you try it that way. It just takes time to recharge. I think most weaker bodies just stop drinking but the alcoholic in me just consumes and then deals with the punishment that follows.

I will also note that living back home is quite a bit different. After 5 years on my own it’s been quite an adjustment. I’ve been eating a lot more Frosted Flakes and reading the paper. We also have all the movie channels which is nice. The terrain is way flatter than Manayunk and my runs seem like a piece of cake. Sam and I haven’t gotten in our Ping Pong games but I’m sure that will be in the near term. I just want to take it week by week and enjoy the ride.

Anthony works in the grocery store
Saving his pennies for some day

I’ve been in the process of moving all my possessions out of Manayunk. It’s not so much the moving that bothers me but the time progression of being there. I spent 4 years in the Yunk and can say that I got to know the area pretty well. I earned free covers all the time to Kildare’s and Mad River which I expect to carry me to thru the future. I believe that any bar I visit with any frequency I earn great rapports with the staff. I’ll miss track workouts at Roxbourgh High School which essentially lets anyone run on their track at anytime. The location was the absolute best in terms of travel time to the city and to the suburbs. Even 200 Green Lane will go down as a place to remember. Specifically the age old table which endured countless games of beer pong and quarters. However, I can’t think of many times in the future that will come up where I say to myself, “let’s visit Manayunk.”

More on the progression of time. The one thing you never see coming is looking back and realizing you’ll never be that age again. I moved to Manayunk in my early 20’s and now I’m in my late 20’s and I just think to myself, “wow, I’ll never be 22 again.” I didn’t really mind this when I was in my early 20’s because I never looked back and said I wish I was 18. However, at all points of my life coming up, I’m always going to be wishing I was in my early 20’s. I don’t think there is a better age to want to be. Honestly, I actually think my current age is better but I know that this short little window where I still feel “in my youth” will end. I could care less about the moving process because life always moves on and that I can deal with. It’s knowing you can’t back that sticks me.