The great outdoors

The Hive

Weekend in Vermont

Northbound and out of sight

Friday has finally arrived and it couldn't have been soon enough. Burnt out and fed up are two moods du jour that I have been feeling as of late. What makes this weekend especially unique is that I am going to be traveling to Vermont on a BzzAgent Weekend Extravaganza. Don't get me wrong, the idea of spending a weekend with my co-workers in an isolated house was scary at first, but things are looking up now.

Quite simply the place is gorgeous. My boss' parents own what seems to be some sort of luxury bed&breakfast/compound. Fully catered meals, which my sources tell me, consist of BBQ and a lobster bake. Added to that was the fact that I saw the amount of alcohol intended for the trip. 20 cases of beer. 20 FREAKIN’ CASES. Hiking, swimming, eating and lots of drinking and fun. Quite the volatile mix, with craziness sure to ensue.

And to top it off the thoughts of Scandinavian masseuse dancing in my head.

Hope everyone has a great weekend. Be back with stories of regalia.

Alice and I have known each other for a little over two years now. She has the distinction of being my "last friend" at BU. In the sense that it was second semester senior year and why did I need to meet anyone else? I had great friends. I had a wonderful girlfriend. I knew whom I was going to keep in touch with and whom my future groomsmen are. Why did I need to meet someone else? Really the effort/reward ratio was rather small. But for whatever reason we really made a connection. She was the one who convinced me that the Russian language was actually quite sexy and not some sort of German/Klingon hybrid. She always has a great book for me to read. She is the only girl I know that can really cook. She was the person who convinced me to be %100 honest in life. And when that didn’t work, to be honest around her.

Now we randomly see each other. About once a month or so, we grab sushi after work. Been playing an epic game of phone tag for what seems to be the better part of a month. Schedules, new jobs, boyfriends/girlfriends, new apartments, etc.

Talked to her a little while back today:
“I’m an ass for not calling you back… How are you spending your lovely Saturday?”

It's finally over

There are a myriad of things in the world that I am not suited for. One of them is having to tailor my schedule to someone else. I am not talking about simply having a roommate, I coexisted perfectly fine my four years at university, but I don’t think I’m cut out for this whole sharing thing. Maybe this is because I am an only child and have never had to deal with this? For the past two weeks my family from California has been staying with us. There are four of them (two adults and two “children”, if you will). Four. More than enough people to necessitate the renting of a hotel room? Perhaps. But in the grand tradition of family, they have been bunking at the homestead.

Morning routine:
(alarm, snooze, wake, brush, wash, weather, change, 4 sips of OJ, traffic, train)
Shot

As well as:
Important client meeting
Salary haggle
24th Birthday
In charge of department
Dinner with K (hug, awkwardness, traffic, sub-par dinner, tears, awkwardness, sad)*

Stress levels have been taken to an all time high. Even been taking to the bottle of late. Nothing major, no midweek benders, but something to just take the edge off.

RECAP OF THE MORNING AT THE END OF STRESSFUL FORTNIGHT

Looks like the past week’s worth of rain decided to show up this weekend. Oh good, I’m bringing my family to the airport this morning. I’m really looking forward to a goodnights sleep. Before Logan, we stop at the Chinese supermarket to pick up a few snacks for the trip and some last minute souvenirs for the California contingent. Mind you that these are the same assortment of baus and buns that can be found in L.A.

Post drop-off, dim sum lunch and mother driving my car due to the searing burn emanating from left eye. I’m really looking forward to a goodnights sleep. A horrible traffic jam on the expressway leads mom to take a detour. Slow down. Look right. Wait. Look right. Wait. Turn…. CRACK
“Oh my god! Mom’s not going to stop. That green car is right in front of us. She doesn’t see it. Wait, we’re not going too fast. Wait this is my car. Oh god.”

Don’t worry we’re O.K. No one was hurt and somehow there was NO damage on either car. The angry black women turned out to be very nice and in quite the hurry.

Just trying to get my life back on track.

*I miss K a lot, but I think it’s officially over. I don’t think this was a stomach punch break-up, but more of a take a long look in the mirror and reassess life break-up.

One of the finset things in the world is enjoying good food in the company of good people. With that in mind I am embarking on the second Thanksgiving Thursday. Accompanying me will be Seth, Adam and new guy Keith. We will talk. We will laugh. We will bond. We will gorge ourselves on succulent turkey, delicious stuffing, and fluffy mashed potatoes. Our afternoons will shot due to triptophan-induced hangovers.

It will be glorious.

You can have your hallowed grounds, your frozen tundra, and your ivy-covered walls. I have my Turkey Dinners.

Baby got back

I have dated my fair share of well-endowed girls in the past...

But I wonder how long the trend of

"White female butts being on display as never before and the fact that they're being checked out by people of every race, sex, and contact prescription."

is going to last.

Drunk with power

Stand down!
I have assumed control of the Con.

With O and C gone on vacation I am now the senior most member of the Com Dev dept. But with this power comes great responsibity. I am now the shining beacon of light who is entrusted with guiding and leading the efforts of a crack staff. I have a team of four dutiful employees to do my bidding and two nublie coeds at my service.

Ah, life is good.

Welcome to the Future

Today is my birthday. I am now 24.

Youth, future, endless potential yada yada.... I'm not living that anymore.

I'm officially too old to be on the Real World now. If you really know me, you know how much this hurts.

New guy in town

Robin on Keith the New Guy (he's Asian too):

"The com dev department looks like it's we're genuis computer hackers...its
the typical scene, a bunch of college agish kids in jeans plugging away on
computers...and 3 asian people, which totally adds to the visual"

and the kicker

"it looks like MIT in here"

In bed with the Devil

During my last semester senior year, a professor once asked "do you think ethics have a role in advertising?" He gave the hypothetical example of: if you were given the task of creating work for a gun or a tobacco company what would you do? I (You) can live a complete harmonious life if you exist solely in theory, but only when you are faced with a real choice do your principles come into play.

Today is a big day at the Hive. Jono literally told me that this is the biggest meeting that we have ever had. Make or break, if you will. The balance between "selling out" and "surviving". It's not going to be an easy task. It has already been roundly debated.

Time to look across the table at the face of Big Tobacco. I don't want to blink.

Can't wait Can't wait

Oh my god... I feel it in my bones. It's only a week away until the release of Madden 2005. ONLY THE GREATEST VIDEO GAME FRANCHISE EVER! Have you seen the commercials with Ray Lewis in them? That man knows how to put the fear of God into people. Thump, thump, thump... What is that? My PS 2's Dual Shock Controller? No it's my heart beating with trepidation.

August 12. One day after my birthday if anyone is interested.

I'm so in the game.

Addition:
and if you don't take my word for it, listen to a higher power. Here's Sports Guy's take

Happy 25th Anniversary Mom & Dad

Since I have started my new job it has been really hard to find time to work out. I even quit the gym, but that based more on economical reasons than anything else.

Sure I went through my running kick, after reading that Roger Bannister book, a while back. I was running one mile a day, consistently clocking in under the Magical 8 Minute Barrier and if I missed a day I would run two the next. And so on (yeah I know not much, but it's a start). Well I was keeping up with that for about two weeks and my times were decreasing everyday. But then I just ended up being busy for a few days in a row and next thing you know I was staring at a 7-mile day. End of that.

And then there was my dream of the Tour de Lakeville. Got my purple 10-speed Huffy all cleaned up and I was on my way. I bought a bike helmet (which unbeknownst to me I was wearing backwards for three days) and had my yellow livestrong bracelet. Oh to be like Lance... It was fun too. I was honestly enjoying myself. Cruising down the streets, wind blowing in my face it was a blast. I still try to make it out every now and then, but for whatever reason that came to an end as well.

Now I punish myself with a grueling regimen of prison style workouts: an hour of yard time where I do push ups, sit-ups and a variety of yoga like stretches. That, two shakes one sensible meal a day...

And if physical activity isn't your bad, I suggest checking out this website.