Soccer and ......... Salsa?

I am waiting on a call from Colorado to see if i will get hired on the mountain for ski/snowboard season since my GPA wasn't high enough to apply to anyones education program. However while the Colorado call is pending I'm still contemplating my other options and carrying on with everyday edwardsville life. The weather was gorgeous for the first day back to school and after soaking up some sun with Nami and little Nee and having a few drinks we went to first day of indoor soccer. Some new Jacksonville players turned up the competition and I thought Nami was going to kill one of them but their was about 20-25 players and a good turnout. It was super rough and competitive since nobody wanted to sit out for 15 min when you lose. I actually was one of the few that didn't get hurt till the very end when the huge german dude kicked my toes as hard as he could. Although they are sore and swollen I don't think their broke. It was a ton of fun though and since I have to work wednesday I'm glad I made it tonight. Then to celebrate and because I'm getting skinny me and namster went to Applebees at like 1130 and ate half price boneless wings and 2 dollar long islands. This was the perfect way to top off the night. Also I found out that the campus fitness center has couples salsa dancing and since learning to dance something of this sort is on my ten year goals, I'm looking into it. All I have to do is find a partner , which is in the process.

Two movies for this entry will be "Felon" which is new and similar to "In Hell." It is a good action prison movie. Also, one I've seen before but is decent would be Ordinary Decent Criminal if you like Kevin Spacey. This is a older movie so you might have seen it. Or for you chicks "Wicker Park" also older or "What happens in Vegas" which comes out tommorow. I work in the morning so peace out.

Late night volleyball

Today started out slow but ended with a smash..... literally. After taking care of some things like picking up a job application and emailing the elementary education advisor. For those of you who don't know I'm about 90% sure I'm going back to school to be a teacher. Anyway I'll keep you updated on that but the rest of my day went something like this. Taking a day off from the gym me and Nami went to the driving range with a driver from goodwill. At the range my shots ranged from 0 yrds one almost killed us, to 225 yrds mostly not good though. Then we went to a barbeque and jasons and after burgers and brats we didn't know what to do. So Nami out of the blue suggested volleyball. We checked out the sand volleyball courts and found some high school kids playing and joined them. Then they left and we met some new people from SIUE. It was nice to meet a few new people and they evidently play alot so we will probably play with them again. After about four hours of V-ball and sand in every orifice on my body, won't go into detail there, we left the court at 1 am and went to the gas station to chug a litre of water and a blue gatorade. Good day overall and I guess I should recommend the movie "Numb" kind of a chick flick but guys would like it too. I have a full day tommorow hopefully something like gym, sushi, pool and work so I'm going to bed.

Pain and Subway

I slept late today recovering from the night before and 3 days closing at blockbuster. So after waking up and finishing the 4th season of house disc 1 which comes out the 18th, is my recommendation for this blog. I decided to take a run to get something to eat. I have been sick with sinus problems and I didn't know how this was going to go. I was planning on running to the coffee shop and back but then remembered I left the truck downtown last night so I took off on a 3 mile run instead of a 6 which put my mind at ease. However I don't know if it was not eating or drinking anything, or the sinus problems or hangover, but my head hurt, lungs were on fire and my throat dry and hard to swallow and my knee felt like it was going to give out. For me especially, I think the pain is one of the attractions of running. Pain makes you feel alive and human. Also, you have plenty of time to think while you run. Anyway after the first mile or so I started to set in to my rhythm and it got easier. Long story short about 26 min later I ended up at subway drenched in sweat and ordered an onion and chicken teriaki footlong sub and a water while taking jokes from the subway guy for looking like I was running from the cops and what not. Overall a successful, but far from fun run today and it made swimming laps seem an even more enjoyable form of exercise.

Doing the Butterfly

Spurred on by Michael Phelps and the Olympics and my friend Nami, I went to the pool to see if I could still swim. I have a bad left shoulder that tends to dislocate. This was from an injury while in brasil, so I was unsure as to how this would turn out. Since the indoor pool was closed and I was sore from starting weights again we went the leisurely route to the outdoor campus pool. This is probably the only hot spot for finding the ever elusive Edwardsville hottie. Since the pool was rather empty on this particular day, we did swim laps and though I was no Michael Phelps I did surprisingly well. I struggle with the breathing technique but once I get that I should be good. Then after soaking up some sun at the pool I headed off to my closing shift at blockbuster.

To try to make something positive out of my blockbuster job I will now recommend one movie at the end of each blog. For this blog it is "Stranded." This is a family film which has the same story line as "Swiss Family Robinson" which I loved growing up. Great film about being shipwrecked on an island and using your resources to survive.

Michelob's Last Day

I did the unthinkable and returned my dog to the humane society where I found her. I knew it was going to be hard, but I saw no alternative as she was trying to dominate my life. Although I think this is a normal chick thing I was fed up. So I fed Mickey her last supper and headed off to the humane society. It was a sad trip but I let her hang out the window for a last taste of freedom. She made it a little easier with her unbearable whining while I filled out her paperwork. I almost think she was anxious to be joining the other dogs that are held there. All I can hope for is for her to get a home better than the one I can provide. I hate failure and I have a slight sense of it but I think it is overpowered by the relief I feel. I think getting rid of this major source of stress in my life will contribute to my overall well being. All I have to say is good luck Mickey!

Lakehouse with Nami

This past weekend I went to our lake house with my Iranian buddy Nami to have some fun in the sun. I was good to hang out with my mother also, especially since me and Nami beat her and Carlos by one stroke in golf. "Carlos" by the way is our new foreign exchange student from Venezuela who is by the way a very talented soccer player but new to the game of golf. This also holds true for Namster. Anyway we also just relaxed and wen swimming and boating a good break before I return to the absolute thrill of my job at blockbuster. I also might start training for my urbanathlon in Chicago. I'm excited my sister signed up since I am doing it with my friend Sheley and his sister. I haven't decided if I want to do the marathon training guide by hal higdon or the intermediate 10k one. I was thinking maybe the marathon since thats in my 10 year plan. I have to go to abs class and workout since I am starting a new workout phase in my life so later alligator.

Entering the World of Blogging

Being the second child I think I"m one of the last to get a blog spot so following is a brief explanation of how it finally came about. I was so inspired by reading my brothers blog site nsquaredwienerscubed that I decided I would finally succumb to start a blog site. However, I do not have any false illusions of my blogs having near the grandeur of my brothers. I might blame this on leading a rather simple life in southern Illinois. Therefore I mean not to bore but rather too administer simple self-therapy too a single guy who needs to express his thoughts to someone other than his beagle michelob and python labatt. Its not that they are bad listeners but the language barrier does take effect on me not to mention the love, hate relationship between my dog and I. So for you few brave or dumb enough to use your precious free time reading this I hope to shed a small light on what goes on in my world and slightly sporadic mind.

I wanted to kick off my first blog right so here I am drinking a fat tire cerveza and eating a hersheys bar "one of my new vices." I would like to start off by saying I thoroughly enjoyed my college career and owe the opportunity and the success all to my great parents Frank and Cathy. So I figure what better way to start off post graduation and my first blog than with my ten year plan. The history behind my ten year plan being that in a moment of intense energy and desperation that I'm sure is common for some, but like a solar eclipse for me. I chose not to strap on the running shoes and take off across town in the middle of the night but to do something more productive and write down all the things I would like to accomplish in the next 10 years. Someone told me just writing down your goals greatly increases the odds of them happening and since I find my goals to include some cool shit that I would really like to see happen I wrote them down and since a blog site is a little more permanent than a piece of paper I will write a portion of them here in no particular order.

1. Go Snorkeling in Australia and New Zealand

2. Go to Africa World Cup 2010 or Brasil if they move it

3. Find the perfect girl and get her to like me "the tough part"

4. Start my own business

5. Go to a pub in Ireland and Scotland and chug a pint

6. Bike from Illinois to Colorado/California

7. Learn to speak another language

8. Keep a journal on every trip

9. Ask a complet stranger to dance

10. Learn to swing dance

11. Beat my younger brother in tennis

12. Break dance in foreign country in club or town square.

13. Learn how to break dance

14. Run a mile on the great wall of China

15. Give a soccer ball to a less fortunate child

16. Coach a soccer team

17. Play tennis on a grass court

18. Run 26 miles

19. Drink wine and eat cheese in Italia

20. Drink a $100 dollar bottle of wine

So as there are many more things I want to do, I will be happy to accomplish the majority of these and will consider it a sucessful and fulfilling ten years after doing so. Since it is late and I am thoroughly worn out from a long wonderful day in St. Louis with my mother and our new foreign exchange student Carlos and not to mention when the beer is gone its time to move on. "enough said I'm going to bed"