The new year is only a few hours away, and it's hard to not look back and survey the year that was. New friends were made and old ones kept in touch, I moved into a new house, coached for another soccer season, went out on a few dates, experienced some new places and tried to stay true to myself and to the people who matter.
There is always room for improvement though. Looking back, I know there were things I could have done better or wished I had done differently, so in the spirit of the new year that is upon us, here are my resolutions for 2007.
- Strengthen the friendships I've already made. The people I've met at school are incredible, and it would be nice to stay friends with them after we've graduated.
- Get in shape and stay in shape. Efforts made earlier in the year lacked commitment, but in the last few weeks I've kept up running and lifting, even during the holiday break. This time, I really want to stay with it cuz I already feel physically better.
- Put more effort into school because these last 15 months are all I've got.
- Get back to my billiards roots, because I love the game too much to stop playing. If a pool table in the basement ever happens, this one will be a piece of cake to keep.
- Stop settling for less because I deserve better than I think.
- Play some soccer.
- Keep some sort of job during school, even if it cuts into my free time or limits my weekends.
- Upgrade my license for coaching and try to do better this year. Also, I need to be more involved in the club and have more contact with the other coaches in town.
- Talk to strangers.
See everyone on the other side.
December 31, 2006
December 05, 2006
Progression
I've come to find that the saying "hunger is the best pickle" is most certainly a law of the universe. When you go for long stretches of time without something you desire, you enjoy it that much more when you finally get it. Seriously, is a Thanksgiving turkey even that good? Don't get me wrong, its a wonderful food option, but think about it, could it be that we love turkey mostly because of the holiday we associate with it and for the simple fact that we don't eat it that often. God knows I don't have five hours to cook a turkey and I'm pretty damn sure most people don't either, but that's why it's so good when we finally get treated to it.
Similarly, there is another universal law that I've discovered called "The Law of Progression." Maybe one morning your alarm clock doesn't go off and you're late for work, but suddenly your boss treats everyone to pizza for lunch, you hit no traffic when you leave, and you come home to find all your friends ready to go out and have fun. Now on its own, all those good things would make any day a good day, but starting at a lowpoint and progressing to increasingly better things makes it much more fulfilling. In both cases, your climbing to the same level of enjoyment, only in one situation you dug yourself into a hole to start, making the overall distance traveled greater.
Saturday, December 2nd, provided a perfect example for the "Law of Progression."
The Hole - Friday night was a bust. The house got a bite to eat at Famous Dave's, but once we left the night fizzled out. Sleeping late the following morning after a full week of work would normally be a small consolation, but I had to go and help take down soccer nets to put into storage at 9am. What's worse was that the unseasonably warm weather had come to a swift end the night before and for the first time all year the temperature was very cold. Anyone can tell you that if you throw a college kid outside in the cold, early in the morning on a weekend, he won't be the happiest of people.
*Manly Observation of the Year: Men are fascinated by giant holes in the ground. Walking past the site of the new skyscraper in Philly earlier this year, I made this startling discovery. Is it because it has sexual connotations and appeals to the male subconscious? Perhaps. I think it has more to do with the fact that a giant hole is the ultimate conquest over our environment. Anyone can build shit on top of the ground, but digging a big hole is our way of dominating the universe at a primordial level. If you're a guy, think about it, you'll find I'm correct. Giant holes are cool. Ladies.... I can't help you understand, sorry. Just trust me on this.
The Silver Lining - After we took down the nets, we had to store them over at Green Wave Park, and I got an up-close look at the new artificial turf my team will be playing/practicing on next year. Not only will a field in Audubon finally have lights, but we'll also be treated to a playing field that you don't usually come across. Frankly, I can't wait till next year when my team (and me) will get to play on it. It looks sexy.
Getting Better - It was proclaimed earlier in the week by one Kaitlin Weaver that something would happen Saturday night, and that while she wasn't sure what, it would be fun. Considering that she had to take a 6 hour LSAT test that morning, we knew she was damn serious. We finally decided on trying Chickie's and Pete's. When we pulled up, the parking lot was packed and it looked like there were people waiting outside (at this time, I remembered that the Army/Navy game was that day and that we might be fucked). Turns out we weren't as unlucky as we thought.
The place was full, but not much more than its seating capacity. While we waited for the rest of our party to show up, we headed over to the bar so that everyone could get an early jump on the festivities. When we finally were sat, John, Jason and Sundja accepted the "120 oz Tower of Beer" challenge. We ordered wings and crabfries, along with countless other junk-food platters, and our waiter brought them out surprisingly fast. Combined with the fact that hockey and college football were being shown on the TVs, the trip turned out to be a great idea. So in the end, it turned out to be a pretty good day.
Wait, there's more??? - Right when everyone was toasty and proper, ideas started getting thrown around about how to continue the night. I wasn't too excited about spending much more money, but I figured that a trip to Dave and Buster's and an opportunity to watch everyone get silly drunk was too good to pass up.
So now it's almost 11 and we're on our way to Dave and Buster's when we pass by a place called 'Cheerleaders', which I explain to the inebriated ones as being a strip club. This utterly fascinates them. Suddenly I hear from the back of my car "c'mon Kaitlin, you should totally get a lapdance."
Huh, what? That's right, the five of us are now on our way to Club Risque down near the waterfront. Apparently, a trip to Chickie's would not be the only "first" trip of the night. When we got inside, my brain immediately hit ocular overload: I'm surrounded by topless women and flashing lights, on the mainstage are two pole dancers, and behind them is the Winky Wright middleweight fight that I had forgotten about but really wanted to see.
*Sidenote* The things those girls can do on those poles is incredible, and I don't even mean that in a sexual way. Seriously, they could have been overweight geeks from a Star Wars convention and I would have been equally impressed. How the hell can you hold yourself up while doing a split five feet above the ground using only your right hand? I've seen it and I still don't know how. My head hurts.
We finally found seats and everyone got to drinking again, but I could tell that everyone was still a little uptight. I suddenly found myself the target of a "lapdance conspiracy" by Sundja and John, both of whom had decided that I wasn't having a good time. They found a dancer named Sonja, but I made it clear that if Kaitlin wasn't going to get one that I was out of luck. She agreed, everyone cheered, and I went back to get my dance. Soon to follow was Jason (who ended the night with two), then Kaitlin (whose dancer actually removed her shirt and then her belt, hitting her with it) and finally John. All the while, Sundja was knocking back beers and throwing out twenties to pay for the dances, saying that just seeing us going to get lapdances was all the entertainment he needed.
The verdict was in: THIS WAS AN AWESOME IDEA. Not only did we have good food and drink at C&P, but we then were wildly entertained by dancing naked women. It was probably the most fun I've had this year. I don't think I'd want to do it every week as a drunk John suggested, but apparently a birthday party plan for me is already in the works. Hooray!
Similarly, there is another universal law that I've discovered called "The Law of Progression." Maybe one morning your alarm clock doesn't go off and you're late for work, but suddenly your boss treats everyone to pizza for lunch, you hit no traffic when you leave, and you come home to find all your friends ready to go out and have fun. Now on its own, all those good things would make any day a good day, but starting at a lowpoint and progressing to increasingly better things makes it much more fulfilling. In both cases, your climbing to the same level of enjoyment, only in one situation you dug yourself into a hole to start, making the overall distance traveled greater.
Saturday, December 2nd, provided a perfect example for the "Law of Progression."
The Hole - Friday night was a bust. The house got a bite to eat at Famous Dave's, but once we left the night fizzled out. Sleeping late the following morning after a full week of work would normally be a small consolation, but I had to go and help take down soccer nets to put into storage at 9am. What's worse was that the unseasonably warm weather had come to a swift end the night before and for the first time all year the temperature was very cold. Anyone can tell you that if you throw a college kid outside in the cold, early in the morning on a weekend, he won't be the happiest of people.
*Manly Observation of the Year: Men are fascinated by giant holes in the ground. Walking past the site of the new skyscraper in Philly earlier this year, I made this startling discovery. Is it because it has sexual connotations and appeals to the male subconscious? Perhaps. I think it has more to do with the fact that a giant hole is the ultimate conquest over our environment. Anyone can build shit on top of the ground, but digging a big hole is our way of dominating the universe at a primordial level. If you're a guy, think about it, you'll find I'm correct. Giant holes are cool. Ladies.... I can't help you understand, sorry. Just trust me on this.
The Silver Lining - After we took down the nets, we had to store them over at Green Wave Park, and I got an up-close look at the new artificial turf my team will be playing/practicing on next year. Not only will a field in Audubon finally have lights, but we'll also be treated to a playing field that you don't usually come across. Frankly, I can't wait till next year when my team (and me) will get to play on it. It looks sexy.
Getting Better - It was proclaimed earlier in the week by one Kaitlin Weaver that something would happen Saturday night, and that while she wasn't sure what, it would be fun. Considering that she had to take a 6 hour LSAT test that morning, we knew she was damn serious. We finally decided on trying Chickie's and Pete's. When we pulled up, the parking lot was packed and it looked like there were people waiting outside (at this time, I remembered that the Army/Navy game was that day and that we might be fucked). Turns out we weren't as unlucky as we thought.
The place was full, but not much more than its seating capacity. While we waited for the rest of our party to show up, we headed over to the bar so that everyone could get an early jump on the festivities. When we finally were sat, John, Jason and Sundja accepted the "120 oz Tower of Beer" challenge. We ordered wings and crabfries, along with countless other junk-food platters, and our waiter brought them out surprisingly fast. Combined with the fact that hockey and college football were being shown on the TVs, the trip turned out to be a great idea. So in the end, it turned out to be a pretty good day.
Wait, there's more??? - Right when everyone was toasty and proper, ideas started getting thrown around about how to continue the night. I wasn't too excited about spending much more money, but I figured that a trip to Dave and Buster's and an opportunity to watch everyone get silly drunk was too good to pass up.
So now it's almost 11 and we're on our way to Dave and Buster's when we pass by a place called 'Cheerleaders', which I explain to the inebriated ones as being a strip club. This utterly fascinates them. Suddenly I hear from the back of my car "c'mon Kaitlin, you should totally get a lapdance."
Huh, what? That's right, the five of us are now on our way to Club Risque down near the waterfront. Apparently, a trip to Chickie's would not be the only "first" trip of the night. When we got inside, my brain immediately hit ocular overload: I'm surrounded by topless women and flashing lights, on the mainstage are two pole dancers, and behind them is the Winky Wright middleweight fight that I had forgotten about but really wanted to see.*Sidenote* The things those girls can do on those poles is incredible, and I don't even mean that in a sexual way. Seriously, they could have been overweight geeks from a Star Wars convention and I would have been equally impressed. How the hell can you hold yourself up while doing a split five feet above the ground using only your right hand? I've seen it and I still don't know how. My head hurts.
We finally found seats and everyone got to drinking again, but I could tell that everyone was still a little uptight. I suddenly found myself the target of a "lapdance conspiracy" by Sundja and John, both of whom had decided that I wasn't having a good time. They found a dancer named Sonja, but I made it clear that if Kaitlin wasn't going to get one that I was out of luck. She agreed, everyone cheered, and I went back to get my dance. Soon to follow was Jason (who ended the night with two), then Kaitlin (whose dancer actually removed her shirt and then her belt, hitting her with it) and finally John. All the while, Sundja was knocking back beers and throwing out twenties to pay for the dances, saying that just seeing us going to get lapdances was all the entertainment he needed.
The verdict was in: THIS WAS AN AWESOME IDEA. Not only did we have good food and drink at C&P, but we then were wildly entertained by dancing naked women. It was probably the most fun I've had this year. I don't think I'd want to do it every week as a drunk John suggested, but apparently a birthday party plan for me is already in the works. Hooray!
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