And Then What Happened: Boston Part 2

If you missed part 1 of the Boston story, here's where to find it. Really, this photo does more to explain the weekend than anything I could say. It was taken on Sunday afternoon, on our way back from watching football downtown with Katie, Lindsey and my cousin Justine. It took MAYBE 30 seconds for us both to fall asleep.

Anyway. I'm sure I've talked about this before, but I've never in my life had a hangover. I've never gotten sick from drinking too much. I've definitely had enough to warrant those situations, but for whatever reason, it hasn't ever happened. My working theory is that I'm a superhero of some kind with the lamest super powers ever. But I digress.

Now I'm not sure exactly what a hangover feels like. I've woken up and not felt great -- a little bit of a sour stomach sometimes, maybe a slight headache. But it's never been anything I couldn't just wake up and power through.

Well, I woke up on Saturday morning with the biggest headache I'd ever had after drinking. I blame the scorpion bowls. I had some water and took a shower, and I was good after I had some food. I don't know if that counts as a hangover or not, but it's definitely the closest I've ever come. I still say no.

Langdon and I were up around 7:45 or 8 a.m. to head to the airport to pick up J. Mike. Let me take a second to plug J. Mike's blog, where he posted his own story about Boston. Very cool. When J. Mike got in the car, we started recounting some of our old Technician road trip stories. J. Mike and I talked about our infamous trip to cover the Miami game in 2007 where we realized we did not have our press passes two and a half hours in the trip and turned around. "BG, turn around, man. I don't have the press passes." Oy haha.

Then Langdon and J. Mike told a story about a road trip to Winston-Salem to cover a Wake Forest game. The game was long over, and the interviews were done. Langdon and J. Mike exited the field house with the new writer they'd taken along with them, only to be semi-accosted by a homeless man who screamed, for no apparent reason, "And then what happened!" As Langdon told the story, he broke into a dead run as soon as the man yelled. J. Mike followed along quickly enough, leaving the young writer alone. Like you do. Naturally, they tried to spin it into a life lesson for the poor kid in the car.

So there you go. I did what I do, and I ran the saying into the ground all weekend. And then what happened.

We'd made plans to meet Carnell, Katie and Lindsey at this bar near BC's football stadium. There's not a whole lot of room to tailgate for games there, so people often go to bars. This particular bar -- City Bar, I believe it was called -- is where the N.C. State Boston alumni chapter meets before games. Carnell was nowhere to be found until the second quarter of the football game. The girls were very slow to arrive at the bar as a result of Friday night.

Langdon, J. Mike and I had a few drinks and some food and met up with a bunch more of the DC folks who made the trip. We made our way to the stadium, and the game was terrible from the start haha. We were down 7-0 before we even found our seats. What can you do. We laid an egg in the game and lost 14-10. Obviously, we now know how the regular season ends, so it's all good.

That game was the first time I'd really heard the song "Shipping Up to Boston." I documented my thoughts on that last week. I was getting fired up, and they weren't even playing it for me.

So there's not a whole lot to say about the game. After the game, however, Langdon, J. Mike and I hopped on the T to get back downtown to meet Langdon's roommate and his girlfriend for some drinks. We sat down, and I could already tell I was only minutes from sleep. But Langdon saw this guy in a Boston Transit uniform, drinking something out of a Gatorade bottle. Langdon, being Langdon, asked him what kind of Gatorade it was. "My own special blend," he said. (I'm sure it is, I add parenthetically.)

The man, whose name I cannot recall nor do I know if we ever knew, came and sat down near us to share his life story. All I remember is he "fackin' hates loyahz," and he and his ex-wife have a standing appointment in court seemingly daily.

I passed out not long after, but Langdon kept up a conversation the entire ride downtown. And then what happened. Indeed.

The combination of Friday night and a long day on Saturday left all of us pretty drained. We headed back to Langdon's apartment after a few drinks at an Irish pub downtown. When we got back, his roommate and roommate's girlfriend cooked homemade enchiladas for us all. LEGIT. So very good. The roommate made us some kick-ass drinks, too, but of course I don't remember what they were. If Langdon reads this, maybe he can chime in on that. I'd love to know what that drink was. Some kind of ginger beer mixture. For the win.

I tried incredibly unsuccessfully to make plans with Katie and Lindsey. They were, understandably, exhausted and not sure they were going to make it out. Well we were having none of that. So we hit the T and headed downtown. We ended up a bar called Hurricane O'Reillys. Carnell found us while we waited outside, and we headed in. It was pretty much redonk. J. Mike was so excited to be out with us, he joyfully bought all our drinks that night (THANKS BUDDY). Naturally, we drank, I think, four High Life tallboys each. Like you do. Keepin' it classy.

Well, you know how I roll. I got a couple of drinks in me, and it was time to dance. Listen. My arms get involved when I dance. Out to my sides. Above my head. I'm just grooving, man. I can't help myself. The problem was this: I've never seen a more crowded dance floor in my life. My arms were stuck to my sides because I simply couldn't move them.

Carnell peaced out to meet up with some other people he was in town with, so we worked our way over to a side bar and kind of made our own dance floor for a bit. J. Mike got really excited and bought us shots of straight Jager. I don't often take shots of straight liquor. The occasional shot of Jameson this summer, I suppose, but it's not common.

Here's how you know I had a good time. I was checking my Twitter feed after the weekend, and I found the following tweet, timestamped at 1:34 a.m. while we were out Saturday night: "Aww sookie sookie now."

Clearly, I was feeling it.

Langdon and I were finally able to get up with Katie and Lindsey, who DID make it out Saturday night. Katie sent us a picture of the wallpaper where they were and told us to find them and have fun with the scavenger hunt. Of course. As we were getting ready to leave, this guy walked by Langdon, J. Mike and I and LITERALLY showed his teeth to Langdon. What in the world. It was one of the strangest things I've ever seen.

I'm sure Katie and Lindsey have figured this out by now, but there's no chance we could have found them if Katie hadn't checked in at the restaurant/bar on Facebook. I saw the check-in, googled the name and we were on our way.

I left my sister a drunk voicemail. Langdon and J. Mike left Nick and drunk voicemail that went straight to his voicemail hall of fame. Like you do.

So we were walking down to street toward the restaurant where Katie and Lindsey were with some other friends of theirs when these two girls jumped out of an alley, grabbed me by the arms, pulled me into the alley and threw me against the wall.

In my head, I'm thinking, "YEEAAH BUDDY. Best night of my life! Pre-emptively!" I've seen this movie; I know how it ends. One girl was so drunk, all she could do was lean against me. The other girl said to me, in a reasonably thick Boston accent (which is surprisingly endearing on young, cute girls and not middle-aged drunk men), "Please help us. This guy has been following us for, like, five blocks now, and he's really scaring us. You look like you're really cool, so can you pretend to be our friend so maybe he'll leave us alone?"

I'm thinking, well you're the ones that have me pinned against a wall in an alley. Do I need some help? But I said, sure why not. Apparently I look much more intimidating than I feel because that was the second time in a couple of months I was asked to scare someone off.

What the hell do you do in that situation? I looked over at the guy as menacingly as I can (read: not very), and the girls started talking really loudly, "Oh my god, Chris, thank GOD we found you! We've been looking for you for so long!" I continued looking at the guy menacingly, and he seemed to get the point and wandered off.

The girls kissed me and ran off down the street, thanking me profusely. So. That happened haha.

Langdon and J. Mike watched the whole situation unfold and were totally engrossed in what I told them about it. It was so bizarre. I'll tell you what, though. Shit like that DOES NOT happen to fat dudes. It just don't! So once again, hooray losing more than 40 pounds! haha

We finally found the restaurant after some googling and wandering. Katie and Lindsey were extremely surprised we found them. Langdon and I just looked at each other, and we were like, c'mon. Of course we did. Lulz. J. Mike was barely coherent at this point, which was awesome because he began to tweet complete and total gibberish the entire time we were there.

Unfortunately for the world, he went back and deleted it the next morning. I wish I had some examples.

Around 2 or 2:30 a.m., we decided it was time to head back. Now, remember the cab situation I faced the night before? Yeah. Again. Not only was it hard to get the cab drivers even to stop, but when they DID stop and heard where we were going, they often drove off immediately.

So the three of us fanned out to try to get a cab. Langdon and I were on opposite sides of this main street, trying to flag them down. J. Mike, however. Oh lord.

J. Mike took to standing ON the center line in the street, punching cabs as they drove by. It didn't seem like a sustainable situation, but wow do I wish I'd taken a picture of it.

Eventually, we came up with a new strategy. Langdon flagged down the cabs and distracted the driver while I jumped in the backseat and refused to move. Once I got in the backseat, they hopped in too, and we were just like, dude. We've got cash. We're not moving. Drive us home, you know? Shit.

I fell asleep in the cab immediately. Like you do. Like I do, anyway. We got back, paid the cab and headed upstairs. I crashed on the couch so fast I didn't even have time to change clothes.

Sunday morning was a bit rough for J. Mike haha. We finally got him out of bed around noon so we could head downtown to watch football with Lindsey and Katie. And my cousin Justine! Justine lives in Boston, and we tried unsuccessfully to coordinate hanging out Friday and Saturday, but Sunday there was no excuse.

I hadn't seen her since the wedding back in September 2009 that I've talked about so much. Her brother is the one who got married. But she came and hung out with us, and she exhibited what appears to be a BG-family personality trademark: infectious enthusiasm and energy. Good times.

She definitely helped rally us because we were dragging from two solid days of nonsense and staying out until 4 a.m.

Alas, my flight was that night, so we had to head back. The photo up top is from this point in the story. We fell asleep on the T in no time. J. Mike was too nervous to fall asleep, but you could tell Langdon and I are seasoned subway travelers. We fell asleep and would wake up at each of the stations as we approached the station we needed -- which is exactly how I roll on the DC metro.

Made it to the airport and headed back to DC. As we were exiting the plane at National, Katie gave us the most appropriate quote for the entire week: "It's kind of weird being sober."

Indeed it was.

Final verdict: Boston was infinitely more awesome than I expected to be, and I would love to go back very, very soon so I can do actual nerdy touristy things.

Boston, well done!

As always, thank you so, so much for reading and for telling me you enjoy the stories. I get such a huge kick out of knowing people actually like reading my BS.

It should be another insane weekend, again, starting tonight with a party with some work friends, continuing on Saturday night with a holiday-themed bar crawl downtown and then finishing up on Sunday with a date! Doin' the bull dance. Feelin' the flow. Let's GO. Hopefully there will be some blog-appropriate stories! Have a great weekend, kids.

Later!

-BG

And Then What Happened: Boston Part 1

Oh boy is this post long overdue. For a few reasons, actually.

First, I went to Boston a month ago. Ha. Second, I've been trying to write this since Sunday night, but I keep falling asleep while trying to write. Like, falling asleep on the couch with the computer in my lap. But all night. Like you do. It is now Tuesday night, and I will do anything to finish this tonight (Ed. Note: I did, and then forgot to post it before I left work. I am clearly still adjusting to writing at night.)

Anyway.

Back in August during the CAN softball tournament, one of my teammates suggested we all head up to Boston for the N.C. State/BC football game. She lives in New Hampshire, and she said it'd be fun if we all came up. What a great idea! I'd never been to Boston, but I also never thought I'd want to go. In case you don't know, I'm a Yankees fan, and I'm kind of irrational about how much I hate Boston. I just never wanted to go.

Well. The city of Boston is pretty awesome. I'm totally glad I went, and I'd actually like to go back sometime when I won't be spending an entire day at a football game. I'd like to do some touristy stuff, you know? You do.

So here we go!

Lucky for me, the game fell on Veterans Day weekend. Since I'd just started this job a few weeks earlier, I didn't have much time off accrued. But Veterans Day was a floating holiday! We get three floating holidays a year, and since I was working the last third of the year, I'd get to use one. So I was able to get off work on Friday to fly to Boston. I managed to get on the same flight as Lindsey and one of the Katies (the only one of the three who made the trip, so she'll just be Katie from here on out haha).

As I was walking onto the plane, I heard the gate attendant say the following to another passenger: "You better buckle up! It's pretty windy, so you're probably going to have a rough flight!"

Do what now.

I would not say I'm scared to fly. I really do rather enjoy flying places. It's just that I have a sort of heights...thing. I don't care for them. So yeah. Definitely not afraid to fly, but you know. Nerves. That's all. And hearing Flo the Gate Attendant cheerfully tell another passenger we were in for a rough flight -- c'mon now. Thankfully, the flight did not live up to her warning. It was totally fine.

So we landed and my old Technician buddy Langdon came to pick us up. He gets out of the car, and he said, "BG what is UP, my dude?" Katie and Lindsey were amused someone else from an entirely different group also called me BG.

Brief tangent: I'm not entirely sure how BG came to be my nickname. Well, OK. Obviously I do because it's my initials, but it stuck with my Raleigh friends, and then my DC friends began calling me BG, too, and I'm reasonably certain I never told either of them to call me that. It just naturally came up and stuck. I like it, so it's all good. Just kinda funny.

We dropped the girls at their hotel downtown, and Langdon and I headed for his apartment outside the city. Awesome, awesome apartment, and a pretty cool up-and-coming neighborhood. We grabbed some drinks with his roommate and his roommate's girlfriend at this really cool bar up the street. They don't sell food at the bar, so they allow two things: you can bring your own food in, and you can bring dogs in. Awesome.

Lindsey, Katie and I wanted a unique Boston experience for dinner. Langdon and his roommate recommended this place called Pizzeria Regina, near Boston's Little Italy. Well, I don't know if you've met me, but you don't have to convince me very hard to eat some pizza. And everyone we asked raved about Pizzeria Regina, calling it the best pizza in Boston.

After a couple of drinks with Langdon, he pointed me in the direction of the subway, and I worked my way downtown to meet the girls. The restaurant was going to be, like, a 15-minute walk from their hotel, so we decided to cab it. Pizzeria Regina looked legit from the outside. It's a pretty small place, so waiting outside is almost guaranteed. But they do it right, with heat lamps and benches outside. Very nice. We were a small party, so we didn't have to wait long.

Naturally, we ordered a couple of bottles of wine to get the night started right, as you can see in the photo. You know how we roll. We end up deciding on a margherita pizza with green peppers added. See the photo. It was redonk. Lindsey asked the waitress for some ranch for the pizza. In what I imagine to be true Boston style, the waitress looked right at her and said, "Oh we don't do ranch here. I'll bring you what we do have. It's better anyway."

Well then.

It was some kind of oil and garlic mixture. It was, of course, quite good. The pizza was amazing -- I can't say "best pizza in Boston" because it's the only pizza I had in Boston. But I will say I don't believe the claim to be ridiculous. At all. The walls were lined with pictures of famous people who'd eaten there and left their autographs, including a photo of our waitress with Danny DeVito. Lindsey and Katie took a picture of an autographed Leonardo DiCaprio photo on the wall, uploaded it to Facebook and tagged all three of us in it. Like you do.

So obviously with two bottles of wine, we'd built up a solid buzz already. We finished with dinner around 9ish and cabbed back to the girls' hotel. We had, like, half a bottle of wine we needed to polish off before we headed out for the night.

A few frantic phone calls between Langdon, my cousin Justine (who also lives in Boston), Carnell (who also made the trip to Boston) and one of the three of us eventually led to us settling on going to this place called Hong Kong. We were told it was a grimy place with fun drink specials where you can really dance.

I mean. Sign me up.

So we went to Hong Kong, and it was exactly as described (read: awesome). Check out the drink special. It's called a scorpion bowl. I'd never heard of these things before, but it's basically fruit juice, sugar and the cheapest brandy and liquor you can imagine. In a giant bowl. With four straws. Aaaand we drank two of them between the four of us (Katie, Lindsey, Carnell and me). And then the dancing started. And it was, predictably, incredible. Gah we had such a good time.

So the four of us were dancing in a circle when this girl came up behind me, grabbed me around the waist and started dancing with me. I mean. I'll allow it. She seemed...interested (to say the least haha). After a while, she looked at me and said, "You do not move. I'm not done with you. I have to go get a drink." Well OK. What's your name? Let's just say she shared a name with a recent ex-girlfriend of mine. Because of course she did. Lulz. No matter. She never reappeared after leaving.

The dancing and drinking continued, and we decided to leave around 2 a.m. The girls' hotel was close enough to walk to from Hong Kong. Langdon's apartment was decidedly not haha. Here's my least favorite thing about the city of Boston: their subway closes at midnight! What in the world!

It has to be collusion between the city and cab drivers, who are all assholes because they can be super selective. They know we all have to get a cab, so it's insanely competitive. I've never seen anything like it.

Obviously, I am not a cute girl, nor was I wearing revealing clothing, so it took me a solid HOUR to get a cab. An hour! I finally made it back to Langdon's around 3:30 a.m. He offered me a glass of wine, which I'm pretty sure I aggressively declined. Look, we needed to go to sleep. We had to wake up the next morning at 8 a.m. to pick up J. Mike from the airport!

And so we did.

Come back for part 2, which may or may not be the conclusion, depending on how much I write haha. Anyway, it will include such exciting details as the explanation for the title of these posts ("And then what happened?!"), our encounter with a (probably drunk) Boston transportation employee on the T and J. Mike attempting to fight cabs in the middle of the street, like you do.

Later!

-BG

Doin' the Bull Dance; Feelin' the Flow

First of all, let me tell you something about the traffic here.

Holy. Hell.

So last night, I met a girl in Alexandria for some drinks. Alexandria isn't exactly close to where I live, but then again, almost nothing is except for Jersey Mike's. Not the point.

Anyway, it's only 30 miles. We were meeting at 7, so I knew I'd be driving in some rush hour traffic, and I'm just so terrified of being late, I decided to leave at 5 p.m.

I figured, worst-case scenario I'll get there 30 minutes, maybe an hour early, and I'll just make friends at the bar, watch TV and wait for her to get there.

Well. Not so, my friends.

It took every minute of two hours to get there. I walked in the door at 7:05. It took me a solid hour to get to the GW Parkway, which is only 14 miles from my apartment.

Due to an accident on the GW Parkway, it took ANOTHER hour to go the remaining 15 miles. Incredible! I expect some traffic when I get on the beltway around that time. I'm fine with it. This was something else though. Two hours!

It's OK. Not even the traffic could get me down after yesterday afternoon. I had a job interview, and I believe it went very well. Shortly after I left, I was invited back for the next round and writing test. That's all I'll say here, but feel free to message me and we can discuss further!

To say the least, I was feeling GOOD. As I posted online, "Doin' the bull dance; feelin' the flow. Workin' it." I had my iPod blaring and my windows down in the car in an effort to attract as many strange looks as I could. It was as pleasant a two-hour traffic jam as it could be haha.

So that was yesterday.

As has become par for the course lately, there is an extremely exciting weekend planned so far. I'm about to get ready to go downtown. It is seriously amazing outside right now, and we decided we need to be drinking beer outside someplace. HOW CAN I ARGUE WITH THAT?! So we'll make a pit stop in the dungeon known as the Bottom Line because we LOVE that place and it's also hard to argue with their Friday $1 beer happy hour. But we'll definitely move on to a place with an outdoor set-up after that.

In an effort to stave off cravings for drunk McDonald's at 3 a.m., I'm going to walk over to Jersey Mike's before I go out so I can leave a sub in the fridge to satisfy my need for food late tonight! Great success!

And tomorrow morning is flag football! We're playing Boston at 11 a.m., and the weather looks to be perfect again. I'm excited to see what our team can do. I was really impressed at the first game I went to two weeks ago when we played one of the best teams in the league.

Following that is an all-day party for a friend of a few people I've met through the NCSU sports I've been playing. He's moving away. I don't know him at all, but Katie invited me, and who I am to turn down an all-day party, involving several different bars, football, hockey and dancing? Exactly.

Sunday is McFadden's again for the Panthers game!

One of those days I'm going to have to throw in a six-mile run. I ran five miles on Tuesday, but I've held off on the second run this week because of a little soreness in my hamstring. It's pretty much fine now, but I didn't want to push it. So I figured I'd give it a few days to rest and then go again on the weekend.

I'm going to need it, too. HUGE week doesn't even come close to describing next week. My God.

A softball doubleheader on Tuesday night, giving us another chance to sweep two games and move to 5-1 on the season. I feel so good about our team, man. I really do. We're really starting to come together. Then, another interview bright and early Wednesday morning with the place from yesterday. Seriously, it sounds like a ridiculous opportunity to do a lot of different things I've wanted to do but haven't had the chance, things I'm good at and everything in between.

Then I'm heading to Charlotte. Then back to Raleigh on Friday to go out for Mike's birthday. We will control the dance floor all night. No doubt. Then back to Charlotte on Saturday morning for Kirk and Liz's wedding that night. It's going to be so, so awesome.

I just feel so damn good. Like, seriously, the Yankees were eliminated last night, and I don't even mind all that much.

It's so hard to feel anything but unbridled joy these days. It really is. Life is good, friends.

Let's go. Let's go, indeed.

-BG

Reel Big Recap

I may have mentioned this last week, but the first time I saw Reel Big Fish was November 2000. I was 18 years old and super pumped to see my favorite band in concert. My then-girlfriend and I got to the House of Blues in Myrtle Beach two hours before the doors even opened.

We were among the first in line. When the doors opened, we sprinted to the front and lined up right up against the stage. Catch 22 played, but I don't remember the other two bands.

Anyway, being right up against the stage meant I was constantly on the edge of the mosh pit, which I've always thought was funny at ska shows, but they're there nonetheless. I didn't find it quite as moronic when I was a moronic 18-year-old.

I am less enthused about them now, which is just another way of saying, "I'm getting too old for this shit." If you've never been to the 9:30 Club, the lower level is open, and the second level has a balcony around the sides and the back. With smallish venues, you don't need to be super close to get a nice view of the stage.

So when the doors opened I ran upstairs and got a spot directly in the center of the balcony. All of that is to say I was close enough to see everything I wanted to see, but too far away for acceptable pictures since I was taking them with my Blackberry. I did take a few video clips with it, and they turned out surprisingly OK, but they're short because my battery kept threatening to die.

What can you do.

Anyway. This was my 10th Reel Big Fish show (twice in DC, twice in Charlotte, twice in Atlanta, twice in Norfolk, once in Winston-Salem and once in Myrtle Beach), and I'd say it easily ranks as the best one I've seen. They played a solid mix of all of my favorites, including some songs I hadn't heard live in nine or 10 years.

RBF and Streetlight Manifesto were co-headlining this tour, which means they were alternating who played last at each stop. I got lucky here because RBF played last, and they played for a solid hour and 45 minutes.

The new guy is Matt Appleton, a sax player who was in Goldfinger previously. I have to say, he nails the newly departed Scott's vocal harmonies perfectly, but the show just isn't the same without the witty banter between Scott and Aaron. Aaron still jokes with Dan (the only other guy on stage who's been in the band for longer than five years at this point) and a couple other guys, and it's still funny. But you know. Scott was always my favorite.

Still, great show. Thanks to my brother, Matthew P., for serving as my notepad during the show. I BBMed him the setlist as they played so I would have it for later, as well as a few notes I didn't want to forget. He wanted to be there anyway, so it was a nice way for him to live vicariously through my BBMs.

They opened with "Everything Sucks," which is such a great song to open the show. It's immediately clear what song it is when the drummer hits the opening tom shots, so the crowd goes crazy. And then the horns kick in. Really gets everyone jumping. They played "Sell Out," "Beer" and "Take on Me" as the encore songs. So, so good.

A few notes about the videos I managed to get: first, I am relieved you cannot hear me singing on them. Because I most certainly was singing as loudly as I can. Like you do. Second, sorry if they're a little bouncy because I was also dancing while I was recording. Of course I was. I think I did a pretty good job making sure it stayed at least a little steady.

And third, sorry the clips are so short. The battery was running dangerously low, and I didn't want to record too terribly long. And also, I wanted to stop recording so I could go back to singing and dancing. So there's that.

Here's the set list (with videos embedded when I have them):

Everything Sucks
Trendy
The Kids Don't Like It
In the Pit
Ban the Tube Top
Down in Flames
Why Do All Girls Think They're Fat
She Has a Girlfriend Now
Good Thing
Your Guts (I Hate 'em)
Slow Down
Brown Eyed Girl



Where Have You Been
Cannibal
Join the Club
Say "Ten"
The Set Up
Sayonara Senorita
SR (regular, punk, disco, country, metal)
Another FU Song
Sell Out



Beer



Take on Me



So there you go! It was just an awesome, awesome show. I think the whole ska thing really appeals to the inner band geek in me -- especially the live shows. When that wall of brass horn sound hits you at a show and they start hitting their high notes...whew. Gives me the chills man. It's just so hard not to dance around and have a good time. Love it.

Some other notes! Before they played "Brown Eyed Girl," Aaron had a little schtick for the crowd. "If you've been to a Reel Big Fish show before, you know we have many, many, many, many, many, many hit songs...(pause, crowd screams)...hold your applause...that we cover." Hey oh.

After they played "Why Do All Girls Think They're Fat," which I'm happy to say I recommended to you last week, Aaron explained, "that song was recorded on our very first record 'Everything Sucks' and then again on the 'Everything Sucks' major label issue, and then again on the 'Keep Your Receipt' EP and then again a couple other places and then we rerecorded it for our 2007 record "Monkeys for Nothing and the Chimps for Free," so I can understand why you might have a hard time finding that one."

"These are the jokes, kids."

So yeah. The 9:30 Club had signs up asking departing concert-goers to be respectful of the neighborhood and try to keep it down. And yet, the club was playing "Sweet Caroline" as we were leaving. Now, you can disagree about whether or not the song is any good, but you cannot disagree that it's a song people will sing and sing loudly.

So I thought that was an interesting decision -- asking people to try to be quiet as they played "Sweet Caroline." I don't make the decisions.

Excellent day all around. I'll probably only post today and Thursday this week. I know you're heartbroken. Crazy week keeps on truckin'.

LET'S GO!

-BG

LET'S GO

I am on the cusp of good news. I can feel it. It's coming. Too much is going right for me right now for this not to come through.

First of all, I've weighed in two days in a row now at 195 pounds. Progress, my friends! That's 32 pounds down with 15 to 20 more to go. God I feel so good. I just can't even begin to express it.

Do me a favor and go to my Facebook page. First, stalk a few of my photos. Specifically, look at the ones from Christmas where I'm wearing my kick-ass abominable snowman shirt. And look at my Halloween photo where I'm dressed in a Yankees uniform.

Now, look at my latest profile picture, which was taken after a softball game this past Tuesday night. That's the first new picture I've seen of myself in a couple months. What a difference!! Jesus. Look how small I look! Wow.

I'd say I don't mean to brag, but I absolutely do mean to brag. Seeing visual evidence of progress is like a shot of pure adrenaline. All I want to do is kick even MORE ass now. Still work to do. Like I just said, I've got at least 15 or 20 more pounds to lose, and I really can't wait to get there. I feel so good. Wow.

What else is going on?

Well, tonight is the end-of-season party for our softball league where they'll announce the tournament seeds and pairings. Plus, it's $25 all you can eat/drink. Sold! Man, I hate that our season is already over. It went by so fast.

We have our league-wide tournament next weekend, but then we just have to wait for the next season to start. Well, that's not entirely true. I'm going to play flag football for the N.C. State team, too, and so are quite a few of the softball folks. But man I love me some softball haha.

Flag football will be pretty great, though. I've heard the State team has been around for a while and is actually quite good. Like I mentioned last week, I think a lot of our softball team's problems came because we had no continuity from last year. There was no team last year. I think we'll be much better next year now that we have a really great group of people to work with.

But the flag football team has been around for quite a few years and apparently regularly competes for the league title. That'll be fun.

And then Sunday is going to be fantastic. First, I'll be heading to Nats Park at noon for some pre-game pre-gaming, and then a 1:35 game against the Mets. Katie from softball decided she wanted to have a "Sunday Funday for No Good Reason." Well, I can get behind that. So I'll be heading down there with Katie and, like, 17 of her friends haha.

We'll buy the cheap $5 tickets and then just hang out at the huge bar in the outfield. LET'S GO!

Man I love going to Nats games. Plus! I'll get to see Jordan Zimmermann pitch. He's a really great young pitcher who sometimes gets lost in the Strasburgmania going on here. Zimmermann is legit though. In the next few years, if Strasburg can come back successfully and Zimmermann stays healthy, a 1-2 punch at the top of the rotation of Strasburg-Zimmermann will be pretty stout, man. Not bad at all.

The main event of the weekend, though, is 6:30 p.m. at the 9:30 Club downtown. REEL BIG FISH!! They are so much fun to see live. So much energy, such a great stage presence. Fun songs you can dance to, and since I know all the lyrics to all the songs, I will undoubtedly be screaming along, like you do.

I just can't wait haha. It's going to be a really great weekend.

Now, the impending good news about which I am extremely hopeful is I've advanced to the next stage with the company from last week. If you'll recall, I had a job interview last Monday, and they contacted me yesterday to invite me back for some more interviews and a writing test. Man, let's go.

So there you go. Almost everything is going right for me at the moment. If I can get this one more thing to go right -- wow. Jubilation.

The energy has been uncomfortably bottled up for more than four months now -- since I narrowly missed out after being a finalist for another position. I have to say, there's a chance I just spontaneously combust if/when I get the good news for which I'm hoping.

Bottom line: I feel good, man. Really good. Life is good. Good news is coming. I can feel it.

-BG

Softball is Too Much Fun

Let me tell you about some softball!

I've briefly mentioned softball a few times since I resumed regular blogging back in early June, but I'd like to devote some more time to it today. Because it's incredible. I seriously cannot believe how much fun it is.

Listen, I'm a baseball guy. Baseball is my favorite. Always has been; always will be. Don't get me wrong; I love football, too. But I grew up with baseball. It's in my blood.

I played in rec leagues from the time I was 6 years old until I went to college. During the summers in elementary school and middle school, I'd go outside with my bat and ball as soon as I woke up and didn't bother heading home until I heard my mom whistle at dinner time and/or dark.

All that playing, I eventually got pretty good at it. I tried out for my high school team once as a sophomore. I didn't make it, but I was one of the last cuts. The team was also nationally ranked at the time, so I didn't feel too badly about it. I kept playing in the rec leagues, though, and that was plenty good enough for me.

That was most definitely the peak of my playing abilities. I could hit high 80s pitching. I had a pretty solid arm from left field. I wasn't the fastest guy in the world -- never have been, but I could get around the bases.

Well, here's the thing about getting older (and, also, not really working on those skills much after high school). That's all pretty much gone now haha. I went to the cages a few weeks ago, and I was just standing outside the 80-85 mph cage, and I could hardly see it, never mind hit it. I couldn't believe there was a time when I could hit it. I stuck to the 60-70 mph cages.

Softball has been a way to have all the fun of baseball in a more low-key environment. As I've mentioned before, this is an alumni network league, which means I play for N.C. State (which, by the way, makes it LITERALLY a million times more fun).

State didn't field a team last year, so we're really trying to get back on our feet this year and build some continuity going forward. In other words, we're not very good this year haha. As Evan put it last night, we're the best 1-10 team in the league.

We don't take ourselves overly seriously, and we always, always have a kick-ass time playing. And that's really the most important thing. We've played a couple of teams that took themselves too seriously, and they were major downers. Guys. This isn't the ACC. It's a beer league. Take it down a notch or two.

We've got a great group of guys and girls, and I think if we can keep the team together next season we'll be in much better shape -- not unlike the East Dillon Lions from season 4 to season 5 of Friday Night Lights. This season has been about finding a rhythm.

With such a new group of players (myself included, by the way), we spent the majority of the season just trying to figure out where everyone was best-suited to play in the field and in the batting order. Most of the teams we've played have been together for a couple years, so they had no adjustments to make, really. I really like our team though. We're really getting there.

Our problem all season as been slow starts. Typical N.C. State, am I right? We just lose our minds in the first two innings and dig ourselves a huge hole. If you look at about half of our losses, we ended up outscoring the other team for the last four or five innings in each game!

We're seriously not very far away from being a .500 team. It's a game of inches, and we're working our fannies off out there. We're getting there!

Naturally, being the huge baseball nerd I am, I've been keeping track of all my batting stats for the season. We still have three regular season games to go (a double-header tomorrow, and a game against Georgetown on Tuesday night), but here's my tally so far:

• I've played in nine of our 11 games so far (I joined the team after it played its first two games already).
• I've hit safely in seven of the nine, and I have at least two hits in five of those games. The only two games where I didn't get a hit came on the same day I hurt my arm, and it was agonizingly painful swinging a bat (and throwing a ball, for that matter).
• In five of the seven games in which I recorded a hit, I hit safely in each at-bat, i.e. I never made an out.
• I've got four doubles and two triples. The rest are singles. I'd really like to add a home run either this weekend or Tuesday night. I just missed one earlier this season (in a 4-for-4 performance in our 20-4 win over South Carolina).
• I've scored five runs, knocked in another six runs, walked once and hit one sac fly.
  
• My batting average is .625.
• On-base percentage of .640.
• Slugging percentage of .958.
• And my OPS is 1.598.

And yes, I realize pretty much only Mike and maybe Nick will care at all about some of those (or even know what it all means).

What does it all mean? Not very much, really. It's just so much fun playing, and I like to know how I'm doing.

With our usual coach out of town for a few days, I've been helping to run things in his absence. It's been a lot of logistics in terms of making sure we have enough players, that we have enough female players (three girls for the first 10 players, and then one girl for every two guys after that) and enough alums playing (at least 75 percent of your roster in a game must be alumni).

Setting the line-up was fun though haha. It's all fun, really. I know. I'm a dork. This isn't the first time I've heard that.

Yesterday was rough though. If you don't get a permit for a field, you actually have to go and just sit on a spot on the National Mall to make sure you have a field. If you saw on my Facebook wall or Twitter yesterday, it was 98 degrees. But don't worry, it actually felt like 113. I was just sitting there with another teammate for, like, three hours waiting for the game to start. Sweltering doesn't even begin to describe it.

Tomorrow won't be much better. High of 101 (heat index of 112), and we've got a double-header against Cornell and Richmond from 1:30 until probably 4:30 or 5. I bought a huge case of water and a ton of Gatorade to bring.

I will tolerate no casualties on my watch!

Wish us luck tomorrow, and prepare the intravenous fluids!

-BG

Rambling

There's this really funny blog I read called 2Birds1Blog. The main writer is a girl named Meg who actually lives in DC. I've seen her around once or twice, too. I highly recommend checking out the blog. She writes it with a guy named Chris, and they just signed a book deal largely due to their writing on the blog. So you know. I'm available.

The funny thing is I started reading that blog several months before I moved to DC. Then as things started turning and I ended up taking a job here, I emailed Meg for advice on where to live, and she was super helpful about it all.

Anyway, she does this thing from time to time called "Thoughts I Couldn't Flesh Out into a Full Entry." Pretty self-explanatory, I would think.

And this is sort of my version of that. I don't have one thing I want to talk about today, but there are a few that are worthy of a couple paragraphs. And we're off!

Weight-Loss FTW

I'm still trucking! I weighed in at one point this weekend at 197, which is a loss of 30 pounds (!!). But I'm not going to mark that as official because I fluctuated between 197 and 202 all weekend haha. Still at 199 this morning. Still super pumped about that.

My belt is going to be on it's way out soon though. I just noticed I am now using the last hole on this belt. Ha! Love it.

The most exciting thing about this whole "I'm getting in ridiculous shape" thing is putting on clothes I was too embarrassed to wear not that long ago. Except they fit perfectly now.

One of the things that really clued me into my weight gain was when I started going on job interviews back in the late winter and early spring. I started putting on my nice dress shirts and ties and noticed they were getting uncomfortably tight around my neck and my chest and arms too. Not good times.

Today? GREAT SUCCESS. Room to spare in the neck. No tugging and pulling in the chest area. That's what she said? I'll allow it.

And then of course I was three belt holes away from where I was back then. I said goddamn it feels good to be a gangsta.

Job Interview!

I had one today! It was a PR firm downtown, and it's a really exciting opportunity. The job listing is a solid mix of things I like to do, things I do well and things I really want to do in the future. I will not disclose details. I will gladly discuss them with you if you want to IM me on one of the several platforms I use!

I think it went well, and I'm optimistic, as ever. I will say that.

METRO WILL BE THE DEATH OF ME

Obviously, I ride the Metro to get downtown. I don't care to mess with the DC traffic, which never, ever seems to let up. I was once stuck in DC traffic at midnight. Midnight!

So. Knowing my interview was at 11:30 this morning, I was up and ready to go by 7 a.m. I was obsessively checking Metro's website and Twitter feed for information on any possible delays. Seeing none, I relaxed a little. The scheduled time for the interview meant I wouldn't need to travel during prime rush hour.

When I'm not trying to get downtown during rush hour, I can make it door-to-door from my apartment to anywhere downtown in just under an hour usually. Maybe right at an hour if I have to walk a lot.

Seeing no delays anywhere in the Metro system, I left my apartment at 10, which put me at the station around 10:15. I should get downtown by 11 at the latest -- 30 minutes early for my interview. Plenty of time.

Well I get to the station. No trains. The first two trains that show up are out of service for God knows why. Finally get on a train. We don't move for 20 minutes. (!!!)

No announcements. No updates to the website or Twitter feed. Nothing.

We finally get moving, and it's a slow trip. We get to the first station in DC (Friendship Heights), and the train stops moving just before the platform.

Stalled. Nothing. Sounds I'd never heard in two years of riding the Metro. Nothing good, that's for sure. Then we pull up to the platform. "This train is out of service."

Are you serious.

Thank GOD I planned enough time to get there 30 minutes early or else I'd have been screwed. I got off the train, and I knew I couldn't afford to wait on another train, so I ran upstairs to the street and got some cash. Fortune smiled upon me as a cab was driving by right as I ran out of the bank with my hand up.

"Mr. Cabbie, I don't want you to get arrested on account of me, but Metro has screwed me over big time today, and I have a job interview very, very soon."

We made it from Friendship Heights to Dupont in less than 10 minutes. This man was incredible. I think I gave him a $10 tip. Worth. It.

Apartment News!

The apartment people finally agreed to work with me. As I outlined a week or two ago, I was about to move back to Charlotte temporarily at the end of this month. I'd come back when I found a job, etc.

When I gave them my notice back in June, I talked to a guy I didn't know and who didn't know me. I explained the situation, and I was like, can you work with me at all on this? He said he couldn't. They had to market my apartment equally with the others that were available.

Well I went into the office today to ask if they'd found a taker for my apartment for two weeks from now (gulp). I was decidedly dreading the answer. To my great delight, they have not found a taker. So I decided to bump my notice up two weeks to give me until August 15. Thankfully, the person I talked to is someone who knew me.

She was like, oh don't worry, I know you, I know your dog, I've seen you walking her and I've seen you in the gym. We'll work with you. We'll make sure to show other apartments before yours as long as you let us know as soon as you know something. AGREED.

So I'm here for another month, instead of two weeks. That gives me time to see this last job lead through to the end, and then make a decision. If I get it, great. I'll sign a lease and be done with this nonsense. If I don't, I'll probably take a break from applying and just devote my time to moving back to Charlotte and just do THAT right.

I'll get home and settle in, and then I'll start applying to jobs up here again. But that's just the last resort. Fingers crossed this one will come through. It seems like a really, really great job, and I'd love the chance.

Anyway, I'm out for now. Questions? Concerns? Comments? You know where to find me!

-BG

Uncertainty is Afoot

As many of you know, I have been without a job for a few months now. If you don't know, there it is. It's all good. I'm hanging in there, and things are pretty awesome, considering.

I can't even count the number of interviews I've had. Well that's not true. I can count them. I've been on 14 or 15 interviews.

And listen, I know I should be grateful about even getting the interviews. And I am! Don't get me wrong. You never know what an interview might lead to in the future even if it doesn't lead to a job immediately. Plus, a lot of people don't even get interviews.

I get all that. I am grateful. But at the end of the day, an interview without a job offer is still a lack of a paycheck. But like I said earlier, it's all good. Financially, I've been fine. I've tightened things up, of course, but I had a plan and I stuck to it. And I have a plan going forward as well.

I've been a finalist a couple of times. I've gotten pretty far a couple of other times. I'm honestly not worried about it. I'm working hard on finding a new gig, and it's going to happen.

Here's the tricky part, though. At the end of July, it becomes fiscally irresponsible for me to continue renting my apartment. My apartment complex requires a two-month move-out notice.

I gave my notice to evacuate my apartment a few weeks ago. I explained the situation, and they said if I find a job I can cancel the notice. But! They have to market the apartment as available. If they agree to rent my apartment out before I find a job, I am -- I believe the technical term is -- screwed.

For those following along at home, here's what that means (and, for that matter, if you're looking for evidence about how ass-backwards my 2011 has been, look no further): there now exists a scenario where I find a job and then become homeless (!).

You can't make this stuff up, folks!

My contingency in case I don't find something before the end of July is to move back to Charlotte temporarily. I will continue to look for jobs in D.C. and move back here when I find one. The fact is this is where I want to be now. I really love living here.

It took me two years, but I've finally put down roots here. Plus, hello; it's a pretty awesome place to live. Never mind the wow-factor of living in the nation's capital, which is significant. It's centrally located to almost everything I want to be near. I can be in Charlotte in six or seven hours. I can be in Raleigh in four or five. I can be in New Jersey in four hours.

Also, I've done the backwoods thing. I've lived in a small southern town. It was charming. Really, it was. But I don't think this is a secret: I'm a city guy. I just am. And D.C. is a great city for me because it's big enough to be a real city, but it's not so big it's overwhelming. It's a knowable city.

Don't get me wrong. New York is absolutely my favorite city in the U.S. It's not even really close. And who knows, maybe I'll even live there one day. But for now, this is for me.

And there are a ton of jobs here. So that can't be overlooked.

But I've got a couple of really promising leads going on right now, and I remain hopeful and optimistic one of them will come through before I have to go to Charlotte or vacate my apartment. It's all good!

Bottom line is this: don't worry about me! I am feeling so, so good. I remain, as ever, totally optimistic that things will work out, but prepared in case they don't. Uncertainty is afoot for me right now, but it will be fine. You know how I roll. I take it as it comes, and I am undeterred.

Besides, all the free time I've had has led to me getting in the best shape of my life; it's led to me writing more; it's led to me playing my guitar more; it's led to me eventually finding my softball team and making some truly awesome friends.

And I wouldn't have been able to go on my nine-day happy bender otherwise. It's the little things.

So yeah. That's all I've got for now.

I'm actually really excited about this blog. I mapped out post ideas that should take me through the rest of the summer. I'm excited to write again. This feels really, really good. Thank you so very much to everyone who reads, and please let me know if you want to know anything! I am, as always, an open book. Plus, Google Analytics tells me more people want to read this blog when I write about myself. So there you go. I can do that.

Check back every Monday, Wednesday and Friday (unless otherwise noted) for new posts. And spread the word!

-BG

It is your birthday.

Well, it's actually my birthday. I turned 29 today. Today is the first birthday I've actively dreaded. I suppose that won't end any time soon now.

I actually really enjoyed 23-26. Those were good birthdays and years, really. Turning 23 was fine because it was still early 20s. And I was able to justify 24-27 as mid-20s.

My 28th birthday made me a little uneasy because it was uncomfortably close to 30, and it is most decidedly late-20s. You can't spin 28. And you for damn sure can't spin 29. I'm now one away.

As the joke goes in Forgetting Sarah Marshall, you've got a great career ahead of you. You have, like, four years until you're 30.

How in the world did this happen? Fuckin' a, man. I graduated high school 11 years ago. I started college 11 years ago in August. I graduated from undergrad SEVEN years ago this year. What the shit.

This won't be a sad-bastard post though. I'm not sad, really. I haven't been this happy in just about as long as I can remember. It's been a tough few months up until this point. There were some issues that needed exorcising. The issues were there for years based on things I did and needed to do in untenable situations. I've written about some of these things over the past couple of weeks, and maybe I'll write about more of them more specifically later on.

But right now? I'm 29 fucking years old man. I'm in a better place mentally than I've been for quite some time. Physically, I'm looking and feeling better than I have in years. I'm not all the way back, but I'm getting there. Progress. I has it. I have a little less hair than I'd like, but hey. What can you do? I didn't win the hair genes jackpot. It happens.

I have my health. I have an amazing family. I get along spectacularly well with my parents and brother and sister. I have uncles, aunts and cousins that, no matter how long we've been apart, when we get back together it's like we never left at all. I have friends that would drop everything for me if I needed it, as I would for them. I have the best dog in the history of dogkind.

The Yankees are playing well. The N.C. State basketball irrational hope and optimism express is ramping up again, as it does so often. I just feel good. You know?

I love where I live. There really is nothing like living in the DC area. It's amazing. Plus, there are SO many job opportunities around.

It could be so much worse. I have so much to be thankful for, and I feel so incredibly lucky. Thank you to every one who ever comes to this page and reads my thoughts, however random and unimportant they may be. This is fun for me. I like to write. Sometimes I can be funny, though probably not nearly as often as I think. But I'm having fun writing again.

I got to spend last night with two of my closest friends from the old college newspaper. When you work at a college newspaper, you are in the trenches with these people. You become family. Because everyone hates the college paper. It's always terrible writing, and you can't get shit done because people look down on you as "just a student." Shit's tougher than it looks, man. So these guys are family.

And then tonight, I'm going out with my best friend and his girlfriend. This guy man. We've known each other for 17 years now. We have been through some shit. It goes beyond friend with him. He's a brother to me. So we'll probably go through some more shit tonight. Like you do. Debauchery. Party of three.

So you know what? Yeah. I'm 29. I feel good. I'm looking better. I'm approaching the best shape I've ever been in. I'm healthy, safe and happy. I've shaken off the doldrums that plagued me for the past several years. Life is good, man!

Today felt like a good day to look back at how things have gone and where I have them going. It's a real benefit to having a birthday almost exactly halfway through the year. Plus, with turning 29 and with all the changes that have been going on lately, I have felt even more nostalgic than the usual "a lot." Thanks again for reading.

I'm heading back up north tomorrow, so I'll be back writing on Monday!

As for today, happy birthday to me! LET'S GO!

-BG

Life Update!

So!

In my last post about the blog birthday, I jokingly said part of the festivities would be a three-week silence. Well, here we are on April 27 with no posts since then. Excellent prognostication on my part. But I DO have good reasons for it.

1. Easter weekend in NJ: Stacy, Matt, Rachel and I drove up for the weekend, and the family proved themselves to be every bit the asylum escapees they are (in a good way, of course!). It really was a fun time though. It's always good to see everyone since we don't get up that way all that often.

Everyone loved Rachel, of course (as I knew they would), and I don't think anyone really embarrassed themselves, which is really a bonus. We ate at White Castle (bad for the heart, good for the soul) and a diner for breakfast before we left.

2. CHICAGO! The next weekend, Rachel and I flew to Chicago for a nice extended weekend. It's her favorite city ever, and I'd never been. Combine that with her sister living there and Tanner living there for another couple of months at least and why not?

I have to say I was very impressed. I mean, of course I was -- it's Chicago. It's not like I thought I wasn't going to like it. Very cool city though. We stayed at this pretty nice hotel in Lincoln Park, right across the street from the botanical gardens and reasonably close to Lake Michigan.

And, yes, it was windy in Chicago; however, as I learned during my audio tour on the 95th-floor observatory of the John Hancock building, there are 37 cities in the U.S. that are technically windier than Chicago. Also, Chicago is not named The Windy City because of windy weather, but rather windbag politicians trying to get the World's Fair in the late 19th century. Now you know, and knowing is half the battle.


I will have pictures from Chicago, and I will upload them to Facebook next week. The delay is due to:

3. I moved to a new apartment! Yes, it's true. I now have a one-bedroom apartment in Gaithersburg, Md., just outside of DC, in a great little neighborhood called the Kentlands. I'm within walking distance to a TON of little local shops and stores, plus the usual Giant, Whole Foods, Petsmart, Michael's, K-Mart, Chipotle, Five Guys, Panera, etc. Walking distance!
I moved to the suburbs, and I still hardly have to drive anywhere! There's a bus stop maybe 50 yards from my building that'll take me to a Metro station to come downtown for work, too.

So! You may be asking yourself why I moved to the suburbs when I loved living in the city so much. Good question.

Two main reasons above all else -- affordability and large dog approval. Consider the following: for approximately $1,400/month, I could get a 400 sq. ft. studio apartment downtown or a 950 sq. ft. two-bedroom apartment outside the District. Sooo yeah. There's that. Also, not too many apartment buildings downtown were cool with dogs who weighed more than 30 pounds. Allie weighs around 60-65. I can pass her off for 50-55 when need be because she's so lean. But no one will believe a black lab/border collie mix is 30 pounds.

And that's that. I was able to get a really nice and spacious 650 sq. ft. one-bedroom apartment for FAR less than a DC apartment would have been.

Now, why Gaithersburg? I now live 2.5 miles (a five-minute drive) from Rachel's house. No more 45-min drives through the northern DC ghetto! Right up the street! Fooooooor the win.

Barring unforeseen extraordinary circumstances, I will not be moving again until I buy a house or townhouse or condo or something. This marked my third residence-to-residence move in a less than a year and a half. I'm done. I will live here for at least two years, too.

And next time I move, you're damn right I'm hiring movers. I recently bought a bed, a couch, two end tables, two night stands and a new dresser. Everything but the couch (which will hopefully be delivered this weekend) is in the apartment. Combine that with my 55" HDTV and my kick-ass entertainment center, and what you get is too much damn work for me to move myself again.

Matt, Rachel and Rachel's dad helped me out this time, and my God I don't know what I would have done with them. A infinite number of thank yous to them.

BUT! The good news is I get to have Allie back now! I really cannot thank my parents enough for looking after her since November. I was in a tough spot, and, as usual, they really bailed me out. I haven't seen her since Christmas though, and I really miss having that crazy dog around. LOOK AT THIS FACE!!!


Oh Allie. End of May! Rachel and I will be going to Charlotte for Jay and Emily's wedding, and I'm picking her up then!

4. Weezer concert! Yes, I know. This item would be much more exciting if it were 1996, but c'est la vie. Rachel, Matt and I are going to see Weezer Friday night! If it were 1996, they'd pretty much play the Blue album and Pinkerton (two essentially perfect rock albums) back-to-back. That would be SO. GOOD. But, alas, they have quite a few mediocre-at-best albums to choose from now (Make Believe, the Red album, Raditude).

Don't get me wrong, there are some catchy songs off those albums (Pork and Beans, Greatest Man that Ever Lived, etc.), but they're a FAR cry from Across the Sea, Say it Ain't So, El Scorcho and Buddy Holly.

Oh well. I'm still looking forward to it. As I've mentioned here before, previous success will always guarantee I'll check out new Weezer releases even though I inevitably come away disappointed. Still, hopefully they'll play mostly their old, awesome stuff.

Success! I've written a novel and updated my blog!

To come:

Pictures of the Nats game I went to with Matt
Pictures from the trip to Chicago with Rachel
Pictures of my new apartment
Etc.

Life is good.
-B

Doin' the bull dance; feelin' the flow. Workin' it; workin' it.

It's been a good several weeks for me. As such, here are a few things I'm pretty pumped about.

1. Hockey is fun: I went to my first Washington Capitals game yesterday. A guy at work had four tickets and gave me two of them. So Rachel and I happily attended. Man, hockey is SO much more fun in person than on TV. I enjoy hockey on TV, don't get me wrong. But it's a completely different experience in person.

The crowd was NUTS, and the Caps are actually, ya know, good. So that helps. And I gotta say, Ovechkin is just unbelievable to watch. The things he does -- he just makes everything look so easy. The Caps won 5-3. When the Caps score five goals in a home game, everyone in attendance gets 10 free wings at a restaurant in the area.

Here's the best part: the fifth goal was scored by Ovechkin on a penalty shot. Co-worker Conor (the guy who got the tickets) said it best: "It was like being in the Roman Coliseum with 18,000 people all standing, all knowing what was going to happen and all screaming for blood. It was AWESOME."

And it WAS. He scored on a sick backhanded move, and the place went berserk. Really, really excellent. I will be going to more Caps games, for SURE.

2. I have a huge TV now! I keep forgetting to take pictures of my set-up. Here's what I've got:

-55" Samsung HDTV, 1080p, 120Hz, 100,000-to-1 dynamic contrast (hollaaaa)
-1,000-watt Samsung surround sound system with built-in bluray player and wireless rear speakers

YES. SIR. I still need to get an HD cable box from Comcast (we'd just been running it from the wall downstairs) to really take advantage of the HD capabilities, but my God bluray is excellent. Fire and explosions are bordering on life-changing experiences on bluray high-def.

I now have five bluray movies: Star Trek, Terminator, Terminator 2, Gladiator and Goodfellas. Very cool. I also got a Wii just so I could get the new Super Mario game. And it is also excellent.

Xbox360 games look unbelievable when you actually take advantage of everything the system can do. I am a FAN.

3. Skiing! Sometime in the next few weeks, I'll be going skiing for the first time ever! I'm so excited. Someone at work is organizing a day-trip on a Saturday for co-workers and significant others. Rachel has been skiing before, so hopefully I can get a few pointers.

Basically, I'm planning on spending most of the day on my ass and/or back. I feel like that's really the best-case scenario for me. I'm not exactly known for my coordination to begin with, so adding skis, snow and mountain to the mix isn't likely to improve matters. Whatevs. It'll be excellent.

4. CHICAGO!!! So here's the deal: Rachel's sister lives in Chicago and goes to DePaul. Technician sports editor emeritus Tanner is living in Chicago while he works with Americorps. Yeah, they live like four blocks away from each other. Crazy.

I don't know that it's ever taken LESS to convince me to do something, but Tanner goes, "Whoa come visit!" And I thought to myself, "Well why the hell not? What exactly is stopping me from doing this?" I asked Rachel if she'd like to go to Chicago (of course she did, she loves the city), and we booked our flights last night!

We'll be flying to Chicago on April 9 and coming back April 11 -- a nice little three-day weekend. I've never been to Chicago, so I'm extra pumped about it. HOLLA.

Like I said, doin' the bull dance; feelin' the flow. Workin' it; workin' it.

Things I Don't Get About the Metro

Why does the train roll a few feet and come to a jarring stop, roll a few more feet, come to a jarring stop, rinse and repeat?

It's not like the train operator is surprised by traffic and has to put on the brakes. It's a fucking tunnel. If there's a train ahead of you, don't move. When the track is clear, on we go.

I don't get it. The train comes to a stop in the tunnel because there's already one on the platform ahead. That's fine. Thanks for not ramming the back of the other train, you know? But why on EARTH do we have to do the start-stop routine five times? Open your fucking eyes! If the train is still there, don't go!

I think I speak for all Metro customers when I say we'd rather stay stationary for the extra 20 seconds than start-stop several times.

Also, I feel like this has the potential to become a running feature on the blog. So there you go.

You know what 9 a.m. is?

Too damn early for the homeless protester band to be banging on pipes, cowbells and buckets. That's what it is.

It is now almost 12:30, and they haven't so much as taken a break since I got here this morning. They're currently protesting an empty building because the contractor allegedly does not pay standard area rates for carpenters and a few others.

No one is in the building. No one from the company they are protesting is on site. So, at least all the noise is productive!

July 4th Photos

I did not forget.

I uploaded them last night. Check 'em out through my Facebook profile, or just click here.

It's been two weeks

First of all, happy birthday to me! I turn 27 today (June 23). So, hooray for that. :)

Now that that's out of the way, I thought I'd give a run-down of all things DC. What I like, what I don't like, what's interesting...etc. Keep in mind, it's only been two weeks, so I'm obviously missing a lot. This is just a little bit about what I've found in my first two weeks in the nation's capital.

Warning, this is a long entry. You know I'm a wordy writer; it's how I roll. But I figure, I'm living in a new place, why not share my experiences so far? It takes some words to do that. So here you go!

Things I like about DC:

1. Riding the Metro

Awful tragedy yesterday aside, riding the Metro is fantastic. It's so easy, it's so quick and it's so cheap. It costs me $3.30 per day to get to and from work. Multiply that by 22 (days works in a month, not including weekends, obviously) and you get $72.60. Now factor in how I don't drive at all around the city. Get gas twice and tell me how much it costs. More than $72? I think so too. And I would need to get gas more than twice in a month.

Oh yeah, but work pays for my Metro usage to get to and from the office. So, yeah. That's a pretty great perk. The station is a block and a half from my house, and it gets you where you need to go quickly and efficiently. I'm a fan so far.

2. Turkey Avocado sandwich at Rumi

Rumi is a Mediterranean restaurant across the street from my office. The turkey avocado sandwich there is just fantastic. Turkey, melted provolone, tomato, lettuce, cucumber and avocado on large pita bread. Add some fries and a can of soda, all for $8, and you've got my lunch of choice now that the closest Jersey Mike's is 65 miles away.

Seriously, so good, and right across the street. Also, not even that bad. That's a reasonably healthy sandwich for lunch.

I'm still looking for a good REAL deli sandwich. One of my roommates mentioned a place called Vace (VA-chay) in Cleveland Park (a neighborhood west of here). It's a little Italian deli, and it's supposedly awesome. Undoubtedly, it's on my list of places to try in the next couple of weeks.

3. Walking Distance

I live within walking distance of almost everything I need to do day to day. Target, Best Buy, the Metro station, the grocery store, a Wachovia, Radio Shack, Staples and a 24-hour CVS are all within a 5- to 10-minute walk away. Excellent. I end up walking a couple miles per day just going about my business.

Which leads into my next item...

4. Not Driving

I don't have to drive anywhere. The only time I have to drive is to leave DC to go to Raleigh or Charlotte or New Jersey or wherever. It's pretty nice not to have to drive anywhere day to day. It's a short item on my list of things I like, but it's true nonetheless.

5. Living in a City

I don't think I'm surprising anyone when I say I'm more of a city guy than anything. I was born 25 minutes from the biggest city in the world. I lived in the two biggest cities in North Carolina. I lived just outside of Tampa, Fla., and I lived in Clinton, S.C. One of these things is not like the other. One of these things doesn't quite belong.

You guessed it...good ol' Clinton. Don't get me wrong, I loved writing for the Chronicle, and I loved the people I worked with, but living in Clinton wasn't my cup of tea. I'm much more suited to city life. No doubt. And here I am in Washington, D.C., living in the nation's capital. This is nice, I have to say.

I like walking out my door and walking to the Metro station to use mass transit to get to work. I like leaving the Metro station downtown and walking out and being surrounded by city life. People on their way to do important things. Sort-of-tall buildings all around (more on this later), cars speeding around...THINGS are going on. It just feels good. It's fun. :-)

6. Where I Live

I live in a row house in the Columbia Heights neighborhood. To be more accurate, I live in the basement apartment of the house with another guy. Three girls live in the house upstairs, but we have keys to the house to use the kitchen and laundry room.

My roommates' best guess is this house could be about 100 years old. It really is a charming little Victorian row house. Pictures are available on my Facebook page for those who haven't seen just yet.

It's plenty of space for me, and it's extremely affordable, which is pretty important for now. Also, my roommates are pretty excellent. Everyone is so nice, and they're really trying to make me feel welcome here. We're having a house dinner tonight (on my birthday!) to "officially" welcome me to the house. They're making manicotti! It's going to be a good time.

So yeah. I like the house, and I like my new roommates. Good times all around.

7. Work

I really enjoy my new job. It's great; it really is. I really liked my old job, and I genuinely miss some of the people I worked with there, without a doubt. But this is a great opportunity for me. In hindsight, getting laid off is one of the best things that's happened to me.

I have more responsibilities, more work and more clients. The people I work with are fun, and they're really trying to make me feel welcome in the office. The office culture is relaxed, but everyone works hard, so that's good.

The dress code is a bit more strict. During the spring, fall and winter, the regular dress code for guys is shirt and tie. After all, it is the capital, and more clients work in the area, so we try to look a bit more professional than most PR firms, which usually adopt a more casual dress code. During the summer we have a business casual code, which means I don't have to wear a shirt and tie when it's hot out. I appreciate that. I also appreciate my office having its own individual AC unit.

All in all, I really enjoy the work I'm doing -- especially the nuclear energy client, that's a lot of fun -- and I'm really happy I accepted this job.

Things I don't like about DC:

1. Not having Anne and Allie

Look, this goes without saying. I miss my girls. That's really all there is to say. For the past three years, I've been able to see them every day, and now I can't. That takes some getting used to, but I believe this is what's best for our little family. It sets us up in the best possible way for the future, so here we are. It'll be OK; it's just an adjustment.

2. People

OK, that's not REALLY true. More specifically, I have a problem with the people who decide to walk unbelievably slowly when trying to transfer between trains. Folks, I've got someplace to be. Whether it's work or home, I'd like to get there sooner rather than later. So let's try either to pick up the pace just a little bit, or abide by the normal rules of human travel: slower traffic keep to the right.

Some people just don't get it.

3. Rolling Suitcases on the Metro

I know these are necessary sometimes. The Metro is a means to travel back and forth between Reagan National Airport, and sometimes people need to carry suitcases. These rolling suitcases, though, take up so much space. It's impossible to maneuver them around the tight spaces and cramped cars, so people (myself included, from time to time) inevitably end up tripping over them. No thank you, sir.

Take your rolling bag and remove it from my path, por favor. Thankfully, I have yet to experience the nightmare that is someone stopping at the top of the escalator to mess with his/her rolling suitcase. Although, on the topic of escalators...please, ladies and gentlemen, stand right, walk left. Say it with me now: stand right, walk left. It's not hard. Please. I'm begging you for my sanity and everyone else's who walks around like responsible people.

4. Walking in the Rain

The downside to walking everywhere. Sometimes it rains. Even when it rains, I've walked to the office from the Metro station. It doesn't matter if I have an umbrella or not, my legs always get soaked. It's not comfortable, but I still wouldn't trade it. It's manageable, so it's OK.


Interesting Things I Neither Like Nor Dislike:

1. It's not "the city," it's "the district"

Pretty self-explanatory, no? I've called it "the city" before, but it is apparently referred to as "the district" as an alternative to saying Washington or DC.

2. Building Heights

None of the buildings in the district (see what I did there?) are taller than the Washington Monument.

According to Wikipedia: "After the construction of the twelve-story Cairo Apartment Building in 1899, Congress passed the Heights of Buildings Act, which declared that no building could be taller than the Capitol. The Act was amended in 1910 to restrict building height to the width of the adjacent street plus 20 feet (6.1 m). Today the skyline remains low and sprawling, in keeping with Thomas Jefferson's wishes to make Washington an 'American Paris' with 'low and convenient' buildings on 'light and airy' streets. As a result, the Washington Monument remains the District's tallest structure."

Interesting. I like my brother's story better, even if it's probably not true. He says the Secret Service doesn't want the buildings to be any taller than the Washington Monument because they don't want the roofs of any building to have a line of sight on the White House. You know, for snipers, and such.

That story is more fun, and maybe there's some truth to it, but there you go. Either way. If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I appreciate all of you. Leave me some love. Any suggestions on places I should check out? Places to avoid? Let me know!

-BG

Washington, D.C.

Well, I'm here. That's pretty much the excuse I have for not posting something in two weeks. It's been a bit busy, to say the least.

I got here on Friday, June 5 at about 5 p.m. I spent the weekend getting settled in my room and getting used to my new neighborhood, Columbia Heights.

(Let me pause here and direct you to my Facebook page where you can see a photo album where I give you a tour of the major places I go right now. If for some reason you're reading this and you're not Facebook friends with me [why not friend me?], here's a direct link to the photo album.)

Work started Monday morning, and I've been pretty busy since then. My two biggest clients right now are a nuclear energy company and a trade association that represents companies that manufacture insulation. I'd say the insulation stuff is about as interesting as the corn stuff, but I'm totally loving learning about the nuclear energy stuff.

It is so unbelievably interesting, and it's a major issue in the country right now. It's nice to be learning about something that has really wide application value.

There will be other clients, but for now, that's what I've got. I'm sure there will be more stuff this coming week, but they didn't want to overload me in my first week. That's for my second and third weeks...haha.

So to get to work, I walk a block and a half to the Columbia Heights metro station. I take the green or yellow lines south to Chinatown, where I transfer to the red line. I take the red line west to Farragut North. Then I walk about three or four blocks west and a half a block north to get to my office.

For those keeping track at home, that's:

5 min from the house to the metro
5 min from Columbia Heights to Chinatown
5 min from Chinatown to Farragut North
10 min from Farragut North to the office

...for a grand total of 25 min transit time. It doesn't always take 25 min. During rush hour times, there are more trains, but sometimes you have to wait 2 to 4 min for a train. But mostly, it takes between 25 and 35 min, which really isn't bad. It's better than sitting in traffic, that's for sure.

It's good though. I think I'm really going to like living here. I'll DEFINITELY like it a lot more when Anne and Allie get here though. :-(

But yeah, the guy I'm sharing the basement apartment with is really cool, the three girls who live in the house upstairs are really cool and I really like the people I work with so far.

Financially, things are a bit of a...challenge? Definitely a challenge right now, but they'll get better over the next couple of weeks for sure.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: Life is good.

Movin' on up!

But not to the east side. To the northwest side. Of DC.

That's right! The job interview I went on two weeks ago went really well, apparently, because they offered me the job!

It has been quite a whirlwind for the past two or three weeks. I applied for the job on Wednesday, May 6. They called me on Friday, May 8. I interviewed on Tuesday, May 12, and they offered me the job on Thursday, May 14.

It's been crazy ever since. My start date is Monday, June 8, so I had a little more than three weeks to find a place to live, move there and start work. I was smart enough to pick up a few apartment books when I was in DC for my interview, and I went through them to look for places.

No luck really. Anne and I drove up to DC the Saturday after I took the job to look at apartments in the suburbs, and we came away severely disappointed in what we found. Mostly, we were unhappy with how much I was going to have to pay to get not that much space pretty far away from the city.

So I started searching Craigslist for a situation where I could rent a room in a house or apartment with a few roommates to lessen the cost. I found a room in a great row house a block and a half from a metro station (the DC subway, in case you didn't know). And the best part is it's pretty much going to cost just as much as living in Raleigh.

I'll do that for six months, and then Anne will finish school and be ready to come up. Now we'll have six months to find a suitable place we can afford instead of THREE WEEKS.

So there you go! In a little under two weeks, I will officially be a program manager at a DC public relations firm, working downtown just a few blocks from the White House! Pretty awesome. I'm really excited.

I went back and read my old Livejournal I had when I worked in Clinton. I was talking about how unfulfilling it was to know I'd never make that much money working in newspapers. That's when I decided to go to grad school and see what I could do with myself.

Well, I won't disclose exact figures, but suffice it to say, it's more than a 100-percent raise over what I was making at the Chronicle. Yup, this is exactly what I had in mind when I went back to grad school. Don't get me wrong; I loved almost every second of that job. But fun don't pay the bills.

Yeah, so I'll be moving next week -- hopefully on Wednesday to give myself some time to get settled, get to know the new roommates and figure my way around a little bit before starting work in two weeks. Pretty crazy how fast it all happened.

If you're in the Raleigh area, hit me up and say goodbye before I'm gone next week!

Oh snap!

Job interview in Washington D.C. on Tuesday!

Holy Shnikeys!

I don't want to say too much about it because you never know with the way people Google things nowadays, but it's a PR agency in DC. I got a phone call today at like 6 or so. The woman said she saw I'd applied for the position they have open and would I be interested in an in-person interview sometime next week.

Why, yes I would! Does now work for you? Oh, right, I'm not there.

So Tuesday at 1 p.m. it is then. She called back saying she'd forgotten I was coming from out of town, and we can do the interview over the phone instead if I wanted.

No way, man. All in. I'm heading up to DC Monday afternoon, and we'll see what happens.

Woohoo!!
-BG