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

Blog Birthday!

This little blog turned a year old today. Happy birthday Island in the Sun!

In honor of the occasion, I present an Ode to Peach Snapple, immediately followed by another three weeks of neglect. Good day.


Peach Snapple, Peach Snapple,
Oh you help me grapple
with all of the day's little chores.
I pop off your cap
and read the fun fact
Drink up so that my mood will soar.


But seriously, fun times ahead!

• New Jersey this weekend for Easter, where Rachel will meet the extended family.
• Next weekend, Rachel and I are flying to Chicago for a long weekend to check out her favorite American city.
• And then in the next few weeks I'm moving!

Yes I found an apartment! Allie will be coming home to me soon! WOOHOO! I miss my girl. It's been far too long since I've seen her. More details on all of this in the coming weeks!

As I am quite fond of saying, life is good!

-BG

Spunky, Sept. 29, 1998 - March 8, 2010

Spunky, my family's beloved yellow lab, passed away last Monday. He finally stopped eating and drinking, and when animals stop eating and drinking, there's not much you can do. It's just time at that point.

Spunky started having seizures in 2001. They weren't fun to watch, and they couldn't have been fun for him, but we were told there wasn't anything more sinister going on (obviously, as he lived for another nine years). He was on medication for them, and we managed them the best we could.

They finally started to prove too much for him to handle over the summer. He had a massive seizure in July that left him wobbly and weak. The medication he had to take was in such a high dosage, he was left groggy and confused most of the time. Over Christmas, he was wearing a harness around his hips that had handles so we could pull him up because he had a hard time standing up from laying down.

And finally it just got to the point where it was last weekend. My mom was there with him and held him as he went to sleep. He wasn't scared. He was calm and happy, licking her arms and face to the end.

I'm sorry. I know that's hard to read, but I had to get it out one more time. I had to write it and see it to know it's real.

For all the health problems he had at the end of his life, that's never going to be how I'll remember him.

Spunky was our first family pet -- and really, I guess you can say he's our only family pet, seeing as how I no longer live at home, and my sister probably won't be moving back home after grad school.

When I was 16, we finally managed to convince our parents to get a dog. A friend of my dad had a lab who was having puppies. We went and visited, and immediately picked out two puppies: a yellow lab we named Spunky and a black lab we named Shadow. They were adorable. When we took them home, Shadow rested on my legs in the car, and Spunky shouted and barked the whole way home in the back of the van.

And that's how he became Spunky. He was loud; he was rambunctious; he was FUN. He was what you expected out of a family lab. Shadow was the dominant of the two puppies, but he was more reserved. He still played a lot, but he was quiet.

Eventually, my mom's allergies proved too much, and we very sadly had to return the dogs to the woman who agreed to find new homes for them.

A few days passed. The box of puppy toys in the corner looked so sad, and in the few short days we had them, we'd grown incredibly attached to them and the atmosphere they created around the house.

One day, I came home from school and noticed the baby gate was up blocking the kitchen from the living room -- something we did when the puppies were there so they couldn't have accidents on the carpet. I walked over to the kitchen, and there was Spunky, sitting there looking at me.

My parents agreed two dogs were too many for the allergies, but we could give one dog a try. So they went and picked up Spunky again and he was ours! We missed Shadow, but we knew he'd find a good home. He wasn't at a shelter. He was with friends of ours and he was a black lab puppy -- not exactly hard to find a home for those.

So Spunky was a part of our lives since then. He was funny and quirky, and he was everything you could want in a dog. And that's what I'll remember from now on. I'll always remember Spunky as the lively, healthy, energetic dog he was growing up.

I'll remember him sprinting the length of the fence in the backyard with his friend Jazz, the rottweiler next door.

I'll remember him curiously nosing the back fence as the cows (yes, cows) walked by. He jumped at the fence, and an equally curious cow head-butted the fence, knocking Spunky down. He decided to watch safely from a few feet back from then on as the cows made their almost-daily march through the field behind our house.

I'll remember him sprinting and jumping through the air as we threw him the ball over and over and over again. He was never happier than when someone was throwing him a tennis ball.

I'll remember the bright brown eyes, so full of life, and the snow-white tip on his tail.

I'll remember the time he got out of the backyard and only went to the front door and sat down, waiting to be let in, as if to say, "I know how good I have it here; I'm not going anywhere else, thanks."

Spunky was a great, great dog. He lived to be 11 and a half, and he lived in three different decades. Not bad at all. He was happy and loved as much as a dog could be loved.

Rest in peace, Spunkers. We'll never forget you, and we'll love you and miss you forever.

I like dark comedies; that's why I like the Wayans brothers.

The One-Man Wolfpack, Zach Galifianakis, hosted SNL this past weekend. Here's the opening monologue. Fantastic stuff.

Some of my favorite lines:

"HEY EVERYBODY! HERE COMES THE CHOO-CHOO!"

"[My girlfriend is] writing a book on contemporary feminist theory and she let me read the manuscript. I gotta tell ya, it's pretty good for a girl."

"If you read my blog you know I'm a pilates freak. And by pilates I mean waffles."

Strut, big man. Strut.

Life is GOOD.

God put a ring on it

Haikus

So I was talking to Rachel last night, and, long story short, I wrote a bunch of terrible, cheesy haikus. Might as well post them here, no?

I like to sing songs
I'm probably not that good
Better in my head

Fraggles are the best
The doozers are really strange
Gorgs are frightening

Spinach tastes so good
Leafy, green wonder veggie
Popeye was correct

This one is for Rachel, who, amazingly, has never had a hot dog
Hot dogs for the win
Stunned you have never had one
Need two to feel full

These next two are dedicated to N.C. State
State fans are depressed
Unending kick in the pants
There's always next year

My team sucks so much
It's no fun watching the games
Tired of losing

This one is for my sister, who went to San Diego last weekend
Stacy was so drunk
Rode a mechanical bull
Kicked out of the bar

Stacy likes hockey
Micol took her to some games
A sports fan, who knew?

Scarlet's tumbling
Why stand on a small table?
A big girl goes down

Funny haikus win
Too bad I'm not that funny
Someone tries too hard

Conan O'Brien is AWESOME

Skiing FTW

Last weekend, I went skiing for the first time. It was easily one of the most fun things I've ever done.

Now, as someone who isn't exactly know for what you would call "balance, grace and coordination," I was reasonably nervous about sliding down mountains while trying to remain upright.

Nevertheless, I've always wanted to try skiing, and I live in the north now. The place we went (Liberty Ski Resort) was only an hour or so from Rachel's house, so we took a day trip.

It's not exactly inexpensive, especially for someone like me, who completely lacked everything winter-related you might need to go skiing. I had to buy gloves, socks, snow pants and an actual winter coat. Buying all of that ended up costing a little more than $300, but, like I said, I live in the north now.

Five feet of snow from three blizzards later, my snow pants have come in VERY handy -- as has my legit winter coat.

So we get to the mountain, and for $82 you get a First Class package that includes a beginner's lesson (yes please), your lift ticket and equipment rental. Ticket and rental usually costs around $90, so this is a great deal.

The lesson was extremely helpful, obviously. The instructor was funny and seemed like a really good guy. He taught us right off the bat how to do things without the ski poles. In hindsight, THANK GOD, because I would have tried to depend on them.

Honestly, I was having a hell of time during the lesson. I had trouble with my balance, turning, staying upright, walking -- you name it, I was having trouble with it. As it turns out, the problem was the lack of speed. For the lesson, they barely take you up the beginner slope. You never slide more than 15 or 20 feet. I was just having a really hard time.

At the end of the lesson, the instructor takes the class up the ski lift to the top of the beginner slope. Almost by accident, I was the first one down the slope from the class. Now, I'd like to say that's because I was a star student, and I knew exactly what I was doing.

What actually happened was I started going down hill, gathered some decent speed and couldn't stop by myself -- so I just went with it. As I was going down the slope, I tried to turn, and all of a sudden everything clicked. Turning, balancing, controlling your movements -- everything is easier when you have some speed down the slope. Don't get me wrong, I still fell down once, but the theory of what you're supposed to do is MUCH easier to put into practice when you're going faster.

Great time all around. Rachel and I are going again tomorrow! I'd also say it's a safe bet we may become regulars next year. There are only a few weeks left in this season, but next year, we'll probably be frequenting the slopes much more often!

Here are a couple pictures. Excuse the poor quality on the first one as it was taken on my Blackberry.

This is the beginner slope. It wasn't really that cloudy and dark at all. Just a poor job by me remembering to take my camera out of my bag before I locked everything up.

We had our lesson on the right of the lift, and then we actually skied on the left of the lift. I probably will NOT be venturing away from this slope when we go tomorrow either...haha. Still learning how to do things!

Here's a picture of Rachel and I with Jackie (I work with her) and Jackie's friend (whose name I unfortunately cannot remember, as usual).

Jackie was nice enough to humor me on the beginner slope since I was in no way prepared to try anything more difficult.

This picture was taken at the top of the beginner slope. After the picture, I started my way down and almost immediately fell. So, you know, good job by me. :-)

Being an N.C. State fan is like being kicked in the nuts

Over and over and over again.

Beat Duke by 14 points, look like we're resembling an actual Division 1 team. Forget to show up to the Maryland game, get blown out by 24 points. Also, let me tell you how much fun that was to watch while being surrounded by a family of Maryland fans. I just had to go into sportswriter mode and pretend like I didn't care and that it wasn't happening.

And then UNC. I'm sorry. I just couldn't bring myself to talk about it until now. We looked decent in very short, very intense bursts. Then, of course, we couldn't finish a game without one of our patented 8-minute scoring droughts that turned a 5-point lead into a 15-point deficit.

I'm just getting angry. I leave you with happy N.C. State videos.

A little boy who loves the Pack like his daddy, despite having a Tar Heel mom.



Post-game, 2007 victory over UNC; 31-27



Most Incredible Block Ever -- Courtney Fells vs. Duke



Julius Hodge beats UConn, sends State to Sweet 16