update!

so... what have i been up to since the last update? plenty, as a matter of fact.

let's start with the swim meet we had at the end of last month and the beginning of this month... my kids swam fast! 81% life-time bests. i knew my dave leitao coaching strategy would pay off big dividends, and it did. 4 top-16 swims at the first meet... not so bad! so now, we're gearing up for a travel meet to spartanburg, sc next weekend. so don't worry, more fast swimming ahead.

i tripped it to charlottesville. want to know how that went? click here. thanks, r.

i tripped it to raleigh. yup, for the nc state/UVa game. it was quite the disappointing loss, but seriously, how many road games could we continue to squeak through? it was an outstanding game, and i enjoyed my time in raleigh. best story? an older Virginia fan was sitting in front of me (she was probably... late 60's) - and she said to her husband, "did you see those girls with the cowboy boots?" now, we had been admiring the state girls in sundresses and cowboy boots all day... they were quite attractive. overhearing their conversation, i blurted out, "well, i definitely saw them!" she turned around and said, "they were nice, but i tell you what, you'd have to put paper bags over their heads to take care of em." hilarious!

i bought a jeep! i think i touched on that the last time i posted - but i don't think there was any info about getting rear-ended. yup, 4 days after i bring the car home, i got rear-ended. thankfully, the girl was insured, so geico replaced my bumper and now it's all new and shiny (it had a small dent in it before!).

basketball recruiting! speaking of dave leitao... man has he raked in a recruiting class in the last 3 weeks. UVa finally brought in some big man talent in the forms of 4-star john brandenburg (6'11, st. louis) - and 7'0 assane sene (7'0, new haven). sene, a rising star on the recruiting scene since he's just in the country from Africa is rumored to be something special - and the schools DL beat out to recruit him speak to that (uconn, florida). 4-star and top-60 combo guard sylven landesberg (new york). so out of those 3 recruits, DL out-recruited stanford, florida, uconn, georgia tech, and st. johns - just to name a few. and he's still got one on the block - with an announcement from ridiculous #3 guard in the country elliott "e-mail" williams supposed to come within the next few days. sources on the internet are leaning towards us! who is DL recruiting against? duke, memphis, and tennessee. that's good company. keep up the good work, coach. and the picture? that's DL keeping the pimp-hand strong.

hmmm, what else? i think that just about covers it. i didn't include anything about boating or beaching it, because well, i think you should just assume i do that, anyway!

oops!

I will update soon, I promise.

my house!

check it out... this is where i live, and where you should come visit!


nice, eh?

oh and i bought a new-to-me suv the other day. i'll try to get pictures up soon. we have our first meet of the year this weekend, so i'll be busyyyy!

the space between

so i never really got around to a dave top 5 or top 10 list.

charlie and i decided that there was just too much good stuff to do a top 5... so we shelved it. but, today, we have come back to it.

dave doesn't need any build up or intro. he is just simply incredible. of course, getting his start in charlottesville gives him even more points in my book.

charlie actually gave me 15 songs, because he felt he couldn't possibly get it to 10. well... i cut off his last 5, so we now have a top 10!

most overplayed dave line with a lot of meaning to it? "the space between the tears we cry, is the laughter keeps us coming back for more" think about it.

charlie's top 10 dave songs (in no particular order)?

1. two step
2. lie in our graves
3. #41
4. dancing nancies
5. the stone
6. crush
7. pig
8. grey street
9. grace is gone
10. recently
    

and my top 10 dave songs (in no particular order)?

1. #41
2. lover lay down
3. christmas song
4. crush
5. grey street
6. cry freedom
7. dreamgirl
8. stolen away on 55th and 3rd
9. raven
10. grace is gone

and a few honorable mentions? song that jane likes, jimi thing, stay or leave

superstar!

so apparently they were filming one tree hill last night right outside the pool. all i know is that the parking lots were closed and there were people with headsets on running around everywhere. unbeknownst to me, this occurs all of the time. great i can't wait.

apparently there was some division 1-aa basketball championship game? i'm pretty sure that doesn't even exist, right? do they know that? maybe i'm wrong. anyway, i kept looking at the signs they had up (not knowing it was for the tv show) and i couldn't for the life of me figure out why i had never heard of the schools. well, they were fake. i'm a genius. but the signs looked so real i was quite confused.

speaking of one tree hill, yes, there was a chad michael murray sighting. my 12 and under girls thought it was quite possibly the coolest moment of their lives. the best line i heard? "oh my god, chad michael murray is the hottest guy on planet earth."

i told them they had just seen me from a distance and must have us confused.

happy anniversary!

it's the one-year anniversary of my talk like a pirate day post last year!

i think i'd like to make it an annual occurence.

check it out here.

and want an awesome keira knightley wallpaper? here.

this could be my favorite holiday...

arrrrrr!

happy talk like a pirate day!

hail.

that is all.

ballin'

fact: i bought the new kanye cd the other day. that's right. i'm freakin hard (h-town!).

no, but seriously, i like his beats.

there are a few rap lines that i have heard in my days that have just made me really, really laugh out loud. kanye has now topped the list. my two favorite... pre-kanye?

"i use crest, so ain't no cavities creep up in my grill"

"i'm seeing light up on yo face cause you peepin' my chain"

can you identify those?

but i'm sorry, when i heard kanye spit out this line, i literally started cracking up as i was driving down the road...

"heard they do anything for a klondike, well i'd do anything for a blonde dyke"

hiliarious. simply hilarious. good work, 'ye!

vote!

come on, vote people...

for cavman!

labor day weekend

phew. what a weekend. peter arrived on thursday night, and we didn't slow down until tuesday morning. we had another visitor arrive on friday, as well... who won't be named.

highlights from the weekend:

• beer pong night 1... 2 games of double overtime.... consisting of over 24 beers being pummeled in a short amount of time. and with cigars to cover up the smell of the horse farm that happened to be drifting over.
• shots. 7 of them. in an hour. so many they had to come on a tray.
  
• brian taking 4 shots in a row.
• paying $20 to hear it's a great day to be alive at the piano bar, and $5 for the sweater song!
• as a result of above, other visitor puking her guts out in the cab, and us distracting the cabbie by singing hail to the redskins very loudly
  
• lots and lots of bojangles sweet biscuits and krispy kremes
• beer pong night 2... not quite as many beers drank, but it's only the 2nd time i've ever played in a garage (cinco de mayo!!)
• the mechanical bull at the bar downtown. something magical happens when you get drunk, hot chicks and a mechanical bull in the same room. strapless shirts, anyone?
• the crazy cab driver who told us stories that i simply can't repeat here. jeeeeesus bleep bleep christ.
  
• boating. day 1 was pretty chill, just a little laid back action on the 32'.
• boating. day 2 was ridiculous. a raft-up with the 32', a 48', and a 50'... can you say lots of ridiculous hot chicks in bikinis? we even had a hooters calendar girl aboard. and one girl who peter and i could only describe as "delicious." and trust me, it's rare we agree on those sorts of things
• the look on my swimmer's faces when i showed them our next set which was actually the first set they did... doubled

yah, that sums it up. i'm tired. i actually slept 11 hours on monday night.

on a second note, ANDY is helping me sell my old beater acura. you should buy it. it's awesome. and it's for sale at his parent's gas station.

when i think about heaven...

having moved to north carolina, i have been seperated from a very important group of my friends. and while i may have been friends with rachel longer... susie ranks right up there. i've slept with susie. no, not like you're thinking. not in the biblical sense. in the friend kind of way. well, let's be honest, she has the most comfortable and amazing sheets on her bed. of life. but as amazing as the sheets are, they simply can't compare to the amazingness of susie, the actual person.

sometimes, at night, when i'm asleep, i dream about susie. what do i dream about? usually it's about her incredible talents and abilities, and well, you'll see. so read on and learn about the incredibleness of the one and only susie.


sometimes, when i dream about susie, i dream about how awesome of a leader she is. generally she is always ready to make a decision, to direct people traffic, to tell people how she feels. it might not always be what you want to hear, but trust me, susie will let you know. i know that i've been on the (oftentimes negative) receiving end of some of susie's blunt and direct comments... but in all honestly, it's her forthright (that was a big word for michael vick to use!) and charming nature that makes her that much more endearing to me.



other times, when i dream about susie, i dream about how awesome of a person she is. how awesome? one word: indeblue. or indebleu. or however it's spelled. she is able to see people for what they truly are, not the color of their skin or whatever subpar university they happened to attend. she is even so kind of a person that she let her cousin who attended, unfortunately, a lesser university, live in their basement. that says a lot about her character. i'd say something spectacular about her public speaking skills, but in all honesty, i'd be lying because i've never heard her speak publicly. although in my dreams, i dream that she is probably 10x better public speaker than even old abe lincoln.



i also dream about how athletic susie is. if cal ripken were a girl, he definitely would have been a cheerleader in high school. i know susie would like to meet cal ripken... even maybe, you know, get to know him a little better. you don't think they call him the "ironman" just because of his streak do you? even though cal ripken is a crusher of childhood dreams, susie loves him anyway (see susie entry above, regarding quality of character). if susie had decided to play baseball, there is no doubt she would be tearing it up, without steroids, because she is just that incredible. instead, she decided to be a friend, an all-around ridiculously cool person, and a graduate of the university of virginia. and she got out of maryland.


other times, when i dream about susie... well, i'm only a guy, so... sometimes i dream about how sexy she is. like i said, i've slept with susie. and it's already out on the table that anytime we decide to um, be friends, that we could probably take care of that. i even know where she keeps her stash. susie is definitely sexy. with a skin tone surprisingly close to keira knightley (without the sun burn, of course), susie is damn sexy. susie has been known to roam around in my presence in simply her underwear, which, upon reflection, thinking back on my DC days, well, that was pretty exciting. because my roommate now, not as exciting when he wanders around in his underwear.



not only is susie sexy in that keira knightley/modern kind of way, but also in that classicly sexy way. when i dream of susie, i envision marilyn monroe. sexy. classicly sexy. charming, good singing voice, good solid drinker, socialite, bubbly, and sometimes slightly introverted... keeping her secrets. she is a boy-killer, for sure. she aims high, monroe aimed for kennedy, susie got out of maryland so that she could shoot higher... perhaps a well-respected, old money, dc socialite?

top-ten list? pshhhh who needs one? i <3 sus.

totally, dude

**this post originally got deleted, but since susie declared a blog-off... you're on!! i'm going to shower you with niceness**





lots of fun things have occurred in the last week. rachel. i went surfing for the first time over the weekend, and have got to say... it's a lot of fun. rachel. it's definitely something i could get into. rachel. affording a decent board, on the other hand, i'm not so sure. rachel. we only stayed out about an hour, and i didn't actually "ride" a wave, but i sure would've if my dang foot hadn't hit the board. rachel. so i rode it on my knees. rachel. between the beach, the sunset, and the moon, it was pretty incredible. rachel.

we had our first day of practice yesterday. rachel. everything went well. rachel. needless to say, without giving too much detail, we're going to have an awesome season. rachel. i won't tell you why, but take it as fact. rachel.

i ordered a pair of croc sandals online (sorry, rachel) and i do have to say they're quite incredible. rachel. they squeak, but other than that, they're fantastic. rachel.

i was planning on making this longer, but i've got to go meet brian for lunch. rachel.

sorry, susie, i had to. rachel. maybe one day. rachel.

playa, please!

it's been a fun weekend/week so far. this is definitely a fun town. last night we took this yacht out and had a good time with a couple of folks. the thing is incredible. 63' is a big-ass yacht.

work is going well, i've met just about everybody on staff at this point, minus one or two who are out on vacation. we start new swimmer orientation tomorrow night, so i'll finally be getting back on deck! it's been a while... even though i coached swim camps all summer, it's not the same as having your own group and getting into it.

office! we've moved into it. i don't have a desk yet, it's supposed to be delivered on friday. or a chair. which is also getting delivered. so in the mean time, i've got my virginia fold-up chair to use. awesome. the office isn't much, but it's really nice to have a place to get up and have a destination. that and all of my swimming/workout stuff can live in one spot. i've amassed somewhat of a collection of swimming stuff... from books to old workouts to just... stuff. and it's nice to have it out of my room.

hmm, what else? i think that just about does it. i've got a sweet new work e-mail that if you want to have, let me know.

for me? really?

indeed, my new team is throwing a meet and greet bbq tonight from 6-9. should be good times. i went out and bought a bottle of wine to give to the hostess... i need to remember to be on my best virginia gentlemanly behavior with all of these southern mothers around.

speaking of virginia gentleman... i wonder if you can get their top shelf here in NC... hmmm? you definitely can't get any virginia wines, at least not at the grocery store where i was.

i actually did sit on the beach yesterday and worked up the remainder my vague season/cycle plan. i even worked up a couple practices to kind of run with the first few days. i'm going to try something new and different at the beginning of this year. what, you ask? i'll keep you posted. let's just say i'm going to model it after the dave leitao school of practice.

i went boating on tuesday, also. we tried to tube without a tube, using only the throw floaty thing and a rope. it didn't work, and actually we just ended up getting a lot of saltwater up our noses. and a nasty rope-burn. we've got more boating lined up for next tuesday. deep-sea fishing is, i believe, on the agenda. i've never done it so it should be a good time! yay beach!

rachel wins the award for the first person to send me mail at my new address! thanks, rachie. the next award up for the taking is who will be the first visitor... will it be you?

and in virginia news, we got 7 pre-season votes in the AP football poll. i'm pretty surprised. the reports out of training camp (at least the ones on virginiasports) seem to be overwhelmingly positive... so maybe there's some hope after all. most people think that if coach groh has another mediocre season, he'll hang around for another year. let's hope that he has a great season and we don't have to even ponder the point.

beach!

well, i packed all my stuff up and rolled down to the beach this week. i'm slowly getting unpacked and getting everything set up. thankfully, brian had nothing so my overabundance of shit has a place to go.

the job is lining up well. i think it's going to be really fun. the kids are going to swim very fast, obvi. it's going to be good. in fact, they're having a bbq in my honor. a pig-pickin' would've been nice, but i understand the involvement that requires. so, i'll settle for a bbq. it's saturday. i suppose it's my formal introduction.

and man, talk about a good time to be at the beach. we went out last night, and let me tell you, there are nothing but beautiful (but mostly dumb, unfortunately) women in this town. i'm talking freakin put you in a magazine hot. it's a little overwhelming.

it's also a good time to be shopping for linen clothing apparently. i hit up banana republic today and got 3 linen shirts for $19/each. and a pair of linen pants for $49. that's a steal, people. i've got to get all beach-bum attired up, and i think i've succeeded.

i'm going to sit on the beach and start working up my season plan... have fun in your cubicles!

only kidding!

whew, finally all settled. in the end, i AM moving to north carolina. things didn't quite go so well with my old team... i was actually lied to and then insulted. but it's cool... their loss. besides, i don't want to dwell on the bullshit.

so, i took the new job. i'm absolutely pumped. it's a step up the ladder and for good money.

after getting back from coaching another swim camp very far away yesterday, i had today and yesterday to pack and get moved. i successfully packed today, so by the time i get the truck loaded up tomorrow, i should hopefully be able to get on the road tomorrow afternoon.

i got one of those sweeet trailer things to drag my car behind the moving truck. i'm pretty excited. that and i got my car detailed today. it really puts me more at inner-peace or something. it's hard to explain... like a weight has been lifted. don't ask. i love that car.

so yah, the new job is at the beach! i've finally made it. it took me some time, but i've figured out how to get there and do a job i love and make enough money to live. all around, it's a success.

on the other hand, i'll miss my friends here like woah. i was over at rachies/susies/naris tonight and i won't lie it was way sad. and maybe andy will eventually answer my text messages and get by here before i leave... we'll see. i'll miss you guys :(

relocate?

so there was a serious flirtation with a different job in a different part of the country. there was an offer. there was lots of advice asked for and received. but in the end, i'm going to stay put. i really like where i am now, i'm in an awesome situation with my current team, this is where my friends are, and i'm happy here.

so, where does that leave me? honestly, this is the brokest i've ever been in my life. sorta fun, sorta scary. i was hoping to get to the beach at some point this summer, but i'm not sure that's going to happen. it's not that i don't have a free place to go to, it's that i don't think i can afford not working.

that's a slightly depressing thought at 24, but eh, it's all worth it in the long run.

i never really updated how the rest of camp went. obviously, it got way busy. in the next couple days i'll throw up a recap to get everybody up to speed.

fun story from the weekend: rachel said she'd leave her door unlocked so that i could crash there. i had that gut feeling it would be locked, but hey, i trust rachel. sadly though, when i got there, the door was locked (one of her other rooommates had come home and locked it, unfortunately) and she wasn't answering the phone. i slept on the front porch. luckily only for about 45 minutes before her other roommate came home. good thing it wasn't raining.

what's my line?

"When Morrison finished school at fourteen, coming from a hard working family, he was expected to get a regular, full-time job.^[14]After several short apprenticeship positions, he settled into a job as a window cleaner,^[15] referenced in the autobiographical songs, "Cleaning Windows" and "Saint Dominic's Preview"."

from wikipedia.

new job?

oh there could be drama. stay posted.

week two: day two

week two, day two. tired. sick. i've got a sinus infection, a pretty bad one. my doctor called in a prescription so i'm hoping i'll feel better soooon.

and the kids this week? well, we've already had two 911 calls (that the kids made as a "joke"), multiple asthma attacks, two group switches because of bad behavior, and one of my swimmers is stuck in his room at night because of bad behavior.

how much of that did we have last week? none at all.

the best part about this week? definitely eating in o-hill!!!!

other best part about this week? yup, it's true. $$ is coming back to UVa for his fourth year!

week one: complete

the first week has come to a close. phew. it was definitely tiring. and next week we've got 40 more kids coming in than we had this week. should be quite an adventure...

so, how'd i do in my first week? well, the head coach said to me on thursday, "you know? you're real good. we'll give you another year or two coaching age group, and then maybe you'll be ready to coach college athletes." niice. once again, how do you respond to that? all i could muster was "thank you."

all of my kids improved their times from sunday to friday. i even had one kid drop more than 30 seconds in his 200IM. how they all swim faster is beyond me. after being away from home all week (some of them for the first time), sleeping in unfamiliar beds, swimming 6 hours a day, staying up late, and eating cap'n crunch with chocolate milk in it for every meal, i'm surprised they can even walk. let alone swim faster. my first group was a fun one, and it's interesting to me how much you can learn and get connected to these kids in just one week. it was sad to see them go.

props?

so, day four has come to a close. lots of fun stuff today. my club team kids represented quite well in the camp springs today. we had the top 11-and-under, and one of the top 4 12-and-overs. and the 12-and-over happens to be newly thirteen. i was proud.

the dining hall food has been, well, pretty boring. basically pasta for every meal. if this continues, i think i'll be sick of pasta by the middle of next week.

my group has been tons of fun so far this week. lots of great questions that have really gotten me to think. and i have learned a LOT from the lectures. listening to some of the coaches on staff speak, for me, is really cool. we're talking about top level athletes and coaches that are telling me stuff that will really help me make a difference with my little guys back home. well, if i can get them to listen.

but easily the coolest part of today, and maybe of my whole life (well, at least coaching career...)... i was coaching my group of older (11-16) developmental swimmers. i'm talking kids that swim just summer, or swim year round who are, to put it in the words of my head coach at home, trifling athletes. anyway, i'm coaching them in the two lanes next to the coach who has coached 3 gold medalists, all-americans, world university games, olympic teams, and all that good stuff. he walks over to me and says, "you know what son?" me: "what's that, coach?" him: "you're one helluva coach." quite simply, i was floored. i can't even come up with an analogy for it. i got flustered, and all i could muster was, "well, thank you coach. that means a lot." him: "i mean it, i know talent when i see it, and you've got it." i'll take his word for hit. thank you, coach.

day 2?

tired. that about sums it up. i got up at 5:05 this morning (no, not 5:04, 1 extra minute!) and went over and swam at the AFC. yes, be jealous. and then be jealous i was swimming in the AFC at dusk with the lights out before anybody had arrived... kind of a cool scene.

pictures of hancock are coming, i took them, so it's a matter of getting them off my digital camera (yes, i have one) and getting them on the computer/facebook/blog.

and yes, i did have a puker in the first 3 hours of being at camp. the culprit? taco bell. a note to all the swimmers out there... it is definitely a bad idea to eat taco bell the afternoon before you have to swim a 200IM for time in an unfamiliar environment without your parent.

we were listening to the head coach give camp rules, and the puker walked up to me and asked if she could go to the bathroom. my response? "well, can you wait and hear all the rules?" and i don't know if you know, but kids get the "i'm gonna vomit all over you in 10 seconds" face. if you can't/don't recognize it, yah, you're covered in vomit. so, i got her to a trash can, which just so happened to be far enough away that it didn't disturb the meeting. hero! she felt better.

move in day!

wow, talk about deja vu! it is certainly strange being back in the dorm again after 6 years. it's still exactly the same as i remember it... hot as hell (regardless of the month of the year), the bathrooms still grungy, the floors still sticky, and the carpet still stained.

but, i'm here nonetheless. the campers don't start arriving until tomorrow around lunchtime, so i've got a little bit of free time tonight to get settled in. unfortunately, settling in doesn't mean on first-left. despite saying i'd fight for it, one of the UVa assistants has lived on that hall at swim camp for the 7 years. yah, i was SOL.

so instead, i lucked out and got a room in the basement! it's only about 30 degrees cooler down here, so definitely no complaints on this end.

it's funny to think about how much my life has changed in the 6 years since i've lived here. i guess 6 years is a long time, but it doesn't really feel like it's been that many years. but basically, my life as i know it now began six years ago in this dorm. what have i done since then? well, been in love (twice?), broken hearts, gotten my heart broken, had more money than i knew what to do with, made the best friends i'll ever have, drank way too much, learned a lot of important life lessons, rushed a fraternity, pledged a fraternity, depledged a fraternity, and then re-rushed/pledged a completely different one, totaled a car, bought the car of my dreams, graduated from college, drank more, moved to nebraska, moved back from nebraska, taught 5th grade, found the job i really love. phew, that's a lot. and that's really only the tip of the iceberg, even as far as highlights go.

so, at any rate... i feel like i'm in charlottesville so i need to get out of the dorm room and go out and, well, be in charlottesville.

details, details, details

as i was talking to a friend yesterday and explaining the excitement of my adventure to charlottesville, she reminded me of one small detail i had overlooked...

twin extra-long sheets.

seriously? i mean, who saved those after college? my mom didn't, justifying it by saying "who will ever need these again?"

thankfully, the roommate came through in the clutch, saving me from spending $50 on sheets for just four weeks.

and on another note, i saw knocked up last night. wow. the movie was hilarious, and everybody needs to see it at some point.

the hook!!

that's right, everybody. not only am i back on the blog, but i'm headed home. back to charlottesville!

i'm going to attempt to blog about my exploits as a coach at UVA swim camp for the next four weeks. the best part about the whole experience? well, besides the swimming part? hancock! i'll be back in my old dorm. talk about full circle. i think it will be quite strange, and i am prepared to fight the other coaches to get a room on my old hall (first left!).

but, in preparing to head back to the hook and back to good old hancock, i've started to freak out at the crazy list of things i need to acquire before i make the trip...

1. a mini-fridge. i might have to break into my parents house in the middle of the night.
2. a window fan. or maybe 2. back in the day, andy and i had 2 box fans in the window. one pushing air in, the other blowing it out. it worked well, and i'm hoping the second time is a charm. charlottesville in june/july? hot.
   
3. shower shoes! yah, i'm going to have to make a trip to old navy sometime this week and grab some cheap flip-flops. i mean, i'm a swim coach so i walk on dirty, nasty floors all the time, but for some reason, the hancock showers gross me out.
4. a shower carry-thingy. last time i had one of those? definitely 6 years ago.

after 6 years of non-dorm living, this should be interesting. i'm pumped. what have i forgotten? can you think of any obvious dorm-necessity? maybe a dry-erase board?

sadly, this time around, the britney spears posters will have to stay off the walls...

ahhh

hello, blog. i'm back.

you know what they're writing about

in the weekly e-mail that goes to everybody on the team i work for, check out my blurb...

"We are thrilled to say we've turned over the reins to Coach Doug, who will take on full-time coaching responsibilities for those groups. Doug, formerly with [another team] and currently a coach with our night group at [pool location], is ready to begin a long-term and successful career with [current team] and we couldn't be more confident in his abilities, commitment and passion for teaching your children. Please introduce yourself when you see him on deck!"

able, committed, and passionate? huh, i was hoping for charming and good-looking, but i guess you take what you can get.

what three adjectives would your employer use to describe you? what three adjectives would you use to describe yourself at work? and do you think, or at least hope, that they'd differ greatly?

props if you picked up on the van reference in the title.

it's that time of year

it's that time of year, again. yup, that time where i look at my calendar and see that i've only got 3 months to get back into shape for the summer. although, the last, ohhh, 6 years or so, i've done nothing about except maybe a few sit-ups or push-ups.

not this year. this year will be different. for the last 2 weeks i've actually been swimming. swimming with one of our senior prep groups. and i've actually finished the whole practice. this isn't like in college where our workouts would generally consist of maybe 1500 yards and then a 15-minute hot tub sit. nope, i've pushed up over 3000 meters twice in the last two weeks. simply put? that's more swimming at any point in my life since high school.

hmm what else? i went to see fighting gravity at the barns of wolf trap last weekend. it was a lot of fun, and i even went by myself. everybody had an excuse not to go, and i didn't, so i said why the hell not. it was surprisingly fun and not as awkward as i thought it would be. i was able to get up to the front (much easier for one person) and had a great time. doing stuff like that by yourself is surprisingly liberating... or something like that. so, i can now add a concert to my list of activities i've done by myself. the list? well, not too long. but i have been to the movies by myself.

the curse of manhattan place

to begin, let me clear up any confusion: you matter too, B. you matter, too.

the last 2 times i've left manhattan place, i've had brushes (or near-brushes) with the law. thursday night, coming home from the duke game, after dropping rachel off, an officer pulled me over. i suppose it was 230 in the morning, and he was probably somewhat suspicious.

but, what did he say when he pulled me over? "your license plate looked strange." right. thank you for wasting 30 minutes of my time in the middle of the night when i've been driving all day (and yes, i did tell him about UVa's big win.)

so, leaving last night after the super bowl, i'm on the toll road. not going too fast, and actually in the far right lane. they don't actually pull people in the far right lane over, do they? i'm following a white mini van. we go by a cop at probably 65 miles an hour. the toll road, for those of you that live on the 66 side of the world, is like a nascar track. people fly down it. so 65 is nothing. however, the cop pulls out. i start getting all pissed off about how i had just said that i didn't want to start a new tradition of being pulled over every time i left manhattan. fortunately for me, though, the cop throws his lights on behind me (yah, that was scary), then blows around me and whips in front of me. he pulled over the mini van.

phew. let's just chalk it up to strange coincidence, right?

as predicted

yup, great win last night hoos! the weather held out completely, and it was one helluva basketball game. i'll admit, i got quite nervous with about 3:30 left to go, and i believe we were still down 8. i really thought we wouldn't have enough time to dig out of the hole, especially considering how the shots had been falling all night.

but, i was wrong. we played outstanding down the stretch and pulled out one of the craziest victories i've ever been witness to. great decision to go to the game, and i'm glad the sabre helped me get the tickets!

a couple of thoughts from last night...

1. sean is sick. he's ridiculously clutch. and his no look passes have become, dare i say it? pistol pete-esque. if we had anybody that could grab them and throw them down, well, it would be a nice duo to have on your side.
2. it did get loud in there last night. our section (way the hell up in the rafters) even got to standing the last 5 minutes of the game, as well as all of overtime. good work by the students to keep the volume up, and also for some great chants ("you can't guard him!")
3. michael's bistro, where we were fortunate enough to dine, is nothing short of fantastic every time i go. their beer list is nothing short of magnificent, and my meal, a pasta dish, was easily the best i had ever had. ever. seriously.
4. i had to fight the bartender at biltmore to get a beer... as one of only five people sitting at the bar. why? well, it was 3 minutes before survivor hour started, and they were astonished that i didn't want to wait to save $2. but i wanted to get to the game.
5. beth duffy, the idiot from WCAV19 news, is terrible. she is the most patronizing, out-of-touch big-screen game-leading lady i've ever encountered. please please replace her!
6. the duke bench suit-wearing-huddle-toweldown boys were hilarious. after each huddle, they, no joke, vigorously attacked the floor on their hands and knees with their towels for a solid 10 or 15 seconds. it was ridiculous. but coach k likes them on their knees, i guess. that's what wojo said, anyway.
7. we will actually really miss jason cain next year. and not just because of the stache. he grabbed a solid 10 boards yet again.
8. congrats to the redneck dukies sitting a couple rows behind us that made duke look completely ridiculous and classless. way to slink out of the arena you pieces of shit.

what else? hmm i think that about does it.

also, rachel has started her own blog. you should check it out. the link to it can be found to the right in my "sweet blogs to read."

so, maybe i lied

i know i said that i would post about how much i hate duke. well, i lied. i decided that i duke didn't even deserve the face time on my blog. so what am i going to write about instead? well...


how incredible Virginia is, of course.

i got an e-mail today with a link to the first ever edition of the cavalier daily. the date? september 1967. here are a few of my favorite excerpts from the various articles.

"The unhurried outlook seems to be one thing; the University itself is another, as charged with energy beneath as its reactor. At last it is becoming what Mr. Jefferson wanted it to be-the capstone of the state's system of education, a wellspring of diversified learning and the source of stimulating intellectual inquiry...

But behind all the latter day vitality, pervading it as mint does a julep, is the Jeffersonian tradition, and definitions of what that is depends on to whom you are talking, and when. On the one hand it is the student honor system; on the other, as someone has put it, "the God-given right to go to hell in your own way." It is abstract and material-the faculty's jealous guardianship of its academic and intellectual freedom, and the buildings which constitute Mr. Jefferson's physical legacy..."

---

"Students here no longer have cocktails before dinner each evening, as once they did, and the old practice of tipping hats to professors has disappeared (probably because students no longer wear hats): but at the University, the tradition of wearing a coat and tie whenever one goes out still prevails.

It is not a tradition set by any ruling on the part of the University; instead, it is based upon the assumption that the University man has maturity enough and sufficient pride in his personal appearance that he would want to appear presentable to the outsider, as well as to his fellow classmates."

---

"It will start out with an introduction to new friends in the dorm and very soon you, your friends & dates will be walking down Rugby Road to fraternity parties. Rugby Road...one of the most interesting by-ways around-a strange combination of fraternity houses, none of which look the same testifying to their guarded right to individuality. Rugby Road... clothed in bright leaves in fall, blanketed by gleaming snow in winter, fresh and spontaneous in the spring and crowned with a red, yellow and green stop light."

---

only excerpts from many articles worth a look. check it out.

and hey duke, enjoy the beating tomorrow night.

mmm

so, my trip to north carolina was capped off with a stop at bojangles right after crossing the nc/va border. sadly, bojangles is only found WAY south of the mason-dixon line. we used to have one in charlottesville, but it closed before my first year. that's about as far north as i think bojangles has ever been.

if you've never been to bojangles and experienced the incredibleness that is their chicken and biscuits, well, you're missing out. sure, popeyes is delicious, but bojangles simply puts it to shame.

if some enterprising entrepreneur opened a bojangles in northern virginia, would you eat there?

also, i went to the grocery store yesterday. and after having been called a "bachelor" by my 83-year old grandmother, i really felt like it once i realized the purchases i had made... cereal, a small thing of milk, ketchup, and beer.

let's see... another interesting tidbit: i actually purchased the taylor hicks cd yesterday. now granted, i used a best buy gift card so i didn't spend "my" money on it, but i bought it nonetheless. why would you buy the taylor hicks cd, you might ask? well, i felt like i had so much invested in his success that i simply HAD to purchase it. i said all last spring that no matter what happened to taylor on american idol, i would buy his cd. i fulfilled my promise. i felt pretty gay taking it up to the cash register... good thing i was also purchasing caddyshack at the same time. the two purchases kinda balanced each other out. is buying caddyshack somewhat sadistic (if you know what i mean, well, then you know)?

and how is the cd you ask? well, i'm glad i spent gift card money on it, let's put it that way.

charlottesville AGAIN on thursday for the duke game. look for a post about how much i despise duke and coach k in the coming days.

TMNT

"I've got one word for you dude: cowabunga. Cowabunga that chick in your underground lair all night long."

hilarious.

and in case you were wondering, raphael was definitely my favorite ninja turtle.

and in case you were wondering, yes i did put up a picture of michaelangelo when i meant to put one up of my boy, raphael. check the comments. thanks to prslavedc for the heads up/not making me feel too stupid!

thanks reddit.

action-packed you say?

we did it. we successfully completed an action-packed charlottesville visit in only one night. yup, just one night. what did we do in the space of just slightly more than 24 hours?

1. new target.
   
2. take-it-away. so much culture.
3. arch's. no, it wasn't boarded up, thank goodness!
4. mincer's... where we learned susie's head is misshapen.
5. the bookstore. who knew they didn't sell "virginia law" t-shirts there?
6. walked the lawn. who wants to go on larry sabato's roof?
7. drove around rugby/heckled soon-to-be sorority girls walking in huge groups.
8. uva/unc swim meet. we reminisced about hot tub time.
   
9. south street/christian's pizza/the crepe place/the downtown mall.
   
10. biltmore!
11. crashed lauren's apartment. home of antarctica and crazy apartment parties.
    
12. stood in line at the tavern and got annoyed at the grumpy old guy in line in front of us with a 15 person family.
13. so instead, bodo's! at least we didn't smell like syrup. bojoe!
    
14. john paul jones arena. i can't wait til i'm an usher there once i retire to charlottesville.
    
15. belair market. oh, but not the one you're thinking of. the secret one. good job susie.
    

conversation overheard from the weekend...

tennessee person #1: we used to have this incredible human resources lady that worked for us.
tennessee person #2: yah! what happened to her?
tennessee person #1: i dunno. i heard she moved to virginia.
tennessee person #2: damn.

fun weekend. i can't wait to retire...

gimme that hokie pokie now baby!

good win by the hoos on tuesday over the turtle.

good loss by the hokies last night to florida state.

2 days to charlottesville!

today's post is brought to you by the letter "N"

i have a habit, in case you haven't noticed, or maybe it's a policy... either way, of not mentioning people by name in my blog. at least full name. andy gets a mention every now and then, jeff (whose eagles lost last night!!) has gotten one or two, charlie of course gets the nod from time to time. but, for the most part, i usually don't mention names or simply use their initials.

but today's post is all about N. what can i say about N that could possibly be detrimental? well, pretty much nothing. N is awesome. ten things to further prove my point...

1. N loves driving to charlottesville. strange, but true. even when other people will, and have, might i add, quite graciously offered to chauffeur, N is always ready to hop behind the wheel.
   
2. N is quite possibly the fastest facebook-picture-tagging you putter-upper that i have ever known. N might actually be the fastest of all-time.
3. a corollary to number 1, N won't take gas money. N loves driving to charlottesville so much, that not even the ever-rising cost of gasoline can discourage her. N won't even take donations to help offset the cost. that is incredible.
4. and don't you even think about buying N a shot. not going to happen. if you do manage to pull it off... the mysterious $20 bill you found in your shoe? that was from N.
5. N is so awesome that she can make friends with anybody. and her conversational skills? fantastic. case in point: one time, N met a random person in a bar bathroom. who actually meets people in a bar bathroom? well, only people as fantastic as N. but N is so awesome, the greeting was followed by a 30-minute conversation about denim. yup, denim.
6. N is the only sk of importance. fact.
7. N is so ridiculously incredible that, yah, you guessed it, that's N on playboy.com. not in the tacky naked way, but in the classy way that only a few incredible people can be found on playboy.com.
8. N lives by the mantra that, "you only live once."
   
9. N is a fantastic flip-cup/beer pong partner. in fact, i don't think i've ever lost a game of either when N was my teammate. even against younger, in better drinking shape competition, N is always a quality anchor.
10. N, unlike other people i know, takes full shots for the full 60 minutes of a power hour. even in old(er) age, N can still pummel a power hour. what if N is doing laundry you ask? you better believe that shot glass and can of coors light makes the trip to make sure that annoying robe is finally dry.

i could go on, but i think you get my point. feel free to add your own awesome thoughts about N... because a list of only 10? let's be honest, that's just scratching the surface.

5 days until charlottesville.

the revolution

i joined myspace the other day. yup, i actually did it. i maintained for a very long time that myspace was nothing more than the drunk, trashy, ugly step-sibling of facebook. but i figured that, hey, with all of my free time, i should give it a fair shake. so the other day, i (somewhat) successfully made my myspace account. guess what?

...yup, still trashy. and hard to use. thank god i had andy around to help walk me through how to figure out some of that shit. i'm no dummy, and i'm pretty computer literate, but navigating through all of the "punch george bush in the face" ads and the dead links/server not responding messages is quite annoying. but hey, i survived and even got a picture up there and requested a few friends. i even had a few people request to be my friend!

so the question now becomes... do i pimp my myspace page? some people's pages are so ridiculous that you can't even read what is on there... once again, just re-inforcing the trashiness.

my kind of diet

so recently, jeff and i have been using our free membership to tysons sport and health and going a couple of times a week to workout. yesterday was the first day i didn't swim as part of my workout, and instead, followed jeff over to the bike.

never again. i have never felt worse for 24 hours in my life (well, i have, but this is just annoying.) fuck it, i'm just going to stick to what i know and what i do best... the pool. and you know what's worse? watching the calorie counter on the bike go up. it's truly depressing. my heart rate up to 190 for about 12 minutes of a 30 minute workout, and i burn something like 160 calories for the whole damn workout? yuck. swimming probably isn't any better, but at least there's no counter in front of my face.

oh right, but the point of this post... is that to me, a "diet" is simply what i've been doing: keep my current food intake (probably eating healthy about 1/2 the time), but add exercise! i'm not really sure if it's a great idea, but hey, it seems to work for me. i mean, in theory, it should work right? i guess i'd have faster results by completely changing my diet, but why sacrifice eating what i want?

on another note, good work hoos! i always like to see us crush somebody the caliber of gonzaga on national television. actually, i'm not sure the hoos have ever beaten anybody on national tv worth writing home about... maybe kentucky in the maui a couple of years ago... but i don't think, even in football, that there has been a good national tv win. can you remember any?

this year's love had better last

hello, 2007. bout damn time.

i suppose i could reflect on the various successes and failures of 2006, but that would probably bore you. and probably disappoint myself, seeing as how there would probably be more failures than successes.

but how about some highlights, just for sheer human interest... hmm...

• i bought the acura. still the best $700 i ever spent
• my summer swim team won their first meet in 3 seasons. jeff and i are awesome
• i moved out! yah, reston
• went on lots of vacations, including wilmington (three times), ocean city, new york (twice), charleston
• uva beat arizona
• saw van twice, once in new york, the other time at the patriot center
• all the other concerts, including jimmy buffett, goo goo dolls, and dave
• lots of good times with good friends
  

and i did learn a lot in 2006. i guess, in a way, that's the goal: every year, learn just a little bit more about yourself and what direction you're headed. i definitely have more knowledge and direction today, january 1, 2007 than i did on january 1, 2006. small victories.

and 2007 certainly got off to quite an interesting start. but interesting in a really good way. you should ask me for the story, it's a good one. just not one for public consumption.

happy new year everybody!