5 steps, from Eternity

Well I decided that it's probably more practical to post like Chin, meaning at night time after the day's activities were all said and done.

So quick update...Last night I went to the city with 45 (who's name is Kerry btw I just like calling her 45, has a nice ring to it in my head). We hung out at Frank's place, won a mini bp best of three tourney, and then headed to a neighboring bar. A nice fun and laid back night of drinking, something that I could never really achieve in AA.

Today, I woke up at 7am to move 45's car which was parked in a no parking 7am-7pm zone. Turns out I got lost in the city and ended up driving around for over 2 hours. I guess when you spend 5 years in AA and never really drive during breaks it's hard to find your sense of direction in Baltimore, not to mention I already have a pretty bad sense of direction. I got back to Frank's house around 9:15, woke 45 up and we drove back to my place. She had to work at 11 so we hung around in my basement watching Fresh Prince until she went into work. Shortly thereafter the lack of sleep caught up to me and I passed out till around 3.

My sister "suffered" a concussion recently, I say "suffered" because I don't really understand why that's the term people choose to use for injuries, but thats a whole other story. Anyways due to her injury she missed two weeks of school, during this time her Calc teacher assigned all this online hw, which for her isn't a grade now but she still wanted her to complete it. So i spent the next couple hours of my day, helping her out with this mountain of online homework. After that I searched the government job website my mom referred to me to see if anything interested me and it really didn't, so I came up with a new direction for my next couple months...

I decided that in addition to being Assistant Basketball and Track coach, I'm going to substitute teach as well in Baltimore County. I figure thats a good way to at least make some kind of money while I study for my GRE's. The moral of the story is the interviews didn't go well, by that I mean i didn't really like the environments I was going into. On top of that, the other jobs I was looking at were for full time, which I couldn't do and coach, and were below my qualification level, meaning anyone with a highschool diploma could do them, meaning I would make less money than any other job I've ever really done.

So my Thursday plan consists of turning in all my applications for the coaching jobs and stubsitute teaching gig, gather a couple references, and then probably go out with 45 and a couple of her friends....Yes I know I traded a "dream" life in AA of working and partying, for a "dream" life in Maryland of looking for work and moderately drinking...


Good Night.

"In order to act, you must be somewhat insane. A reasonably sensible man is satisfied with thinking."

Another day, another dollar, another blog...well not really another dollar.

So I woke up nice and early this morning 7am to be precise, to see my lil bro off to school, my parents off to work, and to join my new co-worker, head coach of the Loch Raven High School basketball team. We met at our local diner, well one of the two, Towson Diner, which was a nice meal but is nothing like Benny's...I used to hit this diner up my senior year before school and 2 eggs any style used to cost 2.50....now its more like 5.00...Oh how times change....In any case Coach Abel and I had a great conversation about our backgrounds and the direction we wanted to take Loch Raven sports, at the end of which I officially became the Assistant coach of the BBall team and the Monitor for Study Tables...Not exactly where I saw myself a few weeks ago but this new direction does seem very promising.

Tonight 45 and I plan on heading into the city to check out our friend's new place. Well its new to me as I'm the only one that hasn't seen it yet. So it will be my first Tuesday night out on the town...well in Maryland...I wonder if this will start to be a thing. I don't think so though because both 45 and Frank don't have to work tonight, which has a lot to do with us hanging out in the city.

Let's see, well the security deposits finally came back, that was nice, even tho Chris wrote my address wrong and sent it to a neighbors house. Luckily they knew who we were and  delivered it to us no worries.

Man not really much to talk about today, maybe tomorrow I'll write another interesting entry, till then Happy Tuesday to the world. Oh and don't forget about the Brittney Spears Glee tonight!!!! That was for you Chin ha im sure you heard all about it at Shane's tho.

"You Can't Coach Desire"

Rainy Days
I don't know about you guys but I love rainy days. They are some of the times when I do my best thinking, planning, and writing. I suppose it's because the rain calms me, and it keeps you inside generally, which helps for productivity and what not. Oddly enough, today I learned that running in the rain is amazing too. I started my morning with pancakes and eggs and sat down to eat and what Prefontaine. If you don't know what this movie is, or have never seen it, I strongly recommend that you check it out. It's the story of Oregon great Steve Prefontaine and his journey running the 5K and attempting to win the gold medal. After sitting through this movie I had the strong desire to go for a run, and when I stepped outside I noticed it was going to rain but that didn't deter me. It was a great 20min run...

What a nice way to start my day. As for yesterday, all I did was play the Chin card and sit around in the basement watching football all day...which is actually great. Even though some of the more exciting games weren't on, there's just something about watching football that is nice.

So after my run I took a shower while listening to music and danced around a little bit. Yes I was home alone and ended up dancing, it's what I like to do, very liberating, you should try it. Afterwards I gave the Loch Raven High School (my old school) Basketball coach a call and we talked for awhile. He talked about wanting to turn the entire program around (which isn't too hard because it's been a very bad program for awhile) and he also talked about starting a study table for the kids. He spoke about wanting to teach disciple and order to the kids and how that would then allow them to grow as young men and as basketball players. All of these things I agree with so I was pretty excited. For once it seems like there's a guy who isn't just coaching for the moderate pay check, but he also wants to make a difference in the lives of the athletes and the school in general. He offered me both the assistant coach position as well as the study table mediator, both of which I am now very interested in. He ended our conversation by inviting me out to breakfast tomorrow, which I am looking forward to.

So the title quote, "you can't coach desire" was said by the Oregon head track coach in the Pre movie but also in his book "jogging." And this quote stuck with me and got me to thinking about myself, as a person and as an athlete. I loved running track, still do, always will, but my desire during those years wasn't the desire to win or be the best. It was just the desire to show up, work hard, and escape from the stresses of daily life. Its this lack of wanting to win that probably kept me off the podium but I didn't mind, in fact I loved every second of my track career and would do it all the same over again. But my life desire, this is a big question. Coming home I knew I needed to find a job. I know I wanted to help people and I had a couple of places in mind and interviews lined up. After looking more into these places they all seemed like they would be great resume builders, but I didn't know if they would give me the satisfaction, the feeling of creating real change and impact that I desire. As a kid and now all I ever want to do is positively impact the people I meet, and oddly enough this coaching gig seems like a good way to do it. So yes I still plan on continuing my education in psychology and eventually a career, but who says I can't change a couple of lives in the process.

Its more what we do that defines us, not how we do it. So while I didn't initially plan on taking this path, I believe that there is a reason it's all come together so smoothly and at this particular time in my life, so like my good friend opportunity said when he comes you should answer, and that is precisely what I intend to do.

Number 45

Well, less than a day passed before I eclipsed that special number, the one some of us figured was inevitable I suppose but still was a bit of a surprise to me. I suppose it was a long time coming, we have been friends and a bit more for just about a year now, and up until this point things have been moving at a nice slow pace. The time was right, the mood seemed perfect, and things just fell into place. How did it happen? Pretty similar to how most of the things of this nature do. Spent a night together drinking and being merry, took a nice cab ride home, and settled into a twin bed.

How do I feel about this one? I mean I told myself that I was done taking that card, you know being the first memory. The last time I went down this road it ended pretty horribly, I tried so long not to do it, one night I slipped up, and everything fell apart. Something felt different this time though, it felt right. Yes as corny and cliche  as that is, it doesn't make it any less accurate. As some of you know, I said I wanted 45 to be something more than the others, maybe even a little special, and I think that all things considered 45 was definitely a good choice. I am pretty confident that when she looks back on the night and even me so won't have anything negative, well until I somehow find a way to ruin things and make her hate me. But again now that I am home for good, I think that it is well in my control to keep that from happening.

So to put the day into perspective. I woke up relatively early, around 9 am, went for a run through my old middle school's cross country course. It was nice to be home and wake up in a room that wasn't the basement. Anyways so came back from my run enjoyed breakfast with my mom and pops, picked my lil bro up from a soccer game, he's the manager now, and then spent most of the day playing with my computer. Around 4pm I was picked up by 45, she took me on a nice little adventure to gather her stuff from her summer hang outs and I saw her new place. Man everyone has really nice houses they live in these days, the only issue is its a good drive away, like 15 minutes, when she used to live 5 blocks away. When we finally left her house to return to mine, SURPRISE, a bunch of my friends and family were waiting here for me for a surprise Welcome Back party. Man I love my family, and I love being home.

So at this party my mom made all of our favorite finger foods, wings, meatballs, and burgers and hot dogs. We had a couple cases of keystone light and 45 and me went on a 5-0 beer pong streak. I think this is where my drunk came from because we played 2 beers a game but she was drinking wine most of the time so I was drinking about 2 beers a game. Afterwards we headed into Towson to the bars, had a great time dancing and drinking more, and then took a cab ride home. It was my very first cab ride in Maryland ha. We usually drive or go out close to someone's house and walk back. Apparently I was very friendly to the cab driver. Randomly in the night I had asked 45 if she was still in possession of her card, and she said yes and that she thought I was a good choice to give it to. This conversation must have been playing in my subconscious all night because as soon as we returned I took her for her word.

So thats all the details you get for now. Nothing too spicy or crazy But yes 45 has come, she's great and hopefully there is a long time before you guys here about 46...if she ever comes! ha.

Back in the Act

Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I give to you my first post from Maryland! I hope you guys enjoy the new background, its the wonderful city of Baltimore.

Go Blue.


So Chin's blog did a very nice job of summing up our time together and putting a nice heartfelt touch on everything. It really is going to be a big lifestyle change for all of us 1502oers....well I guess for Me Cass and Chin...As wheeler has already separated himself and Mike we're not real sure where he lives or what he's up to, other than his music. My plans for the next week or so are simple. Make myself a nice room to live in for the next year, set up my computer, set up my FFXIV account, and visit my sis for the first time at Wake Forest. There are a sprinkle of people I'll get to see, most of them my family, but I have a couple of friends that it'll be nice to get back in the swing of things with. It's odd being back because everyone has already settled into their lifestyles and I kinda feel like its my freshman year all over again. Everyone is a junior or senior well on their way and im the old new kid on the block.

Ah yeah its the middle of the day here so not much to talk about really, Think we're heading to Towson tonight, my local college town, to hit up some bars and hopefully I can find some Octoberfest. This whole not drinking most of the week thing is probably going to be my biggest adjustment, but Im guessing it'll have some positive effects on me ha...In anycase I'll update tomorrow with something more of interest, just figured I'd say hello.

Midwestern Girl

It is a sad day indeed. This marks my last post from the midwest, and my last day in Wheaton with Chin....Even though we have been relatively chill by our 1502 standards, it's been an amazing trip with many good memories and lasting impressions ha. I will look back on these 3 weeks as a good way to end my time at UM and the midwest well. On that same note, today's post is my little goodbye to the Midwestern girl, without who, my time at Michigan and the midwest in general would not have been the same.


To my Midwestern Girl,
Fall
You bring with you that summer flair, that happiness those smiles, the wind blowing your hair. To the Saturday mornings and afternoons alike, where we drink excessive amounts and you fall off your bike. Where its ok to be sloppy before 12pm, and you usually find yourself passed out in a house with all kinds of strange men. You beer bong like no other, and even master the keg stand, we hang out for a week and you have no problem holding my hand. My midwestern girl. You are friendly to everyone, not just to me. But thats what I enjoy is your lifestyle, your ambition to be free. You do as you please and now is the time, its cool, for before long  you'll disappear, lost in school.
Winter
It seems you went into hibernation with all the bears, I can't find you behind the snowfall or the chilly winter air. All I can see is the body length north face, topped off with the Ugg boots, and I wonder what happened to your highlights, I can see the true color of your roots.  Your wrap yourself in an elaborate scarf covering your face and your neck, with fancy wool gloves to finish the look. All the smiles have faded and the cheering has been whisked away. The diag is empty, a wasteland and in the odd chance you do pass me by, you have no words to say. Maybe its the exams that have you all huddled inside, or our football team falling apart that makes you want to hide. I might find you at a bar on a saturday night, but by then you're with a few choice girlfriends, who are just having a "ladies night." Oh midwestern girl. Where did you run off to, my nights are lonely and days long, without the sight of you.
Spring
Just like the flowers and and bright sun, you apring into view. Like the snow and ice, your absence was just passing through. On the first nice day out you and your girls are back just like that, wearing your face sunglasses leggings or jeggings, and a tank top to match. Its spring term so classes really aren't all that bad, and you make sure we all know what is fashion's latest fad. You have that annoying giant bag, that you try to call a purse, when you turn and swing you knock things over, and under their breath people curse. But i can ignore all that glamor for you are back in my life, you even play sports, frisbee, beach volleyball the like. You lay out and read books, half naked without a care, you let all the boys run by, almost hoping they'll stare. You know you look good, you just came from the gym, where you listened to your ipod, on the elliptical machine. But again, all this is more good than it is bad, because we go out all the time and make new friends.
Summer
Here we are, our favorite time of the year. No homework no responsibilities, just good times far and near. All year I've waiting, and we've done the friend dance, now you finally let down your guard and are willing to give me that chance. We hang out all the time, no need to slow it down, we're having so much fun, and thats all the matters in the end. We go out on your boat, and just sit in the lake. We play on the sand bar, drinking the daylight away. We go floating down the river, in all kinds of funny tubes, but we always bring our cooler, full of our favorite booze. For me, its all about the bud, heavy, wheat or just plain light, and you love yourself some vodka, cranberry, tonic, water, redbull, or just anything Burnett's. We drink and are merry, and the weeks they fly by, until the summer ends, and a cool breeze fills the sky. We say we'll hang out, when school starts back up, but we both know thats a probably a lie. With the hustle of football season, i'll find another girl, and you another guy. But we don't let this impending transfer tarnish our last moments together. We sit and watch the stars at night, enjoying the end of the summer weather.


Be as bad or corny as it was, there were many good memories mixed into that mess that I wrote above, and honestly I wouldn't have wanted my time in Michigan to be any different. I believe that who we are is defined in part by our actions and experiences, and I am forever a Wolverine. I've spent so much of my young adult life in the Midwest that I almost feel at home here, but sadly my road has come to, not an end, but a turning point. This next year will be crazy, unpredictable im sure, but no matter what I know that whatever I do, wherever I am, whoever I meet, I will forever Go Blue.

"You're not from around here" "Sure I am, why do you think that?" "Well there aren't really black people in Wheaton" ..."Yeah you're right, I'm from Maryland"

Won't you take me to, Cougar Town?!


AND my small Bladder attacks again!!!

Ok so if you guys read one of my earlier posts, you will know that I classify my bladder as one of the biggest blocks around. There are multiple occasions where I'll be meeting a new friend, leave to use the head, and come back and they've disappeared!! Last night was noooo different.

To back track a little Chin and I realized that last night would be my last night of big drinking on the midwest, so we decided to do what we do best, play smash and pregame! haha good times. We made some Seagrims and Mountain Dew. Chuck joined us for the craziness and eventually we ended up biking to Rosies. I should warn you guys that biking under the influence in very bad, and against the law so don't do it!!!

So at Rosie's they had their Wednesday night 80c beer specials so we capitalized on that. The title quote comes from a conversation I had with a Cougar. To describe the scene a little bit, Rosie's is filled with Wheaton North and South old highschool buddies, like Chin's age and older or younger, and then a bunch of adults. It's a pretty small town to people usually know each other and an outsider, especially a black one, stands out. So I spent a good portion of the night trying to convince a couple people that I graduated from Wheaton North with Chin but eventually this older woman caught on and called my bluff. Surprising enough she seemed into me and we talked about how she grew up in Chicago, her previous two marriages, her two girls, how she now is single and doesn't want a man, how she doesn't have a job but owns a house and supports her kids, you know normal bar talk ha. Then things got interesting, she introduced me to her friends (a couple whom she met in her neighborhood) and told me about how it was hard for her to meet new people etc etc.

She kept asking me when I was leaving, in a way that inferred she wanted to hang out again before I left, and granted due to my intoxication I was all about it. Besides who doesn't want their own "Dr. Laura" story? But then it happened. Out of no where my bladder kicked me in the balls and yelled "I gotta go pee!" I pleaded with my new lady friend (whose name I either never learned or don't remember) to wait while I went, or even to come take a "walk" with me ha but then Chuck told her that walk really meant use the bathroom. Moral of the story, when I returned from my behind the bar bathroom trip, I saw her waving and smiling as she drove away in her large SUV.

So alas, seems like my time in Wheaton had some good possibilities, and high moments, but as far as opposite sex goes it was not fruitful. I'm still at the point where I left Michigan, but I kinda like the quiet time. Helps me transition into my new lifestyle. The not so crazy partier lifestyle, at least thats what I hope will happen.

Well I have something else to talk about that ties into this post, but I just wanted to get the story out there!

Spidaman!

Hands All Over

Knock Knock

Hello Friends,


My name is Opportunity , I come by here knocking every so often in a few different forms. Whether it be for employment, education, relationships, business decisions, financial gains, I always present myself in one way or another. Now I admit, I'm not always as easy to see as some of our other colleagues, like a sure deal, heartbreak, or success but I am the one that's closely related to almost all things in life. Usually after my visit, you either are left happy or sad, depending on if you decided to capitalize on me or not. If you were to ask me, I can't remember a time when someone said "Oh man, so glad I didn't capitalize on him when he was here, otherwise I would definitely have that beginning of a beautiful relationship I was waiting for." I don't mean to brag but I am kind of a big deal.


So you're asking yourself, why is Opportunity taking time out of his busy day to write to us? Well it's simple, I just want to make you guys aware, or rather reaffirm that I am out there, and when you see me you shouldn't hesitate (It's like someone smart said, "he who hesitates, is lost"). Make the most of me when you can, it may not always work out, but it is better than the alternative, you left wondering "what if?" or "what could have been?" or even worse, you're left thinking "what a wasted opportunity"


Go confidently...
Yours Truly,
Opportunity

Well for today's post I decided to try something new, write and listen to music. The title of this post is the new Maroon 5 Album I'm currently listening to. They have been a favorite of mine since high school and I must say I approve of this new stuff, more so than their last one.
Also I hope you guys appreciated the letter in the beginning of the post, I had a conversation with a friend recently that gave me the inspiration for this post. To be brief, in the conversation there were a lot of the I wonders and why didn't we's and all kinds of those types of phrases that made me realize what happens to people who don't act on things when they are right in front of them. I mean yeah its not always going to work out, making the first move can land you rejection, or moving out of town for a job you're not sure about can totally make you miserable; BUT at least you tried, which is all we really can do to keep ourselves honest and going in a direction of our choice. Not Acting is just one of the most terrible things we can do to ourselves, its like instant sabotage.

As you probably already noticed, nothing of real note has happened on Monday, Sunday night, or probably Today, Tuesday. The most exciting thing was the House premiere, which Chin and I missed anyway because we were on a bike ride attempting to be active. So today I'll probably spend most of my time trying to catch up with a couple of shows, most notably "Boardwalk Empire" HBO's new mob crime story thing which apparently is great.

Friday marks my last day in the Midwest, and I'm actually excited. Excited to get back home and be with my family, and excited to see where the heck the next couple months of my life are going to take me. Short post, nothing life changing but there it is.

Crash Into Me

Man oh Man, what a Saturday. I always here about people having full days and everything but I really felt like Chin and I accomplished everything we needed to on Saturday and had one of the best times ever doing it. But you don't want to hear me talk about it, instead you can just read what I have to say about it. (Yeah bad joke I know, unfortunately I have the habit of not editing when I write so what you see is what you get)

We started our Saturday relatively early for Chin and I, based on what time we have been waking up recently. The newly wed Folkens were up early making moves, which I have to admit is nice to watch a young married couple being so active. The weather gave us a bit of a scare since it decided to be cloudy, overcast with scattered showers, however we had so much excited over seeing Dave for a second night that we pretty much ignored it. We headed to this local diner on the corner of Melrose, right around the block from the apartment we were squatting at. It was like our Benny's of Chicago, and I have to admit it was very enjoyable. Their specials tho are three eggs any style versus Benny's two, a very nice surprise.

After our meal walked back to the apartment debating on what to do for the UM football game. In the end, we decided to head over to Duffy's which was a pretty hefty walk but Very Very worth it. Watching a game in this bar is as close as you can get as actually watching it in Ann Arbor. SOO many UM Alumni all there cheering for the Maize and Blue. One thing I did notice though was that almost everyone was attractive. It's like someone sent out a mass e-mail to all beautiful UM alum, had them move to Chicago, and then said let's all get together and watch the game at Duffy's...yeah I should have taken pictures to get you guys to better understand how great this place was, except I would have gotten distracted and only taken pictures of the girls ha. If anyone watched the UM game you know how crazy it was, but we pulled it off in the end, in a very sloppy fashion. UM 42, UMASS 37 ...  During halftime and at random intervals Duffy's has a random 5 minute special or so, Yesterday they did free shots for anyone with a Michigan public library card, and Yes I had my L card on me from the Ann Arbor District Library, very very nice random thing.


After Duffy's we went back to the apartment to blow a couple of hours before we headed Back to Duffy's for the FREE Bud Light. They do this special where when you walk in they check you out and decide if you're cool, since Chin and I definately are pretty sweet they decided to give us free Beer for two hours. Ha ok so that's not exactly what it is. If you call ahead and say you have a party of 5 or more people, you get free bud lights from 6:30 to 8:30 any night of the week. Chin and I planned on having a large group to go with us before the show, unfortunately they were really passionate about seeing Jason Mraz open and didn't want to join us. So Chin and I just chilled with the bartenders and enjoyed our free bud lights for an hour or so. Pretty good way to pregame for a DMB show.

DMB's second night at Wrigley was Incredible. Somehow they put on a better night than Friday, with a longer set list and longer Jam sessions. A sold out Wrigley Field for DMB...something special. It seems that we took it too easy with the pregame because half way through the show Chin and I sobered up, it didn't hinder the experience but it did feel like we were the only two sober people there ha. There were adults dancing in the ailes going crazy and I for once felt like man, I wish i was there that guy is now ha.

The show ended sometime after 11 so we took another long walk back to the Folken's apartment to polish off some MCCORMICKS!!!! Whiskey that I had brought with me. After a mix drink we headed off into the night not really knowing what to expect but still feeling great after a one time DMB experience. We ended up hanging out at this bar Friar Tuck most of the night, which was a lot of fun and we met some actress type girl who was doing an Indie film. Don't remember her name, or the film, but she was cool and made for good conversation. I kept making eye contact with this girl wearing an "interesting" hat, but after Chin informed me that she wasn't the cutest girl he knew I decided to let her slide. That was actually the closest I came to a opposite sex "interaction" on my exploits ha ha, sad, or maybe I'm just turning over a new leaf ha. Who knows.

After Friar Tuck we wanted to see what Chi town offered at 3am so we headed back to....you guessed it Duffy's. Our new friendtender Bryce told us about a bar around the corner where they all go after work (3am) that stayed open to 5am, so Chin and I went there early to scope it out. This place was actually pretty cool, a basement bar that actually was classy, unlike our favorite AA Basement bar Richard's. Turns out the servers and bartenders never met up with us, but I did run into them outside the var at some point in the night. Getting closer to 4am Chin noticed me in my drunken falling asleep phase, so we called it an night.


All in all, we did about a Freshman Year Welcome Week's worth of walking in one day, but the ends justified the means. We even managed to make it to the 12:40 train this time and spent most of today watching football, playing video games (Chin) and napping (Me)...We did realize that we spent a good amount of money on our DMB adventure weekend, so chances are we won't be doing much this week, my last week in the midwest. No worries though, that means you guys get to read my blog about more random thoughts!

Excited, I know.

Come and Dance with Me

DMB at Wrigley Night One....Amazing

As I'm sure you all know by now, last night was the first of two nights that DMB performed at Wrigley, and let me tell you it was quite the show. Chin and I went into our weekend with high hopes, we grabbed a 12% joose (four loko's cousin) polished off a mini bottle of wine, and I even grabbed four shots of something from friends we met on the train. With a pregame like that we were very excited and didn't mind the walk that probably was longer than it seemed. 

My favorite part of the show, oddly enough wasnt a song that Dave played, it was the city itself. Coming from the east coast I've seen my fair share of big cities, but Chicago last night, from Wrigley, just beautiful. I have a lasting image of watching Dave play one of my favorite songs, Everyday, and looking out to the gorgeous Chicago city backdrop with all the lights and everything. Man what a natural high that was.

After the show we did some more walking and decided to head to John Barleycorn, which is usually always a good time, and I was definately in the mood for some dancing. Of course there were tons of beautiful people there and we pretty much formed a mobb in the streets of the city as thousands of people came pouring out after the Dave show, it was pretty reminscent of a UM football game except way more adults than college kids. Everyone was just so happy, or drunk, you really had no choice but to get caught up in the moment.

After about an hour, John Barley got really packed, and Chin and I weren't really feeling it anymore, I mean the lack of a drink special probably helped to kill our buzz but I think we really just got our dancing fix in. We took another mini tour walking and streets and headed over to Duffy's the UM faithful bar. To my surprise it was pretty empty compared to other places but I guess it was a bit more than just a hop and a skip away from the stadium.

We don't have much planned for Today (Saturday) besides maybe trying to catch the UM game and getting a group together to pregame at Duffy's before the show tonight. I have never done a double header for a Dave show before so I'm pretty excited to see what Dave has planned for the second performance.

Well that wraps it up for now, no exciting story yet but def plenty of time for that and a great lasting impression...

The Full Monty!

Hello world,

As you may have noticed, I really had nothing of note to talk about yesterday, thus there was no post. Today isn't much different but I was inspired to write another blurb about something on my mind, but before that here's a little update.

Chin is at his interview right now, and so far today I have, worked out, eaten a PB & J sandwich, lost some money in online poker and now im blogging. Exactly, very exciting. It's thursday night which as Cassie's points out in her blog used to mean something, unfortunately we are all at a point in our lives where its just another night and tomorrow is just another morning.

Now for today's topic Lasting Impressions


When I was a little boy, in my phase of not talking much, always observing, and being a book addict, I made a promise with myself that no matter what, I wanted to make a positive impact on the lives of people I met. At a very basic level I wanted people to have a positive memory of me, so if they ever thought about me or remembered me, it would make them happy, or at least smile. Now despite the reputation that I mentioned in my earlier posts, I would like to think that most of the people I've encountered in my life would fit in this category, I mean with the exception of one guy, I can only think of a handful of girls who actually still dislike me, and they each have their reasons, most of them are accurate. But in any case I'm not really going to talk about me today but lasting impressions in general.

Lets say for example, the reason I thought of this was because of our old 1502 landlord. Now when we initially moved into our old house things were great, cheap rent, good sized rooms, great roommates, and football season parking, what more could you ask for. Our landlord would tailgate on the front lawn and him and his friends seemed like good people. The only issue here is that when I think of my landlord low, I have a bad lasting impression of him. These last few weeks of moving out and trying to figure out the security deposit situation have just been hectic. Emails going back and forth between house mates and landlords, days of no communication, hours of miscommunication, all these things combined with the random lack of activity in general from him during the year have formed a negative lasting impression. I guess the term "last" in lasting really hits the spot, its what you do in the final days of your interactions with people that they tend to remember the most, you can have a 5 year friendship with someone, but in the last month be a complete butthole and leave that person with a negative impression of you. Alas this is what our landlord did, he was never around for household problems, like he old contacted us for rent and it took him a year and 3/4 before he apparently knew anyone's name besides Wheelers. So unfortunately for him I think of him as a great guy, terrible landlord.

Another reason I started thinking about this topic was because I am soon to be going back to Maryland for at least the next year, and most likely my days in Ann Arbor are over. I wonder what kind of legacy I've left behind. Not to make myself sound important or anything but I have interacted and talked to a lot of people while I was at school, I had a lot of jobs and did a good amount of traveling and activities. I wonder what kind of impressions I left on all those people. I wonder if people will ever sit around and say "man I wish Stev were here" or "If Stev were here this would or wouldn't have happened." As much as I say I don't "know" how to miss people, I think i still like to be missed, I mean who doesn't really. I suppose its an innate human emotion, the desire to be longed for, or simply, the desire to be desired. I suppose this section is more of a rhetorical question than a statement, I guess it's just me sharing my thoughts with you, the world, or at the least, the 5 or 6 people who will end up reading this post ha.

Taking a step away from thinking about myself, I would like to say that UM and my time there has left a very positive lasting impression on me. I have made what I like to believe are lifetime friends, I gained knowledge of myself that I don't think I could have acquired anywhere else. I pushed myself physically and emotionally, and hopefully one day soon that will allow me to push myself in the academic setting. I laughed, cried, sang, danced, dreamed, believed, failed and succeeded, everything you could hope for in a school. And maybe, just maybe, I learned how to feel a little bit more, I learned how to yearn for the company of others, I mean i legit miss my mates at 1502, life without them just doesn't really seem like life anymore. But I know that I will start a new life, a book if you will, but I will continue to borrow quotes, anecdotes, and wisdom from my previous novel, the life and times of Stevann at UM and 1502.


Have a great day everyone.

Lets run a 5k part deuce

Ok, my stomach is full, btw if you haven't been to Shane's and you happen to be from the Wheaton area, you really need to check it out. I just had a delicious chicken and pesto sandwich for lunch. Scrumdilliumpcious!
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While sitting at Shane's I had a conversation with Chin and Danielle, which help sparked my blog topic of the day....It's great to be a girl.

Before I get into this, I want all you girls out there to bear with me and not think that I'm sexist, or crazy, or even naive to the troubles and problems that girls go through. I have a sister and a mother, I was next door to the room my sister was given birth in so I can understand the problems of childbirth, child caring, periods, cramps, pregnancy in general....But what I would like to say that these things aside, in this day in age it's pretty darn good to be a girl (I say this day and age because well women got screwed over in history).

For starters I'll talk as a guy, my friend Mike O and I had a little saying this year that we find to be very true, a guy will do anything for a girl (that he deems cute enough). I don't usually like to speak in extremes but pretty much with the right guy and the right girl, you can have complete control over that guy.. See guys have the problem of dealing with a self-esteem that isn't quite as visible as a girls. I mean I know that girls have to deal with the Skinny Models and the, this is what beautiful looks like, and yeah we all know that you go through that. Guys have the exact same things going on, but its not as socially acceptable to feel bad about themselves. At the end of the day, a guy has to be a MAN, which has so many other stipulations and stigmas attached to it. But alas that is a topic for another day, today's topic is being a girl.

So, we've stepped away from the obvious physical misfortunes of being a girl and what do we have left? Tons of benefits, benefits that stem from just having a female body. It you take into account that there are professions where being a girl has more benefits than a guy, you will see what I mean. Case in point, anything in the service industry. Thats from food service to housekeeping.

Lets admit it guys, When you have an attractive waitress, you tend to order that extra drink, or maybe that dessert, you leave a big tip because you want to impress her (and if you're saying no to any of this, chances are you haven't had a waitress that you think is cute enough, and trust me, one will come along eventually). Guys also tend to hit on female waitresses which only increases their appeal and thus promotes more of the elements stated above. Ladies, be honest, how many guys have left you their phone numbers, asked you what you're doing later or what time you get off. invited you to events all because you brought them their burger in a  somewhat decent fashion.

That was one example, i agree its not a tell all and the world isn't going to end because guys like cute girls, but its a perk that girls need to understand they have, and guys need to know that when she's flirting with you, she's most likely just trying to get more money out of you....Case in point, bartenders... Again guys we are trapped but the cutie in the tank top spinning bottles and pouring six shots at once. But alas, you and every other respectable guy in the bar has already noticed her, and most likely all will fail and getting her attention. She might play with your emotions, telling you that you should take another shot, or worse buy her one. Seconds later she calls over another cute waitress and next thing you know your're swiping your card on a100 dollar tab and have nothing to show for it. Being a girl wins again.

Lets take a step back to comment on some of the opposite opinions. Yes there are cases where good looking guy bartenders and servers can make a few extra dollars from a group of girls they served, but the occurrence of this is well below that of the counter part. And I'm pretty sure that at any moment, if a girl server or bartender were to say to any of their guys they serve, "You want to get out of here" more than 90% of the guys would say yes (Arbitrary number yes, but still effective). If a guy server says that to a girl at a table she probably would smile, blush a  little, and then say no.....because girls have all the power.

Society paints guys as the hunters, they are the ones that must approach a girl, ask her out on a date, or for her number, then they must call that girl, then take her out on the date, its polite for the guy to pay for whatever they eat or see, and then take her home and hope for the best. In historic times guys had to ask the father for permission, in which case the dad would examine the guy and assess his worth. Yup thats what guys have to go through, the worst of it though, the height of most guy's rejections comes on the Dance Floor.

Girls have such an immense advantage over guys in terms of dance floor domination. And I am not referring for the ability of the dancers, great guy and girl dancers alike, I'm just referring for the ability for a guy to dance with a girl. For instance, the guy almost always has to ask a girl to dance, or approach her in some way. Unfortunately, guys we tend to make the mistake of thinking we can come up behind any random girl and dance with her without her approval. We couldn't be more wrong. We all have seen or, at least knows it happens, a guy comes up behind a girl, dances with her, moving in a way which she is unable to see who it is, so what does she do, check to her friend for approval....Oh the fabled wing woman, who already has her own malicious intentions now holds the fate of this poor guy in her hands. It only takes a moment for the wing woman to flash a look of disgust before the friend does the same thing and the guy is left standing on the dance floor alone, everyone watching the rejection unfold and sometimes even laughing. Why, why ladies must you make a fool out of the guy to reject him, is it too hard to simply say "no thanks." But alas, the ones who try to be nice it a whole new low, they like to say "oh its a ladies night" and the guy accepts, only to see the same girl dancing with some other guy she deemed more worthy...Take it from me, I've been there, all my friends have been there, and anyone reading this knows exactly what I'm talking about (Unless you don't dance, in which case, thats unfortunate for you).

Ok this post is getting kinda long so I'll cut it short here, the moral of all this, the whole point, is for Ladies to understand what they have, the power the hold over guys, and to ask you just NOT TO ABUSE IT. Yes there are a lot of creepers out there, mean guys, a holes, guys  who love hurting girls, who just want to add you as a notch to their belt.....but just because of those jerks don't alienate all guys. There is a chance that they guy you just rejected is a good guy, a decent guy, a guy who spent the last hour building up enough courage to ask you to dance in the first place, a guy who will have an even harder time next time around doing the same thing. I have seen many fallen soldiers out there who gave up dancing all together because of these instances, it is sad, sad indeed.


P.S. Fellas, let's do our best to not fall for the tricks of the trade, don't always buy that girl a drink because you think she's cute, wait for her to show a little more interest than your wallet, I do believe in leaving good tips but at least do it if she took the trouble to draw you a smiley face on your bill (my personal favorite), and lastly, when a girl is dancing with a wing woman from hell, or a group of girls, dont go in there solo, bring some friends with you, and you can all get rejected together. At least you'll have a laugh about it later.


If you agree or disagree, or just if you care, don't forget to comment!

Let's run a 5k

Ravens 10, Jets 9

Hello all,


Much to your surprise I'm sure, but there wasn't much that happened yesterday in Chin and I's world. Thus instead of telling you about how we went to BDubs to watch the Raven's game, or how the window people screwed Chin over, or how we played Smash and watched Chin's dad and friend be boss at ping pong....instead of all that I'll just blab, I mean blog about some random topic.

Unfortunately I'm about to head to Lunch with Squires to go visit Chin and his first day back at Shane's Deli...so I will post when I come back to the house. Exciting I know.

President, Citizen, and Ahole

All hail the Detroit Lions and their curse they can't seem to break!


Well here we are again, another day, another post. Unfortunately not much to cover here over the last day or so but after our binge in Chi town Chin and I had no intention of repeating on a Sunday Night. So most of the day we spent traveling struggling to get back to Wheaton, and once we arrived we were moving at a snail pace at best.


For some reason, I had this strong urge for a slice of cheese pizza, so Chin helped me out and we rode some bikes over to this local pizza place that was pretty darn good.

Today we had one real goal, move Chin's college furniture out of the family room and into the basement. Now that we're done that, we have no other plans for the day. I would say some Job searching, but once you submit your resume to places what else can we do? This whole waiting process really blows but the good news is that we might finally have our security deposits mailed to us to that will be a nice stimulus package.

Uh man if anyone out there is actually reading this blog I'm sure they're bored of me by now, today just not in the mood to write that much or anything too interesting but no worries, if you guys start following me, maybe i'll have some incentive to write more, or do more things to write about ha.

Some may call me a bandwagon fan, but Go Ravens....besides it's hard to follow your home team when you can't watch them from the regional Midwest channels!!

Go Blue

Final Score: Michigan 28, ND 24....What an emotional roller coaster of a game!

So, as any loyal UM fan knows, the outcome of a UM football game tends to dictate the events of that evening. When UM loses, parties get canceled, people stay in for the night, and everyone gets gloomy. However, when UM wins, like they did yesterday, everyone gets really excited and they ride that wave of excitement right through the night. Needless to say, watching yesterday's game had the latter effect on chin and I and we decided what better way to celebrate their victory then head into the City...Chicago here we come!

Man the first thing I thought to myself, was here we go, big city is more my element, my style, I will def have a nice story to post from tonight...eh false again. I swear I dunno how many times I need to strike out for me to give up...well thats not true I know Im never going to stop trying ha, neways here we go....

So we grabbed a couple of 40s for the train ride down into the city and were surprisingly sober when we arrived, we walked around for a bit as we realized we had a good amount of time to kill as we waited to meet up with Chin's friend Sandra. If you read my post from the other day, at least the title, you will notice that lately I've had a pretty small bladder, and this haunted me this trip into the city for sure. This has only happened to me one time before but alas on the red line I could no longer hold myself any longer, and I let go right there on the subway...Yes you read that correctly, I wet myself in the middle of the city in the BEGINNING of the night....but no worries, this didn't "soil" our enthusiasm as we still planned to have a good night.


After walking for awhile we decided to head to Duffy's....Chicago's fabled, and for good reason, Michigan bar. On our way there I ran into Kara! shout out to Kenzo. Unfortunately she was playing third wheel and heading in the opposite direction of us so we just said our hellos and talked for a couple minutes then moved on. I have to admit, all night i was surprisingly comfortable talking to people with wet pants.


Anyways we arrived at Duff'y's to a nice sized group of people and I was pretty impressed with all the UM flags and posters. They had a 20 dollar all you can drink special which both Chin and I took advantage of since we were feeling a bit on the sober side. We met a couple of people and I had a few chances, but running to the bathroom every 10 minutes really killed any opportunity I made for myself. So sadly there was no one to note here, but for future reference I think I could do pretty well, and by that I mean meet some new friends at Duffy's.


Around 1 am or so, I think, We finally decided to meet up with Sandra and her friends at this very Latina bar. I mean there were a couple of Black people sprinkled, maybe a White person or too but otherwise everyone else was Latina...it was nice. They had like a different DJ playing in the front and back half of the bar, and the place was called Hotel Victor... I'll let Chin tell you about his half of the story if he chooses but the moral is that we ended up taking a cab back to his sister's apartment. A cab ride that took 10 times longer than it had to. I don't appreciate you cab drivers taking advantage of drunk passengers, although I cant say i wouldn't do the same from time to time. 


Its 12:40 now and we can't leave the city till the 2:40 train, guess we have some more time to burn. 


Stev out...

 

I know I don't know you, But I want you, So Bad...

So usually I write about events past and current, but since I don't have anything different to add to Chin's blog post about yesterday I will take a different direction with my post today.

But before that...To confirm Chin's post, we in fact did go for a nice run toady, I estimate it was between 4.5 and 5 miles, this estimate is due to the mile markers we passed on our job. It was a nice slow pace probably around 9-10 min pace. We both felt nice and fatigued afterwards because well we haven't been doing the most physical activity lately.

Ok so for today's post, I had a conversation with a friend yesterday that made me think about this topic, Rumors. I don't mean conspiracy theory political type rumors but rather reputation rumors, specifically speaking my own reputation.  I'll be the first to admit that I love girls, in high school my mom once told me that she didn't want me to have a serious girlfriend and that I should just date a lot of girls in order to better find the type I was looking for, I admit I probably took those words too seriously and literally but yeah so thats where my rep stems from.

Those close to me understand exactly what I mean when I say that but pretty much I have had my fair share of interactions with girls. After giving it some thought I chalk this up to two things:
1.) I'm a sweet talker, I mean you probably know that but seriously I am. I've been good with words since about middle school and tend to understand what things to say to make people, girls, feel good about themselves and more comfortable around me. Now this sounds bad at first glance, but in all honestly I almost always believe what I say to girls and mean it. If i tell a girl she's beautiful, then I think she really is beautiful. If i call her special, or say she means something to me then thats all true also. The main issue here is that when you happen to say these things to multiple people, teammates, or even roommates, people tend to think you're full of, well poop.

2.) The second reason I think my interactions are high is because i'm pretty easy to please and I fall for girls pretty easy. What I mean by this is that all I need to do is find one thing I like about a girl, and then I'm hooked. For example, there was a period of time where a certain physical attribute about a girl I was attracted to, and more often to not that physical attribute lead me to start interactions with certain girls (If you can't tell i'm trying to keep this blog g-rated, at least for now).

So with these two combined, it makes for a pretty deadly combination, especially in a college environment. Neways so back to the idea of reputation rumor, so I would say that most of what people have to say about me is true, more often than not I had interactions with the people in question and it probably ended in a non relationship fashion. BUT that is not to say that I consider myself a player. Player has such a negative tone to it and I always means best when I approach a girl, or whatever the case. As a mentioned above I do like them at first but the one point where things most often turn sour is when a relationship is discussed.

Back when I formed this reputation of mine, I did not want a girlfriend. Like really didn't, but I loved girls, so my pattern was hang out with a girl for awhile, eventually she would want that next level discussion, and it would end with me saying no (which for the record I always gave as a disclaimer pre interaction, though it never stopped any of them)

So what is the point of any of this....I guess there is no point really, Just like a memoir where I had been thinking about my past and wanted to share it...

Actually this came about from a friend wondering why I didn't have more scandalous stories to share, and I came up with an answer. While I am here in Wheaton I have no real network, and by no real network I mean none. So it's a little difficult for me to get into situations where I get the opportunity to meet new people, at least thus far. But alas it's the weekend and I have high hopes yet for this suburb of Chicago.


One last thing....Go BLUE....currently beating up on ND 14-7....I will be angry if my next post says we did not win.


Stev out....

"You have a pregnant woman's bladder"

So its Friday, and I decided that this whole writing about yesterday thing will start to get repetitive, especially since most of the time nothing will likely happen until the nighttime. With that being said I'm gonna start to post around this time everyday, pending on our activities, with a review of last night, overview of today, and any previews for tonights activities....Yeah this is more like a story blog then a comment one but until something better comes to mind this is what you guys get!

Alright so last night Chin and I reacquired the fabled Montana mini-van, aka the party van, and headed over to Bdubs to watch half of the Saints Vikings game and visit Squires. If none of that makes sense to you then thats too bad. But fyi Squires is the last name of a friend of Chins.

Nothing much of note from last night, Saints won, we called it an early night, and I felt what it's like to have EBS...gotta start steering clear of that dairy.

Today started nice and early, 8am stretch, room organization, happiness over it being payday, and then eggs and ....sportscenter. I think a fairly nice start.

We headed over to Shane's Deli, the local hotspot of Wheaton to inquire about some partime temp help we could give Shane in this post back to school time frame, Chin was welcomed, and me as a stranger, not so much ha. i mean it makes sense and no one really wants to have to train someone for a week who's gonna leave in a week. Sad face.

Just checked out "The American" starring George Clooney, it was a pretty good movie, different, not as much action as expected, but still pretty good.

Tonight we have no plans, I mean no plans...looks like we'll just go with the flow and see where it takes us, which i happen to enjoy doing very much.


So as far as what I plan to do while in Wheaton, besides hang out,  I'm just gonna play on the internet this week and see what kind of trouble and activities I can get myself into, should be interesting.

Well if anything happens I'm sure I'll post it soon.

Stev Out.....

Goonie Gu Hu

So even though we're no longer officially on our mini road trip, we figured why not blog about our downtime in Wheaton while we wait for the DMB show at Wrigley and Chin figures out his career path, this post marks the first of such blogs.

So yesterday we drove back to Chin's hometown of Wheaton, IL, a nice little town and pretty much did what we'll spend most of our time doing, waiting and hanging around. Towards the evening time we hung out with Chin's friend Chuck who is soon to be departing on a Mission Trip to Spain for 2 years. In any case, we grabbed a 12 pack of Coors Light, which apparently has a new recipe now and I must say, I am a fan, and some chicken and grilled and chilled.

I should warn that this post probably won't be the most exciting, but hey what's the point of a blog if you can't have a boring tale to tell everyone now and then. Just wait until tomorrow's post where I can tell you guys about my anime and House marathon....and how well Chin cleans cars.

Ah back to yesterday, so last night we went to the local Wheaton Irish Pub, Rosie's...which features a great Wednesday night special, 80cent 10z of Miller Light Draughts (spelled correctly?)...We ordered in total 3 trays of 15 and had a grand ole time. The funny thing about hanging out in your hometown is that you tend to run into people from your highschool, old friends, people you never liked, people who now have kids, and of course your old high school football coach...From my perspective he was a pretty cool guy, but I also am not from Wheaton.

Anyways that wraps it up for now, I promise one of these days you guys will get to here the posts from Chin's POV and voice and not always have to listen to me rambling on and on....hopefully.

Stev out...

"I'm a F'in War Vet"

The final day of our roadtrip....yeah I know it was a short one but when you're hitting one town a day you tend to get tired from all that driving (Chin) or sleeping (Stev)...Plus we went to two places on this last day so that makes it better..


Anyways we headed out to Upland (somehow pronounced Up-Land) Indiana, and let me tell you the term "small town" was definitely coined here. Somewhere hidden in all this farmland and old buildings was a hidden institution by the name of Taylor, which housed a couple of Chin's old Wheaton high school chums. We got there  early so we gave ourselves a little campus tour, which took about 10 mins, then failed to use the school's wireless to update our blog. Once his buddy Fulton got out of class we went over to his apartment, which happened to reside above a rundown restaurant/pizza place/ old home type deal. and was around the corner from a run down tavern....yeah small town.....but we managed to grab lunch at a subway...yay for big business always finding a way to get involved.

Not much to say here we met up with another buddy, a girl, Nicole, and checked out her garage apartment....yup.

Many "Oh you know them too?!" passed and we finally headed back on the road towards Fort Wayne and IPFW...Indiana Purdue Fort Wayne...I'll let Chin explain that school to you....and we met with his Iraq War vet buddy Nick who is a really great guy.

We decided to make this night a Chill night and spent it eating half off pizza, watching the Cubs lose, drinking a couple beers, and listening to a few tales of the war, well not really but learned a bit about the politics and what not....Chin heard some job news also.

Another day Another President

"I think we all experienced a ballet today, a ballet of emotions and feelings"

            Stev:

            Let’s see where should I begin, how about somewhere in the middle, like a dream, so as you guys will have no idea how I got there. I’m watching Resident Evil, the first one, getting prepared to possibly see the latest 3d adventure of Alice and the Umbrella corp. The movie was almost as bad I as remembered it being, not quite tho since I had seen some of the other ones already and remembered how bad those ones turned out to be. After about an hour of the movie Amy decided to go for a run so I switched to a great football game of Boise St v Va Tech. Amy returned with a cat, a weird object to acquire on a run but it was cute so no complaints.

            Sandra, pretty much how Chin described her, cute and well put together, except for her place which was in the middle of being moved into. After the intial good to see you hugs we got to shooting the “ish” which was nice to hear about the activities of a multi-cultural soro’s pres and leader of multiple other groups.

            We arrived to Bloomington with full bladders and empty stomachs. After an illegal parking job at Chase bank we walked around familiar sights downtown to end at Scotty’s, whose menu was titles scotty’s illustrated and pretty much looked like a magazine. They had a  10 dollar all u can eat special, we opted out, and got a beer and early dinner as we waited for Sandra to get out of class. Bloomington was as I remembered, full of pretty girls. Maybe this time I would get one a day I thought….eh.

            I got to see my old IU diving buddy Amy yay!...just as pretty as I remember and possibly even more fun to be around. Met her roommate, chin’s long lost sister Stephanie, who was also pretty cute and we sat around for half hour discussing how boys sucked and never wanted to commit…you know typical Stev convo.

            Time to pregame, sweet tea vodka and lemonade for the lady, coors light bottles for the gents, true or dare and screw the dealer for activities, fun for everyone. We headed out into town joined for Sandra’s friend Eric, cool dude, a tour manager for a guy who was surprisingly knowledgeable about many things.

            Not a new one but an oldie and goodie

            We found ourselves at KoK Kilroy’s on Kirkwood, which has great food and drink specials, no picture provided. Got everyone a mini pictcher long island deal and I got a double whiskey coke. Wings were pretty good but the breadsticks were AMAZING. Half way through her long island Sandra took a trip to the sick mans bathroom, poor gal, wasn’t prepared for the drinking we put her through on a Monday night.

            Beautiful women, good eats, good people, good times.

"My ex girlfriend called me today..." "So you have Herpes?"

OneADay is a mini road trip blog brought to you by yours truly, Stev, and Chin...as we venture out into the midwest to visit some of Chin's wonderful Mexico buddies. This first post is a rough one so bare with us as we continue to improve our style and adventures.

September 6th,

We left Ann Arbor with high hopes and a three hour drive ahead of us...we arrived in Akron Ohio after being saddened by our missed opportunity of photographing the welcome to Ohio sign. Our first adventure, visit Angelo in Akron, Ohio, yes Ohio which in itself is full of people who hate Wolverines and apparently is a city full of Cops.

A couple things I learned from our first couple hours in Akron, I can be attracted to black girls ( Angelo's girlfriend is a very attractive girl), Ohio has native black squirrels, and Angelo's family pizza is GREAT. My hopes were high for the "One a day" theme

For our nightly festivities we headed to Akron's biggest Frat house, which was moderate in size by UM standards but still pretty nice. We purchased alcohol by way of a drive through liquor store which clearly I'm impressed by. I remember seeing these drive thru liquor stores when we had a meet here.

In the frat house our admission of being UM grads prompted some fairly salty looks, we all quickly put our differences aside and got along really well. Except this one girl who looked like maggie gyllenhall, she was supposedly a "sweetheart", but she had a major attitude when we talked to her. The pregame consisted of a 24 pack of bud light and some sips of "blue drink" which apparently had everclear, we didn't really drink enough of that to feel it tho. No games were played, we just sat around and watched replays of college football games from Saturday.

We headed to a small bar called pints where the jukebox was qued up with a bunch of country songs. When we got in, ben picked some hip hop out and it became this musical battle on the jukebox. Ben, being a well respected client of pints, picked up the tab which was only $8 for about 5 pitchers. Around 12:30 we left the frat boys and headed back to angelos car. I was confused because all these guys were saying bye to me and I hadn't realized we made plans to leave. Anyway, when we got home we pulled out the leftover pizza and just destroyed it, it was so good, even cold. Stev an I retired to the basement, where we were sleeping, so that Angelo and Nicole could have some alone time.

The next morning we awoke to a full breakfast of eggs, bacon, sausage, and hash browns. As we ate we watched the labor day telethon. Shortly thereafter we hit the road to pay a visit to Sandra in Bloomington.