one year later

I left New York a year ago.

This fact totally blows my mind.

I was sitting down in my apartment this evening (it's the occasionally creaky ground floor of a Victorian-era house), sitting in my new faux-leather Target easy chair, watching Packers-Saints on my big flat screen - and I looked around and realized that I didn't have any of these things twelve months ago.

Not only that...I had no concept I would own these things then.

I didn't even think I would still be here in Sleepy Hamlet.

It's amazing how quickly and completely life changes. And I'm so glad that the change has been mostly positive.

can't stop won't stop

I'm sitting here at my kitchen table, trying my hardest to finish packing for tomorrow's trip. Yet I can't seem to pry myself out of this chair. I really don't want to pack.

I know that I usually travel a lot, but here's what my summer has looked like:

June 1-10: finals
June 11: drive a bunch of hours to pick up parents
June 12: drive a bunch of hours home with parents
June 13-18: parents visit
June 19: drive a bunch of hours to drop off parents
June 20: drive a bunch of hours home
June 21: pack
June 22-26: Los Angeles
June 27-July 3: home working on several projects, including school curriculum
July 4: drive a bunch of hours and then fly to New York
July 4-10: New York
July 10: fly back, pick up my car, and drive a few hours to central CA and camp #1
July 10-23: camp #1
July 23: drive many many hours home
July 24: rest
July 25-26: work on school curriculum
July 27-August 14: camp #2 (with school curriculum stuff mixed in)
August 15: rest
August 16: work on school curriculum
August 17: camp #2 curriculum/rehearsal for play I'm directing
August 18: fly/drive
August 18-21: family trip to see sis-in-law act

It's been non-stop, y'all, and I'm ready for a true vacation. At home. A stay-cation, if you will. I always thought that sounded cheesy, but now I just think it sounds awesome.

summer vacation

I know that it's supposed to start fin May or June for most teachers...but not me! I've been so busy that my vacation actually started on Monday. Two all-encompassing camps really did a number on me in all sorts of areas - my mental state, my waistline, my writing...

At last, though, I finally get some peace.

More soon. Lots to update on.

something new

I've been trying my darnedest to blog, but it seems like I always remember at 12:45am. (A little earlier tonight, obviously, but you get my point.)

And, truth be told, my schedule has been a little busy. You know, classes. Planning the trajectory of this program. My busy TV schedule.

And...there's a girl.

I've been a little reluctant to write about this, because it's new, and we are both trying to manage our expectations somewhat through various and sundry personal mind games (not learning the other's schedule, for example), but I like her. A lot. And we've been spending a ton of time together lately.

Like, every day for the past two weeks.

I would describe my emotional state as "cautiously optimistic". The Flying Squirrel is coming out next week, so hopefully she can give her two cents. We'll see.

More tomorrow (technically, today).

i give up

Teaching is making me miserable. There's no acting work for me. Why sugarcoat it anymore? I'm quitting theater entirely. I bought an LSAT book the other day, and I'm going to take those in the fall and aim for law school next year. Sometimes you just have to grow up.








(april fool!)

second verse, same as the first

OK. We're going to try the blogging-every-month thing again, in April. I'm going to be hella busy (three classes plus directing a play) but it's worth a shot, right? I mean, I miss writing. I miss the interplay with folks on here. So...why not?

Besides, I still think I have some good stories to tell.

Here's hoping.

movie binge!

I watched Inception tonight - very cool. For some reason, I went nine or ten months without seeing a movie in the theaters, and so I haven't seen most of the Oscar contenders. So I'm finally using my Netflix subscription again and trying to burn through everything. I'm hoping to sneak away this weekend and see Black Swan or The King's Speech. I have The Kids Are All Right as my other Netflix disc, and next up in my queue is The Social Network. Hopefully I can make a dent before the Oscars.

It's strange - I love watching movies SO much, but I just haven't made time for them recently. Earlier this month I bought a 42" HDTV and a PS3, and it was so enjoyable tonight to fire them up, turn off all the lights, and watch a slick and stylish heist flick - Christopher Nolan is the bomb. Hopefully I'll get to do this a bit more in the coming weeks. Something to look forward to for spring break...

boooooooooooo

I have been REALLY terrible at this blogging thing lately.

I don't know why that is.

I actually have things to write about, you know? That's what's so weird about this.

Maybe I just don't have enough hours in the day. I spent eleven hours at work today.

Even though I won't achieve my goal of blogging every day, though, I'm still going to keep trying.

playing ps3 would be a lot more fun

...if it didn't take an hour to frickin' download everything.

Real post coming tomorrow, I promise. I think you'll like it.

it may be late

But I still think it's time for me to bust out my new PS3.

Pretty sure this means I won't be surfacing for air for a few weeks...

here's how thrilling my life is

It's Friday night, and I've been sleeping on my couch.

Am I getting old?

party!

(This counts as Thursday's post, as I just got home:)

Got to hang out with some mature adults my own age! Woo hoo!

Always nice to see the old peeps. It's weird to think that there are still people who were here when I got here eight years ago. That makes me feel old.

OK. Bed. I have to be somewhat alert for tomorrow afternoon's class.

well, this is boring

Another day where I spent too much time at work - only eleven hours today. Technically, I left for an hour - but it was to have a lunch meeting. So we'll stick with eleven.

I'm hopeful that I'll be able to check out after five tomorrow. Like a normal person.

so tired

I pulled a thirteen hour day at work today...and still didn't get everything done. And I have another monster day tomorrow.

I can't wait for spring break.

hope everlasting

Back in June, I received a bracelet enscribed with the word "Hope". (The story behind it can be found at the bottom of this post, if you're too lazy to scroll down.) The original lasted until September, when it broke on the day I was leaving Pittsburgh for my five day cross-country drive to Sleepy Hamlet. Thinking that it was an ominous sign to drive across the country without hope, my mother gave me hers (she hadn't opened the package). Unlike the previous bracelet, which I would take off to shower, I never took this one off.

I woke up this morning to find it broken on the air mattress where I had spent the night.

Fitting, right?

A psychologist might find it interesting that I now equate the snapping of my charm with the end of the Steelers' championship run, rather than the loss of hope in my life. Of course, said psychologist would have a field day with my devotion to my football team.

However, I feel like I'm at a better place now that when I donned that bracelet. My brother and I were kidding around about this this morning, and we were making jokes like, "You're carrying hope in here!" while pointing to our chest. "You've had it all along!" And...there's probably some truth to that, you know?

I'm not going in search for another "Hope" bracelet. I feel like the bracelets did their job. And while I won't miss people asking me why I'm wearing a hairband on my arm, and even though I will probably rub my wrist looking for that familiar band for the next few months, I no longer need a waking reminder of the fact that my life is going to get better.

Because it has.

astute analysis of super bowl xlv

via facebook

Crap. Well, that sucked.

killing time

Typing this on my new iPad in a Starbucks somewhere far away from my furnished apartment. My brother and sister-in-law are late, so I've been forced to find cover at various and sundry places while waiting for them to arrive. This place closes at ten, so I will have one more hour to kill.

Just got the "eight minute warning". I wonder if I can just sit in my car and pilfer their internet signal? That would be awesome...

I better use the bathroom before they lock up. Good times.

off to see the wizard

So, technically, this post counts for Saturday, since it's after midnight, but it's really for Friday. And I'll throw up a text-post as well. (Yeah, it hurts me too to have to go to the text-post so early in the game...but I'm a busy guy. What can you do?)

Excited tomorrow about my weekend trip south. Going to see some friends in a play, and then I'm picking up my brother and sister-in-law at an airport and driving to her mom's house. They're so close to me, and if they've flown this far across the country, I feel like I want to do all I can to see them. As usual, I'm excited to see them.

I'm also excited about eating some In-N-Out Burger. I'm recommitting to a healthy diet and lifestyle on Tuesday, so I've got to live it up this weekend.

this is your life

Do you ever have one of those moments where you kind of look at your surroundings and think, "This is my life?"

I had one tonight.

I was enjoying "Taco Night" at a bar in the big city. I was waiting in line for tacos, and I just started noticing the clientele...and realized that the people there were pretty...um..."rural", for lack of a better word. And, hey, there's nothing wrong with that...but I would never describe myself as "rural" in a million years.

It's usually at moments like that that I am reminded of the fact that I'm the only black guy in the room. And, right on cue, a white guy wearing a baseball hat cocked to the side walked by me, noticed my blackness, and said, "Eh, what up, bro?"

I'm guessing he doesn't say that to random white guys.

Hey, I made the decision to move back to Sleepy Hamlet full time. And it's been OK, for the most part. I just wish it was a little more diverse.

on a roll

Two days in a row! Yay!

Trying to do a bit of housekeeping around here. I've been wanting to make some layout changes for a while now, so I'm going to try and phase that in bit by bit. So if you show up one day and this whole thing is pink and orange, you know why.

Pretty good day today. I taught an exercise to my students that went over like gangbusters, and for the first time in that class, I really felt like I was doing my own material. I've been teaching someone else's curriculum (for various and sundry reasons) and it hasn't been a good fit. I'll have to detail that at another time, when I don't have fourteen things to do to prepare for class tomorrow.

Sometimes I still can't believe that I'm teaching.

and so it begins

"Don't call it a comeback; I've been here for years..."

- LL Cool J


How is everyone?

As promised, I've shown up on February 1, and I will attempt to blog every day this month. This will be difficult, as:

1. I am out of the habit of blogging
2. I have extremely busy at work
3. I have a couple of trips planned

Nonetheless, I plan on giving this the good ol' college try. We'll see how it goes.

Life in Sleepy Hamlet is...all right. I'm getting used to the fact that I'm here on a permanent basis, slowly but surely. I'm nesting a little bit - bought an HDTV and PS3 last weekend, and I got new tires (in anticipation of all of my trips). I've had a couple of fun adventures recently...but I have to save SOMETHING to write about...

next month...

I will blog every day. Since, you know, I've obviously failed for this month.

Promise.

February 1st through the 28th...it's on, baby.

I'll take requests for topics. Things I will be blogging about:

- the lack of eligible age-appropriate ladies in Sleepy Hamlet
- hilarity from the impressionable youngsters I see daily
- the joys of having your own office
- the Steelers' deep playoff run
- kale

Anything else?

another new year

I rang this one in with a whimper: my flight from back home was delayed, so I was actually in a cab when the clock struck midnight. Anticlimactic, no?

I'm currently debating whether to (a) go through one of those blogging months, or (b) close up shop entirely. I suppose you'll have to tune in tomorrow to see what I do.

In the meantime, best wishes for a happy and healthy 2011!