Hey Man, Who Cares

This past Friday I went into Boston to see the Red Sox play against the Atlanta Braves. I haven't been to a Red Sox game in a few years, I think the last one I went to was in the summer of 2009 and Brad Penny was pitching for the Red Sox. Needless to say, the Red Sox lost that one. Seeing them play the Braves was great because that's a team that doesn't come to Fenway very often. I got to see Dan Uggla and his huge biceps in person! Going into the city is always a welcome idea to me, the atmosphere is great and there is actually stuff going on at night. After soccer, baseball is my second favorite sport to follow so I'm decently aware of what's going on in the MLB, and in my opinion, one thing that is greatly missing from the league right now is the absence of Manny Ramirez. Yes, he's getting old and will most likely retire for good soon, but I always enjoyed Manny and his antics. In fact, I think everyone can learn something from Manny. While Manny was a wiseguy and didn't always get things done in a conventional way, he did his job and I think he enjoyed it. When something doesn't go your way, I think everyone should take it like Manny, "hey man, who cares."

Unfortunately not everything goes the way I would ideally like, but you have to shake it off. The Manny line I'm referring to (hey man, who cares) was what Manny said to a reporter following a playoff loss while he was on the Red Sox. The Red Sox went on to win the World Series that year. I had a job interview last Friday before the game. The interview went well and I liked the people that I spoke with during the interrogation (it wasn't really an interrogation). However, later on in the afternoon, while I was watching Germany open up a can of something on Greece in the Euro Cup, I was notified that I didn't get the job. So, hey man, who cares. On to the next. The whole thing was kind of funny actually. When I got the call they were telling me that everything went well and they had nothing bad to say about me, but I could tell by the tone where this was going. They don't need to sugar coat it or anything, just tell me. This whole getting a job thing makes me laugh when I think about it because I have trouble finding a job because I lack experience, but I lack experience because I can't get a job.

That news didn't ruin my day by any stretch, it was merely another event in my life with no fruition, I've gotten quite used to that lately. I will say that the weather was on my side and delayed the Red Sox game for about an hour, which is almost precisely when I got to Fenway Park. For every year, with the exception of one, since sophomore year of high school I have competed in a summer sports event in the state which I live (at least for now), Massachusetts. Of course I compete in the track and field portion of it and the qualifier happened to be that same Friday as the game. As I mentioned before, I'm not quite done with track yet, so of course I was going. The qualifier started at 5:30, though, close to the scheduled time of the Red Sox game, and I live about an hour away from Boston. But the weather was on my side and delayed the Red Sox game while I competed in the hurdles for the first time in about a month.

At this type of meet you never know how many competitors are going to show up. I was glad to see two other names on the hurdle sheet by the time I signed up, I knew I was actually going to get to race some people. In the end it turned out to be just me and the two other people, but I could deal with that. So I was warming up and minding my own business when a younger hurdler came over to talk to me. He had just finished his freshman year in high school and was asking me about the hurdles and my times. He asked me what I ran for times as a freshman in high school and I felt kind of bad telling him because in all honesty, his times weren't very good. But he did seem to like the event and I encouraged him to stick with it. Then this other hurdler in the same age division as me came over and started talking to us about the hurdles. This guy clearly thought he was the man. I could tell by the way he was talking that he thought he had a lock on winning the race. I'm not that good at the hurdles, but I do know that I can beat a lot of the people in my area of the state. To say the least, I was ecstatic to race this guy because he had no idea who I was. I watched him take a few runs at the hurdles and he wasn't bad, but I've seen much better. But he definitely thought he was going to win. I knew this would be a fun race.

The hurdles were set up and I set the blocks the way I like them. There were only four of us in total, three of us in the open division and the high schooler I had spoken to in the scholastic division, so we all ran at the same time. The guy who was talking like he was the man was in the lane to my left, perfect. The gun went off, and despite not getting the best start, I beat this clown to the first hurdle, immediately putting him under pressure far too intense for him to overcome. He came in second place by ended up winning by about a second, which is a ton of time in a 110 meter long race. Basically, I accomplished what I wanted, but I can definitely go faster. I actually felt a bit slow, probably because I've done absolutely zero speed work since leaving school. My hamstrings are kind of sore today though! I felt like I was back at a dual meet senior year of high school: I showed up, I raced, I dusted my opponents, and had a great time. Maybe at some point I'll make a post about all the things I really enjoy about track along with the things I don't like about the sport. I also should make a post about my senior year in high school track, so many great memories. In outdoor track senior year, I didn't lose an individual race until All-States, oh the nostalgia. What happened!

Anyways, that's what I did right before making the trip into Boston. The Red Sox did not win the game, but it was still enjoyable. The only thing that disgusted me happened when I was walking back to the car after the game was over. Just outside Fenway, some guy walking on the sidewalk very close to me was speaking and I overheard a few lines. He said "I don't know why Apple doesn't put a better GPS in the iPhone. It doesn't even give you turn-by-turn directions." Apparently the GPS that tells you where you are and shows you how to get to other destinations is not good enough for this guy. Also, I highly doubt he moves fast enough to need turn-by-turn directions, but I guess looking at the line that leads from the current position to the destination is far too hard to interpret. I've personally used the iPhone's GPS to find a theater in Boston and it worked wonderfully. I followed the line and I think that guy could, too. But hey man, who cares what that guy does.




If you noticed earlier in the post I mentioned that I live in Massachusetts, but I wrote at least for now. When I think about the future I don't think I want to stay in the northeast because the weather up here sucks. I very well might stay here, but I've contemplated moving somewhere where the weather is almost always nice, like San Diego. My sister went to USC (the University of Southern California) which I applied to as well, but I was too stupid to get in. I still could have gone to college in California because I did get accepted to a school out there, but obviously I did not end up choosing it. I've never regretted not going to that school out west, but I think I should have applied to more schools out that way because I really like warm weather and my family has lived in California before. College, from my experience, is kind of a luck of the draw. No one really knows what school will be a good fit for them, that's why people transfer (who would have guessed!). I thought about transferring after my freshman year of college, but in the end I think I was actually too lazy to really look into it. However, had I the knowledge I have now, I might have chosen to attend a different school for a college education. Not because the one I went to is bad or anything, it's a good school, but I wasn't particularly satisfied there. Mainly freshman and senior year come to mind, I spent many long months those two years not very happy, but I think I'll elaborate on that in a different post because this one would be long as shit if  I started ranting here. Rather, in this post I would like to look toward the future. What's next?

The first step is getting a job, which I'm making progress on, but I still don't know exactly what I want to do. After getting a job I want to save up some money so I can live on my own. Ideally this would be with some friends, too. Then I will begin to seriously contemplate relocating, hopefully out to the San Diego area! Actually maybe to some place between San Diego and L.A., there's something for everyone in that area I think. At this point I have nothing holding me back from any of this, so I'm in good shape. Just like JQ, I have no baggage, maybe the two of us can work something out, at some point of course. For now, it's simple, get a job.

This has nothing to do with anything I've written about in this post, but I think I'm about due for a rant. I haven't let loose on a hell-bent rampage in way too long. You know what really was a horrible side-effect of the advancement of technology with smart phones? The ability for people to access social networking sites from smart phones. I think that will be my next rant, a rant that is way overdue. I don't know where to go from here, so I'll go off in another completely random direction. I've never actually played any Resident Evil video games, but I think the creepy merchant dude should exist behind every cash register. Imagine every time you were about to purchase anything you heard that creepy voice saying "what are you buying, stranger?"




I hope everyone is having a good day, we shall meet again... or maybe not, but hey man, who cares?

Catching the Butterfly

One night last week some friends and I had dinner at a fantastic little local Brazilian restaurant. Eating the exceptionally good rice and beans part of my meal brought back a familiar taste that my taste buds have been deprived of for far too long. When my family and I lived in Brazil we sure ate some great food! I have already told the tale of Larry the Lizard, but that is just one of many memories I have of living in Brazil. In this post I will recount the memories I have of our second year there, a year in which we moved out of the city of Sao Paulo and lived in Jaguariuna. Jaguariuna is still in the state of Sao Paulo, but it is much, much more rural, and very beautiful. Moving to Jaguariuna meant we would be way too far to continue attending Escola Graduada, located in the city. The commute would not be worth it by any stretch. So my mother bravely chose to home school my sister and I.

At that time I was in second grade, my sister in fourth. Given all the freedom that comes with home schooling mixed with our absolutely beautiful outdoor surroundings, which included a pool and a very large field, and superb weather, I never wanted to do any school work. I became some sort of little wild man that wanted to play and have fun all the time and do barely any work whatsoever. Basically, I was a pain in the ass. My mom struggled to teach me the lessons and would get so fed up with me that she would send me outside with a butterfly net and tell me to go catch butterflies. At the time I didn't know that she gave me this task because  I was annoying her immensely, but I have since learned the truth. So she would give me this cheap butterfly net to get me the heck away from her for a bit and probably to burn off the insane amount of energy I had. I would go down to the large field on our property and begin the chase.

A Brazilian butterfly

My mom has since told me that she sometimes watched me run around chasing the butterflies through the vast expanse of the field. I can only imagine what that looked like, it must have been comical because there is no way a person watching from a far could even see the butterfly in pursuit. To my mom, it must have looked like I was chasing thin air and waving a net at it. The mental picture I paint of this brings a smile to my face. I only wish that there were videos or photographs taken of these dramatic chases, but I'll settle for the memory. I do remember chasing butterflies and I can say they that they can be extremely illusive. But I was determined and did not give up on the challenge easily.

I remember coming back up to the house with a butterfly caught in the net. The shock on my mom's face was priceless, she couldn't believe that I had actually managed to catch one. The goal had been to get me away from her for a bit and let me tire myself out. I took the butterfly I caught and put it in my trusty critter box, which I still have to this day in the very room I'm typing this in. Then I went back to the field and started over again. When I caught another butterfly I would bring it up to the house. I would let the one I previously caught go and put the new captured butterfly in it's place in the critter box. Maybe it sounds cruel that I put them in the critter box, but I did always let them go a short time later.

That second year in Brazil was different than the first and third years because we lived exclusively in Jaguariuna and my sister and I were home schooled. The level of freedom was incredible, we did school related things when we wanted, fooled around when we wanted, and had absolute control over the schedule of our day. I think that my sister and I spent the vast majority of each day outside because the weather was absolutely gorgeous practically every day. I spent enough time outside that I didn't even look white anymore. Thankfully I tan and don't burn otherwise I would have looked like a lobster. My sister and I spent all day together in our pool pretending we were stranded at sea, having water gun battles, and playing with our wide array of toys which included Barbie dolls, Batman action figures, some Toy Story characters, and many other random things, like Poly the Polar Bear and the Vampy of Vampy Vamps (whose leg broke off after I dropped him while taking him out of his hiding place in the freezer). We also used to hurl some of these toys across the pool, for what reason, I do not know, but we enjoyed it.

The picture above shows how dark my skin was as a result of spending all day outside everyday. And my lip looks like that because of an accident. My sister and I were both in a hammock at the front of the house and we decided it would be a good idea to bounce each other on it. I fell out and one of my teeth cut into my lip, resulting in a big, fat lip. There was blood, but that was about it, no lost tooth or stitches needed. That wasn't the only stupid thing I did that year. We used to go on family bike rides within the closed off community in Jaguariuna. This one time I went down a steep hill way too fast and I lost control. The handlebars were violently moving to the left and right, so naturally the front wheel was, too. Eventually the bike and I fell over onto the concrete. I had this huge gash on my left arm, but I won't go into detail to explain what I remember seeing because it's kind of disgusting. What I will tell you is that we went back home after that and I watched the Wizard of Oz while I rested. I'll never forget that incident because it left and indelible mark on me. The scar on my left arm is still there today, and if it hasn't faded yet, it's probably going to be there forever. I think it's a good way to remember the action seeking daredevil side of me as a young child.

Going back to the critter box I mentioned earlier, that box and I go way back. I don't remember when I got the little plastic box with the purple top, but I have some history with it. Besides using it to display the most recently caught butterfly, I also used it as a defensive measure for the house. The front door of our house had an enormous gap between the bottom of the door and the floor. Basically, we had an open invitation for uninvited guests to get in. The most prevalent of these uninvited guests were spiders. I don't have anything against spiders, in fact, I was absolutely fascinated by arachnids and insects when I was young. My parents both thought that I would end up going into biology because of my fascination. However, in Brazil there are some amazingly frightening looking spiders. You should have seen some of the spiders that came into our house. These big, hairy, mean-looking spiders could be quite alarming, but I'm positive they were probably more scared of us. When we would find one of these guys lurking around I would be summoned to get the critter box. By the magic of the plastic box I would escort the uninvited guests out of the house. I don't remember where I would put them, but I hope it was a place decently far away from the house. Otherwise it would not have been hard for them to get back in.

A Brazilian spider, actually it's a xenomorph from Alien

Not all the things that came in the house were uninvited. Well, they weren't invited, but there was no problem having them around. For example, we had gecko's in the house. Occasionally you could see one hanging out on the wall. They didn't bother anyone and they eat mosquitoes, so I think it was good to have them around. They were similar to Larry, my pet gecko for a little while who you can read about in the link at the beginning of the article if you haven't yet! The next time I blog about our time in Brazil I think I'm going to describe what it was like in Brazil during the 1998 World Cup, but don't hold me to it. I've been blogging a lot about memories recently, so I might delve back into my thoughts at some point soon.

Speaking of my thoughts, what am I thinking about right now? Well, I'm hoping that Portugal win against the Czech Republic today in the first quarterfinal match of the Euro Championships. I've chosen to root for Portugal for the remainder of the tournament because I cannot root against Cristiano Ronaldo. I cannot stand the amount of hate that CR7 receives and it makes me sick. So I hope that Portugal wins the tournament and CR7 jizzes goals in all his opponents faces on his way to leading the tournament in goal scoring. I love it when CR7 succeeds because it pisses off so many people, including Messi fans. Oh yeah, before I forget, Barcelona's president is an idiot for saying that CR7 is the 12th best player in the world after Barcelona's starting eleven. Remind me again who won La Liga this year? Oh yeah, it was Real Madrid. I didn't like who won the Champions League, Premier League, or Serie A, but Real Madrid won La Liga so I'm satisfied. I also stand firmly by my previous statement that Messi is not even the best South American to play for Barcelona. Ronaldo, Il Fenomino, dominated at Barcelona when he was 20, he was too good for the league before he moved to the then superior Italian Serie A where they actually play defense. So let's go Portugal.

I've also had a lot of time to think about a variety of different things over the last few days. Hopefully I'll have something marginally interesting to put up here soon, then. I've been thinking about my future and what I would like to do, the friend zone, revisiting the post I started in December about how life is like Mario Party that I have not touched since starting. I don't have much more to say for now, but I think it is only fitting to end this post about some good memories of Brazil with a musical piece that always reminds me of the time spent in Brazil. This song was popular while we were in Brazil and it was on the radio all the time on the bus rides to school. So without further ado, here is the song that reminds me of Brazil. Enjoy!




And yes, I know it's random.

Not so Long Ago in a Building Not so Far Away

The silence has been broken, Chase Robertson has posted to his blog last night for the first time since February 28 of this year. It has been almost four months and a decent amount has happened in that time period. This post, Things I Hate (That Everyone Else Seems to Love), sounds like something I would pen myself. George Carlin said it best, "I don't have pet peeves, I have major psychotic f**kin' hatreds." But no, I am not going off on a rant, rather I found it interesting that Chase brought up high school in this post as something he didn't find very enjoyable. I don't blame him for that because let's be serious, high school was rather stupid when you look back on it. There were some things I liked about high school, but there were also things I didn't like. I'm not sure if I feel this way just because of where I went to high school, but I'm sure there have to be similarities about high school life no matter where you go to school in the U.S.

The first thing that comes to mind about high school is how clownish the teachers are. Sometime this past April I found out that my former English teacher from high school was arrested for possessing large amounts of cocaine with the intent to distribute. Apparently she told the police they couldn't arrest her because she is a school teacher. I'm sure if that was the case a lot more people would get into teaching. I also had this guy for geometry who was only at the school for one year and I was lucky enough to experience his class. Two of my friends were given detentions by this guy almost daily, but after going to the first one they never went to another one. But the guy continued to serve them detentions day after day and didn't do anything, at least not to my knowledge because it certainly didn't seem like he was, about them not showing up.

By far the most entertaining class I had was an economics class senior year with D-Chucks. This guy was the epitome of a clown teacher. He just didn't care what anyone did, maybe because he was retiring once the year was finished, but the stuff that went down in that class was like nothing I've seen before. My same friend who would get detentions daily in geometry would sit there and say "hey, D-Chucks, f**k you," while he was teaching and he wouldn't do a thing. He would continue to read from the book at the front of the class like nothing happened. I still can't bring myself to believe that he was that oblivious. D-Chucks would also make these really strange noises in lieu of saying actual words. So many great memories from that class, it should have been called comic relief.

So in my experience most high school teachers are quite clownish. There were a couple good ones, but they were definitely in the vast minority. The long days of high school are something I'm glad I'll never go back to. Spending practically all day inside classrooms getting taught by the suspect teachers made each day feel like an eternity. One thing about high school that I completely agree with Chase on is school spirit. I could care less and I didn't have any in high school. I would go to the football games, but I would go to see friends, not watch the game. In fact I wouldn't even pay sometimes and chose to hop the fence to get in because I didn't want to support the football team. I don't get the big deal with being a senior either. Senior status is something that's going to happen unless you drop out of school. Senior year was my favorite year of high school by far, but it was not because I was a senior, it was merely because it was a good year.

I think my lack of school spirit has something to do with the town I went to high school in. The town I live in is one of those places where it seems like everyone knows everyone else. And if someone doesn't know who someone is in particular, then they know someone who's related to them. Honestly, I think it's kind of strange and I don't really like it. Of course I like having friends and acquaintances and seeing people I know, but at the same time it's nice to have some anonymity. The emphasis that the people in my town put on high school sports is sickening, too. I don't have anything against high school sports, I participated in them, too. What annoyed me is that some people's high school sport prowess was like the highlight of their life. Playing in the Thanksgiving day football game was the best it got for some people. I just think that's sad, but if it helps them sleep at night, then keep believing that.

 Unfortunately I do remember that people in my class were not completely academically honest. You would have to be extremely naive to think that people weren't cheating, even the "smart" people. I think that sucks because it does hurt other peoples' class rank. The cheaters and all the people that dropped out, too. I remember going to check my class rank while I was in the process of applying to colleges. Each time I went my percentile rank in the class was usually different even if my spot didn't change because people kept dropping out. That was something that I made a light situation of because at least I did know that I was going to graduate. As for those other people ranking high in the class due to cheating, well, that's an annoying thing that I'll just have to live with. I guess in the end it didn't make much difference anyway, I still went to a good college.


I wasn't one of the popular people in school either, I just did my own thing. That's just my style, I was basically the same way in college, too. I would go to school, do the required work, go to practice, and go home. Nothing out of the ordinary. I didn't go to prom, I wasn't really interested in that whole thing. I can't say that prom sucks because I don't know, but that type of thing just wasn't my bag. Sure most of my friends went, but I took that night easy, as I do many nights. I got enough entertainment from the stories afterword.


In my estimation, high school was a place to bide your time before leaving for college. Once you get into college all your accomplishments from high school don't really matter anymore. The same can be said of college, once you get your first job and don't screw it up, what you accomplished in college is of lesser value. I don't really know what to make of high school, some of it was fun, a lot of it was lame, like busy work and really long and boring days. Interestingly enough, I find that my closest friends are the ones I had during my time in high school, though. Maybe that's because we went through that crap together and spent many fun filled nights in the basement of wonder and many nice days playing frisbee. At some point I came to the realization that a Bruce Springsteen song fits high school very well, at least in my case. Maybe you can relate, too.

I tend to remember particular people and experiences I had with them in high school as opposed to high school in general. This doesn't surprise me because of how bland high school actually is and I often remember a great deal about people I have interaction with. I've found that I can often remember what people said to me in certain situations and what body language they use. People fascinate me so that's probably why.


Basically (to me) high school was a place full of clowns "teaching" the youth for far too many hours each day with many optional activities that add to or subtract from each individuals' popularity. On another note, I'm glad that my good blogging buddy, Chase Robertson, posted some new material. I hope he continues to do so because it is so much more interesting to read a blog post than a status update or tweet. The elaboration of blogs make them my favorite type of social media.


On second thought, high school was a silly place and I'm glad I do not have to go back there.

JQ

Honesty and respect are two of the most important aspects of people. Saying that, I think that sometimes people have trouble staying honest with themselves. I'm not going to lie, I haven't been too happy recently, but luckily I tend to write most passionately when something is bothering me. However, today (I'm speaking of Saturday since it's technically Sunday when I'm writing this) was an exceptional day. I would also like to thank Chase Robertson for watching a bunch of Euro Cup games with me over the past week, it's always good to see you, buddy. Today was so great because I got a familiar, but old taste of the what my life used to be like. Chase and two other friends of mine from home and I simply went to a baseball field and screwed around. When most people think of me athletically now they think track. But before I was a track runner I was a baseball player. I played shortstop for most of my organized baseball career, but I was always an outfielder at heart. Why? Well because I really enjoy running down fly balls. That's exactly what I did today with some great friends.

The idea to go to the field to hit and shag flies was brought up by JQ, my longest standing friend. Unfortunately I had not seen JQ since I returned from the west coast about two weeks ago I believe. Spending time with JQ always makes me feel great because of the history that we've built together. As a young child I lived in two different states and two different countries. I was born on the east coast of the United States, but my family soon relocated to California and eventually to Brazil. Our frequent moving made for an interesting childhood. I don't have any friends that I've known since kindergarten or anything like that because I attended kindergarten in California, but then went from first to third grade in Brazil. Moving does not make for easy friend retention. However, when we came back to the United States from Brazil we happened to move into the same neighborhood as my uncle. At the end of each summer my uncle has an end of the summer barbecue party. At the first end of the summer barbecue party I met JQ. Little did I know that JQ would turn into such an important person in my life. We've been friends since the fourth grade and we've had some great times. Here's a little look at how our friendship has developed over the past decade or so.

 I'll start at the beginning, when we were very young. One memory that stands out occurred on a nice day when JQ invited me to play some basketball at a nearby neighbor's basketball hoop. I went and we got into some type of verbal altercation. I have no memory of what this altercation was about, but we ended up leaving unhappy. I remember eating dinner after that when the phone rang. It was none other than JQ offering for me to come over to his house after dinner so we could make up for the incident. You have to remember that this was circa fourth or fifth grade. What a classy move for such a young age. I went over and everything was fine. I also know for a fact that we have never fought about anything since then. At the time I didn't really think much of the event, but that was such a nice thing to do.

The following years, the middle school days, JQ and I spent almost everyday together. I actually remember him telling me one time that we weren't going to hang out for a week because he wanted to show his sister that we did more than just hang out. I miss those days when JQ and I would hang out and play the first Halo. We actually beat that entire game on Legendary, the hardest difficulty. I can recall playing the same parts of the game what seemed like hundreds of times until we finally made it through one time. The part that really stands out was near the beginning of the third level when you first get on the space ship and there are invisible elites with swords. For those of you who don't play video games or are unfamiliar with Halo, the swords are a one hit kill. I think JQ and I played that part 1,000 times, getting killed by one of those invisible bastards 999 of those times.

In middle school we had two hand touch football games at the bus stop practically every single day. Our neighborhood had a decent amount of people my year in it and the year ahead of me in it. So we usually just played sixth graders vs. seventh graders (and seventh graders vs. eighth graders the following year). This was around the time when I began to realize that I had some speed, especially when I could outrun the older kids! Anyways, JQ was our quarterback and I was the go to receiver. We played with the rules that each team has four downs to score a touchdown. JQ and I had a set play for third down that we would just look at each other and say third down and we knew what was coming. The play was basically a post pattern. When JQ hiked the ball I would run straight at a decent pace, but after about four or five steps I would cut toward the middle of the field and burn in a diagonal toward the end zone. JQ would just throw the ball up in the air and I would go get it. We actually had a pretty damn good success rate on this play because I could get by anyone covering me and as long as JQ got the ball in the air somewhere where I could run it down we were good. I must add that JQ was quite good at it.

JQ and I entered high school as extremely good friends. This one time we were hanging out at his house after school, I believe it was sophomore year. For some reason we were sharing the nightmares we had in our youth. I'll never forget his reaction after I told him about one of the most common nightmares I used to have. When I was very young I used to have nightmares where I was in a building. The building was some type of warehouse that had wooden boxes everywhere. The building was not well lit, I must have been there at night. I know not why I was in this warehouse, but I do know that I was running away from giant rats. When I was in the process of telling JQ about this dream I didn't really think much of it. I was merely recounting a nightmare that I used to have. I've never seen someone laugh so hard and for so long as JQ did. I don't think I'm exaggerating when I say that he might have been laughing loudly and genuinely for about ten minutes. It was one of those moments where I began to laugh loudly, too simply because he was. He was just sitting there laughing hysterically, commenting "maybe that's why you're so fast!"

Sophomore year of high school was when I was beginning to notice that maybe I did have some sort of track talent. I came in second in both hurdle events at leagues outdoors that year and eventually qualified for states. I think those are decent accomplishments for someone in their third season of track. Obviously JQ was aware of the success I was having because we spoke all the time and he was also friends with other people on the track team, too, our high school wasn't that big. We still played sports outside of school, frisbee, wiffle ball, football, and occasionally basketball or something else. Starting sometime during sophomore year and stretching to senior year, every time we had a pickup game and I was involved in some type of physical contact JQ would always yell at the person who came into contact with me, saying "hey, he's valuable to LHS!" I got a kick out of it every time he would say it. I know neither he nor anyone we were playing with would intentionally try to hurt me or anyone else we were playing with, but he would let them know. It was almost like a joke within itself because I would always say that no one gave a shit about the track team anyway, which actually did have some truth to it.

Even when we both went off to college JQ and I have always been in touch. There have been some long lapses of communication, but that has not damaged our friendship at all. The summer after freshman year, which I think was the best summer of my life to this point, started out with a classic JQ memory. One day we were at the grocery store and there was a deal for ice cream, something like buy one and get one free. So JQ and I decided to each get a half gallon of ice cream and take advantage of the deal. We went back to JQ's house and we were playing some NBA 2K8 or 9 given the time frame. We were playing with the stacked legends (or something teams), don't think I don't remember dominating with Patrick Ewing, JQ! We were eating the ice cream while playing. I somehow was managing to dominate at the game with Patrick Ewing, but after a few games JQ looked into my carton of ice cream and realized that I had eaten almost all of it. "Oh my God!!! Do you have a stomach ache?!?!" Another classic reaction there. Luckily I did not have a stomach ache despite consuming an entire half gallon of ice cream in one sitting. That ice cream did not go to waste, not on my watch.

The ice cream, it's all gone!

To say the very least, seeing JQ and hanging out with him today was a real treat. I plan on seeing much more of him in the very near future. That's one of the few things that I can control in the future. My mood has definitely been lifted after today. The end of my college career did not going very much as I would have liked it for a few reasons, which is why I haven't been too happy as of late. One of the things bothering me is track. Track has been such a large part of my life for the last eight years, but I don't think I'm ready to call it quits on the sport just yet. My collegiate track career ended with me feeling very frustrated. Why was I frustrated? Well I've been a hurdler since I began running freshman year of high school, but I've never actually had a coach who knows hurdles. My high school coach, despite claiming that he was a former hurdler, did not offer much insight. He even told me during practice for the indoor New England Championship meet (a practice that consisted of me and him since I was the only one on the team still competing) that I probably knew more than he did at that point. Then freshman year of college my coach told me that he had no expertise in the hurdles, that he was unfamiliar with the event. Our new coach this past year was no different.

What frustrated me was the fact that I rarely ever got to practice the high hurdles. My coach planned almost all of my practices around training for the 400 meter hurdles. I have no problem practicing for the event, but seriously, I need practice in the highs, too. At the end of the season I was actually doing no high hurdle work. At conferences I made the final in the high hurdles, but I was the last qualifier. I didn't qualify for the finals in the 400 hurdles, I only missed by .17 seconds I think, but the hard fact is that I didn't make it. So let's get this straight, I qualified in the event I spent almost no time training for. I did just get in though and when I was back over where our team was sitting my coach started talking to me about how my trail leg was slow. I looked at him in disbelief and said "I never practice it." Then I walked away thinking what the hell do you expect. He could tell I didn't like what he said to me and later on told me he didn't have me practicing the highs because I was getting faster in the event without practicing. Well that was true for a few weeks, but leading into conferences I ran one of my slowest times of the season.

Before the New England Championships, the week after conferences I did no high hurdle stuff again except for when I had a free day to do whatever I wanted. I was ready to go for that meet. I was right next to the fastest high hurdler in New England. I got out of the blocks very well and was with the number one seed at the first hurdle. He got over much quicker than me, but I was having a good race. At the seventh hurdle, I nailed the hurdle with my lead leg and stumbled which threw off my whole race. I decided to finish up the race anyways but I recorded my worst time in the event ever. That includes in high school, too, where the hurdles are 3 inches shorter. I am no satisfied with that. Luckily there are track meets quite often, you just have to look for them. I plan on competing again. I don't know how much more, but I just don't think I'm done with the sport yet. That ending has just been bothering me, I can't let it end like that. I did run my best time in the 400 hurdles later that same day, but it did little to relieve the disappointment I felt from the previous race. Here's why: I spent practically the entirety of my senior year training for the 400 meter hurdles. At the end of the year I had run my best time, but it was best time by .26 seconds. I barely trained for the high hurdles, but in the 110 high hurdles I improved by .39 seconds, which is a great deal in that race. To put it in perspective, I came in second at the New England Championships my senior year of high school and was beat by .40 seconds. You can see what that looks like for yourself in the video below. I'm in the blue shorts and white top in lane 5.

Watch more video of New England Interscholastic Spring Track and Field Championship Meet on flotrack.org

Another thing that has been bothering me is lacking a job. I've been bored out of my mind and am growing tired of searching for a job. However I finally have an interview on Monday. I really hope that turns into something, I'm staying positive about it. This was an exceptionally great day, though. I got to spend some time with three of my closest friends and run around like a lunatic for a bit. I plan on having many more days like this over the summer. I'm coming back to my normal self after a few uncomfortable nights. And remember, be champions.

Moving On

I've fractured my ankle and taken a baseball bat with a weight taped onto it to the face, but neither of those injuries have the fatal blow of emotional anguish. In previous posts I have mentioned a girl that I have taken a liking to. A girl who once told me to introduce her to my parents as my girlfriend. A girl who I stayed in touch with while she was studying abroad during the past fall semester. A girl with whom I failed to see enough during my time in college. A girl who I was going to ask to be my girlfriend and I to be her boyfriend. This girl told me today that she was with someone.

I am by no means mad at her, but I am very sad. I can't help to think of what could have been. For the past few hours I had been debating whether I should blog about this or not because it is such a sensitive and personal subject. But looking back at past entries I can see how my life has unfolded since I began Sycophantic Laughter right after Thanksgiving of 2010. While this is not a happy day in my life, it is an important day for me, marking the third coming of the search for a girlfriend.

My face when I found out

This is the second time that I've liked a girl enough to think about asking them to be my girlfriend, and the second time that it has not worked out. Not only did I choose to blog about this as an important day in my life, but I find a comfort in blogging. This blog contains my thoughts, ideas, events in my life all written in my own words with my own feeling encompassed. With that said, it saddens me to miss out on an opportunity with this girl, I'll refer to her as "Mystery" so I don't have to keep typing "the girl" and out of respect because she deserves to have a name. I also choose the name Mystery because of my past relationship experience, mainly that I have never had one. That's correct, I'm twenty-two and I've never had a girlfriend. Given that I have never been involved in a relationship with anyone, my friends have always been interested to see who I choose. I can recall some friends imagining the characteristics of the girl they thought I would date, some good memories there. So I'll tell you about Mystery.

Mystery is one year behind me in school, she will be entering her senior year of college this fall. I met Mystery during my sophomore year in college because we attended the same university where we met through a common activity. Looking back on that year I remember Mystery asking me what I was doing on the weekend and telling me she was going to be all alone in her room bored on some nights. At that time I was too stupid to realize that maybe she was interested in getting to know me, what an idiot I was. Although, to be fair I was still attempting to work something out with the first girl that I ever wanted to date (from my high school), so I can't throw too much crap at myself for that. So that year ended with me just thinking of her as another nice person I had met during the year. She also had started dating someone else at the end of the year, so I just thought of her as a nice, new friend.

Upon arriving back at school my junior year I knew that I was not going to have any type of a relationship with my friend from high school who was going into her sophomore year of college just like Mystery. The first weekend everyone was back on campus I happened to see Mystery in the dining hall at breakfast. Actually, I didn't see her, but she and her friends spotted me as I was about to leave and they called me over. I heard my name and looked out into the depths of the dining to see Mystery waving and smiling at me. So I went over to say hello and she got up to give me a hug. We also happened to have a class together that semester which she was happy about. I saw her a few days later in one of the buildings at school and she came up to me to tell me how we could walk to class together and sit next to each other. Of course I had no problem with this, but I still wasn't really putting the pieces together that maybe she was interested, even if she did still have a boyfriend at the time.

Hugs make everyone feel good

So we did go to class together and sit next to each other. On most of those nights Mystery and I ate dinner together, too. Mystery and I would speak to each other quite often. I always enjoying speaking with her, she's very interesting and not shy to say what's on her mind. I remember her telling me about people she didn't like because they were rude to her and how certain things annoyed her, I distinctly remember her talking about her boyfriend to me once where she said "I don't even like him." That's verbatim, too. Eventually that day came where Mystery came to the home track meet and told me that I should introduce her to my parents as my girlfriend. I was really caught off guard by this and just laughed. I didn't introduce her and that could be a huge mistake that I am suffering from now. I saw her later that weekend in the dining hall again and she told me that she still needed to meet her boyfriend's parents. For some reason I just didn't ask her to be my girlfriend which has come back to haunt me. I'm noticing that I have developed a habit for waiting far too long to ask.

We're almost at present time now. Mystery studied abroad for the fall semester, but I kept in touch with her through social media (I found a good use for it, who would have guessed). She told me about how much she was enjoying herself and how she wanted me to cook dinner for her when she got back. So everything was well at this point, but when she did get back I never got the chance to make even one dinner for her. She got an internship and was rarely at school during the spring semester. I did manage to have lunch with her one day and have a coffee with her before the end of the semester. Now it's summer and Mystery got another internship offer in another state, not too far away though. I had been keeping in touch with her and today I got the news. Mystery told me she was with someone else. I don't know who that someone is, but if she's happy then I don't want to interfere.

What did I like about Mystery? Well she is a very nice person who holds her friends closely from what I can see. I think she is very easy to get along with and she's got a brain, too. Mystery is also very good looking, but she does it in a sophisticated way and there is so much more to her than merely her stunning looks. I've always felt comfortable conversing with her. Mystery is a lovely young lady with a promising future. I can't say enough about her, she's simply a wonderful person. She's also extremely outgoing and sometimes has a little too much, but she maintains herself well.

It's my loss really, I always wait until it's too late. I'm glad that she's happy, but it makes me feel down. I've only felt like this once before with my previous failure to develop a meaningful relationship and it is no fun. I don't really know what I'm going to do now, I have this strange empty feeling and I doubt I'll be able to go to sleep easily, but at the same time  I don't really want to do anything. This news combined with the stress of looking for a job is definitely taking a toll on me. I just feel useless right now. Maybe I just need some more cowbell, but I'm perplexed with my life right now. I wish Mystery the best. She still wants to be friends and I can't say no to that because I do like her and I don't want to completely severe ties with such a wonderful person. I could just really use a nice, warm hug right about now.

I don't know what's next, but I might actually have an interview sometime next week so hopefully I'll have some happy news soon. As a huge fan of soccer coach Jose Mourinho and Special 1 T.V. I've adopted the phrase "Be Champions" as a motto to live my life by. I think that everyone should be a champion. I don't care if you are a superstar, a person living a successful life, an aspiring future leader, or a crack pot smoker. Everyone should live their lives as a champion and I plan on handling this unfortunate situation as a champion. Mystery, I dedicate this entry to you and I wish you the best.

What do I do now?

My family and I have been back home from Seattle for a week now and it only took that week for me to get bored out of my mind. Luckily I was able to spend some time with good friends the last two nights which has greatly helped me ease the boredom to some extent. Yesterday I was gone most of the day for a family get together. During this get together I found myself come to a realization. From my point of view, my life, as well as most people when I come to think about it, revolves around sitting in some place to getting up and going to sit in another place. Call me crazy, but I honestly feel like that's what's going on. Yesterday for example, at my grandmother's 80th birthday party. My family and I got to the restaurant and sat down and ate. Once all that was finished we got walked back to the car and sat in it until we arrived back at her house where we proceeded to sit down inside. Then once everyone was like screw sitting inside, let's go outside because it's so nice. So we all got up and walked outside to sit down. After sitting there for a while it was time for us to make our way home, so we got back in the car and sat there for about another hour and a half.

I don't mean to take anything away from family gatherings, I think they're a good thing as long as they don't last too long. I am merely pointing out how life just revolves around going places to sit down. The same was true in school, whether high school, college, any type of education. You show up to class and sit down and listen to someone, sometimes a huge clown, teach, or in some cases "teach," for a predetermined amount of time. Once that amount of time expires, it's on to the next class or it's time to go sit in the cafeteria or it's time to go sit in your dorm or something. I think this holds true for practically every situation. You go out to a bar and sit down, or maybe you stand around, but I think it's along the same idea. You go to a sporting event and you sit down and watch. You go to work where most professional jobs include lots of sitting and sedentary action.

My sister and I with the Freemont Troll in Seattle!

 Personally, I like to stay active. I like moving around and partaking in physical activity. This is probably why I ended up running track and very much enjoy playing pickup games of frisbee. I usually find myself happiest when running around like a lunatic. Unfortunately as my friends and I get older it gets increasingly difficult each year to play sports because people are busy or lazy and sometimes a combination of both. I also find that most people just want to go to bars and drink or just drink in general. I don't mind doing this sometimes, but I'm definitely not one to go out and drink on an extremely regular basis. I think that right there immediately cuts my options of things to do with people by a lot. Pair the sedentary style of life with no job and I find myself bored out of my mind.

Right now the main goal for me is to find a job. I've submitted my resume to a few places and I'm continuing to search for opportunities while I wait to hear back. The annoying thing is that if the places I've applied to aren't interested in what I have to offer, they probably won't even get back to me so I'll have no idea if I'm still in consideration or not. I'm really hoping that if I can find a job I'll be a lot happier, because I'm already sick of where I'm at now.

At this point I'm just going to continue searching for work and spend time with some of my longest standing friends. Speaking of which, I also had another revelation, something that I've actually known all along, but for some reason took me a while to realize. Actually, I think I always did know it, but I didn't want to be a huge dick, but I now I do. If you are familiar with me, or this blog, you know that I'm not a supporter of Facebook. If you have no idea what I'm talking about, then look at the labels section on the right side of the blog and click on "Facebook." Then you can see me bitch and piss myself into a puddle of my own rage. When I was writing about the social networking site that has become a large part of practically everyone's life my age or around it, I was quick to blame the site for allowing people to do all the annoying things that piss me off. However, I was wrong to blame Facebook, it's not the site's fault, rather it is the people on it. There you go, very simply put, the way people use Facebook, and other social media sites, annoys the piss out of me.

Running around like a lunatic at an early age!

The one thing that annoys me the most on Facebook is that you can tell when people blow you off. I don't really feel like getting into too much depth on this subject because it will just end with a whole lot of unpleasant thoughts, but it does really annoy me. I also think that this has gotten much, much worse since people have been able to use Facebook on mobile devices.

So I have no job and very little to do. I'm bored to say the least. That's about all I have to say for now. I'll leave you with this short film that one of my friends made this past semester in school.

Roommates: The Last Words

I've been a huge slacker on the blogging front lately, but now finals are over and I have no class to go to or job to show up for, so that creates time for blogging! This is going to be an interesting time in my life because undergraduate school and collegiate track are both over for me. I still have the actual graduation ceremony to go to this Saturday, which happens to be the same day as the Champions League final unfortunately, but it is strange to think college is done. I have to say I feel much the same way I did in high school, there were some fun times, but I'm ready to get the hell out of there and go do something different. I'm really hoping that finding a job won't be a huge pain in the ass, but if it is, I'm sure I'll at least get some good stories out of it. Looking back at the past four years I've spent in college I can see how my life has changed and how the people who are important to me have changed. For the most part I still stay in touch with my close friends from high school, which I am very pleased about, but the vast majority of people I knew then I rarely communicate with now. That might sound depressing, but it's not, because there are many new people that have worked their way into the closer circle of friends.

While I don't have 1,983,435 friends, the ones I have kept in touch with and the ones I have developed at school are relatively strong friendships, especially with a small group people (from high school and college) that I consider my best friends whom I will probably have communication with for the rest of life. What I'm not going to miss is tests, crappy group projects, and excessive alcohol/drug use. This brings me back to my roommates. I have been preparing for quite some time the last installment of the stupid shit that my roommates say, which can be found a little further down on this post. This installment is rather long, but it's the last one and I am so happy that I won't be subject to this stupid conversation any longer. I guess I do have to go back for one night before graduation, but it's basically over, thankfully.

In efforts to ignore the dumb conversations, I frequently listen to comedians.  Recently I've been listening to a larger variety of comedians including Luis CK. Louis is a funny guy, but one of his jokes summed up my roommates very accurately which made it particularly funny to me. Below is the joke, listen to it and you will understand my roommates better.



Annnnd here they are, the last contributions to the mini-series:

Actually I just jacked off... so I just gave up.

I'm pretty sure I'm gonna f**k her.

It was just me and three freshman girls just rollin' up joints. It doesn't matter who's on campus.

Definitely shouldn't trust me.

Yo, I'm not pissed, but did one of you house my Butterfingers?

I might have messed this up if this girl thinks I'm lookin' at porn all the time. Which I might ... but this is not good.

It's gonna be so funny when I bang her and stop hittin' her up.

I hooked up with her once and now she won't talk to me.

I've made out with a girl 'til 5 or 6 in the morning. I just try to keep takin' her panties off. She kept sayin' no, but it only takes one yes.

My plan for tonight is to wait 'til like 10 and pound SoCo... and just get belligerently drunk.

Man, I skipped like mad classes this week. I wasn't even tryna skip.

What's that saying again? Beer before liquor get drunk quicker?

Honestly, she was talkin' like she just wanted to get dicked up

Dude, what do you think of these two girls? It's not usually my style, but look at that black girl's ass. It's actually kinda gross.

I have to keep my reputation as a douche bag.

That chick **** had no intentions of hookin' up with me. What a waste of time.

She won't sleep with me because I banged her f**ckin' roommate.

You wanna see this cannon we're about to smoke?

So pretty much, I'm gonna lose 20% of my grade.

I could call up that freshman chick ***. I don't think she likes me at all.

Does nap equal sex?

The plan was to let her smoke as much weed as she wanted... and that's it.

I've been real paranoid the last couple days. I was sittin' here on Saturday and a car pulled up to the fire lane and took a picture of the house.

I hate multiple choice because I can usually bullshit on a normal test.

Yo, you think I'm gonna be dirty now that I have golf shoes? (hooray for a different subject!)

I'm not smokin' 'til 4/20 so I can get super high.

Good luck not smokin'.

I think I'm done. I just don't feel like being this paranoid all the time.

Dude, I'm broke, I have no money. And my parents don't just give me money. (maybe I'll explain why this is funny, or you can just wonder)

My goal is to make it to last call at Rente's. I want to pick up some drunk sluts.

This girl, ****, wants me so bad. At first she wasn't texting me at all, but now she is all the time.

I am his mom. I'm Wiz's mom and dad.

Just don't do what I did, spend all your money and smoke a ton of weed.

Yo, Mike, where do you think would be a good place to find some sluts? ..... No, those are whores. I want sluts.

Dude, **** was givin' me some dirty looks in class today.

Her vagina is gross, too, it has some real disgusting parts.

I saw ****'s ex-boyfriend today and I'm even more perplexed. I don't understand why she won't f**k me.

I got a movie quote for you: "knock knock. Who's there? Go f**k yourself."

**** ruined my nest egg. She smoked my retirement fund.

Do you think that girls really have guy friends? Because she texts me like every day. Maybe I just come from a different class of guys.

Dude, be careful because I have a feelin' DPS is pullin' a raid on me on 4/20. If they raid me, it will be at like 5 in the morning, so we can smoke all day.

This girl is the biggest cockblock of all time. I think she's part clueless and part c**t.

What she said to me was I'm too nice. What I said to that: "wow, don't get that too often."

It really sucks, dude, cus you're gettin' pussy. So you can just wait it out. I'm not, so I'm just wasting time. It's just that... every time she texts me, I think I'm in.

You think you hooked up with a girl when she had a boyfriend? Yeah buddy!

Dude, India has nuclear bombs? Awww shit.

Those guys in the Middle East would, they're retards.

Damn, look at these f**kin' hot sluts.

No, I just wanna bang her. (answering the question "do you like her?")

I'm gonna shower and get ready for the day. Hit me up later. (at 6:57 PM)

You stayin' here tonight, ***? (Yeah.) We gotta find some sluts, dude.

I'm honest with girls. I don't want a relationship. Don't want 'em, don't like 'em.

I'll be out of the friend zone when I put it in her. I can tell she wants dick.

I don't smoke cigs. I only smoke cigs when I'm drunk.

I'm not a stoner.

My dick is sore from dry humping.

I got half a boner, I just woke up, and you're like "let's go to the gym, let's go to the gym."

If it doesn't go down tonight my balls are gonna be bluer than that solo cup.

I saw her come over here with that beer in her hand and I was like oh yes. Yes, yes, yes.

I was spitting some ferocious game that night.

I actually am gonna bust in like 2 minutes because I'm so built up.

I'm not gonna be real good at sex right now, but that's your fault.

How fast you bust depends on how into the girl you are.

This girl is gonna be devastated after I f**k her and I don't call her back. I don't give a f**k, there are only two weeks of school left.

I'm just tryna go to bed... and smash ... and not hang out.

I'm in my prime. I'm bangin' sluts all the time. Make-outs are in the hundreds.

Dude, it is so expensive to f**k.

You still tryna do coke tonight?

That's actually why I go to the library, to see if there are any girls I know. Hey, how you doin'? Can I sit here?

Yo, what's up baby? Can you suck my c**k tonight, please?

I'm gonna go all out. I'm gonna smoke up this girl **** on like 1,000 blunts and just f**k her. I gotta start goin' to the gym.

She looked really f**ked up. That's good right? I heard sex on vikenin is the best.

Check out this new cut I gave my pubes. It's stylin'.

Like last night I was pretending to study, but I was thinking I really want to f**k this girl.

It's gonna suck getting written up as an alumni.

That's what my dick was like when I was f**kin' that chick, not hard, but not soft.

Bozo's Sidekick

Yeah, *** still won't f**k me. I would do whatever I have to.

I don't know how I got so drunk last night.

My bad tryna fight that kid, I don't know what I was thinkin'.

I couldn't get the job done last night. Hopefully bang her next time.

Dude, I'm doin' so bad in school right now. I just got a 68 on my paper.

I thought when girls were on the rebound they just wanted ...

She fell asleep in the bed in her clothes, so I asked her to leave. (Did you bang her?) No, that's why I asked her to leave.

I skipped class, but I had a chance for some morning sex.

It's kind of funny to think about how much it costs to bang out chicks.

Doesn't it suck that it's harder to get a girl to f**k you if they actually like you?

I would also like to point out that roommate number two, Bozo's sidekick, or whatever you want to refer to him as, had a falling out with the person he was going to go to senior ball with. The falling out was because she wouldn't have sex with him. Last I knew he was just not going to go, but who knows what has happened since then. What a guy! To say the least, I am very glad to know that my time living in that house is coming to an end.

What's up next I don't entirely know. My family and I are going (we went out, I just haven't blogged in so long that I wrote this portion before we left) out to Washington (the state) to visit my sister who has been living out there for a little over a year now. Then I guess I'll be looking for a job. I'm excited to see what transpires, this is the time of life when you really start becoming independent. I think ideally I would get a job and live at home for a little while, if possible, to save money. I would like to get a job in the city and eventually get an apartment or something with some friends, that would be the ideal situation. Which city, I do not know, but I think the most important thing is to just get a job at this point.

Enough of this gay banter, though, there are more interesting things to contemplate. Actually, maybe there isn't. All I do know is that I don't have a job, this means that I have no income right now (thankfully I have actually managed to save some money over the years!) and my days are wide open. I can do whatever I want practically whenever I want. Yes, that does include looking for a job, though. Now that I think of it, my entire life is wide open right now. I don't have a job, so that means I have the freedom to apply to jobs wherever because I don't have any reason to stay here or go to any particular place. The other thing is that I have no girlfriend either. I have (or had, I'm not sure what tense to put this sentence in) a good thing going with a girl at school, but due to some circumstances (good circumstances if you care) I haven't been able to see her much and that's not going to change for a while at least, and possible forever. I might get into this topic some more given all the free time I'm going to have. So if you're at all interested be sure to check back. So at this point I have no idea what's going to happen in my life, but I plan on making it a fun ride!

The coolest Chinese Man ever!

Since I cannot go to sleep, which is why I decided to finish this at 2 in the morning despite the draft sitting in the post list for probably almost two months now (meaning why the hell haven't I finished this yet!), I'm probably going to start an article for Penultimate Round Pick on the man pictured above, Liu Xiang!