I’m back to the grind today after a very full and awesome weekend. It started off on Friday and going to ComedySportz which is just 2-3 hours of pure fun every time I get to see it. On Saturday I had to work a half day but then I spent a large chunk of the evening at a semi-surprise party for my older sister. I had the chance to meet one of my little nephews I had not yet met and it’s always nice to see and chat with family. Plus there was the Sabres game on a HD-TV and yummy food to make a good time even better.
On Sunday I went to the St. Patrick’s Day parade and had more fun than I expected. Usually large parties or gatherings are not my thing but I was with a group of people I knew which always helps and it was a good even mixture of guys and several attractive ladies in the group so I can’t argue with that. I saw some incredibly drunk people and several times I locked eyes with cute but very drunk females in a few bars and although naughty thoughts entered my mind a few times, I maintained a gentlemanly disposition throughout. There were so many trashed females who were throwing themselves at guys who were all too happy to oblige. I felt sympathy for some of them. Once upon a time I couldn’t moderate my drinking so I guess I could relate and that generated the sympathetic feelings. I’m sure many of the people I saw stumbling around yesterday are paying for it today.
As those of you who know me might have guessed I didn’t drink too much, I think it was 3 beers in 5 hours so I wasn’t drunk. Towards the end of the day out nearly everyone in my group was pretty hammered except for one person who I ended up having the most fun talking to.
It was probably the first time I went out to a bar since November so maybe my tolerance to the chaotic atmosphere was extra high since I hadn’t been to one in a while but having a good time with cool people helps me to forget about all the idiots and rudeness going on all around me which usually bothers me and consumes my thoughts when I am in those types of places.
For someone who has hardly ventured out much the past few months this weekend was a much needed and greatly anticipated wake up call. I think hibernation is officially over. We are only days away from the actual beginning of spring and my energy levels have really kicked up a few notches the past 2 weeks.
The warmer weather is surely an important factor and the impending arrival of my favorite season is another. In spring many things are reborn and it’s all around us. We cannot escape the renewed world under our feet and out as far as our eyes can see. I feel like I am a part of it. I feel like I shed my winter blues and my winter skin and I am revitalized and ready to go out to do bazillion things.
Suddenly I want to go out and see shows. Suddenly I want to go out and hang with friends. Suddenly I want to explore and I most definitely want to quote Prince and play in the sunshine. Now my hunger for playing sports, seeing music, art, culture, shows, plays, other places and other faces is growing and will be nearly insatiable before too long.
I’ve already been out on my bike for the better part of 2 weeks and it feels wonderful. I feel alive again. I know that pales in comparison to skydiving, rock climbing, wrestling bears and extreme jello walking in terms of feeling alive but for me riding a bike in traffic feels pretty dangerous. I’m easy. I don’t need much.
On a couple of the warm days I’ll ride without a hat or any kind of headgear and let the wind blow through my hair and man does that feel good. I think I am trying to say I love to ride my bike and to be able to do that once again makes me a happy guy. With all this revitalization in a strange way I feel like I’ve somehow come back to life.
The positive energy of now mixing with the rush of anticipation of what’s to come has me in a tizzy. I am jumping up and down in place thinking about needing to wear sunblock again. I can’t wait to hear the wind whip through the leaves. I can’t wait for the Sabres to rip through the Leafs… again. All this energy and a desire to go in 5 directions at once… I love it.
As far as work goes I’m going to need all this extra energy. Our staff is moving down the street one block to one of our other buildings. When you have 30,000+ items in your inventory, that’s quite a job. Add in the fact that we are expected to complete the move in 6 weeks and we have the added task of needing to help the business in the building we are moving to. We have to help them turn it around but the decks are really stacked against us. They have a brutal location, little to no promotion, an ancient store space, a budget the size of a caterpillar and an owner who is out of touch. We’ve done our own thing for 10 years or more and have had some great success but now we’re supposed to turn them around and also restart our own thing while we are performing that minor miracle. So yeah, I don’t know if I’ll still be working with this company a few months from now or if there will be a company in a few months but on the bright side if these are the last few weeks of what was a good long nearly 7 year run for me, at least it will be especially stressful, brutal and ridiculous. That’s sarcasm by the way.
On the real bright side I have so many cool things coming up in the next few weeks. Let’s see I am going to see E.T. for FREE at Sheas on Sunday (I’ve never seen E.T.!), I am going to see improv at Sugar City. I am going to Comedysportz again this weekend and a Muppet Show marathon in a few weeks. I am going to see an operatic adaptation of “Hamlet” at the Live at the Met series shown in Regal theaters here in Buffalo. I am going to get delicious pierogies at the Broadway Market one of these weekends very soon. I may go to see Roller Derby on the 27th and I’m still going to the Tuesday night UB film seminar movie series at the Market Arcade until it ends in mid-April. If any of these things sound interesting to you, feel free to ask me about them and I’ll give you the 411… whether you wish to join me or not.
In the I need to get off my butt and start jogging again department my coed football league starts up on April 3rd which is only 3 weeks away. We won the title in the fall 2008 session but in spring 2009 and fall 2009 we lost in the playoffs, both times to the same team and both times we had swept them in the regular season only to lose to them in the postseason. I’m trying to switch gears this season from quarterback to receiver which is my preferred position. I run really good routes and I catch nearly everything but with my weight being so high it reduces my speed and stamina. That’s why I am trying to slim down. I want to get my burst back. With my size and skill if I can drop 30 pounds this spring I can become a very dangerous weapon on the field. Things are going well in that regard as I’ve lost about 5 pounds so far in March.
Also coming up in about a month is the annual 91.3fm WBNY Alumni weekend. This is where I go back to Buffalo State and do a radio show and hope the equipment hasn’t changed much from the year before. I already have a few hundred songs I’m considering for the show and with a 2-hour shift and a few mic breaks mixed in I think I may have time for about 25-30 songs. So an elimination process will be happening soon. When I get a timeslot I will post it on here and let everyone and their cats know about it. I’ve had the Friday night 10pm to midnight slot for 5 years running so I hope to get that one again.
Then in May we’re talking about the returns of the kickball team and softball team(s)! I can’t wait to sweat and hustle and laugh with everyone. I probably say this every year but this spring is going to be great! With so many things going on and the right mix in the air my internal flame has been reignited. I’ve gone from simmer to high flame. Here’s to fires being lit under all of us. I hope the spring brings all of you many things to look forward to.
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