University of Dayton - MyLife

Scott Baio is 45 and single? No Way.

I have decided to go back to school. Bartending school that is. I had several discussions with a professor before leaving UD about how bartending would be one of the best opportunities to learn sales. On top of that I'm a great listener and see the whole thing as an opportunity to not only meet some new people but maybe even figure out something to write a scholarly article on. It also is a pretty mobile job so maybe I will move to Hawaii or an Island and do something different. Maybe a cruise ship finally? Also, we were told that one can make really good money which helps seeing as I have next to none right now. My parents are so proud of me that I'm pursuing my first graduate degree.

So I've been running a lot. There was about a 2 week span where none of my friends except Jerrod and Griff where in town. I went out with Griff and his girlfriend Sasha a lot, luckily they didn't mind me third wheeling along everywhere and we had some fun. Jerrod was always busy with work sadly so I did not see him much. So that meant I really did not have a ton of stuff to do. I ended up running 30 miles in 5 days and then the next week ran 50 miles in 5 days. As my big top off I ran 14.5 miles in one shot last week in 2 and a half hours. I still ache slightly from it and but may try to go out tomorrow for a quick 7 miles or something. On second thought I porbbaly won't, I screwed my ankle area up and can still barley walk without limping. Maybe a good heavy lifting session however. The sky is my only limit. I've had a couple people comment I look more cut since then so that makes me pretty happy. I hope I keep this up, who knows maybe you'll all see me running the New York Marathon soon. Apparently I am a running machine.

On another note I've been to several good concerts recently. Tumbush, Donohoe and I took in a concert by Bob Weir and Rat dog. They did a few Grateful Dead songs which I really enjoyed, including a killer version of Shakedown Street. There is something about a hippie concert that is so freeing. Be it the hoola hoping girls or the crazy dancing that the guys do I find it a wonderful atmosphere all around. I also met a few people that are following the band. I have always thought that was such a cool thing to do, just travel around and follow a band from town to town. I doubt I will ever do it as none of my friends would probably want to do it for various reasons and I doubt I'd do it alone, but I respect and support those who do.

I also saw Yonder Mountain String band the other day. If you have not heard of them check them out, they are a fantastic jam-grass band (a jam bluegrass band). They mostly played songs I did not know this time, which was cool. Probably one of the best shows I've seen them do. Jeff, the mandolin player, is an incredibly animated singer as well so if you get a chance to see them play live take it as he really makes the lives show interesting. I had an extra ticket thanks to Griff not going which a scalper bought. I talked to him a bit and he ended up giving me double what he was giving everyone else just cause of it. The ticket was something like $28 and I got $20, he was giving everyone else $10. The lesson to take out of this is if you need a scalper to buy a ticket off you, talk to them for a bit about non ticket related issues and they will give you more money. Maybe he just wanted me to go away? Either way I didn't loose as much money on the ticket as I would have so Hooray!

I also went to a thing called picnic with the pops here in Columbus. The Columbus symphony will play a set and then take a short break. After the break a featured act will come on (this time it was Rickey Skaggs and the Kentucky Thunder) and the symphony will back them. Also, the concert is outside so you simply bring your own food and what not and as the sun sets you can lay back and just look at the stars (good thing I took star gazing 101 at UD, taught by Brother Klco, or else I wouldn't have known any constellations). My buddy Donohoe got a random date when he went this time. As he was sitting on his bike outside a random girl offered him a ticket and to go in with her. Way to go Mike. In short though, I had never been to picnic with the pops and I intend to start going more often as it was a really great time.

Finally, if you end up in Columbus, head to the Scarlet and Grey cafe on Wednesday night. A gentleman by the name of Mike Perkins plays there for free with his band and it is great. People bring hoola hoops and dance everywhere, including in back of the band. The bassist in the band is phenomenal; he handles the bass line but also is the rhythm section because of the style he plays. Probably the best bassist I've ever seen with few exceptions. I was even dancing behind the band this past week. All of our friends came out, even my old roommate Eddie, and danced the night away. This week my goal is to get Joe, another old roommate, out this week with us to dance (I have never really seen Joe dance but it has always been a goal of mine). Namely, if you want to put on you boogie shoes, check out Mike Perkins on Wednesdays. It's free.

Harry Potter. Let's talk about him some. I went to Borders and hung out for an hour or so. Read some magazines, watched a costume contest, Mike got coffee. I also had a really cool shirt on I made that said "Hufflepuff is for lovers" (which everyone knows is true). We however left Borders when we realized we wouldn't get the book until at least 3am. Instead we went and got the book at a Kroger's with no wait what so ever. We called and told several people we knew at Borders to just go buy it at Kroger instead of sittin, waitin, wishin. I had the book finished by 5pm the next day which I think is a pretty good testament to the quality of the book. I have a few complaints however. I did not like how the Snape debacle played out, I wanted Snape to be evil because it would have fit. I don't think anyone was surprised he was good. Actually that is my main complaint for the book, that it was predictable. The Hallows where a great curveball but overall I do not think anyone walked away from the book going "wow, I never expected to see that". I also didn't like the flurry of deaths at the end. Tonks and Lupin, come on J.K they just had a baby and fell in love, that was not right. I as well was upset that one of the twins died, I felt again that J.K went a bit too far on that. These are just nit picky observations though, overall it was a good book and Harry was a fun journey overall. If you haven't read any of the HP books just do it. The hype is justified. A suggestion however would be to start on one book 3 or 4 as it starts getting interesting there and the movies did cover the prior books well enough to just jump right in.

In closing, things did not work out with that girl. At least not as of this moment.

Jul 23, 2007 12:55 AM Permalink