How I spent my Summer Vacation...

Well, my weekend, anyway.

I must say I haven't looked forward to a weekend arrival as much as I did this past one. Not because I had awesome plans or anything (but I did), not that there weren't awesome weekends already this summer (there were), but I was just so tired and stressed from a project from work. I was just looking forward to sleeping in and not worrying about deadlines.

In no particular order...
Saturday:
The big event of the weekend was my friend Phil's wedding. Julia got a new dress and looked really good (lets see if she reads this...). It was a really nice ceremony, even though it was hot, and I was wearing a suit, and it was outside... But Phil and his Bride Ellen looked great and we had a really nice time at the reception. It was great to see old friends and catch up, and it was especially nice to sit down for dinner with Greg Pollard and his wife Becky. Its great to see Greg jazzed up on life; his 1 year old son, a new band, still Straight Edge and all that.

After dinner we hung out with old friends Alex Russin, Matt Hoodrack, Brian Cons and Lauren. I haven't seen Lauren since I lived in Manchester, as she used to live in MA. That was the random highlight of the night. It was nice to meet Matts GF Erica. She seems pretty cool. Matt also currently has a beard and was wearing Wallabees. It wasn't like a swamps of northern Florida beard, more like a well kempt short beard that you would expect someone who wears Wallabees to have. At least they weren't yellow (or this colorway). Ha.

Oh yeah, Brian Cons got a girls number and we watched the whole thing go down.

Double Oh yeah, I don't think the bartenders at that country club had ever made as many Shirley Temples as they did that night. We got made fun of for it.
Straight Edge drinks > Non-Straight Edge drinks. (In my eyes)


Friday was awesome. The Red Sox were in for a double header (they already had a 4 gamer against the White Sox (away) because Thursday was rained out. The Sox ended up ripping the, um, other Sox to shreds both games on Friday. This would set the precedent for the weekend (both Red Sox and otherwise).

The games looked like this
Game 1 - Red Sox 11 White Sox 3 (Beckett for the Win, Varitek- 1 HR)
Game 2 - Red Sox 10 White Sox 1 (Schilling for the Win, Papi - 2 HR, Youk - 1 HR)
Game 3 - Red Sox 14 White Sox 2 (Wakefield for the Win)
Game 4 - Red Sox 11 White Sox 1 (Tavarez for the Win, Drew, Papi, Kielty - 1 HR each)

:Totals: - Red Sox 46 White Sox 7

Yikes. Even Gagne couldn't ruin the run this weekend.
End results: 7.5 games ahead, 7-3 for the last 10 games. Things are starting to get back to normal. Newcomer Bobby Kielty was a big surprise with a few RBI's and a homer. Kinda softens the blow of the Pena trade. Manny had Sunday off, so coupled with Monday, he should be well rested and ready to take on the Crankees for Tues.

Continuation of Friday night... This was something of a sweet disaster. Knowing that I was about to see a band who were just about as good as The Clash play their final show in a disgusting basement to 3 interested people and 6 dirty punx was a bittersweet thing. This band was The Ratchets. On one hand, it was pretty cool to have a private show for me, Nick and Julie. On the other hand, it was just such a bummer that people weren't into this band. It was also a bummer that they were playing their hearts out in a filthy West Philadelphia punk squat basement instead of the filthy Hammersmith Palais. (Ok, I would settle for the First Unitarian too)

The band was incredible and I had fun hanging out (in a punk squat) with Nick and Julie.



Sunday was spent sleeping in, eating pancakes and going to the movies. I saw The Ten (awesome... full review coming this week) at The Ritz with Nick, Julia and Kara Bort. I ate popcorn and then we met up with Rita and went out to the Franklin Fountains for some ice cream.

Totally sweet weekend.
Less Dashboard, More Ringworm.

Stressful week coming to an end?

My week so far: (the bad)
- It has rained everyday so far
- Forgot I owned a rain coat until yesterday
- Tore a hole in a very expensive bicycle tire (and had to walk home in the rain w/no gear)
- Red Sox ended against the Angels with an L (2-2 for the series)
- I forgot my lunch in the refrigerator on Monday morning
- A big project that I've been doing at work was returned to me
- Red Sox lost last night (and the Yankees won) so we're still only 5 games ahead
- Eric Gange (you fucking suck, so much for fortifying the bullpen. Paps is all we need anyway)
- Missing out on BBQ/Tubing on the Delaware this weekend
- Not in Bethel NB Canada right now



My week (so far and beyond): (the good)
- The Ratchets are playing Phila on Friday
- Phil Leone's wedding on Saturday in Princeton
- Spending the early part of Saturday in Princeton
- Red Sox vs White Sox on TV Saturday
- Had a few good laughs with Jules this week
- Watched "This Is England"
- Whale bones (!)
- Went out for Ice Cream last night
- Saw a random girl wearing a Pagan Babies shirt at said ice cream parlor
- Cold water in my kitchen is fixed! (you don't know how much you take cold water for granted)




Light at the end of the stress tunnel? I hope so.