Well, I hate to say it but I have been wrong in the past. I know it doesn't happen very often, but it does. Here are a few retractions I'd like to make:
Water is amazing. There are times in my life (basically any time before about a month ago) when I have said that I don't like water. Well, I take it back. Water is amazing. I've been trying to drink more of it lately (well, actually I've been trying to drink less soda pop, milk and juice), and it just tastes so good. It feels nice on the tongue, it feels nice going down. Its just great! Though, the colder the better my friends!
Adaption. was spectacular. The first few times I felt like the ending was a little gimmicky, and I still do, but that's the point isn't it?!
The ocean isn't completely awful. Now, I have always loathed the ocean. It combines a lot of things that by themselves would already be awful. Sand, wind, large bodies of water, bad smells, etc, etc, etc. But a few weeks ago at my partner thingy's (Dan's) bachelor party I tried surfing for the first time. And it was tons of fun. So, I will concede that the ocean isn't pure evil!
Here is a list of things that I keep wishing I owned:
GPS watch with heart rate monitor for running and backpacking. The Garmin Forerunner 305 has almost everything except it only tells you the coordinates of points in Latitude and Longitude, so it isn't very useful in terms of matching your position on a map. The Garmin Forerunner 310X is their newest Forerunner so it might meet this last requirement. We'll see!
HD Video camera. For my interview project mostly. But also for just making fun movies.
Digital SLR. Because taking pictures is more fun with an SLR. I'm a Canon man myself. But don't want it to be too big, so probably one of their Rebel cameras.
Sewing machine that I understand. I inherited one from my grandma, but it scares the crap out of me!
I have always wanted to be able to slackline at my home in Portland without having to walk to a park or go anywhere. Further more I have wanted to be able to set up the slackline and leave it up and not have to take it down after I am done.
I haven't been able to do this in my backyard because that is where the badminton court is. But then my neighbor Kate said I could do it in her backyard! And so I did! (Her backyard is right next door!)
Just like last time (So far I have seen 3 of those 22 movies), movies coming out soon (or came out this month) that I want to see, ordered by my excitement for them.
Well, first, the most important movie of the summer and maybe of the whole year. It gets its own section because we are so excited about it:
(500) Days of Summer – Trailer – It has Zooey Deschanel and Joseph Gordon-Levitt. It is a musical. It looks awesome. Oh yeah, and there is no possible way I can be disappointed by it—I don't have high expectations for it at all!
On to everything else:
Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – Trailer – The second must see movie of the summer. I don't even particularly likes these films but it is just so much fun to see how all the kids have grown up!
Taking Woodstock – Trailer – Looks like fun. I've always been curious about Woodstock. Plus, it has Emile Hirsch who is probably my favorite up and coming actor (I've liked a lot ofhismovies).
Away We Go – Trailer – It's gotten good reviews and has John Krasinksi. And is about choosing a place to raise your children, a topic I day dream a lot about!
The Hangover – Trailer – This has gotten great word of mouth and looks kind of funny.
Wow! The last time I posted was 18 days ago. Now I realize that me disappearing is par for the course here on TSP, but it just doesn't feel all that long ago!
What the hell have I been doing? Well, really not a whole lot. I work during the day, and then in the evenings try and maximize the amount of time I spend...
Hanging out with the neighbors
Playing badminton
Exercising
Chatting with Keri
The list isn't in order of importance. Though, since I am only here for a month, my emphasis is definitely in the first half.
As far as hanging out with the neighbors goes, I'd say things are going pretty well all things considered. The thing to consider is work. And work is the bane of existence, and is certainly a mistake I won't make next summer. I work during the day which means I can't hang out with the neighbors during the day. All in all though, I have been able to hang out with David and Satchel quite a bit. And Kate some. She is just always off somewhere! And a fun treat this summer is that Ben has been around for the first time in a few years, so that has been a lot of fun.
As far as badminton goes, I have to say this has been a subpar season. With work during the day, this drastically cuts down on the badminton time. Plus work is so effing exhausting that it is harder to get motivated to play a lot of badminton in the evenings. You really wouldn't believe how exhausting it is to sit at a computer all day. The badminton playing field has leveled (hah!) in that I leveled the backyard last fall and the competition between all the people I play with is better.
As far as exercising goes, I have been doing a pretty good job. When things aren't too busy I go on a bike ride every two days. Here is a map of my route:
Google Maps says it is 7.2 miles. Which I think for a bike route is pretty minimal. But that forested area at the end is called Mt. Tabor and it is no piece of cake. I have been working on being able to go up it in higher and higher gears. (Is that a good goal for bicycle training?). This last time I did it in fifth. But even that hasn't been enough so twice now I have ridden down the hill and then went back up it in a lower gear. Any advice in this department is welcome! (Hint, hint, Peter)
I have also been doing a core workout every other day. On days that I don't do exercises my knee hurts more so that is encouraging! But I am frustrated that it is still a problem. I have no idea if it is getting better or not.
I also have started doing Yoga with my mom on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I am the least flexible of everyone that does it but am getting better.
As far as chatting with Keri goes, it is going well. Basically, the more I live with her the harder it is to be apart from her. Long distance relationships suck! I wish she didn't have to work in the summers so we could spend the whole thing here in Portland.
All in all I have to say that this summer is probably getting an 8 on a scale of one to ten. Which I think is pretty darn good. I love being home and I absolutely love being around the neighbors. There are only really two main complaints: the aforementioned distance from my girlfriend and the aforementioned work sucking. Don't get me wrong, I love Dan (my partner thingy) but I hate the work. Another thing that sucks is that I have definitely been neglecting my long distance friendships (or even my further then a few houses away ones, just ask Beca). Which I hope to be better about this week.
A few recent developments are that my mom and I got my dad a Wii for Father's Day and we also got him a Wii Fit (if you don't what that is here is a funny video for you to check out). So, I want to do that with him because it is tons of fun. I recently put up a slackline in my neighbors backyard so I want to do that with the neighbors. Also the Infinite Summer just started. Which I am doing with Omer and want to keep up with him. I haven't started yet so am a few days behind.
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