Strokes In Beantown

This past weekend I did something new and (I think) cool ... I went to Boston for the Head Of The Charles but this time instead of just being drunk and/or hungover and watching from the shore, I actually participated. I rowed. All 3 miles of winding, chaos. It was pretty great.

My club got the entry via lottery and the lineup wasn't decided upon until pretty late so we only had about 3 weeks together to get ready. We were in the Club 4+ and it was competitive. Competitive as in powerhouse college crews, former national team members, teams from "across the pond", etc. Anyway, we came in 40th out of 55. Not great numbers but we were happy with our performance considering the minimal prep time, the level of competition and our rookie nerves. We beat 15 boats. At an international competition. That's nothing to cry about. If we do it again, we'll know what to expect and I imagine we'll pick up the training a bit. A good starting point was established and much fun was had.

And Saturday night involved quite a bit of drinking. Something we are well trained in. There was even some karaoke. Embarrassing.

So there you go. Head Of The Charles. See you next year, Boston. Hopefully on the water rather than shore.

Oh, and I saw two things that I liked:

First, this awesome billboard ... when do you ever see anything defending animal testing? Never. Plus leprosy is always funny:


Next, an apartment building I someday wish to reside in. So delicious!:

Mmmmmm, chambers ...

Sunday Boozy Sunday

Last night I went to a party with my fellow rowers at the house of one of the coaches. It was actually pretty cool. Good food, decent music, air hockey, pool and of course much of the drinky drink. I got pretty banged up. Then I walked home via the train tracks. It's really quite perfect. Plenty of places to pee, no drunk drivers or drunk walkers, and plenty of rocks to throw and/or trip over. Plus who doesn't like the thrill of possibly having a train rocket by you at 2am.

I woke up early because these same rowers were having a workout session in the park by my apartment at 9:15am. Always the early morning shit with this sport. So annoying. Anyway, I walk over and there is only one person from my boat there. She's curled up in a ball on the grass, all pale as hell and praying for death. First class hangover. Four others showed up too, all feeling rather crappy. We worked out, but it was pretty half-assed. We then went to breakfast. This seemed to go better than the exercise part.

We're going to be a dream team for sure.

Another Week Gone By

Again with the lack of consistent updates. I know, I know.

Anyway, this past week was pretty fun. Monday I went to see my boys from my old stomping ground, the New York Yankees play my new stomping ground's Cleveland Indians. Tickets were a birthday present making it even better. Despite it was pretty chilly out and there was some sloppy playing by both sides, the Yankees pulled out a win which was pretty sweet. Making all this even sweeter was the fact that some random guy comes up to me at the bar before the game and asked if I wanted to upgrade my ticket. I, of course, am suspicious of anything that seems too good to be true. I told the guy that the tickets I had were pretty good (not a lie) but he said, "Look, these are right behind homeplate. Here, take 'em." So I did. And he wasn't lying. Five rows back, right behind the plate. Pretty sick. I bought the guy a beer, but other than that it really was a totally free upgrade. WTF? That kind of thing never happens to me. So, thanks for the tickets mystery guy. It was appreciated.

The day after the game I went to see spaz rockers (did I just make up a new genre?), Mindless Self Indulgence at The Agora. Pretty cool venue. Sold out too, so it was full to the brim with the odd mix of punks, goths, rockers and ravers that MSI seems to attract. A good time was had by all. I even picked myself up a poster that I plan on getting framed (someday).

Last night I went to a dos de mayo party at a co-workers apartment. Also pretty fun. Drinks, snacks, drinking games, music, stories about whitewater rafting and high school football douchebags, etc.

Tonight I have another cinco de mayoish party with my newly established rowing peeps. I'm bringing some mac and cheese and people better fucking like it because it's the shit.

Playing Catch Up aka Recaping The Week

I can see this blogging isn't quite flowing like it used to. Well, I warned you.

So let's see ... what's been going on?

Friday was pretty non-eventful. Some Chinese food, some TV and early bed.

Saturday was a full day. I got up in the morning and jumped on my bike and carted my ass down to the mighty Cuyahoga where I did an introductory class for the rowing league that I signed up for. 7:30am to 2:30pm. It's a lot of introductory action going on. Anyway, the class was mostly people who have never rowed before. I have already been trained and beaten by the sport back in my college years so I know what I'm doing although am out of practice and about 25 or 30 pounds heavier than I was back then. Obviously there is always more to learn (especially when it comes to me) but around people who have never had their ass in a shell or touched an oar, I look pretty awesome. So the day went well. Some introductions to the club, some safety stuff, a tour of the boathouse, some overviews of rowing, some time on the ergs and then some time on the water. At the end of it all, one of the coxswains and one of the more experienced rowers that was helping out with the day asked if I'd like to be in a more competitive boat rather than flailing around with novices. I reluctantly said "yes." I figure if I'm going to do this I should get more than a tour of the riverbanks, right? Hopefully I won't regret this move. There is already talk of workouts and training and sweating. Part of me thinks this sounds good but the other part of me thinks this is exactly what I happily said goodbye to back in May of 1995. It's that love/hate routine that I have with rowing ... with all things really. Anyway, it should make for some entertainment and/or torture so I'm giving it a go.

Oh, and my shoulder wasn't actually bothered much by the rowing. Odd. My shoulder still hurts from my little fall, but only seems to bother me when I sleep on it or pick up things with my arm at an odd angle. Rowing, biking, running and most other things are OK. I'm thinking that is a good sign. Maybe I'll heal without having to go to some wacky Cleveland witch doctor.

Saturday night was out for a birthday celebration. For me. Sunday I turned the big 3-5. Ouch. Anyway, a whole bunch of my co-workers went to a bar and did what we always do at bars. Drink. There was some pool and darts too, but mostly everybody stuck with what they do best which is drinking. Nothing too crazy, but it was fun. Much better than last year, that's for sure. Now I'm old enough to run for President so get your petitions ready and I'll get practicing my handshaking and my laying down bullshit 24/7.

This week has been pretty average, but I did go see a jazz show at Brothers Lounge on Wednesday and out for some eats, drinks and Cavs watching tonight.

Nothing major planned for the weekend at this point, but Monday I'm going to see my Yankees play the Tribe and Tuesday it's Mindless Self Indulgence (I've got an extra ticket to MSI if you want to go).

That's all for now. I'll try to update a little more frequently, but no promises.