So Larry and I are on a conference call at 2:30 today, and within about 5 minutes, the sky turns pitch black... like nighttime. Crazy.

Just want to take this chance to welcome our new reader from the Boathouse. :)

PS... I'm a hurracane now, although I'm spelled wrong. Its "ie."

(CNN) -- Florida emergency officials ordered visitors out of the middle and lower Keys Wednesday as newly declared Hurricane Charley rushed in from the Caribbean and Tropical Storm Bonnie approached the Florida Panhandle from the Gulf of Mexico.
At 2 p.m. ET, the National Hurricane Center declared Charley a hurricane, with maximum sustained winds near 75 mph, just over the hurricane threshold.

.Definition of serendipity:

Its 7:40AM and you've conceded that you won't find a spot on the right side of the streat after 20 post gym minutes of aimlessly traversing the Upper East Side.  So, accepting the fact that you'll now have to take the car over to Queens, because you won't be getting home early enough for Early Bird garage specials, you drive home, only to find a spot two doors down from your apartment.

Faaaantastic.

Its nice to be checked in on from across the globe.  Makes me feel special.  :)

Anyway, so I was a detainee over the weekend, not in Guantanomo, but in the Hudson River and the Marina at Battery Park.   So, we were supposed to kayak to Governor's Island on Saturday morning, and we were going to have an opportunity to get out and have lunch there.   Well, we get out of the embayment at Pier 26 about 200 yards and here comes the Coast Guard in one of their little orange patrol boats.  First, they told us to hug the seawall, and then a second CG boat tells us to stop.  Taino and Harry went up to them and handed over their IDs to try to negotiate.  Keep in mind, the whole time the current is taking us out to the harbor at a 4 knot clip.  Eventually, we had to start backpaddling just to stay in the same spot, about a 100 yards off the south cove at Battery Park.  After about 45 minutes of just sitting in the water doing nothing, we were instructed to head back upstream (against the current) and go into the Marina.  The Marina is on the seaside of the Winter Garden next to the World Trade Center site.  We wound up having to sit by these two docks in the corner for like an hour.  It looked like Fisherman's Wharf in San Fran, except replace the seals with kayakers eating their lunch and snacks.  Finally, they told us we weren't going to be let across and we just headed upstream back to the boathouse.  Two hours of paddling, and about a total of 1 mile actually travelled.  It was still a good time...  bizarre, but a good time nonetheless.  I learned that exactly 89 Baby Goldfish make a serving.

I have been so overwhelmed at work, its ridiculous. When you work in an environment where things just need to get done, yet there isn't generally a lot of strict assignment as to who is supposed to get them done, you tend to get the short end of the stick if you are the type of person who won't let balls drop. Some people are fine to walk out before questions are answered, things are taken care of, etc. I'm not one of those people.

I'll tell you one thing, I'm glad to have Jeff the Intern around, that's for sure. Its like having a tree chipper in my office. Stuff comes in that I don't have time for and I just shove it to his side and listen to that immediate "neeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrr" sound as he works. Good stuff.

Lately, I've been quite the flake when it comes to these sorts of things. Pursuing stuff, then pulling back. Being indecisive. Rethinking stuff from the past, and contradicting myself as well. One person I'll knock for being too aggressive and someone else I'll knock for their own passiveness. What's going on here? What am I even looking for?

It definitely reinforces the notion that the search for others is really a search for self, because the times in my life where I've been most clear about what I've wanted, are also the times in which I experienced the most personal clarity. In the last six months, personal clarity has been muddied by potential moves, a floundering book, new work responsibility, monitoring programs, family stuff, etc... and thus I've been rather flakey to people personally. Its not an excuse. I'm just pointing out the causal relationship, or what seems to be the cause.

At most issue is what level of commitment, and just really participation I want from someone else. First off, I'm generally not someone who has a lot of free time in general, so its easy to say I just want someone informal, casual, etc. But, to be honest, now I think that sometimes casual stuff takes more time than serious stuff, because casual stuff always seems to imply more than one person. Its a mirage that casual is easier, I think, because that never seems to be the case. Plus, you need to spend that much more time convincing someone you're not just using them, because they are not backstopped by some formal relationship.

Also at issue is how I want the other person reacting to me. On one hand, I think it would be hard for me to deal with the pressure of someone pursuing me hard, asking for all sorts of time. On the other hand, I do feel like I deserve someone who at least asks. Aren't I good enough to create a need in someone else to see me all the time? Who wants someone that acts as if they can take you or leave you? Sure, that's convenient from a life management perspective, because you know you can cancel on them, move them around, etc... but is love the kind of thing you want to be so convenient? I think its a lot like getting median venture capital GPs. If you're going to be in it, you want top quartile, otherwise its not worth it.

Part of it has to do with the idea of chemistry vs. criteria. I'd be interested if people had comments here. Think of it the spectrum as, on one end, you meet someone and before you know it, you're smooching away and lots of things are happening. You're laughing and being cute, and as far as you can tell, you've really hit it off with someone, without really knowing a lot of the details of someone's life. On the other hand, you meet someone and really invest the time to get to know them before anything happens. You learn to appreciate what kind of a person they are, if you share the same values, etc, before you discern whether or not you have a match. Which one is more true? Does chemistry exist, or is it just lust based on perception that may not actually be truth? Or, is getting the details of someone's life a cold, logical way to arrive at something that should be based on gut feeling and emotion? Do you fall for someone with your heart or with your head?

Oh, and I just learned there is a Blog spellcheck. Nice... now you'll all think I'm smaart.

Lastly... here's the last GM Softball news:

Miracle Motors Down, but Not Out, After Skid Reaches Three

After eight games, General Motors was sitting pretty at 6-2, only a game out of first place. After a 2-10 season, the team started looking at the standings, and counting down to the playoffs.
Three heartbreaking losses later, capped off by a 6-4 loss last night to Metro 53, GM should be completely out of the hunt. However, the Northern Division has completely collapsed over the past four weeks, and GM finds itself with a glimmer of hope. Four teams have clinched the six playoff spots, and another six teams are vying for the last two. For GM to get in, the Law Sox need to lose at least two of their last four games, which will be mostly rainout makeups. In addition, two of White Case, Oz Capital, and the Clinchers have to lose their final games.
Of course, for all this to work out GM needs to actually win its final game and stop the second half slump. After scoring a total of seven runs in its last two games, one thing that will have to happen is for the bats to wake up. Mike D'Annunzio scored the team's first run again early on, but the offense would slow to a crawl until late. Ted Feury kept GM in the game, holding Metro to four in five, and John Cross notched a scoreless sixth. Strong defense by third baseman Mark Attanasio and Gold Glove first baseman John Stevens also helped. GM got a step closer when Charlie O'Donnell scored in the fifth on an Alexis Kramer sac fly, making it 4-3. In the sixth, Sam Pollotta launched a huge RBI triple to tie the game up, but that would be the end of the GM scoring. Metro 53 pushed two runs across the board, one on a monster blast to left center, which was that Metro hitter's second time going yard.
In their last at bat, GM failed to replicate its early season last inning heroics, and failed to score. They will attempt to finish the season strong on 8/19, and all they can do in the meantime is hope for the misfortune of others.

OK... so PS, I just went to go post this and it had timed out, and I almost thought I lost the whole thing. I would have been REALLY pissed and probably never blogged again. You guys came really close to losing me.

I now have an XM radio in my office.... courtesy of Jeff Reals, who won it in a GMAM office pool.  Dave Brubeck's Take Five: Pure Genius.

"A cache of recently obtained information -- including hundreds of photos, drawings and written documents -- indicates that al Qaeda operatives have undertaken meticulous preparations to case the five specific buildings." - WSJ

I'm sorry, but if I see ANYONE of ANY ETHNICITY taking hundreds of photos of the Citigroup building, I think I might stop to ask them what they're up to.  Its just like the story about the terrorists being at the WTC a day or two before with a GPS finder.  This is the kind of suspicious stuff that people need to be asking about.

Anonymity...     we think it exists, but it definately doesn't, not on the internet anyway.  Like, for example, if you leave anonymous posts on a blog from far off places like Denver or Fordham...  people will find out.  Its just a matter of technological knowhow.  :)

We know you're watching...

So we looked at real estate in Greenwich today for our new office.   For those of you that don't know, my team is spinning out of GM...  well, partially spinning out.   Let's just say spinning enough to get all the benefits of working for yourself, building equity value in a long term entity, aligning yourself with clients, etc...  but to at the same time, leave enough of a connection to build of off the great franchise that GM has built in private equity as well as off their financial strength.  So, we'll basically do all the same stuff we do for GM, but organizationally, we'll be our own firm.

Ok, so now that I have all that out of the way, the end result for me is that I'll have to be a reverse commuter.  After nearly eight years of working in the same office, all of the sudden I'll be hopping in the car for a 1/2 hour drive.  I did the drive this morning, exactly as I would do it as if I was working up there.  Its not bad at all.  I got up early, hopped right in the car, and went to the NYSC in Greenwich.  I worked out, showered, and then met my team at 8:15.  We looked at a few properties, and I think we found one we all seemed to like.   Its a very very cool space with a lot of potential.  Its exciting actually--exciting enough where I think I'm going to start a new blog.   So many VC's have interesting blogs tied to what they do.  I like the idea of that, b/c it focuses the blog on a particular thing, and you don't feel the need to include lots of personal stuff.  Maybe we'll call it plazablog, or maybe I'll just wait until I go to Stanford and I'll call it MBAblog or something like that.    Ideas?

Today, I met Bono.

In fact, not just met him, but sat in a meeting with him for an hour... right across from him in fact.  And yes, he wore sunglasses at the meeting. 

Bono is joining some former Silver Lake and Blackstone Partners, as well a guy from Electronic Arts and a guy that helped architect the Apple turnaround, to form Elevation Partners, and I met with their team, along with Jeff Barman and Jeff Reals.

In terms of what I think of them, I thought of a potential fantasy baseball trade that I got offered earlier in the day.   Rich tried to trade me A-Rod for Adrian Beltre.  Now, in terms of the pure stats, you could argue that Betre is having a better year than A-Rod easily.  In fact, the only mitigating factor is A-Rod's 19 steals.  However, when you consider how far the Yanks are in first, its probably not likely that he'll swipe too many more. 

However, thinking about this in terms of the pure stats proved difficult.  In fact, the fact that I would be trading for A-Rod really clouded the whole thing and made it difficult to think of logically.  Was I only interested b/c it was A-Rod?  Was I too worried about doing just that that I discounted his real impact? 

The same can be said here.  Its very easy not to take this group seriously b/c of Bono--just the same as its really easily to get blinded by the celbrity factor.  I actually think they have something here, and I have to say, Bono said a lot of smart things about the nature of investing in content... how it needs to be both creator friendly and fan friendly as well, for people to create lasting, lucrative models in the future.  Music companies in the past had a stranglehold on distribution, so they could screw the artist and screw the public, but the internet punched a hole in all that.   These guys want to create businesses around the idea that what's good for the artists and the consumers might also be very profitable as well.

I do think that he'll be engaged in this company and that its not a fly by night thing.  Here's a guy with a lot of political capital to risk... someone who really values his ability to do the right thing by people.  I don't think he's going to let 100% of the driving to the finance guys, b/c I don't think he wants to be dragged down by them if he doesn't agree with what they're doing.  All and all, I think its interesting stuff and work taking a look at.

Did I mention he wore the glasses?

Lots to post about...   Let's recap...

Well, the Mets have gone to shit, and actually, they've been shit all year.  Its just that the Braves have decided they don't want to be shit anymore and now the Muttsies find themselves an insurmountable 4 games back.  Insurmountable in July?  Have you seen them play lately?   

And.. can I spew on John Franco for a moment?   And no, I'm not going to say he's a nice guy.  Well, he's nicer than Carl Everett, but who cares?  I don't wanna see nice guys play--I want winners, and this guy has been the Number One Loser reliever for the last 20 years.  I can't even figure out why he was a closer for so long.  Its like when you play softball with people you don't know and one guy tells you he plays thirdbase.  Yet, when he goes out there, he can't even make the throw across the diamond.  Just because you say you're something doesn't make you squat.  I think over the years the Mets could have had anyone closing for them and they could have been better...   at least in the regular season anyway.  As for big games, who knows, but this guy blew saves left and right... and not tough saves.  He'd just come in with none on in the ninth and make his own mess.  In fact, at times it seemed the only guy he could get out was Barry Bonds.  And now, he makes over a million a year and he's taking up a spot that maybe could be filled by some up and comer in the minors. 

Frankly, I don't understand how he gets anyone out.  He throws two pitches.  A fastball over the plate, and a changeup in the dirt.  If I was facing him, and I saw an offspeed pitch, I just wouldn't swing at it.  He never throws it for a strike.  Wait on the fastball.. that's all you have to do.

When David Cone realized he couldn't pitch anymore, he quit.  Sure, he came back, but he came back when the Mets really didn't have a lot of other options, so realistically, he wasn't keeping anyone back...   oooh Mike Bascik.  Big deal.  John Franco is done and he's been done since... oooh...  1993.  They never should have traded Randy Myers, and the idea that some washed up third tier closer is their Captain is ridiculous.  I don't care if he wears a sewer worker T-shirt under his jersey and his dad got swollowed by an alligator.  You're a bum!   

Ok... best line of the day from Thursday's lunch with the team. 

Marcy was talking about being really sensitive to smell when she was pregnant...   Charles chimes in and says, "Oh yeah, pregnency hightens all of your senses."

Jeff the Intern quickly follows with, "Speaking from experience, Charles?" 

Without hesitation, Charles responds:

"People like you never read anything and the some total of your knowledge of Biology comes from your own experience in the bathroom."

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Jeff the Intern.

In other news, I'll be implementing the following changes in my life:

1.  No more random first dates just for the heck of it.  I waste too much time going out with people on dates that go nowhere with people I'm not even that excited about.  I need to focus more on friends, and people who I actually like.

2.  Go to bed earlier.  11:30-midnight will be the new bedtime during the week.  I waste at least a good hour of sleep doing nothing but chatting online, watching TV, or just sitting around.  Its effected my time at the gym and my focus at work.

3.  A few more hours at work.  I have a lot of stuff on my plate and I haven't been executing lately.  More hours and a little more focus wouldn't hurt.

4.  More focused workout routine.  I've been going to the gym, but there hasn't been a theme around my workouts, as opposed to when I was training for baseball.  I need to create a schedule to follow of what I do when. 

5.  More time on the book.   I need to get this book done, and if Mary the Publisher doesn't pan out, I need to hit the ground running on self publishing.   

Alright.. that's all for now...   I have a funny story from going out the other night, but I need to work on #5 for now.

So its 7:30A.M. and I'm at work.  I had to come in and finish a memo so it could be on the CEO and COO's desks when they walked in.  I don't really mind coming in early.  I miss my gym routine, but I'll go after work now.  I would never go in the middle of the day and shower there, because, for some reason, you never really quite stop sweating even after you take a shower at the gym... then you get that weird watery sweat that trickles down your forehead when you think you're done.  Trust me, I know this stuff... I'm half Italian.  As a nationality, we sweat second to none.  Now, I have a few moments, so I'll just chat here for a bit.

Last night I went to the Philharmonic's Concert on the Great Lawn.  I have to say, there are very few things in this city I enjoy more.  Its really something to be laying down on a blanket in the middle of the lawn, surrounded by thousands of other quiet people, under the stars, listening to classical music.  People bring wine, cheese, cookie pies... all sorts of stuff.  I brought two pizzas and wound up sharing the leftovers with some of the concertgoers around us.  I couldn't believe how excited this old lady was next to us over a slice of pepperoni.  People love free stuff. 

So it was me, Deirg, Jeff the Intern, and basically a group of Jeanne's friends.  (I always go to call her "Jean", but she pronounces it "Jeannie".)  Jeanne did the mentoring program and now she plays on the GM softball team.  I had a lot of fun, and it was really good to have Deirg out with me.  I'm always cautious there, because I don't tend to mix worlds with Deirg.  Its not that I don't want people mixing with her... she's a lovely person.  I love her...  in fact, everyone loves her.  My family loves her more than they love me, I think, which is ironic, because they think she saved my life when I had lyme.  She's my best female friend and she's never even met half of the people I hang out with.  I actually wish she met more of my friends, but she's... well, kinda shy or intimidated around new people.  She's just more content to hang out with her closer friends than make idle chit chat with new people, and to a certain extent, I can appreciate that.  It just makes it hard when I'm more of an idle chit chat guy and all the people I know are randomly dispersed.

So, I said the funniest thing yesterday about Martha Stewart:

"Its only a matter of time before she stabs someone in the shower with a pinecone shiv."

I'm seriously considering putting some material together to do some amateur standup.  I think I have some great material.

A few routines:

--New Yorkers needing to step in front of the furthest person out when they wait at a streetcorner.  By the time the tenth person gets there, they're three quarters of the way across the street already. 

--Confirmation numbers:  No one on the face of the earth has ever actually needed to use a confirmation number for anything.  Why?  Because whatever system they have that uses a confirm number, it also has your NAME!

I don't really have more on Martha, but I think that pinecone shiv thing is good enough to build around.  :)

The phrase of the night:  The "Rack Pack".    That's what Samara and her friend Lisa call each other.   Gotta love it.

So tonight was the Fordham Young Alumni Softball Game...    It was a blast. We got great turnout, and a lot of people who don't normally show up to these sorts of things.  Even more importantly, Team GM maybe have signed two new females.  Who knew Alexis Kramer was a softball juggernaut?   The girl has a cannon and she can hit.  Nice late season acquisitions for the stretch playoff run.... very exciting.

I had the most amusing bus driver on the way home from the Gin Mill.  When we hit 2nd Ave, he announced, "Next stop, Atlantic City."    When we hit East End, he announced, "Manhattan Riviera."   Its the little things that keep us going, you know.

Anyway, there's a story about last weekend waiting to be told, but you know what, I'm over it.  Its not worth harping on... and the best part about it, I've had some really great times with fun people this week, so last weekend is a distant memory.... except of course for the time I spent with my family, which was great.  My mom and Nana went down to Tampa, and I came down for the second time this summer to see my brother and his family.  My nieces are wonderful... such smart kids, maybe a little silly, but they're 6 and 10, so who can blame 'em.  :)    Anyway...  I may have future stories for you...  we'll see how things go.

Its apparent to me that my life has become my own personal crusade... to weed out idiots, assholes, and the inconsiderate. The world, or at least this city, has run let these people run amuck. Amuck, I tell you! People who aren't doing the right thing, mostly in the realm of treating their fellow human beings with decency and respect, need to be stopped, or at least told off. When this guy parked across two spaces in front of my apartment, to save a spot for his other car, I said something to him. "Its hard enough to park in this city without people like you doing shit like that. That's a bush league move, dude." He just stared at me. The people on the stoop next to me looked at me like I had two heads--but I shouldn't be the one to be made to feel like I'm taking the world too seriously. We need to put a stop to all this--to speak out when wrong is done. Its like that movie where Chris Rock runs for president. You need to just turn around and say, "That ain't right!" Otherwise, all of these people will just gone on doing the same insensitive, selfish things over and over again. We need to collectively put our foot down as a society. No more laughing at someone when they drop a fly ball in kickball. No more saving spots, or even worse, going headfirst into one from behind while someone else is pulling in. And, when you makeout with someone, you owe them an explanation if you decide you don't want to anymore. Ignoring phonecalls is bush league and so is stalling. Stop the insanity!

http://www.nydailynews.com/07-02-2004/city_life/story/208129p-179460c.html

That's me in the orange shirt!!

So the last softball game went much better... In fact, it nearly went perfectly. We won 16-1 in a mercy rule shortened five innings, and the only run they scored was on the last play of the game, where the next runner they tried to send home got cut down at the plate by yours truly. :)

Anyway... Its 3AM on July 5th, and I'm eating an apple w/peanut butter. (Skippy Super Chunk) I've been spending more and more time, as I did tonight, with people I've met kayaking. I think what I like about spending time with these people is that it expands your social horizon--challenging you to mesh with people you would otherwise have no social connection to. I mean, when I go to ILPA conferences or Fordham Young Alumni events, there are certain shared sets of circumstances that give you something to work with--social training wheels so to speak. Here, there's nothing of the sort, and the extent to which I know zero of the lives of the people around me overwhelms me (in a good way, I think).

As I was driving home, there was a car in front of me whose license plate said, "Howyedoin".

I think pretty good.

I'll let you surmise how yesterday's GM Softball game went. This is the note I sent to my team afterwards...

"Yesterday's game was an embarrassment, and it will not happen again. I'm not talking about the final score, but in how we acted--both in how we carried ourselves and in how we acted towards each other. Almost to a player, every single one of us made a bad play at some point in the game. Our heads weren't in the game and we tossed the ball around like a bunch of little league kids. The idea that anyone thought their performance yesterday rose above anyone else's, enough to criticize your own teammates, is ridiculous.

Considering the fact that our team counts on outsiders to play with us, we need to be a lot more thoughtful about how we act towards each other. Anne has played with us four games, Kristy Glass for three... and we've counted on other invites from myself or Mike D. before. If I was playing with us for the first time yesterday, I'd never want to come back. We can't afford for our guests to start dropping out on us or we'll start forfeiting games. When I invite my friends to games, I'd like to have them walk away thinking that we've got a great bunch of people playing--not leave with the bad taste in their mouths they had after yesterday.

Cross made a great point after the game yesterday. Think of the teams we've played this season, and for those of you who were around last year, even the teams last season. We are the ONLY team I have ever seen in this league yell at their own players. NO ONE else does that. Its pathetic, and going forward, if it happens again, in any situation, I will just ask those people to leave the game. I don't care who I have to play at what position, I refuse to subject anyone on this team to that kind of treatment. Its completely disrespectful. If we have another complete breakdown of respect like we did yesterday, I'll just ask the commissioner to forfeit the rest of our games and that will be the end of our season.

Next week, we are not just going to win, but we are going to play the right way from the first pitch to the last---supportive of our teammates, cheering every at-bat, shaking off bad plays, and knowing what to do when the ball comes to you. Its important that every individual goes out of their way on every single play next week to make up for this game."

"Good to hear from you. The proposal now gets read and assessed by
various colleagues and possibly reviewed by outside academic reviewers.
This can take a few weeks. We put content/style and market feedback on
the project and work up a costing as to sales/print run/price etc.

So if you don't hear from me or one of my colleagues about the project
for a few weeks, please do not assume the worst !"

Hmm....  I hate to be overly optimistic, but I have to think this is a pretty good sign.  I mean, why would they bother putting numbers on the project if they didn't at least buy off on the concept.  And its not like Mary owes me anything that she needs to give me a free pass to the second round.   I'll keep you posted.

So Sunday, I had quite the planes trains and automobiles day.   The goal was to wind up at LeYeun (not Gino's, surprisingly, b/c my parents had been there like 4 days in a row or something) at 4:30.  The problem was that I left the car in Astoria b/c of alternate side parking.   I also needed to help out with the Hoboken kayaking program in the afternoon.  So, at 7AM, I took out my bike and biked over the Triborough bridge to Astoria.  I put the bike in the car, and drove to Hoboken  Then, leaving the car there, I took the Path train to Christopher Street, and ran down to Pier 26.  I volunteered at the Boathouse for a few hours, then 11 of us packed up and paddled over to Sinatra Park where we ran a free program like we do at the Boathouse all afternoon.   At 3:00, I hopped in the car, and drove into Brooklyn, where I stopped home to see Puba, and then went to the restaurant.  After dinner, I drove back home, dropped off the bike, and then drove back to Astoria to see Deirg, who had just come back from a week vacation for Sarah Danitz's wedding.  I took the subway home around 10:30 that night.   Obviously, I slept pretty well.  :)

So here I am again... at DTUT.   Its been a long week at work, and an equally long week in the dating world...   Makes me think of that George Carlin line about the "near miss."  "Near miss" would come to mind, except that Carlin is right--a "near miss" is a hit.  You see a car accident and someone says, "those two cars.. they nearly missed each other.  Good thing the roads were slippery otherwise they might have missed."  I'm tired and I just feel like relaxing on my own.  There's a married couple at the table next to me playing Scrabble.  One of the words they've spelled is "shit."  Potty mouthes!  Anyway, Sue and Fil had their annual Summer Kickoff at 13 yesterday.  I hung around for a little while.... not nearly as many people as their were last year.  Not sure why. 

There were lots of high school kids in here before...  I wish I knew about this place in high school.  I would have lived here after school on a Friday night.  There are a lot of things I know about now that I wish I knew in high school.  Did I mention that this kayaking thing is one of the best things to ever happen to me?  I feel like it makes me a lot more interesting...

"What did you do today?"

"Oh, I was kayaking on the Hudson River." 

Its also a good way to judge people... based on their response.  The kind of people I wanna hang out with think its really awesome, or they can't believe its free.  Other people say, "Isn't the water dirty?"   The water's not dirty at all...   bacteria-y, chemical-y.. maybe... but actual dirt?  I have not seen a lot of dirt floating around the water.

Alright... back to my book.  Its been a couple of weeks since my lunch with Mary...  Obviously, I'm not as optimistic about my chances that she'll be interested in publishing me now.

I had the most fantastic weekend... Friday night was the Fordham alumni boat cruise. Its funny, because everyone always asks whether or its fun or not. I never thought of anything as being fun on its own... unless its like a show or performance--something we're I'm not interacting. For an event, I really think the fun is what you make of it, and I definately made this fun. I had a great conversation with someone the entire cruise about family, careers, values, etc... it was just a very real talk, something I haven't had with someone for that long in a while. Very cool stuff. Brown and Matt came, too, which was bizzare, because they never come to anything. Anyway... the views were fantastic and so was the company. We went past the Boathouse, too, which was cool.
Speaking of the Boathouse, this kayaking thing has seriously been like the best thing to ever happen to me. I absolutely love it... I spend as much time as I can there, and look forward to it the whole week. The people who volunteer are just a great bunch of people. Its a really diverse group... and its weird. Very few people talk about what they do or where they come from, but it doesn't seem to matter. Its just this place where people have come together to have fun and facilitate other people's fun. Jeff Reals keeps saying its a cult... and it kind of is.. but its a happy cult that kayaks. If I had to choose a cult, that's the kind of cult I want to be in.
Anyway... Saturday, I was out from 8AM to 2AM... I started by going down to the boathouse to try and get on the morning trip, which I did. We went up a little past Chelsea piers with Mike and Janice and came back... neat little trip. When I got back, Andie was there. We hung out the whole day, and then added Amar and Jay to our posse and headed out after kayaking. The four of us went down to this outside bar/resteraunt down by Battery Park where they park yachts... right by the Winter Garden. We must have been there for like five hours... totally laughing our asses off the whole time. Amar is a total nutcase, and he and Andy were pretty drunk. We were inviting everyone to come down to Kayak. It was a riot. Then, we took the SI ferry at 11:30 just to see the downtown skyline... and to satisfy Andie's touresty curiousity. It turned out to be a great trip...

Sunday was fun, too, except for the part where this guy took a seizure on one of the kayaks and nearly drowned. It was totally bizzare, and scary to watch. This guy in his 40's and 50's was paddling back to the dock, when he suddenly started convulsing and bounced himself right out of the kayak and into the water face down. I screamed, "That guy is having a seizure!" Everyone had seen it... I was up at the pier eating my lunch. His friends in a double hopped off and pulled his head up, and one of the other volunteers paddled out to get him. They pulled himm out pretty quickly, and eventually he came to. I had called 911 and ran to get the ambulance, which had stopped in the wrong place a few blocks up. Scary stuff... he turned out to be ok, but I don't think I'll ever forget that image and sound of him shaking and falling in the water.

Sunday night, I had dinner with Liz, which was great. Its really nice that we're friends again, almost as if our debacle of a relationship never happened... Anyway.. this is the abridged version. The face to face story is longer, but I'm sleepy and this is long overdue as it is.

So I'm in Tampa right now visiting my brother...    Well, technically, its Brandon, FL, about 30 min east of Tampa.  He lives in one of those fake neighborhoods...  errr.. "Developments."    Every house is the same, and they have a Welcome Center and a pool.  There are lots of families and little kids.  No one goes out of the house between 10 and 4, because its 96 degrees and the sun is like 62 feet from the earth in Florida, so it feels like you're sitting in a chicken incubator.  And, because its all familes, no one goes out after dark either...   making it oh so fun for a 24 year old single guy.  Its nice seeing my brother though, and my nieces, but its 9:30, and I'm bored senseless.  I've already made 3 moves in my fantasy team today, and I've made some new blog add-ons.   I now have a Guestbook and a little comment thingy on the side...