Day 90: Legs are for suckers.

So, I got to try out a Segway today. A guy down in the park was demoing the Segway for the public. I think it was for the city, perhaps a rental service. Hoping up on that rolling contraption is kind of strange. It's like floating around on waves, like riding on a sailboat. You basically just lean foward and it automatically figures out the balance for movement. I watched a few people crash it before I hopped on. It moves crazy fast and can spin in vomit inducing circles.

Anyway, it was something fun to do. There is no way in hell that I'd ever buy on for actual movement, but I'd certainly rent one to roll around Central Park.

Day 89: Blind dates stink.

A friend of a co-worker set me up on a blind date tonight, obviously with a new girl. Holy hell, what a wrong move that was. I met Julie (the girl in question) for sushi down at the place on McBee. I wanted to go to Tsunami, but she said she didn't like the wait staff. What the heck does that even mean? Do they spit in her food constantly? That was my first warning that I wildly waved off like a rookie air traffic controller landing a 747. Yikes.

So I met here there and I met young Julie inside at the bar. She was cute in a barista girl kind of way, but not overly attractive. We chatted for a bit and grabbed a table. You know, it's really fucking telling when you see who your friends think you should be dating. I realize I'm not the greatest conversationalist, but this girl barely spoke at all. I couldn't tell if she was extremely shy or just pissed that she got stuck with me. Either way, it was a crapshoot.

Besides that, there's very little to tell. She scarfed down a plate of sushi and made a beeline out of there. Not even an offer to split the check after being a mute the whole night. Oh, and I didn't get the bartending job that I posted about a few days ago. Big suprise.

Then I return home and find another weird flower on my front steps. A few days ago it was some daisies, now it's a group of pink carnations. Crazy people!

Day 88: Awkward!

Tonight I went out to grab a cup of coffee at CU and I saw Tabatha (remember her?) walking down the other side of the street when I was rolling back. Yes, the one that doesn't care for the truth. I waved and went along my merry way.

Well, I was drunk dialed by her about 10 minutes later. This was my first time being the recipiant of a drunk dial, but I digress. She blathered on about pointless stuff she saw on the street and said she wanted to come out and see me tonight. I asked her why and she got a little vulgar. Anyway, I hung up on her and was awarded with the drunk redial. She went off on a rant about me being an asshole and rolled into an immediate apology. This went on for about 5 minutes until I hung up again and turned off my phone.

Too much drama. I'll probably have a crapload of messages in the morning. Blah.

Day 87: Dog Walker for a day.

I walked my neighbor's dog today, simply just as a favor. She had to head out of town for a trial down in the low country (she's a lawyer) and asked me to let her golden retriever (Smuckers) out for a walk in the afternoon. Even though I think I was a bit of a last request, I agreed. I'm just too nice.

It was actually pretty fun. I've never been much of a dog person, always had cats growing up. I think my parents were lazy and didn't want to take care of a dog. Anyway, we went down to the park and tore around the place. I took one of her squeeze toys and we played toss down by the river for a while. I think we tired each other out. While I would hate to clean up after a dog every day, it's fun playing around with someone else's responsibility for a little while.

Day 86: Stiff as it gets.

I tried Scotch for the first time tonight. Seems like a bit of a codgy, old-man drink, but I was interested to find out how it tasted. I've always heard about it on TV, movies, etc, just didn't know what it was like myself. So, I headed over to High Cotton, sat down at that chic litte bar, and ordered a glass. Specifically, Highland Park 12-year old single malt.

Yowsa, what a drink. My throat and tounge were on fire, but it has a smooth flavor. I suppose with years of numbing my taste buds that I could get used to it. But perhaps when I get older. For now, I'll stick with Coronas and girl drinks.

Day 85: Jazztastic.

I applied (and kind of interviewed) for a part-time bartending job at a jazz club that's opening soon on Main. I seriously doubt I'll get hired without any experience though. They are interviewing candidates for the rest of the week and are supposed to call me by Friday. Anyway, I figured on picking up some supplimental income for a while now and this seemed like a decent job. We shall see.

Day 84: Wrapped up in rejection.

My masterful misintrepretation of signals from the opposite sex never ceases to amaze me. I'm pretty sure if I start doing the exact opposite of what I think is the correct thing to do, I'll make much more impressive strives in my love life. Oye.

But to the topic at hand. I asked out a girl I've known for a while from a local coffeeshop and got turned down. I've been flirting with her for a while and she's definitely been returning it. Anyway, she looked a bit slack jawed for a moment and then basically said she had a boyfriend.

Rejection's actually far less damaging than I can actually remember. I do know it's better than wondering about it forever, even if I'm going to avoid the iced mochas for a week or two. That's a mistake I've made too many times. Especially when I should just make a damn move.

In lighter news, I discovered the new Amy Winehouse album today. It's the coolest mixture of hip-hop, 60's soul music, and jazz that I've ever heard.

Day 83: Another night out

I wandered around Main Street tonight, solo like some sort of nomad. I finally ended up at the Corner Pocket down on Coffee Street (never been in) and listened to a local band. Kind of a punk rock goove, but they were mostly playing covers. Anyway, I shoot some pool (which I'm still horrible at) and tossed some darts while knocking back a couple beers. It's pretty cozy, but I think I like Barley's for pool a little better.

No puking females tonight, so I consider that a big plus. ;)

Day 82: The nice guy strikes again.

Ugh, what a boring end to a promising night. I met a friend down at the Blue Martini tonight and we ended up talking to a few of her girlfriends down there. All of which seemed as if they had been out partying for most of the night. Anyway, we sipped drinks and lounged around on the couches for a while until everyone decided to wander down to the Bait Shack.

I'd consider the Bait Shack the exact opposite of the Blue Martini. It's like going from a semi-casual nightclub to a dirty, hole-in-the-wall bar. That should have probably been my first clue to break away from the party.

So about halfway down there, Julie, the girl I had been chatting with for most of the night, took a header into the sidewalk. She was just fine, but then she kind of started "drunk" crying and lurched over to a nearby wall for balance. And that's when it got gross. Yep, the drinks of the night made the return trip out onto the sidewalk. I ended up holding her hair back for a bit, while her friends tried to console her. I really don't know what the fuck I was dealing with at that point. She was all over the place, physically and mentally. I just made sure that they took her home instead of the horrific Bait Shack.

So, my night was spent holding the hair of a beautiful, drunken baffoon, which was new to me. I'm far too nice for my own good, me thinks.

Day 81: Hello, this is Chad speaking.

So, I got a wrong number today on my cell about noon today and I stumbled into my new thing for today. I've never let one of these calls play out. Here's how the conversation went down:

Me: Hello?

Female Caller: Hey Chad, it's me.

Me: Heeeey, What's up?

FC: Ugh, Julie is driving me nuts. She won't let up about the jeans. I'm so fried from last night too. I should have stopped at the pit.

Me: (I'm so confused at this point) Ugh, I'm sorry.

FC: It's not your fault. Hey, so how about the Blockhouse in about an hour?

ME: Yah, sounds great.

FC: Ummmm, ok I've gotta go get some coffee. See you there! *click*

Poor, poor, poor Chad. ;)

Day 80: Grew a pair

I'm generally an easygoing guy. I make things look easy at my job simply because I'm just that good. I can edit a person's film project onto a DVD while I scan someone else's slides while I catalogue 40 new movies and answer 50 questions about your inane computer problems without breaking a sweat. I'm bored to tears at my job because there is no challenge to what I do. The only challenge to me is making people think that I'm busy.

But I digress. Today, a co-worker took a real bitchy attitude toward me because I solved a problem in about 10 seconds that he had been wrangling with for an hour. Now, I don't rub someone's face in their errors. Anybody can make a mistake or their mind draws a blank. It happens to all of us at one time or another. But don't you dare give me shit for cleaning up your mess. Don't question me on my whereabouts because you can't figure out the simplest task.

At that point, I had enough. I basically kept my cool and stated that he could go elsewhere for future advice on any technical questions or any help whatsoever. I think I scared him a bit as he stammered for a minute and tried to apologize. Anyway, it's fun to stand up for yourself.

Day 79: Random act of kindness.

I went running today after work (perfect temperature lately). I ran down to my yoga joint on Stone Ave and back up Main down into Falls Park. I think that's about 3 miles in total, but I'm not completely sure.

Anyway, as I was rounding the suspension bridge and rolling back up the bank of the river, I spotted another fellow jogger stuggling to get up the stairs. Of course, she was lugging a double baby stroller, so I can see why her face was confounded with pain. So I offered to grab the other end and help her get up the stairs. She was very thankful and seemed a bit suprised. I told her to have a nice day and tore back up Main street for a nice cold shower along with a bit of sushi.

Not a major act, but perhaps tipping the scales of karma in my favor for a brief moment in time.

Day 77 & 78: Yuck.

It didn't occur to me that I had forgotten to blog yesterday until lunchtime today. Allow me to explain:

Yesterday, I met my folks for a late lunch over at a restaurant on Pelham, one of those Stax places. I had never eaten there and I wasn't going to turn down a free meal. But I will never eat there again. I ordered the salmon, which tasted fine, but I think it was the veggies. They tasted funny, like they hadn't been washed. I didn't think much about it while I was eating, but I paid for it later with a case of food poisoning. I spent the rest of the day and some of the night dispensing of this horrific affliction from both ends. Gross.

Today, I just felt straight up queasy. I haven't been able to stomach more than crackers and water today. At lunchtime, I bought a couple hotdogs from the only street vender in Greenville, but couldn't even finish one. I gave the other one to a vagrant I recognized who sits on a bench near my place. Altruistic, but more of an afterthought than a purposeful action. Anyway, he was appreciative.

So, the new things both days were going to a new restaurant, being poisoned from a public eatery, and offering food to the homeless. Not my finest days, but it's the best I can do when sick.

Day 76: Blarney Festival

Hopped outside for the Blarney festival a few times today. It's always been held near my place, but I never roll out there. Mostly because I'm not a big drinker. I wasn't very impressed. The music stunk each time and it was far too crowded. Blah.

In other news, I discovered the hilarity of Frisky Dingo and I'm in the process of updating my myspace page finally.

Day 75: The Handlebar

I went out to the Handlebar tonight for the first time. It's a local bar / concert arena that hosts lots of local talent. Tonight they had a celtic band for Saint Patty's day. The music was ok, not really my cup of tea. The place wasn't very crowded, perhaps due to the music. I had a couple of beers, saw a friend from my yoga class and chatted for a bit.

Not a bad night, I guess. Something new anyway.

Day 74: My Dreams have cliffhangers!

Holy hell, even my subconscious is getting into the spirit of newness! I had an insanely odd dream last night in 3 parts, each leading into the next. 2 sections took place overnight and the finale happened after a nap I took during the afternoon. This is easily one of the most impressive feats my subconscious has ever pulled off. The following is the best I can remember:

It started out last night with a slight nightmare. I was being chased by a pack of wild dogs on a cruise ship. The last lifeboat had been lowered into the water although the ship wasn't sinking. I was hiding from the dogs in a grand piano in one of the formal ballrooms. Strangely, the dogs knew where I was, but didn't want to attack because of all the noise emanating from the piano strings. I made a break for the helicopter pad to leap onto the chopper getting ready to take off. Unfortunately, I misjudged the leap and started falling into the water below. That's when I woke up in one of those entire body spasms, like I was falling.

So I wiped the sweat off my forehead, took a leak, drank some OJ, and hopped back into the sack. When I re-entered my dream state, I was floating around in the water hanging onto a giant amount of bubble wrap. The dogs had leapt into the water and were now paddling after me. Somehow, I started to swim incredibly fast and basically found myself washed up on an island that looked a lot like my old high school campus.

I wandered around asking people where I was, but everyone ignored me. I walked into a classroom, sat down, and started writing what had just happened to me as a story. All of a sudden, a giant air conditioning vent sucked me up and shot me through miles of tubing to an empty warehouse with gray cement floors. I picked myself up off the floor and saw a girl that looked like my 11th grade crush staring at me. She said something I couldn't hear, pulled out a gun and started shooting at me. For some reason, I thought the bullets were blanks because I snatched the gun out of her hand and pushed her to the ground. She kept saying, "We are still going to kill you.". I said "Who?” She started to say something, but I woke up.

So after a long day of real life stuff, I took a quick nap on my inviting couch after dinner and the whole damn thing picked right up where it left off. I'm back in the warehouse, but the girl had started flying around tossing rotten pumpkins at me. She starts screaming "Release the dogs!" and the same damn dogs on that cruise ship start popping out of holes in the wall. I'm freaked out, but start laughing when the dogs are more interested in the smashed pumpkin guts on the ground than me. I raced out of the warehouse in a blue PT Cruiser that magically appeared and drove to my house. When the garage door shut, I knew I was safe and then I woke up.

So, I suppose I did two new things today: Dreamed in episodes and wrote up a little dream diary about it. The crazy part is that I can remember everything about it. I usually forget what I was dreaming about 10 minutes after I wake up. But this was different. Strange.

Day 73: Barista Charmer

Today was an intriguing day. I was sitting out on Main Street today reading up on changing careers and Lindsey roamed by, a girl that works at one of the local coffee shops. We always yammer on with small talk in the coffee shop, mostly because I never want to go back to work.

Anyway, she sat down and we had a little chat about tons of stuff, books, movies, etc. for about 20 minutes. I'm not really interested in her, but I think she might be into me. At least that's the impression I got. Well, it's always fun to practice flirting, especially with those who approach me rather than the opposite. I like the days that I don't have to seek anything new, but rather it seeks me out. I just have to be open to the situation rather than shying away from it.

Day 72: My blood flows green

Keeping up with the Irish themed week I suppose. I didn't go far for today's venture, just a street away. I hopped over to Connolly's Pub after working out tonight and had a couple beers. I've been in there before, but this time I decided to some obscure imported stuff and also had a bit of shepherd’s pie. The beer, or I should really say dark ale, was good, but I didn't care for the pie. I think the flavor tasted rotten for some reason.

Anyway, I always enjoy Connolly's. It's very laid back and the folks that run the place are fairly cool. They have dart tournaments there from time to time as well as the occasional Texas Hold 'Em game. They even have a vending machine that only stocks UK branded snacks. It's a comfortable place to kick back and drink, even if alone.

Day 71: The great outdoors

I started my vacation week off with a little drive up to Paris Mountain to ride my bike on one of their trails this morning. I think it was called Firetower or something. The ride went pretty smoothly. The entire trail wasn't more than a couple miles, most of which went downhill. It looped back up to the main road and I rode back up to my car. I wish I had remembered my camera. There was a great shot of the sun's rays breaking through the trees up at the top.

Anyway, it was fun stuff. I had never been up to Paris mountain before. It's a quaint, little state park. My ass doesn't care for it though. You know that sore feeling that you get after sitting on a bike seat for a while? It's much worse after riding bumpy trails.

I also kicked off a new push on a job search. I revamped my resume and tailored it for a few different types of jobs. I applied to a few longshots today, Microsoft, Activision, Electronic Arts, etc. I'll focus on stuff more close to home tomorrow, perhaps within a few states.

Day 70: Edible green stuff

I strolled down to Starbucks this afternoon and came across the Irish festival down in the park. Why they have it a week before St Patricks Day is beyond me, but it was straight up packed. Shoulder to shoulder with drunken folks pretending to be Irish.

Anyway, I tried a couple dishes I've never tasted before, specifically lamb stew and a boxty. The lamb stew was pretty good. It reminded me of a tastier verison of beef stew. The boxty was a potato cake made from potato skins, mashed potatoes, garlic, and probably tons of butter. Way off the diet plan, but totally satisfying. I'll just have to run a few extra miles tomorrow.

Day 69: Frolf

What a beautiful day! Mid 60's all day long and the sun was smiling. I wandered down into the park to lay out and snooze in the warmth, but came across some guys & girls setting up a frisbee golf game, a.k.a. frolf. I've vaguely heard of it before, referenced on TV, but never played it.

Anyway, they needed some extra players and asked me, along with a few others, to join. It's pretty much like golf. You have to throw the frisbee down a course and try to get it into a metal basket in the fewest number of throws. If you can throw the frisbee in a number of different forms, it's quite easy.

Of course, my crap throws rarely went into the basket, probably because I only have 1 style of tossing. Still, it was fun to try out. Plus I haven't played Ultimate in ages, so it was a fun little change of pace.

Day 68: High Cotton

There is a new restaurant that opened this week down next to Starbucks in the West End called High Cotton. I popped in there tonight for a light dinner. I had a taste for something warm, so I scarfed down some Crab chowder and BBQ spiced trout. Insanely expensive though, probably for the location. It's in a lovely spot overlooking the murky, polluted Reedy. Perhaps the folks that bought those connecting condos for ridiculous sums of money eat there every night. ;)

Anyway, it was quite tasty. It's a shame I'm not in a better mood though. I've been in a nasty funk since the beginning of the week. Perhaps my little vacation will help alleviate my mood. I can't decide if I should dedicate the week to finding a new job in another part of the world or head down to Miami for a week of relaxation. I think the latter is just a temporary fix.

Day 67: Blast from the Past Day.

Jeez, everyone from the past seemed to pop up in front of me today. Former students, RLC's, etc. I think fate was trying to nudge me in the right direction.

Today, I reconnected with an friend I haven't spoken to in at least 10 years. Not just any friend, but my best friend through elementary, middle and some of high school. He would always invite me to the beach and we would have a hell of a time wandering around. He used to have the best darn backyard. It was a huge wooded forest with trails, creeks, and tons of places to mess around in. I remember we used to walk a couple mile down to a log-cabin general store and buy boxes of Lemonheads. I always liked being able to have sugary cereal at his house (my parents never bought it) on Saturday morning while we watched Transformers and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Anyway, I caught up with him today. He's married, working in another part of the state, and somewhat like I remembered him. It's odd that he looks almost exactly the same as the last time I saw him. Some of your friends from high school will blow up into giant fatasses or change their look completely. Not him, though.

Day 66: Hit up Sharkey's

I've never been into Sharkey's Pub down the street from me, so I tried it out after my workout today. I can't say I was really impressed. It's just another knockoff sports bar, pretty much empty of anyone. The Philly cheesesteak I ate was pretty bland and the general lack of patrons sent me packing early. Perhaps I should try it late on the weekend to see if it's any different.

Kind of an odd day today at work. Ever have one of those deja vu feelings? That's how I've felt about work for months. There is no challenge in what I do anymore. I feel like Tom Hanks at the beginning of Joe versus the Volcano. Ugh.

Day 65: Kickboxing on Steriods.

My pylometrics class was cancelled today, so I signed up for something knew since I had already made the trip, a Tae Bo class. Holy crap, I thought kickboxing was hard. The level of intensity in a Tae Bo class is monumentally higher than any of these class based cardio classes I've tried.

Perhaps it was due to being an advanced class, but I barely kept up. Some of the abs exercises are incredibly painful, specifically a combination of pedaling an imaginary bicycle for two minutes and then launching into a scissors move which requires keeping both legs off the ground. Yikes!

Beyond the pain, there was nothing but fine looking women in there, incredibly toned. Perhaps that's why it was difficult to keep my concentration. :)

Day 64: Upside down

Finally, all this yoga is paying off! I learned how to do something super-duper important today, how to stand on my head. :)

Seriously though, I've never had the muscle tone, power over my muscles, or balance to control my body in such a position. Plus I can hold it for about 8 seconds without having to lean up against a wall. All this new flexibility and control is pretty darn cool. Tuning your body to perfection has its dividends.

Day 63: It puts the lotion on its skin.

Holy hell, I'm having a ball torturing the stargazers here in Greenville. Seeing how Leatherheads is filming right across the street, everyone wants to get a glimpse of the Clooney. I noticed people wandering into the locked courtyard between my building and the street, so I've been having a blast messing with people all day.

1. I locked eight people inside the courtyard this morning and headed down to Coffee Underground. Someone had left the gate unlocked and people had collected inside, so I decided to play dumb. My story would have been that I assumed they had a key, once I returned from CU, but it appears as if they used a ladder to scale out of there. Hilarious!

2. After I got everyone out, I've been camped out inside the courtyard, watching the filming and listening to a little Josh Rouse on my Zune. People have been coming up to the gate and demanding entry. I'll either play dumb, like I can't hear them or turn and wave. When they try to say something, I just point to the headphones and shrug.

3. They just broke for to step up a new shot, so I've been sitting up on my balcony watching the fracas. As people come up and shake the gate, I just watch and smile. I've been coming up with real asshole responses to demands to unlock the gate. "How much of my rent are you going to pay this month?" for instance.

Oh this is fun. I think I'm going to repeat number 1 now. :)

Day 62: Proud of myself, but depressed.

This one wasn't any fun today. I'm going to avoid specifics due to the personal nature of this topic, but I will offer up the broad strokes. Perhaps some slight backstory first though. Thursday night, I told Tabatha something about myself that she didn't believe. She really reacted opposite from the way I assumed would happen when I opened myself up. It ended badly that night, but she wanted to meet me today.

So, I met up with Tabatha on Coffee Street around mid-day and we headed to Coffee Underground. We grabbed a couple drinks and plopped down on a couch in the back. After some small talk, she brought it up and it wasn't what I was expecting. She said that she was mad that I tried to use "a line" to trick her into sleeping with me on Thursday. She also said her friends have heard it as well from guys they have gone out with. But she had cooled off about the whole thing and wanted to give it another shot.

I paused for a second, kind of stunned, and tried to formulate a rational response. I looked into her eyes and said exactly this: "Tabatha, what I told you on Thursday night was extremely tough for me to share with someone. I chose to open up because I didn't want you to think I was rejecting you. If you want to rationalize the situation rather than believing the truth, I can't stop you. But I'm not going to apologize for who I am." Then, I got up and walked out.

I spent the rest of the day chilling out in the park and testing out the DS my company sent me, while trying not to think about this whole mess. I haven't heard from her, but I'm not sure I want to. Jeez, this stuff is hard.

Day 61: O

I finally went into O tonight, the upscale bar / resturant across the street from me. Very swanky joint, I must say. It's probably the closest to a New York style of resturant that we have in Greenville. The furniture is incredibly modern and the dominant color in the place is jet black. Very chic.

I had a couple $8 martinis, a key lime one and a drink specific to the place called the Otini. I think it was vodka, cranberry, orange juice, and some other type of fruit. Really quite tasty. There is something about sugary alcohol that makes it so easy to drink.

Incidently, I spotted the Clooney over there. They are filming Leatherheads right across the street from me tomorrow. They dressed up the Westin with 1920's window dressings and I think they are closing off the street. Maybe I'll peek my face through the bars out front and try to sneak my pretty mug into a shot.

Day 60: Bistro Europa

I ate at a new restaurant after yoga tonight called Bistro Europa. I've seen it all the time on Main street, just never went in. I got some sort of duck breast smothered in a raspberry sauce. Delicious stuff!

I also went through a whole bunch of other crap afterwards that I'm not talking about on here.