Monday, September 10, 2007
Update
I put a link to a few pictures in the links section for those who wish to catch a small selection of pictures from the trip.
9/10/2007
Apparently the Amish have no need for cell phone towers, so the problem of having no cell phone coverage is back in full effect. I kind of thought we would be beyond such problems as we got back onto the east coast, but I guess that they can pop up in any rural area, after all the D’s house had no signal either in Groveland. In any case, it will be nice to have signal again after we get back to Boston for all those important phone calls I have to be making. Well, they will be at that point at least, as the whole job search thing is going to be coming into full effect as soon as Boston and I reunite. But that is enough of that thinking for now, time to enjoy the rest of the trip for what its worth, not worry over pesky little things like my entire future. So instead of calling my mommy for our weekly call like a good little boy, I guess its about time for an update from the youngest Roche’s blog.
Since I last posted, a few major events have gone down. First off, the uncles got on the bikes and pedaled for 50 miles with the old man. It was pretty cool to watch these brothers, somewhat more advanced than Matt and I, compete with some sibling rivalry. No brother would be the first to give up, so they ended up biking along with my father all the way to PA, where they all had good reason to quit, having escorted the old man out of Ohio. I guess I’ll be competing with Matt for years to come when it comes to stuff like that I honestly thought it might be something we could outgrow as we mature, but I really should having taken a clue from the fact that we haven’t to date. Which is actually kind of fun, as a little competition now and then is always fun.
Other than that, the other big event was getting the chance to see PNC Park in Pittsburg, PA. It was our fifth baseball park of the trip, sixth of the year, and seventh overall when you factor in Fenway earlier this year and Buckeye stadium for that game. If only we could keep up this pace, but I think it could get tougher as we all enter the real world. Anyways, I guess we’ll always have this summer to remember and appreciate the bunch we knocked out, as some of these parks should be around for a long time. But enough of this sentimental crap, I’ll leave it at a great time seeing all these new sights, I’m sure you don’t care to hear any more than that.
On a lighter note, the fantasy football season has begun, and with it, real football as well. And apparently it has kicked off with a bang for the Brady/Moss connection, and the Pats as a whole. Unfortunately we had to miss it with the Pirates game, but since its going to be the only one we miss, I guess its acceptable. It was great seeing the highlights, and Moss burning 3 Jets for a touchdown. And apparently Danny Mac was letting me know that Brady had all day in the pocket, so our line is off to a great start. I really can’t wait to see this team in action, there is some serious potential. Now if only my fantasy team could live up to its potential, with Stephen Jackson (1st), Drew Brees (2nd), Lee Evans (4th), and Santana Moss (5th) all failing to do anything in their respective week one appearances. This could be a rough year if they don’t start doing their things, but after all, it was only week one, so there is no reason to panic. Yet. But in general, the whole football thing is going to make for a great fall and beginning to winter. I really can’t wait to catch the next 15 Pats games, not to mention relaxing to watch back to back Monday Night Football games tonight, and hopefully defend my title in the process. So basically the long and short of it is that life is good, and should continue to be.
Since I last posted, a few major events have gone down. First off, the uncles got on the bikes and pedaled for 50 miles with the old man. It was pretty cool to watch these brothers, somewhat more advanced than Matt and I, compete with some sibling rivalry. No brother would be the first to give up, so they ended up biking along with my father all the way to PA, where they all had good reason to quit, having escorted the old man out of Ohio. I guess I’ll be competing with Matt for years to come when it comes to stuff like that I honestly thought it might be something we could outgrow as we mature, but I really should having taken a clue from the fact that we haven’t to date. Which is actually kind of fun, as a little competition now and then is always fun.
Other than that, the other big event was getting the chance to see PNC Park in Pittsburg, PA. It was our fifth baseball park of the trip, sixth of the year, and seventh overall when you factor in Fenway earlier this year and Buckeye stadium for that game. If only we could keep up this pace, but I think it could get tougher as we all enter the real world. Anyways, I guess we’ll always have this summer to remember and appreciate the bunch we knocked out, as some of these parks should be around for a long time. But enough of this sentimental crap, I’ll leave it at a great time seeing all these new sights, I’m sure you don’t care to hear any more than that.
On a lighter note, the fantasy football season has begun, and with it, real football as well. And apparently it has kicked off with a bang for the Brady/Moss connection, and the Pats as a whole. Unfortunately we had to miss it with the Pirates game, but since its going to be the only one we miss, I guess its acceptable. It was great seeing the highlights, and Moss burning 3 Jets for a touchdown. And apparently Danny Mac was letting me know that Brady had all day in the pocket, so our line is off to a great start. I really can’t wait to see this team in action, there is some serious potential. Now if only my fantasy team could live up to its potential, with Stephen Jackson (1st), Drew Brees (2nd), Lee Evans (4th), and Santana Moss (5th) all failing to do anything in their respective week one appearances. This could be a rough year if they don’t start doing their things, but after all, it was only week one, so there is no reason to panic. Yet. But in general, the whole football thing is going to make for a great fall and beginning to winter. I really can’t wait to catch the next 15 Pats games, not to mention relaxing to watch back to back Monday Night Football games tonight, and hopefully defend my title in the process. So basically the long and short of it is that life is good, and should continue to be.
9/6/2007
Well, we’ve had a new highlight from the trip in the past few days. As we made our way through Akron, we had dinner at a local T.G.I. Fridays. While there, we proceeded to get a great waitress. She provided great service, quick with a smile, and most importantly of all, a great talent for busting on Matt. Her taking him down a level, to which he isn’t accustomed, was simply amazing. The skill was simply incredibly, busting him for going smaller with his beer, changing over to Bud Light for his second beer (“my sister drinks that. She’s seventeen), to giving him a straw to drink it from (pink, it fit very well). She could have kicked him in the crotch, and it wouldn’t have been any more emasculating. And all the while Dad and I just got to sit back and enjoy the show, without helping her along the way. I’m just glad she thought I was the driver (my reason for not drinking, which does actually happen), because it made it a whole lot more enjoyable to see her focus all of her energy on taking him down a few different levels. I should have gotten her phone number, because it’s probably going to be a while before I get to see something like that happen again. And all the while Matt was just sitting back taking it in disbelief. That is right up there with getting to see all these baseball games, if not better. Priceless.
After that, we got to meet up with all the Roche brothers of my father’s generation at Uncle Jack’s house. After a few minutes of that, we had to put Dad back on the road. Uncle Jeff decided to come with us to drop him off, and then while we waited for him to finish up his day, accompanied us to a local fine drinking establishment. It was there that he revealed to Matt and I one of the things he’s been working on in the past few years. Apparently he and some friends get together on a regular basis and, using a fridge full of different varieties of beer, mix them together into different beer concoctions. Suffice to say, Matt and I had to give such a wonderful idea a shot. And what an idea it has turned out to be. If nothing else, it gives us a good reason to not only drink on a regular basis. And on top of that, it gives me a reason to keep all different kinds of beers in my fridge to create all the different combinations that come to mind. So now I will have and excuse for having 15 different types of beer in my fridge. Brilliant!
In addition to Jeff’s kind introduction to the beer mixing, we had another alcoholic 1st, with our introduction to the drive through liquor experience. Personally, while it was nice to get booze without setting a foot outside of the car, I must restate how much of a bad idea this seems to be. I don’t think I even really need to say why it is so, as it’s so obvious, but drive through liquor stops, at least where we come from, would most undoubtedly result in quadrupling the drunken driving stops in Amherst alone, not to mention the state of Massachusetts as a whole. The convenience is greatly outweighed by the inherent danger. How do they do it in Ohio? It must be nice to live in a state not founded by the Pilgrims.
Aside from that, it’s the opening of the NFL season, starting tonight with the Colts hosting the Saints. And as I just had my fantasy draft a few days ago, I became completely absorbed into this match that I would otherwise care nothing for. Now, with Drew Brees having a bad game, its killing me (its only week 1), instead of only scaring me for the future match up with the Pats. Now the pressure from week one has doubled, and I love being that much more involved. I would love to pat the guy on the back who figured out to become more involved as a pure spectator. Not that I would put down money to up the ratchet up the involvement even more. Riiiiight. This is going to be a great season.
After that, we got to meet up with all the Roche brothers of my father’s generation at Uncle Jack’s house. After a few minutes of that, we had to put Dad back on the road. Uncle Jeff decided to come with us to drop him off, and then while we waited for him to finish up his day, accompanied us to a local fine drinking establishment. It was there that he revealed to Matt and I one of the things he’s been working on in the past few years. Apparently he and some friends get together on a regular basis and, using a fridge full of different varieties of beer, mix them together into different beer concoctions. Suffice to say, Matt and I had to give such a wonderful idea a shot. And what an idea it has turned out to be. If nothing else, it gives us a good reason to not only drink on a regular basis. And on top of that, it gives me a reason to keep all different kinds of beers in my fridge to create all the different combinations that come to mind. So now I will have and excuse for having 15 different types of beer in my fridge. Brilliant!
In addition to Jeff’s kind introduction to the beer mixing, we had another alcoholic 1st, with our introduction to the drive through liquor experience. Personally, while it was nice to get booze without setting a foot outside of the car, I must restate how much of a bad idea this seems to be. I don’t think I even really need to say why it is so, as it’s so obvious, but drive through liquor stops, at least where we come from, would most undoubtedly result in quadrupling the drunken driving stops in Amherst alone, not to mention the state of Massachusetts as a whole. The convenience is greatly outweighed by the inherent danger. How do they do it in Ohio? It must be nice to live in a state not founded by the Pilgrims.
Aside from that, it’s the opening of the NFL season, starting tonight with the Colts hosting the Saints. And as I just had my fantasy draft a few days ago, I became completely absorbed into this match that I would otherwise care nothing for. Now, with Drew Brees having a bad game, its killing me (its only week 1), instead of only scaring me for the future match up with the Pats. Now the pressure from week one has doubled, and I love being that much more involved. I would love to pat the guy on the back who figured out to become more involved as a pure spectator. Not that I would put down money to up the ratchet up the involvement even more. Riiiiight. This is going to be a great season.
Tuesday, September 4, 2007
9/2/2007
Since the last post, there has been quite a bit of excitement going on for us Roches. The fun began with one more visit with Chris and Allison, some of my good friends from Cork. While it wasn’t so much fun for my father, who we left to bike to his hotel room, my brother and I had a great time. We started the night creating a new drinking form of blackjack, which with a bit of tweaking was very enjoyable. After that, the original plan had been fifty cent drafts, but even on a Tuesday night the place was packed, so we went for plan B, where we could actually have a conversation over the beers. It also turned out to be a location where something Matt had been searching for since the beginning of the trip, Silver Strike bowling, showed up. It’s a video game that he had been introduced to at a bar in Boston, and we were fortunate enough to find it here as well. Unfortunately for Matt however, Chris turned out to be a ringer, and whopped us all, and Matt even ended up coming in last place. It was great hearing him criticize my form only to end up beating him. I always love to throw something like that in the brother’s face when participating in a friendly competition. It’s always a great time meeting up with our UCC alums.
On the biking front, our journey has actually taken us through my father’s old hometown, Newark, OH. It was much smaller than he remembered, which gets me thinking what Groveland will look like when I bring my children back there when I’m as ancient as my father is now. The best part of the trip, aside from the sense of history we got from seeing the old Roche houses, had to be getting the chance to golf at his old stomping grounds, Moundbuilders Country Club. It turned out to be the worst round of golf in memory, where I may have hit a good or great shot one out of every 3 holes, but of course it took 15-20 shots for the 3 holes, so the ratio wasn’t that impressive. It was neat to take a flat course and have to shoot over random seeming mounds that were found over all the 18 holes. It did make it a bit frustrating to have blind shots to every green, but It was a great chance to see where my father’s golf game began, where he has all those tall tales of how amazing a golfer he was.
Another setting for some of those tall tales was in Columbus, OH, the home of the Buckeyes. We actually managed to get tickets for the Youngstown State 1AA football teams. It may not be seeing Michigan, but it did finally get us into the Ohio State Horseshoe, one of the few major sports arenas that college football fans must get to. Of course in order to fit in, we stopped by the official OSU bookstore (a Barnes and Noble) to get decked out in OSU gear, the first time in years I’ve sported some of the Bucks gear. It was an amazing experience, but one of the highlights of being there had nothing to due with Youngstown. In fact it had to do with the little known college of Appalachian State of Boone, North Carolina. Michigan was actually beat in one of the greater upsets in college football, and all the while we were able to watch it happen with the most anti-Michigan fans in the nation, and in a fantastic roller coaster finish. On top of that amazing day in sports, we got back to the house we had been crashing at only to see that the Sox Clay Bucholtz was 7 innings into throwing a no-hitter. Regardless to say, it was a great day in sports for the Roche family.
And that wasn’t all that happened for us that day. After taking in the game, we got to see the Italian member of our Roche family, Father Mario, who was brought into the Roche clan nearly 50 years ago. It was great seeing the man who so ceremoniously dunked me in the ocean at a young age. It was for a baptism, sure, and granted, I don’t remember it, but when I look at the pictures, I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been, and so its good for a laugh. The man can tell a great story, and over dinner, we heard some great ones over a great bottle of wine he picked out, a Montepulchano (no idea how to spell that). I must say that the life of a retired priest sounds very nice, with some great time to travel internationally, not to mention the dead of winter spent in South Carolina. Hopefully he is able to make it out to the family party, it was great to see him again
And finally, the last big event of the week is happening tomorrow night. Matt and I have our Fantasy Football day tomorrow, with back to back drafts happening from 530 on through the night. So in order to do that and bike hopefully 50+ miles, I will have to sign off for the night, and I look forward to getting back to the impending end of the trip and seeing all the hometown people.
On the biking front, our journey has actually taken us through my father’s old hometown, Newark, OH. It was much smaller than he remembered, which gets me thinking what Groveland will look like when I bring my children back there when I’m as ancient as my father is now. The best part of the trip, aside from the sense of history we got from seeing the old Roche houses, had to be getting the chance to golf at his old stomping grounds, Moundbuilders Country Club. It turned out to be the worst round of golf in memory, where I may have hit a good or great shot one out of every 3 holes, but of course it took 15-20 shots for the 3 holes, so the ratio wasn’t that impressive. It was neat to take a flat course and have to shoot over random seeming mounds that were found over all the 18 holes. It did make it a bit frustrating to have blind shots to every green, but It was a great chance to see where my father’s golf game began, where he has all those tall tales of how amazing a golfer he was.
Another setting for some of those tall tales was in Columbus, OH, the home of the Buckeyes. We actually managed to get tickets for the Youngstown State 1AA football teams. It may not be seeing Michigan, but it did finally get us into the Ohio State Horseshoe, one of the few major sports arenas that college football fans must get to. Of course in order to fit in, we stopped by the official OSU bookstore (a Barnes and Noble) to get decked out in OSU gear, the first time in years I’ve sported some of the Bucks gear. It was an amazing experience, but one of the highlights of being there had nothing to due with Youngstown. In fact it had to do with the little known college of Appalachian State of Boone, North Carolina. Michigan was actually beat in one of the greater upsets in college football, and all the while we were able to watch it happen with the most anti-Michigan fans in the nation, and in a fantastic roller coaster finish. On top of that amazing day in sports, we got back to the house we had been crashing at only to see that the Sox Clay Bucholtz was 7 innings into throwing a no-hitter. Regardless to say, it was a great day in sports for the Roche family.
And that wasn’t all that happened for us that day. After taking in the game, we got to see the Italian member of our Roche family, Father Mario, who was brought into the Roche clan nearly 50 years ago. It was great seeing the man who so ceremoniously dunked me in the ocean at a young age. It was for a baptism, sure, and granted, I don’t remember it, but when I look at the pictures, I can only imagine how terrifying it must have been, and so its good for a laugh. The man can tell a great story, and over dinner, we heard some great ones over a great bottle of wine he picked out, a Montepulchano (no idea how to spell that). I must say that the life of a retired priest sounds very nice, with some great time to travel internationally, not to mention the dead of winter spent in South Carolina. Hopefully he is able to make it out to the family party, it was great to see him again
And finally, the last big event of the week is happening tomorrow night. Matt and I have our Fantasy Football day tomorrow, with back to back drafts happening from 530 on through the night. So in order to do that and bike hopefully 50+ miles, I will have to sign off for the night, and I look forward to getting back to the impending end of the trip and seeing all the hometown people.
Monday, August 27, 2007
8/27/2007
Today marks the day, barring any poor weather, that we should be crossing into Ohio, another major step in our trip for a few reasons. One such reason is that Matt will have successfully biked all the way across Indiana, despite the numerous issues that we ran into, such as building fatigue and his lack of a second pair of bike shorts (which I will just leave at that, the real problem I will leave to you to figure out). Another great part of being done with Indiana is that we now get the pleasure of moving onto Ohio, one of the more important states on the trip. Dad finally gets to show us a few of the important places from his past as we make our way across the state on a path finally familiar to him. Having seen Berea (Mom’s old town here in Ohio), we will now have had the pleasure of seeing both of the towns our parents were raised in, which personally gives me another great connection to my parents, sharing something so dear to them.
Landmarks aren’t the only opportunity to look forward as we make our way across Ohio. It gives us the opportunity to greet old friends and family. And while Dad certainly will have more friends to run into as we travel, I must say how happy I am that I will be getting to see some of my own along the way. In the year and a half since leaving Cork, I have had the privilege of keeping in contact with some of the good friends made in that wonderful town. Ohio provides me with the opportunity to catch up with three friends that I have not had a chance to see since taking off from the Airport in Cork. One such person is a friend and fellow marketer in Akron, Matt (the man who passed along ride the bus to East coasters), with whom I shared a few classes and an absurdly easy project on the history and mismanagement of the old North American Soccer League, as well as the crazy first month where we “learned” so much about Marketing and Management in the EU. And by learned I mean everyone taking perhaps too much of what Cork had to offer in terms of entertainment, which was a blast. It was after all that class which introduced me to gambling on greyhound racing on one of our fantastic field trips. Regardless to say the lessons learned there, if they were able to be remembered, were invaluable.
In Dayton, Chris and Allison represent two of the many great South Mall people who I have unfortunately not been able to see. Such was my excitement at being able to meet up with those two again, we actually didn’t even wait until getting to the Indiana/Ohio border. We actually ended up taking off on Saturday morning from the Marion, IN area to drive down to Dayton to catch them on a weekend. It was a great time, throwing me back to my Irish experience. We started out at the Alefest in Dayton, where 48 booths of beer vendors, each with a few different types to sample awaited us. It was tough for me to scare up 35 bucks for entrance (thanks to the Bank of Dad for the entrance fee), but upon our arrival, we got a nice 5 oz. glass, a key shaped bottle opener perfect for my keychain (the days of the Altoid tin may soon be behind me, now that I’m a college grad and all…aw, who am I kidding, I love that party trick, sorry, but I won’t be giving it up that easily), and 20 tickets for 20 samples, or so it should have been. But not all the vendors were as interested in taking the tickets as they were for you to try their brews, so it worked out to a few more than that, to my delight.
After sampling a great many of the fine ales, IPAs, stouts, etc, we were able to cram into Allison’s car and see her hometown, where her and Chris have been living recently. After a couple of rousing games of ride the bus, not to mention a few rounds of Mario Kart 64, we got to head out to a great bar, packed with kids and music. While it wasn’t the Brog, it was nice to head out again with these two like the days of old. The best part about it is that come tomorrow, we should be right around the Dayton area, where the same bar is having 50 cent draughts. So I think I get to do it all over again with those two, and I fully expect the same results that came of the Thirsty Thursdays at Gallagher’s. If only we could get the whole crowd together again, but you know, until that can happen, this has done a good job of bringing back all the delightful memories Cork gave me in those fantastic four months. Anyways, next time I’ll have to let you all know how those cheap draughts end up, but until then, hope all is well for you.
Landmarks aren’t the only opportunity to look forward as we make our way across Ohio. It gives us the opportunity to greet old friends and family. And while Dad certainly will have more friends to run into as we travel, I must say how happy I am that I will be getting to see some of my own along the way. In the year and a half since leaving Cork, I have had the privilege of keeping in contact with some of the good friends made in that wonderful town. Ohio provides me with the opportunity to catch up with three friends that I have not had a chance to see since taking off from the Airport in Cork. One such person is a friend and fellow marketer in Akron, Matt (the man who passed along ride the bus to East coasters), with whom I shared a few classes and an absurdly easy project on the history and mismanagement of the old North American Soccer League, as well as the crazy first month where we “learned” so much about Marketing and Management in the EU. And by learned I mean everyone taking perhaps too much of what Cork had to offer in terms of entertainment, which was a blast. It was after all that class which introduced me to gambling on greyhound racing on one of our fantastic field trips. Regardless to say the lessons learned there, if they were able to be remembered, were invaluable.
In Dayton, Chris and Allison represent two of the many great South Mall people who I have unfortunately not been able to see. Such was my excitement at being able to meet up with those two again, we actually didn’t even wait until getting to the Indiana/Ohio border. We actually ended up taking off on Saturday morning from the Marion, IN area to drive down to Dayton to catch them on a weekend. It was a great time, throwing me back to my Irish experience. We started out at the Alefest in Dayton, where 48 booths of beer vendors, each with a few different types to sample awaited us. It was tough for me to scare up 35 bucks for entrance (thanks to the Bank of Dad for the entrance fee), but upon our arrival, we got a nice 5 oz. glass, a key shaped bottle opener perfect for my keychain (the days of the Altoid tin may soon be behind me, now that I’m a college grad and all…aw, who am I kidding, I love that party trick, sorry, but I won’t be giving it up that easily), and 20 tickets for 20 samples, or so it should have been. But not all the vendors were as interested in taking the tickets as they were for you to try their brews, so it worked out to a few more than that, to my delight.
After sampling a great many of the fine ales, IPAs, stouts, etc, we were able to cram into Allison’s car and see her hometown, where her and Chris have been living recently. After a couple of rousing games of ride the bus, not to mention a few rounds of Mario Kart 64, we got to head out to a great bar, packed with kids and music. While it wasn’t the Brog, it was nice to head out again with these two like the days of old. The best part about it is that come tomorrow, we should be right around the Dayton area, where the same bar is having 50 cent draughts. So I think I get to do it all over again with those two, and I fully expect the same results that came of the Thirsty Thursdays at Gallagher’s. If only we could get the whole crowd together again, but you know, until that can happen, this has done a good job of bringing back all the delightful memories Cork gave me in those fantastic four months. Anyways, next time I’ll have to let you all know how those cheap draughts end up, but until then, hope all is well for you.
8/24/2007
In a greatly unexpected move, we are now finally on East Coast time, our fourth and final time zone. It’s a long one to make our way through, but it is very rewarding to have made it this far. This just brings it closer to the time where this trip will be but a brilliant memory as I am stuck in a tiny cubicle working the rest of my life away. It just makes me think how very glad I have been to be able to have taken this trip. Yes, I guess I’m already getting a little sentimental about the impending end of this trip, but hey, its been great to have three months close to my brother and father.
Anyways, as I’m sitting down to write this, I’m just starting to watch the beginning of Wedding Crashers, so forgive me if it seems somewhat all over the place, because I’m sure you all know how hilarious this movie is. It really is nice to relax every once in a while with TV on the road, it sure beats the games of Yatzee that would be in its place at a campsite, especially when a movie of this caliber (or something like Entourage) is on. With that in mind, it has been a fairly boring past few days as we’ve been starting through Indiana, the last of our I states. This is due to the fact that Matt has decided to bike the whole state, leaving me alone in the van to do all the work and spend all day with just my books to entertain me. That is another reason why sitting down and not reading has been so enjoyable. Actually, that brings me to how else I’ve been entertaining myself. Recently, my exploration of famous authors out of the past has brought me to Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. And with all of this fee time on my hands between the drive to and from Milwaukee and the free time in Indiana, I managed to just fly right through it. Granted, there were some very dated references, but as the book was from the turn of the century, the 19th century, I was easily able to look beyond them. This book was in fact a very easy read considering how dated it is. It must be due to Wilde’s background in theatre, because it was very unlike his fellow Irishman James Joyce, who was a complete terror to read. Next up is a story from my childhood, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Another classical author, yes, but again his novels don’t require the intellectual capacity level of a Joyce novel. In fact, I am really looking forward to delving into this series, as it was years ago that my mother read these to my brother and I back in Groveland as youngsters. There is nothing like reliving your childhood through a great book.
And in other news, it has been 2 years since I left for my semester abroad in Cork, Ireland. I can’t believe it has been that long since I nervously boarded that plane, ready to head to a country where I would know a soul within hours of where I was going to be located. The only people I knew who weren’t a trans-Atlantic flight away were my distant cousins up in Galway who I had met all of once in my life, and while they did own a bar, it was out in the middle of nowhere, so I really had no way of getting ahold of them either. Just writing it back brings back almost too clearly the nervousness I felt prior to departure, not to mention upon arriving, having no idea where Beasly Street was (And it really didn’t help when the cabbie didn’t either). Anyways, it gave me the chance to meet some great people, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to say how strongly I would recommend to anyone reading this to experience, or help your children to experience, what it is to live abroad, and if that turns out to be Ireland, all the better.
Anyways, as the 2 year anniversary of my departure has come and gone, it is now coming time to get the chance to again see some of my fellow UCC alums. First up will be Chris and Allison in Dayton, where we are fortunate enough to get a chance to attend Alefest, whatever that may be. Then it will be on to see my buddy Matt in Akron. And finally, although I haven’t had the chance to bring it up with her, maybe even get to see Sarah around Niagara Falls. It would require her crossing the US border, as I am lacking my passport (who would have thought about bringing that for a trip across the US?), but it would be good to see here again, as even though she made it to Boston during the St. Patrick’s day snowstorm, she had to turn right around. It will be almost 10 months (wow) since we got together with Amanda and Pat to bring a bit of Cork to DC, long overdue for another visit. Not sure how many (if any) UCC people I have reading this, but if you could help to encourage her, or are on the route yourselves, want to meet up somewhere along the way, or even celebrate the end of the trip with us, just let me know, I would greatly appreciate it.
Anyways, as I’m sitting down to write this, I’m just starting to watch the beginning of Wedding Crashers, so forgive me if it seems somewhat all over the place, because I’m sure you all know how hilarious this movie is. It really is nice to relax every once in a while with TV on the road, it sure beats the games of Yatzee that would be in its place at a campsite, especially when a movie of this caliber (or something like Entourage) is on. With that in mind, it has been a fairly boring past few days as we’ve been starting through Indiana, the last of our I states. This is due to the fact that Matt has decided to bike the whole state, leaving me alone in the van to do all the work and spend all day with just my books to entertain me. That is another reason why sitting down and not reading has been so enjoyable. Actually, that brings me to how else I’ve been entertaining myself. Recently, my exploration of famous authors out of the past has brought me to Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray. And with all of this fee time on my hands between the drive to and from Milwaukee and the free time in Indiana, I managed to just fly right through it. Granted, there were some very dated references, but as the book was from the turn of the century, the 19th century, I was easily able to look beyond them. This book was in fact a very easy read considering how dated it is. It must be due to Wilde’s background in theatre, because it was very unlike his fellow Irishman James Joyce, who was a complete terror to read. Next up is a story from my childhood, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis. Another classical author, yes, but again his novels don’t require the intellectual capacity level of a Joyce novel. In fact, I am really looking forward to delving into this series, as it was years ago that my mother read these to my brother and I back in Groveland as youngsters. There is nothing like reliving your childhood through a great book.
And in other news, it has been 2 years since I left for my semester abroad in Cork, Ireland. I can’t believe it has been that long since I nervously boarded that plane, ready to head to a country where I would know a soul within hours of where I was going to be located. The only people I knew who weren’t a trans-Atlantic flight away were my distant cousins up in Galway who I had met all of once in my life, and while they did own a bar, it was out in the middle of nowhere, so I really had no way of getting ahold of them either. Just writing it back brings back almost too clearly the nervousness I felt prior to departure, not to mention upon arriving, having no idea where Beasly Street was (And it really didn’t help when the cabbie didn’t either). Anyways, it gave me the chance to meet some great people, and I just wanted to take this opportunity to say how strongly I would recommend to anyone reading this to experience, or help your children to experience, what it is to live abroad, and if that turns out to be Ireland, all the better.
Anyways, as the 2 year anniversary of my departure has come and gone, it is now coming time to get the chance to again see some of my fellow UCC alums. First up will be Chris and Allison in Dayton, where we are fortunate enough to get a chance to attend Alefest, whatever that may be. Then it will be on to see my buddy Matt in Akron. And finally, although I haven’t had the chance to bring it up with her, maybe even get to see Sarah around Niagara Falls. It would require her crossing the US border, as I am lacking my passport (who would have thought about bringing that for a trip across the US?), but it would be good to see here again, as even though she made it to Boston during the St. Patrick’s day snowstorm, she had to turn right around. It will be almost 10 months (wow) since we got together with Amanda and Pat to bring a bit of Cork to DC, long overdue for another visit. Not sure how many (if any) UCC people I have reading this, but if you could help to encourage her, or are on the route yourselves, want to meet up somewhere along the way, or even celebrate the end of the trip with us, just let me know, I would greatly appreciate it.
Monday, August 20, 2007
8/20/2007
We checked another Major League team off of our list of stadiums to see yesterday, getting to see the Brewers play for the second time this summer, this time in Miller Park. And what a way it was to see Miller Park. First of all, we lucked into great seats. We were four rows behind the camera section on the third base side of things, behind the Red’s dugout. On top of the killer seats, we got an amazing game, with a combined five home runs. And when it all came down to it, in the bottom of the ninth, two outs to the home team, it came down to their star player, Prince Fielder, having a chance to win the game. The crowd was understandably amped up, and despite his blowing it in the clutch, it was still a great game to experience.
I guess that the fact that it was the Red’s, Ken Griffey Jr.’s team, says just how lucky we’ve been in our opponents to date this summer. We used to have to make a trip each year to catch him and Frank Thomas play in Fenway. We’ve had the good fortune to catch both, first with Frank Thomas and the Blue Jays playing in Kansas City, and then with Griffey’s Reds in Milwaukee. And that doesn’t even go into how we got to see the Sox take on the Mariners when we ventured up to Seattle. All these games make St. Louis taking on their division leading rival Brewers pretty tame for the trip to the Cardinal’s game, which is a pretty impressive feat. We have just had incredible luck when it comes down to it with these games. It all makes this summer that much greater of an experience, and one more reason to cherish the summer with the Roche boys.
We couldn’t only see the Brewers on our 3 day break. We also got to take in a few movies on the break, catching Superbad and the Bourne Ultimatum in the theatres, with Spiderman 3 getting ordered from the hotelroom in Chicago. I personally enjoyed all three, for pretty different reasons. Superbad was just hilarious from start to finish, with too many good lines to catch on the first pass through. I almost can’t wait for the second showing after it comes out on DVD so that I can get to catching more of what it had to offer with the non-stop laughs. With the Bourne Ultimatum, it was the crazy action that really seemed to hold my attention throughout. I won’t get into specifics, but there was one point where 40% (ok, 4 out of the ten people) cleared out of the theatre for a much needed bathroom break, and yet I still couldn’t tear myself away. Maybe it has been the excitement and buildup of the first two that took me to this point, but the third really didn’t let me down with some great sequences. And finally, I got to see Spiderman 3. I’m glad I left this one for out of the theaters, as it was by and far the least impressive of these three movies. It’s a tough thing to say, surely, as I love my Marvel movies, but it was just too long and drawn out for its own good. It was entertaining, but I just wasn’t all that overly impressed by it.
That is about it for now, thanks for being so patient with my taking forever to get these posts up. The only thing I have to worry about now is getting my drinking tolerance up now for the arrival home, as I will be more than likely to be put under the table upon my arrival back in Boston. I guess I’ll have to get to work on that ASAP, so for now, that is all, hope you all are doing well.
I guess that the fact that it was the Red’s, Ken Griffey Jr.’s team, says just how lucky we’ve been in our opponents to date this summer. We used to have to make a trip each year to catch him and Frank Thomas play in Fenway. We’ve had the good fortune to catch both, first with Frank Thomas and the Blue Jays playing in Kansas City, and then with Griffey’s Reds in Milwaukee. And that doesn’t even go into how we got to see the Sox take on the Mariners when we ventured up to Seattle. All these games make St. Louis taking on their division leading rival Brewers pretty tame for the trip to the Cardinal’s game, which is a pretty impressive feat. We have just had incredible luck when it comes down to it with these games. It all makes this summer that much greater of an experience, and one more reason to cherish the summer with the Roche boys.
We couldn’t only see the Brewers on our 3 day break. We also got to take in a few movies on the break, catching Superbad and the Bourne Ultimatum in the theatres, with Spiderman 3 getting ordered from the hotelroom in Chicago. I personally enjoyed all three, for pretty different reasons. Superbad was just hilarious from start to finish, with too many good lines to catch on the first pass through. I almost can’t wait for the second showing after it comes out on DVD so that I can get to catching more of what it had to offer with the non-stop laughs. With the Bourne Ultimatum, it was the crazy action that really seemed to hold my attention throughout. I won’t get into specifics, but there was one point where 40% (ok, 4 out of the ten people) cleared out of the theatre for a much needed bathroom break, and yet I still couldn’t tear myself away. Maybe it has been the excitement and buildup of the first two that took me to this point, but the third really didn’t let me down with some great sequences. And finally, I got to see Spiderman 3. I’m glad I left this one for out of the theaters, as it was by and far the least impressive of these three movies. It’s a tough thing to say, surely, as I love my Marvel movies, but it was just too long and drawn out for its own good. It was entertaining, but I just wasn’t all that overly impressed by it.
That is about it for now, thanks for being so patient with my taking forever to get these posts up. The only thing I have to worry about now is getting my drinking tolerance up now for the arrival home, as I will be more than likely to be put under the table upon my arrival back in Boston. I guess I’ll have to get to work on that ASAP, so for now, that is all, hope you all are doing well.
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