Awesome Day: The Running Diary

AWESOME FLASH UPDATE -- 9:33, Wednesday, February 15

Note -- Due to the wireless issues mentioned below, I was unable to update after 12:30 yesterday. I still kept the diary running, however. Things didn't work out perfectly, but they worked out. For those keeping score, the final 'beers drank' count stands at 9. Enjoy.

7:10 – Alarm has been ringing for about 10 minutes. It’s very cold in my room and I don’t feel much like getting up. Then, it dawns on me....IT’S AWESOME DAY!?! Amazingly, this gave me the strength to hop out of bed. You’re the best, Awesome Day!

7:27 – Good morning and a Happy Awesome Day to y'all! I’m coming to you live from Folsom, PA in stunning Technicolor. Much like the Carpenters, I’ve only just begun...to have breakfast. This morning the fare includes Cap’n Crunch and coffee, with a little Irish in it. Feeling good.

7:41 – I’ve decided that Awesome Day needs a theme song. It’s need to be upbeat, but majestic. I’m leaning towards something by Journey or maybe “You’re the best....AROUND”. Not sure, I’ll have to think about it in the....

7:45 – Shower.

8:07 – Out of the shower. I’m looking quite dapper in a grayish-blue sweater, jeans, and I have the tinsiest bit of “product” in my hair (for the ladies). You’ll notice that I’m not wearing red or black. Clichés are for those other “holiday”. So awesome.

8:16 – Off to class.

9: 24 – Finally, I have arrived at my desk in Camden. Funny thing happened when I was walking in. I saw a hobo that looked like Bernie Williams. He was drinking a beer in a brown paper bag, of course, and pilfering the ash tray in front of the law school for “shorts” (the hobo term for half-smoked cigs). This is the kind of thing that only happens on Awesome Day.

Also, good news on the theme song front. I’ve decided that the Awesome Day theme absolutely must be “Saturday in the Park” by Chicago. It’s an upbeat classic and makes you feel oh, so good.

Anyway, in-class until 10:20. I’ll catch you on the flip side.

Update -- 10:23

10:01 – Just had an email exchange with one of my bestest (female) friends, who I’ll refer to as The Big Deal (TBD). Well, I was trying to explain to her the spirit of this Holy Day, but I don’t know how successful I was. I think she got it, but I don’t know if she’ll truly “live it.” This concerns me.

10:09 – Realize that it’s important that we all make Awesome Day resolutions. It’s important that these promises aren’t demoralizing or unrealistic. I wouldn’t want someone to vow to lose 15 pounds, fail, and then hate themselves for it. I want them to set reasonable goals, like “I will eat 3 meals today,” or “I’m going to skip all my classes and watch the Dukes of Hazard.” My Awesome Day resolution is to drink 4 beers before noon and eat no less than 2 cupcakes. I think that I’m gonna make those goals become successes.

10:21 – Done with class. Oh, sweet freedom, I love thee from the sub-cockle area of my heart. I feel born again and very thirsty. Tuesdays are so good, but even better today.

Update -- 12:40

11:07 – One of the most important aspects of today is the giving of gifts. Tradition holds that you must give one DVD that costs less than $8 and a gift that makes no sense. Towards this end, I went to Target. [WARNING FOR CANNON: IF YOU’RE READING THIS, SCROLL DOWN TO THE NEXT TIMESPOT. GIFT SPOILER TO FOLLOW!]

I am more than pleased with my shopping at Target. I got Cannon U.S. Marshals and an Accutire Tire Pressure Gauge. Another thing that I forgot to mention is that, on this day, we don’t wrap gifts in paper, we use blue jello. It serves two purposes. The first is that it is better for the environment. The second is that it is a very, rich metaphor that I haven’t quite worked out yet. I also bought myself some shower cleaner and garbage bags. It’s good to pamper yourself on Awesome Day.

11:33 – Driving home from Target, I realize that it will be very difficult to keep my resolution of drinking four beers before noon. Uh oh.

11:38 – Arrive home. Immediately pound PBR, eat a cupcake, and then shotgun a beer. That’s what makes today so special, challenging yourself.

11:50 – Still working on beer resolution. Found a great site that lifted my spirits and challenges me to be a better man: Safety Not Guaranteed. I just put on my Celtics head band and I’m still drinking.

12:02 – Spirits soar when I see Hoosiers on one of the Encores. Continue drinking third beer. Past time limit, but I’ve talked myself into the idea of Beer Resolution Overtime. Here’s hoping that it isn’t sudden death OT.

Mood = Cautiously Optimistic.

12:13 – See that Cannon has posted a comment on the board and lifts my spirits. I was starting to get worried that I was just writing to myself, which is pretty foolish. Glad to see that I answered his third question (on the giving of gifts). Now I must think of a color for the holiday and a symbol. He gave good ideas, but I don’t want to marry myself to any yet.

Mood = Pensive.

12:29 – Still watching Hoosiers. The “I love you guys,” speech right before the state finals. It’s my absolute favorite point in the movie and is always sure to deliver a trip down the goosebump highway. God really is smiling on me today. I’m also on my 4th and final beer (for the foreseeable next couple of hours).

12:34 – As I type this, I’m watching Jimmy Chitwood single-handedly beat Goliath by himself. Coming soon will be “I’ll make it” and victory for David. Absolutely fantastic. On that note, I just finished PBR #4 and the Hoosiers theme is playing. I doubt that even the birth of an adequate, male heir could rival this moment. It just got a little dusty in here.

Mood = Uplifted.

Final Update

12:50 – I’m beginning to “wrap” Cannon’s present. To get myself into a festive spirit, I put on everyone’s favorite holiday classic, Man on Fire.

2:35 – I realize that I haven’t posted in a while, but there isn’t much new to report. I’ve begun the process of “wrapping” Cannon’s gifts, which is good. I’m also still watching Man on Fire. In fact, my favorite line of the movie was just said. It’s the one where Christopher Walken is talking to a Colombian police officer and he let’s out this gem: “A man can be an artist at anything. It depends on how good he is at it. Creasy’s art is death. He’s about to paint his masterpiece. Stay out of his way.”

My masterpiece is Awesome Day. Stay out of my way.

I’ve also been working on my response to The Octogon’s post, but I’ve been running into wireless issues. Here’s hoping that it sorts itself out.

3:15 – Movie is officially over. I’ve run into a serious snag on the internet connection-front. This whole thing is starting to throw a major wrench into the whole Awesome Day thing. I’m going to give it another ten minutes and go get some lunch if it’s still not working. Hurumph.

3:25 – At this point, I am beyond frustrated. I have the deepest desire to do some research on The Octogon’s post, but I’ve only been able to get about half of it done. ARGH!

What started out as a really, great day has turned into a fiasco. If I was into Nietzsche, I would probably question whether or not I owned my laptop or my laptop owned me. Since I don’t buy into that crap, I’m going to go eat a sandwich.

4:07 – My spirits are somewhat lifted for a couple reasons. The first is that I just had a delicious lunch that consisted of an Italian hoagie, a cupcake, and a salad that was absolute slathered in BBQ sauce (I remember my ABC’s). The second is that I briefly lost all internet service, but I got it back. Finally, I got a call from Mama Bear and talked to her for a few. All in all, it could be a lot worse.

4:29 – Guess not. Internet is still down. When today started, I didn’t exactly envision spending Awesome Day trying to figure out why the fuck the apartment’s internet is all screwed up. I’m gonna have a beer and try to calm down.

4:53 – Still not working and I’m still not calm. I’m just about ready to give up on this whole Awesome Day thing. Ugh.

5:36 – One more problem. Now, Cannon’s gift isn’t wrapping (gelling) properly. I have no idea why.

7:16 – Decided to treat myself to Cold Stone. It was absolutely fantastic. Nothing can make you remember what Awesome Day is all about like a “Gotta Have It” of Peanut Butter Perfection.

Even better, lady curling is on MSNBC (US v. Japan: WWII with higher stakes). Curling is my favorite, non-conventional sport. I even just learned that there are time-outs in curling. The Japanese ladies just called two back-to-back to talk strategy with their coach. I swear that I’m not making this up. Throw in some attractive ladies who like they’re from Minnesota and you’ve got yourself a winner.

7:32 – The Lady Curlers are going into overtime. I didn’t even know there was OT in curling. Double bonus: two of the Americans are sisters.

7:36 – OH MY GENTLE JESUS!?! There is a “Sexy Ladies of Curling” Calendar that’s coming out. This is like droppings from the gods. A couple of hours I was freaking out because of stupid, techie issues and now I find out there is this. Ain’t it funny how life can turn around in a snap? I think the credit has to go to Cold Stone.

7:44 – Not to beat this to death, but they just cut to a guy in the crowd wearing a curling hat. Not a normal hat with a curling patch or anything like that. It was a hat shaped like one of those rock things that they throw/sweep in front of. Now you know what to get me next year for Awesome Day.

7:51 – America just lost. I’m still trying to find naked, lady curlers on the net. Unfortunately, the crappy connection is starting to come back and haunt me.

8:55 – Apparently, Awesome Day involves watching a lot of TV. Who knew?

9:29 – Still on the couch watching TV, but now I’ve got Jello. Actually, it’s not Jello. It’s more like Jello-like, in a runny, blueish kind of way. I guess it’s delicious. Either way, I’m eating it.

9:51 – Cannon just got home. He seemed to really like US Marshals and the tire gauge. He actually said that he needed one. Go figure. Now, I’m going to enjoy some La Fin du Monde (a snazzy, Canadian beer) and sign off for the evening.

I hope that this has been somewhat funny and/or entertaining. I’ll see you next Awesome Day.