15 Pounds Later

When I moved from NYC back to Connecticut, I knew I wanted to used the gym at work. The first 3 months here were just a blur. Finding an apartment, moving, getting used to a new job and working different shifts at different times so I knew what happened on all of them.

Then came the holidays where everyone no matter what, eats themselves silly. New Years came and I was hitting the gym, lightly doing cardio.

In April I decided to start doing some lifting along with my cardio. I decided to look into some supplements and started using a protein shake as part of my daily routine.

I am happy to report that I have lost 15 pounds since that day in April and feel fantastic. It's like one of those commercials on TV but I really do feel great. While it's 15 pounds lost I feel like I have built more muscle and lost a bunch more fat. If I had known what my BMI was it possibly could seem more impressive.

No worries though.

This past Monday I decided to step up my lifting and work out program. 2 friends of mine brought up a site called RealJock.com

How can I describe it... it's Facebook/Manhunt for gay men who like to work out. There are some BEAUTIFUL people on there. There are forums where you can talk about pretty much anything.

I decided to do the Muscle Building program. I took my before picture and have even chatted with guys who started on the same day as me.

15 pounds ago I was the same person. Today, mid June, I am a lot more focused than I have been.

Dave Matthews

For most teenagers in Connecticut, Dave Matthews Band playing at the Meadows is a rite of passage. Summer of 1999 was my first DMB concert and it was the infamous Meadows Riots that have gone down in tour lore. I was there for 2 days and just remember being really drunk and a bunch of my friends making out with strangers while I just listened to the music.

Anyway... here is the set list from the concert.

Don’t Drink the Water
So Damn Lucky
Corn Bread
Old Dirt Hill
Everyday
Rhyme And Reason
Proudest Monkey
Satellite
You Might Die Trying
Out Of My Hands
Two Step
Dreaming Tree
The Idea Of You
Crush
Ants Marching

__________________

Sister
Hey Hey My My (Into the Black)
Country Jam (Improv)
Louisiana Bayou

It was a weak ending if you ask me. He ended the concert with Ants Marching, always a fan favorite.

What really got me was how different it was sitting out on the lawn at 27 rather than 18. My last "Dave" show was back last summer on Randalls Island. A buddy of mine had scored seats up close and I took him up on it. It was an all day music festival and it ended at sunset with DMB coming out on stage and performing.

What got me is that almost 10 years ago I was one of the drunk high school kids roaming around the concert and now here I am 10 years later still enjoying the concert.

Either way... a Dave Matthews Band concert is always a good time and it was for me.

Recent Purchases

I don't want to say that I have been on a spending spree as of late but, I have had some fun purchases lately. First is this issue of Men's Health. I don't normally buy a Men's Health type of magazine because it only has pictures of men who I know I will never look like.

I was looking for new routine and picked it up to see what they had to offer. I get home and start reading and it turns out that it is the "British Edition" I didn't even notice the small text in the upper right. Regardless, I still read the magazine and got some great advice as wel as some eye candy.

I also learned that over in jolly ole' England they measure weight by kits and stones. I had no idea what it was until I googled it. 1 stone equals 14 lbs.

My next purchase was by impulse. I was on Amazon.com and saw that "The West Wing: The Complete Series" was on sale for $150. It usually goes for around $300 so I decided to buy it.

I forgot how GREAT the writing was on this show. I have always been fascinated with the office of the President and this series is a great look in on American politics. Since there isn't really much on television right now, this is helping me out.

Last I bought these Gascan Oakleys. I walked in and was trying on a whole bunch of sunglasses. After about 20 minutes he brought these out of a drawer and I said I would take them. They are very comfortable and stand out because they are so white. I have been back to the store twice to look at other styles and think I might start buying more sunglasses.

Recently

So, I forgot to mention the promotion in the last post. So, I have been notified of a "promotion" of sorts that will make me a little more money and some management experience. My manager told me that he wanted to reward me for all my hard work.

Starting in August, I will be working an 8am-5pm shift everyday on one of our new shows. It was awesome hearing that from my manager and to finally be recognized as doing a good job and off a "night" shift.

This will be my first real day side regular gig... for now. I'm happy and excited.

Tonight, I got together with "the guy" for some food. I really wanted to get to know him and give him another shot at not being weird and getting to know him other than making out at his apartment.

Today I was shopping for fathers day gift and he called me. I said that we should meet up and talk, he suggested food and I picked the place. He was a half hour late and I had been talking with my friend Erik earlier about how I needed to slow things down with him.

Looking back on everything that had happened and how quick it had come was crazy to me.

He showed up a half hour late, without calling or texting till he was 15 minutes late and blamed it on his little brother having his wallet and that he doesn't have money to pay for dinner.

We sat and talked about a whole bunch of stuff, trying to get to know each other better and it was a really nice dinner conversation.

As we walked out of the bar he brought up a guy he was recently seeing whose name was ironically Rusty. As we talked in the parking lot he suggested we head down to the beach to talk... and we did.

I brought up to him that I wanted to slow things down and get to know him better and see what develops. He appreciated that i brought it up to him and I think it's going well now that I got that off my chest.

We'll see how it goes with him.

I have talked the situation over with a few friends... most have said that I should just stop talking to him all together. I am way too nice of a guy for that.

My friend Brendan said something that made me ponder. Paraphrased- "For some reason guys are morons and they don't see what is right in front of them. You finally find a guy that likes you and right off the bat he tells you everything you want to hear and you like that. Be careful."

He was also happy that I slowed everything down. We'll see how everything pans out over the next few weeks.

Promotions, the Guy, and Softball

Yesterday was such a fun day. More about where I woke up later.... but first, softball is back.

I haven't played a game yest this season because of work conflicts. I drove down to the city in the scorching heat and met up with the team. We have some new faces after moving up to a better division and one of them is fucking hot as hell. He is straight and married but it doesn't matter, he has an amazing body.

I figured he was just a cocky, Italian, Long Island meathead, but he is a lot more than that. He has been best friends with a guy on our team for a long time and is really an awesome guy to hang out with.

We swept our 2 games and after we headed into the city to our sponsor bar for drinks. We were all still in our uniforms and must have stunk while sitting out on the patio. But we had a great time. Laughing, joking around and just being loud.

Now back to where I woke up. I did something I did not want to do, which was sleep over the guys place. Friday night we went out for dinner and had great conversation. We are very the same in many respects. We both like the movie Hackers. We are both sports fans, although he doesn't watch them much anymore.

After dinner we went back to his place to hang out and he wanted me to sleep over. As we sat on the couch he told me that I was the guy he had been waiting for his entire life.

That scared me a little bit. We have only hung out 3 times and he knows that I am the person he wants to spend the rest of his life with. I want to get to know him and be friends first before we moved on. I explained that to him and he freaked OUT.

My thoughts are that I want to get to know him as a friend and see where things go from there. I have a feeling he won't go for that because several times he told me that he wants me all for himself.

Obama / Clinton

Possibly this is the greatest Newswire I have seen from the AP:

AP-Obama URGENT/// ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) - Barack Obama says he will be the
Democratic nominee for president.

Tonight is history for the United States. I don't know if Obama will choose Hillary as a VP but I am really excited for what Obama has to say over the next few months and how he is going to ste this country on a better path.

All this talk about how Hillary blew the night... UGH... this is a great moment for this country and the Democrats. I am so excited to vote this year!