If you love something, set it free...

There’s nothing I love more than my apartment, 29, and that’s why I’m moving out. I spend 4 days a week in a Westin any way, so it make sense to save a little money on rent and since I spend all my time in Brooklyn (practice in Prospect Park, the animal shelter, watching Jesse’s cable) I spend the 3 days I am in NYC getting back and forth to Brooklyn, so this will save me some time as well. I will miss 29, that is for sure, but I tend to think that change is good, and this will be change. I’ll keep you posted.

Deirdre is at the vet. She was not put together properly after I got back from Melbourne and I didn’t use her all winter and when I took her down the chain just fell off, so she’s down the street at the bike hospital. Send flowers or grease.

It is 87 degrees today in NYC. So much for spring.

Last Friday, Jesse and I went to see the new Mets’ ballpark Citifield. The Mets won (over the lowly nationals) and the new ballpark is nice. My favorite part is the Jackie Robinson rotunda. This is the field from the left field stands where we sat:

Saturday I did this SNERTZ workout with Keri and Ali. It is almost impossible.

Then I went to the animal shelter. Uneventful.

I am so excited!!! Kimberly informed me that the first season of The State will be out on DVD on July 14. Sign up to be notified when it goes on sale. My excitement caused me to look up some old favorites, like the Schwam family.

Sunday, Keri took me on a tour of Brooklyn’s best Pizza places, with Drew and Adam in tow:
(I missed the first stop.) I went to:

• Franny's (295 Flatbush Ave) - *****
• Di Fara Pizza (1424 Ave J) - *****
• L&B Spumoni Gardens (2785 26th St) - ***
  

I am still full, but it was fun.

This pic is from Di Fara’s where we waited 90 minutes for a pie at 3:30 PM in the afternoon:

This weekend is the first of the Bent tryouts. There are 60 or so women interested so this should be pretty great. I haven’t been this psyched since the training camp for Australian National Team try-outs. I love try-outs because you are bound to learn something new.

Speaking of Australian Disc, congrats to my sisters and teammates from Sporting Team Box Athletico United for making the finals at nationals an nearly getting over on those boring school marms from Wildcard. There’s no shame in second place and I know you will get them next year. It was a great tourney for Victorian ultimate with Honey making semis (yeah, Mama!) and my favorite boys from the Heads of State finishing third, due in some part to hot D from Mikey Stout.

How amazing is this Bulls/Celtic series? This could be the best series until the finals. Every game is a game winning last second shot or overtime. Great Basketball.

I owe you a book review. I finished Roth’s Exit Ghost. It's a painfully detailed look into the implications of aging, of losing your faculties and losing control of yourself and of your legacy, which might have been just an illusion anyway, but a comforting one nonetheless. The book is a quick read and I enjoyed Roth's take on the post 9-11 hysteria in NYC. I struggled with the crux of the main character's struggle. Aging is just such a sick joke, getting more broken and more useless every day, forever. I honestly don't know why anyone over 27 gets out of bed. I'm just trying to stay distracted by sports and entertainment. I hate being 32, but this book was a reminder that it will be getting worse, a lot worse. It's very well written and I enjoyed the characters Roth introduced, but it's hard to recommend unless you are pretty comfortable with your place in this world.

I’m presently reading Faulkner’s Light in August and I love it. I love the descriptions. I am deeply involved in the story and the characters. It is great.

Looking out a ways, I’m going to see my Brother-in-law’s new boat on Oak Island for Memorial day, and then hiking in Zion for a few days in June, and then back to Oak Island in July to see all the cousins.

Break's Over. Get Back to Work.

Well, spring break is over. It was great, but it really only served to remind me how great New York is and how much I wish I lived there full time.

Keri and I went to the Bronx Zoo (I liked African Painted Dogs the best and resisted the perfectly understandable urge to jump in with the Polar Bears ) and to see the Younger Than Jesus exhibit at the New Museum, as well as a sweet Alife sale.

Jesse and I went to see the Felice Brothers at Webster hall. They were pretty rawkin'. Check them out. Their brand new CD is out now.

I also spent a couple days down near Dewey Beach, DE and that was really fun.

Please check out www.eatlowcarbon.org which is a pretty cool web app and serves as a good guide for how one can cut back and make meaningful changes in our diets. Compare sushi to steak. It’s pretty amazing how significant the difference is, and according to this Fruit Monday is holding up, but much better if you eat local, seasonal fruit than greenhouse grown fruit or fruit that is flown all over the world.

I am back in Minneapolis. At least it has stopped snowing here. This weekend I'm going to the new Citifield to see the Mets, cross-training, and getting my beer on while I watch NBA games. I am advocating the name change from the Cavaliers to the Labrons. Any objections?

Spring Break

Hi. I am on spring break. I am taking a few days off in NYC. I was going nuts. I had tons of errands to do and mail to open and stuff like that and I am never home and I took some vacation days to get through it all.

So far I've worked out every day, unpacked my suitcase, done laundry, gotten a haircut, filed all my 2008 mail and made a mid-week visit to the animal shelter. This is my dream vacation.

Speaking of the shelter. The very place where I volunteer was on TV on the Today Show. Check it out:

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/30009467#30009467

There is a guy that they show at the 40 second mark or so that I work near pretty regularly.

Just today, he saved my skin when I lost control of a 50 pound Pitt. None of them want to get back in their cage. I can understand this. I wouldn't either. I had been walking this dog, Bingo for 20 minutes. He was great out of the cage, great walking around on his leash, when it was time for me to put him back in he freaked out and started biting my jeans and took hold of the leash. The worst thing that can happen is if a dog gets loose. (They wreak havoc and mess with other dogs or people and maybe cats). I lost my cool and quickly shut his cage to control the situation and get myself away from the dog. However, now I have an angry freaking out Pitt with his leash on (chocking hazard) in his cage thrashing around. I had to come find Larry and he saved the day by deftly showing Bingo another leash for a bait and switch and reneging on the trade after my leash had been extracted. It was a skilled move and not one I could have executed. He's a pro.

There were so many adorable dogs today. There was a 10 month old beautiful yellow lab baby girl that is so sweet and won't even walk on her leash, she just flops on her back and shows you her belly and wiggles.

Here's two pictures of my favorite animals today:

The dog is Frankie, a chow/lab mix. He is such a sweet dog, walks great on a leash, very friendly. He is on his 8th day and I am worried for him.



I know you are all on the edge of your seat for this one: Shit Mountain Update is that there are now two baby squabs (a hatched swan is a cygnet, a hatched pigeon is a squab) on the upper right nest of the duplex. The lower nest still holds the pigeon corpse I've been watching decompose for months now. It's a matter of time before someone moves in right on top of Bernie.





Here's another pic of my namesake: Courtney Kelly the baby girl Jack who lives with my Aunt Vicky:

She is a real character.

Fruit Monday persists. I was surprised there were no comments, but you, dear reader are lazy. Let me know if you give it a try, or if you think it is dumb. Whatever.

This weekend I'm off to Delaware for a coed tournament. Should be fun(ish). Next week I am back to Minneapolis, looks like at least through June. Boo.

I am reading Philip Roth's Exit Ghost. A review of that should be coming up soon. Stay tuned.