Fall on Me

Ok. So it’s been a while. What can I tell you?

I was shocked recently when I was told that my blog was hopelessly out of date. I had no idea there were still any readers. Keri, this one’s for you.

The past 6 weeks or so has been a blur of regional jets. I’m mostly between NYC and Knoxville, TN but it’s hard to do that directly, so I’ve had my fair share of time in Charlotte, Philadelphia, Atlanta, Cleveland and once even Detriot. I’m trying to limit myself to one Cinnabon per flight. I’m working on an endorsement deal there, so I’ll keep you posted as my fame expands and eventually precludes my interaction with the common folk. Just remember you knew me when…

Speaking of Cinnabon, I’m mildly addicted to this web site This is Why You’re Fat . I’m thinking of submitting a recipe where I make a layer cake out of Cinnabons, heavy cream, and butter. I’m not sure but I think the purpose of the website is to remind the rest of the world why they still hate us now that Obama is President. Can you imagine seeing these photos in Malawi? It is a purposeful, willful abandonment of those people we all practice.

It’s only been about 5 months since my trip to Zion national park in Utah. Take a look at the photos of the trip through the narrows and also a 2 day hike in the back country. I am pretty much recovered from the mountain exposure.

Book Review: I just read Alex Stewart: Portrait of a Pioneer . It is pretty much just a loving devotion about an old mountain man who could do a lot of things none of us still can, like make butter churns and buckets and build his own house and deal with snake bites. It’s pretty amazing how much better at stuff it seems everyone was back then. I need to check three different DIY websites before I try to hang a picture on the wall. Pretty much everyone living on this mountain in Tennessee could build a house, build everything in the house (furniture, kitchen items), hunt, gather forest edibles and raise crops. None of them really went to school, but when was the last time you used trigonometry or debated the tension between liberty and nationalism. I think if you teleported the members of subway car I was in this morning (Q to 57th street) back to 1920s Tennessee everyone in there would be dead within the week. Conversely, if you brought those mountain people to the present they would probably hunt us, skin us, and use our ‘tallow’ to make candles and waterproof their shoes, and that would be a considerable improvement in our contribution to the human race.

Ultimate: Regionals occurred in Devens, MA. Zojirushi lost all our games and finished 16th, clearing my schedule to be a spectator all day Sunday. I had a pretty good time. This means ultimate is over, except for the fun winter tournaments (like PadaMosh this weekend) Turkey Bowl and all the others that basically take us to the start of the spring season.

In the ‘off season’ I’m coaching the Beacon High School girls team. The girls are amazingly dedicated, meeting to practice from 6:30-7:30 am each day and also after school. The girls have great spirit and a long way to go. I coached them at their first Beacon Tourney for the season: KitKat outside of Philiadelphia. We had and lost 3 games, but the third was the closest, so I think we learned something. Hopefully they will all be much more motivated about doing sprints to get in shape and working on throwing and catching. Our game is a hard one if you can’t throw and catch.

Did I already show you this link? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=erRqDpMDFFo&feature=related This is what real ultimate looks like. The girls don’t look like this, yet, but I’m working on it.

I got a flu shot. Later, I got the flu. Maybe it was H1N1. I don’t know. I seem to have survived. It was pretty bad. I cured it by taking a bunch of flights. I’m like Johnny Appleseed for H1N1. H1N1 Mary?

I’m all worked up about two articles I read recently that refer to being short: This one and this one. I’m thinking about applying for disability due to my short stature status. People of short stature are 1/5 less likely to graduate from college! At 5’3” I qualify. I don’t know how I did it. We’re also just as likely as the morbidly obese to die early. I never really realized how much I have to overcome. Go me. Every day I stand up is a victory.

I had a few people over to the apartment for brunch and a Bloody Mary competition. It was a lot of fun. I vanquished all challengers in a Bloody Mary Off. My secret: the more horseradish, the better. I recommend a 1:1:1 ratio of tomato to vodka to horseradish.

The Eagles game last weekend was great. I watched with Jesse as the Eagles ran up points on the Giants. Take that Eli face! (I am really glad baseball is finally over.)

I went to a reading last night for this book, Mildred Burke : Queen of the Ring. Amazing story of a woman wrestling in the 1940s. This wrestling wasn’t even fake yet. Look forward to this review. (She was of short stature too, so the story is all the more amazing.)

I went for a good run today in Prospect Park. (+7). It was really nice out. All the leaves are still changing and the park is gorgeous.

Up and coming: This weekend I’m off to Padamosh. Next week I’ll go see Art Brut. I have an appointment coming up to donate platelets. I’m helping to plan a UPA coaching clinic in NYC. I’m off to Louisville for Thanksgiving to see all my Aunts Uncles and Cousins. It'll be great.

Little to Report

Fall is coming. I went to the US open 3 times and saw both Klijsters and Del Potro but not in the finals. I went to a Jets preseason game; it seems Sanchez may be the real deal (but I look fwd to this post being thrown back in my face after he starts acting like a rookie QB). New job is going pretty well. Zojirushi sectionals was rained out last weekend, but is on again now for this weekend. Despair was great and very suspenseful and as soon as it ended I started it over again because the beginning is packed with all these clues that doesn't really make sense until you read then end. This is a good review, so I won't bother. I am glad football season has finally started and that is about all I have to report.

Oh yeah, I quit my job...

After 11 years, I am finally done with Accenture. It was pretty amazing how almost everyone in my life universally said, “Thank God! That was horrible. What were you doing?” I couldn’t believe how adamant and consistent the response was, even with today’s job market. (There was just one exception.)

I have a new job that is part time. It’s basically the same work, and not that glamorous, but the important thing is it’s only Mon-Weds and on Thursday I’ll be at the animal shelter, on Friday I’ll be coaching high school ultimate. I’m excited about doing other things, and willing to do the same old stuff for 3 days a week if it let’s me do stuff I like the other 4.

The good news is my first client is in Knoxville, TN. Knoxville is gorgeous. There is a river that winds though the town and there are all these gorgeous old homes and store fronts. The people all seem strangely, frighteningly friendly, like they are about to sell you something, but they never do. There’s no direct flight and that will be a PAIN, but so far so good.

The huge find for this week is that the new iPhone podcast software allows you to listen to the podcasts at double time. That’s twice as many slate daily podcasts for me. Emily Bazelon is so much more tolerable when she is talking twice as fast.

Zojirushi, my coed ultimate team this year, went to the White Mountain Open in Vermont//New Hampshire which was a very enlightening experience. We have a lot to work on. Next weekend is the Chesapeake Open down in Maryland. That should be big challenge. I’ll get to see my parents and all the varmints, which will be nice.

I’m reading Nabokov’s Despair which is making me identify with the protagonist way too much. But I should have a review for you on that sometime soon so stay tuned.

I went to see Animal Collective, at the Prospect Park Bandshell, courtesy of Stephen, who had to go out of town unexpectedly for a bachelor party. As pictured below, they went with a nautical theme and the huge shark moved back and forth in the waves.

I’ll leave you with this you tube saga (from Tatiana)which I found pretty amusing.

My Girl

"The morning sun when its in your face really shows your age, But that dont worry me none in my eyes you're everything."

She was a good dog and we all miss her.

Iron Like a Lion

Zion National Park in Utah was great. Beautiful. I totally recommend a visit. Jesse and I were there (and Vegas) June 12-21. I have been meaning to write this up for a while. A lot is going on. (The careful reader will note the foreshadowing)

Zion was not too crowded. We saw a pair of introduced condors, which was a highlight for me. By-and-large the two day hikes we did were pleasant and not too strenuous.

However, we did one two day trip called ‘The Narrows’ which requires 14 miles hiking down the middle of the Virgin River. When we did it the water temperature was 59 degrees which is colder than it sounds after the 4th hour submerged up to your waste. The river has a bit of a current and the riverbed is covered with slippery rocks about the size of thanksgiving turkeys, so every step is a turned ankle waiting to happen. I fell a couple of times and got wet down to my bones. My recollection of the trip is of being cold and wet and grouchy, but Jesse tells me it was beautiful and reminds me that we were passed by a troupe of boy scouts, so how bad could it have been. (I’ll post pictures soon that support his version of the story.)

I live in Fort Greene, Brooklyn now. The move was a bit of a pain, as they always are, but I survived. The new hood is great. I’m about a mile from Prospect Park and I run, bike and play disc in the park pretty regularly. Getting to practice is quick and easy for once. I live above a stop on the C, which I can feel gently rock my bed as trains pull in and out of the station if I listen carefully enough. The neighborhood has lots of bars and restaurants and I am very happy to finally be in Brooklyn where most of my friends live.

I went to see the Staten Island Yankees with Patricia for the 4th of July. That was pretty awesome. We rode the Staten Island ferry to the game and watched the fireworks from the ferry on the way back.

My fellow founding gastronaut Benji Pauker was on my favorite show, the Jon Stewart show. Check him out: (He’s the smart American at the end.)
http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=231547&title=jason-jones-behind-the-veil


I read Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close . It was pretty good and reminded a bit of the The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. The book has some quirky affectations with pictures and edited pages and even a section in numeric code, but if you look past all that the story moves along at a good clip.

I went to see Wilco on July 13 at Coney Island. I love the new album. However, something about a title album at this stage seems odd. Even a title track. It’s like he’s painted himself into the painting. The show was the largest I’d ever seen and the band played for over two hours with lots of stuff from YHF, Summerteeth and of course the new album.

The Mets are KILLING me. I am done with them. The Wimbledon Gentleman’s championship was amazing. I’m going to the US Open in a few weeks. NFL training camps are underway: Go Eagles!

Goldfish Carry Disease!

There were no pets allowed in the freshman dorms at Georgetown and a certain DOPS student guard I worked with used to periodically proclaim the title above.

That’s what first ran through my mind when I saw this photo in the Bodega nearest to my apartment:

I like to think that the sandwiches are labeled with which disease they carry. Here’s a pastrami and H1N1 on Rye. Here’s a BL (hepatitis) C.

I turned 33. Thanks for everyone who sent e-mails or someecards. 33 is terrible. I didn’t think anything could be worse than 32, but this is. When you’re 33 pretty much the next thing you have to look forward to is retirement, and that’s 32 years away.

Speaking of old age, I got cut from Bent, which wasn’t too much of a surprise. That team is going to be very strong and I wish them luck in the season.

Now, I’m thinking I might try to play coed. Last weekend at the Mixed Easterns in Devens, MA I played with Zojirushi who I’m now trying out for. We had a lot of fun and the team did really well, finishing 9th after being seeded 20th.

In other Ultimate news, ESPN is right on about the UPA being fools:
http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=buckheit/090529

I don’t know what I’ll do when the NBA and NHL finals are over. This is the most depressing sports time of the year. Wimbledon?

I saw Art Brut last week with Stephen. They were great except for the idiots in front of me who seemed really bored. If you ware bored, leave! We’re going to see the Decemberists tonight. I hope they don’t play too much from the new album, as I don’t love it, but they probably will.

I hope you are having a good summer. I had a great time at Oak Island seeing how big Kate and Lindy have grown and riding on Robbie’s new boat.

I’m off to Zion National Park in Utah for a week of hiking. I’m a bit nervous about the sleeping in a tent and the lack of sports talk radio but I expect to come back with some great photos.

There is still a great deal of ambiguity about where I might work next, which as you can imagine is becoming somewhat tiring for me.

Has anyone made it yet, that could use a personal assistant?

And finally, on the left here, you can see that our poll has closed. It seems I have 13 readers, 5 of whom are Internet stalkers and 5 of whom plan to excel in the next impromptu round of Courtney Kelly Trivia. Good luck! The integrity of the poll continues to be indicted by the fact that none of you are fessing up to being my mother. I'll see if I can come up with another poll question. Don't hold your breath.

Pants Optional

I’m not sure what went terribly, terribly wrong, but suddenly NYC is pants optional. Every third person is running around the city in these leggings from American Apparel as if they were pants. They are not.
http://store.americanapparel.net/rsac306.html#i You should try pants!

I went to White River Junction, Vermont last weekend with the girls from Bent as a try out to play in the White Mountain Open. We lost to Godiva in pool play and Brute Squad in semis but other than that we won all our games. I had an absolute blast. Vermont was beautiful (as always) and all of the women on Bent are so great to play with. We went to the Harpoon brewery for dinner Saturday night after 4 hard fought games.

Here’s a couple pics Deirdre snapped of me playing on Saturday:

I’m also trying out for a coed team called Crafty/Zojirushi. Stay tuned for the exciting outcome.

In other ultimate news, the New York Times just broke this story:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/30/fashion/30fitness.html
Tucker summed the article up pretty well: “Ultimate is a sport and girls can play it.”

Mainstream media continues to report on my life. The folks at Today ran another segment on the AC&C, where I volunteer on weekends. Yay! Watch it here:
http://allday.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/05/19/1937215.aspx

Thanks to Jordan for this (http://awkwardfamilyphotos.com/) which makes me laugh every day.

Also Stephen for this the best of the Keyboard Cats:
http://videogum.com/archives/vlogging/dad-yells-at-son-for-crying-on_069712.html

The NBA is looking pretty good these days. Go Chauncey!

Finally, take a look at this summer tragedy I witnessed earlier today:

Happy Memorial Day! I’m off to see Lynn and her girls at Oak Island.

No news on my next work destination. Could be back to Minneapolis, Florida, in NYC or Bangalore. I’ll let you know.

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.