Mar 3, 2017

I worked at Holly Heights for CST in the morning and spent very little time in classes. After the first two meetings I found out my pre-lunch and post-lunch meeting were canceled meaning I got to leave before noon and I was done for the day. I got a slightly early jump on departure to Baltimore, but not as much as I should have and I hit accident traffic. I still made it to the Baltimore Museum of Art with enough time to browse the contemporary galleries for a short time. My favorite exhibit was The Guerrilla Girls' "The Birth of Feminism." I wandered a bit more, but I really don't like the feeling of being rushed out of a museum. I need to give myself more time.

I went to Union Craft Brewing, which I realized I had been to once before when it was very busy. I did some half-pours to try the beers and chatted with the bartenders about beer laws. I also talked to a couple of guys who (I think) were pretending not to know the Hanson song "Mmmbop." I mean, who doesn't know that? They left shortly after and were replaced by a guy and girl who were really nice and we chatted for most of the next hour about skiing and places they should visit in Philly. The bartender also brought me over a sample of their regular barleywine and the bourbon barrel-aged version. The original was, ironically, too boozy for me, but the aged one was so smooth. It tasted like a great shot of bourbon. Those were not my favorites, however. The best beer I had was the Pajama Pants coffee stout. I had a glass of that and I finished with the tasty Duckpin IPA after a sip of my new friend's.

I got myself a parking spot right in front of Ottobar and headed in early enough to see Dryjacket's full set. They are fantastic live, and I think they could easily be one of my favorite new bands. I need to get their music. I talked to a guy who was in the crowd next to me so it was nice having someone there to chat with between bands. Empty Houses was up next and they were good, but they just weren't my kind of music. The singer could really belt though, and everyone seemed to be into it.

Aaron West & The Roaring Twenties were up next. They played full-band again this time, which I was very excited about after last year's solo show. They surprised me by opening with "'67 Cherry Red" instead of "Our Apartment." The set was all mixed up, which makes sense after playing almost all his previous shows in order. Now that people know this project he doesn't have to explain the whole story and play it out each time. He did play the full catalogue including both covers and finished with "You Ain't No Saint." It was a great night of singing loudly along with the crowd. I needed that release. The drive home afterward felt long, but not terrible. I listened to some podcasts which always helps the time go by.

Feb 19, 2017

I got up a little later than planned of course because I slept at home. I managed to get to French Creek State Park pretty quickly anyway. The disc golf course parking area is closed off in winter so I had to park and walk a bit to find it. I started on hole 18 and eventually found my way to the course. I was not having a good start to the round and it didn't improve all that much. The course feels cramped and tight the whole way, but that could be because I wasn't playing so well. It's not a course I tend to want to return to.

I hurried to Camp Sankanac to get there for doubles at 11:30. Although there were a ton of cars there no one knew about this doubles tournament that supposedly happens weekly. Before several big groups started playing I hopped on and started off on my own. I ended up joining another guy on hole 7 since we were both playing solo and there would be no point trying to pass one another.

The course itself is great. The layout is varied and fun, with all types of shots and lengths. It's challenging but not terribly annoying like French Creek felt. I was glad to have someone to share it with.

When I got back to the first tee there were a bunch of people standing around talking about playing doubles. They asked if I was in so I said yes straightaway and we got to pairing off. The second time around I feel like I didn't shoot quite as well as the first and my partner wasn't a great help at picking up any of my slack. It was still a perfectly beautiful day and a great course to play twice. It was nice to play with a bigger group and get to know some people there. Definitely will be returning to this one.

I decided to go to Tired Hands on my way back to Philly. I sat down next to a guy at the bar and we chatted for a very brief time about nothing of great importance, yet he offered to buy my first beer as he was heading out the door. Really nice guy. I started with the Pink Noise, a raspberry lemon IPA that tasted like grapefruit. I had some good beers and another good conversation with another man that came in and sat on the other side of me. We talked about great beer, photography, travel, and our idiot president. Not a bad night.

It wasn't over yet; I met Christie and Tracy at The Abbaye for dinner where I got my own wings after a full day of salivating about them. We sat outside and enjoyed the nice cool night air with our meal. Since the weather was still nice we finished our beers and walked to Barcade for one more drink before heading over to the Fillmore.

We got inside shortly before Less Than Jake opened with "All My Best Friends are Metalheads" to kick off a really fun set. The place wasn't really packed which made for a nice wide open circle pit to dance in for an hour. I had a really good time and I'm always happy when I get a chance to see them live. It was quite a day and I was happy to get home to bed where I didn't have to set an alarm for the morning.

Feb 8, 2017

I worked at Vineland Memorial for the day. It was a busy and long day of work, but I got done a little early and met with Becca to head to Brandywine DGC. We had plenty of time for a full round in the nice weather. Aside from what it might mean for global climate, I'm not hating this warm winter weather.

We continued on to Baltimore and right to The Land of Kush for dinner. We got two of the usuals: BBQ seitan/soy chicken with sides of curry slaw and mac & cheese. The mac was so good this time. Becca loved it also and we left with a good amount of food for later.

We had some time before the show so we went to Max's Taphouse where they had a long list of beers. We got some good ones, but the best was what we finished on: Gypsy Funk Dry-Hopped Barrel-Aged Sour by 8 Wired Brewing from New Zealand. It's aged in white wine barrels and it was fantastic. Pricy but worth it.

We got a great parking spot right outside Ram's Head Live, where we headed inside to see AFI for a second time. The set was similar, but they played enough different songs for it to feel like a totally new show. Davey seemed to have even more energy this time and he jumped into the crowd during the second encore as they played Totalimmortal. Definitely glad we went a second time. I was getting a little tired on the drive home, but it wasn't too bad. At least I had the good fortune of not having to set an early alarm.

Feb 6, 2017

I worked at Memorial for CST and had a pretty easy day of meetings. Good amount of downtime and the meeting before lunch ended really quickly so I got a long lunch with Becca to have our sloppy joe leftovers. After work I had my dentist appointment for my cleaning. I never have to wait to go in there. I was in, cleaned, and out really fast. Everyone there is nice too.

We headed to Blackbird later for an amazingly delicious slice of pizza and some wings. It was somehow the best slice of the spicy bbq that we've had yet. I could eat that pizza everyday to quote Becca.

We had some time before the show so we went to Prohibition and got a couple drinks. I had a pretty decent sour IPA and then we shared a Hoppy Lil' Hudson because we couldn't fit that much beer in after our heavy dinner.

We got over to Union Transfer to catch the last couple of songs of Nothing. They were very loud noise and I didn't care for it. We stood in the hallway to protect our ears. AFI came out to the crowd chanting and then went right into Girl's Not Grey.

They were awesome and Davey was as energetic and dramatic as usual. The set was a great mix of songs I knew well and ones I didn't but still could enjoy. The crowd wasn't even as crazy as I expected so I left without too many bruises.

Jan 23, 2017

I subbed for the computer class at Memorial and spent the day going through photos and editing again, so it was good and productive. Becca's case for the evening was canceled so I rescheduled my doctor and oil change so we could get to Philly a little earlier and go to Memphis Taproom for food and happy hour. We got spaghetti sandwiches, delicious as always, and they had Two Hands Hop Hands on tap. During this time I "realized" that I locked my keys in my car where I left it at Barnes & Noble in Deptford.

We got Becca's mom and Christie to team up and leave the spare key under my car tire. It was really nice of them. Since that was figured out we went on to Manny Brown's and had one more beer to kill some time.

We got to the TLA with plenty of time to spare before Dashboard came on. I hadn't been there in so long I kind of forgot what it was like. We squeezed in and made our way to the middle area of the crowd, causing a few people to be annoyed that I was in front of them.

Dashboard played a good set even though the crowd barely nodded their heads at most of the songs. That didn't stop them from Snapchatting the songs anyway. It ended up being fun anyway, even if it wasn't as good as the Taste of Chaos set. Chris invited the guy from Sorority Noise to play one of his songs in the middle which was cool. I need to listen to them more. We went back to my car and definitely didn't realize the keys were in Becca's car the whole time.

Jan 20, 2017

I woke up feeling surprisingly good, but I hit construction and got behind a school bus on my way to work at Vineland Memorial so I got there a little late. Luckily I was still very early for the meetings and I had a very easy day where I got a lot of file organization done on my hard drive. The worst part was when I was in for the gym teacher. The classes were huge and incredibly loud.

After being home for a bit and stopping at Becca's for a short time I headed to the Fillmore again for Frank Turner. He started the set with his new song "Sand in the Gears" which is about standing up for what you believe in and fighting back even more for the next four years under the new president who was inaugurated today. It was a perfect day to see Frank and hear that. "Let's be the sand in the gears for the next four years."

The rest of the set was perfect as The Sleeping Souls joined him. As always it was energetic, hilarious, and heartfelt. I was closer to the back of the crowd for the show and halfway through Staci found me so we got to hang out and dance with the one other person in that area that was dancing around having a good time. I always feel great after leaving a Frank Turner show.

Jan 14, 2017

I got up early and got a lot of little things done that I've been putting off. Becca wanted to go for a run so we met at Parvin. I ran the Black Oak trail for 4 miles. It felt good even though the temperature had dropped back to the normal cold. We walked a little after running separately then took off.

I felt like staying outside a little longer so I went to the park and ran 10 baskets, alternating 10 push-ups and 20 V sit-ups after each one. I played a decent game for being in a hurry.

I spent the afternoon packing, doing laundry, and taking it easy. Becca and I headed up to Philly early to meet up with Andrew to FINALLY get my MacBook Pro. We met at a Qdoba near Temple and made the exchange. I'm excited to have it, but it's frustrating to have a new thing and not be able to use it right away. We went to Blackbird and got delicious pizza and a sandwich then stopped at La Colombe for a cold brew.

We got to Union Transfer just as Hidden in Plain View was finishing up, but they sounded really good. The Early November played a full set of songs from The Mother, The Mechanic, The Path. It was a good mix of songs that I knew and some I didn't. The second set was worth the wait. It was full of all the songs I would want to hear including Fluxy! They ended on Every Night's Another Story which was an incredible end to a really fun and special night.

After the show we started driving North toward Watkins Glen. We drove about three hours, but it didn't feel like it because we chatted the whole time. We stopped at a rest area just over the New York border where we set up camp in the back of the car. It was cold and my sleeping pad sprung a leak so it wasn't very comfortable either, but I got to sleep.

Dec 30, 2016

We slept in and got up to make a tofu scramble eventually. It was really tasty, but the sweet potatoes are always the best part.

We sat around being lazy for a while, which was quite nice. The cats joined in.

We decided we should go for a run so we went to South Vineland Park to do a couple of laps. I did a little over two miles but it felt nice to be outside. We tried playing disc golf, but after being sweaty we both felt cold and not really in the mood for it.

Later Omarey met me at my house and we drove up to Starland for Thursday night two. We had a great chat on the way up about a lot of things in life and travel and inspiration. It's great to be able to have deep conversations with friends I don't see too often. Thursday was amazing just as last night, but I prefer the other setlist. Tonight's was themed towards more hopeful songs and they did a great job with the theme. The crowd was a little more crazy too so that played a part. Along with everyone in the crowd being excited it was apparent that Geoff was having the time of his life. It's great to see the band back together like no time has passed. Definitely worth the long wait.

Dec 29, 2016

I went to Ryan's in the morning for the second two games in our Koopa Bowl showdown. We played Super Mario 1 first and Ryan won as I struggled in the last world. In the event of a tie, we play Super Mario World and if that doesn't provide a clear winner there's a round-robin All-Stars match. But really we just played Mario World for the win. We were again very close but I got to the last castle faster and won. It was a lot of fun playing it that way.

I went home for a little while before going to Becca's where she surprised me with an amazing vegan chocolate cake with ice cream in the middle. It was so good. I had a little slice before we got ready to leave for the night.

We picked up Tracy and went to Starland where we sat in the car for a little bit to have a couple beers before the show. Diana sent me this wonderful little graphic to say happy birthday that made me smile.

We went inside and the show was running late, which is predictable for Starland, but we got settled on the side of the crowd and Nathan and Chanel came in and found us for a little bit before the lights went out. Thursday came out to For the Workforce, Drowning, which is one of my favorite songs and my favorite opener of theirs. The set was dark and incredible and it was so great to see them back on stage like they never left.

After the show I saw Omarey and he came to chat with us while those of us without jackets shivered outside. It was great to be with so many friends for my birthday and see one of my favorite bands. We had a nice long ride left home, but it didn't seem so bad.

Dec 28, 2016

We reluctantly got out of the bed with the cloud pillows and headed toward the water to try to catch a nice sunrise. Not too much happened in the sky and I couldn't get near the water, so I attempted to catch some shots of this church. Can't win them all, but it was nice to be up early anyway.

One thing I was looking forward to was Edge of the Woods in New Haven. We got there as they opened and went back to the cafe to order a reuben, a Monte Cristo, and the falafel sandwich. The reuben was amazing as always, but the others left something to be desired. Not bad, but nowhere near as good in my opinion.

After breakfast we headed to Park City DGC where I pulled out some new discs to replace my lost one from the other day. I found a few that I liked and tried to break them in and learn how they worked as we played. It was another really nice day to be outside, if a little chilly at times. We stayed warm even when a few snowflakes started to fall. We mostly had the course to ourselves so it went by quickly.

We found a coffee shop called Source to kill some time while we waited for the brewery to open and we sat inside the packed cafe sipping on a cold brew and a hot tea, listening to people chat and planning our day out. The coffee was okay and the tea was okay.

Two Roads is always a great stop when I can make it, and this time was no exception. Most all of the beers were noteworthy, but the best were the session IPA, the Espressway coffee stout, and the cranberry gose. We did three flights of 5 beers and ended up spending a couple of hours at the bar.

We were having a really good time so we didn't rush out. There's always time for selfies. And we left with some bottles and cans of our favorites.

Our next stop was Cranbury Park DGC, where we awkwardly drove by the toll house because it looked like the guy inside was an electrician or something and didn't even give us a second look. So we came in for free. The course is nice, but very wooded and a little repetitive. Definitely one I'd play again, but I prefer the one we played earlier. I'm glad we were able to get through two courses anyway. After that course we hit the road and promptly started hitting rush hour traffic.

After a seemingly long drive home through New York and North Jersey during rush hour we got back home and I dropped Becca off. I had a little time to change, eat, and relax just briefly before jumping back in the car to go to Philly for Valencia at the Fillmore. I stood in the back/middle for the whole show because no one was moving around or into it too much. The band sounded a little off for a while, but they picked up steam with the second half of the set. They played "Linoleum" by NOFX, which was a great surprise addition. Not a bad set, but definitely not my favorite. Finally headed home to sleep after!

Dec 17, 2016

I woke up pretty early for a Saturday and scraped the ice off my car to go over to Ryan's. Since he has a second TV set up we played through Zelda and Super Metroid side by side. Metroid takes a lot longer than I remember and there is a lot of searching around with seemingly not much happening. We took a break for Moe's in the middle, and even after playing for about 6 hours when Ryan finished Zelda I still wasn't done. I'll finish later.

Becca and I headed to pick up Tracy and Christie and then met Chuck at Barnes and Noble before going into the city to get dinner at The Abbaye. We had some good beers and really good food as usual. There was an Evil Genius guava IPA that I really liked and the Brew Works Rude Elf that I forgot was candy delicious.

We headed to Prohibition Taproom for a couple more beers after that. Chuck and I got a cask beer from Yards called Hoppy Lil' Hudson that was really good. They were playing Jimmy Eat World on the stereo and we were teasing Christie about not knowing who it was even though we saw them last night.

It was a slightly icy and very foggy two-block walk to Union Transfer, but the church in the fog looked awesome. This reminds me I really need to go out in fog, rain, and other "bad" weather to get the interesting photos I desire.

We got inside in time to use the restroom before The Starting Line came on. The crowd was a little thin, but it was perfect for the room. No one was moving around at first, but I had had enough drinks to not care about pushing forward. Once things got started it was an amazing show and a great set. We all had a lot of fun. There were a couple of guys in the pit who were being assholes. Under Armour guy was just being annoying, but sweater guy was being a real dick so I went and got security (I wasn't even alone; some other guy was already telling them) and the guy got kicked out so that felt nice. We could enjoy the rest of the show in peace.