A night at the ball park.

Emily, scarfing down some cotton candy and a beer.

Erin (A.K.A. "Spaz") and Tim (A.K.A. "T-$").

Buffalo is winning 8 to 4 in the top of the 7th.

***Buffalo went on to finish the game for a 10-7 win. YAY BUFFALO! My apologies, but I have to cheer for my hometown team. Now Rochester and Buffalo are tied for the wild card position in the playoffs!

Check it!

So the song "Extreme Ways (Bourne's Ultimatum)"... track 10 from the "Bourne Ultimatum Soundtrack" has been running through my mind, car stereo and iPod nonstop. You know how some songs seem to elicit a certain image or scene in your mind's eye? As this song was blaring on my car stereo while Jon and I were out the other night we formulated the BEST FILM SCENE EVER!

So here's how it goes down... It bears a slight resemblance to the opening scene of "Reservoir Dogs". Now I'm no Quintin Terantino, but Jon and my idea is 1,000,000 times better, at least! The scene is of course is all happening with the above mentioned song playing in the background. Two guys (Jon and my self) roll up to a curb in a jet black Escalade. The doors open and we get out of the car [all happening in slow motion]. We both have black suits on, white shirts with an unbuttoned collar, black tie still around our necks but with a loosened knot. [The viewer has no idea who these guys are and how they got there or even if they are good guys or bad guys.] One of us has a bit of a gash on our face, looking disheveled like we have been in a fight... the other bobbing his head as if he is jamming to the music being played to the sound track of the movie. The guy with the gash reaches into his coat pocket and pulls out a crushed pack of cigarettes [which got crushed in the fight he was in], and pulls one out [the last one], that is bent [because he in a fight], and he puts it in his mouth. He pulls out a Zippo lighter and in slow motion, whips open the top in a swift motion. The camera takes a closeup slow motion view of the sparks flying off of the flint as the wick of the lighter bursts into flame. At the instant the flame ignites the camera pulls out to reveal a massive fireball-explosion that destroys the hideout of the bad guys as Jon and I walk away.

We are not sure if this should be the beginning or end of a movie. Or maybe it should just be stretched out into one continuous movie!

So yeah, am I the only one who makes up these crazy scenes in their heads like this?

Well, needless to say, Jon and I need some investment capital to film this. So any film producers, feel free to leave contact info and we will get back to you and tell you where to mail the check.

HA!

The Lemmings are back!

And by Lemmings I mean college freshmen around RIT. Fall classes start next Monday and the new freshmen have moved in. It's kind of funny how Lemming populations mimic the population of an incoming freshmen college student class on a campus...

"It is unknown why lemming populations en mass fluctuate, roughly every four years, before plummeting almost to extinction."^[2]

They are so fun to watch! All of them wandering around with that uncertain dear-in-the-headlights look on their faces. It's priceless. I almost miss it.

Don't get me wrong, I was a freshmen "Lemming" my self complete with dear-in-the-headlights look and all. I think I even had that as a sophomore too! It seems like SO LONG ago for me though. As a graduate student, on Monday I am starting up what I hope to be the last class I will ever have to take.

Last night I went to Acme's. Check the pictures below. Jon and Jen are in the top picture and I'm in the bottom picture with Emily sneaking a kiss. She will likely kick my ass for posting that!

I almost ended up in Washington D.C. today at the conclusion of last night. No joke! Jon and I were really into the idea of a random trip. He enticed me by offering to pay for air fair to D.C. to visit our friend Chris (another member of "The Four Drunken Horsemen of the Apocalypse"). We were so floored about the idea we actually stopped at the airport, which is just off the highway on my way home! Since it was 12 AM, and their were no flights until morning we kind of got bored with the randomness and called it a night.

Tuesday night out!

Fun times at Acme's!

Three days in to a four day weekend!

Life is good when your boss is away at conferences. You can either do work at your own relaxed pace... or in this case, as per his suggestion to my fellow group members and my self, stop doing work all together for a brief moment! I have since decided to reward my self with a four day weekend by taking Friday and this coming Monday off. Once my batteries are recharged, I will hit the ground running for the new academic year.

Friday evening I saw "The Bourne Ultimatum" with Emily. The movie was excellent! There was more action and thrill in this movie than the first two Bourne movies combined. We followed up the evening with some conversation, cappuccino and hot chocolate (she does not drink coffee) at Canal Town Coffee Shop. Canal Town was the location of one of our very first dates... *cue the sentimental romantic music* And here comes a big sappy *Awwwwwwww!* from the studio audience.

Last night I went out with Tim, Matt and Jon. Tim and Matt are fellow grad students I go to school with while Jon is a long time college friend of mine who belongs to a group of my college friends (including my self) that we proudly refer to as "The Four Drunken Horsemen of the Apocalypse". It ended up being just us four guys with our girlfriends either staying home not wanting to go out or tied up with other things. It was good times indeed... this bar-hopping thing is really catching on for me!

First up we went to "The Old Toad". I have not been to this place in a LONG time. It is an authentic English pub. Almost all of the bartenders are from different parts of England. After a few Jack-and-Coke's, we were having a good time. After a few drunk phone calls later we decided to abandon plans to walk to Oxfords (another bar) to rendezvous with other people there. Turns out it is in a completely different section of the city, so we will hit that up next time.


Instead, Matt suggested we check out "The Blue Room". Not going to lie, for a two dollar cover charge, that place plain sucked! There was a very small crowd. The outdoor patio was about all you paid for at this place. The music was not that good, just a classic rock radio station being played over the sound system. The pool table was nice though. A few drinks seems to make the game of pool a lot more interesting. After that we headed home because Matt and Tim had girlfriends at home who were kind of left behind for the evening despite them not wanting to go out. I hope no one was in the dog house due to girlfriend neglect at the conclusion of the night!


I have to give mad props to Tim (A.K.A. T-Money or T-$) for his duties as D.D. and also to Jon for D.D.'ing my sorry semi-drunken ass home last night!

While parusing through the grocery store.

Mmm... Yummy! Not only do they taste good... But they are good for you!

***Yeah, so I discovered how to post with my cell phone. I know, big deal, right. But hey, I love playing with my electronic toys in new and fun ways.... so this will probably get annoying and lame really fast!

They will always push you to the finish.

Fellow runners and teammates are timeless. No matter how long it has been since you have competed on a team with fellow runners, they will always be able to help you push your limits. If you have not already figured it out, I am an active runner. Check out the list of recent races I have posted! I ran track and cross country during my last two years of high school and got back into it again once my undergraduate college (Nazareth) started a new track and field and cross country program. Since graduating, I have made an effort to maintain my habit of running.

So on Tuesday evening, I met Craig and Chris for a run. Chris is a former Nazareth runner/teammate whom I have been training and running road races with. Craig is also a former Nazareth runner/teammate whom left the area to attend graduate school. It has been about 2 weeks since I had a decent run. Craig being the best in shape of all of us, was the one I had to push my self to keep up with on this run. After 44 minutes and 6 miles distance, my buddies helped push me through to the end. That's a pace of about 7:20 which for me was pretty painful! I walked away with some pretty tight legs... but I did it, and my teammates helped!

Now on to tonight's race, the Innovative Edge Summer 5k Cross Country Series (Meet #4). A 5k cross country style race with my "teammate" Chris. In the wake of still feeling tired from the cold I had this past weekend, sore as hell from Tuesday's run and the hot humid weather, the race was TOUGH. The field was a wide variety of ages, kids as young as 13 or so all the way up to runners in their 60's.

After laying down a steady start to the race I settled in. It was difficult because during that first mile the particular pair of underwear I was wearing had a loose elastic band resulting in some bunching and slipping and *ahem* well... let's just say the luggage stored in the cargo hold of the airplane was shifting around a lot in flight, if you catch my drift! *blushing* Chris was still running near me and we were encouraging each other nonetheless.

The first mile marker of the race was in the middle of the steepest hill of the race. I turn a corner and *BOOM* there's a nasty looking steep hill... steeper than anything I had climbed in recent months. That took a lot out of me. But I held on. After another mile and a half or so looping around some narrow trails in the woods... up and down some fast root and rock laden hills, I emerged back into the evening sun for the final loop towards the finish chute. Chris and I worked those hills as aggressively as we would have when we were running for Nazareth! By that time, I was beaten, battered and sore... not much left for a finishing kick. But I did it.

I've got to give mad props to Craig and Chris... fellow teammates will always push you to the finish.

Since that was my first experience running this particular cross country course... I want another go at it next season. I did it once... I am going to do it even better next time!

Discussions over a glass of wine among friends

I hate feeling under the weather! Being sick really takes away energy that could definitely be better spent else ware. However, I suppose that slowing down and being lazy while recuperating has its benefits as well. On Saturday I began reading "Tuesdays With Morrie" and completed about 135 pages of it. It was another suggested read from Emily (my girlfriend). I'll comment more on that once it is complete.

Last night, despite feeling drained of much energy, I spent the evening visiting with Emily and her two friends from high school, Christen and Adrian. Nice people... the tolerable type of friends of a girlfriend that you don't mind hanging around with and getting to know.

Both Adrian and Christen (and Emily) are going into their senior year of college... and I must say I envy them! College was loads of fun for me. However, they brought up the issue of dealing with their mothers... who have apparently nagged the hell out of them and spurred many arguments while at home from college. I can relate. This was one of the catalysts for my decision to move out of my house a few years back. Now I can simply leave my parents house after a day or two when I have had my fill of any arguments.

So perhaps it is not such a bad thing that I am no longer in college. But now I get to be discontent with the uncertainty and stress of graduate school and living on my own. So it seems I both enjoy and loathe my past and present situations... *sigh* this must be "the tension of opposites" being referred to in "Tuesdays With Morrie".

Now back to our regurlarly scheduled program...

My name is Glen. I live in Rochester, New York, am 24 years old and in the process of getting my Masters Degree in chemistry. I am a bit skittish about sharing personal information in such a public setting as the internet, so that is all for now. In time, there will be more.

I have messed around with a few blogs and webpages before... I want this one to stick though. I always seem to have a lot to say, so the blog this time around really needs to become an unhealthy compulsion so I have a constant outlet for it! I doubt anyone will read this though. Who really cares about the inner struggles and thoughts of another twenty-something in the world?

Let's bring you up to speed with my life. On the literature front, I just completed reading the Dan Brown novel, "Deception Point". For an aspiring scientist like my self who is also interested in politics and a good conspiracy story, this novel did it for me. Much like "The Da Vinci Code", it is a nonstop page turner that I always had trouble putting down. Not a good book to read on your lunch break when you need to promptly get back to work. It turned several short 20 minute lunch breaks into extended 50-60 minute thrilling reading sessions.



On the film front I rented and watched (as per the request of my girlfriend) "The Last Kiss". I recommend it to anyone in their twenties. This was a good movie, but rather depressing. The 4 men who were the main characters in their late twenties and dealing with the late stages of their "quarter life crisis". Michael, played by Zach Braff, had a career and a pregnant girlfriend but was not happy because things felt so permanent in his life. As if there would be no more surprises. He ends up fooling around with a young college coed to try to feel young again which, as one would expect causes some significant problems.

It was depressing to think that I want some of the things that he had in his life but once he had them, he was unhappy with them and wanted what he had earlier in his life. I feel a bit discontent with my current situation in life as I am going through this "quarter life crisis" experience as well. I have actually told my friends that sometimes I think it would be great to go back to being a high school teenager working at a fast food joint, living at home and having everything taking care of. It sure beats having to figure out how to manage personal finances, pursuing a degree and establishing a career.

It then seems like we are trapped in limbo, regardless of what age we are in life, we are unhappy with our current situation so we wish we can go back (but can not) and therefor look forward to our future. When our future arrives however, we become unhappy with that and then repeat the process all over again.

Notable quote from the film: "You can't fail if you don't give up."