I think it moved

Just kidding. TOTALLY kidding. Anyways, today felt like an appropriate day to comment on one of the most undesirable recent changes to my life. Worst than homework, study groups, lack of a paycheck, LA traffic, etc.

Communal showering. Let me make this clear. I’m not showering WITH anyone. Just the whole public showering in the locker room of the gym deal. I’ve been doing this on most weekdays since orientation started in mid-September, and trust me, it’s not something you get used to. The sporadic hot water, the little plastic soap-holder that we all had decades ago when we were living in college dorms, tiny little bath towels. But, given my hectic and unpredictable afternoon and evening schedule, the only alternative is to wake up an hour earlier and drive all the way back home to shower after working out, and all the way back to campus for class. And frankly, I’m not willing to sacrifice that amount of espn.com or Seinfeld time.

So my new daily schedule consists of working out, taking a short-as-possible shower (usually 5 minutes) within eyeshot of a bunch of wrinkly old and fat men, and then getting dressed and heading to campus. And then when I get home, since I kinda rush through the morning shower, I always take another shower. Not the most efficient use of time, but again, no real alternatives outside of cutting down my workout schedule and subsequently turning into one of those wrinkly old fat men I spoke about earlier.

But today, oh man, today, something unpredictable and just horrifying happened. The shower I went to had a bunch of body wash/lotion bottles in the shower-rack thingy, but I figured someone just left their empty bottles there so I went ahead and started my business. Then. God. It’s tough to re-live this. Then, as I was finishing up the shower, I hear a male voice saying something to the effect of “Excuse me, do you mind if I grab my stuff from the shower rack?” WTF???!!! Did this (naked) guy really just ask me (another naked guy) if he could squeeze through and get his stuff??? Did the thought ever occur to him to wait until the shower was free? Or to just let it go and buy some new body wash??? It was a horrific experience and I’m surprised I was able to get out any words at all. I told the guy that I was almost done and to wait a few seconds and then quickly, knees trembling, turned off the shower and grabbed my towel and got the hell out of there.

Seriously. It did NOT move. I swear.

Forgive me if this is a bit incoherent...

but i'm kinda buzzed right now. And i'm definitely disillusioned. My beloved Eagles just lost to "America's team", the New Orleans Saints. And we lost in just horrible, gut-wrenching fashion. I can't even summarize what happened, because if I try to re-live it, I'll probably vomit all over my laptop.

As I was trading texts during the game with my friend and fellow Eagles' fan Rishi, I asked him if he ever enjoys the actual game. He said no, and that's how I feel as well. Sure, I jump up and down, chest-bump, and celebrate when the Eagles score or make a big defensive play. But for the other 2 hours and 57 minutes of the game, I'm sitting there with my stomach churning and hands shaking. I honestly don't remember the last time I sat back and enjoyed an entire Eagles game. Probably a month or so ago, when our season looked like it was over, so there was really nothing to lose. Then we went on a nice little roll behind Gay Garcia (not that there's anything wrong with that), winning our last 5 regular season games, including sweeping our 3 division rivals, all on the road, in consecutive weeks. We won the division and beat the mediocre New York football Giants in the Wild Card game last Sunday. What did it all culminate in? Another loss. Just like every other fucking season.

Honestly, I WISH I wasn't an Eagles fan. I wish I wasn't a fan of ANY sports team. The highs are great but so short-lived. The lows are low, painful, and enduring. I'm sitting here at home while all my friends are drinking and getting ready to go out and party. It is, after all, Saturday night. But I can't even imagine going out and trying to have a good time right now. Good times are the last thing on my mind.

In closing, I'm sure there's a bunch of Eagles fans out there saying or thinking something like, "If we had to lose, I'm glad we lost to the Saints" because of all that's happened to the unfortunate residents of the city of New Orleans over the last year and a half. Am I thinking that? Fuck no. Have fun celebrating in your dirty, miserable city. Yeah, go ahead and call me a prick. If you know me, you know I don't give a fuck what you think. Fuck. FUCK!

Happy New Year

I know, more than a few days late. But I hope everyone had as happy and unsafe a New Years as I did. Anyways, I've truly enjoyed the rest of my vacation. Since I last blogged, I've spent time in LA, Miami, and, of course, Vegas. Here are some of the highlights:

- Cal's 45-10 drubbing of Texas A&M. Shut up Big 12 fans.

- USC's 32-18 dribbing of Michigan. Shut up Rematch Proponents.

- "David" Boise State's THRILLING Overtime victory over "Goliath" Oklahoma. Again, shut up Big 12 fans. I really do feel bad for the Oklahoma fans though. They're the only ones who didn't get to enjoy one of the best college football games in my lifetime. The Oklahoma bettors too, but I don't feel bad for them. Gambling is bad. Stay away. More on this later.

Ok those were just the sports highlights. To the real fun stuff:

- Amit walking around South Beach - including on the beach itself - in jeans, a polo shirt, and dress shirt. Smooth.

- Happy Hours at the Clevelander. If you're ever in South Beach - trust me. Good crowd, good drinks, NFL Sunday Ticket, and amazing bikini runway shows. I could have done without the multiple guys jocking me because of my Eagles jersey though.

- Running into randoms in Miami (or anywhere for that matter). I still find it cool that I almost always run into someone I know no matter what city I'm in.

- Partying, quite literally, on the beach for New Year's Eve. We went to Nikki Beach for the evening, which is basically a small indoor restaurant/lounge that leads into a huge outdoor area, complete with its own private beach. Amazing girls, views, and atmosphere. Too bad I celebrated with 4 guys. I love you guys, but still. Fuck.

- Miraculously losing 4 different bets on a single football game. I hate you Wake Forest, and I hate you Louisville. That's what I get for betting on a football game involving two big-time basketball programs. Damn Title IX screwing everything up.

- Quote of the year (through 7 days) As I, in a drunken haze, apparently ignored a "dancer" on stage, she looks and says to me: "You don't like my tits? Maybe I don't like your face." Ouch. Nothing more demeaning than getting insulted by someone who works solely on tips.

- Blackjack sucks. I think I played an entire shoe at one point without winning a hand. I honestly didn't know that was possible. Fuck.

- If you weren't sure whether ordering porn at 4am was always a bad idea, take note. It is ALWAYS a bad idea.

- I had one of the worst hangovers of my life on Wednesday, after waking up from a night in Vegas. This was depressing on a whole multitude of levels. Firstly, we didn't even stay out THAT late. As I mentioned above, we were back in the room at 4am. Secondly, we only had one day in Vegas. Given our 730pm flight, waking up at noon by myself, with a throbbing headache and empty wallet was not my idea of an eye opener. Most importantly, I never feel hungover in Vegas. Whether it's all the air they pump into the casinos, anxiousness to drink/gamble more, or just the adrenaline from being there, I always seem to wake up OK when I'm in Vegas, regardless of how much I've drank or how little I've slept. So this was definitely one of those "Fuck, I'm old" moments.

The Seahawks just failed on a 4th and Goal conversion. Looks like the hated Cowboys are going to advance to the 2nd round of the Playoffs. More importantly, I think this is like the 7th straight sports bet I have lost. What a waste of time spending all those hours on espn.com. WOW! Seattle just tied it on a fumble recovery in the end zone. I'm sure this is gonna be challenged. Here's to keeping my fingers crossed and hoping the Cowboys lose.