Old.

On July 3rd 2008 I hit a milestone. I am now 30. Old. I have left my 20s and, what feels like, my youth. When the clock went past midnight, I actually felt it. This realization came over me that I had left one part of my life and entered a new and very significant one. It's probably the first birthday that really meant something to me. Anyway, it was great to spend the day with family (close and extended), and for friends (those close and ones I hadn't spoken to in a while) to remember the day and care enough to wish me happiness on my day. Really meant a lot to me. I have to say, I'm happy 30 has arrived at a time when I'm in increasingly excellent shape and have greatly improved my level of fitness, so I can hopefully have many more birthdays to come. I guess the next big one is 40... so I've got ten years to mentally prepare for that one.

Hypermiling: thank you, geeks...

Yet another reason to appreciate geeks of the world. Hypermiling. As the gas prices go up, so does the growing community of hypermilers. Geeks of the world came up with a long list of things to do to extend the miles per gallon on your car. In general, if you can afford to "drive like an old man" and ignore the swearing you may get from other car drivers, you will save a lot of money. It's not that hard really. Doing things like taking your time, using neutral down hills, turning off your car a stop lights, driving behind semis, using cruise control, not riding your breaks, and the list goes... I have a co-worker who was able to stretch an additional 150 miles out of his tank. An old college friend told me this weekend he's been on the same tank since early April. And I used just a few of the strategies on a trip to NYC recently; based on my car indicator, I should have not been able to make it to the city but I did some hypermiling and made it not only to the city but back to NJ to buy some cheaper gas. :-) I wish people would have been talking about this years ago.

Some quick hits (so I don't have to do other small blog posts)...

1. I met the Stuff White People Like guy at the awards show. It went something like... 'Hey, I'm #31, snowboarding.' Him:"Oh my God! That was you?!" It was a pretty funny moment. He understandably thought he'd never meet someone from a random pic he took off the internet. Anyway, he offered to credit me in the pic but I told him no thanks. I prefer the anonymity, and the fact my friends think it's cool is fame enough. And I'll be sure to buy his book out July 1st.
2. The Man has finally caught up with me. I'm starting jury duty in two weeks. I've never had to do it before. I postponed in April because I had a vacation planned. I called this morning to try to postpone again since I was worried if I got picked, I'd end up stuck for three weeks and I've got too many wedding/tournament/vacation plans in July. The woman on the phone was like, "You really don't want to postpone again. You're only signed up for 2 days. This is the one you want to accept. Trust me." So that's cool with me. :-) Two days and I'm set for a good 5 years. I'm actually kinda excited. I'm hoping to catch some Judge Judy-type drama.
3. I'm on day 16 of my new fitness/eating plan. I've gone running every day, whether it's a few miles or a few minutes, and yesterday I started on this new crazy workout plan. I might be ready to sign up for American Gladiator in 90 days. Haha! We'll see...

Celeb Mingling...

So, for the past 6 years or so, I've been fortunate enough to do some seatfilling. Basically, I go to awards shows and fill seats for people who go off to the bathroom, get up to present, or maybe just didn't show up. I've gotten to do things like sit between Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg. Coolest thing is I sit in these $1000 front-row seats for the low cost of *nothing*. Not a bad gig, especially when the only work is sitting on my ass.

Anyway, I've got another one of those gigs tonight for this award show appearing next week on Bravo. So when I went to check out online who would be at the awards, I came across an interesting name: Christian Lander. He's up for an award. This is the creator of the blog I am randomly pictured in. Not only is the blog at 30 million hits now, he's coming out with a Stuff White People Like book. The guy is huge now. I am hoping I meet him so I can say, "Hey, it's me... #31, snowboarding!" I think it'd be cool. It's just funny I'm not excited about any real celebrity encounter; I want to meet the blog guy. Haha!

http://www.bravotv.com/alist/2008/about/index.php

Day 1...

I went running today, something I hadn't done in a while. Thing is, I pretty much hate running but I went and did it. I couldn't find my mp3 player so I had to run the way I hate most, in relative silence, and plus there was some crazy 99.99999 percent humidity. Sucked... during it. But I needed to. I've mentioned before that this year if something was really bothering me, I would force myself to work out to improve my mood. Today was one of those days. So I ran a few miles to get my endorphins (aka happy hormones) up quickly. Endorphins are my friends. I went as far as I could go after my body gave me a holler to remind me there's but so far it was going to go eventhough my mind was pushing at a different level. So I not only got the natural benefits but also a nice sense of accomplishment for going farther, running past the point my body was indicating I should. After I stopped, my bad knees were a little sore and I had to sit because my legs were wobbly and I was out of breath, but other than that I felt great. Once you get past the initial annoyances, it's such a beneficial act on many levels.

Anyway, during my endorphin high, I started thinking about goals, how I achieve them, and what new goal I wanted to set in terms of working out now that the weather is nice. So, I decided I'm going to go running every day for the next 100 days (shorter distances every 7th day for a "break" day). I'm also going to change my weekday morning habit. I usual use my mornings to lounge, but I'm going to make that my time for trips to the gym/track. I usually do that all in the evening but the effects are most beneficial in the morning so I'll give it a try.

I'm generally good when I spell out goals and timeframes, and especially after I've written them down. I'd be a pretty big loser if I posted this and didn't follow through. I guess we'll see come beginning of September...

Keeping In Touch...

I'm a relatively busy person, and my schedule can make it hard for me to keep in contact with my friends as much as I'd like to. But just recently, it hit me that my way of staying abreast of the going-ons of many friends and acquaintances had changed... thanks to Facebook (and MySpace, somewhat). It's kinda sad, but outlets I once praised for allowing me to connect with friends I hadn't seen in years at the same time allows me to feel I know about the more significant events in their lives without ever picking up the phone.

A few months ago I hung out with a friend and his girlfriend on a Saturday, and they seemed quite happy. By Monday I saw a profile update popup on my facebook home page that said they were "no longer in a relationship." So after giving it some time I spoke to my friend who says, "I guess you heard," and I respond, 'well, sorta'. That's the thing; I don't need to "hear" anything. Just be on a networking site. And this is a case where I actually chat and see this friend regularly. I haven't seen one of my good friend in months but I'm able to track the growth of her baby through posted pictures. Another friend I have seen maybe once in last 2 years, but no worries... a quick read of her profile and I know she broke up with her longtime boyfriend, is tired of men, switched her orientation to bi, cut her hair and now loves the show "The L-Word" and Ellen DeGeneres. And an old school friend who was a quiet, nerdy, glasses-wearing bookworm? Well, she's now a contact-wearing stylish fun girl who is no doubt out throwing back drinks (usually shots) come the weekend. I've got friends/acquantainces that are everywhere from Dubai to Namibia to Honduras right now... and it's not like I'm opening any profiles, these are just what I know from status updates. These are just a handful of examples, but any divorce, marriage, child birth, job change, mood change, pet purchase, travel plans, lunch plans and on and on and on... I can learn about in 2 seconds off a website without even a word spoken to someone. Seems a bit impersonal...

I don't know. It's just interesting that as technology moves us forward, the benefit of progress can sometimes mean a sacrifice in good ol' human interaction.

I Want to Believe...

It's the official trailer release day for my X-Files movie! I basically saw this 2 months ago when the pre-trailer was released at a convention (thank you, youtube). That was awesome, since the leaked video from Paley has all the fan reaction, and they went CRAZY (screaming, awing, etc.). It's been so long since these characters have been on film or screen, so for a true fan to get that first glimpse undescribably cool. I was even more hyped up about the movie after viewing it.

Anyway... http://www.xfiles.com/

It's mostly the same thing from the convention with a few changes, including a shot of Xzibit and the new end shot of Scully and Mulder.

Just over 2 months till release day! July 25!

"Make my way back home when I learn to fly..."

So I got to fly... sorta. As a part of my "do sh*t I always wanted to do so I'm doing it in my last year of my 20s" list, I went indoor skydiving / windtunnel flying. Long story short, it is both fun and harder than you would think. The instructor my group had was great, but took a very hands-off approach, which meant a lot of flopping around at times. You can't even feel him holding you so it really wouldn't have hurt if he guiding us a bit more in the beginning like the other instructors I observed, but anyway, still a blast to do. I highly recommend it. Everyone should have a "flying" sensation at least once in their lives and this is one of the safest ways to do it. (Because jumping out of an airplane at 10,000 feet ain't for everyone!) I'm a bit of a rollercoaster wimp and even I loved it. Admittedly, reviews from the group were mixed but I think the key is to get an instructor who will give you a comfortable level of support until you know what you're doing.

I recommend to anyone interested (in the northeast) to check out the facility in the Meadowlands that will be complete in the next year. Otherwise, the closest location to NY is in New Hampshire.

I flew for about 3 total minutes (1 minute flights) but here is a brief clip...