While I’m not knocking the path I’ve taken and/or where I’m at in my life, I just wonder if I’ve missed out a little. I know that because I moved around a lot when I was younger I’ve been hesitant pull up the roots I’ve established and go forth into the world and see what is out there. Sometimes though the idea of moving away to a new city sounds like a wonderful adventure.

Perhaps somewhere out on the West Coast where it doesn’t ever rain.

This picture makes me really wish winter was over. I’m ready for warm weather and sunshine. I’m ready to go to the beach!

Since this idea is relatively simple, I actually looked into what it would take to get a patent on it. Turns out it’s a little bit of work and kind of costly. However, there currently isn’t a patent out there for this idea if anyone feels like running with it. I’ve decided to make my fortune in other areas.

However, I still had the problem of not wanting to wake up to a dark room. To alleviate this I recently took an extra electrical timer used for Christmas lights I had lying around and plugged my lamp into it. I set the timer to turn on at 6am and go off at 8am. It actually has made waking up a little easier.

I just wanted to share that.

*Note: In the event you wanted to use your lamp without turning the alarm on, there would also be a button on the alarm clock labeled “lamp”. When pressed the lamp would come on.

Confused, I asked him what the hell he was talking about.

It was at that moment when I was introduced to an Indie Rock band from New York called Vampire Weekend. He told me to listen to this song called One (Blake’s Got A New Face). At first I chuckled. I thought it was funny. I had never heard my name in a song. I mean let’s be serious; Blake really isn’t really a common name and if I were to put it in a song, it would have been something about cake, lakes, snakes, or snowflakes. But that’s just me.

Since then I’ve been a big fan of Vampire Weekend and have really wanted to see them in concert. Sadly, since I’ve known about them they’ve yet to come to Nashville. Then yesterday I heard on the radio that they were coming in April. I was stoked!

Today as I was sitting at my desk, listening to the radio, just finishing up lunch, and I hear, “The first caller that can correctly tell me what song Vampire Weekend is giving away free on their website will win free tickets.”

I pulled up the website and immediately dialed the radio station.

Busy. Hang up.

Dial again.

Busy. Hang up.

Dial again.

Ring. Hang up. CRAP!

Dial again.

Ring.

And just like that, I answer the trivia question and win free tickets to their concert!

However, then I sat down and did a little assessment of my life during this previous year. While there have been some ups and downs, it really wasn’t all bad. Here is a quick breakdown of the highlights of my 2009 (in no particular order).

• I ran 2 half-marathons
• I went snowboarding
• I went to Las Vegas, New York City, New Orleans (twice), and Gulf Shores, AL (the beach!)
• I gained a roommate
• I later lost said roommate (but only because she fell in love)
• I saw some great concerts
• I made a lot of new friends
• I spent a great deal of time with both my new and old friends
• I went to the lake several times
• I played on 2 kickball teams
• I played on my work’s flag football team
• I finished another year of graduate school
• I dated several lovely ladies, although none of them actually worked out, I still enjoyed the time spent with them
• I got a little bit of a promotion
• I went camping
• I went canoeing a few times
• I went to a lot of football games

All and all it was pretty good year. Plus I am still very optimistic about 2010.

Just to share one of the many stories from this trip; one night three of us ended up in a strip club on Bourbon Street. However, before I go any further with this story it should be noted that I do not know how to interact with strippers. They make me uncomfortable and I am always very standoffish with them. I feel like they’re used car salesmen trying to sell me something I don’t want. I always want to tell them, “I don’t want you to come talk to me, I’m just looking.” Needless to say, strip clubs aren’t places I generally hang out in.

However, one of my buddies is very comfortable with strippers, and even seems to speak their language (I think it involves clicks and some form of sign language). So as we’re sitting there drinking a few beers a blonde stripper comes over and sits with my friend. As they’re chatting I couldn’t help but notice her thick Russian accent. It was then that we had the following conversation:

Me: I like your accent. Are you from Russia?
Russian Stripper: No I am from Virginia (Said in a Russian accent)
Me: Are you sure? You sound like you might be from Russia.
RS: No I am from Virginia. I dance for money now. (Said in a Russian accent)
Me: I don’t think you’re from Virginia. You sound like you might be from the Ukraine.
RS: You shut up. I dance for you now. (Said in a Russian accent)

Even though I was worried she was up to no good and ultimately just out to get “moose and squirrel” I couldn’t help but laugh.

The date went well. We had a couple beers, cracked a few jokes, talked about what we do, our hobbies, our interests, etc. Basically just normal first date stuff. However, on the way home I received a text from her…. While this normally a pretty good thing (it’s usually a sign that girl is into you if she texting you before you even get home), our text conversation kind of turned weird. During the course of a normal text conversation she started throwing in various cuss words. It normally doesn’t bother me when girls swear. In fact I kind of like it a little. However, this chick was just cussing like a sailor [Insert Red Flag Here]. At the end of the eff-ing conversation we agreed that we should hang out again when she got back in town from a business trip she was about to go on.

Fast forward a couple days and I randomly get this facebook message from this chick (It should be noted that she and I are not actually even facebook friends). While it was odd that she sent me a facebook message in the first place, it was “blow your mind crazy” when I actually read it. The whole message was her asking how I was doing and her looking forward to seeing me again but it was written as a letter from a sensei master to a young warrior (the relevance of why it was written like this is because I mentioned during our date that I played on a kickball team called Cobra Kai). I assumed she was trying to be amusing; but honestly, that was just weird. Needless to say, I didn’t write her back and/or call her again.

A few days later I began to feel bad after I completely dodged her in a bar. I assume that she probably wondered (although I honestly hope she has a little bit of clue) why it didn’t work out. I told my friend Candi that I was thinking about writing her a nice letter telling her what happened and what she did to completely scare me away. I figured if nothing else, perhaps it would be beneficial if she knew. I mean she’s 33 and she’s acting like a wack job.  Candi severely advised against this and said I said I would be better off if I left it alone. Mainly because she thought I’d probably just end up hurting this girl’s feelings.

The whole ordeal got me thinking about how much easier dating would be if we told each other why things didn’t work out. Imagine if a girl/guy told you that they were turned off because they thought you checked out the waitress/waiter when they brought your drinks. Maybe they just didn’t like your style (you’re preppy and they like the rocker type). Perhaps you came across as an asshole. Possibly they simply could have also been seeing someone else and chose to pursue that option instead. The list could go on and on.

All garbage aside about finding the one who loves you for who you are, I think that knowing what mistakes you’re making might be beneficial… Even if feelings do get hurt from time to time. Just sayin’

While it may not sound like a huge deal; at the time I was very upset about this. I was completely taken aback by the comment not just because it was kind of said hatfully but also because it was totally out of context of the conversation. As far as I knew, we were just joking around. I didn’t realize I had stuck a nerve and/or hurt this person’s feelings enough for them to backhand me with a statement like that.

Although I quickly got over the comment, the words stuck with me and soon I began to realize that in fact sometimes it’s not about you. I’ve seen that during the whole living your life thing it’s easy to forget that everything doesn’t necessarily revolve around us. Sometimes we forget that even the people we are close to and/or simply interact with on a daily basis have thoughts, emotions, and a whole crap load of things going on with them that have nothing to do with us.

I say this because I realized I had one of those “Sometimes it’s not about you” movements today. And even though this realization means something else kind of crappy, it’s still a little nice to know that since it’s not about me, it should be one less thing I have to worry about.