life is good

I can never manage to update this on a consistent basis...oh well.  I'm just going to try and give a quick update on where things stand in my oh so interesting life.  Hopefully you won't be too bored.  First off, things are going really well at Cutters.  With the Spring season less than two months away, things are really starting to pick up.  I'm on the hunt for sponsorships to make sure we have adequate money to support scholarships for kids in our club, and so far the response is going well.  I am also expecting to hear back soon regarding a couple of grants that we applied for late last year.  It is certainly not a guarantee that good news will come from this, but I'm remaining hopeful.

I also recently attended the NSCAA Convention in Kansas City with some good friends and had a great time.  This event brought in coaches from all over the country and was a great learning experience.  The downtown itself was pretty lively and we managed to have our fair share of fun.  Perhaps the most successful part of the trip was meeting with a Eurosport representative who is going to help our club earn money with an online store that can be accessed from our website.  I'm really excited to get that going.  Additionally, the great folks at Eurosport are flying me out to Raleigh later this month for an open house that should provide me with additional information that could benefit Cutters.  Other clubs from around the country that they support will be in attendance as well so it should be an all around good time and another opportunity to network.

Everyone who knows me is aware that from time to time (understatement) I like to go to concerts.  I have certainly been keeping with that reputation as of late.  In just the last two weeks I have managed to the see The Travelin' McCoury's, Railroad Earth, and Ryan Adams.  I may or may not have traveled to Chicago and Louisville for the latter two shows.  Seeing Railroad Earth was especially awesome because I hadn't seen them since my first semester of grad school at the Bird.  It was a fantastic show.  More to come soon as The Black Keys and "The Boss" Bruce Springsteen are on the docket over the next couple months.  I think this weather already has me in Summer concert mode, but I guess there's nothing wrong with that.

The only other thing I really wanna touch on is IU Basketball (my life).  Even though this team can still be extremely frustrating to watch, the fact is that at this point in the season we have as many wins as many people thought we would have the whole year.  I think our big wins earlier in the season may have caused everyone's expectations to go to an unrealistic level.  Nonetheless, we still have a chance to finish this season strong and make some noise in the NCAA tourney (hey, a boy can dream).

That's all for now.  Well, actually...GO GIANTS!  Please do not let that other team win on our turf!

would i be different?

This may end up a being a bit of me just rambling so I apologize for that.  I actually wrote a little bit about this earlier in the year, but this seemed like a good time to share some of my feelings.  Yesterday (September 28th) marked 19 years since I was diagnosed with Ewing's Sarcoma in my right hand.  Well, to be honest, the doctors actually went back and forth a few times on which cancer it was before settling.  While I may have lost my hand, I still know how lucky I was that the cancer was caught early on before any spreading had occurred.

Even though I was just 8 at the time, I still have a lot of memories from then.  Friends would come visit me at the hospital and family members from far away came to see me.  That meant a lot to me.  I remember getting a lot of cool stuff, too.  For instance, I still have a letter of encouragement from Bob Knight.  I also have a soccer ball signed by the 1992 Big Ten Champion Indiana Hoosiers and a baseball signed by the 1992 Atlanta Braves.  I also still have boxes of baseball cards from that time.  We hit up the Gift Shop constantly haha.  These things certainly kept my spirits up and helped me get through it.

Today it's kinda funny because having one hand is just part of who I am.  But I don't think it really defines me.  I still have friends tell me things like, "Dude sometimes I forget you only have one hand."  Things like that make me feel good because I don't want to be treated or thought of differently.  I feel so comfortable with my situation and am able to make jokes about it nowadays.  This is terrible, but I need to share.  When I was in 6th grade (King of the Bus) the little kids would ask me how I lost my arm.  Common answers were "I lost it in World War III" or my personal favorite "I got magic marker on my hand and it wouldn't come out...." Looking back I'm sure that scared the shit out of them.  Here are a few other funny things I remember over the years:
1. One time a kid told me the end of my arm looked like a potato.
2. Another kid told me my arm was both cool and freaky in the same sentence, as in, "Your arm is cool, but it's freaky too."
3.  This summer I had a 20 minute conversation with a kid at soccer camp who told me everything he thought I couldn't do.  He started every sentence with, "I bet you can't...."  He seriously thought I couldn't shovel snow.  What a little shit.  He also didn't think I could talk on the phone while driving.  I told him, "I do, but I shouldn't."

I do sometimes wonder how things would be different if I didn't lose my hand.  I can't speak for everyone, but I would think most people I know would say I'm a pretty nice person.  I kinda wonder if I would have ended up as more of an asshole haha.  It's just interesting for me to think about because I'm pretty satisfied with how I turned out.  There isn't really a whole lot I would change.  Other people might feel differently about that though lol.

Regardless, right now I have very little to complain about.  My work brings me a lot of satisfaction and I'm surrounded by many great people so I feel lucky.  I'm hopeful it stays that way for a long, long time...

i don't have a good title for this...

So I'm really bad about posting here on a consistent basis.  Gonna try to do better because I know there are so many people out there who are interested in my life....right?

Anyways, the good news here is that I finally got a real job, and it's one that allows me to feel like I'm actually making a difference.  I just became the Director of Development for the Cutters Soccer Club about a month ago.  Having played with Cutters as a kid and having coached for the past 8 years it feels like a perfect fit for me.  My main task is to fundraise so that we can provide scholarships to kids who otherwise couldn't afford to play.  I was very fortunate growing up that I didn't have to worry about paying to play.  I don't want there to be a kid out there who can't play for those reasons so it motivates me to do the best job I possibly can.  There are other miscellaneous tasks I will be doing as well, but I'm very excited that I am able to keep coaching, too.  I currently have a U12 team and am also assisting with the Bloomington North Boys team for a second year.  I love working with my Cutters team and being at North is great because I coached a lot of those kids when they were younger so it's nice knowing you had some influence on the players they are today.

Despite the new job, I do still have a life.  While there was a slow start, I have made it to a handful of good shows this summer.  The DMB Caravan in Chicago was a really special weekend with a great group of people.  I also made it to The Black Keys, Bon Iver, and My Morning Jacket up in Indy.  There are a few more in the works which I'm really excited about.  I also have found out that I am still very talented in skee ball.  The Atlas Bar has shown me there are some things you just don't lose.

In other news one of my cousins recently had a baby and two others are engaged.  There is a teeny bit of pressure from my mom for some movement from me on both of these fronts.  One step at a time mom!  I think maybe because she works with preschool kids everyday it really makes her want to be a grandma lol.  I don't anticipate this happening for quite some time though so she's gonna have to wait.  On an unrelated note I am very weirded out that current 21-year olds were born in 1990...

I know I never write about politics on here and don't necessarily feel like I should anyways so I'll keep this brief.  Everyone knows I'm a pretty liberal dude so I clearly am gonna side with the dems in most situations.  The whole debt ceiling debacle was really disheartening.  It's hard to have any faith in our politicians getting anything meaningful done anymore which is sad.  I don't want to blame anyone (yes I do), but the Tea Party people went too far.  I honestly don't think their intentions are bad, but the way they are going about things is scary.  I just don't think they understand the consequences of what they want.  As much as I don't want to admit it, there are reasonable republicans out there.  Unfortunately these ridiculous pledges they have been signing is making it impossible to get anything real accomplished.  I'm a glass is half-full kind of guy some I'm optimistic eventually things will get better.  However, it may take the next election cycle for this to be a reality.

Well, I will try to post more often because I know my life is super interesting.  Hopefully there will be more good things to come...  

quick update

In case you couldn't tell from all my recent facebook "check ins", I was in NYC last weekend visiting a good buddy of mine with another of our friends.  It was a great time and had certainly been way too long since I'd been there.  Also, if you didn't already know, drinks are slightly pricy there.

Unfortunately I didn't get a second interview for that job in San Francisco.  I'm definitely keeping pretty busy right now between volunteering at Middle Way House, coaching soccer, and working at the Telefund.  I'll probably keep at that for the next couple months, but unless something full-time comes to life during that time I'm thinking more and more that I'm just gonna relocate somewhere and start fresh.  As much as I love Bloomington, maybe I just need to experience something new for a while.  I know quite a few people who have relocated without initially having a job and have had good results.  Also, I know I would have my parents' support so it would be kinda stupid not to at least give it a shot right?  I just gotta figure out where it is I would want to go...

Well that's it for now.  This was a long weekend and I'm tired...

another year older

Well, I just turned 27 a couple days ago. I'm still calling that mid 20's. It was a really fun birthday. I'm clearly not 21 anymore, but that didn't stop my friends from acting as though I was lol. Beer, tequila, and whiskey will certainly do the trick. I can't remember the last time I was in Sports and KOK the same night, but that happened. I made up for it by going home at the end of the night....that is to the Bluebird.

The day before my birthday I played in an indoor soccer tournament here in town. My team was mostly made up of other Cutters' coaches. We came out as champions, but it was not easy. Not to toot my own horn, but I was definitely feeling it that night. I scored some pretty sweet goals. Ask anybody if you don't believe me haha. The games were all really physical and I was struggling to get out of bed the next day. I think that's when I realized I was 27.....damn i'm old...

just some thoughts...

So tonight as I was working out a couple guys came up to me and said "dude you're an inspiration man." I obviously had to assume they were making a reference to my lack of a right hand. I guess they had formerly been in the military and had obviously had friends who had lost limbs. I told them I appreciated their words and kept on with my workout. This isn't the first time something like this happened, but it always makes me feel so awkward. I've never felt like I was different or incapable of any basic tasks. Maybe part of that is because I've been living this way since I was 8. I'm sure it would be a lot different if it had happened when I was a bit older, so in that sense I was lucky. I was also lucky to have great friends growing up which definitely eased the situation. It's kinda crazy, but later this month it will have been 18 years since I finished chemotherapy treatment at Riley. I never really stop to just think about that, but maybe I should.

In other news, I just started an unpaid internship with Middle Way House here in Bloomington. Technically I am their Sustainability Intern, but I will pretty much be helping out with whatever they need. I was lucky enough to know someone in their office who helped me get the position. I think it will be a worthwhile experience and is certainly another good thing to throw on the resume. I also had a phone interview last week with an organization called the Climate and Energy Funders Group. Their mission is basically to promote a clean energy economy and to raise awareness about climate change issues. The organization is based in San Francisco which would be pretty cool. I'm really hoping something works out with that, but I'm trying to be realistic haha.

My U11 Cutters soccer team had their first two games this past weekend. We lost and tied, but both games were very competitive and we really could have won both. This is my first season with this group and am really starting to like working them. Lots of good kids which is great. Ok, that's enough for now...

Ups and downs

It has been a little while since I blogged. I'm gonna try to start doing this more again though. Tonight was good. I saw Toubab Krewe at the Bluebird, which was obviously great. I haven't danced like that in a little bit haha. I'm now watching the season finale of Californication, also great. Basically, the title of this post says it all though. Life has its ups and downs. Lately it feels like its been all down. I got out of a great relationship recently. Well, a few months ago. Obviously it hurts, but you can't be mad at someone for how they feel. And she's great so I would never say a bad thing about her. You just gotta keep on livin....The job hunt has been a major struggle as well. I finished grad school close to a year ago and certainly didn't expect to still be looking for a "real" job at this point. I'm trying to keep busy with some part-time stuff. Still coaching soccer, obviously. Also calling IU alums trying to raise money. Not the best job ever, but at least it is helping out something I do actually care about...the Hoosiers!

So yea, lately I wouldn't say things are going greatly for me. But, when I really think about things I know I shouldn't be complaining. There are so many terrible things happening in the world. Obviously Japan was just hit so hard. I was so saddened by that. As someone who has spent so much time helping those affected by disasters down on the Gulf Coast and in Iowa, I try to put things into perspective. People have to deal with things that are so much worse than anything I have ever come close to having to face in my life. I know that doesn't mean I don't have a right to feel down sometimes, but it really does make you think a little bit more about things.

Anyways, I'm hopeful things are gonna turn around for me soon. I have a couple interviews this week, so we'll see how that goes. Regardless if anything comes up right away or not, I'm going to try to stay positive. I know things will get better. I'm so lucky to be surrounded by an amazing family and friends. That is definitely something that can't be understated. Family and friends can get you through anything, and I'm believing that more and more.

As I said earlier, life has its ups and downs. I guess that's what makes it kinda interesting...