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Ready to go? Not even close.

Have I started packing? Of course not. Have I got all my ducks in a row? Not a chance. But, in 24 hours, I’ll be in Jacksonville, probably hanging at some friends’ house and beginning to enjoy my first vacation. Tonight, in lieu of packing, I spent most of my time making phone calls and watching TV (The Apprentice season finale was on tonight).

Tomorrow, I get off work about 1:30 and then I need to leave my apartment by 4:00 to leave myself enough time to definitely make my plane. Things are going to be hectic for the next week or so, but I’ll be updating my blog whenever I can. I’ll be taking lots of photos, too.

Apprentice

I really enjoyed the season and I thought the show was done very well and was very clever. That being said, I think the ending was sort of a crock. Here’s what I mean: Kwame basically got gypped because of the team that he chose. I felt he performed better as a manager because he had to deal with a crummy team while fielding all kinds of bizarre issues. Bill, on the other hand, had a smooth-sailin’ time organizing a golf tournament with honest teammates and very few problems. My point is that I think Kwame would’ve been the hands-down favorite if he’d had a better team and if he’d known he had the power to do things like fire people who lied to him repeatedly. I’m happy for Bill and all, but I felt Kwame was the better man for the job. I hope the producers of the show find a way to make the final task a little more fair to both parties. I felt there were just too many variables that were out of the contestants hands that had a big part in helping “The Donald” make his final decision.

I need to get some sleep since I probably won’t be getting much for the next week or so.

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Not much to say

I have about 24 hours to pack for a week trip to Florida. That’s not too bad, but what makes it rough is that I generally avoid checking any luggage at all costs. Federal law says each person on the plane gets one carry-on item, plus one personal item–laptop, bowling ball, purse or whatever–so I might be stretching the “one personal item” into a duffle bag. And, of course, my carry-on item will also be a duffle bag. I’ll probably be bringing a pillow too, since I’ll be crashing on a couch all week and I know that if I don’t bring my own pillow, I’ll lay there all week thinking, “I wish I had my stupid pillow. This little throwpillow just ain’t cuttin’ it.” I don’t care how stupid that sounds because if I have a good pillow, I get good sleep and good sleep helps me ignore anyone who might think I’m stupid for wanting to bring my own pillow.

Anyway, I also have a lot of stuff to put in my bags since I anticipate a pretty action-packed week including basketball, frisbee golf, maybe some ultimate frisbee, a big picnic, CRU and just hangin’ out. Basketball and frisbee golf will dictate that I bring at least two extra pair of shoes (maybe three if I think we might be playing basketball outside) while CRU necessitates another pair of shoes and then I’ll need a pair of shoes for just cruisin’ around Gainesville. That’s like five pair of shoes, which will nearly fill a bag (because shoes can’t be folded).

Anyway, I’ve got a lot of planning to do. First, though, I need to get some sleep.

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Good idea, Bad idea

We’re getting into Spring now, so I thought I should go ahead and start gettin’ me some sun. So, I figured I usually shoot hoops before I work out, so why not shoot hoops in the sun? I’ll tell you why not: It’s stinkin’ hot out there and the sun will sap all your energy if you let it. Sure enough, it let it and it did. So, I shot around for about a half hour, hopefully getting some sun, and then I went ahead and started my workout. About two sets in, I felt awful–tired, nauseous, sweaty, dehydrated–and all I wanted to do was go home. Looks like I need a new way to get some sun. Maybe I’ll have to resort to reading by the pool.

The books are in

The books that my acting instructor recommended have arrived and I’m well into Acting in Film. So far, I’ve found it to be a very practical book with a lot of good information for a guy like me who hasn’t ever been anywhere near a set. The book’s not about “being a tree” or the ethereal part of acting, but it covers more of the basics like how to act on a set, how to prepare a scene and things like that. It’s really interesting and I’m sure it’ll help me even next week at my lesson. Best of all, it’s an information-packed, fast read.

One week

A week from tomorrow, I’ll be in Jacksonville, beginning my version of Spring Break. I’m really looking forward to it and I’m sure it’ll do me some good to rest up, but I’m not yet to the point where I feel I need to “get away”. I think that’s good, though, because I’m not getting stressed at work and I won’t put unrealistic expectations on my trip. I’m looking forward to seeing my family and friends and just sittin’ around and gettin’ paid.

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It’s official

I’m going to Florida from April 16th until April 24th. That’ll give me a few days each in J-ville and G-ville. The ticket was only $268, so that was definitely an added bonus.

Plowing through Treader

I’m almost half done with Voyage of the Dawn Treader and I hope to finish it up by this weekend. That’ll put me pretty much on pace to finish the series by the time I head to Florida. More importantly, I’m still really enjoying the stories.

More training tomorrow and Thursday

I’ll be spending the next two days in a very similar environment to the one I spent a couple days last week. I expect to be thoroughly bored, very tired and mostly counting the minutes to food-times and bathroom breaks. But, it may all be worth it as this training will allow me to shine in my group and in my company, and that could mean a nice raise this time next year. Only time will tell.

On the subject of training: I may be working my way into an opportunity to go to Austin for a week of training in late April (in fact, it could be the week after my trip to Florida, making for a very busy April). Initially, I was supposed to be getting this training in Dallas, but it turns out the training center is basically at the airport. After crunching some numbers, my co-worker and I have discovered that it may actually be cheaper to fly us to Austin–rent us a car, get us a couple hotel rooms (in a Hilton or something) and pay for our food–than it would be to pay us for the commute to and from the airport for five days. Now, if we can only convince our managers of that, we’ll be home free.

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Fun time is over

This past week felt very much like an unofficial vacation of sorts. I went to California, spent most of my time wandering around, finding stuff to do, got to sit first class on the plane on the way out there and didn’t have to go into work on Friday. Of course, with down time comes the inevitable return to normalcy that I’ve been dreading since Thursday evening when I got back home. Luckily, I’ve been enjoying my work, so going in tomorrow morning won’t be entirely painful. It’s Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and how those days will eventually bleed into weeks that concerns me. For now, I’ll just keep tryin’ to tough it out.

A friendly visit

A good friend of mine is coming to Texas to visit for a few days. She’s staying with other friends out in Ft. Worth, but it sounds like I’ll get to hang out with her on Tuesday evening after work. It’ll be nice to see someone from home, especially someone with whom I’ve been friends for a long time. Phone calls from friends and family are good reminders of home, but there’s nothing like a familiar face to keep me from getting too homesick.

Acting time

I’ve begun looking into taking acting lessons and, more specifically, earning a degree (probably an AA) in acting for the camera. As I get closer to making a decision on a studio and nailing down dates, I find myself hoping that “Hollywood” isn’t as superficial as it appears to be. I mean, I’m no ugly duckling, but I’m certainly not a “looker” either and it seems like physical appearance is a trait placed high atop the list of attributes that are reviewed when doling out work to wanna be actors. I’ve sort of decided that that is simply out of my control and I’ll have to focus on becoming good at the things I can control over the next couple years. For now, I’ll just continue trying to figure out where I’ll train.

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Back from my ~~vacation~~ business trip

All in all, I had a great time and met some great people. While I was there, I went ahead and did some work and spent some time layin’ around my hotel room like a bum. Before I left, I had grand plans of seein’ the sites and hobnobbin’ with the celebrities. Well, as I said in a previous post, I did get to hang with a celebrity for a little while, but that was the extent of my glamorous experience in Hollywood (or en route, really). I really don’t have much to report except that I had a good time, California is beautiful and I hope I can go back some time soon.

Finally bought some clothes

Since I was in middle school, I’ve been in a clothes-buying routine that landed me at the mall every couple years and rarely afforded me any significant changes to my wardrobe. Well, before I graduated and headed out here, I decided that was gonna’ change and I was going to have some sort of a respectable wardrobe. Now, I’m not really into having tons and tons of clothes for all occasions, but I would like to have a good amount of clothes for the situations I encounter regularly: work, workin’ out, sittin’ around my apartment and going out with friends. Although I don’t feel I’ve got everything I need, I’m starting to make progress and much of that progress was made this weekend at the GAP. I bought a few shirts and some pants and such and I’m well on my way. The thing that slowed me down most was my tendency to be picky when selecting clothes. It’s nice to be limited by my tendency to be particular rather than my wallet for a change, though.

Gators in the SEC Tournament Finals

Well, it seems we’ve decided to take a shot at winning our first even SEC Tournament. Yesterday, we played ok against Alabama and our team showed a lot of heart as we held on to win in overtime on a tough baseline jumper by one of our freshman. Today, we struggled early against Vandy, but we pulled away in the second half and turned what could have been a nailbiter into a cakewalk. Tomorrow will certainly be the most difficult game we play, though. We’ve lost to Kentucky four or five consecutive times (although we should’ve beaten ’em earlier this season, but we choked late and totally blew the game) and they’re just the kind of team that gives us fits when they’re on defense. They’re really nothing special on offense, but they know how to jam our perimeter players and deny passes into the paint for our big guys. Their defense–in your face, fast, aggressive and constantly pressing–is the kind of defense that our guys have the worst time with. Essentially, we’re not fast or aggressive enough to take them out of that defense. We’re going to have to find some aggressiveness by tomorrow afternoon if we want to win.

I honestly think we can win, especially if Roberson and Walsh can combine for almost 60 points again, but I’m afraid we won’t. This season, I’ve only seen a few instances (and for very brief durations) where our team played with enough energy to potentially thwart an aggressive team like Kentucky. We’re capable of it, but I just think our guys are too young to understand the necessity of stepping onto the floor at 100% effort and maintaining that intensity for 40 minutes. I hope they prove me wrong.

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L.A.: First celebrity sighting!

Well, I missed my flight this morning because traffic was horrendous. So, I waited two hours for the next flight and, just before we boarded, I hear, “Josh Doody, please report to the attendants desk.” So, I did and they told me I was upgraded to First Class and “please fly with us again.” Ok, so that’s awesome, I’m in First Class, gettin’ free refills, good food and a lot more leg room than I would’ve in “economy.” Excellent. But then, about three minutes before we take off, who sits down next to be but Kirk Herbstreit of ESPN College Gameday fame! I couldn’t place him at first, but a kid that was sitting in front of us said, “Excuse me, aren’t you Kirk…” So, I waited a few minutes for the kid to finish talking with Kirk, and I said, “Man, I’ve been tryin’ to figure out who you are for about 45 minutes. You look a lot like a friend of mine from back at school.” So, we ended up talking about college sports (football and basketball) and shootin’ the breeze for a while. Then it was naptime. Then, for about the last 10 minutes of the flight, we chatted some more about L.A. and how nice it is and such. And, just before we got off the flight, I got up the nerve to ask, “Hey, would you mind if I snap a picture with you after we get off the plane?” He was nice enough to wait for me in the terminal and let me get a picture. So, when I get back to Dallas (which will be way too soon), I’ll be posting at least one picture of me with a celebrity.

Also, I think Ridley Scott may have been on the plane with us. I never got to hear him talk, but it sure looked like him and he was getting a lot of special attention from the flight attendants. I’ll have to see if I can figure out whether that was him… Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to get a picture (there’s a fine line between being a fan and a stalker).

I’m off to my hotel, and then I’m headed to Hollywood for dinner. Hopefully, I’ll have a good team and maybe meet some cool people. It’s going to be a challenge for me to go out there by myself seein’ as how I’m pretty introverted and all. Maybe I can leave my shell in the hotel for tonight.

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Birthday trip

They don’t know it, but my company is sending me to CA for a couple days for my birthday. I mean, they think they’re sending me out there to train and work with some people on some stuff. But really, they’re flyin’ me to L.A., payin’ for my meals, puttin’ me up in a fancy-pants hotel, rentin’ me a car and giving me two evenings to gallivant around Hollywood and hob-nob with the celebrities. I mean, seriously, I can’t think of a better birthday present. Oh, and after I get back on Thursday, I don’t have to go in to work on Friday because I’ll already have my 40 hours in for the week.

Train schmain! Suckers!

Or maybe I can think of a better birthday present

Some awesome friends of mine have informed me that they are with child and are expecting in about six months. I’m not sure how this all works, but they said, “You’re gonna’ be an uncle!” I mean, I obviously won’t be a biological uncle, but I’ll be that guy that comes around a few times a year–mostly for the holidays–and they say, “There’s Uncle Josh!” and then the baby gets all happy to see me ’cause Uncle Josh always shows up with presents and stuff and, whenever he comes, that means some kinda’ holiday is comin’ up and that means gettin’ stuff.

They will be my first friends to have a child (I mean, I have other friends with children, but these kids are my age and we’ve been close for years) and I couldn’t be happier for them. The world is an awesome place because of these two and it’ll be even greater with a little one of them runnin’ around.

Possible break from the bloggin’

Seein’ as how I’ll be outta’ town for the next couple days, I may not be able to update my blog. Hopefully, I’ll find me a cyber cafe or something, but if I don’t, consider myself on hiatus until further notice.

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Another Florida Basketball loss

Well, I said earlier that I thought the game would be close, but that I couldn’t say who would win. Of course, that was before I saw that Anthony Roberson got 2 fouls in the first 2 minutes of the game. I guess today’s game demonstrated how much Christian Drejer’s departure hurt our team’s depth. Once Roberson went out, that was pretty much it for the first half. Our backup point guards–Ryan Appleby and maybe Lee Humphrey–are both freshman and neither is “battle tested.”

Today’s game was one of the sloppiest I’ve seen on both ends of the floor and for both teams. The up-side is that I think we can beat Kentucky if we keep out of foul trouble (ASIDE: I thought the officials had a huge impact on today’s game… they called Roberson for two early fouls while they seemed relatively quiet on the whistle regarding fouls on Kentucky. I was pleased to see that, later in the game, they began calling fouls on Kentucky for hand-checking, reaching and bumping, but I think it was too little, too late. I mean, it was good to see those fouls being called, but those same fouls were being committed throughout the game, only they weren’t called early. I think that ambiguity had a serious effect on the outcome of the game. END ASIDE) and take better care of the ball. I only hope we get a rematch in the SEC Tourney.

Weird work week

Tomorrow will be the only day this week that I report to work as I usually do. Tuesday through Thursday will be spent either on a plane or in El Segundo, CA and I’ll have the day off on Friday (because I will have my 40 hours in by then). So, I get a short week and I get to fly out to California on the company’s dime. I’m hoping it’ll be as fun as it sounds and hopefully I’ll get some chances to use my camera while I’m out west.

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CA or bust

I’m officially going to El Segundo, California for three days next week. It doesn’t sound like all that much, but since Dallas is the farthest west I’ve been since I was about 10, I figure it’s kind of a big deal. Best part of it is that it’s not even on my dime and I only have to work one full day while I’m there.

Florida wins again–four in a row

Well, after losing a tough one to Georgia on their court a few weeks ago, it was nice to hear that the Gators stepped it up at home and split the series. It seems like our guys have really started playin’ big since Christian Drejer shipped out and they couldn’t have picked a better time. We have to play at Kentucky on Saturday, then we get a little time off before the SEC Tourney. A couple weeks ago, I’d have said we wouldn’t have a chance against Kentucky on their floor, but now I’d say it’s anybody’s game. With the offensive fire-power we’ve been able to rustle up, along with our new ability to refrain from choking away close games and small, late leads, I’d say we’re one of the better teams in the SEC.

Billy Donovan said [paraphrase], “Christian Drejer is a great player, but our guys are playing better without him for some reason.” After all the hype that Christian brought with him to America a couple years ago, it’s hard to believe Billy would say that. But he’s right and I’m almost glad Christian left. He was our leading assist man, but he wasn’t contributing too much on defense and he wasn’t being aggressive enough on offense. In the SEC, the more aggressive team often gets the win because of the up-tempo, quick-defense style of basketball that we play. I think Christian just didn’t really fit into that style of basketball. I think that, after a little time as a pro in Europe, he might be able to find a home on an NBA team with a slower, half-court based game. I think he has a lot of work to do before that’s a possibility, but I think it is a possibility.

I’m not going to make any predictions about the game on Sunday, but I will say that I think it’s going to be close. I think the game will be decided by 7 points or less and there will be at least two lead changes under the 10-minute mark.