[insert random clever title here]

To whom it may concern,

Two weeks in at new job. So far, so good. Definitely some intrigue of a few different varieties already. Some I could probably talk about if anyone is so inclined to hear...others, I'll keep to myself. [chuckle]

For this last week of October, I wore a pink ribbon pinned to my shirt each day. Took some flak for it, but I don't care. Pink t-shirt on Thursday night, too. Look, evidence...

Our home crowd at the High School game was clad in pink and pretty raucous for a 62-0 win to end the regular season. Players wore blue unis with pink numbers [and names] for the occasion, too. Pretty sweet.

Bulldogs head into the playoffs having outscored their opponents 473-36 in nine regular season games. Impressive.

However, I will miss the Regional game here at home on Tuesday vs. Ness City, due to working late. Dang it.

I don't really have a whole lot to say in this blog [go figure], but wanted to post something since I haven't since starting the new job. Also, it gave me incentive to change my layout off the the pink backdrop.

Note: People [ahem, girl(s)] who think they're going to get on my good side while badmouthing friends of mine... I think not.


Upcoming: Basketball league in Hutchinson starting next Sunday. Pretty pumped for that. Should be interesting.


Not much else to say at the moment. This one was pretty short. Maybe next time I'll have more to say. I need to try and blog on weekends, now that I'm working weekdays. Here's hoping!

Let me know what you think of the layout. It's kind of bland, but it occurred to me that maybe I've been too flashy in the past. Need to tone it down a bit. Any thoughts?

Happy Halloween.

Derrick, out.

Note to self...

Since last time...

Wednesday: Dislocated finger. Right pinkie. I've broken it 10 times. [yes, 10] But this was the first time I've ever dislocated anything. It was equal parts disgusting and awesome. Looked like the letter V. Neat, huh?

Friday: Pretty Prairie football rolled to a 48-0 win over Kiowa County [newly consolidated school of Greensburg-Haviland]. Their head coach is the brother of our head coach. Neat stuff. Was supposed to be a test, but our guys just keep getting better--it was over at halftime. Craziness.

Sunday: Bears win. Ugly wins are wins, too. 4-1? Okay!

Man, my weeks are bleak. Is that really all I have to talk about? Nah. Let's come up with something. I know y'all don't care about my sports talk. The few of you who actually [may] still read this thing are females anyway...

How about personal change? That one's a nice little recurring theme.

I've realized lately that I am, in fact, finally ready to date. Well, mentally anyway. Getting a job and feeling secure in at least one area helped with that notion, I think. Actually finding a girl [plural, perhaps?] willing to take a shot, though? Let's just say that next step is a doozy.

The factors that played into this conclusion are not ones that most people, particularly males, would probably feel comfortable discussing. But screw it.

Things I'm attempting to teach myself: [Warning: After school special-like thoughts to come...]

Dear Self,
1. No one is going to like you until you like yourself.
2. When a girl isn't interested...let it go. Stop trying to figure out why. It doesn't matter.
3. Stop trying to impress people. If you wanna grow a beard, eat a cookie, talk about sports, etc...do it.
4. Your happy dance is awesome. And hilarious. It would make people laugh if you ever did it in public.
5. You're 25, not 52. Act like it.

Just gotta remind myself of these things occasionally and I should be fine.

Anywho.

Streak time:
- 705 days without work [unless you count umpiring baseball during the summers] -- comes to an end in 7 days. Hooray.
- 605 days with no girlfriend -- still going. Screw it. It'll happen when it happens. Maybe.
- 219 days with no pop -- still going strong. Hooray.
- 17 days with no ice cream -- still going also. Not quite as impressive, but I was on a milkshake kick for awhile, so that had to go.

Keep streaking, (ha)
Derrick

No Girls Allowed. Unless you're cute. Then it's fine.

It's been a month since I blogged, so this one will be pretty random (not that most aren't)...until I can hopefully get back into the flow of things here soon.

Stuff and things...
- Got a job. This isn't exactly news, but I haven't told a ton of people. So it might be news to you.
- Decided to go with the pink on the layout for a few weeks--in spirit of Breast Cancer Awareness and all that jazz. Don't judge.
- At my pre-employment physical, Doc told me despite working out upwards of 10 times per week, I am 37-49 pounds overweight. Beyond depressing. Bright side: I'd bet everything I own that I could still outrun the guy, despite being twice his size.
- Today marks 7 months with no pop. And yes, I miss it

Sports stuff...
- Cubs are done. Bad, bad year to say the least. As per the Cubs motto: There's always next year.
- Pretty Prairie football is now 5-0. At Greensburg this week. I've never been, should be cool.
- Bulls PF Carlos Boozer out 6-8 weeks with broken finger. Ugh.
- Been playing a lot of touch football lately. Decent workout, kind of fun.
- Bears are 3-1. But that loss was uglier than...well, something that's really ugly.

Girl stuff...
- Took a bit of a risk the other day. Stepped out on a limb. Branch broke. Failed miserably. Metaphor.
- Talked to neighbor girl yesterday. Longest talk in ages. NG = girl ma thinks I should marry. Eye roll.
- My good buddy Bacon & I plan to start a club, build a fort, etc. "No girls allowed" signs, the whole 9. Seriously, y'all are a crazy bunch of ninnies sometimes. But I still love ya. [though sometimes I forget why]

Quote of the day:

"If you want to be loved, be lovable." - Ovid

Derrick

It's not. Ranting if. I use. Short sentences.

Front page:
Hello, world. Been awhile.

Friend's wedding today. I want one.

I think I wanna get married on a Tuesday morning. Three kids. Maybe two. What's that? Gotta get a date first? Oh.

Haven't read much recently. Boredom problem.

Haven't written much lately. Idea problem.

Haven't run much either. Knee problem.

Hope to fix all these soon. Though the latter will be tough.

Breaking News:
Um, JENNIFER NETTLES! Sorry for the outburst. There is no story here. I just like her. The idea of having her babies has been floated about.

Tuesday is important. But I'm not telling you why. Just know that it is.

Obituary:
Joel Strohl, Pretty Prairie, KS. Small town, big deal. Rest in peace, Mr. Strohl.

Sports section:
Hometown fellas won 50-nil Friday. Hooray.

Jayhawks lost 6-3 Saturday. Bah.

Cubs are still terrible.

Bulls still look promising.

Bears look...eh.

Comics:

I need to write again soon. If only for my own mental stimulation. I'll do my best.

Until then.

Cheers,
Derrick

Books and Booze...r.

Yet another book update: Just finished Bleachers by John Grisham. This one took less than a full day. For a Wikipedia book review, [click here].

Good [albeit quick] story about a former High School football player who reluctantly returns home to attend a memorial of sorts for his former coach. The player has to fight off the bad memories and remind himself of the good ones, while attempting to finally move on.

That now makes 5 books in 19 days. 1,483 total pages.

Next selection: Hothouse Orchid - Stuart Woods

My favorite author. Haven't read any of his stuff in quite awhile. I'll have to make a list of the books of his I've read, but I imagine the count would be somewhere near 40. He's good. This one, 294 pages.



Other notes:
- Bulls agree to deal with Utah Jazz power forward Carlos Boozer.

- Word on LeBron James' decision to come tomorrow night at 8 PM on ESPN. It's a big deal.


- Happy Birthday to my gramps.


That was quick,
Derrick

Should auld acquaintance be forgot and never brought to mind?

Well folks, it's almost 2010. Almost a new year, a new decade. Let's review. First, a brief glimpse at the past decade. Then the year of 2009.

10 years ago, 1999:

- I was 14. 8th grade. I had a crush on a redheaded 7th grader--yikes!
- I was a part of the first ever undefeated football season at PPMS. I take zero credit for that.
- I was a guard on the basketball team. Shot from the hip and began my affinity for shooting the 3.
- Favorite teacher: Mrs. Matthews. She was mean, yet oddly kind.
- Least favorite: Mr. Baker. He was odd. Nine years later, he added me on Facebook. Declined.

In the last 10 years...

My best year: 2007. June, more specifically.
My worst year: 2003/2009.
Biggest accomplishment: Playing college basketball.
Biggest loss: My best friend moving halfway across the country, and essentially out of my life.

Back to the present, 2009:

Biggest accomplishments: Running 351 miles in the month of July, and re-establishing a relationship with my sister.
Biggest loss: I got dumped the day before Valentine's Day. She then got engaged less than 3 months after saying she still loved me. Neat, huh? Then again, in perspective--maybe not such a big loss after all.

Looking ahead, 2010:

Resolutions:
- Find a job (by end of January, no exceptions).
- Find a girlfriend (by March 6 would be nice, but probably not realistic. Let's say June 1).
- Pray. Every single day.
- Run a few races, maybe a half marathon.
- End bad habits. Live right. Do right. Motto--WWAD: What would Amanda do? This is not a new motto, but I will be leaning on it more from now on. Lord knows I need to.

Further ahead, next 10 years...

Goals:
- Get married/have kids.
- Coach at least one championship team.
- Own a house.
- Own a pickup truck.
- See a game at Wrigley.
- Have my picture taken next to the Jordan statue.
- Learn to play guitar.
- Learn to play piano.

Lastly, I'll leave you with a 23-second video that comes to mind for me every single New Year's. Terrific movie, funny clip. Enjoy.



Make your own luck,
Derrick

You're a friggin' Eagle, aren't you?

Day 10: INcomplete

Morning session: 2.00 miles
Evening session: 2.00 miles
Total distance: 4.00 miles

Ran a couple miles around the track both before and after playing ball at Wichita State today, but otherwise, it was essentially a day off. It was neither a "morning," or an "evening" session, but since we played at noon, I figure one run was in the AM, and one in the PM, so that's how I'm splitting it.

Weekly update: 81.98 miles (11.71 miles/day)
*This is just in the last 7 days (not accumulative), since last Friday's update. The pace obviously fell off some after today.*

Accumulative total: 120.29 miles (12.03 miles/day)

Weigh-in: 200.5 lbs

This is the one aspect of my month that I am not pleased with. I was really hoping to be under 200 by now. It's a big milestone for me to not only get under, but stay under. My pace is a little behind here.
Goal: 195 lbs by next Friday. I feel like this is attainable, and it's what I need to do to get back on pace for my weight loss goal.

Catching the last few minutes of football movie #8: Invincible. Makes me tear up every single time. Amazing flick.



Next on tap: Friday Night Lights. Highly overrated, in my opinion, but still an effectively made picture, I guess. *Net's being lame, so no pic for that one.*

Random (basketball) thoughts for today:
I've decided the immense amount of running has improved the consistency of my jump shot. Perhaps because my biggest downfall on the court is over-thinking, whereas now I'm mainly just thinking about how sore my legs are. I've been borderline un-guardable on the court the last week-plus. It's a nice zone to be in. Euphoric, even.

Kirk Hinrich is more than likely about to get traded. It'll make my team more formidable, but still...*tear*

Paul Millsap is so overrated. No idea why NBA execs (Portland and Utah, in particular) are so gaga over him. Dude's about to make bank, and he's really not that great a player. *rolls eyes*

D, out.

Time to coast? No, thanks.

Day 7: Complete
Week 1: Complete

Morning session: 7.02 miles
Evening session: 7.22 miles
Total distance: 14.24 miles

This was my most productive (and most balanced) day yet. Not only the most total miles, but I also found a good pace, and barely walked any at all. Not bad for the last day of the first full week.

Speaking of which...here are my first week's stats:

90.43 miles
5.5 lbs lost

- The miles are probably more than I could have asked for. 75+ would have been acceptable. Keeping this pace up could very well kill me, but it's definitely an acceptable start. Should hit the 100-mile mark tomorrow, if all goes accordingly. :)
- Would've preferred to have lost another pound or 2 (at least), but hopefully the pounds will continue to drop as I go...

Main obstacle right now is to not get complacent. I need to remind myself I don't necessarily need to run 90 miles per week. I just need to remain some level of consistency, and I should be fine. Still 24 days left...

Switching gears...

Since I have nothing to really tag, or plug today, and not much else of importance to discuss, I'll just tell you that I am watching the third movie in my series of football flicks: Second String.

Kind of a silly flick, but it's fun, and a little inspiring. Was a made-for-cable (TNT) movie a few years back, and I stumbled upon it at Wal-Mart for like $4. :)

One last thought: Although I hate to get ahead of myself, I'm pondering a way to celebrate when/if I accomplish my 300-mile quest this month. A tattoo is a remote possibility, so I'm at least formulating ideas.

If anyone has any tattoo ideas, or alternative celebratory options, shoot me your thoughts.

Here I come, Week 2!

D, out.

Float like a butterfly...

Day 5: Complete (sort of)

Morning session: 3.32 miles
Evening session: 7.91 miles
Total distance: 11.23 miles

Accidentally slept in, didn't go for my morning run until around 10. Was extremely sore and tired; almost didn't go. So the run was short. I got the mileage for the day in, but the early run was shortened. Still, mission accomplished, I suppose. Not to mention some Sunday evening hoops, to boot.

Just wrapping up my boxing movie marathon for the week. 12 boxing movies in 6 days (I started on the eve of my running quest).

Rocky
Rocky II
Rocky III
Rocky IV
Rocky V
Rocky Balboa (VI)
Million Dollar Baby
Cinderella Man
Raging Bull
Resurrecting the Champ
Ali (feat. Will Smith)
Ali Rap (the ESPN short on Ali's influence on American culture, and the hip-hop world).

Man, Ali was (still is) an inspiring dude...


I think, starting tomorrow, I'll work my way through my way through my other sports flicks (the number I have of each in parentheses), in descending order:

Football (11)
Basketball (8)
Baseball (5)
Golf (2)
Tennis (2)
Figure Skating (1) -- Blades of Glory. Ha!

Side notes:
Cubs won today. Yay!
This is a day late, but...Rest in Peace, Steve McNair.
I miss my Wichita friends! I think it's time for a visit. I'm thinking maybe Friday...
I still don't think anyone really reads these, but it helps to get my thoughts and reactions down.

D, out.