Bryan’s Ramblings

Well, I’m back from my much anticipated vacation and back into real-life mode. This vacation was equally relaxing and stressful if that makes any sense – which it doesn’t unless you know the specifics. Unfortunately, I don’t want to write about the specifics, but let’s just say there was a lot of drama during my trip.

The point of this post is to sum up a few bits of information I learned about myself while on this trip:

1. I really hate complaining. I listened to so much complaining on this trip that it was unreal. I tried to keep my complaining to a minimum as a result. What I realized, after thinking about it, is that for someone who hates listening to complaining so much, I tend to do a hell of a lot of it [when I’m not on vacation]. I complain mostly at work, but I have often been known to complain about a great many other things that usually don’t matter that much. I’m hoping this discovery changes things a little bit and I stop complaining so much and either realize there’s nothing I can do, or actually try to do something to change whatever I’m complaining about. I have a feeling this won’t last long, but I’m really hoping it does.
2. I love the U.S.A. I don’t consider myself especially patriotic, but while I absolutely love to travel as far as taking in the sights and appreciating other cultures and histories, leaving the country always makes me truly appreciate what we have here and what I have here. I also realize that Americans are stuck up snobs who expect everything to come to them (everyone should speak English and accept U.S. Dollars, right?). However, I still love living here and I think I’m lucky to have been born here…in So Cal especially.
3. I’m a lazy ass.  I vacation well, but I need to get off my ass and work out and take care of myself a little better.  I can’t rely on this youth resiliency forever.  I eat a lot and a lot of crap and I don’t sleep enough and I don’t exercise enough (at all) and it’s just time to seriously take a look at this problem.  I talk about it all the time, but this trip was kind of a rude awakening.

It was a fun trip overall.  It was much needed and I think it was just what I needed.  Now, it’s time to get back on track.  At least the Dodgers are in first place.  Woo hoo!

Finally, anecdotes from my life. Here comes a mish mosh…

Last night we played a double header to finish off our season and won both games, beating the first place team 15-11. My sister is back from school so she joined in. We all played great and they were maybe the best games I’ve played. I played a little first base too, which has been fun.

However, the real fun didn’t start until I got home, when I got to deal with my leaking water heater and the havoc that it wreaked all over my garage. That means no shower, call a plumber, be late to work, deal with an insurance company, and spend money – basically all negative events. Aren’t I lucky?

Thankfully, I’m going on vacation next week. Boy, do I need it. The only crazy thing is, there is so much to get done before I can leave, I feel like the next week will be a total whirlwind, which it will be. I have nothing to really complain about, though. A week cruise through the Mediterranean should be enough to lighten my mood.

Okay, I’m done with the vent session. I now return you to your regularly scheduled event already in progress…

Few places house as many childhood memories as a local community park. Of course, a childhood home, a school, and perhaps a grandparent’s house would likely top the list. However, a community park is a close second for sure. For me, that place is Borchard Park, spanning my life from my early youth until this very day. I’m proud of almost everything I did there (soccer, baseball, basketball, summer camp and other various activities) and only slightly ashamed of a few things that happened there from my more adolescent years (like playing Magic the Gathering and making out with girls).

My earliest memory of Borchard Park consists of being taken with my mom to her Jazzercise classes and being dumped into a room full of children and a couple of semi-clueless supervisors tasked with watching all of us little pistols while our moms jumped around to various 80s songs. I actually can’t even recall if my sister was with me, though I think she was. I do distinctly remember playing the same thing every time: spaceship. The pine tree in the corner of the fenced in outside area became my personal spaceship and I remember bossing other younger kids around as my crew. Even then I was an egotistical prick.

Later on I remember numerous summer camps there where we played games like “Capture the Flag” or “Kickball”. There were a ton of very creative, great games and a share of fun friends as well as utterly annoying kids. Still, it was a fun time. I remember the preschool-like classroom where we would often have a break, eat a snack, and listen to a story or something. That part of the park defines that “era” of Borchard to me.

Let’s not forget the “playground” there either. The great metal slides and monkey bars have been long since replaced by lame plastic tubes and ropes, but I remember every piece of it as if I played on it every single day. I can’t even name all the kids I played with on those things.

Of course, I soon graduated from kiddie stuff to heavy duty recreation like youth soccer and basketball. I was pretty bad at sports. Regardless, most of the games happened at Borchard. The soccer field is so engrained in me that I have a hard time thinking back to my pee-wee soccer days when we played elsewhere. With basketball, I hardly remember when we moved to playing at the high school. To me, Borchard was the place. While I never did play baseball there (that was at the junior high school), my sister had many softball games there, and I kept score at virtually all of them. I remember many sunflower seeds and Ring Pops during those games, as well as red pencils, screaming parents and crazy umpires. Ah, memories.

Finally, I’ve come full circle to be playing softball on those same fields myself, this time with my co-workers. Being there is such a trip. That place holds so much of my childhood that it is very strange to be there as an adult, seeing as how much has changed there. (The Oaks Mall is another place that comes to mind as far as great change over the years.) Maybe one day my own kids will build memories there, or at some other ever-changing park. For now, though, I’ll just continue the tradition and enjoy softball as long as I can.

I always talk about how spring is my favorite time of year. It’s time I document the reasons why:

1. Baseball. It’s Spring Training time, baby! Baseball season is near, which means it’s time for my two favorite pastimes: the Dodgers, and Fantasy Baseball. I’ve been a Dodger fan since I was born, and watching the games on TV and in person is how I relive my childhood. I’ve started a tradition of taking off work to go to Opening Day. I’ve also started a tradition of wasting precious time at work (and at home) setting my fantasy baseball lineup and reading articles about the players, teams, and everything involved. I become semi-obsessed. The thing is, I just really love it.
2. Strawberries. My mom says when she was pregnant with me she always craved strawberries and ate buckets of them late at night. This was my influence. Aside from perhaps pickles, I could eat more strawberries than any other single food in the world. Spring is strawberry season, and eating strawberries while watching the baseball game is just too good. The only time I’ve ever been known to wake up early on a weekend is to eat strawberries while I watch the baseball game. It’s just the greatest.
3. Passover. It’s my favorite Jewish holiday. With the matzah, the charoset, the food in general, it just makes me happy. I know that most people think I’m crazy and prefer bread over this holiday, but I personally don’t care. I love matzah enough to eat it exclusively for a week, so I’m happy with the feeling of spring and the singing and the lounging that Passover brings to the table.
4. Weather. I hate the winter almost as much as Pearl Harbor sucked. So, with spring being the sign that winter is over, I don’t see how I could love another season any more. I just love warm weather, which is why I live in Southern California. I don’t understand why anyone would live anywhere else (except for the lack of traffic and the lower cost of living…) Anyway, spring means warmer weather. I know it sometimes means rain, too, but at least it’s not cold.

Spring also used to mean that school was almost over, but of course, now it just means that the I need to have my Q2 goals completed at work. Real life sure can be a drag. However, this year, it also means that softball season starts again, so yay for that!

Anyway, welcome to the greatest time of year! SPRINGTIME IS HERE!

I’m pessimistic; I’m stubborn; I’m defensive.
I’m lazy; I procrastinate; I make excuses.
I complain; I’m cynical; I’m judgemental.
I’m selfish; I’m scornful; I’m reactive.
I’m disorganized; I’m confused; I’m clueless.
I hate variation; I’m bad at change.
I’m conceited; I’m disillusioned; I’m afraid.
I’m petty and materialistic.
I’m inexperienced and impatient.
I’m naive.
I’m flawed.