My recent travels and upcoming plans.

Greece was everything I expected it to be. The best of friends, sun, beach, and late night fun. Add copious amounts of alcohol, countless beautiful women,  a bit of belligerence, and a few sea urchins here and there and you get yourself a trip which you won't soon forget. But never mind all the belligerence for now, actually scratch that, I'm sure that's what most of you would like to read about :-)

My whole trip began 2 Friday nights ago when I met with my friend Andrew (and 2 of his friends) in Munich as they were beginning a month-long European trip. Naturally, I took it upon myself to show them around what is easily one of the best cities in the world...and sure enough our evening didn't disappoint. After consuming immeasurable liters of beer at Augustiner-Bräu München, we made our way to Kultfabrik to party our asses off. After a while, I approached 2 blondes at the bar that practically had opportunity written all over their faces, among other places, and instantly hit it off. Much of the night consisted of talking them up with my boy Tim (one of Andrew's friends), but after he fell off the map I found myself in a situation that I hadn't experienced since junior year of high school. Long story short: we had our way with one another, all three of us. It's fair to say this set the tone for the remainder of my trip.

Since that Friday night, I believe I didn't stop drinking for the following 10 days. Unhealthy? Yes. Worthwhile? You bet your ass it was. That Sunday afternoon I found myself in Kos, Greece partying amongst my two fellow travelers and some of the most beautiful people in the world (Scandinavians.) Monday morning we arrived in Mykonos and met up with Eugene and his entourage. The ensuing days were spent becoming sun-kissed on the beach, while the nights proved to be what Mykonos nightlife should be. On one of the nights, after recklessly and incoherently walking the white narrow alleys of the island, some of the girls, guys, and myself made our way back to our beach-front hotel for further mind-inebriating, plus swimming in our pool and the ocean too. Clothes may or may not have been worn, but I "promised" not to tell because what happens in Mykonos, stays in Mykonos. Man of my word.

The next morning I woke up completely ass-naked on my bed with a bloody foot. I later recalled having stepped on several sea urchins and my great friend James performing foot surgery in order to remove the spikes, in the nude, while chugging out of a vodka bottle and passing it to me back and forth until I blacked out. Fuck my life. The only thing that could make me feel better was to do it all over again, we did, and more stories, albeit different and less absurd, were created. I did manage to spend another night with 2 other blond Swiss girls, although nothing happened this time in the end as one of them got completely trashed and kept her friend and I from doing the damn thing. After the previous encounter the week before, my ego was über boosted, but you can't win 'em all right? Grenades I tell ya...

In all seriousness though, a beach vacation was exactly what I needed. I'm most grateful for having spent time with friends though. Unfortunately, my summer has officially come to a depressing finish as I will be spending the next month (literally!) away with work. Staying in touch with you all with be a little more difficult than usual, but again, email and Facebook always work. The bright side of all this: once I'm back I'll only have 2 months to go until my return back home to D.C. for a fort night. I seriously can't wait to see everyone in November. Upcoming travel plans in September: South of France the first week of the month, and Jackie and her boy-toy Tony will be visiting me for Oktoberfest. Thanks for reading everyone, more details over the phone as always. Cheers!

Out in Mykonos.

Our Hotel.

Beaching it out!

A boost of pride and ego.

Today I read a fan post on a Maryland Terrapins sports blog from an 18 year old kid that will begin his college career at UMD this fall. Many of you know how truly passionate I am about sports, but even more my alma mater and this was so amazing to me I felt I had to share. Although I would not require it from my children, it would be a dream come true for me to have them to attend Maryland and become as proud of it like this kid:

"I was born to two Maryland graduates about 18 years ago, and it was on that day I became a Terps fan. I remember the good times, the Natty [Men's Basketball National Championship] in a hotel room in Florida, as the whole family cheered so loud the neighbors had to tell us to quiet down. I remember the Orange bowl for football, along with the ensuing few years of success for the new coach Ralph Friedgen. Then the down years where our teams were led by Joel Statham and Nik Caner-Medley, guys who weren't quite good enough to follow up on such success. This year signaled the end of my high-school days, and it was highlighted by the greatest day of my life, the day I was accepted into Maryland.

Now, although I am also very excited about my education, I can't help but burst from the inside with excitement for the sports games. But as i come in, the only coaches I ever knew for my two favorite sports, Ralph Friedgen and Gary, depart, and the new era of coaches, Edsall and Turgeon arrive. These coaches will define the peak of my Maryland fandom, and I for one am extremely excited for the future. I will be at every game I can possibly attend, study my ass off, and try to be as proud a Terp as I can be. I absolutely love this site, and have been an almost daily visitor for around a year now. I just thought i should share my excitement because I simply can't contain it. I'm more than happy to be a part of this community and will be a part of it for the next 4 years. Go Terps! Truly a dream come true for me." - TerpsFan232

The kid said it best, GO TERPS! Let's kick Miami's ass on September 5th!

A little bit of follow up

The last time I blogged was around the 4th of July weekend. As you may recall, I had myself a few realistic goals for things I wanted to work on interpersonally. I think overall I was quite successful in achieving my expectations as well as learning from my mistakes...and there were a few. Nevertheless, some of these mistakes stemmed off of something I doubt I'll ever be able to change about myself, and it's something that is engraved deep in my personality: I'm an asshole. While approaching change on this matter will always be continuous, it is also something I think I have come to terms with. Oh well :-D

I'm gonna keep this post real short seeing it as I'm writing it at work, and it's just about time to pack things up. Tonight I embark on a very special trip as a good friend of mine, Andrew Creveling, will be arriving in Munich for his first stop on a summer Eurotrip. Andrew and I first met on my deployment to Iraq, and upon return he began attending school at Maryland as well. Since then we've remained in contact from time to time and always enjoyed each other's company. With out a doubt, the next day and a half will be magnificent. Sunday morning I will be flying with two friends from work to Greece. The great thing is that I get to meet up with Eugene and our friend James from San Diego. I think 5 days in the sun, around beautiful people and the best of friends is just what the doctor ordered. Talk to you all next Friday! Cheers.