Why Summer Is Finally Here

Baseball season is almost two-months in now and the Cleveland Indians sit atop the American League Central.  In addition to that, Cedar Point finally opened last week.  MLB Opening Day and Cedar Point Opening Day: two of the best days of the year.  It’s like Christmas in April and then again in May; a nice lead-up to my birthday.  This is the start of my summer.  I don’t ever want to miss an opening day of either.

I had intended to do a big blog post about Indians Opening Day last month, but unfortunately I never got around to it.  My bad on that.  Long story short, it was a pretty interesting day involving crazy weather, an awesome start from Justin Masterson, a blown save by Chris Perez,  and a 16^th inning loss.  There was the crappy food, crappy food service, drunk guys trying to steal our seats, people in the row constantly needing in and out (the downside to aisle seats), the immense starvation, almost getting hit at a ridiculous intersection, and ultimately finding a hotel room because we were both way too exhausted to drive home after being awake for like, 18 hours.  It certainly wasn’t the Opening Day we expected, but we had a good time nonetheless.

Cedar Point opening day was another thing entirely.  We left early, came home late, and had an amazing time.  The park was littered with obnoxious middle school band kids there for a competition, so the crowds were vast and the lines long.  As such, we ended up buying Fast Lane passes so that we could turn 2-hour waits into 20 minutes.  With those, we were able to ride the Maverick twice in the first row in about 15 minutes and the Dragster twice (once in the front row) in about 20 minutes.  We got a lot of dirty looks from people as we essentially cut them in line, which made you feel quite the dick, but it was worth it.  With the Fast Lane passes we ended up riding 15 or 16 rides, including almost every coaster at least once.  The following can be checked off the list of rides we have ridden so far this summer: Top Thrill Dragster (x3), Millennium Force (x2), Maverick (x2), Raptor (x3), Gemini (blue train), Blue Streak, Mean Streak, Corkscrew, and the Magnum.  We were in line for the Wicked Twister, which is one of our favourites, but it had some major mechanical issues and was pretty much shut down the entire day.  We will be returning next Tuesday, so hopefully it will be up and running then.  As for first row rides, we were in the first row for the Dragster (x2), Millennium Force, Maverick (x2), Raptor (x3), Blue Streak, and I believe the Corkscrew.  We will definitely be riding the Mean Streak and Gemini in the front row next time.  As for the Magnum, we have no intent of riding it ever again as we more or less hate it.  We only rode it that day because it was fairly clear and we wanted to see Canada over Lake Erie, which we were able to do (no passport required).

That first day at Cedar Point was a day of many first for us.  It was out first time going on opening day, for starters.  It was also our first time riding the Top Thrill Dragster in the front row.  It was out first time riding the Millennium Force and Dragster at night, which was actually only the second time we’ve ever been able to ride a coaster at night (the first was the Raptor last summer).  Prior to opening day, we had never ridden any of the wooden coasters, always fearful of how… rough they are; we actually ended up really enjoying them, especially the Mean Streak and can’t wait to ride them again.  On the Gemini, I face my first near-concussion when we hit a sharp, unexpected curve and my head slammed right into my friend’s shoulder.  On the Blue Streak, the train stopped halfway up the hill, which was a first, and then the ride operator came up the stairs and yelled at some chick for taking a picture and took her phone—another first.  At the top of the hill of the Raptor on round two, the jerk at the end of our row decided to spit, so we got spit on for the first time.  I forget which ride it was, but at the end of the ride we ended up with the sunglasses of some girl behind us at our feet, something we had never had happen before and then after that we almost got hit in the face with another girl’s makeup, but the guy in front of us made an amazing mid-air catch—another first.  Perhaps the most terrifying first though was when we almost didn’t clear the first hill of the Millennium Force, which is 310’ tall—at 9:30 at night.  We were almost right in the middle of the train, not wanting to wait longer for the first row so as to insure we could ride another ride before 10PM, so we couldn’t see anything in front of us either, so that made it a little more intense.  As we went up the hill, you could hear the cable creaking and more than one person commented “That doesn’t sound right”.  Then the train started slowing.  Someone quipped, “I don’t think this is part of the ride.”  And then the train stopped just as it hit the top of the hill.  Here we are, something like 280’ in the air sitting at like a 70-degree angle in the dark, no idea what is going on.  Somehow the right clicked back on though, and we made it over the hill and finished the ride.  Needless to say, we were quite nervous throughout that ride and decided not to get back in line like we had discussed.  The entire time all we could think about was this video which we had just watched only a couple weeks prior:

By the by, tomorrow (22 May) is my birthday.  You know, just in case you wanted to get me something.

Just Want to Say Thanks

The above article recently ran in the local paper, the Bellefontaine Examiner.  I contacted them a while back about doing a story on my participation in the Columbus Arts Festival and they responded with a long list of questions, which I answered with some pretty long-winded answers.  I figured the reporter, Mandy Loehr, would be overwhelmed and maybe even a bit annoyed with how I just kept going on and on and on (I’m a writer—what do you expect?).  But she wasn’t.  In fact, she really appreciated how much time and effort I put into my answers and was able to write a great story because of it.  I’m not certain that had the interview been done in person rather than via e-mail if I would have opened up quite as much as I did and given her as much information, so I’m glad we did the whole thing by e-mail.

Since this article was published I’ve been getting a lot of attention from various people who either saw the article online or in the actual newspaper.  Lots of congratulations and whatnot.  I’ve also been getting a much needed influx of hits to my blog too, which is awesome.  I just want to say thanks to everyone for that.  I also want to give a big thank you to the Examiner for doing this article.

I’ve had several people say something to me along the lines of “I didn’t even know you wrote poetry”.  Not many people, really.  I don’t really share the fact that I’m writer with people other than my close friends and those within the “writing world”, such as my fellow Columbus-area poets.  A lot of people don’t quite understand poetry, or writing in general for that matter, so you’re never really sure how people will respond when you tell them you’re a writer.  I was actually hesitant to contact the paper about doing an article because of that.  But so far, it’s all been a lot of positive responses.

My local media presence will continue on May 28^th when I will appear on the Nightmix on WPKO with Matt Smith.  I’ve never heard poetry read on the radio other than on NPR, so it should be interesting.

EDIT: Last night I decided when I wrote this post, I really should have included some specific thank yous and I would like to do that now; it's better late than never.  First and foremost, I want to thank Simon A. for being the main influence behind my writing poetry.  Had I never befriended him and never read his poetry, I never would have started writing it myself.  Simon is a really cool guy and although I only know him online and have never actually met him, he is a great friend.  You can find a link to Simon's blog, Sydelic, to your right.  He's an awesome artists, so please check it out.  Next I would like to thank high school social studies teacher Jeff F. for everything he has taught me and every bit of encouragement he ever gave me.  I never actually had him as a teacher, but he has probably taught me more than any other teacher and I would have never made it through college without his aid.  He has always been willing to read my writing and has done nothing but encourage me.  Next is my best friend Trenton H.  He has given me confidence that I have never felt before and for that, I am so grateful.  Without that confidence, I would have never started legitimately pursuing publication and ultimately trying to make a living out of my writing.  He has had an amazing impact on me and my life, and again is someone I would not have made it through college without.  Next is someone I am unfortunately no longer friends with, though we are at least on relatively good terms now and do occasionally talk.  Paul S. was the driving force behind completion of my first novel, which is precisely why it still remains dedicated to him even if we are not friends.  I always had difficulty getting him to read anything I wrote, even my novel which is dedicated to him and features a main character named after him, but he was always the first one to say "quit thinking about it and just do it."  He always had his own interesting hard-hitting way of encouragement, which is precisely why he was always such a good friend.  Hopefully one day we can amend that.  Finally, I would like to thanks James W., Maria L., Jessica H., and Angie H. for always wanting to read what I write.  I really appreciate their eagerness and input.  And again, thank you to everyone who visits this blog, even if it is just once.

Why I'm Starting a New Project

I know what you’re thinking, those of you who know me or read this blog regularly anyway: another project?  Yes, another project.  Now, I know I have so many others on hold: the baseball novel, the horror novellas, the rom-com novel, a bunch of unfinished short stories.  But this is another great idea that I need to pounce upon immediately, especially since it is something that is happening right now.

Since joining Twitter back at the start of the year, I’ve gotten pretty into it, especially in regards to keeping up with Major League Baseball.  As such, I follow a lot of baseball media people—mainly those covering Cleveland.  Through that I’ve come in contact with a 26-year old Army veteran named RJ Breisacher.  RJ is from the Toledo area and was stationed in Afghanistan.  This summer though, RJ is fulfilling a dream of his by traveling to all 30 ballparks—something I hope to do one summer as well.

I’ve tweeted back and forth with RJ several times over the last few weeks and try to follow his trip as well as I can.  I recently asked him if he would be interested in doing an interview for Colorshow at the conclusion of his trip so that I could write up a post detailing how he finally lived out a magnificent dream.  RJ of course agreed.  He doesn’t live very far away, so hopefully we might be able to meet in person and perhaps even take in a ballgame (he’s a Tigers fan so maybe some Indians v Tigers?).  After RJ agreed to the interview, I started thinking.  Why stop with a simple blog post?  Why not adapt RJ’s awesome story into a novel?  It definitely wouldn’t be the first time I’ve taken someone’s true life story and fictionalized.  I’m also definitely not the first person to do that, either (see: Hunter S. Thompson).  This is just too rich of a story to pass up and I would love to be able to do this and honour one of our Nation’s Heroes and hopefully getting it to the point where it could be published and make enough money to help RJ establish a non-profit for veterans wanting to fulfill their dreams, something I know he’s talked about wanting to do.  I’ve only briefly mentioned this idea to RJ and of course don’t want to do it without his approval and input.  I would want him there all throughout the creative process to make sure I’m giving his story justice and not being too outlandish.  Hopefully RJ will read this soon and approve of my idea.  Until this, I would like to leave you with this little taste that I’ve already written for a scene based on RJ’s adventures with his new friend, Hitchhiker Mike:

“I wanted a real adventure on this road trip.  A real adventure even though I was already on a real adventure.  I mean, I wanted something ridiculous.  Something that would happen on a sitcom starring Zach Braff or Neil Patrick Harris.  Something you’d find in a Judd Apatow bromance.  You know, like when Seth Rogen somehow becomes best friends with a super famous comedian-actor dying of cancer.  Or when Christina Applegate falls into the panda exhibit. Only I don’t want my adventure to involve anything life-threatening.  I said before I left that I wanted to pick up a hitchhiker, the first one I came across.  And that I wanted to drive down the carpool lawn with a blow-up doll in the passenger seat—or maybe a life-size Justin Bieber cardboard cut-out, whichever was cheaper at the mall—and see how long it would take to get pulled over and if I could convince the cop that the inanimate object in the passenger seat was a real-life human being.  I finally got my chance for adventure when I ran into Hitchhiker Mike on the side of the freeway.”

You can follow RJ on Twitter here: http://twitter.com/baseballdreamin
And check out his blog here: http://baseballdreamin.blogspot.com/