"Ew, What the F*@%!"

...That was my expression at least 10 times today.

1.) When I woke up.
2.) When I got on the PRT to Beechurst and it smelled like someone was sitting on my face.
3.) When I got off the PRT and almost fell on my ass because I slid on fungus/dog poop/seaweed/slime that always appears when it rains.
4.) When I tried to call someone, and realized my phone got shut off.
5.) When I realized I was wearing sandals on a day that it was raining.
6.) When I saw this chubby little boy eating a cheeseburger at the Mountainlair...on a rainy day.
7.) When I got back on the PRT and I thought I got the same one as before, and it still smelled like someone was sitting on my face.
8.) When I was waiting for Art to start at 6pm and Shane said, "You have a dead bird feather on your foot," to which I looked to my foot and there was a soggy pidgeon feather attached to my foot.
9.) When I walked out of Art at 9pm and it was dark.
10.) When this fat guy behind me on the bus back to the District was wheezing in my ear.

I love life.

I'm A Published Author!

Good news everyone! A while ago, I set a few goals in my life that I thought were reasonable. It would take some time, and a lot of effort, but I knew I could do it. I don't like to tell people my goals before they happen, because I like them to be personal. One of them was to be a published author by my 21st birthday, and it looks like that's going to happen!

I submitted a sonnet to the Allegany Arts Council that I wrote for my Poetry class last semester, for a journal/review of literature of students and professors in the greater appalachian area. It turns out they were interested in publishing it!!! The poem is called "When I Compare You to a Rainy Day." It's a Shakesperean sonnet, and it will be published in the Backbone Mountain Review this December!!! I am so excited! Hopefully this is just a glimpse of what's to come.

I had been working on a book for a few years now...on and off again. After my laptop crashed a few years ago, I lost everything and started fresh. I uploaded it to a server that no one knows about, so that it will be available wherever I am, and I can add to it whenever I want. After the success I've had with my poetry, I think I am going to start working on it again!

Just thought I'd share some good news! WOOOO!

Check out the website, with the complete list of accepted authors here.

Life on the A-List

So far it's really hard being a celebrity at a major university. Since my new record went out the mother f*cking roof platinum, everyone really wants to know me, and what I'm about. The truth is it's tough. The other day I had 5 knocks on my doors. One was for an autograph, and the other 4 were from the neighbors telling me to "shut the hell up" because I'm singing Christina Aguilera too loudly in the shower. Her new CD is good...but it won't be as successful as mine.

VH1 called yesterday and asked me if I wanted to be on Divos Live 2006. At first I thought it was for DivAs live...and I said (in a chromatic scale:), "Yes, of course!" But then they told me it was actually DivOs live...which is like Divas Live, only for men. So far they only have Chris Kirkpatrick from N'Sync, Me, John Tesh, One of the guys from Milly Vanilly, 50 Cent, The drunk Backstreet Boy, an Elvis impersonator, and RuPaul...which is really confusing to me. But hey, it's money, and I can't turn it down!

I can't turn it down, because I'm the next big thing, you see.

The other day I was at Cheddar's (no, I don't go there often so don't go there and ask the waiters if they have waited on me before...besides I had my sunglasses and Diana Ross wig on the whole time, so they wouldn't have known), and this man comes charging towards me in a frenzy. He stopped at my table and asked me if I wanted anything to drink, and I said, "Ew no, get away you sickening paparazzi wannabe fuck."

Turns out it was our waiter, and I didn't get any service. So, I called Olive Garden to ask them if we could just come over there while they shut the restaurant down for me. After a long talk with the manager about who I was, he said no. So, we just stayed at Cheddar's.

Tomorrow I expect that everyone will want an autograph so I have to go sharpen my No.2 pencils. Ciao!

Zone.Out

Writing is going to end up being my profession, so you would expect that I would be on here updating more often, right?

I've decided to rededicate myself to this blog (for the time being!). I loved writing it, and it has dated back a few years now. It's always nice to go back and read what was happening in my life at that very moment. This is the same reason I began my tennis blog from 2005 and 2006, and will continue to log my matches. It's for my own personal reference just to compare my life from a year ago or more, to today. Makes sense right?

I've given my blog a new name. Zone.In was a creative name, but I feel like that part of me has changed now. I've grown as a person on many aspects, and I feel the new title is much more appropriate. My blog isn't just a place where I go and write stuff. It's a place where I can write whatever I am feeling, which is the most important part of having a blog in my opinion.

I go back to Morgantown on Friday, so I have looked at my new design, and new title as a recharge of sorts. A new beginning. Yes, there have been other new beginnings in the past, but this time I want to actually use this text block as an outlet.

My goal for 2007 is to write at least SOMETHING every single day of the year. It will be difficult for sure, but who knows what will happen!

Hope everyone is turning to my blog for anecdotes, as always. I get lots of feedback when I write humorously, so expect it in the future. The sad part is, the anecdotes are actual events that happen in my life. Maybe I need a reality show! ;)

Ciao for now.

Cumberland Is So Duh

Duh Italy is amazing, and Cumberland sucks. This has been the worst summer ever. Where the mother F*@% is everyone?

Morgantown in a week...awesome.

Morgantown, Cumberland...Milan and So On!

Three very random places have been the topic of discussion with me lately, and basically for the good! Although, I wouldn't have ever guessed that the third city would have followed in that sequence!

Morgantown - Oh Morgantown! It's 2:30a.m., but when I reference 'today' think of it as May 14. Anyway, today I drove up to my apartment and moved everything out, cleaned everything from top to bottom, and turned my keys in. I have been dreading doing it, only because I'm lazy and don't like physically demanding work (unless it's tennis). It ended up taking a lot more time than I intended because I had nothing packed, and had to clean the entire bathroom, and kitchen thanks to my irresponsible roommate. After I had packed EVERYTHING in to my tiny little Celica, my apartment was bare. I was too busy moving everything to notice it, and it turned out to be very emotional! I mean I didn't cry or anything like that, but it was just such an emotional time because so many memories (good and bad) were made there. Not to mention it was my first apartment ya know? I do look forward to returning to Morgantown, as this past semester has easily been the most successful, exciting, intriguing semester so far of my college career!

Cumberland - Oh Cumberland. Besides the fact that my allergies have paralyzed me for the past 2 weeks, I think I'm enjoying my time here so far. The month of May hates me in regards to allergies. I've had a bad cold until about today, actually. But now I am having serious sinus headaches, where I can feel the veins in my forehead protruding from my skin. However, I've been able to see my friends and family which has been my muse, easily. I mean, I miss having my own apartment which is the biggest turn-off about Cumberland, but hopefully that will change soon!

Milan - OH MILAN! Holy cow! So, I sent in this extensive, ridiculously long application to be a tutor for Italian children at a summer camp in Milan, Italy. Well, Friday morning I woke up to an e-mail responding that I was offered the position! I couldn't believe it! Another e-mail followed it from Rachel (Dillon) saying that she too was offered the position! So, this means I am going to be helping Italian children how to improve their English for 3 weeks, with one of my best friends, in Milan...and...I GET PAID! What!? Is this reality!? This is nuts! I am still just in awe about it all. Now, if someone wants to donate money towards my $1,200 plane ticket, feel free to contact me. :)

"Doing what I love with my best friends, and making cheddar?" - Destiny's Child

When I get back from Italy, I plan on using my earnings (850 Euros or $1,000) I plan on flying to California to visit one of my best friends, Andrew (Clark) where he will be working at Stanford University. I will be visiting Andrew the same week as the Bank of the West Classic tennis tournament, so that could quite possibly be the second most amazing thing that has happened to me (next to Italy).

This summer so far, looks amazing!

I Don't Want to See the Sun Come Up

What the hell is wrong with me? I had 3 green teas last night, 2 of which had caffeine in them. So, of course, I ended up staying awake until like 7a.m. to watch the sun rise. It sucked that I was up so late (or early) but watching the sun come up was actually very beautiful. It was the first time I had seen it happen since I have lived here.

Today, I did basically nothing. I slept until like 2:00 and then went to work at 3. I worked til 7:30 and saw some faces I hadn't seen in a while. It was nice.

I haven't been feeling well all day and I am not sure why. Maybe it was the 3 green teas? But I love tea so much I could just sit around all day and drink it.

My electric is probbaly going to be turned off tomorrow because BB&T (or BB& Fee as I like to call it) stole $107 which just also happens to be the amount I need to pay for my electric. I hate my life.

5 More Weeks!

Well, ladies and gentlemen there are only 5 more weeks of Morgantown left for me! I am really excited. The summer got here SOOOOO fast! It feels like just the other day I was jumping off the cliffs with Andy, and Rachel and filming "A Tragedy At Falls Cut."

I think I just looked forward to the summer so much that it has gotten here much quicker. Last summer was definitely an amazing time. So many memories. There is something magical about summers in Cumberland. I mean pure magic. The atmosphere, the smell of the mountains, Friday after Five, family cookouts, sincerity in friendships. All of those things may apply elsewhere but Cumberland harbors them the best, I do declare.

This summer is going to be VERY different from last summer. A lot of people are going to be gone. Lyndsay is going to be living in New York doing her internship all summer. Andy is going to be at Six Flags all summer.

I was just speaking to Rachel about this, (the irony is she is thousands of miles away in Limerick) and when she gets back, I believe it will make sense that she and I become very close this summer. With less people around, more intimate interactions can happen, and I think Rachel and I will find ourselves hanging out a lot more with just each other than large groups.

Man, I've learned so much since last summer. So has Rachel. It's crazy what each year of college has to offer the summer. Each summer I feel like such a different person from the year before. College is full of life lessons, and I have plenty to bring back to Cumberland from Morgantown.

Rachel and I may be teaching English to children in Milano, Italy, which is literally a blessing. If this opportunity happens for me, I know that someone will be looking out for me. If not, then that's life, and I will go on expecting great things in my life. I choose to be optimistic with the idea that something AMAZING is going to happen to me as long as I keep living. So, we'll see how that goes. I'll keep updated as much as possible.

Finally, if any of you (my lovers that follow my site) want a suggestion for a good movie to see, go see V for Vendetta. It's definitely one of the best movies I've seen in a while. Basically if you like action, the 1812 Overture, or things blowing up, or a combination of all three, you're in for a treat! Take care!

Tennis!!

Wow, I haven't updated my blog in a long while. Sorry for all of my dedicated fans...or not.

The weather has been very kind to me the past couple of months. It's only the middle of March and I've logged 15 matches (12-3). Overall, I feel my game is a lot better than it was coming off the winter last year. Last year I won my first 7 matches in a row, before falling hard to Jason. So, I turned that around and have won the last 5 matches against him. Isaiah has really improved his game so far this year. Two of my three losses this year have come to him. Given, they were very close, but he still has been playing great. I went 8-0 against him last year, so to be 0-2 to him so far this year is actually not as bad as I would have thought. It's nice to know that I have something to work towards.

That being said, I am SOO excited about tennis this summer. This summer, the tennis community is going to have two VERY talented champions back in the game. They are Jason and Isaiah. Both of which, may have been wrapped up in other things last summer. Isaiah played a lot last year but I never thought he had the spark of wanting to win like he used to, which made it easy to take advantage of his game. This year, however, I can see the fire to win in his game again. Jason, while he hasn't beaten me since last year, is finding his game again which is AWESOME. Because, last year he and I only played 3 matches and only one of them was in the summer. This year, so far, both of them are very excited to play this summer and get their game back to the competitive tone it used to be. Even though it's great to walk on the court and expect to win, I will be excited for the days to come when I walk on to the court with either of them and not expect the outcome to be either way. That's how it should be among us three.

So now that summer tennis has Jason, and Isaiah back, it will be interesting to see who else comes up out of the ranks. Justin Nines may be the summer tennis dark horse by June or so. He still has a lot to learn about the game, but apparently he can hold his own with his groundstrokes. Either way, he has a passion for the game just like Isaiah, Jason and I do. I'm excited to see how he plays. There's also Carson. I only played 2 matches against Carson, both of which I won pretty handily. I don't remember the last time Carson ever beat me, or was ever really a threat to Me, Isaiah, or Jason. The last match I remember playing him before last summer, was the match for the No.4 seed...which I won. Hopefully, he won't lose interest in the game, and stay a competitive force for the area. There's also Max, but I have never completed a match with him. In fact, I haven't seen him play at all this year. Hopefully, we will add an aspect to the summer tennis this year. This may also be the summer for Mike Dicks. He had surgery just in time for it to heal by the summer. I think we may see a big comeback from him this summer since he has a drive to play just like the rest of us. Melissa will be on fire as usual, and I am sure Brittney will find her winning volleys when she gets back to playing.

That being said, I think with all of these players being in top form this summer, the competitive rankings that we did two years ago may be in order. A lot of people have expressed interest in it. This year, we may even have round robin tournaments that will last all day and the winner and runner up will receive a trophy. That would be so much fun!

Now, I have to go back to Morgantown and finish off this semester so that I can get back here and play tennis ALLLLL summer! WOOOO!!!

Shall I Compare Thee to a Rainy Day?

I wrote a little sonnet that worked out more beautifully than I expected. Below is Shakespeare's sonnet to which I drew my sonnet's patronage, followed by mine. Enjoy!

Shall I Compare Thee to a Summer's Day

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimm'd;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimm'd;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall Death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st:
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

-William Shakespeare


Shall I Compare Thee to a Rainy Day?

Shall I compare thee to a rainy day?
Your thunderous silence puts a spell on me,
Rough winds are yours as minds are turning gray
As tears collect on veins of mourning leaves,
Though you believe this stubborn overcast,
Your rough winds will sway the clouds quite soon,
And with these winds will blow a sudden blast,
Your mind will open up the month of June,
With calm compared to patience of a pond,
Your eternal summer will be found,
Stand to the sun, and find that concrete bond,
As powerful as lightening to the ground,
So long as the sun shines solely on to you,
Your life will be a sky forever blue.

-John Thrasher


© 2006 John Thrasher