Summer of Blocks

Wow, summer's over already? That was fast. Well... I guess it's summer recap time - that's what everyone else seems to be doing.

A while back I posted an entry about Tetris, and how life is comparable to the game in that we are constantly trying to sort our "blocks" and make them disappear before they bury us completely. Sadly enough, this sentiment pretty much describes my entire summer.

If anything, I'm quickly learning that I need to stop saying "yes" to just about every opportunity that comes my way. This may prove to be very tricky - the typical pattern seems to go like this:

- Person: "Hey Matt, I heard you know how to [blank], well I have this proposition for you that involves [etc...]"

- I definitely don't have time for this...

- ... but if I don't do it, I may miss out on [a great opportunity / a sweet resume builder / a lot of cash].

- Me: "Yeah, sure, I'll do it."

As a result, the summer passed a lot quicker than I had hoped, though that's not to say I didn't have a great time in between the constant work. In between busy streaks I somehow managed to fit in a bunch of miscellaneous adventures, which, when viewed together, impresses me greatly given the time I've had. I'll let excerpts from my Twitter history speak for me:

...working on intern stuff, watching Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, and drinking lemonade. Chill afternoon.

Can't sleep. Whenever I play World of Goo right before bed I am plagued with nightmares about architecture. As such, I remain awake.

Sitting up on the palomar P, about to watch every fireworks show in north county. Whee!

I'm lost in the middle of the desert somehow...

Just went square dancing for the first time and loved it. Not sure what to think of myself at the moment...

Gambling at Jesus camp, Texas hold 'em. I suck at this. Keep me away from Vegas, please.

Making a tunic out of a Hannah Montana Movie banner for a costume party.

Watching Harry Potter!! AHHHH!!!

My oatmeal is currently exploding OH GOD HELP ME!!!

Im on a boat. Like seriously. This is too much. Never thought I'd be on a boat.

Wicked was freaking epic. Now Q&A with the cast woot!!

I've now played both nerf and ddr at work, on the same day. This is truly surreal...

At the Moonlight waiting for 42nd St. to start. I love this theatre!

In Club 33. An actor from the first Saw movie is dining behind us. And the food is excellent.

Karaoke, beach times, big booty, camp game, donut town. An all around fun evening.

At rehearsal, watching Jason and Krista work on one of their scenes. Freaking cracking me up.

BONFIRE TONIGHT! North side of Oceanside Pier. If you're reading this you should probably go ahead and be there. :D

Highlighter war paint under black light... laser tag just got crazy-go-nuts.

Eating jambalaya for the first time in my life, and loving it.

I'm going to play DDR, if for no other reason than to fulfill the need to stomp on something repeatedly. I'm having anger issues today.

PROJECT RUNWAY

Im at karaoke. If you're reading this you should show up.

I-HIZZOP

Pretty accurate depiction of my summer, I'd say.

One negative that's come from this summer is that I've let my health regime slip quite a bit - though I'm still in way better shape that I was at any point last year, I've definitely put a few pounds back on. It's been very hard to keep to a strict work out regime with so much going on, and even harder to keep to a diet when I'm out of the house so much and constantly eating out. Having a friend who works at Albertaco's does not help. I'm not too worried though - if anything good came from last year, it's my learning that I'm stronger than I think I am, and definitely capable of more than I give myself credit for. I will take the weight back off.

Also noteworthy - I started using my Twitter account a lot more, with less updates to my blog. I feel this is for the best, as it will keep me from posting trivial "this is what I've been up to" posts.

Meh, not much of a recap. Not the greatest summer (would've have like to maybe traveled a bit, gone to Vegas perhaps,) but definitely fun. On the inside? I'm doing alright, thanks for asking. I'm still loving life, trying not to let it get the best of me. I'm sure school will try to. Well, school better prepare for a battle.


PS: Just dance. It'll be okay.

Books

This is a popular quote:

"When one door closes another door opens; but we so often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door, that we do not see the ones which open for us."
- Alexander Graham Bell

I'm not entirely sure I see things that way, though.

I feel like life happens in chronicles, like a book series. It's more like, at any given time we can be immersed in one (or several) particular stories. Sometimes they end naturally, and sometimes we can choose to close them.

Sometimes, a book ends, and we don't pick up another again for a while. We coast. It's kind of like in that terrible movie "Click" with Adam Sandler - we go into kind of an autopilot, and just see where life takes us without actively taking any part.

Maybe that's why I like to be reading something at all times. I never used to be that way, but now, when I finish one story I always feel the need to immerse myself in another. I kind of feel the same way about real life, too. I'm always part of some story, some adventure, that I need to see through to the end. The only difference is that, here, I'm writing the chronicles. I can choose to close my own book. Like, when I decide I really don't want to go out with that girl I've had a crush on for a while ... closed book. Let's move on to a new story.

How many books am I reading right now? Literally, just one (George Orwell's 1984). Figuratively ... ?

... way more than one, that's for sure. While I've closed some books recently, I'm still feverishly writing many others.



I think I'd like to write my own book someday. For real, that is.