t-day special

at this time last year, i was miles away from family in the warm caribbean sun, walking the streets of the colonial zone in the domincan republic's capital city of santo domingo. with banks of the ozama river knifing through the heart of the over populated city and the caribbean sea forming the southern border i was far from the cold fronts that were passing through the midwest and the great lakes region.  by this time, i was still not fully acclimated to the humid climate of the south and was craving just the slightest hint of wind burn on my lips and my mother's sweet potato casserole that was sure to warm my insides.

a walk remembered

upon returning home from work today i realized that while living in southwest florida next to the most beautiful beaches in the world, surrounded by more ethnic restaurants choices my hometown of cincinnati could dream about, and some of the best and most corropertive weather patterns for the fall season, i was not happy with where i have settled down.  though the perks are nice, what i truely missed was the option of walking outside a downtown apartment and being in the cultural center of a country. i miss the feeling of significance that a capital city brings whether it be the classical music

key west part two

day two through four:

figuring now much could top the night before i set out to see if this town had more to it than sodomy and liquor. i soon discovered there was a tremendous amount of character spread throughout the southernmost city. cuban restaurants chameleoned with art galleries along with coffee shops and souvenirs for every humor and drunken state. banners hung with pb directed feelings while shop keeps allowed their 1800's architecture speak for itself. the bartenders and above shop keeps

the naive key west

about eight weeks ago i was presented with an opportunity to coach a four day soccer camp at key west high school in key west, fl. being a mid-westerner without much beach exposure except for the rare visit since moving to fort myers, fl and the gulf shores ten months prior, i was what most would still consider a virgin or at the most, one with a freshly popped cherry. i quickly jumped on the chance to work in "the conch republic." "why not" i asked, the camp would cover everything; free housing, free food, free beer, free water sports, and most of all, free experiences. all i had to do was get myself down there.

memories to spark emotion

last night i was catching up on my list of blogs along with some reading from matador reading where i came across a movie called before sunrise, set entirely in vienna. (also check out the sequal before sunset which takes place nine years later in paris)  before the page was fully loaded i was redirecting myself to youtube checking to see if i could find the film in the youtubesque part 1 of ... segments format.  the ten part movie was found with no issue, and my evening was set. besides to romantic nature of meeting someone on a train, falling in love, and setting out to rendezvous months later,

and i'm back

so i know its been awhile and the only excuse i can conjure up is that i just have not made any time to post updates over the past few months. in order to remedy that i will give a condensed, bulleted, overview of my life;

*went to cincinnati, served in one of my best friend's wedding, visited wilmington, realized i made a very good decision about a year and a half ago, became an eskimo brother with a great friend (again) and...reunited with friends who i do not get to see very often

a mini viennese reunion

last week, one of my "old" friends, corrinne, from vienna was in town for the weekend after spending a week doing relief work in haiti. while using ft lauderdale as her main transportation hub, the greyhound as the carrier, and the chance to reunite with someone who lives at the extreme opposite side of the continental 48 as the motive, a mini viennese rendezvous was able to take place. this was not only a great way to touch base with the happenings of the past year, but also a way to reminisce in a way that only a fellow traveler can understand. we talked about the trip itself, how we

march

as my friend kristen made me realize, the beginning of each month brings a fresh start. i guess it is along the same lines of switching the year on a calendar and deriving a new resolution, but in this case we get the same opportunity twelve times a year. this idea made me think, much like kristen's new monthly to-do list, what do i hope to accomplish this month. so i made up a small semi-manageable list of personal conquests for me to fulfill over the course of 31 days.

first, it is florida so i want to enjoy to outdoors more

my visitors

this past weekend i was able to reconnect with a few unexpected faces in south beach, miami. so while you up north were fighting the cold and dodging the snow storms, i was once again sporting shorts, a tee, sunglasses, and sunscreen all while enjoying great latin and south american food. my good childhood friend stef came down from kentucky with two work friends to celebrate a birthday and she asked me to swing by for the weekend. after two nights of the miami party scene (it takes it's toll even when you are not actually "partying" to the south beach standard) and two

milford grads reunited

this past weekend our basketball programs at fgcu held a double header against belmont. this provided an opportunity for me to reconnect with a formed teammate of mine, brandon baker, from milford high school. he is currently a red shirted freshmen with the bruins and i was able to catch him in action as well as witness his career high of ten points. here is the bruin recap of the game featuring a photo and a better write up on the game than i will be able to give. also, notice the pale size of the north compared to the burnt redness of the south.

my home

since i moved to the fort myers area last august, my housing situation has been less than steady or even ideal for the practical minded reader of this post. i have exhibited more of a nomadic practice in my living arrangements than anything; my car still holds things in the trunk that no longer have a place in the apartment i am renting (i believe my seventeenth "bed" that i have slept on since august 8th.) i started out in a $4.4 million home, sleeping in the guest house that belonged to my boss's in-laws. they allowed me to stay there for free during the beginning months of the soccer season

na zdravie

i found this also, laura posted it on the facebook group...maybe it will trigger a memory of the cheap slovakian beer from that night or the waitress (i think she was pretty good looking) i do not know, could have been the beer again

vienna remembered

i know that there are not too many people who follow or even read much of what i try to document through this site, but this is something that i hope reaches the masses a bit more for many reasons. it is something that i have thought about for awhile, only lacking the initial steps that lead toward an end result. it could be due to many things; lack of motivation, lack of creativity, lack of means, patience, or desire. no, i believe the reason might have stemmed from a fear of reopening a wound that bleeds a longing to explore, search, or discover something new while encompassing freedom and

soon to come

today i set out to be creative, to do something that i have been meaning to get to for about ten months, to develop my right brain a bit more... i am working on a video of my study abroad trip from last year...a collection of my favorite pictures to the only piece of music that can sum up the true identity of vienna and europe. that is right, i am showing an artistic side, one that i wish i could say i have always had but never unleashed.

stay tuned, because it is coming.

a calling adventure?

a map for saturday, this is where i always seem to find myself time and time again. how could this not be enticing? how could this not eat away at you? how can you begin to think about ten, twenty, seventy years down the road without doing something that calls your name like a mother at dinner time? whenever i watch the trailer my mind goes off into some distant place where i am able to find a sort of peace. strange to think about i know, but even now i migrate towards non-fictional books of adventures like, "eat, pray, love," "the innocence abroad," "a walk in the woods," and the list slowly grows in

a viewpoint

in the wake of a less than fantastic day, a day that should leave me with a harsh acceptance of reality, a day that should stop and make me think, a day that could leave me exhausted over the next three months, will only leave me with a great test of patience and perseverance. i have made my mind up about this, it will not hinder or cause me distress. i will turn it into great possibilities to grow, to plan, to learn, and to overcome. there is a quote i remember from eighth grade, behind every cloud waits a sun...never more appropriate

cup o joe

before vienna, the idea of coffee and cafes was nothing more than another episode of friends to me. now it means a quiet place to catch up on work emails, place to read and listen to classical music, surf the web, or just people watch. in fort myers, i have slowly begun to spot more and more cafes as i branch out to the local surroundings. my two main hubs are borders at gulf coast town center (lame but close to work, cheap, and the baristas are very friendly) and blackhawk coffee at bell tower shops. i have routinely spotted more in downtown fort myers that i would like to check out

can i really call this a job?

with the holiday season quickly coming to a halt and the majority of people reentering the daily grind, failing at their resolutions, and counting down the weeks until they recover from the holiday spending, the only thing i can find to complain about is i live on a air mattress. even with that being said, i upgraded from couch cushions so there is nothing in my life to complain about. i have a roof with minimal rent, plenty of food to eat, and a job that hardly constitutes as work. i am blessed, maybe not in the bank account, but in the fact that i am able to do things i look forward to everyday...

graduate school- the next step in my educational frontier

there seems to be a natural order of things when you think about education. many of us start out with our parents placing us in pre-school. at this point in our lives we usually think of it as the mecca of play dates, upwards of twenty children our age all with the same list of worries in life; will i get to play with the giant blocks, when will i ever be coordinated enough to cut circles instead of continually cutting the corners in hopes that eventually it will be somewhat round, and will my mom make a pb and j again for lunch while i watch sesame street at home.
next we may head into a second year of preschool (which in my case ended up to be mrs. walkers class) or suddenly find ourselves diving head first into kindergarten. still relatively minor, but i remember the daunting task of

breaking in the new year

i think it is only cliche as someone who does this whole blog thing to take a minute and talk about breaking in the new year. 2009 started with a plan, something concrete and exact, a mix of certainties and undiscovered possibilities that stood within reach of a wide-eyed 22 year old soon to be college graduated who had his life set to the "t". i have always thought of myself to some extent as someone who had it figured out, had a plan, a road map for my life. i was going to graduate college or get a job, get married, have kids, grow old and somewhere during that lose sight of my childhood