Summer of Dan

The ultimate sacrifice

You can call it a Christmas Miracle.

You can call it Divine Intervention.

You can call it being put in your place.

But no matter what label you put on it, it's a story of selfless sacrifice.

Around Christmas I was playing CoD: MW2 with Flack and a bunch of people. We were playing for a couple hours and we were talking about zombies. I mentioned how the King Zombie of them all was Jesus. I mean, the guy died and rose from the dead. Normal people don't do that.

Before the next map started I told everyone it would be my last as it was getting late and I had to get up early the next morning for work. About 3 minutes into the map and I lose power.

I called Flack, told him what happened and hung up. I went to inspect the breaker when I noticed that other things in the living room were still on. I inspected a bit further and smelled burning plastic. My nose led me to my Monster Surge Protector. 

It was dead.

I bought this surge protector because it was like the Secret Service - willing to take a bullet for you. And it did. The packaging (excuse the blurriest pic ever below) states clearly that it will put itself in harms way to save your electronics.

  

And it sure did. 

I think God was trying to tell me something about commenting about Jesus' zombie-esque attributes by firing a warning shot at my TV, only to get consumed by my own personal bodyguard.

The surge protector was only $70 when I bought it and easily saved a couple thousand dollars worth of equipment but it was well worth it. Because of how certain they are of their product it comes with a lifetime warranty. The next day before work I brought it to where I bought it at Bestbuy and swapped it for a new one. No questions asked. I went ahead and paid the difference to upgrade it to an even better one that is rated for higher surges. Well worth it.

Like I said - Christmas Miracle, Divine Intervention, or being put in your place. No matter what you call it, I lost a good friend that night that took one for the team. He'll be greatly missed.

RIP Monster Surge Protector - November 2008 to December 2009

 

Be thankful every single day

Random fact of the day: It's fucking December. It's starting to get cold out and I love it. This means the Niff hates it. When it's cold out, she hurts because she isn't a whale monster like me. This is why she has 31085139805130 winter jackets and will surely get another. I am ok with this as long as she is warm. But don't tell her because she'll buy 10 more instead of one. 

Thanksgiving came and went without me having a chance to list all the things and people I am thankful for so I'll do it now in abbreviated form:

The Niff - 3 years ago last week we got engaged. I'm still crazy in love with her and she's the perfect match for me in every way. Except that she doesn't watch General Hospital. But that's ok because I don't want Tyra with her. Anyway. Just because we haven't gotten married it doesn't mean we don't want to, it doesn't mean we aren't in love, it doesn't mean we don't talk about it and think about it. I've never had someone so perfect for me - she's super smart, super funny, and super pretty. I can't think of one more super quality to have that would make her better.

My siblings - my brother is a toolbag and I love him for it, my sister is the female version of me. It's ok that my brother "looks like an uncle seven times removed from Germany that no one has ever seen" and doesn't look like anyone else in our entire family. I'm sure he's my brother...yeeeeah...aside from that, he'd be the first person to help you stuff a body into a suitcase and drop it in the river and you'd never even need to tell him "not to talk about this". That's the kind of brother everyone needs.

My sister will do anything I ever ask of her. She's easily one of the funnest people to be around and I laugh every time I think of her, the Niff and I are always laughing whenever she is around, and I don't ever forget the great lengths she goes for mer when I need it. Like putting together shitty IKEA furniture and being over 2 hours late to hang out with her girl friends. It means a lot.

My parents - my mother makes the best green bean casserole in New Hampshire. I'm sure of it. Kind of. She is one of the hardest working people I know and I am always happy to see her on the holidays with the rest of the family. We may be a divided family as far as a family tree is concerned now but a stranger couldn't tell. My dad makes the meanest Yogi Tea Turkey. Just ask him. That fucker was juicy as hell this year. I mean the turkey, not my dad. If there is anything to say about my dad it's that every time I come home he is always trying to get me to leave with something I left when I moved out: comics, sheets, books, random computer parts. I mean, THAT is love: "here Danny, take your shit, I'll see you next holiday! Save room in your car then too!" Always something to look forward to. 

The rest of my family -  I hate the term "extended family". WTF, are they just really long limbed human beings? Like aliens? Awful wordage. My aunt and uncle are like an extra set of parents, and my cousins are like sisters to me and my siblings. My uncle is my dad's brother, my aunt is my mother's sister. 

Digest that for a second...

Ok, see? It's not incest. Only sounds like it.

My aunt is a wonderful cook and I'm always thankful when she doesn't burn the buns or asks me and my uncle Pat to move the treadmill back down two more flights of stairs for her "because I'm around" and she needs new treadmill scenery. I'm thankful for that because every time without fail Pat always loses grip or the treadmill opens up and breaks 3 of his fingers or smashes him against the wall or he drops it on his foot or all of the above. Without fail.

My friends - I have far too many to list, but I will say this: good friends are easy to find, great friends are very hard to find. That's why they are called great. Get it? My great friends know they are my great friends, my good friends know they are my good friends, and everyone else knows their place. I know my great friends know they can count on me and I can count on them. And that is all that really matters when the zombie wars start. For real. Don't be a dick because you'll be left behind. Safety in numbers afterall.

My job - I love it, I love the people I work with, the work I do, the experience I'm getting, the technology I am exposed to, the trust I am given, the gorgeous building I work in. Yeah I'm one of those assholes that likes to go to work. Oh well, screw you too.

My health - generally speaking, I'm a healthy guy. Except when I got the swine flu three weeks ago. I'm fine with that, it tested my immune system and dammit I'm still here. I'm ok with a few mother nature curve balls thrown at me. I can see, I can hear, I can breathe. I can't complain.

My life - I do what I want. I read great books, watch terrible television sometimes, listen to awesome music. I workout with the Niff and enjoy it once I'm actually at the gym. I play XBox with my sister and we scream at fake zombies. I watch Curb Your Enthusiasm with the Niff, even though we're almost a decade late on the start of that one, and we laugh. A lot. I have the ability to say "I don't want to do this today, let's do this". I can drive anywhere I want to go. I can connect with my family and friends in a million different ways. I'm living the life I've wanted all along. It's all the pieces pulled together that makes it so great.

So yes, even though it's not Thanksgiving, I'm thankful every day. I truly am. And in case I haven't said it to all of you, thank you for being you. And if you don't think I'm talking to you, I'm not, but thank you for reading this anyway.

How's it going champ?

Saturday afternoon was the culmination of all the hard work I've put in, not just this season but since I first strapped on my pads way back when. It was slow going at first, it was muddy as hell. In some places there were 3-4 inches of water and 6 inches of mud. Our fullback Chase ripped a huge run to give us a 7-0 lead and we never looked back. We scored twice more and our defense stepped up huge and kept the Ravens out of the endzone from the 5 yard line as Rick punched the ball out and gave the ball back to our offense.

And despite the weather I had about 15 people come out and support me and my teammates as we tried to win a championship. I don't know if they will every know how it feels to look over on the sideline and chat them up during a quick break in the game, even moreso because of the shitty ass weather. That alone made me happy.

The Niff was in attendance for her 10841081 straight game. My parents and sister made it to the game. My sister took almost 500 pictures. 

 

 
  

Flack, Mark, Will, Anna and Dean, and Poppy all were all there. My boss and his wife were there in raincoats and seemed to love every minute of it.

 
 

It was so special to share that championship atmosphere and game with everyone.

Saying it was a dream season sounds cliché but it's 100% true. In 10 games, including in the playoffs, we pitched 5 shutouts. Not including the first game of the season we never gave up more than 8 points in a game. We forced 9 turnovers in one game. We never fought with our offense, we picked them up. When our offense gave us a lead we kept it. We always kept our heads high. It all sounds so cheesy but it's so fucking true. 

 
 

 

I'm closer today to more of my teammates than I've ever been and thankful for that. A fantastic and amazingly talented group of guys and even better friends.

  

Without my teammates I would accomplish nothing and without the Niff I would be nothing. I owe everything to them.

 
 

We hung together all season long. We let it all hang out, we pushed ourselves and each other. We knew it was possible from Day 1. 

And that's why we are champions.

 
  

A different view

This weekend marked the first time I've missed a game in my semi-pro "career" (is it a career if you don't get paid and you need to pay to play really?). I separated my shoulder last Saturday against the Ravens and even though I've been resting and icing and all that good stuff I still get some super pain when I move my arm in certain ways. I'm used to having fucked up shoulders but not like this. When I drive and turn the wheel with my left shoulder I want to die. I got X-rays on friday and should know sometime today what that tells us.

Being on the sideline is very, very different. You feel helpless when you see a play you know you could have made or a tackle you could have helped on. You feel like shit. You feel like you let your guys down. You feel like you can't get healthy fast enough but you worry about potentially coming back too soon and hurting yourself even more. It's a flurry of emotions that hit you back to back to back.

I missed one game. I'm very thankful I've been able to play this long without major injury. Flack knows it better than anyone what it's like to be hurt and miss playing. And here I am bitching about missing one game. What the fuck is wrong with me?

We ultimately won the game, 16-8, in the "we did what we had to do" fashion, and we're 5-0 as a result. We have our work cut out for us. The Sting are no joke - they are putting up 46 a game and letting up 4. The Beavers are in the same boat. They have a good offense and a solid defense. Going undefeated for any of the top 3 teams is a tough task but that's what we play right?

Hoping for a good news phone call from the doctor...

48 Hours

Is a little more than 48 hours I begin my 7th season of playing semi-pro football. When I first started I can honestly say I had no idea how long I would play; I had no idea what was normal and there are a lot of things I can honestly say I had no idea about:

1. That I would make so many good friends, some lifelong ones as well (Flack) and get to play ball with one of my childhood BFFs (Mark) and high school buddies.
   
2. That I would have get to see more of New England as we travel to all sorts of town fields, high schools, colleges, and wherever you could fit a set of goalposts. 
3. That I would ever begin to know what it feels to be a pro football player (ie: I sympathesize with guys like Brett Favre as far as not knowing when it hang them up and not want to have to go through all the preseason bumps and bruises to get to the games).
4. That I would be able to fill a hole inside of me that's always been there since I was a kid.
5. That I would lose a lot more than I would win, and still love the game just as much.
6. That I would get to play in front of my friends and family, including my grandparents.
7. That I would continue learning even little things about football this many years into playing.
8. That I would surprise myself over and over again.
9. That the quote, "Hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard" would actually be true.
10. That I would be undersized for my position and still be able to hold my own.

Another season, another chance to have a winning record, another chance for a championship. Baby steps. One game at a time. Before we know it the season will be over and we'll be pissed that we have to wait all over again for another.

But I guarantee no one will be pissed about missing those 3+ hour trips each way in the car like this weekend.

Here's to a successful, injury-free 2009 season.

What Michael Jackson did for me

I grew up in the 80s and when I think about my first musical memory the first thing that comes to mind is Michael Jackson. I had all his cassettes and knew even then that his music was different.

Quite simply, Michael Jackson opened my mind to new kinds of music. He was amazing because of his musical range - his songs still invade my head and once they are there they hang for some time. It's far from a bad thing.

The thing that saddens me most about his death is he didn't get one more go around. Weeks away from his comeback tour, there was one more chance for him to see what kind of an impact he's made on people. It's sad because all Michael wanted was to love and feel loved. And I think this comeback tour would have helped him make peace with some of his demons.

It disgusts me when people talk about him as if he was a piece of shit pedophile and that they are glad he is dead. Whether he did or didn't do any of that we'll never know, but I do know that no one should be ridiculed in their death, no one should be torn down like that.

For me, Michael will always be about expressing yourself shamelessy in all facets of your life. 

I'm not the type of guy that can dance, but listening to his music, from the time I was a kid dancing in the kitchen to one Flack's wedding a couple years ago, made me feel like I could, or at the very least didn't have to be ashamed with my extreme lack of rhythm. 

He'll always be the King. Always.

My meaning of life

About a week ago Flack and I got into a pretty interesting discussion about people being real - not in the sense of the "Real World - where people stop being polite and start getting real", but real real. Real as in authentic. Predictable. There is a level of comfort there. I think too many people are wrapped up in image and what people think. I've written about this sort of thing in the past but as I get old I think I add another piece to the puzzle. It's like a giant sociology project I guess.

An excerpt from an email from Flack to me really rang true to what I'm about and explains why I am the way I am and have the foundation of friends and family around me.

 I cant answer for others. I learned long ago what it is like to be a loser with no friends and to be used by others. I also know what it is like to be popular and everyone kissing your butt. The difference was that when I was a loser the friends I had were genuine. They had nothing to gain from being friends with me except friendship.
 
I also learned to be alone and be okay with being alone. I learned to rely on myself. I learned what was important in my life and my own priorities.
 
So as I get older I dont care about being "Cool". Im already cool to my friends and family. I accept Im great on some things and still learning about others. Im an outcast because I dont drink, buts its okay cause my best friends dont drink alot. I value truth and honesty because you cant hide behind it. I am who I am. When I die and people write that they could count on me and that I was solid and they knew who I was... that the world is worse without me... that means the most to me. No one will say I was cool, or I was a great athlete.
 
Alot of people need validation. They need X amount of friends or to be the best at something. They are needy and weak. People are selfish.

Thats not important to me, I have everything Ill ever need already. I always want to be a great competitor and win, but Ive already won in real life. Others havent, and never will.

It sounds cliche but it's not - it's true. It's ok to want to be the best at something and to strive to be better, but not when it consumes you. Or your personality. I appreciate, value, and care about all my friends and family, I take them for what they are and they take me for what I am.

I surround myself with rocks - people that are real, what I know what to expect from every time, people I can trust, people that are honest, people that are real.

The Niff and I are always talking about how the majority of the people we call friends are older than us and I think its more than just a maturity thing - I think a lot of these people just have the same values and ideals as us. Friends aren't just a number - they are there for you when you need them.

It's very important for me to surround myself with good people and to be a good person. I'm never sure if there is someone in the afterlife that will judge me, maybe there is. But I know that no one judges me more harshly than I do. I hold myself to a high standard. Everyone should.

Be accountable.
Be responsible.
Be trustworthy.
Be honest.
Be someone others aspire to be more like.
Be someone everyone wants around.
Be someone people can count on.

Just yesterday Flack and I started playing Halo again. Neither of us popped that disc in for at least a year. We had some rough outings but it wasn't all about the winning, we just wanted to have fun while trying to win. There is a big difference.

 

For the record - yes, I did drive us off a cliff yesterday which was followed by about 20 seconds of laughing so hard I couldn't breathe.

 And Flack loved it.

White Men Can Jump

This weekend I met up with Mark, Flack and his buddy, Steve, for lunch at the Backroom and to check out Wolverine. 

If you've never been to the Backroom before when you walk in it looks like all they would serve would be blue haired specials and pureed carrots. It's extremely dated looking, but it still has a nice feel to it. The menu is huge, the portions are massive, and there are all sorts of offerings (the menu has a spiral binding it's that big). What more could you ask for in a restaurant?

(excuse the insanely fuzzy picture)

While we are waiting for our food Steve looks up at the wooden beams above us and bets Flack he couldn't jump up and hit it. Looking at it myself from our seat I agreed. Now, we both know that Flack can jump through the roof - but this beam was looking pretty damn high.

Steve and I both used a waitress to sort of gauge the height and we were both confident he couldn't hit it. I bet him $10 he couldn't do it in 3 tries, Steve said he just wouldn't be able to do it at all or he'd buy Flack's movie ticket.

Now, because I'm stupid, I didn't take any pictures, but as you can imagine I've eaten at this place more than a few times so I still have pictures of the place on my phone, hence these images, but these are the very beams we were betting on.

So while we are sitting there, Flack stands up and talks to a waitress to tell her about the bet and she gives him a little runway, blocking off an area so he can attempt this feat of athleticism/stupidity in the midst of this fine eating establishment. Flack steps back maybe three steps at most, takes his three steps and hops into the air.

Easily slapping the beam.

What.The.Fuck.

This thing was at least 10 feet in the air, maybe 11. Maybe more. How the hell should I know. All I know is it was up there and he hit it.

In retrospect, we should have waited until after he ate, because then maybe the food would have weighed him down a bit. Then again, maybe not.

The fucked up part of all this is Flack has gone through multiple knee surgeries. And he can still jump higher than I could if I had a 3 foot step ladder.

We ate lunch and ventured down the street to see the movie. Personally, I'm a big comic book fan, a huge Wolverine fan, a bigtime Marvel fan and I thought it was fantastic. People that are looking for anything other than a comic-based movie will be disappointed. It's not an overly deep plot, it's pretty straight forward, designed to fill in the pieces for those that aren't familiar with the backstory of Wolverine. 

I had a great time with my homies - Mark as always is a fantastic guy, which shouldn't surprise anyone considering I've been friends with im since the 7th grade. Flack is one of those people you can make do stupid things on a bet in a heartbeat, which is always a good thing. Steve is a great guy too, he must be if he was Flack's bestman at his wedding. 

Good times with good people. Can't ask for more.

Except for some more refills on the soda.

Real life comics

I love comics of all kinds. I just posted a few of my favorites the other day. This is a classic as well.

You son of a bitch!

Three random things I've been chewing on:

• Flack found my guilty pleasure - Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Caught me training with his camera.

          This kid looks exactly like me. How insane is that???

• My sister and I have always thought about writing a book together. It seems as if this website has been peering inside our heads.
  
  
  
  (Giant burger between two large meat pizzas, eggs, bacon, colby and pepper jack cheese).
  
  Insane concoctions of food that most people would throw up just looking at. It's like food porn for me though. This is probably the best site ever.
  
• My life will only be complete when I meet the man that owns this:
  
  
  
  That's right - a Never Ending Story van. The other side has the sequel. Amazing.