Beer is the new water, according to the Boston Globe. And I quote, "Early last month, medical researchers at Spain's University of Granada called a press conference to announce their findings on the thirst-quenching properties of beer. In a study, 25 university students, after exhausting themselves on a treadmill in 104-degree heat, had been given either water or Spanish lager to drink. According to the University of Granada team, it was the beer that, by a slender margin, proved more effective at rehydrating the students, thanks to its bubbles, salts, and carbohydrates.
VICTORYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!
Article at http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/articles/2007/12/30/the_new_new_things_of_2007/
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Friday, December 28, 2007
Christmas Break
Are there five more boring days in the world than Dec. 26-30? If you're like me, you wake up at noon, eat cereal, watch a movie, convince one of your family members that you need to go spend a gift certificate, do that, realize it only took 45 minutes (Fuck!), watch another movie, and then because you and your twin brother are so bored, you go out drinking at a bar. Then you get home at midnight, drink another beer and watch reruns of Scrubs, go to bed at 3am, and do it all again the next day. Sometimes you go out to a movie instead of a to a bar. Other days you throw in a family game of Monopoly or Risk. It's all just stalling for time until you get to go back to school.
Some of you are freshmen or sophomores and you still have high school friends who you hang out with. But if you're like me, you live in Charlotte, NC and the only people you know are kids whose parents have forced them to hang out with you because the parents are friends with your mom. We call those "play dates."
Me: "Really mom? You set us up on another play date where we are forced to pretend we like some kid we met for the first time and then be interested in demolition derbies, deer hunting, and the Appalachian State Mountaineers? Thanks!!"
Mom: "You guys can try to have a positive attitude on this."
Me: "When have you known either of us to have positive attitudes?"
This happens all too often.
You ask me how I survived a whole summer here? I spent lots of time at my job, I spent about two or three hours each night running and going to the gym, and I drank a glass of a wine (or three) each night. It helped.
So these five days are pretty much a Purgatory until I get to ascend into the Heaven that is driving up to DC to drink for three days with my older brother and his friends. Don't ask me how that can be compared to Heaven. It's just gotta be better than hanging out in Charlotte. We're leaving tomorrow and staying through Tuesday, when I'll be driving back down to Charlotte to resume the aforementioned fast-lane lifestyle until I head back up to Boston for early return.
And your next response:
Puzzled Reader: "Bloom, why don't you just drive up to Boston after DC rather than spending the next week in Charlotte."
Me: "Well for some odd reason, my family likes it when I come home, which I can only assume to be because misery loves company."
Puzzled Reader: "Dude, sucks man."
- Bloom
Some of you are freshmen or sophomores and you still have high school friends who you hang out with. But if you're like me, you live in Charlotte, NC and the only people you know are kids whose parents have forced them to hang out with you because the parents are friends with your mom. We call those "play dates."
Me: "Really mom? You set us up on another play date where we are forced to pretend we like some kid we met for the first time and then be interested in demolition derbies, deer hunting, and the Appalachian State Mountaineers? Thanks!!"
Mom: "You guys can try to have a positive attitude on this."
Me: "When have you known either of us to have positive attitudes?"
This happens all too often.
You ask me how I survived a whole summer here? I spent lots of time at my job, I spent about two or three hours each night running and going to the gym, and I drank a glass of a wine (or three) each night. It helped.
So these five days are pretty much a Purgatory until I get to ascend into the Heaven that is driving up to DC to drink for three days with my older brother and his friends. Don't ask me how that can be compared to Heaven. It's just gotta be better than hanging out in Charlotte. We're leaving tomorrow and staying through Tuesday, when I'll be driving back down to Charlotte to resume the aforementioned fast-lane lifestyle until I head back up to Boston for early return.
And your next response:
Puzzled Reader: "Bloom, why don't you just drive up to Boston after DC rather than spending the next week in Charlotte."
Me: "Well for some odd reason, my family likes it when I come home, which I can only assume to be because misery loves company."
Puzzled Reader: "Dude, sucks man."
- Bloom
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Merry Movies and Chinese Food Day
So I figured that while I'm sitting here adding Puff Daddy and The Family's single of "Been Around the World" and "It's All About the Benjamins" (Rock Version) to my iTunes, I'd update the inquiring readers of this blog about my Christmas (as we Christians refer to December 25, you heathens).
Loot:
- Dunkin Donuts gift card ($40), Dunkin Donuts ground coffee (12-pound bag), and new coffee maker (my parents are not helping my caffeine addiction)
- Season 5 of "24" (I got this for my birthday -- my mom is losing it)
- A New Balance winter running shirt (will come in handy for my three-mile training runs during early return)
- An Abercrombie & Fitch sweatshirt thingy. As you can see, this is definitely my style, except mine is orange and says "-CC->" -- that's why my mom bought it (this thing smells awful)
- Boys of Summer (should be good)
- Stephen Colbert's new book (we'll see)
- An Olympus voice recorder that has a computer adapter -- pretty sweet
And the highlight of the gift giving -- my dad presented my twin brother with a ball signed by Chase Utley that the Phillies sent us. They sent it to us because my dad asked them to give him a ball after my brother dropped a game-breaking pinch-hit two-out grand slam that literally hit him and bounced onto the field. I wrote a column about it back in the day and my dad sent it to the Phillies as proof that my brother deserved the ball. They thought it was a great idea and agreed.
This goes down in Bloom lore of great presents along with when my twin brother and I convinced a staffer at our congressman's office to send my mom (an INCREDIBLY ardent Democrat) a birthday card from President Bush (an official birthday card sent by the White House). She was pissed. Good times.
Merry Christmas all. Except you heathens out there.
- Bloom
Loot:
- Dunkin Donuts gift card ($40), Dunkin Donuts ground coffee (12-pound bag), and new coffee maker (my parents are not helping my caffeine addiction)
- Season 5 of "24" (I got this for my birthday -- my mom is losing it)
- A New Balance winter running shirt (will come in handy for my three-mile training runs during early return)
- An Abercrombie & Fitch sweatshirt thingy. As you can see, this is definitely my style, except mine is orange and says "-CC->" -- that's why my mom bought it (this thing smells awful)
- Boys of Summer (should be good)
- Stephen Colbert's new book (we'll see)
- An Olympus voice recorder that has a computer adapter -- pretty sweet
And the highlight of the gift giving -- my dad presented my twin brother with a ball signed by Chase Utley that the Phillies sent us. They sent it to us because my dad asked them to give him a ball after my brother dropped a game-breaking pinch-hit two-out grand slam that literally hit him and bounced onto the field. I wrote a column about it back in the day and my dad sent it to the Phillies as proof that my brother deserved the ball. They thought it was a great idea and agreed.
This goes down in Bloom lore of great presents along with when my twin brother and I convinced a staffer at our congressman's office to send my mom (an INCREDIBLY ardent Democrat) a birthday card from President Bush (an official birthday card sent by the White House). She was pissed. Good times.
Merry Christmas all. Except you heathens out there.
- Bloom
Monday, December 17, 2007
Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (or Hanukkah)
Time to start posting again.
We're having a Christmas movie marathon tomorrow at Bromfield, so for all of you that read this blog, come on over around 6pm and join myself and Sam for some holiday fun. We're not making cookies. We might drink beer though. It won't be wintery-flavored.
On tap:
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
A Christmas Story
It's A Wonderful Life
I love all of these movies. You should too.
- Bloom
We're having a Christmas movie marathon tomorrow at Bromfield, so for all of you that read this blog, come on over around 6pm and join myself and Sam for some holiday fun. We're not making cookies. We might drink beer though. It won't be wintery-flavored.
On tap:
National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation
A Christmas Story
It's A Wonderful Life
I love all of these movies. You should too.
- Bloom
Sunday, September 2, 2007
Katie Rizz isn't funny
apparently 55.43 does not equal 80 something LOLOLOLOLOLOLOL you're so funny.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
The most degenerate brom party ever: Marcy's 21st
In my long, illustrious collegiate career I've seen more than my fair share of degenerate, retarded, shit-show parties. Of these, tonight's celebration was the pinnacle.
Things that happened:
1) Dub got drunker than I've ever seen him
2) Dub and Sam were flipping for 100s of dollars at a time. At one point Sam was down $600. This was all accompanied by screaming and instigation from the crowd. They flipped like 50 hands.
3) Dub and Shanley raced and Shanley bashed into a car
4) Gary got more retarded than I've ever seen him and hid his own keys and promptly forgot where he put them. He then spent a long time searching for them, finally found them, unlocked his room, and then forgot he unlocked his room and tried to search for his keys again. He was also falling off chairs and shit.
5) Shanley was absolutely retarded and tried to make out with me. He also fell off the beer fridge.
6) Nora got dangerously drunk and has been cared for by Katrine for the last 2.5 hours while she has been lying on the bathroom floor of apt. #1
7) Tilton got both high and drunk and engaged in some fight with a random kid.
8) Marcy (it being his birthday) passed out on top of the garbage on our back porch. He also assaulted me, and I was forced to try to finger his asshole so that he would relinquish his hold.
9) A lot of guitar hero was played, along with beirut (often accompanied by prop betting).
Frankly, I don't know how the cops weren't called tonight, especially since there was a lot of screaming outside. I've stayed sober through the whole ordeal, and am in shock: tonight I witnessed the lowest tier of human nature. I have been reminded why I love this house.
Things that happened:
1) Dub got drunker than I've ever seen him
2) Dub and Sam were flipping for 100s of dollars at a time. At one point Sam was down $600. This was all accompanied by screaming and instigation from the crowd. They flipped like 50 hands.
3) Dub and Shanley raced and Shanley bashed into a car
4) Gary got more retarded than I've ever seen him and hid his own keys and promptly forgot where he put them. He then spent a long time searching for them, finally found them, unlocked his room, and then forgot he unlocked his room and tried to search for his keys again. He was also falling off chairs and shit.
5) Shanley was absolutely retarded and tried to make out with me. He also fell off the beer fridge.
6) Nora got dangerously drunk and has been cared for by Katrine for the last 2.5 hours while she has been lying on the bathroom floor of apt. #1
7) Tilton got both high and drunk and engaged in some fight with a random kid.
8) Marcy (it being his birthday) passed out on top of the garbage on our back porch. He also assaulted me, and I was forced to try to finger his asshole so that he would relinquish his hold.
9) A lot of guitar hero was played, along with beirut (often accompanied by prop betting).
Frankly, I don't know how the cops weren't called tonight, especially since there was a lot of screaming outside. I've stayed sober through the whole ordeal, and am in shock: tonight I witnessed the lowest tier of human nature. I have been reminded why I love this house.
Monday, July 23, 2007
The Reunion of Team Oceola
For those of you who were at camp last year, you might remember the success of Team Oceola. After running 22 miles in 2 days, we hiked up Mt. Oceola (an event that directly led to the breaking of Marcelo.)
This weekend we decided to have a reunion trip. The proposed target was Mt. Hancock and South Hancock, which provided great views of Mt. Oceola (but which we soon realized was a much harder climb for a less impressive summit.)
The crew included: PG, me, Chad, Tilton, Sorensen, Churry, and Rony.
We left Teele at 9:30, to drive up to the Mt. Hancock trailhead. After a lot of stream crossings we started to climb. For some reason (maybe because we’re all runners) we started to pick up the pace as we climbed, and when we finally reached the summit we were all dead. The summit was a little disappointing because it was wooded so there was only a small cleared area. But the cleared area provided views far into the White Mountains, and because there were no roads or cars or other people visible, you really got the feeling that you were in the middle of a wilderness. There were also birds at the top which would eat food right of your hand. Of course, this terrified me, since most birds sort of creep me out, (my whole family is like this, I don’t know why, maybe something happened to us when we were little that we don’t remember) but it was a lot of fun for people who don’t have ornithophobia (yes I just wikipediaed that.) The hike down was uneventful except we all reached the bottom famished and exhausted.
After finishing the hike, we went back to Peter’s house and discovered that his parent’s had left behind a large quantity of high-class alcohol. This was tempting. We also went to the club by his house to use the hot tub. Evidently Loon Mountain does not attract a lot of college-age girls in the summertime. However, it does have a plethora of middle-aged women. And as I quickly found out, the best possible conversation starter with middle-aged women is having a Harry Potter book by your side. No less than 3 separate women started conversations with me about the book, and I think I was getting somewhere with 2 women sitting in the pool (who could best be described as elderly) before everyone else decided that they were ready to leave.
After the hot tub we went to the Woodstock Inn for dinner. This (judging from the 45 minute wait) seemed to be the center of nightlife of Lincoln, New Hampshire. During the wait I ordered a beer, and I started to feel drunk. Then I started embarrassing myself. This began with me changing my side order three times in the 2 minutes the waitress was at the table. I then just started scarfing down any food that came to the table, until I finally hit my massive steak sandwich which I couldn’t finish.
After dinner we went mini golfing at Hobo Village. This is by far the nicest mini-golf I’ve ever played on, and one of my favorite places ever. Tilton won overall, and Phase 1 (people still in College) defeated Phase 2 (people out of college) pretty handily. The highlight of the game were drunk people in front of us and behind us. From the people behind us, speaking about Gorranson:
Drunk Girl: Look it, there’s the kid that sucks!
Drunk Boyfriend: Hysterical laughter
The people in front of us was a family. But the mother was drinking a pink liquid (which we assumed to be alcohol) out of a thermos, while mumbling nonsense to her two daughters. Her father (I think) was probably the worst mini-golf player I’ve ever seen, and I have to assume he was drunk. Overall the mini golf trip was a success and Chad even won a free (though probably never to be used) game.
Following golf we headed back to Gorranson’s house. Someone had the idea to make Strawberry Daquiri’s, partially because there was mix and rum, and partially because that’s the natural choice to make when 7 guys are hanging out and drinking. I passed out shortly after this, partially because I’m kind of lame, and partially because I was exhausted from the hike. I think a lot of Taboo went on upstairs, along with other funny stuff, but someone who was awake should probably write about this, since it probably warrants a blog post on its own. Tilton?
The next morning we got up and went for our long run. We did the same 12 mile loop we did at camp last year, except this time we added on by going to Franconia Falls. Franconia Falls is a natural waterslide, which ends with a 6 or 7 foot drop. While this was a lot of fun, the less strong swimmers of the group (me, churry) were pulled by the current back towards the waterfall, which was a little scary. There were also two girls there, sunning themselves. They kept looking at us, we (I) thought.
For lunch we grilled up Cow #23 from the Gorranson family farm, along with some other bbq stuff. It was delicious. Then everyone watched the end of Homeward Bound (except for me-I was reading Harry Potter).
Finally, before heading home we tried to go to Echo Lake. The highway to Echo Lake was one of the best drives I’ve been on because you’re in a valley, surrounded by mountains on all sides. Upon finding that it cost 3 dollars a person to enter, we tried to drive around to the other side, which was technically a boat launch. However, there we were accosted by a Franconia police, who casually informed us that this was a boat launch , not a public beach. When asked why a handful of other people could sit on the beach, he mumbled something about fishing licenses and people waiting for boats. Since we didn’t really feel like arguing, we left and visited the Basin instead. The Basin was essentially Franconia Falls, except with a lot more fat people (because it was road accessible) and no waterslide. On the plus side it did have a pretty cool sounding name.
We returned back to the Condo, cleaned up, and left for Boston. Since I lost my contacts, Tilton drove my car back (probably better than I would’ve) and at one point we nearly ran out of gas, but eventually we got back safely. Overall I would say it was a very fun trip, and I’m sure we will have a reunion of the reunion of team Oceola at some point in the near future.
Sam
This weekend we decided to have a reunion trip. The proposed target was Mt. Hancock and South Hancock, which provided great views of Mt. Oceola (but which we soon realized was a much harder climb for a less impressive summit.)
The crew included: PG, me, Chad, Tilton, Sorensen, Churry, and Rony.
We left Teele at 9:30, to drive up to the Mt. Hancock trailhead. After a lot of stream crossings we started to climb. For some reason (maybe because we’re all runners) we started to pick up the pace as we climbed, and when we finally reached the summit we were all dead. The summit was a little disappointing because it was wooded so there was only a small cleared area. But the cleared area provided views far into the White Mountains, and because there were no roads or cars or other people visible, you really got the feeling that you were in the middle of a wilderness. There were also birds at the top which would eat food right of your hand. Of course, this terrified me, since most birds sort of creep me out, (my whole family is like this, I don’t know why, maybe something happened to us when we were little that we don’t remember) but it was a lot of fun for people who don’t have ornithophobia (yes I just wikipediaed that.) The hike down was uneventful except we all reached the bottom famished and exhausted.
After finishing the hike, we went back to Peter’s house and discovered that his parent’s had left behind a large quantity of high-class alcohol. This was tempting. We also went to the club by his house to use the hot tub. Evidently Loon Mountain does not attract a lot of college-age girls in the summertime. However, it does have a plethora of middle-aged women. And as I quickly found out, the best possible conversation starter with middle-aged women is having a Harry Potter book by your side. No less than 3 separate women started conversations with me about the book, and I think I was getting somewhere with 2 women sitting in the pool (who could best be described as elderly) before everyone else decided that they were ready to leave.
After the hot tub we went to the Woodstock Inn for dinner. This (judging from the 45 minute wait) seemed to be the center of nightlife of Lincoln, New Hampshire. During the wait I ordered a beer, and I started to feel drunk. Then I started embarrassing myself. This began with me changing my side order three times in the 2 minutes the waitress was at the table. I then just started scarfing down any food that came to the table, until I finally hit my massive steak sandwich which I couldn’t finish.
After dinner we went mini golfing at Hobo Village. This is by far the nicest mini-golf I’ve ever played on, and one of my favorite places ever. Tilton won overall, and Phase 1 (people still in College) defeated Phase 2 (people out of college) pretty handily. The highlight of the game were drunk people in front of us and behind us. From the people behind us, speaking about Gorranson:
Drunk Girl: Look it, there’s the kid that sucks!
Drunk Boyfriend: Hysterical laughter
The people in front of us was a family. But the mother was drinking a pink liquid (which we assumed to be alcohol) out of a thermos, while mumbling nonsense to her two daughters. Her father (I think) was probably the worst mini-golf player I’ve ever seen, and I have to assume he was drunk. Overall the mini golf trip was a success and Chad even won a free (though probably never to be used) game.
Following golf we headed back to Gorranson’s house. Someone had the idea to make Strawberry Daquiri’s, partially because there was mix and rum, and partially because that’s the natural choice to make when 7 guys are hanging out and drinking. I passed out shortly after this, partially because I’m kind of lame, and partially because I was exhausted from the hike. I think a lot of Taboo went on upstairs, along with other funny stuff, but someone who was awake should probably write about this, since it probably warrants a blog post on its own. Tilton?
The next morning we got up and went for our long run. We did the same 12 mile loop we did at camp last year, except this time we added on by going to Franconia Falls. Franconia Falls is a natural waterslide, which ends with a 6 or 7 foot drop. While this was a lot of fun, the less strong swimmers of the group (me, churry) were pulled by the current back towards the waterfall, which was a little scary. There were also two girls there, sunning themselves. They kept looking at us, we (I) thought.
For lunch we grilled up Cow #23 from the Gorranson family farm, along with some other bbq stuff. It was delicious. Then everyone watched the end of Homeward Bound (except for me-I was reading Harry Potter).
Finally, before heading home we tried to go to Echo Lake. The highway to Echo Lake was one of the best drives I’ve been on because you’re in a valley, surrounded by mountains on all sides. Upon finding that it cost 3 dollars a person to enter, we tried to drive around to the other side, which was technically a boat launch. However, there we were accosted by a Franconia police, who casually informed us that this was a boat launch , not a public beach. When asked why a handful of other people could sit on the beach, he mumbled something about fishing licenses and people waiting for boats. Since we didn’t really feel like arguing, we left and visited the Basin instead. The Basin was essentially Franconia Falls, except with a lot more fat people (because it was road accessible) and no waterslide. On the plus side it did have a pretty cool sounding name.
We returned back to the Condo, cleaned up, and left for Boston. Since I lost my contacts, Tilton drove my car back (probably better than I would’ve) and at one point we nearly ran out of gas, but eventually we got back safely. Overall I would say it was a very fun trip, and I’m sure we will have a reunion of the reunion of team Oceola at some point in the near future.
Sam
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