We become such worse friends as we get older
Jun/100
I cleaned my room today. I don’t really like cleaning my room. Now don’t get me wrong I love having a clean room. Having a clean room is something that is important to me. It’s just that whenever I clean my room I inevitably find something that reminds me of someone, some place, some thing that I didn’t really want to think about. Today is no exception. Today, I found this picture:
This photo reminds me of a lot of things. It reminds me of the time I thought it was a good idea to shave a line in my left eyebrow because I thought it looked cool (like Spike). It reminds me of Muska, my crazy ass dog with a mole on his nose that we named after skater Chad Muska during my brief “I think I want to start skateboarding” phase. Was he tied up in the backyard here? Was he in the house getting into something, chewing up something? Was he doing that crazy howl he used to do that drove the old neighbors crazy? Maybe he was playing in the yard with Shannon, my big (like 250 pounds) black friend from Philadelphia who defied stereotypes by spending way too much time playing video games. Was he at the house? Was he on his way over? It was probably a Saturday. We’re probably grilling out. Our neighbors seemed cool. It reminds me of Tacoma and this house we lived in. There was so much fun we had there, but when I look at this picture mostly it just reminds me of the photographer and the guy cutting my hair.
Katy, my girlfriend from high school, the first person I ever loved who quit school because she didn’t want to lose me and came to live in Alabama and then went back to school because I came with her. I liked her a lot. She was the perfect person for me at that point in my life. I really screwed up that relationship.
Then there’s John, her best friend from college who became my best friend when I moved there. He was probably one of the nicest guys I’ve ever known in my life. He was so easy going and always willing to help a friend. We had a lot of fun and we were friends from the first day I arrived. He was a really great guy. It’s really no wonder she started dating him after me. I would have done the same thing.
An interesting time at the ballpark
May/100
Last Sunday I worked during the day and came home. Like I often do when I get home I checked my email, checked facebook and checked out my Miller Park Drunk twitter account. I saw that one of my friends on twitter, wezen-ball a real clever baseball blog, had an extra ticket to Sunday’s Brewers game, but had no one to go with. Now, I’d never met him before, but I thought we had a decent rapport from our online interactions (and his girlfriend is one of MPD’s biggest fans) and I figured it’d be a good experience so I asked him if he wanted me to come with. Three hours later I was meeting him outside of Miller Park and we were on our way to our seats for the Milwaukee Brewers vs Philadelphia Phillies game.
I have to say that I had a really good time. He was really intelligent and I was able to talk to him about certain baseball related topics that I wouldn’t be able to talk about with most of my friends. (This isn’t meant as a dis on my friends, of course, but there are some things that only guys who are big enough nerds to blog about baseball for fun would understand.) We also did a fair share of talking about blogging and what it’s like, and what you get out of it. During the game he checked his twitter account and came to find out that one of the contributors from Yahoo’s Big League Stew (my favorite baseball blog), Answer Dave, was at the game and because of wezen-ball’s popularity he wanted to leave the press box to come and sit with us. And he did.
Work
Sep/092
The other night I was listening to the Adam Carolla podcast as I always do (I honestly can’t recommend it enough) and his guest was Greg Fitzsimmons who is a comedian. It was one of the best podcasts he’s ever done as they clicked great and really had an engaging conversation. A part of their conversation turned to the subject of work and how some people think that Adam wouldn’t be anything without Jimmy Kimmel or how people think that success is more of a result of “right place, right time” than any sort of work or drive. The basic gist of the conversation was that if you really want to do something and you really work at it that you can do it. Being in the right place at the right time doesn’t exist because the only reason you are even considered is because you are dedicated to what you are doing and you are actually good at it.
Now, at the same time I have been thinking about work a lot lately. I don’t really like being a twenty-eight year old waiter, but it is what is. The thing about working is that I used to try and do the whole hard work thing. I worked in warehouses, I worked construction (VERY briefly), I worked at awful factories where they made carpet and another one where they made roofing tar (only time I’ve ever been fired) and all these shit jobs I had didn’t pay shit. I was a manager at a furniture store and I didn’t make shit. Then when I started serving I started making more money than I have ever made and working less than I ever had. Beyond that I was good at it. So now I am at this point where I should probably find something better to do, but there isn’t something better for me to do. I can get another job, but the odds are it will pay less or if it pays the same I will work a lot more hours. It’s not a real good situation. I should do that whole “find something you love” thing.
I have a couple of buddies who I actually believe love what they do. You can tell when they talk about what they are doing, that the words that are coming out of their mouth are describing something they are proud of. I’ve never really talked to them about it, but I don’t think that I really have to. It’s like if someone is eating a meatball sandwich and you say to them “Hey, do you like meatballs?” I mean, what the fuck? In my intense thinking about this topic I realize that every so often I get that same tone in my voice when I talk about Miller Park Drunk. Now, I don’t think I can do that for a living. Even writing for Decider I only ended up making about $100/an article and that’s not enough to support myself either. Especially when I’ve only done it twice (well, twice as of next week) in two months and baseball season is ending. I will never sell that site or join a blog network. Advertising has made me maybe $50 bucks for the whole season. Miller Park Drunk as a career is never going to happen, but what I realized is that doesn’t really matter.
When Carolla talks about making it on the podcast the so-called right time, right place “break” was becoming a guest star on a morning talk show in LA. His big break wasn’t even really a paying job. What I realize is that Miller Park Drunk is MY right place, right time break. I started a funny Brewers blog coming off the biggest season in the team’s history and I gained a pretty decent sized audience in a hurry. What I want to do hasn’t changed (entertainment in some form of movies/TV/books/internet), but now I have created my own “break” and gained myself a little bit of notice. Miller Park Drunk isn’t what makes me successful, but it’s a start and that’s more than I’ve ever had before.
Look at me accomplishing goals, writing professionally
Jul/090
Pretty much since I can remember wanting to do something I wanted to be a writer. Movies, books, magazines, in flight catalogs, anything. It didn’t matter. I just knew that it was something that I could do and something that I thought I would enjoy doing. Well, after years of NOT doing anything to make that a reality I have finally made my first step.
In February of this year I started Miller Park Drunk. It was meant to just be a distraction, something to get me through the days while filling the void in my life to talk/write about baseball. Well, as it got going I started to realize more and more that it was better off as a comedy blog about baseball than any sort of serious baseball blog that featured comedy. As soon as I realized that the blog really took off. Currently, it’s averaging over 300 a day and has had almost 20,000 visitors since it’s debut. Of course, there is no money involved. I do it for the adulation. People don’t make money off the internet. Unless they get an email like this:
I’m the Milwaukee city editor for Decider.com, the local version of The Onion A.V. Club. I’m writing because I’m a fan of your blog and I was wondering if you’d like to write a guest column for our weekly “Talkin’ Baseball” feature devoted to the Brewers.
I’m basically looking for you to bring some of that Miller Park Drunk magic to Decider. I envision the column being a lot like a Miller Park Drunk post, except a little longer and maybe with a few more swear words.
If you’re interested, we can start talking about ideas and deadlines. And, yes, we will pay you for this.
Of course I said yes and today that article is running. I did as I was asked and made it longer with more swear words, then turned it into an editor who didn’t make too many changes. They titled it Miller Park Drunk’s Guide To How Not Be a Brewers Fan (which I’m not sure makes complete sense when read aloud) and I can now call myself a professional writer. Why? Because professional’s get paid. No matter how immature they are. 
