Blog of Josh Hall

I guess it’s time for one of these.  I didn’t post anything in may, so let’s see…

New job…is rough at times.  No the work itself, but the people I work with.  There’s some serious tension in the group, and I don’t see it getting any better until *something* gives.  It’s a little ridiculous and unprofessional at times.  Not to mention I didn’t get the raise I was looking for.  It’s work though, and it’s a good place to be to make a move when I decide the time is right.

I’ve decided to make a summer goal of getting in shape for the urbanathlon in new york on september 27th.  andy vargo did it last year in chicago, and it really piqued my interest.  It’s a 7.2 mile race, but throughout the course, there are obstacles like jumping over taxi hoods, and median barriers, and park walls and such, and then at the end you have to run up 52 flights of stairs at world trade tower 7, so it works out to some 8.5 miles.  Pretty intense, right?  I think it will be awesome.  I’m not trying to compete, just finish it.  If I can get myself in shape for this thing, I’m really curious to see how I’ll look and feel.  I really will be in the best shape I’ve ever been in.

I’ve also picked up fencing lessons in the past few weeks.  Chris Olivieri asked me how much of a geek I was when he called me one day, and I said high to moderate levels of geekiness were seen, and then he asked me if i wanted to take fencing lessons.  I busted out laughing.  It’s actually pretty intense and fun.  I do feel like I’m learning a new skill, and I’m definitely getting a leg work out.  I could definitely see myself keeping a set of foils and masks in my closet for some outdoors fencing with friends.  I’ve done 2 out of 8 classes, so next time I should have a better idea of how good I am.

As far as music goes, nothing formal done with the penguins games going on.  I’ll pick up some open mic shows next week and keep those going and I’d like to just have some jam sessions with redfield and see where things go from there.  We were asked to play the cornerstone kick off on sunday august 24th, and that will be awesome if everyone works out.  It would be right in the bellefield parking lot, right across from the towers in oakland, and our music would permeate all the dorms and such.  I’m hoping everything goes well.

Nothing too much planned for the summer, have some vacation time, but I don’t think I’ll go anywhere.  It’s time to save money, and I traveled way too much last year.  Time to work on the homestead and read some books and such.

"No one can possibly win at roulette unless he steals money from the table while the croupier isn’t looking."

I’m a big fan of accent lights at night.  From lighted pathways, recessed ceiling lights, and now, glass kitchen counter tops.  I saw a show on TV where some baseball pro had their kitchen redone for "green" initiatives, and they had this huge island in the middle of the kitchen that would "breath" like the mac logo, in a nice calm cream color.  It was awesome.  here’s an article in the post gazette about a local person’s glass counter tops.  http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08145/884412-30.stm

Thanks to Seth from the Empty Netters blog and hope you enjoy the picture!

"The fact that the team is really young this year shows a lot of potential and exciting games for next year too.  Even if we can’t win this year, we still have a lot of hope and potential for next year too."

 – Deirdre Hall of the Hill District