Embracing My Singleness

One of the hardest things for me after I got out of a long term relationship was figuring what the heck I’d do with my time. I didn’t have someone wanting me to do this or that anymore. My life was again my life. It wasn’t something easy for me to comprehend, I’d forgot what it was like.

Last week, as noted in previous posts, I worked days and kept a busy schedule after I left my employer. I did Cleveland things, grilled out on the Superior Viaduct, went to a production at Quicken Loans Arena and got to see Omar at Progressive Field. Friday night, I went to Rock Bottom. The restaurant has anchored the Powerhouse for years.

I didn’t clear any of those visits with anyone. Anxiety didn’t fill my mind about deciding my priorities, I just did it. On Saturday, I volunteered at a non-profit organization and I loved every second of it. There’s confidentiality involved so I probably won’t detail much about my altruism. On Sunday, taawd rested.

At times, people have nicknamed me the “Mayor”. I know a lot of people and probably do too much a lot of handshaking and hugging around town. I’m proud of the people I know, I guess you could say it’s a hobby of mine. Meeting good people is my priority. That’s not something easily accomplished. You can meet a lot of people, but meeting quality people doesn’t happen often.

Those people are the ones who help me decide what I’m doing with my time. They’re the people who make me laugh, hope and leave with a smile on my face. If I want my alone time, it’s my decision not to answer the door, pick up the phone or return the text messsage. However, that sort of thing doesn’t happen that often because I love being around other people… good, quality people.

this blog entry partially inspired by my fellow blogger at the Cleveland Bachelor.

The Flat Are Fading

While walking over to meet my friend at Shooters, I snapped this picture from the West Bank of the Flats of all of the demolition going on on the other side of the Cuyahoga River.

The crews are working hard to bring down all of the buildings. It’s weird to sit at Shooters and be able to see Cleveland Browns Stadium. It’s weird to think I sat at the (then newly opened) John Harvard’s and no longer see it. It’s weird to know Jimmy’s is gone. It’s strange to see only the building that was Fagan’s, The Flagship of the Flats, sit just waiting for a wrecking ball. It’s strange to see Fado and Joe’s Crab Shack gone. Even though they were late in arriving for the Flats festivities.

The old East Bank of the Flats are fading but let’s hope the new one can still possess some of the old magic!

I Kissed A Girl…

Pop singer Katy Perry burst on the scene and made history with her new hit “I Kissed A Girl”.

She scored the Billboard Hot 100 chart’s 1,000th number one in the Rock era.

The singer’s single took the life out of Coldplay’s reign at the top of both the U.S. album and singles charts.

The song is no doubt catchy but it has parents around the nation, explaining to their kids why a girl is singing about kissing another girl and liking it.

Tweens and teenagers are bebopping around their houses and belting out the song, at the dismay of their parents.

Radio stations are taking complaints from parents who wish the song wouldn’t get the airplay it’s getting around the nation.

Katy Perry is the daughter of a pastor who began her career in the Contemporary Christian Music scene.

A simple search of the blogosphere will reveal the chagrin of parents. For me, it’s a good song, I can sing along to…

My Week: A Look Back

The last week was an interesting one.

I didn’t think I’d end up getting a stomach bug that would knock me out for Monday at work. My friend/co-worker’s father died so I worked dayside.

Tuesday quickly came and Stacie, Josh and I grilled out on the Viaduct. We forgot the fact that sometimes you want dessert after BBQ’ing. Next time, add s’mores ingredients to the grocery list.

Quickly up for Wednesday which proved to be a long day at work and play. I got out of work and rushed home to see the Dinosaurs. If you have young kids who aren’t afraid of very realistic dinosaurs, don’t hesitate to go. I didn’t get to post much of a review about “Walking With Dinosaurs” but the show is very well done. I think it’s just as fun for the adults to figure out how the dinosaurs work as it is for kids to see them in action. I was surprised at all of the kids around me knowing so much about the animals. They shouted out their names when they’d take the stage. There are some fun moments with the announcer when he talks about “poop”. Rodger, Rebecca, Stacie, Josh and I all had a good time. We stopped at Flat Iron Cafe for dinner after the show. The production at the Quicken Loans Arena started around 7:00pm and ended by 9:45pm with a 20-minute intermission.

Eight hours of sleep later, it was Thursday already. Jason, Russ, his friend and I braved the elements and watched the Indians take on the San Francisco Giants. We won but we didn’t sit through the entire game because it got started so late. The crowd gave Omar Vizquel a standing ovation as he returned again to the place he knew as Jacobs Field. We apparently made STO’s coverage of the game several times because of where our seats were. Several foul balls came whirling out our way. I think a fan got hit with a line drive foul ball. The ushers brought someone in to check the person out. I didn’t see them take the person out on a stretcher so I only could assume she was okay. I will have to admit if it got all of the way to me, it’d sure knocked me out. The Indians ended up winning the game by a score of 4 to 1. C’mon comeuppance!!

By Friday, I was tired by the time I left work. Josh, Dan and I went to Ro k Bottom to get some food and it was low-key. We played table shuffleboard, I took the first game against Dan. Josh won the next one but only by a couple of points. In bed and done by 11:30.

This morning, I’m off to volunteer at a non-profit. I get to hang with some kids and hopefully brighten their day with some ice cream. No plans yet for tonight but part of my day will be spent working out and cleaning up my place that is certifiably a bachelor pad. It’s a right mess!

Ah, Dayside…

I’m working dayside this week to help with the newscasts because of the absence of our managing editor.

Last week, he learned what no son wanted to hear, one of their parents had died.

He knew his father’s passing was coming soon, but didn’t know when. I hope you’ll take a second to read some of his blog entries about learning about his father’s deteriorating health.

You’ll find them on newsnet5.com.

More Thoughts On Instinct

The “Q” was my mp3 player. I used a Plantronics stereo bluetooth headset and/or Motorola (you can see what happened to it – currently being replaced by Motorola) At any rate, I don’t think the Instinct’s volume through the Plantronics is loud enough. I’ve cranked up the volume on both the phone and the headsets. I could still hear ambient noises.

I like the alarm feature that allows you to choose the Monday through Friday feature. That’s something the “Q” didn’t offer.

The constant “locking” feature is annoying. As of this writing, I haven’t found a way to control the timeout feature, there may not be one. I just wish it would dim the screen and allow you to wake it out of the standby mode by touching the screen. Again, this is something that’s not a choice for the user to decide.

I have started to take advantage of putting things on the “Favorites”. I didn’t understand that you could choose “Applications” and put some of them on the “Favorites” screen.