An explanation

So where have I been the past four months you might ask? I've been busy, not quite feeling myself, and sadly, the blog has suffered as a result. The past week at work has been painfully slow, so I decided what better time to reacquaint myself with my blog. What have I been up to? Here's a quick month by month rundown:

September
Started off great. Headed west for Labor Day weekend to San Diego to hang out with Brian Gilb and run the Disneyland 1/2 Marathon. Did ok (finished in 2:45) for not really training. The middle of the month brought a devastating blow. George Parks, director of the UMMB and one of the reasons I went to UMass, died suddenly on the way to Michigan. I was shocked and saddened, and was pretty much in a haze my entire trip to Michigan. After the UMMB performed at The Big House, I expected him to jump out of the stands. Sadly, that never happened. The following Monday, I was on my way to work and there was a brief mention of his death on 98.5 and I burst into tears. It wasn't pretty.

October
Oakmont kicked into high gear and we had a competition and I also went with Nick LaPete to NYC to see Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson and American Idiot (yes, for the 3rd time. Billie Joe Armstrong was in it. Couldn't pass it up) the first weekend. The rest of the month was pretty uneventful. Went to a wedding of a friend in Providence which was fun, and Oakmont was crowned USSBA Division III Open New England champions again.

November
Started out the month with a trip to NYC and Annapolis with the Marching Spartans to see The Phantom of the Opera and compete in the USSBA National Championships. was ok, and the band came in 12th in Nationals. Not bad, but they could have done better. Paid a return visit to NYC the following weekend to catch Al Pacino in The Merchant of Venice, which was pretty awesome. I was supposed to run in the Philadelphia Half Marathon, but because of my stress injury, that didn't happen. Went to Philly anyways and went to the Eagles/Giants SNF game thanks to Rachel. I don't really like football, but it was cool to go to a game (it was actually my 2nd professional game, saw the Lions/Eagles play when I was in Michigan. I've seen the Eagles more times than I've seen the Patriots). November ended with a great Thanksgiving, and my leg starting to get better.

December
My favorite month of the year - I love the holidays. Decorations, Christmas trees, being the one month it's socially acceptable to listen to "All I Want for Christmas Is You" on repeat, etc...Marathon training started again for the Museum team. I won't be running, but I'll train with them during the winter. Jess and I both ran the Somerville Jingle-bell 5K and got accepted into the NYC Half Marathon in March. Nick Druar and Miss Alison Hay and I did some awesome community service with Harpoon Helps and UMass got blown-out by BC at the Garden (that all happened on the same day). And of course, last week was CHRISTMAS! I got a sweet blu-ray player and a new pair of running shoes.

Whats on tap for 2011? FINALLY seeing Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark and the final performance of In the Heights in January, a trip to Spain in February, the NYC Half Marathon in March and a whole lot of other stuff.

My resolutions for 2011? I know this one has come up before, but this time I'll have help behind me, but my goal is to become financially responsible and get out of debt. I also have a goal to get back into my old running habits and try and do a half marathon a month, with the end goal being running Boston again in 2012. I think two is enough, and those are pretty major.

And what would a blog update be without some film chat? Here are some quick takes over the past couple months:

The Kids are All Right - wasn't impressed, and thought it was pretty MEH. C
The Town - Ben Affleck's sophomore directorial effort and it was excellent. One of my top 10 of 2010. A
The Social Network - pleasantly surprised at how much I liked this, Aaron Sorkin's dialogue is razor-sharp. I can't wait to see it again on blu-ray January 11th. A
127 Hours - Heart-stopping. Danny Boyle can do no wrong and James Franco was outstanding. A-
Black Swan - Don't even know where to start. I saw this a month ago and am STILL thinking about it. Natalie Portman is a revelation. Darren Aronofsky, you've arrived. A
The Fighter - Christian Bale gives a (pun intended) knock-out performance, as well as the rest of the leading cast. A-
The King's Speech - Good, not great. Colin Firth was excellent, but after all of the hype, I was expecting more. B+
Winter's Bone - Just caught this on DVD and I was riveted for most of it (it got off to a slow start). Jennifer Lawrence was great. B+

Seeing True Grit tomorrow and Blue Valentine sometime next week and my movie-going in 2010 will be complete. A couple of films to catch up on once they're on DVD/blu-ray, namely Animal Kingdom, Get Low and The Tilman Story.

That's about it for this re-start. My goal is to update once or twice a week in the coming year. Next post will probably be my top 10 of 2010, followed by a review of the highly anticipated (and highly problematic) Spider-Man: Turn off the Dark.

Happy New Year!