On We Need Girlfriends and Passing Time

"And the rain won't make any difference?
-No."
-Ernest Hemingway, A Farewell To Arms

Hey guys.

As I stated last time around, this blog isn't really going anywhere at this point. I'm not finding the time to write, but even worse, my words elude me. I'm having a hard time just sitting down and writing, and when I go through my notes, I can't seem to find anything useful. That's not to say nothing happens to me--although, in fairness, little does. Life sort of drags along, and I'm sure the World Cup has something to do with that. Then again, maybe I'm looking for cheap excuses.

In fact, I think I am. Over the past few months I've been having this same recurring thought, and I can't seem to shake it. Perhaps I should--I should just act on it. But I can't, and I don't want to. I know it sounds ridiculously sad and almost pathetic, but right now, I'm not living. I'm surviving. I work, I go to the shop to buy food and drinks, I work out and I'll read or watch TV to relax. That's basically what my life looks like right now, and it's so incredibly sad. I know it's temporary--it is. The World Cup has transformed me into a nocturnal creature, effectively destroying what was left of my social life, but it'll pass.

I'm currently talking to the company I work for and the people I work with regarding the future. I've been getting a lot of feedback in the past few weeks, from both my editors and the powers that be. Everyone seems very excited about my contributions, and I really like my job. I realise I'm just producing sports news--It's not rocket science or the next great novel. It's not important, but it's what I do. And I'm more than okay with that. As far as job satisfaction goes, it's on par with being a surf instructor and lightyears beyond the other menial jobs I once had.

But at the same time, I realise it's just a job. It doesn't define who I am, and if push comes to shove, I will never choose my job over my own happiness. I truly hope it won't come to that, because it took me a long time to find a form of employment I'd feel comfortable with doing for the foreseeable future. And I'm good at it. I may just be a sportswriter, or a breaking news writer, but I'm a good writer. I know it's usually not reflected in the quality of this blog, but then again, I prefer to have a glass of wine (or scotch) sitting next to me when I write this steaming pile of garbage.

Soit. As much as I'd like to go all emo-Gianni on you folks, it's not what you'd want to read at this given time and I haven't written you in ages (for yes indeed, I'm still writing you and not just treating this blog as my personal diary. That is one piece of writing you'd rather not encounter). So, let's dive into what life has looked like in the past week.

Yes, I'm am angry at what happened with my beloved Azzurri today. They didn't deserve qualification for the round of 16, but neither did Uruguay. Not after everything that went down today. You've read all about it already (or you will), so I won't go any deeper into this. For once, it now seems Belgium will be the team I'm rooting for during the knockout stages, and the USA would be another favoured team should they qualify (that last-minute goal was seriously painful). Sports are awesome, people, and this World Cup has delivered.

A friend of mine was looking for a new TV show to binge-watch a couple of days ago, so naturally she reached out to me. I ranked some of the usual suspects and a couple of the shows I'm currently watching, and she was particularly intrigued by Community (duh), Suits (they wear suits and the soundtrack is SO good) and Once Upon A Time (who doesn't like fairy tales?). But then I suggested We Need Girlfriends.

Now, WNG has a special place in my heart. It's a very low-budget, simple Youtube series that only ran for one season, and you can go through all of the 10 episodes in less than one hour. It's your basic amateur film-maker project, but when I was 17 or 18 years old, I loved it. And I still can't figure out why. It was so low-budget and so bad, and yet it was awesome. I remember the disappointement I felt when the series finally was pushed back by a month because they couldn't get the budget working, and I still have my two T-shirts (Team Henry and Squirrel, the most unexpected birthday presents I ever received). It's truly awesome and well worth a watch. It grows on you, as the first few episodes are weird, kind of dull and ridiculously short (the first episode is like four minutes long). Once you get to the Myspace episode (yes, it's that old) or Rod vs Henry, it gets so, so awesome. In fact, here's the trailer. And here's the epic trailer for the second part of the series. And just for fun: Romance Advice With Rod (I am such a fanboy).

Because WNG is just a webseries and none of the actors actually ever made it (except for Patrick Cohen, who plays Tom and had a cameo as a waiter somewhere but I can't quite remember, I think it was Flight of the Conchords), these guys are just out there these days. I loved Seth Kirchner (Team Henry) but he's not on Twitter as far as I know, though for some reason I added Brandon Bass (Rod) and Steven Tsapelas (creator) when I first got into the whole social media thing. Now, Steven Tsapelas actually started following me when he saw I recommended his show to someone, and we started talking. Turns out he lost his Team Henry shirt a while back (though he still owns a Team Rod shirt), so it's actually quite possible (and fairly likely, as no one really gives a sh*t) I am the only person on this planet with a Team Henry shirt. Which is awesome. Yes, I am telling you this because it was the highlight of my week. To put it in Better Off Ted terms: Deal with it.

My God, I truly am a nerd.

I could write essays about Once Upon A Time, something I started watching because I made a deal with someone (and I'm 99% certain she didn't hold up her end). I'm not going to go into what season was best (or worst) and how cool it is they decided to push their show into my favourite fairy tale (I'll always have a weak spot for J.M. Barrie), but one of my favourite things to do when watching is picking up on all the LOST references. You see, this show is made by the creators of that work of art, and they brought most of their crew (and some of the cast) with them. From MacCutcheon Whisky over Ajira air to Apollo candybars, the Exposé TV show and even Hurley, it's just filled with so much goodness for people like me, who grew up looking forward to the next LOST episode, something me and my friends would talk about for hours in school.

Half of this blog is about TV. This is bad.

Anyway, they're making Hector And The Search For Happiness into a film and it has Simon Pegg, so that's something to look forward to. The group stages for the World Cup are nearly over and my work schedule for July is a bit lighter, so I'll hopefully have a bit more time to actually live. One of the few friends I have in this place will be in Belgium the coming days, so if you'd like to send me something, you could always try to get in touch with Elise (I'm sure she'll appreciate me putting this out there). Don't bother getting me some Pepper and Salt chips--she's already taking care of that. Elise, should you forget, you'd be in deep trouble. Just so you know.

Before I go, I'd once again like to ask the people planning on coming to London to share your plans with me. Work-wise it'd be convenient, but I should also really start planning my summer. So please, if you read this, let me know. Honestly, don't hesitate to reach out either way. It seems like all I do is work these days--it'd be nice to know how you guys are actually doing. If you're studying, ignore what I just said. In fact, close this sh*te right now and return to your books immediately. Remember, if you don't you could end up like me.

Take care everyone. I miss you all dearly.


Song of the Day: TOPS - Evening
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPogFKSrYg8