In Washington Square Park in Old City Philadelphia today.
Birmingham, Alabama
Christopher Wink, February 15th 2012 |
Cousin’s wedding
I had never been in a wedding before — indeed, the first wedding I ever attended was just this past August.
It was an honor to be a groomsman for my cousin’s wedding to his beautiful wife, with whom he has a child that I am proud to call my god daughter. It was a great weekend event.
New Year’s Eve in NYC
We’ve spent the past few New Year’s Eves in Philadelphia, so we decided to do something different.
We visited friends in Manhattan, seeing the ball before escaping to Brooklyn for midnight, bocce ball and fireworks.
Personal 2012 Resolutions
Let’s look at the next year and remember last year by way of 12 months of goals. See my professional goals for 2012 here.
Above, that’s a photo of my colleague Alex Hillman with his famed ‘JFDI’ tattoo: just fucking do it.
2012 Resolutions
- JANUARY: Do food better –whole wheat pasta; every other fries/chips; less food waste; new food each month; buy new types of food each month from the supermarket.
- FEBRUARY: House stuff — Photos on stairway; Linen closet; bedroom bookcase; basement reclamation; Clean out closet/clothes, and donate unused
- MARCH: Be funnier — Do another standup open mic; Tell a new joke each week
- APRIL: Be fitter — Prepare for the Broad Street Run, do 10 pushups everyday, push for more basketball and running.
- MAY: Write more creatively — Complete a finely, polished short story and set it aside for a new one; do this multiple times. Put together the story arc for a screenplay. Participate in a Story Slam
- JUNE: Smaller memorable trips — Take a helicopter ride and weekend trips.
- JULY: International Trip — Get abroad, meeting a goal of at least one global trip every year so long as I can afford it.
- AUGUST: Domestic Trips — Visit my sister and go somewhere I’ve never been before in the country.
- SEPTEMBER: Big Philly Things to Do — City Hall peak tour; Quaker meeting house; Girard Trolley to the Zoo; join the neighborhood Compost Co-op
- OCTOBER: Speak smarter — Always speak slower, be more to the point, talk less, particularly in interviews and swear less.
- NOVEMBER: Play some music — learn to play a single song on the guitar
- DECEMBER: Improve your finances — Max out Roth IRA, put some in a traditional IRA, refinance mortgage to 15-year, have more than $5,000 in my savings account (with goal of having a six-month emergency fund), too; Have paid down my student loans to perhaps be finalized in 2013; Donate to a charity; donate to This American Life.
Review of 2011 and such below.
Tailgating at Eagles-Jets NFL game
With friends and family, I tailgated outside of the Eagles-Jets game, scarfing beer, bratwurst, chips and, yes, hot tea.
The game was a hoot too — a 45-19 win for the Eagles to keep their slim playoff hopes alive in my first full NFL game.
Dodgeball in Philadelphia Sports Network
The Fishtown Fish came in fourth place out of 10 teams in the 2011 Philadelphia Sports Network co-ed dodgeball league.
Led by Captain Patch, the nine of us league-first-timers started 0-2 but were then undefeated through the rest of the weekly Thursday night season, until we lost our last meaningless game, going an overall 4-3-1.
Played at the 12th Street Gym in the Gayborhood neighborhood of Center City, the matches are played six versus six players at a time, each side on one half of a basketball court. Hit someone with a ball, that player is out. Catch a throw, the thrower is out and you bring one of your players who was out back in.
Youth sports trophies [VIDEO]
It’s hard to figure a reason to keep so many trophies from my childhood — many for swimming, soccer, basketball and others for wrestling and baseball — so I’m likely going to trash these cheap, plastic keepsakes of participation in youth sports.
If I’m going to ditch them, I figured I’d capture them somehow. Video below, preferring digital clutter over the real thing.
Visting the Reading Viaduct
Plans for redeveloping the Reading Viaduct into an elevated park have received city council approval, which comes with a controversial group that is criticized by several Chinatown organizations.
Still, after years of conversation, I wanted to do a little trespassing and see the viaduct for myself. Photos here, video below.
Stand Up Comedy
One of the earliest items on my list was to perform stand up comedy. After a lot of hand wringing, I put the item on this year’s resolutions and finally followed through tonight.
Last week I signed up for a spot at the open mic night at Helium Comedy Club in Center City. As a first timer, I was given a three minute set and it went well enough that I didn’t even get the red light. See quick video below, reminding everyone that I’m just telling jokes.
There were some punch lines I was sure to avoid.
