My First Official Blog Entry

Yes, it's true. Though technologically phobic and minimally skilled, I am setting out on this blogging journey today.First, let me say, "Welcome, and thank you for spending a portion of your valuable on-line time with me."

Several years ago, after my first year of teaching, people wanted to know how I would spend my first glorious summer off. Having eaten a steady diet of microwave leftovers for that school year, my number one goal that summer was to go out to lunch every day. My friend Brad, in a nod to Seinfeld, called this the "Summer of Jay." Another friend, Tara, recommended that I start a blog, reviewing the places where I ate, and other comings and goings. My response to that idea was to scoff, and perhaps I uttered the word, "never." I don't remember exactly, and records from this era are spotty at best. At that point, I had barely mastered the e-mail machine, and the idea of blogging seemed not only impossible, but worthy of ridicule.

Fast forward to this 4th "Summer of Jay," and I still think the idea of me having a blog is worthy of ridicule. My life is only somewhat interesting to me, but a few people have said they would be interested in reading a blog about my summer fun. Setting this thing up has been a technological challenge already, but I think I'm ready to make a go of it.

One of the best things about a summer off from work, is that it provides me with more time to run. This hobby/competitive activity has become more important and time consuming, since that 1st "Summer of Jay," when I decided to train for a marathon. On Tuesday, however, my first full day off from work, I did not run at all. My wife Carrie and I have established a tradition over the last few years that involves her taking my first day off as a vacation day. We sleep in, take it easy, and go for that first lunch "out." Our traditional spot is Trudy's Texas Star, just north of the UT campus. We sit on the deck, which is comfortable in the shade, even with the record high temperatures we have otherwise been sweating through. Creatures of habit, we always order the fajita nachos and partake of what we rank as the 4th best margaritas in Austin.

In my efforts to post pictures from Day One, I have run into my first technical snafu. Shocking, right? I will try to resolve this later (Thanks in advance, Dave.) I had hoped to pad this blog with many exciting photos, so we will work diligently to resolve this problem. Meanwhile, I will post the pictures where my limited skills allow, and continue this entry here.

Later in the day, Carrie and I headed down to Waterloo Records, the best independent music store around these parts. They have in-store performances by local and well-known artists on a regular basis. These events are a great way to see and hear live music in town, and they always have free beer during the bands' mini-sets. Yesterday's CD release show was by a local band called The Mother Truckers. Their music is what I would call Southern Rockin' Americana. This was especially good "Texas Music," with good guitar work, strong vocals, and energetic stage presence. The latter was especially true of the female lead singer ((hopefully pictured at right.) Check 'em out. We bought a CD.

Having sworn off cooking for the day, we then proceeded to Z'tejas for a dinner of shared appetizers in the bar area, and a "top three" ranked margarita. A four piece jazz group added even more music to our day. I have know idea about jazz, so I won't even try to critique this show.

Upon our arrival home, I had planned to settle in, for maybe a quiet evening of blogging. A message from Tara changed that for me, as she wanted to meet at Sholtz Garden to have a beer and listen to Barack Obama's speech after he had locked up the nomination. I was interested in the event, but not the beer, as I had already consumed the margaritas and the beer, and it was only 7:00p.m. I won't focus on politics in this entry; I'll save that for later. The crowd at Sholtz's was really in pep rally mode, but I did get a picture taken while they listened to his speech. By this point in the evening, I had begun strategically hydrating because I was planning a 10 mile run in the morning.

The run this morning was a good one. Down through the UT campus, down to the trail, then home past the state capitol building. For those of you who are reading this for running news, I know this is brief. I will write more about my running in future posts. Let this serve as a warning to those of you who don't care one bit about running. I know you are out there.

In case you couldn't tell already, this blog will be about the things into which I put my thoughts and energy this summer. These will include, but not be limited to: running and other sports (as participant and spectator), music (spectator only as I have no talent in this realm), food and beverages, politics, and other random topics as they occur to me. I will try to make 3-4 entries each week.

In closing, I want to say thanks again for visiting my blog. I hope you will return soon to see that I have fought through my techno-struggles, and to read about my thrilling summer. Please pass on the blog info to anyone that you think might be interested in reading. I think it would be cool to have readers that I have never met. I'll go into begging mode here to say that I really hope that you will comment on what you read, either in the comment section of the blog, or at jaysummer4@gmail.com. Yes, I am that desperate for your approval.

Peace,

js4