Bottlecap Table

So a few years ago, I told my parents that I wanted to put together a bottle cap table. I had been collecting various caps throughout the years for some reason and had put together quite a collection.

I told them just before Christmas.

Whalah!

Come Christmas, my parents found a perfect table for me to put hundreds of little caps in. I could have easily had it done by now, but I want a bunch of different caps inside instead of the table being littered with hundreds of Oberon and Bud Light caps.

It's really coming along though, as you can see from the pictures above.

I just recently glued more caps and I think it's finally nearing the end. I hope it's done by the end of the year.

Part of the fun of the table is searching for new and unique caps. I've bought beer that I probably would have shrugged off in most instances. Most of it has been good too. I think I have effectively shredded the label of only being able to drink light beer. Still, you won't find many Guinness caps on my table.

The Bell's circular logo in the middle of the table is from the half-barrel Oberon keg I just purchased for my graduation party.

I recently tried counting, got to 160 and gave up, but I think that there should be close to 400 caps on the table as of right now. There's probably room for 100-120 more.

Not bad. I'll get there eventually.

So, for now, if anyone has any opinions on caps that should go on the table that they don't see in the top picture, let me know! I'm sure that I'm missing dozens.

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I also signed up for a 10K run today. Yikes! Not sure why I did it, but I've been running a lot recently and feel that it will give me a good challenge for the summer (if finding a job isn't a big enough challenge). I ran four miles yesterday, but still have to get a couple more out of my legs. Plus, I'm pretty sure there is a killer hill that I have to run up twice during the race (called the Kalamazoo Klassic). Hope I can get through it. It will be a truly tough test.

Ohh Sweet Summer...

Above: Most of the group fills the steps of our "old camping grounds," otherwise referred to as East Hall.

Summer is officially here.

That much was evident after the graduation party I had at my apartment last weekend. Warm weather is here to stay and the joy that is summer is in full swing.

I had one of the best weekends in awhile last weekend and I'm sure it won't be the last one this summer. Just next week, I am headed to Detroit on my birthday to see one of my favorite bands perform live: Coldplay.

Later in June, I'm going to about three Tigers' games (two against the Cubs) in the matter of just five days.

Not too far beyond that a certain bachelor party will occur and the weekend after that craziness, Drew is ending his bachelorhood and getting married. Towards the end of the summer, my buddy Don is also waiving his bachelor status and tying the knot.

Another stellar summer line-up.

I'm doing all of this while trying to line up a job for the fall/next year and interning at B/R. I've applied for a few more jobs and have an interview coming up, so I'm still hoping something comes through for me.

Until then, enjoying the summer is my No. 1 goal.

So far it has proved to be a good one and we're just getting started.

Memorial Day Weekend

Above: Me at a recent West Michigan Whitecaps game with a cold one. Whitecaps lost, but, hey, it's minor league baseball, so who cares? We had fun either way.

Traveled to Tennessee last week for my grandparents' funeral. All and all, it went well. I'm thankful for the people who were there to support my family and thankful for all of the well-wishes as well. I'm back now in Kalamazoo and ready for the summer to begin!

This coming weekend could prove to be one for the ages.

We've got some pretty cool people coming in for some pretty cool times. I haven't seen a few of the friends that are migrating to Kalamazoo this weekend in quite some time, so it's safe to say I'm pretty excited. It'll be good to get everyone back together and have some fun. Glad that it could be done in the familiar stomping grounds of Kalamazoo as well. Who knows what kind of shenanigans we might get into.

Still trying to rake in a few interviews as far as sports writing goes. I've got a pretty good internship right now, but that's not deterring me from not trying to get something else too. The internship is just that and it'll be over before I know it. Plus, it's the kind that doesn't dish out any money in return for my services, so I need to find some source of income this summer. I've got a couple leads, so we'll see where that takes me.

Good time to be a Detroit sports fan. The first-place Tigers swept the A's and the Red Wings are already up a game in the Western Conference Finals. Hope both teams keep it going.

Bleacher Report

Well, I was offered the internship with BleacherReport.com. I will be editing for the Web site 15 hours every week for the next three months. I get to choose the hours, which is the best part. I wrote an article for the site and created a profile, so now the next step is to be trained by the managing editor and, I believe, some of their other staff members.

If anyone wants to check out the profile I created on the site click here: profile.

My first article was about a pair of rookie Tigers pitchers: Ryan Perry and Rick Porcello.

You can check that out here if you feel so inclined.

I'm going to try and keep writing for the site while I edit. It'll be good to stay in the sports writing groove until I get another job somewhere. I'll try and remember to post the articles I write over here.

Heading to Tennessee on Monday for about five days for the funeral. Not sure how much I'll be blogging, but I know that I might need to use the internet often for the new internship.

Things are looking up

I was rightfully worried heading into this summer about job prospects, but things seem to be starting to pick up a tad bit. I've applied for a few jobs and have already heard back from a couple of them.

I've got a couple interviews within the next few weeks for internships and potential jobs. One is with www.bleacherreport.com which is a sports-based Web site where fans can log on and write their own articles. I would most likely be doing editing for them (about 15 hours every week) and would create my own hours from home, which would be nice. The company is based out of San Francisco, Calif.

I also received a call this morning from the sports editor at the Saginaw News, Paul Neumeyer, who wants me to drive up there for an interview some time this month. He wanted me there next week, but I'll be down in Tennessee for my grandparents' funeral. He said that the job would be part-time, but I could work up to 29 hours a week.

Hopefully one of these two fall into place because it would really give me a jump start at life in the post-college world. I'm looking forward to seeing what happens within the next couple of weeks. It's definitely positive and I'm actually a little surprised that I'm getting responses so quickly.

I'll take it though.

In the meantime, I'm going to crack a few golf balls in hopes of finally finding a consistent swing this summer. My first outing was promising (I was hitting it straight), so we'll see if I can keep it going...

Behold the power of summer

Above: Harry, Drew and Robbie pose uniquely for a picture (as they often do) while huddling around a table in the restaurant that sits perched down the right field line at Comerica Park. We were on hand to watch the Tigers lose to the New York Yankees on a cold Tuesday evening.

I went into this late spring/summer a little down after watching college suddenly disappear right before my eyes. College truly was the best time of my life and I was fearful to watch it go.

However, this past week really offered a different perspective on how this summer is going to roll along. I was fortunately able to attend all three games of the Tigers-Yankees series at Comerica and that really helped to lift my spirits. I found myself in a much better mood when I headed back to Kalamazoo on Thursday then when I bolted for Detroit on Monday.

I'm planning on making the most of this summer, even if it takes me awhile to find a job. I have a lot to look forward to (Drew's wedding, bachelor party, Don's wedding, Tigers' games, trips up north and who knows what else). If this is indeed my last hoorah in Kalamazoo, I want to make the best of it.

The weather has been generous the past few days which doesn't hurt the self esteem by any means.

I feel fortunate to have the opportunity to have one last summer here in the zoo and to spend it with my friends. Hopefully what I foresee as a being a great summer really happens and I look back in August and note that it was a much more successful summer than I predicted.

I'm going to leave you one more little snippet from the Western Herald. This link takes you to my final article that I ever wrote for the WMU student-run newspaper, but it certainly won't be the last article I ever write. I've been on the job hunt and I've sent my resume and clips out to a few different newspapers, so we'll see how that turns out. Just looking for anything at this point.

Hopefully with some more time, I'll get on here and blog a little more often.