Remember the Summer?

Once again, I have no real inspiration that warrants a blog entry, but I'm SUPER bored at work, and figured writing aimlessly until something coherent formed would be a practical way to fill my time. I wonder if I can consider myself a professional blogger since I'm getting paid $10/hr to write this. (that's right, I make $10 PER hour. As in every HOUR that I am here, I get paid 10 DOLLARS. bet ya didn't think you were reading the blog of a rich guy, huh!)

Oh! So let me fill you in on my gym experience thus far! So I've been going regularly, and I must say, I've adapted to fit into the gym-world quite easily. The first day there was a little awkward moment when I didn't know where the towels were, and the only person to ask was an old naked dude sitting on the bench near me. He kindly told me "they're out front" while subtly covering his junk. I didn't want to ask the old naked guy, but he was the only viable option.
Swimming is fantastic though. I really enjoy it--it has all the great qualities of running, sans the suckiness and stress on the joints. It's relaxing and if I imagine hard enough, I can transport myself back to those care-free summer days swimming under the steamy July sun.

Those were the days, my friends, those were the days: when the biggest problem you faced, had to do with being scared to go in the pool shirtless (I think only the former-fatties can relate to that). Think about what a sweet deal being a kid is--especially during the summer. Days upon days of having NOTHING to do but chill out in a pool, make up games, and play sports (I didn't really enjoy the latter option, but some of you out there may have, and I wanted to give an example that would include you too.) My sister, Katie, and I would spend most of our time playing with Nicky and Julie who lived 3 houses down. We would make up games such as, "Mansion", which was an elaborate version of "House". This is what you get when you spend most of your time playing with girls (all 3 of whom could have prolly kicked my ass) I don't really recall if we did much more than declare "let's play Mansion" and talk about who we were. The game would most always end abruptly with someone running home in tears--but magically, much like a Saved By The Bell episode, all our troubles would be forgotten by dinner time. It was those endlessly warm nights when your parents forgot about your bed-time, mixed with the long days inbetween that made summer what it was.
I don't think I really took full advantage of my childhood summers. Sure I did fun things--went boating, swimming, played mansion, etc. but for some reason, I feel like I could have enjoyed everything more, or not taken it for granted. You don't realize as a kid that 2 months of getting to sleep in late and not having any real responsibility whatsoever isn't the norm. There's no way to know that really though, is there?
As a kid, I always wanted to be grown up. I always knew I was going to move to NYC and be an actor and live my dream--but now that I'm there, I kinda wish I could go back to being a fat kid, swimming in his shirt, with a sandwich and chips waiting for me on the deck.
Can I just take 2 months off to do with what I please? Probably not--well at least not until I've saved up enough money to backpack through Europe. Until then, I will have to settle for the 1/2 hour I get in the pool, swimming laps with strangers--pretending they're Nicky, Julie and Katie beating me in a race. Convincing myself there will be a ham and cheese sandwich waiting for me when I get out.

The point of the story is 2-fold:
1st fold. I must learn to find those youthful simplicities now amidst all these "rules" and "responsibilities". 15 years from now I do not want to be writing a blog entry saying "I wish I hadn't taken my mid-twenties for granted "
2nd fold. I've been swimming 3 times already and I STILL don't have a swimmers body. wtf?!