I'm a Full Grown Man

OK, so since I've last been on here there have been a few interesting things I've done that are worth sharing on this here web space. I've been really busy, and promise to be for the next few days before Durham (eek, so soon!), but here's a brief update on this and that for now:

Upholding a Tradition Or Two:
Since I entered college, my birthday has been largely unceremonious and my Thanksgiving has been away from home.

Back in 2002 I celebrated turning 18 by inviting my best friend at Duke at the time, a high school buddy, to my favorite greasy pizza establishment near East Campus, only announcing the occasion as we were on our way. It was a Monday night. I remember he gave me his list of top 5 American authors (Steinbeck, Fitzgerald, Hemingway, Faulkner, and either Salinger or Heller, as I recall). It was pleasant but not extravagant.
Then in 2003 I was in a sour mood about the whole not celebrating thing, and so I ate at the McDonald's on campus (it was a Tuesday). And there I ran into two younger teammates. I won't use names, but they represented Wisconsin and Tennessee, and one of the managed to wolf down a 20 pc. of Nuggets, a Big Mac, a large soda, a large fries, and something else, and still not feel full. He thought he had parasites. A funny night.
2004 saw me starting the tradition of cutting weight on my birthday, a Thursday this time. I went to an Animal Collective show, and the combination of their music in its crazy live form and my tired, hungry state led to one of the more spiritual feelings of my life. Ok, laugh away.
2005 was a Friday, and I drove down to Pennsylvania for a wrestling tournament and to begin my journey to Duke for the winter. Again, low on weight but high on energy, I managed to make it through the day alright.

As for Thanksgiving, every year but 2003 I celebrated at my Coach's brother's house, and in 2003 I was fortunate enough to be in Oklahoma, celebrating with a teammate and his family. (No sarcasm, I swear!) All the meals were fantastic, and the Oklahoma one especially left me in a panic that I wouldn't make weight for the tournament that Saturday. I was in quite a tizzy. But it ended well.

So here, while I thought that at least on my birthday I'd have huge plans, or at least a ton of options, my day unfolded as follows: Practice, which saw no coaches show up, meaning we could only run. Then I went to check email and thank people (and I thank again, everybody, you were awesome, thank you), then home to rest and see how the night would play out. My first thought, hanging out with Americans, was cancelled when one of those Americans had his flight cancelled. Then I thought to hang out with a wrestler and buddy at some cafe or another. But upon waiting for him in the center to see where he was at, and calling to no response, I went back home, only to find out upon my arrival at the bus stop that he fell asleep quickly but was still up for meeting up. I was already set on bed, and so, alas, another mundane birthday.

No worries though, because I've been filling up the schedule just fine.

My Biggest Victory Yet:
Another wrestling tale. In practice last Friday - my last practice as a 21-year old, if you will - we wrestled a scrimmage at the end of practice. I was feeling pretty good and wrestling well, and so as we split into two teams and lined up, I was excited to see my pairing. I would be facing Andrei Seminsonov (I may have screwed up the last name), an agreeable, good-looking fellow of medium height, about my weight, with a clean-cut goatee (vs. my grossly groomed one) and short hair. More to the point, he has a good sense of humor and is probably my favorite wrestler to compete against and watch in the practice room: he combines a Russian sense of technique with an American sense of aggressiveness, pushing the pace and always looking to score points. When we wrestle he usually beats me but I can also score points on him, so I was excited for the chance.
You see, each pair wrestled to the first point, sort of a sudden death dual meet. The pairings were fairly even, and as we stood there he gave me a few throat-slash gestures, while I returned with the Ivan Drago "I will break you" symbol. Maybe it would have worked better if he was the American and I the Russian.
Anyway, the dual meet started off not in our favor, but was back and forth, and when we stepped out, Andrei's team was leading us 3-2. The first team to 5 would clinch the dual, so at this point our margin of error was slim.
Meanwhile, I knew that I had one chance to beat him: I have one absolutely effective go-to move (just in case any future opponents choose to scout me by reading this blog, it will only be known as my GTM), and I needed to hit it right at the beginning and hope for the best. So we shook hands, started out fighting for position, and then bam, GTM with the sort of fury I usually only show when somebody withholds chocolate from me.
It wasn't the end, however. I was behind him, but he remained on all fours, which is a takedown in America but not anywhere else. I struggled with my rough technique for over 15 seconds, and now concerns of the period ending or the coach calling us up to neutral were entering my head. The other team insisted on us going to our feet, my team tried coaching me. Finally, my strength and weight prevailed and I got the point. I shook hands, walked away with a raised arm in triumph. Our team wouldn't lose another match.

I came away with a bruised knee, but what's glory without pain? And on that note, considering the glory I'm going through in foreign realms, I'm due for a whole world of hurt soon. Ce La vie, eh?

Dan