Semester 20 Chapter XV: Band Camps

Hello world, here we go again. This time from the beautiful city of Amsterdam. It’s Monday morning, I have a cup of some amazing ass coffee in front of me, I’m overseeing one of my favorite parks out the window and I feel great. Before I get to this, I would like to point out the fact that T.I. has released a new album titled Kill The King and even though it’s not as amazing as some of his older material, it is still really solid and that makes me happy. Love to see veterans shining. Anyways, let’s get to this thing.

 

So last week was fun. The Sunday social run went great, I did about 20km and I spent the afternoon at an outdoor swimming pool with my sis. The weather has been truly tropical which makes all the outdoor activities extra challenging but it’s all still enjoyable. Apart from the fact that the climate is clearly collapsing. Weekdays were pretty busy but I did squeeze in some more running, yoga and hangouts with some of my favorite people. Even managed to do some laps at the swimming pool on Wednesday.

 

Friday evening, I was on my way to Prague to catch a bus to Amsterdam. Yet another trip to the country of The Netherlands. It’s always nice visiting here, it’s always nice roaming around this city, it’s always nice hanging out with my friend who lives here. Over the weekend, we caught up, we had some good food, I did my classic Amsterdam running lap… And yesterday, we went to Santpoort to enjoy some nature. And it was beautiful. Long walk through fields, forests… Many people on bicycles… I always love seeing that. The cycling culture and infrastructure here is amazing and it’s one of the things I’ve been missing since moving away.

 

And then the evening came. And we went to see fucking Josh Johnson. I am not really into stand-up comedy or telling jokes in general but this man has been a staple in my life for the last 2+ years. I so respect everything he does, I love all the content he shares on weekly basis and I was extremely excited to catch him live. It all took place at the Amsterdam Theater and it was just as good as I’d hoped. Before getting seated, we received some complimentary bandanas with the show’s designs and then it just flowed. There we couple of supporting acts – a short set by another (and very fucking funny) comedian, an amazing musical number by a lady who was composing songs by interacting with the audience and a breathtaking dance number by a group of female dancers. None of those felt like fillers, everything was top-tier. Was smiling ear-to-ear the whole time. And then Josh hit the stage. I’m so used to watching this guy on Youtube, it really felt like seeing an old friend. And his set was bomb. I don’t think this guy can’t not deliver. If you haven’t, watch some of his stuff and you’ll know what I’m talking about. Great evening, lotta fun, lotta food for thought… Another thing crossed off my checklist.

 

So there you have it. Got two more days in Amsterdam, some more things to experience and some more places to visit. I like how familiar this city feels to me at this point. There is no pressure, no need to see everything, it all flows. And I’m really happy I’m here again. Hope you guys are doing well too! Keep it light, keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!

Highlights:

• Yoga.
• Running.
• Josh.

Semester 20 Chapter XIV: Yoga & Meditation

What’s up y’all, here we go again. It’s Sunday early morning, I’m halfway through my workout routine and I got a social run coming up shortly. Last week, I recorded couple of songs and I’m really happy about some of them. The project is underway and it is taking shape. We got full-blown summer popping these days so I’m spending quite some time outside, energy levels are good, spirits are high, life is well. Let’s get to it then!

Last Monday, I went to see a theater play with my dad’s partner. He couldn’t go so I was the date for the evening. It was one of the outdoor scenes that always pop up this time of a year in the city and it was okay. Not amazing but not bad. And even though I packed a full fucking winter jacket and blanket, I was getting cold. In the start of the week, differences between day and night temperatures were massive.

On Wednesday, I paid a short visit to a club where my music bro was celebrating his 40^th bday. It was an event I had been invited to but I declined. All people present were drinkers, I was not interested in the music and it generally felt a bit better sitting that one out. I am happy I got to invite my brother for a drink on his big day tho.

On Friday, I met up with another friend of mine and then I did a solo rave mission. Been a while since I’d been to one and I felt I needed it. Lotta things have been happening lately and I wanted to clear my head. Rhythm, music, tribal shit. Party wasn’t awesome, it was half-empty but it did the job. I left early in the morning and spent another good hour just walking around the soulless city and parks. That was beautiful. After a short nap home, I felt good enough to catch another yoga class and in the afternoon, I did a big walk around the river and eventually met with the friend from the night before at this outdoor swimming pool for an evening hangout.

I’m loving the fact I am fully integrated in my yoga studio now. I know more and more instructors, people know me by name, we interact. It feels good sitting in the lobby after the class drinking tea and chatting. And with my summer pass, I’m there a lot. Oh yeah, and I got a message from some of my favorite people from my Shanghai days whose contact I was sure I’d lost forever. They dug me up somehow and we’re having a catch-up call soon. That made me happy. So yeah, hope you guys are well, hope you keep it light and you don’t entertain bullshit. Don’t let anybody fuck with your inner light. One!

Highlights:

• Music.
• Yoga.
• Walks.

Semester 20 Chapter XIII: Consistency

Hi guys, here we go again. It’s Sunday afternoon, I’ve done some morning workout, I’ve ran my 15km, I’ve made myself some lunch and before I do anything else, I’ll update this little blog of mine. Recently, I’ve been working on our music project quite regularly and it feels healthy. See, throughout the past couple of years, I’ve been writing very randomly with no bigger vision. Now, when there’s a body of work in mind, it feels much more focused. And I record everything. Even ideas I feel we will not use. Just to keep it rolling. I do feel we got something substantial and if we don’t fuck up, hopefully there will be something to be released in a couple of weeks.

 

Last week was pretty cool. I spent some time with my favorite people, I did all the usual physical activity, I spent an evening with my sis… And on Thursday afternoon, I took it to Prague. See, there’s a language school I’ve been working with for about 5 years but I’d never met anybody there in person as we had only communicated online. And every time they threw their summer party I was out of the country. This time the stars aligned so I went there to shake couple of hands and have some conversations. It took place in a yard close to the city center and it wasn’t bad. Of course, being a non-drinker and vegan at a Czech barbecue is always a bit wild but at this point, I’m used to it. And they did provide some non-alcoholic beer and even some grilled tofu. After that, I met up with one of my dear friends and we ended up having a pretty long talk on life and shit. Felt quite needed from her side. Happy I could be there to hear her out.

 

The morning after, I paid a visit to a dive shop to buy a whole bunch of gear. I bought a new regulator set, fins and boots. Spent tons of cash but I’m all updated and I’m looking forward to put all those things into action. I was back in Brno in the afternoon. Initially, I was playing with an idea of a rave as there was one that evening but I ended up not going. Instead of that, I had a nice chill Saturday morning in a park and had enough energy to meet up with my swimming buddy for an evening swim. The guy operates drones too and since he likes some of the demos we’ve been working on recently, we went to this abandoned stadium not far away and did some test shots. Things are fucking falling in place and again… If we don’t fuck up, we might have some good music to release with a fucking video soon. The swim felt good, I did 1500 meters, we grabbed a beer and then I called it a day and proceeded home to doze off.

 

Oh, and I’ve got my hands on some photos of the run from last weekend. So I’m gonna throw some of them here. Anyways, I still got like half the day ahead of me now and I’m not really sure what to do with it. A book and a park seem like a viable option. I hope you guys are doing well! Keep it light, keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!

 

Highlights:

• Running.
• Hangouts.
• Music.

Semester 20 Chapter XII: 11km - Number 103 – 10th Place – Personal Best

Hey guys, here we go again. Many things have happened since the last time we spoke and I’m gonna share some of the highlights with y’all. Been on some Lil Wayne appreciation wave recently. I feel bad for how not great things are going for him these days but from 2004 to like 2014 he was untouchable. Feels like the well of legendary material from that era is bottomless. And the guy will forever be one of the main reasons I picked the mic up myself. So yeah, been listening to loads of that.

 

Okay, so last weekend was sports, sports and more sports. I did tons of yoga, I did a 20km social run, I did a 2km swim, it all felt great. Bit of a warm-up for what was about to happen the weekend after. Over the week, I had some awesome meet-ups and I also attended a high-school reunion. Fucking 20 years since graduation. I had not been in touch with any of my former classmates and I was a bit curious about what the whole thing would look like. Well, obviously a 38-year-old guy with tattoos on his head, no spouses, no divorces, no children and no solid business plans kinda sticks out. I did have some good conversations tho. Don’t feel the urge of keeping in touch with anybody over there still but I’m happy I came and I intend to do it again when the time comes. Shout out to the guys organizing it!

 

And then the weekend came. My first organized running race ever. Been running for about 15 years but never participated in an official race. I learned about this one from some of my friends who always volunteer at a food stand over there. It’s called Happy Run, this was its 10^th year and they always pick a kid with some severe disease and collect money for treatment and medical equipment. You pay a starting fee which goes to the cause, everybody who works there volunteers and they have also snowballed a whole bunch of sponsors over the years. The event took place in a village named Studenec – an area I’m pretty familiar with since we’d gone there quite a lot when I was a kid. I went with a guy I know and at the spot, we joined another friend of ours. It was very well organized, there were some family races, games, program for kids… And then two main races – 6km and 11km. I registered for the latter, picked up my pack (number 103 with my name next to it, an ankle chip tracking my movement and some small gifts) and at 3pm I took off. There were about 80 runners – some looking very professional and fit, some looking a bit more casual. Very soon, I realized I would not be competing for a top 3 spot – those guys were basically pros. However, it was also very clear I will not finish too far behind. The first 3km I was self-scanning a lot making sure nothing hurt and I could maintain my tempo. Then I just let it go and kept to my rhythm. Finished 10^th (7^th in the category of men 15-39 years) at the pace of 4:31/km, broke my personal 10km record, felt fucking great. My final time for the whole 11km race was 00:48:26.4. Really proud of that fucking shit. Had I trained a bit more before the race, I could have done even a bit better but this felt awesome as it was. And happy I got to connect something fun with something that hopefully helped somebody somewhere. They collected good 20k EUR for the family, it was all very touching.

 

I spent most of today at my friend’s spot outside of Brno. Connected that with a pretty epic bike ride. A hangout with his fam, good talks, figuring out some music shit… Nice day. Got one more meet-up downtown coming up, listening to some more Wayne, feeling good. Hope you guys are good, too! Keep it light, keep it positive, don’t entertain bullshit and don’t let them fuck with your inner light. One!

 

Highlights:

• Running.
• Cycling.
• Hangouts.