The Summer of George: a progress report

Seeing as how it’s mid(ish)-July, I figured I’d take a moment to reflect on my Summer of George list of things to accomplish before fall. Like George, my summer hasn’t exactly gone as planned. For one, my freelance project hasn’t ended yet, which I am not complaining about because freelance is a very good thing. Paychecks don't suck, either.

But before we go any further, I have to say there's a cruise boat in Chicago named The Summer of George. I stumbled upon it while I was Googling pictures of Costanza. And though I don’t know who the owner is, sir (Captain?), I’d like to shake your hand.

Now back to it. My Summer of George: mid-summer check in.

I will decompress. Check.
That family vacation I mentioned? Nothing but winery tours and playing on the beach with a three-year-old. Heaven on earth in Michigan.

I will read a book, from beginning to end, in that order. Check.
I’m currently working my way through large stack of books courtesy of Amazon. And I’ve learned a lot. Mainly that I need to be more discerning when ordering books from Amazon. Also, if returning an online order is any more difficult than just dropping off the box at your nearest UPS location (thanks for facilitating my laziness, Zappos.), I probably won’t complete the return and will end up leaving a box of unwanted books on the floor of my car for what I'm guessing will be the rest of the Nissan's life.

I also said I’d write more. Check. I wrote one entry in May and two in June. Progress, people.

I will not, however, learn to play frolf. Check.
Not only have I actively avoided Frisbees, but I’ve also spared myself from watching much golf on tv, save for any Sunday afternoons spent in the presence of my father or my great uncle.

I will watch television programming. Check.
It may not be daytime tv, but you best believe I’ve set aside some time to watch crap tv. BTW, the season premiere of Teen Mom debuts at 9 pm on MTV. Tegan and I have a countdown.

I will take mid-morning naps. Sadly, no check.
This is where freelance really cramps my style.

I will get a bike. No check.
However, I’m still talking about getting a bike. And that’s half the battle.

I will get my brakes fixed. CHECK.
It’s nice to slow down for a stop sign without hearing that metal-on-metal scraping sound that makes every dog in the city whimper. It’s also nice to approach a red light without fear of smashing into anything.

I will go to Cubs games on days other than the weekend. No check.
I should probably get on that before Lou calls it quits. He's probably got at least one good base-throwing episode left in him. Right?

I will get a tan. Check.
By most people’s standards, maybe not, but for me, I’m pretty tan. Or, you know, freckled. It only took one awful sunburn (the kind that makes strangers point and stare in horror) and a full 10 days of walking around Italy.

I will act like my college self. Check.
Although I have to wonder: at what point do I have to accept that this isn’t my college self, this is just how I act?

I will go to Italy. Check.
I went, I saw, I somehow managed not to pack on 20 pounds during my 10-day holiday. And that wasn’t for lack of trying. It was a pretty steady diet of pizza, pasta and wine, complemented by gelato at least once a day. Yes, I said at least. Yes, that implies there were days where we had gelato twice. Yes, I said days as in more than one. If you judge me, then you also have to judge the guy who sat next to me on the train to Rome because he was up to three gelatos a day. I mean, sure, he was the 250 pound, 6’5” linebacker type. But whatever. The man had gelato three times in one day.

Oh, we saw a lot of culturally significant things, too. It wasn’t all about the gelato. Really.


So all in all, I'd say I'm doing pretty well. Just a few more things to knock-out before Labor Day. Like maybe figuring out how to nap at work. After all, this is a list inspired by George Costanza.