April 4th, 2010

Opening Day = Forgotten Excitement

Being stuck in an office all day, sometimes I forget that I am at, what some consider, “America’s best baseball stadium”. There have been hard long days and weeks during these first 3 months before the season, and I have begun to forget what I am part of. For the first couple days of January, I was wide-eyed and excited to be walking into AT&T Park for work, but by mid-January that excitement had worn off. I had grown into a routine of walking in this brick building, could have been an ordinary office for all I knew…

All of a sudden, as spring training was coming to a close, the team that I had been talking to people about for the past three months came back to town. The Giants played the last 3 of their last 4 spring training games right here in San Francisco. It was strange though, I didn’t get too excited. We were playing the A’s on Thursday and Friday and I think I am older than most all of their players, and none of them have the star power that wows you. I stayed for an inning or two of those games, but that excitement wasn’t felt.

Today, on Easter Sunday (Happy Easter, He is risen.), I had to go in to work during part of the last pre-season game. I didn’t even think twice about who we were playing, but then I glanced on the field as the players were warming up. Ichiro and Ken Griffey Jr. jogged in front of me, and then I felt what all kids, boys, and men feel when they see their heros live in person. I have seen a lot of players throughout my years, but I had never seen either of these guys. Pretty special players.

Ichiro, for those who don’t know, is one of the best international baseball players ever, and for sure the best Japanese player ever. He owns the single season record for most hits in Major League Baseball. He is second place behind Pete Rose for most hits in a career. Ken Griffey Jr.’s name speaks for itself, as even Bouldin probably knows who he is. I may have impersonated him more than anyone as I grew up wanting to play center field like Griffey. He is also 5th on the all time home run list, no biggie.

I needed to see these guys today. I needed a boost of excitement as I grind out these days on the phone. I had forgotten that I am part of a Major League Baseball team. Today, I stopped and thought about how blessed I was to be in this situation. I also realized that I still get giddy around these incredible athletes.

Opening Day is tomorrow, in Houston, and it brings a refreshing excitement to this job that was much needed.

March 27th, 2010

Where did February and March go?

Well, I am still alive. This blogging thing kind of got pushed back in the priorities when I had some visitors come out. After they left, I forgot how to blog, leaving me stressed about my second round effort. Maybe stressed isn’t the right word.

Time has moved fast since I blogged last. Work is going well, more people need to buy season tickets, from me, but thats ok. I am very excited as the season is about to start in less than two weeks, that will give a boost of excitement to what can be a repetitive job some days.

There are pro’s and con’s of settling in here in San Francisco. As of mid-February, I felt as if I was establishing my routine and starting to feel comfortable out here on the left side of America. This was nice, as all of us seek comfortable places, but it also reminded me that one of the reasons I believe I am here is to step out of that comfort that I felt I was basking in back home.

Just during that time, visitors came strolling in. An incredible week with Emily ended with a week of eating with the boys, then Bouldin stopped through on his way home from who knows where. All of a sudden, I look up and its mid-March. I am so very thankful for those people in my life, and the fact that they would come all the way out here to see me, but it all still makes me anxious.

Most of the time, my brain is wondering how long I will be here, how soon I will leave, or where will I go? Several things pull me to Nashville, but when is that ok? This is something I have dealt with in multiple circumstances, as I am always looking ahead to the next something. The next day, month, game, job, visit… These aren’t completely bad thoughts, as they create excitement, but it does hinder me from completely living in the situation I am in. Finding a balance between these thoughts fills up my time anyways.

Did I mention that I am part of a nude biking gang? That is a joke. But I did see one last weekend. Typical Nashville…

March 3rd, 2010

Friday Rooftoppin’

February 28th, 2010

Guests Speakers

I would like to introduce two of the latest guests at the Mize Hotel in San Francisco… William Griggs and John Michael Capps earned some face-time on kinda local after their recent visit to the city on the bay. Enjoy.

Introduction
First things first, I must communicate how honored I am to have the opportunity to write a guest piece for KindaLocal. I have been following KindaLocal since its creation and feel a special connection to not only the author, but the content and the loyal community that comment so frequently too.
Thank you Hunter for all you do to enrich the lives of your readers. You are truly an inspiration.

The Heart

A wise man once said, “Freethinkers are those who are willing to use their minds without prejudice and without fearing to understand things that clash with their own customs, privileges, or beliefs. This state of mind is not common, but it is essential for right thinking;”

Please take a moment to ponder what the quote means and how it can be applied to your own life.

The truth is this quote really has nothing to do with what I’m about to say, but I did think that inserting this quote would provide John Michael & I some much credibility in the intelligence department.

Anyways, our 10 day journey to San Francisco was chalked full of physically and intellectually stimulating activities. I won’t bore you with our itinerary, but would like to share eight interesting facts I learned about Hunter during my stay in San Francisco.

8 Facts You May Not Know About Hunter Mize

8. Hunter Mize hates when girls wears high heels on hardwood floors…
7. Hunter Mize hates Hollywood Disco…
6. Hunter Mize wants to play the stock market because sports betting is too risky…
5. Hunter Mize puts Kobayashi to shame with his speed eating…
4. Hunter Mize is still fluent in CPA sarcasm…
3. Hunter Mize thinks he can escape from Alcatraz in under 20 minutes…
2. Hunter Mize tosses money like he’s Pacman Jones…
1. Hunter Mize talks more about his bike than he rides it…

Bonus: Hunter Mize will be in Nashville in the month of March!!!

- Bill Griggs (twitter.com/billgriggs)

First I want to say thanks to Hunter for allowing me to get kindalocalized and also to all of the loyal readers of kindalocal out there for reading this far down on my post. Proceed with caution.

Well me and Griggs journey started in Chicago together and then somehow we wound up in San Francisco…a perfect place for me and Griggs to wind up. Our days were filled with sightseeing, bikng in the rain, walking, riding trolleys, drinking wine, eating crappy Indian food, shopping, and of course gazing at Hunter Mize. Really it was not about what I did though but more about who me and Griggs came to see. Even with a busy work schedule, Hunter reaffirmed to me why he such a stud and such a hot commodity in the bay area. To go along with his boyish good looks and charisma he is also a kind and loyal friend and for that I am very appreciative of. If you have read this far (which I am not sure why you wouldn’t have) and you want to hear about what we actually did in San Fran then too bad. This post isn’t for you. You can call me if you want details on that. This trip was about Hunter and the gloriousness of him. If he wasn’t so awesome I would not have gone to San Fran in the first place. Short, sweet and to the point.

One Love,

John Michael Capps

February 20th, 2010

Hello Visitor

February 6th, 2010

Weekend? Busy!

I gotta get better about bloggin. These weeks go by so fast, and each weeknight I either stay at work late, have something to do, or I just sloth out on the couch all night. When that happens, my brain turns to standby.

Yesterday’s lunch was a great experience. It was the annual front office and players luncheon. All the staff gathered in our Field Club Lounge and grubbed off of a delicious buffet. We took our seats and there was a reserved seat at each table. All the players and coaches entered the Lounge and one sat at each table. I sat with Jeremy Affeldt, a relief pitcher with the Giants. He was hilarious and really fun to get to know. The team owner and president spoke, as well as some players. Very cool. After the lunch, I went and spoke to Matt Cain, one of the best pitchers in baseball, who happens to be from Memphis, Houston High School.

Anyways, the weekend came fast this week, but it’s not really a normal weekend because the Giants FanFest was today. It started off strange, I would say bad, but that’s a lame way to look at it. I have realized lately that not much really ever bothers me too much. I think that is good most of the time, maybe not sometimes. I had to be there at 8:00. Earlier than normal. It is a Saturday, busses don’t run as often. I missed the bus that I needed to catch, so set a record for my earliest taxi ride of my life at 7:30. Nothing like paying $10 to go to work on a Saturday. None of that sentence sounds good.

FanFest is the first day single-game tickets go on sale for the 2010 season. 20,000ish fans come down to the ballpark, line up blocks around the stadium, and wait to see players and buy merchandise and tickets. These fans are nuts. I have never seen such a passionate crowd in baseball before. I’m talking orange pants (beautiful), Giants shoes, and kids in full team apparel (they will outgrow that in 3 months, but who cares? let’s buy it). These fans will buy anything that has to do with the Giants. I joked to a co-worker that I wanted to see if I could sell the toilet paper out of the Giants clubhouse. Guarantee I could get someone to pay at least $10 for a roll. People want any and everything free.

It was a really neat experience, as it was the first time I felt the vibe and energy of working for a professional organization. So far, I have been in my office, in an empty stadium. It’s hard to realize there is a team that plays there, and that 40,000 fans come to every game. Today, I got to feel and sense that.

The sun came out during the middle of FanFest, and it was one of the most beautiful days I have seen since arriving here. I went home, found a queen bed on craiglist. He was charging for it, but I helped him move some stuff in his house, so he gave it to me for free, and loaded it in his truck and dropped it off with me.

I watched the end of the Vols game. Domination. V, B. Gabe met me at my place and we went for a bike ride. We went straight down the hill to the Wharf. Everywhere you turn, there is a beautiful view of something, its really not fair. Riding along the Marina Green is too pretty, and finally I made it all the way to the Golden Gate. He showed me some roads and trails that were incredible. Unashamed, I stopped a couple times to take a pictures. Yes I live in this ridiculous place, but I can still enjoy and share it, and for sure not take it for granted… thinking back to my post about being a local. We made it around to the west side of the city, and saw a minute of the sunset, pretty cool site. It was windy, excuse my squints. TraditionalState, sorry my hat is backwards.

February 1st, 2010

Weekend! Busy?

So right as I get comfortable living life at a slower pace, someone stepped on the gas. I was so familiar with having stuff to do all the time in Nashville, people to see, places to go. As I have been settling in in SF, the one thing that has been probably the most different would be simply having less friends and people I love around me, creating less things for me to do.

At first, I decided that I would just understand that was the situation, and get use to it. That was a good couple weeks, as I had plenty of time to read, think, and do things I wouldn’t as much in Cashville. Obviously, I longed for some friends like the ones I have back home, but where do I find those?

As I am leaving work Friday, part of me was saying ‘Just go home and relax, its been a long week’, while another was saying, ‘Go do something, put yourself out there’. I got a text from a new friend from CG, saying he was hanging out in his neighborhood with some friends, and he invited me to come. I was excited that someone reached out to me, rather than me trying to cling on to other people’s already established group of friends. It was a great night, I met some cool people, including a couple guys who are already some good friends. It is amazing what God can randomly put in your life.

Saturday, I slept in a little. I looked out the window and saw the first blue sky I can remember since moving here. Saturday, blue skies, 60 degrees, what can I do? So many options here, but it would be fun to have someone to enjoy it with. As all my Nash friends were sledding and playing in all that snow, I wanted to play too. Again, another friend from this CG gave me a ring and just wanted to meet up and throw frisbee. Something that simple, but having someone to do it with, makes it so good. We met at Marina Green, a nice little park on the northern most part of the city, with some just real tough views of Alcatraz, Sausalito and the big red bridge.

All of a sudden, I began to realize I had stuff to do. Almost too much. Most of me is thankful and knows God is taking care of me by putting people in my path, but then part of me says, ‘Geeze, I would love some down time.’ I stopped for a second and asked myself if I could ever be satisfied. I always seem to want some of what I don’t have at that point in time. Crazy how fast that happened.

After hustling home, Amy and Piotrek arrived to pick me up. Amy dropped Pito and myself off at the University of San Francisco for the USF vs #8 Gonzaga game. A huge mismatch, but I wanted to see Gonzaga up-close and personal, thought that would be neat. Winds up, For Piotrek’s first NCAA basketball game, USF pulls the upset and wins in overtime. That place went nuts, so like any normal fan with no allegance to either team would do, I said to Piotrek, ‘Let’s storm the court with them’. Duh. Why wouldn’t we?

Some say we look alike? I’ll take it. Sorry Pito.

On top of all these events, I got to go to IKEA for the first time in my life Sunday. I went with my two friends from Friday night, and was too overwhelmed with that store. I got a couple things for my room, and actually just finished hanging some shelves and pictures. This place is starting to come around…