Like the Staind reference? I'm sure you do....I know, it's been a while since I have updated my journal. It's not that I didn't have anything to write about- I was just very busy. Much of my summer was spent training for the Chicago Marathon. I ran it yesterday, and I finished in 4 hours and 37 minutes. I know this will sound overly dramatic, but it was a life changing experience for me. Before this May, I had never run more than 6 miles. But with the help of Hal Higdon's beautifully constructed 18 week training program, I successfully took on the 26.2 mile challenge.

Marathon day was unforgettable. Going in, I was very nervous about the weather- this month has been unusually cold, and the weather prognosticators had predicted a cold, windy, and wet day(ugh). I figured I could deal with the cold and wind, but the forecasted rain scared me. Nothing is worse than running while you are cold AND wet. However, when I woke up in the morning, it was cold and windy, but there was no rain. And it did not rain at all during the day!

After taking a cab downtown, I met my running buddies downtown at Corner Bakery and headed to the staging area in Grant Park. The starting line is a complete zoo- it really feels like you are drowning in a sea of humanity, there is no room to move. We tried to line up according to our anticipated pace, but we could not break through the crowd, and had to stay back. At 7:59, the starting gun went off, but instead of running right away, we slowly walked to start line for almost 20 minutes! By the time I actually started running, I could not even feel my legs and feet, they felt like they frozen meat. It took me about 4 miles to get the blood flowing.

Once I got going though, I really enjoyed myself. The biggest thing I noticed while running is the enthusiasm of the spectators. People were really getting into it! I had a blast high-fiving both adults and little children lined up along the streets. The crowd really carried me in the last few miles, when my feet started aching and the wind chilled me to the bone. It was really cool running through many of the great neighborhoods that make up Chicago. Each neighborhood showed its support uniquely- from the gay cowboys cheering us on in Boystown, to the mariachi bands jamming away in Pilsen. The marathon seems to bring out the best in both the runners and the spectators!

Going into the run, I felt that I might get emotional towards the end, given the long and difficult training program. But I really didn't get emotional. I guess felt exhilarated at about mile 23, when I realized that I was in fact going to finish. However, when I crossed the finish line, the same finish line where the winner Robert Cheroiyut slipped and fell, I was exhausted and in pain (maybe a bit shocked that it was all over), and I didn't have any energy for tears of joy!

Naturally, I am quite sore today, I can barely move up the stairs- but more importantly I feel very satisfied with myself. I think this was one of the best things I've ever done. It really showed me that with a little discipline and a little faith, almost anything is possible. Like a lot of people, I never could imagine finishing a marathon. Now, I've done it- not because i'm special, but because I was disciplined and I believed I could do it. I'll have another goal to shoot for soon- but first I've gotta get some ibuprofen! :)

One of the things I have resolved to do this year is to try to be more disciplined with my life style. As the previous post might indicate, I know how to have a good time, and I doubt that is something I'll ever forget to do. However, I think I need to be little more focused in attaining my goals, and partying and having a good time gets in the way. So I thought a good way to get myself a little more focused and disciplines was to sign up for the Chicago Marathon http://www.chicagomarathon.com. Yes, I know, I know, I have said many times that running the marathon was pointless and idiotic, and that I would never even try to run it. But in the last few days, a couple of my friends have talked about it, and I got to thinking that it might be a good vehicle for me to focus on a goal and try to attain hit. Perhaps this can translate to other areas in my life. We'll see. Either way, I think training for the marathon will help me to at least cut down on my drinking and eating bad food. I hope I can stick with it! If you're looking for something to do this summer, sign up and train with me!

Hi everyone:

Well, today I hit the big 32. I guess this means that I'm well into my thirties now. Yikes!

My birthday weekend was quite fun. Thursday night I went to Pepper Canister (great modern Irish Pub, 509 N. Wells St.) with some work colleagues for what was supposed to be a couple of drinks. Of course, I had more than a couple of drinks, slammed down a couple of jagerbombs, and was out until 2 a.m. Friday was a day that was dubbed Cinco De Manny, a celebration of all things Manny (sorry to refer to myself in the 3rd person!). I dragged myself in to work, and was surprised to see that my cubicle had been decorated by some of my work buddies. Not only that, they made cupcakes and bought me a couple of gifts! Sweet! It was very nice of them. All the birthday hoopla made it hard for me to concentrate, so i left work early. Friday night was a blast, I am happy to report that Cinco De Manny was a smashing success! A bunch of us met up at the Grafton Pub at around 730. We then meandered to the Pizza D.O.C. (2251 W. Lawrence Ave.) for dinner. Pizza D.O.C. is a neighborhood restaurant that serves very good pizza and relatively inexpensive Italian food. The service was pretty good, although our waitress, a very enthusiastic Eastern European woman, was pretty aggressive in getting us to order as much food as possible. She would leading questions like "Everyone at the table is ordering salad. What kind of salad would you like?". I guess she saw a large group and was thinking big tip....Anyway, I ended up eating way too much, and got drunk on a lot of wine. After dinner, we went to Huettenbar (4721 N. Lincoln Ave) for some German beer. Love that bar, damn those German brews are good. After the bar closed, a couple of us stayed out and tried to walk over to Carol's Pub for some late night drinking and some country music, but the line was ridiculously stagnant, and we ended up going back to my apartment for some drinks and bullshitted into the early hours of the morning .

I woke up extremely hung over at 9:30 Saturday, and tried to get tickets for Radiohead's shows in June. My efforts were futile, as both shows sold out in like 3 minutes. I then spent the rest of the day alternating between sleep and wakefulness. In the evening, i managed to leave the house and go out for dinner at Tiffin, a great Indian restaurant located at 2536 W. Devon. I had the Tandoori lamb, which was delicious. I also like their Papri Chaat appetizer, which is a mixture of fried bread, chick peas, potatoes, yogurt, and sweet and spicy chutney. Its amazing how a dish with so many different flavors and textures works like that. After dinner, we headed to the Fireside lounge (5739 N. Ravenswood) for a beer, and then called it an early night I guess.

Today, I woke up and met my parents at church. http://www.chicagomarthoma.org. In our church, it is a tradition for those celebrating their birthdays to make an offering, so I went up to the altar and gave some money to the church, and received my birthday blessing. After the service, we went to eat at Todai Asian Buffet in Woodfield Mall in Schaumburg. That place rocks! All you can eat tempura shrimp, sushi, noodles. After that I hung out at my parents house and did some stuff around the house for them, and came back to my place this evening. Needless to say, I am a little tired (and feeling stuffed!) after this weekend. I think i'm going to have to take it easy this week!

Yo bitches, I'm making 2 consecutive entries in my journal, so consider yourselves lucky....So far I'm having a fun weekend. My friend from college who now lives San Francisco is in town for a wedding Saturday, and is staying with me. I decided to take him out on the town Friday night. We started out at a bar called the The Rail (4709 N. Damen Ave, Chicago) to watch some of the NBA playoffs. The Rail is a serviceable neighborhood sports bar, and has the requisite flat screen TV sets and pub food. The back bar has a skylight, which creates a light and airy feel not present in most other sports bars. The bar was packed and the service was a bit slow, which was bit irritating. My buddy and I drank about 4 pints there, and I ate a chicken wrap sandwich that was quite good.

Around 10, we decided to head down to the Darkroom, 2210 W. Chicago Ave, http://www.darkroombar.com/. Believe or not, we actually took the bus there! Pretty impressive for a spoiled yuppie, I must say. Darkroom is located in the hip Ukrainian Village neighborhood. It comes complete with a dancefloor, and DJ's were spinning Brit-pop from the '80s, as well as current post-punk and indie hits. I actually danced for a bit between vodka tonics. All of the ladies took notice. After we closed Darkroom, we headed to Christina's Place (3759 N. Kedzie)for a nightcapper. Christina's place is notable for its $2 Guinness pints, although i don't think the pints would impress any Dubliners.

It sucks outside, so I have no choice but to post on Livejournal. Woo-Hoo!! I promised you all that I would post about the Cubs game I went to 3 weeks ago...so here it is- It was great! Michael Barrett hit a game winning grand slam homer in the 8th to beat Albert Poo-Holes and the hated Cardinals. I also had the opportunity to sit in the revamped bleachers this past week. The new bleachers are great. They maintain the old school look of Wrigley Field, plus they have some modern conveniences (We men longer have to piss in a trough!). So far the Cubs are playing well, but they were dealt a major blow when Derrek Lee broke his wrist, and they have a couple of struggling starting pitchers trying to keep the team afloat while they wait for the return of their perpetually injured aces, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior. We'll see what happens....

Hey Hey:

My weekend so far has been pretty fun. I had planned on working a full day at my lousy job Friday, but I took off early to meet up with my friend to catch the end of the Cubs home opener against the hated St. Louis Cardinals on TV. I was glad I did- not only was it nice to be away from work, but the Cubs played a brilliant game. Greg Maddux pitched a masterful game (again!), teasing Cardinal hitters with cut fastballs that looked hittable, but would move ever so slightly at the last moment and induce the groundout or flyball that had no chance of cutting through the stiff northeast breeze and leaving the park. For the first time in quite a while, we also saw some smallball from the Cubs- a suicide squeeze attempt from newly acquired CF Juan Pierre comes to mind. All in all, a very satisfying start to the 2006 campaign.

After the game, I went out to my favorite bar, Celtic Crossings, drank a few too many Guiness (is Guinni the plural form?) and ended up at the Gingerman, where I met my good friend D. We had a very nice conversation over a couple more Guinness until closing time. I then walked up Clark Avenue in the cold windy night, stopped in for a burrito al pastor, and went home.

Yesterday, I woke up hungover, got a hair cut, and watched the Cubs game on TV. I went home to my parents place in the evening, and we went to one of our favorite spots, Periyali Tavern, for some Greek food. The food was delicious as usual. I was too tired to do anything after that, so I went home and called it an early night.

Tonight, I'm going to the Cubs/Cards season finale- I will give a full report on my experience later!

Hi again- It's been a long time since I hit you with freestyle. I guess I have been busy, but the main reason I haven't posted is because nothing interesting has happened to me in the past several months. I mean absolutely NOTHING :)

I guess the exciting news of the day for me is that the Cubs home opener is tomorrow afternoon. The beginning of the baseball season is a time of hope, hope that the Cubbies might actually finish above .500 for the season. Seriously though, baseball is of the most important signs of spring, and it warms my heart to know that ivy will soon cover those brick walls in the outfield at Wrigley. Unfortunately, I will not be attending, but I will be listening to the game on the radio in my lovely cubicle. I plan on attending quite a few games this year, cheering on my beloved Cubbies and watching the scoreboard, hoping that the Sox will lose! I can't believe those fools won the series.....

So I thought I would post something while i'm drunk....Tonight I had food and a bunch of margaritas at a new restaurant called Zapatista, 1307 S. Wabash Street in Chicago. The name of the restaurant, which is a term that was used to describe followers of the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata, had me thinking that I was going to eat food that was bold and daring. While the margaritas were good, the food that I ate was bland, generic Mexican fare that was inferior to the stuff I eat at the El Taco Loco on Lawrence Ave. at 3 am at one third the price. For appetizers, I had the guacamole and the Queso Fundido, which was some sort of chorizo quesadilla. Both of these were quite tasty. I was extremely disappointed by my entree, however. I ordered a shrimp dish with rice that was overcooked and bland. The desserts we ordered, a watermelon sorbet and a burnt coconut caramel vanilla ice cream concoction, were unremarkable. The service was very slow, although this may have been the result of an over-booked restaurant. All in all, Zapatista is a place that will not get my business again, unless major changes are made.

As some of you might know, I am an attorney. I have spent a good part of my career making the world safe for Corporate America. I'm not really happy about this. There's something very unsatisfying to me about working for Corporate America. It's not that I feel that there is something inherently evil about corporations- I actually think that corporations make lives better for most of us. It's just that I always get that sickening feeling that I work and get paid to help others GET PAID. Why can't I be the person who GETS PAID? Big law firms suck the life out of attorneys and in return pay them just enough money to enjoy a few nice things here and there (house, car, sometimes even a vacation). I just don't feel like this is good enough for me- it's not REAL MONEY.

Another reason working for corporate America sucks for me is that I really don't feel like I am making any sort of a difference in anyone's life. If I do my job well, might make a company's balance sheet look better. That really doesn't give me a particularly warm fuzzy feeling. I often contrast what I do with my father, who practices medicine. When my father does his job well, he saves someone's life. You can tell what his work means to his patients around Christmas time, when he receives wonderful gifts from them. I might get a couple of cards around Christmas time from associate general counsels of clients if I'm lucky.

I think I have to start my own business.........

Hi Everyone:

My name is ManjoBanjo, and I am new to the blogosphere. Some of my friends have online journals, and I didn't want to feel left out, so here I am. I suspect I will be using this like everyone else, so my only hope is that I don't bore y'all to death.