Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays. Whether you celebrate Christmas, Hanakah, or Kwanza, it's all about the same shit: Family. Everybody gets a chance to take a break from work, school, and other busy-related activities to truly catch up with their family. The Holidays aren't about receiving. They aren't about giving. I believe that its all about FAMILY. 

Progress on my book: I took a break from writing  on Christmas day to edit what I had written so far. To this day, I have finished 10 chapters and written 21208 words. It is starting to get tricky because the middle of my book is pretty complex and packed with all kinds of action and emotional dialogue. Writing a novel is a very mentally draining activity but I know it will all pay off in the end.

My First Novel

I am home for the holidays. What is home to me? Tough question. I was born in San Bernardino, CA and soon moved to Pittsburgh, PA at age 3. I have lived in "the burgh" most of my life and eventually went to Penn State only 2 hours away. About two years ago, my mom was offered a really nice job all the way out in Reading, CA. My mom always taught me never to pass up great opportunities, so she definitely took the job. I did not want to live in California though because all my lifetime friends were on the east coast. Fortunately for me, my older half sister and her fiance moved into a big house right down the street from my old house. What luck! They invited me to live there so I could stay in touch with my Pittsburgh life and get to and from school with ease. Every christmas though, I have made it a tradition to fly out to Cali, spend time with my birth giver, and relax.

So here I reside momentarily, in Cali with way to much time on my hands. During the long flight that I had to embark on, a great idea for a book had SLAPED me in the face. I had instantly began planning out the plot for my first novel. I arrived at my mom's house in Reading, CA on Sunday night. As of now, I have 6957 words so far. I will keep you all informed of my progress. One rule I have made myself though is to not tell ANYONE what the book will be about until it is done and hopefully published. As I say to myself everytime before I get into the writing zone, its crunch time!

Its the "Finals" Countdown

As the year winds down to an end, so does my current semester at Penn State. A lot of students up here are stressing out BIG TIME in preparation for some of the most formidable enemies on the face of the planet. These infidels are known as "finals". I saw on the news actually that Barack Obama plans to launch a campaign known as the "War on Finals". I was lucky enough this semester to only have two finals: one on the subject of financial and managerial accounting (Zzz Zzz) and another on Elementary Microbiology ( Zzz Zzz Zzz). After realizing that the students who overstudy and stress out over finals end up not doing so well, I have taken a more laid back approach which consists of relaxing 90% of the time and studying the other 10%. It has worked out pretty well for me. Why should I over-prepare for finals, when it is in fact the finals that should prepare for ME!

The Hot Dawg Blogger Award

A few days ago, I was one of the few bloggers lucky enough to receive The Hot Dawg Blogger Award from a new friend of mine named Mr. Bob. I was surprised and honored to receive this since I am a newbie in the blogger game. It is no surprise to anyone who reads my blog that I am new to this kind of thing. Posting writings of my mental thoughts, shenanigans, and stories that may one day make the history books, I am starting to get the hang of it. What I never realized though is the strong sense of community that can be found on Blogger. The community fuels my desire to post. You know how winners at award ceremonies give a small speech and thank people that may have helped them on their journey? Well I would like to thank my mother for giving birth to me, my partner-in-crime and drinking buddy Jeff, the man/woman who invented Gatorade, Abraham Lincoln, $1 slices of pizza, and last but not least, the community. I would like to thank you guys and girls.

Check out the award here.

"The Snorkel"

So this weekend, I learned a new trick called "The Snorkel". Basically, you insert a straw in a full beer bottle. You bend the straw at the top, which creates an path for air to travel. This mechanism makes chugging a full beer out of the bottle a cake walk. I advise that you all try it out and stay tuned for more video footage of the WILD shenanigan I have up my sleeve!

007: Unlicensed to Drive

2 weeks before I had turned 16, I suffered from a fractured leg because I was dumb enough to slide home in a pick up softball game at a summer camp I attended. I was forced to be sent to a hospital in the middle of nowhere to be casted up and picked up by my mother. The sadness of leaving my favorite place to be in the summer was strong in the heart but I would deal. My lovely mother picked up on my sorrows, and surprised me on my 16th birthday by taking me to get my permit and giving me this:

So there I was, cast up to my knee on the left leg, permit in one hand, keys in the other, and one of the BIGGEST grins I had ever had on my face in my entire life. It was the summer after 10th grade and a legendary class of seniors had graduated. They were bad ass, womanizing, joke-cracking alcoholic assholes and for some reason, I wanted to be one of them. I wanted to be a legend at my high school. When people said the name Frank, I wanted images and recounts of stories to appear in the minds of many. How would I start?

I had  late birthday, being July 17, 1989 (remember the date). Getting my license was a long distance away but I could not wait. Being the leader type, I needed the ability to drive at any hour of the day and night. I somehow convinced my mom to let me drive to the gym down the street alone. I then began driving to school every morning. People that knew I was very young would wonder with statements like, "Frank, you don't even have your license do you?" Of course I replied with the casual, "Nah". This somehow led to me driving all over the Greater Pittsburgh area on late night female conquests with my buddy Ty. For some reason, girls closer to the Pittsburgh area were easier then the girls in my semi-stuck-up suburban high school. So in retrospect, that was where we gravitated towards. A 16 year old boy will do whatever he can to get laid.