Summer 2012

It is mid-September once again and you know what that means: summer is almost over. It seems that every year I feel the urge to announce this and wrap up the summer's events in a blog. So what can I say about the summer of 2012? Well, I can say that it has been somewhat of a more pleasant summer that many of recent past. This summer I had a lot more free time on my hands thanks to unemployment and that has been sort of a blessing considering how overworked I had become in the past 2 years.

I was partying just about every weekend this summer, taking advantage of the hot nights. In the spring me and some of the coworkers I had gotten along with started going out drinking every Friday night in the city and even to Brooklyn a few times. We had a lot of fun I must say, especially taking my friends to some of the hipster hangouts that I frequent. With my friends from outside of work, we did our share of partying, mainly on Saturday night. It is quite fun, I have to say, going out and living the party lifestyle, if only for the weekend. I do enjoy a fair share of the show-off factor in it, and by that I mean going out just to be seen at a cool place, or with cool people. Perhaps that's what summers in New York are for when you're still "young".

I did go camping a few weeks ago too as this has become an annual tradition. This time we had access to a car and drove deeper into the woods than we had gone before and explored some unchartered territory. We set up our tents and made a fire and we always do, and smoked weed and pigged out on our food. One of my friends was camping for the first time since he was a child and it was funny laughing at his inexperience and unique approach to many of its challenges. Like for one thing he bought all of his supplies at the super market right before we left which included a fresh pickle wrapped in plastic.

I started going to more MeetUp.com groups this summer with some of the atheist groups I've joined. I met some decent people who are as passionate about atheism as me and it's always interesting to discuss relevant topics. I went to another Mets game for free as I did last year, and I also went to a free concert in Brooklyn to see Antibalas, an afro-cuban funk band that I like whose lyrics are anti-corporate greed.

With my free time I don't think that I have used it as wisely as I could have. I made a list of things to focus on while unemployed which included not to give into apathy, but I haven't always succeeded. Perhaps the time I spend slaving away at work is truly putting my time to good use since without it I might otherwise be wasting it on unproductive nonsense.

I did go on several bike rides that were to places that I had been many times. I think I should be going to explore neighborhoods that are not so no predictable. I hear Prospect Park is quite nice. I wouldn't mind going there while the weather is still conducive to such activity. I have to say that a part of me was wishing for fall-like weather, partly because of the fact that I bought some jackets for the fall that I am wishing to put to use. We had a few cooler than normal days recently and that wish has suddenly dried up when realizing what cooler temperatures actually feel like. I want summer like weather for at least a few more weeks.

So as summer 2012 comes to an end I am again very typically longing for it to last just a bit longer. Summer can never be too long in my book. I can say that I had my share of fun this year, even though most of it now resides in the hazy, inebriated memories of many weekend nights, carousing through the streets and bars of the city. Here's to summer!