Category: Random Thoughts

Graduation Day

On By Chris ElliottIn College, Random ThoughtsLeave a comment

Twice today I got caught in the rain. Happens once, you assume it is just bad luck. Twice and you have to think maybe I should start checking the weather. Three years later, an MBA completed, and the question of if I am any smarter still hangs in the balance.

Today, was supposed to be my graduation day. Yes, technically it was graduation day, virtual ceremony and all. It just doesn’t feel like it though and I’ll be honest I didn’t watch the ceremony. Just not quite the same. Now, my opinions on the lock down and the government response to Covid-19 is a diatribe I will spare you from reading. I mean I should thank you for getting this far. Instead, I’ll let you peak into another part of my brain.

I was brought back to today to the first class as part of my MBA program at the Weatherhead School of Management. The class entitled L.E.A.D. A clever acronym for a class based on the soft stuff. Not necessarily my skill set. Yet, that class was in itself worth the price of tuition.

There were a lot of useful lessons, intriguing insights and spinets of information in that class, but one that I always think back on is creating our vision for ourselves. Where did we want to go, who did we want to be and what did we want to do. Endless possibilities and the freedom to answer anyway you wanted. How can someone choose? How do you know what you want to do, who you want to be or where you want to go? I couldn’t pick. How does one settle on one thing like that?

I have been told I have too many hobbies. Personally, I think softball, baseball, basketball, making candles, reading, cooking, weight lifting, hiking, kayaking, concerts, collecting baseball cards and writing this jumbled mess of stories and thoughts is really not enough. I recently made my own live edge wood table and I have plans for a bar cart coming soon. I like to travel and visit new restaurants. I am an avid craft beer fan. I tried my hand at coaching youth football and basketball for a few years, briefly tried Gaelic football and even once was days away from quitting my job, moving to London and playing American Football abroad at a London University. I was really close, but the 50K price tag just in the end kept me away.

And I have a list of other things I want to do. I can’t imagine limiting myself. That is where we get back to L.E.A.D. and that assignment. I don’t remember exactly what I wrote in that paper, it was a collection of things as I am a collection of interests. The renaissance man is a lost art. We live in a world of experts with few jack of all trades. I am not sure I am the best at any one thing but I am good at a lot of them and I want to taste more of them. That class showed me that insight into myself and it is something I have tried to carry forward. Do not limit myself. As I sit here today on graduation day, I am thankful for the opportunity I had to say yes to going to Case. A lot has changed in the last three years and while the ending isn’t exactly the day anyone wanted, it still a monumental day in many of our lives. So I will end with this. Why say no, when you can say yes and see how it goes. You can also try something else.

Escape to the Mountains

On By Chris ElliottIn Fitness, Random Thoughts, Trips, vacationsLeave a comment

Life gets really busy sometimes. It gets cluttered and confusing. We get pulled in a million directions. Some we want to do, some we have to do and some we feel we should. Sometimes we just need a break. Vermont to me is a great place to get away. Particularly, the mountains in Vermont. I spent the last week in Stowe, VT doing not much else but hiking, drinking beer and sitting in the hot tub. While I did have some great beer, even tried out the famous Heady Topper from the Alchemist (I’ll detail all the beer in another post), the mountains are my favorite part of being up there.

In the mountains, cell phones barely work, if at all. Modern civilization is not around you. It’s quiet. The only thing to listen to is your own mind. I hiked on average about 22,000 steps and over 150 flights of stairs per day. Don’t worry I drank and ate all those calories burned. It can be quite a climb sometimes. The views are worth it though.

View from the Summit of Mount Hunger

I hiked Mountains like Mount Hunger, saw three different waterfalls, and countless other trails such as the Stowe Pinnacle. Each view more gorgeous than the last.

Reaching your destination after a grueling climb, dripping in sweat is a self accomplishment you can take satisfaction in. From up there, you realize how small you are but how much you can accomplish. Getting away sometimes is exactly what you need to think clearly, to understand your next step. Or just realize you want to chase waterfalls.

Bingham Falls

I’m a Stoolie and the Sun is Cold

On By Chris ElliottIn baseball, Basketball, College, Football, Random ThoughtsLeave a comment

Have to say, I’m fairly late to the game at becoming a self proclaimed “Stoolie”. I️ probably first learned about Barstool back in 2010 as a college freshman and over the next 5 years dabbled in their content. I️ experienced serious FOMO over never going to a Barstool Blackout Party, perused the Smokeshow pages back as 20 year old college guy in the dorms and laughed at all the absurd videos. Sometime in late 2015 or 2016 I️ became a full fledged Stoolie. Yes, the sun is cold.

Barstool has been all over the news circuit since the cancellation of their show on ESPN after one episode and then the New York Times wrote this piece here https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/14/magazine/spurned-by-espn-barstool-sports-is-staying-on-offense.html. Like many of my friends, Barstool appeals because it is not PC. We are not racists or homophobes. Many of us have libertarian type leanings. Fiscally conservative, socially liberal. We really don’t give a fuck what you do. Just don’t tell us what to do either. And that’s where barstool appeals. It doesn’t try to be a moral compass, it doesn’t shove its views down my throat and it never takes itself too seriously. We don’t think any joke is off limits because in comedy it shouldn’t be. Barstool offends people and make them uncomfortable because it isn’t afraid to. I️ can’t watch ESPN talk shows anymore. I️ use to love Around the Horn but wouldn’t waste five minutes on it anymore. Instead, I️ look forward to Michael Rapaport calling people out for being sick fucks and want to know who Pardon My Take will name Football Guy of the week. I️ enjoy drinking and sports and comedy. I’m your average 25 year old male. Barstool gets me. Do I️ always agree with everything they say or post? Hell no, but I️ don’t get caught up in it. I️ laugh and move on like countless other Stoolies.

The PC world wonders how this media outlet rose to prominence and can’t believe people enjoy it. But I️ ask how can you not enjoy it? I️ know someone will think I’m a prick or misogynistic asshole for calling myself a Stoolie. Yet, there in lies the beauty of Barstool and its followers. We really don’t give a fuck what you think.