Trout's Thoughts

La mer Méditerranée se jette dans le lac Michigan.

After a very long distraction… I have come to tell you about the man that has stolen my heart. His name is David and we met in Chicago during St. Patrick’s weekend. He was in town visiting a mutual friend of ours. My friend, Ryan, did a study abroad in France last year and they became friends while he was there. So here is the story of how we met.

It was a Friday night. A new friend that recently moved here from Atlanta was having a hard time finding a job and finally got the one he was hoping for. He asked if I would celebrate with him. I never turn down a reason to party. I arrived at his place and we open a bottle of champagne. After 2 bottles, we decide to take the party out on the town. He was in the mood to go dancing and wanted to go to Roscoe’s in Boystown. When we get there, we make our way to the dance floor. My friend says to me, “I am going to the bathroom.” After about 5 minutes of dancing with a random girl I decided I should look for him. I could not find him anywhere in the bar and was over it. I left Roscoe’s and started walking to the Belmont Red Line stop. While walking, I told myself that I am not going to end my night with getting ditched. I stopped into Scarlet to see who was in.

In a drunk haze I see Ryan come in with an attractive man behind him. Ryan approaches me and introduces me to his friend. “Hey, Josh. This is my friend, David, from France.” Ryan then says he has to go to the toilet. As he pushes his way through, he leans into my ear and whispers to me. “I think you two will get along.” David and I talk briefly before I aggressively make my way to his lips. Wow! What a great kisser. He invites me back to his hotel for the evening. I know, seems quick. I was in the mood.

After an evening together I knew I liked this guy. I decided I would show him Chicago’s biggest holiday celebration. I like to be a good host for my city. :-) We went to see the river dyed green, The St. Patrick’s Day Parade and had a lovely walk around the city together. That evening we met up with some of my friends at Big Chick’s and had a late night at Jackhammer. I did not go back with him to his hotel this night. I knew I liked him, but I was drunk and was close to home.

Dim sum was on the menu for Sunday brunch. David met us at Furama on Broadway and Argyle. After a lazy afternoon with our friend Ryan, he invited me back to his hotel. We ordered pizza from my favorite pizza place downtown, Pizano’s. While waiting for our pizza, we go for a late night stroll on Michigan Ave. This is when it clicked! I realized that I have met someone who makes me feel good and I found extremely interesting. It was comfortable to be myself around him. Plus, he was cute. The best part of all… he feels the same way.

The moral to this story. Don’t end your night getting ditched.

giantsorcowboys asked: How is recruitment going? Have you tried advertising in local rags? Newspapers, though, are a dying breed! What about elsewhere on the 'net? Another idea would be to go out with some teammates to some venues (bars, clubs, coffeehouses), all wearing your jerseys! You could also see if you could get a bar/nightclub to have their staff (bartenders/waiters in Dragons' jerseys or t-shirts) wear them one Friday or Saturday night. As a trade-off, you could wear the establishment logo on your jerseys on the field, or hold some big shindig at the establishment. You draw recruits, the bar draws customers!

Recruitment is going well. Thanks for asking.