Dave Renne wanted me go to a Bush concert in Toronto with himself and Dave Klingon. Dave and I were XC teammated at OU at the time and I believe that it was the summer before my 4th year of college.

So on one Saturday morning in May the 3 of us crammed into Dave's tinny Susuki and drove to Toronto. Canada is such a weird place. It is just like the US, except with a Canadian accent and Kilometers. I am pretty sheltered and haven't been on too many trips anywhere. So I was just amazed by the city and everything else in Toronto. After checking into the hotel in Downtown we got something to eat and I even bought a cool shirt for $3. We left for the concert shortly after. It was at the Molsen Ampatheater. Mapquest directed us to take a ferry to an island just out of downtown. None of this made any sense. There was no crowd waiting to get over to the island. Some idoit working at the ferry dock told us that the Molsen Ampatheater is like 30 mile out of downtown. We didn't end up going to the concert but later found out. That the venue wasn't on an island or 30 miles away, it was in downtown, right around the corner.

So we said "Fuck the concert, lets live it up in Toronto." We went to the tallest free standing structure in the world, the CN Tower. Then we picked up some alcohol and did some preparting in the hotel. We took the subway to the club district. We just bar hopped all night, but 75% of the places we went to wouldn't let us in wearing running shoes. We finally found a cool place and stayed there for a while. By this point in the night, I was fucking waisted. On the way to the bathroom, one of the bouncers took me aside and told me that I was walking a little funny and I needed to stop drinking or else I would get kicked out. I told him I am done drinking and meant it at the time. So about 10 minutes later I was so drunk that I totally forgot about what the bouncer told me and bought a beer. As soon as I paid for it, I noticed 2 large men standing on either side of me. At this point, I knew the jig was up and did the only thing I could think to do. I grabbed the beer and started chugged it as much of it as possible until they grapped it from my hand and litterally dragged me out of the back door of the club. I asked on the way out if I could at least let my friends know that I had been kicked out..... their answer was no. This was before everyone had a cell phone, so there was a problem. I waited outside the club for a while, but didn't see them.

So here I am out on the streets of Toronto all alone probably around 2:00 or 3:00 am, don't really know how to get back to the hotel, the subway is closed, don't have a key to the hotel even if I find it, hungry, and cold. There are all kinds of bums sleeping on the side walk and I am pretty scared. Somehow in my drunken haze, I am able to wonder back to my hotel after walking around for a few hours. I just try to fall asleep in the hallway outside the door of my hotel. So a few hours later Dave and Klingon show up and find Billy curled up in the featal position passed out and crying.

So we went to bed and Klingon and I woke up with the worst hangovers in the world. Dave however woke up feeling like a million $. I just wanted to stay in bed all day. Instead, I had to sit in a car for a 5 hours as Dave drove us back to Detroit.

It wasn't what I expected when I set out on this trip, but it was a fun weekend that I will never forget.

For my new years resolution in 2006, I told myself that I would run a marathon.  But telling yourself is one thing and doing is another.  But I trained and trained some decent miles all throughout the spring and summer, but my uncle Kirt was the true inspiration for me seriously considering it.

He is a newer runner than I but he has the passion for running that I have missed.  I havent had great passion since I quit college cross country my junior year.

Anyway, he kept up with me and my training and we both signed up for the Detroit Marathon.

On the night before the race I had to go to a wedding and I didnt get much sleep.  When we arrived in downtown detroit at 4:30 AM, we both took had a BM but were extremely nervous for our first marathon.  I had something happened in the toilet that really pissed me off.  I pretty much sprayed on myself and my shorts because it was so dark if you know what I mean.  It sucked and pissed me off... . . . Read More..

In my 2nd season of division one Cross Country running at Oakland University, coach Paul Rice took us to a camp for a hard week of training.

Here are some of the things I remember from that week of pain:

• We had a talent contest where everyone had to display a talent
• I decided that I wanted to use my DJing skills and played a famous piano concerto behind a piano as I goofed off like I was playing it for real
• I cant remember everyones skills, but we started indoors and ended up taking it outside where people got up on this stage.  Billy any help here?
• When we first got there we did a long run into the woods and overlooking this bluff was one of the most beautiful swamps/lakes I have ever seen in my life.  I was in awe.
• We did a cool workout where we all raced as a team kind of like the great lakes relay
• Some people went skinny dipping I think.  Not sure
• I was DJ Willuz all week, cause I brought my portable MP3 player and some computer speakers that I returned at Meijers later.
• Kevin D. and I had lots of talks about how the team was always dicks to him.  He and I always confided in each other because other people werent always the nicest people to both of us.  Especially to him.
• On the last day we did a hill workout running up and down the sand dunes.  It was soo difficult and challenging.  And in the end people jumped into the lake.  (Some people jumped in completely naked too)
  

Next to band camp, this was the most fun I had in a camp in such a long time.  I got into ultimate shape and it was the best thing for that season because I ran a 27:50 8K!

So one weekend I decided to go up to matt W.'s sisters boyfriends cousins cabin up in McBain MI. I took friday off of work because I planned on Skiing with matt at some sweet mountain up north in Michigan.

The drive was fine and I called him when I was at some random party store. He came to get me about 10 minutes later and boy am I glad that he did get me because this cabin was wayy back in the woods.

Okay so back to the rest of this memory.

Once Matt picked me up I followed him to this amazing property out in the middle of nowhere. This place had all of the ammenities that you could possibly want in an up north cabin! There were tons of guns, a bunch of 4 wheelers and snow mobiles, about 20 bunk beds, lots of room, TV, a nice kitchen and everything.

Matt and I soon left for our skiing and snowboarding adventure. We brought along the portable podcast if we felt random and felt like talking to lots of people, but that never felt right at the lodge or on the . . . Read More..

Sometime before Christmas my mother made a comment about the box in the dinning room. Through simple clues, mostly Ben's stupidity, I could tell it was a unicycle for me. So, on Christmas I got a unicycle to ride.

Now, the weather was good at this point, so Ben and I went out to try and ride it. Ben went first and found a painful secret, it can hurt a lot. I found it not to be too bad, but harder than any thing I have done before.

I kept on practicing though and have so far gotten almost nowhere. I learned a little bit about it, but not much. At one point I got Josh trying it, Although he was bad, he too kept trying. So, when the weather gets better, Josh and I stall do are best to learn to ride a unicycle.