A New Leaf

Anyone who knows my college roommate David Michael Yates, you are probably already familiar with one of his most pathetic, yet endearing habits. Yates, being the upright man of principle that he his… let me rephrase. Him imagining himself to be an upright man of principle, but instead being the weasel-ie inconsistent man that he is, he often has resolutions to “turn over a new leaf”. It’s a noble concept, one that everyone should partake of more often than simple the first two weeks after New Year’s every January. Unfortunately for Yates, he indefinitely fails in his new resolutions, and often in exceedingly short periods of times.

Take, for example, his diets. Like the time, I think it was Sophomore or Junior year, when he became a vegetarian. I’m not a big fan of vegetarianism. It’s just not for me. I tend to follow the “I didn’t climb all the way to the top of the food chain to NOT eat meat” line of thinking. But if you can pull it off, more power to you I guess. That is, if you have a good reason. In Yates’ case, it was to shed a few pounds (before a show). Not a good reason. The thing that made it even more ironic, was when on Day 2 of the diet, I see him in the cafeteria (ah, Saga) eating a salad, some fruit, and a chicken breast… Now I realize some people consider this okay on a vegetarian diet, but please explain to me how “not eating meat” is consistent with eating chicken? If you don’t want to eat beef, or fish, or pork, but you’re fine with eating chicken, that’s fine (whatever floats your boat). But, YOU ARE NOT A VEGETARIAN. You’re someone who eats primarily vegetables, some chicken, and doesn’t eat red meat (or fish, or pork).

So of course, Yates drops the “I’m allowing myself to eat chicken” line. Typical Yates. So much for that new leaf, especially when within another day I catch him eating a hamburger (“I was treating myself for being so good on my new diet” was his excuse this time). In other words Yates sucks at resolutions.

But doesn’t everybody? That’s my point. Without having an extremely strong will, some strong external motivation (i.e. you have high blood pressure, and you might die if you don’t lose weight), or divine intervention, it’s very hard to change something in your life. The only way you really stand a chance is having some accountability to make those changes. People need something like an accountability partner, a little thing that we like to call a “running partner” at Honey Rock Camp. Or as Yates like’s to call it, a “Running RP Partner”. And yes, the RP on that still stands for running partner (how did I live for 4 years with someone so thick-headed?).

So here’s the thing. The Village Tavern is in trouble. The last post was made on March 11th. The NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament wasn’t even enough to get us to write something. That’s sad. No, it’s pathetic. I know I’ve been busy (and I’ve also posted 4 out of the last 6 articles, not that anyone’s keeping count). I know Ekwall now has a girlfriend. And I know James is… between jobs, what the heck is your excuse Puta James?! Anyways…

We need to keep each other accountable. We have readers out there. At least 4 or 5 of them. And according to our hit-counter, there have been “2047 Readers who aren’t Sam Cassell, and therefore can’t do the testicle dance”. So, I’m challenging the writers of this fine blog. What’s keeping us from making one post every other week? That would give us a minimum of 6 posts a month. That should fit into our schedules, and also keep our small, though fiercely loyal, readership coming back. Come on guys, let’s turn over a new leaf, let’s keep the Village Tavern alive…