APRIL IS COMING.

Happy Monday!!!!! Let's see what the Fat Kid's calendar looks like for the immediate future:
THIS WEEK: HOLY CRAP - it's supposed to be warm!!!! Oh you know what that means: Time to break out the bike and actually get out on the roads - or at least the oval! Good thing, too, because the gym is getting awfully boring. Yeah, now I understand why some gym equipment (not the spin bikes, OF COURSE) come with Televisions attached. Wow, there is nothing quite like sitting there going nowhere and looking at the butt of the person in front of you. Yikes. I'm ready for the joys of feeling the wind in my face and the hills to actually kill my legs, instead of virtually killing my legs.

Look out, all of you Ceasars out there - The Ides of March are this week. That's the 15th, for those not in the know. So this Thursday, look out if you're an Italian dictator. Just sayin'.

Right on the heels of the Ides is St. Patty's Day - so if you survive the Ides, go north, down a guinness, dance a jig, and pretend you're Irish for a day. Uh oh, it's a Saturday this year. Looks like half of Pittsburgh will be drunk off their rockers. Seriously - it's so big, they actually started the parties THIS past Saturday. Yikes!

So, there you have it: a week of killing my legs, killing the Ceasars, and killing the kegs. March has become a violent month!

On the horizon/things I'-a-lookin' forward to:

Hey, APRIL IS COMING. All you Game of Thrones fans already know this, of course, for other reasons, but here's another reason why you should pay attention: It's the "Third Annual Poetry Challenge!!!!" Hey - it needs lots of exclamation points, because poetry is cool. No really, even for those of you who "don't 'get'" poetry - and you know who you are - think of the last time you had your breath taken away by the beauty of a moment in your life. Recount it in your head. THAT is poetry. See? You're already doing it!

But for the unitiated, the Poetry Challenge is this: For the 30 days of April, I challenge myself to write a new poem a day. Sometimes they're silly, sometimes thoughtful, sometimes quite bad and stupid. There's no specific length I shoot for, no particular rhyme scheme, none of that technical mumbo-jumbo we all hated learning in school. I go with whatever hits me. Now, here's where you (yes YOU) come in: Join me. No, I'm not asking you to write a poem a day - but how about one a week, or do a poem a day for just one week? Or e-mail me some ideas about something you'd LIKE to have written, and I can try that. Last year, I had a few people participate. Some sent me stuff, some requested things - we all had a great time! I received some very impressive work from a couple people that really took me by surprise. It was beautiful.

Please know - this isn't a "stump the poet" contest, though I'm sure a few people will try. I know a lot of smart-assed folks out there who'd love nothing better than to see me try and work peanut butter, King Arthur, cycling, and the Great Johnstown Flood into one poem. I mean, I could DO it, of course - but it probably wouldn't make for great poetry. Things like "a lullaby would be great" or "I'd like to be inspired" or something of those lines...that's a much easier sort of guideline and actually might lead to something pretty darned good.

Thanks for reading.

The Fat Kid