Let's wrap it up. 2006 was good to me. I was given many opportunies to pursuit many of my dreams. I built on my strengths, overcame some of my fears, and had a ball or two.
Photo copyrighted by Mike LaMonaca
Road RacesMarathon: six races in six states, three personal records, two races in eight days. My personal favorite marathon race in 2006 was the Chicago Gay Games Marathon where I ran in circles looking at other hot gay men.
Other road races: One 5K in which I finished dead last, two 10K, and a half marathon. My overall best result was the Philadelphia Distance Run in which I placed 1,176 out of 11,119 finishers.
Soccer TournamentsKeystone Classic: my rare participation in an indoors soccer tournament. Someone on the team gave us the flu after the trip to Lancaster, PA.
Chicago Gay Games: Amazing time bonding with other Philadelphia and Washington DC players. I played strong the whole week, but missed the penalty kick shoot-out and got my team eliminated from the tournament.
Pumpkin Patch Tournament: We flopped. I sucked.
New AdventuresI got involved with politics and helped dumped Senator Rick Santorum. Rock climbing is once again a part of my workout.
I joined the Philadelphia FINS Aquatic Club, and swim with the team twice a week. I'm the slowest swimmer on the team, but I still got myself elected to serve on the FINS executive board.
New ToysI got almost everything I wanted: iPod Video and a black MacBook, both of which I use every day. I also acquired tons of sports equipment and accessories: Garmin ForeRunner 305 GPS device, a road bike, four pairs of running shoes, road bike shoes, rock climbing shoes and harness, triathlon suit, four pairs of googles, two wetsuits, and six Speedo swimsuit. I also got about 20 t-shirts which I didn't directly purchase. They were mostly from road races that I participated. I plan to give most of these cotton t-shirts away. Any takers?
Pop cultureThe movie I enjoyed most this year was "A History of Violence". Favorite theater production was the old Broadway song-and-dance "42nd St." The only book I read cover-to-cover was
"Inside Out: Straight Talk from a Gay Jock". TV shows I watched regularly were "Desperate Housewives" and "Survivor". My favorite blog was
Diminishing Returns.
People in My LifeI'm grateful to be surrounded by smart, beautiful, passionate, talented and funny people such as:
The one whom I talk to every day about everything. He's my workout buddy, travel partner, and even shopping buddy.
The one who hosts fabulous parties and makes sure I am a part of all his events
The one who puts me on a Jeep in a gay pride parade
The one who got me to join the gay swim team (and passed away a few weeks ago)
The one who strong-armed me to volunteer for political campaigns to support Bob Casey, Ed Rendell, and Pat Murphy
The ones who got me on two boards of directors
The one who ran three marathon races with me and keeps inspiring me to keep running
The ones who welcome me to their FINS family
The ones who came to my birthday party
The ones who contributed to my fundraise for the Human Righs Campaign
The ones who came to visit me (and forced me to clean my apartment)
The ones who made me a part of their lives
Labels: 2006, Asian, gay, Pennsylvania, personal, Philadelphia, year-end review