Michael Phelps is the new Michael

I just witnessed one of the greatest events an athlete can achieve -- winning the most gold medals ever in the Olympics. Ever. Michael Phelps is from Baltimore, trained virtually in my hometown backyard, and is doing it in Beijing. What irks me is that he makes it look effortless, like winning a gold medal is walk in the park for him. Though, I've learned that it is.

Image courtesy of EPA, obtained from U.K. Telegraph

10:18 a.m. (Beijing time)

Michael stands upon the swimmer's pedestal. Flapping his arms like he's about to lift off. Trust me, he is about to. Almost immediately, the low drone bleeps, triggering eight swimmers to leap and dive like dolphins.

Almost 10:20 a.m. (Beijing time)

Michael completes the four lengths of the 200M fly in 1 minute, 52.09 seconds, breaking his own world record. Again. This makes four consecutive world records, not to mention gold medals in the 400 individual medley, 4X100M medley, the 200M free and just now, the 200M fly. All by Michael.

He is the first person to earn double-digit Olympic gold medals. Trust me, he is not stopping at 10.

Sunny South Carolina

What a fun day today was! My parents and I drove 2 hours from out home in Lexington to spend the day in Charleston and Folly Beach. It was cooler today than it was last week, with temps only getting in the high 80s. (We saw constant 100s all last week). We spent the morning in Charleston, mainly in the Market area, basket weavers and knick-knack salespeople set up their stands for the day. We walked the Market structure for about an hour, picking up a team picture of the 1968 MLB World Champs for my dad-- Detroit Tigers no less, and a sailor's knot ring for me. Walking near the coast is always fun, but this time we just drove through -- beautiful homes from the Victorian area get ritzier as you get closer to the coast, especially when you get to Slightly North of Broad Street (or S.N.O.B. as a local tour guide put it to us last winter, you catch my drift).

The afternoon was spent in quaint Folly Beach, a coastal town that is growing leaps and bounds. 15 miles from Charleston, only one road reaches the beach -- Highway 700. It isn't long before you know you're close to the coast as you pass bayous and homes on stilts. The road ends at a Holiday Inn, probably adding to the waistband capacity of the town. We parked on the road closest to the coast -- Arctic Avenue of all names. Food was the first thing on our minds, although the waves looked inviting first. Mom packed a lunch for us, and before I knew it, my stomach was full and I was headed to the water! I could bathe in the water it was so warm. I got out to dry and threw some disc with my dad. We later bought boogie boards, which we spent riding the waves until we left at 5.

I'm Published!

Exciting news today, if you haven't figured out -- my work has been posted by another source! The story was reported in Edinburgh, Scotland, during my MSU study abroad trip. After touching it up with last minute sources, the story is complete.

Click here to read the story. Be sure to scroll all the way down.

Footworks at Snowlines, Ltd., an athletics shop in Edinburgh that specializes in running, is what made me public. I talked to shop proprietor Colin McPhail about his running habits in Scotland, setting the premise for my story. The 50-year-old is still training for marathons like nobody's business!

Get this thing started!

While looking at friends' blogs, I decided to start my own. This is day one.

I lounged on a pontoon boat today on Lake Murray, South Carolina. It was a beautiful morning. We arrived at the marina just past 9 a.m., loaded our blown up floaties, and began the nice on day on the water. My brother, Brad, Mom and Dad and I were out today. I enjoyed some classic rock with my dad while we anchored at an uninhabited island in the middle of the lake. It was cool chilling with him and talking about the ins and outs of his classic rock days. Artists like Boston, Fleetwood Mac, Journey, T-Rex, and Phil Collins were on our minds. I recall that I said, "man I wish I was alive in the 70s, then I would enjoy the concerts of the originals that day." The water was a cool relief to the hot day, when it topped about 95 with no mercy.

This is the beginning of a new stage in my life, I can feel it. Past the hard partying times, idiots, and times of stressing out. I'm carefree now and I'm loving every minute of it. There's so much to look forward to this year: graduating from college, getting a real job, possibly more world travelling (I spent 6 weeks this summer in Ireland, England and Scotland.) Stay tuned.