Written By : John Hawkins

After taking an entire week off on vacation, I thought it would be fun to write that classic essay that all of us were forced to scribble, way back in 3rd grade: What I did on my summer vacation! Of course, back then, we had a whole summer off and it still wasn’t enough. Now? Taking a week at once seems almost decadent.

So, did I go to Europe, head cross country, or go on a cruise?

Nope.

I spent 6 days relaxing, 2 1/2 days doing grunt work, and got back on my normal schedule last night.

That may not seem like a lot of time off, but typically in a month I take 1-3 days off completely, without doing any work at all, and those days are seldom consecutive. So, taking 6 days off in a row? It feels like the equivalent of a person with a 40 hour a week, week-ends off work schedule spending two months hanging out in Barbados.

So, what did I do? Let’s see. Aside from the usual (watching rented videos, chatting on the phone with friends, etc.)…

I caught 3 movies at the theater.

Kung-Fu Panda: I’d give it 3 out of 5 stars. It was humorous, uplifting, and a pretty good flick overall.

Don’t Mess With The Zohan: The first 2/3 of the movie was really funny — in a silly Airplane sort of way. However, the last third of the film bogged down in a sewer of moral equivalence that basically painted Palestinian terrorists who are deliberately blowing up Israelis as no better or worse than the Israelis defending their country. Thumbs down.

Hancock: Will Smith’s latest film hasn’t gotten the best reviews, but I thought it was an excellent flick. That being said, it was almost like two completely different movies featuring the same characters. The first part was a comedy and the 2nd part, after an M. Night Shyamalan style twist, was tragically romantic. For me, it worked, although the movie was a bit uneven. Thumbs up.

I also read 2 1/2 books.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Season Eight, Volume 1: The Long Way Home By Joss Whedon (Read)

Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper by Diablo Cody (Read)

Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande (1/2 read)

Additionally, I spent a lot of time playing God of War 2 on PS2. Unfortunately, I got a little bogged down in the middle of the game when I started getting to the tougher bosses and puzzles and didn’t even get close to finishing the game before I had to return it. I guess that’ll give me something to do at Christmas when I have time to spend an hour or ten playing video games.

Last week, I also got the first and second professional massages of my entire life and, yes, the first one, which featured oil and hot rocks was so good that I decided to set up a 2nd one (a Swedish massage) at another place. Personally, I preferred the deeper tissue work of the Swedish massage — but, both of them felt fantastic.

On top of all that, I went to a chiropractor and after they put me on a machine that ran electric charges through my back and then another machine that massaged my back with jets of water, I got my back adjusted. It was definitely a plus.

Last but not least, I picked up a banging slate coffee table for my living room on the cheap and spent 2 1/2 days doing grunt work on RWN and around the house. I cleaned out about 90% of my to do list — and some of this stuff had literally been on the list for months.

Now that, my friends, is one hell of a great vacation week.

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