So in my post about Dead Poets and Community, I rambled a bit about fixing my basement. Well, scope out the before and after photos on the left. That whole transformation only took two weeks. Skills.

The basement in my apartment was never much to look at. The old vinyl flooring was peeling and cracked, one of the walls was smashed in, the paint was a faded off-white, and the entire room was lit by a dying fluorescent light. I had two beat up futons, a crappy desk, and poor Mittens down there. Something had to be done.

Now, you’d think I spent a lot of money on this… but in proper Eric Smith fashion, a majority of the room was purchased on Craigslist and eBay. The projector and the 80 inch screen… eBay. The fancy Ikea couch, throw rug, and lighting… Craigslist. The replacement wood paneled flooring… in the clearance section of Ikea, half off the normal price.

There’s still a lot of work to do. I’d like to replace the ceiling tiles and finish the laundry room (it’s behind that white door). I still need to do a little painting here and there. Also, my pal Christine gave me this awesome idea via I Made This… only I plan to spray paint old books that I’ve been picking up at The Book Trader. But all in all, I’m super proud of how this all came out.

See, I’ve spent the past three years pestering my friends for help with this sort of thing (what’s up there Colin and Jordan), and now that I’m living in my first real “grown up” apartment, I figured it was time to man up, and do this on my own. I even purchased my first power tool. A big step.

Here’s to epic movie nights, acoustic guitar jam sessions with my bros, and… well, growing up a little bit.

Lately, I’ve been watching a lot of Community. No seriously, a lot of it. I’m well aware that there is only one season of the show, but since I’ve been remodeling my apartment’s basement, I’ve had it playing on my laptop while painting, ripping up flooring, replacing sheetrock, etc. Don’t gasp. I am in fact capable of manly, masculine behavior, thank you very much. Expect some photographic evidence later.

But I digress.

Growing up, I always had this romanticized vision of myself as a college professor. Future Eric Smith would surely be like Robin Williams in Dead Poets Society. Carpe Diem! Seize the Day! O’ Captain, My Captain! All that good stuff, just minus the whole (spoiler alert!) student-killing-themselves-as-a-result-of-my-inspirational-teaching thing. Future Eric would take students outside, show them how to appreciate fine literature, help them uncover a love for writing that they never knew, and possibly have a robotic arm. After all, this is Future Eric.

And now, the more I watch Community, the more I see that image fading.

Because I’m Senor Chang.

I pretend to be a student the first day of class. I trick my students with fake pop quizzes. When I bring in pizza on the last day of class, I always have an empty box filled with the final exams, sitting on top of the stack. My teaching methods tend to be somewhat bizarre and quirky. And as I list all of this ridiculousness, I can’t help but wonder… what happened to that bright eyed, bushy tailed, I-want-to-change-lives graduate student?

Don’t get me wrong, I still manage to inspire my students. I give away books, I bring in fun pieces of literature… but playing jokes and joshing around in the classroom… it’s all just too much fun. And I’ve come to realize that students want this kind of teacher. Someone who makes them laugh and acts strangely. Whose teaching methods are a little extreme and outlandish.

I suppose I can deal with being a little more El Tigre and a little less Dead Poet. At least for now. And yes, one day, I fully plan on doing this. Jay, I expect you to write my song. Thanks.

So this past weekend, my good friend Collette invited me to see Kevin Nealon perform at Helium, right here in Philadelphia. He practically performed in my backyard, at a club just a few blocks away from my house. Loved him on Saturday Night Live, and he’s fantastic in Weeds. I was psyched.

His stand up was great, and afterwards, he spent some time signing copies of his book, Yes, You’re Pregnant, But What About Me? As a big book nerd, of course I bought a copy, and waited patiently in line for him to sign it. I picked up a copy for Collette too, who waited with me.

Collette took a photo after Kevin signed my book, and when I was done, I took over, and took some snaps as he signed her copy. He smiled and winked, and Collette and I walked away. Inside my book was a friendly “To Eric, Hi! – Kevin Nealon.” Collete’s… well, inside Collete’s book was this:

To Collette, Use Protection! XO, Kevin Nealon

Suddenly, I understood what that wink was all about. Thank you Kevin Nealon for believing in my manliness and sexual prowess. Seriously dude. It meant a lot.

So I landed a new job and left my gig as a full time blogger.

For the past few years, I’ve satisfied my love of writing and books as a part-time adjunct, teaching night courses in composition and literature at four different schools in the Philadelphia region. Eventually, I settled into teaching solely at Peirce College and DeVry University in Center City. But surrounding myself with books for one, sometimes two nights a week… it just wasn’t enough for me.

So, this move to Quirk Books, a publisher located in Old City, made a lot of sense. Working with authors and their works, many of which I absolutely adore, in a city that I love… simply put, it is a perfect match.

For those of you unfamiliar, Quirk publishes a number of hilarious titles, like the New York Times bestselling Pride & Prejudice & Zombies. I’ve worked with them a lot over the past year, asking them to participate in Geekadelphia parties and contests on our blog. I’m thrilled to join such an awesome team as their new social media coordinator.

This doesn’t mean I plan to stop blogging. Geekadelphia is going strong. I’m also looking forward to contributing my wealth of Philadelphia knowledge to websites like Phillyist (when they relaunch in the Fall) and the foodie blog, Unbreaded, which won my friend Ben Kessler a Best of Philly Award last year.

Moved into a new apartment, starting fostering kittens, and a new dream-level job? Best Summer ever? I’d say so.

Poindexter, or ‘Dexter’ for short, was my first foster kitten, dished out to me by the people of the PSPCA (Pennsylvania Society for the Prevent of Cruelty to Animals) here in Philadelphia.

Over the few weeks he was in my home, he brought a lot of joy into my life and the lives of my friends. So many people visited just to catch a glimpse of this little fur-ball, who bounded and bounced around the walls of my apartment with a playful fury. A lot of my friends were concerned that I’d grow severely attached. I mean, the little guy would cry at the foot of my bed until I picked him up and let him sleep next to me. And admittedly, I’ll miss him. But I’m thrilled he’s going to such a wonderful, happy home.

Dexter’s new home is with my friend (and coworker) Aaron Horton (pictured left). He and his girlfriend picked up Dexter on Monday. Here’s hoping he settles in okay, and can find the same joy in scratching and chewing on Aaron’s feet as he did with mine. Yeah I didn’t tell you about that fact, Aaron. Have fun with that while you’re trying to sleep, buddy.

I’m keeping my eyes peeled for the next email blast from the PSPCA. Seriously, I can’t recommend fostering enough. You get to have a cat during the best time to own a cat (kitten age), and get to experience the joy of finding them a happy home. Straight up warms the cockles of your heart. And I don’t even know what cockles are.

Can’t wait to have another little kitten rampaging around my apartment.

For more information on how YOU can foster a kitten, puppy, or other animal (they have guinea pigs, hamsters, rabbits, birds, etc.) visit the PSPCA’s website.

Don't be fooled by the empty chairs. This room was actually quite full.

This week, I was invited to speak at the first annual Philadelphia Food & Beverage Forum, held at Philadelphia Community College. Please note my fancy vest and “finger-held-to-head-deep-in-thought” pose.

I love giving talks like this, especially when I’m joined by wonderful people. In this case, the panel was moderated by Audrey Julienne, a former writer of mine and a fantastic freelance PR agent, and sitting next to me was Felicia D’Ambrosio, current community manager for Philadelphia’s Yelp, and a former writer for Citypaper’s MealTicket, a local food blog I absolutely adore.

The panel was one of the highest attended events at the Forum, which certainly fed my already enormous ego. The entire panel and I spoke about social media and how local restaurants could take advantage of tools like Twitter and Foursquare, and properly utilize websites like Facebook and Yelp, in promoting their respective establishments.

Signs @ the Panel: Event Listing, Panel Members, and... Hoodz?

All in all, I think it went well. And I was surprised by the panel’s sponsor… Hoodz, a kitchen exhaust cleaning service with a hilarious name. I could not confirm whether or not the business was named after South Central Cartel’s hit album Tha Hoodz In Us… but it’s probably a safe bet they picked the name for other reasons.

Alright, I’d love to say something cute like “Omigod, I had no idea anyone was filming me!” But alas, I’m a vain fool, and insisted that one of my friends video my reading last week.

Not only did I get these two awesome videos (thanks Scott!), but there is another one (thanks Dan!) on the way, as well as these handful of photos from my coworker Nichole! Win!

For the reading, I read the first six pages from chapter one, and a selection from later on in the chapter, edited heavily for time and context of course. The first reading went over well, the material slightly more serious than the second selection, though still riddled with jokes. You can check out the video to that reading, here on Vimeo.

I was thrilled to get so many laughs in response to my second piece. I embedded that video below.

The reading was incredibly well attended, and the other writers that the Mad Poets Society selected were fantastic. It was really an honor to share the podium with so many talented people, and to know that the reading raised over $200 in donations for a wonderful local charity.

I’d like to thank all of my friends and coworkers who came out to support that night. The 30+ of you really inspired me, and certainly helped boost my confidence while sharing my work. Several of you drove straight into the city from a long day at the office, others had to deal with a long trip back home from Center City.

Love all of you for taking the time out of your day to come out and make my day even more special.

Postcards mean your book is actually coming out. It’s true. A huge thank you to Timmy Q for the awesome design, and for dealing with my constant badgering. If any of you want a few, drop me a line!

This Thursday I’m giving my first reading from Textual Healing at the University of Pennsylvania’s bookstore. I’m pretty excited, and I’m thrilled that the Mad Poets Society here in Philly have invited me to participate in their reading series. My alma mater, Arcadia University, even mentioned the reading in their bulletin. Neat!

I’m also thrilled that so many of my friends and colleagues are coming out to this event. I’m planning to read the first ten pages from the novel… since that’s the only way I can read something without explaining what happened before.

Few things annoy me more at a reading, than when an author gives 5 minutes of back-story because their selection is from the middle of a book. Not gonna be that guy! Expect a video to be posted sometime next week.

Finishing my move on Wednesday, reading on Thursday, BBQ on Friday, BBQ in Fishtown on Saturday, Fourth of July on Sunday… I’m officially nominating this the best week of Summer. Ever.

Okay, but seriously.

Back in May, I was one of the first people to get their hands on the new Gillette ProGlide razor. Gillette teamed up with Geekadelphia to do a big ol’ giveaway, and we dished out over 600 razors to our faithful readers on the Internets. The giveaway was incredibly popular, and launched a number of hilarious tweets between us and Gillette. These ones with Mikey Il were particularly great. [ Part I ] [ Part II ]

As a result, GQ reached out and interviewed me and a handful of other bloggers who had the same opportunity. It’s on Page 20 of the July 2010 issue, in an article about the Art of Shaving.

Pretty neat!

Anyhow, I’ve posted a photo of the quote after the jump. Have a look, and read about how I started shaving in 5th grade. That’s right, fifth grade. I have no shame, kids. Click the little plus sign for more.

Almost every single day, I walk by Rittenhouse Pet Supply, a cute little shop on 20th and Chestnut. They don’t have a lot of bunny supplies, and nothing for chinchillas… but they do have baby kittens in their window. That’s one of them right there, who was promptly adopted out later in the week.

I’ve always had a soft spot for kittens and cats, especially after living with Jordan and Tess, whose kittens adored my rabbit.

So after talking to various good friends who work with PAWS and the PSPCA (what’s up Jon and Jill) I’ve decided to start fostering kittens. What with moving into my new, two floor apartment this month, I’ll have plenty of room.

The PSPCA already called my landlord, and approved. Onto the next steps, which do not include telling them my plan to dump boxes of kittens all over myself whenever I’m feeling sad.