All posts by Brian Wray

Brian Wray is a writer for Writtalin. A self-proclaimed hipster who makes his home in San Diego, he recently escaped LA after working in production and casting for the past 2 years. His interests are tennis, recording music, and more tennis. Follow his various works at BrianWrayMedia.com. And Twitter him @BrianWrayMedia

It isn’t any secret that Novak Djokovic is a fun dude, or at least he seems that way on TV. But I often think, “what would it be like to hang out with him?” Not in a weird way. I don’t lie awake thinking about it, but it would be an interesting sort of bro gathering if one day it were to happen. Just in case it does happen, here are the 5 things we would definitely have to do: Singing In The Car It could be Britney Spears, TaylorRead More
Jump around! The NCAA tournament may be back this week, but march madness really began this past weekend, in the tennis world. First it’s Indian Wells, then onto Miami to account for an exciting month of outdoor sports in this early spring. It’s become a ritual of sorts for many fans of the sport. People make the annual pilgrimage to these warm destinations from all over the country to escape the frigidness of northern cities. But it’s more than just the weather. For people who love the majors, I canRead More

Posted On March 1, 2015By Brian WrayIn Buzzworthy, The Scene

3 Ways to Celebrate St. Patty’s Day

For many of us, one of the best days of the year is quickly approaching. Tuesday, March 17th, 2015. For those of you who choose to live under rocks, it’s St. Patrick’s Day. It’s one day, and therefore it’s one chance each year to make a legend of yourself. Here’s a bit of Irish advice to get you there. 1. Guinness I think the word Guinness is beautiful by itself. But coupled with the fact that it represents a great beer, the word takes on even more beauty. It’s anRead More
Week after week we seem to get lost in the shuffle. It’s normal and means you’re doing something right. If it was easy then it’d be boring. But stress mounts, so here are some ways to renew yourself on a daily basis. Because life is too short to spend day after day feeling drab. 1. Stretching This has helped me immensely. I started doing this to prepare myself for tennis and I now try to do it every morning in between gulps of coffee. Stretching your body stretches your mind…Read More

Posted On February 10, 2015By Brian WrayIn Music, Music Musings

Grammy Weekend 2015: A Victory For Music

Recently I was approached by a teenager who had seen me editing my music in the library. This is how our interaction went down: Kid: “Whoa, are you a DJ?!” Me: “No, I’m a guitarist.” Kid: “Oh…” (walks away). My oh my how times are a changin’. Dylan is still right. That’s why this past weekend was refreshing. Between the Grammy’s and MusiCares awards, we saw a renewed appreciation for actual musicians.   MusiCares An annual event honoring the lifetime achievement of the greatest musicians in history wouldn’t be completeRead More
Youtube is full of shameless self-promotion and senseless publicity for things nobody should care about. Of the hundreds of thousands of videos posted every hour, most go unnoticed and warrant little reason to get noticed. This is why I got together with two good friends and tried to do something meaningful, especially given current events.   1 Year Ago During a rehearsal for an open mic show, I stumbled upon a chord progression that I really liked. My mind immediately began racing to find lyrics. My bro Sean assisted, knowingRead More
The tennis grand slam calendar starts today, and there is reason to be pumped up. The men’s draw is interesting to say the least, so without further adieu, let’s break it down… 2014 Will Not Be Repeated I love Stan Wawrinka (recall my man crush article “How Stan Became Stan the Man”), but he will not win another Australian Open title this year. He made his breakthrough last year, played the tournament of his life, and accrued a major title. But this year, look for someone else to win. ItRead More
Another year, another beer. That’s what I always say, every day in fact. Don’t look at 2015 as just another year. Keep your eyes open and you may discover new riches that you never thought possible. Lucky for me, I found mine in November.     Joining A Church Band Growing up, I was never an Atheist but I was hardly a religious boy. My parents never went to church and they never forced me to go, so I usually didn’t. In high school I began going and volunteering butRead More

Posted On November 25, 2014By Brian WrayIn Advice For Men, Manzone

5 Surprises To Keep Her Interested

Whether you’ve dated for two years or two months, there is always a need to reestablish the bond with your girlfriend. So here are 5 things you can do to entice her at any moment…   5. Call Her Unexpectedly Yes, I’m saying CALL her. Not text. Reason? A phone call is so much more personal. It shows her that you want to hear her voice. Trust me, she will really appreciate that. She may be having a bad day and want to hear your voice anyway, so let her.Read More

Posted On November 23, 2014By Brian WrayIn Advice For Men, Advice For Women, Manzone

5 Simple Ways To Be A Loser

Here is a short list of valuable things people do to become losers. Listen and learn…   5. Lack Any Curiosity – People who lack curiosity don’t want to explore new avenues. If you elect to sit at home and watch The CW all day, then your life is destined to stay that way.     4. Have an Inability to Comprehend Success – My mother always said, “if you can envision something, you can make it a reality.” But losers do not even know, or care, about success.  Read More

Posted On November 20, 2014By Brian WrayIn Sports, Sports Takes

Roger: The Quitter?

The finale of the 2014 Barclays World Tour Finals was won by Novak Djokovic. But there was no match, as Roger Federer dropped out of the tournament one hour before he was set to take the court. He made the announcement in an arena filled with stunned and disappointed tennis fans. People who had paid hundreds of dollars to see him play, and had traveled half way around the world. I was almost one of those people. I had traveled to London last week to see some of the tournament,Read More

Posted On November 11, 2014By Brian WrayIn Sports, Sports Takes

ATP World Tour Finals: The Quest for #1

Technically, there are no playoffs in tennis. But this week is as close as it gets. There is reason to be excited with the best 8 players in the world competing against one another in a round robin format.   Who looks poised to win? Thus far, everyone has played 1 match. And they have been quite underwhelming. Milos Raonic has yet to show up to his first career World Tour Finals, falling hard in his opening match. And Marin Cilic didn’t perform terribly against Novak Djokovic but Djoko is too hotRead More

Posted On October 21, 2014By Brian WrayIn Sports, Sports Takes

World Series 2014: A Gigantic, Royal Affair

Hey baseball fans, do you remember what things were like a month ago? The Angels were tearing through everybody, Detroit was motoring their way to another AL Central title, and the Dodgers were cementing the NL West. Wow… I guess the old adage is true, “this is why we play the games.” And it especially applies to this postseason.     Partying Like It’s 1985 One of the truly remarkable sports stories in recent memory is that of this year’s KC Royals. Similarly to their ’85 team, most odds makers didRead More
RoyalTober All is well in Oz! The KC sports scene is hotter than a stolen microwave. The tidy 3 game sweep of El Halos will go down as a legendary moment in midwest sports. Thankfully, the story continues this weekend in Baltimore.     O’s-tober Creative name, I know. But the Maryland Ballers are giving October all they have, and proving a prime candidate for a world championship. There is nothing stopping them…. aside from the aforementioned red hot Royals squad. This weekend is set to be very exciting.  Read More

Posted On October 1, 2014By Brian WrayIn Sports, Sports Takes

NFL Week 4: Taking Shape

There is nothing more exciting than a New England Patriots’ nationally televised humiliation. Now that I’ve let that out of me, let’s look at this week’s takeaways…   All Is Not Well In DC This is definitely true regarding politics, but lately it applies to the ‘Skins as well. Since the injury to RGIII (déjà vu), Washington has looked stagnant in just about all facets of football. Especially defensively. They gave up 4 TDs to Eli Manning on Thursday night in an ugly home loss to the G-units. Total, they’veRead More