whenever i head into the office (which is more and more rare these days), i take the 4 train from borough hall. it's easy and quick and gets me to within a couple blocks of red hot after a transfer to the 6.
but it also totally fucks with my head.
i swear, the train tracks under the borough hall station defy the laws of physics.
the 4 train to manhattan should travel north out of the station. but according to every piece of my internal logic, that damned train is heading south!
here's the deal.
i walk down joralemon st, heading just about due east.
i curse yet another starbucks as i walk down the subway stairs. at the bottom of the stairs, i turn left and head north towards the gates.
i turn right (east) and walk through the turnstile.
i make a left and head north. i walk to the stairs that lead to the manhattan-bound platform.
i turn right (east again) and walk down the stairs.
at the bottom of the stairs, i turn right to face the train platform. i am now facing southeast. the train comes from my left, heading southwest. right? but manhattan is to the north!
i've always been proud of my sense of direction. if i hadn't been with my family in europe at age 16, they'd probably still be lost somewhere in romania.
but seriously, i think if i don't figure this out i'm going to go crazy. hopefully not this crazy!
11 June 2007
08 June 2007
pity this busy monster,manunkind,
i'd say that i lean towards a compassionate existence, trying to understand the evil in the world without resorting to hatred or viciousness.
but here's something i don't understand:
why am i so incredibly satisfied that paris hilton is going back to jail?
one cnn anchor summed it up:
“It’s the kind of day where we’ll always have Paris.”
ouch.
but here's something i don't understand:
why am i so incredibly satisfied that paris hilton is going back to jail?
one cnn anchor summed it up:
“It’s the kind of day where we’ll always have Paris.”
ouch.
am i shocked? no. am i dismayed? yes.
somehow i missed this story in last week's ny post:
the iowa state fair.
ouch. i thought you were only supposed to play state fairs when your career was in decline.
but i guess if they're recording an album in a bubble, the decline started a long time ago...
Atlanta-based punk pop band Cartel has agreed to be caged in a 40-by-40- foot Fiberglas "bubble" planted at the tip of Pier 54 on the Hudson, where they will write, record and promote their sophomore record in 20 days.according to the band's myspace page (where five MILLION people have listened to this so called "punk pop" garbage) they'll be exiting the bubble for a special engagement at... wait for it...
the iowa state fair.
ouch. i thought you were only supposed to play state fairs when your career was in decline.
but i guess if they're recording an album in a bubble, the decline started a long time ago...
07 June 2007
two videos about baseball
okay, i usually don't put baseball stuff up here, but the mets blog is sort of defunct (as are the mets against the phillies so far -- damn you jimmy rollins). so here's a couple videos. first, here's a great clip of a manager for the mississippi braves arguing a call.
unfortunately, there's no way to hear what he's saying. if you're curious what the umpire and manager say to each other during these fights, watch the best arguer of all time -- the great earl weaver.
unfortunately, there's no way to hear what he's saying. if you're curious what the umpire and manager say to each other during these fights, watch the best arguer of all time -- the great earl weaver.
another american travesty
"The liberation movement is simply thrilled with the news! This is a triumph for grassroots civic action."
of course, this quote must be referring to the failure to effectively prosecute two foreign nationals imprisoned at guantanamo bay. right?
NO.
it's about paris fucking hilton, who's free after only five days in jail. freed due to a private medical matter.
there is no justice in america.
of course, this quote must be referring to the failure to effectively prosecute two foreign nationals imprisoned at guantanamo bay. right?
NO.
it's about paris fucking hilton, who's free after only five days in jail. freed due to a private medical matter.
there is no justice in america.
06 June 2007
31 May 2007
what i did yesterday instead of blogging
hey there. i miss you, blog. but sometimes you have to get outside. yesterday i spent nine disgusting hours overhauling my patio with the help of my sister and her friend molly. you see, my sister is moving to portland on monday [BOOOO!] and we're having a little going away bbq/dance party to send her off right. so the patio has to look its best. and it really does.
dammit, the pictures i took are sideways. but i have to go to work and i really want to show you.
dammit, the pictures i took are sideways. but i have to go to work and i really want to show you.
23 May 2007
my day thus far
sorry, dear readers, for the lack of postings this week. it's been a crazy one. i'm behind the bar five nights this week, plus things are picking up at red hot, plus it's my last friday with moxie. so let's work out that equation:
bar 10 hrs monday
+
bar 12 hrs tuesday
+
red hot 8 hrs wednesday
+
bar 10 hrs thursday
+
moxie 8 hrs friday
+
bar 10 hrs saturday
+
bar 12 hrs sunday
+
bar 10 hrs monday
um, is that an 80 hour work week? i don't know whether i can count monday twice.
and i wonder why i'm feeling strung out and exhausted. don't get me wrong, i love my bar and it's a great time of the year to work. this is just a long stretch.
to get to my original point, that being a detailed review of my day -- what else are blogs for?...
after closing the bar last night at 4 am, i came home and was surprised to find my housemates not only awake but quite active, cleaning the house even. for you see, dear readers, my beautiful apartment is being using as a location for a movie!
so i woke up at 9:30 to a production crew arriving at my house, complete with annoying yippy white dog and idiotic starlets. i tried to sleep in, which was not happening. eventually i was presented with the life-affirming experience of walking out of my room bleary, tired and unready for the morning, dressed only in a towel and blind, confronted with cameras and a dog named harpo and a dozen people in my kitchen.
i hate the movies.
bar 10 hrs monday
+
bar 12 hrs tuesday
+
red hot 8 hrs wednesday
+
bar 10 hrs thursday
+
moxie 8 hrs friday
+
bar 10 hrs saturday
+
bar 12 hrs sunday
+
bar 10 hrs monday
um, is that an 80 hour work week? i don't know whether i can count monday twice.
and i wonder why i'm feeling strung out and exhausted. don't get me wrong, i love my bar and it's a great time of the year to work. this is just a long stretch.
to get to my original point, that being a detailed review of my day -- what else are blogs for?...
after closing the bar last night at 4 am, i came home and was surprised to find my housemates not only awake but quite active, cleaning the house even. for you see, dear readers, my beautiful apartment is being using as a location for a movie!
so i woke up at 9:30 to a production crew arriving at my house, complete with annoying yippy white dog and idiotic starlets. i tried to sleep in, which was not happening. eventually i was presented with the life-affirming experience of walking out of my room bleary, tired and unready for the morning, dressed only in a towel and blind, confronted with cameras and a dog named harpo and a dozen people in my kitchen.
i hate the movies.
22 May 2007
songs of enchantment
from the last page of the book i just finished -- songs of enchantment by ben okri:
the girl began, singing:
how does love create immortality?
and the others replied:
love creates mystery.
and mystery creates thought.
thought creates action.
and action creates a life.
the essence of your life is your gospel.
and your gospel is your light.
your light is your immortality.
and so love creates immortality.
16 May 2007
15 May 2007
14 May 2007
los peregrinos
i'm a little busy today, so here's some great reading -- check out my parents' blog on the camino to santiago.
11 May 2007
oh smurf.
i was always jealous of the smurfs, what with their white hats and mushroom houses. yeah, the gender ratio was pretty rough, but you know, i'm a modern man. and brainy smurf was awfully handsome.
but now all my dreams have been realized. i can finally LIVE INSIDE A MUSHROOM!
well sort of.
read the incredible story here.
my only question is, does it smell like mushrooms all the time? because that would be gross.
not as gross as nasal cleansing with bourbon!
but now all my dreams have been realized. i can finally LIVE INSIDE A MUSHROOM!
well sort of.
read the incredible story here.
my only question is, does it smell like mushrooms all the time? because that would be gross.
not as gross as nasal cleansing with bourbon!
i'm always right...
yes, i'm up at 10 am after falling asleep after 5 this morning. i am tired. but it was fun last night, i made some money and we only had to kick one person out, so i guess i can't complain.
remember this post? you should, it's only from three days ago.
well, it looks like i was right!
i think dressing up dead animals is this summer's hottest fad!!
well, that and laughing at paris hilton while she's stuck in jail.
remember this post? you should, it's only from three days ago.
well, it looks like i was right!
i think dressing up dead animals is this summer's hottest fad!!
well, that and laughing at paris hilton while she's stuck in jail.
10 May 2007
my productive day:
i came back from spain exhausted but with a renewed sense of purpose, more motivation than i've felt in a long time. and that drive has actually lasted. the afternoon i returned i gave my room a thorough spring cleaning -- we're talking closet reorganization and home improvement. i still don't have new curtains (damn you, ugly curtains! your waving in the wind taunts me). but i'm feeling good and this fantastic weather has got me rolling.
tempy asked today where we'd rather be, and for the first time in a long time i can say i'm content right where i am.
so today i slept in, sort of necessary really when closing tonight at 4. but after the late rise, it's been a fun day:
i bought a new 400 GB hard drive in preparation for recording my songs.
i took my new/used/stolen bike for a full tuneup and new seat/pedals/chain/wheel/lights/bells/whistles.
i sunbathed at the foot of the manhattan bridge.
i had a sushi picnic with my friend who's moving to boston next week.
i ate ice cream.
i did some laundry.
i tended to my flowering strawberry plants. they actually survived the winter!
as ameet might say, onepromofo. one productive motherfucker.
and once the ice cream settles, it'll be time for a nice long yoga session. maybe a nap first?
sorry to those of you stuck in an office right now. just remember i'll be working past 4 am tonight and then up early to head to queens. i think that makes up for it.
tempy asked today where we'd rather be, and for the first time in a long time i can say i'm content right where i am.
so today i slept in, sort of necessary really when closing tonight at 4. but after the late rise, it's been a fun day:
i bought a new 400 GB hard drive in preparation for recording my songs.
i took my new/used/stolen bike for a full tuneup and new seat/pedals/chain/wheel/lights/bells/whistles.
i sunbathed at the foot of the manhattan bridge.
i had a sushi picnic with my friend who's moving to boston next week.
i ate ice cream.
i did some laundry.
i tended to my flowering strawberry plants. they actually survived the winter!
as ameet might say, onepromofo. one productive motherfucker.
and once the ice cream settles, it'll be time for a nice long yoga session. maybe a nap first?
sorry to those of you stuck in an office right now. just remember i'll be working past 4 am tonight and then up early to head to queens. i think that makes up for it.
09 May 2007
this brave soldier
have you ever wondered what those nasal cleansers are all about? drew from toothpastefordinner.com has made a video to show us.
08 May 2007
100th post!
This is the 100th post in the short life of this mostly neglected blog. That took much longer than I'd expected.
I've found my new summer pastime. Who wants to head up into the Hudson Valley for an art project?
I've found my new summer pastime. Who wants to head up into the Hudson Valley for an art project?
07 May 2007
back in brooklyn
what a time. hopefully i'll have a chance to fill you in on the last few days of insanity in barcelona. but for now i am back home, back "where everything echoes and fades away differently because of the excessive noise that makes Things tremble" (rilke).
i'm trembling out to lunch.
i'm trembling out to lunch.
04 May 2007
is this a weekday? what day is this?
i´m in an internet cafe in barcelona and pink floyd's wish you were here is playing. in my delirium, i'm loving it.
36 hours in madrid... is not enough. but it was enough for the prado, the reina sofia, massive amounts of art really. i love heironymus bosch. also rediscovered my love of the spanish sculptor pablo gargallo.
36 hours was also enough for riotous late nights walking and drinking with friends. new and good friends. next time i´ll have to come on a weekend. and next time i will NOT get up at 5 am and drive seven hours to barcelona, which i just did. thus the delirium.
i can´t remember the last time i slept more than a couple hours. and now a sleepless weekend is surely in the works. i mean, it´s barcelona. nice that now that i´m finally over my jetlag, it's time to go home.
36 hours in madrid... is not enough. but it was enough for the prado, the reina sofia, massive amounts of art really. i love heironymus bosch. also rediscovered my love of the spanish sculptor pablo gargallo.
36 hours was also enough for riotous late nights walking and drinking with friends. new and good friends. next time i´ll have to come on a weekend. and next time i will NOT get up at 5 am and drive seven hours to barcelona, which i just did. thus the delirium.
i can´t remember the last time i slept more than a couple hours. and now a sleepless weekend is surely in the works. i mean, it´s barcelona. nice that now that i´m finally over my jetlag, it's time to go home.
02 May 2007
lesson: always check your elevation
yesterday morning i left my parents on the rainy, muddy trail to santiago de compostela, parting ways on a medeival bridge in a tiny village. i don´t envy them. a 500 mile hike over a month and nothing but rain in the forecast. plus they´re not catholic, and as my dad pointed out at mass, these people kicked my people out. there´s evident spiritual value in a long hike along a 500 year old pilgrimage path. but it´s also dominated by catholicism, the values of which are nearly diametrically opposed to those of my family. i´m interested to see how that plays out as they continue their journey. there´s a link to their blog to your right.
after leaving my folks behind i headed south, thinking i would outrun the rain by heading to the high plains of madrid. first mistake, as eliza doolittle would point out: the rain in spain stays mainly on the plain. so it rained harder and harder as i drove on through, well i´m not sure what, it was raining so hard i couldn´t see much. i decided to take backroads to get a better sense of the landscape and turned south towards logroño and la rioja. rain can´t stop me from wine tasting.
second mistake: not reading the map carefully. the further south i drove, the higher i drove. i saw a car stopped at a gas station but thought i was seeing things and continued on. soon i found that the car covered in snow was no mistake. first it was light snow. then heavier. the roads got steeper. my tiny prius slid back and forth on the narrow mountain road as the conditions closed in on whiteout. IT IS THE FIRST FUCKING DAY OF MAY!!! i kept thinking. if there hadn´t been other clueless drivers on the road, i would have turned back. when i finally reached the pass at 6000 feet i was thrilled. my white knuckles were sore from gripping the wheel and my shoulders ached. and when i finally stopped in a town to rest and have some lunch, nothing was open for the may day holiday. goddamn socialists.
but it was worth it. as i rolled towards my destination, blue started to break through and i was treated to splendorous views across the plains, bright yellow mustard and rich green fields dotted with sheep and ancient villages reaching towards the freshly snow-capped hills. all the more spectacular was my arrival into segovia, a beautiful city with a huge old city high on a hill. i stayed around the corner from the church where isabel was crowned queen of spain. i drank spanish beer and ate 10 kinds of pork (the local speciality) and watched football and wandered the darkened alleys that smelled like smoke and wet rocks and ham.
and now i´m in madrid. not in the cards originally, but que sera, sera. i´m in a backpacker´s hostel, sites that i usually avoid like the plague but with the cost of parking my car in central madrid, it´s time to save some money. a couple days to explore this giant city isn´t enough, but i need to be in barcelona by friday morning. that´ll be a fun one...
hope all is well in the states. ¿did you see this? crazy. sorry i´m missing the derby party. someone get drunk for me.
somehow i think that won´t be a problem.
after leaving my folks behind i headed south, thinking i would outrun the rain by heading to the high plains of madrid. first mistake, as eliza doolittle would point out: the rain in spain stays mainly on the plain. so it rained harder and harder as i drove on through, well i´m not sure what, it was raining so hard i couldn´t see much. i decided to take backroads to get a better sense of the landscape and turned south towards logroño and la rioja. rain can´t stop me from wine tasting.
second mistake: not reading the map carefully. the further south i drove, the higher i drove. i saw a car stopped at a gas station but thought i was seeing things and continued on. soon i found that the car covered in snow was no mistake. first it was light snow. then heavier. the roads got steeper. my tiny prius slid back and forth on the narrow mountain road as the conditions closed in on whiteout. IT IS THE FIRST FUCKING DAY OF MAY!!! i kept thinking. if there hadn´t been other clueless drivers on the road, i would have turned back. when i finally reached the pass at 6000 feet i was thrilled. my white knuckles were sore from gripping the wheel and my shoulders ached. and when i finally stopped in a town to rest and have some lunch, nothing was open for the may day holiday. goddamn socialists.
but it was worth it. as i rolled towards my destination, blue started to break through and i was treated to splendorous views across the plains, bright yellow mustard and rich green fields dotted with sheep and ancient villages reaching towards the freshly snow-capped hills. all the more spectacular was my arrival into segovia, a beautiful city with a huge old city high on a hill. i stayed around the corner from the church where isabel was crowned queen of spain. i drank spanish beer and ate 10 kinds of pork (the local speciality) and watched football and wandered the darkened alleys that smelled like smoke and wet rocks and ham.
and now i´m in madrid. not in the cards originally, but que sera, sera. i´m in a backpacker´s hostel, sites that i usually avoid like the plague but with the cost of parking my car in central madrid, it´s time to save some money. a couple days to explore this giant city isn´t enough, but i need to be in barcelona by friday morning. that´ll be a fun one...
hope all is well in the states. ¿did you see this? crazy. sorry i´m missing the derby party. someone get drunk for me.
somehow i think that won´t be a problem.
29 April 2007
seis minutos
i have six minutes left on the clock and no more euros, so i've got to make this fast. i'm in san sebastian on the north coast of spain, a stunningly beautiful beach town with the best damn tapas i've ever had. we're lucky to have found a place -- every single hotel, hostel and pension we could find was full when we called. we got the last room in a tiny place in the old town, although i'm sharing a room with my folks, which is a little weird. tomorrow i'm taking them up to the trailhead where they'll start their 500 mile hike to santiago de compostela. it's been cloudy here and there but it's been beautiful, especially a day's drive through cathar castles in southern france. i'm still jetlagged and i can't remember the last time i slept more than a couple hours, thanks to my extensive partying before leaving town. that was dumb.
i'd forgotten the incredible thrill of complete helplessness -- depending on sign language and good graces to get by puts you in a special place. i've realized that i'm tired of traveling alone -- it was a novelty for six months in africa but i'm totally over it now. so i'm headed to madrid to see some friends, even though it's hours and hours away. i've always wanted to see the prado anyways.
time's up. more later hopefully.
i'd forgotten the incredible thrill of complete helplessness -- depending on sign language and good graces to get by puts you in a special place. i've realized that i'm tired of traveling alone -- it was a novelty for six months in africa but i'm totally over it now. so i'm headed to madrid to see some friends, even though it's hours and hours away. i've always wanted to see the prado anyways.
time's up. more later hopefully.
25 April 2007
i'm off
a quick one before i head to jfk. i'll have internet here and there, thank god. what would i do without the internet? so hopefully this won't be the last post til i come home on may 6th. might even be able to post some pictures...
24 April 2007
to quote ben folds:
good morning son.
i am a bird
wearing a brown polyester shirt.
and in my brown polyester shirt, i am headed out into the beautiful sunshine and enjoy a day at.... the dmv. okay, maybe not the best place to spend a gorgeous day. but i'm finally getting my new license, which means i won't be arrested in spain. one of my regulars gave me a huge tip yesterday and explained that it was the start of my bail money.
although this prison doesn't sound so bad.
i am a bird
wearing a brown polyester shirt.
and in my brown polyester shirt, i am headed out into the beautiful sunshine and enjoy a day at.... the dmv. okay, maybe not the best place to spend a gorgeous day. but i'm finally getting my new license, which means i won't be arrested in spain. one of my regulars gave me a huge tip yesterday and explained that it was the start of my bail money.
although this prison doesn't sound so bad.
23 April 2007
how not to be a mets fan.
check out this guy.
so he shined a high-powered flashlight into the eyes of the opposing players. as queens district attorney put it, "this was definitely not the defendant's most shining moment." god that's awful.
but that's not the worst part. read on and you'll discover the intrepid writers for the ny post have dug deeper.
i think i've finally found a way to properly express my love of the mets. i should probably warn my housemates...
so he shined a high-powered flashlight into the eyes of the opposing players. as queens district attorney put it, "this was definitely not the defendant's most shining moment." god that's awful.
but that's not the worst part. read on and you'll discover the intrepid writers for the ny post have dug deeper.
Former Bronx neighbors of Martinez, an exterminator, said he was thrown out of his Ericson Place apartment because of his Mets fanaticism.
"He was a psycho. He used to scream for no reason," said Abigail Torres.
She said when the team would play he would shout "M! E! T! S!" at the top of his lungs and later at about 3 a.m. he would go into the hallway and do it again, over and over.
i think i've finally found a way to properly express my love of the mets. i should probably warn my housemates...
20 April 2007
how you doin?
thanks for asking, title. i am doing great.
it's a beautiful day. i mean stunning. any minute now moxie will wake up from her nap and we are going straight to the playground. after the nasty nor'easter weekend, this is just so redemptive. god i love spring.
why else am i great? my express mail package is on the way from the dmv in california, which means i'll be able to drive through spain legally.
and speaking of spain, that is another reason why i'm great. i leave on wednesday. which is soon. i actually thought i left early thursday morning but oops. so it's going to be a hectic couple of days. but by thursday night i'll be in montbolo, a tiny village just north of the border into france. it looks like this:
gorgeous. it's just off the mediterranean. i'm not sure if it'll be warm enough to swim yet. whatever, i've jumped naked into the winter waters of the pacific. and i don't think there are sharks in montbolo.
i am also great because two of my best friends in the world who've been engaged for too long finally got married. yes, i'm a little sad that as best man/bridesman (long story) i wasn't there, but there'll be a big party this summer and as best man i get my way paid. right sarah?
ha! i am giddy with warm weather and well-sleptness. hopefully only the well-sleptness will be fleeting -- closing the field tonight with a volunteer project at 9 am saturday morning. what in the hell was i thinking?
it's a beautiful day. i mean stunning. any minute now moxie will wake up from her nap and we are going straight to the playground. after the nasty nor'easter weekend, this is just so redemptive. god i love spring.
why else am i great? my express mail package is on the way from the dmv in california, which means i'll be able to drive through spain legally.
and speaking of spain, that is another reason why i'm great. i leave on wednesday. which is soon. i actually thought i left early thursday morning but oops. so it's going to be a hectic couple of days. but by thursday night i'll be in montbolo, a tiny village just north of the border into france. it looks like this:
gorgeous. it's just off the mediterranean. i'm not sure if it'll be warm enough to swim yet. whatever, i've jumped naked into the winter waters of the pacific. and i don't think there are sharks in montbolo.
i am also great because two of my best friends in the world who've been engaged for too long finally got married. yes, i'm a little sad that as best man/bridesman (long story) i wasn't there, but there'll be a big party this summer and as best man i get my way paid. right sarah?
ha! i am giddy with warm weather and well-sleptness. hopefully only the well-sleptness will be fleeting -- closing the field tonight with a volunteer project at 9 am saturday morning. what in the hell was i thinking?
19 April 2007
18 April 2007
playing dress up
sorry, loyal readers, it's been a busy couple of days. this morning i got up early -- 8:30! gasp! -- and i dressed up nice and headed to a meeting in midtown with the state department. turns out my online "jokes" about terrorism were taken very seriously. fyi, fellow bloggers, they are always watching.
no, i'm kidding. but i did go to the state department! their international visitors program is bringing over a group of iranian musicians for a cultural exchange program, and red hot is on board. they'll be here in july and we're setting up recording sessions and concerts -- no after parties though, since the visitors program won't pay for alcohol...
i'm excited about the work, but it's a little strange. what exactly are the motives of the state department? to convince these artists that america is a good place? they want to put the artists up in times square, which sounds like a terrible idea to me. why not put them up in astoria or jackson heights? let them see america at its best, a hundred languages in a single block, muezzin calls and cooking smells filling the air...
no, i'm kidding. but i did go to the state department! their international visitors program is bringing over a group of iranian musicians for a cultural exchange program, and red hot is on board. they'll be here in july and we're setting up recording sessions and concerts -- no after parties though, since the visitors program won't pay for alcohol...
i'm excited about the work, but it's a little strange. what exactly are the motives of the state department? to convince these artists that america is a good place? they want to put the artists up in times square, which sounds like a terrible idea to me. why not put them up in astoria or jackson heights? let them see america at its best, a hundred languages in a single block, muezzin calls and cooking smells filling the air...
17 April 2007
breakfast of champions
yes, i'm having breakfast at 1 pm. sue me, i worked last night. in fact, i've been behind the bar four nights a week for the past two weeks, with one more week to go before i go to spain...
so what is my breakfast today? cookies. i need to go shopping... but you can't shop hungry! so cookies it is.
lesson learned -- never call the DMV before breakfast. those people are evil. still working on getting my letter from california... and the woman this morning was about the least helpful person ever. this after a surprising string of helpful and candid advice. i think i got spoiled.
DMV Demon: Sir, you have to know the name of the person you spoke to. We don't rush items to anyone.
Me: I've spoken to three different people, I'm sorry I don't know their names.
DMV Demon: Yeah, it's a problem. You have to remember who you talked to. We have Greg, Bob, Alan...
Me: Can you just look up my driver record?
DMV Demon: Why did my computer just crash? Hold on.
so what is my breakfast today? cookies. i need to go shopping... but you can't shop hungry! so cookies it is.
lesson learned -- never call the DMV before breakfast. those people are evil. still working on getting my letter from california... and the woman this morning was about the least helpful person ever. this after a surprising string of helpful and candid advice. i think i got spoiled.
DMV Demon: Sir, you have to know the name of the person you spoke to. We don't rush items to anyone.
Me: I've spoken to three different people, I'm sorry I don't know their names.
DMV Demon: Yeah, it's a problem. You have to remember who you talked to. We have Greg, Bob, Alan...
Me: Can you just look up my driver record?
DMV Demon: Why did my computer just crash? Hold on.
14 April 2007
saturday morning
good morning! what a couple of days. thursday, 12pm-5pm at red hot and 8pm-4am at the field. friday, 12pm-5pm with moxie (the 18-month-old i nanny) and then 6pm-4am at the field. working two 16 hour days with four hours of sleep in between is the best!
on the plus side, i just paid may's rent in 48 hours.
on the plus side, i just paid may's rent in 48 hours.
13 April 2007
i am the hunter.
i am the hunter. you cannot escape me.
you, small brown haired girl with ugly jacket.
you might think that since i'm behind the bar that i can't see you. but i do see you. who could miss that ugly jacket? and now i am coming for you. when you came in with your friends, did you think that i didn't notice you? it's hard to be sneaky with a jacket that hideous.
i know your secret. all your friends look under-age but to my great surprise they are all 21. some are even 22! but that is older than you.
i approach your hiding place with the stealth of a snow leopard. there is nowhere to run. i feign friendliness. "i'm sorry honey, but do you have ID?" i ask but i already know your answer. you fumble through your purse. then this is my favorite part -- you turn away and stop looking! did you expect me to just forget about you?
the hunter grows weary. "you can't be in here without ID." what did you say? you grabbed the wrong purse? oh, that's too bad. you should go home and get it. buh-bye now. don't forget your ugly jacket!
i am the hunter.
you, small brown haired girl with ugly jacket.
you might think that since i'm behind the bar that i can't see you. but i do see you. who could miss that ugly jacket? and now i am coming for you. when you came in with your friends, did you think that i didn't notice you? it's hard to be sneaky with a jacket that hideous.
i know your secret. all your friends look under-age but to my great surprise they are all 21. some are even 22! but that is older than you.
i approach your hiding place with the stealth of a snow leopard. there is nowhere to run. i feign friendliness. "i'm sorry honey, but do you have ID?" i ask but i already know your answer. you fumble through your purse. then this is my favorite part -- you turn away and stop looking! did you expect me to just forget about you?
the hunter grows weary. "you can't be in here without ID." what did you say? you grabbed the wrong purse? oh, that's too bad. you should go home and get it. buh-bye now. don't forget your ugly jacket!
i am the hunter.
12 April 2007
three reasons why i hate my job today
1. because the office is too hot when it's cold outside, and i'm sure it'll be too cold when it's hot.
2. because i used to have a great computer, and then my co-worker lost his other job and took my workstation, and now i work on a pc running windows 2000 and i want to blow it up.
3. because the office manager's office, which houses my beloved postage machine, has had a do not disturb sign on it for the past two hours. the sign is in arabic. i think she's a terrorist.
2. because i used to have a great computer, and then my co-worker lost his other job and took my workstation, and now i work on a pc running windows 2000 and i want to blow it up.
3. because the office manager's office, which houses my beloved postage machine, has had a do not disturb sign on it for the past two hours. the sign is in arabic. i think she's a terrorist.
a rough couple of days
no, not for me, don't worry dear readers. i'm doing fine.
but kurt vonnegut is not doing so well.
and neither is johnny cash's ghost.
oh, and poor howard k. stern! i know how much he wanted that baby.
r.i.p. kurt. so it goes.
but kurt vonnegut is not doing so well.
and neither is johnny cash's ghost.
oh, and poor howard k. stern! i know how much he wanted that baby.
r.i.p. kurt. so it goes.
11 April 2007
i call it "magnetic field of dreams"
thanks to william for the rockin' poster. hope you'll be joining me!
getting up early
not something i'm very good at usually. understandable given that i wasn't home until 4 am last night, and that's a regular occurence these days. both this thursday and friday i'll be there again.
it's worth getting up early just for the light, which illuminates the brownstones with a soft wash of light, more subtle than the glowing parisian dusk. even the monolith of long island college hospital seems peaceful. ellis island glimmers across the harbor, the wizened domes rising from the white-capped waters. even the undertaker had a smile on this morning.
on too few hours of sleep, i headed to brooklyn montessori to talk about markets in uganda.
not my best performance with a class full of unruly kids, but we had fun.
i haven't had the most productive day since. mostly i've just watched planet earth. did i mention it's the best thing on television?
it's worth getting up early just for the light, which illuminates the brownstones with a soft wash of light, more subtle than the glowing parisian dusk. even the monolith of long island college hospital seems peaceful. ellis island glimmers across the harbor, the wizened domes rising from the white-capped waters. even the undertaker had a smile on this morning.
on too few hours of sleep, i headed to brooklyn montessori to talk about markets in uganda.
not my best performance with a class full of unruly kids, but we had fun.
i haven't had the most productive day since. mostly i've just watched planet earth. did i mention it's the best thing on television?
10 April 2007
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!
that was a scream. i'm at the nyu library and i just needed to let something out. nyu hosts red hot's archives, which is great because we don't have to pay for cold storage in jersey any more. but i came in an hour ago and needed a copy of an 11 page folder. an hour later, i'm still waiting for the folder to be copied. seriously? i mean, i could copy 11 pages quick. well, i wouldn't take an hour. truthfully, i probably couldn't do it as fast as tempy.
yeah, i like cadbury eggs too...
this cockatoo thinks cadbury eggs are real eggs.
but the real highlight of this obviously insane bird?
"She's got so much character it's unbelievable. She hates men - we've had a builder in who had his neck bitten. We had to prise Pippa's beak off his neck.
"When she attacks you, she attacks your ear lobe - she goes straight through them. We do free ear piercing here."
lets go mets
in order to spare my readers who aren't as obsessed with baseball as i am, i've started a mets blog with some friends.
it's called home run apple. enjoy!
it's called home run apple. enjoy!
09 April 2007
andrew bird...
live music is a huge part of my life, but most of it is working at shows downstairs. i'd forgotten how powerful live shows can be. but my goodness, tonight i have had a stunning reminder.
tonight i went to see andrew bird. three piece band. andrew would lay down looped violin counterpoint and make a bed for his dummer/keyboard player (one hand drumming, one hand milking a fender rhodes) and bassist. giant sounds erupted from spinning phonograph horns. and then andrew comes in with... whistling. soaring, like a musical saw or theremin. the loops twist and feedback and waves of sounds and textures rise from the burning amplifiers and the crowd goes crazy.
oh. did i mention it was a secret show announced day of and that i was on the guest list? that makes it that much sweeter.
he's playing letterman tomorrow night if you'd like to see and hear.
tonight i went to see andrew bird. three piece band. andrew would lay down looped violin counterpoint and make a bed for his dummer/keyboard player (one hand drumming, one hand milking a fender rhodes) and bassist. giant sounds erupted from spinning phonograph horns. and then andrew comes in with... whistling. soaring, like a musical saw or theremin. the loops twist and feedback and waves of sounds and textures rise from the burning amplifiers and the crowd goes crazy.
oh. did i mention it was a secret show announced day of and that i was on the guest list? that makes it that much sweeter.
he's playing letterman tomorrow night if you'd like to see and hear.
light headed fun
in the midst of the chaotic license replacement process (new social security card, express mail to california), i ran into a mobile blood drive unit offering free tickets to mets games for giving blood. can't resist that!
so now i'm home, a little woozy and watching the mets home opener.
last night was the worst night of bartending of all time. six customers in ten hours and a total of nine dollars in tips. ouch. at least i'm getting better at darts.
so now i'm home, a little woozy and watching the mets home opener.
last night was the worst night of bartending of all time. six customers in ten hours and a total of nine dollars in tips. ouch. at least i'm getting better at darts.
08 April 2007
i think jesus hates me.
because i didn't go to church on easter for the first time in my life. does the fact that i went to easter mass at st peter's at the vatican 11 years ago count double? i've been saving it up.
i'm at work, and since there's no internet (again) upstairs, i brought things downstairs. it's not like *anyone* is coming to a dive bar on easter sunday anyways. so i have my book (ben okri's songs of enchantment -- more on that later) and my computer to keep me company.
i'm a little freaked out. yesterday while i was out shopping, my driver's license fell out of my wallet -- at the same intersection where i lost my wallet last year. it's not like i ever drive in the city, but uh oh, i'm going to spain in three weeks and driving all over the place. oh, did i mention it was a california license and that you can only get a replacement in person? i've got a shot at getting a new york license, but it's going to come down to the wire.
jesus totally hates me.
yea, and verily jesus spoke, and said, get of my house with those garbage shots.
i'm at work, and since there's no internet (again) upstairs, i brought things downstairs. it's not like *anyone* is coming to a dive bar on easter sunday anyways. so i have my book (ben okri's songs of enchantment -- more on that later) and my computer to keep me company.
i'm a little freaked out. yesterday while i was out shopping, my driver's license fell out of my wallet -- at the same intersection where i lost my wallet last year. it's not like i ever drive in the city, but uh oh, i'm going to spain in three weeks and driving all over the place. oh, did i mention it was a california license and that you can only get a replacement in person? i've got a shot at getting a new york license, but it's going to come down to the wire.
jesus totally hates me.
yea, and verily jesus spoke, and said, get of my house with those garbage shots.
06 April 2007
tell me, who are you this time?
i have a favor to ask of you. i'm curious who reads this blog regularly. if you don't mind the invasion of privacy, can you comment below and tell me who and where you are? thanks.
also your SSN and a major credit card. jk
also your SSN and a major credit card. jk
it's easter dammit!
yesterday i looked out the window of my office at madison and 30th, up to the soaring heights of the empire state building. and i could barely see it because of the thick horizontal snowflakes. that is so not cool at all. the last gasp of winter is always frustrating, but it looks like highs in the 40s through the weekend. hello, it's jesus time! do you realize, controllers of weather, that you're totally going to piss jesus off? what about all the barbeques and egg hunts that are somehow related to his teachings? if it's cold this weekend, it'll ruin everything.
it was bad enough when you ruined christmas.
and when i say you, i mean my sister hannah.
it was bad enough when you ruined christmas.
and when i say you, i mean my sister hannah.
05 April 2007
ten thousand
is how many CDs i just moved out of our storage unit and into the office.
that's a 1 followed by four zeros.
my back hurts.
that's a 1 followed by four zeros.
my back hurts.
the best rules ever
please read and follow all of these rules. for your convenience, i have put the most important rules in bold. unfortunately the people that need rule #28 won't ever understand.
frank rich, you are a god.
the 86 rules of drinking:
1. If you owe someone money, always pay them back in a bar. Preferably during happy hour.
2. Always toast before doing a shot.
3. Whoever buys the shot gets the first chance to offer a toast.
4. Change your toast at least once a month.
5. Buying someone a drink is five times better than a handshake.
6. Buying a strange woman a drink is still cool. Buying all her drinks is dumb.
7. Never borrow more than one cigarette from the same person in one night.
8. When the bartender is slammed, resist the powerful urge to order a slightly-dirty, very-dry, in-and-out, super-chilled half-and-half martini with a lemon twist. Limit orders to beer, straight shots and two-part cocktails.
9. Get the bartender's attention with eye contact and a smile.
10. Do not make eye contact with the bartender if you do not want a drink.
11. Unacceptable things to say after doing a shot: Great, now I’m going to get drunk. I hate shots. It’s coming back up.
12. Never, ever tell a bartender he made your drink too strong.
13. If he makes it too weak, order a double next time. He'll get the message.
14. If you offer to buy a woman a drink and she refuses, she does not like you.
15. If you offer to buy a woman a drink and she accepts, she still might not like you.
16. If she buys you a drink, she likes you.
17. If someone offers to buy you a drink, do not upgrade your liquor preference.
18. Always have a corkscrew in your house.
19. If you don't have a corkscrew, push the cork down into the bottle with a pen.
20. Drink one girly drink in public and you will forever be known as the guy who drinks girly drinks.
21. Our parents were better drinkers than we are.
22. Never talk to someone in the restroom unless you're doing the same thing—urinating, waiting in line or washing your hands.
23. Girls hang out, apply make-up, and have long talks in the bathroom. Men do not.
24. After your sixth drink, do not look at yourself in the mirror. It will shake your confidence.
25. It is only permissible to shout 'woo-hoo!' if you are doing a shot with four or more people.
26. If there is a d.j., you can request a song only once per night. If he doesn't play it within half an hour, do not approach him again. If he does play it, do not approach him again.
27. Learn how to make a rose out of a bar napkin. You'll be surprised how well it works.
28. If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to drink in a bar. Go to the liquor store.
29. If you owe someone twenty dollars or less, you may pay them back in beer.
30. Never complain about the quality or brand of a free drink.
31. If you have been roommates with someone more than six months, you may drink all their beer, even if it's hidden, as long as you leave them one.
32. You can have a shot of their hard liquor only if the cap has been cracked and the bottle goes for less than $25.
33. The only thing that tastes better than free liquor is stolen liquor.
34. If you bring Old Milwaukee to a party, you must drink at least two cans before you start drinking the imported beer in the fridge.
35. Learn to appreciate hangovers. If it was all good times every jackass would be doing it.
36. If you ever feel depressed, get out a bartender’s guide and browse through all the drinks you’ve never tried.
37. Try one new drink each week.
38. If you are the bar's sole customer, you are obliged to make small talk with the bartender until he stops acknowledging you. Then you're off the hook. The same goes for him.
39. Never tip with coins that have touched you. If your change is $1.50, you can tell the barmaid to keep the change, but once she has handed it to you, you cannot give it back. To a bartender or cocktail waitress, small change has no value.
40. If you have ever told a bartender, “Hey, it all spends the same,” then you are a cheap ass.
41. Anyone on stage or behind a bar is fifty percent better looking.
42. You can tell how hard a drinker someone is by how close they keep their drink to their mouth.
43. A bar is a college, not a nursery. If you spill a beer, clean it up. If you break a glass, wait for a staff member to clean it up, then blame it on someone else.
44. Being drunk is feeling sophisticated without being able to say it.
45. It's okay to drink alone.
46. After three drinks, you will forget a woman's name two seconds after she tells you. The rest of the night you will call her “baby” or “darling”.
47. Nothing screams 'nancy boy' louder than swirling an oversized brandy snifter.
48. Men don't drink from straws. Unless you're doing a Mind or Face Eraser.
49. If you do a shot, finish it. If you don't plan to finish it, don't accept it.
50. Never brood in a dance bar. Never dance in a dive bar.
51. Never play more than three songs by the same artist in a row.
52. Your songs will come on as you're leaving the bar.
53. Never yell out jukebox selections to someone you don't know.
54. Never lie in a bar. You may, however, grossly exaggerate and lean.
55. If you think you might be slurring a little, then you are slurring a lot. If you think you are slurring a lot, then you are not speaking English.
56. Screaming, “Someone buy me a drink!” has never worked.
57. For every drink, there is a five percent better chance you will get in a fight. There is also a three percent better chance you will lose the fight.
58. Fighting an extremely drunk person when you are sober is hilarious.
59. If you are broke and a friend is “sporting you”, you must laugh at all his jokes and play wingman when he makes his move.
60. If you are broke and a friend is “making sport of you”, you may steal any drink he leaves unattended.
61. Never rest your head on a table or bar top. It is the equivalent of voluntarily putting your head on a chopping block.
62. If you are trading rounds with a friend and he asks if you're ready for another, always say yes. Once you fall out of sync you will end up buying more drinks than him.
63. If you're going to hit on a member of the bar staff, make sure you tip well before and after, regardless of her response.
64. The people with the most money are rarely the best tippers.
65. Before you die, single-handedly make one decent martini.
66. Asking a bartender what beers are on tap when the handles are right in front of you is the equivalent of saying, “I'm an idiot.”
67. Never ask a bartender “what's good tonight?” They do not fly in the scotch fresh from the coast every morning.
68. If there is a line for drinks, get your goddamn drink and step the hell away from the bar.
69. If there is ever any confusion, the fuller beer is yours.
70. The patrons at your local bar are your extended family, your fathers and mothers, your brothers and sisters. Except you get to sleep with these sisters. And if you're really drunk, the mothers.
71. It's acceptable, traditional in fact, to disappear during a night of hard drinking. You will appear mysterious and your friends will understand. If they even notice.
72. Never argue your tab at the end of the night. Remember, you're hammered and they’re sober. It's akin to a precocious five-year-old arguing the super-string theory with a physicist. 99.9% of the time you're wrong and either way you're going to come off as a jackass.
73. If you bring booze to a party, you must drink it or leave it.
74. If you hesitate more than three seconds after the bartender looks at you, you do not deserve a drink.
75. Beer makes you mellow, champagne makes you silly, wine makes you dramatic, tequila makes you felonious.
76. The greatest thing a drunkard can do is buy a round of drinks for a packed bar.
77. Never preface a conversation with a bartender with “I know this is going to be a hassle, but . . .”
78. When you’re in a bar and drunk, your boss is just another guy begging for a fat lip. Unless he’s buying.
79. If you are 86’d, do not return for at least three months. To come back sooner makes it appear no other bar wants you.
80. Anyone with three or more drinks in his hands has the right of way.
81. If you’re going to drink on the job, drink vodka. It’s the no-tell liquor.
82. There’s nothing wrong with drinking before noon. Especially if you’re supposed to be at work.
83. The bar clock moves twice as fast from midnight to last call.
84. A flask engraved with a personal message is one of the best gifts you can ever give. And make sure there’s something in it.
85. On the intimacy scale, sharing a quiet drink is between a handshake and a kiss.
86. You will forget every one of these rules by your fifth drink.
frank rich, you are a god.
the 86 rules of drinking:
1. If you owe someone money, always pay them back in a bar. Preferably during happy hour.
2. Always toast before doing a shot.
3. Whoever buys the shot gets the first chance to offer a toast.
4. Change your toast at least once a month.
5. Buying someone a drink is five times better than a handshake.
6. Buying a strange woman a drink is still cool. Buying all her drinks is dumb.
7. Never borrow more than one cigarette from the same person in one night.
8. When the bartender is slammed, resist the powerful urge to order a slightly-dirty, very-dry, in-and-out, super-chilled half-and-half martini with a lemon twist. Limit orders to beer, straight shots and two-part cocktails.
9. Get the bartender's attention with eye contact and a smile.
10. Do not make eye contact with the bartender if you do not want a drink.
11. Unacceptable things to say after doing a shot: Great, now I’m going to get drunk. I hate shots. It’s coming back up.
12. Never, ever tell a bartender he made your drink too strong.
13. If he makes it too weak, order a double next time. He'll get the message.
14. If you offer to buy a woman a drink and she refuses, she does not like you.
15. If you offer to buy a woman a drink and she accepts, she still might not like you.
16. If she buys you a drink, she likes you.
17. If someone offers to buy you a drink, do not upgrade your liquor preference.
18. Always have a corkscrew in your house.
19. If you don't have a corkscrew, push the cork down into the bottle with a pen.
20. Drink one girly drink in public and you will forever be known as the guy who drinks girly drinks.
21. Our parents were better drinkers than we are.
22. Never talk to someone in the restroom unless you're doing the same thing—urinating, waiting in line or washing your hands.
23. Girls hang out, apply make-up, and have long talks in the bathroom. Men do not.
24. After your sixth drink, do not look at yourself in the mirror. It will shake your confidence.
25. It is only permissible to shout 'woo-hoo!' if you are doing a shot with four or more people.
26. If there is a d.j., you can request a song only once per night. If he doesn't play it within half an hour, do not approach him again. If he does play it, do not approach him again.
27. Learn how to make a rose out of a bar napkin. You'll be surprised how well it works.
28. If you can't afford to tip, you can't afford to drink in a bar. Go to the liquor store.
29. If you owe someone twenty dollars or less, you may pay them back in beer.
30. Never complain about the quality or brand of a free drink.
31. If you have been roommates with someone more than six months, you may drink all their beer, even if it's hidden, as long as you leave them one.
32. You can have a shot of their hard liquor only if the cap has been cracked and the bottle goes for less than $25.
33. The only thing that tastes better than free liquor is stolen liquor.
34. If you bring Old Milwaukee to a party, you must drink at least two cans before you start drinking the imported beer in the fridge.
35. Learn to appreciate hangovers. If it was all good times every jackass would be doing it.
36. If you ever feel depressed, get out a bartender’s guide and browse through all the drinks you’ve never tried.
37. Try one new drink each week.
38. If you are the bar's sole customer, you are obliged to make small talk with the bartender until he stops acknowledging you. Then you're off the hook. The same goes for him.
39. Never tip with coins that have touched you. If your change is $1.50, you can tell the barmaid to keep the change, but once she has handed it to you, you cannot give it back. To a bartender or cocktail waitress, small change has no value.
40. If you have ever told a bartender, “Hey, it all spends the same,” then you are a cheap ass.
41. Anyone on stage or behind a bar is fifty percent better looking.
42. You can tell how hard a drinker someone is by how close they keep their drink to their mouth.
43. A bar is a college, not a nursery. If you spill a beer, clean it up. If you break a glass, wait for a staff member to clean it up, then blame it on someone else.
44. Being drunk is feeling sophisticated without being able to say it.
45. It's okay to drink alone.
46. After three drinks, you will forget a woman's name two seconds after she tells you. The rest of the night you will call her “baby” or “darling”.
47. Nothing screams 'nancy boy' louder than swirling an oversized brandy snifter.
48. Men don't drink from straws. Unless you're doing a Mind or Face Eraser.
49. If you do a shot, finish it. If you don't plan to finish it, don't accept it.
50. Never brood in a dance bar. Never dance in a dive bar.
51. Never play more than three songs by the same artist in a row.
52. Your songs will come on as you're leaving the bar.
53. Never yell out jukebox selections to someone you don't know.
54. Never lie in a bar. You may, however, grossly exaggerate and lean.
55. If you think you might be slurring a little, then you are slurring a lot. If you think you are slurring a lot, then you are not speaking English.
56. Screaming, “Someone buy me a drink!” has never worked.
57. For every drink, there is a five percent better chance you will get in a fight. There is also a three percent better chance you will lose the fight.
58. Fighting an extremely drunk person when you are sober is hilarious.
59. If you are broke and a friend is “sporting you”, you must laugh at all his jokes and play wingman when he makes his move.
60. If you are broke and a friend is “making sport of you”, you may steal any drink he leaves unattended.
61. Never rest your head on a table or bar top. It is the equivalent of voluntarily putting your head on a chopping block.
62. If you are trading rounds with a friend and he asks if you're ready for another, always say yes. Once you fall out of sync you will end up buying more drinks than him.
63. If you're going to hit on a member of the bar staff, make sure you tip well before and after, regardless of her response.
64. The people with the most money are rarely the best tippers.
65. Before you die, single-handedly make one decent martini.
66. Asking a bartender what beers are on tap when the handles are right in front of you is the equivalent of saying, “I'm an idiot.”
67. Never ask a bartender “what's good tonight?” They do not fly in the scotch fresh from the coast every morning.
68. If there is a line for drinks, get your goddamn drink and step the hell away from the bar.
69. If there is ever any confusion, the fuller beer is yours.
70. The patrons at your local bar are your extended family, your fathers and mothers, your brothers and sisters. Except you get to sleep with these sisters. And if you're really drunk, the mothers.
71. It's acceptable, traditional in fact, to disappear during a night of hard drinking. You will appear mysterious and your friends will understand. If they even notice.
72. Never argue your tab at the end of the night. Remember, you're hammered and they’re sober. It's akin to a precocious five-year-old arguing the super-string theory with a physicist. 99.9% of the time you're wrong and either way you're going to come off as a jackass.
73. If you bring booze to a party, you must drink it or leave it.
74. If you hesitate more than three seconds after the bartender looks at you, you do not deserve a drink.
75. Beer makes you mellow, champagne makes you silly, wine makes you dramatic, tequila makes you felonious.
76. The greatest thing a drunkard can do is buy a round of drinks for a packed bar.
77. Never preface a conversation with a bartender with “I know this is going to be a hassle, but . . .”
78. When you’re in a bar and drunk, your boss is just another guy begging for a fat lip. Unless he’s buying.
79. If you are 86’d, do not return for at least three months. To come back sooner makes it appear no other bar wants you.
80. Anyone with three or more drinks in his hands has the right of way.
81. If you’re going to drink on the job, drink vodka. It’s the no-tell liquor.
82. There’s nothing wrong with drinking before noon. Especially if you’re supposed to be at work.
83. The bar clock moves twice as fast from midnight to last call.
84. A flask engraved with a personal message is one of the best gifts you can ever give. And make sure there’s something in it.
85. On the intimacy scale, sharing a quiet drink is between a handshake and a kiss.
86. You will forget every one of these rules by your fifth drink.
meet the mets
god i love baseball. i love it so much i'm starting another blog to spare the non-baseball fans from my obsession. it's not ready yet though.
the mets are amazing. my heart will always be with oakland, but i can watch every mets game and take the subway to shea -- 10 games last year & two in the postseason. and to top it off, we serve mets beer at the field. so it's inevitable.
the mets are amazing. my heart will always be with oakland, but i can watch every mets game and take the subway to shea -- 10 games last year & two in the postseason. and to top it off, we serve mets beer at the field. so it's inevitable.
04 April 2007
it's gross.
it is cold and rainy today. feeling the danger of staying inside all day, i went to AAA and got my international driver's license. broadway and 62nd street is really far from my house.
you know what else i did today? i took all my change to the bank. i had $60 in change! i'm totally going out to dinner.
you know what else i did today? i took all my change to the bank. i had $60 in change! i'm totally going out to dinner.
am i a bad person?
on monday night at 3 am, a cracked-out homeless woman sold me a bike for $20. it's pretty obviously stolen. it's a sweet bike -- original leather saddle style seat, beautiful italian handlebars... someone loved this bike. and now i feel bad. so i put up a notice in the lost & found on craigslist. i swear i'll give it back if the owner gets in touch. although now they owe me 20 bucks.
anyone recognize this bike?
anyone recognize this bike?
what do i hate?
"a place for friends"? how about "a place for a huge corporation to let you pretend like you own a piece of the internet but actually just a place for them to bombard you with advertising while your inbox and comments page are filled with fake friends and spam messages."
fuck you myspace. i hate you.
what do i love?
i love techmology! i just happened upon my dad checking his email from holland and conversed via gchat. i think that's the first time he's ever used an internet chat program. he wasn't very good at it. he was writing long paragraphs without entering the text and i had to tell him, no dad, just write a single sentence and then hit enter. i don't want to sit here while you write the next great american novel via IM. at least he doesn't know how to use emoticons.
were in ntherlands sabbatical is AWESOME!! :) lol
were in ntherlands sabbatical is AWESOME!! :) lol
castilliano?
the spanish tapes finally came through, and they're fucking latin american spanish, not castillian. why am i even doing this? i'm spending all my time in basque and catalan country anyways, and the pyrenees don't speak any language except that of majesty. oh well.
03 April 2007
and it's morning.
hello there. i just stayed up past 6 trying to get to sleep. and getting music -- new albums by andrew bird, tom waits, beirut, i'm from barcelona, menomena, built to spill, regina spektor and great lakes swimmers -- not a bad haul, although the one thing i i wanted -- spanish lessons -- is far from done.
i don't think i'm going to be very productive today.
it's my grandma's 84th birthday today. i'm going to call her right now.
i don't think i'm going to be very productive today.
it's my grandma's 84th birthday today. i'm going to call her right now.
what time is it again?
my occasionally tremendous insomnia has got the better of me again. it's too late for this. but it happens sometimes when i nap in the afternoon. which was necessary after getting up at 7 am and talking to a support group for HIV-positive spanish speakers in east bushwick. that's a new part of the city for me. in fact, seeing any of the city before 9 am is pretty much new to me.
at least i'm using my wide-awakeness past 5 am productively. i'm stealing. some music, but more importantly, a three part audiobook for learning spanish. relevant, given this morning's activities. not to mention i'm going to spain april 26th.
anyone have friends in barcelona? i'll be there the first weekend in may.
staying up late paid off for me tonight. after a long weekend closing late, exhausted and feeling under-tipped given the effort, a great monday downstairs. best tips in a while, and i even got a new toy tonight. i can't tell you what it is though. it's not dirty or anything, it's just too exciting to talk about until i have a picture to put up.
okay, i should get to bed. jesus it's late.
at least i'm using my wide-awakeness past 5 am productively. i'm stealing. some music, but more importantly, a three part audiobook for learning spanish. relevant, given this morning's activities. not to mention i'm going to spain april 26th.
anyone have friends in barcelona? i'll be there the first weekend in may.
staying up late paid off for me tonight. after a long weekend closing late, exhausted and feeling under-tipped given the effort, a great monday downstairs. best tips in a while, and i even got a new toy tonight. i can't tell you what it is though. it's not dirty or anything, it's just too exciting to talk about until i have a picture to put up.
okay, i should get to bed. jesus it's late.
01 April 2007
stealing from the neighbors
after weeks of the utter isolation that is life without the internet, tonight i'm finally able to update my blog. thanks for the connection, anonymous neighbor!
here's 10 things i've learned.
1. it is always better to be honest with yourself, even if means hurting people you love.
2. i do not like working past 5 am two nights in a row.
3. i can play a solo acoustic show and people will like it.
4. living above a bar where you drink for free is hazardous to your health.
5. i am out of shape and something must be done.
6. discovery channel's planet earth is the best nature television ever. seriously, ever.
7. i love the mets.
8. i miss my grandparents.
9. i don't update this blog enough.
10. see 1.
here's 10 things i've learned.
1. it is always better to be honest with yourself, even if means hurting people you love.
2. i do not like working past 5 am two nights in a row.
3. i can play a solo acoustic show and people will like it.
4. living above a bar where you drink for free is hazardous to your health.
5. i am out of shape and something must be done.
6. discovery channel's planet earth is the best nature television ever. seriously, ever.
7. i love the mets.
8. i miss my grandparents.
9. i don't update this blog enough.
10. see 1.
21 March 2007
09 March 2007
signed, frustrated in jackson heights
moxie is sleeping. she's adorable, an 18 month old who i'm watching every friday. makes me miss my kids, the incredible world of wonder that young children inhabit. moxie's vocabulary is expansive and she makes great linkages. i say, do you want to go outside? and she says, coat. hood. soft. soft. she knows what's important.
so now moxie is down for her nap, i'm just getting over the maddening trip into queens -- over an hour due to "a security situation" -- read: someone left their backpack behind. and now i've been asked to cover a shift at the field tonight, the late shift til 4 am. i know, i said i wouldn't write depressing entries about bartending any more, but this time it's not the work that's getting to me. it's the lack of it. since red hot cut my hours at the beginning of the year, things have been getting tight, and now that monkeytown and stanton social haven't worked out, things are really tight, so much so that i have no choice but to take this shift. the problem is that i had a whole evening planned with michelle, and now that's out the window. it's still butt-ass cold here, so it's not like i'm even going to make that much money, but i have to take what i can get. i'm trying not to spend money but it's hard, this city eats money like so many moths in a library.
i guess my laziness is to blame, feeling like i could make ends meet without packing my schedule with work. but it looks like i've got to find more work before the moths find my savings. with the upcoming trip to spain (which isn't particularly cheap), it'd be hard to get anything -- hello, give me a job but in 6 weeks i'm leaving the country. not gonna happen.
i'm starting to see why jessie is ready to move to portland.
so now moxie is down for her nap, i'm just getting over the maddening trip into queens -- over an hour due to "a security situation" -- read: someone left their backpack behind. and now i've been asked to cover a shift at the field tonight, the late shift til 4 am. i know, i said i wouldn't write depressing entries about bartending any more, but this time it's not the work that's getting to me. it's the lack of it. since red hot cut my hours at the beginning of the year, things have been getting tight, and now that monkeytown and stanton social haven't worked out, things are really tight, so much so that i have no choice but to take this shift. the problem is that i had a whole evening planned with michelle, and now that's out the window. it's still butt-ass cold here, so it's not like i'm even going to make that much money, but i have to take what i can get. i'm trying not to spend money but it's hard, this city eats money like so many moths in a library.
i guess my laziness is to blame, feeling like i could make ends meet without packing my schedule with work. but it looks like i've got to find more work before the moths find my savings. with the upcoming trip to spain (which isn't particularly cheap), it'd be hard to get anything -- hello, give me a job but in 6 weeks i'm leaving the country. not gonna happen.
i'm starting to see why jessie is ready to move to portland.
06 March 2007
a change is gonna come
my goddamned internet has been out all week, and by some miracle at 2 in the morning i'm finally able to glom onto some hapless neighbor's connection. where were you when i wanted to write on sunday, or check my email this morning, or at all over the past week? but here it is, and i feel like i should take advantage.
this past weekend it was in the 50s. winter is coming to an end, i thought. right now there's a 40 miles per hour wind blowing off the harbor and the wind chill is closing in on zero. so much for that.
the sunshine still gave my spirits a much-needed rise. i always become less productive when it gets cold, but this winter it's just been absurd. the few journal & blog entries i managed to force out of myself are testaments to ineffectiveness, creative and spiritual cravings with no relief and a lack of connection with my own inner self, not to mention those around me and in points afield. and it goes beyond this winter, and it always has, a lack of motivation and a tendency towards coasting through life. well, i have decided: no more.
sitting on the promenade watching an 18 month old child run in circles around her mother, i was struck by how fragile our lives are, how little time we have to make our mark on the world around us. and i don't mean being rich, or famous, or infamous. i mean, do we take care of the people in our lives? do we care of ourselves? do you feel like you've done all you can to create positive forces in your life and in the lives of others? well, i've tended not to over the past couple years and it's time for that to change.
after months of fucking around and getting pretty much nothing done, i've turned into a whirlwind of activity. i've probably played guitar for 15 hours since Friday. i've written new songs, fixed old ones, gave my room a thorough spring cleaning. i've journaled, i've done extended sessions of yoga and meditation. don't worry, in the midst of it i still managed to party my ass off both friday and saturday nights. i'm not going to change everything.
it's late and i'm trying to break my habit of sleeping until noon, so i'm crashing out. but know, dear readers, that it'll be a while (i can only hope) before you get another utterly depressing entry about bar and city life.
this past weekend it was in the 50s. winter is coming to an end, i thought. right now there's a 40 miles per hour wind blowing off the harbor and the wind chill is closing in on zero. so much for that.
the sunshine still gave my spirits a much-needed rise. i always become less productive when it gets cold, but this winter it's just been absurd. the few journal & blog entries i managed to force out of myself are testaments to ineffectiveness, creative and spiritual cravings with no relief and a lack of connection with my own inner self, not to mention those around me and in points afield. and it goes beyond this winter, and it always has, a lack of motivation and a tendency towards coasting through life. well, i have decided: no more.
sitting on the promenade watching an 18 month old child run in circles around her mother, i was struck by how fragile our lives are, how little time we have to make our mark on the world around us. and i don't mean being rich, or famous, or infamous. i mean, do we take care of the people in our lives? do we care of ourselves? do you feel like you've done all you can to create positive forces in your life and in the lives of others? well, i've tended not to over the past couple years and it's time for that to change.
after months of fucking around and getting pretty much nothing done, i've turned into a whirlwind of activity. i've probably played guitar for 15 hours since Friday. i've written new songs, fixed old ones, gave my room a thorough spring cleaning. i've journaled, i've done extended sessions of yoga and meditation. don't worry, in the midst of it i still managed to party my ass off both friday and saturday nights. i'm not going to change everything.
it's late and i'm trying to break my habit of sleeping until noon, so i'm crashing out. but know, dear readers, that it'll be a while (i can only hope) before you get another utterly depressing entry about bar and city life.
26 February 2007
snow falling on oscars
a light snow is falling, and will continue to fall as i soon sleep, and tomorrow the city will be again be destroyed, a mayhem of black gritty sidewalks and salt and ice and et cetera. new york is truly a joy during winter.
i'm still recovering from portland and i've got a busy week coming up, so this will be another short one, a quickie to keep all seven of you coming back week after week. i swear, i'd like to write more here, but if i don't even have time for my own journal, how can i make time to write for public viewing?
my plan currently: not drinking so much. we'll see how that goes. updates later this week!
and as for portland:
see
1
and
2
pretty tame. i'll tell you all about the rest soon.
i'm still recovering from portland and i've got a busy week coming up, so this will be another short one, a quickie to keep all seven of you coming back week after week. i swear, i'd like to write more here, but if i don't even have time for my own journal, how can i make time to write for public viewing?
my plan currently: not drinking so much. we'll see how that goes. updates later this week!
and as for portland:
see
1
and
2
pretty tame. i'll tell you all about the rest soon.
15 February 2007
oh the cold, oh the mess
my toes are cold. my fingers are cold. new york is cold and messy. greatest city on earth? they could learn a thing or two about cleaning up snow from minnesota. whatever, i head to portland oregon tomorrow and everything will be melted by the time i'm back anyway.
chicago was colder though. my god, it was cold. i haven't started shaking uncontrollably from cold since i lived in minnesota. but i did there, walking from the lakeshore back into hyde park. i think my dad learned to make pancakes there, the pancakes at the original pancake house tasted just like his. and it is where he grew up. hmmm.
so i got back from chicago on sunday night. it's now thursday, i haven't unpacked and i leave again tomorrow. i've been busy.
did you enjoy valentines' day? or is it valentine's day? who owns that crass commercial usurpation of love? i ate sushi and was cold. i lost my glove walking back from the restaurant. michelle bought me a book of 100 love sonnets by pablo neruda, and i bought her 100 poems by e.e. cummings, not all of which are about love but the best are. "i like my body when it is with your/body. it is so quite new a thing." her present was satisfaction of all five senses, a scented candle, massage oil, chocolate, poems and music. she's the best!
reading: john barth "the floating opera" david foster wallace "a supposedly fun thing i'll never do again" and still to come, ben okri, his sequel to one of my all time favorites "the famished road" -- find it. read it. email me about it.
i have to go to work. this is when i love commuting downstairs, because i don't really want to go outside.
chicago was colder though. my god, it was cold. i haven't started shaking uncontrollably from cold since i lived in minnesota. but i did there, walking from the lakeshore back into hyde park. i think my dad learned to make pancakes there, the pancakes at the original pancake house tasted just like his. and it is where he grew up. hmmm.
so i got back from chicago on sunday night. it's now thursday, i haven't unpacked and i leave again tomorrow. i've been busy.
did you enjoy valentines' day? or is it valentine's day? who owns that crass commercial usurpation of love? i ate sushi and was cold. i lost my glove walking back from the restaurant. michelle bought me a book of 100 love sonnets by pablo neruda, and i bought her 100 poems by e.e. cummings, not all of which are about love but the best are. "i like my body when it is with your/body. it is so quite new a thing." her present was satisfaction of all five senses, a scented candle, massage oil, chocolate, poems and music. she's the best!
reading: john barth "the floating opera" david foster wallace "a supposedly fun thing i'll never do again" and still to come, ben okri, his sequel to one of my all time favorites "the famished road" -- find it. read it. email me about it.
i have to go to work. this is when i love commuting downstairs, because i don't really want to go outside.
07 February 2007
the cold and the business
i'm just waking up from the second night in a row bartending downstairs, and i'm working tonight too. this is getting a little tiresome, but since i'm still training at the stanton social, i need the money. i really wish i wasn't working tonight, especially since i leave for chicago at 8 am tomorrow.
i finally have an internet connection in my room, so i thought i'd take advantage of it. it's hard to write much these days since the only network i have is at work. and we've discussed workblogging before.
so what's new? red hot is moving uptown to 30th and madison -- gone the cobblestone alleys and supermodels of soho, but also gone the old hallway. i've been working in a narrow hallway where i have to push my seat forward every time someone walks by, which is pretty much constantly throughout the day. but now, we're getting a couple red hot workstations and a corner with a view of the empire state building. well, the corner is nearby, it's not like i actually have a view.
what else is new? i'm going to chicago tomorrow to lecture at columbia college. i've been too busy to even go through my lecture, and by the time i speak tomorrow night, i'll be running on fumes. luckily i can damn near do this thing in my sleep. anybody in chicago? i'll be at the ferguson theater at 600 s. michigan at 6 pm.
anything else new? oh yes, winter is HERE. true, it'll be even colder in chicago, but after a frighteningly mild winter (70 degrees first week in january), the cold has finally set in. i live two blocks from the new york harbor, and my god, the wind whipping down my block is something else. coming home from the subway, it feels like it gets colder every single step of the way. the other problem with the cold is that no one is going out, which means no one is coming to my bar. which means i have no money. at least columbia is paying me to come out there.
so i have an unbelievable to do list before i have to open the bar at 4, but i just wanted to say hi and let you all know i'm doin' alright. and by the way, did i tell you about my parents' new blog? here it is. i love the newest entry about being in a quiet retreat at an old mansion in the foothills of the himalayas and being overrun by a massive bollywood movie production!
i finally have an internet connection in my room, so i thought i'd take advantage of it. it's hard to write much these days since the only network i have is at work. and we've discussed workblogging before.
so what's new? red hot is moving uptown to 30th and madison -- gone the cobblestone alleys and supermodels of soho, but also gone the old hallway. i've been working in a narrow hallway where i have to push my seat forward every time someone walks by, which is pretty much constantly throughout the day. but now, we're getting a couple red hot workstations and a corner with a view of the empire state building. well, the corner is nearby, it's not like i actually have a view.
what else is new? i'm going to chicago tomorrow to lecture at columbia college. i've been too busy to even go through my lecture, and by the time i speak tomorrow night, i'll be running on fumes. luckily i can damn near do this thing in my sleep. anybody in chicago? i'll be at the ferguson theater at 600 s. michigan at 6 pm.
anything else new? oh yes, winter is HERE. true, it'll be even colder in chicago, but after a frighteningly mild winter (70 degrees first week in january), the cold has finally set in. i live two blocks from the new york harbor, and my god, the wind whipping down my block is something else. coming home from the subway, it feels like it gets colder every single step of the way. the other problem with the cold is that no one is going out, which means no one is coming to my bar. which means i have no money. at least columbia is paying me to come out there.
so i have an unbelievable to do list before i have to open the bar at 4, but i just wanted to say hi and let you all know i'm doin' alright. and by the way, did i tell you about my parents' new blog? here it is. i love the newest entry about being in a quiet retreat at an old mansion in the foothills of the himalayas and being overrun by a massive bollywood movie production!
26 January 2007
begone monkeytown
the folks are visiting this weekend, so i probably won't get a chance to write for a while. so here we go!
the dull ache of a slight hangover has become my general state of being recently. nothing debilitating, nothing dangerous, just a lot of parties and bartending and staying up late. it's true, i moved to new york to live out my dreams of working as an advocate for music-based health education and african development. but you know what? i'm having a lot of fun and i honestly can't imagine being able to work full time in an office right now. things are slow at red hot and look to be getting slower, but at least i'm still involved in some way.
but bartending and i are a good match. i've come a long way since barbacking in chelsea, and now i've opened the newest page of that history. i briefly mentioned that i was working at an interesting bar called monkeytown. well, interesting doesn't pay the bills. so through a connection at red hot, i've landed a job at a lower east side joint called the stanton social. as those of you whose computers will allow you to see the site will see, it's a damn swanky spot. friends who know it say it's where midtown execs take their dates to prove how cool they are by "slumming it up" in the LES. it was strange to sidestep the passed out junkie into the glittering foyer for my interview. even stranger -- albeit no longer surprising in this town -- was the complete lack of an interview. it seems like you can only get a job in the new york service industry (or most new york industries) if you know someone, but jeez, not a word and i'm training on tuesday?
i might have to rename this thing "adventures in manhattan" -- but i know better than to blog about work. right jessie?
the dull ache of a slight hangover has become my general state of being recently. nothing debilitating, nothing dangerous, just a lot of parties and bartending and staying up late. it's true, i moved to new york to live out my dreams of working as an advocate for music-based health education and african development. but you know what? i'm having a lot of fun and i honestly can't imagine being able to work full time in an office right now. things are slow at red hot and look to be getting slower, but at least i'm still involved in some way.
but bartending and i are a good match. i've come a long way since barbacking in chelsea, and now i've opened the newest page of that history. i briefly mentioned that i was working at an interesting bar called monkeytown. well, interesting doesn't pay the bills. so through a connection at red hot, i've landed a job at a lower east side joint called the stanton social.
i might have to rename this thing "adventures in manhattan" -- but i know better than to blog about work. right jessie?
17 January 2007
ouch!
we all have our various aches and pains; some more than others, some better, some worse. some is manageable and some is chronic. hard to grit through it sometimes, other times it's a dull echo at the back of our minds. today, my friends, my pain is with me, too present to ignore and too sharp to manage.
through a painfully hilarious set of circumstances, in october of 2003, i found myself at the bottom of a staircase in berkeley california after having fallen ten feet from the balcony above. my injuries were serious, a fact compounded by my doctor's lack of concern and failure to effectively treat (or even x-ray) my mangled body. after months of struggling to get through my days teaching preschool, i threatened my doctor with a malpractice suit unless he put me in physical therapy -- he was reluctant and wanted me to take more vicodin, to which i was already addicted and through which i was only further poisoning myself. when i managed to see him, the physical therapist examined me for a few minutes and said, i am so sorry we did this to you. after a full set of body x-rays revealed an unhealed fractured tailbone and spinal disc damage, i finally began a long healing process that has included acupressure, acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, reiki, hot tubs, ice, hot tubs and ice together, more physical therapy, substance-based self-medication, bed rest, and (the only one that's lasted) yoga.
as long as i do the yoga routine i've developed for myself a few times a week, i can more or less live my life pain-free. it's become difficult, though, as the lifestyle of a bartender doesn't exactly match with that of a yogi. i promise myself as i close the bar that i will get up and take care of myself, and suddenly it's noon and i'm still asleep. the last few weeks my practice has collapsed, and with the added strain of a whirlwind, less-than-24-hours trip to boston over the weekend, i've finally hit my breaking point. i came home early today hoping to take the time to take care of myself and discovered that my back was in such bad shape that i couldn't make it through most of my routine, and now i am sitting at my desk (bad) typing (bad) and wishing i wasn't in pain. i haven't completely thrown it out yet, but it's close, and i'm concerned that i have to close the bar at four am thursday and saturday night.
i guess this is just my absurdly long-winded way of saying:
my back hurts, and i don't like it.
as well as:
bartending is toxic and i'm not taking good care of myself.
or:
man, i was drunk when i fell off that balcony.
and perhaps the lesson for today is:
do your goddamn yoga.
through a painfully hilarious set of circumstances, in october of 2003, i found myself at the bottom of a staircase in berkeley california after having fallen ten feet from the balcony above. my injuries were serious, a fact compounded by my doctor's lack of concern and failure to effectively treat (or even x-ray) my mangled body. after months of struggling to get through my days teaching preschool, i threatened my doctor with a malpractice suit unless he put me in physical therapy -- he was reluctant and wanted me to take more vicodin, to which i was already addicted and through which i was only further poisoning myself. when i managed to see him, the physical therapist examined me for a few minutes and said, i am so sorry we did this to you. after a full set of body x-rays revealed an unhealed fractured tailbone and spinal disc damage, i finally began a long healing process that has included acupressure, acupuncture, massage, chiropractic, reiki, hot tubs, ice, hot tubs and ice together, more physical therapy, substance-based self-medication, bed rest, and (the only one that's lasted) yoga.
as long as i do the yoga routine i've developed for myself a few times a week, i can more or less live my life pain-free. it's become difficult, though, as the lifestyle of a bartender doesn't exactly match with that of a yogi. i promise myself as i close the bar that i will get up and take care of myself, and suddenly it's noon and i'm still asleep. the last few weeks my practice has collapsed, and with the added strain of a whirlwind, less-than-24-hours trip to boston over the weekend, i've finally hit my breaking point. i came home early today hoping to take the time to take care of myself and discovered that my back was in such bad shape that i couldn't make it through most of my routine, and now i am sitting at my desk (bad) typing (bad) and wishing i wasn't in pain. i haven't completely thrown it out yet, but it's close, and i'm concerned that i have to close the bar at four am thursday and saturday night.
i guess this is just my absurdly long-winded way of saying:
my back hurts, and i don't like it.
as well as:
bartending is toxic and i'm not taking good care of myself.
or:
man, i was drunk when i fell off that balcony.
and perhaps the lesson for today is:
do your goddamn yoga.
10 January 2007
over the top
after that last post, i got a couple of comments and calls from concerned readers. don't worry. i'm doing just fine. i think i was writing more about the feeling than actually feeling it. i was just a little upset because i made $70 on monday night and that's just not enough to get by.
09 January 2007
bartending sucks. happy new year!
and why do i say it sucks? because i love it but i'm not making any money. last night i had the worst night i've ever had behind the bar and went home with so little money i feel like i should spend all week huddled in a corner to avoid spending what little i have. it's an up and down life, i suppose, and i love working on karaoke nights, but it's just not enough, especially given that red hot has cut my hours back and my other new job at monkeytown isn't so lucrative either.
this is a terrible city to be broke.
new york can smell weakness and fear, loneliness and poverty. i've tried not to take for granted the lushness of my first nine months here, but now that i'm in some lean times, i feel the weight of this city pressing down and demanding so much. it's not like i'm in trouble or anything, i wouldn't want to worry my three readers, but i know there are so many of us who struggle to make ends meet here. and for what? to pay exorbitant rent? how many of us are truly living out our dreams here? i thought i was there for a while, working as an advocate in my field. but i seem to have lost my way. it's 1 pm and i'm still in my pjs. does anyone care? do i need to be anywhere? no. and that's a dangerous situation.
thank god i have a girlfriend who's watching out for me.
speaking of that, here's michelle. she's amazing.
this is a terrible city to be broke.
new york can smell weakness and fear, loneliness and poverty. i've tried not to take for granted the lushness of my first nine months here, but now that i'm in some lean times, i feel the weight of this city pressing down and demanding so much. it's not like i'm in trouble or anything, i wouldn't want to worry my three readers, but i know there are so many of us who struggle to make ends meet here. and for what? to pay exorbitant rent? how many of us are truly living out our dreams here? i thought i was there for a while, working as an advocate in my field. but i seem to have lost my way. it's 1 pm and i'm still in my pjs. does anyone care? do i need to be anywhere? no. and that's a dangerous situation.
thank god i have a girlfriend who's watching out for me.
speaking of that, here's michelle. she's amazing.
28 December 2006
the great white north
i seem to remember another blog of sorts with the same title, one of the dispatches from my trip, adjusting to the blonde, blue-eyed, scandanavian whiteness of minnesota after africa
but this time it's a different sort of whiteness, the quiet white solitude of standing in the middle of a frozen lake. frozen lakes make the most amazing sounds! frightening, like when the ice cracks and crumbles underneath your feet, and even if you're looking at a car driving across the foot-thick ice, your breath stops. mysterious, like the timpanic shudders of shifting ice plates, deep low rumbling sounds, whale-like and primordial.
it's true, i prefer the lake in summer and the calls of loons and herons, the silent majesty of the northern lights. but let me tell you, dear readers (actually only bret -- i have no illusions about my readership), i *needed* this break, badly. i didn't realize how much the city was getting to me. the late nights, the constant cycle of drunk/hungover/drunk/hungover -- and that's when i'm working! -- the noise, the people, the noise made by people, the dirt and grime and stinkiness of it all. in a few short months, brooklyn has earned a special place in my heart. but that doesn't mean i always love it, or it's always fun. i have a whole slate of new year's resolutions and they all relate to finding time for contemplation, art, self-maintenance and quiet.
and tomorrow i will be right back in it. dates and bartending and parties and bartending and a busy couple of weeks. but i will also be back, and i am ready.
did you know that 200 million people have stopped writing in their blogs? Experts say the number of bloggers in the world will plateau in 2oo7 at around 100 million. C'mon bloggers! Now there's a good resolution:
MORE BLOGGING.
but this time it's a different sort of whiteness, the quiet white solitude of standing in the middle of a frozen lake. frozen lakes make the most amazing sounds! frightening, like when the ice cracks and crumbles underneath your feet, and even if you're looking at a car driving across the foot-thick ice, your breath stops. mysterious, like the timpanic shudders of shifting ice plates, deep low rumbling sounds, whale-like and primordial.
it's true, i prefer the lake in summer and the calls of loons and herons, the silent majesty of the northern lights. but let me tell you, dear readers (actually only bret -- i have no illusions about my readership), i *needed* this break, badly. i didn't realize how much the city was getting to me. the late nights, the constant cycle of drunk/hungover/drunk/hungover -- and that's when i'm working! -- the noise, the people, the noise made by people, the dirt and grime and stinkiness of it all. in a few short months, brooklyn has earned a special place in my heart. but that doesn't mean i always love it, or it's always fun. i have a whole slate of new year's resolutions and they all relate to finding time for contemplation, art, self-maintenance and quiet.
and tomorrow i will be right back in it. dates and bartending and parties and bartending and a busy couple of weeks. but i will also be back, and i am ready.
did you know that 200 million people have stopped writing in their blogs? Experts say the number of bloggers in the world will plateau in 2oo7 at around 100 million. C'mon bloggers! Now there's a good resolution:
MORE BLOGGING.
24 December 2006
happy holidays!
back in minnesota. we're heading up to the lake tomorrow -- looking forward to the quiet solitude of the frozen north. and no internet. next entry should be just before the new year.
it's strange, i've been so busy that i haven't had time to get in the christmas spirit (santacon excluded, naturally). can you believe that jc's bday is already here? i can't. it's a weird one here, since my folks are leaving the country from january to august, or something like that. i'm hoping to meet them in spain. anyone going to be in europe in april?
i was planning on making it to five of the six xmas services, but only made it to three. still, more church than in a long time. i miss it. but now it's time for a bath instead of the late service.
merry chrismukah!
it's strange, i've been so busy that i haven't had time to get in the christmas spirit (santacon excluded, naturally). can you believe that jc's bday is already here? i can't. it's a weird one here, since my folks are leaving the country from january to august, or something like that. i'm hoping to meet them in spain. anyone going to be in europe in april?
i was planning on making it to five of the six xmas services, but only made it to three. still, more church than in a long time. i miss it. but now it's time for a bath instead of the late service.
merry chrismukah!
19 December 2006
best christmas ever?
finally i start working on this thing again and our internet goes out. awesome.
so here i am in an internet cafe. is it bad that i'm still recovering from the weekend on tuesday? i can't believe the past week.
it was a big one.
have you ever heard of santacon? it's pretty much the best thing ever. imagine a thousand santas rampaging through manhattan. "WHOSE STREETS? SANTA'S STREETS!" it's not just in new york, so check your local listings next year. and anyone who lives in new york *has* to come next year. we filled up one bar so full with santas that santas were actually crowd surfing on other santas.
here we are taking over the essex street stop:
i have much bigger news though. much bigger.
i seem to have met someone. someone who's pretty amazing. i like her. i mean i really like her. she's from minnesota, so we'll get to spend some time together over the holiday. did i mention i leave on thursday morning? well i do.
i think it might scare you all if i told you how much i like her.
we'll leave it at that for now.
time to shop!
so here i am in an internet cafe. is it bad that i'm still recovering from the weekend on tuesday? i can't believe the past week.
it was a big one.
have you ever heard of santacon? it's pretty much the best thing ever. imagine a thousand santas rampaging through manhattan. "WHOSE STREETS? SANTA'S STREETS!" it's not just in new york, so check your local listings next year. and anyone who lives in new york *has* to come next year. we filled up one bar so full with santas that santas were actually crowd surfing on other santas.
here we are taking over the essex street stop:
i have much bigger news though. much bigger.
i seem to have met someone. someone who's pretty amazing. i like her. i mean i really like her. she's from minnesota, so we'll get to spend some time together over the holiday. did i mention i leave on thursday morning? well i do.
i think it might scare you all if i told you how much i like her.
we'll leave it at that for now.
time to shop!
15 December 2006
the week in review
monday.
1.all day session working on listening station for january exhibit on media and hiv at columbia college in chicago.
2.magnetic field free show. close at 2 am.
tuesday.
1.all day at red hot.
2.up late finishing listening station booklet.
wednesday.
1.all day at red hot.
2.training at monkeytown. slammed beyond belief. close at 4 am.
thursday.
1.all day at red hot.
2.live band karaoke at magnetic field. sing springsteen's born to run in santa costume. close at 4 am.
today.
1.sleep.
2.late shift at magnetic field.
tomorrow.
1.10 am: santacon.
2.magnetic field 4th anniversary party. not working. but partying.
sunday.
1.sleep.
2.sleep.
3.holiday potluck at jessie's.
4.sleep.
goddamn i'm exhausted.
1.all day session working on listening station for january exhibit on media and hiv at columbia college in chicago.
2.magnetic field free show. close at 2 am.
tuesday.
1.all day at red hot.
2.up late finishing listening station booklet.
wednesday.
1.all day at red hot.
2.training at monkeytown. slammed beyond belief. close at 4 am.
thursday.
1.all day at red hot.
2.live band karaoke at magnetic field. sing springsteen's born to run in santa costume. close at 4 am.
today.
1.sleep.
2.late shift at magnetic field.
tomorrow.
1.10 am: santacon.
2.magnetic field 4th anniversary party. not working. but partying.
sunday.
1.sleep.
2.sleep.
3.holiday potluck at jessie's.
4.sleep.
goddamn i'm exhausted.
what time is it?
it is most certainly not time to get ill. it is 5:30 am. the bar is closed, but my god, it's hard to get to sleep straight out of work. i don't have a whole lot of time for writing these days (thus the unforgivable three month gap), so i guess i'll take it when i can. i'd forgotten how much fun it is to tell all my readers whatever i feel like.
so today (tonight? this morning? i'm so confused) i'd like to talk about thumbs.
i never knew how important the tip of my left thumb was to me. and then i cut a nice chunk of it off while making sour mix. it's not the worst ever and i don't feel the need for specific details, but using the tip of the thumb in any way is pretty much impossible at the moment. i've had to readjust everything, and since i work with my hands all day, it's been a little strange. every time i start to get frustrated, i think back to a photo exhibit i saw once in kampala, scarred and battered victims of the lord's resistance army. black and whites of people with one hand, no hands, one arm, no ears, no nose. those suspected of revealing the lra's location had their lips removed. truly gruesome and horrifying.
those pictures make it hard to complain about my little thumb.
so today (tonight? this morning? i'm so confused) i'd like to talk about thumbs.
i never knew how important the tip of my left thumb was to me. and then i cut a nice chunk of it off while making sour mix. it's not the worst ever and i don't feel the need for specific details, but using the tip of the thumb in any way is pretty much impossible at the moment. i've had to readjust everything, and since i work with my hands all day, it's been a little strange. every time i start to get frustrated, i think back to a photo exhibit i saw once in kampala, scarred and battered victims of the lord's resistance army. black and whites of people with one hand, no hands, one arm, no ears, no nose. those suspected of revealing the lra's location had their lips removed. truly gruesome and horrifying.
those pictures make it hard to complain about my little thumb.
14 December 2006
three jobs??
at the end of this year, red hot is cutting my hours back to just a day a week. not really so tragic -- things are slow these days and there's not much more than a day a week worth of work for me.
so i found a new job. i've been bartending since july and getting more and more comfortable behind the bar, so i thought i'd take a shot and applied for a job at a high volume boutique bar in williamsburg. and they hired me! i started last night and it was trial by fire -- we had a private party and were absolutely slammed. plus we make all these complicated cocktails like tamarind margaritas, grapefruit caipirinhas, lavender cilantro mojitos, etc etc etc. i managed to hold my own and the staff seemed to be impressed. didn't get home til 4:30 last night. and since i'm closing at the field tonight and friday night, it's looking like another long week. but at least i'm having fun, right?
don't know my shifts yet -- i'll let everyone know soon. in the meantime, check out monkeytown.
so i found a new job. i've been bartending since july and getting more and more comfortable behind the bar, so i thought i'd take a shot and applied for a job at a high volume boutique bar in williamsburg. and they hired me! i started last night and it was trial by fire -- we had a private party and were absolutely slammed. plus we make all these complicated cocktails like tamarind margaritas, grapefruit caipirinhas, lavender cilantro mojitos, etc etc etc. i managed to hold my own and the staff seemed to be impressed. didn't get home til 4:30 last night. and since i'm closing at the field tonight and friday night, it's looking like another long week. but at least i'm having fun, right?
don't know my shifts yet -- i'll let everyone know soon. in the meantime, check out monkeytown.
13 December 2006
and three months later....
this blog is officially back.
starting with some late night rilke, courtesy of a new friend.
starting with some late night rilke, courtesy of a new friend.
god speaks to each of us as he makes us,
then walks with us silently out of the night.
these are the words we dimly hear:
you, sent out beyond your recall,
go to the limits of your longing.
Embody me.
flare up like flame
and make big shadows I can move in.
let everything happen to you: beauty and terror.
just keep going. No feeling is final.
don't let yourself lose me.
nearby is a country they call life.
you will know it by its seriousness.
give me your hand
22 September 2006
dreams, and lost songs
blogging at work again. badbadbad.
this morning i awoke from a short post-bar sleep with the most amazing song coming from dreamland (no, that's not the bar downstairs). in my dream, i'd been weeping as i wrote the song because it was so goddamn good. immediately upon waking i grabbed my phone and recorded the lyrics that i could remember, amazed at the incredible quality of this magnificent piece of music.
and then i woke up again. bleary, exhausted and utterly disappointed that i hadn't drawn this song in waiting out of my subconscious. looking on the bright side a few hours later, at least i'm dreaming again -- i guess i've adjusted to the noise of atlantic avenue.
in this chaotic rollercoaster that is new york, it's hard to make space for creativity. every time i leave the house it feels like skydiving, the city screaming by like the whistling wind.
how do we find time in our lives for that which sustains us and drives us forward? when i was living in minnesota i went to church twice a week, almost without fail. and since moving to the city, i've been twice, and was disappointed both times.
but what of the spirit? have i lost touch with that elemental part of me? is yoga three times a week enough to satisfy the needs of the soul?
i only wish i knew some ministers i could ask....
this morning i awoke from a short post-bar sleep with the most amazing song coming from dreamland (no, that's not the bar downstairs). in my dream, i'd been weeping as i wrote the song because it was so goddamn good. immediately upon waking i grabbed my phone and recorded the lyrics that i could remember, amazed at the incredible quality of this magnificent piece of music.
and then i woke up again. bleary, exhausted and utterly disappointed that i hadn't drawn this song in waiting out of my subconscious. looking on the bright side a few hours later, at least i'm dreaming again -- i guess i've adjusted to the noise of atlantic avenue.
in this chaotic rollercoaster that is new york, it's hard to make space for creativity. every time i leave the house it feels like skydiving, the city screaming by like the whistling wind.
how do we find time in our lives for that which sustains us and drives us forward? when i was living in minnesota i went to church twice a week, almost without fail. and since moving to the city, i've been twice, and was disappointed both times.
but what of the spirit? have i lost touch with that elemental part of me? is yoga three times a week enough to satisfy the needs of the soul?
i only wish i knew some ministers i could ask....
11 September 2006
my friend the undertaker
i took a picnic out to the promenade on labor day, with my grandfather's copy of rilke:
the long stretch of benches looking out over the harbor were full with holiday revelers. an old man pulled in next to me and we struck up a conversation as i prepared my pastrami on rye. his eyes glowed with the arc of history as we talked of mayors, freeways, wars and love lost. as i gathered my things to head to work, i asked if we could exchange numbers. yeah, i got those digits.
and today we went out to lunch. i met 80 year old joe boyle at his office, the funeral home on my block. his cousin used to own the business years ago, and although he's retired, he still helps out around the place. we walked through the neighborhood, him pointing out a piece of quality iron work here, a new fountain there.
over burgers at an old diner, we exchanged stories, as he explained the art of embalming, explained that he owned 15 black suits, and told of another brooklyn, when everything was fine and the irish and the poles lived together, but then "the others" came and ruined this fair city.
guess i'll have to sit through a bit of old fashioned racism if want to be friends with the undertaker.
already the ripening barberries are red,nothing like some german existentialism to prepare one for fall.
and the old asters hardly breathe in their beds.
the man who is not rich now as summer goes
will wait and wait and never be himself.
the long stretch of benches looking out over the harbor were full with holiday revelers. an old man pulled in next to me and we struck up a conversation as i prepared my pastrami on rye. his eyes glowed with the arc of history as we talked of mayors, freeways, wars and love lost. as i gathered my things to head to work, i asked if we could exchange numbers. yeah, i got those digits.
and today we went out to lunch. i met 80 year old joe boyle at his office, the funeral home on my block. his cousin used to own the business years ago, and although he's retired, he still helps out around the place. we walked through the neighborhood, him pointing out a piece of quality iron work here, a new fountain there.
over burgers at an old diner, we exchanged stories, as he explained the art of embalming, explained that he owned 15 black suits, and told of another brooklyn, when everything was fine and the irish and the poles lived together, but then "the others" came and ruined this fair city.
guess i'll have to sit through a bit of old fashioned racism if want to be friends with the undertaker.
21 August 2006
it's life and life only
i am reveling in a few spare moments for writing.
i am in love with this sticky city. it has wrapped itself around me and it's hard to take even a single breath.
i watch the metropolitans play and read the pure aching joy and mystery of shoeless joe, wp kinsella. they made a movie from it called field of dreams, one of my all time favorites. guess what? the book is better.
baseball as a metaphor for life, or something like that.
the jackhammer started at 7 am this morning. i kinda liked it. the noise from outside has started to feel like a rapturous urban embrace. it lulls me to sleep even as it shakes my room.
late night in washington square park, a wide-eyed junkie approached me with a crack pipe.
he said
"man, don't start with this stuff. i been on it for years."
"you want some?"
no thanks, i just came to piss in the bushes.
i am in love with this sticky city. it has wrapped itself around me and it's hard to take even a single breath.
i watch the metropolitans play and read the pure aching joy and mystery of shoeless joe, wp kinsella. they made a movie from it called field of dreams, one of my all time favorites. guess what? the book is better.
baseball as a metaphor for life, or something like that.
the jackhammer started at 7 am this morning. i kinda liked it. the noise from outside has started to feel like a rapturous urban embrace. it lulls me to sleep even as it shakes my room.
late night in washington square park, a wide-eyed junkie approached me with a crack pipe.
he said
"man, don't start with this stuff. i been on it for years."
"you want some?"
no thanks, i just came to piss in the bushes.
08 August 2006
a blog in two parts
part one:
minnesota, the land of lakes. there are so many lakes. one in particular is important to me and to part one of the story, and it is pike bay.
when my parents decided to buy the cabin on pike bay, i was against it. having a lake house meant we were finally real minnesotans and that didn't sit right. when i tell people i moved to new york from minnesota, i'm quick to mention my west coast roots. the more i thought about the cabin thing though, it seemed to be a great idea. and now i am oh so glad that we have that marvelous house, with its old, worn timbers and trees. i went up there as many times as i could when i still lived in st paul -- i even managed, from the end of our dock, to catch the perseid summer meteor shower falling across a sky lit green by the northern lights.
it was such a great break, getting out of the sweltering city, and special enough to see my family, but having time with my grandparents was just incredible. they don't read my blog, but luckily they know how much i love them. it was hard to see my grandmother struggling with her failing eyes, but she's still sharp and game for about anything.
the cabin has had some significant upgrades since i left -- a new paint job that makes it look like a new house, but even more important: we have kayaks. i was out on the water as much as i could be, watching herons cross the wide open sky and listening to the calls of loons. bald eagles were an everyday sight.
i was at the cabin for my 27th birthday. the last couple of years have raised the bar for birthdays: 25, chewing qat around a bonfire in the shadow of a tanzanian volcano; 26, naked at sykes hot springs in big sur.
this one held its own. up pre-sunrise and into the kayaks with dad for the six mile round trip to cass lake (see linked map above). then a ride around the 20-mile lake loop with mom. then breakfast: blueberry walnut pancakes with bacon. now that's how to start a new year of life. of course, the sashimi nicoise on the rented pontoon for lunch and the grilled duck breast for dinner helped move the day along.
and that was, more or less, minnesota. my family seems to be doing well, although they're all exhausted by the same thing that has prevented me from writing since i got home last week, and that brings us to part two.
part two:
friends. not the sitcom, but the actual people on whom we depend. i got home just in time to have a potluck birthday dinner with my friends here and was surprised by bret, one of my best friends who lives in santa monica. he's in town for a couple weeks, which is just marvelous, especially since we've played music together for years. his presence, combined with a gaggle of california friends in town for a party, have made it so this hour that i'm spending at the computer is one of about three that i've had to myself since coming home.
but you know what? it's good to be back. the day i got home, i got a new prescription for my contacts. the world came to life. the brownstones shine brighter in the western light, the curved golden tower of the williamsburg savings bank is clearer than ever before. i've come back from minnesota with new eyes with which to see this incredible place i now call home.
yes, last week the heat index was 115. it was awful. but these tremendous temperatures have only fed the fire inside me, a fire to live a good and full life, a fire to stay dedicated to that in which i believe, and a fire to greet each day with a sun salutation and a smile.
minnesota, the land of lakes. there are so many lakes. one in particular is important to me and to part one of the story, and it is pike bay.
when my parents decided to buy the cabin on pike bay, i was against it. having a lake house meant we were finally real minnesotans and that didn't sit right. when i tell people i moved to new york from minnesota, i'm quick to mention my west coast roots. the more i thought about the cabin thing though, it seemed to be a great idea. and now i am oh so glad that we have that marvelous house, with its old, worn timbers and trees. i went up there as many times as i could when i still lived in st paul -- i even managed, from the end of our dock, to catch the perseid summer meteor shower falling across a sky lit green by the northern lights.
it was such a great break, getting out of the sweltering city, and special enough to see my family, but having time with my grandparents was just incredible. they don't read my blog, but luckily they know how much i love them. it was hard to see my grandmother struggling with her failing eyes, but she's still sharp and game for about anything.
the cabin has had some significant upgrades since i left -- a new paint job that makes it look like a new house, but even more important: we have kayaks. i was out on the water as much as i could be, watching herons cross the wide open sky and listening to the calls of loons. bald eagles were an everyday sight.
i was at the cabin for my 27th birthday. the last couple of years have raised the bar for birthdays: 25, chewing qat around a bonfire in the shadow of a tanzanian volcano; 26, naked at sykes hot springs in big sur.
this one held its own. up pre-sunrise and into the kayaks with dad for the six mile round trip to cass lake (see linked map above). then a ride around the 20-mile lake loop with mom. then breakfast: blueberry walnut pancakes with bacon. now that's how to start a new year of life. of course, the sashimi nicoise on the rented pontoon for lunch and the grilled duck breast for dinner helped move the day along.
and that was, more or less, minnesota. my family seems to be doing well, although they're all exhausted by the same thing that has prevented me from writing since i got home last week, and that brings us to part two.
part two:
friends. not the sitcom, but the actual people on whom we depend. i got home just in time to have a potluck birthday dinner with my friends here and was surprised by bret, one of my best friends who lives in santa monica. he's in town for a couple weeks, which is just marvelous, especially since we've played music together for years. his presence, combined with a gaggle of california friends in town for a party, have made it so this hour that i'm spending at the computer is one of about three that i've had to myself since coming home.
but you know what? it's good to be back. the day i got home, i got a new prescription for my contacts. the world came to life. the brownstones shine brighter in the western light, the curved golden tower of the williamsburg savings bank is clearer than ever before. i've come back from minnesota with new eyes with which to see this incredible place i now call home.
yes, last week the heat index was 115. it was awful. but these tremendous temperatures have only fed the fire inside me, a fire to live a good and full life, a fire to stay dedicated to that in which i believe, and a fire to greet each day with a sun salutation and a smile.
22 July 2006
green-ness in the middle west
when i left this city, it was march; cold, gray, spirit-crushing march. and oh, how i was ready to go, broken hearts notwithstanding. it was time, after a year and a half of living at home with my family, through two minnesota winters, one brutal and harsh, one less so, dampened by the soft pedal that is love. still, the long cold took its toll on me, and when life exploded in new york springtime bliss, it was a great relief.
now the sunlight is soft and reaches the ground mottled and stirred by the rich leaves. i am surrounded by my family again, although tonight there's even more family than before. my grandparents are asleep next door, in minnesota for what may prove to be their final visit. it was my birthday present to myself to come and see them here, and it was especially exciting because i decided not to tell them. seeing my grandmother's jaw drop and tears begin to flow at the airport was so wonderful. my aunt and uncle are asleep across the hall, my folks are in the basement and my sister is still up doing the i.m. thing. i don't have much left in me today after a day of badminton and wrestling my cousins on the trambopoline, so i'll be joining my family in a long, quiet night of sleep.
goddamn it's quiet here!
now the sunlight is soft and reaches the ground mottled and stirred by the rich leaves. i am surrounded by my family again, although tonight there's even more family than before. my grandparents are asleep next door, in minnesota for what may prove to be their final visit. it was my birthday present to myself to come and see them here, and it was especially exciting because i decided not to tell them. seeing my grandmother's jaw drop and tears begin to flow at the airport was so wonderful. my aunt and uncle are asleep across the hall, my folks are in the basement and my sister is still up doing the i.m. thing. i don't have much left in me today after a day of badminton and wrestling my cousins on the trambopoline, so i'll be joining my family in a long, quiet night of sleep.
goddamn it's quiet here!
19 July 2006
hot hot heat
i've always wondered what it would be like to be cooked alive. after the past few days, i've got some inkling.
yesterday it closed in on triple digits with a heat index of 105. for some reason, i decided to spend the afternoon running errands for work, which damn near killed me.
DO NOT GO OUTSIDE.
that is the lesson i learned. and now i am basking in the freon glaze of my a/c and getting ready to pack.
did i forget to tell you? i am going to minnesota tomorrow!
yes to summer vacation. yes to lakes and kayaks. no to blackflies and mosquitos.
yes to family!
i have a counter now. scroll down to the very bottom of the page and you can see how many people have read my blog.
current status: zero.
yes to blogs that no one reads!
to non-existent local readers: party at my house july 29th for my birthday. potluck!
to non-existent far-off readers: sorry you're missing out.
yesterday it closed in on triple digits with a heat index of 105. for some reason, i decided to spend the afternoon running errands for work, which damn near killed me.
DO NOT GO OUTSIDE.
that is the lesson i learned. and now i am basking in the freon glaze of my a/c and getting ready to pack.
did i forget to tell you? i am going to minnesota tomorrow!
yes to summer vacation. yes to lakes and kayaks. no to blackflies and mosquitos.
yes to family!
i have a counter now. scroll down to the very bottom of the page and you can see how many people have read my blog.
current status: zero.
yes to blogs that no one reads!
to non-existent local readers: party at my house july 29th for my birthday. potluck!
to non-existent far-off readers: sorry you're missing out.
17 July 2006
lebanon
what in the hell is going on over there? it came out of nowhere, didn't it, this all-out war? it's so sad, they've finally rebuilt beirut after decades of civil war and now it's ravaged again. i'm just keeping my fingers crossed that israel doesn't bomb any further than the syrian border. it's all so jumbled -- hezbollah isn't really lebanese, they're mostly syrian, but their weapons are iranian, probably some old soviet gear too. syria might have been pressed out of front and center political power in lebanon for the assassination of hariri, but they still control the bekaa valley in southern lebanon, a region with the second most lucrative opium yield in the world next to afghanistan. so israel isn't just bombing lebanon to attack hezbollah, they're attacking syria and forcing the lebanese people to confront hezbollah, which is hard considering they're integrated into the fragile national pact lebanese government, in which governance is based on population percentages and supposedly balanced between christians and muslims.
obviously israel has to defend herself, that's not unreasonable, but the scale of their retaliation shocked me. if they continue their assault into syria, there's a good chance that iran will get involved in more than just back-end supply and start lobbing missles.
let's hope that doesn't happen. i'm going on vacation this week and a nuclear war would be such a downer.
obviously israel has to defend herself, that's not unreasonable, but the scale of their retaliation shocked me. if they continue their assault into syria, there's a good chance that iran will get involved in more than just back-end supply and start lobbing missles.
let's hope that doesn't happen. i'm going on vacation this week and a nuclear war would be such a downer.
15 July 2006
oops i did it again
i've been so damn busy that i've forgotten all about this blog thing. and to leave it on such a dark, depressing note, that's just not right. i haven't felt like that since that day, which is good.
something exciting: i've upgraded from barback to bartender and switched bars. now i work at magnetic field, the bar below my apartment. monday nights, which, so far, have not been the best of nights. but i'm taking over from a girl who was mean and a terrible bartender, so i have some rebuilding to do. hopefully once everyone in the neighborhood finds out there's a cute boy working behind the bar, they'll come in all the time. i'm considering making one monday a month a vassar night -- there are enough of us in the hood to fill the place. barbacking was a great test of physical endurance, but i'm glad i've upgraded. and the commute is a whole lot better. now i just have to watch myself -- free drinks at the bar below my apartment is a dangerous game.
so much has happened since my last entry that i can't even keep track.
i spent all day at the met, communing with the tiffany windows. when i walked out onto the pavillion, i realized that i hadn't seen any of the banner exhibits. damn that's a big museum.
then 24 hours later i joined MoMA and saw the dada exhibit and now i can go to MoMA whenever i want. new york readers, you're welcome to join me.
july 4th i had a huge barbeque on my patio and it was SO much fun. jessie came with a load of friends and there were two things that made the party stand out -- one, there was almost noone from vassar, and two, all the folks from the bar and the tattoo parlor downstairs came to hang out. they're all excellent people and it was such a validation of this being my new home, this brooklyn, this atlantic avenue, this block between henry and hicks. no stalkers, please.
last weekend my friend elizabeth invited us up to her parents' house in the hudson valley for the best party ever. there was a whole roast pig (too bad president bush wasn't there, i hear he loves it). i made drinks for everyone. we played badminton. we played croquet. we played ping pong. we had an epic four square tournament. we swam in the pool, we got naked in the hot tub. the quakers danced. i got to see friends who i love SO MUCH. who could ask for anything more?
today i am headed back to coney island for the siren music festival after a bbq in prospect park. as long as i can beat the cold that has gripped me the past few days, it will be lots of fun!
IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR LOCAL READERS: PLEASE COME TO MAGNETIC FIELD ON MONDAY NIGHTS!
IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR LOCAL READERS: I AM HAVING A BIRTHDAY PARTY ON JULY 29TH. YOU SHOULD COME.
life at the field:
something exciting: i've upgraded from barback to bartender and switched bars. now i work at magnetic field, the bar below my apartment. monday nights, which, so far, have not been the best of nights. but i'm taking over from a girl who was mean and a terrible bartender, so i have some rebuilding to do. hopefully once everyone in the neighborhood finds out there's a cute boy working behind the bar, they'll come in all the time. i'm considering making one monday a month a vassar night -- there are enough of us in the hood to fill the place. barbacking was a great test of physical endurance, but i'm glad i've upgraded. and the commute is a whole lot better. now i just have to watch myself -- free drinks at the bar below my apartment is a dangerous game.
so much has happened since my last entry that i can't even keep track.
i spent all day at the met, communing with the tiffany windows. when i walked out onto the pavillion, i realized that i hadn't seen any of the banner exhibits. damn that's a big museum.
then 24 hours later i joined MoMA and saw the dada exhibit and now i can go to MoMA whenever i want. new york readers, you're welcome to join me.
july 4th i had a huge barbeque on my patio and it was SO much fun. jessie came with a load of friends and there were two things that made the party stand out -- one, there was almost noone from vassar, and two, all the folks from the bar and the tattoo parlor downstairs came to hang out. they're all excellent people and it was such a validation of this being my new home, this brooklyn, this atlantic avenue, this block between henry and hicks. no stalkers, please.
last weekend my friend elizabeth invited us up to her parents' house in the hudson valley for the best party ever. there was a whole roast pig (too bad president bush wasn't there, i hear he loves it). i made drinks for everyone. we played badminton. we played croquet. we played ping pong. we had an epic four square tournament. we swam in the pool, we got naked in the hot tub. the quakers danced. i got to see friends who i love SO MUCH. who could ask for anything more?
today i am headed back to coney island for the siren music festival after a bbq in prospect park. as long as i can beat the cold that has gripped me the past few days, it will be lots of fun!
IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR LOCAL READERS: PLEASE COME TO MAGNETIC FIELD ON MONDAY NIGHTS!
IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR LOCAL READERS: I AM HAVING A BIRTHDAY PARTY ON JULY 29TH. YOU SHOULD COME.
life at the field:
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