One Year Ago Today and One Long Weekend...part dos

Okay, so here we are back to this again.  Sorry, I had a major headache last night, and it was killing me.  I really wanted a change of pace, so I left my house and headed towards the nearest coffee shop.  For me, that's Starbucks...ugh.  I hate their coffee.  Oh well.  Anywhoo...where did I leave off.   Oh that's right.  Breakfast in Connecticut and Eggs Benedict.

So there we were, people were awesome in CT.  Really a lot nicer than I thought.  Eggs Benedict wasn't great, but good enough.  After our little detour, we were still making great time.  Me and CT, my sister not Connecticut, continued our drive.  We finally hit the outside Boston area, the foliage was amazing.  Remember that Family Guy episode where all the New Yorkers drove up to Bean Town to see all the trees turning different colors?  Well I felt just like those New Yorkers.  So after another 2 hours of Preston and Steve, and me and my sister making small talk we finally arrived to the city I've been waiting to see in forever.  I'll tell you the first thing I noticed, clean.  Boston is gorgeous and clean, not a trash or even a speck of trash everywhere I walked.  I parked my car in downtown Boston, right near Sam La Grassas, supposedly the best sandwich in town.  Since they were closed on a Saturday, I'll take your word for it Mr. La Grassas.

Well, it was time, I went to the first retail spot I've done my research on, a little spot not to far from BU.  The streets were quiet, and I know Steffie was saying it was early, so I took that into consideration.  However, it was still a little too quiet for my liking, I couldn't even make breakfast if I wanted to here.  Now the store front confused me a bit, the spot was on a second floor, however I didn't have an idea how to get up to the building, it look like I had to go downstairs and then climb a set of stairs up.  So already this place had two strikes, not good.  The size was nice, roughly around 1,650 or 1,700 square foot.  Price range, $34 a square foot.  Pricey for a small spot, however kept in my it is Boston, and that is doable.  Now, this store front is about 3 miles from the downtown area, not bad, not bad at all.  Next area was roughly 4.5 miles away.  This was where the mistake came in, CT said lets walk it.  In my head I knew this was a terrible idea.  However I listened to her anyway.  Yeah, biggest mistake of the day.

So anywhoo, started the trek towards my second and third shop, roughly in the same area.  Now this store was on Washington Street very close to BC.  I don't technically know if I had hit through the Cambridge area or not, however I did see a shit ton of fancy cars, and a shit ton of rich people.  Well people that I thought were rich.  Oh, and another thing...there seem to be like a mass exodus of Asians coming from each college.  Why can't Asian people hangout with other people besides Asian, all I can do is shake my head.

There I was standing face to face with a ton of Asians, and the first thought running through my head was, are these the kids I'll be catering too?  Do they eat sandwiches that I'll make?  What the fuck do Bostonians eat?  French toast, they better eat a great sandwich like a cheesesteak.  How do you not eat that?  Well this got me to thinking, next time I come to this town, bring a notepad, and start doing a survey of the surrounding area and people and see what these people like.  Oh, and Boston girls...didn't see one hipster.  Thought I see more since I was so close to a farmers market, minus one for Boston.

At this point it was roughly around 3 o'clock, I finally made it to the second store front.  Now this is what I like to see.  The foot traffic was amazing, good street traffic as well.  Places to park, and it seem like a scene out of Haddonfield, NJ.  Just more convenient parking and more foot traffic that I would imagine, the college wasn't too far down as well, this to me seem like a prime location.  I really enjoy the spot a lot.  My problem is, I just don't know how much it cost yet.  It seems like a really expensive spot, and my second problem is, it wasn't a restaurant to begin with.  Gutting the place and placing restaurant equipment is going to cost a little more than I like to admit.  Is it doable, yes of course, however I'm just going to have to pay a little more than I want.  This leaves me to call the leasing agent of the property and see how much the lease and square footage price is.  I'm assuming 30-32 dollars a square foot, however I'm praying it's less.

The last spot was not good at all, too big and too much money.  Roughly around 2 million to buy the entire building, it looked as though it was previously Froyo/Pizza place, so that was on the plus side.  However 2 million is a little too much for me, and my pockets don't run that deep yet...one day.

After all this walking and being extremely tired, I didn't have enough time to roam around downtown Boston, I told my sister that we would take a cab back and we did.  Poor CT, she was starving at this point, and I promised her La Grassa, I felt like an ass when I found out it wasn't open.  Sorry Ching Ting.  Sorry.  We ended up going to this pub called, "Hub Pub," The Friendliest Bar on Earth.  Well I like to beg to differ on that slogan, they weren't that friendly, and I guess my bartender must have lost all his friendliness, cause this guy couldn't put a smile on his face if his life depended on it.  This was a dive bar, and I got it, for what it was, it was meh...however cheap food and cheap beer, I got nothing else to complain about.  After our late lunch, me and CT decided it was time to head back.  I'll have to say this, the drive wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, Dave scared me when he said it took him an hour to drive 7 miles.  I got out of the city fairly quickly and safely.  I gave Dave a quick call and asked if he wanted to meet up for drinks and dinner.

Me, Dave, Steffie, and Ching Ting had dinner at Little Portugal.  It was my first time.  For a little family restaurant it was nice.  Nice people, and the food was enhanced by that.  I can't complain, the portion was out of this world and I had good people surrounding me.  Thanks Dave and Steffie for taking us and hanging out that night.  I told Dave and Steff my experience of Boston and how I felt, obviously CT hated the city, I was little indifferent.  I thought me wearing my Philly stuff would get me more guff, however not that much.  Dave said they really didn't care about that stuff...I guess I won't really get that experience anywhere else except for Philly.  Well the day ended well for me, I got home roughly around 11:30, and I had driven well over 600 miles.  The best part, the weekend wasn't over yet for me.

The next day, I set myself up to hit up Dave's place one more time, got to Dave's to catch the Eagles game, and have some Hooters, it was great.  I just like watching the game with Dave, he's good people, and my time spent with him really can't be replaced, you only get a few people like Dave, so when you find guys like that...well you got to make them some of the most people in your life. However, I'm beginning to think it's bad luck when me and Dave watch the game together.  This is the second time the Eagles have lost when it was just me and Dave watching the game...uh oh.

After our lost, Dave, Steffie, and I headed back to their place to play a few games of NHL.  Great game, I hate costing Dave games, I think we lost two or three...*UGH!*  When we won, we won big, when we lost, well...we lost.  The night ended with some more football, spaghetti and meatballs, and me finally falling asleep at 12:30 watching Duck Dynasty...I swear, they'll put anyone on t.v. anymore, how the hell did Anthony not get on the Real World?!!  Sad.  It has been an extremely long and arduous weekend, however one that needed to be done, I'm glad I did it, and it looks like I'm heading back up there in November with WT next time.  Should be interesting, cause the first thing Wei Tak asked me was...can we go to a strip club?  Sure Wei, sure.

Oh, and yea...it doesn't seem too weird sitting in this coffee shop, cause about a year ago, I was smoking, drinking, and typing in a coffee shop in Amsterdam.  Man, I miss it.  The more and more I think about it, the more I want to go back...I love this country.  But Amsterdam was amazing, I miss it and wish I could have that as my birthday present.  To go back to that country and stay for 2 months.  Actually I wouldn't mind having a job there.   Oh yeah.

A little blast from the past...enjoy folks.  

Grind My Gears

Ello ello white America, assassinate my character...First things first, Happy New Year everyone!  So, as you may know today is Monday, and the first order of business is this...what grinds my gears.  So lets begin the process, and lets move in to the new year!!

So this weeks topic of annoyance to me is this, being a Philadelphia sports fan for the last 25 years I guess. Besides the one glimmer of joy in our city of sports.  The 2008 World Series, not much else has gone our way.  Disappointment after disappointment, however I should appreciate that one though.  Even though I do, I guess I would really like something else, once you get the taste, you just want more.  However lets take a real look at my disappointment.

Lets start with baseball, since 08' the Phillies have been awesome contenders, but year after year we have been falling short.  Makes me sad, and this year was the cream of the crop.  After acquiring Cliff Lee and winning 102 games, getting knocked out in the first round in a 5 game series against the St. Louis Cardinals is extremely disappointing, especially when we were expected to win the entire thing.  After all pitching win games right?  Ugh...disappointment.

Next, basketball.  Yeah, the Sixers, since they've lost Iverson the first time, and losing the championship series back in the 2000-2001 season to the Lakers.  Well things have pretty much halted for the Sixers, getting back to that "Iverson," era is going to take some time, however the Sixers are capable of doing it.  However how disappointing is it going to be for us Philadelphians to watch another year of the Sixers losing.  Probably not that much since no one is watching at the moment, but for some of us that are still trying to root for them, it's a little disheartening still.

Okay, how about the Philadelphia Eagles?  They're great right?  They're so great we can make it through anything right...well nope.  After a season where we are suppose to be the "Dream Team," we go through the season 8-8, and not making the playoffs.  On top of all that, we knew last week that we weren't going to be in.  It seems like the Eagles are complacent with being mediocre.  Us as fans...we don't feel that way at all.  However we don't run the team, however change is needed.

Lastly, the Philadelphia Flyers, after today's debacle of a game, between the refs, and all the lazy game playing it's just a little disappointing is all.  I understand that it's just a regular game, and technically there isn't really much to worry about, however it's really like this to me, after all the hype of this game being setup, and after what is suppose to be a win for us, once again it's a loss.

So here it is, it's disappointing sometimes to be a Philadelphia sports fan.  I understand that that's just the way it goes, however it's disheartening.  That is all really.  So this is where I'm going with it.  Sometimes being a sports fan, you gotta go with the good and the bad.  And yes being a Philadelphian sports fan hurts at times...but I gotta believe that there are good days ahead of us.  Come on Sixer/Flyers/Phillies/Eagles...make it happen, make it a 4 sports team town.  Make us blue collar fans have a reason to continue in believing in you.  And you know what, we expect change, and not just being complacent with mediocrity.

Grind My Gears, Monday

It's that time again.  Monday, and the things that grind my gears the most, and why you should know about it.  Tonights topic.  Lazy sports athletes that think they are owed something, but in actuality they are owed nothing.  The birth of this topic all began with the Eagles game Sunday.  Pass after pass...Desean Jackson shortarming almost 65% of the passes.  What can I say it was a wreck out there.  However, all was okay, Dave came to the rescue and pointed out what I wanted to say, and thank goodness he did.  It felt like a weight had been lifted off, and some semblance of the fact that I can hate on him was upon us; but like a knight in shining armor, George came to #10's rescue and said, wait a minute, he needs to be healthy to be paid for what he is worth.

Now the debate and argument was on.  George, I'm sorry buddy.  However I gotta side with Dave.  What really grinds my gears.  Lazy sports athlete that think the world should give them everything on a silver platter.  You want that multi-million dollar contract Desean, earn it my friend.  You're a bum and a lame duck sitting out there.  Really?!  You're a professional football player, if you're as good as you believe you are then make the catches, stop playing so soft, and when the time comes, you'll earn the big money.  What is it with all these players out there thinking that they don't have to earn their keeps?  Yes it has been 4 years, and Jackson should have earned it by now, and he should be playing with a big contract by now; but guess what?  He doesn't have a big contract yet, so in my eyes, you haven't earned squat yet.

First you're going to ask me, what right do I have to say any of this.  And you know what you're right I have no right to say anything.  However, if I had the athletic prowess of one Desean Jackson, and I was getting paid to run a catch a football.  I will be trying my hardest to catch each and every single one of those balls.  Shouldn't you be grateful that you're doing something you actually love, and not crunching number, doing manual labor, working with the public, or even for the government?  Shouldn't you be happy that you make others happy and that men, women, and children adore you because you are a sports superstar?  Shouldn't you be happy that we love you or rather did love you, and you would have been Philly royalty in the heart of the city?  You could've had it all De-seen.  You could've had it all.  In a city that loves and honors the hard working man, the go getter/blue collar attitude, you don't embody any of that.  Instead you embody, the ugly, self-centered, me me me-ism, that we all hate.  Wasn't T-O like that?  No, he was just a douche.  Seriously, you want to get paid big money, earn it.  I haven't seen any of that this season at all.  You are a whiny bitch, you can't catch, and in two seconds, I'm going to start calling you  Todd Pinkston.  *Sigh*  Earn your keep you bum.

Things that grind my gears:  Overpaid wannabe superstar athletes, that shouldn't even be considered top 10 WRs.

Thanksgiving Week Re-Cap

Alright everybody, I know I know, we haven't seen or heard from me in for every.  I know everyone has missed my wonderful writing and antics.  And of course my awesome sarcasm.  So where should we begin?  It has literally been an entire week since I've last wrote something.  What can I say, it has been busy.  The holidays have been epic, seriously a lot has been taken care of and I got to cook the Thanksgiving meals.

Lets begin with Thanksgiving Eve.  Ahhh...the drinkiest drinking night of the year in the U.S.  Stupid, yes.  Needed?  Abso-fucking-lutely.  You don't know how great it was to go out drinking with old friends.  Especially old friends that are very near and dear to my heart.  What can I say, I'm an alcoholic.  So the evening starts at Stone Grill...and well yeah it basically ends there as well since technically I don't remember much else.  Haha

Thanksgiving day, ahh...different this year, dad had a wedding and it was a pretty quiet one.  All in all very nice though.  Started with a High School football game.  It's nice to see the old Alma Mater kicking butt and taking names for once.  Beating up on Triton was nice, it felt good.  However, we're getting way too old for all of this. Still, fun to watch and good times.  Ahh...after all of that the preparation for Black Friday.  I brought Blu-Rays, "Simpsons," and "Spartacus," series...epic.

Friday:  Ahh...a little old DBHing.  And no, DBH does not stand for Do Bong Hits, it stands for Dive Bar Hopping.  And it was a blasty blast.  Probably some of the greatest DBHing I have ever done...and well...I've only done it twice.  Once in Florida, and once in Jersey now.  It's a blast.  Gay bars, and bowling  alley bars.  Pretty epic if you think about it.  And the only way to end a night of that caliber?  A little "Party in the U.S.A." singing and people pointing and laughing in the next car over...definitely worth the trip there.  Another fantastic evening.

Saturday:  My Thanksgiving Day.  Cooking began with the turkey being patted down from the brine and thrown into the oven at 9:00 a.m.  This was all not fun with a massive hangover by the way.  So yes, turkey, after that was finished cooking, the ham and duck went into the oven next, and then the lasagna and sides.  It was a fantastic Thanksgiving dinner this year.  Way too much food, but all worth it.  So good, I don't really know what to do with myself really, there is still too much food in my fridge, but I'm going nuts.  Its so good.

Sunday:  Well the day was awesome, watching the games with my friends and being highly disappointed in the Eagles...nothing more can be said really.  Ended the evening with a nice relaxing time with Mr. TV.

Monday:  Woke up, and head straight to the P&S Campout for Hunger.  I think I did a good thing.  I donated my box full of food, about 50 pounds worth I think, after that I stayed and listened to P&S for a little, and began volunteering.  After the show was over, I went over to Philabundance HQ and volunteered my time there as well.  It was a great day all in all.  Wonderful even, felt like I have accomplished what I needed to do today, and I volunteered as much time as possible.  It's what this season/holiday should be about.  To be able to give back to others without thinking about anything else.  Ahh...good times.

Eagle's Sunday, and Everything in Between

Ahh...Eagles football, nothing beats it really.  Getting together with friends, watching the game on the big screen and enjoying life.  I guess that's what these lazy Sundays are for.  Vick is hurt, Eagles are not looking to jazzy, and well Dave is still screaming at the t.v., and of course I love each and every minute of it.  What can I say, football season is back, and it's a lovely thing really.

Lately my mind has been preoccupied with many things, I'm really just trying to keep myself busy and not get myself in trouble.  However, we all know I can't live like that and I have to have something going on in my life (sarcasm).  Honestly though, lets think about this.  I've finally decided, I need goals for the upcoming year.  And following in Chucky's footsteps, I think I'm going to start volunteering after work.  I just want to be able to help out more, and contribute to society.  I've been thinking, and now it's between working with animals at an animal shelter, or taking the plunge and working in a soup kitchen to help the homeless.  Both are very virtuous causes, and both would be very rewarding.  However, as much as I like serving food and helping the needy, I think I wanna be able to walk a dog, and be a foster care taker every once in a while.  So I think I've decided on the animal shelter.

A big goal I definitely want to have is meeting 5 new people, and hopefully making 3 new friends.  Yes, this goal is feasible, and yes this goal is doable.  Well to me I think it is.  I like to say that I enjoy the company of people, I like being a social butterfly and making friends.  However, I don't want to expand the circle in our group, I just want to meet nice and wholesome people.  People that I can call upon and maybe go out and get drinks with.  The way I've been seeing it, it seems like I have become a really selfish person, and I really want to help and do things for others.  Maybe working at an animal shelter will help me reach this goal.  I believe we all have to set some sort of goal, some sort of resolution, I think this will be mine.  

Lastly, I would honestly love to be able to completely learn this instrument we call the guitar.  I know there is no such thing as ever perfecting it, but I know I would love to get better at it, and to be able to play it like a pro when need be...oh and scales, I have to start learning how to do that as well.  Oh, and another thing, I wanna learn to play the uke...ukulele that is.  Yeah, that's right something different, it's only four strings...how can I fail?  Don't answer that.  

This is the year I push myself to be all that I can be, go out there and do the same everybody.  Look forward to being a better you, you deserve it.  Cause honestly, all I want to be, is a better me.  

"People try to find reasons why things aren't perfect. Fight to deny every smile they're deserving, But we can try to end this, just give me one kiss, Let me show you how, even now, things are perfect 

If you want to grow, you gotta let it go... 

You, afraid to fall. You, you know it's all...You, afraid to fall. You, you know it's all love, love"

So yeah, still bummed, still thinking, and still not drinking.  Trying to learn my lesson the first time around, glad, I can just type out my thoughts this time...it's a lot healthier, however I did drink that JW the other night, but not the whole thing, so I should be okay.  Oh and CP's turtle was planking, I thought I should add that here.  Made me smile a bit when I needed it.  Thanks little guy.