Presidents' Day Wiikend

This weekend was an action-packed, fun-filled extravaganza. FB worked late Friday night pimpin' for Mos Def at her job. She came home at the end of the night and we relaxed on the couch. The next day we took the train down to Philly to go to a lovely party celebrating the birth of our dear friend Gil. The dinner was at a meat-and-smoke-filled Brazilian restaurant on Castor Ave. There were about 15 of us there, although when FB and I first arrived they only had enough chairs for 10 or so. Also, because the restaurant was so smoky, they had to keep the front doors open, meaning that the entire place was like an icebox. Many of the patrons, including a few at out table, kept their coats on the entire meal. The food was pretty good, although a little too meatcentric for my taste. Waiters/Servers would scurry around the place carrying large metal skewers with freshly-cooked meat on them. Beef, pork, chicken, you name it. All roasted, toasted, and bleeding (except for the chicken, which was wrapped in bacon). It was a vegetarian’s nightmare. We all had a good time at dinner and I got to see some friends who I hadn’t visited in a while, so it was a good time.
The next day, FB and I returned to NYC, having spent a grand total of 22 hours in Philadelphia, in time for a 9:30 concert by Richard Buckner at a place called Union Hall. The venue is only a few blocks from my apartment, so it was nice to be so close to home at the end of the night. The concert was pretty good, although the room it was in was incredibly hot (full turn-around from the Brazilian place). FB and I met up with David (he of the scary clown costume) to go to the show and I think each of us was a little disappointed by the whole thing. Not only was it very warm, but Mr. Buckner was playing not on a stage, but on the same floor level on which we were standing. With tall people in front of us, it would have been hard enough to see him, but he made it worse by sitting on a stool the entire show. Needless to say, it was frustrating; especially when some poofy-haired, stupid, Lisa-Loeb-glasses-wearing, blonde annoyance stood in front of me, her big hair hitting me in the face every time she turned her head. FB left the concert a little early, and when David and I left we were kinda relieved to get out of there.
The next morning, at 7am, I woke up (on my day off mind you) and headed over to Rockefeller Center. There, nearby the Today show studio, I stood in line with about 150 compatriots all waiting for the Nintendo World Store to open. That’s right, I got up at 7 in order to stand in line and buy myself a Nintendo Wii. By the time I got moving in the morning and rode the subway from Brooklyn to 50th street, it was 8:40 am. The store opened at 9:00 and, by the time I got there, there were only about 50 people ahead of me in line. I was very happy with my decision/laziness. Had I shown up any earlier I would have just been wasting valuable sleeping time. The people in the front of the line had gotten to the store around 5 am, and they ended up getting the same damn game system that I did. At 9 o’clock, they opened the doors and let us in. We wrapped our way throughout the store, glad to be in from the cold, and slowly made our way, zig-zagging to the cash registers. It took about an hour once we were let in before I was up at the register, but I had my iPod and the excitement of knowing I was finally able to buy the Wii (they had a stack of about 200 systems near the register, so I was safe) to keep me entertained. Also, annoyingly enough, about ten people ahead of me was an all-too-unfamiliar back of someone’s head: a poofy-haired, stupid, Lisa-Loeb-glasses-wearing, blonde annoyance. Incredibly, this same person who had been at the random, small concert in Brooklyn the night before was here. Things like that don’t happen that often in NYC, at least not to me, so I was very surprised and kind of glad to see her—although not glad enough to actually acknowledge her presence. When the hour was up and the Wii (and a few games and extra controllers) in my hand, I quickly made my way back home. I spent the early part of the afternoon setting the system up and programming the remotes; this included connecting the Wii to my wireless internet…that’s right, it’s an internet-capable game system. Very cool stuff. FB was there for some of the set up and early gameplay, although she did not participate. Then she decided to go out and meet up with a friend so, sad that I would have no one to share my new toy with, I called David and he came over for many hours of Wii fun. It’s a wonderful and amazingly addictive toy. David and I played tennis, baseball, pool, and countless other games until well after 8 o’clock, not even taking a break for a cigarette or dinner. David left around 8:30 and FB and I watched Heroes and Studio 60 before going to bed.
A busy three days.

Snow, snow, and more snow...thank God for Netflix

Like most everywhere else across the northeast, midwest, and central parts of the country, it is snowing here in NYC. We haven't been hit as bad as my Ohio friends and family, but it's pretty nasty. While the total accumulation is fairly low, it has been a terrible combination of snow, sleet, and freezing rain. And the freezing rain is the worst. It's small, hard little balls of cold pain. Stinging your face, hands, genitals, whatever's exposed. I walked to the subway this morning and couldn't look up from my feet because the little frozen pellets of evil kept hitting me in the face and landing in my eyes. Apparently, much of New York approached the day in the same way (except for tough, manly, bald, mustachioed men):



I am happy that I don't have to worry about driving home, however. I also don't have to worry about shoveling my driveway or keeping the walkway to my front door clear. I feel bad for those, such as Burb, who had to struggle with their own driveways. Read his tale of woe and (eventual) triumph here. Of course, had I been him, I would have chosen a more unconventional way to clear off my driveway. It probably would have looked something like this...



Kids are cheap. You can pay off a two-year-old like this with animal crackers and juice. Plus it's just adorable to see thier little fingers try to grip the shovel. Awwww....

Perhaps the best thing about today is that there are three brand new Netflix selections for me and my honey to choose from tonight (not to mention a new episode of "Lost"). On days like this I am very happy that Netflix exists. How else could I get Queer as Folk, The Pianist, and Chef! (a BBC comedy) delivered to my door at once?

New Story for those in the Apocalyptic State of Mind

Check out Spec's Story Time for a brand new story!
Its Apocalyptic-riffic!
Enjoy!