Silly Games

In college we did this silly little quasi-game called "HOT/NOT". Allow me to provide an example of this simplistic form of homo sapien entertainment. It goes something like this, HOT: Staying up 'til 3am and finishing the keg... NOT: A 7:30am biology exam the next morning (this, of course, is the college version of the hot/not game). Once we graduated college it became a useful tool for chronologically rehashing weekend adventures in an e-mail. Thus I segway into this mornings java causing silliness (weee-hooo!)
DISCLAIMER: Using the word "hot" kind of annoys me. It's the kind of word someone uses when they're trying to sound hip, when really it's a weather condition. Alas, it spoils the flow to use another word...so i succomb to the hotness...

HOT: Waking up at 7am and not hitting the snooze button
NOT: Waking up at 7am

HOT: 20oz of piping hot java
NOT: The amount of times you have to use the bathroom after drinking 2ooz of java

HOT: New Hiking Boots
NOT: Breakin 'em in while doing laundry (and thus assuming the role of crazy neighbor that wears hiking boots to do laundry)

HOT: Fourth of July Weekend including friends and bike riding
NOT: Nothing not hot about that. Friends! Beer! Fireworks! YIP!

HOT: The end of this post (bein at work n'all...and me bein a nerd that likes work)
NOT: The post ending because the 20oz of java just kicked in

Happy Trails, and Merry Fourth of July! :o)

"good people drink good beer" ... HST

Ever since the announcement that Flying Dog had brewed a beer in honor of Hunter S. Thompson, the Gonzo Imperial Porter , I've been on the lookout for it. So far, no luck. Although, the nice fella at New England Beverage told me it was "a possibility" they would get some. They do carry Flying Dog, so there's hope.

Anyone try this beer yet? Might we be able to get it over yonder in the eastern states sometime soon? hrm. The quest continues.

awesome irony and politics in action

THIS is awesome. Excerpt:

Justice Souter's vote in the "Kelo vs. City of New London" decision allows city governments to take land from one private owner and give it to another if the government will generate greater tax revenue or other economic benefits when the land is developed by the new owner.

On Monday June 27, Logan Darrow Clements, faxed a request to Chip Meany the code enforcement officer of the Towne of Weare, New Hampshire seeking to start the application process to build a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road. This is the present location of Mr. Souter's home.

There are so many downright wacky things in the media right now. Not that it's anything new (i think i've just been paying more attention). But really...Karl Rove? Politics has always been dirty, but I'm beginning to think they should just build a a sound proof room in the White House for the Republicans. What a bunch of cry babies. I seriously think politicians would benefit from a little tai chi or something. Focus their energy on optimism rather than scathing remarks that get us where? yup, nowheresville. urgh. ah well. wishful thinking that politics will ever focus on the good of humankind and our environs, but one can dream.

A dip into a lazy Friday Afternoon...

Wandering unfocused eyes.
Minds got a mind other than mine.
Teetering thoughts, quivering fingertips
Infinity in my messenger bag
Lipstick in my medicine cabinet
Never on my lips
Simple. Careful. Loving. Spiritual.
Not following anything,
but rhythm
beating through my hands.
Drops of memory dance behind my eyelids.
A banquet of melancholy and dreams stir.


...I'm listening to Ben Lee. Very unfocused on my work today, focused on everything that isn't work today (mostly outside, being outside, thinking outside, feeling outside). Unfocus makes me melancholy, makes me think too much. It's a strange sensation. I'd rather be gleeful than overly analytical and underly poetic. Maybe someday I'll write my continuous wandering mind thoughts down (like i'm doing now). I could write a book and feel like all these hours spent "thinking" meant something to someone at some point. Wouldn't that be lovely?

I shall now readjust my compass toward the light of weekend, and noodling around with some of the stuff i couldn't focus on today.

The End.

eeeeeee

So i looked at my calender and realized I've somehow scheduled 3 consecutive weeks of Pittsburgh trips in August. Yikes. Not that it's a bad thing, but i'm tired just thinking about it. Wedding, Dentist, and Party. I could cancel the dentist, but i fear finding a new haven dentist just yet. I have mild Teeth Phobia. Ever since i knocked part of my front tooth out (when i was 12), I shudder to think of anyone but my dentist touching it. I've had it resurfaced a couple times, and he does such a fantastic job, even drills little grooves into it so it exactly matches my other front tooth. I can't imagine getting that anywhere else. Plus, the hygenists are great too. But i digress... three trips home. wow. Sometimes I still feel like i live in 2 towns. Or like i'm a travel writer merely learning the ins and outs of these environs for a book or magazine. Interesting. For now, back to my coffee (no, my mild teeth phobia does not include anything like worrying about stains from coffee...bring em on! (well, maybe bring on the crest too, when i'm done)).

whirlwind nyc

New York again. Yup, that was the weekend. All in the name of good jazz. Friday night was spent at Carnegie Hall listening to the sounds of the Wayne Shorter Quartet and Dave Holland Quintet. Now, other than taste wise (i like, or i don't like)...i'm not well schooled in the art of music. I have no clue about composition or the "texture" of music. This isn't a necessary thing, though it seems it would help me better explain something like friday night if I could wittle it into it's "textures", etc. Regardless, it was fantastic....I could tell it was one of those occasions where I liked it AND it was musically awe-inspiring. Several hours of fantastic. Both musicians had at some point in their long and distinguished careers played alongside Miles Davis.
The remainder of the weekend was filled with food (Brooklyn Diner near Midtown, Cafe Orlin in the East Village, and Brick in Astoria...we were spoiled this weekend....i give Cafe Orlin the prize for best cuisine). There were also (in no particular order)... a few hours of frisbee in Central Park, darts at "The Rover" (an Irish Pub), salsa dancing at a house-warming party, too many hours at the Beer Garden in Astoria, and the final ride home to good 'ol New Haven. This week the bike will come back out to play. I believe it misses me as much as i missed it this weekend.

hot hot hot

So i ate ice cream for dinner last night, and it was wonderful. It was just too hot to cook yesterday (no AC in the apartment), so I busted out some roasted red pepper hummus and garlic and parmesan pita chips for a snack (YUM!), then ran out the door for a bike ride to the top of East Rock (all the way up the hill in 3 and 4!). Last stop on the bike ride was Ashley's Ice Cream for a ginormous waffle cone filled with white russian ice cream. They shoulda just called it coffee, cuz that's what it tasted like. Either way, it way DEE-LICIOUS. A good day. Some leg-burn, and some ice cream. Can't beat that.

sunset on the rock

Three days of 11 hours of work, and i still forced my sleepy body onto my 2-wheeled people mover (aka bicycle) for a 20 minute ride to east rock park for a beautiful sunset last night. Then, after dropping Jake's jeep at the auto shop, and folding laundry, had an 11pm dinner of leftover Chinese that tasted like magic. Then I slept so soundly and softly, like a Buddhist deep in meditation. A cleansing sleep. Those sleeps are the ultimate sustenance.

if you've got jelly, we can jam

...a line from "crazy, crazy, crazy" by David Gans.
I have my trusty earphones piping some "Guilty Pleasures" into my ears as I type. Guilty Pleasures being the lineup of Rob Barraco, Barry Sless, David Gans, Adam Perry, and Klyph Black that just played 4 shows in Cali (adam perry being the reason I know of these guys, a former pittsburghian and now san franciscan...) I have mellow motivational vibes flowing through me, and I'm damn certain the music is the reason. nice.

Coffee notation: this mornings caffeination brought to you by a Carribean blend called Nutty Coco- Lua. all i can say is weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, and YUM.

ACHEW!

That's me, one giant sneeze. Or so i've been for the past few days. Yes, I spent the beautiful weekend in a hazy dayquil-nyquil stupor. I still have this hacking cough that won't go away. But, my trusty co-worker has provided me with a days supply of cough drops...and I've supplied myseld with an aresonal of feel good food and drink items (okay, so coffee doesn't fit the bill on that one...but i have it. It was necessary for the 5am wake-up this morning and subsequent release from my morning zombification). So that's me today. On a sidenote: medical marijuana banned? geez.

JUNE 1ST

WOOP! And the weather actually matches the month atop my calender for once! YES! Even a weekend without rain (for the most part)!! After the New Jersey wedding (the most elaborate and elegant wedding I've ever attended), it was onward to the trails. Sunday and Monday were dedicated to the sole purpose of making my body ache with exhaustion by Tuesday morning. It almost got to that point. Sunday was actually a pretty mellow ride. A no-hill more scenic ride at Bluff Point, where trails continuously opened up onto the coastline. Three hours passed by in what seemed like minutes. mmm. I did a couple nice rollovers on bigger rocks, and climbed up some slick rock that I thought I wouldn't make. Bonus on both counts. Monday was to be the leg-burner. About three hours of riding, with a lot of rock and roots and more rock. My legs don't hurt anymore so i'm convinced I wasn't pushing as much as I could have, but it was definately a nice long ride. More to come this weekend!