Crap

I think tony has the right idea about ESP blogging. I think we need to figure out how to get that machine from Tommyknockers working so are blog posts can be written in the next room while we figure out how to get our noses to stop bleeding. I always have these ideas about blog posts while I am work but the network administrator apparently thinks that me reading or posting blogs is appropriate. Bastards. At least they haven't figured out how to block google reader. Otherwise I would be completely cut off from the blogosphere. As I was for the past 3 days. I was stuck in joliet because of my work schedule, snow, and Matador's birthday. Matador's birthday.

Matt's birthday was yesterday and I met him and friends when I got off of work. It was nearly as legendary as last year but it was fun and it's technically not over because we are back on the crazy train to night. Actually my dirty smelly procrastinating ass needs to be in the shower right now because there are at least two people on the way to my house right now.

But enough about now. Last night consisted of Me, Matador, Aborama (aka Abs), Abs' brother MC, Abs' boyfried Kentucky, and The Green Crayola, who was in disguise as Drewster for most of the night.

The night started out tame. Well it ended tame too but shhh we're not there yet. MC and Drewster each seemed a little tanked by the time I got there but who knows. We had a few drinks and play Race Poker on one of the those video game doohickeys you see on top the the bar sometimes. Way more fun than it looks. Especially when MC would only pick his cards based on suit even when it meant passing up pairs, three of a kind and straights. He redeemed himself the second game. The amazingly cute bartender wrapped in an amazingly cute package named Holly kept us well lubricated. We played some trivia. Also way fun especially because the matador decided that moderate to severe intoxication makes him the smartest person in the bar. My favorite trivia question of the night was this:

What was the real name of Baby in the movie Dirty Dancing?

A. Irene

B. Whore

C. Frances

D. Angie

I picked C because you always pick C when you don't know the answer, but B was way tempting.

And there were pictures. Because after last year's pictures, there has to be follow up.

Pooping

I don't delight in writing about evacuating my bowels the way some bloggers do but this the first time I have been able to sit down for more than 3 minutes today and for that I am thankful. An thank you to blog writer who allows me to post from my phone.

I love the I phone.

The best I could

A Meal To Die For

I am going to have to plan a trip to Phoenix just for this. Who's in?

Read this

Read this.

Bring Kleenex.

Wow!

So I write reviews here occasionally. Mostly movies, occasionally restaurants. I want to do this more often. It is hard to write a review with out spoilers but I try and sometimes I wonder if I do a god job. Well, this man knows how to write a review.

Seriously. And I know imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, but at some point it just becomes copying. So instead I will say ARRRRGGGGHHH!!!!

LOST

(seriously I need to stop accidently posting these things before I'm done)

Where was I? ARRRRRGGGGHH!

LOST.

I think I finally figured out LOST. LOST is like a prize fighter. A good prize fighter. You think you're a prize fighter. You may even think you are a championship prize fighter. But you're not. It's LOST. And you are just lost.

The first time you meet him in the ring he knocks you around. Dance, dance, punch. Dance, dance, dance, punch. Dance, dance, dance, dance, why are we still dancing. Wham! Punch. And then the punches keep flying. You're reeling, what's going on, did that just really happen. You're stunned, hurting, confused.

But you make it to round two. And you're getting better. Your not getting hit as much. Maybe even seeing some of the punches coming.

You make to round 3.

You make it through round 4. Barely. It was rough. You really got knocked around. Didn't see that one coming. But you made it. and you learned something. You saw something. A pattern. Left jab, left jab, right cross. Left jab, left jab, right cross. He missed you with that one.

Round 5 starts. He seems stronger rejuvenated. He starts a little different, but then you see it. Left jab, left jab, right cross. You smile, you're ready. Here it comes. Left jab, left jab, right jab! Wham!! Right between the eyes. Never saw it coming. You're down. You're stunned. What just happened. You stumble to your feet. It's over.

That's LOST.


Holy crap!!!!!!! Did you see Episode 3, really should be episode 2 why can't they give the 2 hour episode only one name.

But seriously did you see it? Who saw that coming. Not me. Maybe should have, but how?

Now no real spoiler here, just food for thought?

Has Daniel Faraday time traveled before, or does he just not age?

Twenty minutes

Is all you get because it is 1:15am and although I am supposed to get up for work in about 4 hours I am barely tired. So if I am going to be up then maybe I should do something productive instead of sitting on my cough surfing the internet like I'm on vacation.


Went and saw Inkheart today. Good movie. Not great though. It is worth renting and watching on a day where you want to pleasantly whittle away a couple of hours. I liked the ending better than monkey. But then again she actually finished the book and read the next two in the trilogy. So she was upset by the changed ending. It apparently negates the possibility of a sequel. According to her anyway. She doesn't know Hollywood very well. There is always the possibility of a sequel. Look at Alien Resurrection for heaven's sake. The killed Ripley off and still found a way to bring her back for a fourth one. That movies is one of my guilty pleasures actually, I really kind of liked it. It's the third one I thought was crap.

Monkey is yet again not handing in her homework. Short of setting her on fire I really don't know what to do about her. She seems intent on deliberately sabotaging herself. I think it is because she is so scared about going to college and not knowing what she wants to do with her life, that she thinks that if she does poorly in school it will limit her choices and then she won't have to make one.

My plans to buy a condo this year may be crushed for more than one reason but am still going to move forward and plan like it will happened so I am prepared if it does.

I must be getting tired because I am only 12 minutes in and I have nothing to say.

So I will say goodbye.

Why do people insist on texting me

Written while in Vegas, just saw/remembered it was on my phone.

While I'm writing a post on my iPhone? I was 2/3 of the way through a medium sized post
Unfotunately This time the person was my mom and how can you not reply to your own mom. Hitting the close button instead of reply would be a crime or at least an offense worthy of several days of catholic guilt. So I hit reply and as soon as it switched from blogwriter to the text screen I knew what I had done. I had wiped my entire sleeping brother post into the ocean. Not that there is an ocean for a thousand miles, but it may as well have gone that far because it is now quite irretrievable.

I always new I was destined to be number 1

I occasionally check how many visitors I get, I average 4, and where they come from. Today I discovered something quite pleasing. I am #1.

On Google no less. Someone found me by googleing Cimmaron remake 2010. And they found this page. And not only did that search link to me. I was, as stated, #1. Even above the Wikipedia page List of Metro-Goldwyn-Meyer films.

I know this means nothing on the grand scale but it makes me happy.

Bullshitting

I keep bullshitting around on the internet not accomplishing anything. Although I did learn a few things.
Obama loves the woman in the crowd.
There really is something for everyone on the iPhone.
Star Wars was way bigger than Cabbage patch kids or Tickle Me Elmo

The rest of my day included

Me waking up to an even colder apartment than I went to bed in. My thermostat went out the other day and when I got home on Friday after not being home for 2 days my apartment was 60 degrees. Or at least that is what the thermostat said. I think the living room was a good 10 degrees colder than that. The heat would kick on if you turned the thermostat up but then would only be on for a few minutes and would turn off again and would not turn back on even though the temperature in the apartment was way lower that the set temperature on the thermostat. So as soon as the heater would turn off I would turn the thermostat all the way down and then all the way back up again and I would get heat. And even though having a snowball fight INSIDE your apartment would be pretty cool, the best thing about a snowball fight, other than winning of course, is that you get to go back inside to warm up afterwards. And if you are already inside then you are just fucked.

Luckily I have a very responsive landlord and he showed up about an hour or so after I called him. And had a new thermostat in a couple of hours after that, so I am actually typing this without seeing my breath.

I was planning to go see a movie with Monkey so well could get out of this freezing hole that was beginning to resemble the fortress of solitude. Did you know that The Spirit is not showing in the Chicago land area anymore? Has it really been out that long. It seems like a way better movie that some of the other crap out there. Speaking of other crap our back up plan was The Curious Case of Benjamen Button. Now although the premise seems cool, the critics panned it and in rewatching the trailer the potential for suckiness looming over this picture like a dark cloud becomes evident. And is it over 2 1/2 hours long. I don't mind a long movie as long as it doesn't seem like a long movie. I just don't see this movie moving at a breakneck pace. Give me the Dark Knight anyday.

As it turns out I was spared finding out if this movie sucks. By my parents. Who called me yesterday to see if Monkey and I wanted to go to dinner with them at some restaurant they saw on Check Please!, which is a show where they invite a few local people on and each on picks a restaurant and then they all go at seperate times and then review it. I like the show so I was all up for but they wanted to go at 5pm. So I suggested 6pm to which there was hesitation but agreement and right before my dad hung up I said It's Saturday call and get reservations. Good thing too, because all they had was 5pm and 9pm. We took 5pm and that put a kybosh on the movie. Monkey and I went to a Borders Books near the restaurant and played Scrabble. We each won 1 game.

It turns out it 5pm was perfect because after that it was a mad house. Turns out that the episode of Check Please! was filmed quite a while ago and it was unusual because one of the invited locals was then Senator Barack Obama, and every one and there mother wanted to go to the restaurant that the President has been to. If I would have not gone on the day after the episode aired. The restaurant in question is Zia's Trattoria on Northwest Highway, and the management apparently had enough sense to staff the place well because despite the fact that all the tables were filled by 5:30 or so and the bar was packed to the gills by 6, everything ran smoothly. Our order was taken promptly, bread on the table and refilled immediately, busboys were zooming everywhere and always polite and attentive. My guess is they brought in more people than they would have on a regular weekend night.

The food was decent. I had the fillet mingon stuffed with three cheeses, served with Asparagus and mashed potatoes. Mom had pork roast wrapped in pancetta, which gave it a marvelous taste. It was slightly over cooked but certainly not too dry that you would even complain about it especially with that flavor. Pops had the Lamb shank that came with a bone big enough to kill someone with. I unfortunately did not get to taste, but the reports from the rest of the table were all positive. Monkey had the butternut squash appetizer for her dinner. Why I don't know exactly but she seemed happy with her choice and the taste I had was quite pleasing but I dont know if I would want a whole plate of it, though. Mainly because to me it is not a meal without meat.

The desserts were good. I had Tiramisu which is what I always have when I eat Italian. Was it the best I have ever had? No. Would I order it there again? Absolutely. Monkey had the Creme Brulee which was worth ordering for the fresh fruit on top alone. Mom had somesort of apple pie thing, didn't really pay attention. And right now I can't remember what Pops had.

The bill for 4 people? $135. We didn't drink any alcohol but I still think that was a pretty decent price for what we received. I've spent $45-$50 on just monkey and me for mediocre meals. $65 for a good meal is pretty good.

Would I go 12 miles from home to eat there again? Eh, probably not. Would I go if someone else really wanted to go? Sure. I would definitely recommend it if someone was looking for something up in that area or was looking for a cute date spot.

Unfortunately no pictures. I need to remember to actually use the camera I make sure I bring with.

It smells like toast

Written yesterday

Last night I went drinking in Joliet. I hate Joliet. I don't know why exactly I just do. I have some really good friends that live there. I work there. I just hate the place. I think it is because no matter how happy the people around me are, it just seems like such a dismal place. The kind of place that you would think everybody would want to get out of but very few actually do. They grew up there, they live there, they have no problem dying there.

I grew up in Chicago. To me that is what a city is. But what it is is a big city. I grew up believing that all cities were big. Anything smaller was a town. Or a suburb. I always felt that anything less than a million people wasn't a city. One of the times I said this out loud and someone smarter and wiser than me said that that means there are only eight cities in the U.S. I replied that there are more than that. Turns out there are nine. Nine cities with more than a million people. Maybe bigger isn't always better. I have been to Honolulu. I like it. It has a downtown. A small one but there are enough tall buildings there to make me happy. And there are nice restaurants. I mean NICE restaurants. Not oh, that restaurant was nice. But get dressed up fancy, have people call you sir, sigh or even moan every time you take a bite because you can't believe it tastes so good nice. It is close the beach. It is practically surrounded by beach. They bars, big open places with people you would be afraid to talk to. Maybe even people you would want to talk to. It is diverse. It has culture. I could live there. I could even live in the some of the communities and small towns outside of Honolulu.

Honolulu has 375,000 people. Joliet has 145,000. Almost half the population. But to me Honolulu is a city and Joliet is just a big town. I will give it credit for being somewhat diverse. White 69% African American 18% Native American 0% Asian 1% Hawaiian 0% Other/Mixed 12%
Chicago: White 42% African American 37% Native American 0% Asian 4% Hawaiian 0%
Other/Mixed 17%
I don't know how Native Americans, Asians and Hawaiians get there own categories but the Hispanics are other/mixed. Seems odd to me. I remember when filling out forms for various things, usually college registration having to check the box marked white/non-Hispanic. I wonder if they still have that box in this politically correct world. One thing that Joliet does have in common is that it is as segregated as Chicago. I grew not knowing how segregated Chicago was. We were poor enough that we mainly lived in neighborhoods that were equal parts black, Hispanic, and white. I still try to live in those neighborhoods but my taste for good food and variety of bars and restaurants have me living on the outskirts of those neighborhoods, but the encroachment of the rich white into my neighborhood have me longing to move back into Humboldt park. But of course I want to move into one of the newly built luxury condos in Humboldt park. I am against gentrification, but I want to be one of the last white people let in before they stop letting them in.

I couldn't live in joliet. I might save money if I did. The cost of living is less. I probably wouldn't go out as much. Who am I kidding? I would be dragged out just like I was last night. I wasn't so much dragged as convinced. And I kind of helped convince myself. Megs was working last night. My favorite bartender in one of my least favorite bars. She is more than a bartender, she is my friend outside the bar. I attended her wedding. I work with her best friend who is now technically her sister in law. She is one of those people that everyone would describe as good people. There is a difference I think between being a good person and being good people. I don't know why exactly, and wouldn't be able to explain it. There just is.

I was very happy to see her, and her me. She came out from behind the bar to give me a hug which made my trip worthwhile. I sat and talked with her for a while then said I better go say hi to the kids, but I'll be back to talk. She said ok. There were 4 other people in the bar other than me, matador, aborama, and special k. I figured Megs would have plenty of time to talk. So I sat with the kids. Abs almost immediately dragged me to the bar for a shot. I really don't want a shot. You don't want a shot? No, I don't. So if I said Irish Car Bombs you say no? I hung my head in shame. Don't you hate when your friends know your weaknesses. That is why your best friends are always your worst enemies. So we compromise and do Southern Bitches, which is only the greatest shot ever invented. The Irish Car Bomb being a close second. But you really should have a semi-decent buzz going before you imbibe a car bomb. And/or be prepared to ride the rails off the crazy train.

I sit back down at our table and Special K soon leaves, just as the bar is going from dead empty to crazy packed. On a Sunday. At midnight. I think how do they get busy on a Sunday. Then I remember that I am in Joliet, and that most of the bars in Joliet close at midnight on a Sunday. Except this one. Lucky us. There goes any chance of any real conversation with Megs. In addition to the dregs of Joliet, in enters Sarah and BS. BS is her name and what she spouts all day long. I've frequently say that if I lost my hands I wouldn't be able to talk. And I'm not even Italian. If BS lost the power of speech I don't think she'd be able to move her hands. Or anything else for that matter. I don't think I have ever seen her go more than five minutes without speaking. It is now 11:57 and I notice that Matador has a fair bit of his beer left to finish, and I say you better hurry you only have 3 minutes left. I know that he is getting his wisdom teeth pulled in the morning. He says I have and hour and three minutes, I only have to be NPO (nothing by mouth) for 8 hours. I say then we should get a pizza. He was just munching down a bag of chips to get some food in him prior to the fast. The four of us agree on one cheese and one sausage. They don't have just cheese. I get a No Worries from Matador and the order is placed. I get another drink and the empty stomach and the recockulously large pours are apparently getting to me because I am in old stories from the ER mode because I spend the next 15-20 minutes telling crazy stories. Then... Mmmmm the pizza smells goood. Everyone else sniffs the air apparently the scent hasn't wafted over to them. And I say...It smells like toast. I does says Sarah. The other 3 give us weird looks. No, it really smells like toast. And I am transported back to my childhood on a Saturday morning. Don't you smell it I say it smells like Saturday morning. Scrambled eggs, bacon, hash brown potatoes in my Mom's kitchen. And toast. The toast ties it all together. Because it is the last thing made and that smell means time to eat. Everything is ready, let's say grace. I get even weirder looks and I turn to look to see if the pizza is ready and Megs is standing there with a pizza in front of her on the bar with her hands on either side of the pizza. And as I walk up I see her face. It is one of the saddest faces I have ever seen. It is face that says I just broke mom's favorite vase, or I lost your favorite book, or I killed your dog in the driveway, or...

Or I burnt your pizza. She was all I'm so sorry. It is on me. And I look at this pizza and think what are you talking about. Yes, the edge of the crust is black, yes the cheese is a fairly dark brown possible a little black at the edge of one side. But it is also the I just had 3 drinks and a shot, no food in 6 hours, it's midnight pizza. And it smells like, well it smells like toast and that for some reason at that moment makes me happiest of all. I told her to charge me for it. She doesn't. And the next pizza was perfection. Minus the smell of course.

We talk some more, we drink some more, we are still there at closing. We leave. We go back to the humble abode of Abs and the Matador. To the happy greetings of the craziest and ugliest dogs I know. (one is crazy the other is ugly) And I am wide awake. Matador makes a beeline for his room. Abs and I decide to watch the first season of Lost. She barely makes it past the first 10 minutes. I make it through four episodes.

I wonder why I am tired the next day.

I want to thank you for what you did, what you did

I want to thank tony pierce for referring more hits to my site than I have generated this month so far. It would help if I had posted more than once this month. There really is a good Vegas story in my head I just hope to get it out.

I also want to thank strayfarce for recommending http://www.ifoundyourcamera.blogspot.com/ because so far that is my best bet at finding the owner of the lost camera.


While I'm at it I guess I should thank Brother for getting a kickass comped suite at the MGM for NYE in Vegas. It's a shame no one else saw that suite, but I am glad I did.

I want to thank the MGM for inviting us and installing a shower head that provides so much water pressure that it exfoliates your skin while you shower.





I want to thank the chef at the Brand Steakhouse for providing a Chicago steakhouse quality steak for me to consume. And those Au Gratin potatoes could give Carson's a run for their money.

I want to thank the very attractive girls at Diablo's Cantina for wearing lingerie and pouring drinks down my throat like pouring gasoline into a car. I was fueled up I'll tell you that.

Have you seen this woman

She was last seen drunk off her ass at the Monte Carlo Hotel trying to leave Diablo's cantina and falling down the stairs. I helped her up the stairs, took a picture with her tried to call her friends from her phone but she couldn't tell me who to call, so I sat her down in a chair, turned around to find Brother and when I turned back she was gone. And no one around had seen where she had gone. Now I would just say a brief prayer that she found her friends and call it a day, but she left me in possesion of her camera. That leads to a dilemma. What the hell do I do with this thing and how do I find her.

I know some of you what say, find her what for? Dude you have a new camera. I don't know why my conscience won't let me think like that, even though my current camera has a broken screen, chews threw batteries like cracker jacks, is one more fall from oblivion, I would still like to return it so if you have any suggestions on how to find a needle in a haystack let me know.

Is it wrong

To regret that you have a conscious? I just bet my brother $1000 that Meg Ryan was in Top Gun. The problem is that I owe him $1750. If I didn't owe hm anything I would forgive the bet. He is willing to honor this this bet but I think it is mainly because he he thinks I can't actually pay him back. So I'm torn between winning an honest bet and proving my brother wrong.

I've apparently upgraded

To a better bar because I am now getting my water back in real plastic instead of frat party beer cup plastic.

I got posts a comin'

But I gotta say right now

That Brother looked me in the eye and said "you know you've had five of those" and I said in my best gravely Al Pacino voice "I'm just gettin' warmed up"".

This Woman Is Sixty Two Years Old

I was just watching Jimmy Kimmel Live, and although I have no idea whether it was live or a repeat, Susan Lucci came out in a short strapless dress and was SMOKING!!!!! I mean you could tell she was older than she initially appeared and I'd be willing to bet she's had some work done. Either that or she has the world's greatest strapless push-up bra.

Now I've met a GILF before but she was 45, Susan Lucci is Sixty Two years old. As of today. Actually, yesterday, December 23. 1946. She is only 6 years younger than my dad. But I'd have admit that even though I am 104 going on 40, if she wasn't married and I could tolerate her silly giggle of a laugh for more than 15 minutes I would totally take a run at that.

Twice.

So now that I've provided you with the sick thought of the day I have to wrap Christmas presents.

Speaking of which, I got an early Christmas present that may actually end up being my favorite Christmas present. A Jersey. A Cubs jersey. A big Z Cubs jersey. And I am stoked. When does the season start. If I win the lotto, I am so going to spring training.

And yes I know I have to blog about the bar crawl. If I don't do it before I leave for Vegas, I promise to do it on the plane.

Bar Crawling

It is -3 degrees outside which 2 degrees warmer than it was this am. 8 degrees colder than the expected low

Cimarron

I am currently on a quest to watch all the Best Picture Oscar winners. Since 1929. There was a Best Production award in 1928 that was given to Wings and I would have watched it but it seems to be unavailable. 1929 was the first year a Best Picture award was given, and the winner was The Broadway Melody of 1929. It was good, not great but good. I felt it was a little slow and the acting a little overdone but I feel that was probably due to the fact that most of the actors had there training in the theater where everything needs to be a little more pronounced. In 1930 came All Quiet on the Western Front. A book most of us have read. I book I hope most of us liked if not loved. In trying to find out in what year the remake was made I have discovered that it is being remade again and is due out in 2009. I have strong feelings about that and will have to devote an entire other post to it. Which is good because it brings us faster to why I am here today. Cimarron.



Cimarron 1931 Academy Award Best Picture Winner

Cimarron is a western although not quite a much a shoot-em-up as we have come to expect westerns to be, but it has been given the distinction of being the first western to win Best Picture.

Cimarron depicts and follows the life of Yancey Cravat, a newspaper man from Kansas spurred west by the Oklahoma land rush, taking his wife and an unexpected stow away with him. He arrives in Oklahoma in 1889 when the streets are dirt and the law is the fastest gun, or the most ornery bastard or both. It follows Osage, Oklahoma and Yancey through forty years of change. With Osage and Oklahoma adapting far better than Yancey. It is a bit slow at times but that is to be expected from a movie from 1931, a year when people didn't expect there information at 1.5Mbs or there movies to move at 100mph. This one's worth 2 hours of your time.

And to make it even more appealing and interesting, it is based on a real person Temple Houston, son of Sam Houston, who was a lawyer in Oklahoma at the end of the 19th century. Watching the movie, especially the end, gives you the sense that at least some of this was based on someone's life. So I was pleased to find out it was.

Historical information and pictures were found at Saddlebums who give a much better review of this movie than I.



Also in research for this review I discovered that not only that Cimarron was remade in 1960 but they are currently remaking it again and it is due out in 2010. Apparently I am not the only one looking at the list of the past 80 Best Picture winners. This is a good movie, leave it alone. You may be able to put in more special effects and get it to move a little faster, but don't you think that people who may have actually remembered 1889 would do a better job than people 120 years later whose idea of history is to check the box office totals from last year.

Hollywood can you please be original. Please.

Loaded

That's all you get.

Quote of the day

"we are laying you fresh meat"

Unfortunately that came from the wendy's drive through.

Worse things could happen

Reprise

So I re-watched Casino Royale last night. And realized how cheesy stupid bond was that he fell in love so fast, and for not noticing immediately that she had stolen the money she was doing a bit of over acting or over reacting one or the other immediately after transferring the funds. But it proved to me that Quantum of Solace was definitely a better movie and a better Bond movie even though I don't think he said Bond, James Bond during the entire movie. Re-watching Casino also has reminded me that this story was supposed to be the beginning of Bond and with the way he ended Quantum I know that Bond is now Bond and the next movie should not only be kick ass but a Bond movie in the way we know and love bond. I think Daniel will make a great Bond and those of you who cant get past the hair color I say,

PHHT!

So i'm sitting in my car

And I'm thinking about what movies I should watch to get me in the mood for Vegas and Ocean's Eleven and Swingers come to mind immediately. Then I think Go. Go! Go is a great movie with some cool Vegas scenes. And then I remember Very Bad Things. Now there's a movie that exemplifies the guys weekend in Vegas. And the stupid things we do when we are scared.

So what I am looking for are suggestions on cool Vegas or Vegas related movies to watch. Please leave them in the comments.

Mmmm......

So I've been trying not to say anything outloud but I'm bored. At work. Yes at work where I am usually running in circles and pulling my hair out most of the time. The last two weeks have been better than usual but today it's a ghost town in here. Here in the ER we don't like to talk about such things. We don't say the Q word (quiet) or the S word (slow). Tempting the fates is something we just don't do. And as such I may have with only an hour left to go doomed my self to getting off late.

But silence just won't do anymore. I am dying to get out of here but of course the last patient I saw is the first person I saw all day that needed blood work. So now I wait. Hoping every thing doesn't take an hour and I can leave on time or early.

Wish me luck.

Woo Hoo!

I have internet! *does happy dance* Real live on my computer, internet.

Woo Hoo!

I of course have to run out of the house now to get my haircut but we're lucky I will post tonight about my last two nights of drinking.

DAVE

Test pics 2

Word of the day

Incursion: Entering someone else's domain.

'nuff said.

Test pics

208.4 fat ass pounds

I kind of find that hard to believe. I have been eating better/less over the past 3 days and worked out 2 days ago, but I think the real culprit behind the weight loss is dehydration from last nights drinking. Yes I'm eating better but the evil demon alcohol keeps sneaking in there. I don't think there is any reason for him to be around for at least a week not that he ever needs one.

Well that didn't go well

I apparently have to have a picassa account to upload photos from my phone. And I haven't been able to get picassa to load on my phone. And it is blocked on my computer at work although I can sign onto google reader with no problem. So with my Internet downat home it may be a while before i can post pictues unless I use Matador's computer.

215.0

Yep, 215 fat ass pounds. That is what I weigh buck ass naked. Four pounds more than I weighed a week ago and six pounds more than I weighed two weeks ago. But the exact same as I weighed 2 1/2 months ago. 215 is the heaviest I have ever been. I have hit a few times in the past and now have been hovering around it all year. Expect a lot of boring updates about this subject, but I hope to intersperse it with tales of drunken adventures to keep it interesting.

The best way to do that is with photos. I have purchased the full version of blog writer for my iPhone. So let's test it out.

Fuck this noise

Fuck excuses. Fuck low will power. Fuck sacrifice. Fuck not wanting to exercise. Fuck more excuses.

Al from BloodandThunder has apparently lost 80 pounds. (sorry no links right now, I am using a freebie blog publisher for the iPhone will upgrade soon). If he can lose 80 pounds I can get my ass off the I wanna bus and on to the I am train if not the you bet your ass super train.

I leave for vegas in 31 days and barely fit into the clothes I bought there 2 years ago. We won't even bring up Miami clothes from 4 years ago. Hell I'm having a hard time getting into the suit I wore in Miami last year.

So here is the goal, the challange to myself. 30 pounds in 30 days. Lofty goal, but as they say aim for the stars and if you miss you still end up with the moon. The closest I have ever come to this goal is 30 pounds in 6 weeks 10 years ago. I was in a more motivated place overall back then and I was already working out, but screw it. No more alcohol. No more junk food. No more fucking around.

Oops. That last part is figurative not literal. If I can get some in the next 30 days I'm taking it. It will improve my mood AND burn calories.

Wish me luck I am going to go weigh my big fat McDonald's eating ass now.

Happy Thanksgiving

Expect random nonsense. I am tired but not sleepy. Dinner was good. Brother didn't get his act together so we ended going out to eat. And in style. Ditka's restaurant downtown. Excellent food. Prix fixe thanksgiving feast if you so desired. We did. Butternut squash soup or crab bisque. They were identical in color. I have no idea how the waiter could tell them apart. We could. Next was a choice of salad. Chopped or mike's salad. Mike salad was arugula and a similar looking red lettuce, apples,walnuts, blue cheese, and a vinagerette dressing.

The main course was turkey- white and dark meat, stuffing, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes also mashed, green beans almondine, and cranberry sauce, and possbly one more thing that I am forgetting. It was all on one plate. Just like you would do at home. One big scrumpcious pile of food on your plate.

Then dessert. Choice of pumpkin cheese cake, pecan pie, or choclate lava cake. Mom went with the choclate cake. The rest of us indulged in the pumpkin cheese cake. Only brother and I finished our desserts, although it seemed to take him a week to finish his. It was amazing to say the least. I didn't try the chocolate cake because I really didn't feel that pumpkin and chocolate go together, but in retrospect I think the ice cream on the chocolate cake was pumpkin. It was an orange color that I really couldn't reconcile at the time and was too engrossed in the cheesecake to ask.

It was $40 per person which I thought was pretty resonable given the quality of the food and the exceptional service.

Speaking of good food, steak night is finally a reality. I have been trying to get brother to commit to a monthly steak night for over a year now without success. So I have opened up the circle to my friends who seem enthusiastic. Our first outing will be at the Capital Grille downtown. I have seen the one near Yorktown mall but didn't know about the one in the city. Chicago magazine recently published a list of the twenty best steakhouses in the city, so we are going to go through their list in alphabetical order.

PS- I am going to Vegas for New Year's Eve

About time

Well I finally I had an epiphany and realized that the reason I couldn't use the blogging program for my iPhone that I have had for 2 months was that I was using the wrong email address to log into my blogspot account. So I apologize to the blogwriter creators for any disparaging remarks I had for what I thought was a non functioning program. So hopefully you will see more posts from me.

Now if you will excuse me I have to go find and kill my brother. Q

Fuck Me Running

OK so no luck kids. My DVD drive is still opening and closing on a regular basis and it seems to be even faster now. I haven't timed it because if it is faster I will really be ticked the fuck off.

So any of you computer geeks who read this (yes brother, this means you) have any idea how to fix this please let me know.

I am going to shut off my computer as to not be annoyed into oblivion.

Well, now that's something

I have not written here in quite awhile for two reasons. One, I have had very little energy, and two, I have had little to write about. I was going to say very little to write about but I did go on a very interesting 4 day bender in which I received 2 hangovers, 2 phone numbers and about 6 hours of sleep in 3 days. And yes that would have been more interesting for you the hangovers and lack of energy due to lack of sleep left me less than enthusiastic about writing.

But as Tony says "just write" and "write some more"

What has prompted me to write at this moment is that my computer, specifically my DVD drive has become possessed. While reading my email my DVD drive opened and then just as quickly closed again. At first I thought it might be Norton prompting me to back up my system. But then the drawer would stay open, it did not. And Norton itself would be open. It is not. And yet, even as we speak it continues to open and close approximately every thirteen seconds. I find this both annoying and amusing at the same time. Amusing because I have always been fond of poltergeists and feel they have been given a bad rap. Annoying because it does make noise and repetitive noises tend to piss me off. And because there is no one here to witness it and I am not able to see their reactions which might amuse me enough to outweigh the annoyance factor. But alas no such luck.

I have not yet tried to remedy this situation because if I do and no one ever sees this will anyone ever believe me. Also if I cure the problem I may be deluded into believing that it was indeed poltergiests that have cause this phenomenon and not something more sinister, like dare I say a computer virus. If this indeed a computer virus I find it quite clever. Not destructive just amusing and annoying. Well if the writer of said alleged virus is reading this almost non-existent blog I say, Bravo!

Now get this damn thing out of my computer!

OK am about to manually open the DVD drive off schedule to see if it thwarts whatever mechanism has caused this anomaly.

Nope. No such luck. When I opened it, it closed again immediately and then opened and closed again about 8 seconds later adn then resumed its 13 second pattern. I am hoping that rebooting my computer will solve the problem and not launch some full fledged attack on my computer or some full fledged attack on me by my computer.

Wish me luck.

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water

This post was originally going to be a review, now it is going to be a bitch session.

Can software developers stop making upgrades, or at least stop adding shit that we don't want, and especially shit that doesn't work. I have been a fan of Mozilla Firefox and have used it exclusively for over a year. The only time i used Internet explorer was when firefox wouldn't let me watch movies on Netflix. Firefox has fixed that and I never use ie anymore. Recently Firefox upgraded and created a new interface. They also added a feature where you can save where you were and all your tabs when you close firefox. I hadn't used that feature because usually when I close my tabs I am done and have no reason to return to the exact same space. Until today. I had three tabs open including my email and figured I would return to it when I was done running. And I did. Except for the fact that when I opened Firefox everything was gone. No bookmarks, no history, not even a home page. It opened to a completely blank page and when I hit the little home icon I got firefox's homepage instead of CNN.com. I actually accepted the fact I was going to have to replace all my bookmarks, I figured heck they needed cleaning up anyway, right?

Well they're clean all right because it won't let me add any new bookmarks. When I enter a page it takes me there but next to the URL instead of an icon for that page there is an icon of a blank page and when I put my cursor over it it says This web site does not supply identity information. And when I try to drag the URL onto the taskbar or add a bookmark nothing happens.

I am a bit past pissed off right now. I am going to take a shower to try and cool off and clean this damn body of mine.

Follow up

Originally posted on April 17, 2008

Hey, it is warm in chicagoland and you know what that means. Baseball. Cubs baseball. The only baseball in town. And I am going to the game. Went on Tues. They kicked ass I drank beer. Two games in one week. And I just realized that I can probably make it to tomorrow's game also. Woo Hoo.

I don't work until 9p on Fri. No beer at the game but it is still a cubs game. And I'm going to a wedding on Sat. The wedding. It is going to be the biggest party of the year. I wish I could fit into my blue suit. It is so much cooler than my grey one. Oh well shit happens. There is going to be so much alcohol there no will notice I am wearing a suit. Actually there will be so much alcohol there that I might not be wearing a suit by the end of the night.

Camera battery is dead, and the spare is truly dead- won't take a charge :(

So no pics of today's game but the camera will be ready to go on Sat. So expect some drunk photos. Of course I won't post them to Aug the way I am going but they will still be great.

GO CUBS!

Today:

I was close, it's September and here are those pics...

More political commentary than you can shake a stick at

More of an observation than a commentary, during Sarah Palin's speech yesterday

I noticed that her daughter looked pregnant but I kept telling myself that she was just fat. Turns out I was right the first time.

Found on Accordian Guy

First impressions

My first thought when I heard that john McCain chose a barely known woman to be his Vice Presidential canidate was that he had shot himself in the foot. I thought, my God does he really think that nominating a woman will really pull in votes from women who voted for H. Clinton but who aren't completely sold on Obama. I felt that even some Republicans will be turned off by his choice.

Tonight I got to see Alaska Governor Sarah Palin give her speech at the Republican National Convention and I was actually somewhat impressed. These are the things I noticed most.

People are more likely to cheer for negative comments than they are positive ones.

Republican women ARE hotter than Democratic women.
Sarah Palin

Geraldine Ferraro

This woman is Hippie who just happens to be a Republican. She has five children: sons Track (born 1989) and Trig (born 2008), and daughters Bristol (born 1990), Willow (born 1995), and Piper (born 2001). Holy Fuck what is up with those names? You would think she was married to Bruce Willis. Women are gonna eat that shit up. She is young (44) compared to Hillary (61), is independent, and you know she wouldn't put up with her husband cheating on her. She'd bury his ass under 6ft of ice in the middle of Nowhere, Alaska.

She is a decent speaker. Not great but decent.

She seems to be a reformer and for less government spending but don't they all.

Her small town charm is going to appeal to a LOT of people. She is the exact opposite of Obama. All that polish makes him seem too slick and that turns some people off.

She may really draw a few people toward the Republican Party. I know McCain is the candidate but Dude is old. Way old and we have to think that the VP may end up running the show. McCain may die and Obama may get shot. Not that he should but you know there are people out there that want to.

She does have executive experience. The other 3 have only been in Congress which can be hard but none of them have actually ran the show.

McCain came out at the end which apparently no one expected but I was not surprised by. Everyone keeps comparing him to Regan. I will give you this, he does look robotic.

Is having nothing to say better than saying nothing?

I have a couple fun posts to get up but not the time nor the energy to post them.

I even have the answer to the question asked in the comments of my last post.

But alas I just agreed to go across the street to play scrabble. I really need to keep my living room lights off. And park around the corner.

Any way last Thursday was my mom's 70th Birthday. Today was the only day we could all make it to dinner. We went to Sullivan's downtown. OH MY GOD!!!

I have been to the one in Naperville and everyone says the one in naperville is better but although the ambiance in naperville is a little nicer and the bathrooms aren't in Cleveland and the waitress are hotter out there, tonight's Filet is definitely in contention for the best steak I have ever had. This was the kind of steak where you take a bite and you have to put down your fork and savor every second as it glides across each and every taste bud in your mouth. I definitely recommend the Gorgonzola garlic butter. It really is a thick mess and they give you to much but scrape off all but enough to thinly cover the top of your steak and you'll be in heaven. The other contenders are The Filet As Big As My Heart from Morton's and The Filet from Ruth's Chris on their hotter than the Sun plates.

Service is great at Sullivan's also friendly fast, quite enjoyable. If you get the dark skinned waitress (Sue I think) with the English accent ask where she is from. The answer is Sri Lanka. That answer is worth a beer. I expect you to pass your winnings on to me.

Last seen driving a 2004 Pontiac Grand Prix

I have finally realized that there is a direct correlation between how many times I say I am not going to drink, I am going home, and how badly the night is going to end. From now on I will either just go home without saying a word or just accept my fate and start drinking. Because this trying to avoid my doom thing apparently just ensures it.

My night started out yesterday with me drinking to 2am and and being up to 4am talking when I had to be at work at 9am. I somehow make it to work and feel less than shitty, although I was in a crappy mood when I showed up and was kind of an ass to every one for about 30 minutes.

After that I was good but my patients were so stupid that I wasn't really sure that I wasn't on candid Camera.

So I go through 11 hours of hell and then get off 30 minutes late. And then I go to dinner with the matador. Which is always a bad idea unless I have the next 2 days off.


More to come but the synopsis is......


More underage women than you can shake a stick at, really strong drinks, two fucked up tabs, two bars, two girls, two alcoholics, a redneck, a rockstar, way too many drinks, way too many stories, me beating the Matador at bags, The rockstar getting pulled over by police, me getting pulled over by police, me realizing that it is not the police officers I know but the sheriff's dept asking me if I have been drinking, and me living to laugh and tell about it.


remind me to flesh this out.