I often say "take care" to say goodbye.

I like the phrase. It's simple, clean.

It's not "be careful." I don't like careful. It sounds too much like cautious, playing things safe. I prefer to be mindful, not careful.

But "take care." It's action. Care for people. Care for yourself, take care of yourself. Show care in what you do. And to care, you have to take care. You have to own it.

Own your caring, people. Every day.

It was a good birthday, all in all.

Did a happy hour at Cuvee wine bar in Blue Back Square. Very nice place, despite having Fox News on one TV and ESPN on the other. I chose to sit in front of the ESPN TV; I'd rather watch work than Glenn Beck! Nothing like a place with martinis, sushi with caviar in it and Angus beef burgers for $5 each, or giant $3 drafts of Peroni beer. My friend Sarah also came through, and here we are:



And catch this: The bartender asked me, "Do I know you from somewhere? I've seen you before." Now I was about to blow her off, because I get this a lot, and the person they know isn't me. I had no idea so many black dudes look like me, 'cause I never find them! But then she started giving details, and BAM! she did know me. She used to be a bartender at this sports bar in Bristol on ladies' night! And now, here we are, both enjoying the West Hartford life. Talk about coming up in the world.

Afterward the party continued with the bowling crew: Mike, Virginia and Adam. Got my typical 85 game going. Virginia still bowled a mean game despite being about 6 months pregnant. Adam brought me a copy of "Vice Versa" as a gift from him, Aaron and Trish at work. It amuses me that anyone born after 1986 would have no idea what I'm talking about if I mentioned a movie starring the kid from "The Wonder Years" and Eddie Murphy's partner in "Beverly Hills Cop." At least "Little Monsters" has the guy from "Deal Or No Deal"!

Thursday was pretty chill, too. I think the most I did was help Rosemary buy a file cabinet. Otherwise I caught up on sleep a little, watched my two hours of NBC comedies. I went back to Shish Lounge, which I expected to suck this time because it was awesome the first time, aka my Connecticut Rule. The place was empty, which meant it had to suck, right? But I ended up chatting with the bartenders and a couple of waitresses from Grants who came in. So, it didn't suck! Looking forward to going back on a Friday again when people will be there.

Friday I took Rosemary with me to Jersey for shabbat dinner at Martha and Neil's house in Highland Park. Danielle and Tanya came, too. A lovely dinner of salmon, couscous, cauliflower, spinach and garlic, challah and bottles of beaujolais, petite syrrah and reisling, and chocolate babka for dessert. Yum!

Nerdly conversation and tons of laughs were had by all. Picking up from the wedding reception, Martha and I did some dancing, though my Latin is rusty. How good was this night? Well, it did have a girlpile.



After a delicious breakfast the morning after, Rosemary and I got back to CT in time for me to head to work. More work today, and then off again Monday and Tuesday. More birthday fun, or chores? Only time will tell.

Hello out there in LJland ...

My last few days off were actually pretty fun. Didn't do much Thursday other than lay about, and then I went to a United Football League game with some guys from work. Ah, the UFL, minor-league pro football filled to the gills with washed-up ex-NFLers and guy who never made it that far. Never thought I'd get to see Michael Pittman tackled by Simeon Rice, but dammit I did when the Florida Tuskers outplayed the New York Sentinels. It was pretty damn cold out, but it was fun pregaming with some beers and hanging out. Saw a bunch of other guys from work there, so we joined up with them and cheered ironically. Didn't quite feel like going out, and I'd pretty much forgotten about going until I got the phone call, but I had a good time nonetheless. Had some very special time with Rosemary once I got home to make up for it!

Friday was odd. Just really wound up, very tense. But then I haven't been sleeping well for two weeks! Rosemary got paid, so after buffet at Bombay Olive (still like it better than Taste of India) we headed out to Torrington to see Julia at Brazen Betties. We hung out there for quite some time, and Julia tried her best to loosen me up. I even posed for this photo with a bow on my head. Rosemary picked up some new earrings and a bracelet, and I got a pretty awesome postcard. Brazen Betties, y'all - it's the truth! If you're in CT, get your ass over there, now! I'm buying all my lady Christmas presents there.

Did some more chillin' out, but I still felt antsy, so I went into the center to check out Shish Lounge. I'd found out about the place when I was looking up happy hour spots for my birthday, and noticed a place in West Hartford billing itself as a full-on lounge with bottle service and DJ like what you'd find in New York. In West Hartford, which can't even put together a decent, plain-old bar? Schyeah, right. I put on my finery and headed out the door, prepared to be woefully disappointed.

Well, they shut my mouth up. Walked in, and the place was wide-set, a dance floor in the middle, couches off the floor and booths. Everything bathed in blue light and smoke. A bar with bottles of $5 Sam Adams. And people! People dancing, drinking, laughing! And chicks! Not plain-looking Connecticut chicks, but, like, real chicks! Not bro-hammy Chets and silly Britneys in the clientele, either. And two DJs popping club mixes and mashups, like a real club! I danced with people and had an all-around good party time. I've been on a real party kick lately, and now I have a new place. Of course, it'll suck next time I go. But I can't wait to see how much.

From Wired magazine: Sporting a stainless steel mesh suit and a Tesla coil capable of producing 200,000 volts, Austin Richards ('Dr. Megavolt') puts on an electrifying performance at San Francisco's Exploratorium.



All I know is, I want one, and then I'll be ready to fight Spider-Man ...

I wish I had a button for this:

Eagles 16, Giants 7, 1:46 to go in the second quarter.

Donovan McNabb looks to this left, throws to DeSean Jackson, and boom! Fifty-four-yard touchdown pass. Half a minute later, Eli Manning is intercepted and the Eagles score again, 23 yards deep to Jeremy Maclin.

Just like that, Eagles 30, Giants 7. And ... click. Car radio's off. No more satisfaction of the Giants being felled. My friends are getting married again.

( Read more... )

The Henri David Halloween Ball was pretty awesome as usual. Tons of people, lots of drag, skin, and disco. It pretty much was the same as last year, or when I went five years ago. But it reminds me of this joke in "Anchorman": We've been coming to the same party every year, and in no way is that depressing.

The Kanye West-Taylor Swift costume was a huge hit. I wasn't too sure how it would go, since we threw it together quickly. But with the right identifiers, we made a costume that was easy to telegraph what w were across a busy room. People would see me in the shuttershades, and be like, "You're Kanye West!" and then they'd see Rosemary in the blonde wig and the Moonman, and they'd lose their minds. "Ohhhhhh no you didn't!" One guy saw us and laughed for a full two minutes.

( Camp, glitter and sluts; what's Halloween without 'em? )

I'm back in Connecticut, and boy am I tired!

Four nights in Philly. Out every night. Thursday night I spent with the mutants watching Game 2 of the World Series, and caught up with an old friend.

Friday night? Rosemary and I met dreamcowgirl and her man for dinner at Three Monkeys Diner. How fun it was to talk shit about the World Series (her man is a Yankees fan), watch the 76ers (hooray for bringing the old uniforms back), drink Yuengling and eat a prime rib cheesesteak. We then went to a Halloween party at Blue Design in the Fairmount area of the city, near Eastern State Penitentiary, debuting our Halloween costumes, immortalizing Kanye West's punkdown on Taylor Swift at the VMAs.



My friend Pete saw my costume at the party and asked, "You're Kanye West? Can I punch you?" After those shutter shades crossed up my vision, I now know why Kanye's such a jackass. And acting as Kanye all night wears on the soul! But it still was an awesome costume. Rosemary and I are always looking for cool interracial Halloween costume ideas, and she pitched the idea with a week to go! Easily the cheapest costumes we've put together, too.

Saturday my parents took Rosemary out for her birthday to dinner at Red Lobster, and my parents and I killed ourselves on Endless Shrimp. Oh, it's endless. Then it was off to the Henri David Halloween Ball, catching all the crazy costumes (photos are coming!) and watching the Phillies lose again.

Sunday we attended Danielle and Tanya's U.S. wedding reception for all the folks who couldn't make Toronto. Ate everything, drank everything, danced with everyone. Good times all around. Then got home and watched the Phils lose again, this time in utterly heartbreaking fashion.

Now I'm back here in CT, and Rosemary's still in Philly. You know what that means: cleaning! Just spent more than an hour vacuuming and mopping all the floors. Woo!

Ah, to be back in Philadelphia again.

And what do we do today, Philly? Same thing we do every weekday in Philly: Take my dad to the store, buy hoagies, then watch "The Young and the Restless." Lovely. I always must know what's going on with Victor Newman, after all.

Rosemary and I got down here yesterday afternoon in good time. After hanging with both sets of parents, we went to see Pete, Marina and baby Giancarlo. Well, we saw Marina and Gianny since Pete was knocked out on cold medicine. But Val was there too, so we all did some catching up. Rosemary still hasn't seen a ton of her old friends since moving away, but we may see some more tonight.

We had dinner at Tattooed Mom, where we lucked upon Burger Thursday. How did I not know about this, $3 burgers both meat and veggie, plus $1.50 PBR tallboys? For $6.50 you've got a great meal. These weren't little-ass skimpy burgers, either, but full patties with all the fixins and potato bread buns. And I was accosted at the table by this weird but friendly guy who thought I was somebody else.*

After dinner, it was time for Game 2. We went a few doors down to Manny Brown's, which was packed to the gills with Phillies red. The bartender wore a Phillies shirt with a logo based on the Yankees one. I kept calling the waitress Sexy Rainbow Brite because of her outfit: black Lycra one-piece ddress with plunging neckline and short skirt; knee-high striped socks; dirty blonde hair and limbs full of tattoos. We jeered A-Rod, howled when Ibanez made that sick grab, jeered that called strikeout on Howard at the end. It was great to watch a Phillies game with real Phillies fans again. There's nothing like that in Connecticut. Not enough Phillies fans, and CT doesn't have neighborhood bars.

And even better, a friend from high school came out to hang. Colleen and I used to do theater together, and we hadn't seen each other since about 1996. We caught up on our lives, she met Rosemary, ran through the old days and the old people. Just great to see her again. Hooray Facebook! She saw my status about hanging out, and came to hang out after just leaving the airport returning from a work trip to Chicago. Phils lost, but I had a great night nonetheless.

And more great nights are ahead! Tonight Rosemary and I are going out with dreamcowgirl and her man, then the Pirate Zombie Drunken Mess Costume Party with Beretta76er Pete. Saturday night is Game 4 and the Henri David ball. And Sunday is Danielle and Tanya's U.S. wedding reception at the Glen Foerd Mansion. Aw yeah, let the good times roll!


*I get this a lot, people think I look like other people they know. But I really don't look like anyone except my mom, one uncle, jazz saxophonist Kenny Garrett, sports columnist Kevin Blackistone and I could play Curtis Mayfield in a movie.

Friday night Rosemary and I went to see the Altercation Punk Comedy Tour at Snapper Magee's in Torrington. All the comics were pretty funny, but Chris Cubas and JT Habersaat were the best. Just tons of laugh-out-loud jokes mixed with a more-compete performance style. I hadn't gone to see any stand-up comedy in a long while, so it was refreshing. Especially when the jokes include Slayer references.

We met our friend Julia there, and then she introduced us to a bunch of her friends, such as a cool guy named, well, Guy. A good night of standing around in a punk bar, drinking beer and talking shit. Oh, and everyone kept asking about the ham vagina from the April Flores show. Felt like any random night in Philly that Rosemary and I used to have back when we lived in Philly.

I'm liking Torrington more and more!

P.S. Can Julia be any cuter? See for yourself:

Feeling under the weather today, so enjoy this video from Korean R&B sensation Rain, who's the best soldier-angel-you-got-served-dancer in the bizness.

Thursday was definitely among the craziest days I've had in a long while. But then, any day where you meet both a heavyweight champion boxer and a porn star, it's gotta be fun.

I spent lunch seeing Larry Holmes, who was speaking at work as the subject of “Muhammad and Larry,” a documentary for ESPN's “30 For 30” series. He spoke off the record, so I can't really write what he said, but from touring with Kool and The Gang to sparring with Muhammad Ali to why George Foreman is crazy to fighting great-white-hope Gerry Cooney, what a man.

How badass is Larry Holmes? Fought in 75 fights, won 69 of them, back when they fought 15-round fights. But he's often thought of as the most underrated heavyweight boxer ever because he followed Muhammad Ali's departure. It never pays to be The Guy Behind The Guy. Grew up in Easton, Pa., and never left it; owns a bunch of properties there and pretty much runs the town.

He never sat in his chair when he spoke, and when he got on a subject that really got him going, he'd walk around. He even unleashed his famous power jab – BAM! BAM! BAM! - that would've destroyed any of us in that room.

I then got to talk to him and get my photo. This is a rare thing at ESPN, since company policy forbids us from asking for photos/autographs when guest visit and do shows – gottta stay professional – but this wasn't him doing a show. As people pulled out their cameraphones, I whipped out the Leica and said, “If you're interested, I have a real camera!” and I took a bunch of people's photos. Just fucking awesome!

I never got to ask him if he knew Easton's other most famous person, porn girl (well, woman, since she's in her fab 40s) Lisa Ann. Maybe next time.

World Series, two years in a row. Just, wow.

And, of course, most Phillies fans are mutants. Need proof? Look at this photo of a 9-year-old boy:

Suddenly there are a bunch of ladybugs at my living room window, flying about and crawling on the glass.

Why are they doing this? At least they're pretty, though not as much when seeing them from the bottom.

But hey, Massachusetts (how 'bout that, miashell) and New Hampshire both named the ladybug their state insect. For the Philly peeps, Delaware did too. varouna, so did Tennessee. And Ohio for you, beavergirl1977.

ETA: The ladybugs have found their way into the apartment through the second bedroom's window that Rosemary works next to all day. Calling the rental office now to see about caulking gaps and looking up insecticides ...

Thanks, J-Roll!*

What a game last night. By the eighth inning, it definitely looked lost. The Dodgers were cruising along, Manny Ramirez was hitting well despite the constant YOU LOVE STEROIDS chants, Blake finally hit, Blanton and the bullpen were having trouble. Manny even played defense! Got that sinking feeling in my stomach, but it sunk down into one last thought: Still got a chance; they're called the Fightins for a reason.

Brad Lidge? Regular season's troubles don't matter to him now. He was sent out there in the ninth to hold the line, keep it a one-run game. Two strikeouts later, he did. One win, 3 saves this postseason. Looks like he found himself again.

Oh, Jonathan Broxton, with all your height, heft and fastball heat, combined with the nerves of a chicken. How else do you explain a walk to Matt Stairs? Then hitting Carlos Ruiz? Someone had to kill this gassed pitcher, so Rollins did the job, quick and dirty.

The 11-0 laugher was fun, but Monday's game was the back-breaker! Five wins to go! The Dodgers die Wednesday night!


*More photos here.

Hey, silly baseball fans: Guess you can stop talking about Ryan Howard's strikeouts?

Monday: Two-out, two-run double in the ninth.

Sunday: RBI sac fly in the ninth.

It's been fun watching the Phillies in the postseason again, and get revenge on a well-matched Rockies team. Luckily for us, they sucked at hitting with scorers in running position more than the Phils did, and the Rox closer was shakier.

Brad Lidge? Welcome back. Keep it up. Even though my heart was exploding in my chest when he came in for the last out against the Rockies' top power hitter Troy Tulowitzki, I knew this game was over. Lidge doesn't have trouble getting one out; it's usually the final two that give him trouble, so he was already set.

But a two-out, three-run rally in the ninth inning? I'm tired of roller coasters! The Dodgers are here, and the Phils whipped their asses last year, so do it again. Cut down on the theatrics and just flat-out win some games!

Shrug.

Does anyone truly care about Obama winning the Nobel peace prize? Really? Does it matter to you, indignant souls? Does it really matter to you and your life? I don't remember you having any spirited debates about the Nobel selections last year.

I also think, Nobel haters, it's horrifyingly dense to think the following:

1. That "nothing's been done but speeches" when the main tool of diplomacy is talking.

2. That the shift in tone from the head of the world's most powerful country doesn't have any impact on world relations.

3. That any good bricklayer doesn't need to cut stones and mix cement first.

4. That blaming the award winner is better than blaming the committee who made the pick.

5. That eight months is enough time to solve complex world problems, or that solving complex world problems is the only measure of success when handing out a Nobel peace prize. If you think that, you need a history lesson.

There's a lot more I could say about this, but I'm simply too tired to bother right now. So I'll let Rachel Maddow speak, since she sums up what I've been thinking the past few days:



For now, I'll end with this this, since Dave Chappelle is still in hiding: It's just like a black guy to catch hell for winning something!

I'll have more to say about race and the Obama discourse later on, 'cause there's a lot going on there that I've heard way too many times when it's a brown face. And the blame is owned by a lot of folks, not just the Republicans.

The housewarming party went pretty well! We got everything together in time.

After 3, soon our living room was full of people. It was odd but very fun seeing so many people in here! Bryan from work came, then Mike and Virginia (and little Charlie under construction, they showed us the ultrasound photos), then my co-worker Mario with his wife Jeanette and 2-year-old boy Fernando (who was a story of constant containment as he ran and touched everything, but man he's cute), and Tish. Trish and Adam from work came by later and brought a bag of Blow Pops with a Dora the Explorer balloon.

We made entirely too much food, which is the point of parties and all the leftovers you get to eat for a week: a slow cooker full of veggie chili, another slow cooker full of meatballs and sauce, seven-layer dip, baked garlic-parmesan chicken wings, chips and pretzels, and two birthday cakes. Didn't even cook the potstickers or order the pizzas we planned. And Mario brought artichoke dip, too. Rosemary's meatballs were a big hit. I was trying out a new chili recipe, and it was spicy without being hot.

It wasn't a big drinking party, but I still got to try out some concoctions. First up was the beer cocktails. Opting for simplicity and budget, I went with the Black Velvet (stout and champange), the Shandy (pale ale and lemonade) and The Cure (lager and ginger ale).

But the best by far was making the Bailey Shakes. In my senior year of college I used to hang out a lot with a a cool-ass grad student RA in my dorm, playing video games and hanging with his other grad school friends playing bid whist and talking shit, and we even made a band for a talent show (him on bass, me on guitar). And he taught me the Bailey Shake: vanilla ice cream, Irish creme, rum and cinnamon. Classic summer drink that I hadn't thought much of until Rosemary and I got spiked shakes at Max Burger. They were just as good as I remmebered, and then I added a splash of chocolate milk to kick it up a notch. Mmmmm.

It was nice being able to let off steam and open my home to people. To show off the wacky coffee table books, watch ECW wrestling with Tish, make fun of Connecticut, watch baseball and talk salsa concerts. I didn't grow up with a lot of guests; my parents are social but don't keep many friends, and keep their home as their own private space away from the world. Overall I am the same way, but I do like entertaining and it's easier when not living alone. We didn't get to break out the party games, so perhaps we'll have a game night now and then.

Once everyone went home, Rosemary and I finished a bottle of champagne using the beautiful crystal champagne flutes that Rosemary's aunt got us, loading the dishwasher and remarking on how bad SNL was. Some things change, some things don't.

I'm glad the party was a success. Wasn't so sure how many people would make it, especially since all our Philly friends were too far away to come, and college football Saturdays are so busy for work people unless they're not working. Our Torrington friends couldn't make it, either, but that's OK.

I think we'll have more parties.

The chili is finished. The booze is bought - gonna try out beer cocktails today. iTunes is loaded up with all kinds of stuff, college football will be on TV for my ESPNer friends, and then the Phillies are playing tonight.

Rosemary's making sauce for the meatballs. I'll have some garlic parmesan wings going later on. Almost done straightening up and kid-friendlying the place. People are actually coming, including some folks from the Boston area.

Then I'm a shave and a haircut away from partying down. This housewarming party is gonna be fun!

Last Friday I took Rosemary into Western Massachusetts to see Easthampton, where my friend Tish lives. Tish wasn't free that day, but we walked around town for the 2009 Easthampton Bear Fest. The town dresses up a bunch of ceramic bears and auctions them off the arts programs. Stephen Colbert would throw a fit, but for Rosemary it's cute heaven.

A bunch of photos are on Flickr, but here are some samples:



My favorite one, though, is Astronaut Bear, floating outside the appropriate Apollo Grill restaurant:


Rosemary liked Easthampton, and while we didn't make Apollo Grill this time, instead we got awesome Mexican food at La Casita Azteca. There's more of Western MA to check out: the Norman Rockwell Museum, MASS MoCA, the outlets in Lee, Northampton, Basketball Hall of Fame (this is a solo mission for me), and seeing miashell and pinksbrat.

After walking around all day in Easthampton, we then walked around all day at The Big E by a quick drive to West Springfield. the Eastern States Exposition, essentially a state fair for all of New England.

It's very state fair-y: tons of fried food, carnival rides (rather impressive set of rides - they even had the Zipper, and a German-themed funhouse called the Cookoo Haus), tons of booths selling crap, tourism/agricultural displays from each state, butter sculpture, conservative politics (guys walking around in NRA hats, a choose-life no-abortion table, Army recruiting station, etc.), and animals everywhere. Rosemary petted goats, donkeys and alpacas, and fed a camel at the petting zoo. The theme was Mardis Gras, so the parades came through with people throwing beads from the floats.

What I ate:
Footlong corn dog
Glass of chocolate milk
Sample of beer
Pad thai
Chocolate-covered bacon (amazing!!)
Fried vegetables and pickles
Milkshake

Everybody got home and promptly fell out!