The Original Blog

Goodbye 2008.  Thanks for the giggles.  I'll be glad to see you leave.  But I must admit, you came on pretty strong there in the end and made yourself one of the most memorable years in quite some time.  I'm sure that when I look back, 2008 may well be the year where everything finally started turning around.  I've just got to keep the momentum going into 2009. A year-in-review is not needed.  A lot happened, but I won't go into it.  Suffice it to say, outside my own little world, it was one of the most turbulent years in memory.  The economy is in the garbage.  The housing market is about to crash.  There is serious unrest in the middle east.  Our nations political arena is still wobbly, even though we have a new man at the helm.  Yada yada yada. Tomorrow I quit smoking.  Tomorrow I quit drinking for a little while.  Tomorrow I try to  put myself on a path to gain some clarity and hopefully start moving in a new, positive direction.  Tomorrow is the beginning.  And so ...

"Mona Lisas And Mad Hatters" And now I know Spanish Harlem are not just pretty words to say I thought I knew But now I know that rose trees never grow in New York City Until you've seen this trash can dream come true You stand at the edge while people run you through And I thank the Lord there's people out there like you I thank the Lord there's people out there like you While Mona Lisas and Mad Hatters Sons of bankers, sons of lawyers Turn around and say good morning to the night For unless they see the sky But they can't and that is why They know not if it's dark outside or light This Broadway's got It's got a lot of songs to sing If I knew the tunes I might join in I'll go my way alone Grow my own, my own seeds shall be sown in New York City Subway's no way for a good man to go down Rich man can ride and the hobo he can drown And I thank the Lord for the people I have found I thank the Lord for the people I have found -Elton John

Ah, the nap.  The glorious nap.  Few things in this world are as special as the nap!  Sound a bit overboard, do I, friends and neighbors?  Maybe, yes.  But can anyone actually tell me that they wouldn't love to settle down for a nice nap during their day?  What a luxury to have the time to stop everything and close your eyes and sleep! I have valued naps more than most things since my high school days.  My boarding school was a tough one.  We were pushed from early morning until 11PM every night.  Sleep was a prized commodity.  So we slept at every chance we could get.  15 minutes?  No problem.  Lunch or nap?  Nap, damn it.  Bet your ass I'm going to grab some shut eye. Then came college and naps became important for different reasons.  Classes began as close to noon as possible, so getting up at the butt crack wasn't a factor.  Rather, the hang over became the enemy.  And the nap became the cure.  A two hour nap could recharge the batteries for a repeat performance.  And l...

I can't help but feel pains of nostalgia during the holiday season.  I have had some amazing Christmas holidays over the years.  I find myself thinking of my EHS days, in particular.  We would have crushing exams right before we left for break.  And my first year, we were still very much running under the old "rat" system that the school was founded on.  The day we were leaving for home, all the new boys on 2nd McGuire had to go sing Christmas carols to all the seniors on the hall, which basically meant that we had to walk into several lion's dens.  But more memorable than that was the fact that I was going home to see Alice.  We had met over Thanksgiving break, and in one short month I had fallen in love for the first time.  This was the first girl I had ever said "I love you" to.  We had an amazing break together.  I still have a picture of us together during those few weeks together and I cherish that picture like few others. Another EHS Christmas break w...

The season has been pretty mild so far.  In fact, if it wasn't for the decorations in the restaurant, I wouldn't even know we were in the midst of the season.  I guess that is both good and bad.  Good because nothing kills the mood than an obnoxious season.  Bad because this is supposed to be the busiest month of the year. Christmas in Aspen was the most dreadful experience you could ever wish on an enemy.  Locals who were fortunate enough to avoid Aspen would disappear until the new year to avoid the town.  And it was just the damn people who made it bad.  All the richies who owned the gigantic mansions on Red Mountain would descend on the town for 2 weeks and everything would go to hell.  These people are the rudest, most unpleasant people you could imagine.  Unlike the tourists who would visit during other times of the year, these awful people would look down on everyone around them.  It was truly a miserable experience.  And every local in Aspen will agree.  Granted, it was...

Is it human nature to want to rush in?  Is it in our nature to see/feel something that we really want and then want nothing more than to rush in and embrace it?  Throw caution to the wind.  Jump in head first without a moment's thought.  I wonder.  Because that's what I've always done.  I have historically jumped the gun and thrown all caution to the wind.  And, you know something friends and neighbors, it hasn't really worked out that well for me.  In fact, you could say that its been more or less 100% bad.  Hmm.  Think about that one.  The only time that pops into mind when I haven't gone rushing in and have actually formed a friendship first was Marcia.  We were very close friends for quite some time before we stepped it up a level. I don't have any problem with taking things slow.  I mean, I've been single for so long that I don't feel any pressure to jump right in.  Now that's not to say that I wouldn't jump the minute the opportunity presen...

Been wanting to write a book for quite some time now.  I've always enjoyed writing.  I've always been praised for my writing.  Its always come very easy for me.  Words are fascinating and putting them together to form thoughts and ideas has enthralled me since I was little. When I was a little boy my grandmother would read my little sister and me Dr. Seuss books.  They would make me laugh and laugh.  And she encouraged that.  She pushed my imagination.  I credit her and those early years for igniting a passion for words. The trouble, though, is that I've been waiting all these years for an idea to come.  I've been hoping my muse will deliver a wonderful story to my brain and I'll just sit down and begin to write.  Call me crazy, but I don't think that the way it happens.  I think that the process starts on a much smaller scale and evolves into something bigger and more complex. That being said, I've tried to use this blog as a chance to work on expressing my...

So I found some Christmas scenes on You Tube that I thought would post, as they are some of my all-time favorites...

The winter months at my apartment building are interesting months.  They are old apartments and the hot water can be kind of touch and go.  I learned last year that you need to sometimes give yourself about 1 hour to wait for the hot water, which kinda sucks, because that's one hour of letting the water just run down the drain.  But, that's pretty much the only way to get a hot shower.  So I'm letting the water run as I write this little blurb, in hopes of getting some hot water today.  Yesterday, I didn't time it right and was not so lucky. I'm growing to despise the other blogger about as much as a Duke fan.  The author is the most pretentious, stuck-up little snob I've come across in a long time.  I'm sure she's as bad if not worse in person than she portrays herself on her blog.  But I still read it all the time.  Can't help myself.  Used to read it because I liked it.  Now I read it because she's so ridiculous that I just have to shake my he...

I can remember getting my first couple of Grateful Dead bootlegs back when I was an early teenager.  Man, they were like treasures!  Most of them had been copied so many times that they sounded like shit.  But it was so incredible to me to have actual copies of old shows.  And I learned the whole bootleg language and how to write down set lists and everything.  And then I scored more bootlegs and more bootlegs.  I became obsessed with trying to get as many as I could. Then along came recordable CDs.  Now we could put bootlegs on CD and not have to worry about fast-forwarding and rewinding, etc.  So out went all the old cassette cases and in came all the CDs.  We'd go to shows and brag about how many Phish or Widespread shows we had.  Yada yada yada. Now there's the internet.  Everything is available with a point and a click.  You could have a zillion bootlegs if you wanted to.  Hell, you can copy shows straight to iTunes and then upload them onto your iPod.  All digital.  No wo...

My first thought about Christmas is always: "My god, is really Christmas time again!?"  It seems that each year it gets here faster and faster.  Wow! Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of year.  Of course, for youngsters, its the whole Santa Claus and toys thing.  But in high school it was incredible because I went to a boarding school and Christmas meant getting to see all my friends for almost 3 weeks.  And unlike spring break, everyone was always off, so we could all spend time together.  And the times we spent together for those 3 Christmas breaks was magical. And then came the restaurant biz and everything changed.  Rather than attend Christmas parties, I was working them.  Rather than enjoy time with friends and family, I was serving them all dinner and drinks.  Rather than go out and get crazy on New Year's Eve, I worked it and hated it.  So its very safe to say that Christmas has taken a much different direction these last 10 years. So what is Chri...

One post in November.  Stellar!  Top notch performance!  Guess its safe to say that the month of November was utterly forgettable.  And it was fast.  My god, that month went by in a literal flash.  I was commenting to a friend at the bar the other night that November basically didn't happen.  I remember Halloween... and then it was December.  Oh well.  Maybe next year we'll get a 12-month year. Also been noticeably absent because I've got this blog hooked up to my Face Book page, which I thought would be a good idea.  I'm not so sure anymore.  I enjoyed the complete anonymity of this blog.  No one ever reads it.  I can say whatever the hell I want and not worry about repercussions.  I can spill my guts, delve into personal little secrets and the like and not worry about who reads it.  But dipshit me connected the two, so now wandering eyes can venture into my blogosphere.  Damn it Beavis.  Need to do something about that. So I'm going to try to put something down ev...