in the (far too) well recorded history of blogs, there have certainly been many updates the are...unneccessary. this is one such entry.
i've been casually playing around with php, mostly out of boredom. soon most of the pages on this site (not the blog, though) will be in php instead of html. i'll probably start making the easiest stuff live tonight. i'm more than a little excited, honestly. because i'm more than a little nerdy.
continuing right along this gnarly path, i got rid of the unsightly counter at the bottom of this page for something less...asenine. google analytics. i can't say enough nice things about it. or about you, strangers and friends, who come here. thanks to google analytics i now know that by a very narrow margin, more of you use firefox than use internet explorer. i am so proud of you. i'm beaming.
my friend adam, who is doing a lot more with his life than i am with mine, started a blog this month. he's a good writer and he's in peru doing interesting things so he's got plenty to write about. if you're looking for one more thing to read during the day, consider stopping by.
30 January 2007
24 January 2007
ybor city is tres speedy but they throw such killer parties
statistically speaking, today was the most depressing day of the year. because it was the monday of the most depressing week of the year. there are people who sit at desks and get paid to come up with this kind of thing. depressing, depressing people.
me, i was doing pretty good until i watched 24. and then i played gears of war and got my ass handed to me by foul-mouthed, wretched little children. now i hate myself for liking that godforsaken show, and for sucking at that godforsaken game. but i guess i'm still not depressed.
i saw the hold steady play at northsix last week. i wrote about it today at work, but i figured i'd mention it here too, since they were so god damn fucking amazing and i'm reluctant to use such strong language when my paycheck depends on it. here's a video of them on letterman the week prior. watch it and then believe me when i tell you that they were roughly ten million times better in person.
this weekend i had some pretty good food. there's a malaysian place on grand street (the little italy part, not the chinatown part) called nyonya and they have this dessert called peanut pancake which may or may not be laced with narcotics, because it took me to new and higher places, in a spiritual sense. make sure you get the coconut ice cream on it. i had some goat meat on west 160th street also. and a burrito. a really good burrito.
in february i'm going to dublin for a few days to see if it's really true what they say about the irish and drinking. my motives are purely scholastic, and i'll have a full report to you upon my return.
i tried to quit coffee for a while but today i remembered how much i like coffee. same goes for white castle, actually. damn.
me, i was doing pretty good until i watched 24. and then i played gears of war and got my ass handed to me by foul-mouthed, wretched little children. now i hate myself for liking that godforsaken show, and for sucking at that godforsaken game. but i guess i'm still not depressed.
i saw the hold steady play at northsix last week. i wrote about it today at work, but i figured i'd mention it here too, since they were so god damn fucking amazing and i'm reluctant to use such strong language when my paycheck depends on it. here's a video of them on letterman the week prior. watch it and then believe me when i tell you that they were roughly ten million times better in person.
this weekend i had some pretty good food. there's a malaysian place on grand street (the little italy part, not the chinatown part) called nyonya and they have this dessert called peanut pancake which may or may not be laced with narcotics, because it took me to new and higher places, in a spiritual sense. make sure you get the coconut ice cream on it. i had some goat meat on west 160th street also. and a burrito. a really good burrito.
in february i'm going to dublin for a few days to see if it's really true what they say about the irish and drinking. my motives are purely scholastic, and i'll have a full report to you upon my return.
i tried to quit coffee for a while but today i remembered how much i like coffee. same goes for white castle, actually. damn.
17 January 2007
new york is cold but i like where i'm living
it feels like it's been forever since my last bizarre subway experience, so i guess i've been due for one. today at pacific street a guy got on with a crumpled yellow piece of paper in his hand, all smiles and handshakes, and introduced himself in the brokenest of englishes to me, despite my headphones.
i was understanding maybe one word out of every twenty, and a lot of those were the same few words over and over. he wanted my help translating a ticket he had just been written by transit cops (did you even know they really do that?!) for "reclining" on a crowded n-train. according to him, he just had his feet up, and the cops came over and asked his name and address and handed him a ticket. for fifty dollars.
he laughed it off though. told me how many hours of work at the restaurant it would be to erase it, and proceeded then to talk my ear off for the duration of my ride.
he said i had a nice face, that i would be popular in shanghai, where he was from. but that shanghai would make me miss new york. at this point in my smiling and nodding i think i might have agreed to visit him there.
he also went into a very detailed explanation of why it's important not to get married and at what age it becomes okay and mostly (i think) it came down to money but he kept saying "downstairs" and i don't know what he meant by that but i kinda doubt it's what you're thinking he meant. i really wish i could've understood more.
anyway, it was kinda cool. when i got up to leave he said "see you in shanghai" and i said "see you there" and then that was it.
oh yeah and he was wearing a bike helmet the whole time. no bike though.
my friend laura salierno has some photos up for the next month or so at a bar called punch and judy. i went to a reception there tonight and caught up with some people that i really should call more often. if you're around clinton street (there's music there all through the evening) you should stop by. one of the photos has me in it, which is kinda neat, if you're me. but all of them are really very wonderful.
i was understanding maybe one word out of every twenty, and a lot of those were the same few words over and over. he wanted my help translating a ticket he had just been written by transit cops (did you even know they really do that?!) for "reclining" on a crowded n-train. according to him, he just had his feet up, and the cops came over and asked his name and address and handed him a ticket. for fifty dollars.
he laughed it off though. told me how many hours of work at the restaurant it would be to erase it, and proceeded then to talk my ear off for the duration of my ride.
he said i had a nice face, that i would be popular in shanghai, where he was from. but that shanghai would make me miss new york. at this point in my smiling and nodding i think i might have agreed to visit him there.
he also went into a very detailed explanation of why it's important not to get married and at what age it becomes okay and mostly (i think) it came down to money but he kept saying "downstairs" and i don't know what he meant by that but i kinda doubt it's what you're thinking he meant. i really wish i could've understood more.
anyway, it was kinda cool. when i got up to leave he said "see you in shanghai" and i said "see you there" and then that was it.
oh yeah and he was wearing a bike helmet the whole time. no bike though.
my friend laura salierno has some photos up for the next month or so at a bar called punch and judy. i went to a reception there tonight and caught up with some people that i really should call more often. if you're around clinton street (there's music there all through the evening) you should stop by. one of the photos has me in it, which is kinda neat, if you're me. but all of them are really very wonderful.
10 January 2007
the candy store
one of the main reasons i post less on here these days is that all the things i find myself wanting to write about are better written elsewhere.
there was something that i meant to write about but forgot to, though. when i read yesterday that somebody had died as a result of the same arctic swim i was bragging about, it popped back into my head. if you don't feel like reading the article, he didn't die from being cold or anything. he injured his spinal cord somehow by diving in. it's still a huge tragedy, i only mention that because i don't want my mom to freak out. hi mom.
but reading about something so sad reminded me of something else i saw that day. being that it's winter and coney island is decidedly a summer destination, most of the shops on or around the boardwalk are boarded up. it's a bleak scene, to say the least, when a crowd of over a thousand is gathered on the boardwalk in broad daylight, surrounded by closed shops. but some shops never close (nathan's hot dogs are better than almost everything), and a few seem to make a special effort to open up for coney island's best-attended off-season event.
after the swim, the crowd basically retreats en masse down stillwell avenue, and most seem to stop at nathan's, which is at the corner of stillwell and surf. a little further down surf avenue there is a candy shop. bright colors, candy apples, etc. the kind of candy shop that there probably aren't many left of and that can only still exist in places like coney island. we stopped at nathan's on the way out (even though we had also stopped there on the way in) and walking down surf avenue towards our car, we passed the candy shop.
the shops on either side were closed up, but the candy shop was open, and the owner was just standing in the doorway, looking defeated while throngs of people (including us) walked by with nathan's hot dogs in hand.
anyway. i just got the impression that he had opened the doors specially for the occasion, and not many people appreciated it. and that made me a little sad.
in other news, i wrote about this already for work, but roddy woomble's (he's the singer in idlewild) solo record my secret is my silence blew me away this week. even though it came out months ago. better late than never, right?
oh, and also, i got a big snail to live with roddy and eat algae. his name is spencer and i haven't taken a picture yet. this morning he was all hiding in his shell instead of crawling around and it has me a little worried. please keep him in your thoughts.
there was something that i meant to write about but forgot to, though. when i read yesterday that somebody had died as a result of the same arctic swim i was bragging about, it popped back into my head. if you don't feel like reading the article, he didn't die from being cold or anything. he injured his spinal cord somehow by diving in. it's still a huge tragedy, i only mention that because i don't want my mom to freak out. hi mom.
but reading about something so sad reminded me of something else i saw that day. being that it's winter and coney island is decidedly a summer destination, most of the shops on or around the boardwalk are boarded up. it's a bleak scene, to say the least, when a crowd of over a thousand is gathered on the boardwalk in broad daylight, surrounded by closed shops. but some shops never close (nathan's hot dogs are better than almost everything), and a few seem to make a special effort to open up for coney island's best-attended off-season event.
after the swim, the crowd basically retreats en masse down stillwell avenue, and most seem to stop at nathan's, which is at the corner of stillwell and surf. a little further down surf avenue there is a candy shop. bright colors, candy apples, etc. the kind of candy shop that there probably aren't many left of and that can only still exist in places like coney island. we stopped at nathan's on the way out (even though we had also stopped there on the way in) and walking down surf avenue towards our car, we passed the candy shop.
the shops on either side were closed up, but the candy shop was open, and the owner was just standing in the doorway, looking defeated while throngs of people (including us) walked by with nathan's hot dogs in hand.
anyway. i just got the impression that he had opened the doors specially for the occasion, and not many people appreciated it. and that made me a little sad.
in other news, i wrote about this already for work, but roddy woomble's (he's the singer in idlewild) solo record my secret is my silence blew me away this week. even though it came out months ago. better late than never, right?
oh, and also, i got a big snail to live with roddy and eat algae. his name is spencer and i haven't taken a picture yet. this morning he was all hiding in his shell instead of crawling around and it has me a little worried. please keep him in your thoughts.
01 January 2007
happy new year
happy new year, everybody. last new year's day i wrote some shit and...well now that i look back i realize that it was mostly incoherent. so nevermind.
but you know, january 1 is as good a day as any (some would say better even) to take stock a bit. current status: pretty rad. 2006 was a bit of a roller coaster (i guess they pretty much all are), but right now i really feel like i'm on the right track for some good things to happen to me in 2007*.
to celebrate my reckless optimism, i jumped into the ocean today. it wasn't so bad, since the air was almost 60°, but the water sure was cold. one of my partners in crime had the foresight to bring a waterproof camera, so i'll post pictures on here eventually as evidence, provided i don't look fat or something.
please believe me when i tell you that i will brag about this for months to come. if not years. you'd do best to smile and nod.
i've been listening a lot lately to margot & the nuclear so and so's. you might like them, too.
*impromptu resolution: use less parentheses (they really are a crutch for me).
but you know, january 1 is as good a day as any (some would say better even) to take stock a bit. current status: pretty rad. 2006 was a bit of a roller coaster (i guess they pretty much all are), but right now i really feel like i'm on the right track for some good things to happen to me in 2007*.
to celebrate my reckless optimism, i jumped into the ocean today. it wasn't so bad, since the air was almost 60°, but the water sure was cold. one of my partners in crime had the foresight to bring a waterproof camera, so i'll post pictures on here eventually as evidence, provided i don't look fat or something.
please believe me when i tell you that i will brag about this for months to come. if not years. you'd do best to smile and nod.
i've been listening a lot lately to margot & the nuclear so and so's. you might like them, too.
*impromptu resolution: use less parentheses (they really are a crutch for me).
24 December 2006
19 December 2006
susanne, you're all that i wanted of a girl
it's been a while, no? i'll bet you were worried. visions of my beaten, dusty fingers poking through a tiny hole in the ground above my cell in some top secret prison would wake you from your sleep, drenched in sweat, heart heavy with dread.
well, fear not. i'm fine. in fact, i'm great. god, nothing saps the blogging momentum right out of me like a good mood. i've been working when i should be working, playing video games when i get a chance, and spending a lot of time out on the town doing the kind of things that i think anyone who lives in this town should try to make time to do regularly. eating in questionably sanitary places, drinking in dismally unsanitary places, catching a show here and there. lather, rinse, repeat.
i'm really insecure about my holiday gift-giving prowess. that's something i can talk about for a minute. a lot of people i know are really great at picking the perfect gift. i become paralyzed by the fear that whatever gift i may have picked is less than perfect, which causes me to keep looking, which makes me leave everything until the last minute, which creates more panic. i'm just a bundle of nerves. and huge muscles.
i had been cautiously optimistic that they're more afraid of you than you are of them would make pitchfork's annual top albums list, but those assholes must have been under a rock all year. i guess there's always next time. i'm kidding, btw. christ. don't look at me like that.
well, fear not. i'm fine. in fact, i'm great. god, nothing saps the blogging momentum right out of me like a good mood. i've been working when i should be working, playing video games when i get a chance, and spending a lot of time out on the town doing the kind of things that i think anyone who lives in this town should try to make time to do regularly. eating in questionably sanitary places, drinking in dismally unsanitary places, catching a show here and there. lather, rinse, repeat.
i'm really insecure about my holiday gift-giving prowess. that's something i can talk about for a minute. a lot of people i know are really great at picking the perfect gift. i become paralyzed by the fear that whatever gift i may have picked is less than perfect, which causes me to keep looking, which makes me leave everything until the last minute, which creates more panic. i'm just a bundle of nerves. and huge muscles.
i had been cautiously optimistic that they're more afraid of you than you are of them would make pitchfork's annual top albums list, but those assholes must have been under a rock all year. i guess there's always next time. i'm kidding, btw. christ. don't look at me like that.
03 December 2006
a tourist in my own town
this weekend i went on a walking "tour" of queens and brooklyn. i put "tour" in quotation marks (twice now) because i expected it to involve some knowledgable person telling me what i was looking at. not the case. there were a few highlights, though.
we started in long island city at this gigantic art space complex that is covered in sanctioned graffiti (there's a guy you're supposed to email for permission before you go to work). inside are studios, and it happened to be "open studios" this weekend so we strolled on through and peeked in at people doing all kinds of weird shit dressed in all kinds of weird clothes. oh, how badly do i wish i understood art. really though, it was cool. above is a pretty good picture of my eyelids. my dad closes his eyes in basically every picture we ever take of him. maybe i'm turning into my dad. which really isn't such a bad thing at all. he walks around the yard in his underpants all the time.
then we went to the pier. it's right across the water from midtown manhattan, so as you can imagine, there's quite a view. this is one of the many times an actual guide to the "tour" would have come in handy, since i have lived in this city for two years now and i still don't know the names of any of those buildings. honestly.
probably the biggest thrill for me (please don't ask me why, i have no good answer) was walking across the bridge whose name i already forget that goes right over the midtown tunnel and connects long island city (queens) to green point (brooklyn). this is also where my camera's battery died.
in green point we ate pierogies and "pyzy" which is a sort of potato dumpling filled with meat. i wish i had a picture of it because it's quite imposing (and quite good). then we took a break at this bar where a bunch of people in the group i was in ordered coffee based drinks because it was chilly and there was a big sign encouraging people to do so to fight the cold. not me, though. i got a beer. later the bartender not-so-subtly flipped out to a coworker saying he was a bartender not a fucking barrista and he was going to kill whoever made that sign. saw that one coming.
the purpose of the break at the bar was for everyone to regain their strength before the final push to dumbo, but for me, it served only to sap me of any desire to continue. so soon after we left the bar, i left the group in the middle of williamsburg and wandered around until i found a subway. then i didn't get on it because i had to pee really bad so i found a mcdonalds.
if you're into it, there are a few more pics up at flickr.
probably the biggest thrill for me (please don't ask me why, i have no good answer) was walking across the bridge whose name i already forget that goes right over the midtown tunnel and connects long island city (queens) to green point (brooklyn). this is also where my camera's battery died.
in green point we ate pierogies and "pyzy" which is a sort of potato dumpling filled with meat. i wish i had a picture of it because it's quite imposing (and quite good). then we took a break at this bar where a bunch of people in the group i was in ordered coffee based drinks because it was chilly and there was a big sign encouraging people to do so to fight the cold. not me, though. i got a beer. later the bartender not-so-subtly flipped out to a coworker saying he was a bartender not a fucking barrista and he was going to kill whoever made that sign. saw that one coming.
the purpose of the break at the bar was for everyone to regain their strength before the final push to dumbo, but for me, it served only to sap me of any desire to continue. so soon after we left the bar, i left the group in the middle of williamsburg and wandered around until i found a subway. then i didn't get on it because i had to pee really bad so i found a mcdonalds.
if you're into it, there are a few more pics up at flickr.
21 November 2006
nothing to see here
my hair is really long. i'm probably going to cut it soon and i haven't been taking many pictures lately so i figured i would take this to document the longest my hair will probably ever be in my entire life.
monday was sean's birthday. so monday morning before work i trimmed my you-know-where hairs in the shower and i forgot to clean out the drain trap. happy birthday.
i fully expected to be writing you an obituary for roddy by now given the dodgy recent history of my aquarium's inhabitants, but i am happy to report that the little guy is as healthy as can be. but still probably retarded.
which one of you crazy people told bob lefsetz about my sweatshirt?
this weekend i went to the brooklyn museum to see some art. this one guy makes life-like sculptures of people only they're a lot bigger or smaller than in real life. all of them peer suspiciously out of the corners of their eyes which is majorly creepy. this one naked bald guy was huge. his balls were as big as my head! so cool.
but at the brooklyn museum admission is contingent on a "suggested donation" which is total bullshit because when you hand them a $20 bill they don't ask you how much you want back they just give you change for the suggested donation. i'm happy to pay a standard admission price. just call it "admission." god damn.
the new brand new record is pretty good.
driving to work today i was thinking about death. forgive me if this gets heavy. i was wondering what the last thought that passes through my brain will be. i hope it's not "who farted?"
13 November 2006
meet roddy
here's some geekspeek: as of today i'm publishing this blog with blogger beta (instead of blogger) which basically means i get to tag posts for even greater searchability and category functionality. i'm kinda excited about it, provided that it works. i guess if you're reading this then it does. i'll go back and tag old posts as i find the time. that is to say, i won't. because i got gears of war today and actually i might as well tell you now that you surely won't hear from me again for months because i'll be busy with that. so uh...later.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)