Friday, August 26, 2005
Our voices are ground down today from shouting at each other at close quarters last night. Music in bars is too often too loud. This does not negatively color my perception of the evening, though. A good time was had by all.
I punched a sign, I think, and a large bruise has appeared on my right hand.
Wine tastings are an absolute good. They are even better when the food pairings are as well-crafted as they were last night. Chardonnay and salad met elegantly and their flavors collided perfectly, the taste vanishing from my mouth like a rainbow atop a cresting wave. Later I switched to vodka gimlets, which I can still taste now. That pairing (lime juice, Ketel One) was sturdy, but in no way elegant.
We inspired a lot of enmity from strangers. We were virtually thrown from a closing bar, threatened with arrest in a McDonald’s, and shouted at by a fellow patron in line at a darkened Dominick’s. I felt like we could’ve taken everybody, but that’s because I was drunk.
Pete looks terrifying with shaven head and facial hair.
I looked down at my watch at 2:19am and reacted with primal shock. It was some of my most genuinely-felt shock since Ben Kenobi shaved three limbs off Anakin Skywalker with one swipe of the lightsaber. There is no arithmetic more tortured than subtracting the time on your watch from the time on your alarm clock. Three hours’ sleep is not very much, does not propel you through the workday with youthful vigor. Sometimes that’s worth it. These were the facts of the evening.
I punched a sign, I think, and a large bruise has appeared on my right hand.
Wine tastings are an absolute good. They are even better when the food pairings are as well-crafted as they were last night. Chardonnay and salad met elegantly and their flavors collided perfectly, the taste vanishing from my mouth like a rainbow atop a cresting wave. Later I switched to vodka gimlets, which I can still taste now. That pairing (lime juice, Ketel One) was sturdy, but in no way elegant.
We inspired a lot of enmity from strangers. We were virtually thrown from a closing bar, threatened with arrest in a McDonald’s, and shouted at by a fellow patron in line at a darkened Dominick’s. I felt like we could’ve taken everybody, but that’s because I was drunk.
Pete looks terrifying with shaven head and facial hair.
I looked down at my watch at 2:19am and reacted with primal shock. It was some of my most genuinely-felt shock since Ben Kenobi shaved three limbs off Anakin Skywalker with one swipe of the lightsaber. There is no arithmetic more tortured than subtracting the time on your watch from the time on your alarm clock. Three hours’ sleep is not very much, does not propel you through the workday with youthful vigor. Sometimes that’s worth it. These were the facts of the evening.
Monday, August 22, 2005
The days of my life are flying by me right now. I am strongly reminded of Billy Crystal's quote from City Slickers, quoted here in its entirety mostly because it's hilarious:
"Value this time in your life kids, because this is the time in your life when you still have your choices, and it goes by so quickly. When you're a teenager you think you can do anything, and you do. Your twenties are a blur. Your thirties, you raise your family, you make a little money and you think to yourself, "What happened to my twenties?" Your forties, you grow a little pot belly you grow another chin. The music starts to get too loud and one of your old girlfriends from high school becomes a grandmother. Your fifties you have a minor surgery. You'll call it a procedure, but it's a surgery. Your sixties you have a major surgery, the music is still loud but it doesn't matter because you can't hear it anyway. Seventies, you and the wife retire to Fort Lauderdale, you start eating dinner at two, lunch around ten, breakfast the night before. And you spend most of your time wandering around malls looking for the ultimate in soft yogurt and muttering "how come the kids don't call?" By your eighties, you've had a major stroke, and you end up babbling to some Jamaican nurse who your wife can't stand but who you call mama. Any questions?"
Anyway it's not that bad yet. Actually, things are pretty damn good. I am to be married in about 6 1/2 weeks. I am losing weight and I feel healthy. I live in a nice apartment that I can afford. I'm swinging the wiffleball bat well. My friendships and relationships are stable and happy. I recently won the right to select first in my fantasy football draft. I had the pleasure of hanging with my fiancee all this past weekend. I'm learning how to play dominoes pretty well.
So things are hanging together pretty well at the moment. Even the weather is cooperating. Sometimes I despair that this blog is not more than what it has been, but it's not the sort of high-level despair that's going to inspire serious action. No, what I'm thinking is pretty much what you're going to get here. Right now, I'm relaxed and trying to enjoy it all. Isn't it obvious?
"Value this time in your life kids, because this is the time in your life when you still have your choices, and it goes by so quickly. When you're a teenager you think you can do anything, and you do. Your twenties are a blur. Your thirties, you raise your family, you make a little money and you think to yourself, "What happened to my twenties?" Your forties, you grow a little pot belly you grow another chin. The music starts to get too loud and one of your old girlfriends from high school becomes a grandmother. Your fifties you have a minor surgery. You'll call it a procedure, but it's a surgery. Your sixties you have a major surgery, the music is still loud but it doesn't matter because you can't hear it anyway. Seventies, you and the wife retire to Fort Lauderdale, you start eating dinner at two, lunch around ten, breakfast the night before. And you spend most of your time wandering around malls looking for the ultimate in soft yogurt and muttering "how come the kids don't call?" By your eighties, you've had a major stroke, and you end up babbling to some Jamaican nurse who your wife can't stand but who you call mama. Any questions?"
Anyway it's not that bad yet. Actually, things are pretty damn good. I am to be married in about 6 1/2 weeks. I am losing weight and I feel healthy. I live in a nice apartment that I can afford. I'm swinging the wiffleball bat well. My friendships and relationships are stable and happy. I recently won the right to select first in my fantasy football draft. I had the pleasure of hanging with my fiancee all this past weekend. I'm learning how to play dominoes pretty well.
So things are hanging together pretty well at the moment. Even the weather is cooperating. Sometimes I despair that this blog is not more than what it has been, but it's not the sort of high-level despair that's going to inspire serious action. No, what I'm thinking is pretty much what you're going to get here. Right now, I'm relaxed and trying to enjoy it all. Isn't it obvious?
Friday, August 05, 2005
So several weeks without comment pretty much assures you, my faithful reader, A BRAND NEW TOP 5 LIST FOR THE MOST RECENT PERIOD!!! I can see you shuddering with anticipation, so without further gilding the lilly:
1. Chipotle steak burrito. Oh my God. I've been having these for several months, but they never fail to fully satisfy. It's a meal in a tortilla, complete with rice, beans, meat, cheese, and salsa. I prefer to take a bite or two of mine, then unwrap it and eat it like a meaty salad. When finished, I roll up the tortilla, now sticky with Mexican goodness, and eat that too. Rick and I have twice lunched this week on my balcony (so romantic!), and looking out over, uh, I-88, and feeling the cool breeze has made me think on more than one occasion, "this is the life." And so it is.
2. the adventures of young Harry Potter. I started the series about 5 weeks ago, and completed the most recent installment this past Wednesday. It's quite compelling--I read these almost compulsively, staying up until 2am to finish the Goblet of Fire and trawling the Internet for discussions on occlumency. I had bad dreams the night after Harry foolishly cast an unknown spell on the normally contemptible Draco Malfoy, causing the latter severe lacerations and bloodloss and calling into question all I knew of Harry's judgment and character. Rushing off to work the next day, I wondered what author JK Rowling could possibly do to turn the situation around. I won't ruin it for you, but I was--against all my expectations--on cloud nine just 10 pages later. Good stuff.
3. Collateral. Good movie with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. Jamie Foxx is a damn fine actor, and I’m starting to think that sociopaths are the right kind of role for Mr. Cruise. It’s interesting to watch this one while trying to figure out exactly where Tom went insane, because it’s basically the last movie he made before he turned into a complete jerk and nutwad and started spewing nonsense during morning interviews about how he’s knowledgeable on psychology, etc etc. Give me a fucking break—you manage to pretend you’re other people while not LOOKING like you’re pretending to be them. That’s your only skill, Tom: it doesn’t make you a genius.
4. Mario Golf. It’s unfair to put it this far down on the list, but we all make concessions from time to time. In my case, and Rick’s, our play of this game inexplicably infuriates our significant others. Despite this, we can’t help ourselves—we need to beat Luigi and Boo on the Princess’ Castle Grounds course in a match game, or we’re going to go crazy! We’ve been so close, but more play is evidently required to master the challenge. Not that we mind.
5. Spoon, “Stay Don’t Go.” I was listening to the new Spoon album Gimme Fiction last month, and I picked up the copy of their previous record, Kill the Moonlight, that Rob had given me to give it another chance. At first listen, perhaps 4 months ago, I really did not care for the spare instrumentation and abstruse lyrics, but then I was just exiting a 2-year+ phase of enjoying only aggressive rock music and my tastes have since changed.
This song is dead sexy, and wouldn’t be out of place in a set of dance music on a drunken evening sometime soon. Anybody? Anybody?
Matt, I am alive. I will write to you soon.
1. Chipotle steak burrito. Oh my God. I've been having these for several months, but they never fail to fully satisfy. It's a meal in a tortilla, complete with rice, beans, meat, cheese, and salsa. I prefer to take a bite or two of mine, then unwrap it and eat it like a meaty salad. When finished, I roll up the tortilla, now sticky with Mexican goodness, and eat that too. Rick and I have twice lunched this week on my balcony (so romantic!), and looking out over, uh, I-88, and feeling the cool breeze has made me think on more than one occasion, "this is the life." And so it is.
2. the adventures of young Harry Potter. I started the series about 5 weeks ago, and completed the most recent installment this past Wednesday. It's quite compelling--I read these almost compulsively, staying up until 2am to finish the Goblet of Fire and trawling the Internet for discussions on occlumency. I had bad dreams the night after Harry foolishly cast an unknown spell on the normally contemptible Draco Malfoy, causing the latter severe lacerations and bloodloss and calling into question all I knew of Harry's judgment and character. Rushing off to work the next day, I wondered what author JK Rowling could possibly do to turn the situation around. I won't ruin it for you, but I was--against all my expectations--on cloud nine just 10 pages later. Good stuff.
3. Collateral. Good movie with Tom Cruise and Jamie Foxx. Jamie Foxx is a damn fine actor, and I’m starting to think that sociopaths are the right kind of role for Mr. Cruise. It’s interesting to watch this one while trying to figure out exactly where Tom went insane, because it’s basically the last movie he made before he turned into a complete jerk and nutwad and started spewing nonsense during morning interviews about how he’s knowledgeable on psychology, etc etc. Give me a fucking break—you manage to pretend you’re other people while not LOOKING like you’re pretending to be them. That’s your only skill, Tom: it doesn’t make you a genius.
4. Mario Golf. It’s unfair to put it this far down on the list, but we all make concessions from time to time. In my case, and Rick’s, our play of this game inexplicably infuriates our significant others. Despite this, we can’t help ourselves—we need to beat Luigi and Boo on the Princess’ Castle Grounds course in a match game, or we’re going to go crazy! We’ve been so close, but more play is evidently required to master the challenge. Not that we mind.
5. Spoon, “Stay Don’t Go.” I was listening to the new Spoon album Gimme Fiction last month, and I picked up the copy of their previous record, Kill the Moonlight, that Rob had given me to give it another chance. At first listen, perhaps 4 months ago, I really did not care for the spare instrumentation and abstruse lyrics, but then I was just exiting a 2-year+ phase of enjoying only aggressive rock music and my tastes have since changed.
This song is dead sexy, and wouldn’t be out of place in a set of dance music on a drunken evening sometime soon. Anybody? Anybody?
Matt, I am alive. I will write to you soon.
