Paul Gleason died of lung cancer. Damn. Most memorial high school principal in film behind Morgan Freeman as Joe Carter in Lean on Me and Jeffery Jones as Mr. Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Mess with the bull son, you get the horns!
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Rest In Peace
Paul Gleason died of lung cancer. Damn. Most memorial high school principal in film behind Morgan Freeman as Joe Carter in Lean on Me and Jeffery Jones as Mr. Rooney in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
Mess with the bull son, you get the horns!
Monday, May 29, 2006
Double Feature
It's been a while since I pulled the double feature routine at a movie theater, but today was a pretty dull day as far as holidays go. My friends are either working or are out of town, no one was having a BBQ or anything, so why not hit the air conditioned confines of the megaplex and take in some summer action fare.
On tap was Poseidon and Mission Impossible 3, and I know that may shock those who would have figured me for an RV/Over The Hedge double bill, but it's true. Before I get to my reaction to the films I saw, let me say this about the previews today. The Break Up with Vince and Jen looks funny to me. I'm not one for romantic comedies, but I love Mr. Vaughn and John Favreau, so I'm intrigued to say the least. Nacho Libre, with Jack Black and from the guy who made Napolean Dynamite, looks very funny. I'm very curious to see what that Napolean director can do with a budget and a big name like Jack. And finally, Invincible with Mark Wahlberg looks super if only because the preview features an Eagles chant. E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles! This sleeper from Disney is the true story of a walk on pro football player in the 70's and appears to be filmed a ton in my dear departed Veteran's Stadium. Nice. Now Greg Kinnear as Dick Vermeil might be hard to stomach, but I'm game.
Okay, so Poseidon was my first film today. I'm a sucker for disaster films, especially the original Poseidon Adventure and the beloved Towering Inferno, so I was hooked before the first frame. This version is nothing more than your standard action movie, and the cast does a capable job of dealing with all the water, but overall it's basically average. I will say that it was unnecessary to make Richard Dreyfus a homosexual. Why? And the single diamond earring he wears is like 1987 people. Gag.
I don't care what people say about Tom Cruise, I frigging like his movies. The guy is pretty straight forward, one dimensional action star, but I eat it up. This installment is better than 2, but not as good as the original. Philip Seymour Hoffman brings something special to the table as the villian in this one, and he was welcome change to the usual foreigner Alpha Male shit they do in these types of movies. Very fast paced and exciting despite it's run time of over 2 hours, In fact I'll say this about both movies, they didn't waste a frame on bogus shit. I never checked my watch and was involved, so we'll call this day a success.
On tap was Poseidon and Mission Impossible 3, and I know that may shock those who would have figured me for an RV/Over The Hedge double bill, but it's true. Before I get to my reaction to the films I saw, let me say this about the previews today. The Break Up with Vince and Jen looks funny to me. I'm not one for romantic comedies, but I love Mr. Vaughn and John Favreau, so I'm intrigued to say the least. Nacho Libre, with Jack Black and from the guy who made Napolean Dynamite, looks very funny. I'm very curious to see what that Napolean director can do with a budget and a big name like Jack. And finally, Invincible with Mark Wahlberg looks super if only because the preview features an Eagles chant. E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles! This sleeper from Disney is the true story of a walk on pro football player in the 70's and appears to be filmed a ton in my dear departed Veteran's Stadium. Nice. Now Greg Kinnear as Dick Vermeil might be hard to stomach, but I'm game.
Okay, so Poseidon was my first film today. I'm a sucker for disaster films, especially the original Poseidon Adventure and the beloved Towering Inferno, so I was hooked before the first frame. This version is nothing more than your standard action movie, and the cast does a capable job of dealing with all the water, but overall it's basically average. I will say that it was unnecessary to make Richard Dreyfus a homosexual. Why? And the single diamond earring he wears is like 1987 people. Gag.
I don't care what people say about Tom Cruise, I frigging like his movies. The guy is pretty straight forward, one dimensional action star, but I eat it up. This installment is better than 2, but not as good as the original. Philip Seymour Hoffman brings something special to the table as the villian in this one, and he was welcome change to the usual foreigner Alpha Male shit they do in these types of movies. Very fast paced and exciting despite it's run time of over 2 hours, In fact I'll say this about both movies, they didn't waste a frame on bogus shit. I never checked my watch and was involved, so we'll call this day a success.
Saturday, May 27, 2006
Memorial Day Weekend
Okay, so Memorial Day is approaching and I think it's supposed to mark a day of reflection. Probably for remembering people who served our great country in the armed forces or something like that. I'll use this weekend instead to remember the past year I've spent in the heart of the southland, and give you all some insight into where my head is at now compared to the past.
I recall when I first informed my family that I was offered the opportunity to move to the Georgia/South Carolina region for work. No one was very supportive, but that was secondary to the collective feeling that I would never do it. Everyone was convinced I was either too chicken or too lazy or too city to survive a move like this. Well, clearly they were all wrong. But I think more than the prevalent feeling that I wouldn't leave, was this persistent thought in the back of all their heads that this might be a good idea. Instinctively we never want the people we care about to be out of our sight. We all know that time plus distance does a number on relationships of all kinds. However, my siblings especially were seeing a man deteriorate before their eyes the last few years I was in Philly. I was becoming more and more jaded, angry, bitter and it was an ugly thing to see. I spent the last 5 years in Philly transitioning from job to unemployment to job and never really doing anything creative, I was even berated when I started this here blog for shits and giggles.
Aside from my career dissatisfaction, I was terrible with relationships. I would get these horrible crushes on good friends and turn our friendship into mush when the feelings I had weren't reciprocated. If I wasn't around anyone that filled the role of target to my undying affection, I was getting drunk and being the old, drunk guy at the party hitting on girls 10 years younger. I was somewhat of an embarrassment to my friends and family, and I recognize that now. Everyone has a drunken uncle, but I was the drunken uncle. Fuck. That's a reality no one wants to face. Part of my reasons for leaving Philly included this label, a badge I deservedly earned; and I made a pact with myself that when I relocated I would be certain to not be that guy.
To recap, I escaped the confines of my stale life by venturing to Georgia. I had outgrown my pissy nature and somewhat questionable sense of humor; I was a parlor trick to most and not a real person to myself. I know that deep down my friends and family saw past my flaws and truly did have an affection for me. Even if it was of the wounded bird variety. I needed to become who I am, which sounds like total cheese. But the sincerity I had for making a change cannot be overlooked here. If I hadn't moved, I'm certain I would still be the same guy. Lonely, obnoxious, chain smoking, uncaring, hypocritical, vindictive and of course, cynical.
When I unpacked all of my stuff in my new place last summer, I decided to break out of my shell a little. I was thrust into a situation I never experienced before, I had to try to establish who I am to people who never met me, or heard about me before. I was lucky to have a couple people who came with me from Philly, but even Joolie, Sydney and Tena only knew a few facets of my personality since our relationship back North was of a work variety. I was a boss to Syd and Tena, and to Joolie I was a peer, a former suit who knew his shit about Call Center stuff. As I saw it, upon arrival to Georgia I had a couple major hurdles to jump over.
1. I needed to be more forward and aggressive about meeting women.
2. I needed to make sure I didn't fuck up my friendships with the women I was around the most.
3. I needed to be more open and less judgmental when meeting new people.
Although I've touched on the issues listed above during the course of this diatribe, and if you are a frequent reader, you know all about my fuck ups with the ladies and my propensity for judging everything, but to exemplify them a little more right now will help me illustrate my change, the essence of this diatribe. (Wow, as a guy with a Journalism degree, I would have to suspect that sentence was stylistically a travesty. Apologies all around.)
Okay, number 1. I've manage to hide behind this mask of humor I wear in an effort to hide the fact that I'm incredibly scared of rejection from women. I can count the number of times on one hand that I've asked a girl out on a date, and I'm pushing 35. Tragic, no?
Number 2. Yikes, the list of casualties in this one is quite a body count. Shall I list them oldest to newest or vice versa? Let's just say the following wonderful women have been a victim to my "I think I like you more than a friend" speech at least once. (Oh yeah, that's right. Some got this more than once. Sad but true.) Keely, Audrey, Joanna, Michelle and Lynell, all fulfilled the role of Joey Potter to my Dawson Leary at one point or another. And sadly, hav\lf of them I no longer talk to and the other half will always be able to recall that I embarrassed myself by confusing friendship for budding romance.
Number 3. Well, I am a city guy. I prefer film and theater over hunting and fishing. I prefer to watch sports, not play them. This one was going to be really tough to shake considering where I was moving. I can't drive stick, I like imported beer and I think women should be treated with respect. I was in trouble.
Upon relocating, I fully embraced being more aggressive with women right out of the gate. I asked a girl out my very first week here. Yeah for me! The fact that this girl then became fodder for this blog and not exactly the person I had hoped she would have been is to undervalue the importance of what I had accomplished.
Now number 2 didn't go as smoothly, I kind of fucked this one up a little bit upon my arrival in Georgia. Somewhere between hook ups with Punk Rock Baby, I got nervous and scared and freaked out about being in this strange new place all by myself. I put some pressure on a friend and almost fucked up worse than ever by alienating one of the three people I knew in a brand new town. Thankfully I reeled this one back as soon as my line was cast and did some major damage control along the way. Otherwise, I would be mentioning fun times with Joolie and Tena instead of fun times with Joolie, Sydney and Tena the last few months.
Making friends wound up being the toughest of the three for me the last year. And what's really strange about that is that I've always been a very outgoing, extroverted person. Some people look back at college and see a group of 3 or 4 best friends and I look back and see a solid group of twenty people who did almost everything together, every single weekend, summer, holiday. Perhaps early on here I put all of my time and effort into wooing chicks instead of finding some cool people to hang with? I know for a fact that I used Joolie and her ability to meet people as a social crutch for a couple months. Maybe it's the disconnect in common interests that plagues me? In taking stock of who is in my inner circle, outside of fellow transplants, I see not one person I've met on my own. Everyone is a friend of a friend or Joolie's friend or Tena's friend or Sydney's boyfriend.
But I'm not going to dwell on this one minor set back, since I have much more to remember about this past year. Let's move on to the cusp of 2006 shall we? Right before Christmas I ended things with Punk Rock Baby and began a long distance thing with Katie. This change turned out to be the first of many changes I would go through for the next several months. The two women couldn't have been more different if they tried, but both shared one commonality in that they said they loved me but never meant it. I'm not unhappy or sad about this fact, I am merely stating a fact. I feel very strongly about the usage of those words, I think they should be reserved for moments of significance and not just thrown around. I've come away from my experiences romantically the past year with a renewed sense of hope and a deeper understanding of how hard it truly is to be loved by someone. Now I could sit here and say that I'm not going to let love blind me in the future, I will be more cautious and less showering with money and affection, but that would probably be a lie. I like falling fast and deep, and so it's one of the things about myself I'm not looking to change despite my failures this past year.
When the new year finally broke, I took on a new attitude and perspective about things. I decided that I was going to zip where I would normally zap. (I think the saying is more commonly referred to with zig and zag, but I like zip and zap better.) This is when I started to embrace my friend's relationships, embraced their boyfriends and listen to them when the gushed instead of trying to spoil their fun, something I was very guilty of in the past. I started to take some care of my health, joining the gym and going religiously even if results are hard to come by, eating things like fish to expand my palette and be more concerned about what goes in my body.
Even recently I've been going to the beach and spending time poolside, two tasks that I would never have been caught dead doing the last 15 years of my life. Self esteem is a big factor for me avoiding these types of activities, and I can honestly say most of that was triggered by fearing a lack of acceptance by women. I had convinced myself that a fat guy swimming with his shirt on would scare off all potential love interests, that these women would never take the time to get to know me beyond their first physical impression of me. I thank my friendships with Joolie, Sydney and Tena for creating an environment where I feel more confident that I can be myself in these types of swimsuit situations. They all know me, or the new me as I like to say, and they don't care what I look like, they care that I am their friend and that I have just as much fun as they are having. I come from a place, my family and friends back home, where ball busting is an art form. We eat each other alive, especially when we see that someone is uncomfortable. It became my way for so long, unconsciously so, and I now realize what a prick I must have been. I feel responsible for how much I must have shaped my siblings by being the oldest and worse, an example. Having my friendships here in Georgia has taught me a lot about just unconditionally supporting people, reserving judgment and just being there for people.
I'm not saying I was a complete disaster before I moved here. And I'm not saying that moving here has made me a better person. Well, maybe I am saying that. I decided for myself to take this journey and at times I regret it, I miss my family a lot, I'm still lonely a lot and struggle to make friends. But. But, I know I am working on becoming who I want to be. And I am hopeful that I will put the past away and the person I am now will be here for a long time. Maybe I've been unsuccessful with life and love because I was a shit? Maybe not. But changing from a shit to a decent person can't hurt. Even if their is no big pay off, I'm glad I'm taking the steps to be a new man.
Sorry that this is very Doogie Howser, MD. I'm at work and it blows. Why not memorialize a little bit to kill the time? The rest of the weekend will be spent drinking beer and swimming, so I'll reflect while I can.
I recall when I first informed my family that I was offered the opportunity to move to the Georgia/South Carolina region for work. No one was very supportive, but that was secondary to the collective feeling that I would never do it. Everyone was convinced I was either too chicken or too lazy or too city to survive a move like this. Well, clearly they were all wrong. But I think more than the prevalent feeling that I wouldn't leave, was this persistent thought in the back of all their heads that this might be a good idea. Instinctively we never want the people we care about to be out of our sight. We all know that time plus distance does a number on relationships of all kinds. However, my siblings especially were seeing a man deteriorate before their eyes the last few years I was in Philly. I was becoming more and more jaded, angry, bitter and it was an ugly thing to see. I spent the last 5 years in Philly transitioning from job to unemployment to job and never really doing anything creative, I was even berated when I started this here blog for shits and giggles.
Aside from my career dissatisfaction, I was terrible with relationships. I would get these horrible crushes on good friends and turn our friendship into mush when the feelings I had weren't reciprocated. If I wasn't around anyone that filled the role of target to my undying affection, I was getting drunk and being the old, drunk guy at the party hitting on girls 10 years younger. I was somewhat of an embarrassment to my friends and family, and I recognize that now. Everyone has a drunken uncle, but I was the drunken uncle. Fuck. That's a reality no one wants to face. Part of my reasons for leaving Philly included this label, a badge I deservedly earned; and I made a pact with myself that when I relocated I would be certain to not be that guy.
To recap, I escaped the confines of my stale life by venturing to Georgia. I had outgrown my pissy nature and somewhat questionable sense of humor; I was a parlor trick to most and not a real person to myself. I know that deep down my friends and family saw past my flaws and truly did have an affection for me. Even if it was of the wounded bird variety. I needed to become who I am, which sounds like total cheese. But the sincerity I had for making a change cannot be overlooked here. If I hadn't moved, I'm certain I would still be the same guy. Lonely, obnoxious, chain smoking, uncaring, hypocritical, vindictive and of course, cynical.
When I unpacked all of my stuff in my new place last summer, I decided to break out of my shell a little. I was thrust into a situation I never experienced before, I had to try to establish who I am to people who never met me, or heard about me before. I was lucky to have a couple people who came with me from Philly, but even Joolie, Sydney and Tena only knew a few facets of my personality since our relationship back North was of a work variety. I was a boss to Syd and Tena, and to Joolie I was a peer, a former suit who knew his shit about Call Center stuff. As I saw it, upon arrival to Georgia I had a couple major hurdles to jump over.
1. I needed to be more forward and aggressive about meeting women.
2. I needed to make sure I didn't fuck up my friendships with the women I was around the most.
3. I needed to be more open and less judgmental when meeting new people.
Although I've touched on the issues listed above during the course of this diatribe, and if you are a frequent reader, you know all about my fuck ups with the ladies and my propensity for judging everything, but to exemplify them a little more right now will help me illustrate my change, the essence of this diatribe. (Wow, as a guy with a Journalism degree, I would have to suspect that sentence was stylistically a travesty. Apologies all around.)
Okay, number 1. I've manage to hide behind this mask of humor I wear in an effort to hide the fact that I'm incredibly scared of rejection from women. I can count the number of times on one hand that I've asked a girl out on a date, and I'm pushing 35. Tragic, no?
Number 2. Yikes, the list of casualties in this one is quite a body count. Shall I list them oldest to newest or vice versa? Let's just say the following wonderful women have been a victim to my "I think I like you more than a friend" speech at least once. (Oh yeah, that's right. Some got this more than once. Sad but true.) Keely, Audrey, Joanna, Michelle and Lynell, all fulfilled the role of Joey Potter to my Dawson Leary at one point or another. And sadly, hav\lf of them I no longer talk to and the other half will always be able to recall that I embarrassed myself by confusing friendship for budding romance.
Number 3. Well, I am a city guy. I prefer film and theater over hunting and fishing. I prefer to watch sports, not play them. This one was going to be really tough to shake considering where I was moving. I can't drive stick, I like imported beer and I think women should be treated with respect. I was in trouble.
Upon relocating, I fully embraced being more aggressive with women right out of the gate. I asked a girl out my very first week here. Yeah for me! The fact that this girl then became fodder for this blog and not exactly the person I had hoped she would have been is to undervalue the importance of what I had accomplished.
Now number 2 didn't go as smoothly, I kind of fucked this one up a little bit upon my arrival in Georgia. Somewhere between hook ups with Punk Rock Baby, I got nervous and scared and freaked out about being in this strange new place all by myself. I put some pressure on a friend and almost fucked up worse than ever by alienating one of the three people I knew in a brand new town. Thankfully I reeled this one back as soon as my line was cast and did some major damage control along the way. Otherwise, I would be mentioning fun times with Joolie and Tena instead of fun times with Joolie, Sydney and Tena the last few months.
Making friends wound up being the toughest of the three for me the last year. And what's really strange about that is that I've always been a very outgoing, extroverted person. Some people look back at college and see a group of 3 or 4 best friends and I look back and see a solid group of twenty people who did almost everything together, every single weekend, summer, holiday. Perhaps early on here I put all of my time and effort into wooing chicks instead of finding some cool people to hang with? I know for a fact that I used Joolie and her ability to meet people as a social crutch for a couple months. Maybe it's the disconnect in common interests that plagues me? In taking stock of who is in my inner circle, outside of fellow transplants, I see not one person I've met on my own. Everyone is a friend of a friend or Joolie's friend or Tena's friend or Sydney's boyfriend.
But I'm not going to dwell on this one minor set back, since I have much more to remember about this past year. Let's move on to the cusp of 2006 shall we? Right before Christmas I ended things with Punk Rock Baby and began a long distance thing with Katie. This change turned out to be the first of many changes I would go through for the next several months. The two women couldn't have been more different if they tried, but both shared one commonality in that they said they loved me but never meant it. I'm not unhappy or sad about this fact, I am merely stating a fact. I feel very strongly about the usage of those words, I think they should be reserved for moments of significance and not just thrown around. I've come away from my experiences romantically the past year with a renewed sense of hope and a deeper understanding of how hard it truly is to be loved by someone. Now I could sit here and say that I'm not going to let love blind me in the future, I will be more cautious and less showering with money and affection, but that would probably be a lie. I like falling fast and deep, and so it's one of the things about myself I'm not looking to change despite my failures this past year.
When the new year finally broke, I took on a new attitude and perspective about things. I decided that I was going to zip where I would normally zap. (I think the saying is more commonly referred to with zig and zag, but I like zip and zap better.) This is when I started to embrace my friend's relationships, embraced their boyfriends and listen to them when the gushed instead of trying to spoil their fun, something I was very guilty of in the past. I started to take some care of my health, joining the gym and going religiously even if results are hard to come by, eating things like fish to expand my palette and be more concerned about what goes in my body.
Even recently I've been going to the beach and spending time poolside, two tasks that I would never have been caught dead doing the last 15 years of my life. Self esteem is a big factor for me avoiding these types of activities, and I can honestly say most of that was triggered by fearing a lack of acceptance by women. I had convinced myself that a fat guy swimming with his shirt on would scare off all potential love interests, that these women would never take the time to get to know me beyond their first physical impression of me. I thank my friendships with Joolie, Sydney and Tena for creating an environment where I feel more confident that I can be myself in these types of swimsuit situations. They all know me, or the new me as I like to say, and they don't care what I look like, they care that I am their friend and that I have just as much fun as they are having. I come from a place, my family and friends back home, where ball busting is an art form. We eat each other alive, especially when we see that someone is uncomfortable. It became my way for so long, unconsciously so, and I now realize what a prick I must have been. I feel responsible for how much I must have shaped my siblings by being the oldest and worse, an example. Having my friendships here in Georgia has taught me a lot about just unconditionally supporting people, reserving judgment and just being there for people.
I'm not saying I was a complete disaster before I moved here. And I'm not saying that moving here has made me a better person. Well, maybe I am saying that. I decided for myself to take this journey and at times I regret it, I miss my family a lot, I'm still lonely a lot and struggle to make friends. But. But, I know I am working on becoming who I want to be. And I am hopeful that I will put the past away and the person I am now will be here for a long time. Maybe I've been unsuccessful with life and love because I was a shit? Maybe not. But changing from a shit to a decent person can't hurt. Even if their is no big pay off, I'm glad I'm taking the steps to be a new man.
Sorry that this is very Doogie Howser, MD. I'm at work and it blows. Why not memorialize a little bit to kill the time? The rest of the weekend will be spent drinking beer and swimming, so I'll reflect while I can.
Friday, May 26, 2006
American Idol or Lost Finale?
Which was the bigger mind fuck?
American Idol's predictable winner was the only normalcy I witnessed in 2 hours. Fucking Meatloaf? Toni Braxton looking like a nutjob? Two bald guys singing exactly the same way? The new Clay Aiken? My head was hurting and I was crying from laughing so much during the show. We talked of having a little party for the finale and decided to scratch at the last minute since we all thought the show would be predictable and boring and overkill. Little did we know it would be probably the funniest show EVER!
Now Lost on the other hand gave me a headache. They give you answers that aren't really answers. It's amazing that they are able to keep me coming back for more. And I certainly will now that Kate, Doc and Sawyer are being held hostage by the Others. Thank God the Hatch got trashed, I was so sick of those fucking buttons. But the bigger question that lingers is where the hell are they? Desmond left on a sailboat and comes back 2 and 1/2 weeks later claiming that there is nothing else? Me confused. I guess I'll feel complete in about 3 more years when the show wraps up and we get all of our answers.
American Idol's predictable winner was the only normalcy I witnessed in 2 hours. Fucking Meatloaf? Toni Braxton looking like a nutjob? Two bald guys singing exactly the same way? The new Clay Aiken? My head was hurting and I was crying from laughing so much during the show. We talked of having a little party for the finale and decided to scratch at the last minute since we all thought the show would be predictable and boring and overkill. Little did we know it would be probably the funniest show EVER!
Now Lost on the other hand gave me a headache. They give you answers that aren't really answers. It's amazing that they are able to keep me coming back for more. And I certainly will now that Kate, Doc and Sawyer are being held hostage by the Others. Thank God the Hatch got trashed, I was so sick of those fucking buttons. But the bigger question that lingers is where the hell are they? Desmond left on a sailboat and comes back 2 and 1/2 weeks later claiming that there is nothing else? Me confused. I guess I'll feel complete in about 3 more years when the show wraps up and we get all of our answers.
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Big Night of Tube
It's down to Kat versus Taylor in American Idol. I'm slightly surprised that Taylor made it this far, but at this point I think he has managed to become not only the favorite, but the almost expected winner tonight. Not bad for a guy pushing 30 with prematurely gray hair. But honestly speaking, is anyone excited to watch 2 hours of this crap tonight?
Another 2 hour event is the finale of Lost. I suspect there will be more questions than answers as per usual, but I'm still interested in seeing how this shizzle winds up. In a conversation today at work, my friend Tracy and I were trying to address one of the flaws in the concept behind Lost. What happened to the Polar Bear monster or the Black Smoke creature? Did they go away? Will they ever come back? When you have a show run for two years now, but only 50-60 stranded days have passed, you have a lot of loose ends that never get resolved. Are they hoping we will forget them?
Oh, check this shit out. The Shield is a show I never, ever saw one stitch of in the past 4 years it's been on FX. I can't even be sure I have ever watched FX ever to be honest. Anyway, I rented disc 1 of the first season and watched the pilot episode before bed last night...holy crap, what a good show. I'm totally late to the party on this one, but what can you do?
I know. I could mention that I correctly predicted 2 out of 3 winners on the reality trifeca this past week or so. Or I will have in about 3 hours. Wanna see if my skills are luck? Let me say now that Shawn will be Trump's next Apprentice. As if anyone cares or even watches that show anymore. Fuck I'm a loser.
Another 2 hour event is the finale of Lost. I suspect there will be more questions than answers as per usual, but I'm still interested in seeing how this shizzle winds up. In a conversation today at work, my friend Tracy and I were trying to address one of the flaws in the concept behind Lost. What happened to the Polar Bear monster or the Black Smoke creature? Did they go away? Will they ever come back? When you have a show run for two years now, but only 50-60 stranded days have passed, you have a lot of loose ends that never get resolved. Are they hoping we will forget them?
Oh, check this shit out. The Shield is a show I never, ever saw one stitch of in the past 4 years it's been on FX. I can't even be sure I have ever watched FX ever to be honest. Anyway, I rented disc 1 of the first season and watched the pilot episode before bed last night...holy crap, what a good show. I'm totally late to the party on this one, but what can you do?
I know. I could mention that I correctly predicted 2 out of 3 winners on the reality trifeca this past week or so. Or I will have in about 3 hours. Wanna see if my skills are luck? Let me say now that Shawn will be Trump's next Apprentice. As if anyone cares or even watches that show anymore. Fuck I'm a loser.
Monday, May 22, 2006
Lazy Days In The Sun...
I spent some of today sitting poolside at Joolie and Eric's listening to my Ipod and reading a book. Relax, take a minute to stop talking and thinking, that's what I told myself to do today. Three day weekends in Augusta are a curse for me. Having such a break from work points out the lack of anything interesting going on here. If I didn't have the pool today, man, I'd probably just fart around on the internet all day doing nothing.
I got new glasses finally. Walmart called this morning when I was in the process of mulling over my plans for the day and watching True Life on MTV. I think I look very different in the new frames, but I guess I'll have to let others be the final judge. I look slightly rockabilly meets fat nerd.
Hey, guess what? Da Vinci Code sucked balls. I didn't read the book, but I'm kind of happy I didn't because the story line ain't my cup of tea. I think the makers, Ron Howard and the producers, all were such fans of the book that the focused more on making the movie live up to the reader's expectations and forgot about us, the people who never read it. I was confused the whole time and I consider myself a smart guy.
I got new glasses finally. Walmart called this morning when I was in the process of mulling over my plans for the day and watching True Life on MTV. I think I look very different in the new frames, but I guess I'll have to let others be the final judge. I look slightly rockabilly meets fat nerd.
Hey, guess what? Da Vinci Code sucked balls. I didn't read the book, but I'm kind of happy I didn't because the story line ain't my cup of tea. I think the makers, Ron Howard and the producers, all were such fans of the book that the focused more on making the movie live up to the reader's expectations and forgot about us, the people who never read it. I was confused the whole time and I consider myself a smart guy.
Sunday, May 21, 2006
Red Wine and Tandori Chicken Don't Mix
I woke up on my couch at some ungodly hour last night with a mouth full of vomit that I had to cough up onto my beige colored living room carpet. Nice. Apparently drinking three bottles of wine (pinot noir, pinot grigio and merlot) and munching on tandoori chicken all night leads to this. And man, red wine puke is the worst of all pukes.
But I'm not mad. Or embarassed about the throw up session. Wanna know why? Because I had a fucking good time at my house warming party, that's why. Everyone loved my food. And the place. And I'm kind of pissed that only Jordan and myself drank copious amounts of wine, but you can't turn a Sparks and PBR crowd into wine drinkers over night. So I'll deal.
We got pretty drunk and played Pictionary late night. I recall telling stupid stories and entertaining the crowd. I don't remember pissing anyone off, something I'm prone to doing when I'm drunk. Tena brought over the Juice, a guy I've only met briefly before, and he was a decent guy. Mike brought over his girlfriend's kid brother Wes, a high school kid who probably just thinks we are all old. And I invited a chick I work with over named Cinthy. The usuals like Sydney and Joolie and their respective boyfriends were in the mix as well. Nice containable group. No fights, no drama...just fun.
If you want to see a bunch of boring pictures, then go here.
But I'm not mad. Or embarassed about the throw up session. Wanna know why? Because I had a fucking good time at my house warming party, that's why. Everyone loved my food. And the place. And I'm kind of pissed that only Jordan and myself drank copious amounts of wine, but you can't turn a Sparks and PBR crowd into wine drinkers over night. So I'll deal.
We got pretty drunk and played Pictionary late night. I recall telling stupid stories and entertaining the crowd. I don't remember pissing anyone off, something I'm prone to doing when I'm drunk. Tena brought over the Juice, a guy I've only met briefly before, and he was a decent guy. Mike brought over his girlfriend's kid brother Wes, a high school kid who probably just thinks we are all old. And I invited a chick I work with over named Cinthy. The usuals like Sydney and Joolie and their respective boyfriends were in the mix as well. Nice containable group. No fights, no drama...just fun.
If you want to see a bunch of boring pictures, then go here.
Thursday, May 18, 2006
People Pleaser
I'm having a housewarming party for myself on Saturday night. I know, I spoil myself don't I? It's not really a housewarming, more like a nice evening of food and wine with friends. I love hosting things, planning things, cooking, so why not get some people over here to partake and change it up a bit. I must admit that going to the same bar and seeing the same people can become tiring, so I for one am welcoming the idea of doing something new. I have a sweet menu planned, crab salad on broiche, spinach lasagna rolls and tandoori chicken kabobs, and I'm anxious to execute the whole event and just enjoy the long weekend I have this weekend. And wine drunk is a nice drunk, so there.
Miss Miserable
One of the worst feelings you can have is the feeling of helplessness. Right now a good friend of mine is struggling with the direction her life is going, and nothing I say ever makes it all better. And that sucks. I realize that her job is a dead end, and it can't be fun to realize such a fact when it's your job, but I can do nothing about it. I'm forced to sit back and watch her slowly lose her mind each day doing the same mind numbing task over and over again.
Soon, too soon if you ask me, she will rid herself of this job and move onto something else, somewhere else and I can only hope that she finds something that uses her talents more wisely and makes her happy. As much as I would have liked for her to succeed where she is, alongside me, I feel as though it's the best move she can make to jump ship. The job is wearing at her, and I've never been an advocate of doing something that makes you miserable every day. It will suck to not have her there everyday, but it's not much fun having her there when she is miserable.
Soon, too soon if you ask me, she will rid herself of this job and move onto something else, somewhere else and I can only hope that she finds something that uses her talents more wisely and makes her happy. As much as I would have liked for her to succeed where she is, alongside me, I feel as though it's the best move she can make to jump ship. The job is wearing at her, and I've never been an advocate of doing something that makes you miserable every day. It will suck to not have her there everyday, but it's not much fun having her there when she is miserable.
Tuesday, May 16, 2006
Um, okay.
Well, another shit day in shit town actually comes out alright when it's all said and done. I complained to my new landlord that I was getting hit with late charges on the pro-rated rent due for the remainder of April and about some things not done in the house and it worked to my advantage.
I don't have to pay anything for April now. Nice. And they are coming over to fix shit tomorrow. Nice.
Makes this day seem less crappy than it really was.
I don't have to pay anything for April now. Nice. And they are coming over to fix shit tomorrow. Nice.
Makes this day seem less crappy than it really was.
Monday, May 15, 2006
Relaxation
Sitting poolside on a Sunday drinking some beers and having some good conversation is becoming my new favorite past time. I snapped over 100 photos of essentially nothing. Thankfully I trimmed that down to 33 for your viewing pleasure. It was overcast and the water was cold, so no real swimming took place.
Check out the full series here.
Check out the full series here.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
Grey Day
It's Mother's Day. Great. Since I don't have a Mom anymore, this is one of those days that you just naturally block out. Just like her Birthday or the anniversary of her death. I try not to think about them as they approach on the calendar, but once the day hits you pretty much have no choice but to reflect a little. And with Mother's Day, well how do you escape the commercialism of a day like today?
Making matters worse is that it's supposed to thunder storm and rain all afternoon putting a squash on the idea of sitting poolside and drinking the day away. Although, I can't say I really have the desire to drink anyway. This past week I've been an emotional wreck at times and last night I walked into a scene out of Spun or Trainspotting where everyone at the bar was fourteen levels ahead of me on the drunk scale. This meant that no one could carry on a conversation, not that I like conversing with wasted folks anyway, but it was especially surreal since 3 of the participants intoxicated were people who have gone on record that they were sobering up and kicking the booze. Two of those folks are doing it for health reasons as well, so it's really sad to see people make decisions that are self destructive, and clearly more so when you are completely sober and in sound mind.
Watching people continually just drink away all their problems is something that I'm not comfortable with. I'm just not. And as a result, I decided my best move was to peace out after a quick hello to folks. Ten minutes is all I lasted. I guess my tolerance for this type of behavior is a bit of a reflection of my own actions this last week as well. Two drunk episodes where my mood changed on a dime and I became angry or sad. I could make an excuse that I'm just out of it since Mother's Day was on it's way, but that would be a lie. Like I said, we kids of the deceased are masters of blocking that kind of shit out until the day of. Nah, I'm more or less just slightly down about my lack of intimacy here in Georgia. These people don't know me, and when people don't know you, they don't really care about you. And when you have an epiphany that the people you are surrounded by in a bar don't really know you or care about you, well if you are me, you just kind of snap a touch.
My cheery disposition on life sometimes wanes into this gloomy area from time to time. Usually I'm able to dust myself off and trudge on. Maybe I can do it again this time? But right now I just want to think about my Mom. And not think about my distance from family and my anger towards everyone else. And maybe I will drink a couple...
Perhaps I'm a hypocrite? Or just ill equipped to deal with shit?
Making matters worse is that it's supposed to thunder storm and rain all afternoon putting a squash on the idea of sitting poolside and drinking the day away. Although, I can't say I really have the desire to drink anyway. This past week I've been an emotional wreck at times and last night I walked into a scene out of Spun or Trainspotting where everyone at the bar was fourteen levels ahead of me on the drunk scale. This meant that no one could carry on a conversation, not that I like conversing with wasted folks anyway, but it was especially surreal since 3 of the participants intoxicated were people who have gone on record that they were sobering up and kicking the booze. Two of those folks are doing it for health reasons as well, so it's really sad to see people make decisions that are self destructive, and clearly more so when you are completely sober and in sound mind.
Watching people continually just drink away all their problems is something that I'm not comfortable with. I'm just not. And as a result, I decided my best move was to peace out after a quick hello to folks. Ten minutes is all I lasted. I guess my tolerance for this type of behavior is a bit of a reflection of my own actions this last week as well. Two drunk episodes where my mood changed on a dime and I became angry or sad. I could make an excuse that I'm just out of it since Mother's Day was on it's way, but that would be a lie. Like I said, we kids of the deceased are masters of blocking that kind of shit out until the day of. Nah, I'm more or less just slightly down about my lack of intimacy here in Georgia. These people don't know me, and when people don't know you, they don't really care about you. And when you have an epiphany that the people you are surrounded by in a bar don't really know you or care about you, well if you are me, you just kind of snap a touch.
My cheery disposition on life sometimes wanes into this gloomy area from time to time. Usually I'm able to dust myself off and trudge on. Maybe I can do it again this time? But right now I just want to think about my Mom. And not think about my distance from family and my anger towards everyone else. And maybe I will drink a couple...
Perhaps I'm a hypocrite? Or just ill equipped to deal with shit?
Friday, May 12, 2006
Baseball(?) Photos
Conspicuously absent from these photos is anyone actually wearing a baseball uniform or playing baseball. Like I said, it was dollar beer night.
Check 'em out here.
Check 'em out here.
Play Ball!
Apparently I have lived within one mile of a Single A ball team's stadium for the last year and didn't have a clue how much fun you can have on the cheap. Last night was Thirsty Thursday where beers are a buck and I managed to rustle up a team of 8 to attend. $20 later, I had a belly full of beer, a big pretzel and a pretty good time. And from the looks on my friend's faces, they did too. Pictures are forthcoming...
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Reality TV Whoredom
No, this post isn't about Trishelle or Tonya from the Real World. It's actually about the convergence of the best weeks you can have in the realm of reality TV. Americal Idol drops to Final 3, Survivor crowns a new winner on Sunday and next week is the finale of the Amazing Race. Since I'm a die hard of all three shows, that makes me one excited mama jama and a total fucking loser. God damn I need a girlfriend.
Anyway, here's my final thoughts on each show and who I think should win and who I think will win.
American Idol
Kat Scratch Fever. I love McPhee so much that I actually voted for her last night, my first voting session this year. I'm worried about her chances of surviving Elvis week. It's slightly unfair that she was the only woman, so I hope she survives. Eliot stepped up his game and made Taylor and Chris look like chumps in my opinion last night.
Who will win? Taylor
Who should win? Katherine
Amazing Race
Final 3 teams are the impressive Frat Guys (winners of 8 legs of the race and a ton of prizes); Ray and Yolanda, (the quiet, athletic couple) and The Hippies. Knowing the history of this show, and not to sound sexist, but the male/female team doesn't have a shot. Amazing Race always comes down to a two male team in the home stretch as history has proven. I have loved this season for the simple fact that the Hippies are just incredibly fun and energetic guys who are genuinely having a good time. Sincerity is paying off for them to make final 3 and that is rare on this show.
Who will win? Frat Guys
Who should win? The Hippies
Survivor
Goodbye Shane. The amount of blindsided tribal council vote offs is making a prediction here a tough one. Terry has been a marked man for 6 weeks and yet keeps winning every challenge and has the hidden idol to pull out when he does lose one. And the guy is staying out of the fray each week since he is odd man out. Hmmm. Loving the Cirie-isms and seeing a robust, black woman represent on the show for a change. I'm not going to lie, I did read a spolier story a while back that said who won and that is playing a major part in my predicitons since that person is still around in the final four.
Who will win? Danielle
Who should win? Terry
Anyway, here's my final thoughts on each show and who I think should win and who I think will win.
American Idol
Kat Scratch Fever. I love McPhee so much that I actually voted for her last night, my first voting session this year. I'm worried about her chances of surviving Elvis week. It's slightly unfair that she was the only woman, so I hope she survives. Eliot stepped up his game and made Taylor and Chris look like chumps in my opinion last night.
Who will win? Taylor
Who should win? Katherine
Amazing Race
Final 3 teams are the impressive Frat Guys (winners of 8 legs of the race and a ton of prizes); Ray and Yolanda, (the quiet, athletic couple) and The Hippies. Knowing the history of this show, and not to sound sexist, but the male/female team doesn't have a shot. Amazing Race always comes down to a two male team in the home stretch as history has proven. I have loved this season for the simple fact that the Hippies are just incredibly fun and energetic guys who are genuinely having a good time. Sincerity is paying off for them to make final 3 and that is rare on this show.
Who will win? Frat Guys
Who should win? The Hippies
Survivor
Goodbye Shane. The amount of blindsided tribal council vote offs is making a prediction here a tough one. Terry has been a marked man for 6 weeks and yet keeps winning every challenge and has the hidden idol to pull out when he does lose one. And the guy is staying out of the fray each week since he is odd man out. Hmmm. Loving the Cirie-isms and seeing a robust, black woman represent on the show for a change. I'm not going to lie, I did read a spolier story a while back that said who won and that is playing a major part in my predicitons since that person is still around in the final four.
Who will win? Danielle
Who should win? Terry
Monday, May 08, 2006
Mondays
Everyone can agree that Mondays suck. Usually it's the first day back to work for most of working class America, and the taste of the weekend is still fresh in your mouth. And the smell of the coming weekend is faint at best on a Monday. Well, today I had off from work, so my Monday wasn't as shit as most of yours no doubt were.
Um. Perhaps that's not entirely true. I took my car to Firestone to see about getting some new tires and $600 later I have four new tires, new brakes and an entry form to enter in a contest to win the car featured in the upcoming Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift movie. Yessssss. I killed the 3 hours it took for the car to get it's new rubbers at Books A Million, our local Barnes and Noble knock off. Cup of Joe, a magazine and a couple books hit the spot. It wasn't all bad since I know a girl who works there and she was working. And my old next door neighbor Anna was there was well. I felt somewhat like a local in fact.
Tires on the car, it was now gym time. But first a quick jaunt back to the Mall to get a security tag removed from my latest purchase at Hot Topic. I know, I know. Hot Topic is for 15 year olds and the goth crowd. I cannot help myself when I get near the clearance rack...it's an illness. Heather, another chick I know from the local bar, is the Assistant Manager there and I got to catch up on all kinds of gossip and whatnot. Again, I felt somewhat like I had been living here a lot longer than only 10 months by seeing someone I know personally working at a store in the mall.
After the gym I came home and worked on some more adventures in decoupage. Call me a loser, but I find it theraputic and relaxing. I made a couple smaller picture frames, one that will be a gift in the near future for one lucky person. And my latest photos came in the mail so I was able to display my last decoupage frame creation that I made a couple weeks back. Looking good. Speaking of art/photos/frames, that is the last piece of the moving puzzle. I haven't hung one thing on the walls yet in the new place. I'm having issues with focusing on where I should put stuff.
Um. Perhaps that's not entirely true. I took my car to Firestone to see about getting some new tires and $600 later I have four new tires, new brakes and an entry form to enter in a contest to win the car featured in the upcoming Fast and Furious Tokyo Drift movie. Yessssss. I killed the 3 hours it took for the car to get it's new rubbers at Books A Million, our local Barnes and Noble knock off. Cup of Joe, a magazine and a couple books hit the spot. It wasn't all bad since I know a girl who works there and she was working. And my old next door neighbor Anna was there was well. I felt somewhat like a local in fact.
Tires on the car, it was now gym time. But first a quick jaunt back to the Mall to get a security tag removed from my latest purchase at Hot Topic. I know, I know. Hot Topic is for 15 year olds and the goth crowd. I cannot help myself when I get near the clearance rack...it's an illness. Heather, another chick I know from the local bar, is the Assistant Manager there and I got to catch up on all kinds of gossip and whatnot. Again, I felt somewhat like I had been living here a lot longer than only 10 months by seeing someone I know personally working at a store in the mall.
After the gym I came home and worked on some more adventures in decoupage. Call me a loser, but I find it theraputic and relaxing. I made a couple smaller picture frames, one that will be a gift in the near future for one lucky person. And my latest photos came in the mail so I was able to display my last decoupage frame creation that I made a couple weeks back. Looking good. Speaking of art/photos/frames, that is the last piece of the moving puzzle. I haven't hung one thing on the walls yet in the new place. I'm having issues with focusing on where I should put stuff.
Sunday, May 07, 2006
The Year of Change
So I have been making an effort this year to do things that I normally wouldn't that are perhaps over documented on this here blogger. Since yesterday I slipped back a little into some old habits, drinking too much and driving when I shouldn't, I had to quickly undo the damage and get back out there by doing something wacky and not me. Thanks to Mike and Erika who came over and kidnapped me about 2 PM, I can now say I've tried ice skating. Oh it sucked. And I am terrible at it. And it seemed like a waste of $9 (Erika's treat.). But the point is I did it. At least tried.
Pool Fool
Wow. Joolie and Eric's inagural pool party of the summer was yesterday. Swimming, eating, drinking...does it get better than that on a hot Saturday afternoon? The folks assembled were a good crowd of people, Sydney and Tena took part, Syd's man came along, Black Rain John, Brian the Bartender, Firehouse Josh and his lovely, Mike and Erika even brought along the kid brother. I pretty much was the last to arrive due to my work schedule. Getting up at 6 AM on Saturday morning never gets any easier no matter how frequent I am required to do it. And since I was having a rough week, I decided to just pound, pound, pound beer and neglect to eat for as long as I could. This usually leads to hijinx like me embarassing myself, or saying inappropriate things publically. I'm certain yesterday was no exception, but as usual my plan of drinking to excess has worked it's magic and I can't recall much from the day's events.
I know I swam.
I know I ran my car into Eric's fence outside his house while going on a beer run.
I know I probably made Tena mad at me.
I know I probably made Syd mad at me.
I know I should have slept over at Joolie's house instead of driving home.
But, I also know the following...
My wallet is here.
My camera is here.
My cooler is here, albeit empty.
My shoes are here.
My new prescription sunglasses are here.
My cell phone is here.
So we will call this one a success. My car has some issues from the whole fence hitting episode, but it's more cosmetic than functional. And don't go thinking I'm an idiot. Many, many men and women have had trouble with Eric's driveway. Joolie lost a side mirror, Brian backed into a pole, it's a fucking dead zone for cars. Especially when it's dark and you have had a couple.
The good news is I'm alive. The bad news is that I don't photograph well. Perhaps yellow isn't my color?
Pool Party Pictures
I know I swam.
I know I ran my car into Eric's fence outside his house while going on a beer run.
I know I probably made Tena mad at me.
I know I probably made Syd mad at me.
I know I should have slept over at Joolie's house instead of driving home.
But, I also know the following...
My wallet is here.
My camera is here.
My cooler is here, albeit empty.
My shoes are here.
My new prescription sunglasses are here.
My cell phone is here.
So we will call this one a success. My car has some issues from the whole fence hitting episode, but it's more cosmetic than functional. And don't go thinking I'm an idiot. Many, many men and women have had trouble with Eric's driveway. Joolie lost a side mirror, Brian backed into a pole, it's a fucking dead zone for cars. Especially when it's dark and you have had a couple.
The good news is I'm alive. The bad news is that I don't photograph well. Perhaps yellow isn't my color?
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Unfull.
One would think my absence from blogging means I'm living the high life and that I'm too busy to write about all of my wacky exploits. Well, one would be wrong. In fact, just the opposite. I'm going through a slight period of dreariness best muddled through on my own. The return from Tybee has yielded a barrage of shit I just don't want to process right now.
Things I don't want to think about include:
1. Money.
2. My inability to meet new people.
3. My failure in relationships.
4. The impending departure of a good friend.
5. My selfishness surround this particular friend's departure.
6. My lack of happiness in what I do for a living.
7. My fear that no one cares about me.
8. My eroding connections with loved ones and friends back in Philly.
9. The eventual end of American Idol.
10. The sameness of every day.
So there. I'm just not in a talking or writing mood. I went to bed last night at 9:30 PM with a migraine caused by grinding teeth and zero coping skills. Tonight I feel again like all I want to do is curl up in bed and never leave. Until I am ready to face the reality that is my life, I'm going to put this blog on pause.
Knowing me it will last all of 2 days since I'm somewhat of an attention whore...
Things I don't want to think about include:
1. Money.
2. My inability to meet new people.
3. My failure in relationships.
4. The impending departure of a good friend.
5. My selfishness surround this particular friend's departure.
6. My lack of happiness in what I do for a living.
7. My fear that no one cares about me.
8. My eroding connections with loved ones and friends back in Philly.
9. The eventual end of American Idol.
10. The sameness of every day.
So there. I'm just not in a talking or writing mood. I went to bed last night at 9:30 PM with a migraine caused by grinding teeth and zero coping skills. Tonight I feel again like all I want to do is curl up in bed and never leave. Until I am ready to face the reality that is my life, I'm going to put this blog on pause.
Knowing me it will last all of 2 days since I'm somewhat of an attention whore...
Monday, May 01, 2006
Tybee Island
First of all, Wildwood, NJ seems like Disney World compared to this place. It's not as desolate as the Outer Banks, but Tybee Island has very little going on to distract you from relaxing. And boy was I looking to relax.
The 3 hour trip there wasn't too bad, especially since I didn't have to drive. Joolie and I took her car and I let Sydney drive the Echo with Tena as her passenger. The 4 of us got in about 9 PM when all was said and done on Friday night. Shortly after unloading all of our gear into the house we discovered that the hot tub, my main selling point if you recall, wasn't actually getting hot. Wait, I'm fast forwarding past a good while of us trying to locate first a light outdoors to see the tub and then overlooking the timer switch for a good 30 minutes. Since we were drinking, the time wasn't exactly wasted while we searched in vain for the operational aspects of our tub. We put in a call to the rental office to see if they would return a page to us, but this again was after we made yet another critical error. The fridge had a laminated list of important details, phone numbers, etc. and you would think this is where one might put operating instructions for a hot tub. Nope. However, located right below the emergency pager number for the rental agency is the number for the police in Tybee. The humor that ensued when a tipsy Sydney called the police to ask how to work our hot tub was priceless. Although, I'm certain the cops didn't find it as funny.
Abandoning all hope on the hot tub front for the night, we drank many red bulls and apple vodka and decided to walk about 35 feet to the closest bar Gayna's Tavern. Just our luck, they have red bull! And what do you know it's Karoake night! The next couple hours were spent stealing the show with our renditions of Avril Lavigne, Abba, Billy Joel and many, many more hits of the 70's, 80's and 90's. About this time I began to have episodes of not recalling anything, I'm assuming due to mass consumption of libations. I can recall wandering home, eating popcorn, goofing off 4 deep on a queen size bed...but most of these memories are pieced together from about 40 photos that caught us in our glory. We appear to be having fun, so that's all the counts.
Saturday morning we got up and decided to hit the beach kind of early. It was windy as hell and the water was ice cold, so the laying out concept didn't last too long. I brought along a nice reclining beach chair, so I didn't really mind chilling all the much on the beach, but the girls were tired of picking sand out of their ears and ass cracks so we headed back to the house to lay hot tub side. In the day light, the clues to unlocking the mystery of the hot tub weren't any clearer, although Syd was certain that something was afoul with the heating element. Again we called the rental agency and this time I spoke with Linda the booking agent who said that she would send someone out. Apparently the heating element was recently replaced, 3 weeks before we go there, but I kind of doubt it. Especially since it wasn't working at all. The sun made the water tolerable and the jets worked, so it was kind of a like hanging out in a baby pool. After basking in the sun all day, we made our way over to the Crab Shack for dinner. The Crab Shack is like kind of famous I guess. They have alligators you can feed, serve all kinds of seafood on the dock of an inlet and the place is literally riddled with cats. Naturally I was tepid in my seafood experience opting to stick to shrimp and sausage. Something from the night before, perhaps red bull, wasn't mixing well with my shrimp and I was in an off mood physically the rest of the night. Luckily the consensus of the group was to take it easy and just chill out. We watched MTV and SNL, drank a little and just relaxed the night away on the couch.
Sunday, still no hot tub repair man, but at this point his presence was unnecessary as it was windier still than on Saturday and we were at this point wearing jackets and some of us long pants to ward off the brisk sea air. Sunday was all about being tourists and we went to see a light house, the Crab Shack again (this time with cameras!) and had a nice lunch/dinner near the beach at Fannies, home of the largest burger on Tybee. After wandering around all day, and since the hot tub was a bust, we decided to leave Sunday night rather than sleep over and travel back in the AM today. Actually Joolie and I were the only two going to stay the 3rd night, as Syd had work today and Tena had school, but Joolie was missing her boyfriend and wanted to get home for some loving. Having had my fill of worrying about the disappointment factor of the hot tub debacle, I was ready to end the adventure as well. In hindsight, the cost for the place was too much for my tastes and the lack of concern over the hot tub by the rental agency has turned me off to the idea of going to Tybee again. But...and this is a major but...
I had a great time just relaxing with my friends. Joolie, Syd and Tena are all so funny and energetic and just so fucking complacent about everything, it was perhaps one of the best weekend trips I have ever had. And they all agreed that they had a good time, so I'm calling this one a success.
The 3 hour trip there wasn't too bad, especially since I didn't have to drive. Joolie and I took her car and I let Sydney drive the Echo with Tena as her passenger. The 4 of us got in about 9 PM when all was said and done on Friday night. Shortly after unloading all of our gear into the house we discovered that the hot tub, my main selling point if you recall, wasn't actually getting hot. Wait, I'm fast forwarding past a good while of us trying to locate first a light outdoors to see the tub and then overlooking the timer switch for a good 30 minutes. Since we were drinking, the time wasn't exactly wasted while we searched in vain for the operational aspects of our tub. We put in a call to the rental office to see if they would return a page to us, but this again was after we made yet another critical error. The fridge had a laminated list of important details, phone numbers, etc. and you would think this is where one might put operating instructions for a hot tub. Nope. However, located right below the emergency pager number for the rental agency is the number for the police in Tybee. The humor that ensued when a tipsy Sydney called the police to ask how to work our hot tub was priceless. Although, I'm certain the cops didn't find it as funny.
Abandoning all hope on the hot tub front for the night, we drank many red bulls and apple vodka and decided to walk about 35 feet to the closest bar Gayna's Tavern. Just our luck, they have red bull! And what do you know it's Karoake night! The next couple hours were spent stealing the show with our renditions of Avril Lavigne, Abba, Billy Joel and many, many more hits of the 70's, 80's and 90's. About this time I began to have episodes of not recalling anything, I'm assuming due to mass consumption of libations. I can recall wandering home, eating popcorn, goofing off 4 deep on a queen size bed...but most of these memories are pieced together from about 40 photos that caught us in our glory. We appear to be having fun, so that's all the counts.
Saturday morning we got up and decided to hit the beach kind of early. It was windy as hell and the water was ice cold, so the laying out concept didn't last too long. I brought along a nice reclining beach chair, so I didn't really mind chilling all the much on the beach, but the girls were tired of picking sand out of their ears and ass cracks so we headed back to the house to lay hot tub side. In the day light, the clues to unlocking the mystery of the hot tub weren't any clearer, although Syd was certain that something was afoul with the heating element. Again we called the rental agency and this time I spoke with Linda the booking agent who said that she would send someone out. Apparently the heating element was recently replaced, 3 weeks before we go there, but I kind of doubt it. Especially since it wasn't working at all. The sun made the water tolerable and the jets worked, so it was kind of a like hanging out in a baby pool. After basking in the sun all day, we made our way over to the Crab Shack for dinner. The Crab Shack is like kind of famous I guess. They have alligators you can feed, serve all kinds of seafood on the dock of an inlet and the place is literally riddled with cats. Naturally I was tepid in my seafood experience opting to stick to shrimp and sausage. Something from the night before, perhaps red bull, wasn't mixing well with my shrimp and I was in an off mood physically the rest of the night. Luckily the consensus of the group was to take it easy and just chill out. We watched MTV and SNL, drank a little and just relaxed the night away on the couch.
Sunday, still no hot tub repair man, but at this point his presence was unnecessary as it was windier still than on Saturday and we were at this point wearing jackets and some of us long pants to ward off the brisk sea air. Sunday was all about being tourists and we went to see a light house, the Crab Shack again (this time with cameras!) and had a nice lunch/dinner near the beach at Fannies, home of the largest burger on Tybee. After wandering around all day, and since the hot tub was a bust, we decided to leave Sunday night rather than sleep over and travel back in the AM today. Actually Joolie and I were the only two going to stay the 3rd night, as Syd had work today and Tena had school, but Joolie was missing her boyfriend and wanted to get home for some loving. Having had my fill of worrying about the disappointment factor of the hot tub debacle, I was ready to end the adventure as well. In hindsight, the cost for the place was too much for my tastes and the lack of concern over the hot tub by the rental agency has turned me off to the idea of going to Tybee again. But...and this is a major but...
I had a great time just relaxing with my friends. Joolie, Syd and Tena are all so funny and energetic and just so fucking complacent about everything, it was perhaps one of the best weekend trips I have ever had. And they all agreed that they had a good time, so I'm calling this one a success.
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