October 29, 2008
go phillies!!!!
1st world series victory since 1980!!!! they deserve it. i'm so happy right now! hopefully philly won't meltdown tonight. ;)
what's up what's up??
what's up what's up what's up what's up???
great song. it's called what's up what's up.
have you ever found it hard to relate to people? i've been noticing this moreso than before. either those i talk to have lives so far removed from mine that i can do nothing more than lamely pretend to follow along, or they're not that dissimilar but i'm on some other wavelength or planet many light years away. examples of former and latter, conversations about children and day-care inconveniences, and about single life and dating.
i'm more disturbed about the latter. i find that i can't relate to many women, i'd say roughly 90% my age and in my situation. it's a little easier for me to get along with men. i believe i think a little more similarly to men than women. whatever the rationale, lately it's just been awful. i'm usually a pretty decent conversationalist with anyone, but i've really noticed now that i've been frequently subjected to opportunities to talk, that can't pull it off with any modicum of genuineness (is that a word?) with women in my situation. the worst is one-on-one over lunch. i couldn't give two shits about gossip girl, or lost, or whatever people watch these days. i do enjoy shopping though. but i can't talk about it as eagerly as everyone else. it's just not that exciting. and it's great that your niece is getting married and that you love helping her plan for the wedding, and that there was this great sale and you stocked up on 600 thread count sheets. but i can't hold a conversation on these topics. and this is with men too, i've just been smiling and nodding. i'm used to it over football, but usually i can find something else to talk about. i'm grasping at straws now.
more than ever i think i'm becoming less credible at faking interest and sincerity. it sounds awful, i know. but most of you know that i'm generally a nice person and that i genuinely care about the people whose company i enjoy.
anyway, it's not as depressing as it sounds, more amusing really. i guess one has to go with the flow, adapt, evolve, etc. or at least get better at pretending to do so.
phillies are in the 9th, 2 out, they lead 4-3. 1 out away from the world series. let's hope it happens! i've been yelling "let's go phillies" in my apt, hoping it helps, but for once i don't think the phillies need any help :)
October 19, 2008
:)
anthony bourdain takes on the food network chefs:
http://blog.ruhlman.com/ruhlmancom/2007/02/guest_blogging_.html.
his description of rachael ray:
"She’s a friendly, familiar face who appears regularly on our screens to tell us that “Even your dumb, lazy ass can cook this!” Wallowing in your own crapulence on your Cheeto-littered couch you watch her and think, “Hell…I could do that. I ain’t gonna…but I could--if I wanted! Now where’s my damn jug a Diet Pepsi?”"
on paula deen:
"I’m reluctant to bash what seems to be a nice old lady. Even if her supporting cast is beginning to look like the Hills Have Eyes--and her food a True Buffet of Horrors. A recent Hawaii show was indistinguishable from an early John Waters film."
and mario batali:
"Relegated to the circus of Iron Chef America, where--like a great, toothless lion, fouling his cage, he hangs on--and on--a major draw (and often the only reason to watch the show). How I would like to see him unchained, free to make the television shows he’s capable of, the Real Mario--in all his Rabelasian brilliance. How I would love to hear the snapping bones of his cruel FN ringmasters, crunching between his mighty jaws! Let us see the cloven hooves beneath those cheery clogs! Let Mario be Mario!"
October 18, 2008
word to the wise
not giving a f*** (nsfw)
and the classic
i ate at a restaurant called "america" on friday. it was terrible. i am ashamed that it chose this fine country as its namesake, when the food served there would undoubtedly be rejected by people who are starving. one guy in my party actually had to be served a second entree b/c the first was absolutely inedible.
i had the philly cheesesteak, in honor of the recent phillies' victory. in my travels, i have never been able to understand how the only decent cheesesteak can be found in philadelphia (with the exception of carl's philly cheesesteaks in NYC - only b/c carl is from philadelphia). not much goes into a cheesesteak - by no means rocket science, but few can get it right. it's just an italian roll, thinly sliced beef, cheez whiz, fried onions, mushrooms, ketchup, and cooked sweet peppers. acceptable variations on the theme include provolone or american cheese, and maybe a little mayo on the roll. never fresh tomatoes, lettuce, prime rib, swiss, raw onion. this is a working class sandwich - anything less or better is a slap in the face. i remember one time when i was child, i was homesick and so i ordered one in a restaurant in west virginia. it turned out to be made with french bread, roast beef, swiss and au jus, and it wasn't bad, but it just wasn't deserving of the name cheesesteak. it was a memory that perpetuated itself over the years, and i never forgot the disappointment.
well "america" got the ingredients down for the most part, but the sandwich tasted like garbage. and it looked disgusting. someone said it appeared that the chef had barfed on my plate (to add insult to injury, he kept referring to my meal as a "steak and cheese" - as someone who went to school in philly, he knows how to annoy philadelphians, and being a bastard he enjoys doing so. luckily for me, he was the one who had to get two entrees - the latter of which, i.e. the "better," looked as if someone had dumped alpo into a bowl, heated it, and then poured water on top). another awful meal chalked up to the fine cuisine at union station. with the exception of the asian cafe, i have never had a satisfactory meal there, despite there being about 50 different places to eat in that building. even places that are generally decent like "au bon pain" just taste like crap in union station. and although they may lack the taste, they are still hideously overpriced as au bon pains throughout the country are wont to be.
eh whatever though. a little heartburn and disappointment builds character. it's all relative. although i eschew reality tv, i find myself watching discovery health's "inside brookhaven obesity clinic." life can be bad, but at least for some of us it's void of lymphedema. this one guy has it in his left leg, which is swollen to about 2 feet in diameter, full of liquid. he can't get surgery unless he loses weight to 400 lbs, but he ignores the doctors and continues to eat. his leg is peeling b/c it's always oozing fluids, and it's hard for him to even move b/c it's so huge and heavy, and the condition carries a very real risk of death, but i guess he's just so depressed at his state that he keeps eating. he says it's an addiction and it keeps him happy. he would rather cut off his leg than cut down his food intake. so disturbing. i sympathize, esp with his leg looking the way it does, but at some point, i just want to shake him, to tell him to get real. it's a really good show, although i get depressed watching it b/c i'm a voyeur viewing people's struggles for entertainment. but i guess such is reality tv. why put yourself out there unless you want to be watched?
October 15, 2008
gotta get up to get down
bottom of the 6th and phils up 5-0. if they win this, they're going to the world series!!! ok ramirez just scored :( 5-1. hopefully the phillies end it tonight. i remember 1993, i was studying for midterms and saw the phillies beat the braves for the pennant championship. plz do it again tonight!
October 14, 2008
all we have to do now is take these lies and make them true somehow
haha having a nice evening listening to george michael. i saw "midnight meat train," that clive barker story that was made into a movie directed by kitamura, the guy who did "versus." "midnight meat train" totally sucked, which is surprising since it's about a guy who hangs people on meat hooks on the A train. even my mom was unperturbed, that's how boring it was. i think it was free on "on demand" but i still want my 94 minutes back.
"on demand" has some interesting stuff every now and then. next up is "the machine girl" about a japanese schoolgirl who gets her arm cut off by yakuza ninjas, and has a machine gun transplanted onto it to help her exact her revenge. sounds like that robert rodriguez movie but i hear it's fun.
October 07, 2008
October 05, 2008
October 01, 2008
when i grow up
too much reality isn't good for a soul, esp for me since i unfortunately have a particularly limited tolerance for it. i experience more than i can physically cope with, just from reading the paper on the train, checking teh webz, dealing with people for most of the day, watching the news, and being subjected on a daily basis to tales of an acquaintance's heinous j-date misadventures. b/c of my darkening mood, i think it's time i wean myself from this once i'm home, and spend my evenings reading, playing video games, watching movies, etc. basically being unproductive. escapism may not accomplish much, but at least it keeps me sane.
some asked how DC is. so far so good. people are pretty chill. i haven't encountered as many crazies as i usually do in NY, but they're pretty much located in certain areas that everyone with a brain just avoids. it amazes me that NYC, a much larger city, was able to conquer its once-legendary crime problem, but people here still break into cars to steal burned CDs or smash your window and not take anything just to make a point. i talked to one guy who just leaves his car unlocked b/c there's nothing to take and it's better, he says, than having someone destroy his car trying to break in. but then i talked to someone else who had her crappy jeep cherokee stolen off her block twice in one month (she lives at cleveland park which is a decent area too). so i'm glad my car is hidden in a garage with other cars that cost 20x its worth. it's a POS compared to the two carrera 4s and the sweet M5 i've been drooling over. and, since i've had to drive a lot more, my car has been flashing me the check engine light and so i will probably spend a small fortune this weekend at the saab mechanic who apparently is not unlike jerry seinfeld's angry saab mechanic, for better or for worse.
i like my apt building. it's a high-rise. it looks like a hilton. there's a gym i've been feeling guilty about not using, and a pool, and the building has events for tenants with DJs and food, which i suspect are targeted for the singles, since everyone in my building is an unmarried lawyer / lobbyist in their 20s or 30s, which is an accurate representation of DC since i swear the city is entirely made up of such ivy league lawyer / lobbyist types, and people with vague backgrounds who work in think-tanks. and they should all STFU. haha no just kidding, they have been nice so far. but a very different scene than NY. i don't see any artists, or musicians, or those who do other financially-challenging things.
everyone i've met has been impassioned with one view or another. not like they're talking about it from some blogs they've read, but b/c they know it since they work in that particular area. so sometimes i feel like people are more genuinely versed and excited about certain subjects than people i've met in NY. and overall i've also been struck by how professionally-motivated DC folk are, but, although they're definitely an educated and (at least those i've met so far) a pleasant people, sometimes they come across as a bit bland.
they all like the redskins here. the baseball team of choice is not the nationals, but the baltimore orioles. like in NY, i've been hearing a lot of philly bashing. but everyone i've met has seriously lived in philly at one point in their lives, NY in another, boston, chicago, occasionally somewhere in california, and someplace overseas for a few years. i feel parochial in comparison. no one is from DC and i doubt they will stay here longer than 5 years.
but i'm enjoying it. i needed a change of pace and i got it.