In honor of hitting this monumental landmark, I will share 100 random thoughts/stories from what was a ridiculously busy Thanksgiving break. Actually, this could get absurdly lengthy so I'll do it in two installments, which may be completely defeating the purpose as only installment #1 is the actual hundredth blog. Whatever. Let's go...
1) Lorenzo's pizza is amazing. I somehow forgot how delicious it was until this past week, where I put down a good amount of pie leaving Mako's. Which leads me to...
2) Mako's is a very polarizing place. It's a bar at 3rd and South with a "divey" feel to it. Cheap drinks, very interesting assortment of people, unique atmosphere. You either love it or you don't. Speaking for myself, any place that's affordable and has pool tables is going to be a place I enjoy.
3) My 5-year class reunion was a blast, and after a bit of early social discomfort, I got settled and really had a great time.
4) I took a picture and chatted with a person I literally did not say one word to in high school...that's the interesting part about reunions, stuff like that happens.
5) The Fox and the Hound, the reunion spot, is a pretty solid establishment. I wouldn't go there unless there was an event like the one on Saturday, but for that type of shindig it's not too bad.
6) I LOVE Traditions! This is one of the reasons I think I will be a fantastic and lame father simultaneously.
7) Me and a few friends started a tradition a few years ago that we didn't keep up with. The night before Turkey Day we cook up a steak dinner and toast with Yuengling Lager bottles. It's one of my favorite nights of the entire year, and I couldn't be happier that we started it back up.
8) Good cuts of steak are pricey. I look forward to having more money to spend on our Thanksgiving Eve dinner next year.
9) I owe Carver mac and cheese that I said would be part of the steak dinner.
10) I owe Carver a Lorenzo's slice.
11) I think at some point the IOUs will be so numerous that I will be forced to save his life to eradicate the debt.
12) Robbie's cuz Matt is one of the nicest dudes ever and I was lucky to spend a night with the cousins. He insisted on taking a photo on his phone to remember the night, no matter how it came out. I'm glad he did.
13) Robbie and I high-fived at one point because we were on a mind boggling streak of consecutive nights spent chilling together.
14) Can anyone fill in some of the details of Wednesday night? Not all of the pieces to that crazy puzzle were found. I suppose they will remain a mystery.
15) I have now almost come to blows with 2 full-fledged Donovan McNabb supporters in the last 7 days. Both of them were cootie-carriers aka girls.
16) The Office has become the gift and the curse for me. It's my current TV obsession and I share it with friends and family alike. It gives me countless laughs and more importantly countless reality escapes when necessary. At the same time, it has placed unrealistic expectations on relationships (the perfection that is Jim&Pam) and I always feel guilty not creating something with the time I use to watch it.
17) Its always better watching comedy with someone else that’s also really into it. ALWAYS. Everything is funnier, and you pick up on humor in things you wouldn't if viewing alone.
18) Gotta have gravy with turkey. It's a must. Had leftover turkey gravy-less on Friday and was far from thrilled with my meal.
19) "Love hurts, but sometimes it's a good hurt and it feels like I'm alive" is one of many Incubus lyrics that I really dig. It's simple yet heartfelt, and I'm a fan. For this reason, and despite everyone bashing newer Incubus albums nonstop, I remain very into them.
20) My voice is getting worse and worse. It's really frustrating actually because I fancy myself a decent singer when my voice isn't paralyzed by allergies, sickness or yelling. It's been messed up now for 3 months and I'm beginning to get really nervous about it.
21) I'm still working on covers of "Getaway Car" by Audioslave and "Sideways" by Citizen Cope. And I plan to continue perfecting my rendition of "break you off" by the Roots, which should sound strong whenever I do finish it.
22) I listened to a lot of Jay-Z over break, and I still haven't scraped the surface of his discography, which I downloaded a month ago. I can't get over how many tracks he's produced. And they're all money.
23) If I started another blog, it would be about television shows I'm into. Then I could justify my viewing hours with writings that paralleled them.
24) It's impossible to get to sleep when your feet are freezing.
25) I read a text-from-last-night that said something to effect of "New Moon broke the Dark Knight's record at the box office this weekend. I have officially lost my will to live." ...that sums up my feelings on the issue tremendously.
26) The idea of asking someone to do/not do something versus the idea that it should go without saying is one of life's awkward debates prone to gray areas, of which there are many.
27) Unintentionally going over the speed limit on I-95, a cop tore out from the middle of the highway and proceeded to tailgate me for a mile, just intimidating into getting my speed down. After he thought I got the message, he got off at an exit and I was off the hook. Phew...
28) Cherry Coke was delivered from God to humanity via someone's inventive mind. Rob and I had a 10 minute conversation lamenting the fact that we couldn't have come up with the blend, not because we would've made a killing but rather because we could've been the ones to give the gift of that magnificent taste to society. A definite highlight of the week...
29) Miller High Life < Any other beer
30) Bring back Iverson!!! The Sixers aren't going anywhere anytime soon, at least A.I. would draw some buzz back around the team. This was the big Philadelphia sports rumor going around all last week.
31) I was talking to a few guys at the reunion and we came to the conclusion that the majority of the female population is most attractive right before and immediately after college. I wonder if they analyze how the male population's looks fluctuate over the years.
32) I think I need a break from people. Too much being social and not enough time to just sit by myself.
33) Tiger Woods crashed his SUV over Thanksgiving break at 2:30 in the morning right outside of his house. I have never been a huge Tiger fan, he's just always struck me as pompous. I think he can do no wrong in the media's eyes, and that always annoys me. How this situation unfolds and how the sports world reacts as new facts surface about it will be interesting to follow.
34) I need to work out...
35) ...really badly
36) I decided I'm not going to run until the beginning of next semester. The winter months don't mix well with running to begin with. Add to that the chaos that is the holiday season and the finals push at school, and bundling up and sprinting around the hood isn't a top priority.
37) I rely far too much on my phone calendar to remind me of things. It's become essential for me to put life's little details in there so I don't forget things.
38) Mashed potatoes are growing on me. I mentioned this briefly in a previous blog, but it seemed fitting to mention again given the fact I had multiple meals with them over break.
39) I had one class last week from 8-9:20AM on Tuesday morning and was finished school for the week. That was clutch.
40) I saw Kelly Johnson for the first time in forever. I was so excited I picked her up and over the short fence that separated the patio from the street. Kelly J falls into the category of people whose sheer presence is enough to bring my mood up, regardless of how good or bad it already is.
41) My neighbor Les passed away over the break. He was elderly and very sick also, but that doesn't make it easy. Les was a great guy. Soft spoken and friendly, he (and his wife who passed a few years ago) was a mainstay of my block and it always gave me a sense of comfort to look across the block and see him on the front porch to exchange pleasantries with. I don't want to overstate our relationship, nor trivialize his death by putting it in this blog, but I certainly want to pay him some words of tribute. I love all my neighbors, and have really special places in my heart for the ones who were here when I was born and have remained to the present. He will be missed...
42) My Sister will put on "Hey Ma" by Cam'ron on the Ry-pod every time we have a drive of 30 or more minutes somewhere and we always have the same convo about how I told her when the song came out and was a Q102 hit that it was a guilty pleasure of mine. We enjoy sharing corny memories and she is an all-star at remembering the most random facts ever.
43) People are way too germaphobic these days. I get that swine flu exists and that people get sick this time of year, but occasionally I will have an allergy-related cough or sneeze in public and feel as though I just yelled FIIIIIIRE based on the reaction of passer-bys.
44) Had a John's Village Market hoagie made for me by none other than Johnny Vesper. We caught up for a few minutes, the perfect amount of time for people as familiar with each other as the two of us are. The hoagies there are great though, one of a gazillion food notes that are in this blog.
45) Went to A.C. with Jake and Dan, and was not informed that you're supposed to go black on the roulette table. I just hung out and watched the rest of the night, but did have an enjoyable time although I'm very sad to say that...
46) ...I'm pretty sure I didn't see the Havertown crew besides that at all over break. If there was a low-light of my time away from school and work, it was that I didn't get a chance to celebrate my favorite holiday with H-town
47) The Sunday nights after a vacation are always the most depressing hours for me. I have said time-and-time again that the best/worst parts of life aren't always the actions/events themselves, but rather the anticipation of their arrival in time. That's why even though I have a wicked case of the Mondays on occasion, I get even more severe cases of the Sunday Nights.
48) My 3-year old cousin is still not fully sold on me yet. I've been putting in the effort, and I'll get the occasional hug or contact of some sort with her, but the rest of the time she thinks I'm the monster that's come to eat all the birthday cake. See with most kids, you'd just say a regular monster to get the point across but she would be far more horrified by a creature taking her birthday cake than she would a creature attempting to take her life/soul/dignity (whatever monsters take). The girl loves her cake and is ambivalent on her 24-year-old cousin.
49) I get my ability to rant from my Paps, who is a pro. I'm still an amateur ranter. My theory is the older you get, the more informed you've become on a certain topic. Add to that the fact that you get more stuck in your ways as the years pass, and you quickly gain your professional ranter status.
50) I'm getting pickier about my wings by the day. I try to eat an inordinate amount of hot wings once a week, and since that only amounts to 52 meals out of 1,095 in a year, I'm getting way more selective about where they're from. I know what it takes for a wing to please me. I also know that I treat my wings like my women: Learn from past experiences, and never settle for anything short of excellence.
On that note, and before I take that analogy way out of hand, I will conclude Part 1.
Part 2 soon...
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