Let's Go Mets

The most American thing I can think of to do on Memorial Day is to go to a baseball game. Fernando bought me a cute Mets hat for my birthday and I was ready to put it to some good use. I got online and found us some tickets and took him as a suprise to the game to show my appreciation for the hat. I am of the absolute belief that if you are going to go to a baseball game, you have to have the whole experience. (Which for me means some bad food and singing "take me out to the ball game" in the seventh inning. So, hotdogs, peanuts, beer, kettle corn (I know, I know, its not crackerjacks, but close enough) were on the menu. If you look closely at the picture, you can see the nice beautiful peanut remnants in my teeth. I have no shame.

Summer ,Summer, Summer Ti-ime

I know its not TECHNICALLY summer, but lately it has felt like it. I have been to the golf course the last two weekends. AND, I went to a BBQ.

First, we shall talk about golf. I am soooo excited that Fernando has a car and likes to golf. Translation: I get to go golfing. I have spent the last few years here not being able to really go out and golf for a few reasons:
1. I don't own a car - lugging clubs on the train isnt fun.
2. The train really doesn't go to golf courses anyway.
3. I hate asking people for rides
4. Its too expensive to rent a car just to go golfing.
5. None of my friends golf.

Last year, in Utah, I was pretty excited because I was there for two months and got to go several times. This year, I have gotten to see two courses already in NY.

Not sure why exactly I like the sport. I am not really good at it - I usually shoot between 110 and 120. For those of you who don't know = those who Golf well do it under 100. I think maybe its four things: the social aspect, the sunshine and grass, the excercise, and, of course, the Golf Skirt. So there you have it.

The BBQ after golf was the first of the season. We went to Ferando's mom's place and had a really nice layout: london broil, salmon steaks, portobello mushrooms, and lots of other table treats. Don't get me started on the cheese. Ok. Get me started.

Over the years I have developed a taste for cheese. Growing up, we only had the kinds of cheese you put on sandwiches - Swiss, American, Jack, Cheddar, Parmesan (in the shaker for spaghetti!) and who can live without VELVEETA!!! Seriously... where did velveeta come from? My brother and I had countless plates of nachos and little bagel pizza sandwiches after school made with that stuff. Is it real cheese? So back to my cheese story... we never really had many cheese varieties outside of the normal stuff you would find next to the yogurt and sour cream in the dairy section. I'm not really sure why - maybe my parents thought we wouldn't like it.

Over the last ten years after attending several parties, my cheese universe has grown to include all of the wonderful flavors of cheese - goudas, blues, goats, brie, edam, jarlsburg, etc etc etc. So, I think I now have a problem with a slight cheese addictions. But not to fear, I am not alone. I have found several others just like me. You know who you are. You are the ones who go and peruse the aisle for that perfect block of cheese that is going to "make" your evening. And then you go home and scarf down half of it with a bag of those flat Carrs table crackers and half a bottle of wine.

Back to the real story... so the BBQ was fabulous. Wish I still had a grill. Would love to have BBQs again. Miss that.

Fully Committed

Fernando, Me, Greg, Brian

Today I was invited to one of the coolest things I have done since I have been in New York. Most people are probably thinking it is skydiving over the Empire State Building or something crazy like that... a little more subdued but definitely very cool. Fernando's friend Greg had some friends in from out of town and wanted to plan a fun night for them. Across the hall from his office is an acting studio...

Needless to say, he ended up with the genius idea to have a private showing of "Fully Committed" - a one man show being done by one of the students. There were probably about 20 people there. Greg set it up nice with some appetizers and a bar. We hung out for about an hour before the show started and chatted.

The show was cool because we were all in our own private little stage with the actor. It really had a personal feel to it - something I have never really had before except when I was in highschool practicing for plays I was in. This was different though, because I was in the audience.

After the show, we had some time to ask questions to the actor and the *director - (I think that was his title but I could be very wrong). It was truly a wonderful experience and I am really grateful to have been invited to participate.

**Thanks Greg!

Pic from that night is attached.

Trials and Tribulations of a Jersey Resident

The latest police taping and coning off of my street (sorry its not the best picture, but you get the point).

I officially am declaring my dislike for 77 Hudson - the new giant building across the street from my apartment. Reasons why I dislike it:

1. My view of the skyline is now obstructed by a giant ugly monstrosity.
2. They start work on the building at 7am - 6 days a week. Happy that the giant hammer thing that was pounding metal spikes into the ground is gone but unhappy because of new cranes and other loud noises.
3. The workers use one of those horns people blow during basketball and football games when their team scores... but they use it every fifteen minutes to communicate. I think I have it down: one blow - breaktime. Two blows: move the crane. Three blows: lets piss off the girl in the apartment across the street who is trying to sleep.
4. There are a few trash cans/dumpsters across the street now that proclaim "We love wild girls". Oh really? You do huh? I'm secretly crushing up old birth control pills I found in my medicine chest with tons of estrogen in them and contaminating their big orange water coolers. We will see how long the spray paint lasts. Ok, the potency is probably not good on them since they are old but you never know. It might work.
5. My stoop is now the hang out for any one of the 300+ construction guys who want to eat their sandwich or smoke their cigarette and leave their trash (which in turn causes me to have to battle with my dogs to keep them away from sidewalk scraps on a daily basis .... and yes, I have now mastered the finger sweep. YUCK) I'm pretty sure that is why Wally has now taken to just licking the sidewalk.
6. Safety Safety Safety. This one requires sub-indents due to the amount of items in this category.
a. The 4 alarm fire in October. At this time only 18 floors had been built and they only had piped the water up to the 14th floor. So, the MF burned. Not exactly sure how the whole thing started, but I was evacuated from my apartment for 4 days. With my dogs. And the windows to my apartment were left open. I found charred pieces of wood inside when I got home. Link to story.
b. Debris was falling off the building for a few weeks so they blocked off the street with police for a few days then put up some scaffolding on the sidewalk. The police changed guard every few hours or so and no pedestrians were allowed on my street. I got yelled at (i lost count) a gazillion times by the police when I went out to walk the dogs... Ma'am, you can't be walking on this street... Ma'am this is dangerous... Ma'am ma'am ma'am. UGH. I mean really, what else did they want me to do? Leave home till they fixed it?
c. Storm #1 - they finally removed the scaffolding. Then there was a big storm and apparently a lot of loose wood, wires, trash, etc. Fernando and I were awakened all night long by debris hitting my apartment. The next day I found a two by four on my fire escape. I'm on the 3rd floor. So that's what that really loud noise was hitting my window at 4am?? The street looked like a war zone..wood, wire, plastic bins and trash everywhere. They shut down my street again for a few days and installed nets. (apparently to 'catch' the debris). Now wouldn't it just make more sense to secure the stuff they have sitting on all those floors? Maybe I just don't understand the science of it all. And, the nets were horizontal to the ground. If the wind was gonna pick stuff up and blow it off the building, not sure how a horizontal net would work with stuff that is flying parallel to it. Which leads us to the next "incident".
d. Despite the nets... a two by four falls off the building on a windy day just as a car happens to be driving down my street. It piles into the car from about the 30th floor. Right in front of my apartment. My street is shut down again.
e. Next Storm. Same thing. This time they decide to put the scaffolding up again. This time with chicken wire as a "wall" between the sidewalk and the street.
I do have to say though, I like the scaffolding when it is raining and I have to walk the dogs. At least there is one positive.
7. Back to the reasons.. no more safety indents. My name is not "Baby". When I wear a suit with a skirt to work, I am not wearing it to "look hot". Only my dogs respond to whistles. Need I say more.
8. The street in front of my house is not a trash can.

Ok, I'm done. But if any new reasons come up, I will be sure to update the blog.



I stole this picture off a website since I didn't have one myself. Find it on NJ News website - giving credit where credit is due. Photo By REENA ROSE SIBAYAN / THE JERSEY JOURNAL. Four alarm fire.

The Landmark Forum

This weekend I attended a seminar called the Landmark Forum. Its probably easiest to say that it is something like a class in how to be a human being: living a happy and fulfilled life, as well as being a good person. Sounds a little simplistic to be a 36 hour class (3 full days and one additional evening) but it was packed full of information. I signed up to take this seminar for a few reasons. I had never heard of it before, but Fernando and a few of his friends have taken it and they have talked about it several times over the last few months. All of them seemed to have enjoyed the seminar and had a positive experience. Also, every year I say at New Year's that I want to develop myself personally and never really have invested in trying to do that through classes/seminars. And lastly, since Fernando has taken it, I thought it would be nice to be able to have something to share and talk about that we both have done.

There is a lot of participation from those who attended the seminar to open up parts of their lives to others and it helps you to see yourself in similar situations. It helps you to identify parts of your life that you may want to transform. It's a little hard to explain on a blog! So, needless to say I met some really cool people. We had these assigments to do on our breaks with other participants so I got to know some of the people in the class. Just want to give a shout out to all of them - and I am looking forward to taking the next course!

5 Borough Bike Tour

Pretty exciting day for me today... my first bike tour. Each year, there is a 5 borough bike tour that is about 42 miles through New York. Like the name says, it covers the 5 boroughs. So you start from Manhattan, ride to the Bronx, then back to Manhattan, then Queens, Brooklyn and Staten Island. The trip was a real tribute to my relationship.

My bike needed to be tuned up prior to the ride. Due to my hours at work that week and subsequent laziness, I ended up not getting the bike to the shop. No big deal right? Wrong. The first 9 miles of the tour, I was getting passed by people that were either much older or younger than me and/or much larger than me. For someone that is in pretty decent shape, there was no reason for me to be passed like this. Fernando was a trooper. It was visibly obvious that he was trying not to be annoyed with my "abilities". Gotta hand it to him. He was trying to be so positive. Needless to say, at the first "rest stop" we brought my bike to the tent and fixed the brake rubbing against the wheel which made a huge difference. Too bad that 9 miles really had already felt like 18!

In the end, I made it though. It was a really nice experience for me. Fernando had done it before but this was my first time. It was fun to see the boroughs from a different perspective - but the bridges were a bitch! Fernando is in really good shape. After a while, I just kept telling him to meet me at the top of the hills. Don't get me wrong, I did pretty good on them I think (I never stopped to walk!). Just not as good as him.

While the bike ride was awesome and really fun, I have been paying for it ever since. My back is whack. I'll get over it though. Not the first time and won't be the last. Just wish my massage therapist from Utah was here. Really miss that. Three one hour sessions with her was the same price as one session here. Ugh! So, I haven't been.

Not sure what it is about backs and rites of passage. But, I think that there should be one for them. You know, it would be like this: age 13 you become a teenager, age 18 you can vote, age 21 you can drink, age 25 you can rent a car and pay normal fees, age 30 you are no longer considered one of those punk ass kids, and then comes the back. Age 30+, back pain. Blah Blah Blah. Ill get over it.

My Photography

As many of you know, I have a strong interest in photography. I am adding this one to my elite collection. Titled: Jewish Gangsta Graffiti. Fernando thinks it should be called Jewish Gang-star of David Graffiti. Ok, so maybe I haven't quite settled on the title yet. This is a limited edition - only 10 copies will be printed/sold. I have reduced the resolution on this one to avoid people downloading and printing their own copies. Contact me if you are interested. I will sign them. Hurry before it's too late!