Year In Review - Part II

As always, I made sure to have some escapade in my year.

This year was New York, NY; Kansas City, MO; Austin, TX; Santa Claus, IN; Dublin, Ireland; London, UK; Glasgow, Scotland; Berkeley, CA.

Here are a few pics...








Lessons Learned...

• Sometimes you have to get away be it for entertainment, avoidance, therapy, or your birthday. You just need to do it!


• Traveling alone has its rewards. You get to go where you want, do what you want, and all on your schedule.


• Traveling alone can be scary. When something goes wrong, you have only your brain to figure out what to do


• Traveling alone means it's hard to get good pictures. Yea, you can ask the random stranger to take a picture for you; but with my trust issues, no one was touching my camera!


• Sometimes the places you least expect to enjoy are the best and vice versa. I had high hopes for London though it proved much less enjoyable than anticipated. I had low hopes for Berkley and it proved to be a top on my list of places to return.

Could Maybe Have Something to Do With . . .

Well, I finally made it to Friday. This week feels like it has been forever; long, stressful, and sad! The really bright side right now is that I am working in a spreadsheet. It's like wrapping yourself in a warm comfy good smelling blanket!

So, yesterday was a really weird day for me, weird things happened, I've begun wondering if I am insane or not. It's like God, that I do not believe exists, was talking to me (no, there were not voices)! I don't discuss religion, so I won't dwell on it in this blog. I also don't want to dwell on it for fear that someone will point out that I am actually very insane. I'm also just not a theologian, so, no point in this discussion; however for the sake of commentary on my life, I, for the first time in years, (in fact so long ago, I can't even recall) I actually prayed. I don't know who I prayed/talked to, I don't know why I did it, I don't even want to wonder why I did it. I just did. I prayed for a lot, for instance, I prayed that Badger would not think I'm insane for praying and just really in need of some sort of understanding as well as for him to figure out his work situation. I prayed the same for Amanda as well (whose opinion I think highly of), and that for her to have some amazing strength (which she already has) to get through everything that is going on with her life. I prayed for my mom to be healthy. I prayed for Eva to be healthy. I prayed for Shane to get some sleep. I prayed for Holly to get a break for once. I don't know how this prayer thing works, I did after all give up on it years ago. Maybe I asked for too much. All I know is that it didn't kill me. I'm not ready to be converted and I don't even want to see a single comment from anyone on this subject. It's literally just a commentary on my life right now!

So part of my prayer was for my mom, who is okay at the moment. Yesterday she was in urgent care with some leg pains that they thought were blood clots. She was scanned and told that was not the problem. I really hope they are right and didn't miss something with the scan. I need my mommy!

Badger picked out some plants for the house/backyard. They are lovely, I don't want to maintain them, but they will look great if properly cared for. I like to garden, I'm just not in the mood to do it!

Rachel K. is still in the hospital, no baby yet, but doing well. Hopefully she can hold out longer for the baby's health and well being.

Rachel M. is coming to town in about 3 weeks. She will be staying at my house in a spare room for part of her trip. I love when my friends come and visit and stay with me.

I am taking Emily to the airport on Saturday morning so she can head back to New York. Emily is who Amanda and I went to visit in New York. She was in town for her dad's funeral (Em is Mandy's sis). I met Em's friends Tim and April yesterday. I think they were decent people, but I really didn't chat with them or anything. Tim was very nice.

I rented a WeCar yesterday to get around to Nowhere, Illinois and back to the city.

I'm supposed to go to a jewelry party tonight, but will play it by ear to see how much work I'll have. I also think I'm getting sick. Could maybe have something to do with licking the Empire State Building. Oh well!

Anyway, I need to be finish this up and getting on with work.
So I will leave you with the word of the day!

hip replacement: The process of introducing a formerly cool person to a product or idea that attempts to make them cool again. Reinventing an individual's public persona through association or action.

In use: Quentin Tarantino gave John Travolta a hip replacement with Pulp Fiction.

2nd and Bowery

Well, I'm blogging on a Sunday night because I have so much to say. This past weekend I went to New York City, possibly one of the greatest cities on the face of this planet we call Earth. No driving, but walking or public transit everywhere, and I have never felt so able to blend, as I did in NY.

Amanda and I flew into JFK, caught the Airtrain into Queens to catch the subway into Manhattan, just a couple of blocks south of Central Park to stay with her sis in her tiny apartment. We walked a lot that Friday night we got there, went to a musical on Broadway, and were delirious by the time we finally got to go to sleep that night. It was early Saturday morning when we got a call that prepared us for unfortunate news later that day. We carried on however going to Battery Park, Wall Street, Brooklyn, and the lower east side, perhaps my favorite neighborhood. The lower east side is ran down, it has so much to say! I dragged Emily and Amanda on a wild search for the street Joey Ramone Place, which was at 2nd and Bowery, a corner close to what used to be CBGB's. Sadly, CBGB's is no more, nor is the sign for Joey Ramone. I believe some punk ass bitch stole it! I can't say I wouldn't have tried myself! Anyway, we also went to the Tenement Museum, you should check it out. I ate at a great pizza joint in Brooklyn, and walked the bridge back to Manhattan, which is something I could see myself doing everyday!

Anyway, one of the things that we did on Saturday was to go to Trinity Church near Wall Street. We were inside admiring the architecture, and waiting for the church to implode on us. We were told to turn our cell phones off, but I rarely do, I turned it to silent. When I got my cell phone out, to send a text, I saw the incoming call. It was Gloria calling for Amanda (knowing Amanda wouldn't have her cell, she was to call me). It was the news we had been warned about. Amanda's father passed away. I could only offer the words of encouragement I could have used and perhaps did use when my own father died to get them through this the best I could. It was the memories I had of watching my dad suffering in the end that brought tears to my eyes. It's been hard to get through this weekend, watching them sadden, trying to make them laugh, trying to forget my own sad memories. I had the overwhelming urge to go lay down on top of dad's grave site and just cry. Being in a really great city helped more than you could imagine! We stayed busy, I pulled out all of my comedic acts to entertain, and told them of my own wary mid-life crisis ordeals to take their minds off anything really important!

It was good to be done with this weekend, although I didn't want to leave. I don't want to deal with this week. I still want to disappear. But to end on a high note, New York was awesome, and I plan on returning, you should think about being there yourself!

Life Sucks at the Moment

I have a long week ahead of me, with a deadline Thursday night, I'll be putting in a lot of time this week. The good news is that will all the time I will have worked this week, I won't have to take any PTO for my trip to NY. I leave Friday, and am supposed to come back Sunday. I'd prefer to run away for good! Ugh, life sucks at the moment. I'm still waiting for the damn Apocalypse!

Drew, I got a pic of me and a cop at MG just for you! Baby bro!

By the way, Chris is looking for a job if anyone has any ideas!

Word of the day:
Milkshake: A woman's body and the way she carries it.