Don't Walk Away
Blame It On Love
Give a Little More...rain starts
Heaven...raining harder
San Angelo blues...slowing a little
I Am the Man...raining again
So Sensual...it stopped
Jam
Mamacita
I'm a Man
Saturday, June 28, 2014
Los Lonely Boys setlist
Thursday, June 19, 2014
Maggie has arrived
It's been almost seven years. Seven years since I've had a dog. It feels like it was just a couple of weeks ago when Hogan passed away. No dog can ever replace him. But the time and circumstances just now seemed right.
We started with a greakbreakfast at Frank's Diner in Kenosha. I went with a full garbage plate with two cheeses and two meats. I'm not sure I can finish off the challenge one with 5 veggies, 5 meats, and 5 cheeses, but I might be willing to give it s hot in September...and their cinnamon swirl French toast is wonderful too. then again, how can anyone mess up cinnamon swirl Frnech toast!
We drove up to Watertown, WI. which is a little bit northeast of Madison. It's one of those farming areas where the roads are identified by letter. Country Road KY, for instance. With a couple of exits closed for repair, we took plenty of detours. It was kind of funny that the GPS didn't recognize where we were since it wasn't a digitzed road.
We pulled up at this farmhouse. Basically, it's now a grandfather and grandson who raise these cocker spaniels and poodles. Maggie and her friend Minnie, both cockers, met us at the door, jumping all over us. Maggie is black, with a white chest. Mostly ebony, with a touch of ivory. About 25 or 30 pounds. After sitting with the family for about a half hour, we began the three hour drive home. I sat in back with her. We knew she would be pretty nervous and scared. She is six years old and has had three litters of puppies. She is used to being around a lot of other dogs. I don't even know if she had been inside a car before. How could she know what was going on?
We stopped at Pet Smart, where we picked up a black tag, blue leash, a collar, a car carrier that turned out to be too small, and some flea and tick medication. Hogan has had Lyme disease, we didn't want Maggie going through it too. We didn't get home till around 5 pm and at that point, I was ready to fall asleep. Maggie, not so much. She is supposedly a picky eater. Seems that way as she didn't care of the bag of apple crisps I got her. She barely ate at all that first day. She barely made a sounds until the thunder clapped hard outside. And she wouldn't even go to the bathroom for 18 hours. But the next morning, when we got some organic canned food and mixed it with her Fromm's, she gobbled it all up within a couple of minutes!
We're still getting to know her and she's still getting to know us. I'm sure it will take some time to get the communication down. Right now, the most important thing for me is knowing she has a new home and she will be loved here. She will be alone more, we can't do anything about that. I think that might be the hardest part for her. But we just hope the adjustment from the farm in rural Wisconsin to the townhouse in suburban Chicago isn't too hard on her.
Nice to have a sister.
We drove up to Watertown, WI. which is a little bit northeast of Madison. It's one of those farming areas where the roads are identified by letter. Country Road KY, for instance. With a couple of exits closed for repair, we took plenty of detours. It was kind of funny that the GPS didn't recognize where we were since it wasn't a digitzed road.
We pulled up at this farmhouse. Basically, it's now a grandfather and grandson who raise these cocker spaniels and poodles. Maggie and her friend Minnie, both cockers, met us at the door, jumping all over us. Maggie is black, with a white chest. Mostly ebony, with a touch of ivory. About 25 or 30 pounds. After sitting with the family for about a half hour, we began the three hour drive home. I sat in back with her. We knew she would be pretty nervous and scared. She is six years old and has had three litters of puppies. She is used to being around a lot of other dogs. I don't even know if she had been inside a car before. How could she know what was going on?
We stopped at Pet Smart, where we picked up a black tag, blue leash, a collar, a car carrier that turned out to be too small, and some flea and tick medication. Hogan has had Lyme disease, we didn't want Maggie going through it too. We didn't get home till around 5 pm and at that point, I was ready to fall asleep. Maggie, not so much. She is supposedly a picky eater. Seems that way as she didn't care of the bag of apple crisps I got her. She barely ate at all that first day. She barely made a sounds until the thunder clapped hard outside. And she wouldn't even go to the bathroom for 18 hours. But the next morning, when we got some organic canned food and mixed it with her Fromm's, she gobbled it all up within a couple of minutes!
We're still getting to know her and she's still getting to know us. I'm sure it will take some time to get the communication down. Right now, the most important thing for me is knowing she has a new home and she will be loved here. She will be alone more, we can't do anything about that. I think that might be the hardest part for her. But we just hope the adjustment from the farm in rural Wisconsin to the townhouse in suburban Chicago isn't too hard on her.
Nice to have a sister.
Sunday, June 15, 2014
Back to New England, part 2
I got up at 5:45. I really wanted to hit the gym, especially at such a nice hotel. I did my first elliptical workout in three weeks and I hadn't done it since my leg injuries. It went pretty well. I did weights for maybe a half hour and spent a few minutes on the stretching machine, since we don't have those at my home gym. Much to my surprise, they had Fit crunch bars for sale. I quickly grabbed a peanut butter and headed back to the room with some coffee for mom. I didn't have cash on me initially, so I figured I'd head back and pay the two bucks. On the way to the gym though, I had to walk past the jacuzzi. Yeah I didn't have a suit, but I thought...why but not. I took off everything but my gym shorts and settled in the hot water.
The rain was falling hard outside so I put on my Jets raincoat. In New England, I was wondering if I'd get any reaction. We drove 15 minutes north to Pawtucket. Mom checked out where a local tour company was headquartered and I took pictures at McCoy stadium, home of the AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Aside from seeing ten cars inn line at the drive thru at the Dunkin donuts, there was nothing else memorable.
It took an hour to get to Newport It's different than most of southern New England which can be very quaint and dull. Newport has a lot of boats and small shops and curvy streets. It's also home to the tennis hall of fame. Just a good town to spend a weekend. Sadly, there is a $4.00 toll to get in and out, kind of like Coronado in San Diego. Going over that bridge through the fog, i remarked it felt like driving in San Francisco.
Newport is also home to Salve Regina University, who is in the same conference as Gordon, where I went. Pretty nice campus, but they are right on the water and they have some great walking trails in that area, especially the cliff walk. I wish it could have been a clear day, so we could have gotten a better view. After about a half hour treading on the trail, we did some downtown shopping. It was a lot of corny stuff, nothing that I wanted.
Then it was a half hour south to Narragansett, where my grandparents used to vacation. Lunch was at Aunt Carries, a seafood shack I had seen on the food network. They also invented the clam cake, such is basically a corn fritter with clams. Pretty good. We split the seafood deluxe platter. Clear clam chowder, salad, homemade cinnamon raisin bread, clam strips, clam bellies, shrimp, scallops, flounder, and fries. Lots of food, all of it fried, except the salad. Very very good. Oh and it included a homemade dessert. Coconut custard pie for me. It's so rare I can find that flavor of pie, so I savored it. Of course right before the dessert comes, I got a call from from Waubonsee College. Told me they weren't going to hire me, but good luck in my future endeavors. Same old frustration. I took it out on the pie.
Then we drove to Connecticut, specifically Lawrence Hospital in New London where my grandparents used to work in the chaplain's office. My grandmother is 85 and is a patient there now, as she's had some health issues. I even bought a basket of flowers for the room. We spent an hour with her before she just fell asleep.
Then we drove to Niantic, where my grandfather is staying at the Crescent Point nursing home after breaking his hip. He moved quite slowly, but his spirits were very good. We bought him some coffee ice cream, which he always enjoys. Good getting to see him again. Finally, we saw my aunt Linda, who just hasn't had a good go of it. Her cat just recently died at 19 years old, quite a run. There were 15 cigarette butts in the ashtray, not a good sight. Not a good smell either. And her voice is so shot from it. We went to the basement of the old family house, where Linda refuses to go. Turns out nearly everything has been removed. Pictures, books, electronics. All gone. And we had no idea that had happened. Quite an empty feeling.
We went to dinner and I wasn't even hungry. But I enjoyed a salad and grilled margherita pizza. Finally we dropped Linda off and headed to the Comfort inn in Mystic. Finding it was bad enough. I typed Whitehall lane into the GPS. Turns out that was a residential address. I had to type Whitehall avenue. Why a town this small would name two streets the same, I have no idea. Anyway, talk about going from the penthouse to the outhouse. No elevators, the room smelled like smoke, we could not control the thermostat, and we had to unplug lamps to charge devices.
I watched the Rangers play Game 5 of the finals in Los Angeles. One of the most emotional games I've.ever seen. I had to be quiet most of the game since mom passed out asleep. But damn, I could have screamed so many times. In the end, it was a 3-2 double overtime defeat/disaster, whatever. The series is over in five, with three losses coming in overtime. It hurts. It freaking hurts. At least the beautiful Jana Kramer responded to one of my tweets about the game. Shame she was rooting for the wrong team.
I got to sleep somehow, though it took a few hours. We packed and drove to the Mohegan Sun. The stop was the Hash house a go-go, a place known for twisted farm food. I ordered a large tangerine juice and we split the...Fried chicken eggs Benedict. Yes, that's what I said. It's a base of griddled mashed potatoes typed with a buttermilk biscuit, spinach, tomato, a crispy sage fried chicken breast, smoked bacon, scrambled eggs, griddled mozzarella, and a chipotle cream sauce. Great depression food. Needed more tomato bacon and eggs though with all those potatoes! And the biscuit was great, it wasn't too salty, it was crunchy on the outside, and soft inside.
We looked through a couple of shops as well. I went into Puma, where I bought a pair of blue Italy soccer shorts and two high quality brand t-shirts for $50. The store was running a special for $25 off a $75 order. The subtotal came to exactly 75, so it worked out perfectly. Not seeing any other reason to stay, we drove to the airport. In the airport bar, I finally got to drink my Blue Point Toasted Lager before flying home.
The rain was falling hard outside so I put on my Jets raincoat. In New England, I was wondering if I'd get any reaction. We drove 15 minutes north to Pawtucket. Mom checked out where a local tour company was headquartered and I took pictures at McCoy stadium, home of the AAA affiliate of the Boston Red Sox. Aside from seeing ten cars inn line at the drive thru at the Dunkin donuts, there was nothing else memorable.
It took an hour to get to Newport It's different than most of southern New England which can be very quaint and dull. Newport has a lot of boats and small shops and curvy streets. It's also home to the tennis hall of fame. Just a good town to spend a weekend. Sadly, there is a $4.00 toll to get in and out, kind of like Coronado in San Diego. Going over that bridge through the fog, i remarked it felt like driving in San Francisco.
Newport is also home to Salve Regina University, who is in the same conference as Gordon, where I went. Pretty nice campus, but they are right on the water and they have some great walking trails in that area, especially the cliff walk. I wish it could have been a clear day, so we could have gotten a better view. After about a half hour treading on the trail, we did some downtown shopping. It was a lot of corny stuff, nothing that I wanted.
Then it was a half hour south to Narragansett, where my grandparents used to vacation. Lunch was at Aunt Carries, a seafood shack I had seen on the food network. They also invented the clam cake, such is basically a corn fritter with clams. Pretty good. We split the seafood deluxe platter. Clear clam chowder, salad, homemade cinnamon raisin bread, clam strips, clam bellies, shrimp, scallops, flounder, and fries. Lots of food, all of it fried, except the salad. Very very good. Oh and it included a homemade dessert. Coconut custard pie for me. It's so rare I can find that flavor of pie, so I savored it. Of course right before the dessert comes, I got a call from from Waubonsee College. Told me they weren't going to hire me, but good luck in my future endeavors. Same old frustration. I took it out on the pie.
Then we drove to Connecticut, specifically Lawrence Hospital in New London where my grandparents used to work in the chaplain's office. My grandmother is 85 and is a patient there now, as she's had some health issues. I even bought a basket of flowers for the room. We spent an hour with her before she just fell asleep.
Then we drove to Niantic, where my grandfather is staying at the Crescent Point nursing home after breaking his hip. He moved quite slowly, but his spirits were very good. We bought him some coffee ice cream, which he always enjoys. Good getting to see him again. Finally, we saw my aunt Linda, who just hasn't had a good go of it. Her cat just recently died at 19 years old, quite a run. There were 15 cigarette butts in the ashtray, not a good sight. Not a good smell either. And her voice is so shot from it. We went to the basement of the old family house, where Linda refuses to go. Turns out nearly everything has been removed. Pictures, books, electronics. All gone. And we had no idea that had happened. Quite an empty feeling.
We went to dinner and I wasn't even hungry. But I enjoyed a salad and grilled margherita pizza. Finally we dropped Linda off and headed to the Comfort inn in Mystic. Finding it was bad enough. I typed Whitehall lane into the GPS. Turns out that was a residential address. I had to type Whitehall avenue. Why a town this small would name two streets the same, I have no idea. Anyway, talk about going from the penthouse to the outhouse. No elevators, the room smelled like smoke, we could not control the thermostat, and we had to unplug lamps to charge devices.
I watched the Rangers play Game 5 of the finals in Los Angeles. One of the most emotional games I've.ever seen. I had to be quiet most of the game since mom passed out asleep. But damn, I could have screamed so many times. In the end, it was a 3-2 double overtime defeat/disaster, whatever. The series is over in five, with three losses coming in overtime. It hurts. It freaking hurts. At least the beautiful Jana Kramer responded to one of my tweets about the game. Shame she was rooting for the wrong team.
I got to sleep somehow, though it took a few hours. We packed and drove to the Mohegan Sun. The stop was the Hash house a go-go, a place known for twisted farm food. I ordered a large tangerine juice and we split the...Fried chicken eggs Benedict. Yes, that's what I said. It's a base of griddled mashed potatoes typed with a buttermilk biscuit, spinach, tomato, a crispy sage fried chicken breast, smoked bacon, scrambled eggs, griddled mozzarella, and a chipotle cream sauce. Great depression food. Needed more tomato bacon and eggs though with all those potatoes! And the biscuit was great, it wasn't too salty, it was crunchy on the outside, and soft inside.
We looked through a couple of shops as well. I went into Puma, where I bought a pair of blue Italy soccer shorts and two high quality brand t-shirts for $50. The store was running a special for $25 off a $75 order. The subtotal came to exactly 75, so it worked out perfectly. Not seeing any other reason to stay, we drove to the airport. In the airport bar, I finally got to drink my Blue Point Toasted Lager before flying home.
Back to New England, part 1
Life has been pretty stressful lately, so I welcomed a retreat back east, even if it was only 48 hours. I woke up at 4:45 am and headed to O'Hare. The flight to Hartford was supposed to have thirty open seats, so I wasn't worried. Well, the flight filled up. Apparently bad weather back east had canceled the final flight from the night prior. Amazingly, mom and I got the last two spots. Two people were connecting from Minnesota and their plane arrived late, so that opened the seats for us. I was out cold for more than half the flight. Apparently, I needed the sleep. We landed in Hartford, which looked gray, damp, and disgusting. Pretty standard for that part of the country.
We rented a dark red Ford focus from Budget. It was pretty good; it had a USB port and a 30 preset radio stations. Of course, these stations had the weakest signals ever. They'd last 20 minutes at the most before static took it over. The drive to Providence took around 1:45. We hadn't eaten in six hours, so lunch was stop number one. Olneyville NY system is known for their hot wieners with onion, mustard, celery salt, and wiener sauce (beef based chili). We each had one with fries and they were pretty good. Not the best, the celery salt was pretty strong, but they were a good holdover.
Of course, mom had to get her lobster roll fix. We drove to Federal Hill, the Italian section of Providence. Very old school with guys playing cards, everyone knows everyone, and tons of restaurants. We stopped in this small Italian market that had huge cold cuts, dinner platters, and just about any Italian food you could want. You could even get a container of cannoli shells. Awesome place, I would have had a grinder if we didn't have other plans. Providence Oyster House has the best clam chowder I've ever had. Tons of clams, a rich broth, not too salty. I had shrimp and chorizo tacos with avocado, lettuce, and Chipotle sauce. Plus more fresh cut fries. Amazing lunch.
From there, we drove around the city. We saw Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence College, and Thayer Street. We also saw the First Baptist Church in America, founded by Roger Williams in the 1630s. We would have gone in, but they were refurbishing the floors. We finally headed towards the Omni hotel in the middle of downtown. Unfortunately, there were so many quick turns that we wound up turning back onto the highway. Took another twenty minutes to get back. The hotel is attached to convention center, the Dunkin Donuts Center, and the new mall. Pretty prefect location. We chilled for an hour or two before getting ready to head out. We checked out the mall first, which had eight levels. Since there's no room to build out in most downtown New England cities, it had to be built vertically. It has an IMAX, movie theater, department stores and some nice restaurants. Mom checked out a couple stores, but nothing worth purchasing.
From there, we walked fifteen mins to Federal Hill. Dinner was at Andino's, which had been around 80 years. It looked simple traditional food, but done right. The service was great, first of all. Our server, Erica, knew the menu up and down and was willing to answer any questions we had. We started with hot antipasto: four stuffed clams, stuffed mushrooms and roasted peppers. Outstanding. Mom had what she described as the best chicken saltimbocca she ever had. That's saying a lot. As for me I went with stuffed chicken and eggplant parmesan with linguine. Two chicken breasts and two pieces of eggplant layered like lasagna. Not to mention homemade mozzarella. And the portion size. The food nearly came over my dinner plate. It was cooked perfectly, the sauce was dynamite, the chicken was crispy and juicy. And it was only 18 bucks. I would go back there just for that dish. I had zero room for dessert, but it was well worth it.
We rented a dark red Ford focus from Budget. It was pretty good; it had a USB port and a 30 preset radio stations. Of course, these stations had the weakest signals ever. They'd last 20 minutes at the most before static took it over. The drive to Providence took around 1:45. We hadn't eaten in six hours, so lunch was stop number one. Olneyville NY system is known for their hot wieners with onion, mustard, celery salt, and wiener sauce (beef based chili). We each had one with fries and they were pretty good. Not the best, the celery salt was pretty strong, but they were a good holdover.
Of course, mom had to get her lobster roll fix. We drove to Federal Hill, the Italian section of Providence. Very old school with guys playing cards, everyone knows everyone, and tons of restaurants. We stopped in this small Italian market that had huge cold cuts, dinner platters, and just about any Italian food you could want. You could even get a container of cannoli shells. Awesome place, I would have had a grinder if we didn't have other plans. Providence Oyster House has the best clam chowder I've ever had. Tons of clams, a rich broth, not too salty. I had shrimp and chorizo tacos with avocado, lettuce, and Chipotle sauce. Plus more fresh cut fries. Amazing lunch.
From there, we drove around the city. We saw Brown University, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence College, and Thayer Street. We also saw the First Baptist Church in America, founded by Roger Williams in the 1630s. We would have gone in, but they were refurbishing the floors. We finally headed towards the Omni hotel in the middle of downtown. Unfortunately, there were so many quick turns that we wound up turning back onto the highway. Took another twenty minutes to get back. The hotel is attached to convention center, the Dunkin Donuts Center, and the new mall. Pretty prefect location. We chilled for an hour or two before getting ready to head out. We checked out the mall first, which had eight levels. Since there's no room to build out in most downtown New England cities, it had to be built vertically. It has an IMAX, movie theater, department stores and some nice restaurants. Mom checked out a couple stores, but nothing worth purchasing.
From there, we walked fifteen mins to Federal Hill. Dinner was at Andino's, which had been around 80 years. It looked simple traditional food, but done right. The service was great, first of all. Our server, Erica, knew the menu up and down and was willing to answer any questions we had. We started with hot antipasto: four stuffed clams, stuffed mushrooms and roasted peppers. Outstanding. Mom had what she described as the best chicken saltimbocca she ever had. That's saying a lot. As for me I went with stuffed chicken and eggplant parmesan with linguine. Two chicken breasts and two pieces of eggplant layered like lasagna. Not to mention homemade mozzarella. And the portion size. The food nearly came over my dinner plate. It was cooked perfectly, the sauce was dynamite, the chicken was crispy and juicy. And it was only 18 bucks. I would go back there just for that dish. I had zero room for dessert, but it was well worth it.
Sunday, June 01, 2014
A beautiful victory
After 14 years of waiting and hoping and frustration and heartbreak, I have a team back in the finals. It has been four days now since the New York Rangers defeated the Montreal Canadiens 1-0 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals at Madison Square Garden. They played a perfect defensive game. Dominic Moore scored late in the second period and Henrik Lundqvist stoned Montreal the rest of the way. The Rangers are back in the finals for the first time in 20 years.
The primary emotions I've been feeling are jubilation with a little bit of disbelief. I believed the Rangers would win this series even before Carey Price went out of the series with an injury. But the thought of this Rangers team just four wins away from winning the greatest trophy in all of sports...it's still amazing to me. I will go on record as saying that if the rangers win it all, I will travel to New York for the parade.
Now tonight, there is a Game 7 in the Western Conference Finals. The Los Angeles Kings, who led this series 3-1, travel to Chicago to face the Blackhawks. The winner faces the Rangers. Aside from one year and college, I have lived in Chicagoland since 1997. Never in my craziest dreams did I imagine a Rangers vs Blackhawks final. By tonight, I and the world will know if it will be reality. My belief is it will happen and I'm completely dreading it. I'd still like to have a few friends after it's over and not be made fun of all the time. Because I know it would happen for years. I would be a gracious winner, but losing that final to Chicago would be horrific.
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