Virginia, Boston, Chicago, New York. My homes. In this blog, I'll give my thoughts on music, life, work, faith, spirituality, random news, travel, food and cooking, current issues and whatever else I feel like. I sincerely hope you have a good read. For sports, those articles will be at my NY Sports Wickermedia blog.
Wednesday, December 26, 2018
Substandard teppanyaki
Wednesday, December 12, 2018
Break time
Friday, November 30, 2018
Into December
Ok, I think that's enough self-reflection for one post. Now I'm going to ramble about randomness. I purchased my first Smart TV this past weekend. 43 inches from LG. It's just the right size for my living room and while it may not sound too large, upgrading from 28 inches to 43 is enormous. I've figured out YouTube. Unfortunately, I don't think it has WWE network installed, so I may have to run that either through my smartphone or computer. But I'm wondering if I need to subscribe to Netflix, hulu, Amazon prime, or some other streaming service in order to justify this purchase. I don't care about the original series; I don't have the time or interest to binge watch a bunch of series. Just give me good movies and documentaries and I'm satisfied.
Why am I doing this? It must be for the travel. I can't think of another reason that's valid.
Virginia Jets Fans changed venues. We left Keagan's due to food quality and complaints of their regulars. Instead, we moved less than ten minutes down the road to Cali's, a small new establishment located in a strip mall. It's a sports bar that clearly used to be an Asian restaurant, since the bar looks like a sushi station. Their wings are really good, I think the chef uses rice flour to get that light crispy coating. The parking is far better, no more garages and elevators and 2 hour limits. There is certainly less ambience without the Irish vibe that Keagans provided. Also, we can't really control the volume up and down during commercial breaks like we could at Keagan's. But the viewing experience is better with additional TV's too. I think it's a positive a positive change after one week.
Friday, November 09, 2018
Frenetic
Strange thing is I am feeling more and more confident at my day job. Ever since I moved away from the boss and down the hall into the office where my colleagues work, I’ve learned a lot more. The reason for that is because I’m doing the tasks that they were already doing. That’s nothing against the boss at all, it’s just that I’m now surrounded by people who are doing work that I’m doing, so it’s more relatable.
Also, I applied for a freelance gig editing English papers. I’ve already turned in my paperwork and completed my sample. Although I’m a little bit alarmed that on my background check, it showed both my driving citations from the last year. Now personally I don’t think that missing a stop sign and one speeding ticket should disqualify me from earning $12 an hour by checking a student’s ability to develop a thesis statement. But we’ll see if anything comes of it.
I'm getting bitter at the thought of romantic love. Almost every time there’s a new engagement or a new relationship being posted on social media, I feel ill inside. It doesn’t matter who the girl is. I don't see it changing. And I don’t want to feel that way. There is a part of me that wants to not care anymore. I have lived in the crush zone most of my life. Looking for the girl who I could have hope that something could work out. It would frequently lead to disappointment though. And almost all of the girls who I have dated, I settled for them. I thought to myself recently that life would be pretty good if I my biggest hurt in life was related to those kinds of relationships not working out. I still want and need friends. That will never change, I’m not trying to be a hermit here. Maybe all of this is why I'm pouring myself into working.
Song pick: "Quits" Gary Stewart
Sunday, October 21, 2018
Fall Closing In
Fifty degrees and windy on a Sunday in mid October. It's feeling like fall today in coastal Virginia... and I neglected to bring a jacket.
One of the biggest changes I've made in my life over the last couple of weeks, no it actually is the biggest, is I am following a financial budget. I knew who Dave Ramsey is, I've even heard him speak once. But I decided to start watching some of his videos and it gave me the urgency to get rid of my student loan. Now granted, it's not a whole lot at this point, but it would be very nice to have that burden off my shoulders. It's on a ten year plan, but if I could get rid of it in 5 or 6 years total, why not?
So I downloaded everydollar.com, And now I'm recording literally every purchase that I make and every dollar that comes in. I feel much more accountable and also I feel like I have a lot more purpose because I know where each dollar is going and what I have to work with. And I'm sure I'll adjust the numbers as different months go by, but I think this is a really valuable tool.
I saw Michael Jr's film, More Than Funny, last Thursday. It was pretty fantastic, especially the bit where he talks about how white people tend to give their dogs human names and black people tend to give their dogs non human names. But there were also several human stories that demonstrated the power of doing something for somebody else. From the artist, to the man helping homeless people, to the Nissan NV for the family of 16. And that's why it was more than funny.
With Friday off, I went to Williamsburg for a few hours. Besides getting my hair cut, I went to Amber Ox for the 2nd time. It's a public house and brewery, but with a little bit of Southern flair. I had a BLT with seared pork belly. The pork belly works better than bacon because it's so thick and it doesn't get overwhelmed by the other ingredients. From there, I made a stop at Whitley's for some peanuts. I got their health fusion mix, the barbecue bourbon, a party mix for small group, and a gift pack for my father. I really wanted to get the salt and pepper cashews, if only they were available to sample.
A few other things I want to say. It amazes me that I have social media "friends" who only contact me when they're annoyed or upset with me. Constructive criticism can be very beneficial. But I'm absolutely tired of people who only talk to me with the intention of expressing their displeasure. If that's all they're going to do, then don't waste my time. Because that's not a friendship.
Can't wait for Creed 2. At this rate, that may be the highlight of my Thanksgiving.
Handsome Biscuit may be the best eatery in all of Norfolk, Virginia. I came in the middle of a Saturday afternoon and the line was out the door. Of course, this isn't the biggest building in the world, so the line is going to find its way out the door quite quickly. I ordered two sandwiches, the Stevie and the AC Slawter.
The Slawtwer has their pulled pork (which had a tangy, almost apple flavor to it), Lupo hot sauce, and apple slaw on the sweet potato biscuit. Fantastic combo and a delicious mess. The biscuit almost held up even though there was a pile of meat and slaw on it. The hot sauce had a lot of flavor, it wasn't overly spicy. The cider vinegar and honey kept it from overwhelming the other ingredients.
The Stevie was crazy good. Their fried chicken is big, crispy, juicy, and well seasoned...all necessary requirements. The house pickles were great. I'm not usually a fan of really grainy mustard, but the honey helped keep the sandwich balanced.
The lemon bar brulee was a really good dessert. The crust is made of shortbread and it even has a little bit of thyme, which adds an earthy, almost nutty flavor to the bar. And big props for the iced teas. They have flavored sweeteners in house. I opted for the lemon ginger and it made one of the best Arnold Palmers I've drank in a long time.
Oh and their most expensive sandwich is around $7. There's no legit reason to not check this place out. It's tremendous.
Thursday, October 18, 2018
Sammy Kershaw setlist
Louisiana Hot Sauce
Haunted Heart
Meant to Be
She Don't Know She's Beautiful
Anywhere But Here
Yard Sale
He Stopped Loving Her Today
Blues Got Me
Love of My Life
Matches
Baby's Got Her Blue Jeans On
Chevy Van
Are You Sure Hank Done It This Way
National Working Woman's Holiday
Cadillac Style
Third Rate Romance
Vidalia
Gimme Back My Bullets
What a Wonderful World
Queen of My Double Wide Trailer
Tuesday, September 25, 2018
NHL Predictions
Musings
Friday, September 14, 2018
Florence
1) I've been bracing myself for the last week. Reporters and meteorologists have been projecting Hurricane Florence to possibly be the most severe and the most damaging to impact the East Coast in many decades. But it's Friday night, and so far, the effects haven't been felt where I live. Rain is expected for about 36 hours straight, but we're down to a tropical storm level. While there may be some flooding, there's a good chance that I won't have to evacuate the area. The one thing I'm wondering about is if there will be much action at Tucano's on Saturday night.
2) I've completed nearly two weeks of my 8 week training program. Today, I ran five miles in 41 minutes. That's nearly the pace I'm hoping to maintain at the end of October. The goal is to run the 6.25 miles in under 50 minutes. Right now, I'm not sure I would be able to do that, but I'd be able to make a good attempt. With six more weeks to go, I should be able to do this. I need to find a pace that I can maintain for that long length of time.
3) While I certainly have a lot of respect and appreciation for David Wright, I'm not feeling very emotional over him coming back to play one last game. I was always more of a Jose Reyes fan, probably because I have a knack for players who provide speed, energy, and get on base consistently. I guess I felt that guys like Wright were more replaceable, a dime a dozen. And there's no denying that because of injuries, we as Mets fans did not get to see what he was truly capable of accomplishing. He had five or so really impressive seasons. But by the 2010s, he just wasn't an elite player. He's sort of become symbolic of the Mets. A lot of hope, some good flashes and signs of brilliance, but the results never quite lived up to the possibilities. That said, he did become one of the best position players in franchise history in terms of numbers and more than that, he always seemed to treat people with dignity and respect. It'll be nice to watch Wright and Reyes patrol the left side of the infield one last time.
4) I'm very excited to see the sequel to Unbroken. And I'm getting to see it for free at the Cinemark theater in Norfolk. That said, how does a major movie theater not serve hot pretzels?
Saturday, September 01, 2018
Europe, part 9
Europe, part 8
Europe, part 7
Europe, part 6
"Left, right, forward, back, turn, and repeat..."
And whatever this "Despacito" song is, I guess it has a dance that is going go right with them.