Top 10 Favorite Athlete Lists

Current Athletes

10) Sam Darnold

9) Mekhi Becton

8) Jeff McNeil

7) Pete Alonso

6) Mika Zinbanejad 

5) Michael Conforto 

4) Noah Syndergaard 

3) Jacob deGrom 

2) Artemi Panarin

1) Henrik Lundqvist

Favorite Jets

10) David Harris

9) Laveranues Coles

8) Wayne Chrebet

7) Dennis Byrd

6) Shaun Ellis

5) Kevin Mawae

4) Jonathan Vilma

3) Jerricho Cotchery

2) Nick Mangold

1) Chad Pennington

Favorite Mets

10) Curtis Granderson

9) David Cone

8) Michael Conforto

7) Carlos Beltran

6) RA Dickey

5) Jacob deGrom

4) Matt Harvey

3) Darryl Strawberry

2) Jose Reyes

1) Mike Piazza

Favorite Knicks

10) Jeremy Lin

9) Tyson Chandler

8) Xavier McDaniel

7) Allan Houston

6) John Starks

5) Latrell Sprewell

4) John Wallace

3) Carmelo Anthony

2) Marcus Camby

1) Patrick Ewing

Favorite Rangers

10) Chris Kreider

9) Ryan McDonagh

8) Derek Stepan

7) Alexei Kovalev

6) Tomas Sandstrom

5) Artemi Panarin

4) Ryan Callahan

3) Brian Noonan

2) Brian Leetch

1) Henrik Lundqvist

Favorite Golfers

10) Happy Gilmore

9) Fred Couples

8) Tom Watson

7) Bernhard Langer

6) Colin Montgomerie

5) Lee Trevino

4) Adam Scott 

3) Brad Faxon

2) Patrick Reed

1) Greg Norman

Emerald Coast, Round 2, Part 4

I woke up for my last day in Florida, left Achilles still sore from the prior day's run. We drove west into Lower Alabama, through Orange Beach and Gulf Shores. It was striking to see the level of hurricane damage that had occurred from a month prior. Not just trees being knocked down either. I'm talking about mall signs being blown out, used mattresses still being left by the curb waiting to get picked up by a garbage truck. There were a lot of very nice new apartment buildings on the inlets that were probably designed to hold up in the extreme weather. But for every new building, for every sign of hope and progress, there would be a knocked over trailer or an out of service gas station.

We drove north to the town of Foley, where they have an extensive outlet mall. I have to say I think the gimmick of outlet malls are long over. A lot of times it seems you have to pay the same price you would pay at any other store, it's just that there are a lot more options to choose from. 

For days leading into the trip into the Gulf Coast of Alabama, I was searching for a restaurant to stop. I wasn't looking for 5 stars, just something unique and local. Reading through a book I got at AAA, I read a paragraph about the fantastic food at Jesse's and it looked like a place worth trying. As we walked into the dining room,  I was struck by the remarkably rustic decor. Old bookshelves, weathered signs, dilapidated musical instruments accented the brick walls. 

The server gave me two beer samples from a couple of local breweries, an amber and a pale ale. I went with iced tea. For the app, we got the New Orleans BBQ shrimp, which I order every chance I get when I see it on a menu. This wasn't the best I've had though. We got 5 shrimp for $12, and they were cooked well, but close to overcooked, where they were starting to taste a little rubbery. But I didn't love that sauce, it was more of a tomato flavored fish stock, not as dark in color as I usually would expect. We also were given a pair of warm crusty rolls served in a brown paper bag with a side of honey butter. Truth be told, I could've used another roll or two! 

And then the lunch got right! I thought about their pecan pesto salmon, but I was drawn to the beef tenderloin risotto. Hard to say why, I had never ordered risotto before as a main dish. I may never do it again, because I don't think it could live up to this one. Copious chunks of pan seared tenderloin, with mushrooms, tomato, garlic, parmesan, green onions. The veggies were diced so fine that the green onions may have been the biggest one. The beef was seared ask the way around, juicy as can be. The rice was cooked perfectly, a little creamy, but definitely not too heavy, and so satisfying on the cloudy, rainy day that we were experiencing. Fifteen bucks, a complete steal. I think I'm going to start learning how to make risotto and if I can make mine taste half as good as theirs, I'll consider that a success. 

For the other entree, we ordered their $16 amberjack special with a feta glaze, a sun dried tomato sauce, sauteed spinach, and served over fried garlic risotto. I really like amberjack, though it's very hard to find. This was a nice thick piece, grilled well and the combination of spinach, tomato, and feta always works well together. 

For dessert, we shared the pecan bread pudding for two with vanilla ice cream. Really really good, not too different from other bread puddings I've had but the crunch of the local chopped pecans was a fine addition. 

The steak prices are certainly high for dinner, but there are so many great options for both lunch and dinner that don't require spending a ton of money. 

After a 2 hour drive home through the rain, we were just going to stay home. I took a nap on the balcony outside trying to take in the last moments of summer before heading back into the stress of every day life. I had the sausage and peppers that we had cooked days prior and watched the World Series.

On my final morning, I lifted weights before Mom dropped me off at the airport. Of course, at the ticket line, there was a guy in Brady jersey and I noticed he hand his wife were having issues with their passports. Put it this way, they looked to be from another country, not that you ever know. As I went through security, the guy was a few yards behind me. The security guy was ribbing me about my Jets hat and I asked security to detain him based off the jersey.

This airport takes some major hits in my book. None of the outlets worked to charge my phones. They didn't have a loudspeaker system to announce the standby passengers. Thankfully, I heard her yelling my name and I got to select my seat, which I'd never been able to do before for a standby flight. After arriving in Charlotte, I got bumped of the 4:40 plane, it was me and one other person getting bumped. So I hung in the Charlotte Terminal E Plaza for a while. Thankfully, they have a Potbelly. Same order as always. Big Mediterranean with chicken on wheat with everything, no mayo, no mustard, extra pickles.  Except they had no pickles, so I asked for extra cucumber. And one more Wicked Weed beer for the road. I got home to Newport News around 9:30 pm

Emerald Coast, Round 2, Part 3

I made 6 eggs and an English muffin for breakfast, I was nice enough to let mom have two eggs. We drove to Topsail Park and rented a kayak. We had it for 4 hours and cost $50.00. Mom wouldn't go too far away from the starting point, which bothered me, though I was never going to say it. That was not an argument that I needed. But I guess I wanted a little bit more of an adventure. We lasted 90 minutes on the lake. Then we ate a Jon Smith's Italian sub that we had brought along. The Italian cold cuts was pretty good, especially when I added the hot cherry pepper relish for a little extra heat. But I will stick by this principle until the day I die, regular ham has no business on an Italian hero sandwich.

We got back and I really had a desire to run, especially after my legs had been stationary for the last 2 hours. So in the Florida heat, I decided to run westbound, shirtless down the scenic coast highway. After about 20 minutes, I felt a pain in my left Achilles. I made it about four miles or so, but I really ran 3.25 along with alternating running and walking the last mile. I limped back into the apartment, applied sunscreen, and laid in the sunset for an hour, trying to catch my breath and forget about the discomfort. 

After a shower, it was time for dinner and we went to Boshamps. Holy crap. And I mean that in the absolute most positive sense. What a great experience I had. The two of us arrived around 630 on a Monday and were told the wait would be 60 to 90 minutes. By the grace of God, we found two seats in the outside rectangular bar. Even though there wasn't live music going on, there was still a happy relaxed energy that was easy to sense. 

Grits, one of the bartenders, was super friendly and engaging. I started with a mojito, but I tasted more soda than anything else, such as lime, mint, or rum. Decent but not too good. 

Then the food started coming. The Devils Crab app in a Mason jar. Lump crab meat, fried saltines, a couple varieties of peppers (I'm thinking jalapeno and Fresno, since one of them was red but overbearingly hot), a little seasoning, and not much else. And more fried crackers with a little salt and pepper for dipping, and they gave us a long thin spoon for scooping. Now this wasn't saucy, it wasn't a dip. The dominant ingredient was crab meat, followed by crunch and spice. Satisfying, a creative presentation, but not a heavy dish that exhausts the stomach. They gave us a perfect amount of crackers for the dip too.  

As for the entree, I thought about their crawfish  salad because I love fried crawfish. Grouper is huge down there but I don't love the flavor and it usually gets overpriced anyway. I have always been a huge snapper fan when I can find it, so I went with the Snapper Destin. A large filet of red snapper, topped with jumbo lump crab, two gulf shrimp, served over mashed red early potatoes, braised local greens, lemon butter, and béarnaise honey roasted nuts. 

This truly may have been the best fish dish I've ever eaten. Crunchy, meaty, salty, hearty, a  complex fusion of flavors that came together perfectly. $39.99, and it was well worth the price. That plate went back to the cleaning crew  totally empty. 

They only had one dessert available, a cake with Maker's Mark rum, so instead I drank a Lucky Dog cocktail with vodka, and several fruit juices. Sweet finish to a dynamic meal. 

Now this isn't cheap for dinner, so lunch or happy hour might be a wise way to go. But this was a special experience and that snapper may well have been the most memorable part of my 5 day Florida trip. 

Emerald Coast, Round 2, Part 2

We started the day by driving over to Topsail Park, which is about five miles east of where we're staying. We inquired about taking a kayak later in the week, although my mom felt a little uneasy with the possibility of alligators. We walked about two miles to the beach and turned around. There were a lot of dunes, but my gosh, they're nothing like the midwest. These are more like hills, there's a ton of grass growing on them, and people aren't even allowed to walk on them either. What's the fun of a sand dune that you can't climb up?

Anyway, after cleaning up, we headed to Faith Assembly Church in Destin, or the Rock and Roll church, which is where my mom always goes when she is visiting. It's a blues based music church that is more of an older crowd but has a lot of youthful energy. You've never heard Amazing Grace until you've heard it performed mid-tempo blues with a sax solo in the middle.

It's definitely not a slick and polished church: there are no lyrics displayed anywhere, the stage lights were off when the service start, their online giving link is down, and on Facebook, they misspelled the world "church." But I guess there's something appealing about the rawness and realness of a church like that. Definitely worth returning.

Mom wanted to head over to Bass Pro Shoppe. It's funny, we had never gone there, and now we've visited twice in 9 months. All I could think about is if I had to do a Shipt order form this store, I would be so screwed. Fishing supplies, hunting gear, marine equipment, I may as well as have been staring into the human brain. She wanted to get a waterproof pouch for her kayaking and she was able to get that. I wasn't looking to buy anything, but when I saw the silver pouch containing the ready to eat Italian sausage sandwich, I nearly threw up in the aisle. It looked like a Manwich inside of the worst looking bread of all time. I swear, it was like some drunk guy said, "How can we go a few steps more disgusting from a combination of a sloppy joe and a hot pocket?"

I did make one stop inside of a spice shop. For a small bag of chimmichuri rub and a container of Butcher's Rub, I paid $19. These are the purchases that make all the sense in the world to me.

The sun was starting to emerge from the gray clouds so we headed home and I put some sun block home so I could have a little beach time. My friend, Cristin, drive two hours form Tallahassee and we met up for about an hour. It was OK but as I suspected, it did not feel like anything more than an online friendship. I wasn't disappointed, it was pretty much what I expected. I mean, let's face a little reality, when a girl is in her 30s and hasn't been kissed, there's a reason for it, and it is usually not her own choice.

It was around 3 pm and the Jets had just lost their seventh straight game. So i walked over to the beach bar at Pompano Joe's. As it turned out, it was Happy hour. On a Sunday afternoon too! I drank 4 Rum punches, $5 each. Was glad to drop the cash!

Mom made shrimp broccoli and pasta for dinner. The only other thing I remember about that night is doing this 1000 piece puzzle about the history of television which was so complicated. I think I spent 3 hours just putting the end pieces together. I also found out two bitches I used to know found guys to marry. More reasons for more beer. And sometimes alcohol is the only way to get through a jigsaw puzzle.

Emerald Coast, Round 2, Part 1

I feel fortunate to have even made it on the 7 am plane out of Newport News. 24 hours before my flight, the color on the standby website was orange, meaning I had a fair chance. I think 15 of 64 seats were open, and i was the first standby listed, so I wasn't worried. 

Well after not being able to get an Uber, I had to drive myself, which will cost me an extra 15 bucks or so. Check in and security were a breeze and I began my hour long wait at the terminal. I wasn't feeling any more uneasy than I usually do before I fly, I actually tend to relax once I'm on the plane. I checked the flight listing and it was suddenly oversold be one person, meaning about 15 or 16npeople had booked the flight in a 24 hour span. And I counted about 45 people or so in the terminal for the only plane that would leave that airport until 11 am. Then as a family of five wearing LA Dodgers gear showed up 15 minutes before departure, I don't know why, it suddenly set me off. It's actually a blessing for me that I can wear a mask in the airport, so people can't see me glaring. 

So the ticketed passengers all get on. There were 5 of us trying to get on. They call a Richardson, who is sitting next to me and clearly smokes a lot of cigarettes judging by the smell. Then they call an Otis. How are these two people going ahead of me?! I'm a D1 and checked in first! Finally the gate agent called my name and I got the last seat on the plane to Charlotte. 

Sadly I can't get into the Admirals Club anymore, which makes airport drinking and phone charging a whole lot harder. And all the food I've had in the Charlotte airport has sucked. They have the absolute worst pizza I've had in the last ten years. But I did find a plaza that had Potbelly, Bojangles, Shake Shack, and Wicked Weed beer. Not too shabby. 

It is almost scary how quickly my phone drains. I swear, 4 hours of moderate usage, and it's practically shot. 

Lunch was at The Shack in Fort Walton Beach. This was my first lunch spot on my trip, I wanted some seafood on the waterfront. Sadly with the heavy rain, we had to sit inside, right next to the storm windows. Would have been a great view on a clear day though. We started with the boom boom crawfish, which had a sett and slightly spicy Asian sauce and served with diced tomatoes and green onions and served over a bed of lettuce. Pretty good, but the crawfish didn't need the sauce Just deep fried with some lemon and tartar sauce or remoulade would have suited me just fine. 

For my main course, I had a plate of grilled mahi mahi with French fries and broccoli (I paid an extra 3 bucks to lost the mayo-based cole slaw). Fish was really good, a pretty good sized portion, nicely seasoned, and their tartar sauce was really zesty, it definitely didn't taste like the generic tartar that so many restaurants tend to serve. Their fries were those long wedge slices, and they tasted really good when dipped into some honey mustard.

I wouldn't necessarily call this place special, there are many that I would consider comparable in terms of atmosphere and menu. But on a clear day, it's a nice place to visit.

We did some window shopping down Highway 98, which is the main drag that is just as much under construction now as it was when I first visited a year ago. Two lanes each way and the equivalent of four more lanes that are nothing but dirt, road cones, and empty cranes. We actually stopped into a couple of shoe stores. Sadly, I would've had to pay $140 for another pair of On shoes. Nothing quite worked, so we went to the home on Miramar Beach and unpacked.

Looking for some live music on a Saturday night, we went to Graffitis Funky Blues Shack. Their variety of pizzas named after musicians really caught our eye. I could've ordered the Stevie Wonder, but I don't think I would've been able to see it when they brought it out. 

But that aside, we got a 3 topping 12 inch pizza for 9 bucks. It was a pan style pizza, not thin crust, but not so dish either. They served it with a decent amount of parmesan already on top. I think it could've used a little more sauce but it was still a very enjoyable meal. Throw in four good size glasses of happy hour wine, and it cost me $23, and that's with tax included! That's a steal. 

They had music going on in the parking lot, a 3 piece keyboard based blues band with a vocalist. Really nice relaxing sound. But then certain types of customers were getting a little too close and it was quite disturbing, so I was ready to go pretty quickly. We stayed for the first set and then left. 

Top 10 Country Music Lists

Top 10 Favorite Male Artists

Johnny Cash

Waylon Jennings 

Kenny Rogers

George Strait

Eddie Rabbit

Earl Thomas Conley

Charlie Daniels

Toby Keith

Ricky Van Shelton

Keith Whitley

Top 10 Favorite Female Artists

Linda Ronstadt

Trisha Yearwood

Tammy Wynette

Martina McBride

Emmylou Harris

Loretta Lynn

Patsy Cline

Miranda Lambert

Dolly Parton

Danni Leigh

Top 10 Favorite Duos/Groups

Oak Ridge Boys

Blackhawk

Restless Heart

Pirates of the Mississippi

Midland

Alabama

Gatlin Brothers

Brooks & Dunn

Zac Brown Band

Montgomery Gentry

Diamond Rio

Over One Month

Life has been so hectic and I feel so uninspired to write at times. Then again, I have no audience, so I'm sure nobody feels deprived. Let's do 10 quick hits. 

1) YouTube has old Yan Can Cook shows up from a San Francisco TV station. I think this is the show that got me into cooking more than any other when I was a kid. It didn't matter that I never cooked any of the recipes from that show. It was the energy and fun from that show that showed me cooking could be an art. When Martin Yan smiles, I smile. When he tells a dad joke, I laugh. Can't help it. 

2) I met such a great girl while horseback riding. Yet I am terrified to ask her out. She just seems so busy with school. Probably the girl who's not looking for a guy... until the right one comes along. And I'm no great girl's fantasy. 

3) The Jets. The Jets. The Jets. They are not getting any better. Not now, not tomorrow, maybe not ever. 

4) Every time I want to spend money, but I refrain, there is an internal victory in me that I have discipline. And usually, it's on food.

5) I completed a 4 week dumbbell workout, where I focused on certain body parts each day. Typically, I would do a little bit of everything. But man, with these workouts, I would feel the burn in my chest and legs for 2 or 3 days afterwards. I'd like to maintain this workout  but I think it would be tough once I start seriously running again. But what is the human body truly capable of enduring?

6) I have this fascination with visiting Annapolis, MD. I think I could spend 3 days there easily. But I would like for the Naval Academy and Maryland State House to open back up already...

7) I made something of a pact with God that if my biggest pains in my life was related to women that would be alright. Just as long as I could make a fair living, save some money, travel a little. I wonder if that was fair. Because I don't even need to be in a relationship for a woman to break my heart. Maybe my independence is my God. Doesn't seem like the most stable foundation, does it?

8) I miss being in a church where I feel I'm part of the community. Where the pastor teaches me, entertains me, and challenges me. Where the people take me in and actually have time. Where the music isn't loud overproducted and ovesung rock and roll. Where I have opportunities to serve in unique and creative ways. I hope God has that for me. 

9) If Donald Trump isn't reelected, I'm truly terrified of where the United States will be headed. The more I live, the more I realize the people who are truly hateful, intolerant, and dangerous are the extreme left. And to see my mother on the left now just because he mentioned the word pussy... I'm ashamed of her. 

10) 36 hours until Florida. I'm dying for a break from the daily stress that I live with. I have not taken voluntary time off from work since maybe February. I've freaking earned it. 

Bacon onion jam

So tonight, I made bacon onion jam for the first time. Basically I chopped a pound of bacon and rendered out the fat, then I sauteed four sliced Vidalia onions with some brown sugar, beer, fresh thyme, and salt. It took about two hours for the jam to really come together, even though I was told it would only take about 45 minutes. Then I finished it with a little balsamic vinegar for some acidity, sweetness, and tang. 

So now the question is what will I put this on? Well it has already gone on top of a double cheeseburger with some pickles and Sir kensington's sauce, and that was absolutely fantastic. I have the rest of the jam sitting in a mason jar in my refrigerator and apparently it lasts for about a week. So I'm thinking maybe a grilled cheese, Hot Dogs, roast beef sandwiches, and an egg dish maybe. Or maybe I will even spread it with some almond butter and make a sandwich.

Fall Creeped In

In Virginia, we dropped from 90 to 55 faster than if the Emporia police was watching us drive. I wore shorts and a t-shirt to do my Shipt day. While i wasn't cold on a upper 60s degree day by any means, I'm thinking it's almost time to reshuffle my closet. But knowing the weather in this state, we will definitely be seeing a few more days in the 80s.

 Hmm it's coming on fall, I suddenly want pumpkin pie...

Make Time For Me

It's only been a couple of weeks since I met you and I've gotta say you're already making an impression on me. So many times, I've thought about spending days with you. Going to church, traveling to events, getting in the car and driving anywhere. It's crazy, but I've even thought about you accompanying me when I do random grocery deliveries. I've never thought of that with any other girl. 

I've thought about our first phone conversation that took place on Labor Day. 1 hour, 4 minutes, 28 seconds. It flowed so smoothly. Like I was chatting with my best friend of five years. You knew how to respond. You displayed great listening, timely humor, and personal insight. You encouraged me, you lifted me up. As I hung up, I knew I wanted to do this with you more and more.

And that's what scares me. So many times in my life, I've had an initial burst of excitement over a girl and then I became too eager to move forward or too analytical of everything I'd say and do and it's backfired on me. I want to do this right with you, I believe that you are special, and I do not want to mess this up. 

You don't need a random guy to come along and add to your already heavy load. I don't want to be a burden on your schedule. I don't want to be an obligation for you to fit in. 

I honor and respect your goals and aspirations. I respect you as a woman and a fellow believer of Jesus Christ. I know I will make mistakes, but I pray you will give me the grace to learn from them.

I don't want to confess that I'm interested in being your boyfriend, that would be crossing a couple lines when it's so early in this process. But I'm curious where this can go. 

Do you feel the same? Will you explore it with me? Just say yes. 

NFL Predictions

 This is assuming there is a season of course.

AFC
AFC East

y-Buffalo               10-6    

x-New England     10-6 

Miami                    5-11

NY Jets                  3-13

AFC North
c-Baltimore         13-3 

x-Cleveland           9-7

Pittsburgh             9-7

Cincinnati            4-12

AFC South
y-Tennessee         10-6    

x-Indianapolis      10-6

Houston                7-9

Jacksonville          2-14

AFC West

y-Kansas City         12-4

San Diego/LA          9-7

Las Vegas/Oakland 8-8

Denver                      4-12

NFC
NFC East
y-Philadelphia       11-5

x-Dallas                  10-6

NY Giants               6-10

Washington            3-13

NFC North
y-Minnesota          10-6

Green Bay              8-8

Detroit                    7-9

Chicago                 5-11

NFC South
y-Tampa Bay        10-6

x-New Orleans     10-6

Atlanta                  8-8

Carolina                6-10

NFC West

c-San Francisco    12-4

x-Seattle                10-6

LA Rams                7-9

Arizona                  6-10

Super Bowl

Baltimore over Philadelphia

Rejected

I remember when I was a young man, especially in my early to late 20s, the very thought of asking a woman on a date intimidated me. I guess I have always been a late learner when it comes to social settings. I suppose that's what happens when you don't have any siblings, when you get bullied for so long, and when you don't have much else in the way of family in terms of cousins and people that are your own age. You just come by things the hard way, and that makes those hard lessons cut that much deeper.

Somehow, somewhere along the way, I gained a little self-confidence. I can't even be sure if it's something somebody said or if it was just when I had a moment of self realization, but I remember I was 26 years old. 

And now fast forward 13 years. A change has taken place. I'm not afraid to ask a girl out, it's now that I get rejected constantly. And what has not changed is that the moments after I get rejected sting just as deep as they did when I was in my early 20's. I still sense the confusion, my brains start racing to figure what I said or did wrong. Did I use too many words? Did I ask too quickly? Did I use the wrong voice tone or rate of speed? Did my freaking eyebrow go up?

The most common things I hear are they're just getting out of a relationship or we're not a match. The latter, I can't really do much with. If they feel that way, they feel that way. But the first one is complete nonsense. If they say they are not looking for a relationship, all it means is they are not looking for a relationship with ME. I've seen it. They're looking for a relationship with one particular guy or they have a set image of what that guy is supposed to be (6 feet tall and makes at least $60,000 seems to be the most important criteria). 

Women will reject men over the stupidest crap. And it's always personal for me. It doesn't stop hurting and it doesn't stop happening. And I don't know how to change it.

Maybe there just is no other half. And if so, that's ok, I'll learn to accept it. But I'm pushing 40. My time is running out and running out quickly.

Opus 9 Steakhouse Review

I'm going to start right with the main event, because I know you're not reading this to see how the bread tasted. Fantastic steaks, nice and juicy with a touch of char, cooked exactly how we wanted, medium porterhouse and a medium rare strip. The sound of that sizzling butter as the meat is coming on that white hot plate, it is one of the most beautiful sounds human ears have ever heard. However my friend's strip was certainly oversalted, and that is saying a lot since they add salt to just about everything they eat. I took a bite of the strip and before i did, I had to actually scrape some of the salt off.

I was also pleased with their wine selections, they have about 150 bottles. I wound up ordering a wonderful Syrah from Oregon for $50. But the sever did not pour a taste from the bottle to see if we liked it, he just poured a whole glass. And he could've done a better job noticing when our water glasses were approaching empty.

I had further frustrations with him at the end when I specifically ordered the bananas foster cheesecake when I ordered my meal, since the menu stated this dessert needed to be ordered at dinner for prep time. When my dessert came, it was a regular slice of housemade cheesecake with strawberries, whipped cream, and berry puree. I didn't make a big deal of it, since it was a good dessert, but it was disappointing to not get what I asked for, especially since I was celebrating a birthday.

A few other notes about the meal. I've never seen another restaurant that puts their butter in a piping bag and squeeze it into a ramekin to accompany the bread, nice extra touch. The onion ring side we got was enormous, but they tasted great. Beer battered is always better, am I right? I took half of those home. Since I signed up for the email club, I got a free shrimp cocktail app. Very nice presentation with a silver slotted cup, and a space for each of the 5 shrimp. I liked the addition of remoulade to accompany the traditional cocktail sauce. With the potatoes, the garlic mashed were quite creamy, but nicely seasoned. I enjoyed my au gratin, they had a good amount of cheese, but not too much. I could have handled a little more pepper in them though.

Aside from did, with COVID going on, guests can scan a QR code and view the menu from their phone rather than having a hand held menu at their table.

Our bill came to about $200, which is pretty high when you consider the shrimp app was included and the service wasn't executed as smoothly or as tightly as it could've been. But I did have a great steak and that's really the most important thing. 

MLB Predictions

The kind of, sort of, 60-game baseball season starts in 24 hours. After the latest Mets injury news, and considering how hard their schedule is, I really have no excitement for it. That said, they should make the playoffs considering 8 out of 15 teams will qualify. Here are my predictions:

NL East
y-Atlanta 37-23
x-Philadelphia 35-25
x-Washington 33-27
x-NY Mets 28-32
Miami 21-39

NL Central
y-Cincinnati 36-24
x-Chicago 35-25
x-St. Louis 33-27
Milwaukee 26-34
Pittsburgh 18-42

NL West
z-Los Angeles 43-17
x-Arizona 33-27 
San Diego 26-34
Colorado 23-37
San Francisco 23-37

AL East
z-NY Yankees 39-21
x-Tampa Bay 36-24
x-Toronto 33-27
Boston 24-36
Baltimore 18-42

AL Central
y-Minnesota 35-25
x-Chicago 33-27
Cleveland 31-29
Kansas City 24-36
Detroit 22-38

AL West
y-Houston 36-24
x-Anaheim 33-27
x-Oakland 32-28
Seattle 24-36
Texas 24-36

ALCS
New York over Tampa Bay

NLCS
LA over Cincinnati

World Series
New York over LA

Evil Woman

"I'm not weak, i tell myself. I stay because I'm strong. The truth is I'm not man enough to stop her from doing me wrong."

Those little known lyrics are some of those powerful, dark, insecure words in the history of songwriting, regardless of the genre of music. 

As I constantly face judgement, condemnation, rejection, ghosting, and simply being misunderstood by females, I despise this women's movement more and more. I love women, I respect women. But my goodness, there is the perception that they are the oppressed victim in society. Spare me with the fem sham. They know how to manipulate the emotions and actions of men. 

And those lyrics demonstrate it. He wants to say something, he wants to do something. This bitch, meanwhile, just shits on his heart, soul, hopes, and feelings, and thinks only of herself and what she wants. Actually what her pussy wants. 

She's with him as consolation so she can keep herself semi active while she's out trying to cheat on him with better dick. He can't stand to be alone so he puts up with it, hoping he'll raise up to her consolation level, knowing he will be the dick for her if all else fails. Notice the difference. One settles, one hopes.