Spring 2005

It's still fairly cool outside (which is fortunate since our AC has been broken for about a week).

Still spring is out and about! Dave took this photo on the way back from Liberty State Park.

At Yankee stadium...

the Red Sox TRAMPLED the Yankees (17-1)!

Eric and Dave actually went to Yankee stadium to see it all happen. What a game!

Things are a'changin'

It's so crazy to go back to the first blogs of this site. I wasn't even sure we would make it to New York, then when we did, there wasn't even much time for adjustment! And there were so many ideas and personal goals: a few that finally came to be, some that were left behind and forgotten about, and so many still swirling and in the works!

I've recently pulled out some of the songs I was working on before we moved last year, and I don't think they're too bad for my first batch. Playing music is finally getting back on my list of current interests. Eric, Dave and I will hopefully be heading over to the studio near work to move some air.

If I get heavily into playing again, I'm thinking I might start up a separate blog: a music journal-type blogger. In the past, I've started about 5 different ones, all from different years: in 1995 when I was imagining what type of music I'd end up playing, in 1997 when I was playing sax, in 2002 when I started to learn to play drums, in 2003 when I started learning guitar, and I think a few times when I was really heavy into writing, then when I started practicing with Dave.... and they all drop off at some point- nothing really ever happened. Well, life happened, I guess. Work or some other circumstance always got in the way somehow. But doesn't it always?

We saw the new Star Wars this week, and despite what some people had said, I kind of liked it. There were a few places where I rolled my eyes, but it was an impressively dark movie. On a scale from 1-10, I'd actually give it an 8. Much better than I expected going in.

Dave bought tickets to go home for a week- he leaves this Tuesday... (jealous:::jealous:::) But, it looks like we have quite a bit coming up soon, so maybe he won't be out too long. We've got Social Studies (a Michigan and New York), six grades of Science, then 2 or 3 more grades of Social Studies in November, as well as 2-3 grades of Math in August. I've already placed an ad on mediabistro.com and have gotten a slew of applicants. We'll interview this week and see what we find. I think we'll need about 6 more people by late August.

Anyway, I'm feeling better, but still sore with a few coughs here and there. The doctor's appointment went very well this week. I had another x-ray, took a respiratory test, and had a blood test. The results were of a virus mixed with asthma symptoms, both keeping each other from going away at a normal rate, so I have to use one of those nerdy asthma pump things for two weeks. I also found out my cholesterol was normal for the first time in 4 years (boy, am I giving you exciting info, or what?!). Basically, I am normal (physically, anyway).

No work, just time.

Hi, from work!

Man, it is slow. SUMMER slow.

I guess it's a good time to work on getting better. I went to a doctor a friend referred me to yesterday and had a final decision made that it was a virus mixed with allergies with a few asthma symptoms thrown in. No biggie. I'll be using one of those asthma pump things for two weeks, and I should be clear. My side is still healing, but I think I'm going to attempt Bikram again on Saturday if I feel better. We'll see.

As far as work: Dave found out he's officially out of work starting Monday. They told him two weeks, but from I know, I think it'll be more like five. He's going to look around for new opportunities just in case. We don't want to go backwards financially!

The Mets, Denzel and Dave's B-day!

Dave had a great time with his family for his birthday weekend!

Thursday: Dave and his parents went out for a walk and ended up getting tickets for "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" at the Imperial Theater. They said it was excellent! (By the way, tourists..a NY tip: YOU DON'T ALWAYS HAVE TO GO TO TKTS ...you can just walk up to the theater a bit before the show to check if there are tickets available. Very often, there are! Save yourself an afternoon in line! And be flexible!)

Friday: Dave and his family went to the first of three Mets/Yankees game at Shea (but, the Mets lost). Still fun!

Saturday: They toured the city, then I met up with them at Jeckyl and Hyde's in the West Village for dinner (along with his Aunt, Uncle and cousins from Long Island). I had mentioned this place before, but to recap: It's a haunted house-themed restaurant. There are characters on the wall that come to life, bizarre characters that walk around and entertain, there are classic horror movies playing, and the bathrooms are secretly hidden behind different parts of a bookcase that runs down the walls of a narrow hallway.

A few photos:

Tobias the Werewolf (spoke to and made fun of a few people here and there)


One of the weird characters made fun of Kevin, so they competed... in an Irish folk-dance contest... to some silly Britney Spears song. Kevin won!


One of the hundreds of things hanging on the wall


The bathrooms are hidden behind these bookcases...


The second Mets/Yankees game went on (without them this time), and they won!

Also, earlier that afternoon while walking by the Belasco Theatre where Julius Caesar is playing, a group of people were waiting at the exit. Denzel Washington strolled out, fans screaming for him (in case you didn't know, Denzel Washington plays "Brutus"...I heard the play was AWFUL). He was wearing a Yankees hat, so Dave and his brothers repeatedly chanted, "YANK-EES SUCK!"

Sunday, Dave’s b-day:
A guy’s day out: Dave, his brothers and Dad go to the third Mets/Yankees game at Shea (the Mets lost!). His mom and sister-in-law went on a shopping spree. For dinner, I met up with them at Dallas Bar-B-Que and then came home to celebrate with cake and beer!

I stayed out of everything but two dinners. I slept all day, every day. I have another doctor's appointment (this time with an actual one versus a walk-in clinic or a hospital). I'm still sick, but I went to work today anyway and left early. I’m working on it!!!

Emergency!

Yup. I ended up in the emergency room last night. The pain above my ribs on the right side had gotten worse during the day, so much that I couldn't cough, even when I really had to. I had planned on going back to the walk-in clinic this morning.

But last night, I tried to lie down to go to bed, but the pain was too great. I even tried to prop up my side with a rolled towel. Finally, a small 'crack' came from the area. After that, it was more pain than I could handle. Me being all upset probably didn't help, either. We went over to Liberty Hospital, about 3 blocks from here, so it was a very quick cab ride.

I sort of handled the visit poorly- I was pretty upset that I was there, and was a little emotional after getting drugged up. I mostly cried, hyperventilated once, and finally fell asleep (I know, I know...). We got back home at almost 6am, and I have plenty of drugs to keep me happy.

The outcome was what I thought, except this time it was confirmed with an x-ray. It was "costochondritis", which means "inflammation of a rib or the cartilage connecting a rib". It normally goes away on it's own, but with the coughing that wouldn't go away, it just made it worse.

Dave's parents will be here in an hour, and his brothers and sister-in-law will be here tomorrow. I'm so bummed I'm still in this condition... There are baseball games, dinners and more all planned out, that I'm probably going to have to bow out on. I've also been out work for a week!

I'm hoping to be better by Saturday night.

Dave's new iPod

Dave’s 33rd birthday is this Sunday the 22nd. I think he and I are the last people in New York to not own an MP3 player, so for his birthday, I bought him an iPod mini. Man, I can’t believe we waited so long. He’s in total heaven. I gave it to him early so he could enjoy it before his family arrives on Thursday and Friday.

I’m looking at a special skin for it- no sense in having one that looks like everyone else’s, right?

I found some cool skins online at macskinz.com...

An iPod skin by the artist Jon Foster...


...And here's an iPod skin by the artist "Coop" (who I coincidentally saw mentioned in a story in this month's Playboy. Yes, Dave still receives it, and yes, I still look through it, too)

This may be one of the ones I get for Dave. It's all about the monkeys and devils, man.

His style reminds me alittle of a friend's illustration style: Chuck Muchow

I'm here! I'm here!!!

I’ve been going through some MAJOR blog guilt (the feeling one is abandoning one's own blog if one doesn't make at least a close-to daily entry) and worrying about going through a little blogeality (the sense that something didn't really happen unless it’s actually logged in as a blog entry).

I HAVE been blogging, actually… but it’s been more like making “side entries”. I just haven’t touched my mac at home much in a month. I usually create entries at work when I have the time, then email them to myself at home. So, here I am after 27 days (that’s TWENTY-SEVEN DAYS: the longest I've gone without blogging since I started July of last year!), furiously copying and pasting, editing and adding photos.

Also, our personal web site is still down. I hadn’t added much to it since I had bought it. I have so many photos to upload to catch it up, so I’m formulating a plan. It will either be all done when the site gets back up, or I’m considering uploading to an online album for free, where I (and maybe others) can purchase prints. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know. Otherwise, I didn’t want to pay for a site I wasn’t really using. And the web cam was cool, but I have to admit, the view was pretty boring. I’ll figure something out soon! (I have had much self-inflicted guilt over it)

Here are the finished blogs to free myself of any negligence liability, for your reading enjoyment. Feel free to ask any questions.

[CATCH-UP BLOGS:
SCROLL DOWN TO SEE APRIL 25th UP THROUGH TODAY]

Dishwalla's new album

While exploring the internet, I returned to the website of one of my favorite bands, Dishwalla.

I’ve been heavily enjoying them for almost 10 years now. It’s tough to pick my favorite album: possibly “Opaline”, which is so insanely surreal… “And You Think You Know What Life’s About” is much harder. Perhaps “Pet Your Friends”, which is less harder, but SO ROCK! Also “Live…Greetings From the Flow State” is also amazing; JR’s voice is even incredible live. And the fans are so inspiring on that album…

Anyway, they’ve just released a new album, simply called “Dishwalla”. (…odd. Why do bands do that?)

I’m not too impressed with the cover, either. It's art of a woman's stomach with a "dishwalla" tattoo. I’m definitely not offended or anything… it just seems so 80’s or something… (also, isn't the belly button alittle too high?)


I’m also not totally sold by listening to samples of the songs; compared to everything else they’ve done, it sounds sort of empty. But then I wasn’t sure about “Opaline” for the first two whole listens after buying it (I was comparing it to the previous two albums). Then as I understood where the album was coming from, it became one of the best ones!

They’re pushing the song “Collide”, but I’d like to hear the whole song “Surrender The Crown”. “Bleeding Out” sounds like it might be good, too…

You can listen to bits of every song on the album at their "Virtual Listening Party" page.

Time for the Doc's!

The pain was so bad lying down last night that I had to get myself to the doctors this morning. After a 3 hour wait at a walk-in clinic, I found a great doctor! She basically told me what I had suspected: I had an inflamed muscle from coughing so hard and often, and gave me an anti-inflammatory that should also help me sleep (YEA, CODEINE)!

I learned a lot about those small Bergenline buses that are always driving about- I got from Hoboken to the Newport Mall for $1.50 (I swore there was a Duane/Reed pharmacy, plus I picked up a few things for Dave’s birthday on Sunday) and then got a ride to Jersey Street right next to our apartment and an actual pharmacy. I’m all set. I just have to ride this out somehow. Dave’s family will be here starting Thursday, so I need to get over this!

Car rental!

Ok, we did the coolest thing today. We rented a car! We had never checked out the pricing- we had no idea we’d get a discount through the studio! We paid $40 for the whole day! We did an IKEA run (to get the rest of my drawers [clear and red] for the shelf, and we also bought their famous meatballs to make at home!), went to Target and then the grocery store. Everything went quick and smooth, and we saved about $70 by not taking cabs everywhere!

Dave did fine driving again since October last year, but doesn’t miss owning a car. I miss driving. I love jumping in whenever I want and just…driving. During the summer, I’d roll the windows down, turn up Incubus or Dishwalla, and just drive. And I really, really miss my Honda CRV (I lost that during bankruptcy last year). It makes me so sad! It was my first brand new car, too!


What my '99 Honda CRV looked like. :(

Eugh.

EUGH- I feel terrible. Dave and Eric went to a Mets game at Shea, so I can relax and sleep at home. Much sleeping. Much coughing.

Happy Friday the 13th!

Friday the 13th holds a special meaning to Dave and I- We also have a sort of an “anniversary” on September 13th (which, oddly enough, is also my mom’s birthday).

Last night I went to Bikram despite me feeling a bit run down, but I had to leave after half the class. I at least made it through most of the standing poses. Hopefully, I sweated and burned out a little of the cold. Today I actually have a little pain in my side above my ribs, probably from coughing so hard (?).

We took a long walk tonight after work, and I finally saw Bryant Park and the New York Library (see Ghostbusters). It was closed; I need to go back and see inside! It looks amazing!

Then we walked over to the Heidelberg (our favorite German restaurant on the upper east side on 86th and 2nd). SO GOOD! That place always cheers me up!

Gettin' sick

I’ve caught some sort of chest cold, and I can’t stop coughing! I may have to back out of Bikram for a bit! GOD I hate being sick!

Also, it’s getting so slow it’s scary! I have to lay some people off until next month- maybe until July! I hate doing that. I feel so bad. I know that’s what freelance is, but I hate to put people out.

It’s going to be so quiet in our new production room!

Nothin' but trouble

SO MUCH happened when Eric was out last week (of course!). I had problems with an employee that turned into quite a drama! Much is to be decided this week.

Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Last year for Cinco de Mayo, Dave and I left work early and ate outside in the sun at Adobe Gila’s at Pointe Orlando. We also drank plenty of frosty Coronas. I believe I also had my tounge pierced that night…

This year, we’re at work until probably 7pm. Eric is in Orlando until Sunday. I asked him to go to Adobe Gila’s for us, so he DID, the bastard! Ugh. I’m so jealous!!!

But, it turns out that halfway through, a huge thunderstorm came and they had to run inside. Some of the outside tables even blew over! At least they had those beautiful waitresses to look at (high shirts and low sitting short shorts).

This week has been amazing in a bad way. Much hell has been raised by a particular person at work, and everyone is pretty tense. I feel like a referee. I’m basically a liaison for this person to the others; it’s ridiculous. I’m afraid what will come with the news of this mayhem next week.

ANYWAY, BIKRAM AGAIN TONIGHT! Dave is so totally into it- it’s so awesome we can experience something like this together! We both look stronger, and I’ve already gotten two compliments this week from two different people at work. They both said I looked different somehow: glowing, or happier. I know it’s Bikram. I feel so good! I feel balanced, and I think I’m handling the employee issue with much grace because of it.

Eric out on business

Bikram again tonight after work! Wee-HOO!

Eric left this afternoon to fly out to Harcourt in Orlando to attend an ICE meeting. We're hoping he'll lead a protest or something, but that's what the client wants: the new, "paperless" workflow. It's partly an introduction to ICE2, but I doubt it will be any better.

By the way, in searching for a good link to show you what "ICE" I was referring to, I found out how to start a fire using ice and thought I'd share it, so, you know, in case you ever get into that predicament.

Bikram at LAST!

I could feel my body curving inwards from months of stress and lack of activity, so on Sunday, we did it. ...We FINALLY made it to a Bikram class!!! Unbelievable. (To quote Dave: "I'm beside myself, and that's impossible!") I just looked up the schedule, and we just did it.

The class actually isn't held in the Flat Iron building after all, despite what the web site says; it's across the street from it.

The class is up three flights worth of straight and steep stairs. The actual Bikram room has mirrors covering the front wall, ballet bars across the back wall, and uncovered windows on the far wall, where you can see into the windows of the Flat Iron Building (I wonder if there are people working in there that peek over into our class as it's going on?). Also, while you're lying on the floor looking out: a clear view of the Met Life tower. The clock is right there. I still can’t believe we live in New York.

The Intro special was $20 for each of us, covering how ever many times we want to do it during that week, including a mat. The instructor was just as cool as the one we had in Orlando (the first/one time we did it there). The class was a lot bigger, though; I found out it holds 52 students at once!

The class goes for 1 1/2 hours. Dave and I both stopped at some point to cool down. And we weren't the only beginners in there, thank God! The class was GREAT. Even today, we both feel so incredible. It's so
different than the gym- it feels like the opposite: working your muscles from the inside out. I feel more balanced and healthier. They say Americans have the most clogged-up bodies between the food they eat
and the lack of activity they have in their daily lives. This is such a fun step to being balanced!

Later this afternoon I bought yoga shorts and shirts, two yoga-type hooded jackets to wear after I leave, and some Lancome self-tanning spray (for a little extra healthy glow).

This week at work is going to be INSANE. Bikram came around just in time!