I Suck At Just Friends

Yesterday, Karen and I continued our Ryan Reynolds marathon. The movie that we watched was "Just Friends". Now, I suck at Just Friends.

(The video below is the trailer for "Just Friends".)


As it turns out, not only was the movie a Ryan Reynolds marathon... it was an Anna Faris marathon as well. Anna Faris appeared in "Waiting", which we had previously watched, as well as "Just Friends". And interestingly enough, she played a love interest of Ryan Reynolds.

For anyone curious, the movie was okay. The movie was the typical predictable chick flick. Ryan Reynolds basically played the same wise-cracking role that he normally does.

In my opinion, the story was a little far-fetched. Don't get me wrong. I'm all for friends becoming romantically linked. After all, Karen and I were friends at one point in time. It's just that when I was in high school, I don't remember there being any people who were only friends going around telling each other that they loved them all the time. That would have been a little weird... if not awkward.

Next on the Ryan Reynolds marathon: "Smokin' Aces".

I Still Suck At Buffy The Vampire Slayer

On Wednesday, my friends (Marc and Kelley) came over. With the heat and the humidity, Marc thought it best to get together at our place because Karen and I have central air. And heck, I surely was not going to object to the idea.

After all, I dislike humidity. The ever present feeling of being sticky has never been high on my list of tactile sensations. Plus, the heat and humidity generally causes me to become sluggish. (Although, I have yet to leave a trail of slime...) So, I'm all for central air if it helps me avoid that feeling.

So it was great having Marc and Kelley come over. We fired up the grill for some burgers and hot dogs for dinner. So I did have to be exposed to the humidity for a little while. (I'd shake my fist at the humidity if I could.)

On the agenda was the greatest TV show ever: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Too bad I still suck at Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Having been off on vacation last week seemed to have thrown me off. I felt like I couldn't remember where we had left off in the season or anything. Of course, it could have just been my bad memory.

Anyway, the episodes we watched included: "No Place Like Home", which introduced the main villain for the season (Glory) and provided insight on how Buffy came to have a sister after four seasons; "Family", about Tara as her relatives attempt to bring her home; "Fool for Love", about how William the Bloody came to be Spike; and "Shadow", about Buffy's mom going to the hospital for her tumor.

Of the four, I enjoyed the episode about Spike the most. Interestingly enough, Amy Adams (of "Enchanted" fame... and "Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby") appeared in one of the episodes. She played Tara's cousin. I always get a kick out of seeing current actors and actresses in episodes of Buffy and Angel. The one that still sticks out in my mind is Josh Holloway (a.k.a. Sawyer from "Lost") in the first episode of Angel.

Needless to say, I had fun hanging out with Marc and Kelley as we watched Buffy.

I Suck At Dental Appointments

Today I had my semi-annual appointment with my dentist. After all, oral health is very important. (There is a joke in there... somewhere...) Whenever I go to the dentist, I worry that I will hear those dreadful words: "You have cavities". Speaking of which, that reminds me: "We make holes in teeth!"

(The video below is a commercial for Crest.)


My dentist is located in Quincy. I like my dentist and my dental hygienist (Joan). Too bad I suck at dental appointments.

As usual, I arrived early for my appointment. It turns out, I was the first schedule person today. Lucky me! I got to be the first person to christen that white drain thing next to the dental chair where you rinse your mouth out.

Anyway, I found out that my dentist brought his daughter to SkyVenture New Hampshire yesterday for her birthday. For anyone curious, SkyVenture is an indoor simulator for sky diving. The place sounds really fun.

I think I would like to try SkyVenture someday. If the whole free falling within an indoor tunnel seems okay, then perhaps I would do the real thing and actually jump out of a plane. That would be wild. Of course, jumping out of a plane would probably give Karen a heart attack... so I may need to rethink that.

When all was said it done, my dentist told me the good news: no cavities. Yay! Granted, he also told me to ease up on my brushing (as I have been apparently brushing too hard), but at least I have no cavities.

I Still Suck At Watching Movies

Since returning from a vacation in the Cape, I have been feeling a little ill. To my knowledge, it is not H1N1 (a.k.a. swine flu). But, I could be mis-SQUEAL-taken. Just kidding. I have just been feeling a little stuffed up... with a slight cough.

Now really, who gets sick in the summer? And who gets sick on vacation? Interestingly enough, I can actually think of one person off the top of my head: my friend (Hot Amy)... because she is always sick. (Feeble constitution.)

Anyway, so what does one do while sick on the weekend? Well, for me, I just happened to watch a few movies. Too bad, I still suck at watching movies.

On Saturday, I happened to watch "Valkyrie" with Karen. "Valkyrie" is a historical movie about the German resistance and plot to kill Adolph Hitler. Valkyrie just happened to be the national emergency plan used should Hitler be assassinated. The plan calls for the use of the reserved army to maintain order (and the subsequent removal of the SS and the Nazi regime). As my BFF (Kerry) would be happy to know... it's emergency management at its finest.

(The video below is the trailer for "Valkyrie".)


Anyway, the movie was quite interesting... if you could get past the mixed accents used throughout the movie. Germany would probably have been seen in a different light had its own citizens removed Hitler from power.

Following "Valkyrie", Karen and I made a little pit stop at my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine) to pick up our mail. Janine has been gracious enough to get our mail while we were away on vacation. While there, we ended up watching another movie: "27 Dresses".

(The video below is the trailer for "27 Dresses".)


"27 Dresses" is the run-of-the-mill chick flick. The plot was very predictable... but entertaining nonetheless. Plus, I would rather watch that movie than "Brokeback Mountain". I'm not a big Katherine Heigl fan... and it's unfortunate that she is returning for another season of Grey's Anatomy (which is a show that I have never seen). There's just something about Katherine Heigl that makes me think she is a little snooty. Perhaps it's the comment she made about her Emmy nomination: "I do not feel I was given the material this season to warrant a nomination." No slap in the face there for the show's writers who even made her famous to begin with. Regardless, the movie was okay.

On Sunday, Karen and I watched "An Inconvenient Truth".

(The video below is the trailer for "An Inconvenient Truth".)


For anyone curious, the movie is about Al Gore's presentation on global warning. I must say, I was quite surprised because I thoroughly enjoyed the movie. In fact, I thought about what could have been... had Al Gore not just won the popular vote back in 2000... but the Electoral College as well. (Stupid Florida! A curse on you and your chads!)

Not only did Al Gore create the internet, he predicted the demise of the U.S. auto industry. All joking aside, the movie was very interesting and quite thought provoking. It is amazing how the issue of global warning has been an after thought for so long by many people.

By no means am I a tree hugger. I do what I can to make this world a better place to live in. Sadly, my sheer presence is not enough to make the world a better place. So, I need to resort to tactics like recycling and whatnot to try to limit my carbon footprint. After all, should I be lucky enough to have children again... I would at least like them to live in a healthy world. Unfortunately, at the current pace of the world's carbon emissions, there may be no world to actually live in.

Needless to say, I would encourage everyone to watch the movie... or at least attempt to do what they can to save the environment before it's too late. That is just my opinion.

To end the night on a brighter note, Karen and I ended up watching "Fired Up!" afterwards.

(The video below is of "Fired Up!")


For anyone who knows me, they would know that this movie is right up my alley. The movie is about two football players who join the cheerleading team to score chicks. Truth be told, the premise actually reminded me of something that my friend (Tim) had mentioned a long while ago when I was in college about how he thought joining the cheerleading team would be great... being surrounded by all the women... and having the opportunity to place his hands on those women. Of course, he was joking at the time. (Suffice to say, Tim is now divorced... or separated... or something like that.)

As it turns out, Tim's thoughts became a movie... and that movie was actually entertaining. It was silly and predictable, but entertaining. There were some good laughs.

All in all, it was a fun movie filled weekend. Perhaps someday I will get enough motivation to actually be productive and work on things around the house... instead of just watching movies.

I Suck At Provincetown

On the agenda today for Karen, my friend (Andrea), my BFF (Kerry), and I as we vacation in Onset for the week: Provincetown.

Now, I suck at Provincetown. I have never been to Provincetown. In fact, the only one of us who have been to Provincetown was Kerry. So by default, Kerry became our tour guide again.

According to my friend wikipedia:

"The area was originally settled by the Nauset tribe, who had a settlement known as Meeshawn. Provincetown was incorporated by English settlers in 1727 after harboring ships for more than a century. Bartholomew Gosnold named Cape Cod in Provincetown Harbor in 1602. In 1620, the Pilgrims signed the Mayflower Compact when they arrived at the harbor. They agreed to settle and build a self-governing community, and then came ashore in the West End. Though the Pilgrims chose to settle across the bay in Plymouth, Provincetown enjoyed an early reputation for its fishing grounds. The "Province Lands" were first formally recognized by the union of Plymouth colony and Massachusetts Bay colony in 1692, and its first municipal government was established in 1714."

I was surprised to find out that the Pilgrims actually landed in Provincetown. Who knew? The four of us just happened to discover that fact during our walk around the town. After all, in the day there really did not seem to be much to do in Provincetown except shop and walk around.

Truth be told, from everything that I had previously heard about Provincetown, I was expecting a lot of wild sights... much like what I imagine Mardi Gras would be like in New Orleans. (I have never been to New Orleans. I'd like to go someday.) Of course, the difference between my vivid imagination between the two would be that New Orleans would have half naked college girls whereas I pictured Provincetown to have half naked men in assless chaps... or cross dressing.

Sadly, I was a little disappointed to find out that my vivid imagination was just that... vivid. There were no bizarre sights during the day. Although near the end of the day, I did get to see a cross dresser with nylons and big hair... on a bike. So perhaps the weirdness only comes out at night. Oh well. As odd as this sounds, it was disappointing to not see things like men in assless chaps.

In my opinion, the best part about the trip to Provincetown was the "Breakwater". The Breakwater was constructed in 1911 to protect the harbor from the shifting sand of its dunes. Essentially, the Breakwater is a path of large rocks that stretches over a mile long. On the other side of the path is the outermost finger of the Cape and the Wood End lighthouse.

(The picture below is of Kerry, Karen, and Andrea trying to figure out where to go after crossing the Breakwater.)


Anyway, I had a blast crossing the Breakwater. Unfortunately, all the fun did lead to some casualties. Because the rocks were wet and uneven, Karen slipped and scraped up her shin. Likewise, I had a little accident. On our way back, there was a little girl coming from the other direction. Figuring that I'd let her easily by, I stepped off to rocks on the side. WHAM! That's when I slipped. I ended up scraping up my shin as well... and my hand... and the ring on my hand. It was a little comical because the little girl did ask if I was all right while I was getting up off the rock. Mental note: next time... push the little girl out of my way. Just kidding.

Interestingly enough, Kerry and Andrea were unscathed and they had sandals on. Karen and I both had sneakers. Despite the injuries, the Breakwater made the trip to Provincetown worth it. I had a great time crossing to the other side.

Following our trip to Provincetown, we went to Sundae School... twice. Our original plan was to catch the drive-in in Wellfleet, but with the inclement weather we decided that it was probably better to forgo that option. So Sundae School it was.

For anyone curious, Sundae School is an ice cream place. Part of our goal for the vacation week was to visit different ice cream locations every day. For today, it was Sundae School.

The Sundae School location that we went to following Provincetown was in East Orleans. Unfortunately, we did not stay long at that location. The East Orleans location, although probably very good, was not up to the standards of our tour guide, Kerry. We basically arrived to the location, got out of the car, walked back to the car, and left. It was that quick.

Apparently, Kerry... after hyping up Sundae School... did not want our opinion of Sundae School to be bad. So we ended up leaving the Sundae School in East Orleans to go to the Sundae School in Dennisport.

As it turns out, the Sundae School in Dennisport was definitely much nicer. I ended up getting a peanut butter sundae. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) The sundae was very delicious. Kerry made a good choice. Needless to say, Sundae School was a good way to end the day. (Technically, we ended the day by going to CVS to purchase first aid equipment for our scrapes...) All in all, it was a fun day.

I Suck At Sandwich

Today's featured stop on the Cape tour for Karen, my friend (Andrea), and I was the town of Sandwich. My BFF (Kerry) opted not to attend the tour today, opting to relax at the house in Onset.

Anyway, the town of Sandwich is located in Barnstable county. As Karen reminded me during our trip today, the name for the county, "Barnstable" is a bit redundant. Breaking the word down... there is a "barn" and there is a "stable". Both words are synonymous with one another. (Look it up.) Thus, Barnstable could conceivably be called "Barnbarn". It was that logic that made me smile on our trip today. For anyone curious, that logic was actually provided by my friend (Marc) while in high school. Like Karen is apt to do, she remembered some of our more sillier conversations from years past.

Regardless, neither Karen nor I have ever been to Sandwich. I guess you could say I suck at Sandwich. It just so happens that Karen was intrigued to learn that a store in Sandwich was decorated in such a way that each room of its house had a holiday theme. (I contested that the store probably did not decorate any of its rooms for Chanukah or Kwanzaa.) Nevertheless, she wanted to go. And apparently, Andrea was quite interested about the store as well.

So off we ventured to Sandwich. Our first stop in Sandwich: the Green Briar Nature Center. What is at the Green Briar Nature Center? Well... the Green Briar Jam Kitchen of course. After all, what goes better on a sandwich than jam? If only there were a peanut butter factory nearby. That would be totally neat.

The Green Briar Jam Kitchen is a museum where visitors can view the cooking process for various canned items like jam. (They were making pickles when we arrived.) Everything there is homemade using these old looking stoves. It was quite interesting to see the old stoves. Karen ended up purchasing some jams, of course.

Located near the Jam Kitchen was the Nature Center featuring a slew of animals (most notably the cute and cuddly rabbits outside), a wild plant garden, and the Thornton Burgess Museum. For anyone curious, Thornton Burgess is a Sandwich author who has written numerous children's books (over 170). Peter Rabbit was one of the characters featured in his books.

Following the visit to the Jam Kitchen, Karen, Andrea and I headed off to the Sandwich Glass Museum. While at the Sandwich Glass Museum, we learned about the history of Sandwich and how its glass came to be famous. Well, I should say that Karen and Andrea learned about the history of Sandwich. The history lesson was provided in an auditorium... complete with actors pretending to be from the time period. Like most history lessons, I tend to zone out. History has never been my forte. I consider myself lucky that I even passed the history course in college with my friend (Kelley). This history lesson of Sandwich was no different... because I pretty much dozed off.

For anyone curious, Deming Jarves started the Boston and Sandwich Glass Company and headquartered it in Sandwich for its shipping ports. The sand in Sandwich is actually not that good to use for glass, so sand had to be imported from of all places... New Jersey. The company prospered in the 1800s. Unfortunately, the company had to close due to a glass worker union strike.

Regardless, I woke up in time for the glass blowing demonstration after the history lesson. It was neat to watch the craftsman create a piece of glass artwork in a matter of minutes.

Anyway, after the Sandwich Glass Museum, the three of us ventured off to the store with the holiday themed rooms. As it turned out... the place was closed for the day. I felt a little bad for Karen because I knew she was looking forward to the place. I guess it just wasn't meant to be today.

Eventually, the three of us headed back to the vacation house in Onset. Andrea soon ventured off to her cousins while Kerry, Karen and I watched the "Sex and the City" movie. Hey, I'm not proud of that fact. Interestingly enough, the movie was not that bad. It was predictable like most chick flicks. I have seen worse.

Karen, Kerry and I then watched some more episodes of the second season of Veronica Mars. As always, the episodes were great!

When Andrea returned, the four of us decided to play Trivia Pursuit: Totally 80s. The game was okay. It basically turned into a game of attrition, to which I was the last one standing who was not tired. The winning question was about Rick Springfield.

All in all, it was a good day for me.

I Suck At Martha's Vineyard

Today, Karen, my friend (Andrea), my BFF (Kerry), and I ventured over to Martha's Vineyard to spend the day. Now, I suck at Martha's Vineyard. I have not been to Martha's Vineyard in quite some time... probably around the end of high school or early college. In fact, Kerry reminded me of the time my friend (Marc) took his car over the ferry, forgot to turn on his lights when exiting, drove the wrong way, and got an officer angry with him. Ah, the good old days. So, it's been quite some time.

Andrea, however, has never been to Martha's Vineyard, which is where the movie Jaws was filmed... as well as the burial place of John Belushi. I don't think Andrea cared much for those particular details about Martha's Vineyard. She seemed more interested in obtaining her goal: purchasing a Black Dog sweatshirt.

For anyone curious, no... Andrea is not a big fan of the Patrick Swayze movie, "Black Dog"... well, at least to my knowledge. "Black Dog" was a terrible trucking movie. The unrelated Black Dog that Andrea was interested about was the tavern/retail company based on Robert Douglas, a captain who called Martha's Vineyard his home. Douglas just so happened to have... a black dog.

Anyway, one of the first things that the four of did when we got off the ferry in Oak Bluffs in Martha's Vineyard was visit the Black Dog store. (We subsequently visited the other Black Dog stores in the other parts of the Vineyard too.) Oh, one of the other things that we did when we first arrived was visit the oldest operating carousel in the United State as well... which is the Flying Horses Carousel. And yes, Andrea purchased her Black Dog sweatshirt.

With Kerry acting as our tour guide (since she was the one who had been there the most recent out of the four of us), we then ventured to see the gingerbread houses. In Wesleyan Grove, there are over 350 gingerbread cottages that encircle a Methodist Tabernacle that was the site of an annual revival. The place started out as a campsite and gradually grew more elaborate over the years. Thus, to distinguish between the tents in the campsite, the different gingerbread designs were created. Karen and Andrea actually know more about the gingerbread cottage history of the campsite as they ventured into the Cottage Museum.

Kerry and I just killed time while Karen and Andrea were in the museum. I actually had quite the chuckle with Kerry. While we were sitting on the ground waiting for Karen and Andrea, Kerry had her knees bent and tucked in toward her chest. She then whipped out a map of Martha's Vineyard from what appeared to be her cleavage. It was not her cleavage. There was a bag between her knees and her chest, but the quick motion had me laughing.

Following the cottages, we ended up having lunch at the Offshore Ale Company. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.) The place was delicious. I highly recommend it. For anyone curious, I ordered a fish sandwich. Generally, fish sandwiches are highly greasy. This one... was great... and the portions were nice too.

After lunch, we ventured to Aquinnah. Unfortunately, we had to make a little pit stop in Vineyard Haven (Tisbury) because we took public transportation. (We purchased the all day bus pass to transport ourselves around the island.) We had just missed the bus that was taking us to Aquinnah, so we had some time to kill in Vineyard Haven.

Anyway, we eventually made it to Aquinnah. Aquinnah, formerly known as Gay Head, was the only thing that I really wanted to see in Martha's Vineyard. The last time I was in Martha's Vineyard, I remembered the Gay Head Cliffs. I remember the site being beautiful and scenic. Sure enough, the place is still very nice. Of course, it doesn't hurt to have a nude beach below the cliffs as well.

(The picture below is of the Gay Head Cliffs.)


For anyone curious, my favorite cliffs are still the Cliffs of Mohr in Ireland... not that I'm a cliff aficionado or anything. Of course, I may be even more biased now because while on our way to the Gay Head Cliffs, my boss called me. Apparently, there was some work emergency... and chickens were running around without their heads.

Believe me, I am not important enough to be contacted normally for work. So, it must really have been an emergency for me to be called. Being contacted during a vacation by your place of employment is never fun. It can ruin your day because from that point on... all you can think about is work. Sigh.

Regardless, we headed to Edgartown after the Gay Head Cliffs. While Karen, Kerry and Andrea did some shopping, I sat by the dock on a conference call. Well, technically, I did not have a conference call. I called the conference line like my boss asked me to do... waited... and waited... waited for 15 minutes... hung up... called my boss at work... left a message on his voice mail... called the conference line again... waited for 5 minutes... hung up... called my boss's cell phone... left a message on his voice mail... called the conference line again... waited 2 minutes... hung up... called my boss's home number... and finally spoke with my boss. The conference call had been canceled. Yes, I was quite annoyed and frustrated. But at least I got to see a swan up close and personal while I sat waiting for the conference call.

After catching back up with Karen, Kerry, and Andrea, we indulged in a little relaxation therapy known as ice cream. We decided to eat at Mad Martha's Ice Cream. Mad Martha's Ice Cream... delicious. Normally, I don't eat ice cream for dinner... but today was one of those rare occasions which required it. The cookiewich was very good. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-O" sound.)

Eventually, we made our way back to the ferry. In fact, Kerry got to see a part of Oak Bluffs that she had never seen before. She seemed quite excited.

All in all, I had a great time in Martha's Vineyard (work stuff aside). It was fun to be with everyone. Needless to say, the four of us were wiped out when we got back to the vacation house in Onset. We did, after all, spend the entire day and night in Martha's Vineyard. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I Suck At Eating Ice Cream

Today, Karen and I left for our vacation in the Cape. Joining us were my friend (Andrea) and my BFF (Kerry).

The four of us had rented a house for the week as a means to just hang out together, relax, and enjoy each other's company. For me, this was the first time that I have been to Onset. Karen used to visit Onset with her family when she was growing up. Andrea likewise was familiar with Onset. I'm not sure about Kerry.

Needless to say, I was pretty excited. There was actually very little traffic on our way down to Onset. So we arrived pretty early at the house. And might I add, the house in Onset is very nice. The house is literally right across from the beach. As an extra bonus, the owners of the house were installing new faux wood blinds in the unit. So we get to break the blinds in! Now no one can see what we're doing inside... not that we would be doing anything anyways...

Because we arrived early, the four of us had lunch at Marc Anthony's Pizzeria. Apparently, people love the food at Marc Anthony's. I have heard a lot of recommendations for the place. Andrea and I ended up splitting a pizza. Truth be told, the pizza was okay. It was not terrible. It was not the best I have ever had either. But it was good.

Following lunch and a brief walking tour around the neighborhood, the four of us did what any vacationer down in the Cape would do: we went to the beach. The beach in Onset is nice. I have never been a big beach person, probably because I like to be active. Lying around in the sun has never been high on my list of activities... and apparently it shows because right now I have a little burn on my chest, a result of not applying any sunscreen in my attempt to get rid of my farmer's tan.

Anyway, the beach was surprisingly fun even if I did turn a little pink. (Curse you sun... you and your anit-Rickets vitamin D abilities!) The water was nice. The breeze was great. Plus, I even learned an interesting thing from Andrea. Andrea likes to rub her feet in the sand, because like a pumice stone, the action makes skin nice and smooth. Naturally, I tried it out. Interestingly enough, it's true. My skin was noticeably smoother. I am hoping to have baby soft hands and feet by the end of the week now. We'll see how that goes.

After our little beach excursion where I managed to get a little burnt on my chest (eyes up here please), we headed off to get some groceries for the week at the local Stop and Shop. When we returned, we had a little cookout. There is a commercial grill at the house in Onset. The grill is cool. I want one. Of course, I want a lot of things... and to quote Adam Sandler... "We're living in a material world and I am a material girl... or boy."

Anyway, shortly thereafter the four of us decided to get some ice cream. Andrea has decided that she will have ice cream every night... which, of course, I am all for. Unfortunately, I suck at eating ice cream.

(Pictured below is my ice cream cone.)


We went to Guido's for ice cream. Sure, I agree. It's an odd name. I ordered the daily special: double dutch chocolate. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-o" sound.) The ice cream was good. Unfortunately, I had the ice cream all over me. I had ice cream dripping down the cone... all over my hands... my arm... my mouth. It was not a pretty sight. A seven year old could eat ice cream better than me. But, it tasted good. (Well, the parts that did not drip all over me were good.)

If ice cream weren't enough excitement for the day, today was "Illumination" in Onset. Apparently, the harbor master "illuminates" the beach by creating a ring of flares. The illumination was quite beautiful looking (like Karen, Kerry, and Andrea... brownie points... brownie points.)

To cap off the night, we ended up watching a couple of episodes of Veronica Mars. Veronica Mars is such a good show. All in all, it has been a great first day for our vacation. I'm definitely looking forward to the rest of the week.

I Suck At Packing

Tonight, Karen and I started packing for our vacation. I suck at packing. Perhaps that is why my suitcase has very little in it, yet is hard to shut... while Karen's suitcase has a lot of things in it and is reasonably easy to zipper shut.

Anyway, tomorrow Karen, my friend (Andrea), my BFF (Kerry), and I are heading off to the Cape for a week of relaxation and fun. The vacation could not come at a better time. Work has been stressful. Our car recently has had some major repairs done. The first floor bathroom is still in disarray. And today, I learned that Karen and I might have to clear out our garage for some remodeling project courtesy of Home Depot.

Needless to say, there has been a lot on my mind lately. So, it'll be good to utter those magic words of "Calgon, take me away" and escape for a week with some friends. For anyone curious, my friends and I are headed to the town of Onset.

I have never gone to the Cape (if Onset is considered being in "the Cape") to vacation for a week. Growing up, my parents were generally too busy busting their butts to provide for my brother and I. So there were very few family vacations. Regardless, I am looking forward to this vacation. I think it will be a fun time.

Besides, what is there not to like? Free time... Hanging out with friends... Lauging and being silly... Hopefully good weather. I'm sure it will be fun. Perhaps this will even turn into an annual tradition. Who knows?

Anyway, I must be somewhat excited about the trip because after packing (which I really do suck at), I am not feeling tired at all. As my niece has been known to say in her efforts to stay awake and not go to bed when company is over... "I'm not tired!" I am not tired.

In fact, I'm wasting time right now listening to Stellastarr's "My Coco"... over and over again... which I have been known to do with songs. Because the video embedding has been disabled, here is the link to the YouTube video: My Coco. I guess it beats the Glee cast version of "Don't Stop Believing".

I Suck At Waiting

Last night began the Netflix Ryan Reynolds double feature. Women of the world... rejoice!

I have a feeling that Karen is a fan of Ryan Reynolds. Sure, what's not to like about Ryan Reynolds? He's cute. He's rich. He's funny. Heck, he even has a nice body which he seems to always show off in his movies these days. He even might be one of my friend's (Marc) man-crush.

Anyway, Karen wanted to watch "Waiting", which is a movie starring Ryan Reynolds, Justin Long (the Mac guy), and Anna Faris. Dane Cook is also in the movie. Apparently, Karen heard it was a good movie from one of her friends. I suspect the reason was due to Ryan Reynolds. I suck at Waiting.

(The video below is a trailer for "Waiting".)


So naturally, the movie entered the Netflix queue. Karen seemed pretty excited to watch the movie last night.

In my opinion, the movie was okay. The movie had its funny moments. It was not terrible by any means. Up next in the Ryan Reynolds double feature is "Just Friends". We'll see how that movie goes.

Interestingly enough, it was actually a Justin Long double feature too. Karen and I had previously watched "He's Just Not That Into You" the other night. As it turned out, Justin Long was in that movie as well.

For anyone curious, "He's Just Not That Into You" is very predictable for a chick-flick. It was enjoyable, but predictable. For a movie about relationships, it definitely did not help women learn anything about relationships with its ending.

And of course, to round out my vast movie selection... I watched the new "Friday the 13th" the same night I watched "He's Just Not That Into You". That was also predictable and silly. Interestingly enough, it was an Aaron Yoo double feature of sorts because he was in "Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist" that we watched one of the previous nights. I'm on a double feature roll!

Needless to say, "Friday the 13th" was good for a laugh. After all, what other movie can have the line, "Your tits are stupendous"? I will need to find a way to use that line someday.

I Suck At Angel

Last night, my friends (Marc and Kelley) made tacos. As usual, the dinner was great. Kelley even made her delicious muffins for dessert. Like her chocolate chip cookies, her muffins are very yummy. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-o" sound.)

Speaking of Kelley, yesterday was her first time using new contacts. She seemed to be enjoying them. I am sometimes jealous of people who can wear contacts. It's not that I technically cannot wear contacts. I simply have trouble touching my eye... let alone both eyes. Heck, I even have trouble using eye drops (not that I have used eye drops in quite a long time). I can't even imagine what it takes to remove a contact lens from an eye. I have been told the process is a simple pinch... which since I can't even touch my eye only makes the task seem that more difficult.

Anyway, on the agenda for the night was Angel. I suck at Angel. We were actually able to make it through the first disc of season 2. The episodes watched were: "Judgment" which introduced Lorne and the karaoke bar known as Caritas; "Are You Now or Have You Ever Been" about the haunted hotel which would become their new headquarters; "First Impressions" about Cordelia helping Gunn; and "Untouched" about an abused telekinetic.

Needless to say, the episodes were great. Following Angel, we were also able to catch the latest episode of Wipeout as well. That show is always good for a laugh or two. It's too bad that I'll have to wait a couple of weeks for the next installment of Buffy and/or Angel. I guess that's the one down side to taking a vacation next week.

I Suck At Denim Insulation

Today, I took a little stroll to Stoneham, Massachusetts. What is in Stoneham? Aside from the birthplace of Olympic figure skater, Nancy Kerrigan? According to my friend wikipedia, Stoneham was in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the greatest number of gas stations along a one-mile strip in the 1970s. Interestingly enough, there used to be a place called "Cheese Rock" in Stoneham. Bizarre.

Actually, the reason why I went to Stoneham was to visit a place called the Green Depot. The Green Depot sells environmentally friendly building supplies. After getting hooked on Planet Green television shows complements of Verizon FiosTV, Karen and I decided to see what it would be like to renovate a room using environmentally friendly products.

As it so happens, Karen and I are in the midst of renovating the bathroom on the first floor. When you watch the television shows and learn about how detrimental to the planet the average American lifestyle can be, it's almost a no-brainer to take initiative and make the future a better for the upcoming generation... assuming all the waste that has happened thus far to our planet is not too late.

My friend (Joanna) was way ahead of her time when she recycled milk labels and convert them into wallets. I thought it was neat that she was able to be that crafty with recycled products. Granted, I'm nowhere as talented as Joanna. So, I'll do what I can to help the environment. That includes a little experiment in building green.

Anyway, Stoneham is on my long commute home from my office in Marblehead. As Karen was working late today, I had ample time to visit the store and learn about the product I was intending to buy: denim insulation. Now I suck at denim insulation.

For anyone curious, denim insulation is natural cotton fiber insulation made from scraps of denim at clothing factories. These scraps would normally be tossed into the garbage and become landfill waste. Unlike the common fiberglass insulation, denim insulation does not itch. In fact, I got to actually see a sample of the insulation. The denim insulation felt like a big puffy blanket. It was comfy and nice. Heck, I might just roll around in it for fun. (No itch, remember?)

The one drawback of denim insulation, however, is the size of the rolls that denim insulation comes in. The rolls for denim insulation is quite large and rectangular. (So, it's not much of a "roll" per se.) Since I drive a tiny little Saturn, there was only room for one roll and it took up the entire back seat. I could not even see through my rear view mirror. That's how big the roll was. Needless to say, I will need to make more trips on my commute home if I am to get enough insulation to cover the bathroom. Luckily, I won't be needing too many more rolls of denim insulation.

Anyway, I am quite happy with the denim insulation thus far. Granted, I have not installed the denim insulation yet. For all I know, the insulation could be a pain to work with and not worth the cost. (I doubt either of those are true, based on what I have read thus far about denim insulation.) Simply knowing that I'm helping the environment and contributing to the general good is enough for me right now.

I Suck At Fashion Advice

Yesterday was quite the family bonding experience.

The day began with a friendly visit from my parents. Since being laid off, my mother has become rather bored around the house. Her boredom usually translates to frequent visits and possible guilt trips about why I don't visit her and my father more often. Don't get me wrong. I love my parents. Sometimes, I just want to relax and not have to stress about things or help them fill out health forms or retirement forms any of that. I just want to relax.

As luck would have it, Karen's grandparents also came over for a visit while my parents were there. Karen's grandparents stopped by to see Karen's garden... which is doing as well as can be in the new raised bed given the rainy weather. Of course, it doesn't help that our neighborhood critters (also known as rabbits) have eaten a good portion of the garden.

So pretty much, I entertained my parents and Karen's grandparents for some time. No stress there. It's a good thing that my parents and Karen's grandparents both enjoy each others' company.

Anyway, when my parents and Karen's grandparents left for the day, I had the house all to myself... for about half an hour. In that time, I watched part of the Red Sox game... only to doze off ten minutes into watching.

When I woke up, Karen had returned. She was a little perturbed to find me sleeping on the couch. So from there, I started to mow the lawn while Karen used the weed wacker to get at those pesky tufts of grass. I actually had to hurry up with the lawn mowing because we had plans with my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) and her family.

Janine invited us over for a cookout. It was a good cookout. In fact, we got to christen my favorite brother-in-law's (PJ) new grill that he picked up that day. In addition to the grilled pork, Janine had made some stuffed mushrooms that were really delicious. I do like mushrooms. Heck, I'm one fun guy (fungi). All right. Bad pun.

Following the cookout, Janine's friend (Gretchen) came over. Gretchen, or "G-Force" as she likes to call herself, cracks me up. She had just gone on a date, courtesy of Match.com and apparently could not wait for the date to end. I guess the date was that bad. One of her sticking points: the date had awful feet.

Granted, there were a bunch of other reasons as to why the date did not work out, but I enjoyed the awful feet reason because of its absurdity. Naturally, her list of prerequisites got me thinking about my other single female friends and their own prerequisites for men. I, of course, won't comment on that because whatever I say is likely to get me into trouble.

Anyway, after hearing about Gretchen's awful date (at least from the way she described it), all of us started to watch Janine walk down the fashion runway... dispensing fashion advice. Now, I suck at fashion advice. After all, just look at me. My wardrobe, when I'm not lying around in my boxer-briefs at home, consists of shorts and a t-shirt.

Nevertheless, Janine was trying to decide on what to wear for her upcoming trip to Las Vegas (with Gretchen and PJ). The outfits looked pretty good on Janine. I don't know what what she was worrying about. I'm sure she'll have a great time.

That was about it for the night. Yesterday actually turned out to be quite fun.

I Suck At Mixed Martial Arts

Today has been a very unproductive day.

The day started off with a little visit to our local Firestone. With an upcoming vacation to the Cape next weekend, Karen and I wanted to bring our car in. For some time, our car has been making noises... which is never a good sign for an automobile.

As it turns out, our car needed new brake rotors, new struts and new tires. Yes, with a week before vacation, it was great news to hear. But, I suppose the bright side is that at least the car should be in great shape for the vacation.

Anyway, with our car at the local Firestone, Karen and I intruded upon my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) and her family. Janine does relatively close to the Firestone. So Karen and I simply walked on over to their place.

It was great to see Janine, my favorite brother-in-law (PJ), my niece (Kaleigh), and my nephew (PJ). I feel like I have not seen them in quite some time. And as usual, I got my niece and nephew a little riled up. In fact, I think I may have hurt myself by repeatedly lifting both of them off the ground. (For anyone curious, my trapezius muscle is twitching and killing me. I am getting old.)

With Janine, PJ, and Kaleigh, we visited the local farmers market in Hingham. I think it may have been Janine and the kids first time. It seemed like they enjoyed it... except that my nephew thought the experience was too short. Karen and Janine ended up getting some local zucchini and some popcorn. The popcorn came courtesy of T.T. Buds popcorn.

From there, we ended up getting lunch at On Rye Deli in Norwell... before hitting the local 7-11. (Cue Rachael Ray's "Yum-o" sound for On Rye Deli.) Normally, I don't visit 7-11. In fact, I can't remember the last time I was there. But today, all of us went because it was free slurpee day at 7-11 because the date was 7-11. Apparently, 7-11 annually gives away free slurpees on July 11th. Who knew? I have not had a slurpee in ages. It was great!

Eventually, I picked up the car from Firestone. When I got brought the car home, I had received a message from my friend (Marc). Marc and my friend (Kelley) were having people over for the mixed martial arts pay-per-view that has recently been hyped.

Now, I suck at mixed martial arts. I would love to learn mixed martial arts. Or, as my BFF (Kerry) suggested... I should learn "a" martial art before learning "mixed" martial arts. Perhaps I can convince my friend (Jim, a.k.a. the Deadliest Friend) to train me. That would be cool. Of course, the down side of mixed martial arts is that I would horribly lose in any fight.

For starters, I don't like grappling sweaty men. Some of my single lady friends may enjoy that... but not me. Secondly, I don't like getting hit in the face. Truth be told, I don't like getting hit period. I especially don't like ruining my pretty face. Just kidding. And probably lastly, I would easily lose because of my propensity to bleed from my nose. My nose has been known to gush a river of blood with the slightest of bops.

Regardless, when Marc invited Karen and I over, I was pretty ecstatic because I was interested in watching the hyped up match between Brock Lesnar and Frank Mir. For anyone curious, Brock Lesnar was a former World Wrestling Entertainment wrestler. Interestingly enough, he is married to another former WWE wrestler: Sable.

Anyway, I had a great time at Marc and Kelley's. My friend (Cass) and Kerry also attended the event. For Kerry, it was her first time ever watching a mixed martial arts event. I must say, it was a blast watching the event with her. Much like the fortune cookie joke of adding "in bed" to every fortune, Kerry realized that the joke also pertained to mixed martial arts statistics. Thus, some fighters were "great grapplers... in bed."

One of the other comical moments of the night came when Kerry stretched out her legs in a seemingly "Basic Instint" move and said how she could do a Joe Rogan. Joe Rogan, aside from his fame as the Fear Factor host and former supporting actor of News Radio, is a big mixed martial arts fan. He provides color commentary on the matches. Unfortunately, he is looking pretty rough (and scarily a lot like Billy Joel) these days.

Previously, there was a comment that Kerry could color commentate like Joe Rogan for mixed martial arts. Needless to say, when Kerry kicked up her leg and agreed that she could do a Joe Rogan... well... let's just say... taken out of context, it was a little comical.

Anyway, it was a great time. (I had my third free slurpee of the night.) The main event match between Lesnar and Mir was actually a little disappointing. Lesnar simply made himself look like a jerk with his classless act of refusing to touch gloves with his opponent at the beginning of the match... the trash talking at the end of the match... and the flipping off of the crowd. In my opinion, he did not gain too many fans after that match.

Nevertheless, I had fun hanging with Marc, Kelley, Cass, Kerry and Karen. Thanks again Marc and Kelley!

I Suck At Setting Up A Computer

Yesterday, Karen and I visited Karen's grandparents who live in Hanover. These grandparents are on Karen's father's side.

Anyway, Karen's grandmother has been interested in learning about computers. Particularly, she wanted to learn about the internet and surfing and all of that stuff. Her hope was that having a computer with a connection to the internet would allow her to keep in touch with all of her other friends who are spread throughout the country, as well as ease prescription ordering and all of that.

So needless to say, Karen's grandparents ordered a computer (a Dell). As it turns out, the computer and monitor arrived yesterday. As I am generally the person in the family who is contacted for technical issues concerning things like electronics and computers, (probably due to my genetic nature) Karen and I stopped on over to help set up the new computer.

Now, I suck at setting up a computer. Luckily, it's not that difficult to set up a computer. I must say though... yesterday was like Christmas... only for the elderly. Karen's grandparents were not too interested while I was actually connecting the plug to the computer, or connecting the wires from the keyboard and mouse and monitor. But when I removed the plastic covering from the monitor and computer, Karen's grandparents swarmed into the room with jubilation.

In fact, they were so excited about the computer that I did not have time to actually set up the other finer details about the computer... like the user account... the router security... etc. Once the computer was able to turn on, Karen's grandparents swarmed in and asked me to show them how to turn on the computer... how to shut off the computer... and how to get onto the internet... not necessarily in that order.

Needless to say, it was somewhat comical to watch Karen's grandparents getting a little giddy over the computer. And for anyone curious... avoid Microsoft Vista. I'm not a big fan of Microsoft as it is. Vista only reaffirms my dislike for Microsoft as the operating system is simply a memory hog.

If it were up to me, I would have ordered a Mac for Karen's grandparents because those computers are intrinsically easier to learn, especially for the elderly. But Karen's grandparents were not too keen on Macs. (I guess they do not find Justin Long cute and adorable.) But hey, I give Karen's grandparents credit for even wanting to learn about computers. I think it's cool that they are trying.

Anyway, it was an interesting experience. And now, Karen's grandmother knows how to turn the computer on, get on the internet, and shut down the computer. What else is there to know? Just kidding.

I Suck At Nick And Nora's Infinite Playlist

Last night, I was invited to dinner with my in-laws. In general, whenever Karen and I get invited to my in-laws for dinner during the week, Karen's father cooks up a good pasta meal complete with bread. I don't exactly know what my father-in-law adds to the pasta sauce, but it is very delicious. Last night was no different.

Needless to say, it was nice to hang out with my in-laws. I guess I'm actually lucky that way in that I do get along very well with my in-laws. I hear horror stories from people I know about their in-laws. To my knowledge, my in-laws like me. (I could be wrong about that, of course.) I do, however, still think my favorite sister-in-law's (Janine) husband (PJ) is the favorite though... not that it's a competition or anything.

Anyway, it was a good dinner. Following dinner, Karen and I decided to sit back, relax, and enjoy a movie... complements of Netflix. (For anyone curious, it was the sixth movie I have seen his joining Netflix at the end of June.) The movie: Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist. Now I suck at Nick and Nora's Infinite Playlist.

(The video below is a clip from the movie.)


When the movie first came out, I was slightly curious about the movie because it looked like one of those generic cheesy teeny-bopper movies. And if anyone knows me, they know that I do enjoy teeny-bopper movies... like "John Tucker Must Die" or "Bring It On", etc. Heck, I even enjoy the Fox television show "Glee".

Anyway, the movie was ok. Michael Cera plays... well... the same character that he always plays in his other movies. Personally, I think the best character in the movie was Caroline (the drunk girl in the video clip above), played by Ari Graynor of Fringe fame. (Ari Graynor was also born in Boston.)

The movie was not spectacular or anything like that, but it was enjoyable. I did not know that the movie was actually based on a book of the same name by Rachel Cohn and David Levithan. Nevertheless, the movie was a good way to kill some time.

I Suck At Buffy The Vampire Slayer

On the agenda tonight for my weekly get together with my friends (Marc and Kelley) was the start of Season 5 for Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Now, I suck at Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Perish the thought, but around season 5 of the greatest television show ever is where (in my opinion) Angel was actually a little more interesting. Season 5 of Buffy introduces Buffy's sister, Dawn. Angel had Darla.

But before all of us could dive into Buffy, we ordered a little take out from the Falafel King located in Quincy. I love the Falafel King. The food is always delicious there. (Cue Rachael Raye's "Yum-O" sound.) When I used to work in town, my usual at the Falafel King consisted of the falafel sandwich. Since then, I have branched out. My new usual has become the lamb shawarma plate.

If dinner were not delicious enough, Kelley also made her famous chocolate chip cookies. I love Kelley's chocolate chip cookies. I could probably eat a whole bunch of them at one sitting... which may be an interesting challenge.

Anyway, the episodes of Buffy that we watched included: "Buffy vs. Dracula", about the legendary prince of darkness himself; "Real Me", about Dawn; "The Replacement", about Xander being split in two; and "Out of My Mind", about Riley's irregular heartbeat.

It's tough to say which episode I enjoyed the most. As an interesting tidbit of information, Tom Lenk appeared in the "Real Me" episode as one of Harmony's vampire minions. Tom Lenk would later join the cast as Andrew. Regardless, the four episodes were enough to finish off the first DVD disc. So on the agenda next is Angel. Yay!

Following the episodes of Buffy, we decided to unwind with a little Wipeout episode. Apparently, this episode of Wipeout was a special "couples" episode. Winning the prize tonight was the couple that I had personally rooted for. The only reason I had rooted for them, aside from the fact that the other couple was a scary muscularly looking (and bizarre) couple, was because the guy could do a moose impression. And for anyone curious, no... I am not a muscle-ist (a made-up word for one who discriminates against muscular people) like my friend (Hot Amy).

And by moose impression, I don't mean he made moose noises. The guy was this lanky pasty white guy. He took off his shirt, inflated his stomach, and placed his hands (palms out) next to his nipples to make the appearance of antlers. It was a rather amazing sight. It was also amazing that this tall lanky guy was actually pretty good at the show.

Needless to say, it was a good time as usual. Interestingly enough, Karen and I learned that Marc had a bite on his leg that looked similar to mine. I wonder if he received it at the Union Brew House in Weymouth, like I did. If so, the bugs there must be mean because both Marc and I still have the red marks from the bites. If my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) were there, she would probably blame it on the town of Weymouth. Weymouth... (shake fist...)

I Suck At Street Fighter: The Legend Of Chun-Li

Following the Conservation Commission meeting, I did want any normal person would do when they got home: watch television.

It just so happens that my next set of movies from Netflix came yesterday. So on the agenda for the night: "Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li". Now, I suck at Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li. Heck, I'm even not that good at the video game "Street Fighter". But, with Karen asleep, I figured that I might as well watch the movie.

(The video below is the the trailer for Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li.)


For anyone curious, the movie is based on the video game character: Chun-Li. As far as movies based on video games go, this one was not that bad. By no means was the movie going to win an academy award. At the same time, I liked the movie a hell of a lot better than some of the other movies based on video games.

Perhaps I enjoyed the movie because of Kristin Kreuk, who plays Chun-Li. For anyone curious, Kristin Kreuk also played Fiona in "Eurotrip" and probably more notable: Lana Lang in "Smallville". She's cute... and shockingly half Chinese. (Her other half is Dutch.)

Of course, I couldn't just watch one movie last night. I actually ended up watching another movie courtesy of my Netflix queue: Pineapple Express.

(The video below is part of M.I.A's "Paper Planes", which was also featured in the movie "Slumdog Millionaire".)


Pineapple Express was okay. It was a typical Seth Rogen movie. James Franco was definitely the better of the two. And might I add: Rosie Perez... has aged a lot since "White Men Can't Jump". And probably most interesting of all... Ed Begley, Jr. was in the movie. Yay Ed!

I Suck At Conservation Commission Board Meetings

Last night, Karen and I attended a Conservation Commission board meeting for our town of Norwell. Now, I suck at Conservation Commission board meetings. I used to think it would be great to hold a governmental position and serve my community. But after last night's meeting, the allure of doing many great things while working for the government may be wearing off.

The issue at hand for last night's meeting dealt with Jacob's Pond, which is the pond located behind my house. Just from my brief time living by the pond (the area is known as the Jacob Shores), I have gotten the impression that the neighborhood historically has always... for lack of a better word... been dumped upon. Thus, rather than say that I am a resident of the Jacob Shores, I like to jokingly use the term "Pond Scum" instead.

Anyway, there is also a senior housing area on the other side of Jacob's pond. This condo has recently asked the Conservation Commission to let them opt out of an agreement to contribute funds to be used for the cleaning up of Jacob's Pond. The agreement was made when the condo was first built and has since been in the document of condo fees.

Needless to say, my neighbors were concerned about the Conservation Commission's decision. So, the neighborhood (including Karen and I) attended the meeting to which the Commission was to make their decision.

There is a reason why government gets a bad reputation. Most of the time, the reputation is deserved. Aside from the meeting running late, the whole governmental process is inefficient and somewhat embarrassing. Plus, there's always that one authoritative person in the group or board that just gets on everyone's nerve. (I bet he was picked on growing up... and is now compensating.)

As it turns out, the meeting for the Jacob's Pond decision was already closed. Thus, no new information from any of the large group of my neighbors could be added or reviewed. Apparently, my neighborhood was given a chance to attend previous meetings about the subject already. The problem was: none of the residents, or abutters to the property in question were notified in time for any of these meetings. It's like receiving an invitation today to something that occurred last week. It definitely made the Commission look bad. (Either that, or the post office... take your pick.)

Eventually, the Commission reopened the meeting in light of discovering the fact that the residents were not notified in time. And luckily, people kept their certified mail envelopes as proof. And then... the fun began.

Based on the information that I reviewed, the answer looks plain and simple: the condo should still have to contribute funds to the cleaning up of Jacob's Pond. There's documentation (which I am quite surprised that some of the neighbors still have after all these years) that even states that the condo must contribute funds annually to clean up Jacob's Pond and that these fees will never expire. The documentation was from the original applicant and was approved so that the condo could even be built in the first place. So to let the condo off the hook makes no sense to me.

Of course, things are never that easy in local governments. It turns out that the Commission has done some dealings with the Condo and have now somehow made the condo's contribution to the funds for cleaning up Jacob's Pond dependent on the condo's septic system. In other words, if the septic is not contributing any waste to Jacob's Pond, then the condo does not have to contribute to clean it up. Unfortunately, I have no idea how that came about.

So needless to say, things are a bit messy with this issue. Throw in the fact that the Commission (until recently) lost oversight of the funds and it just makes government look even worse. It turns out that the condo has not contributed to the cleaning up of Jacob's Pond for some time... several years in fact... It was just pure chance that the Commission even noticed that piece of information recently. Yay government.

Anyway, I think my neighbor (Rose) probably summed it up best last night. Rose is an old woman who lives around the corner from Karen and I. Rose cracks me up because she will say anything. Basically, Rose said "This seems useless" because one of the board members kept antagonizing what was said by the residents. Like I said, there's always one.

The eventual outcome for the night was that there would be another open meeting in August. If I thought last night was interesting, I am betting the meeting in August will be even more heated.

I Suck At Eating Mold

It may be all in my head, but right now... I don't feel too good.

In a move that is similar to my scallop incident from a while ago, I ate mold. Now, I suck at eating mold. Well... apparently I really don't suck too much at eating mold because I just ate mold.

And for anyone curious, the infamous scallop incident refers to the time a group of my friends and I went out to celebrate my friend's (Garv) birthday. At least, I think it was for Garv. We had gone to the Apollo in Chinatown. My eyes lit up when a plate of raw scallops had come by our table. So naturally, I grabbed one and put it in my mouth... only to get hit in the back of the head by Karen... which caused me to spit the scallop back onto the plate because the scallop was raw. Yes, very delicious.

Anyway, I did not purposely set out to eat mold. It just sort of happened. Awhile ago, Karen had made some beer bread. We never finished the entire loaf. Instead, we threw the remaining bread in Tupperware and into the refrigerator.

Fast forward to today: I went rummaging through the refrigerator and saw the bread during my lunch break. So, I pulled out the Tupperware container and a container of hummus to spread on the bread.

There were only two pieces of bread in the Tupperware container. I started spreading the hummus on one of the two pieces. CHOMP! I took one big bite... CHOMP! I took another bite. With the half eaten piece in my hand, I looked at the bread. Something had caught my eye: a little friendly blue spore.

Naturally, I took a peek at the other piece of bread in the Tupperware container. The other piece of bread had speckles of mold all over it. Nice. It figures.

Needless to say, I didn't finish the rest of the bread. Instead, I put the bread to good use: the bread is sitting in my compost bin now. Anyway, I currently have that "I'm hungry, yet I'm grossed out" feel.

If I end up in the hospital today, at least you will know why.

I Suck At Blogging

Coming soon to a web browser near you... a new blog. I suck at blogging. Lucky for me, I managed to convince my better half (Karen) into creating a blog tonight.

For some time, Karen has threatened to start her own blog about living with me. Personally, I don't see what's so bad about living with me. I'm quite the perfect catch. Just kidding. (I just tell myself that I'm quite a catch to make myself feel better.)

Anyway, we'll see if Karen even posts anything to her new blog. I'm just happy that she's finally entered the 21st century... with this thing called technology. Whether she does post anything or not to her blog, at least she can finally make good on her threat. So possibly soon, readers can learn about my leaving a wet butt print on her towel...

I Suck At Renee's Cookout

Like the fifth Friday the 13th film, Sunday was a new beginning. In honor of the new beginning, I figured that I would change things up a little and actually start capitalizing in my posts. I'm sure my friend (Marc) will be happy to know that fact.

Anyway, Sunday is not really much of a new beginning. Sunday simply marks the beginning of my booze-stinance. (Think abstinance, except with booze.) Truth be told, I have been thinking about giving up alcohol for some time.

Knock on wood... I don't have any liver problems. In fact, I generally pride myself on my liver... having only had one hangover ever in my life due to imbibing an entire bottle of wine. Usually, I can drink whatever... in whatever quantities... and not feel the ill side effects the following day. Heck, I seldom experience the "alcohol flush reaction" when drinking.

For anyone curious, according my friend wikipedia:

"Alcohol flush reaction (colloquially referred to as Asian Flush, Asian Glow, Red Cheeks, Oriental Flush, Big Blush, Russian Glow) is a condition in which the body cannot break down ingested alcohol completely, due to a missense polymorphism that encodes the enzyme, acetaldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH2), normally responsible for breaking down acetaldehyde, a product of the metabolism of alcohol. Flushing, or blushing, is associated with the erythema (reddening caused by dilation of capillaries) of the face, neck, shoulder, and in some cases, the entire body after consumption of alcohol."

My friend (Aimee) immediately turns red with one sip of alcohol. It's amazing. Regardless, despite the miracle known as my liver, I have had thoughts before about giving up the fire water.

My mother was recently diagnosed with liver problems. More recently, Aimee's mother had problems with her liver. Unfortunately, Aimee's mother has since passed away. So when my friend (Kelley) considered temporarily giving up alcohol herself to help her own digestive issues, I figured that it may be time to at least put some action behind the thought.

Thus, it was a no-brainer... a win-win situation: I can show my support for Kelley. I can show my support for Aimee's mother. I can show my support for my mom. And my liver can thank me later. Granted, I don't even know if I can even accomplish the task. But in my mind, I'm really no different when I am drinking than when I am not drinking. (Sure, I may be a little more "huggy" when inebriated, but that's about it.) And really, the task is only for a couple of months... possibly longer depending on how things go.

Plus, there is the possible bonus of my actually having to face reality and not drown my sorrows in booze. Since my son (Braden) passed away, I feel that I have imbibed more... whether true or not. From a convenience point of view, it was just easier to drink than socialize or whatever. Anyway, hopefully my friends won't care too much that I have given up alcohol for the time being.

I guess another benefit of giving up alcohol is that it is a challenge... and everyone knows, particularly my friend (Hot Amy), that I love a challenge. I really haven't had a challenge in some time. Perhaps I'm like an adrenaline junkie... except that instead of adrenaline, I need a challenge. I'd challenge Hot Amy more often if she ever won a challenge. Just kidding.

Anyway, drinking aside, Karen and I were invited to Karen's friend's (Renee) cookout in Lynn. Now, I suck at Renee's cookout. Apparently, Renee's family were meeting her husband's (Jeffrey) family for the first time. Sure, Renee and Jeffrey have been married for over three years... but I guess the two families never had the opportunity to meet one another... until now.

Thus, Karen, Karen's friend (Christine), and I were invited to the cookout to provide a buffering zone. Karen and I actually ended up grilling the hot dogs and burgers for the cookout, which was good because it allowed Renee and Jeffrey to mingle between their respective families... and probably let them de-stress.

It was an interesting time. It has been quite a while since I have seen Renee, Jeffrey, and Christine. The last time I saw them was probably Braden's funeral service in September. And for anyone curious, Christine enjoyed the "Twilight" series of books. (I still don't get the allure of "Twilight".)

Anyway, I had a good time.

I Suck At Meredith's Wedding

saturday was our independence day... happy fourth of july!

in celebration of the fourth of july, karen and i were invited to a wedding. my friend (meredith) was getting married at the red parrot in hull. now, i suck at meredith's wedding. the celebration was actually very nice.

according to karen, the ceremony was one of the more touching ones that she has been to. i think what was really touching about the wedding was that you could see the excitement on the face of the groom (doug). anxious... nervous... his face and actions said it all. and then when meredith walked in, you could hear him whisper how beautiful she looked. it was rather nice.

(pictured below are meredith and doug.)


prior to the wedding, my friends (marc, kelley, garv, leeann), karen and i had attended a cookout at my friends's (ron and trinh). ron and trinh are simply amazing. they always serve great food. they always throw a great party. their place is like a vacation resort... the next time i vacation somewhere, i may vacation in pembroke (which is where ron and trinh live).

ron and trinh's cookout was great. it was a lot of fun. i got to relax and hang out with my friends. my friend (aimee) also showed up. probably the most memorable part of the cookout... aside from hearing that leeann received blunt force trauma to the head courtesy of a door at her house... was garv's giddiness over a shirtless friend of ours (bill).

needless to say, garv only further perpetuated the running joke about his torrid gay love affair with bill... with all the taunts about a shirtless bill. it was rather comical to watch. i joke because i care. in fact, i care so much that i dressed up like garv for meredith's wedding.

following ron's cookout, a bunch of us went back to our place to get ready for meredith's wedding. not trusting my own ability to pick out an outfit for the wedding, karen went through my clothes and selected a few things for me to wear. it turns out, the things karen pulled out for me to wear were almost identical to what garv had brought to change into.

you can imagine the surprise when i emerged... fully dressed for the wedding... to see garv in a similar outfit: striped shirt... steve maddon shoes... it was as though i were looking at my twin... with the exception that i don't use product in my hair... or have a high forehead. i'm just teasing. but it was rather funny.

garv and i even joked about playing a prank on doug's family while at the wedding... since we were dressed similarly, but we didn't. instead, we just perpetuated the stereotype that all asians look the same.

anyway, meredith's wedding was great. my friends (cass and ellen), who were in the wedding party, met up with us and we laughed and hung out like the old times. it was just fun to hang out with my friends and be silly. in fact, i even got to briefly reprise my role as exotic... and erotic... dancer. (trust me, it's not something you want to see.)

congratulations and thanks, meredith!

I Suck At Hot Amy's Cookout

last night was the annual cookout that my friend (hot amy) hosts. hot amy's cookout is one of my friend's (andrea) favorite days of the year... the other favorite day being her own birthday. unfortunately, i suck at hot amy's cookout.

(pictured below is karen... and part of me.)


this year's cookout was quite interesting. after all, the cookout marked the last day of wally's captivity. (for anyone curious, wally is hot amy's stuffed animal.) yes... it's sadly true, wally has been returned to his rightful owner.

of course, like most things, i didn't make it easy for hot amy. (someone has to keep her grounded.) at one point, i actually had the upper hand. sitting across from karen, hot amy taunted karen by showing the stuffed animal that she herself had kidnapped from karen awhile ago.

needless to say, with a swift act of heroism... i saved karen's stuffed animal from the forces of evil. i snatched the stuffed animal directly from hot amy's hands. from there, i bolted to my car to place both wally and karen's stuffed animal into the car.

sure, i may have looked a little silly to hot amy's neighbors by carrying a stuffed pig and wally in my hands as i made my way down the street, but i didn't care. i had both the pig and wally. i'll give hot amy some credit though. i definitely did not notice her following me. i thought i had lost her back at her cookout.

i actually did not notice hot amy until i opened the trunk of my car and threw karen's stuffed pig in. hot amy had let out a scream of terror, causing me to immediately shut the trunk. with wally still in my hand, i had to think of a way to get wally into my car.

eventually, the right opportuntity arose. circling around my car, i stealthily unlocked the car doors with my remote. opening the door, i threw wally in the back seat and quickly locked the doors with the remote. hot amy did her best to open the door, but i was too quick! it was amusing to watch.

anyway, defeated... hot amy walked back to the cookout. i of course, was all smiles on the walk back because i had rescued karen's stuffed pig... and kept wally. and then... came the guilt. and by guilt, i mean my better half: karen.

all right, so maybe i did feel somewhat guilty for taking back the pig while keeping wally. it's like that idiom: like taking candy from a baby... not that i'm calling hot amy a baby or anything.

after some feelings of guilt, i eventually went back to the car to release wally. and naturally because i never make things easy for hot amy, i hid wally somewhere in her very own house without telling her. i don't think she has found wally yet... very sad. at the same time, i get a little chuckle out of knowing that she has not found him. mean? maybe.

aside from the wally fun, the rest of the night was pretty interesting. i will probably never watch fireworks again without thinking about my bff (kerry). it turns out that kerry had a discussion with one of her coworkers about fireworks and how fireworks are similar to... of all things... sex. truth be told, the analogy between fireworks and sex does seem to fit in that all the "foreplay" of the fireworks leads to one big finale.

so needless to say, my group of friends (marc, kelley, kerry, and carlos), karen, and i chuckled like five year olds as we watched the fireworks display. after all, if fireworks were like a rorschach test, then all of us saw nipples and sperm of various colors and sizes in the firework display... well, all of us except for carlos who had trouble seeing the nipple fireworks.

interestingly enough, the most memorable part of the night followed the fireworks. in my opinion, the most memorable part of the night was... the bouncy house. hot amy's family rented one of those bouncy houses... but not just any type of bouncy house. this bouncy house was huge. and luckily, there were no weight restrictions... or at least none that we could read.

needless to say, my friends and i entered the bouncy house and just... bounced and bounced... and bounced. it was awesome... it was fantastic... you name it. who knew jumping around could be so hysterical? from what i was told by kelley, who did not enter the bouncy house, the outside of the bouncy house kept swaying as though it were going to fall over. luckily, the bouncy house never did topple over.

anyway, by far i will remember the bouncy house fun. after all, what could be better than a bunch of friends... hanging together... laughing their butts off as they jump around. it was great.

I Suck At Watching Movies

today, i get to spend some quality time with myself... and i definitely do not mean the "going blind" sense of the term. last night, karen and my friend (jen) went to visit my bff (kerry) who lives in salem. with karen spending the night up in salem, that left me all by my lonesome for today.

truth be told, i enjoy having some alone time now and then. lately, i have been feeling a little overloaded... with a stressful project launch at work... with a bathroom renovation project in the works... with helping my mother find health insurance... with other menial chores, etc. the list of "to-dos" definitely gets to be overwhelming at times.

add to the fact that i am still, probably by all accounts, a mess with my constant mood changes over the death of my son (braden)... and i guess it's understandable that i like to have some quality time now and then. unfortunately, i do not have that much time for myself.

i actually started to think more about this topic... interestingly enough, after the first season finale of angel. in addition to having the return of the vampire, darla, the season finale of angel touched upon angel's place in the world. now, by no means am i comparing myself to a tv character... let alone angel. the idea, however, just got me thinking about my own situation and what connects me to the world.

sure, it's a deep philosophical thing. lucky for me, philosophy was one of my two minors in college (anthropology being the other). anyway, since braden's passing, i have... for lack of a better word... felt lost. i can go through the motions of every day life, but deep down i have been feeling empty. i'm a parent, but i'm not really a parent. i guess you can say that i'm in limbo... a holding pattern... i don't really know.

the feeling annoys me because lately i think my moods have been getting worse as my pile of "to-dos" increases. i think i am getting a little anti-social of late. so if anyone sees me and i just grunt... that's probably why.

so how does someone like myself begin to right the course? what else... but unwind and watch movies. now, i suck at watching movies. and sure, i realize that my movie watching only wastes time... time which can be more productively spent on crossing out some of the to-do items... but i think i just personally need some time to unwind. plus, watching movies is better for my health than drinking my stress away. my liver will thank me later.

so thanks to my favorite sister-in-law (janine), i have a netflix account. on the agenda for today: "the spirit", "death race", and "role models".

(the video below is the trailer for "the spirit".)


(the video below is "death race".)


(the video below is the trailer for "role models".)


sure, the three movies are mindless... but at least it's mindless fun. role models was definitely my favorite of the three. who knew larping could be fun? i could live without the spirit... not that the movie was bad... the movie was more blah. and surprisingly, death race was entertaining.

anyway, i've finished watching all three movies already and i still have the rest of the day. so now i have to figure out what to do with the rest of my day. sad...

I Suck At The Union Brew House

last night, karen had plans with my friend (jen) and my bff (kerry). the plans involved visiting kerry in salem for a "chicks night out". apparently, it was country music night at some place up by kerry... and as all three of them are country bumpkins, they planned to give the place a go.

if it were up to me, i would probably have karen partake in more ladies' nights because i think it's good for her to be out and about... enjoying herself without having to worry or think about things like the passing of our son (braden)... or even worrying about me. unfortunately, i don't organize any of these nights out.

needless to say, while karen was out, i decided to hang out with my friends (marc, kelley, and andrea). the plan: the union brew house, located in weymouth. now, i suck at the union brew house. i have not been there in about three months. (if you are to look back at my postings, it was march.) and interestingly enough, all the times i have gone... andrea has been with me. this time was no different.

marc and kelley had heard about the brew house themselves and had never gone. so, we figured last night was as good a time as any to go. plus, andrea and i still had to work on achieving our goal of completing the list of beers offered at the union brew house. for anyone curious, the union brew house has a list of 99 beers that they serve. should a patron consume all of these beers (not at one sitting of course), the patron would receive a commemorative plaque and a t-shirt. and as a side note, young's chocolate stout is pretty good.

anyway, it just so happens that while at the brew house, andrea noticed my favorite brother-in-law's (pj) cousin's (tiffany) boyfriend (darren) at one end of the outdoor area. (we were seated in the outdoor area.) at my last encounter at the brew house, andrea, pj, and i were introduced to darren by tiffany.

darren, known to patrons as "the mayor of the brew house", was doing a little shimmy and giving someone a little neck rub. at the time, the person receiving the neck rub was blocked from my view... by darren's rhythmic undulating dance moves... not that it would have mattered anyway because i did not wear my glasses to the brew house.

curious, i called pj to see if tiffany and darren were still dating. well, as it turns out, tiffany was actually there with darren. for the record, neither andrea nor i could see her... probably because we were entranced by the rhythmic undulations of darren's shimmy.

anyway, it was a rather comical moment because pj wanted me to take a picture of darren. apparently, there is some joke going around the family that they are watching darren... all the time.

needless to say, it was fun at the brew house... hanging with my friends... and running into tiffany and darren.

I Suck At Angel

last night, karen and i hung out with my friends (marc and kelley).

marc was gracious enough to make dinner for us. the chicken dinner with potatoes and green beans was very delicious. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) interestingly enough, part of marc's recipe was influenced by rachael ray... coincidence? just kidding.

on the agenda for the night: the season finale of angel. now i suck at angel. i was actually pretty excited about the season finale of angel because i knew one of the characters would be returning to the show.

the episodes that we watched were: "war zone", which introduced the character known as gunn; "blind date", about lindsey's brief moment of compassion as far as evil lawyers go; and the season finale "to shanshu in l.a.", about a prophecy concerning angel.

at the conclusion of the season finale, it was revealed that darla returns! for anyone curious, darla was the vampire that sired angel. she incidentally was staked in the buffy episode "angel", after she tried to make it appear as though angel attacked buffy's mom.

darla is also one of the other characters i enjoy. truth be told, i pretty much enjoy all of the characters created on the buffy/angel world. as well, i guess it helps that julie benz, the actress playing darla... is blond... and cute.

speaking of julie benz, according to my friend imdb, she was a competitive ice skater before a stress fracture led her down the path of acting. interestingly enough, she also has apparently lost two roles to sarah michelle gellar: 1) kendall on "all my children" and 2) buffy on buffy. who knew?

anyway, it was a great night. unfortunately, karen and i had to cut the night a little short because i had to make preparations for a project launch in the following wee hours. project launches are one of those things that i don't exactly look forward to. but, at least the project is launched and off my plate for now.

I Suck At Netflix

today, i anxiously awaited the arrival of my friend, the mailman (or mailwoman). i usually don't get too anxious for postal carriers unless i know something is arriving in the mail. scheduled to arrive today are my first set of dvds from netflix.

now, i suck at netflix. in the past, i comtemplated joining netflix because i generally have no life and do watch a lot of movies. truth be told, i have been known to watch god-awful movies just because they were on. it's like when i read god-awful books (like "the secret" and "twilight")... i need to complete them just so i can say i finished the journey.

and really, in my opinion, it's all about the experience of the journey. i know karen generally gets annoyed with me whenever she asks me a question about what will happen next in the upcoming season of buffy the vampire slayer and i decline to tell her. but to me, it's all about the journey. if i told her the answers, then she would not be as surprised or whatever when the season unfolds. for those who watch "lost", just think how exciting the show would be if everyone already knew how the series would end. it would definitely not be the same experience.

that is just my personal opinion. interestingly enough, this topic reminds me about an article i read by j.j. abrams in wired magazine about mystery. the article is a good read. and for anyone curious, j.j. abrams is one of the geniuses behind "lost".

regardless, i recently received a present from my favorite sister-in-law (janine), my favorite brother-in-law (pj), my niece (kaleigh) and my nephew (pj) for father's day. truth be told, with all things considered like the loss of my son (braden) i was not really expecting to receive anything for father's day, so it was a nice surprise. the present happened to be a subscription to netflix.

so off i went to give netflix a try. i must say, there are a lot of movies to choose from. the selection is great! my only fear now is that i will become addicted to watching movies non-stop... which isn't necessarily a bad thing. movies, after all, do provide an escape from reality... even if it is only for a couple of hours. but at least i will get a little reprieve for a couple of hours. so i won't have to constantly think about all the things in my life that stress me out.

anyway, thank you janine, pj, and all. i can't wait to check the mailbox.