I Suck At Lost

Karen and I began yesterday by taking our niece (Kaleigh) to the movies. Although Kaleigh's birthday was a while ago, Karen and I did not have the opportunity to take her out... until yesterday. And it just so happened that Kaleigh (along with Karen) wanted to see Shrek Forever After.

(The video below is a trailer for "Shrek Forever After".)


Shrek Forever After is the fourth and supposedly final chapter of the Shrek movie franchise. In this installment, Shrek makes a deal with the shady Rumpelstiltskin after being bored with his current hum-drum life. After the deal sends Shrek into an alternate reality, Shrek learns what he originally had wasn't such a bad thing. (Cue Cinderella's cheesy power ballad "Don't Know What You Got (Till It's Gone)" from the 80s.)

The movie was okay. It was not as good as the previous movies and the laughs were few and far between. Nevertheless, it was still enjoyable. The movie could have been aired on the networks instead of the big screen, but then again... where would be the money in that?

Following the Shrek, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea). On the agenda for the remainder of the day: Lost. Now, I suck at Lost. It just so happens that yesterday was the final episode of the series. Without giving anything away, the series finale was a decent way to end the beloved show. I definitely will miss tuning into the show every week to watch it. The writing for the show was without a doubt superb. I'll probably get sad now because I don't think there is anything else currently on television that is as riveting as Lost... at least I haven't found it yet. Needless to say, it was a great six seasons.

And for anyone curious, the Jimmy Kimmel special after the series finale... waste of time. The supposed alternate endings that were to be aired on the special... stupid.

Despite Jimmy Kimmel, I had a great time yesterday just hanging out with friends and watching the end of truly a great show.

I Suck At Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog

On Tuesday, I hung out with my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea). Karen and our baby daughter (Briana) stayed at home because Briana has been fussy since receiving her vaccination shots.

Anyway, on the agenda for the night was another episode of Lost. Without giving anything away about the episode, I am highly anticipating the series finale this weekend. I am hoping the series will end satisfactorily.

Before Lost, however, we decided to watch Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog starring Neil Patrick Harris (NPH). Now, I suck at Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. For Andrea, it was her first time watching the musical short film.

Needless to say, I enjoyed watching Dr. Horrible again. NPH rocks! It just so happened that NPH was also on Glee Tuesday night too. So generally speaking, it was an NPH night. And for anyone curious, Neil Patrick Harris is an amateur magician... a fact that Karen has told me after watching the Today show. Doogie Howser has come such a long way...

Speaking of Glee and musicals, I think Andrea enjoyed Dr. Horrible as well. And really, what's not to like when the story is the brainchild of Buffy the Vampire Slayer's Joss Whedon. (Okay, sure Dollhouse was rather blah...)

All in all, it was a good night on Tuesday.

I Suck At Hanging Out With Aimee

Yesterday, my friend (Aimee) came by for a visit. Unfortunately, I actually had to go into the office in Marblehead to work yesterday. So I could not see Aimee. I guess you can say that I suck at hanging out with Aimee. It's probably just as well. I think she wanted to see our daughter (Briana) more than she wanted to see me anyway. That's pretty much how it is these days.

Actually, Aimee has a busy schedule with two children of her own. Since weekends don't really work for her, Tuesdays end up being the day she is available. And unfortunately, I tend to be in Marblehead on Tuesdays. From what I have been told, Aimee had a great visit. She got to hold and feed Briana. Sadly, Karen did not get a picture of Aimee holding Briana. So Aimee seems to be the lone elusive friend of mine who has held Briana without my getting a picture of the incident.

As an interesting side note, my boss actually called Karen yesterday thinking I was working from home. He had just arrived at the office himself and forgot that I was likewise in the office. He got a chuckle out of telling me the story.

Regardless, I missed hanging out with Aimee. I feel like I haven't seen her in some time. The last time was at the photo scavenger hunt that I organized back in February, and even then I didn't get to see her that long.

Following work, Karen, our newborn daughter (Briana), and I hung out with my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea). After all, it was Tuesday and Tuesdays are Lost nights. Truth be told, I thought last night's episode of Lost was rather blah (although I still enjoyed it a heck of a lot more than the stupid Bai Ling tattoo episode).

Anyway, Lost aside, the night was great. Andrea got to hold and feed Briana for much of the night. It's always a plus when you can pawn off feeding duties of your newborn daughter to your friends. I'm just kidding.

Actually, it was just fun to hang out. Andrea got to hear the story of our friend's (Cara) wedding where Marc got a little inebriated. That was also the wedding where Marc imbibed on some breast milk complements of my friend (Jeannette)... and that was before the rapid downward spiral of martinis. Yum. Martinis. I haven't had one in quite some time. Ah, the good old days.

I Suck At Lost

On Tuesday, Karen and I... and our newborn daughter (Briana)... hung out with my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea). On the agenda for the night: Lost. Now, I suck at Lost. In fact, since the episode aired, I can't seem to get it out of my mind. That was how much I enjoyed watching the latest episode. I will be so sad when the series ends.

Anyway, Tuesday was the first time that Karen and I have been to Marc and Kelley's place in well over a month due largely in part to Briana. It was definitely good to be able to visit them for a change and not have them visit us.

Truth be told, I was a little hesitant to visit Marc and Kelley on Tuesday. I think when you become a parent and are given responsibility over the life of another being... you essentially develop irrational thoughts and possible paranoia. It's unavoidable in my opinion.

The main cause for my trepidation was Briana's interaction with cats. Marc and Kelley have three cats. Normally, that is not a cause for alarm. After all, I like cats. Unfortunately, I tend to be allergic to cats. Of course, I'm not as sensitive to cats as my friend and future mayor of Quincy (Cass) is. Nevertheless, I do have allergic reactions to felines. (For anyone curious, I never used to be allergic to cats. Damn this old age!)

So naturally, in my bout of irrational thinking, I did worry that Briana (should she be like her father) could also be allergic to cats. In that case, would Briana feel itchy? Would she simply sneeze uncontrollably? Would she just cry (which is a given for newborns)? Would she react in such a way that the airway would get restricted and suffocate? See... paranoia.

It turns out Briana was just fine and my bout of paranoia was all for nothing. She may have made a little fuss during Lost, but all in all she was very good. Of course, I may have just been thinking that because I was so deeply focused on Lost. Or it could have been the drinks that Kelley made. (I've missed Kelley's bartending.) Or it could have the delicious chocolate pretzels that Andrea brought again. Those were so good.

Needles to say, it was a great night. I'm still thinking about Lost as I type this.

I Suck At Lost

On Tuesday, Karen and I saw our friends (Marc, Kelley and Andrea). With our baby daughter (Briana) still a little too ripe to venture out, we decided to have everyone over. Regardless of how exhausted I was from my lack of sleep, I had to stay up on Tuesday night. After all, Tuesdays are Lost night.

Unfortunately, I suck at Lost. Needless to say, the episode of Lost was great. It was also definitely good to see everyone. Andrea apparently has been busy looking at new places as she gets ready to venture out into the world of home ownership. As bizarre as this will sound, I am hoping her new place will need a new thermostat because I have a couple of extra ones that I'm looking to get rid of. (It's part of the three R's: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle...)

And yes, I did already get rid of another thermostat awhile ago thanks to my BFF (Kerry). Apparently, our house was chock full of thermostats. I have no idea how or why we had so many thermostats. We just did. Now that I think about it, maybe my friend (Hot Amy) will need a thermostat too when she eventually leaves the confines of Quincy... the city of lights... red lights.

Anyway, it was a great time on Tuesday. I had fun.

I Suck At Having Friends Over

Last night, Karen and I did something we haven't done since our daughter (Briana) came home from the hospital: we had a bunch of friends over. Apparently, I suck at having friends over. Truth be told, it was not like we purposely have not had any friends over our house since Briana came home. We just did not want to be an inconvenience to our friends whenever Briana had to feed... and she constantly feeds.

My BFF (Kerry) was gracious enough to come down from Salem yesterday. She wanted to make dinner for Karen and I, as well as meet our little Briana. I won't kid people. The first few weeks of raising a baby are exhausting. Television does not lie when it comes to that aspect of parenting. I don't know how single parents are able to do it because it is initially just that tiring attempting to adjust to a new routine.

Needless to say, when Kerry offered to make dinner, I was quite ecstatic for a fresh hot meal that was not cooked in the microwave. Kerry decided to make tacos for the night. Apparently, it was her first time making tacos... a taco virgin. (And for anyone who is curious, she also brought down some bagels from the ever popular Bagel World.) Anyway, the tacos were quite delicious.

While we hung out for dinner, my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea) also stopped on by last night. After all, yesterday was Tuesday and the best show currently on television is on Tuesdays... Lost. It was great to watch Lost with everyone again. Andrea got to hold Briana... as did Kerry. They both looked good holding her. You know how sometimes people just look awkward holding babies? Not Andrea and Kerry...

Marc, Kelley, and Andrea also brought a frozen treat for Kerry: ice cream complements of Frozen Freddies in Quincy. Ice cream... yum! Marc had a graham cracker ice cream flavor. It was good.

Anyway, it was simply fun to hang out with friends again. Briana was also good for the night. She did not fuss at all until everyone left. And even that fussing was because Karen and I had to wake her up for her feeding. So it was a good night. Plus, Lost was another great episode.

I Suck At Going To The Hospital

There are days where I wish life mirrored television. After all, in the television world, pregnancies look like a piece of cake. A woman gets pregnant. She has a few crazy cravings. Nine months later, the baby is born. Easy. Viewers rarely see the part where there are complications with the pregnancy. I think in the television world, dying children is taboo.

Needless to say, I wish yesterday were like television. Yesterday, my pregnant wife (Karen) and I went to the hospital. Now, I suck at going to the hospital. During the start of the afternoon, Karen called me while I was working at the office. Normally, I would probably be ecstatic to receive a call in the office from Karen. Heck, I would be ecstatic to receive any phone call in the office because no one ever calls me.

Unfortunately, this call was slightly anxiety-causing. Karen had mentioned how she needed to go to the hospital because she had noticed some bleeding... which for a pregnant person is not exactly good news. Of course, after receiving the news I quickly gathered my things and immediately left the office.

I probably gave myself an ulcer yesterday. I work in Marblehead, which is near Salem. For anyone curious, people in Marblehead (and Salem) drive like my grandmother... if I had a grandmother. I don't know why they drive very slowly, but they do. I'm sure you can imagine how frustrating it is to drive at a snail's pace when you are trying to pick up your pregnant wife to bring her to the hospital.

Needless to say, I was not too happy until I got to the highway, in which case my lead foot basically hit the pedal to the metal. Had I been driving a Toyota, I would probably have gotten into an accident. Just kidding.

Anyway, I picked up Karen at her work and the both of us then drove to the hospital. Obviously, I had to drive a little slower than Toyota-speed now that Karen and our unborn baby (currently named Jicama) were in the car.

And naturally, at the hospital we waited... and waited... and waited for what seemed like an eternity. It's funny how that works. The things that seem so imperative to you (like my pregnant wife having bleeding issues), don't often seem so imperative to others.

This is a side note. I think one of the things that our health care system lacks (across the board) is expectation setting. The same can be said of a lot of things too, like the our awful subway system, politics, whatever. You name it, there is probably a lack of expectation setting in regards to it.

When Karen went into one of the exam rooms, the nurses simply hooked her up to a monitor. They didn't mention anything else. We just sat there for a good hour or two... watching television (and for anyone curious, we watched "The Drs"... there's not a whole lot of quality television in the afternoon). All the while, I kept thinking and worrying about... well... my bleeding pregnant wife. Had someone told us that they needed to monitor Karen for an hour or so to gather data, then I might have been a little more at ease. But by not mentioning anything, I think it only added to my already high stress level because I was just left to wonder about things. That's just my opinion.

Don't get me wrong. The medical staff is courteous and they were great when it comes to answering questions. The problem is just... the actual providing of answers. Answers are only provided when asked. That's great and all, but how is someone to know which question to ask in the first place. My first inclination is not going to ask "so how long is Karen going to be strapped to this machine". That's all I'm saying... expectation setting. (It's like our awful subway system. When a train is having switching problems, don't keep me in the dark and simply tell me the train has been disabled due to switching problems. Tell me when the next train is scheduled to arrive. Expectation setting!)

Anyway, I know I'm going off on a tangent. Heck, I'm starting to sound like a grumpy-gus. I'm simply getting old and cranky these days. And truth be told, I would not be surprised if I broke down soon... both mentally and physically. I can already feel the tenseness in my neck and back which has been building for a while. My body is breaking down and I can feel the exhaustion coming.

After losing our son (Braden) some time ago, the lack of control frustrates me. With Karen's current pregnancy, I've practically taken over most of the household chores. I've given Karen all the pillows we have to help her sleep better. I sometimes just don't know what else I can do to help with our current unborn baby. It's frustrating to have Karen experience bleeding because you know there's nothing you can do about it. The helpless feeling irks me.

Regardless, the doctor did eventually come to check out Karen... naturally while I went to grab a bite to eat. But according to the doctor, Karen and the baby are fine. So that's good news. The doctor simply thinks that the cerclage may have stretched or pulled at the cervix, thereby causing the bleeding. Apparently, that was a possibility of having a cerclage done. (Again, it would have been nice to known that ahead of time... expectation setting.)

Needless to say, it was a relief to hear that everything is good. Unfortunately, I may have been a little too wiped out when I saw my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea) later that night for our usual "Lost" gathering. While Karen rested from the ordeal (doctor's orders), I went and hung out.

Marc made chili. I think it was an Alton Brown recipe. The chili was delicious. But hanging out with them was a good way to relax and unwind for a little while.

I Suck At Lost

Last night, Karen and I hung out with our friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea). On the agenda for the night: the next episode of Lost. Unfortunately, I suck at Lost.

While the four of us waited for Andrea, we decided to watch the next episode of television's greatest show: Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The episode that we watched was "Villains", whereby Willow invokes dark magic to get revenge on Warren for the death of Tara. Nothing starts off a good night like watching Warren's flesh rip off his body.

Speaking of geeks, Andrea arrived in time for our discussion about Jay Baruchel. Jay Baruchel stars in the upcoming movie "She's Out of My League", about some guy who starts dating a woman... out of his league (played by Alice Eve). The commercial for the movie came on while all of us were eating takeout from the Little Duck, located in Quincy. (I had the pad thai... delicious!)

Anyway, I thought the movie was definitely pure Hollywood because a geek would never end up dating someone out of their league unless it were pure Hollywood... or the geek were rich... or possibly the geek were a musician. After all, how many fanboys do you see walking around with models on their arms? I'm guessing not many. (It's much like the same premise of the Big Bang Theory television show.) Of course, I could be mistaken. After all, "nerd chic" is gaining momentum these days.

Oh, it turns out... I learned a new fact yesterday about Andrea. Apparently Andrea likes men with accents... preferably from Europe... or Texas. If she were to encounter a geek with an accent, I have no idea what would happen. My guess is that the geek would simply walk away due socially awkward skills.

And if things weren't non-sequitor as it is in this post, Kelly Ripa weighed anywhere from 92 to 108 pounds. Apparently in a September 15th, 2008 episode of her show she weighed in at 92 pounds. Since then, she weighed herself on David Letterman, coming in at 108 and apparently currently maintains a weight from 100 to 110 pounds. Yes, that is a very random fact... thanks to Google.

The five of us had wondered that fact after Kelley poked fun at how I commented on Kelly Ripa's defined arms. And yes, for someone of her size and stature, Kelly Ripa does have nice defined arms. (As well, Kelly Ripa will be 40 this year come October 2.)

Aside from the random discussions during out Thai takeout dinner, the latest episode of Lost was good. Of course, there are still no answers to the show, but it's still grossly entertaining. Although, viewers expecting to see Sawyer will be disappointed because he does not appear in the episode.

All in all, it was a great night hanging out with everyone.

I Suck At Lost

Last night, my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea) came over. Originally, the plan was to go to Marc and Kelley's for the night. Karen, however, had a late meeting that she had to attend in regards to the public library. Consequently, everyone ended up at our place instead.

On the agenda for the night: Lost. Of course, I suck at Lost. I actually think I might because I totally forgot things from earlier in the season... and the show is not even that far into the final season. Oh well. Without giving anything away, the episode was good.

Andrea was gracious enough to bring brownies last night. They were special brownies... and I don't mean of the variety that gives you munchies or anything like that. Although I'm sure Karen's cousin (Karlene) would enjoy those brownies. Just kidding. (For anyone curious, I thought it would be funny if Karlene were a pot user because it would have been out of character for her.)

The brownies that Andrea brought were of the gluten-free variety. Apparently, there is gluten epidemic. People will look back at the great gluten epidemic of 2010. I'm just having fun of course. My favorite sister-in-law (Janine) has been recently diagnosed with celiac. Kelley has always had stomach issues and now she is on a gluten-free diet. The once hardly-known allergy seems pretty common these days. Again, I blame the food companies. I've turned into a grumpy old man and consequently need someone to blame for things. So I chose the food companies. By the way, yesterday happened to be Janine's birthday. Happy birthday, Janine! Hope you enjoyed yesterday!

Anyway, the gluten-free brownies were good. They were different, but good. By different, I mean that the texture of the brownie is not the same as the traditional brownie texture. That is to be expected after all since it can't have gluten. Needless to say, the brownie was good. And of course, it tasted doubly good with ice cream... which is how we had the brownies. (Yes, I love ice cream.)

And for anyone curious, Marc started his new job yesterday. He seemed very excited about the job, which is good. And, the company sounds like it is a great company to work for which is always a plus.

All in all, it was a great time last night.

I Suck At Lost

Last night, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea). On the agenda for the night: the latest episode of Lost.

Too bad I suck at Lost. Without giving anything away, the episode was good. I thought the episode was much better than the previous week's. Realistically, how could the episode not be better than last week's? Last week the episode featured Kate... and well, I'm not exactly a big fan of the wishy-washy Kate. It probably goes without saying that Kate is probably my least favorite character on the show. (I sometimes wonder out of all the characters on the show, why the writers couldn't have killed Kate off by now?)

I think many of my other friends share the same sentiments. Although, Andrea doesn't seem to mind Kate as much. I think Andrea's least favorite character is Jack. And naturally, everyone loves Sawyer. Marc would watch a spin-off show of just Sawyer and Hurley if they had one.

If Karen and I end up having a baby boy, I think I would like to teach him the ways of being the literary archetype known as the "lovable rogue". Kelley actually brought to my attention the term. I figured teaching my son to be a lovable rogue has its advantages. Most importantly, the lovable rogue always gets the girl in the end. Han Solo... got the girl... Pacey... got the girl. (It also lends credence to the fact that women like bad boys.)

The only reason why I even brought up the topic is because... well... Sawyer is the lovable rogue in Lost. So if Karen and I are lucky and we have a boy, then little Squashy (the name of the baby this week... again) can be a rogue and get the girls. Yes, I have it all planned out. Unfortunately, I'm not much of the rogue archetype despite my instigating ways... so teaching Squashy to be one may be difficult.

Regardless, the night was great as usual. Marc made lettuce wraps. The wraps were very delicious. Kelley as well made a lemon tart which was also yummy. All in all, dinner was fantastic.

Speaking of Marc, he landed a new cool sounding gig. Congratulations again! He'll be working for a few months at some science company. Unlike my friend's (Hot Amy) significant other, Marc will probably not be a sanitation engineer. (Snicker.) I'm just having fun. I'm actually happy that Marc got the job. I know he's been itching to do something again. So it'll be good.

Anyway, it was a great night as usual. I had a lot of fun hanging out with everyone and watching Lost.

I Suck At Lost

On Tuesday, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Marc and Kelley).

Marc was gracious enough to make a chicken casserole dish for dinner. It was very good. And it was gluten-free, not that I have to worry about that or anything. (Knock on wood.)

Anyway, we decided to watch a couple of episodes of Angel before the real festivities began. The episodes that we watched were: "Double or Nothing" about Gunn's deal to sell his soul for a truck; and "The Price" about a slug infestation due to the use of dark magic. Incidentally, "The Price" also featured the return of Connor (a.k.a. the Destroyer). The moniker "The Destroyer" is fitting because Connor, in my opinion, destroyed the show... quite possibly the Whedonverse. As you can tell, I'm not a big fan of Connor.

Shortly after, my friend (Andrea) arrived. Andrea was joining us for the next episode of Lost. Unfortunately, I suck at Lost. As usual, the episode was good. The episode probably would have been better were it not featuring the character known as Kate. (Is Kate the Lost version of Connor? Maybe.)

Needless to say, the five of us had a great time hanging out watching the show. As a bonus, Andrea brought baked goods. They were good. Some of the topics of discussion that came up during the commercial breaks were things like the author, Dennis Lehane. (We happened to see the commercial for the movie, Shutter Island.) I think I would like to read some of his books... just to see how they are. Lord knows his writing has to be ten times better than Stephenie Meyer's (of Twilight fame).

That is, of course, not to say that I won't finish reading the rest of the Twilight series. As one who likes to complete things, I am somewhat compelled to read the rest of the series and hope that all the main characters die a horrible death. (I can only hope.)

Aside from that, there were other silly topics of discussion like how Rajon Rondo, point guard of the Boston Celtics, would be a Drow. That would be nerd-lingo for a type of elf. Oh yes, as well, we discussed interview experiences. Marc has an upcoming interview (good luck Marc!) and a bunch of us reminisced about our past interview experiences. It was interesting.

At my former company, the president of the company used to always ask "If you could be an animal, what animal would you be and why?" during the interview process. In my current snarky state, I would probably answer "Tiger Woods... for the sex, money and fame". Regardless, the question was supposed to be one of those abstract thinking types of questions.

The president used to pride himself on being such a great interviewer. Yet, he seems to have a hazy memory that many of his highly recommended hires did not pan out. One hire only lasted a couple of days. Oh well.

All in all, it was a fun night. I had a good time as usual.

I Suck At Lost

Last night was simply awesome. The much hyped season premiere of Lost aired yesterday and it did not disappoint.

Unfortunately, I suck at Lost. As a sort of impromptu kickoff, Karen and I had our friends (Marc, Kelley, and Andrea) over our house to watch the season premiere. Basically, Karen and I moved up the day of our weekly get together with Marc and Kelley because of Lost. (We usually see them on Wednesdays, which was the original day of the week that Lost was on.) From there, Andrea also expressed interest in watching the show. Before you know it, we had ourselves a little party.

The night started off with dinner. Karen was trying her hand at making a quinoa dish. For anyone curious, quinoa is not pronounced quin-o-a. Quinoa is pronounced more like kin-wa. It's a grain-like crop. While Karen made that, I grilled some chicken.

The idea was to make something that was Kelley-appropriate. Kelley, who has had a history of stomach issues, is now on a gluten-free diet. Interestingly enough, my favorite sister-in-law (Janine) will also be on a gluten-free diet sometime in the near future.

Although I have no scientific data to back up my hypothesis, the seemingly increased prevalence of gluten allergies leads me to think that we have done something to our food supply to cause this. Of course, I also attribute the same thing in regards to the seemingly increased prevalence of autism in children. Sure, it may be my rationale to blame everything on high fructose corn syrup and all of that. But from a purely numbers point of view, I happen to know a greater number of people who have gluten allergies than I did when I was younger. (The same with autism.) So I find it a little odd. And really, why mess with mother nature when you will be ingesting this stuff?

Anyway, the quinoa dish was delicious. I think Kelley enjoyed it as well which was good since that was the point. Interestingly enough, Andrea tried some quinoa too. I don't think she was as big a fan of the quinoa, but at least she tried it which was surprising to me. For anyone curious, Andrea is a finicky eater, much like my BFF (Kerry).

From there, I enlisted the aid of Kelley and Andrea for a quick home improvement task. That task: hang a piece of drywall to the ceiling. Were it not for the ceiling, I probably would have been fine without any help. Unfortunately, lifting a heavy piece of 4' x 8' piece of drywall over your head by yourself while still being able to attach screws... very difficult. I actually spent some considerable time trying to figure out how to do it by myself to no avail. Thus, I called in some muscle.

As it turns out, Kelley and Andrea were great. Thanks Kelley and Andrea! I could not have done it without you guys! It took us several tries, but we were finally able to hang the piece of drywall. And because I have the mind set of a 5 year old: Kelley likes to screw. (Snicker) Andrea and I held up the drywall while Kelley attached the board to the ceiling. It turns out that Kelley enjoys doing home improvement projects... or maybe it's just using power tools.

Anyway, we were able to hang the drywall in time for the season premiere of Lost. And again, the premiere was awesome. Needless to say, Lost, friends, ice cream... a great time.

I Suck At Lost

Last night, Karen and I hung out with my friends (Marc and Kelley).

On the agenda for the night were a couple of episodes of Angel. The episodes that we watched included: "Sleep Tight", about Wesley's attempt to keep Angel's son safe; and "Forgiving", about Angel's attempt to find his son who is trapped in a hell dimension.

As the episodes were not exactly the most chipper of sorts, we decided to get ready for the upcoming final season of "Lost". And by get ready, I mean watch the last episode of the previous season... because I suck at Lost.

Lost is a great show. I happen to find it the best show that is currently on television. Since it has been a while since the previous season, I tend to forget things that have happened in the storyline.

Luckily for me, Marc and Kelley recorded the last episode from the previous season that re-aired a couple of days ago. Even though we already knew what happened, watching the episode again was great. It definitely got me excited for the upcoming final season of the show.

The only drawback, however, is waiting week to week. But, like most things, it's the journey that is the fun part. Anyway, I can't wait. It's unfortunate that every great story must end.

I Suck At Lost

yesterday, karen and i hung out with my friends (marc and kelley). for the past couple of months, the four of us have been getting together on thursday nights due to our busy schedules. last night marked our first return back to wednesday nights. the reason for the switch back to wednesday: the season finale of lost.

now, i suck at lost. i still believe lost is the best show on television right now. the writing and plot twists are well done. and last night's season finale was no different. the season finale was amazing... so much so that karen and i kept talking about the show on our way home, which is something we don't normally do. truth be told, i will be sad after next season. the next season of lost is the final season for the show.

to my knowledge, i have only been sad for a series finale twice thus far: once was for the series finale of buffy the vampire slayer; the other was for angel. as much as i enjoyed the show, alias, i was not that sad when that series ended... even though alias was a good show.

nevertheless, i had a great time last night. amidst the lasagna dinner and the peanut butter and jelly bar dessert (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound), we began the night with an episode of buffy. the episode "this year's girl" featured the return of faith, much to the dismay of karen who absolutely dislikes that character on the show.

as that was the last episode on the disc, we then switched over to angel... even though the buffy episode was a two-part episode. the episodes of angel that we watched were "expecting" about cordelia getting impregnated by a demon after a one night stand, and "she" about demon women being slaves.

sad to say, i forgot how terrible the episode "she" was. thankfully, the writers decided not to make the character jhiera a recurring character on the show. jhiera was played by the actress bai ling. for those lost fans, bai ling played the woman on lost who inspired jack's tattoo (the episode "stranger in a strange land" from season 3). that episode from lost was equally awful. it must be the curse of bai ling. every guest appearance she does on a show... makes the episode awful.

anyway, after watching the episodes of buffy and angel... the season finale of lost aired. without revealing too much... the episode was awesome. i'm going to miss the show when the series ends.

I Suck At Lost

last night, karen and i hung out with our friends (marc and kelley). after all, it was our usual night to watch the latest episode of lost... as well as watch some more episodes of televisions greatest show: buffy the vampire slayer.

too bad i suck lost. i do, however, still think lost is the best show currently on the air. without revealing anything, i'll just say the episode of lost was good. i can't wait for the season finale next week. truth be told, i don't know what the four of us will do until the next season of lost... except watch more buffy/angel, i suppose.

in addition to watching lost, we ordered food from the schoolhouse pizza located in quincy. karen and i ordered "mailman dan's special delivery". aside from the pornographic sounding name, "mailman dan's special delivery is a specialty pizza with panko crusted chicken and mozzarella. needless to say, the pizza was delicious. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) (i suppose you can also cue the cheesy pornographic music too... although porn and rachael ray do not mix... at least not in my mind.)

following lost, we watched a couple of episodes of buffy the vampire slayer. the episodes were: "the i in team", about buffy's brief stint with the initiative; and "goodbye iowa", about riley and his withdrawal from the drugs supplied to him by the government... all the while the nemesis adam is loose.

it's too bad we could not make it to the episode afterwards. the episode afterwards features the one and only: faith. knowing karen's dislike for the faith character... it's probably best that we didn't.

anyway, it was another good night as usual. the food was great. kelley's baked goods were great. marc got accepted to the masters program at boston university... which was great. lost and buffy were fantastic. so, it was a good night all around.

I Suck At Frozen Freddies

today started off with a surprise visit from my parents.

my mother was laid off from her work not too long ago. my mother was initially excited because she absolutely disliked her job. nevertheless, she continued working at the company because my parents needed the income. (for anyone curious, my father is disabled and has been for quite some time.)

i'm quite proud of my mother. in addition to raising my brother and i, she has had to endure the hardships of working a non-skilled job for her entire life. unfortunately, being a minority with very little education and fluency in english does not open a lot of opportunities in... the land of opportunities. nevertheless, my mom perservered... making sure my brother and i could live the american dream that she could never have.

needless to say, i love my parents. so when my mother unexpectedly asked to stop by, i knew something was on her mind. as it turned out, my mother was all concerned about... well... her layoff... and how it affects her health insurance. again, with the being of a minority and little education and little fluency in english, she simply did not know what to do about her health insurance, which is a pretty important factor considering that she has a health issue that needs routine medical visits. the feeling of uncertainty had overwhelmed my mother, and she simply broke down and cried.

watching your parents cry is never a good thing. for me, it's one of those things where you want your parents to live happily ever after... but you just don't know what to do because it's beyond your knowledge... and it's frustrating because i would give my parents the world if i could. after all, for all that my parents have sacrificed for my brother and i, it's the least i could do. unfortunately, all i could do today was give my mother a hug.

after collecting herself, my mother decided to visit the hospital where she had her appointment and ask the staff there about her situation. hopefully, things will work out and the hospital staff can help her. aside from c.o.b.r.a, i'm not sure what plan b will be.

needless to say, my day has been a little rough. luckily, i got to spend the rest of the day with my friends (marc and kelley), who almost always can cheer me up... probably because kelley is my drinking buddy and booze always numbs the pain... just kidding. (although... the martini kelley made was quite delicious.)

after picking up karen at the subway station, we picked up dinner at the falafel king in quincy. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) the falafel king is great. i love their food. as an added bonus today... the falafel king (or prince) was working. i'm not exactly sure if he is any relation to the falafel king in downtown boston... but when i used to work in town, i would see him working at the falafel king in town. so it was good to see a familiar face again at the falafel king in quincy. and like any falafel royalty is known to do, he gave me a falafel dipped in hummus while i waited for the food to be cooked. yum... falafels!

anyway, while we ate dinner, the four of us watched the latest episode of lost. without spoiling too much, i will just say that the episode was simply awesome. the rumors about how a main character was going to die on the show... was sadly true. unfortunately, that character was not kate...

having finished the episode, the four of us decided to go out for some dessert. so, we decided to go to frozen freddies. now, i suck at frozen freddies. frozen freddies is a seasonal ice cream shop located in quincy. the place is practically a hole in the wall... or on the corner as it may be. the ice cream is pretty good too. i had a chocolate peanut butter thing... (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound... again.) i love ice cream. i was practically shivering as i polished off my ice cream cone outside. all in all... with the falafel king and frozen freddies... how can someone not feel better?

from there, we headed back to marc and kelley's to catch a couple of episodes of angel. the episodes we watched were: "hero" about nazi-like pure blooded demons hunting and killing half-breeded demons; and "parting gifts" about cordelia's new found power... the ability to see visions.

it's tough to say which of the two episodes i enjoyed the most. "hero" was great because of doyle, who unfortunately died on the show... and unfortunately the actor who played him passed away in real life as well. and "parting gifts" introduced wesley... rogue demon hunter... to the cast. plus, "parting gits" was a cordelia episode. interestingly enough... cordelia has a "tramp stamp".

speaking of "tramp stamps", the topic of tattoos was brought up. we thought it would be funny to have "tramp" tattooed like a stamp... on the tramp stamp location (the lower back area). that was just a random thought.

anyway, it was an interesting day to say the least. i hope things work out for my parents.

I Suck At Angel

last night, karen and i hung out with my friends (marc and kelley). interestingly enough, i think it has been quite some time since karen and i hung out with marc and kelley on back to back days. hopefully, they haven't gotten sick of us just yet.

anyway, as karen was working late at her regular job, i arrived at marc and kelley's place a little early. we ended up watching an episode of "it's always sunny in philadelphia" and an episode of south park while we waited for karen.

for some reason, marc had erasure's "take a chance on me" song stuck in his head.

(the video below is erasure's "take a chance on me".)


gotta love erasure. for anyone curious, the song is a cover of the abba song by the same name. i still find it funny that marc likes erasure. for the longest time, i thought the only people i knew who liked erasure were my friend (garv) and i... and maybe my friend (aimee).

anyway, karen arrived shortly thereafter and we dove right into the next episode of lost. the episode of lost was fantastic. the only drawback of the episode: the character known as kate. oh well. needless to say, the episode was great. too bad the next episode is not until two weeks. bummer.

from there, we watched a couple of episodes of angel. now, i suck at angel. in fact, i suck at angel so much that i did not realize we skipped over an episode until just now. we watched the episodes "the bachelor party" about... well... a bachelor party involving doyle's ex-wife, and "i will remember you" about buffy's visit to los angeles and how angel becomes mortal... for a day. (for anyone curious, we accidentally skipped the episode called "sense and sensitivity", but i'm sure we'll see it next week anyway.)

of the two angel episodes, i liked the "i will remember you" episode over "the bachelor party" episode... probably because the episode had buffy in it. although... "the bachelor party" episode did have an actor that played a villain on the buffy series... carlos jacott.

carlos jacott played ken in the first episode ("anne") of season 3 where buffy in waitressing in los angeles. ken turned out to be a demon enslaving lost souls to do some hard labor. in "the bachelor party", carlos jacott is a demon who wants to marry doyle's ex-wife... and consequently wants to eat doyle's brains as part of the demon ritual of marrying someone who has already been married.

needless to say, the "i will remember you" episode... no carlos jacott... just buffy. it was a touching episode.

i forgot to mention, one of the funniest things of the night... at least, i thought it was funny... was when one of marc and kelley's cats started licking... my head. their cat (samatha) was sitting on the back of couch behind me. she leaned over and started licking the hair on the side of my head... and not just once. it was cute and funny at the same time.

it's weird how marc and kelley's cats like me, considering how allergic i am to cats. i think it may be part of the cat master plan: cuddle up with the ones who are allergic... eliminate them first... and then rule the world.

I Suck At It's Always Sunny In Philadelphia

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

both karen and i were running a little late yesterday. karen was scheduled to work later than her normal time, while i got caught up in a little project for work. i simply lost track of time while working on the project.

anyway, i arrived at marc and kelley's before karen. marc and kelley have become fans of the show "it's always sunny in philadelphia". they had recently got one of the seasons on dvd and were watching the show when i arrived. now, i suck at it's always sunny in philadelphia. i have never seen the show. the commercials that i have seen for the show never made me interested in watching the show. nonetheless, i figured i'd give the show a try. marc said the show is like seinfeld... only funnier. even though i did not know who the characters were and whatnot, the show was good.

karen shortly arrived afterwards and we dove right in to the latest episode of lost. compared to last week's episode, this episode was much better. without giving away too much, there were some surprising moments involving people getting shot. if only the character, kate, were one of those people... just kidding. lost is such a good show. without a doubt, it definitely is the best show on television right now.

following lost, we watched another episode of the greatest television show ever: buffy the vampire slayer. the episode was the last episode on the second disc. it was the thanksgiving episode known as "pangs" about a native american spirit taking revenge for the extinction of his race. as well, guest starring in the episode was angel. it was a great episode.

and since we have been alternating between buffy and angel after completing discs, we switched over to watch the next episode of angel, which featured the character known as cordelia. the episode called "rm w/a vu" was about cordelia's attempt to find a new apartment, only to find an apartment that is inhabited by a ghost. as well, that episode was great... and not just because the episode featured cordelia.

speaking of which, it so happens that karen thinks one of the characters on angel is quite attractive. karen thinks glenn quinn, the actor who played doyle is cute. (karen also thinks damian lewis of the show "life" is attractive.) unfortunately, glenn quinn passed away in december of 2002 from a heroin overdose.

thanks to my friend imdb:

"Quinn was born in Dublin, Ireland, and moved to the United States with his mother and two sisters in 1988. His first role was as a pool shark in the Richard Marx video Satisfied. He later landed a major role in the John Travolta film Shout (1991), where he shared a screen kiss with Gwyneth Paltrow. He went on to have roles in a number of other movies and television series. His most notable roles were as Becky's husband, Mark, on "Roseanne" (1988) and half-demon Doyle on the WB's "Angel" (1999). He died of a heroin overdose in 2002."

it's too bad about glenn quinn.

anyway, it was great night as usual. there was also some discussion about the scavenger hunt that i organized last weekend too. it seems like marc and kelley really enjoyed the event... which is fantastic because i tend to worry over whether people will enjoy themselves and whatnot for these things. marc was theoretically talking about getting a team together for next year... and his team may be quite formidable... just from seeing the shameless pictures of him over the weekend. regardless, i'm happy to know that kelley and him... and everyone else who was involved... had a great time.

I Suck At Lost

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

unfortunately, karen was working late at her regular job. in addition, the subway train... as most subway trains run by the mbta are prone to do... was experiencing delays due to a previously disabled train. thus, karen's commute home from work was not that great.

i, however, arrived at marc and kelley's at the usual time. so while we waited for karen to arrive, i watched kelley play some more of resident evil 5. for anyone curious, i love the resident evil series. killing zombies never gets old. it seems like this installment of the video game involves a tomb raider/indiana jones spin with ruins and whatnot. nonetheless, it was great watching kelley play resident evil. of course, my exhilaration watching zombies getting shot may have been biased due to the apple martini that i was drinking. for anyone curious, kelley and i were celebrating with martinis.

anyway, karen finally arrived and we were able to dive into the latest episode of lost. now, i suck at lost. i love the show. i actually think lost is the best show currently on television. sadly, i'm not a big fan of one of the current lost characters: kate. without revealing anything about the episode, i will just say that the episode was a little disappointing for me, probably because it featured kate in it.

from there, we were able to catch another episode of the greatest television show ever: buffy the vampire slayer. the episode we watched was "the initiative". the episode was the first time the actor who plays the vampire known as spike became featured in the opening credits. needless to say, the episode was about spike escaping from a military facility. the episode also was the first time actor leonard roberts appeared on the show. for anyone curious, leonard roberts is the actor who i would choose to play my friend's (aimee) husband, jim.

it was a good episode of buffy, especially the scene where spike is having trouble feeding on the willow character. too bad the episode also starts the whole romance between buffy and the riley character.

following buffy, we decided to switch things up a little and watch the latest episode of south park. after all, it was getting late and we did not have enough time for another full episode of buffy. needless to say, south park was a riot. for anyone curious, the episode was about the interesting topic of queefing.

and for those of you who are unaware of the term, queefing is vaginal flatulence. according to my friend, wikipedia:

"Vaginal flatulence (flatus vaginalis in Latin) is an emission or expulsion of air from the vagina that may occur during or after sexual intercourse or (less often) during other sexual acts, stretching or exercise. The sound is somewhat comparable to flatulence from the anus but does not involve waste gases and thus often has no specific odor associated."

yes, it was a very interesting episode of south park.

as usual, i had a good time yesterday with marc and kelley. one of the interesting things i learned yesterday (and no, it's not queefing) is that marc is having a "bromance". apparently, his bromance has become public knowledge now as there is a picture of him and one of his friend's boyfriend together on facebook. ever since marc and kelley saw the movie "i love you man", marc has wanted a man-crush. i imagine that marc now has one.

I Suck At Lost

last night, karen and i hung out with my friends (marc and kelley). as karen was not working late at her regular job, the four of us could watch the latest episode of lost much earlier than expected. now i suck at lost. needless to say, the episode was fantastic. the writing for the show is great. i will probably be sad when the series eventually ends.

anyway, after watching lost, we started on disc 2 of season 4 of the greatest television show ever: buffy the vampire slayer. we only watch a couple of episodes: "beer bad" about... well... beer and how it made its consumption turned a bunch of guys into cavemen (literally); and "wild at heart" about the oz character, who is werewolf, and how he is drawn to another werewolf.

one of the more interesting things about the episodes was that kal penn, of harold and kumar fame, was in the "beer bad" episode. for anyone curious, kal penn is kumar. also one of the best lines of the same episode, in my opinion, came from xander. that line: "nothing can defeat the penis!" oh how true it is. just kidding.

all in all it was a great night. marc and kelley made nachos and tacos for dinner. (cue rachael ray's "yum-o" sound.) karen and i provided dessert. i basically slaved away in the kitchen... and brought a berry crumble pie... compliments of trader joe's. (also "yum-o".) trader joe's is so good. i don't think there is anything that trader joe's makes that i have disliked yet.

as well, we discussed the upcoming scavenger hunt that i am organizing for next week. in my quest to find enough participants to have equal teams of four, i had contacted my friend (garv). i was quite surprised that garv was all into the idea. he seemed more excited about the photo scavenger hunt than i did. anyway, i was explaining to marc and kelley (who will be new to the hunt this year) about how the scoring for the event is done and all that. as well, i told them if garv and his wife (leeann) did participate, that i would probably make the four of them a team seeing as how leeann does not know everyone else who is participating.

needless to say, i hope garv and leeann do participate... and not just because it would reduce my stress and solve the problem of finding enough participants this year. i really have not seen garv and leeann in a while. so it would be nice to hang out with them again.