philly

24 Hours Back in NY

Oh man, it was hectic. My parents didn't know I was coming [they thought my trip home was cancelled], no home cooked meal and my neice was sick!

But now it's time for the NBA All-Star game, when I start to watch hoops again.

The Mortality of Life

This post came as a result of reading browneye's most recent post. It is about letting go of loved ones. Are we ever ready to let go?

In my 25 [26 next month] years, I've never experienced the loss of a loved one. My great aunt died when I was about 5 or so, but I don't think I met her more than once and I'm not sure if I was even old enough to know what it meant. I just have a faint memory of the viewing at the funeral.

I guess I'm both lucky and unlucky in that I haven't experienced a close personal loss. I've had friends loose friends, brothers and sisters. A few kids died while I was in high school as well, but I don't think I said more than 3 words to any of them.

I think that it will hurt that much more since I've never been through it before. But I don't like to think about it. Why bother thinking about that kind of pain that is in the indeterminable future? It's just not for me. But when it does happen, it's gonna hurt like a bitch.

Christmas Gifts

My gifts received recap:

• Hand Vac
• Two button down shirts
• Gift Card
• Cash

It's funny as I've grown older, my present requests have become more sensible. I used to have gigantic lists of just about everything there was to have when I was younger. This year, I asked for a fucking hand vac and a gift card to get my ass some new shoes. That's it. Seeing Justin open up all of those gifts took me back 20 years to when that was me. It's nice to be on the giving end though.

My gifts given:

• Justin: TMNT Activity book, Sponge Bob color book, Wolverine toy
• Emily: One-piece outfit, Baby Einstein DVD
• Sis: Scrabble computer game [she's obsessed]
• Bro: Chappelle Show Season 1 DVD
• Sis-in-Law: Spa socks
• Dad: Three Tenors CD/DVD
• Mom: She got herself a Pilates DVD and left me a voicemail saying so and that it was going to be my gift to her. She then proceeded to give it to me to wrap and give it back to her. I left the price tag on.

Ah yes, Lady and I had our Christmas before we left Illy. I got her a cutesy lamp she's been eying from Mineralistic a funky Dungeons & Dragons like store on South St & 4^th St or so. The lampshade part is a little red dress and the feet of the lamp are, well, feet - with red toenails. Pretty cute. Lady got me the Chris Rock DVD: Never Scared which I've wanted for awhile now too.

Funny story about that... We were in Tower Records trying to track down the Three Tenors CD/DVD I wanted to get my Dad. I saw the Chris Rock DVD on sale for $14 and I grabbed it. Lady got all huffy and told me not to buy it. But I relented, I really wanted it. But she said that this shopping trip was not for me and, rather, was for my family. So I reluctantly put it back on the shelf, apparently, much to her relief. Hehe. I almost ruined my own Christmas present.

An even funnier story? Lady and I got each other the same present last year. Jon Stewart's Naked Pictures of Famous People. Isn't that funny? I had her open her present first. I wrapped it up, then put it in a bigger box to throw her off. She opened the box and saw the smaller wrapped, book-sized present and started to laugh and then I opened my copy. And we had a good laugh. Great book though, I totally recommend it. You'll finish it in a day or two, you can't put it down. Not quite The Gift of the Magi, but funnier, eh?

Happy Holidays

From Uncle Dragonbally and my six-month-old neice Emily. Look at that tiny little baby hand!

More pics up on dragonballyee.com soon.

***UPDATE***
It's 2.38am, Christmas Day. Had a nice night with the fam. We have a tradition [which I don't agree with] where we open our presents on Christmas Eve so my brother can spend Christmas Day with the in-laws. I made a big fuss about opening presents on the 24^th a couple years back, but I guess I'm an old fogie now or something because I've totally given in.

I've posted a couple more pics of my six-month-old neice Emily and my four and a half-year-old nephew Justin. They're the greatest. Justin called me his "best friend" tonight. I hope he turns out better than I did though. Justin got the most gifts out of everyone for the fourth year in a row now. I think next year Emily may finally take the crown from him. That used to be me though, when I was the baby of the fam, being the youngest of three chilidren. He's followed in my footsteps in that way, and now, like it happened to me, someone else came along to take the gift crown. I'm sure he'll make a stink about it next year.

Happy Holidays Folks

Hosey says: "Relax, enjoy your day[s] off."

Holiday Binge

Here's an article from the BBC News on overeating during Christmas [who cares about being PC in the UK!], but it applied to Hanukkah too with all that brisket. Mmmmm, brisket. Me, not a Jew by birth, but I grew up in Jewville, USA so I know a few things about some good brisket, and lots of it!

I've noticed that I can't pack away as much as I used to when I was a wee laddie. Odd? I'm not sure why. Maybe there's some scientific reason for this, but nevertheless. I always try to eat more, but I just can't do it. Anyways... I go home to NY tomorrow for some home cooking. I'll bring my laptop and my WiFi card and hope that I can hijack a signal for a few, but who knows. So, have a good one and don't overeat [by too much].

Grandma's Birthday!

I'm off to NY until Sunday late night for my Grandma's birthday. Relatives from the Homeland are in town too so it'll be a triple whammy. Mmmm, some gooood Korean food awaits.

Emily Photos.

Here are a few photos of the trip to NJ to see my newborn neice Emily.

The Apartment Search

5 more pics of the new baby. I'm gonna head up to NJ with Lady and see her this weekend, I shall take many photos for all.

So, the lease on this great place is up in a bit and I've started the apartment search. And let me tell you, it is sooooo much easier to search for an apartment while living in the city in which you are searching. After looking for a place to live in DC and Illy while living in NY, simply picking up the paper and looking through the Rentals section and making a few calls then seeing the place during your lunch break - amazing. I checked out 4 places today. 1 was horrible, 1 was decent and 2 were nice. Lady and I also just took a late night walk around the neighborhood and I was taking down numbers of buildings with RENT signs in front so tomorrow will be a day full of calls.

The most amazing deal I've seen so far? I saw it here on craigslist. Here's the description: "$1550 / 1br - penthouse living at an affordable price!!! 1BR in Society Hill Towers: PENTHOUSE in West Tower facing the city. 15 ft windows throughout. All utilities included (HBO too). Parking available in building (approx. $130 mos). Available mid August. NO FEE." And I Googled Society Hill Towers and what do I find out? I.M. Pei's firm designed the place! The 31st floor with a city view! That's crazy. Anybody wanna move to Illy and split it? It's tough to find a 1 bedroom in NYC for $1550 let alone a penthouse! Crazy. I'm now obsessed with it. Oh well. I can always dream. I think I'm gonna bike by the building in the next few days to torture myself.

Thursday night is drinks and tapas at Cibucan's 4th Anniversary Party. It should be fun. I have only eaten Spanish food once at SUBA in NYC where I took Lady out for her graduation dinner. It was great food, expensive, but great. It is also a great space. Cibucan is Cuban fare, but still tapas stoyles.

6 more days until I go see Alegria for free. Hate mail here.

***UPDATE***
So, I didn't end up going to see Alegria on Tuesday night. I wasn't feeling up to it so I gave my ticket to my new landlord who was very happy to take it off of me. Hopefully this will be the start of a good relationship with my landlord!

Here's Emily!

Wanna see some more pics? Here are 3 more. My bro just sent them to me tonight. He'll have more for me soon, and I'll have tons more when I go and visit them soon. I'm so excited! I got a new neice! I wonder how Justin is taking it so far. I'm sure he'll love it for now, but after the initial fun of a new little sister, he'll want the attention again.

Changing gears...

So, Alegria was sooooo awesome! It was probably the single coolest thing I have ever seen in my life! Lady totally agrees too. Here's the lineup of Alegria: Opening Trapeeze act, Crazy Tumbling people, Hawaiian Fire Dance Guy, Metal Hoops / Ribbon Dance Lady, Strong Man juggler - intermission - Arm Stilt Guy [I dunno how to explain this guy], Bouncy Balance Beam Team, Flexible Lady and Finale Crazy Trapeeze Team. And we were like 25 feet from the state, so they were sooo close. The inside of the Grand Chapiteau was pretty cozy, much smaller and intimate than I thought it would be. You can see all the action from any seat.

And I know you all hate me already, but I may be going again, for free, with the Sales Department, later this month. So, bring on more hate.

I've been fortunate in my jobs throughout my life. I started off at Carvel which my family owned. That wasn't the greatest gig, but it was decent pay, off the books, and I got to eat all the ice cream I wanted - and that's ICE CREAM, not custard and they're SPRINKLES, not jimmies. My second job, while still working at Carvel, was for the Scarsdale Rec Department's Day Camp. That wasn't too bad either. It was basically a bunch of high school students hanging out and making sure nobody's kids died. And at the end, we all got some nice tips from the MILFs of Scarsdale. Then, senior year, I scored the summer internship at VIBE - the job everybody hates me for. It was 3 of the best summers of my life. I went parties all week, drank for free [while underage] and met all kinds of hip-hop stars. Over in D.C. my jobs weren't so hot. I got a work study job in the Office of Multicultural Affairs where I manned the front desk. I recall showing up late and falling asleep at the desk many times. I did meet some good peoples there though; one of whom I roomed with the summer of my last year in DC. I also worked at Modell's Sporting Goods in Bethesda. That was a stress-free fun job where I got to be around sports stuff all day and hang out with good peoples. The General Manager of the store was pretty awesome as well and used to give us 33% off the stuff we bought instead of the horrible 20% employee discount.

But then I moved back to NY. I transferred from one Modell's to another. I lasted there about 3 months before I couldn't take it anymore. They constantly fucked around with my schedule and finally, on New Year's Day, I called in and told them I was quitting right then and there. I had had it with them. And then, 5 months and change of unemployment ensued. I eventually applied for an internship at Nerve.com and I got a reply within 8 hours which was pretty crazy. I'd start my [unpaid] internship there within another 72 hours methinks. After my summer internship ended, I joined Spring Street Networks as a Customer Service Rep. Not the most thrilling work, but it was in an awesome office with awesome people and it was stress-free. I climbed up the ladder and became an Account Manager. I ended up having about 68 accounts across the US before they abruptly canned me with 0 notice. And then, another 6 months of unemployment. Then, it was temp jobs - I won't get into them here. Ugh. They sucked. j

And now, I'm in Illy, happily working for PW. And tomorrow, I get my first bonus check! 500 sweet, sweet dollars for me! Let's see if I can save it.