Author: Logan Lo

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personal

Taking the punches

Location: waiting for meetings
Mood: accomplished
Music: I’m all choked up and you’re ok.

Lennon downtown, nyc

Me: (gripping seat) Watch that car, watch that car! (later) It’s a red light, it’s a red light! Slow down! (still later, exiting car) You’ve really gotta be more careful.

Him: (relaxed) You worry too much.

It’s been 23 years since my father taught me how to drive. It appears we’ve changed roles.

HG and I have been seeing a buncha relatives these days. Here’s another conversation between HG and one about her finger.

Her: It hurts.

Him: Yeah, I know what you mean. When I was 10, my cousin slammed a door into my toe. It was all black and blue and then my nail fell off. Believe me, that hurt like hell – I mean, that is some pain. I can still remember it to this day. (thinking) Oh, and when I was 20, I got hit with a grenade.

That guy’s one tough fella. Which is pretty much the opposite of me.

But at the very least, know how to throw a punch. It amazes me how many people – guys in particular, simply don’t. The chance of me getting into a fight now at 37’s pretty slim. But still, surprised it’s not something people pick up. Then again taking a punch’s probably more important.

Check that, taking a punch’s definitely more important.

YASYCTAI: Learn to take the punches. (time/2 pts)

Categories
business personal

What’s for sale?

It the cynical side of me wondering what’s for sale

PBR for far less than $40 in NYC

Here in NYC, wealthy hipsters drink PBR as an ironic statement of aspiring to the working class. Sensing a marketing windfall, the makers of the drink have decided to package the decidedly inexpensive brew as a luxury beer in China. How high end? $40 a bottle high end.

Silly Chinese – sophisticated Americans would never fall for such bald marketing.

Unless, of course, you consider that the exact same thing takes place here with Stella Artois.

It’s far closer to Miller beer than craft Belgiam lager in Europe, where it’s anecdotally considered cheap brew. In fact, it’s considered discount beer in France, called wife beater in the UK, and barely breaks 10% of beer consumption in its native Belgium.

Here, however, their marketing team went with the slogan Perfection has its price for much of the 2000s and we lapped it up. Quite literally.

Which is not to say that I’m not a sucker for slick marketing myself.

Just a month ago, said that the developers of the NYC mosque were wrong to build so close to ground zero but that it’s their right. Found that there’s already a mosque in the area and it’s been there for some 40 years with no outrage for the past nine.

This reminded me of that Stone Temple Pilots lyric that goes, What’s real and what’s for sale?

Consider what’s real with outspoken critic of the proposed mosque, Rick Lazio, who’s hoping to be our next governor. Perhaps that it’s an election year and he’s trailing the Democratic front runner in the race for governor by some 60%. It’s his outrage that seems to be for sale.

Since changed my mind about the mosque. After all, changing one’s mind in light of new information is never a bad thing. What is a bad thing is using a national tragedy for personal gain, at the expense of the national discourse. For that, despite being one of maybe two moderate conservatives in NYC, he’ll never get my vote. Ever.

Cheap beer in fancy packaging is also probably a bad thing. Then again, Stella Artois is doing quite well around the world. Regardless of geography, it seems it’s hard to tell what’s real and what’s for sale – whether that be $40 beer in China or a mosque downtown.

Location: a wrestling mat
Mood: sore
Music: One time a thing occurred to me
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Categories
personal

TCO

Location: home
Mood: ambitious
Music: loaded god complex, cock it and pull it

Cookies in NYC

For those of you reading at the new digs, what do you think? Thanks to Mildred Fierce for moving me over from Blogger to WordPress; if you need something similarly done, she’s the one to call.

There’ll be glitches here and there for the next week or so as I clean things up and (re)tag and organize all 588 entries I’ve written.

Need to get a life.

———-

In college, needed some spare dough so I delivered cookies. Huge 12″ to 24″ cookies.

You’re delivering cookies to co-eds, think about it, my buddy Scott said.

So I signed up. Lemme tell you a few things:

  • Yes, only women order 12″ to 24″ cookies.
  • No, it turns out that these are not the type of women I, or most people, dream of meeting.
  • I made $600 that summer.
  • Cornell has lots of hills.
  • A new transmission cost me $1,500.
  • My total cost of ownership earnings that summer: 5 pounds of fat and -$900.

Point’s that there’s a total cost to doing any activity. Using that Zipcar service so that means that while I’m spending about $150 a month, that also means that I’m not spending $350 a month in car payments, $150 a month in insurance, $50 a month on gas, $400 a month on parking.

My total cost of ownership of a non-car is now -$800 a month.

On an unrelated matter, the book-burning pastor in Florida gets to vent. But what’s the total cost of ownershipa that action?

YASYCTAI: Before you do anything, what’s the TCO? (60 mins/1 pts)
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Categories
personal

Hospitals

Fear is forward. No one is afraid of yesterday

Logan Lo at the hospital - again
Her: Thanks for staying.
Me: (laughing) Where else was I going to go?

 

Not sure one could say I’ve bad luck – got a roof over my head, running water and all my family and body parts. Can’t really say I’ve good luck either.

Suppose you might call what I’ve got peculiar luck.

The kind where you spend a dollar to win a dollar.

Bout two weeks ago, found out that there was about a week’s gap between my old heath insurance and my new one. Joked to my boss that I’d try to stay outta the emergency room.

Next morning, bright and early, hear a slam and “Oh no.” Turns out HG smashed her fingers in the metal door. Blood everywhere. Everywhere. Next thing you know, in the emergency room. For hours.

Been to the emergency room four times in the past five years. But was fine each time.

Kinda the story of my life, yeah?

This chick named Renata Adler said that, Fear is forward. No one is afraid of yesterday.

Try to tell myself to hold on until storms pass, wait for the joy. In the meanwhile, insurance’s back.

Off to fencing. People swinging sharp metal objects around.

What could go wrong?

———-

Met up with the fellas last night for beer and $0.10 wings. 60 wings for $6. Gotta love NYC.

On the way back, helped this pretty German tourist get to Columbus Circle.

NYC’s quite the town.

Location: not the hospital
Mood: still fulla wings
Music: Schön ist es auf der Welt zu sein

Categories
personal

Integrity

Location: in fronta screens
Mood: determined
Music: found myself there, in a bit of hot spot

Gated Apartment downtown NYC

Said once that integrity means that you’re the same person in public as y’are in private.

Suppose that’s why I’m a little disappointed in the ADL, a group that’s for religious freedom – except for Muslims.

The pointa my story about the racist judge that ruled against an anti-Chinese law was that, to his credit, he’d enough integrity to see that ruling otherwise based upon his own personal feelings was wrong.

Currently, there is a woman running for a position in my organization whom I dislike because of her constant ad hominem attacks.

Voting against her. This’s a big deal cause we’re a small organization and my vote really counts.

She’ll surely gonna think that it’s causesa my personal feelings, but the fact’s that she cannot do the job – it involves attention to detail and that trait she doesn’t possess.

My weariness of dealing with her makes me wanna just let her win but my integrity won’t.

Gonna be quite the fight. Luckily, got a strong belief I’m right and a fairly large bottle of antacid.

One or the other should carry me through.

YASYCTAI: If you’re all talk, you’re just an empty box like a radio or TV. Don’t be all talk. (5 mins/1 pt)

Categories
personal

Tragedies fulla joy

The Empire State Building

 

There really isn’t a happily ever after, you know? Children believe that. Adults believe what this fella Bernard Malamud said – that Life is a tragedy full of joy.

You hold on past the tragedy for the next wave of joy. And be grateful for the joy.

———-

Speaking of children, do you remember the old Aesop’s fable about the mouse and the lion?

Today’s Mother Teresa’s bday. A few months back here in NYC, there was a controversy cause the owners of the Empire State Building refused to light their building blue and white for her birthday, which made some of the local government – the city council – upset.

After all, they did change the colours for the Simpsons and Popeye, why not a woman who gave her life helping the less lucky, yeah?

Fast forward to this week when the owners needed help from – you guessed it – the city council to block a new rival building from competing with it two blocks away. The vote was 47-to-1 allowing the building to go up.

See what happens when you don’t pay attention in grade school?

Location: yesterday, the hospital (long story)
Mood: creative
Music: i’ll wear your colors til you come back home to me

Categories
personal

Yes? Yes.

(no, there’s no sound)

Me: Hi there.
Her: (looking through camera) I got you.
Me: (laughing) Alright. Point it down.
Her: I have your entire head in the frame.
Me: OK
Her: (four seconds later) OH! (laughs)
Me: Yes?
Her: Yes.

Location: 15 mins ago, having drinks@28th and Park
Mood: content
Music: Don’t you understand? I already have a plan
YASYCTAI: Consider stopping this blog. We’re home, after all. (60 mins/2 pts)

Categories
personal

Stalker

 

Woman in NYC Apartment

Me: The answer’s that you’re not a stalker.
Him: What?
Me: OK, she told you it’s over, yeah? So you talked to this other girl. The issue’s that she said, It’s over. Then she came back and’s all pissed that you went on with your life.

When a girl says, No, y’gotta assume she means, No. After all, “No” means “No” is the anti-rape and anti-stalker saying.

And I believe that; it took me a while, but I totally believe that. If a girl says, Leave me alone. Guess what, y’gotta leave her alone.

But it cuts both way – she can’t use that logic as a sword and a shield.

She can’t say to you, Y’should have known I might come back.

Cause isn’t that what a stalker says? (She said “leave me alone,” but really she meant “try harder.”)

Isn’t that what a rapist says? (She said “stop,” but the way she was dressed, she really meant, “I want you.”)

The safest thing in the world to do, is to believe what the words that come outta her mouth. If a woman tells you to bounce, you grab your shoes, say thanks for the lovely night, and bounce.

Cause y’can’t read her mind. And y’can’t read her mind cause you’re not a stalker.

Him: Gotcha.

 

Location: heading up to the Bronx then down to Brooklyn
Mood: hot!
Music: you know me well but I don’t know you at all