Author: Logan Lo

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Doing the right thing

Two different kids

Went to see my mom and sister for my nephew’s birthday the other day.

We went to Flushing first to get some dumplings from White Bear,…

…some Taiwanese from the local mall, and to get a little shopping done before heading to their place in Queens.

We didn’t eat all that much because my sister was going to get ribs and pizza for everyone for the bday.

It was a small affair, just some of my nephew’s school friends and us.

But, in the middle of it, a neighbor’s kid that stopped by for a brief bit and he was…just awful.

Obnoxious, loud, rude, etc. But I found out afterward that his family life was pretty rough and then I was torn.

Like, people are the way that they are because of their upbringing.

Then, on the ride home, we were in a packed subway car, and it was the NYC Dominican Day Parade.

Well, it was like half the parade was trying to be in our subway car.

In the middle of it, a teen girl turned on music, began dancing inappropriately, and then started vaping in front of my kid.

Me: (tapping her on the shoulder) Hey, can you not do that? My kid is right here.
Her: OK, sorry.

And she stopped. Also heard her say to her friends – that had packed the car and were also vaping, “Hey, there are kids here!”

When we left, I tapped the girl’s shoulder again.

Me: Hey, thanks for doing that.
Her: No worries, mister. Sorry about that.
Her friend: Yeah, sorry mister.
Me: You did the right thing here, so…thanks.

Martin Luther King Jr’s in the news again lately, for the most ridiculous reason.

But he had a quote on the topic that I’ve always liked that seems appropriate to this situation: The time is always right to do the right thing.

As we walked home, the kid talked to me about it all.

Him: They were really loud and scary. Why did you thank her?
Me: Because she did the right thing in the end. Yes, she should have been quieter and yes, she shouldn’t have vaped in the first place. But when someone recognizes they did something wrong and try to fix what they did, you have to give them credit for that.
Him: She was still really loud and scary.
Me: (nodding) Yes. But she was trying to do the right thing in the end. And we always hope that, even if it takes a long time, ultimately, people do the right thing. Maybe next time, she’ll be even better.

Location: a playground, watching a mouse explode
Mood: nauseated
Music: This is a moment in the prime of your life – you better own it (Spotify)
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Ketchup and the best kid

Not a big secret

Her: Just ketchup, please.
Me: What? How about I put on mustard and onions?
Her: No thanks, just ketchup.
Me: Chili?
Her: Nope. Just ketchup.
Me: You know, according to the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council, if you’re over 18 years old, you shouldn’t be using ketchup.
Her: I’m a lot younger than you and I’m doing it.
Me: (grumble)

I gotta say, I agree with the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council; ketchup just makes everything taste like ketchup, which is exactly why I don’t like it and kids like it on everything.

Me: I secretly judge you.
Her: (rolls eyes) It’s not that big a secret.

The kid finished up his camp this week and is going back to grandma’s for a few weeks before school.

He wanted to go and his grandma wanted to have him, so win-win there.

We had hoped to go to either Taiwan or another cruise this summer but changing gyms and some other expenses changed things for us.

But the Firecracker and I were chatting the other day and I came across a cruise for a cruise line that I’d never been on before and it left from Brooklyn.

We actually saw it the last time we were in Govenors Island, as well as the time we went to Red Hook.

Since it left from Brooklyn, the savings from not flying and having a hotel meant that it was in our budget, so we booked it.

Was gonna surprise the kid with it in a few weeks but I couldn’t contain my excitement, knowing how good a time he had the first time he went.

Me: Hey, I wanted to ask you: What was the best thing you and I ever did together?
Him: Oh, that’s easy – the cruise. Why?
Me: (smiling)
Him: Wait, are we going on a cruise?!
Me: (shrugging shoulders)
Him: (eyes widening) ARE WE GOING ON ANOTHER CRUISE!?
Me: (shrugging again) I dunno…mebe?
Him: (loses his mind)

Mission accomplished.

I don’t think there are words that fully encapsulates the feeling when, as a parent, you get your kid precisely the thing they want the most.

He was on cloud nine all day.

And so was I.

Him: You’re the best papa ever!
Me: Ha, you haven’t met them all but I’ll take it. And you’re the best kid.

Location: Flushing, showing the kid the old hood
Mood: excited
Music: Let’s hit the road, friend of mine; wave goodbye to our thankless jobs (Spotify)
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No such thing as inclement weather

Only poor clothing choices

Her: The artichokes were good. But they’re just too much work.
Me: They’re the crayfish of the vegetable world.

It’s been quiet around here for a change. Most exciting thing was that I made the Firecracker artichokes for the first time.

Did get stuck in the rain the other day though.

It wasn’t that bad.

After all, there’s no such thing as inclement weather, only poor clothing choices.

Location: bed, waiting for the sandman
Mood: sleepy
Music: no music, just the rain
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My collection can’t be beat

The McKenzie Method

Me: (after dropping something) Sorry, I can’t get it up.
Her: (bursts out laughing) Do you…
Me: (sighing and holding up hand) I heard it when I said it.

My collection of injuries seems to be growing every single day.

About a year ago, I started getting these weird wrist pains. They’d come and then go, no real rhyme or reason.

For the past month, my wrist has been bugging me non-stop; I don’t go to the gym anymore without a wrist brace on.

This is just an old pic of mine after some party.

Then, about a week ago, I started getting these shooting pains in my lower back.

Him: Are you ok? What happened?!
Me: That’s the thing – nothing happened. No major event. It just started hurting one day.

A buddy of mine is a doctor, and I mentioned it to him. He asked me a few questions, which I answered.

Him: Sounds like you have a herniated disk.
Me: What?! You’re kidding. What do I do?
Him: (shrugging) Wait and try not to injure it more. It takes about two years to resolve itself.

The Firecracker started digging around and found something called The McKenzie Method for back pain.

Essentially, it’s about seven exercises that you do every 2-3 hours; it takes about 15 minutes to do from start to finish.

Man, I hate it.

But I hate feeling like an old man more so…this is what I’m doing for the foreseeable future.

Blargh.

Her: (to a friend) I’m glad that Biden dropped out. I can’t vote for him again. He’s older than Logan.
Me: That was uncalled for.

Location: my floor, doing these $@#$@#$ exercises
Mood: grumpy
Music:  I just keep pretending I’m okay (Spotify)
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Goodnight Ms. Binnie Meltzer

I’m sorry I never told you

In the red bag that my mom brought to me while I was in Flushing was my Junior High School yearbook, that my sister found and told her to get to me.

The reason I was thrilled to get it was for one reason and one reason alone – I wanted to figure out the name of my English teacher.

See, the most influential teacher I had was a Ms. Meltzer and for years I always meant to find her and let her know that, but life got in the way.

Plus, I had no idea what her first name was.

But with the yearbook, I immediately looked for her and was disappointed to find that it only had her first initial was “B” and that led me – well, really, the Firecracker to a search and we found “Binnie Meltzer’s” obituary.

I’m certain it was her.

It made me both happy and sad; happy in that I found her, in a manner of speaking, and – of course – sad that I was too late.

She died in 2006. A lifetime ago.

She was the first teacher that I was always happy to see and that made me think that I had any type of talent for anything at all.

If she was still alive, I woulda told her what a profound and positive influence she was on me – I write because she told me once that I was a good writer and I believed her.

That’s the power of a good teacher.

Goodnight, Ms. Meltzer.

You were an amazing teacher and human, and I’m forever grateful we met.

On a much more mundane note, because of alla my injuries, my sleep’s been crap lately, so the Firecracker suggested that I get some nature – well, as much nature as NYC provides.

To that end, we had a little picnic in Central Park near Sheep’s Meadow, which was pretty great, I gotta say.

Her: Honestly, this is all I really need. My person, a picnic, a park, and my pup.
Me: I could do without onea those things.
Her: Oh, stop…

Location: supermarket for tea, which I forgot to buy despite it being WHY I WENT IN THE FIRST PLACE
Mood: annoyed at myself
Music: I got an open mind so, tell me where you wanna go (Spotify)
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A BBQ on Governors Island

Nice people

Him: [Even though I eat meat], sometimes, I order a black bean burger just to have it.
Me: Have you considered therapy?

My friends Ricky and Kathy put together a BBQ on Governors Island this past weekend.

I’ve enjoyed it since the first time we went with the Firecracker and her kid, so I was looking forward to going there again, especially that my college friends were going.

So, early last Sunday, we piled into the subway and then hopped on a ferry there.

We met everyone at the docks and were on the island before we knew it.

After we disembarked, the Firecracker, the kid, and I went the wrong way and ended up at the wrong place.

The kid was less than enthused.

But we managed to get to the right place in time for food.

Him: They’re not ready yet.
Me: I like my burgers rare to medium rare. I’m sure they’re good already.
Him: Fine, here…

There was so much food.

Afterward, we went for a walk where I saw a building discussing the Billion Oyster Project here in NYC – something that I’m super interested in.

Unfortunately, I got a call from the kid on one of my friends’ phone – he’d gone bike riding with some of the other kids…

…but got separated yet still managed to find his way back.

Him: (upset) I’ve never been by myself for so long before. And on a bike!
Me: Well, I hope you learned a lesson to stay with everyone and pay attention.
Him: Are you mad at me?
Me: I’m just glad you’re back safe. And I’m actually super impressed you found your back by yourself.

He seemed just fine after a spell.

The other kids definitely helped.

As did the fact that Cappy brought pie (again)…

…and the Firecracker brought homemade keto chocolate cupcakes with cream cheese frosting.

Of course, I drowned my own fears into some grilled beef.

The truth is, while I am alarmed he was lost for a bit, I am impressed that he kept his wits about him and managed to find his way back.

Him: But I got lost.
Me: Yes, but you made it back to someplace safe. For that, I’m very proud of you.
Him: I was so scared.
Me: (nodding) But you’re safe now.

After a bit, we packed up and headed home.

We all said our goodbyes at the pier…

…and the Firecracker, the kid, and I took our scooters up the Hudson River Greenway home.

Him: I was super scared. (thinking) But everyone was really nice.
Me: Life is scary. It helps to have nice people around, yeah?
Him: (nodding) Yeah.

Location: a dog kennel, lifting up the kid to get a better look
Mood: heated
Music: I shout out and I didn’t miss one friend (Spotify)
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Frozen Picklebacks

If only for a few weeks

Him: I’m so excited to come home!
Me: Not as much as I am, kiddo!

I picked up my kid from my in-laws the other day along with the Firecracker.

We stayed for a dinner of pizza and other delicious things.

Didn’t remember to take pics until after we ate almost everything but here’s a pic of some watermelon.

The Firecracker also got her kid as well, but – before we got them – she took the day off work so we could have one last night to ourselves, so we started the night early around the way.

Because it was so early, we were the first people in the bar, so she did some stupid human tricks – as in the main pic of this entry – which I enjoyed.

In another bar, I asked the bartender about the pea green drink they had.

Her: That? It’s a frozen pickleback. The people that like it are just awful. Do you wanna try some?
Me: How could I say no?
Her: (later) What did you think?
Me: It’s admittedly pretty awful…but I couldn’t stop drinking it.
Her: (nodding) Yeah…

She liked us enough to comp us some more shots…

…and we rounded things out with more drinks.

The kids are now back and we’re now back in parenting mode, which we both happy about.

Still, it was nice to be carefree if only for a few weeks.

Location: Governors Island, with my favourite tiny human and some of my fave normal-sized humans as well.
Mood: fatty-fat-fat
Music: Oh, I’ve finally decided my future lies beyond (Spotify)
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Drinking in Jersey City

There’s a joke here, somewhere

The Firecracker and I wanted to get outta New York City but we also didn’t wanna spend a ton of time traveling so we decided to just hit up Jersey City for the weekend.

So, bright and early on a Sunday, we headed out 40 minutes or so to the Grove Street PATH Station…

…and walked down their still-somewhat-new promenade.

We didn’t get far because she wanted a snack and I wanted some more iced green tea.

But we got to exploring and found, amongst other things, a combination wine store and pharmacy.

Her: This is so weird.
Me: There’s a joke here somewhere, I just can’t think of it.

In fact, we hit up a number of wine shops because I’ve been on the hunt for some mead lately.

Him: What is that?
Me: It’s kinda like wine made from honey.
Him: (laughs) Nah, we got nuthin like that.

We ended up walking into a gorgeous apartment that had an open house.

The Firecracker and I have been chatting about next steps in our relationship but that’s an entry – or three – for another time.

Her: Think of what you could cook in this thing!
Me: It’s pretty cool, I gotta say.

Afterward, we went to Barcade for a bit to read and relax a bit.

But it was super loud, and we were both getting hungry and Barcade’s kitchen was on the fritz.

So, I ordered her a slice of pizza and then we walked over to Zepplin Hall, a beergarden, to meet up with my SIL.

It was pretty empty when we got there, which suited us just fine.

We ordered some food and then my SIL came.

It was only 5PM so I figured we’d be done by 7PM.

I was very wrong.

We ended up ordering FIVE pitchers of alcohol along with several individual glasses…

…plus even more carbs…

…but we did also order a salad? So, yeah.

The ladies chatted for a bit…

…while I went out to get a bit of fresh air.

It was after 10PM by the time we stumbled outta there, we’d been there for five hours.

Shockingly, it only took us about 45 minutes to make it home.

Me: Did you have a fun night?
Her: (half-asleep) Yeah, you?
Me: I was with you and family. How could it be bad?
Her: (snores)
Me: (laughs)

Location: Governors Island, with my favourite tiny human and some of my fave normal-sized humans as well.
Mood: fatty-fat-fat
Music: She said ohh, hold on, hold on, hold on (Spotify)
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Injured yet again

But not by exploding drinks

The first thing that I do every morning is down two cups of cold green tea to (a) fight cancer and (b) hydrate so I don’t have another gout attack.

Interestingly, since I’ve done this at the suggestion of my buddy Thor, I’ve not gotten a second gout attack since the first one back in March of 2021, which I’m hoping was just a one-off fluke.

In any case, while I was groggy since I just woke up, I heard a super loud POP, almost like gunshot and I swore it came from my fridge, but I didn’t see anything.

But then I looked closely a few days later and saw this in the back of my fridge.

Evidently, my fridge is too cold, and a can of soda exploded when the soda inside froze.

I’m just glad it happened while the kid was away since he’s a lot smaller than me so any potential injury woulda been lined up with his face.

Her: Do not get injured again! I wanna go out this weekend.
Me: I promise nuthin.

Speaking of injuries, the past few weeks has been a series of annoying ones.

Whenever I get injured, it’s usually a white belt that has no idea what he’s doing, and I get injured.

My last injury was when a 200-pound 30-year-old former wrassler fell on me and torqued my shoulder.

Well, that was until last week, when a purple belt (essentially a level-three grappler) caught my ankle and did a belly-down ankle lock, which is one of the more dangerous ankle locks.

Then he twisted it like a nutcase within two seconds of grabbing it.

Me: Jesus! (after 10 seconds of just lying on my back trying to eat the pain) Duuuude…
Him: Sorry about that.
Me: You’re a purple belt?
Him: Uh, yeah.
Me: Dude…that was not cool.

So, I hobbled off the mat and ended up taking five days off.

But I’d promised the Firecracker we’d do something fun for the past weekend and I felt bad I kept cancelling on her.

So, I rested at home all week, icing and compressing my ankle until I felt I was good enough to head out with her over the weekend.

I’ll tell you about it in the next entry.

Location: a rum bar trying to do something good but having it backfire on me immensely
Mood: irritated
Music: filled with damage, I thought that I could beat my chances (Spotify)
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I’m a somewhat trustworthy person

Key Lime Pies rock

Him: You seem like a somewhat trustworthy person. Would you mind if I drop off a set of house keys for you to mind while we’re in Australia? Not for any specific purpose, just a precaution.
Me: Sure. Completely unrelated, but where do you keep your valuables and large bills?
Him: [The wife] would say the cats.
Me: What are their resale value? Again, just making conversation here.
Him: I am having second thoughts.
Me: Fair. I can’t fault you there.

My buddy and his family went off to a place called “Australia” – which is a real place, evidently – for the summer and asked me to hold onto a set of keys for him JIC.

The below is what he tossed over my gate.

The joke’s on him when he realizes that I’ve rented his apartment out to a lovely Asian family for half of what he’s currently paying.

(It’s me. I’m the lovely Asian family)

On a different matter entirely, the Firecracker and I’ve been staying local for the most part but since the kids are both away, we’ve been just streaming films and eating at local bars.

The beauty of day-drinking is that we can both kinda work so long as we have an internet connection.

Although the use of the term, “work,” is loose, at best.

Another thing we have in common is that neither of us cook a lot during the summer as it’s so damn hot.

So, we just eat a lotta prepared food or food that we just need to assemble, like sandwiches or this killer caprese I made the other day.

We’re both pretty simple people that like simple things.

Case-in-point:

Me: I don’t think I’ve ever had a key lime pie.
Her: Really!? We have to get you one, then.
Me: Won’t argue with you there.

Oh, and Key Lime Pies rock.

Should get a bigger one next time.

Location: my (own) apartment, wishing I had some pie
Mood: sneezy
Music: Ain’t it such a good life that we live (Spotify)
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