It sucks because I can never just have it be a joyous thing. Like Mother’s Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, the kid’s birthday is a complex affair for me, and probably others.
He turned nine, which means that one of the worst days of my entire life happened nine years ago.
So, it tough being in a celebratory mood.
Having said that, I just wrote that I try – as best as I can – to shield the boy from what I can. This is no different.
I had his friends over for a pre-birthday party of sorts because it was Diwali this last Friday and his school was closed so that was fun.
Then we met up with the ABFF for a dinner of gyros and chix sandwiches (that was his choice).
Then we had a proper party with his friends and, just like last year, the Firecracker baked him a homemade cake with homemade frosting – low-carb(-ish, because I’m not a complete monster).
I don’t think he knows how hard I try to seem fine on his birthday.
That’s a good thing.
Pic from last year.
Location: earlier today, sleeping on my sister’s couch in the burbs
Mood: nostalgic
Music: I’m just tryinna make it last (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
Her: You were a nerdy kid when you were younger? I don’t believe that. Me: Do you remember the kids that never got picked for any sports games? Her: (laughing) Yeah. That was you? Me: No. I was the kid that those kids beat up.
Years ago, I told you about a legal saying that really changed how I looked at the world: Sine qua non.
It’s Latin for, “But for…”
Meaning, But for John losing his job, he never would have started drinking, which lead to his suicide.
The self-importance of these people is what’s galling.
Or, But for the girls’ bullying, Annie never would have changed schools.
Thought of that and Ruth Bader Ginsburg the other night when Trump won the election.
Ruth was asked – begged, really – to step down while Obama was president so that he could appoint a liberal judge that would protect Roe. And yet she refused.
But for that refusal, Trump never would have been able to appoint three justices to the bench.
But for that appointment, the Supreme Court never would have been able to overturn Roe.
But for that appointment, the Supreme Court never would have been able to expand the power the presidency for Trump.
But for that expansion, Trump would probably have done his last few weeks of campaigning at the height of a trial for keeping classified documents.
But for that trial being dismissed, Trump may not have won the presidency.
Couple her arrogance with that of Biden’s – who should have stepped down years ago to allow a successor that could actually be likeable enough to win – and here we are.
In the end, it wasn’t that the country voted for a complete pig of a human being…
…it’s that the Democrats were so arrogant they couldn’t even beat a complete pig of a human being.
And now – Ruth, Joe – how sad it is that everything you spent your life trying to help and protect is crumbling away by your own self-importance and arrogance.
Location: the kid’s schoolyard, talking to his teacher, hoping they’ll all be ok with a gunman on the loose
Mood: carb-eating, rum-swilling, machine
Music: this song is about you, playa (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.e
This year was the same as previous years but also a bit different.
In the past, we used to go out and wander all over the UWS. But something felt different this year.
My kid’s dressed up as French soccer player Kylian Mbappé.
I’d been reading about shootings in the area on the upswing and I just didn’t feel comfortable with Nate running around outside; especially since, in the past, there were times I felt penned in in some streets and the last thing I wanted at that time was some violence.
It turns out that I was right, because my sister wrote me to tell me that a McDonalds – which my kid and I’ve been to easily 2-3 dozen times – had a shootout just an hour after when we were supposed to start trick or treating.
So, while the Firecracker and her kid went trick-or-treating out and about, I only let the kid do it in the large apartment complex next door.
On the positive side, though, it’s nice that he and I have so many friends in the neighborhood that we have the opportunity to do things like that.
It stinks that kids can’t just be kids these days.
Like all parents, I try to shield him from what I can but it’s a losing battle.
Still, he’s such a resilient little kid, I’m hoping it’ll be ok, somehow.
Considering that today was Halloween, have you ever had a “banana-flavoured,” candy and thought, “This tastes kinda like a banana but not really?”
There’s a reason for that.
Not a banana plant but I thought it looked nice. From this entry.
Years ago, I had some friends over and we were playing Scattergories and the category was: Birds that begin with the letter “G.”
Him: What the hell’s a “Great Auk?” Me: It’s a large, flightless, extinct bird. Him: You can’t just put “Great” in front of a bird and say it starts with, “G!” Me: OK Google, what’s a Great Auk? Machine: According to Wikipedia, “The great auk is a species of flightless alcid that became extinct in the mid-19th century. It was the only modern species in the genus Pinguinus.” Him: OK, stop, stop. Just take it.
Remember that line: “…the onlymodern species in the genus Pinguinus.”
I’d meant to write an entry about that, but it slipped my mind.
Now, the Great Auk was a true penguin – it looked like this:
By Mike Pennington, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=13812423
I know what you’re thinking, “They kinda look like penguins.”
But that’s the opposite of the truth – the things we call penguins kinda look like them, the real penguins.
Those birds, the real penguins, completely died/were killed off some time in 1844.
A decade previously, around 1831, people started calling flightless birds in the Southern Hemisphere – far from the Northern Atlantic where the Great Auk was found – “penguins” because they kinda looked like the Great Auk.
But they weren’t actually penguins at all – again, the Great Auk was the “onlymodern species in the genus Pinguinus.”
Always found that so interesting: The birds we all call “penguins,” aren’t actually “penguins” at all but a completely different animal that we all assume are penguins now.
By Zwifree – I personally took this picture in my kitchen after buying approximately 30 Gros Michel Bananas.Previously published: I put it on my Facebook, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=70354204
Somewhat related, my parents (and probably yours as well) grew up with a banana that was the Gos Michel banana but those went commercially extinct by about the 1960s.
In their place was the Cavendish banana, which I, and probably you, grew up on.
The Cavendish tasted a lot different from the bananas they grew up on, the Big Mike.
And that’s why a lotta banana-flavoured things don’t taste exactly like a banana to us – because those flavours were developed to imitate the original Gros Michel and not the Cavendish.
On a completely unrelated point, the election is happening soon.
Growing up, I spent most of my young adult life voting Republican because I was always fiscally conservative whilst being socially liberal.
What I’m seeing these days is a complete takeover of what I grew up with.
The compassionate conservative, which I prided myself being, has been taken over completely by a woman-hating, “Christian,” anti-choice, subtlety racist, and otherwise hateful group that seems to be wholly different from what was once called the Republican party.
Just like the Greak Auk, and the Big Mike, I think that the current GOP has taken over so completely that no one remembers that the Republican party used to be substantially different and something wholly unrelated is now known as the Republican Party.
Location: a former Masonic temple
Mood: irritated but fulla carbs so, not terrible
Music: Hey, Marianna, you gotta no banana? (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
My SIL invited the kid and me, plus the Firecracker and her kid, to head to her place this past Sunday because there was a trick-or-treat event happening in her building AND there was also a pool party to boot.
So, bright and early on Sunday, we packed up and headed out to the wilds of Hoboken
Unfortunately, we went right smack into the Trump rally that was here so, after 10 minutes of wandering, the police told us the only exit was on 8th Avenue.
We figured it’d be easier for us to go back into the subway, head back to Times Square, and then head down to the PATH station on 32nd.
Him: We haven’t even started and we’re already on an adventure! Me: Evidently.
After a bit, we made it onto the PATH train and out to Hoboken, where my SIL picked us up and brought us back to her pad.
There, the kids immediately changed, and we went to her gym, which was ginormous!
This is just like a 1/3 of it. It was insanely big.
The kids were mainly interested in swimming, which is what they did for the next two hours, while the adults just chatted.
It was really lovely to me that my SIL and the Firecracker got along so well.
My back was still hurting so my SIL told me to check out the sauna there.
I wrote the Firecracker while I was in there.
Her: Wait, did you wear your jeans? Me: Nah, I just stripped bare and sat there. Her: You’re not even wearing underwear!? Me: (laughing) I’m joking. I’m at least wearing my underwear.
It was honestly great but I didn’t stay all that long.
Afterward, we were all hungry, so we went to a local Hoboken joint for some BBQ.
Before heading back so the kids could trick-or-treat while we killed two bottles of white.
We stayed until late and then took the train back – we were home in less than 40 minutes, which is pretty impressive.
Her: Do you think you’re perfect, Logan?! Me: Nah – I know I have a ton of flaws. Her: I’m so glad you can admit when you’re wrong. Me: Wait, no. I said I was flawed, very flawed, which I am. But I’m also usually right. Her: (sighs, rolls eyes)
The Firecracker and I have had a pretty annoying string of luck lately.
About two or three months ago, I started doing something called Toes-To-Bar, which is pretty much exactly what it sounds like – you hang by your hands and bring your toes up to touch the bar.
It looks like this:
Except, I was doing it completely straight-legged.
Got up to as much as 15 of them before I ended up herniating a disc and it was either because of jits or, more likely, this exercise that led me to that injury.
Anywho, I let myself rest up over my cruise and came back feeling much better.
So much better that I did some toes-to-bar – just three.
Welp, that was a grave mistake.
Ended up not even being able to get outta bed the next morning.
Went to see the doc just in case it was something like cancer, though, because – with my luck – it’s not an impossibility.
Took 20 mins to get to the doc, who saw me and said, “You’re 51? And you spar and go to the gym five days a week with a herniated disc? Doesn’t sound like cancer, sounds like you have sciatica.”
The total exam took less than seven minutes.
In any case, never knew what that was and looked it up; sounded exactly like what I had.
Yay.
The Firecracker hasn’t been faring much better.
Her main mode of transportation around Manhattan is her trusty scooter – which died the other day.
So, she borrowed mine and promptly wiped out on it and had a whole bevy of minor and a-bit-more-than-minor-but-still-not-major, injuries.
To add insult to injury – pun intended – another pigeon promptly pooped on her injured arm.
Her: Cm’on!
I shouldn’t have laughed but I did.
And then a week later, a pigeon pooped on my head.
Me: This isn’t our best month.
Still, all things considered, it’s not all bad.
We’ll both probably be on our feet again – literally and figuratively – in the next few months.
The aftermath of the bird and her arm/wrist.
To be clear: Feet, not toes.
Me: What do you think about my doing toes-to-bar like this [with bent knees]? Her: I think that’s a terrible idea, Logan. Me: Thank you for your contribution.
Location: at home, doing my really boring PT and missing jits and kali
Mood: seven outta 10 pain so…grumpy
Music: where you go, that’s where I wanna be (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
Speaking of the law, I don’t often talk about the law (or martial arts) in this blog because it’s always supposed to be a personal blog, about my personal life.
But I’m always surprised how much my professional life/lives bleed into my personal one.
Case in point, the kid was punished for something he said he didn’t do.
So, I took time outta my day, gathered evidence, witnesses, etc, and appeared before the person accusing the kid of wrongdoing.
The issue happened at his school, not the gym, but I liked this shot of him doing his thing.
Was able to prove that he didn’t do what they accused him of, and he got an apology from an adult.
Him: But, Mr. Lo, I want to talk about your behaviour. Me: (laughing) Wait, my behaviour? Him: Yes. We had people there that said you were belligerent and abusive to my staff. Me: Oh my! Well, good thing I have a recording of the entire episode – which I brought with me today. Here you go (hand him my phone). Him: (takes my phone and then watches it) You recorded it?! Me: (nodding) As you can see, I neither raised my voice a single time, nor did I attack your staff personally in any way with ad hominem attacks. I just told them they made a bad call, which we both agree is the truth. Him: (after watching half) OK, I’ve seen enough. I’m glad you recorded it. Me: Me too. I’ll send a copy to your email for your records.
And I did.
It always pays to be prepared, IMHO.
Unfortunately, you can’t prepare for everything.
OK, so one thing I read about my garbage disposal was to not put in very fibrous things – like woody stems and the like.
The other day, I had this HUUUUGE grapefruit and, without thinking, stuffed all the rinds and the interior skins down the disposal.
Ten minutes later, water came pouring outta my dishwasher.
Four days, one $80 brass elbow, one tube of plumber’s putty, two snakes, two bottles of drano, two general contractors, a professional plumber, and $1,100 later, I have a working sink again.
That was the most expensive goddamn grapefruit I’ve ever had in my life.
I will say, though, that one good thing came out of this whole adventure, which is that the above is the pipe that leads into my wall.
You can see that it was so old – at least 40 years old – that the threads completely rusted off.
The plumber said it was wholly unrelated to the reason why he was there but that it was gonna snap off in the next year, what with alla the vibrations from the garbage disposal.
So, it was good he was there to catch it.
Oh, I bought a dashboard cam to record things as well.
Like I said, it pays to be prepared.
The people that shot the above video would agree with me, I think.
I’m not slated to do any more shoots until 2025, which is great, because I’m pretty beat.
Ever since we started doing these shoots, I’ve got a newfound respect for content creators; it’s pretty draining to shoot these scenes over and over again until they’re perfect.
I just checked – I did my first shoot in the summer of 2019 and we’re now closing in on 2025. Close to six years.
Man, time is just sprinting by these days.
On that note, check out the above video – it looks like me but it’s actually not me at all!
It’s an AI generated video from my Scenic Fights producer.
Wild, right?
(The picture above *IS* of me, though).
On that note, I met up with my boss at the law firm for lunch the other day at the Bryant Park Grill.
I’ve been with the firm, in one form or another, since 2008 or so, so some 16 years.
That too reminds me that life is sprinting by.
Now that I’ve been a lawyer for close to a quarter-of-a-century, I’ve been lucky in that I can be very picky with the new cases I take on.
Him: Well, what in particular? Me: It’s gotta be something interesting OR with a huge payout. Otherwise, my patience for dealing with other people’s nonsense is pretty thin these days. Him: (laughing) I get that. OK, interesting cases or big check. Me: Essentially.
My mom gave me a cutting from her Tan Hua plant waaaaay back in 1993 – it’s the plant that was featured in Crazy Rich Asians,,
Here’s a super grainy part of that scene from the film.
Anywho, I named him Harold for no particular reason and he’s been with me all over New York City from my first apartment off Times Square to my son’s bedroom as of right this moment.
Like Leon in The Professional, Harold’s been with me everywhere I go.
Yes, I realize this is Natalie Portman’s character here, but I thought it was a better video.
Anywho, in Crazy Rich Asians, two things that they mentioned in the film is true: (a) it only blooms at night, and (b) it rarely ever blooms.
Harold? In 31 years, he’s never bloomed.
However, I’ve given cuttings of him to a few friends like Lviv, but – AFAIK – none of them have ever bloomed either.
This is Lviv’s plant from a while ago.
My mom, who’s got a phenomenal green thumb, has had her original plant bloom dozens of times and the fragrance is both amazing and indescribable.
Now, years ago, my buddy Brandon – the owner of Evolution Muay Thai, which is a great gym if you’re visiting or looking – is not only an amazing fighter and instructor, he’s also ridiculously good at cultivating plants.
He gave me a single leaf of his pothos plant and this is what it looks like now.
It’s been growing so aggressively that it grew through my lamp!
In any case, Brandon wrote me outtta the blue the other day to (a) show me a picture of his cutting, which looks spectacular:
…but also, (b) to tell me that it blooms so much that he finds rando blooms littering his floor.
I am sick with jealousy and a little irritated with Harold.
Here’s a timelapse of someone else’s plant blooming:
Me: I don’t get it; essentially, Brandon’s plant is you since it’s a cutting from you. He blooms, why can’t you? Harold: Me: You’re 31 years old and what have you done what do you have to say for yourself? Him: Me: Fine. Whatever.
