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A Wedding Cocktail Party

A party in the West Village

Sara and I debated whether or not to do something here in the states to celebrate our marriage.

I felt that heading out to Taiwan and the photographs were enough, but Sara didn’t get to have any of her family around, while I did.

Plus, the ABFF and my friends around the way both felt that we should do something, so we spent a little time looking at places.

But Sara and the Surgeon’s wife got to talking.

Sara: Well, we did Taiwan and really just want to keep things simple.
Her: Let us host it here! We have more than enough space.
Sara: What? We’re talking almost 100 people.
Her: Oh, it’s fine. This place screams “event space.” We’d love to host you.
Sara: Wow! That’s incredibly kind of you to offer! I’d have to talk to Logan…
Her: It’s done! Yay! I love a good party!

Obviously, that was super generous of them and pretty amazing, so we jumped at the offer.

For me, I was happy to let Sara take complete control and just handle everything – her cousin Jen even came a day earlier to help out with everything, which was clutch.

The Surgeon lives in a converted department store in the Village so he’s got like 18-foot ceilings, or something nuts like that, as well as 2,200 SF to work with BUT we still had to be judicious with whom we could invite over.

I ended up not inviting any of my relatives – including my own brother and sister – as (a) I have soooo many of them, (b) I got see some of them in Taiwan.

I figured I would have something separate for them down the road.

Plus, we agreed not to invite anyone that I’d not spoken directly to in over a year as well, with limited exceptions.

This is why Sara and I were out in Queens the other day; we had to buy a ton of liquor for the bartenders that we hired for the party.

On that note, the bartenders were total pros that made three signature cocktails for us to have at the party.

Him: What are you looking for?
Sara: We only have one really hard and fast rule and that’s no tequila or mezcal – long story there.
Him: (laughing) OK, well, what do you want then?
Her: Well, he likes rum and I love prosecco.
Him: Got you. And a colour scheme?
Her: Oh, red would be great! It’s the color of good luck in Chinese culture.

But I was busy too as I also ended up running down to Chinatown that day to grab six pans of delicious dumplings – over 300 of them – while Sara took care of all the other food.

We ordered waaaaaayyy too much food.

The donut tower below was my idea, of course.

No peanut butter or whole wheat, though.

We did have a bit of a scare the week before the party, which was that Sara’s son got the flu, so that meant that my kid and I didn’t see them at all the week before.

She and her son socially distanced for the whole time.

Amazingly, he got better pretty quickly and the rest of us didn’t get sick at all.

Sara: OMG, if I had to miss my own cocktail party, I would cry so hard.
Me: Imagine if we both couldn’t show up!

But we were still stressed out because there was supposed to be a major snowstorm that weekend AND six people cancelled because of the flu, while one couldn’t make it because of a last-minute family emergency.

Still, all-in-all, it went off without a hitch, and everyone seemed to have a grand time.

Really wish I had more time to spend with everyone but, the way these things go, she and I barely had 10 minutes with each guest, but it was nice seeing everyone.

Me: Well, it looks like we’re finally done with wedding stuff.
Her: Yup! Well, ours at least. We still have weddings to go to later on this year.
Me: Is that still happening?
Her: Logan Lo!
Me: Right, right, yay, love…

Location: a locksmith, getting keys for the kids
Mood: potentially sick
Music: I bought a rock, I tied the knot, and I’m making her my wife (Spotify)
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Unkindness, Pt 2

Running into people

Like I said, a buncha people from my past have been making a reappearance in my life, in a manner of speaking – either they actually have or I thought about them, which I’d probably not done in a while.

First is someone I’ll call the Cellini Coach whom I last saw out in California.

I call him Cellini because, like him and Jason Everman, he’s insanely successful in some seriously disparate fields:

  • He sold a buncha companies to Google and Facebook – you’ve absolutely used his stuff if you’ve been on either of them – and might be a billionaire. I’m not sure.
  • He’s also a ridonk fighter – fourth degree black belt in BJJ from Gracie Barra, great boxer, and trained shooter and wrestler – and is kinda my private coach on certain things (see below).
  • He’s also getting his master’s degree in philosophy a Oxford.

Despite alla this, though, he’s a pretty quiet and down-to-earth kinda guy.

Him: Don’t put up a picture of me.
Me: It’s ironic that a fella that helped invent the internet doesn’t wanna be on it.

Plus, even though he’s a super busy and successful guy, he’ll still take the time out to answer questions that I’ve got regarding certain aspects of fighting which I always appreciate.

Like most kindnesses I get, it’s a kindness that is neither expected nor warranted.

Below is him acting as my coach, which he totally doesn’t need to do, and yet he does.

We met up just this past week a mutual friend’s physical therapy joint – Recalibrate PT, which is probably one of the best PT spaces in the city IMHO.

There, Cellini he took two hours outta his super busy schedule to give me a private lesson to help me fix a buncha issues I’ve been having with my game.

I also ran into a whole raft of friends while there that I’d not seen in ages, including my buddy Sawyer – who was training with my friend Cotton (whom I also recommend if you’re looking for a personal trainer).

Me: Dude, we loved Masters of the Air, whatever happened to your character (Lt. Roy Frank Claytor)?
Sawyer: In the show, he just disappeared but in real life, he survived WWII and fought in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, which he also survived.

On a somewhat related note, I recently had a phone call with someone whom I was unkind to ages ago.

He said I never apologized to him for being unkind to him, but he seems to have forgotten that he wouldn’t let me apologize to him.

Still, I suppose that’s really neither here nor there; I could have apologized again but chose not to again.

In any case, I figured that, since I was the one originally in the wrong, I’d just go ahead and apologize again to him, again and did that.

I’m hoping he took it to heart just because I would hate for anyone to suffer because of something I did, but that’s really his decision to make and not mine.

I suppose we all do unkind things as much as we do kind ones and, when we do unkind things, we should try to fix things when given an opportunity to do so.

This actually reminds me of something else entirely, but I’ll tell you about that later.

Location: my freezing pad
Mood: possibly sick with a broken toe
Music: I thought it was just another fight (Spotify)

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36 years of Indian food

My brother’s created (food) monsters

When I first met Sara, she said that she liked most cuisines – except Indian food.

We had this conversation when we first met.

Me: Wait, what? Why?
Her: I dunno. I tried it once and whatever I had was just awful. I couldn’t do it.
Me: You musta had a bad dish at a bad joint. Indian food’s some of the best food on earth.
Her: (shrugging) I’m always open to trying it again – I just wouldn’t know what to order.
Me: Oh, I got you.

I get it.

It’s very foreign a food to most Americans and even for the Chinese, it’s pretty different from what we’re used to.

I had it first with my brother.

He’s always been the most influential person in my life – probably still is to a large extent.

Anywho, I went to visit him while he was still in medical school, sometime in 1990.

I know the year because I was still dating my first girlfriend at the time and crashing at his pad.

He told me I would just love Indian food and I told him, essentially, thanks but no thanks.

But he insisted and off we went; he ordered a ton of food.

Now, if you don’t know already, I tend to eat more than most people.

Always have, I don’t know why.

Well, the thing I remember about that night was that the food was so delicious that I ate so much I got sick.

It wasn’t the food, it was that I literally stuffed myself to the point of massive pain, which – for me – is a rarity. I usually simply can’t get full.

Anywho, my bro ordered:

    • Chicken tikka masala
    • Chicken korma
    • Saag paneer
    • Naan
    • Samosas
Went to visit my bro back on 2015.07.08 and I literally ordered the same thing.

He’s now a vegetarian but, to this day, those are my go-to dishes, even 36 years later (Jesus Christ, I cannot believe that was 36 years ago).

And, now they’re Sara’s go-to dishes and Indian food has become some of her fave cuisine.

Me: (after eating at the joint around her old pad) See, you musta had a bad dish at a bad joint.
Her: Looks that way, god, it’s so good – and look at all these pretty serving dishes.

See, same things…

In fact, she loves Indian food so much now that she’s found a killer chicken tikka masala recipe of her own.

She made it for us a few times now AND we also recently went out to the joint that was across the street from her old pad the other day while the kids were away.

Me: What do you think?
Her: Everything’s really good! But…
Me: What?
Her: I dunno…I kinda like the chicken tikka I made better. Everything else is great, though.
Me: (laughing) I’ve created a monster.

Well, technically, my brother’s created four, since she loves it now, and both of the kids love it now too.

It’s funny how the little things we do in life reverberate way after we do them.

Location: home, having Indian food yet again
Mood: achy
Music: I will follow anywhere in any way (Spotify)
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She’s on to my tricks

A week of guests, food, and shows

Sara and I spent New Year’s Eve at home, watching television.

Actually, let’s back up a bit.

A few days before NYE, the Pittsburg Radiologist stopped by, so we went out for a drink at my usual dive bar…

…but the waitress was overwhelmed and being a pill, so we left to get food and drinks a few doors down at my fave Chinese spot.

Him: Have you ever been to Times Square for New Year’s Eve?
Me: God no, that’s strictly for tourists. I don’t even like being there on regular days.

Then, the day before NYE, our friend Amanda – whose home we stayed at in Vienna – came round.

So, we took her out to eat at an Italian joint near our pad.

The food was great. And, as much as I wanted the pasta, I stuck to my usual burger and swapped the fries for spinach.

Sara: It’s the holidays, have the fries.
Me: With the amount of bread I’ve been eating lately? No way.

Amanda’s the type of friend I like to go out to eat with in that she always tries to pay, which is in contrast to some people we know that simply never even offer.

Her: I wanted to take you two out to celebrate your marriage!
Sara: Too late!

But we went to our local upscale Irish pub for drinks afterward, and she grabbed the check before I could.

Amanda: I’m on to your, “I need to make a phone call,” tricks, Logan!
Me: (laughing) Fair…

The main pic of this entry is the two of them cracking up over Amanda’s dating life – and Sara’s and mine prior to meeting – which is something for another entry.

Because we had gone out so often this week, Sara and I didn’t feel the need to head out again for NYE.

Ergo, we stayed home watching shows, which is also another entry since I so rarely watch television or anything like that.

If you’ve not seen The Terminal List or Slow Horses, both are worth a watch.

After NYE, my son and hers came back home so Sara’s sister and family swung by for hot pot and to drop off gifts.

We were so busy that I forgot to take any pics, but it was fun and looked something like this.

All-in-all, it was a good way to ring out the old year and ring in the new one.

Here’s hoping that 2026 is a good one.

Or, at the very least, not a bad one.

Location: earlier today, a church with a million kids playing soccer
Mood: fatigued
Music: Keep your vodka on ice while I disappear (Spotify)
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All friends are great…

…but your old ones are gold

Her: Logan, congratulations! Are you and Mrs. L free on Dec 13? [We’d] would like to take you out to celebrate.
Me: Hola, and yes, I think so but we’re in Korea ATM and heading to Taiwan tomorrow AM. Back on the 30th. Firm up then?

My friends around the way plus RE Mike and his wife dropped me a line the other day.

I’ve known them all for at least a quarter of a century when they all lived close by.

Said it before that all friends are great, but your old ones are gold.

We actually went to a new Greek restaurant in the neighborhood that I’d not been to yet.

The food was killer and RE Mike, being RE Mike, chatted up the owner, who spent a good deal of time at our table telling us all about everything.

Me: Thanks so much for taking us out, it’s really so nice of you.
Her: We wanted to celebrate you two!
Me: Well, thank you, we’re definitely grateful…and fat.

Later that week, we met up with the ABFF and went to one of her friend’s places for a holiday party.

Someone made some lasagna, which I have a hard time saying no to, and it turned out to be the fella that does The Dad Bod Pod, a podcast that interviews fathers.

Him: Do you want to do an episode?
Me: (shrugging) Sure – I’m not sure what I’d talk about but, I’m game.
Him: OK! You can’t take it back now…

OK, I realize there’s no lasagna in this picture. I forgot to take a picture of it. Just trust me here…

There were a whole buncha kids there and they wanted to head up to the roof so up we went.

The views were pretty killer.

Although I liked one view in particular.

It was a school night, so we ended relatively early.

Like I said, all friends are good, but the old ones are gold.

Firecracker: You have nice friends.
Me: Yeah, I try not to keep the douchebags around.

Location: yet another holiday party, this time with a lava cake
Mood: fat…so fat
Music: I bought a rock, I tied the knot, and I’m making her my wife (Spotify)
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Everyone needs friends like these

Still my safe harbor

When we got back from Taiwan, everyone wanted Western food.

But, oddly, after just a few days, we were all missing some Taiwanese food, so we headed downtown to Taiwan Pork Chop House, our local dive Taiwanese joint, and ordered a ton of food.

What was cool was that the Surgeon and his family were out and wanted to join us, so that was even better.

In some ways, I’m going back to some of my old ways in that I’ve been more social again during the holidays.

To wit, I met up with a buncha people from my gym the other night around the way…

…and also went to celebrate the holidays at a neighboring building.

Her: I like that we have this little tradition.
Me: Same.

Just like last year, I managed to meet up with my old college buddies at the same place we went to last year as well.

As always, the food was absolutely killer…

…and it was great catching up with everyone.

Me: I gotta think that someone we know has a kid in their 20s.
Him: Young’s got a 25-year-old, I think.
Me: Jesus Christ, that’s right. They got married right outta college.

Alla them, I’ve known at least 33 years but one of the guys, Cappy, I’ve known 35 years.

I hope my kid has a buncha friends like these guys.

One of them, Ricky, always likes to tell the waitstaff that it’s our buddy Gar’s birthday, like he did two summers ago.

But this time, it was half for him and half for me.

See, when it was time to pay, I pulled out my wallet like usual but the fellas wouldn’t let me pay.

Rick: This is a double celebration – you got married AND you hit a million followers on YouTube.
Me: Goddammit, I shoulda ordered that crab.
Him: Too late now.

They printed up a series of real and AI generated things to celebrate Scenic Fights hitting a million subs, which I found amusing.

But, they also all wrote and signed a lovely card for the Firecracker and me to celebrate our getting married.

When I first started this blog two decades ago (!) I wrote about them in one of the first entries ever:

They’re a bit like my safe harbor – I find comfort in the fact that no matter how dreck-ish my life becomes, they’re always there to push another bottle of beer on me and tell me to cheer up.

It was true then and it’s true now.

Like I said, I hope the kid meets fellas like these.

Everyone needs friends like them.

Location: A snowy rooftop, yelling at the kid to not run
Mood: stuffed
Music: These old wings just gotta be good for something (Spotify)
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Giving it time

My talented friends

So far, the second shot has been a disappointment as well. But it’s still early yet.

I’m still hoping that the two together – plus the oral steroids that I took some months back plus the ridonk amount of PT that I’m doing – will result in some improvement.

Anything, really.

Been hanging around with another surgeon from my gym who thinks I should just keep getting the shots.

We met up for a drink and some food the other day where I picked his brain about my situation.

Me: So far, these two shots haven’t done a thing.
Him: Dude, steroids work. I had three shots and was good for years. Give it time.

I’m not sure what to do.

One of the guys I do kali with – and he started 13 years before me, which means, he’s been doing it for 33 years – happens to be an acupuncturist and offered for me to get checked out at his clinic.

What’s crazy is that it was literally the building next door to the place I had the shots.

My life is so fulla odd coincidences.

So, I went where he essentially beat the crap outta me for 90 minutes – it was painful, but I felt pretty good afterward.

Me: How much do I owe you?
Him: Oh, it’s on the house. We’re old friends.
Me: Dude, you spent an hour with me…
Him: Actually, it was 90 minutes.
Me: That’s even worse!

But he wouldn’t take anything from me. What a nice guy.

It’s too early to say if it did anything but it was, if nuthin else, an amazing massage.

It’s nice to have such disparate and talented friends.

Now if I could just have a working back…

Location: home, with a bad back a lot on my mind
Mood: so disappointed
Music: had no warning about who you are (Spotify)
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So long and so completely

Happy birthday, mom

Two big things happened recently. The first was awful.

Saw a good buddy of mine the other day and he looked…off.

So, I asked him what was up. His wife answered for him.

His mother died this past Friday.

Instantly, I thought of my dad and my mom, and – of course – Alison.

When I lost my grandmother all those years ago, it was the first close loss I’d ever had.

The losses never stopped once it started.

That’s how it goes for everyone.

But no one’s really prepared for the loss of a parent, to say nothing of the loss of a spouse.

My dad said it himself when his own mom died, long after his own dad died:

I feel unmoored from my past, like a leaf in the wind or a ship on the waves.

Lines I stole from him years ago.

In any case, I took my buddy out for a drink over the weekend and just heard his (and his mom’s) story, which I’ll end here because it’s not mine to tell.

Me: This is why alcohol was invented, man.

The second was the opposite.

My own mom turned a milestone birthday, one that I’m grateful she was able to reach.

My sister came up with the brilliant plan to have many of our relatives from all over – including Taiwan – to video call her at the same time and wish her well.

As an aside, I usually put up pictures that don’t include my kid sister and only include my brother and me because, by the time she was born, I was already a fatty-fat-fat.

Anywho, getting back to my mom and the video call, she’s not one for pomp and circumstance but I could tell she was touched by the gesture.

I know that, at some point, I will have to go through what my buddy is going through and I’m not – at all – prepared for it.

Don’t think we’re ever prepared to say goodbye to the people we’ve loved so long and so completely.

Ok, that’s my sister when she came home from the hospital. I can put pics of her up so long as I’m not in them.

When I think of my mom, the faces you see above is the face I always see in my head when I think of her.

She’ll always be that young and beautiful to me.

I wish everyone we love can always stay.

Doubt that I’m alone in this.

But that’s not the deal, and we have to accept it, however hard it is.

Me: Even I have to go someday.
Him: But…what if you don’t, papa?
Me: That’s the deal, kid. We all have to go at some point so someone else gets a chance.
Him: (hopefully) But maybe it’ll be different for you.
Me: (laughing) Ok, kid. Maybe. We’ll just have to wait and see. Go do your math.

Happy birthday, mom.

Location: In the rain, picking up my treasure
Mood: nauseated
Music: seen it all the tears have fallen (Spotify)
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We are what we constantly do

ONE MILLION!

Me: Heya, can you tell me one more time how many times my videos have been seen? I’m writing something about it for my blog.
Producer: The exact number up to July 8th, 2025, was 236,526,963 on YouTube only. But if I had to guess YouTube is closer to 280m and with TikTok you’re closer to 350m.
Me: Holy shitballs!

Years ago, I told you that the reason the 3 Musketeers candy bar was called that was because each one had three bars, with ear bar a different flavor: chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla.

But, for a variety of reasons, it’s just chocolate now.

And did you know that Daisy – the makers of the Red Ryder BB gun in A Christmas Story, was originally a windmill company?

They used to give away BB guns as promotional items for their windmills, but their promotional items became more popular than their main business, so they ditched windmills completely to focus on BB guns.

I’m trying, I’m trying, just hold on…

Speaking of Daisy, there’s a major BJJ competition team called Daisy Fresh, just because the team originally trained in a beat-up laundromat called, “Daisy Fresh,” and they figured it was easier just to keep the name.

That happens a lot.

Like, two fellas named Henderson and Moore bought a hotel in Massachusetts that already had a large, expensive sign on the building.

It was cheaper to just keep the sign, so they ended up calling their entire hotel chain the name on the sign – Sheraton.

Finally, there’s this popular sandwich shop named Potbelly that was once was Chicago antique store that was struggling.

So, they hit on this idea to sell sammies that they heated up with an old potbelly stove that they had in the shop.

My point’s that the things we think we know actually probably went through a lotta things to become the version of the thing you’re familiar with.

And things that you know of in one form may actually have been something else entirely.

My little side project I first told you about years ago, Scenic Fights, just hit one million subscribers.

There’s a really funny backstory to that whole thing that I’ll tell you about some day.

But I digress.

OK, it’s not a Sheraton but I don’t usually stay at those.

The thing is that there are alla these people that now know me as Logan the Weapons Guy from Scenic Fights, and I’m proud to be known as that.

And, of course, there are all those people that know me as Logan, the intellectual property lawyer.

And I’ve got this whole other career – two, actually – that I’ve only ever mentioned to you in passing but I’m held in pretty high regard there as well.

I do alla those things but the two things I’m proudest of – and I’m proud of everything I just mentioned – are being the kid’s dad and my writing.

Because we are what we constantly do.

And those two things are the things that I constantly do the most.

There are somea you that have been reading me since the Livejournal days and I feel that, outta everyone that “knows” me, you all know me the best.

Because what you’re reading is the most closely aligned with how I really am (edited), I think.

So, thanks for helping me/us get to 1 million on Scenic Fights.

And thanks, most of all, for continuing to read me.

One of these days, I’ll have something important to say.

Oh, a special nod to my buddy Mark H. Anbinder who’s been reading me for decades – and still constantly comments (!) and I’m super thankful for that. Shockingly, he’s still on Livejournal.

And my friend Debra, whom I’ve not seen in decades, just dropped me a line outta the blue saying (a) she’s still reading me and (b) is writing herself now.

Location: a middle school, trying to figure out what to do
Mood: achy
Music: I’m hopin’ I can find what’s left of me (Spotify)
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Nightmares and noctambulation

Telling our stories our way

Her: Hey man, so my fiancé’s doing a pop up this coming Thursday at Tiki Chick!
Me: Wha!? Ok! Lemme see if the Firecracker and I can make it

My buddy Katrina hit me up the other day to tell me that her boyfriend fiancé was bartending at my local bar, Tiki Chick.

So, off we went.

This is the Aaaaaaaaah!

He made this drink he called the Aaaaaaaaah! for the Halloween theme of the night and it was honestly delicious – one of the best drinks I’d ever had.

Unfortunately, it was a little sweet, so I only had one.

But we kept getting comped drinks – both by her fiancé and the waiter – that we got pretty snockered.

I also ate a lot, including two chicken sammies and this footlong hotdog with chili and spam.

There’s a lot more that’s been going on but two other things happened, the first of which was that I got my annual flu shot.

Then the Firecracker caught a cold, and I started feeling a bit rough, but I chalked it up to the shot.

Her: Are you blaming me for your cold?
Me: Yes.
Her: That’s fair.

Nope, I got sick as well and had the worst bout of insomnia I’d had for years, coupled with nightmares and noctambulation.

Plus, later on this week, I’m getting a steroid injection into my back, so…unfun.

I’ll tell you more once this brain fog goes away.

Location: bed, sick. Send soup.
Mood: craptastic
Music: We’ll see how far it goes I said (Spotify)
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