Tag: friends

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personal

Everyone’s got their own particular crazy

Her: (yelling from other room) Oh my god, come here, you’ve got to see this new technology thing…
Me: (running in excitedly)
Her: (laughing) Ha-ha, I tricked you. Do you like this stationary?
Me: Man, I totally fell for that. Not cool, man…

Still planning the wedding. We’ve been talking seriously about just eloping but even that comes with a lot of ancillary issues.

Met up with RE Mike for drinks at PJ Clark’s down a bit from me. Nice joint but no good rum. We got onto the topics of relationships. Didn’t work out with him and his latest girlie.

Me: Sorry to hear it. But you like what you like. Everyone’s got their own particular crazy.
Him (grinning) Yeah, look at you. You still write that blog and put down things like: “Location: my apartment. Mood: hungry.” That’s weird.
Me: (laughing) Ha, I suppose it is.

Mentioned to him that I’m looking for places to get hitched. Forgot that he owns a building downtown.

Me: Can you get us in?
Him: I could ask. If I could get you in, it’ll be my wedding gift to you.
Me: Sweeeeeeeet.

Speakinga wedding gifts, evidently white people have this thing called a registry. I’ve gone to a buncha weddings in my life, but being Chinese, just gave scratch. On good years, it was more, on bad years, it was less. But that was the gift.

In other news, posting on Thursday this week – sorry for all the jumping around lately, it’s the work. Until then, more differences between the Chinese and Americans to keep you entertained:

Location: my apartment
Mood: hungry
Music: without your love I would never have made it
YASYCTAI: Come back on Thursday morning. (72 hours/1 pt)
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personal

Friends and weddings

Missed posting last Thursday – no real reason but I’ll tell you why some other time.

In other news, been planning the wedding. Parta the issue why it takes so long is that there’re so many people in my family. My family’s side alone, we’re talking over 100 heads. It’s pretty ridiculous. As for her, she’s got far less so if anything, it’ll be crazy lopsided. We’ve been talking more and more about just up and getting hitched ourselves and doing something for our friends and family later. Suppose we’ll see.

On a related point, the thing about cutting your friends is that the friends you’re left with, you don’t have to make excuses for:

Sorry, he’s a little snarky at times.
Sorry, she’s always like that.
Sorry, he does have his good points.
Sorry, I’ve known him for years, he went through a lot.

It’s exhausting.

Not all of your friends’ve gotta be smooth as silk but I got little tolerance for poor behaviour these days. When Steel and Bryson came by to learn to cook from my dad, they didn’t know each other but we all got along great. It’s a nice side benefit for having a low tolerance of general douchebaggery.

You don’t gotta have a lotta friends. Y’just gotta have ones that’re worth it.

Location: off to physical therapy shortly
Mood: tired
Music: want to be the best I can For me for you for everyman
YASYCTAI: Try to find more time to write. (60 minutes/1 pt)
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personal

Getting together with friends

427 Shelby Cobra

Me: Dude, we’ve known each other almost 20 years.
Him: Crazy, right? S’funny when you start talking about time in decades.

Met up with a buncha buddies the other night; random get together over cheap wings, rum, and beer(s). They all went to Cornell but they never hung out with each other. Goes back to my theory that your friends’re mirrors to some aspect of you. Bryson’s my fighting buddy, Paul’s my wingman, and Ricky’s fellow entrepreneur – check out his nysteals.

Onea them once said to me that he liked meeting my friends cause, “You’re not a douchebag, so you don’t have douchebag friends” – which is just another waya saying my mirror theory, I suppose.

Almost four years ago, wrote about this story my pastor likes to tell.

JRR Tolkien, CS Lewis and a third writer were all close friends and when the third writer died (Charles Williams?), CS Lewis said something along the lines of “When he died, I thought, ‘at least I’ll have more of JRR, but in fact I had less,’” meaning that, when the third friend died, CS Lewis found that the third friend brought out things in Tolkien that CS couldn’t.

It’s true. Eacha those guys all draw out some different side to my personality. It’s why it’s always interesting when y’get a group of completely unrelated friends together and see what happens. We all hung out for over three hours on a weekday night without a moment of awkward silence.

On a distantly related note, my liver’s not speaking to me this week.

Location: getting ready for work at my pad
Mood: accomplished
Music: Good times, bad times, give me some of that
YASYCTAI: Get a small group of friends together just to see what happens. (three hours/2 pts)
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personal

In my life

Condiments at a diner

Had my second Thanksgiving dinner with my family; Heartgirl came along. After a ridiculous amount of food, we all settled down to play cards and Taboo. It felt like family.

That Saturday, saw my old college buddies for dinner; it was a potluck “Friendsgiving.” Brought some sweet potatoes that I made as well as a pie that I bought. Afterward, had some of his fine bourbon, which I enjoyed, but not as much as my usual rum. Per my usual clumsiness, managed to spill wax all over some furniture. That too felt like family.

The guy I’ve known the longest – since we were about 16 (21 years) – just had a kid. It’s weird seeing your friends as parents.

After that, went and saw Hazel, who happens to be his sister, and my buddy Paul with my brother and his new girl for karaoke. Didn’t do much singing but I did have some more drinks there although the drinks were so watery that it was like drinking nuthin.

Sunday, we all just got up and had diner food with my bro and the girls before he headed home to LA.

My lens wasn’t snapped in correctly for most of the stuff so no good pictures to show you of most of it. Figured that out when I took the above pic at the diner.

S’ok, there’s always next year. Hope you had a similar friend/family-filled holiday.

Man, gotta hit the gym.

Location: Brooklyn within the hour
Mood: fat
Music: places have their moments with lovers and friends, I still can recall
YASYCTAI: Make a stand, shake up the views of the common man. (10 mins/1 pt)
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personal

Stinky lunch

Location: my steaming apartment
Mood: relaxed
Music: get-tough girls turn into goldmines, but oh

Tribeca NYC

Been busier with work this past month than quite a while. Running all over the island meeting with clients and hustling for scratch. Although my definition of scratch doesn’t really compare much with that of my friends.

Case in point, just yesterday, met up with Sheridan for lunch on onea the hottest daysa the week. Am constantly amazed at what he manages to get himself into.

Me: What’re we talking about?
Him: 420.
Me: Thousand?
Him: Million. My cut’s $600,000.
Me: Why am I buying you lunch? You should be buying me lunch!

My own life’s decidedly less interesting.

Her: What’s that smell?
Me: Some salmon I had in the fridge.
Her: (shaking head) Why don’t you have a TV show and call it, “Logan eats the worst smelling food in the world.”
Me: I’d totally do that.
Although I did splurge and pick up the iphone 4.

My buddies mock me cause I put plastic on the cover and have a protective case around my phones. But the iPhone 4 cost me $199 and I sold my old phone for $250.

Now if only the damn thing’d stop dropping my calls…

YASYCTAI: Go for the big score. (time/2 pts)

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personal

Back to Alphabet City

Location: 11AM yest, Alphabet City (again)
Mood: cranky
Music: I’m going down, to Alphabet Street

First Avenue facing south

2010.06.11
Hit up this networking event with PB near Alphabet City. He came to just hang out, cause he’s a good friend. Didn’t even bring any business cards. They had a raffle and were about to pull out a card.

Him: Should I toss in a card?
Me: Toss in a card.
Him: Don’t have one. Just the onea the guy that interviewed me today.
Me: Toss that in – but if you win, we split it 50/50.

Guess who won?

2010.06.12

Him: Y’know what’s the number one reason for happiness?
Me: Purpose?


Caffeineguy came to town and he met up with Metrodad for dinner at a french restaurant. Woulda gone but just got hit with that newest legal matter plus already had a dinner date with a protein shake and several cansa sardines.

Instead, ran around and ended up watching Julie&Julia; with the lady. But then at 11PM, get a call from the two boys and soon they’re ringing my door and sitting in my guest room.

Offer em up a selectiona my finest rums and we pound for hours. Funny thing’s that we’d never met till that night – like Julia Child and her friend Avis DeVoto. But I suppose you know who your people’re, regardless.

Him: Nah, man. It’s more than purpose. It’s this. People. Friends.
Me: (grinning) That sounds about right to me. (holding up glassa rum) Cheers, fellas. Thanks for dropping by.

2010.06.13
Went back to do more work in Alphabet City. Then headed over to meet up with some old co-workers at a bar. Was the first guy in the whole bar so the owner – little Japanese lady – sticks her head out the door.

Her: You, hey you! (motioning over) You want sit? Come in, sit.
Me: Sure. (take a seat and chat with her)
Her: You’re a nice boy. I’m a gonna buy you drink. What you want?
Me: (laughing) Rum and diet coke, please.

Then everyone came and we caught up over cheap drinks and rich food.

Back to Alphabet City on Monday and then wrestling. Some days y’get some court papers. Some days, y’get some win.

Not a bad few days, yeah?

YASYCTAI: Caffeineguy’s right, you know. Friends’re the best, go see one. (120 mins/1 pt)

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personal

Bits

Yet another bar in the city.

Her: I didn’t know until right now what you did for a living. (later) I’m amazed that you can tell people so much and not tell them anything at all.
Me: (grinning) There’re some parts of my life I like to keep private.

Furison came into town recently and we grabbed a drink tonight. She got an aged rum with a slice of orange and liked it.

Always ask people that meet me in RL if I’m the same as they read.

They tell me I am and that I manage to say a lot without giving away too mucha my personal bits. That’s the goal.

Her mouth literally dropped open when she found out how much money I’d lost in my life.

Like I said in my last post, funny what a body can get used to.

Walked her through the pouring rain and put her in a cab on Broadway.

Me: You and my girl’re the most Asian white people I know.
Her: (laughing) I’ll take that as a compliment.
Me: You should, you should.

On a different point, a fella took the time to write me an email to say that he liked this blog.

Plus I managed to settle things with that newest legal wrinkle although it means bologna sandwiches from now until winter for me.

Man, it’s always giveth and taketh away, isn’t it?

Location: 9PM yest, my fave Dive Bar
Mood: Lit
Music: too long we’ve been living under a raincloud (Spotify)

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personal

Another way

If you keep doing what you do, you keep getting what you get

A wood burning stove in midtown

Her: I mean, he’s great. He’s just verbally abusive, not physically or anything like that.
Me: I think you deserve better than that. Don’t you think you deserve better than that?
Her: (thinking) I guess…

Getting hot and muggy in NYC; not looking forward to summer. Today’s the nastiest day of the week and I’ve have put on the monkey suit. If there’s one area where women are luckier than men, it’s that some of us still have put on a suit while a woman can go into work in a flower print dress.

If I could, I’d wear a kilt in the summer.

The latest figs show that Americans spend $80 billion annually on cigarettes; that’s more that any nation outsidea ours spend on their entire military. Put another way, we spend more money to kill ourselves than other nations do to kill us.

Number of my friends are doing all sortsa self-destructive behaviour but they keep doing it, oblivious to the ramifications. But just like you can’t plead, argue, logic or beg someone to care about you, you can’t beg someone to care about themselves either.

When the same stimuli is applied to a situation, how can one be surprised when one gets exactly the same result?

Put another way, when you keep doing what you do, you keep getting what you get.

———-

A reader sent me this article, which essentially echoes what I said earlier: attractive goes away but dirtbag’s forever.

Location: Madison Ave
Mood: muggy
Music: raise your head and wear your wounds with pride

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personal

Trust

Location: back home
Mood: morose
Music: Wouldn’t a smarter man simply walk away?

Allen Street in NYC

Went to see the rents yesterday. Drafted up a trust for them – more difficult on me than than I expected. It’s hard thinking about someone you love not being there.

The odd thing about these kinda things’s that it just happens one day. Like you’re eating a chicken sandwich and then someone calls you to tell you that some parta your daily tapestry just isn’t.

It’s the whole Venn Diagrams thing, and the closer their circle is to overlapping your own circle, the harder it is when that circle’s gone.

And the unnerving thing’s that y’rarely know who’s gonna go, how they’re gonna do it and when they’re gonna go. It’s unnerving cause you trust something’ll be there and then it’s gone.

Unnerving, I tell ya.

YASYCTAI: It’s hard but at some point, y’gotta talk to the rents about the leaving. (120 mins/2 pts)

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personal

Attractive goes away

The 73rd Street Train Station in NYC
Me: Vitamins?
Her: Packed.
Me: (thinking) Clothes?
Her: Did you just ask me if I packed…clothes?!

The girl went away for a business trip the other day so I did what you might expect someone like me to do – I defrosted and cooked four pounds of corned beef and a head of cabbage.

Ate about half of it in a day.

I should not be left alone to my own devices.

———-

As usually happens round this time, a buncha people I know broke up with their significant others. Something about spring make y’wanna clean up I suppose. Excepta course my buddy from four months ago; he may have finally thrown the deuce to the girlie that cheated cheats on him AND her fiance.

He keeps telling me that I don’t know the situation. But it’s like Lolita, y’know? See Lolita’s essentially about a middle-aged guy that wants to rape this girl – terrible, yeah? But if y’read the book, y’start thinking, I guess that’s not so terrible.

It an example of what we writers liketa call unreliable first person which’s a fancy waya saying, look at it from my pointa view.

Yeah, from his pointa view she’s got a reason she’s banging him and some other sucker. But she’s an unreliable first person, like The Talented Mr. Ripley or Diary of a Madman. Anything’s explainable given enough time, ink, and paper.

To my buddy she’s this attractive, misguided chick. But to all of us, she’s just an attractive dirtbag.

And attractive goes away, but dirtbag…man, dirtbag’s forever.

Location: Midtown in an hour
Mood: sympathetic
Music: it’s time To reassess the situation and decide what’s mine