Me: Hey. Her: Yeah? Me: I feel we should just go do it. You and me. Her: Just us? Me: Yeah. I mean, it feels like we’re already married. I can’t imagine life without you. Her: (laughing) Well, that’s good, because you’re not getting rid of me. Me: Sweeeeet.
May or may not post on Monday.
Gonna hang out with the kids and Mrs. Lo for a bit.
Me: This ring is really gonna cut into my picking up women. Her: I will kill you, Logan. I will kill you dead. Me: Noted.
Location: earlier today, the courthouse downtown
Mood: married
Music: I’ll go anywhere you want to (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
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) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
The Devil once said something about his childhood that always stuck in my mind:
When you aren’t fed what you need by spoons, you learn to lick what you can off knives.
Never really understood what he meant by that until I became a dad myself, but I think it means that children will fill themselves with something, so it’s best that you do it before they do it themselves with things you may or may not want.
To this end, I’ve been trying my darndest to give him things that I loved as a child, like the books that made me, me or shows that I loved as a kid.
Obviously, he’ll find things of his own that he’ll know and love.
But sometimes I feel it’s a losing battle against the allure of technology and…screens.
Man, screens are crack for kids.
BUT there is one single thing that I loved as a kid that the kid loves as well: Board and card games.
So, the other day, instead of playing Big Two – which we’ve been playing pretty consistently around here – we dusted off the ole Settlers of Catan.
Man, I still remember playing with Paul and my friends way back when and coming home to Alison. That was a lifetime ago.
I digress…
The kids were really into it this time because they understood the rules and strategy, so it was a lot more fun.
While I ended up winning the game, for me, the high point of the whole evening came early on when we were all desperate for bricks.
The kid was the only one with any – he had just one – so we were all trying to cut a deal with him when he looks at the Firecracker’s kid dead in the eye and goes, You wanna trade that for this brick?! No way, bro, these are precious!
AND, I just happened to snap a pic right when he said it – that’s the pic directly above.
Laughed so hard I almost started crying.
That will be in the top ten memories for me and this kid for a while, I think.
Location: at a new studio, filming more shorts and video
Mood: drained
Music: with you, I am whole (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
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.
They keep moving my polling station; it used to be right across the street then a few blocks north, then a few blocks east.
This time around, I thought it was at my kid’s school, but I read the address wrong.
Staffer: Sorry, you’re at another polling station – but it’s literally one block away. Me: Oh, man…
Luckily, it was.
So, after a nice little walk – where we were accosted by people we didn’t know…
Them: Can we ask who you’re voting for? Me: Nope.
…we found the right place, stepped in, did our civic duty, and high tailed it home.
Her: I think it’d be good for the kids to see us vote, or at least know we did. Me: Agreed. Not enough people do it and we gotta lead by example.
Here’s hoping for some good news moving forward.
The kid’s never really cared about how he looks.
Until recently, that is.
When Alison was sick, and his hair got unruly, I just buzzed it for him.
Then Alison’s mom and he started having this nice little ritual where she takes him to get a haircut around her pad, which I find really sweet.
Unfortunately, with the exception of that brief visit the other day, he’s not really been able to spend much time with them to get a haircut with them so…I took him out for his first haircut (with me).
It affected me a lot more than I thought it would.
I suppose because it’s yet another first I got to experience, and Alison didn’t. Everything is bittersweet.
We can stop talking about that now.
Anywho, he picked out his hairstyle himself. You’d like it, I think.
He wishes he could grow up faster and I wish he would slow down.
Neither of us will get our way, which is probably how it’s always been with fathers and sons.
Him: What do you think, papa? Me: You look great kid! Good choice. More importantly, do *you* like it? Him: Yeah! Me: Well, then that’s really the important thing, then.
Location: earlier today, getting stabbed multiple times in the back with a needle
Mood: ouch
Music: don’t wanna sit still, look pretty (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
Me: Hola! We didn’t see you at the Halloween party tonight. Neighbor: I know! We’re at [our daughter’s] friend’s house. Tradition is ending as kids are getting older. Me: I get it, but it still bums me out!
See, we’re actually friends with multiple people and families in the building next door although the family we normally trick-or-treat with are our oldest ones.
In any case, we ended up going – me and the kid and the Firecracker and her kid – and had a grand time as usual.
It’s that whole, The more things change, the more things stay the same, kinda thing.
On that note, we’d not seen Alison’s parents in a while, and I’d also not seen my mom and sis in a while.
So, that Sunday, while the Firecracker ran some errands, the kid and I took the PATH to Hoboken and met up with my SIL where we hitched a ride with her to her parents.
There, we had a really quick lunch with them before my SIL drove us back to Hoboken so we could try and make a train to see my mom.
Him: We spent more time traveling than we did with grandma and grandpa! Me: (thinking) Yup, that’s true. Four hours traveling but only 90 minutes with them.
We literally *just* missed the train. Crazy how one small change can have such drastic consequences.
Unfortunately, we missed the PATH train by just a couple of minutes but that set off a whole set of cascading consequences that ended up with the Firecracker waiting over two hours for us and my sister and mom, one.
See, because we missed the PATH train, we also missed the straight shot from Penn Station to my mom’s pad.
So, we rush to the subway and caught an N train to try and catch a quick transfer to a 7 train to transfer to another train to see my mom.
But the marathon, which was happening that day, messed alla that up as well.
We ended up missing pretty much every transfer and didn’t end up seeing my family until an hour later.
The Firecracker didn’t say a single word about our being two hours late for her.
Yet another reason why she rocks.
To make it up to her, I let my mom show her a TON of fat pics of me.
Me: You don’t know what a Chinese bowl cut is? Her: Show me. (looks) It’s just a bowl cut, Logan. Just because you’re Chinese doesn’t make it a Chinese bowl cut. Is your toothbrush a Chinese toothbrush because you use it? Me: I don’t think I like your tone right now.
Did I ever mention to you that she was a drummer for years?
Well, she also showed the kid and his cousins some of the basics of that.
It was a fun, if not completely exhausting, day.
In any case, because of daylight savings time, it felt like midnight when we got home but…
Me: I can’t believe it’s only 8:30PM. Her: I know. I’m exhausted. I need a nap. Me: Nap?! I was on eight trains and three cars today across two states. I’m going to bed. Her: Aw, does my old man need to go to bed? Me: OMG, yes.
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.
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.
One of the things that I appreciate about having the kid is that he’s always trying something new, which means two things: (a) I get to see him do new things and (b) I often have to bring him places that I’ve not been before.
Case-in-point, the other day, there was a class that I thought he would like so I signed him up for it.
It was actually held near my old gym and a block from my kali class but in a building that I’d never been inside before. Turns out that it was a whole school of performing arts stuff.
Literally, within five minutes of us arriving, the kid was playing tag with a buncha kids he’d never met before (and they all knew each other).
It never ceases to amaze me how quickly he’s able to make friends.
Let’s hope that never stops.
Me: Walking to you now, five mins. Did you like it? Him: No… Me: Oh no! OK. Him: Yea. Can we get Taco Bell, please?
Unfortunately, not alla my ideas are a hit, and this one was one of the duds.
I always give the kid props for trying new things; that’s the deal – he always has to try new things, but I won’t force them on him if he hates them.
And he hated this thing.
So, I bought back some goodwill with some fast-food Tex-Mex.
Speaking of duds, almost exactly nine years ago this week, a guy that I didn’t know at the time – he was a friend of Pac’s but he and I are friends now – drove me out to NJ to pick up a washer dryer for Alison to use as I assumed we’d constantly be cleaning clothing and bedsheets.
Ah, if only.
Well, that machine just gave up the ghost this past week.
My rule of thumb is that, if it costs more than 1/3 of the price to repair and it’s over seven years old, it’s probably worth it to buy a new one.
BUT, what I didn’t know when I got this one was that my basement can only fit a 24-inch machine and this one was 26 inches.
It was only with the help of Pac’s buddy, a couple of huge neighbors, a power drill, and just raw determination and anger that got this damn thing through the door.
So, I opted to call in a repairman who could fix it for roughly half the cost of a new one.
They’re ordering the part, which’ll take a bit to get so we won’t have a machine for a little longer.
Man an in-unit washer dryer in NYC is gold.
Me: Will it come with a warranty? Him: (thick accent) One month. Me: What happens after a month? Him: (shrugging) No more warranty. Me: (nodding slowly)
Location: home, not quite as sick. Still send soup.
Mood: foggy but not terrible
Music: Still runs good, built to last (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
Had an all-day Scenic Fights shoot the other night for a holiday special that we’re doing.
I’m sure you can guess what holiday from the main pic.
Had to cut out of filming at a certain time both to grab my kid as well as to meet an old friend of mine that was visiting from San Francisco.
I first met him about 2004 or so when he needed a place to stay in NYC.
Doesn’t feel like over two decades ago, and yet it was.
At that time, he was dating someone, and he ended up marrying and having two kids with her – both of whom are now in college.
In any case, his oldest is now in NYC – and I think graduating this year – and he and his wife were in town and asked to meet up.
I suggested a buncha places but, because the weather was perfect, I suggested Pier I, and they agreed and met us there.
It was nice catching up with everyone.
Firecracker: We usually have pretty quiet nights. Me: That’s because of her addiction. Firecracker: What addiction?! Me: Big Two – we literally play a few hands almost every night. Friend’s Wife: OMG, we LOVE Big Two! If we had cards, we could play right now. Firecracker: I totally would! He’s right, I am addicted. Me: Plus, I tried to convince her to hustle a buncha old Chinese in Boston.
One little thing that was annoying is that we ordered a pitcher of a mixed drink that – after taxes and tip – cost about $100.
But we were only able to get three drinks outta it.
So, I spoke to the manager who was super nice.
Me: Sorry, I don’t mean to be all Karen about this but…that works out to be about $33.50 per drink. It was like, all ice! Her: Oh, I would be upset too. Can I mix you three more drinks? Me: Oh, that’s a lot. I think two would be fair. Her: (smiling) I’ll mix three, no problem.
So, that was pretty cool.
Afterward, we took mini walk around the hood.
Him: Hey, that’s my old apartment! Me: Yup. Not much has changed with it in over two decades.
We walked by a church which, I’ll have to tell you about one day because – completely by coincidence – it was a major part of the lecture I gave in France all those years ago because it was involved in a seminal US Supreme Court case.
Anywho, the guy that manages the church is a friend of mine and, without our even asking, he unlocked it and let us marvel at the main rectory.
Afterward, they left and we went back home.
Like I said, if you wait long enough, pretty much the whole world filters through NYC, it seems.
Her: They were nice. And it was so cool that your friend gave us a private tour of the church. Me: Yeah. I’ve met alotta really cool and nice people all these years. Hopefully, the kid can do the same.
Me: Wait, did that place just say $8 cocktails? Her: (looking) Yes? Me: Let’s get ourselves an $8 cocktail!
The Firecracker and I were walking in the hood the other day, past a diner I’ve been to countless times across all these years.
Evidently, they just added a bar, and she and I were heading someplace to drink anywho.
So, we popped in.
Her: Holy cow, this is fresh squeezed orange juice. I’ve never had a Screwdriver with fresh squeezed orange juice. Me: Really? Me neither – lemme try. (try a sip) Whoa, that’s amazing. Wild what you find in your hood.
But that was just a pit stop, because we really wanted to check out a bar that I’d been to a million times as well, except it had new owners, plus they completely revamped it.
Their fish and chips were pretty good, I gotta say.
Me: I think I’m still hungry. Her: You’re always still hungry. Me: Pizza? Her: We just ate! Plus, I gotta get to [my kid]. Me: Invite him out for a slice of pizza!
Which is exactly what we did.
A few weekends after that, we all headed out to NJ to see my SIL and have the boys swim at her pool.
He’d spent the night at her pad to catch a soccer game – something he was pretty excited about, which explains the main pic of this entry.
In any case, the cab ride we rode there made us laugh.
Afterwards, my SIL drove us to the train station to head home, and we found ourselves in the middle of a street fair, so she dropped us off a touch earlier.
For better or worse, I realized after I stepped outta her whip that she dropped us off right in front of Alison’s old pad.
Wasn’t expecting that so it took my breath away for a moment.
In any case, we ended up walking through the street fair, and the kid walked straight into a concert.
On the one hand, it’s nice having alla these unexpected things that we randomly find at our familiar places, like we did with those drinks.
On the other hand, sometimes jarring to be reminded of a possible past, straight outta the blue.
Me: That was mommy’s old apartment. Him: Which one? Me: We walked past it already. It’s fine. I’ll show you someday.
May or may not post on Monday.
