Tag: good things

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Another Love Cover

Japanese BBQ in the UWS

The kid had his second recital the other day and played Tom Odell’s Another Love.

This is him playing in his first, if you never saw it.

I’d never heard of the song before and there’s on expletive in the original, but he really wanted to play it and his music teacher felt it was a good choice.

So, I let him do it.

Think it turned out pretty well, actually.

Afterward, we ended up having dinner at the same joint that the Firecracker and I went to a year-and-a-half ago.

And, we ended up going with the same family we went with the last time, except that they also brought a family friend along – who just happened to be Japanese.

Me: (to my friend) You could have mentioned that she was Japanese! That’s like me bringing a Scottish person to McDonalds and calling it Scottish food.
Her: (laughing) It’s fine! Actually, this food is pretty good Japanese food.
Me: You’re being nice, but I’ll take it.

The woman actually spoke perfect English; I woulda thought she was from NYC if she didn’t say that she was originally from Tokyo and lived there still.

We got onto the topic of alla useless facts rattling around in my head.

Her: Like what?
Me: Well, I see you’re wearing a Columbia jacket. That company was founded by this German family that fled the Nazis and left behind their successful clothing company. When they got here, the found someone selling a clothing company, immediately bought it, and renamed it after the Columbia River.
Her: (laughing) How do you know all that?
Me: I have no idea.

This is true.

The vast majority of facts I know are (a) useless and (b) of completely unknown origins.

Somehow, these interesting stories stick around in my brain.

And now, maybe it’ll stick in yours?

Location: Early morning, upstairs, trying to replace a shower door
Mood: groggy
Music: Words, they always win, but I know I’ll lose (Spotify)
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Hot Pot and Seafood Around the Way

At the Mermaid Inn

It’s been brutally cold around here lately so, recently, we did what most Asian families traditionally did when it’s completely brick outside: We had hot pot.

It was good because we wanted to a dry run at home before we did it at my friends-around-the-way‘s pad, because one of their sons is both really into cooking and also really into hot pot so we said we’d head to theirs and have a little hot pot cookout.

On that note, they contacted us the other day because they wanted to take us out for our engagement as well.

Her: Can we take you and Firecracker out to celebrate?
Me: Hola! That’s such a generous offer – I feel like it’d be cheeky for me to accept. But we’re definitely still down to do hot pot by yours; let me check those dates with her and see what works best for everyone?
Her: Not cheeky!

So, the other day, we took them up on their offer and met them at a restaurant around us called The Mermaid Inn.

The restaurant had been a few blocks north of us, originally, and closed during COVID only to reopen at a bigger space closer to our pad.

It was a pretty fun evening where we discussed politics…

Me: I’m avoiding all news and probably will for the next four years.
Him: Smart.
Me: I figure half of America lives in complete ignorance so why shouldn’t I?

…real estate…

Her: You know, [at our summer home’s town] Dutch Schultz‘s farmhouse is up for sale.
Me: How much?
Her: $4.5 million?
Me: No kidding? I have that on me right now.

…and just life in general.

They ended up ordering dessert, as did the Firecracker – Key Lime Pie.

Her: You’re not getting anything?
Me: I’ll just share some of yours and I’ll get myself a White Russian.
Her: As dessert again?
Me: Yup, an alcoholic dessert. Can’t really go wrong there.

You really can’t.

Afterward, we went back to their place, met their new dog, and then checked out the outdoor space.

Her: You could have the reception for your wedding here!
Me: We might actually take you up on that!

I’ll keep you all posted.

Location: in front of my oven, re-seasoning a carbon steel pan
Mood: annoyed
Music: Words, they always win, but I know I’ll lose (Spotify)
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A Dog-Man

In the blink of an eye

I live just north of one of the few megaplexes left in New York City, which means that I have a chance to check out a lotta movie premiers – except that I’m not a huge movie theatre buff.

There’s something about being in a dark, loud, enclosed space that stresses me out.

So, I only go if there’s a particularly good reason to do so – like when the Firecracker and I got invited to the premier of Gladiator II.

But my sister told me about a premier for the first Dogman film, which is a super popular book series for kids.

So, I managed to snag four tickets for the kids, the Firecracker, and myself.

It also included a picture taken with the author, a signed copy of his latest book in hardcover, a drink, and popcorn.

It was pretty much a perfect event for the kids.

But not so much for me.

That is, until I had a chat with an old college friend that just happened to be in the neighborhood at the same time of the movie.

Him: Hey, I’m in the UWS around 6:30. Around and available for a meal?
Me: Ack, normally yes but I’m bringing the boys to a movie tonight, literally the first time ever. Raincheck?
Him: No worries, raincheck for sure – what movie?
Me: Dogman. Don’t even ask. I’m not thrilled about it.
Him: Oh, Dogman is good choice! Now that [my son] is 13 and having dinner with his friends, I’d give anything to watch a movie with him.
Me: Oh man, that’s a good point. Yeah, I should be better about things like this.
Him: Yeah. Never thought I’d say it – [they grow up in the] blink of an eye.

So, after the kid’s guitar lesson, I went to the local Japanese takeout restaurant, picked up some Karaage Onigiri and Spam Onigiri for everyone, and off we went.

It was a madhouse.

But organizers were really cool and great with alla the kids.

And the author was just a prince. He tooks pics with literally every single kid that asked…

…signed hundreds of books and even gave a little speech in the beginning of the film.

Although, one of the more interesting conversations was with one of the fellas managing the concession storage closet.

Him: …on Mondays. And then we get two more shipments that same week.
Me: You’re kidding me – you sell outta alla these every 2-3 days?
Him: Yup.
Me: This is a closet of diabetes.
Him: (laughs, nods)

The movie itself was tolerable for a 51-year-old Chinese man, but the kids absolutely loved it.

Highly recommended for them.

Like I said, it was the first movie I’d ever taken the kid to in a theatre.

Hopefully, he has some fond memories of it all.

Me: What was your favourite part?
Him: Everything!

Location: Grey’s Papaya, wondering if I should do it
Mood: regretting not having a hot dog
Music: You’re the movie in my mind to which I know every line (Spotify)
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First Chinese New Year Dinner

In the blink of an eye

Chinese New Year is probably the most important holiday for the Chinese.

I’d wanted to go see my mom that night, but I wasn’t able to for various reasons.

But I’d mentioned to the Firecracker how important it was, and she said we should just do a celebration here.

Her: What are we gonna have?
Me: Well, traditionally, you’re supposed to have: (a) A whole fish, (b) noodles, (c) dumplings, and (d) oranges – among other things.
Her: Wait, a whole fish? Like, with the head?
Me: Yup! It’ll be great.
Her: (hesitant)
Me: Food should look like food, baby. 

Legit, Americans eat so much processed food that real food looks weird to them.

Once met a woman that wouldn’t eat fried chicken because it looked too much like the animal it came from.

That relationship didn’t last long.

In any case, because there’s a new Korean supermarket near my pad now, most of what I needed was pretty easy to get.

Plus, I had just made some chicken stock the other day when I was making White Cut Chicken for everyone so that saved a lotta work.

The kids mainly liked the noodles and the store-bought dumplings, but I was just happy they enjoyed it.

The red envelopes were the biggest hits, I suppose.

Him: Two-dollar bills!?! What are those worth?
Me: Hmmm…two dollars?

Here’s hoping we’ll get to do this for a while.

If you wanna make white cut chicken, which is essentially a very gently poached chicken, try this recipe here.

It’s pretty foolproof and what my parents used to make us kids literally once a week while we were growing up.

@177milkstreet Perfect chicken is a joyous, lifelong pursuit, and there are many paths to success. Start at Chinese white-cooked chicken, which appeared in the very first issue of our magazine. Chris Kimball deems it “idiot-proof” (for this is social, after all, and we gotta get the views), but it really is a must-learn fundamental in your change the way you cook repertoire. Get the recipe for Chinese White-Cooked Chicken with Ginger-Soy Dressing via the link in our profile → @177milkstreet #milkstreetrecipe #poachedchicken #chickenrecipe #dinner #dinnerrecipe #easyrecipe #chicken #cooking ♬ original sound – Milk Street

Location: earlier tonight, a Japanese BBQ after the kid’s recital
Mood: frozen again
Music: you know I care but it’s so cold (Spotify)
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It only took 27 years

Everything takes forever

Me: I need a weapons area.
Her: You totally need a weapons area – you have so many!

Around late 2013, because Alison and I kept losing pregnancies, our lives just stopped.

It’s part of why I stopped blogging for a bit in 2015; because it was getting too hard to hide all the sadness and bad news that we kept getting.

Maybe one day I’ll tell you some of it.

Probably not, though. It still fucks me up to this day.

My kid helping with some baking I was doing; next to him are two of the three vacuums we had.

Of course, the bad news kept getting worse until it was the worst news we could ever imagine.

Our lives, just like the blog, was off schedule. All the plans we had and suspended, were suspended indefinitely.

One little thing was that, for 27 years, the radiator in my back bathroom wasn’t working.

The old owners disconnected it for some reason and Alison and I always said we were gonna hook it up again at some point.

As usual, life kept getting in the way.

But the other day, I decided to remove two of the three vacuums that I have in my pad, mounted on a wall – why I have three is a wholly separate story that I may or may not tell you about down the line.

Didn’t match at all.

Unfortunately, the paint that I thought would cover up the removal damage dried out after 15 years of sitting in my basement.

Me: Dammit!

So, I went to my local paint store and had them match the paint. It didn’t match well at all.

Me: GODDAMMIT!!

Cutting off a chip of the drywall, the second time around, they were able to match it relatively closely.

This then led to a chain of events that ended up with a plumber coming in the other day and hooking up the radiator in the back room.

Here, this 40 second video of Hal/Bryan Cranston more adequately explains what happened, as well as why everything takes forever around here:

There’s a lot more to it but lately I’ve doing stuff around the house that’s been waiting to happen for between 10-27 years.

Told Buckley – the fella I first bought the apartment with some 20+ years ago – about what was going on.

Me: Hola! I just had the radiator fixed in the back bathroom TODAY. Can you believe that I never changed it?
Buckley: Guten tag! I recall it didn’t work. Are you telling me it stayed broken until today? If so, that’s impressive.
Me: Yup, broken for 27 years until this morning at 11am.

Hopefully, 27 years’ll be my maximum time for letting things sit broken around here.

Then again, I suppose I’ve been broken for some 51+ years…

Location: my warm back bathroom!
Mood: warm!
Music: Feels like home (Spotify)
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A mini-celebration

Dinner at The Mark

Him: Let’s get a date for dinner. With beautiful WAGs.
Me: Works for us!
Him: I was thinking The Mark?
Me: I’m more of a Grey’s Papaya kinda guy but that would work for us. We can’t do any earlier than 6:15, though, because of the rug rats.
Him: You can just leave them outside by the curb. OK, 7PM The Mark. More appropriate to the occasion.

The NFL Player and Thor dropped me a line the other day. They wanted to take me out to celebrate our getting engaged – wives and girlfriends included.

So, one cold evening, we bundled up, got our passports, and headed over to the east side of town to meet up at The Mark Hotel Jean-Georges restaurant.

I’d never been although I’ve driven by it dozens of times.

It was gorgeous inside.

It’s funny because the three of us were among the older people at our old gym; so, we immediately got to talking about alla our injuries.

Me: How’s your shoulder?
Thor: Eh, ok. How’s your back?
Me: (shrugging) Same.

On top of that, could barely read the menu because of the small print and the darkness of the restaurant so the NFL Player lent me his reading glasses.

Me: We’re hitting a new level here, fellas.

The NFL Player’s wife also deals with some back issues.

Her: You know, I could get you a pillow for your back. These seats will be difficult.
Me: OMG, I’ve reached this point in my life.
Her: (waving her hand) It’s fine. I’ll have one of the staff get you something.

And she did. And it was glorious.

The rest of the night was more highly inappropriate conversation, which I won’t repeat here.

Thor’s wife: …so lucky.
Me: (shocked and laughing) Jesus Christ, you barely had anything to drink yet.
Her: (dismissing it and laughing) Oh, I don’t need alcohol to be like this.

The food was absolutely killer – I ordered the steak…

…and got one of those tiny bottles of tabasco that I find so cute, to boot.

The Firecracker also enjoyed her dish and got dessert, which we shared, even though I really shouldn’t have.

Also tried some of Thor’s desert as well.

Afterward, we made our way back to the Upper West Side and civilization.

Her: Your friends are really nice.
Me: Agreed. I have no idea why they like hanging out with me.

Location: a winter wonderland(ish)
Mood: tired
Music: a middle aged man settled down on my soul but I’m not that old (Spotify)
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Tawk!

When it comes out

Me: He’s so dumb. Talking to him is like having a conversation with a goldfish that can tawk.
Her: OMG your Queens just came out!
Me: Dammit!

My Queens accent has come out twice with the Firecracker and she’s astute enough to catch it when it does.

To paraphrase Amy Ryan – who came from Flushing, Queens, same as me – from The Office: You can take the boy outta Queens…

One of the things that the Firecracker and I have been doing is digging through the dozens of board games up in here that I’ve literally never played.

They were either rando gifts or items that old tenants left in my building, and I was loathe to throw out.

Her: Wait, you own this and have never played it? How long have you had it?
Me: (thinking) Jesus Christ, like 25 years?

Case-in-point, The Firecracker pulled out a board game of Yahtzee the other day that I probably had since the 90s and yet never played.

Not once.

So, she and I did just that.

We both managed to roll some pretty insane things, such that our first round was pretty impressive.

It was all downhill from there.

Exciting times here in Casa Lo.

Me: I think we should never play this again, we’re never gonna top these rolls.
Her: (nodding) This is very true. No one is gonna believe us that you just rolled a full house.
Me: (shaking head) Nope.

It’s not Miami, or the Bahamas, or a nice cruise but it’s something.

Post engagement is non-stop excitement.

But it’s also exactly what I wanted.

Location: heading out for the sixth time to try and paint my wall.
Mood: desperately needing a nap
Music: I know, I know, I know, this is all I want (Spotify)
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Travelogue: Bahamas 2024, pt 3

Tastes like a hangover

After we got back from the Bahamas, we pretty much just ate and hung out at the ship.

We did manage to head to one of the nicer restaurants, even though I could barely taste anything with my stupid cold.

And we also caught a few shows, alla which were pretty good.

Oh, and we made friends with our sever, Harry, who comped us like $200 worth of drinks.

Me: I feel like a leech. I’m gonna give him a few bucks.
Her: Good idea, do that.
Me: What do you think [of the pina colada]?
Her: (shrugging) Tastes like a hangover.

The weather was super windy for some reason.

The Firecracker felt like she would be blown overboard…

…but that meant that we were the only ones outside, which is always a plus.

I don’t know what I’m doing here.

And because we didn’t have some Chinese food on the island, we decided to have some on the ship in one of their specialty restaurants.

Her: What do you think?
Me: It’s good. It’s not Chinese food, but it’s good.
Her: What does it taste like if not Chinese food?
Me: (thinking) It’s what I imagine a Panda Express to taste like.

While Harry kept plying us with free booze, we also hit up some of the other bars for a change of pace.

And drank the rest of the way home.

Her: What about your cold?
Me: I tell myself that alcohol kills germs.

Before we knew it, we were back in Miami and heading back to NYC.

Unlike our trip out, we made it to the airport with a ton of time to spare.

We didn’t fly Spirit, this was just a good pic. Although, they’re actually the safest US carrier, legit.

Arriving in NJ, we were immediately reminded that it was winter back here.

And that’s the story of how the Firecracker and I got engaged.

Again, flip-flops on a ten-mile walk is a terrible idea.

Location: stuck in front of my desk doing work
Mood: still brrrrrrrrrrrr
Music: Got me tripping out like the sixties (Spotify)
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Travelogue: Bahamas 2024, pt 2

Seriously, pooped

Her: Again!?
Me: Evidently.

So, the last time I was on a cruise, I was raunchily ill. This time, I just had a cold but both meant that I couldn’t fully enjoy the trip.

The other thing was that, when we went to Bermuda, we were on the island less than three hours.

This time around, because of rough seas, we were only in the Bahamas for five hours – which, admittedly, is an improvement but not by much.

But, determined to make the most of it, we decided to walk from the pier to Atlantis.

It was a seven-mile, round-trip walk.

The thing was that I found out that the only thing that alleviated my back pain was/is walking.

Her: I guess we’re walking then.
Me: I guess so.

So, we did.

We probably shouldn’t have done it in flip-flops, though.

There’s this German saying I love that goes:

Gutes Gespraech kuerzt den Weg.
Good conversation shortens the way.

Luckily, the Firecracker provides just that.

We first went to the Queen’s Staircase, just to see it.

I’d never been there, despite my being to the Bahamas at least four times previously.

From there, we walked to Atlantis, where we stayed for just a few minutes, got a Starbucks, and then took the long trek back.

Her: (enjoying her coffee) That was totally worth it.

Me: I’m fine with not seeing the beach; honestly, you seen one beach, you’ve seen them all.
Her: Agreed. Plus, I like not having to get sand outta my shoes for the next day or so.

On the way to Atlantis and back, though, we saw:

Not one, but TWO metal detectors just in the middle of the sidewalk, and unplugged…

…a cat deep in the hunt for some birds…

…a lamp that had seen better days…

…and a rando Chinese restaurant.

Her: You should stop in and say, hi.
Me: It’s not like we all know each other, baby.
Her: (laughing) That’s not…
Me: I’m joking. But, nah, then I’ll get into a conversation and the only person I wanna talk to is you.

These are the kinda exciting things that happen to you when you’re with me.

We ended up making it back to the ship and man, were we pooped.

Seriously, pooped.

The rest of the trip was just us eating up a storm.

But I’ll tell you about that in the next entry just because I’ve got a ton of pics to share.

Location: a kid’s playground, for the third time today
Mood: exhausted
Music: it was only us when it was only us (Spotify)
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Travelogue: Bahamas 2024, pt 1

A quick cruise to the Bahamas

The next day, we woke up and grabbed a cab to the Miami cruise terminal.

The main reason why I picked a cruise for the two of us was because it actually fit our schedule perfectly and we both love cruising.

It was a real quick four-day one on a pretty small ship but she was still pretty excited to go.

Unfortunately, while I was ok in Miami, by the time we boarded the ship, I was sick again.

I’m pretty sure that that French kid that was coughing up a storm while I was traveling back from NJ to see the Firecracker, got me sick.

In fact, that was one of the reasons I booked this cruise in the first place; I felt I missed out on a solid 1/3 of that cruise because I was sick.

Me: This stinks. The last cruise, I was out for the about a 1/3 of it, and this one looks like it’s gonna be the same.
Her: Sorry, baby. But let’s make the best of it.

So, we did.

Me: If nuthin else, I’m eating less than I normally do.
Her: You’re eating less? You’re still ordering all the appetizers and two entrees per meal.
Me: (puzzled) Yeah. Like I said, I’m eating less.
Her: (shakes head)

Unlike last time, it was pretty much non-stop eating, reading, and sleeping for me.

Which is my idea of a perfect vacation.

It didn’t hurt that the Firecracker was there with me.

My sleep was pretty awful the entire time because my cold ended up being the kind where you cough all night and don’t end up getting a single good night of sleep.

That was super annoying.

We didn’t do much, at all on this trip but I have enough pics to put them into a second entry.

So, I’ll see you for that.

Until then, here’s a cool video of our departing the port – it’s sped up 10X, so this is a ten-minute video in exactly one minute.

Location: evidently, the arctic
Mood: frigid and tired
Music: it was only us when it was only us (Spotify)
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