Tag: good things

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personal

A Week of Birthdays, Pt 3: The Night of Churros

My old college house and old haunts

The Firecracker had met my college friends a few times before but cappy only once because he couldn’t make several of the last get-togethers.

He and I actually met before we started college – totally randomly – at a party out in Queens when we were seniors in college. Otherwise, there wasn’t really anything interesting that they told Firecracker about me back in the day.

Later, Cappy and Rick told her all about our college house setup.

Her: How many guys were in the house?
Cap: (thinking) 10?
Ricky: We gave Logan the closet.
Me: This is true. And, besides the 10 people that lived in the house, there was always someone in the living room – regardless of time or day – for some strange reason.

She also had a good story to tell him.

Her: I found his stash of snacks the other day.
Him: What?
Her: Logan keeps a box fulla snacks under his bed.
Me: In my defense, they were the backup to my emergency snacks…which she ate!
Her: You shouldn’t have left them with me!

Cappy, and architect and interior designer by trade, took my pen and sketched out our ground floor layout from memory.

It was weird seeing him draw it because I found myself remembering things about living there that I’d not thought of in some 31+ years.

Because I’d had a full basket of bread at the restaurant earlier that evening, I decided to get myself a couplea sweet mixed cocktails.

Her: You can get yourself a girlie drink.
Me: God, I do love myself a girlie drink. Doubt they have any umbrellas.

I did manage some self-control, though. Cappy ordered a ton of churros and other desserts and, as much as I wanted some, I didn’t have any.

Since my kid and the Firecracker’s kid were away, we decided to head downtown to see my buddy Fattah, who’s now a member of our Scenic Fights team.

Along the way, we came across a store that seemed to only sell churros.

Me: Dammit. I shoulda had a churro.
Her: We’ll get something later.

He was working at Verlaine and Pac had literally just ran into him that same night so I decided to see him as well just for a little fun.

Him: LOGAN!
Me: Hey man, how are you?

It was nice seeing him outside of our work. I’d been to Verlaine a few times decades ago with Rain and company. This was the first time I’d been there in at least 20 years, I gotta think.

Fattah got us a killer table and comped us two drinks.

Our waiter, Brian, was a nice young fella with two black eyes and bruises all over his face.

Me: Dude, what did the other guy look like?
Fattah: Guy(s) – he got jumped.

I’m guessing he got beat up purely because of what he was – which is a young gay man. It just boggles the mind that such a thing can happen in this day and age in NYC.

Then again, I suppose there will always be assholes around, regardless of time or geography.

There’s more but this is getting long so I’ll wrap it up in the next entry.

Location: just now, dislocating another finger on my keyboard. I’m a menace to myself.
Mood: menacing
Music: Let’s get rich and build our house on a mountain (Spotify)

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A Week of Birthdays, Pt 1: Pour House

An open book exam

While I didn’t have the best time around Columbus Circle the other day, got a chance for a do-over with the help of the NFL Player.

He invited me and my buddy Thor over for dinner at the Pour House, some place I’ve always wanted to go but never had the chance to.

I headed there after a full day of work.

Greeter: You’re the first one here. Would you like to sit at the bar?
Me: It’s good to be first, and sure.

After a bit, my buddy Thor rolled up. He’s recovering for some surgery himself; it seems the be the destiny of aging athletes.

Not soon afterward, the birthday boy came in and we all went to get settled. Turns out that he eats there regularly and the Maitre’d got us a central table with each seat having a copy of Tom Holland’s Pax: War and Peace in Rome’s Golden Age. That was a nice touch.

Me: Will there be a test? Is it open book?
Him: It’ll be multiple choice.
Me: But will it be open book?!

That’s one of my favorite bottles of rum.

Thor and I sat together but the fella on my right was one of the producers of Oppenheimer and Thor, who’s in film himself, wanted to speak to him.

Me: Let’s switch seats.
Thor: You sure?
Me: (getting up) Yeah, you talk shop. It’s fine.

Ended up chatting with the fella next to me, who was a football player at Yale and ran a real estate company. He was acquaintances with the fella that got killed by a career criminal last week.

Him: The killer had 66 prior arrests!
Me: That’s insane. (shaking head) I’m so sorry.
Him: He just had a kid too.

Thor and I are both in 8/16 intermittent fasting, which means that we eat for eight hours and fast for 16 – well, most days, anywho.

But the fella I was chatting with was on 2/22 IF, which means that he eats for TWO hours and fasts for 22.

Me: Jeez-louise, how does that work?
Him: It’s not terrible but I have to eat a lot during those 1.5-2 hours.

He ordered two appetizers – bone marrow and the steak tartar – which made sense considering he ate nuthin else all day.

Thor and I ordered the creamed spinach with bacon but the waiter told us we should share since one was probably enough for the two of us. We took his advice.

We should not have.

Thor: We need another one of these.
Me: At least!

But it was too late. The main course had arrived so we dug into that and chatted up everyone else.

We were out for a while but then dessert came, and it was a mountain of stuff.

Him: Are you having any?
Me: Looks that way. We’re in it.

Both Thor and I weren’t planning on having any, but we ate and drank enough that our defenses were down – which should be the theme for the next several entries, for reasons I’m sure you’ll figure out.

Waiter: Do you want some coffee?
Me: Yes, decaf please, with cream.
NFL Player: Oh no, never with cream.
Guest: Did he ever tell you why he never has cream in his coffee?
Me: No, but I’m assuming that he’s gonna do it now.

And he did.

Afterward, Thor and I walked back to my pad from the place because it was a beautiful night.

Him: Nice group of people – and it was great finally meeting his wife.
Me: Yeah, she’s great. They all are, really.
Him: If there’s anything [our old coach did], he did get us all together.
Me: I suppose.

Location: early today, waking up with another hangover from a night out with my college buddies
Mood: pretty fat
Music: not saying that I am a saint I just don’t want to live that way (Spotify)

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personal

Caught “Merrily We Roll Along”

Not great

Me:
Her:
Me:
Her: That was…
Me: …not great.

The Firecracker invited me to catch Merrily We Roll Along with two of her favourite actors, Daniel Radcliffe and Jonathan Groff.

The singing by both actors – and the cast – was pretty impressive.

And that’s pretty much the best thing I can say about it.

The story itself was pretty bad, plus it went in reverse chronology, which was very annoying and confusing, finally, none of the characters were…good.

Jonathan Groff’s character was a habitual cheater and wholly unreliable.

Daniel Radcliffe’s character was stubborn and inflexible and kind of a scold.

The main female character, played by Lindsay Mendez, had an unrequited love for Groff’s character for some 20 years.

20 years!

You just felt pity for her character. There’s a lot more I wanna say about this part but I suppose I’ll wait for the next entry.

All-in-all, there was no one really worth rooting for, which was the biggest issue. It’s tough watching something for some three hours and just not caring about anyone involved.

Honestly dunno why Radcliffe and Groff even agreed to do it because the musical was panned way back in 1981 when it first came out and alla the issues that people had with it – like telling the story backward – was annoying and confusing then, annoying and confusing now.

Felt bad for the Firecracker. She’d been looking forward to the show for weeks now.

Her: This is the first time I went to a show and it was a bad.
Me: (shrugging) Well, you gotta expect the occasional dud.
Her: I guess… Did you have a good time?
Me: Of course – we had a night out, I broke my fast, and I got to spend the evening with the prettiest girl in the joint. That’s a win in my book.
Her: (smiles) Aw, Lo…

Location: helping a tenant wrap up his wet garbage in front of the pad
Mood: fat and tired
Music: Put on your best shirt, I can’t miss another night like this (Spotify)
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Obscure Facts and a Birthday Dinner

16 Million Views

Firecracker: Did you know that the guy that invented the single-rotor helicopter only flew it once and then immediately gave it to Henry Ford? It’s still in the Henry Ford Museum in Michigan now.
Me: I did not!
Her: (laughing) OK, your turn. Tell me an obscure fact.
Me: (thinking) Did you know that no shark makes a single sound? Outta like 500 species, not a single shark has an organ that is capable of making a sound of any sort.
Her: No! Who knew?

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know that I love an obscure fact.

I’ve not been on Scenic Fights for a while because I’ve been so busy with life and travel.

But that’s gonna change soon enough because we’ve got shoots lined up for the coming weeks and I’m back filming.

You might find it strange but, in my head, I think of myself as a writer and a lawyer – amongst other things – but the world now seems to know me as a weapons guy.

The thing I find funny is that who I really am is just an obscure fact to the world at large.

Suppose that’s just how life is.

Me: Me. I knew.
Her: (rolling eyes) You are so full of yourself, Logan Lo.


Speaking of Scenic Fights, one of my videos hit 16,720,000 views.

That just blows my mind.

Went to my in-laws the other day to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday.

I’d never actually taken her out for her birthday, but the stars all lined up, so I got a chance to, which I’m glad I for.

Father-in-law: I’m thinking of getting a new car.
Me: Ooooh, get a black leather interior so you can leave it to me afterward.
MIL: (laughing) Why do you think you’ll get it? If anyone’s getting it, I am.
Me: That’s fine, I’ll take your car afterward.

Obviously, I’m joking. They’re such great part of the kid’s life, and mine.

Hope they stick around for a while.

Speaking of sticking around for a while, had to take the long way around at the train station for the train back home becaues it was being fixed up.

It looked pretty rough, but I found myself admiring the repair work to the old broken-down station trying to get a few more years of usefulness outta it.

I can relate.

Location: in the pouring rain, headed home to see the Firecracker
Mood: hungry, as always
Music: Terra Titanic, verloren im Meer. SOS kommt nie an (Spotify)
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Emotionally is a different matter

Intellectually, I know

My buddy Ricky stopped by my pad the other day because he was in the neighborhood…

Me: The Firecracker baked cookies, you want one?
Him: Sure! (later) Is that real milk [in the coffee]?
Me: Shoot, yes. I shoulda thought about that.

…and Bryson gave me a ring to see how I was doing. I’m guessing they read up on my mom and wanted to make sure we were all ok.

Bryson: Dude, next time, before you rent a car, gimme a call. I’m happy to pick you up and get you to your mom.
Me: Thanks, man. I appreciate that. But, what’s going on with you?
Him: Nah, man, I didn’t call to talk about me, I called to check in on you.

I’m grateful for old friends that check in with me to make sure that I’m ok.

Speaking of being ok, I’ve been seeing a therapist for some time now.

She asked me this past week the details of what happened with Alison.

Me: Oh, I thought I told you.
Her: You only told me that she died and your struggles with everything. You never told me the details.

So, I did.

About halfway through it all, I realized that she was crying. By the time I wasdone, she was pretty emotional – well, as emotional as a professional can get.

Her: (drying her eyes) That’s a lot for you to have dealt with.
Me: She dealt with more.
Her: Well, thank you for sharing with me. And you should be kinder to yourself.

Told her that I felt guilty that I was alive and got to spend alla this time with the kid and she didn’t.

She only got to hold him once.

Just writing that sentence fills me with both sadness, anger, guilt, and a bevy of other emotions I can’t fully express with my limited vocabulary.

Her: There’s useful guilt and useless guilt.
Me: (nodding) I know. Intellectually, I know. Emotionally is a different matter.

Such a different matter.

Location: In my head again for a bit
Mood: worn-down
Music: My mind, it likes replaying my regrets all night. My pain, I hide (Spotify)
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My 18 Year-Old Toilet from Hell

Believing it

I think people move a lot in NYC – or in general.

Like, the Firecracker’s moved six times in the last decade.

Me: Wild.
Her: Yup.

My college buddy and I moved into my current apartment waaaay back in 1996, but we ended up buying it in 2004, which is still almost 20 years ago.

Been here ever since.

Anywho, in November of 2004, we gutted one of the bathrooms ourselves and hired a contractor to fix it up, including putting in a new toilet and vanity.

We ended up buying the Kohler Rialto K-3386 for $349, which is roughly $19 a year, amortized across these 18 some years.

Now, the seat on that bad boy cracked so I decided to just swap it out – the first time since it was installed in 2004.

Welp, that started a long journey that ended up with my getting rid of the entire toilet.

See, the reason we got this toilet was because it was the absolute smallest toilet you could buy that was still mass produced.

BUT, because it’s so small, it had a special mechanism to attach the lid to the toilet. I did not realize this until it was too late.

Evidently, I’m not the only one.

I’m living in an interesting period of my life right now in that I’m aware that I won’t be here forever.

After all, Everybody knows they are going to die, but no one really believes it.

Figure that, at some point, this pad will be the boy’s and I wanna limit his frustration.

Was gonna buy the kit to replace the toilet but, having read up horror stories of people doing all that only to crack their decades old toilet, I just decided to toss the whole thing.

Enter my buddy Wally who said he would do it for free.

Him: Just the hands-on experience is enough.
Me: Absolutely not!

I’m frequently surprised how many really lovely people I’ve met in my life, and he’s one of them, for sure.

So, last weekend, he and I discovered just how gross removing a 20 year old toilet could be.

Yes, this is super gross looking – that’s what bits of wax ring looks like over a flange after 20 something years.

One thing that we did was remove the old wax ring that seals the gap between the flooring and the toilet.

Him: Sorry, I got some on the floor.
Me: Dude, no need to apologize, this stuff is getting everywhere.

What shoulda been like a two-hour project, turned out to be four hours because so much had rusted in place and needed replacing.

And at least three hours trying to clean up the ridonk mess. Ridonk.

Buuuuut, afterward, this is what my bathroom looked like.

It’s a slightly longer toilet – 27.5″ from the wall versus 25.5″ but it’s now dual flush and is probably gonna be good until I’m 70.

I’m aware the flaps are up on the bolt for the seat. Too lazy to retake this picture.

Then it’s the kid’s problem, not mine.

Boy: That’s so cool!
Me: Glad you think so, kid.
Him: I’m gonna watch YouTube.
Me: (sighing) Yup.

It’s fate after almost 20 years of loyal service – oh, the ignominy!

Location: the kid’s BJJ class, watching him take an elbow to the face (accidentally)
Mood: panicked, not about the elbow
Music: I’ll be back home one day, before long (Spotify)
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A Night at the MOMA, DUMBO, and Solas Pt3

Being a world-class jerk

It was a pretty hot night for alla our activities but the Firecracker’s kid and my own were starting school soon, so we figured we’d make the most of our last summer weekend sans kids.

After our tiff at the Time Out Market, we probably were a little more subdued than we woulda preferred but it was what it was.

Leaving DUMBO was a maze; we ended up going several blocks outta our way in the wrong direction before we finally made it back on track.

We finally hopped the train, but it was the wrong one. Still, it meant that we could talk a bit.

Her: You can be a world-class jerk sometimes.
Me: Sorry about that.

We had everything sorted out by the time we got to where we needed to be, though.

It’d been a while since I saw my buddy at his bar; he was one of the first of my friends to ever meet the Firecracker.

It’s always nice catching up with the people there. Kimo, the bouncer, just came back from Egypt.

Her: It’s one of my dreams to visit there.
Him: You two should go there; you’d live like kings.
Me: What about the political climate?
Him: (shrugging) You’d never notice anything was off. You’re tourists; the country lives on tourists. You’ll be fine…

We ordered a few drinks but the Firecracker’s always pretty popular with bartenders, who got her some free drinks.

And, it seems she’s pretty popular with the patrons too – every time I walked away, I came back and some new guy was hitting on her.

Her: I love this place – I feel like a queen!
Me: (grumble)

The bartender poured us a round of tequila shots, which was super nice of him, BUT the Firecracker and tequila didn’t really get along, so I took her shot.

Then my buddy showed up and gave us both big hugs and we caught up.

Me: How are the dating apps treating you?
Him: They keep crashing! I’m fine in real life.
Me: You can do both!

Afterward, he got us a few rounds of shots as well. By the end of the night, I was two sheets to the wind.

We finally started home late – well, late for us, anywho.

Thus ended our summer.

The kids both started school that week but that’s a wholly different entry, entirely.

Location: the kid’s school, waiting on line for him and getting devoured by mosquitoes
Mood: ridonk busy
Music: All night long, went to every bar, underneath the stars (Spotify)
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A Night at the MOMA, DUMBO, and Solas Pt1: Running into a Starry Night

We could spend all day here

Me: You wanna do [the MOMA on] Friday?
Her: Definitely! MOMA is on my list of places to go. I’ve never been.

RE Mike reminded me that the MOMA had UNIQLO NYC Nights on Fridays and also invited us to a thingy in DUMBO right afterward.

Couldn’t remember the last time I’d been there, so I was looking forward to going.

Mainly wanted to see any Lichtensteins they had since I like pop art.

There’s a story there, but I’ll save it for some other time.

Unfortunately, they only had one small piece, but it was still nice.

I also wanted to check out the Mondrian pieces.

Me: In the 60s, people used to wear Mondrian dresses.
Her: Ah, when you were a kid. I can picture it.
Me: (grumble)

She was thrilled to see some of the Picasso pieces they had…

…and we both really liked the Warhol.

And, we were both really happy to see Monet’s Water Lillies in real life.

Her: Whoa! I had no idea how big it was.
Me: Me neither – that thing’s huge!
Her: I could spend all day here.

This isn’t Water Lillies – that’s a series of paintings and they are HUGE.

Unfortunately, we had to run to head out to DUMBO and started to look for the exit.

But, along the way, we saw a huge crowd of people.

Me: Wait…is that Starry Night?
Her: It is! We’ve got to see it!

I’d never seen a real Van Gogh up close and Starry Night was always my fave of alla his pieces.

Plus, it was the centerpiece of my lecture in Paris, and it was while discussing that, that someone stood up and started haranguing me in the middle of my lecutre.

But that’s really neither here nor there.

It was really wild to see the actual painting that I’d seen my entire life and in my studies.

We left the MOMA feeling pretty glad we went.

But we had an entire night ahead of us.

I’ll tell you all about it in the next couplea entries.

Location: the gym for the first time in a few days
Mood: busy waiting for the new school year
Music: Now I think I know, what you tried to say to me (Spotify)
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Beer, Dumplings, and a Concert in Alphabet City

Exploding Cans

My fridge’s been acting up again; this time, it gets waaaaaay too cold in the regular area.

Late the other night, the Firecracker and I heard this loud but muffled bang. Couldn’t figure it out until the next morning when I opened the fridge and found the below.

It froze two cans of soda both of which burst open but this one had the top blown clear off.

The Surgeon’s wife is actually a musician and she was part of a concert in Tompkins Square Park the other day.

Me: It’s in Alphabet City.
Boy: What’s Alphabet City?
Me: It was a place that was super dangerous when I was a kid but I guess we’re going to a concert there now.

It’s true. When I was a kid, there were places you went to get killed: Alphabet City and Long Island City were two of those places.

But the Surgeon’s kids were there and they just had a grand time.

Although, the boy and I ended up getting eaten alive by mosquitos.

Her: I’ve never had it happen when I wasn’t the one that was bitten the most.
Me: Great. (thinking) Maybe they were just in the mood for Chinese.
Her: (laughing) Maybe.


Afterward, we were all in the mood for Chinese, so I walked to Dumpling Man and ordered like $60 worth of dumplings.

It was a nice family run restaurant.

We also got a ton of beer.

Me: Shoot, we don’t have a bottle opener.
Steel: (laughing) I’m wearing Reefs, so I always have a bottle opener.
Firecracker: That’s wild!

Can’t tell you how nice it was to be in park on a sunny with friends, the kids, great food, and beer opened by a sandal.

You can’t put a price on things like that.

Afterward, we took the long walk back to Union Square.

Along the way, we walked past the first place Alison and I had dinner together, Horus Cafe.

It was the one where she teased and called me dumb.

Me: I went with your mommy.
Son: Really?
Me: It was a long time ago.
Him: Where was I?
Me: Not yet here. It was before you were born.
Him: Oh. We can come back here someday.
Me: I’d like that, kid.

Location: A street fair on Amsterdam and 79th
Mood: beat-down
Music: The truth in all my lies, the blue to all my skies (Spotify)
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A BBQ in NJ

A Burger and a Pool

Pak invited us out to a little thing he was having with his friends. His pad out in NJ has a pool so I brought the boy to go for a swim.

The boy and I were at my gym and I thought we had plenty of time to get out to NJ but there were alla these train delays so we RAN to catch the bus to NJ with just two minutes to spare.

While running to the right bus, the Firecracker met up with us.

Her: (laughing) I heard some weird slapping sound and I realized it was the two of you with your slippers, running.
Me: (breathless) We try to make an appearance.

We got there a bit late so everyone else was winding down but it was fine as the boy wanted to go swimming anywho.

Him: There are so many bees.
Me: Those are yellowjackets.
Him: Is that better?
Me: No.

I was so busy with the kid that I forgot to take pics. But trust me when I tell you that he had a grand time.

Told Pak and his girl about our cruise.

Me: There’s even a ship with a go-kart track.
Pak: Get outta here.
Me: Legit. Here. (show him a video)

Afterward, we went to Mitsuwa for – what else – more food…

Me: We come alla way here and you just want McDonalds?
Boy: Yes!
Me: (sighing) Fiiiine.

…before we went home.

It was a pretty nice day except we got devoured by mosquitos, which is exactly what happened the next day when we went on an impromptu trip to see the surgeon’s wife in concert.

But I’ll tell you about that in the next entry.

Location: The Wallace with the Firecracker and her cousin
Mood: slightly sotted
Music: I’m soaking up the good times now (Spotify)
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