Tag: New York City

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Chinese New Year 2024

A year later

Me: (to Firecracker) Can I fight him?
Her: Don’t. It’s not worth it.
Me: OK. But if I have to, I’m gonna have to hurt him.

The Firecracker’s kid was away with her ex so I invited her to join my kid and me to Annabel and her husband John’s annual Chinese New Year party.

Her: Should I wear red?
Me: You don’t have to but a lotta people do.
Her: I swear, Logan Lo, if I’m the only person there not wearing red…
Me: *I’m* not wearing red…well, except for the leather jacket.
Her: I swear…

She reminded me that our kids met the year before on Chinese New Year; she remembered because I told her I wouldn’t be around that night as I was heading to Annabel’s.

Always find relationships so interesting – and how time changes things.

We took the train to Penn Station and then hopped a cross town bus to see them.

Again, being centrally located has its perks.

As soon as we walked in, there was a crowd of people making dumplings, so we washed our hands and joined them to make some for everyone.

That is, until the first batch came out to eat.

That was when I stopped the production component of the evening and switched over to the consumption component.

There was also a ton of traditional Chinese veggies, which I appreciated.

Think I mighta eaten half of the pickled bamboo shoots which are the the white things in the small bowl below, between the black wood ears and the wine bottles.

Afterwards, the parents gave out red envelopes and we were told to sit down for the kids to come up to us and wish us a Happy New Year.

One British boy walked right up to me and put his face less than an inch from mine, which was a bit startling and his dad yelled out, with a proper British accent, “Personal space! Give him some personal space!”

It was pretty funny. You had to be there.

The kid collected like $38 dollars or something.

Me: Great! I get 10%
Him: Dad!
Me: (shrugging) I don’t make the rules, kid.

I actually handed out $2 bills, including to the Firecracker’s kid and niece on other days.

The Firecracker’s BIL commented that they would be more impressive if kids were used to seeing other bills.

That actually didn’t occur to me: the fact that $2 bills are no more/less special than any other bill because people just don’t use that much cash anymore.

Afterward, we took the train home.

On the way back, I almost came to blows with this loudmouth, but everyone’s a tough guy until it’s time to actually be a tough guy.

But that’s a story for another time.

Location: off to dinner with the Firecracker
Mood: hangry
Music: knew I’d figure it out some day (Spotify)
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Centrally located

I’m the guy

Her: I am a little sassy.
Me: Well, that I could do with out.
Her: (laughs)

Because the Firecracker grew up with green grass and shade, while she likes living in the big city, if she had her druthers, she’d rather live in the suburbs than the Upper Best Side.

I get the appeal.

But being centrally located has its definite perks.

For example, met up with the Pastor the other day for a cuppa joe.

Him: Confirming 11 today?
Me: Yup! The usual place, still?
Him: Yes. see you soon!

It was easy – he popped by my local cafe, we met up and chatted for a bit and then I went back to do some kali with someone over zoom.

You can’t do stuff like that in suburbs quite as easily, I don’t think.

Well, the zoom stuff yes but you get my point.

Also met up with the NFL Player and my buddy Thor for a drink and some food in the area.

One of my favourite joints in the area, Friedman’s, moved just a block east and I’d not yet gone there.

Both of them had shoulder surgery not too long ago so we just caught up.

Me: Are you two sure you don’t need a lazy but brilliant attorney who will never show up to work? Because I know a guy.
Him: We’re all set there.
Me: It’s me. The guy is me. I’m the guy.
Both: (laugh)

Like I said, it’s nice being centrally located.

Me: That was really good food and excellent drinks.
Him: Not the wine though, the wine was terrible.
Me: Wouldn’t know; not a wine drinker.
Him: Next time, we’ll get the girls out.
Me: For sure.

Location: my bedroom, getting a trim from the Firecracker
Mood: cough-y
Music: Don’t listen to a word I say (Spotify)
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Totally random (videos)

I’ll always love NY

There’s gonna be zero rhyme or reason to this entry cause I went through my camera and found a buncha random videos that I meant to post.

Let’s start with a video shot in October of 2023 where I took a bus out to Queens in this entry.

Now, I’d meant to post this video in that entry, but I forgot I even took it.

Essentially, that explains all the rest of these videos.

Nothing special but I just always liked seeing the NYC rivers while on bridges.

Now, this is another video I shot in October of 2023, where this very old and broken dude was screaming out racial epithets at people who were just walking by him.

I believe the cops got involved but I was already gone by the time they started to arrive.

While NYC definitely has moments like that, it also has moments like the next video, which I shot the following month on November 18th, 2023.

It’s just some people playing ping pong on the pedestrian square outside of Koreatown.

I like how totally random it is, just like NYC itself, which is also totally random.

That’s all I got for now.

Well, that is until I find another batch of random videos from my phone.

Lemme close out this entry with someone else’s video; this is Ryan Adams singing his song New York, New York.

It was shot in 2001, right before the World Trade Center was hit and is how I remember the buildings before all the horror.

There’s a line in it that goes, I’ll always love you though, New York.

Despite a whole lotta things, that sounds about right.

Location: a trampoline park all day, surrounded by kids and noise
Mood: headachey
Music: In a church on the upper west side (Spotify)
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Benjamin, Olly, and Scarlett

Ithaca is Gorges

The Firecracker has met a lotta my good friends, but not alla them.

RE Mike and her just never seemed to be able to cross paths but he hit me up outta the blue to tell me about a kid event in Chelsea and I checked if the Firecracker was free.

Her: Oh, I finally get to meet RE Mike?
Me: Looks that way!

So, on the one nice day this past weekend, we headed downtown to see them.

The event was at a place called Olly Olly downtown, which I’d never heard of.

Essentially, they had two huge bouncy houses there and costumed characters.

The kid was just happy to be able to bounce around; he and Mike’s kid got along swimmingly.

Mike was ever the charmer…

Him: Are you aging backward? You look younger every time I see you.
Me: It’s all the drugs and alcohol. I’m like Benjamin Button.
Him: (to the Firecracker) You know you look like Scarlett, right?
Her: Why thank you! I have heard that, yes.
Him: It’s not a bad thing.

The kid got hungry, so I ended up just getting him a quesadilla, which he ate completely by himself.

This kid is eating me outta house and home.

Afterward, we went to – of all places – the Jacob Javits Center to check out a travel show.

Him: You used to be in this industry.
Me: Ages ago. Man, we’ve known each other a long time.

His wife is a doctor, and her practice is just a few doors down from the gym.

Her: Why did you open a gym down there?
Me: (shrugging) Everyone liked the space.

Mike’s also a lawyer, when he’s not doing all his other businesses. We both talked about our taking the bar there.

Him: (to the girls) Can you imagine this place with rows and rows of nothing but desks and chairs with people taking an exam?
Me: And it was dead silent. Not a single sound except pencils on paper.

We went to the Japan exhibit…

…and then to the Taiwan exhibit where the kid did a high five with someone in a bear costume…

…and then listened to the orchestra – of course…

…before we ended up at the Ithaca exhibit, of all places.

Me: I went to Cornell!
Guy at booth: You did? I have something for you!

He slipped behind the display and rummaged about…

…before reappearing with this.

Me: Awesome – thank you!

Before we left, the kid walked by the Florida exhibit and the guy there proceeded to put an urchin, a starfish, and a snail on his hand.

Him: This is so weird!

Which kinda encapsulates life with RE Mike:

You never know if you’re gonna end up at some ritzy private event with celebs, a private concert, a Broadway show, or a travel exhibit with someone putting sea animals on your kid’s arm.

Wouldn’t want it any other way.

Me: So, you finally met RE Mike.
Her: I did! So, have I met everyone?
Me: Nah, there’s Bryson, Paul, The Professor, Bridget, Nadi, Paul, CoB…

Location: West 71st, chatting up a fella who’s girlfriend just handed me a Macbook
Mood: getting over this damn cold
Music: with a shade of scarlet, running fast to better days, I’m on it (Spotify)
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A night at hot pot, the Library, pizza, Criff Dogs, and (almost) a Speakeasy.

And we ran into another friend, too

The Firecracker needed to get some legal work done but it was outta my wheelhouse, so I asked my buddy Reed to take a look at it for us, which he did.

So, as a mini-thanks for the help, the Firecracker and I took him out to eat hot pot and get some drinks.

We started off at Hou Hot Pot; the Firecracker and I arrived first, and he came just a few minutes later and had on a pearl necklace, like the Firecracker.

Her: Hey, we’re both wearing pearls!
Him: Yes, yes, we are.
Me: Dammit, left out again.

We ordered a ton of food and just caught up.

Afterward, we went to the Library of Distilled Spirits…

….where we chatted with the bartender, who also starred in Drunk Shakespeare.

Me: Is it always the same person drunk each time?
Him: Nah, we take turns.
Me: Seems sensible.

Reed ordered a Paper Plane variation, while I had my old standby, the Old Fashioned…

…and a rum drink that I’ve never had before.

Bartender: Have you ever had an Old Cuban?
Me: Nope, but I’ll have one now.

It was honestly, pretty good – but nuthin could beat that first Old Fashioned.

We got pretty lit there and I got snacky, as I’m usually wont to do.

So, we got some pizza.

Her: Whenever Logan drinks, his “no carbs” rule goes out the window.
Me: You sold me out!
Her: But it’s true!
Me: That’s not the point!

It wasn’t enough.

Reed: Let’s go to Crif Dogs and get cheap beer and some dogs.
Me: Sold!
Him: We can also check out the speakeasy there that’s hidden behind the phone booth.
Her: What? Wait, is this Please Don’t Tell?

It was.

But the line was waaaaay too long so we just got dogs and beer.

Turns out the guy running the front desk grew up in Ithaca, where I went to college.

Him: My family owned Rogan’s.
Me: For serious? Man, I haven’t had that in ages.

We just ended up chatting the night away.

Him: Oh, I was engaged once.
Me: No kidding?
Him: We’re still friends. Her daughter visited the city not too long ago and I showed her around.
Me: You’re such a mensch!

It was late when we headed back, and we ran into my buddy Lau who had just finished up a private show.

A lot more happened, but I suppose this is all I wanted to tell you.

Location: in bed almost all day
Mood: sick, send soup
Music: Lethal poison for the system (Spotify)
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A year with the Firecracker

Being in it

Her: Are things like anniversaries important to you?
Me: (thinking) Hmmm, not particularly. You?
Her: Very. But I get it if it’s not to you.
Me: If it matters to you, it matters to me.

The thing with dating in NYC is that there are (a) so many options that it’s easy to think that there’s something better out there for you and (b) that fact also means that you’re always questioning if you’re being too picky.

Close to two years ago, my therapist told me that I wasn’t giving people enough of a chance, mainly because I go on a single date and then bail.

So, I tried dating several people for longer than I normally wouda.

Everyone was quite nice and each had her definite strong points but I couldn’t shake the feeling that they weren’t right for me.

Enter the Firecracker.

From the moment I met her, I felt like I knew her.

Fast forward a year and we went out the other day to celebrate our one-year anniversary of when we met.

It was sweet that it mattered to her, so I took her out to eat the other night at a Thai restaurant that we’ve both wanted to check out for a while now.

For me, one of the signs that a relationship is struggling is when you spend more time discussing the relationship versus just being in the relationship.

It’s been a long time since I was just in a relationship versus arguing about it.

Of course, she and I aren’t perfect, we do bicker at times.

But, more than anything, we see the world very similarly.

Her: Can we stop talking about the relationship and just be in the relationship?
Me: That’d be great, actually.
Her: I’m not perfect. I’m gonna make mistakes.
Me: No, you’re not perfect. (thinking) But you might be perfect for me.
Her: (sighs, smiles)

Location: yesterday, a snowy slope with four boys, three sleds, and one Firecracker
Mood: so full
Music: I was making jokes and you politely laughed (I appreciated that) (Spotify)
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SF Loop Dreams

Shooting in a dot-com

Didn’t have much time to decompress after our trip because I pretty much immediately had to get ready for a two-day Scenic Fights shoot.

The last time I checked, we were closing in on 585,000 subscribers, which itself is pretty nuts.

But getting – and keeping – alla these subscribers means that we gotta keep cranking out good content.

So, the other day, we tried shooting in my buddy’s dot com.

It’s weird, I know alla these serious movers and shakers these days, and I often marvel how I ended up knowing any of them.

Case-in-point, a buddy of mine sold one of his many companies to Facebook a little while back.

I’d never been to his offices before but he mentioned that he had a studio in one of them.

Me: Whoa! Can we shoot at it? We’re always looking for new places to shoot Scenic Fights.
Him: Sure – have your producers reach out to me to set it up.

And they did.

Honestly, I don’t have the words to tell you how gorgeous these offices were.

Like, they had two bars/kitchen areas in them.

And we took full advantage of them – I almost made myself sick eating all the snacks there. I did my best to not have too much of the alcohol since we were filming.

There were snacks and drinks everywhere, but I – of course – didn’t have any because that would just be gauche.

It’s been a long time since I’ve worked for a dot-com, but being there reminded me of onea my possible pasts from decades ago.

I often wonder what my life woulda been like if I’d stayed.

Then again, I suppose I like how my life is now, horrors notwithstanding.

Even though it’s nuthin like I’d expected it to be all those years ago.

Location: freezing getting from A to B anywhere right now
Mood: so gauche
Music: Dear me, you’ll be older one day. I’m writing from the future and you’re doing ok (Spotify)
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Like a post-doctorate bagel

Welcome home, then

While the Firecracker and I had a pretty great time in Vienna, we were both happy to see our kids again.

It’s funny how much you miss someone after only a few days.

Me: I missed you.
Him: I missed you more!
Me: (laughing) Tenuous.

Donnie: How was Vienna?
Me: Oh, great! I ate my body weight in croissants.
Him: (laughing) Why croissants?
Me: (shrugging) They’re like educated bread.
Him: Ah, like a post-doctorate bagel.

Whenever I come back from Asia, the first thing I wanna have is something like a burger, a gyro, or some chili.

On the flip, whenever I go to someplace like Mexico or Europe, all I want when I’m back is some Asian food.

After eating nuthin but (delicious) European food, I was craving something Asian.

Me: What about some Chinese food?
Her: Taiwanese?
Me: Done!

So, as soon as we got back to the states, we immediately headed to Taiwan Pork Chop House, which is this absolute hole-in-the-wall joint in Manhattan’s Chinatown but the food is killer.

Me: (in Chinese) We just got back from Austria.
Waitress: (motioning to the Firecracker) Is she German?
Me: Nah, she’s an American. But, funnily enough, I speak German to people, and they respond to her in German.
Waitress: (laughs) Welcome back home, then.

Location: freezing downtown in the wintery rain
Mood: brrrrrrrrrrr
Music: don’t let me drag you down (Spotify)
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A traditional Chinese-American Christmas meal of Mexican food

Something different for everyone

The neighborhood’s been in full holiday swing this past month.

There were some carolers that were singing outside one of my usual supermarkets, which was a cool little things for the neighborhood.

The Firecracker’s sister and brother-in-law were supposed by with their kid again for a pre-Christmas dinner so we did a lotta planning, including for me to really spend some time in our local (tiny) Japanese food mart around the way.

Unfortunately, her brother-in-law got sick.

Firecracker: On no, now their kid’s sick.
Me: Oh man, that stinks. We should cancel getting together otherwise, everyone’s gonna have a miserable Christmas.
Her: Yeah, she thinks the same.

So, we ended up having some pretty quiet Christmas plans; the Firecracker really wanted to see some Christmas lights but I was beat and so were the kids.

She was definitely a good sport about not going but I convinced the boys and myself to rally and head out with her to see some lights in Lincoln Center that was activated by noise.

The kids liked it because they had a good reason to scream on the top of their lungs in the middle of Manhattan. And the Firecracker liked it because she just wanted to do something festive with alla us.

Afterwards, we decided to walk along Columbus home trying to figure out what to do.

We ultimately found a cozy little Mexican restaurant that had margaritas so we went there.

Me: Nothing like a traditional Chinese-American Christmas meal of Mexican food.

But, honestly, it was better than anything we coulda planned.

Afterward, because we all had other obligations for Christmas Day, we all exchanged gifts that night.

It was something different for everyone, which makes sense, because this whole thing is something different for everyone.

Location: a Christmas market
Mood: proud
Music: Next year all our troubles, will be out of sight (Spotify)
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Sorry I’m late, what’s the topic of conversation?

Two Christmas Office Parties

This Christmas season’s been different from the past few years.

For one thing, I’m just a longer way away from 2017, which is when everything went to hell.

But the Firecracker’s also been really good about pulling me out into the world this season.

She actually had her holiday office party in the neighborhood and dropped me a line.

Her: At the Dakota Bar.
Me: I could swing by to say “hi” for a second after I drop the kid off if you’re still there?
Her: Yes, please.

This was a different group of people than I met in the past, so it was interesting meeting these different people that she worked with.

Me: Sorry I’m late, what’s the topic of conversation?
Someone at table: We’re just talking shit about people we know.
Me: I’m a guest here so I’ll talk shit about anyone you’d like. Fuck those guys. Hi, I’m Logan.

One of her coworkers ended up buying me two drinks, so that was pretty nice.

One young lady was pretty dedicated to her job but you could tell it was draining her.

Me: What’s the biggest issue?
Her: (waving hand) What do you see here?
Me: (puzzled) Your hand?
Her: Yup, my hand. No ring, no guy, just the job. It’s exhausting.
Me: Oh, there’s someone out there for you; I believe there’s a lid for every pot.

Afterward, I went to get the kid and headed home.

A few days later, I got invited to my own law firm party at Capital Grille at the Chrysler Center – we’d been there a few times before.

On the way there, I ran into the Grinch on a powered tricycle.

Swear to god, it does NOT sound like she’s saying, “pumpkin pie,” in this video.

I was late to my own office party because I had to drop off the kid with his Chinese class, so I came in while everyone was already settled.

Me: Sorry I’m late, what’s the topic of conversation?

I ordered my usual Old Fashioned – it’s my go-to when I know they don’t have fine aged rum.

They already ordered a ton of appetizers and I ordered what was essentially a surf and turf.

The Firecracker had, evidently, called me a number of times.

Her: You need to answer your phone. They won’t release [your kid] to me.
Me: I’m so sorry, it was in my jacket.
Her: [It’s fine], I have him.

The firm hired a new lawyer that practiced the same area of the law as me and this was the first time we got to talking outside of work.

Me: I assume you met your girl the traditional way of some app?
Him: (laughing) Yup.
Me: Honestly, I like it. You can’t just walk into a bar and ask any rando you meet for a head shot and a writing sample.
Co-Worker: The writing sample’s so important.
Me: SO important.

Everyone else left so it was just the boss and me drinking in the end.

There’s a lot more to that part of the story but I’ll just end that part here.

Location: home, doing word problems with the kid who was losing his patience
Mood: chilly willy
Music: Later we’ll have some PUMPKIN pie and we’ll do some caroling (Spotify)
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