Tag: NYC

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personal

Our hearts are red balloons

I need to change that

The Firecracker got home a bit earlier today so, after I dropped the kid off at his afterschool – which is just two blocks from her pad – I stopped by.

She usually buzzes me into her building and unlocks the door so I can let myself in.

Me: Hey, where are you?
Her: (running towards me, hair and limbs akimbo) BANZAI!!!
Me: WHAT THE F-!

God, it’s nice when someone’s happy to see you.

Last week, when we saw the Surgeon, my buddy Steel wasn’t available.

This time, though, he was so the Firecracker, the kid, and I went down to Chinatown to grab some food and headed to the Surgeon’s pad for another get-together.

Steel cooked everything…

…while the Surgeon made some mixed drinks.

Him: Do you want rum or som-
Me: Rum!
Him: (laughing) No surprise there.

The Firecracker was a big hit with Steel’s wife.

Her: We love her!!! I am keeping her!

The Firecracker and I tried to limit our drinking and we did an ok job. It was hard because the surgeon does mix some killer drinks.

He and Steel own a few bars in the city.

Firecracker: Wait, I’ve been to that place. That’s yours?
Steel: Yup. Which one?
Her: There’s more than one? The uptown one?
Him: Oh, we have another one downtown.
Me: We’ll head out there onea these days.

We did, however, eat continuously since we arrived. Especially since there was a ton of sushi for the adults, alla Chinese food I brought, and pizza for the kids.

Me: I want a slice of pizza.
Him: What about the carbs?
Me: I already ate so much sushi that I figure that I’m in it.

Speaking of carbs, the Surgeon’s wife pulled out a whole stack of Klondike bars. I’d not had one since I was a kid so I took one.

The next day, I hosted one of the kid’s classmates and then brought the two of them to another class outing at a playground near me.

I’m looking forward to spending the summer hanging out with kid and maybe having the Firecracker for company.

My summers have been pretty sad lately.

I need to change that.

Location: the Barnes & Noble on the UWS, realizing they blocked all the windows so people wouldn’t sit on the sills anymore
Mood: hungry and dreaming of apple pie
Music: The skies are wide open (Spotify)
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A Story, on the West Side

Seeing the blue sky again

It’s been a super busy week with work and life.

This past weekend, the kid had his first “school party” without me.

Basically, the PTA threw a party where the parents dropped off their kids so the kids could spend three hours running around the school, playing games and dancing and such.

The kid was so thrilled, I was excited for him. But he’s growing up way too fast.

Him: You’ll really let me go?
Me: Of course.
Him: You’re the best dad, ever!
Me: You’re not wrong.

The Firecracker and I took the opportunity to grab a drink around the way at a local bar called Jake’s Dilemma.

Her: You got carded! The night’s already off to a good start. (later) Look at us, out at a bar without the kids.
Me: It definitely feels weird.

Because we were both actively dating when we met, she and I chat about dating in NYC in general and our recent history.

Me: …so, that was the end of that.
Her: Well, compared to my last date, you’re definitely an upgrade.
Me: (laughing) I would hope so.
Her: Oh yeah, it’s like moving up from a Pinto to a Ferrari.

If nuthin else, she’s good for my ego.

The next day, the kid went to a Holi festival at the Seaport and I grabbed him over at Lincoln Center before heading back downtown.

Me: See that brown building over there? This entire place used to be fulla buildings exactly like that. But you can actually see exactly what it used to look like before it became Lincoln Center.
Her: Where?
Me: The original West Side Story. It was shot when this was all residential walk-up housing. They literally bulldozed the entire neighborhood the day after shooting stopped.

The kid and I met up with the Firecracker and her kid to come with me to the Surgeon’s place for a little party after his Holi party.

Me: They live in a converted department store. The ceilings are like 15 feet tall.
Her: I can’t wait to see it!

She was impressed.

The surgeon made rum cocktails while I cooked up some Korean pork dishes that I got from H Mart near the gym.

Her kid was a huge hit with the Surgeon’s daughters. It was nice that everyone got along well.

His brother, Steel, had another engagement but everyone there was really cool. We met the most interesting fella who worked at Google…

His Wife: (proudly) He invented Chrome.
Me: Wait, for real?!
Him: (sheepishly) Yeah. I led the team that wrote Firefox and Google hired me to write Chrome for them.
Me: Oh man, I have so many questions. (later) BTW, lemme tell you about this hack that happened to me because of Chrome…

It was super late when we all left.

The next day, we all met up with the ABFF and her kids as well and everyone seemed to get along well there too.

Her: Shoot, I don’t have any alcohol.
Me: It’s like you don’t even know me.

I feel like my life’s been on hold for years now.

I either didn’t go out or went to things solo. It’s nice to have a companion that wants to do things with me.

You know, the scaffolding on my block came down and I can see the blue sky again.

The last time I saw the blue sky around my pad, Alison was still alive and we were waiting for the boy to come.

I’ve been in shadow ever since.

So, it’s nice to see the sun and sky again.

It’s been so long that I’d forgotten what it looked like.

Location: yesterday, looking at the sun from my son’s room
Mood: ruminating
Music: I can see the bright blue skies now (Spotify)
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Hurt you so badly

Better off now

After the night out with the Firecracker and her friend, neither of us could make it to the Frenchman’s karaoke thingy the next day.

Me: (next morning) I think I’m still drunk.
Her: I need a Tylenol.
Me: Why are we even awake?!

But we were scheduled to meet up with her sister and her sister’s fella, both of whom lived across the street from her.

We ended up meeting up at a bar for an afternoon drink, not too far from the tiki bar we were the night before.

The Firecracker and I each got a rum and diet coke – plus wings for me – while they got beers and a huge pretzel for their kid, which made me think of Germany.

Her sister and fella were super cool and grabbed the bill, which was super nice of them.

Afterward, I was hungry for more wings, so we spent a solid 45 minutes walking around the hood looking for more wings, which I ultimately found.

A young couple were arguing – well, the fella was being yelled at by his girl – and the girl asked me what I thought.

Her: (turning to me) What do you think?! Am I right or is he?
Me: I’m just trying to get some wings here, lady…
Her: No, no, no, is he right or am I?
Me: (shaking head) I can’t say. I can say that communication isn’t what you’re saying but what he’s hearing. And he – and everyone else here – is just hearing you yell at him, kid.

There’s a lot more to this story but I’ll end it here.

The next day, I went out to NJ to get the boy from my in-laws.

MIL: We’re having pasta, salad, and garlic bread.
Me: I’m not saying no to any of that.

He went out with his guitar to practice and bringing it back was a bit of a pain, but worth it because he had plenty of time to practice.

As you might imagine, the Firecracker and I chat quite a bit now.

I find it odd because the weird commonality of the women I met after Alison have all had very sad stories to tell.

Wonder if it’s something about me that either attracts people with sad stories or perhaps they feel safe because I have my own – obscenely – sad stories.

Perhaps it’s a bit of both.

Me: I’m sorry.
Her: Nothing to be sorry about. I’m better off now.
Me: (shaking head) I’m sorry the world hurt you so badly, Firecracker.
Her: (nodding) I’m sorry the world hurt you so badly, Lo.
Me: Yeah…

Location: this afternoon, Blue Bottle with the pastor, disagreeing about cruising
Mood: contemplative
Music: this should be a crime and I’m ready to do the time (Spotify)
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The night was young and we had umbrellas in our drinks

And foot-long spam hotdogs to boot

When the kid’s away for the week, I usually try and hit up the gym every day – sometimes even twice a day.

But, because I didn’t wanna rip open the cut above my eye, I couldn’t go to the gym for most of the time.

It was fine, though.

Was supposed to meet Bryson and The Frenchman for karaoke and drinks on Saturday – I’m not a karaoke person but I like going just to be social and be entertained.

But on Friday night, the Firecracker hit me up because she had a Ukranian friend from Austria in town and wanted to know if I wanted to meet them for drinks. That made hanging out on Saturday impossible.

Her: She’s heading back to Austria tomorrow morning so tonight’s the only night I can see her.
Me: OK, I’m down.
Her: We can meet at the Tiki Chick. They have $5 chicken sandwiches and is a rum bar.
Me: Sold!

Her friend was already at the bar when we arrived.

Because the Firecracker had been there so many times, the bartenders motioned to us when the corner seats were available – despite a huge line – so we took them.

Here’s the thing; I’m a sucker for a pina colada for a buncha reasons:

      • They almost always come with umbrellas.
      • They’re made with rum and coconuts.
      • They remind me of my dad.

Honestly, how can you go wrong?

Oh, lemme tell you – you can go wrong when they’re $12 at happy hour and you consume waaaaay too many of them.

Plus a mai tai, a hurricane, and a rum and diet coke (because I gotta watch my weight, right?). It’s amazing we I didn’t fall off the stool.

Noticed a pretty appropriate book, nestled among the tiki mugs – which also remind me of my dad.

It was cool. The night was young and we had umbrellas in our drinks.

Spoke to her friend for a bit.

Her: Sie sagt, du sprichst ein bisschen Deutsch.
Me: Nur ein bisschen. Leider habe ich zuviel vergessen.
Her: Ihre Aussprache ist sehr gut.
Me: Ack, quatch. Aber danke.

The three of us drank way, way, way too much.

Waaaaaaaay too much.

I also told the two of them that I wasn’t gonna eat anything because I was drinking so many calories…

…BUT I ended up not only getting a chix sandwich…

…BUT ALSO getting comped a foot-long hot dog…with SPAM, because of a mistake they made.

Him: Just take it, we’ll throw it out if you don’t eat it.
Me: Well, we can’t have that.

After alla that, I headed down to the restroom.

Even though I was two sheets to the wind, I did notice that there was a drink that someone left on the sink. While inside, a woman called in.

Her: (outside) Is there a drink in there?!
Me: Maybe!
Her: Don’t drink it!
Me: It’s America!

When I stepped out, I handed her the drink.

Her: Whoa, that’s a nasty cut you have there. (looking closely) Krazy glue?
Me: How’d you know?
Her: I’m a surgeon. (peering closely) You did a good job. That’ll heal nicely.
Me: Thanks doc. I promise I didn’t roofie your drink.

Made my way back up to the bar and the Firecracker and told her what happened, among other things.

Her: (afterward) You are a really solid dude.
Me: Yeah, I’m pretty fucking wonderful. (thinking) Man, I should NOT have had that hot dog.

Location: this morning, prepping for court and telling them that they’re not ready for what I can do
Mood: upset
Music: If I let you in, I won’t let you go (Spotify)
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Seaport, Chinatown, Little Italy

Last three decades

Her: Totes
Me: Is that what the kids say these days?
Her; No, it’s what I say. (thinking) Although, technically I’m a kid. Especially compared to you. (pause) Because you’re so old, Lo.
Me: Thanks for clarifying that last part.
Her: (cheerily) Any time, Logan Lo!

The Firecracker had a day off the other day so I took a mental health day for myself and we headed down to the seaport to walk around.

Just being out and walking around was nice. I felt closer to normal than I’d felt in a long time.

It didn’t take long for us to make it down to the Seaport.

The last time I went was with RE Mike, not that long ago, so I gave her a mini-tour – she’d been there before but not all the spots.

They had an ice skating rink out that looked fun. Maybe I’ll bring the kid, now that he’s no longer a complete neophyte.

We pretty much had the observation area on top all to ourselves.

The weather was full-on gorgeous.

And because the weather was so nice, we decided to walk the 3/4 mile from there to Chinatown.

She actually had clients in the area so she spent as much time telling me about things there as I did her.

Me: Have you ever had Vietnamese food?
Her: Nope, but I’m down to try.

We walked over to my usual joint for Vietnamese grub but they were closed so I ended up bringing her to one of the Pho Bangs in the area, because those are pretty consistently good.

I ordered my usual faves, including a Vietnamese coffee, some pho, some bun, and a banh mi.

Her: That’s a lotta food.
Me: I eat a lot. You’ll have to get used to that.

Only managed to take one pic because I was so hungry.

After we devoured alla that food – we were both pretty famished – we strolled around the area.

I showed her Rain’s old pad…

Me: I cannot tell you how much of my 20s and 30s I spent here.
Her: That’s cool that you have these stories.

…as well as the old NYC Police Headquarters…

Her: That’s gorgeous!
Me: Yeah, they’re all apartments now.

…and Little Italy before finally heading back home.

Heading to our subway station, we ended up walking past Gio’s old pad and I remembered all those late nights I used to have.

All-in-all, it was nice way to spend a beautiful day.

For the most part…

Me: (thinking) 1993?
Her: (thinking) I was in Ms. Ingram’s third grade class when you graduated college.
Me: Well, I feel dirty.
Her: Yup.

Location: this morning, skyping with the kid at my desk and explaining why I had board games out
Mood: hungry, like always
Music: it’s fine by me if you never leave (Spotify)
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What you got till it’s gone

Last three decades

Meant to put up a video of the kid doing a takedown in BJJ in my last entry but I didn’t have the video edited for that so here it is now:

In any case, after the party, we hightailed it to New Jersey to see the in-laws – my MIL ended up making meatloaf and she and I ended up chatting about the time that Alison and she both made the ATK meatloaf.

Her: That one turned out really well.
Me: After all these years, I still remember it.

Sorry. I get lost in my head and my memories sometimes.

Left that night to get home and get some work done. On the way home, I heard someone call out my name.

It turned out to be the ABFF’s sister, who just happened to be heading back into the city on the exact same train as me.

Honestly dunno how I keep running into people that either know me IRL or via Scenic Fights.

NYC is really a small town sometimes.

One of the things I had to do here while the boy’s away is check out apartments.

Essentially, I never seriously thought about moving – at least not without Alison – in the past but with this massive real estate tax rise, I have to figure out my other options.

This is one of the reasons that the Firecracker and I went to that open house the other day.

Although, honestly, checking out other pads makes me realize how much I like my own pad.

It’s like that old Joni Mitchell song: Don’t it always seem to go, that you don’t know what you got ’til it’s gone?

And I’m worried that I might have to leave the only home I’ve ever known for the past three decades.

Man, that blows my mind.

Location: this afternoon, my apartment, happy that I don’t have to go to Detroit tonight
Mood: concerned
Music: I don’t wanna give it, why you wanna give it? (Spotify)
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I certainly think so

A Superbowl party

The NFL player invited me over to his pad for a Super Bowl party.

Me: Can I bring two dates? One you’ve met – he’s in grammar school and likes to sing – the other is a young blonde I’ve been seeing lately. Not sure if she’s free but I’ll ask?
Him: Sure – I hope she is smoking!
Me: Well, I certainly think so.

Like I said, it’s nice to be social and have company. Honestly, it’s nice having someone to (finally) invite to come with me to alla these things I get invited to all the time – and I literally get 2-4 invites to something every week, despite being so clumsy.

Still, it’s been years since I’ve been able to just add someone to a guest list so it does take a little getting used to.

She was great though, although my son was slightly confused…

Him: Wait, [the Firecracker]’s coming?
Me: Yep.
Him: (shrugs) OK.

…but not terribly so.

He really does roll with the punches very well, I gotta say.

Since everyone lived local, we got there a bit early and had the gorgeous food spread all to ourselves.

Me: Should we wait until the other guests arrive?
Housekeeper: No – eat, eat.
Me: (sitting down) No need to tell me twice, lady.

The Firecracker had never been in this building, although she’d seen it and walked by it a few times.

Me: I think Bono and Steve Martin also live here.
Her: No kidding!
Me:  Maybe we’ll run into one of them?

Everyone was just great, and the night was a lotta fun – although the kid was mainly just interested in the food and his tablet.

Him: Can I have dessert?
Me: ONE thing.
Him: Yay! I want the football cookie.

The Firecracker had to leave early because she had another event to go to, and then the kid and I had to leave because he had school the next day.

Me: Did you have a good time?
Him: Yes. I like [the Firecracker and the NFL Player].
Me: Good. Maybe we’ll keep them around for a bit.

Location: this morning, a cherry red Tesla on Broadway just off 72nd Street
Mood: surprised
Music: Trouble and worry, I’m gonna leave behind. I’m coming back – Lord, it’s been a while (Spotify)
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The 90s-Themed Party

Dinner with my college friends

Her: Logan! (shakes head, sighs) What’s the opposite of a cougar?
Me: I dunno.
Her: Logan Lo…

It’s been super busy lately, sorry for the lack of updates.

I suppose the two things that are taking up the most of my time are: the tax increase (boo!) and the Firecracker (yay!).

I’ve not been social with too many of my old friends for reasons I’ve told you about before, but lately, that’s been changing.

For example, I’ve always wanted to introduce someone to my college friends but either no one I was dating reached that level of comfort or the people that did wouldn’t have appreciated it or them.

The last person I introduced my college friends to was Alison and that was over a decade ago.

But my friends were celebrating two of our groups birthdays and I asked if the Firecracker wanted to come along.

Me: The thing is, there might be a theme.
Her: What’s the theme?
Me: The 90s.
Her: I love it! We gotta do it.

So, we got dressed up and headed downtown to Kimika to meet everyone.

Honestly, one of the best things about her is her positivity. I didn’t realize how much negativity I’d been harbouring in my life for the past few years.

She loved Clueless as a kid so dressed somewhat similarly to Cher/Alicia Silverstone while I channeled my inner Will Ferrel from Night at the Roxbury, combined with the Rock from the 90s.

The fella over my shoulder’s Gar, whose home I went to over the summer to swim.

It was a ton of fun. The food was ridic good and I cannot tell you how many bottles of wines and glasses of rum I went through.

Although, I should comment that we were all talking about us all getting older and I had a glass of red wine in my hand and I literally snapped it in half for some inexplicable reason.

Table: LOGAN! What happened?
Her: Did you just snap that in half?
Me: Yes?
Her: Why did you do that?
Me: I didn’t do it intentionally!

I really didn’t. Suppose I’m really, really not mentally ready to turn 50.

That woulda been the end of that…had I not spilled another glass of water a few minutes later.

Table: (groans)
Me: (to Firecracker) This may explain why I don’t get invited out a lot.

For some reason, they didn’t tell me to leave. In fact, they invited us out to drinks afterward at another friend’s bar, Ms. Yoo.

Along the way, I ended up chatting with Gar’s wife, Wynn.

Her: So, I’m just watching some things on YouTube and you know what shows up?
Me: No idea.
Her: You! I get this suggested video from Scenic Fights and there’s your face!
Me: Sweeeeeeet. You’re welcome.

The bar was pretty packed with people but it was still great.

LT: Here are some cards for comped drinks.
Me: Thanks! I promise to try and not spill anything.

I really am ridic clumsy.

One of the girls there knew my cousin Ras and we commented (a) how young everyone looked and (b) how small the world was.

By that point, it was late so the Firecracker and I broke out and headed back home.

Her: Your friends are nice.
Me: I like to think so. Did you have a nice night?
Her: (nods) Yeah, I did.

 

Location: running into another kalista in a playground on the UWS
Mood: flirty
Music: Dreams are hopeless aspirations in hopes of comin’ true (Spotify)
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Not getting a passport in Queens

Not win-win

It was a pretty insanely cold weekend this past weekend.

6 degrees was the low on both Friday and Saturday with Sunday having a high of 48 degrees, which was all pretty absurd.

Oddly, the gym was bursting at the seams on the coldest day of the week.

Didn’t expect that at all.

Sunday, I found out that my buddy, Grace, was holding a passport registration thingy in Flushing so I decided to (a) support her and (b) take care of getting the kid a passport.

Figured it’d be win-win. I was wrong.

First of all, the 7 train, which we use to get out there, wasn’t running so we had to transfer a few times to get to where it was.

Then when we showed up, the line was around the block. Literally.

We stood there for a solid hour.

The kid tried to entertain himself as best he could.

Ultimately, it didn’t move so we ended up just bailing.

I’m seeing my college friends this weekend for a 90s-themed dinner, so I decided to get a cheap haircut while we were in Flushing and also see my fam.

The kid was a riot over at the hair salon – the following was all in my crappy Chinese.

Her: He said, “thank you,” in Chinese!
Me: That’s about all he can say.
Her: It’s a start. Can I give him a piece of candy?
Me: Sure! He’ll love that.
Her: It’s doesn’t matter what kind of kid it is, they all love sweets, don’t they?
Me: Looks that way. But he does like to eat.

Afterward, I went to see my mom and sister.

They both cooked and I ate until I was beyond stuffed.

Like I said, feel I should see my family more.

I had the saddest thought recently, that there’ll come a time when I’ll wanna see my mom and I won’t be able to.

Shit, just writing that hurt my heart.

Me: Thanks for dinner, mom! (pause) I love you.
Her: You’re welcome! And I love you too!

Think my sister may be the only person that regularly bakes more than me for his/her kids.

Like me, she bakes high fiber, low-carb, delicious things. Tonight was a chocolate swirl cheesecake that was killer.

When I went for my second slice, we had the following exchange:

Her: Hey, do you want some tea?
Me: Do I!
Her: Decaf?
Me: Great!
Her: Heavy cream ok?
Me: Yes, please.
Her: Here you go. (hands me cup, sits down) So…tell me about the Firecracker.
Me: (laughs)

Location: this afternoon, showing the kid where I grew up
Mood: thoughtful
Music: If it’s alright, I’d like to stay (Spotify)
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What we could be

Looking for green flags

Firecracker: I like you and you like me and we’re trying to see what we could be.
Me: Oh, that rhymes.
Her: I know, I said it.

While I still believe that most of my luck is of the stripe that no one wants, I do gotta say that I feel lucky that I meet so many good souls in my life.

My buddy CoB makes a number of appearances in this blog and in my life in general.

I’ll just be doing one rando thing or another and I’ll get a completely non sequitur message from her that comes outta nowhere.

Case in point, she sent me the following images while telling me about what was going on her life.

Her: Took myself out after [after an awful day]. I DESERVE A RESTAURANT WEEK LUNCH!
Me: You def do! (later) OMG, you just massively changed my dinner plans. I was going to take the Firecracker to a casual bar thingy but you reminded me that it’s restaurant week so now we’re heading to The Library at The Astor – thanks to you!
Her: Ohhhhh I love that place! Have all the funz!

I was in NJ, dropping the kiddo off at my in-laws and rushing for time. The Firecracker and I met up around me as I got ready in 10 minutes, and we headed down to Astor Place together.

Her: Are you trying to impress me with your directional skills?
Me: God, no. I would get lost in a sealed paper bag.

Neither she nor I had ever been to The Library. One massive plus of going to a nice joint is that it’s usually less crowded.

It turns out that we share a lot of the same tastes in food except for three major things:

      • Most of my diet consists of some form of peanut butter – after all, the kid and I go through close to two pounds of the stuff per week. She cannot stand the sight nor smell of it.
      • She doesn’t like Indian food.
      • She can’t handle spicy food.

Buddy: Dude, I swear to god, if you mess this up over peanut butter…
Me: How dumb do you think I am?
Him: (stares)
Me: Fair…

Finally, she’s very good at expressing herself, which I really appreciate. I think I’ve spent years talking with people but never actually communicating with them.

Her: You know, instead of looking for red flags, maybe look for green flags.
Me: Green flags?
Her: (nodding) Reasons to do this thing instead of not.
Me: Well, you do have a lotta those, Firecracker.
Her: As do you, Logan Lo.


Location: late this afternoon, getting midday drinks in midtown
Mood: always hungry
Music: If we never met, I’d be drunk, waking up in someone else’s bed (Spotify)
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