Not only did the Firecracker live just a few blocks south of my pad when we first met, but she and I were also surprised that our birthdays were only a little more than a week apart.
So, this year, we decided to do a joint celebration in-between our two birthdays at Pig and Khao, just a few blocks from us.
My buddy Panda used to talk about how great the food was there, so I was looking forward to it – he’s a foodie and I trust him.
The food did not disappoint……although some dishes were pretty spicy for the Firecracker’s taste.
Me: I’m not sure you can eat this. Her: (shrugs) Well, let’s find out. (a few seconds later, she turns red and coughs) Nope!
Luckily, the drinks were strong and cooling…
…plus, because it was our birthday celebration(s), they comped us some jello shots, which were fun.
But the star of the show was the ribeye steak we ordered, which – because it was our birthday celebration – I had with my first bowl of rice in at least a year.
Her: This coconut rice is amazing! Me: God, yes. I can’t remember the last time I had a whole bowl of rice. Her: Wait, your bowl’s empty, you’re eating mine. Hey! Me: I’m just trying to save you a few carbs.
We ended the night with a dessert for her and a pickleback shot for me.
I think she may’ve enjoyed her selection more than I did mine.
Here’s hoping it’s the first of years worth of joint birthdays.
Location: the gym, trying not to get more injured
Mood: hoping
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Her: You know what, I’ll support you and do it too. Me: Really? You – obviously – don’t need to. Her: (waves hand) It’s fine. It’ll be good for me and us. Me: Oh man, you’re the best!
Been on a hardcore keto diet for a few weeks now because my producer wanted me to cut a few pounds for an upcoming Scenic Fights shoot.
I figured, summer’s coming anywho, so I was fine with it.
And the Firecracker decided to help me by doing it as well, for no other reason than to support me.
She’s just great.
Case in point: She made this killer pesto chicken the other night for everyone.
Low carb and absolutely delicious.
All-in-all, I ended up dropping a few pounds really quickly because – between my usual cooking and hers, we were killing it.
Even managed to resist my mother-in-law’s mashed potatoes – which are so damn good – when I dropped the kid off the other day.
The Firecracker, however, took some cheat days like for her birthday, where she made herself a cupcake sandwich.
She was very pleased with herself.
Besides, she didn’t have a producer to keep happy.
But everything worked out because I ended up keeping him happy by losing exactly what I wanted to, showing up at the shoot, doing my thing and calling it a day.
Treated myself to a huge steak salad afterward.
We’re close to a million subscribers on our YouTube channel but we’re also having some cool stuff happen over at TikTok as well.
Her: I’m going to take a nap. Me: A NAP?! It’s 6:21PM. How do you fall asleep at night? Her: (shrugging) It’s never a problem. That’s just a nappetizer. Me: Oh my god…
It was the Firecracker’s birthday, recently so tonight, we packed up the kids and headed to that Japanese BBQ place around the hood that we like.
Her sister and niece were available, so they joined us, my kid, and the Firecracker’s kid for dinner.
My producer for Scenic Fights essentially told me that I had to lose some weight, so I stuck to protein, fat, and rum and diet cokes all night.
All-in-all, it wasn’t terrible.
The copious amounts of meat swimming in butter didn’t hurt matters.
The kids were, decidedly, not eating keto as they filled up on dumplings…
…and eggrolls, which were all hits with them.
Seeing as my birthday is only a few weeks away, we got to talking about our (somewhat sizable) age difference, and how our childhoods were kinda similar but also, very different.
Me: Let’s do an experiment. Honey, quote that show you showed me on YouTube and see if she can guess it. Firecracker: She’s gonna know. But ok. (pauses, affects a voice), “I’m so excited!” Sister: (immediately) Oh, that’s Jessie Spano when she ODed on caffeine pills. Me: (shakes head) That’s ridiculous. You two are ridiculous. Sister: You totally missed that era of pop culture, didn’t you? Me: So, it would seem.
The kids were more focused on their screens and the deep fried oreo cookies that we got for them.
Him: This is amazing! Me: I told you you’d like it.
Everyone was stuffed but I legit coulda eaten another 2-3 plates of food.
But, I figured that I’m supposed to be dieting so I called it as we wrapped up.
Afterwards, we decided to walk the mile home just to work off some of what we just ate.
It was a good evening and everyone was happy, which is all you can hope for.
Me: Did you have a good night? Her: Were you there? Me: (laughing) Yup. Her: Then I had a good night.
Her: You got injured?! Again? Me: Yes. But in my defense, I’m getting injured less often…ish.
Was at the gym the other day and this younger fella, whom I’m friendly with, just ripped my arm and almost broke it.
The last time we rolled, I could tell I was frustrating him, so he was intent on winning this round.
That’s the thing; I care a lot less about winning and more about just improving in general, so this was annoying, to say the least.
Afterward, the instructor came by.
Him: Is anything broken? Me: I’m not sure yet. Him: (laughs) That’s the perfect answer. Get some ice on it.
So, I did.
It wasn’t broken but it was super sore and swollen.
It also meant that I had to sit around at home for about a week-and-a-half.
Whenever I can’t go to the gym, I actually have to try and eat well since I gain weight pretty much immediately when I can’t work out.
My Scenic Fights producer even commented the other day:
Him: You’ve been gaining a little weight. Me: Wha?! Cameraman: (shaking head) Logan? You’re outta your mind.
Anywho, as for eating well, I made a slew of roasted spicy chicken hearts the other day.
Someone convinced me to try some years ago and I got used to making them as quick and easy protein snacks.
Honestly, they taste oddly good since they’re pure protein and meat, but I get that it’s an acquired taste.
The Firecracker, for example, is not a fan.
Me: Hey, do you wanna try some of these roasted chicken hearts I made? Her: Baby, the only heart I want you to give me is yours. Me: But these are roasted with lao gan ma.
In any case, soon enough, the below poor food choices will all be mine once again.
As soon as I can move my arm.
Location: planting strawberries with the boys on the windowsill
Mood: ache-y
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Met up with my college buddies the other night for Cappy and Gar’s birthday.
We’ve been getting together every February to celebrate Gar and Cappy’s birthday since…well, since a few years after we graduated college, way back in 1996 or so.
The first time I mentioned us meeting was back in 2007 in this entry.
Back then, everyone didn’t have a camera with them 24/7 and I also wasn’t sure how much of my life I’d be blogging about.
Some 18 years later, I’m obviously blogging a lot more.
This year, we met up at a joint called Sappe downtown.
Despite a massive snowstorm that night, the place was packed…
…the drinks were killer…
…as was the food.
What’s odd was that the single spiciest thing we ate was this strawberry fruit salad.
Think I ate the most, about six strawberries. And then I was done – my mouth was on fire.
This is saying a lot as about half the table was Korean and they’re no strangers to spicy food.
The rest of the food was spicy but not obscenely so.
Well…
Her: will you try it first? It looks good but I can’t handle much spice. Me: Sure! (later) It’s not spicy at all. Her: (takes bite, instant red face) OMG! Are you trying to kill me?? That’s soooooo spicy! Me: What?! There’s no spice to it. (takes another bite and starts to cough) OMG…I just got a pepper. That is so spicy! Her: I told you!
Also, chatted up a fella that was there with a whole crew of people celebrating their friend Eli’s 30th – they all wore the same shirt.
Eli has quality friends.
Afterward, we hit up a bar close to the restaurant…
…but had to bolt a bit early because the snow was seriously coming down.
All-in-all, it was a great night. Saw my friends and hung out with my girl.
The last few days, we just lounged around, and I caught up on alla the eating I missed out on in the first few days.
And then some.
Even ended up having some peanut butter, which I’d not had for five days, probably the longest I’d gone without peanut butter in over a decade.
Waiter: Just peanut butter? Me: Yup. Waiter: (brings over a small tablespoon) Here you go. Me: Thanks! Oh…we’re gonna need a lot more than that.
There was some unpleasantness with the kid, who was probably cranky from lack of sleep – he loved everything about the trip and just refused to nap and also got argumentative at night.
But he still had a grand time and ended up making a buncha friends there.
And I kept catching up on eating.
Although I did also get to see more and more of the ship, since I wasn’t able to see it the first three days or so.
Here’s a cool video I shot from the exterior elevator.
Plus, Firecracker and I also got to sneak in (a tiny bit of) time to ourselves.
Then the next day we were home.
Him: I don’t wanna go. Me: All good things – and bad things – have to come to an end, kiddo. And here we are.
Saw my brother, who was in town, later on that day but that’s a completely different story.
Me: Whoa, I lost close to six pounds on the trip! That’s shocking because of alla the carbs I had the first few days and that I didn’t work out at all. Her: (laughing) It’s not that shocking considering how many times you went the first few days. Me: Yes but…six pounds!
Oh, and it turns out I did shoot the birds on our balcony after all.
Since we were only in Bermuda for a total of six hours, we had a lot more time to tour the ship some more.
I got to check out alla the places I didn’t get to go to the first few days because I was so sick.
A lotta of the things I probably woulda done had I not gotten sick but after that, I really just wanted to lounge around and rest.
Afterwards, the Firecracker enrolled us all in a contest where we go against the officers in trivia – it was called, “Are you smarter than a ship’s officer?”
Turns out, we were.
Won a bottle of champagne to boot!
Later on, we caught a comedy show, which was pretty impressive because (a) it was clean enough to bring the kids and (b) he spent the whole time – hilariously – riffing on the audience.
It was quite impressive.
Most modern cruises have waterslides, if not mini waterparks; well, the MSC Meraviglia had a waterpark that the kids just loved.
I’d been feeling better so I ended up joining them for some of it.
Later on that night was their “white night,” so we dressed in white to support.
Whereas before, I ate essentially what one might consider “normally” – which is I would eat three meals, with an appetizer, main dish, and maybe a dessert.
However, because I was (finally) feeling back to my old self…
…I ate a lot more than that.
A LOT more.
Her: It looks like you’re back. Me: So, it would seem. (reaching over) Are you gonna eat that?
Later on that night, a MASSIVE flock of sparrows crowded on our balcony.
I turned on the lights in my cabin to get a better view and two immediately slammed into the glass wall and hurt themselves (they later flew off) so I shut off the lights.
Was too beat to take a pic so you’ll have to trust me on that.
Didn’t open my door, though, even though I wanted to.
Finally emerged on day three still feeling pretty off but less like death warmed over so I ventured out with everyone to brekkie.
Him: Wow. Me: What? Him: I’ve never seen you eat so little before. And you never eat this much bread. Me: Mommy told me that, when your stomach hurts, you have to eat BRATTY foods, which are Bread, Rice, Applesauce, Tea, Toast, and Yoghurt.
And that, my non-nauseated friends, is a list of alla the foods I’d been eating up to that point.
It’s good that I was feeling better because the Firecracker booked us all a table at teppanyaki for dinner, so we went to that.
The chef we got was a nice guy, and the food was delicious, but he was obviously still in training because he messed up the egg tricks three times.
Still, it was good, and the kids were entertained.
And I, for one, was certainly happy to have something other than bread and carbs.
Afterward, the Firecracker and I separated to do our own things.
Now, a guy was supposed to play the Rolling Stones at a bar that the Firecracker and I hit up earlier.
I didn’t have any tequila, mezcal, or anything beyond soda water so my bar experience was pretty different than it usually is.
The kid was super excited to have a small, private concert.
But there was another band that was playing the Beatles, so we went to that.
The Firecracker was able to join us, so that part was pretty nice.
We also got to dress up all snazzy, like.
The next day, we arrived in Bermuda, but – like I said – there was that new hurricane developing so we were told that we only had from 9AM to 4:45PM to be in Bermuda.
So, we made the most of it and headed to Horseshoe Beach for the pink beaches.
Because the Firecracker and I had been to Bermuda (many times) before, we just hopped the bus to get there.
The last time I was in Bermuda, I was so irritated because I just wanted to remember her, but the idiot driving wouldn’t stop prattling on about nonsense.
It still makes me mad thinking about it.
This time, though, I sat with Alison’s son in the back while the Firecracker sat in another row with her son. So, I finally had my time with my thoughts and our son.
Me: Mommy and I once walked this exact route. Him: Really?! This far!? Me: It wasn’t my smartest idea, but mommy was nice enough to support me.
I won’t bring up Alison again in this because it fucks with my head.
In any case, after a spell, we finally arrived at the beach. The boy was underwhelmed but enjoyed being in the water.
Me? I was in and out of my head a lot for a bit.
But I did get to show the kids where I liked to go on the beach – years ago, I saw a tree growing outta rock there and found it again.
It was doing well and, somehow, that made me feel better.
We didn’t get too much time there but that’s fine.
I was just happy to be able to sit and read for a few minutes. And be in my head for a bit.
We made it back to the ship with hours to spare and stopped by the dockyard for a bit before the kid and chilled out on our balcony and had lunch together.
Since both the Firecracker and I like cruising, we were keeping our eyes out for any last-minute trips that worked with our schedule since we didn’t get a chance to bring the kids anywhere over the summer.
Well, we came across the MSC Meraviglia, which left just from Brooklyn.
Interestingly, it was the very same ship we saw when we were on Governors Island, last.
Unfortunately, all the mezcal from the previous night hit me HARD the next morning.
It turns out that mezcal affects me even worse than tequila and I woke up feeling like death.
And that’s when I started my hourly trips to the bathroom.
Imagine your worst trip to the tiniest room times 16.
And then place at least half of those trips took place in very questionable public bathrooms.
Literally, every hour, on the hour, I had to scramble – heavy with luggage and feeling as weak as water in the rain – to find a bathroom and do my (very gross) duty.
Her: Listen, you gotta rally. They’re not gonna let you on the ship if you look like you’re sick and they won’t believe it’s alcohol poisoning. Me: I’m not unaware. (pause) Annnnnd, I gotta go again.
Somehow, we made it onto the ferry where I tried my level best not to leave my DNA.
I was resolutely unsuccessful, although I did manage to leave it in the proper area within the bathroom.
The boy, however, was completely unfazed and still pretty excited for his second cruise.
Managed to put on a stoic face long enough to make it onto the ship where I entered my room, despite being told it wouldn’t be ready for another three hours.
Attendant: I’m sorry sir, your room isn’t ready yet. Me: Is it possible for you to just clean around me? I just want to nap on the couch. Him: OK, sir.
I was hoping he wasn’t gonna narc and he didn’t.
The Firecracker took care of both kids the first two days as I just stayed in the bed and went to the bathroom.
Again, every hour, on the hour for 48 hours.
She did manage to enjoy herself without me, which I found shocking.
I literally ate nuthin but bread and water those first 48 hours.
Boy: I’ve never seen you eat this many carbs. Me: (eating another roll) This is how papa’s gonna be for a while.
This is pretty much all I ate for the first two days. It was carbtastic!
Well, I did try to have some French onion soup.
That was ill-advised.
Now, I thought that I did a pretty good job hiding how rotten I felt.
Me: (weakly but proudly) I don’t think anyone could tell. Her: (laughing) Are you kidding me? The waiter immediately asked, once you left, “Is your husband feeling ok?” Me: And there I thought I was doing some Oscar quality work. (shaking head) I’m a terrible liar.
The next night, I felt ok enough to hit up a show…
…or two…
…but it was a struggle.
I’ll write more tomorrow but not mention the unpleasantness.
Until then, enjoy the Firecracker almost killing the second performer; prior to this, the kid was the star of the show – the emcee selected him to talk about his trip to the ship and, man, did he have a lot to say – but I didn’t record it because I was laughing so much.
We were supposed to meet up with the Surgeon and his family for some hot pot the other night but that shifted to a party at their pad, which was actually even better since the kids could play.
Wanted to bring something so I asked Pac if he could recommend something to buy at H Mart now that it was in the UWS.
Me: Heading to a dinner party tomorrow and don’t wanna schlepp alla way to Chinatown for Chinese dumplings. Him: Anything from Bibigo is solid.
So, we went and got a bag of beef dumplings and a bag of pork ones.
While the pork was definitely good, the beef was killer and we chowed through a lotta that before the other guests even came.
The Surgeon was mixing drinks all night and said – at the end of the night – that we kicked an entire bottle of mezcal with the four of us (him, his wife, me, and the Firecracker).
I didn’t think that it would affect me the same way as tequila does, but it turns out, it’s much, much, much worse on me than tequila is, which is saying a lot.
More on that in the next entry.
You may wanna skip that one.
In any case, the Surgeon and I popped out so he could pick up some sushi for everyone as well.
When we got back, more people were there, including a student of the Surgeon’s wife, who’s a professor of music and pretty talented in her own right.
Somehow, we got onto the topic of Scenic Fights and he immediately connected that I was the Logan from it.
After we posted the below pic on IG, his friend wrote him and said, “What?! How!?”
…although some dishes were pretty spicy for the Firecracker’s taste.
…plus, because it was our birthday celebration(s), they comped us some jello shots, which were fun.
