There was the acrobat that dangled above the hard floor without a net…
…and then reappeared later to hang off her partner’s neck.
Me: Man, my back hurts just watching that. Him: (laughs)
Oh, speaking of backs, on the walk there, we were all getting drenched, but it was also destroying my back sitting there for a solid hour.
Me: (to the usher) Hey man, I’ve got a crap back. Can I do some squats in the hallway? Him: (laughing) Sure. Sorry to hear about your back. Me: (nodding and starting to do some squats) Yeah, I’m sorry to say it. Getting older stinks but is still better than the alternative.
There was only one animal act (dogs) versus what I remember as kids, but otherwise, it was still a lot of what I remember as a kid.
There were jugglers…
…tightrope walkers…
…aerialists…
…and clowns.
The boys were dying laughing with the clowns.
Walking home was absolutely brutal because the rain plus sitting for two hours destroyed my back.
But it was all worth it because the kids were so jazzed about seeing the circus for the first time.
Me: What did you think? Him: I loved it! Can we go again? Me: Sure, maybe next year? Him: A whole year!?! Me: Hey, I waited 44 years between shows. Him: 44…?! Wow…you’re so old.
It’s been months since it rained here in the big city but the night it began to rain for three days was the same night that I brought the kid out to his first circus.
You can see the very top of the big top in the center.
I remember my first circus – this is me with my brother and his friend.
I think I’m about seven in this – and just starting to get chunky.
I’d won four tix to the Big Apple Circus at Lincoln Center with absolutely killer seats.
The thing about the BAC is that they played in two places growing up – just a few blocks from my parents home in Queens and the literally across the street from my law school.
I remember for years walking past these signs on the way to or from Law School and thinking: Maybe someday I’ll check it out.
And last week was that day.
Unfortunately, the Firecracker and her kid couldn’t make it, so we invited one of the kid’s classmates.
To say that they loved it is an understatement.
Pretty much the whole night:
Him: WOW! How did they…? Friend: DID YOU SEE THAT?!
The last time I was in the circus was 1980 – 44 years ago (!!).
Back then, this was my absolute favourite act – although in the version I saw the guys rode a motorcycle in it!
And the acts were pretty much all amazing, like this contortionist…
…and these guys who were doing some pretty intense flying moves.
But this entry’s getting super long so I’ll continue this in the next one?
We were originally all going to see some other relatives before we saw her for dinner.
So, I rented a car since it was the four of us: Me, the kid, the Firecracker, and her kid.
But, at the last minute, my other relatives cancelled, and it was too late to cancel the car.
Since we had it, we just went on a little car-ride to Ikea out in Long Island where the kid had their Swedish meatballs and I got (another) planter, this time for a lemon tree that Bryson got me.
The Meyer Lemon tree that Bryson gave me. He insists that I can grow lemons at home; the jokes on him because I am incredibly bad at getting plants to produce flowers or fruit.
Afterward, we drove back and I picked up dinner for everyone – it wasn’t a lot because most of us were full, including my sis and her kids.
It was still good, though.
Anywho, my mom’s getting older but still working because her job gives her joy.
I envy her, in many ways; she found purpose in her life that inspires her and keeps her active, both mentally and physically.
Feel lucky that she’s still around and gets to see the boy grow up.
This year will be the first year that we’re doing Thanksgiving at my place – the first time in close to 30 years of my being here (!)
So, I’ve been practicing making Parthian Chicken, which is a 1,500 year-old recipe that I got from a YouTube Channel I like called Tasting History.
It’s unlike any other chicken dish I’ve ever had because it has this spice called Asafoetida (“hing” in Indian groceries) and…well, it absolutely stinks.
As does the garum/fish sauce that is used to season it.
But the taste is just killer, and the smell essentially transforms into this really lovely thing after an hour of baking.
The Firecracker and I love it; her kid likes it, and my kid is less than thrilled.
Still, I think that it’ll be a nice change up from the usual Turkey and stuffing.
I’ll let you know how it goes.
Location: standing in front of my desk because my back is absolutely killing me
Mood: guess
Music: Say you’ll be there, when I need you (Spotify) Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
I’d just settled down in front of my computer after being busy with nonsense all morning to actually get some work done when a tenant franticly called me.
She had water dripping down from her ceiling at a fairly fast clip so I ran upstairs to see what the matter was.
We needed to get into the apartment above her, but I had the keys to that. Or so I thought. It turns out that the owner either changed one of the locks or keys and I only had one of the three locks on the door.
The start of the damage above the initial apartment. It got *much* worse – see the video below.
The unit owner was in Asia though and it was 3AM there. But this was an emergency.
Her: What do you mean, you don’t have the key? Me: I feel that that’s fairly self-evident. I don’t have the keys. Her: I gave you them. I rely on you to keep them for me. Me: Yes, and I have the keys you gave me. They don’t work on the lock. Again, I don’t have the keys to your unit.
After a lotta back-and-forth, finally ran out to get a locksmith who got us in some two hours later.
But that was just getting into the apartment above.
The next step was getting a plumber in post 5PM and the same day.
That was another adventure, and he finally got to us after 7PM.
I’d already shut off water to the building but, by that time, a ton of water had already pooled.
The plumber found out that, just like my own kitchen sink, the pipe had snapped off in the unit two floors above the initial apartment.
The unit sandwiched between the two units – the unit right above the initial unit which I couldn’t gain entry to – was absolutely wrecked.
Spoke to the owner – still in Asia – who was grateful that I got to it when I did.
Still, I feel that, once she gets back, she’ll be unprepared for the amount of work that the unit will need to get clean and safe again.
As for me, I finally got to sit down and get to my own work the next day.
I could use a lot less excitement in my life, TBH.
Just a tiny bit of the damage that the broken pipe wrought.
I’d been reading about shootings in the area on the upswing and I just didn’t feel comfortable with Nate running around outside; especially since, in the past, there were times I felt penned in in some streets and the last thing I wanted at that time was some violence.
It turns out that I was right, because my sister wrote me to tell me that a McDonalds – which my kid and I’ve been to easily 2-3 dozen times – had a shootout just an hour after when we were supposed to start trick or treating.
So, while the Firecracker and her kid went trick-or-treating out and about, I only let the kid do it in the large apartment complex next door.
On the positive side, though, it’s nice that he and I have so many friends in the neighborhood that we have the opportunity to do things like that.
It stinks that kids can’t just be kids these days.
Like all parents, I try to shield him from what I can but it’s a losing battle.
Still, he’s such a resilient little kid, I’m hoping it’ll be ok, somehow.
Speaking of the law, I don’t often talk about the law (or martial arts) in this blog because it’s always supposed to be a personal blog, about my personal life.
But I’m always surprised how much my professional life/lives bleed into my personal one.
Case in point, the kid was punished for something he said he didn’t do.
So, I took time outta my day, gathered evidence, witnesses, etc, and appeared before the person accusing the kid of wrongdoing.
The issue happened at his school, not the gym, but I liked this shot of him doing his thing.
Was able to prove that he didn’t do what they accused him of, and he got an apology from an adult.
Him: But, Mr. Lo, I want to talk about your behaviour. Me: (laughing) Wait, my behaviour? Him: Yes. We had people there that said you were belligerent and abusive to my staff. Me: Oh my! Well, good thing I have a recording of the entire episode – which I brought with me today. Here you go (hand him my phone). Him: (takes my phone and then watches it) You recorded it?! Me: (nodding) As you can see, I neither raised my voice a single time, nor did I attack your staff personally in any way with ad hominem attacks. I just told them they made a bad call, which we both agree is the truth. Him: (after watching half) OK, I’ve seen enough. I’m glad you recorded it. Me: Me too. I’ll send a copy to your email for your records.
And I did.
It always pays to be prepared, IMHO.
Unfortunately, you can’t prepare for everything.
OK, so one thing I read about my garbage disposal was to not put in very fibrous things – like woody stems and the like.
The other day, I had this HUUUUGE grapefruit and, without thinking, stuffed all the rinds and the interior skins down the disposal.
Ten minutes later, water came pouring outta my dishwasher.
Four days, one $80 brass elbow, one tube of plumber’s putty, two snakes, two bottles of drano, two general contractors, a professional plumber, and $1,100 later, I have a working sink again.
That was the most expensive goddamn grapefruit I’ve ever had in my life.
I will say, though, that one good thing came out of this whole adventure, which is that the above is the pipe that leads into my wall.
You can see that it was so old – at least 40 years old – that the threads completely rusted off.
The plumber said it was wholly unrelated to the reason why he was there but that it was gonna snap off in the next year, what with alla the vibrations from the garbage disposal.
So, it was good he was there to catch it.
Oh, I bought a dashboard cam to record things as well.
Like I said, it pays to be prepared.
The people that shot the above video would agree with me, I think.
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.
Her: The artichokes were good. But they’re just too much work. Me: They’re the crayfish of the vegetable world.
It’s been quiet around here for a change. Most exciting thing was that I made the Firecracker artichokes for the first time.
Did get stuck in the rain the other day though.
It wasn’t that bad.
After all, there’s no such thing as inclement weather, only poor clothing choices.
Location: bed, waiting for the sandman
Mood: sleepy
Music:Â no music, just the rain Subscribe! Like this post? Tell someone about it by clicking a button below.
The kids were away and, like I said, I’ve been hankering for Chinese, Japanese, and Greek food lately.
Me: We may end up going to Big Wong. I’ll figure it out once I get there. Her: Soup dumplings are always a good idea Me: (in Chinatown) There’s zero line at Nom Wah!
For those of you not from NYC, Nom Wah Tea Parlor is one of the very first Chinese dim sum restaurants in America, opened in 1920.
The children of the last generation of owners decided to update the marketing to include social media but not update much else and it’s worked; there are tons of videos about it like this one from Bon Appetit:
Or this one from Munchies:
Or this one from PBS:
Alla this attention means that there’s always a line going around the block.
I’ve been in this little town for 45 years and I’ve never gone in, actually.
But the other day we lucked out and there was zero line and we got superstar seating.
Her: This is what happens when you eat like an old man at 5:30PM. Me: But…no line!
We were both starving so we ordered a ton of food…
…really, so much food.
We managed to eat almost everything – so good.
Afterward, we had some wine and beer that we slowly enjoyed while chatting when a waiter came up to us and said that there were lots of people waiting; sure enough, there was a long line that went to the neighboring street.
So, we left and, because the kids were away, we headed to a speakeasy that was hidden behind a coke machine called The Basement.
Since it was still early, we easily got a seat…
…and ordered some drinks, which were excellent but…
…she was mainly interested in the kettle corn they gave us.
Her: Ask for more. Me: Me? Why don’t you ask for more? Her: Oh, I will.
She’s wasn’t lying.
Her: Do you wanna play some beer pong? Me: I’m beat, I just wanna sit. Her: You’re no fun. Me: Accurate.
Her: We’ll be home and in bed by 10PM. Me: I know. It’s glorious.
