running...over coming fears

I just want to start by saying since I started running again, and according to the NikePlus site (which records all my running activities,) I have run 105.52 miles, now for someone who is 200lbs, that I mean is a lot, maybe not some small skinny little thing, but i admit my frame is neither small nor thin. I would qualify in most long races as a "Clydesdale," seriously...that makes me feel great about my weight, you are equated to a giant horse that pulls beer trucks around, whatever. So my upcoming race is looming in my mind and I hate, hate, HATE treadmills, so I refuse to run on one...period, end of story! It has been raining weather crappy, and me in a foul mood, I don't want to run either, but I will finish, oh yes, I will finish. Here is today's time for my run...it is always in mile 7, 8 and beyond I slow down, I know there are services during those miles, so hopefully that will help.




So my second reason for posting is because well, I am admittedly not fond of heights. So when the opportunity to walk the Brooklyn Bridge rears its ugly head at me, I refuse. I did it once and was on the verge of panic needing an Adivan after. I'm telling you, wooden walk way, bikes, tourists, cars zooming under you...not fun at all! So today I did an appointment on the Brooklyn side of the bridge and said myself...SELF! do it...walk the bridge...and I did it gritting my teeth the whole way, trying not to look down, of course I did, and survived. That's all, my story, all written down so you don't have to write it!

HACKED!!!

So for all the readers out there, if you happen to know me and my bad grammar you know it is some what bad, BUT if I were to send out kind of an S.O.S. message from a old email address I would probably a) let people know I was going on some kind of trip (such as Africa, news like that travels fast) b) post something of the sort with updates on facebook c) I would capitalize my freakin I's. SERIOUSLY PEOPLE! I have never work on AIDS/Malaria research of any sort...and probably never will...well I won't say never. I would also put the name of the hotel in the email. Because if I was at the "city library" I doubt I would have all day to wait for emails and then return emails. So far the culprit has not emailed me back, my email went something like, "You don't know ho you are messing with jackass, none of my friends and family are dumb enough to send you money, the police have been notified..." really the police will do nothing...but oh well empty threats but my friends and family have been notified. Here is the letter...jackass.

Hello Dear,
I know this message will come to you as a surprise since i did not inform you of my trip to Africa for an International Seminar on "The devastating effect of poverty,H.I.V/Aids,Malaria on sub-saharan Africa" This is an extended programme taking palce in three major English Speaking west African countries of Ghana,nigeria,and The Gambia.I thought i could use this time out to see what Africa looks like.Hey its been a horrible experience.
It's been a very sad and difficult moment for me out here as iam stranded as a result of the loss
my little bag containing my money and some important travelling documents. I actually forgot it in a taxi i boarded from the airport in Lagos back to my hotel.Efforts to retrieve the bag has been unsuccessful.The problem now is that iam so distressed iam unable to pay up my hotel bills.This has been so embarrassing as the hotel staff threaten to seize my luggage and handing me over to the Hotel management.
I have never been this embarrassed in my whole life as iam so stranded that i find it difficult to feed since i do not know where to go for help.
This place is kinda hell!!.Please help me with some money ,i will pay back to you as soon as iam back.I need $800 to pay up the hotel bills and at least $500 to sort out other minor problems.I will want you to send me a total of $1,300 which i shall pay back to you immediately i arrive home safely.
Please try and understand how urgent i need your help.I am sending you this e-mail from the city Library because i do not have access to a telephone here. I will appreciate what so ever you can afford to send me for now and I promise to pay back your money as soon as am back home.
You can send the money through Western union money transfer or MoneyGram to the Hotel manager whose details i shall send to you as soon as i hear from you.
Iam counting on your urgent assistance.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Thanks,
andy



Every I write better then this, and those of you who have corrected any of my writing know that. Also I capitalize I's and correctly space between sentences. Also all the spelling mistakes I would pick up on spell check...jackass.

when I grow up?

Today folks I thought I would take a trip down memory lane, mostly because the books I have been reading of late have been "easy" reads for me and well I finished them in a day or so. The other thing is I have been thinking about how I am almost completely different then I was when I was a weird-o pre-teen/teenager and how the education that kids get now is almost different then when I was a kid...kind of academic sounding huh?

I started to write this big rant about how I hated school mostly English, writing, Science and Math, which leaves me with Social Studies, Music, Gym, and those electives we had to take, but then I erased it all. I just was thinking how when I am FORCED to read something, I don't want to, and it is uninteresting and blah blah blah, but when I am generally interested in something and it flows and kind of follows my thinking pattern. I like it. Just as an example in the last few months these are the books I have read:

Salt
Cod
Schyuler's Monster
Various Issues of National Geographic
The New Yorker

On the outside people would say huh pretty non-fictionish selection of reading material and I would say yes, it is. I would also say that they are interesting reads. I picked up Salt on a recommendation from my newest Brother-in-Law Ansgar, he is intellectual and well read, MBA from MIT, sailor, cool, and German. Plus I hadn't read anything in awhile, I picked it up and read maybe 100 pages the first day and after that I almost missed stops on the subway because I was so into it. I mean yes, honestly it is about what the title is: Salt...but come on do you know all about salt??? Well Cod is written by the same author, so I thought I would give it a go...finished it in 2 days, and again, it is about just what you think...the fish. So the third on the list is about a father and his quest to be a good father and his daughter who he is discovering can not talk. His struggle with becoming a father of a "word-less" child and so on. I finished it in one day albiet I did have two flights today and I just stayed up for 3 hours finishing it and I have been following his blog, but it was a good read. When I read with fervor I just feel like I am my father's son. I remember growing up and he would spend hours upon houses devouring the latest John Grisham novel or Stephan King book. He would also read them in like a day. I enjoy read when I am interested, when it's forced, it sucks...nuff said, but just to beat a dead horse here is my list of the novels I can remember being forced to read...and hating every word I did or didn't finish:

Moby Dick
William Shakespeare...honestly nothing stuck out to me
Chaucer...hearing my 12th grade english teacher recite them in Old English...
Frankenstein...apparently I didn't "get it"
I am the cheese
Clan Of the Cave Bear
really anything I had to read in High School...sorry I didn't enjoy reading them, I have tried again and again, but to just sit down and read one of those books...makes me want to sleep...

Although the ones I did enjoy:

1984
Animal Farm
The Time Machine
Walden
The Client
Jurassic Park
The Sphere
Andromeda Strain
lots of historical books I found for 5 dollars or less
and others.

Point being... don't like to be forced to read books...but I still like to read, so why force kids to read certain books? Go ahead cut me down...but do you find relevance in Moby Dick in your life or was it time you could have spent reading a different book you were more into?

Bunchgasm...Bloodymarys and Meat-Cupcakes

So a while ago Orion and I had this idea to one day make a Meatcake. The only draw back of said meatcake was that it was A LOT of meat and didn't make some economic sense and blah blah blah. I mean the idea had been brewing for a few years now. So finally Orion's birthday comes, I call him up and say, okay what are you going to make or get for your birthday brunch? He rambled off a bunch of ideas and Meatcake was one. After the call I called him back and said...NO Meatcake...MEAT CUPCAKES!!! I have a cake decorating set, then everyone can have one or so, less waste...etc. So Orion came over and we did preparations for the Meatcakes, they also included making bloodymarys, since I have been craving one and haven't had a good one in a while. So what you will get next is the steps of the "Day Before" brunch preparations...ending in a Brunchgasm!

BLOODYMARY

1. First off I gathered all the ingredients, you can see the picture as to the ingredients I use, but I must say Absolut Peppar delicious, some say Absolut Citron, but no...Peppar...delish!


2.Alright you all know, ice goes into the pitcher first...keep it cold people!


3. I use V8, and this time I happen to buy Low Sodium, gotta watch that sodium intake right? I also like using Spicy V8, it gives it something different and some more veggies!


4.Horseradish, key ingredient, I just eye ball it, but seriously, I think I have used to many commas here, yah think?


5. Frank's Hot sauce, just a little, but I like mine a little on the spicy side, I didn't add a lot, eye ball it!


6. The worcestershire sauce, adds that something special, yum!


5. *no picture* add Vodka Absolut Peppar, delicious, gives the little kick of spicy and you know, you need vodka for these. I think between two pitchers I used 3/4 of a bottle of vodka. they were good!

6. Add a celery stalk and enjoy!



Alrighty, so we were enjoying the Bloodymarys when we made these Meat cupcakes, BUT we did buy all the ingredients FIRST, and then we enjoyed the drinks. I had also made a list so we didn't go off and just start adding ingredients into the shopping cart, I suggest that because if I didn't have the list I am sure Orion's pressure of adding ridiculous ingredients.

So here is the recipe for a Brunchgasm...Meat Cupcakes!

Meat Cup Cakes:
3lbs Turkey
2 eggs
Bacon
Onion Soup mix
chopped celery
Dash of Worcershire Sauce
Gorganzola Cheese
Bread crumbs (I used GF ones)

"Frosting"
Instant Mashed Potatoes (we used garlic and butter flavored)
Butter
Milk
Water
(optional) Food Coloring...come on you need to decorate

Other kitchen tools I used:
frosting bag and tip
cupcake paper
cupcake tins
cookie sheet

Other prep notes:
Preheat the oven for 425
put the cupcake pans on the cookie sheet...the grease will get all over the place.
Cool the potatoes and cake before frosting, just like a cake. Alright here are the instructions.
MEAT CUPCAKES:

1. Again, gather the ingredients first, there is tomato sauce, but my meatloaf was to wet, so I chopped up some Gluten-Free Bread and made breadcrumbs...









2. Chop the celery, you need your veggies don't you? of course you get some vitamins here.











3. Next add the meat, just put it in there, use your hands, go ahead get in there...hmm meat.











4. Add the eggs, I used the 2, probably could have used one, but whatever, helps keep things together!






5. Here is a trick my mommy always did, I am sure it's nothing special and I am sure it's one of those "everyone knows about" things, but I loved my mommy's meatloaf as a kid, so I use her ingredients...Onion Soup Mix...there is spices, and dried onions, and MSG...I know...horrible.










6. Worcestershire Sauce, it adds that special something no?









7. MIX IT UP, with clean hands (of course) mix up the meat and get everything all together, its a party in the bowl and everyone is invited.











8. Twas a little wet, so I added the breadcrumbs, it was like 3 slices of GF bread which makes great bread crumbs since its crumbly to start with. I think it was like 1/2 cup or so...eye ball it until the mixture is a little more dry.











9. The meat mixture...delish!











10. Line those cupcake tins with the bacon, sounds gross, but trust me in the end you WILL be happy...it's drool worthly!











11. Spoon the mixture into the bacon cups, you know they look a little like big meatballs wrapped in bacon, add as much or as little as you want, I make mine like cupcakes, duh.











12. IMPORTANT STEP!!! Make a little hole in each meat cake...and add the key ingredient here (this is a-la Rachel Ray) a little (or big) piece of Gorgonzola Cheese, it adds something YUM!











13. Put em in the oven, remember we preheated the oven for about 425, you gotta put them on a baking sheet, less mess, trust me. Bake them for about 20-25 min, check the internal temp with a meat thermometer (or you can just tell)











14. Transfer to a plate to let them cool, put them in the little cupcake papers, refrigerate to cool.










15. While the meat is cooking, make the mashed potatoes...the directions are on the box. You do need it a little more "frosting" texture, that's why I used the instant mashers.








16. You need to now put all the mashers into the pastry bags. Here I painted some of the potatoes different colors. Orion wanted Green, Blue and Pink.









17. This is the colors we chose...really pink is hard to make...and ours came out this gross color.









18. I put green down on the meat first, then we decorated with the other colors.









19. I started with that fabulous pink I made...it was horrible. I put blue on top of this...








20. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ENJOY!!!!












So this was a great day, I mean fantastic meat, great bloodymarys, good company. Over all it was a great day. Today we ate the meat cupcakes, cheetos, various flavors of pringles and nuts. I must say, delicious day overall, good thing Orion had a birthday!

living tourists hosting tourists, the best

So to explain the title, I sometimes still feel like a tourist in NYC, even though I pay the stupid taxes to the state and city, and stimulate the NYC economy and have for the past two years (yah that worked out great for me at Tax time 2007...3 months and I was paying income tax.) I really have only lived here what live 18 months or so? Anyway we live in the Bronx which unto itself is a whole different world the Manhattan. Each borough is its own world though. This could be a little retrospective of my last 18 months, maybe not, but sort of. I love the way I write but it's not as appreciated as I would like it to be but whatever. So here we go. I have lived here for the last 18 months and am in my second job in the city. The first one was good, and I met a lot of really interesting people, and learned a lot new things. I also got to explore parts of Brooklyn even my cousin who has lived in the city for a while hasn't even explored. So I got to work in Midwood? East Flatbush? Who knows, no one I even worked with really knew. It was even in a part of Brooklyn that had some lettered streets (but no Ave Q...honestly, O, P, R, S...etc...no Q) I guess Ave Q belongs on Broadway...Har Har Har. Alrighty so I goto go explore those parts of Brooklyn, but now with my new job I get to explore even more...most Jersey, but still I get to see lots of area I probably wouldn't normally want to see, and meet people I would not have met before.
Alright so I like the area, its great and as you may have noticed in the past posts I have stated my feelings about NYC and living here. I like the area, I like the fact that I have almost everything at my fingertips, but you know, even though I have some of my favorite people I see on a weekly basis, it is still a very lonely city. I know people will disagree with that statement and I suppose some will say I haven't lived here long enough to judge it, but oh well. I think a big part of it is that I am from such a close knit community and coming into a city that is established with established close knits groups, it's hard...this is how the immigrants feel huh? Except they have each other and find each other and make groups, enough of that...that is a whole other post. So I guess I should get to the point of the blog. The point I am making was the fact you live in the city and I have friends who don't and want to come visit (I now know how my friends felt when I visited,) but you know I like entertaining and I like seeing people I haven't seen in a while. It's nice to play tour guide. In fact when I play tour guide I get to see sites I haven't yet seen. For example, Beth and Crazy Susan (lovingly called of course) came down for a few days to the big ole apple and we explored the Finacial District, Greenwich Village, and the UWS. These are neighboorhood...I honestly probably wouldn't really go to, but I did and they were cool. I mean we had drink in the financial district, brunch in Greenwich Village, got Tattooed, went to an outdoor market, had breakfast in the UWS. It was a VERY fun weekend. I am glad I get to play tour guide for my friends. I am also glad I get a break from playing tour guide this weekend. A well deserved weekend of no plans before traveling for work, stayed tuned a blog about Minneapolis, my first attempt at a half marathon, and the joys of house hunting are in the works.

...only in dreams...

So this is a new post, on a few dreams I have been having lately. Jeremy and I have been looking at houses...well we physically saw 11 houses together, I saw three other houses also. You know get an idea of whats in our price and where we are looking. Anyways so I have also thought my dreams mean something and if I have a particularly vivid one I will look up on-line (since the internet is the end all be-all...sarcasm really) about what some of my dreams mean and then I put them together. The other weird thing is that years ago when I was working for Americorps I had this boss Sandy who was big into interpreting dreams and stuff like that and I would ask her, and they seemed to always come true and be real. Plus I think I am a little psychic...maybe...who knows. Who knows anything anymore. Here is the dream:
I am shopping or something in a mall (the details of what I was doing previous to the important events are fuzzy) and I go out to my car, turn it on and start to drive away until I realize I forgot something or something causes me to Perpendicularly park my car get out and walk away from my car only to have this older woman go to my car and drive off in it (of course I left it running). So I go to the online internet and search what these things mean and here is what I came out with:

Car:Cars are symbols of the real life conscious world. They are symbols of how you are progressing towards your goals. So think about the practical ways in which you have been moving towards your goals. Is the dream making some point about how well or how badly you are progressing. Are you heading in the right direction. A car at a standstill could suggest that you are taking a pause or that you have come up against some delay.

STEALING : Stealing links to issues of self respect, prestige and recognition. It can also link to moments when you feel taken advantage of or when someone has not shown proper respect for your property. If you are robbed then it may link to a real feeling of resentment that you have missed out on some opportunity.

WOMAN : Unknown men in dreams are usually quite easy to deal with. Unknown women are less clear symbols. They are often quite difficult symbols to work out. Women tend to be more associated with our emotions. They may show you have been assessing your feelings on something. Women often link to behavior which women are more noted for. Women are better communicators and negotiators in life. They are also more contented and may link to your general happiness and contentment.

Well so here is where the weird part comes in and it comes back to the house hunting. So one of the houses we were looking at struck a chord with us and we were planning on looking at it a second time. Notice I wrote PLANNING. Well so I hear from my Realtor because we are going to see houses on Saturday with Jeremy's parents and he tells me the house I want to see again...IS IN ATTORNEY REVIEW!! I realize there is a chance it will fall through BUT STILL, I WANTED IT!

so I take it a couple ways...we have been talking a and expressing our feelings toward buying houses lately so, that could be one thing, but then again...I think it was just foreshadowing the fact the fact that someone is now in attorney review of this house...but then again maybe it wasn't meant to be. OR (and I like this one best) the attorney review falls through its back on the market and we get it! Oh well, he has some more houses for us to see...we'll see on saturday!

Lovely Lady Liberty with her book of recipes...

So here it is, my first visit to the place where lots of people have visited...and I haven't. Jeremy's uncle and cousin came down to the city for a visit from Western Mass. I love playing tour guide especially to places I haven't visited, kind of a good excuse to go to those places I normally wouldn't go by myself or with Jeremy. So we investigated online about going to see the Lovely Lady and found they only allow about 2000 visitors a day up the monument, so we reserved. the other thing is the actual statue is free, its getting there that is the price. So for 12 bucks we boarded the ferry to the statue and set sail...well not sail, but whatever. We boarded the ship around 12:30 after going through security checkpoints like we were going through the airport...step one. The ferry went through New York Harbor to the statue and we landed on Liberty Island, pretty cool, step 2. Next we went to find the next part of the journey which was going to the statue, step 3...more security. This time it took a little longer, and we got checked for explosives. While in line something occurred, and I must say it was kind of humorous. You know when you are in line waiting and there are signs that say you must have your tickets out blah blah blah. Well at the statue as I said they only allow a certain number of people up the statue and it usually fills up fast. So all these people are waiting to go up and the security guards are like "LOOK AT YOUR TICKET....IF IT SAYS...NO MONUMENT ACCESS...THAT MEANS...NO MONUMENT ACCESS, PLEASE LEAVE THE LINE." Then it happened a disgruntled Asian tourist said the famous words, "What do you mean??" and the conversation went something like this:
Guard: G
Asian Tourist: A
Other Tourist: O

G: If your ticket says no monument access, you can't go up.
A: What do you mean?
O: If we can't go up then why sell the tickets?
A: What do you mean?
G: There are only 2000 people allowed up to the statue a day.
A: So I can't go up?
G: Does your ticket say "no monument access?"
A: Why don't you tell people this?
O: Why don't they tell people this when they buy the tickets?
G: Go to the website and reserve your tickets next time.
A: I came from around the world for this
G: Go online and come back another day

Eventually people looked at their tickets, and the rejected "no monument access" ticket holders got out of line holding their heads in shame. It just reminded me of that old Phone commercial...You should have called first. Oh well, we got in. So we waited in the line until we got into the tent...more waiting. We waited in line like the good citizens of America, apparently though there is an express line so people like Charlie Crist, his family and his gun toting security guard could jump line and go in front of everyone, I am sure they had to get tickets JUST like everyone else...RIIIGHT. So we went through the cattle pen until finally we went into the next room. Oh whats this? More security, like the security coming onto the boat wasn't enough. This time we went through those machines that detect explosives, they blow puffs of air all over your body...kinda weird, and I am SURE the metal detectors would have done there jobs the first time and detected...okay enough security, we got to the statue. It was neat,

there were lots of cool things, like a scale model of her face and foot made of copper in the same fashion as she was, then this picture was one of the torches, maybe the one right before the current one? I forget. So we climbed the stairs to the bottom of the actual statue. You can't go the statue anymore, which would have been neat but oh well, maybe soon, I heard they want to reopen the upper part.
So we left the lovely lady and returned to waiting in line for the next ferry. I have been getting a kick out of lines, and people who don't understand that when someone says keep walking forward...big steps, go faster, you're holding the line up, etc...that's what it means. There was a guy standing in front of me getting on the ferry and everyone around me and myself were following the instructions that I previously said, but this one guy? NO he needed to turn around and talk to the person a few people behind me...and the guy with the bullhorn? He did not like this and was shouting at him, I started pushing him, and he didn't like that, but I think it got the point across, although I did hear someone say "he didn't understand you," I think pushing and shoving is pretty universal.



Top of the Rock


I believe I had posted about our trip to the Empire State Building. So we went to the Top of the Rock, again at night. I must say night time is a good time to go. No lines, and I love lines...har har. SO night time, top of the rock, awesome views, it was great. The coolest thing about the top of the rock was this room that was



this interactive room. The cameras watched you and mapped your movements, pretty trippy. The lights moved it was cool. Worth the ten dollar firefighter admission Jeremy's Uncle paid for us. THANKS UNCLE MATT! It was a fun time overall. Lots of NYC, lots of touristy stuff!