The Man.

So Sean and I are at the Apple Store in Soho, Sean has an appointment to try and get his iPhone fixed. We head over the area where those things happen, and wait to check in with the awesomely hot little Asian girl in the orange shirt.

There is a group of people in front of us. These people have not really formed a line, just a small group, each waiting for their turn, at least Sean and I were. As more people started to come up it was clear they were trying to go next, regardless of the people who were there first(Sean and I). One girl gets away with it, and then this punk kid who was probably the most important 14 year old at his high school steps in front of us. The girl in the Orange shirt is still helping the last girl who jumped in before us, and when she finishes this punk kid goes to speak up, but is cut off by this older guy standing next to him who pointed out that it was Sean and I's turn, and he needed to wait. We thanked this man, and I think even thanked the kid for waiting his damn turn, and we checked in.

After we discussed that the older guy was probably pretty cool, we assumed he was the punk kids father, and new his son was a punk kid. Come to find out that that is not true, we saw the punk kid with what turned out to be his punk father, and the older cool guy sitting down with his wife, probably waiting his turn. Earlier he was not teaching his son common decency, he was just being awesome. That's when we knew he was the man.

Don't believe the hype!

I go home tomorrow, New York City calls my name. Just in time to leave Maine I have come down with sickness. My cough tears my throat apart with every breath, my phlegm marches from my lungs like an angry militia; my nose has become nothing more than a decoration on my face, as it no longer works as an instrument of breathing. I fight back with Halls Mentho-Lyptus Fast Relief cough drops, tea with lots of honey, a fireplace, and nothing to do.

Regarding the title of this blog, I have come across a few things lately that I expected to like very much, and didn't. Currently I am reading World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War. I wanted to love this book, I've heard so much praise. Too much praise. I wont go into too many details, as most of my readers (Sean and Jessica) have already discussed this with me. But in short, I do and don't like it, I just dislike more than I do like.

Also on the chopping block recently is Tropic Thunder. I, once again, really wanted to love this. I have heard great things, everyone I talk to loves it, and the previews looked hilarious. Previews often do look funny, showing the funniest parts of the movie in 30 seconds, leaving little else to be found when the whole movie comes to town. I was prepared for this, but honestly, I thought even the funny parts of the previews, put back in their rightful place of the whole movie, were much less funny. It kind of came around at the end, and there were a few funny parts that almost made it worth it(Tom Cruise), but it took a lot for me to even finish this movie. I immediately talked to my sister about it, who had heard nothing about it, and she loved it.

I think I need to just stop listening when people start talking about things they like/don't like. Or I just need to stop being the last person of the face of the earth to read/view something cool.

I just watched Forgetting Sarah Marshal, and all I'd heard about it was, "I thought it was really funny, but that might have been all the pot I smoked." So I had little to no expectations, and I thought that movie was great! I even liked Mila Kunis more than Kristen Bell, and I never saw that coming.

Also, I've been watching some movies that I love lately. Kill Bill Vol. II, and Pulp Fiction. I only watched Vol. II, because well, I don't know, I just didn't feel like watching Vol. I. I might now though. Anyway. Two great Tarantino movies, but what I really want to talk about is how fantastic Uma Thurman is. The whole scene in the 50's restaurant in Pulp Fiction is fantastic. The back forth between Mia and Vincent is incredible, they don't talk about anything, but it's so interesting. And then the dance is just, well fuck, it's just damn cool. Right now I'm just a huge Uma Thurman fan.

Trapped on a mountain in Maine.

Home sweet home. I'm not actually trapped, at least not until tomorrow(Wednesday) when the planned day of my departure will be hit with about 9-15 inches of snow. This is no real bother to me, I have readjusted to life, or the lack there of, in Maine rather nicely. (I also got suspended from work for losing a shopping bag that belonged to a guest, so the time I had asked for off, and was denied, I got off anyway. SWEET)

I'm sitting next to a fire right now, watching TV, writing, just waiting to pick my book back up for some more reading. I have done a lot of this over the past few days. You might be able to tell, I have a new liking for the act of doing nothing(at least for the time I'm home).

Here are some other things that have fallen back into my daily routine:

Driving- I don't miss it. I drive often enough in New York, even if it is just back and forth from the garage to work. But there is something to be said about not waiting for a train, or not paying someone to drive me somewhere.

Cold- This relates directly to driving. It is also cold in New York, but it just doesn't hit you the same way. I don't miss it being so cold that your car simply just will not start, at least not right away, but I've gotten used to it.

Coffee- Coffee never left my lifestyle, but it's never been anything like it is in Maine. My old coffee shop still serves some of the best coffee I've ever tasted. It may be that it's locally roasted right down the street, it may be that I used to work there, it maybe be nothing at all, but I can still sit in there for hours and just drink coffee until I pass out.

Friends(most of whom are away at school)- There is not much to do in Maine, so I have seen very few people. I went out once with my friend Amber, and saw my friend Mike once. But going along with coffee, most of my interactions with old friends have been with the people I worked with. I've seen some people I haven't seen in almost a year and a half, and it was truly great to see them. And I got free coffee.

Family- It has been great to see the family again. My parents are as great, and as parent-like as ever. It has been great to spend some time catching up with my sister, and it's of course always wonderful to see my niece, Rowan.

Food- I'm a fairly good cook, with what I have to work with(my oven lacks a rack, and is therefore not very useful). But my father is really something else in the kitchen. I really didn't have any issue with the home cooked gourmet meals prepared for me every night. There are always leftovers, which leads to what my father calls "grazing," which is me waking up and basically snacking all day until dinner it ready that night.

Once the storm comes and goes I will return to New York, and I will love it as I always have. It has, however, been great to come home and slow my life down a little bit. Things like this make me thankful for my recession based work schedule. Oh, and getting suspended.

Hydration

I think it started with some late night, maybe early morning, drunken talks about milkshakes and eggs. It was around the time Jen made an omelet, and would not share it with anyone(I stole a few bites during some distraction). There was hot sauce involved. With the eggs, not the distraction. But anyway, somewhere in all this, it was decided that we should all go to breakfast the next morning.

When that morning came around, that afternoon(far too early), we got up and soldiered on down the street for some breakfast. Being that it was at least 1:30, and I was no longer interested in an omelet, I got a BLT. The food, however, is not really important. At first we started with drinks. I order coffee, a glass of orange juice, and a glass of water. I mean business. Food comes and my friend and I remember that this all started with the idea of milkshakes. Waiter comes back around, we order milkshakes. At this point I barely have room on the table for my food, as most of my space is taken up by my drinks.

What I love about diners is the coffee, it's not great, but you know exactly what you're getting. Diner coffee is like gas station coffee, it all tastes the same. It's coffee that you just love it because whenever you get coffee at a diner or a gas station it's because you really fucking need a cup of coffee. Diners though, you're coffee never runs out. I don't know that I've ever finished a cup of coffee from a diner because that guy/girl always comes around to fill it back up before you're done. Fantastic. It's hard to say how much coffee I drank this past morning at breakfast, but I never finished it.

Anyway, I drank my endless cup of joe, and OJ, my water, and my milkshake(mostly of principle, milkshakes are not a fantastic hangover choice). Breakfast ends, we get a bill, we were not charged for our shakes(fuck yeah), and we all go out separate ways. It's around midway through my hourish long subway trip home that all my drinks catch up with me. Oh man, was I hydrated. Some might even say that I drink too much, and my bladder would agree.

Coffee, and beer.

Coffee is such an important part of my life, I live breath sleep coffee. Beer is also a pretty great thing. I'm pretty picky about both, more so coffee(due to the fact that I just know more about it). I like strong dark roasted black coffee. I like dark beers too. Coffee and beers are just great. Put them together, oh man.

They've been together for a while, well, at least coffee and alcohol that is. Irish coffee, everyone knows that. And then a few months ago my friend Patrick told me about putting espresso in Guinness, tried it, loved it. It adds that almost dark chocolate taste to the Guinness, with a very strong espresso aftertaste. It's really great.

Then the other day I was reading Time Out New York(I love that magazine), and I saw something awesome. Straight out of some Portland ME brewery, Peak Organic Espresso Amber Ale. It's beer MADE with espresso beans. It's a lighter beer, the article I read said that is not typical, which can only mean there are other beers out there MADE with coffee. Sure, the the espresso will give it a strong bitter taste, so I'm willing to give it a shot. Also it's from Maine. I guess you can get it at Whole Foods down here in New York. But I'd love to know of some other, darker, beers made with coffee. Until then I'll just continue with some espresso in my Guinness from time to time.

Read this. Eat this. Don't look around.

Working overnight has given me so much time to read. I busted through the the last 400 or so pages of Feast for Crows in the last few days. I seriously spend like 4 to 5 hours of my work day with a book in my hand. Anyway, this epic installment of the epic Song of Ice and Fire series by George RR Martin is finally done. I'm caught up in the series now and am eagerly awaiting the next book, A Dance with Dragons, to be published. I don't know what else to do know, I started the books a couple years ago, with 4 1000+ page novels at my finger tips. Reading one, read a few other books, read another, a few more random books, and so on and so forth. But now I have to wait. I'm not just taking a break from the best books I've ever read, I'm just done for now. And once the new one comes out, and I read that, it will be years before the next. I guess I could start it over, it will probably be needed. I've got plenty more to read, I'm just kind of sad, and jealous of Jessica, who is just starting it.

I might go home for a little while. I have from 7:30 Friday morning until 11:30 Tuesday night off now. So I figure next Friday after work I'll hop a bus to Maine and spend a few days, leaving either Monday, or Tuesday. I'd like it to work out so that I can immediately go to Orono for two days and see some old friends, and then come back to Mid-Coast for the family hangs for a couple days then come back to New York. This depends on Sara and Kathryn though. But now that I've got in my head that I'm going home, I think it will happen regardless, but I just might not spend a few days in Orono.

I feel like I had more to say when I started this. The L train sucks all weekend, running in two parts. Huge pain in the ass.

I should go to bed. Maybe I'll go out for breakfast.

I've relearned how to park. My ability go drive in reverse is back.

Lack of sleep? Head injury? Maybe it's just me.

Last night at work I did so much reading.
It was really cool.

I've been thinking a lot about myself lately. Once my mother told me that she and my father always thought I was weird. Not in a mean way, just in the truthful way. I've been thinking a lot about the things I care/don't care about. And my mother and father are totally right.

I just wrote a blog about the three parts of a proper apology, according to Randy Pausch, and what I thought about it. I read it, and I couldn't publish it. I thought to myself, "People are going to read this, think I'm a bad person, and never accept an apology from me again." So I tried once again to convey the same idea through a different subject, and the same thing happened.

I was talking with my friend, Dave, about writing the other night. I explained how I am trying to write this piece, and I have everything worked for how and what I want to happen, but I can't write it. My problem is the truth, it's laced all through my current idea. I can't help but feel that if anyone that inspired any of these truths were to read it, they would know it for exactly what it was, and probably be pissed off. I shouldn't worry, seeing as I don't even talk to most of those people anymore, much less would I let them read my writing(most of the don't read). Dave pointed out that that is just the way writing is(I know that, but hearing out loud was good too), and that you just reach a point where you say fuck it, and do it anyway. I never had this problem before, not to say that previous writing was any less hurtfully truthful(going back to the things I care/don't care about). During the discussion I did work out a way to finally begin my piece, and once I get some flow going, I'm sure I will stop caring what anyone thinks and return to my normal self.

I guess my point might be lost in there, I think I'm trying to say that over all I feel I just don't work the way most people do, and I notice it more and more lately. I'm weird.