Sunday, January 31, 2010
Still going
This weekend was somewhat difficult... but i made it. It's been a very nice and relaxing weekend. I only have 5 days left until i get to drink a nice soothing beer.
Friday night I checked out the Burger Shoppe around the corner from my apt. They had something called the Mac and Cheeseburger. Pretty good, although it pretty much just tasted like a standard cheeseburger. Oh well. I sat at the bar solo and watched people get drunk and fall off tables. Is that what I typically look like??? It was tempting to get a beer since they had a decent draft selection... but I didn't.
Saturday was pretty freaking cold. I ran some errands and did a lot of walking to get to them. Hit up EMS for the first time... pretty much just like REI... but in the NorthEast. Then walked across town to ACE Bar. On the walk there, my mouth got so cold... i was slurring my speech since it was numb... interesting feeling. At Ace Bar, my friend and I talked about a lot of stuff and played some pinball. I did reasonably well, but not as well as I would have liked.
And... today. Not much going down. Back to florida tomorrow and then skiing next weekend at Park City!!
Friday night I checked out the Burger Shoppe around the corner from my apt. They had something called the Mac and Cheeseburger. Pretty good, although it pretty much just tasted like a standard cheeseburger. Oh well. I sat at the bar solo and watched people get drunk and fall off tables. Is that what I typically look like??? It was tempting to get a beer since they had a decent draft selection... but I didn't.
Saturday was pretty freaking cold. I ran some errands and did a lot of walking to get to them. Hit up EMS for the first time... pretty much just like REI... but in the NorthEast. Then walked across town to ACE Bar. On the walk there, my mouth got so cold... i was slurring my speech since it was numb... interesting feeling. At Ace Bar, my friend and I talked about a lot of stuff and played some pinball. I did reasonably well, but not as well as I would have liked.
And... today. Not much going down. Back to florida tomorrow and then skiing next weekend at Park City!!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
8 days
Hi, my name is Brian. It's been 8 days since my last drink. I'm not an alcoholic, but I quit drinking for 18 days. Today is day 8, I have 10 left. This is me breathing.
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Monday, January 04, 2010
2010
So... it's been a while. Okay, a really long while. But I've been really busy you have to understand.
Quick update. I'm still in Florida. I'm still going back and forth between NY, Dallas, and Florida a lot. Last year I racked up about 125,000 miles worth of flying on two different airlines and picked up a ton of hilton points. A lot of which will be used this year when I attend Oktoberfest in Germany. This year I plan on hitting up the following cities:
West Palm Beach (for work)
New York (For living)
Dallas (For living)
Chicago
Seattle (To see my sister)
Houston (To see my sisters new baby boy. Hardy Mariano)
Cancun
Munich
Vienna
Prague
... and who knows what more is to come.
I was recently asked by a long time reader, first time questioner... what are some restaurants in the broadway area?
To be honest, I don't spend a lot of time in that area unless I'm taking people to Central Park, Times Square, or going to a show. There is a good place around there called the Eatery. Also there is Restaurant Row (46th Street).
Other then that, the following is a list of my favorite new york hot spots (most are in Lower East Side or East Village):
Bars:
The Back Room - Great underground bar. Beer in paper bags. Liquor in Tea Cups.
Niagara - A bar with a pinball machine
Crocodile Lounge - Free pizza with every beer you purchase
Death and Co - Great hidden bar. There can be a long wait to get in, but they will take your number and call you when a spot is available. Order my favorite drink that is no longer on the menu. Cooper Union.
Grimaldis Pizza In Brooklyn) - Great to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and hit this place up. Go early, or you will wait in line for 30 minutes. Line starts forming about 30 minutes before they open, so either way, you will probably wait.
Kraft - Kind of pricey. But food is pretty decent.
Bourgois Pig - Awesome wine bar in East Village
Boka - Great Korean wings
McSorleys Ale House - One of NYs oldest bars
Lions Head Tavern - If you find yourself in the upper west side, hit up one of my old fav bars and look for my roommate. She works there sat nights.
Spitzers - My favorite Brunch place and my favorite beer place. Tons of local brews and great brunch. Go early in the afternoon.
There are tons of others... but it would take me a while to list all of them... and remember them.
Quick update. I'm still in Florida. I'm still going back and forth between NY, Dallas, and Florida a lot. Last year I racked up about 125,000 miles worth of flying on two different airlines and picked up a ton of hilton points. A lot of which will be used this year when I attend Oktoberfest in Germany. This year I plan on hitting up the following cities:
West Palm Beach (for work)
New York (For living)
Dallas (For living)
Chicago
Seattle (To see my sister)
Houston (To see my sisters new baby boy. Hardy Mariano)
Cancun
Munich
Vienna
Prague
... and who knows what more is to come.
I was recently asked by a long time reader, first time questioner... what are some restaurants in the broadway area?
To be honest, I don't spend a lot of time in that area unless I'm taking people to Central Park, Times Square, or going to a show. There is a good place around there called the Eatery. Also there is Restaurant Row (46th Street).
Other then that, the following is a list of my favorite new york hot spots (most are in Lower East Side or East Village):
Bars:
The Back Room - Great underground bar. Beer in paper bags. Liquor in Tea Cups.
Niagara - A bar with a pinball machine
Crocodile Lounge - Free pizza with every beer you purchase
Death and Co - Great hidden bar. There can be a long wait to get in, but they will take your number and call you when a spot is available. Order my favorite drink that is no longer on the menu. Cooper Union.
Grimaldis Pizza In Brooklyn) - Great to walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and hit this place up. Go early, or you will wait in line for 30 minutes. Line starts forming about 30 minutes before they open, so either way, you will probably wait.
Kraft - Kind of pricey. But food is pretty decent.
Bourgois Pig - Awesome wine bar in East Village
Boka - Great Korean wings
McSorleys Ale House - One of NYs oldest bars
Lions Head Tavern - If you find yourself in the upper west side, hit up one of my old fav bars and look for my roommate. She works there sat nights.
Spitzers - My favorite Brunch place and my favorite beer place. Tons of local brews and great brunch. Go early in the afternoon.
There are tons of others... but it would take me a while to list all of them... and remember them.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
hey hey hey
What is really happening? Where is all this going?
Today I went for a long run and a long walk. The run, down the West Side Highway. My typical running trail lately. Not the best therapy session ever. I'm not in as good of shape as I would like to be in for the upcoming hockey season. I'll be playing on a team called the Freakers. Hopefully I'll be able to play the rest of the entire season and not be forced to move back to Texas.
Later this afternoon, I took a walk across the brooklyn bridge. With the intentions of eating at a pizza place that I've heard is supposed to be amazing. Unfortunately, when i arrived there after the 2 mile walk, it was closed. "On Vacation, open after labor day" was what the sign said. I guess that is what happens when places are small like that. Fortunatly, there was an interesting place next to it where i was able to grab a tasty sandwich.
So what's next... Florida will probably continue for a while. Maybe I'll be able to get a new opportunity that will allow for me to stay in NY. We shall see.
Back to watching Kingpin...
Today I went for a long run and a long walk. The run, down the West Side Highway. My typical running trail lately. Not the best therapy session ever. I'm not in as good of shape as I would like to be in for the upcoming hockey season. I'll be playing on a team called the Freakers. Hopefully I'll be able to play the rest of the entire season and not be forced to move back to Texas.
Later this afternoon, I took a walk across the brooklyn bridge. With the intentions of eating at a pizza place that I've heard is supposed to be amazing. Unfortunately, when i arrived there after the 2 mile walk, it was closed. "On Vacation, open after labor day" was what the sign said. I guess that is what happens when places are small like that. Fortunatly, there was an interesting place next to it where i was able to grab a tasty sandwich.
So what's next... Florida will probably continue for a while. Maybe I'll be able to get a new opportunity that will allow for me to stay in NY. We shall see.
Back to watching Kingpin...
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
i'm going to the big d and I do mean Dallas
Tomorrow night, I head back to Dallas for the weekend. I'm kind of excited to drink some of my absolutely most favorite beers (although Brooklyn beer has been good to me and is actually very tasty if you get the right kind).
After this weekend, the next time I'll be back in Dallas will be mid June... so about 1.5 months. I'm getting very used to not being there... and good thing too, since I rented out my room there temporarily. NYC has been great to me, I've met some awesome people and experienced some really cool things. My two roommates and I will be moving next month... which will give me the chance to explore more parts of the city.
I'll try to blog more... it's just rough when you don't have internet...
Peace.
After this weekend, the next time I'll be back in Dallas will be mid June... so about 1.5 months. I'm getting very used to not being there... and good thing too, since I rented out my room there temporarily. NYC has been great to me, I've met some awesome people and experienced some really cool things. My two roommates and I will be moving next month... which will give me the chance to explore more parts of the city.
I'll try to blog more... it's just rough when you don't have internet...
Peace.
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
new york new york... how i love thee
For the past two months or so, I've been spending my weekends in NYC. It's been awesome times and interesting experiences. I've met some really great people and hung out with some old friends. This Friday, I meet with my boss to discuss the possibility of me transfering to the NY office. Is this really something I can do?
Yes. It is. We will see how Friday goes. If all goes well, I'll begin planning my exit strategy friday night.
This is me breathing.
Yes. It is. We will see how Friday goes. If all goes well, I'll begin planning my exit strategy friday night.
This is me breathing.
Monday, February 02, 2009
Change is of the essence
Yesterday was my last day in Dallas for one month. I'll be spending the next month in Florida and New York. I will be returning March 2nd... and will be in dallas for about 14 hours... then off to Whistler for an amazing ski trip... and then back to dallas for about 14 hours. Then back to Florida/NY for as long as I can keep this going.
I haven't yet decided if I want to make this more of a permanent move, but lately I've been thinking that I should. Dallas has been great to me. It really has, but I'm getting old and this may be one of my last chances to live in such an awesome city. I sent an email to our head guy of Dallas, letting him know that I would like to talk to him about all of this. He wants to meet in person... unfortunately, I'm not sure when I will return though for a long enough time to actually speak with him in person.
This is all going to be interesting. I'll post some pics later this week of my apartment in NYC. I'll be living with two random people that I found on craigslist. From talking to them so far, they seem like really awesome people. So it should be fun.
More to come later this week.
I haven't yet decided if I want to make this more of a permanent move, but lately I've been thinking that I should. Dallas has been great to me. It really has, but I'm getting old and this may be one of my last chances to live in such an awesome city. I sent an email to our head guy of Dallas, letting him know that I would like to talk to him about all of this. He wants to meet in person... unfortunately, I'm not sure when I will return though for a long enough time to actually speak with him in person.
This is all going to be interesting. I'll post some pics later this week of my apartment in NYC. I'll be living with two random people that I found on craigslist. From talking to them so far, they seem like really awesome people. So it should be fun.
More to come later this week.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Life at the Homewood
In the past few months... i've spent several nights at a hotel in Juno Beach, FL called the Homewood Suites. Of course, it is a hilton brand hotel (which is pretty much the only place I will stay since i'm a hilton whore). The beds are decent, pillows are a little big, but i get by.
The good thing about the homewood, the free breakfast and dinner. This allows me to save my per diem. Yes, I know i'm cheap, but with my travel lifestyle, it's kind of necessary to afford it all. After tonight, i've begun reconsidering. The food... is cafeteria food, at best. It's extremely salty, and i'm a little worried that it is really really really bad for me. From now on, i will no longer... wait, who am i kidding, it's free, i'm cheap, and i'm going to keep eating it. Even if it... well... kills me.
The good thing about the homewood, the free breakfast and dinner. This allows me to save my per diem. Yes, I know i'm cheap, but with my travel lifestyle, it's kind of necessary to afford it all. After tonight, i've begun reconsidering. The food... is cafeteria food, at best. It's extremely salty, and i'm a little worried that it is really really really bad for me. From now on, i will no longer... wait, who am i kidding, it's free, i'm cheap, and i'm going to keep eating it. Even if it... well... kills me.
Thursday, January 08, 2009
This is 2009... This is the year of the Dude
2009 started out pretty well. I ended up in San Francisco after a few hours of being delayed on Thursday, Jan 1. Started off the day with Webb and Meridith in an area called the Haight. I believe if I ever do get to move to San Fran, this would be the area I would want to live in. We drank a few awesome beers at a place called Magnolia Pub and had an awesome Pizza. Then went to some strange stores and tried on crazy hats.
That night we stayed in Menlo Park, went to a few local small bars and met some interesting people. Then tried to watch Kung Foo Panda, but ended up falling asleep.
Friday involved us waking up and running some errands and chilling out in the afternoon. I caught myself up on mint and was able to make a pretty accurate estimate on how much I spent on bars in 2008. I will say this, it was about what I expected. All in all, I made at least 20 visits and spent 500 bucks at my favorite bar, The Gingerman. Maybe in 2009, I can shift more of my bar expenses to the Gingerman, since that is my favorite place to be.
Friday night... was... well Awesome. The theme of the night was... Vietnamese, a secret, fire, and a castle (not in any particular order). The night consisted of the following characters... Son, Lan, Webb, Mere, and myself. An exciting and wonderful crowd if I do say so myself. The Vietnamese food was good, way better than I thought. From there, we stayed in the Tenderloin area (supposedly a shady area in San Fran, wasn't that bad) and progressed to a secret bar called Bourbon and Branch. It was a speakeasy bar that isn't really labeled well and is suppose to provide a glimpse back into the prohibition days. They had several types of scotch and whiskey... which was awesome. But I still ordered a beer. From there, we traveled to Edinburgh Castle. Another local bar that had some awesome beers on draft. We had several drinks of course and good times went down.
After the Castle... we strolled down to the Fire Bar. To this day, i have no idea what it is called, but it was a party. As we walked in, i could smell some kind of remnants of fire. Apparently, they had just lit the bar on fire prior to us arriving. We learned soon after, that they only light the bar on fire once a night... and we missed it. At this point, webb proceeded to order one of every beer that they have on draft... which might have been 10 to 12 beers for 4 people. I think i had about 2.5. Webb was also able to make friends with a local who helped convince them to light the bar on fire again. A San Fran first. This is what it looked like:
It was amazing. After this... we stumbled and walked really far to make it home. We found Bob's Donuts and ate the crap out of them. Apparently I had a pretty long conversation with a homeless man, and webb tried to make it rain money for the homeless man. After arriving at Lan's place, I pretty much passed out immediately in a chair and was done for the night. All in all, a great night. The next day, webb was pretty sick, and i was kind of hurting. San Fran was a great trip... and this trip once again made me hopeful to possibly move to San Fran some point soon. I like it there... just not sure what i would do there.
That night we stayed in Menlo Park, went to a few local small bars and met some interesting people. Then tried to watch Kung Foo Panda, but ended up falling asleep.
Friday involved us waking up and running some errands and chilling out in the afternoon. I caught myself up on mint and was able to make a pretty accurate estimate on how much I spent on bars in 2008. I will say this, it was about what I expected. All in all, I made at least 20 visits and spent 500 bucks at my favorite bar, The Gingerman. Maybe in 2009, I can shift more of my bar expenses to the Gingerman, since that is my favorite place to be.
Friday night... was... well Awesome. The theme of the night was... Vietnamese, a secret, fire, and a castle (not in any particular order). The night consisted of the following characters... Son, Lan, Webb, Mere, and myself. An exciting and wonderful crowd if I do say so myself. The Vietnamese food was good, way better than I thought. From there, we stayed in the Tenderloin area (supposedly a shady area in San Fran, wasn't that bad) and progressed to a secret bar called Bourbon and Branch. It was a speakeasy bar that isn't really labeled well and is suppose to provide a glimpse back into the prohibition days. They had several types of scotch and whiskey... which was awesome. But I still ordered a beer. From there, we traveled to Edinburgh Castle. Another local bar that had some awesome beers on draft. We had several drinks of course and good times went down.
After the Castle... we strolled down to the Fire Bar. To this day, i have no idea what it is called, but it was a party. As we walked in, i could smell some kind of remnants of fire. Apparently, they had just lit the bar on fire prior to us arriving. We learned soon after, that they only light the bar on fire once a night... and we missed it. At this point, webb proceeded to order one of every beer that they have on draft... which might have been 10 to 12 beers for 4 people. I think i had about 2.5. Webb was also able to make friends with a local who helped convince them to light the bar on fire again. A San Fran first. This is what it looked like:
It was amazing. After this... we stumbled and walked really far to make it home. We found Bob's Donuts and ate the crap out of them. Apparently I had a pretty long conversation with a homeless man, and webb tried to make it rain money for the homeless man. After arriving at Lan's place, I pretty much passed out immediately in a chair and was done for the night. All in all, a great night. The next day, webb was pretty sick, and i was kind of hurting. San Fran was a great trip... and this trip once again made me hopeful to possibly move to San Fran some point soon. I like it there... just not sure what i would do there.
Saturday, January 03, 2009
Thursday, January 01, 2009
2009
... Is here. Curently chilling in the laguna beach airport. Last night was tamer than the night before exponentially. I get the feeling it is going to be a pretty good year. Off to san Francisco....
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Back Stage Passes
Last night I went to a Stars game with my best friend phil. He works for the hockey team out in Fort Worth and was able to score some nice seats and locker room passes for the San Jose Sharks. While down there, I got to see Rob Blake, Jeremy Roenick, and Joe Thornton. Three great hockey players. Overall, it was a really fun experience that I'll remember for a while.
2009 Resolutions:
1. Work out more. I was doing well up until the Christmas Holidays... I need to get back in it.
2. Save the actual amounts that I'm suppose to.
3. Enjoy life and experience it.
I'm sure there are others I will come up with in the next 35 hours... But for now, I'm off to Laguna Beach for a couple days, then San Francisco.
2009 Resolutions:
1. Work out more. I was doing well up until the Christmas Holidays... I need to get back in it.
2. Save the actual amounts that I'm suppose to.
3. Enjoy life and experience it.
I'm sure there are others I will come up with in the next 35 hours... But for now, I'm off to Laguna Beach for a couple days, then San Francisco.
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Friday, December 26, 2008
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