Franklin Street

Lucky week

2011-08-11T08:42:00.001-05:00

- Amy and Tony were in town over the weekend
- Cathy is in town from NYC. Haven't seen her since 2006! Wow.
- the old umbrella in the car broke cuz the tip broke off and the fabric part just flew off. We had to use the old umbrella cuz we couldn't find the new one. I brought the broken umbrella into the office to discard (threw it in the trash can). A coworker came by to say hello on Tuesday night. She saw the umbrella, I gave her whole story, and it turns out SHE HAD MY NEW UMBRELLA! I left it in the kitchen and didn't realize it was my umbrella when they sent the "umbrella found in kitchen" email.
- had a good practice with my flag football team
- one of my friends got a new job at the same place LeeJean is working! They can have lunch together.

is there anything worse than the Bachelor?

2011-08-05T10:02:00.002-05:00

I have to give credit to ABC. They have found a way to milk a really bad show into a perennial hit, duping millions of Americans into watching wannabe reality TV stars awkwardly flirt with some alleged "great catch".

Give me Real World/Road Rules challenge any day of the week. At least these reality TV stars do not hide their shame (money grab, free booze, hook-ups with other case members) and I give it to MTV for making these contestants endure some grueling competitions for a little bit of dough.

Oh, there is something worse than the bachelor. THIS

Wrong side of 30

2011-08-03T10:19:00.001-05:00

Been going to the gym about 4 days a week. Nothing seems to work on getting more "fit"

It is hopeless when you're on the wrong side of 30. Sigh.

Today's lunch

2011-07-31T23:14:00.000-05:00

Capt. America

2011-07-31T13:40:00.002-05:00

saw the 11:05 show last night in 3D with Paul Cho. good times. We went over the the Cho's for a BBQ, and after everyone left, we had a "boys bromance"

these are the useless tidbits of information that I feel are totally essential to blogging.

Test drive

2011-07-28T09:01:00.000-05:00

Dodge is offering a $50 gift card if you go test drive a car. Headed in tonight. You know it!

Bringing people closer

2011-07-26T00:47:00.000-05:00

One of the most amazing side benefits of the current wedding planning has been reconnecting with so many of our guests, both old friends and people I've met only recently (like coworkers and some of leejean's close friends)

I am thankful for his unforgettable experience so far and it makes me so excited for ten-one-eleven. Can't wait

Normalcy

2011-07-25T20:45:00.002-05:00

the weather gods decided to turn off the crazy and give us a regular 80 degree July day. Hallelujah. For the last week, we had near 100 degrees, until the weekend, when we had record rainfall.

For the first time in a week, i didn't need to use the A/C on the drive to or from work and it was not 10 degrees hotter in the apartment when I walked through the door.

MORE PLEASE!

it's time to blog again

2011-07-25T00:30:00.003-05:00

for many years now, I have believed i have fared better in "even" years versus "odd" years: my need to share my wins and fails has brought me back to the trusty old blogger. and here we go:

example of even year successes:
1992 - graduate from 8th grade
1996 - graduate from high school
2000 - graduate from college, move to NYC
2006 - started dating the wonderful LeeJean and graduate from law school
2008 - got laid off (yeah, that sucked, but...) found my current job at the firm only two months later. That two month layoff was like an extended winter vacation. I got paid for 1/2 of it too!
2010 - got engaged to the aforementioned wonderful person.

here are the odd year fails:
2001 - pretty sure this is the year the glass cup cracked in my hand while I was washing dishes and I had to go to the ER for stitches in my thumb.
2003 - started law school (1st semester sucked beyond belief, which led to a falling out with the girl I was dating at the time)
2005 - lots of women uncertainty, led to a lot of heartache and stress (small wins: met leejean in Sept of 2005, and the white sox won the world series)
2007 - bears lost the super bowl, and the very next day, I started working a a company that was not a law firm, and called themselves a consulting firm, but were really just a marketing company that didn't know how to market themselves. 11 excruciating months later, I was let go (see 2008 above) and received a solid severance deal
2009 - I'm pretty sure it was during winter of 2009 where my brakes locked up in the snow and I "crashed" into the back of a flat-bed tow truck. Only I was going so slow and "gently" slid underneath the truck, avoiding any serious damage to the car or the tow truck. The light turned green and the tow truck never knew I had even hit him. My car hood has the scars though that reminds me I did. Also did rehab on my shoulder. Proof that there is damage, and that the shoulder will likely will never be 100%
2011 - where do I begin:
- Feb. snowmageddon. Loved swimming in the 24 inches, but any "geddon" is bad.
- march - tsunami in japan. Yeah, maybe I wasn't there, but that was one of the most tragic things I have ever witnesses on YouTube.
- april - $100 ticket for making a right turn on red...because i didn't come to a complete stop. we were late for a wedding. not an excuse, just an explanation. I paid the ticket.
- June - part 1 - I BITE THROUGH my own lip from a collision on the basketball court. 5 stitches and an ER trip: $250. Antibiotics and other drugs: $18 - having an extra hole in your face and no tastebuds for a week: priceless. (because my lips were all jacked up, i kept rubbing my tongue against my teeth to avoid touching my lips. well, all that did was rub my tongue raw to the point where i couldn't taste anything sweet or salty. I ended up eating MORE, not LESS, and topped 190 pounds. in 33 years, I have never been more than 190 lbs.
- June - part 2 - I got downtown to watch the Evil Genius (Vic) play rec-league hockey at Johnny's Ice House West. as the game concludes, there is a thunderous pitter-patter on the roof. People are staring outside and I wonder what's going on. YES - you guessed it, the June 30 golf-ball sized hail storm!! And I was running late so I parked outside instead of in the $2 garage cuz I wasn't sure how to do the garage thing.
- July - 5 days of 100 degree heat, followed by two nights of two-hour long thunder/lightning storms, resulting in record rainfall (6 inches of rain), causing flooding all over the city, including the apt. parking lot. When I jumped in the car yesterday, the floor mats in the back seat were a darker shade then the rest of the car. I take the floor mats out of the car - you could have filled a soda bottle with all of that water.
did i mention the parking ticket I got in chinatown last night? expired meter!

I'm sorry I left you blogger...that facebook status thing was fun while it lasted, but to really lambaste and ramble, you to have blog. I'm back

No sense of time or place.

2009-08-11T09:43:00.000-05:00

I'm on the first floor of the courthouse. I look outside and see thearmer's market and think "it's thursday", but thursday is the day of our summer outing, and since I'm not totally stoked for Arlington race track, it is most certainly not thursday!

Yesterday night I thought it was tuesday. But then cake boss and Jon & Kate was on, so it's definitely monday. Not to mention I had a monday night appointment.

I think this is a direct result of having wokred sunday night this weekend and having worked sat morning/sunday night last week, and sunday night two weeks. This is not really a commentary on my job, or how much I work (I go in on weekends so I can leave earlier on weekdays) but rather a note on how working on sundays has destroyed my sense of time and space.
All last week I was seriously thinking it was a day later than it reall was. Tues felt like wed, thurs felt like friday. Good grief it was bizarre.

The conclusion is I have to stop going to work on sundays. Or I create an android twin to go to work for me.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

2009-08-06T13:23:00.000-05:00

Took long enough to discover I could post via cellphone & email. And now I have a smartphone to email with. I should be blogging all the time.

I overheard on the radio the other day the need to teach drivers to avd text messaging and driving at the same time. I'll admit I'm guilty of the occasional text while driving but I've made a personal vow, and a promise to LeeJean that I will no longer text, surf, or read stuff on my phone while driving. The dangers are too great.

I'm also asking you, the reader to make the same pledge to yourself and you loved ones to keep your hands on the wheel, and off of the phone.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

2009-08-06T13:17:00.000-05:00

Test email post
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

2009-08-06T13:14:00.001-05:00

Test post

Bears lose in so many ways

2008-09-14T21:01:00.002-05:00

Bears 1st round draft history of the last 20 years:

2008: Chris Williams. history of back injury, now out with back injury.
2007: Greg Olsen, injured early last year, and two fumbles today.
2006: (no first rounder) 1st second rounder Danieal Manning can't win any job in the secondary
2005: Cedric Benson, when the team already had Thomas Jones and his 1000 season.
2004: Tommie Harris, but you never know when he'll tear his hamstring off the bone again.
2003: michael haynes...who? and Rex Grossman
2002: marc columbo. deja vu of 2008. hurt in preseason, never played a down.
2001: David Terrell - WR from Michigan never make it in the NFL
2000: Brian Urlacher - pro bowler - but the bears wanted him to be a weak side LB before injuries forced him into the middle.
1999: Cade McNown - was caught using handicapped placard at UCLA.
1998: Curtis Enis - came to training camp in a prison jumpsuit. Sounds like Cedric Benson deja vu.
1997: no first rounder. 2nd round pick: John Allred. I don't even remember what this guy did.
1996: Walt Harris. Made the pro bowl. Ray Lewis was drafted 13 picks later.
1995: Rashaan Salaam. fumbled more than any bears RB in recent memory
1994: John Thierry: a "hybrid" linebacker, but really just a bad theory
1993: Curtis Conway - one of my favorite players. Was good, but not the great player expected to be.
1992: Alonzo Spellman - solid player, but not so solid in the head
1991: Stan Thomas - ridiculed in chicago for just being so bad
1990: Mark Carrier - 10 INT's his rookie year, who knew it was the peak.
1989: Donnel Woolford and Trace Armstrong. Pro Bowlers. A good draft. (this is the draft where the Packers took Tony Mandarich #2 before the Lions took Sanders at #3. BTW, Troy Aikman went #1)
1988: Wendell Davis - good until he tore up both knees at Veterans stadium jumping for a ball. So sad.

i blog at night.

2008-08-15T01:03:00.002-05:00

I get up earlier than I ever have. Sometimes I'm at work at 7:00am. I have never done this before.

I drive downtown from 7:30 to 8:45 about one a week, sometimes twice. I never thought I would be commuting from the suburbs.

I work in a office building that is next to nothing. So to get lunch, it's "hop in the car". I never imagined working in the suburbs.

I get to stay with the most amazing person in the world every day - and I can't see it getting any better.

I blog at night.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2008-08-11T21:10:00.001-05:00

Happy last birthday in the thirties Andy!

OLYMPIC FEVER!

2008-08-11T21:03:00.002-05:00

LeeJean watched olympics all day sunday. My family watched Olympics all day sunday. i'm watching olympics now too. Do you have the fever?

Thanks a million to El toro for the sox game yesterday afternoon. I got to hang out with my brother-in-law and nephew and watch them both throw at Southpaw's Speed Pitch. One of them thre 63mph and the other threw about 5mph. can you guess who threw what?

It was great to see Jed and Megan at Goose Island.
It was great to see asif on the beach at north avenue.
It was really freaky to see a sail boat listing in the 10 ft waves in lake michigan. it was listing so bad a distress signal went out and the cops, fire deparment and coast guard all came out to the beach.
It was great to finally see MEDIEVAL TIMES (my parents wanted to treat Andy and Dylan to a knightly good time)
It was great to get to work at 7am sat. leave at 11:30am and then go back at 9pm and then stay til 11:30pm. haha. yes, i work a lot.

steak. beef and potatos.

2008-08-08T01:58:00.003-05:00

tonight asif, leejean and I went to RAM in schaumburg and I ate like a king.

And when I was down to the last five french fries and three bites of Asif's steaks, the devil (asif) urged me to eat more, and the angel (leejean) stressed me to stop eating.

Of course I nibbled once more on the steak and polished off the fries. Royalty I am.

08022008

2008-08-03T02:24:00.003-05:00

I went to work Saturday for four hours. In my job, I sign a lot of papers and date them. I hate the month change, because I start writing 7 or July, and it's 8 and August now. Today (yesterday, but i'm still awake from Saturday) I realized it was 08-02-2008. These kinds of dumb things really fascinate me. Palindromes and the like. Yes Yes, this is not a palindrome. But next friday, when the olympics start, China will party like it's 1999 but in 2008.

08-08-08. If you didn't know this date was coming up, you need to put down the blackberry, or xbox controller, or remote control and start getting out there a little more.

"Bah Bah Bah" (that means, eight-eight-eight in chinese). The sounds 'bah' also could be interpreted as "full" as in, wealthy. Dumb chinese proverbs.

darren hunter

2008-07-31T22:49:00.002-05:00

welcome. can't wait to meet you!

deja vu

2008-07-30T06:59:00.000-05:00

last night, leejean was boiling water to cook pasta. the lid to the pot was sitting on the counter when she reached to pour some tortellini into the pot. but her hand glanced across the lid, and she jumped, and pasta flew all over the floor.

What will we spill on the floor tonight???

pick up angel hair.

2008-07-29T06:45:00.001-05:00

literally. i dropped an open box of angel hair last night. pasta....every where.

Check Up On It

2008-07-26T01:01:00.003-05:00

It feels like i haven't blogged in weeks, and i had to actually check my blog to see when was the last time I actually posted something. silly me.

On Monday, the turtle got out of his aquarium. THE TURTLE GOT LOOSE!!! I did a bad thing last summer when Greedy was with me and LeeJean was in Michigan. I taught the turtle how to climb the fake tree stump to get food. So I guess it's in his blood now to climb. We've seen him try many times to climb out of his tank, only to bust out laughing (well, i laugh) when the turtle falls backwards into the water flailing his little arms and legs.

Monday evening, as I'm getting ready to come home, my cell rings:
LeeJean: "are you coming home soon?"
Frank: "yeah, I'm leaving right now"
LeeJean: "THE TURTLE IS NOT IN THE TANK!"
Frank: "what?"
LeeJean: "THE TURTLE IS NOT IN THE TANK. I'M FREAKING OUT"
Frank: "THE TURTLE IS OUT OF THE TANK??? I'M COMING HOME RIGHT NOW!!!"

Turns our the little guy found his way under the futon, and as LeeJean went to get him, he made a run for it..to the patio doors and hissed each time she tried to grab him. My my. That turtle can really liven things up.

Dark Knight

2008-07-20T22:24:00.003-05:00

I love going to the movies opening weekend. It's probably the same part of me that loves the Taste of Chicago and shopping the discount stores and great america - there is something about the american crowd that excites me, that tells me something cool is happening right then and there.

What's is so crazy is my lady is the total opposite. "Go to the taste? but there are so many people"...same with opening weekend of the movies. But fortunately for me, my lady is also the #1 coolest person I know, and she indulged me on this weekend for the masses a two-and-a-half hour movie treat at the Regal Cinemas in Lincolnshire.

Another reason I like going opening weekend? So no one can spoil the movie for me.

Hope y'all get a chance to catch "The Dark Knight" asap.

Karma is such a bitch.

2008-07-20T22:10:00.002-05:00

Back in January, i was laid off from my job at this small consulting company that was really more like a marketing agency. That day, four people were laid off. This doesn't include the three people who abruptly quit and walked away from jobs in the four months before that.

Well, just this week, I get an email from a coworker who says one of our former managers asked her about her old employer. Why? because he and another manager, as well are four other staff members were let go as well. Seems like their business model, whatever the hell it was, had finally caught up with them. I mean seriously, telling other business that their customer experience was not up to snuff when their own employee experience was below par was a pretty bad m.o.

Oh well. Alls well that ends well.

no time to blog...sorta.

2008-07-18T06:54:00.002-05:00

(that's a pretty contradictory title...seeing how I'm sitting here typing away)
Tues: real estate closing downtown.
Tues: attorney dinner at maggiano's
wed: court morning and afternoon
wed: take my parents out to chinatown
thurs: court afternoon
thurs: get a hair cut cuz people at work are noticing i'm getting a little shaggy.
fri: court, morning.

at some point, I'm gonna watch BATMAN BEGINS before going to watch THE DARK KNIGHT.

And great news: my xbox 360 is home!!!

where did YOU GO TO LAW SCHOOL!

2008-07-11T07:44:00.002-05:00

I had plans to meet an old co-worker Thurs night. But she comes back from Oak Brook, so I was done a little earlier than her last night. To kill time, I went back to the parking garage after court and just sat in my car listening to sports radio and snacking on some trail mix.

Next thing I know, my car wobbles like a bobble-head and I turn to see a lady coming out of her lexus which had pulled up 30 seconds earlier. As she walks towards the elevator bank, I step out of my car to say she hit my car.

"IT DIDN'T EVEN SCRATCH!!!" was the retort this black woman snapped at me, even before I had a chance to say anything.

I calmly told her, "You hit my car. I felt the who car shake."

"IT DIDN'T EVEN SCRATCH OK!!! LOOK, THIS IS A 50,000 CAR, AND YOUR CAR IS JUST..." and she did some hand motion towards my classic 2000 camry.

"I don't really care if it scratched or not. You hit my car, and didn't even bother to say anything."

"LOOK - IT DIDN'T EVEN SCRATCH. YOU AND YOUR UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO STICKER. YOU KNOW, I WENT TO LAW SCHOOL THERE!!!" as she stormed off.

So I watched her overweight, obnoxious person walk into the elevators and I plotted my revenge...after the doors opened and closed, and then opened again (i guess she didn't know how to work the elevator) I opened the trunk. Opened my case and pulled out my legal pad. And I wrote something like this:

I hope you're pretty wealthy - wait you told me your car was worth $50,000, AND you went to U of C law school. It's a good thing you're so wealthy because now you can afford all of the repairs you will need to make to your car.

I'm sorry you're such a bitch. But I'm not sorry you have to fix all the damage I did to your $50,000 car.

Maybe next time you should be a little more polite, because the people you meet might just be attorneys as smart you.

so what did I do to her car? I left a note her windshield, AND IT DIDN'T EVEN SCRATCH!!

BacktoBacktoBack

2008-07-09T22:58:00.003-05:00

Two full days in court, and an afternoon in court tomorrow. whew!

I got to hang with an old coworker yesterday. we got some dunkin donuts and chatted by the river for almost two hours. In that time, she saw three people she knew, and while one of them was chatting with us, a self-proclaimed, very educated homeless guy approached us with some story about needing $4 so he could feed his kids. He couldn't take a $20 or $50, but he just needed $4. Ridiculous. I hate bums and homeless people.

Tonight I watched Asif and Alykhan flail around on North Beach playing volleyball. Pretty funny.

Tomorrow, I roll with little Bella's mama at Rockit. I have no idea where that is, but I'll find it.

In the meantime, my computer wants to restart itself, so I'm giving in and calling it a night.

GO WHITE SOX.

hot and steamy

2008-07-07T23:30:00.002-05:00

I made some chicken and broccoli fried rice tonight. Pay close attention:

1. dice chicken breasts
2. simmer some frozen broccoli
3. dice garlic
4. strain broccoli
5. put garlic in pan
6. throw chicken in pan
7. three tablespoons of teriyaki sauce
8. stir
9. throw broccoli in pan
10. throw old rice in pan.

Delicious. time for bed.

Fists of Fury.

2008-07-06T00:46:00.002-05:00

Went over to Jamal and Jaiz's tonight to watch the UFC Championship. Of course, with any pay-per-view event, you get stuck watching an hour of bogus "pre-fight" gossip about how awesome the fighters are. And when the fighting actually begins, it's the no-name, no-one-really-cares fights. We left after one dude lost like a pint of blood on the mat. Really brutal.

Otherwise, a pretty fun day. We decided to head into the city, just because, and browsed some million dollar townhomes, then some thousand dollars puppies, and topped it off with some over-priced cupcakes. But oh were they delicious!

There was a block party at my house, but apparently the rest of the block wasn't invited. It was just one house, having a big party that was spilling into the rest of the alley/street way.

Happy belated (one day off, but i facebooked him) birthday to CQ up in minnesota. And an early birthday to the D-Lite, Damien, who is in town until this evening, and we're gonna hit up "Righ-Ko-Beens" also known as Ricobene's for a breaded steak before Damien heads back to the Steel City.

In two weeks we go puppy hunting. no, we're not gonna hunt down puppies, we're gonna go find the cutest little yorkie possible. any tips? you know where to send them.

Kenya is a land filled with bad people.

2008-07-05T12:08:00.002-05:00

Got an email today from our friend traveling in kenya saying someone stole his important travel docs. WTF!!! What a horrible fourth of july for him.

Boom Boom, Tap Tap Tap.

2008-07-04T23:07:00.002-05:00

Quite the fourth of July, let's recap:

Before we went to bed last night, we had a bet about whether the breakfast place would be open on the fourth. So whoever was wrong would have to pay up.
So today, we slept in (til 11:00am), then called Butterfield's in Northbrook. They were open, so I lost the bet.

Breakfast was ok. LeeJean had poppyseed french toast covered with blueberries, and I had some strange omlette that had nothing in it. The eggs were folded over some rice and there were red beans and rice on the side. It was called a Jamablaya Omelette.

Up next was Hancock. LeeJean really liked it. I'm lukewarm. but i had a negative feeling about it going into the movie so don't rely on my opinion. After Hancock we came home and cleaned the turtle tank. Geez, that turtle can make a mess awful quick. After that was a few rallys on the tennis court. New tennis balls make a big difference.

This weekend was the Freedom Fest in Wheeling, so we took a whirl after tennis. It's like a mini taste of chicago, but just taste of wheeling. The had Bob Chinn's, Tuscany, and Domino's! Five Star dining indeed. Then we started waiting for a funnel cake at 8:30pm.
The fireworks started at 9:15pm. Still waiting for a funnel cake.
The fireworks stopped at 9:35pm. Still waiting for a funnel cake.
Around 10:15pm, I noticed a guy walk up to the front of the line and start chatting with some people and asking him "are you guys waiting for a funnel cake?" and I saw them chat a little, I figured he was buddies with these people. Next thing I know, he's standing BEHIND the guy who was BEHIND the people he was talking to. He was trying to cut the line. Bear in mind, we were only 6-7 people behind the front of the booth. So I called him out on it cuz the girls in front of us were only about 15-18. This guy started lying his ass off. "I didn't cut. I've been waiting for 45minutes." and other pathetic lies. He knew he had cut us, and let the girls in front of us go first, then he knew to let us go before him. So when I got to the front of the line, I told the guy in the booth that this guy was trying to cut the line. the funnel cake guy started telling the crowd that if anyone tried to cut the line, to let him know. Before we knew it, the cutter guy was jawing with the funnel cake guy about how he did cut, and was waiting for 45 minutes. Well, soon enough, the Wheeling Police came by and escorted him out of the line.

that was the sweetest tasting funnel cake ever.

highs and lows:

2008-07-03T00:32:00.002-05:00

low: xbox 360 freezing up, and customer support telling me that my xbox is out of warranty, and to fix the problem will cost me $99.
high: three red flashing lights, which is a documented problem with xbox 360's and something microsoft is willing to go beyond the orig warranty to fix.

low: it rained hard while we were at the taste today
high: before we walked out of the garage, we doubled back to the car to grab the umbrella out of the trunk

low: a bird pooped on my shoulder
high: leejean walked around saying "please don't poop on me birds" (so the high is actually me getting pooped on, and not leejean)
high: i was wearing a baseball jersey made of mesh, which washes out easily. poop be gone!

low: only bought two strips of taste tickets at dominicks
high: we successfully used all 24 tickets, embrace:
4 tickets for toasted ravioli
6 tickets for chicken and waffle
3 tickets for eli's cheesecake
4 tickets for baccino's stuffed spinach pizza
3 tickets for frozen chocolate banana
4 tickets for bbq buffalo burger

the worst one of the bunch was the burger, but i needed some extra protein to finish off my appetite.

low: walking blocks and blocks and blocks to the car from the taste.
high: walking into Brandon M. and getting his business card. (brandon and i went to law school together and we both said "i was just thinking about you the other day")

low: having to make an extra trip to my sister's to drop off tupperware
high: stopping at the petco by her house to get our pet monster some more turtle food.
low: that turtle will be my downfall...i know it.

Three + Red + Flashing = Nirvana

2008-06-30T23:12:00.002-05:00

So, an update...
I only receivd the "red ring of death" once last night. After that, I just experienced screen-freeze-ups, which apparently foreshadow the red ring of death.

After calling in to customer support, they said that because my xbox is exhibiting freeze-up problems, they can't do anything for me, because i'm out of warranty. The customer service rep did say that if the red ring of death rears it's ugly ahead again, i should call back.

Tonight, after watching the White Sox beat Cleveland, I toyed around with the xbox trying to get it to work (or in the alternative, really get it to fail) I have succeeded!

THREE FLASHING LIGHTS - NEVER LOOKED SO GLORIOUS ON MY XBOX.

I'm on hold with Customer Support, and some indian pop music just came on as the hold music. Fabulous.

Lights and Color.

2008-06-30T07:46:00.002-05:00

When we wake up, the sky is blue.
When we got home, sometimes, the sky turns funny colors, like purple, hazy orange or red.
Stop lights go Red Yellow Green.
Flashlights emit a strange white light.
Fire can be blue, orange, red or white.
And now my xbox has three red lights. *tear*

greatest sports week in Chicago...

2008-06-28T16:26:00.002-05:00

Cubs-White Sox on the north side, and then cubs-white sox on the south side...the NBA draft, with the Bulls picking #1, selecting a home town star. Wow.

I'm watching the Sox game, and surfing the web, and here is this story:
Boy decapitated at Amusement park. Some kids jumped a fence and one of them lost his head: LITERALLY. That's what you get for not following rules.

Haven't seen GET SMART, want to see WANTED, and I need some help eliminating terrorists in the Convention Center. Barawk, Slurping, where are you guys?

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

2008-06-23T22:32:00.002-05:00

to the evil genius (slurpingsound)

I could tell you who this is, but then I would have to kill you. (j/k)

I'll Race You.

2008-06-23T22:26:00.002-05:00

Today, we played some tennis, and afterwards we went for a walk down to the end of the parking lot. On the way back up the parking lot, LeeJean challenged me to a race around the parking lot. I had to give her a head start. So she got to start about 1/3 ahead of me. True story: leejean won the race.

Please, no 14.

2008-06-23T21:32:00.002-05:00

The other day, Liz borrowed "The Incredibles" and "Oceans 12" DVD's from me.

It go me to thinking why Oceans 12 and Oceans 13 were so bad, and what made Ocean's 11 so great and fun.

Why 12 & 13 were bad: The whole gang was going through the motions. The first film was fun, because it was great for everyone to work together on a clever script and turn out a surprising film with surprise developments along the way. But when some greedy movie exec thought it would be a good idea to create a sequel to the movie, bringing everyone back just became a chore. You could tell in the way the actors delivered their lines. wooden and un-enthused. They were playing the same characters for three straight movies. Nothing changed from the first, except they got rich, and then they got poor, but that's not interesting when all that happens is they steal money then spend money. That, and they had to add Catherine Zeta Jones or was it Julia Roberts who was the "12" in Ocean's 12. I couldn't even tell you who the 13 was. Also, everyone knew what to expect - some trickery, and some stolen goods.

Why 11 was so good: They remade a movie with a decent storyline with good actors, and no one knew what to expect. To top it off, the subtle humor that George Pitt (i just typed that, and thought I'd leave it for the hell of it). Clooney and Pitt had a chemistry that was just off the charts. the Dry wit and unintentional-intentionally funny Pitt was the bedrock of the movie. Throw in a pre-stroke Bernie Mac and a shy-guy Matt Damon character and hilarity ensued! Don Cheadle did not need the british accent though.

real science? doubtful. a man's manl

2008-06-22T20:50:00.002-05:00

there is a ridiculous commercial for extenze on tv/espn. a pill that claims to make a man's manliness more manly. my favorite about these things is that if you google search this stuff, you hear the stories of the fools who bought this garbage and complain it was a hoax. REALLY...YOU DON'T THINK IT'S FAKE JUST FROM THE AD?? good grief.

i'm blogging with one hand. the other is holding leejean's laptop like a serving dish. otherwise i would upload the two videos from the Long Grove strawberry fest today. they had live tigers in cages and for a mere $18, you could have your photo taken with a baby tiger. wow that baby tiger was cute.

when we were looking at the big tigers, some little kids started shrieking. the signs on the cages all said "please refrain from screaming or shouting around the cges". yeah guess who was walking away fro those cages real quick...

YOURS TRULY, TIGER FEARER.

Summer Fun maximized!

2008-06-21T16:32:00.002-05:00

Our Firm BBQ was this friday. Of course, at 11:30, 30 minutes before we are to step out onto the grassy knoll south of the parking lot, it starts to rain and practically thunder. and when I finally make my way over to the picnic tent (one of those large ones that you can stick 100 people and chairs under), it's raining the hardest it has rained the entire month.

But believe it or not, the rain let up, and the picnic was a lot of fun. there was ladder golf, and bean bag toss, and lots of good humor ice cream. Sundae Cones, Klondike bars, chocolate eclairs and strawberry shortcake ice cream bars to name a few.

At the end of the picnic we had a drawing for gas cards. the attorney who sits next to my office won $100! He deserves it, cuz he commutes from the city. And I WON ONE TOO! but only $25. But like i was telling the organizers, give me some free food and a smile and I am one happy lawyer.

LeeJean also won a gift card at work on friday. they had a "match the baby pictures" game, where people brought in baby photos and whoever guessed the most correctly won a prize. pretty flippin sweet friday for us.

On a down note, the sox lost to the cubs yesterday and today, all because of Aramis Ramierez. To make matters worse, I had him on the fantasy baseball bench yesterday and did not benefit from his sox-fan crushing home runs. I hate the cubs!

But to cap off a really fabulous friday, Andrew, Vic and I hunted Terrorists on Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for 3.5 hours. A surreal experience. If only co-op had a three or four person online feature. What a strategic planning error on Ubisoft's part.

High Tides, but no Green Grass

2008-06-18T22:40:00.004-05:00

A friend of mine from Law school joined my law firm two weeks ago. It's great; don't get me wrong, my colleagues are great, but there is nothing cooler than seeing a familar face every day.

LeeJean and I are hooked on this show called Jon and Kate plus 8. we think Jon resembles Steve and every time we see the show, it feels like we're watching Steve on tv.

It's still hard to think that one of my best friends from Law School is now in Kenya, but it is super cool to think that one of my closest friends from New York is now practicing law in chicago with her fiance!

There was something I wanted to blog about. but now i cannot remember what it was. I have been wondering if I can blog by text message.

What's with the produce lately? First it was spinach. now it's tomatos. Does anyone have a guess what vegetable or fruit is next to be quarantined? Imagine if it was potatoes. America might actually lose weight!!! hahah. i just made myself LOL.

I love doing real estate closings. if you're buying or selling a place, let me know. I'll do your closing. :)

Sooner rather than Later

2008-06-17T23:00:00.002-05:00

Today I said good bye to Asif. He is off to Kenya for two weeks, and after that, two months in LA. He's not sure if he's gonna be back in chicago, or move back to Houston. Here's hoping he comes back a lot sooner than later. Miss you already el Presidente.

BBQ rocked!

2008-06-16T20:01:00.001-05:00

Thanks to all who stopped by on Saturday. Fortunately, the weather wasn't too hot...

And even though we said we were gonna start at 3pm, no one showed up until 4pm. But that worked out well because a late afternoon start was perfect for the weather.

Hope everyone had a good father's day. We're celebrating next weekend. I think I'm gonna make one of those mugs from the ceramics shop and say 'Best Dad' on the side of the mug. haha.

"Sex"

2008-06-07T22:02:00.002-05:00

Saw Sex in the City with LeeJean and Sandy today. I actually liked the movie.
I think the movie gets too much stigma from a male's perspective because the show is such a rallying point for women. Much like the Super Bowl or release of a hot video game, this is something really geared for women - but if you can set your ego and pre-conceived notions aside, you can enjoy it for what it is, entertainment - which applies to sports and video games too.

Tornadoes today in Chicago suburbs. Creepy.

Super Question of the Week

2008-06-07T10:06:00.002-05:00

I can't remember where I saw this, but the question was, if you could make out with one celebrity - of each sex, who would it be?

Female: Anne Hathaway
Male: Eric Bana

I'm going over some fantasy baseball stats, and I see that Chris Young, the one player sox fans and much of MLB believes the Sox should not have traded away is hitting .235 with 12 hrs, 4 sb and 63 strikeouts. 63 strikeouts is good for 7th highest in all of major league baseball. Jim Thome is next on the list with 62. What is the difference between Corey Patterson and Chris Young right now?

Compare Carlos Quentin with Chris Young:

Quentin, in two fewer games and 30 less at bats, has more just as many hits/doubles, four more HR's, just as many stolen bases, but 30 less strikeouts and 20 more RBI's. I'll take Mr. Quentin over Mr. Chris Young any day of the week.

The other day, while driving back to the office from court, I got back to Lake Cook road, which is the street my office is on. But I was sooooooo sleepy that I closed my eyes for a second, and the next thing I know, I'm running a red light! I was mortified. Only afterwards did I realize how much worse it could have been. I could have crashed into a car trying to cross the intersection at the same time I was running the red light.

MENTAL NOTE. STOP CLOSING EYES WHEN DRIVING.

splish splash

2008-06-05T23:21:00.001-05:00

did anyone see the ominous looking weather Thursday morning? It looked like tornados were going to touch down all over northbrook.

But by the afternoon, the sun was shining and the mercury was rising. Wow - it was gross walking to the car.

So we hit the pool after work - brrrrrrr - water is still cold. but it was fun to splash around a bit.

How is everyone else enjoying June?

Oh What A Night!

2008-06-04T22:02:00.002-05:00

I never really knew the song, "oh what a night" was really titled, "December 1963" and I had no idea it was sung by the Four Seasons. It wasn't until we saw JERSEY BOYS that I found out.

This past weekend we saw Avenue Q. I was not all that impressed with it. But then LeeJean explained that it was kind of like Sesame Street for adults, and now it makes a lot more sense.

I'd love to hear from folks who've seen Avenue Q and what they thought of it.

I rank my Broadway experiences as follows:

1. Wicked
2. Les Miserables
2a. Jersey Boys
3. The Producers
4. Lion King
5. Avenue Q
6. Jekyll and Hyde

Big Tree Sway

2008-05-31T09:47:00.002-05:00

There is nothing like waking up to a cool breeze gliding in through the window. Sun shining...leaves rustling on their branches.

Ah, a great saturday. OFF TO WORK I GO!!!

7 to 7

2008-05-29T23:06:00.002-05:00

That's how much I worked today. Well, more like 7:30 to 7pm. But the crazy thing is, I really like it. I don't think of myself as a workaholic, because I'm not doing any extra work, just what I have to. When you're foreclosing on people's homes...you're gonna be really busy these days.

Bill uploaded some funny pics of LeeJean and I at starved rock. Well, only one funny one. If you can find it, tell me what we're doing in the photo and you win.

Sex and the City opens this weekend. I thought all of the boys would be free to do some xbox gaming, but it looks like no one is free.

we've been playing this Wii game called "Zak & Wiki". It's pretty fun. but best of all? it only cost $20.

55 days off. Now that's a vacation!

2008-05-25T21:14:00.002-05:00

wow. the last post was April 10.

YES!! - CARLOS QUENTIN HOME RUN. SOX WIN. (i'm watching the game). ESPN sunday night baseball, and he steals the show, two HR's, and a walk off winner!

My new job has been great. I love it, but I work a lot of hours, which is why I'm never on blogger anymore.

Some things that have happened since then:
Scott married Susie! Finally!
Asif spent the night!
Asif macked on a cute girl, who had a boyfriend :(
We went to Starved Rock today with Bill & Sarah.
Got my rebate check from the IRS :)
I spray painted my hub-caps black. I lost one hub cap a few years ago. A few months ago, when Kathy and I were filling our tires with air, I kicked one to put it back on, and it cracked. so I threw it away. Then, coming back from court one day, another cap fell off, leaving me with only one. So I finally dished out the $14 for some new caps at Wal-mart and ghetto-fied them. I pimped my own ride!

Our turtle is gianormous now.

I don't play xbox nearly as often anymore. But fear not, I still sneak my gaming in when I can.

anyways, that's about all that 's happening. I'm gonna try to blog more in the next couple of weeks/days, so stay tuned!

Frank Lin, on behalf of plaintiff

2008-04-10T21:29:00.003-05:00

Scheduled for 20 cases today. this is how my day went:

6:00am. Wake up.
6:20am. eat breakfast sausages and check email.
6:40am. put on suit & tie.
7:10am. get in car...prepare to fight traffic.
8:38am. park in wrong lot.
8:40am. park in the right lot.
8:43am. get wet.
8:45am. arrive at downtown office.
9:00am. court
11:30am. go to Panda Express
11:31am. go to Tokyo Lunch Box, because everyone else is going to Panda Express
1:00pm. back to court.
3:00am. done with court.
5:00pm. go to parking lot.
5:02pm. walk to wrong parking lot.
5:07pm. up to fifth floor - car not here
5:08pm. up to sixth floor - car not here
5:09pm. up to seventh floor - car not here either.
5:10pm. realize car is on 5th floor, but on the other side of the aisle.
5:11pm. get to car!
5:30pm. R+D event at some frame-up store.
5:35pm. try lots of wines!
6:45pm. buy some wines for LeeJean
7:45pm. back home.

Trains, Trains, and More Trains

2008-04-08T23:08:00.002-05:00

I take the train into the City to go to Court. But then there is only a train at 1pm to go back to the office.

That's what I call a pain in the butt.

4+4=2

2008-04-04T23:31:00.002-05:00

No, my math is not off. Today is our two-year anniversary! It's kind of "unofficial" because who knows when we really became "official", if you know what I mean.

But anyways - an incredible two years with the wonderful, #1 coolest person I know. I love her to death and I think she feels the same way about me. At least not when I'm spreading black sock 'nubbins' all over the floor, or farting up a storm.

Happy Anniversary Hon!

Disappearing act

2008-04-02T21:05:00.001-05:00

I walked out to my car after work today, and noticed two missing hub caps on the passenger side of the car. For a long time, I was rolling with only three caps. And then one fell off, to make it two. Now, it's down to one. Where are all of these hub caps going?

I'll be at the Daley Center on Thursday! Cool.

It's like 16, and then getting that dime that makes you go boom.

2008-03-30T01:48:00.002-05:00

We saw "21" tonight, and it was more like a 15 or 16. Honestly, that's the first time I have EVER wanted to walk out of a movie.

Most people should know that 21 was based off of a book that chronicled the shenanigans of a few MIT kids who tried to game vegas. I can remember my cousin pointing the book out to me back in 2002 when we were walking through the Harvard bookstore. If anyone has read the book, they'll know that the main character is not a white guy, but a kid named Jeff Ma. The fact that the screenwriters felt the need to change this little tidbit already had me frowning in my seat during the previews. Anyways, LeeJean thought it was ok. I hated it. Kate Bosworth didn't even look cute in the movie. LeeJean has a magazine with the Bos on the cover and she looks pretty cute. But in the movie? Not so much. Just looks like they took her from Blue Crush and stuck her las vegas.

I have to cut this blog short because I'm blogging on my dad's laptop and all of the keys are so grimy. What the f* does he do with this laptop? Sweep the floor with it? I feel violated by touching this thing.

but I continue on...Friday night, Steve & Helen joined us for some Bob Chinn's! A good time. Steve polished off a 2lb Lobster. I went with a strip steak - and chastise me if you will, but it was a great steak. Helen and my dear went with the Kona crab served cold. Highly recommended if you make it out to the old Bob Chinneroo.

I survived the first week of work. I worked until 6:30 on evening. Yeah, work is busy.

ugh. this keyboard is so gross.

so close...

2008-03-26T23:14:00.000-05:00

New Beginnings: Revealed! (Sorta)

2008-03-24T23:34:00.001-05:00

Today I started a new job - I'll actually be using my education for once - my law education! I'm going to be working for a firm up in Northbrook, Il. The bulk of our work is mortgage foreclosures - an industry that I want to be in (real estate law). I'm super stoked, I hope it's as great as I feel it can/will be.

But in the meantime, off to bed. Maybe tomorrow I'll upload a picture from my office. I have an office! Who would have thunk...

New Beginnings.

2008-03-23T15:56:00.001-05:00

This is just a tease. more details to come tomorrow.

dUOBLE tROUBLE

2008-03-15T11:31:00.003-05:00

On Thursday, I was in a rush to get back to the xbox so I hurriedly got dressed in the morning. It was until I was about to jump in the shower when I took off my track pants to find this layered monstrosity covering my legs.

I had pulled on a pair of light blue shorts, over the existing pair of light blue shorts I was wearing, and then pulled my track pants back on afterwards.

This might not seem like a lot to you, but it was terribly embarrassing. That's why I have to share with everyone!

Anniversaries and Turtles

2008-03-12T22:33:00.003-05:00

Steve and Kayan went out for their 1-year official anniversary tonight. It's funny, LeeJean and I had our first "date" (she doesn't call it a date) on March 11, 2006.

Tonight we had some sushi from Whole Foods. 10.71 for a rainbow roll? That's restaurant prices there...The quality was pretty close though. But for 10.71, you might as well order from your local place down the street, cuz you just much score some free miso or japanese salad.

The turtle is making me poor. Every month it's something else...heat bulb. Filter cartridges. Turtle food. Landing dock. Who would've thunk it, a $10 turtle from Chinatown could cause so much trouble!

Today I was babysitting Dylan. We played Wii for most of the morning...Mario and Sonic at the Olympics. I think I hurt my shoulder running the 4x100 relay. I am not joking. That game is too hard for adults. Then I took Dylan to Hyde Park to run some errands. Nothing is more entertaining than watching your nephew in the back seat snack on grapes and marshmallows while driving down lake shore drive. What a cutie.

and the MLB

2008-03-11T10:17:00.002-05:00

Top 15 for MLB
(batters only)

1. A-Rod
2. Pujols
3a. Reyes
3b. Hanley Ramirez (he's only had one great year, but what a year it was)
4. Ryan Howard
5. Vlad
6a. Soriano
6b. Miguel Cabrera
7. Prince Fielder
8. Chase Utley
9. Jimmy Rollins
10. Ichiro
11. Carlos Beltran
12. Matt Holliday
13. Ryan Braun (did you see his production in half a year?)
14. Grady Sizemore
15. David Ortiz

Top NFL players

2008-03-11T10:11:00.003-05:00

Let's keep it going...NFL, who would you rather have?
(offensive side)

1. Tom Brady
2. Peyton Manning
3. LaDanian
4. Adrian Peterson
5. Tony Romo
6. Larry Johnson
7. Randy Moss
8. Stephen Jackson
9. Marion Barber
10. Big Ben
11. Carson Palmer
12. Terrell Owens
13. Larry Fitzgerald
14. Antonio Gates
15. Drew Brees

the Top NBA players?

2008-03-11T10:05:00.002-05:00

Listening to the radio, and some people are discussing the "top" players in the NBA. In my estimation: (and if you wonder how I came up with this, ask yourself, who would you rather have, Kobe or LeBron...Duncan or Nash)

1a. Kobe (3 titles trumps zero)
1b. LeBron
2. Duncan
3. Nash (because of the new NBA "no touching point guard rules"
4a. Chris Paul (allstar)
4b. Deron Williams (not yet an allstar)
5. Dwayne Wade
6. Dwight Howard
7. Kevin Garnett
8. Dirk
9. Baron Davis
10. AI
11. T-Mac
12. Melo
13. Yao
14. Gilbert

He Spitz, He Scores!

2008-03-10T21:50:00.004-05:00

oh...you mean, that kind of "scoring" is not good? News of the Eliot Spitzer story makes me sick. And it's not just one man who asked the public for their trust and subsequently broke it - it's the slew of politicians, businessmen (and women) who are crooked, shady or just bad liars.

Just this afternoon I read an article in the Tribune about writers who are increasingly plagiarizing other writers' work. What is going on in this world?

Anyways - I hope Spitzer gets what he deserves. He should resign immediately. It's one thing to have an affair with an intern (kinda like an interoffice affair), but it's another thing when you're soliciting prostitutes - especially when you were a major proponent of cleaning up the streets.

How can anyone believe the crap that comes out of your mouth now? To me Spitzer is completely full of it. There is no second chance here.

Happy Birthday sexy!

2008-03-10T21:50:00.001-05:00

a belated Birthday post to Yile! 31 and running strong.

The power of the net.

2008-03-07T10:08:00.001-06:00

did some searching for old friends through Friendster & Facebook this morning. Found someone who is now in NY. Good for this person. Although shame on them for removing me as a friend, but remaining friends with all of my friends.

Kathy and I were discussing the power of dissing someone by removing them as a friend on one of these social networking sites. Isn't that the ultimate slight? "Sorry, but you're no longer worthy of being my friend on Facebook."

why women's basketball should never be broadcast.

2008-02-29T15:36:00.002-06:00

Randomly channel surfing, and I've come across an IHSA girl's basketball game between Montini and Freeport. The score is 15-15, IN THE SECOND HALF of the game. Why is this game being televised? The only reason I can come up with is someone has a grudge against someone and decided to put these girls on the air so they could be made of fun of.

Am I going to hell? As usual, the answer is yes!!!

bye bye snap shots.

2008-02-19T14:54:00.002-06:00

wow. snap shots was such a cool idea when I first saw it. but after rolling over links on my blog, and getting inundated with some rollover crap, it had to go.

nice knowing you snappy shots.

BTW, anyone notice the change to the blog? It's small. but it's PHAT with a PH.

Another weekend, another close friend.

2008-02-18T19:36:00.003-06:00

Ames was in town Thurs-Sat, so it was great to hang out with her Friday night and Sat morning. We did a lot of chicago favorites: Joy Yee's, Melting Pot, and Dunkin Donuts. Ok, maybe only Joy Yee's is Chicago-esque. :)

A quick word about NIU. So sad. What can you really say about it? If there was some magic to turn back time and fix this craziness I would do it.

Happy Valentines

2008-02-14T10:24:00.002-06:00

A crazy couple of days. Had to keep it all in too - cuz Steve's fiance planned a super-surprise 30th birthday party for him over the weekend. and in order to get out there, I had to keep everything mum. Man, that was hard to do.

So, Seattle from Sat - Tues. And the last couple of days I've been downtown, so no internet.

Anyways, happy valentines day everyone! Hope you have a sweetie to spend it with. And if you don't, let me know...I'll help you find one :)

49, with a bang.

2008-02-07T16:34:00.000-06:00

Last night I went over to Asif's after hanging out at Liz's. we played a little Halo.

On our final game of "Big Team Battle", where it's 8 people vs. 8 people, and the first team with 100 kills wins.

I'm playing as Asif's guest, so I'm "HolidayHero1(1)(g)", naturally, Asif is HolidayHero1.

I present to you, the carnage report.

Asif definitely deserves 50% of the credit for those 31 kills we got on the Warthog. We were definitely the a**holes who drove around shooting people with the jeep. To make matters worse, I stole the SPARTAN LASER at the onset of the game, so no one could stop our jeep. Haha. we're jerks.

Special Person, Special Day. Special blog!

2008-02-01T01:54:00.001-06:00

Tuesday was a crazy day. I ran errands all day to prep for dinner with LeeJean.
#1. buy present.
#2. cut hair.
#3. buy cake.

Gosh, none of the above went down smooth. Nordstrom at Woodfield didn't have a "new one" of the thing I wanted to buy, so I had to hike on over to Oak Brook Nordstrom. The hair "stylist" at great clips was more like a butcher with shears. And she reeked of cigarettes. Cold Stone in Buffalo Grove did not have the cake I needed, so I had to drive over to Libertyville to get it. On the way to Libertyville, it even started hailing!

Luckily, I got home in time to jump in the shower. However, LeeJean got home before I could get out of the shower, so I had to get dressed in the bathroom. Why is this a bad thing? Cuz i was "SUITING-UP" for my lady! and putting on a suit in a steamy little bathroom is one of the most uncomfortable clothing experiences possible.

For dinner we went to The Yard House over at the Glen shopping plaza. My steak was quite good! LeeJean's chicken, just so-so.

For dessert, Raspberry Truffle Temptation, from cold stone. Red velvet cake, with chocolate ice cream, mixed with chocolate shavings, covered in a chocolate ganache with raspberry sauce. ONLY ONCE I CUT IT OPEN, THE CAKE INSIDE WAS CHOCOLATE! Since I had to run to a 2nd store to get the cake, I had the phone number to the store, and I called to say, 'Um, the red velvet cake you gave me, didn't have red velvet cake'. The owner was kind enough to offer us two petit cakes! Guess what we're having for Valentines day!

And we finished the night off with a little Rock Band! That's what I call a fun birthday...dare I say, I'm a FUN MACHINE!

Happy Birthday

2008-01-29T07:48:00.001-06:00

to the coolest person I know!

If you want to send her some birthday wishes try:

herfirstname.lastname@gmail.com

or her facebook wall.

the friend, not a friend dilema

2008-01-25T09:55:00.001-06:00

So how do you decide who is a friend? Do you have levels of friendship? Do you classify your friends?

I've come to believe that a friend is more than just someone you know. It's tough to say, because the word "friend" is so easily thrown around to describe someone you know.

To me, it's someone you know more than just casually, and talk to at least once a month. Yeah - that's a pretty tough bar to meet. There are the circumstances where connect with someone, and are really good friends for a while, but too often, it's a matter of circumstance that creates that "friendship" and once the circumstances change, the relationship whithers to a slow trickle of contact.

Is that the test then? After a change in circumstance, you're able to continue the contact.

This makes me think of a lot of people I used to be really close with, but now, not so much. On the other hand, there are some people who I'm closer with now, that I wasn't so close with many many eons ago.

it's all a matter of circumstance I suppose.

100 to 1000

2008-01-24T12:52:00.000-06:00

(This is post 901. 99 more to go).

Randomly clicked on Amazon, and it says voltron dvd's are 50% off. Why are different seasons of Voltron priced at different amounts? Is the dramatic content in the $25.49, Yellow Lion collection (season two) superior to the $19.99 content of the Green Lion collection (season three)?

Or is it a valuation of colors? Green Lion is an arm, but the yellow lion is a leg. A big freaking battle robot is pretty worthless without one of it's legs.

But how does one explain the $34.99 Red Lion collection (season four), is this where Voltron takes it to the next level (maybe where they meet the other voltron, made up of 15 little vehicles and not lions). Or perhaps it's a reflection of the driver - Lance. Everyone knows Lance could have bagged Princess Alura if he was so inclined, - so there's a premium on his charm that comes from being associated with the Red Lion.

This argument gains weight when you look at the price of the Black Lion collection (season five). Keith, always the underrated leader of the team, also gets underrated in DVD form. Without Keith and the Black lion THERE IS NO VOLTRON. So why the $19.99 discounting? Why not show the black lion some love? It's the core of the battle robot. Yeah yeah, I made a case about the legs being important, but if the leg don't got no where to be connected to, your legs and arms are even more worthless.

With that said, I own Blue Lion thanks to some awesome friends...and I'm debating whether to splurge on Red, Green, Yellow and Black Lion (nearly $100 altogether). When you look at it that way, the verdict is a resounding no.

So why bother? Because you know you need a break from work and I can provide. That's right...eat it up...you want it.

more cowbell.

2008-01-22T13:48:00.000-06:00

Just watched the SNL skit of Blue Oyster Cult feat. Christopher walken. and I don't get it. Am I stupid?

Gays and Homosexuals!

2008-01-14T10:49:00.000-06:00

We went to Elaine's for dinner saturday night, and after dinner, we watched "I now pronounce you Chuck & Larry". Boy, it was as bad as you expected, but it took some really interesting perspectives on LGBT. Not as crass and offensive as you might have thought from a adam sandler movie about pretending to be gay to steal insurance benefits.

And jessica biel has a great figure, and didn't look half bad in this movie. But she still doesn't even come close to cracking my top ten list. That's the next post - top ten list mania.

Geeks Rejoice! The Chief Transformed

2008-01-11T11:32:00.001-06:00

Steve sent me this link master chief transformer.

Why is this cool? IT'S THE MASTER CHIEF!

Song Stuck In My Head

2008-01-10T16:44:00.001-06:00

(it's a rock band song. "Highway Star". Happens to be under the 'impossible' category, and i happen to agree. Guitar Solo Part D is the most wretched guitar solo I've encountered in the game)

It's time to work. haha. i meant to type "rock".

if only a TV was on...

2008-01-09T11:42:00.001-06:00

I'm super-tasking.

1. emailing five/six people
2. gchatting with two people
3. im-ing one person
4. texting two people
5. listening to the radio.

Change is Good

2008-01-08T12:08:00.000-06:00

Listening to a little Waddle & silvy on the podcast :)

Yeah, there are some changes happening in life right now. LeeJean in a new apartment, and stuff like that. So it's tough blogging right now. Been doing a lot of driving back and forth between Northbrook & Hyde Park.

On Saturday I did a little Estate Planning presentation for my parents friends. Went so much better than I had expected. And then questions...and more questions. Gotta tell ya, I was nervous as heck. But I survived and I'm looking forward to doing more little presentations for my parents friends about law stuff.

ok, time for lunch. Updates to come when available.

Some lists to fight Lists

2008-01-04T09:16:00.000-06:00

I saw a list for Top Ten TV theme songs and I nearly threw up in my mouth at the absurdity of his list. SORPRANOS at #2. ALL IN THE FAMILY at #1. Are you kidding me?

Here's my Top Ten all-time TV theme Songs.

10. Friends (I'll Be There For You, by the Rembrandts). Nothing sums up the 10-year run like this catchy song.
9. Greatest American Hero - even made it into ANOTHER TV show when George sang, "Believe it or not, George isn't at home...".
8. Dukes of Hazzard - A little something for our southern brethren. Love the Good Ole Boys.
7. Hanna Barbara Cartoons - Jetsons, Flintstones.
6. Knight Rider (or Magnum P.I., or MacGyver. you can't have more than one solo hero show on this list)
5. Mission Impossible - before it was a movie, it was a TV show.
4. Gilligan's Island - "Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale...
3. Twilight Zone - in the top ten because it's so memorable and exists all on it's own, that most people prob don't think of the show when they hear this.
2. Brady Bunch - got even better when they let the Brady Six sing the theme.
1. Cheers - everybody knows your name...I mean, song.

IGN has a great list of TOP 50.

But wait, there's more. Some website called, "Rockintown" has this awful survey for some Rock Hall of Fame. EVANESCENCE is number two! I love this goth band, but no way does it out rank the Beatles...and I don't even like the Beatles. (link to crappy list here).

My top ten musical acts (not who I like, but who I think).

10. (can't think of who should be #10)
9. U2
8. Abba
7. Madonna
6. Grateful Dead
5. Frank Sinatra
4. Nirvana
3. Led Zepplin
2. Rolling Stones
1. Beatles

Brace Yourself!

2008-01-02T19:18:00.001-06:00

TWO POSTS IN ONE DAY.

I think it's because I'm sitting at my desk trying to do some reading on Estate Planning (yes...I've been trying to do this reading for like three months). And I'm listening to the Maroon 5 "The B-Sides Collection" album that I just downloaded off of iTunes (thanks Vic...from last year's graduation!).

It's a rocking 7 song set-list and it makes me want to blog about it. That's the crux of blogging regularly - having something you want to broadcast to the world. Same with YouTube videos! I love their tagline "broadcast yourself"

Anyways, back to this boring dry-a** estate taxes and practice pointers, and GRIT's and GRAT's and valuation dates and *click-bang* (that was me shooting myself in my head with my fingers shaped like a gun)

Updates and HAPPY NEW YEAR

2008-01-02T16:32:00.000-06:00

(refer to this post: I've Joined The Club. that's where the photo is from.

the last weekend was not as busy as X-mas weekend. Sat, LeeJean and I babysat Dylan. this time, it was real babysitting, and not a surprise birthday party. But every time I go babysit, I will now think about that party, and be a little more cautious when I step through the door. LeeJean now wants to steal a four-year old to keep as her own. don't worry, I won't let her do that.

Sunday was move day for LeeJean. She's now settled up north in her new APT. then we went to Bob Chin's for dinner. Who knew Bob Chin's was like a tacky Crab Shack. All I ever hear about that place is how nice it is, but it really reminded me of some dingy restaurant that prides itself on cheesy Hawaiian shirts and funky mai-tai cups.

Monday - new years eve! we actually had a Rockin New Years Eve - mostly cuz we were playing Rock Band at a friend's house. Let me tell you - I'm So Sick is a hard song to rock to. I wanna get really good at the drums - to the point where I can drum on expert. Dream a little dream with me...

tuesday - first day in the new apt. and we had boston market. best money I've spent all year! I told leejean. I was gonna use that joke all night long, but then I forgot. Hey - first thing I forgot all year! Booyah - WHAT UP!

Sorry to all the folks who texted me Happy New Year on Monday night and never got a response from me. I ran out of texts and I refuse to give Verizon any more of my cash - so I haven't texted anyone for nearly a week. But I'm back - so expect lots of random and silly text messages this month.

Take Heart

2007-12-28T10:09:00.001-06:00

In the wake of crazy stuff happening in Pakistan (that's where Asif is from), and the awful weather today (6 inches?!!!), I offer you this: (with picture to follow)

El Toro restaurant, on NEIL St.

This is so good, I wish I had made it up myself.

Best things about this week

2007-12-27T09:11:00.000-06:00

1. Three day work week - and I didn't even have to do anything!
2. Another three day work week NEXT WEEK. What's the word? WOOT!
3. Surprise Pizza Party - because there are so few people around, we're having pizza. It's back-ass-wards, but I'm not the one making the rules around here.
4. Waddle & Silvy are back on the air. I love JD, Coppeck, and Mitch Robinson, but it's not the same.
5. LeeJean has an apartment! She won't be homeless!
6. No more holiday parties. My waistline can't take it anymore.
7. the end of the Bears pathetic season.
8. Bulls firing their coach!?!

Got any more? feel free to comment.

Happy Christmas and Merry New Year

2007-12-25T16:38:00.000-06:00

I always love mixing up the holiday greetings with the "Happy Christmas" retort.

It's been a bang-bang five days, let's recap:

Thursday: two hour lunch with coworkers. Dinner with LeeJean and then "Juno" movie. Out to the suburbs!

Friday: From Downers Grove to Northrbook, Glenview, Mount Prospect, and back to Downers Grove. The Japanese/Korean restaurant in Northbrook was yummy delish! I'm betting LeeJean goes there a lot in the new couple of months. (watch, she doesn't go back at all!) A little scrabble and "the Closer" and it was a night.

Saturday: House chores, and then a haircut, target, Liz's, Asif's, home, back to Darien and the Hollywood Blvd movie theater for "I AM LEGEND". I shivered through the whole movie. After the movie we rocked out on the PS3.

Sunday: Back to Hyde Park for football...with three people! we kicked field goals and played "Devin Hester" (one person gets the ball and we all try to tackle him). Watch the Bears, then out to Downers Grove. Pick up some Papa Johns, and then clean Kathy's condo. Kathy and I then went to JC Penny's to buy last minute gifts at 11pm.

Monday: Out to Glenview again, then Wheeling to finish up LeeJean's apt. situation. Over to Arlington Heights for some even later last-minute shopping (Trader Joe's gift cards anyone?, and BBQ tongs!). Back to Downers Grove. Back to Darien. Then back to the city for a Christmas Party. Then back to Hyde Park.

Tuesday: Back Downtown, then to Liz's - back to Downtown, now home. And the plan is to go back to Liz's for dinner! Crazy.

Here's the holiday haul:
From LeeJean: Xbox 360 carrying case. You have no idea how handy this is.
From Kathy: Skagen Watch
From Liz: Trader Joe's cookes, a Bears calendar and a funky bears window gag thingy.
From the neighbors: Banana Republic clothes.

the birthday haul was a bit more bountiful :P
Orange Box
Call of Duty 4
Madden 08
Dynasty Warriors 5
How I Met Your Mother, seasons 1 & 2
Voltron vol. 1
American Apparel T
iTunes gift cards
Book & Macy's gift card
A super-awesome million-pocket fleece
oh, and a freakin awesome surprise party.

Happy Holidays peeps.

I've joined the club.

2007-12-20T09:48:00.000-06:00

It's 30 time. Here's who noticed:

Dec. 15th:
Surprise Birthday Party! Guests:
LeeJean
Mom & Dad
Liz & Andy, Dylan
Kathy
Steve & Kayan
Amy
Asif & Alykhan
Vic & Diana
Paul
Bill & Sarah
Eddie
Elaine
Wil
Julie & Vicky (Rich, in the card)
Scott & Susie
Justin
Neil
Connie (in a card)

Dec. 17
Damien (gchat)
Eric H. (gmail)

Dec. 18
Steve (gchat)
Karen (facebook)

Dec. 19
Eric Kim (facebook)
Patsy (facebook)
Gill (facebook)
Ivy (text)
Yile (e-card)

Dec. 20 - The WINNERS!
1. Kathy (text, 12:01am)
2, 3. Steve & Kayan (phone, 12:31am)
4, 5. Vic & Diana (text, 3:16am & 3:17am?)
(#2 again) Steve (facebook, 1:04am)
6. Amy (facebook, 1:39am)
7. Jeff Fang (facebook, 2:49am)
8. Chris Wheat (facebook, 5:42am)
9. Tim Chng (facebook, 6:32am)
10. Carol (facebook, 6:59am)
11. Sandy (facebook, 8:15am)
12. Dad (birthday card, 8:20am)
13. Tammy (email, 9:23am)
14. Michelle (msn, 9:25am)
15. Yile (email, 9:26am)
16. Vicky (facebook, 9:35am)
17. Paul (gchat, 10:34am)
18. Ami (facebook, 10:57am)
19. Mom (phone, on her lunch break! 12:25pm)
20, 21. Jen & Ken (facebook, 12:35pm)
22. Bill (text, 12:54pm)
23. Maggie (gchat, 1:19pm)
24. Sandeep (facebook, 1:33pm)
25. Sarah (email, 1:24pm)
26. Jason (gchat, 1:37pm)
27. Tiffani (text, 2:46pm)
28. Terrence (facebook, 2:53pm)
29. Paulomi (facebook, 3:26pm)
30. Connie (facebook, 3:29pm)
31. Alice (facebook, 4:33pm)
32. Grace (text, 5:05pm)
33. Ron (facebook, 5:51pm)
34. Jessica (text, 9:24pm)
(#25 again) Sarah (facebook, 10:37pm)
35. Wil (facebook, 11:02pm)
36. Cathy (text, 11:14pm)
37. Scott (facebook, 11:22pm)
38. LeeJean (in person, 11:24pm)

photos

2007-12-19T00:14:00.001-06:00

After a surprise.
Amazon is wasteful. (this was used to ship a video game)
This is what we accomplished at our offsite training. Fake Poop.

Close Calls

2007-12-17T09:30:00.000-06:00

took my favorite party guests (favorite because they flew over 2,000 miles to attend a party) to the airport yesterday - and it was extremely difficult. It was one of those situations where you don't want it to end.

We hesitated going to the airport yesterday, and as a result, Amy nearly (but not really) missed her flight going home. Steve & Kayan's flight was delayed a bit more, so we hung out at the airport for a little bit. You gotta squeeze out as much as you possibly can...

on the drive home from Eddie's pot luck, I nearly crash my car four times cuz I was so sleepy.

this morning, I'm walking to bus stop, only to see the bus drive by. I walk to the express stop and catch the express. I close my eyes on the bus, and when I open them next, the bus is leaving the Green line station (doh!). The express bus pulls up to the Red line station, right as the train is pulling out of the station.

It's been a rough morning.

shock and awe...(wait for it)...some!

2007-12-16T03:17:00.001-06:00

Thanks to
Liz, Andy, Dylan, - for hosting and planning.
Mom, Dad, Kathy - for prepping, planning and inviting guests.
Vic & Diana, for biting their lips for a few hours.
Same goes for Scott and Susie!
Bill & Sarah, braving the distance that is Homewood/Flossmoor-->Lakeview in the blizzard.
Neil for the most ridiculous bottle of champaign I've ever seen.
Wil & Kathy for the most thoughtful gifts.
Asif & Alykhan, for making all of look bad! (just kidding. they just looked super good)
Paul for being Paul, and kicking butt in Mafia
Eddie & Elaine for being super party-people - they were the life of the party.
Julie & Vick, home alone? Party on!
Connie & Yile, for sending their wishes along
Justin, for squeezing us into his schedule ;P
Amy, Steve and Kayan - words cannot express my surprise, elation and excitement.
and to LeeJean. You got me babe. I was completely surprised - you're the best.

It's 3:22am, if I forgot someone, I'll fix it in the morning.Goodnight!

Super Party. Rock On.

2007-12-14T09:33:00.000-06:00

last night was the firm holiday party at Red Light in the west loop. FANTASTIC time. Food was sweet. Company was better. :)

Thank you to the two awesome people who came with. They were the best looking people in the room.

(why? Well, LeeJean always looks good :), and Paul was wearing a blue striped shirt with blue jeans and black leather shoes. A stunning combination if I may say so myself).

Happy Birthday

2007-12-12T12:12:00.000-06:00

To the one and only Bunc-Chacco!

What Makes You Busy?

2007-12-11T13:24:00.000-06:00

For my favorite radio show co-host, this is what keeps him busy:

Consulting all the fathers out there to become the next Marv Marinovich.

Introducing, T-Wad’s “I’M A KID. I’M 12. OVERCOACH ME!” Camp
- State of the art Plyometric drills on park benches
- Wind sprints where you always win (when you race T Wad)
- Special guest instructor Mark Silverman consults all the young women on that little hair lip problem. He’ll show you how to do it the right way!
- In addition to protein shakes, raw egg shakes, there will be BACON shakes!

It keeps him so busy that he gave me a $100 gift cert to House of Blues!

My what big claws you have!

2007-12-10T23:59:00.001-06:00

Better to climb with he said...

I just remembered...

2007-12-10T14:21:00.001-06:00

about a post I had a few months ago - that I was not allowed to post because of it's wildy humorous story. I'm not sure why I couldn't post it (it was a conversation between LeeJean and I), but it was hilarious. at one point I told LeeJean "I can't laugh out loud, so my mouth is gaping wide open!"

yeah, good story - ask LeeJean about it.

the crap is everywhere.

2007-12-10T11:20:00.000-06:00

What a horrible weekend. Weather wise, everything was frozen over. It was too short. It was cold. It was dark. But to top it all off - I had to stay at home Friday/Sat to take care of a "made-up" family business emergency.

Made-up because people were not smart enough to assess the "emergency" before declaring it an emergency. so that meant I had to postpone my trip to Champaign from Friday night, until late saturday night - and that meant I missed LeeJean's graduation and dinner afterwards.

Frank = one pissed of boyfriend.

Don't even get me started in other aspects, so I won't.

Luckily, it's hard to stay mad/unhappy when you share a Shrek glass of champagne with your honey in your pajamas. Congratulations babe! I see big things in your future!

Screw it.

2007-12-06T09:41:00.000-06:00

For a long time, I worried about the time. Now, I say Fcuk It! Like Serrano tells Jobu. (obscure reference to the movie, Major League). Which makes me think of Charlie Sheen as the "Wild Thing" in that movie - and now he's on the TV show Two and a Half Men, which I love.

And that leads me back to the writers strike. Greedy people not giving greedy people more money. It's always about the money - which was the basis of an article in business week about internet TV - everyone wants their piece of the money.

See what happens when you don't blog for a few months? Your brain turns to mush and you can't focus on one thought for more than a sentence.

Gmail: Super Spam Filter

2007-12-03T14:28:00.001-06:00

Found this awesome gmail hack one lifehack.org.

Send spam to trash. Instead of having Gmail-filtered spam go into your Spam folder (and have the annoying count of unread spam by the folder’s name), set up a filter with “is:spam” in the “has the words” field (just click “OK” on Gmail’s warning dialog box when you click next step) and “Delete it” as the action. Now all spam messages will go in your trash.

http://www.lifehack.org/articles/technology/20-ways-to-use-gmail-filters.html