Day of Detox II

It's only Wednesday?

• Maryhill Red 2006 wine - home
  
• 1 Vanilla Sex - home
  

Day of Detox

• 0 drinks

Yeah, really. Kind of sux to break my streak of 23 days.

i want to tell you how much i love you....

• deux Sexes of the Vanilla variety - home
  
• un Bushmill's and Baileys* - home
  

I'm partially drunk and it's 9:58 and I probably should go to sleep now being that it's a school night; let alone a Monday. I'm hoping that it will snow, but I know it won't. Fuckin' snow is a tease. I just downloaded the Juno soundtrack and I'm rocking out to that. I'm facetious in the fact that I'm rocking out to the soundtrack, because you can't really rock out to it, unless classical music is your idea of Metallica. It sounds more like a bunch of amateur singers with a guitar. So there you go. iTunes has it for $9.98. But Sonic Youth singing Superstar IS pretty cool. And Cat Power performing Sea of Love, of course.

LRob, I love ya cuz you commented for me! And don't tell me you didn't rock the HS because I know you did. The college was just an encore, I'm sure. Thanks for dinner last night too; it was dee-lish.

*Again, not using Bailey's, but St. Brendan's. St. Brendan's and Bushmill's doesn't sound quite the same; although it does sound fairly holy and maybe I could drink more and not go to Hell if that was the case.

Superbad.

• 2 pints Rainier - West 5
• 2 White Russians - Lisa's house

I saw Juno tonight and really enjoyed it. I had at first been hesitant to see it many weeks ago because I thought, "Why do I want to see a movie about a pregnant 16 - year old? What does that have to offer me?" But many of my friends have seen it since and all raved, "It's great!" "It's terrific!" "It's wonderful!" "It's funny!" and since Kevin & Donna were scheduled to see it on Sunday, I called them up and invited Susan and myself. Luckily Kevin & Donna are not picky with their quality of company and opted to let us join them.

I am certainly not qualified to write movie reviews (nor album reviews), but let me indulge you of this movie. First of all, I knew Susan would like it because it stars Jason Bateman, who she had and still has a mean crush on. I had to sit through three seasons of Arrested Development because of it...but that was a brilliant show anyway. That's okay though, because I have a crush on Michael Cera, who, coincidentally also starred in Arrested Development, so it really wasn't a sacrifice to sit through three seasons. The reason I have a crush on M.C. (not totally serious here) is because he starred as ME in Superbad, a badass funny film about a night of life in high school. And, I am totally serious here....I was Evan in high school and my fat friend was Seth (Jonah Hill). I was always the quiet, back seat guy to my loudmouth overweight friend who always talked about wanting to get laid. So, I have an interest to anything Michael Cera is starring in, because; he is, like I was. Anyway, Juno....

was endearing and funny. So many great lines, so many great songs; and, I really liked the titles too. Simple and illustrative. But, it got me thinking...

how awkward high school was for me. I'm not really sure how to elaborate here, but I do know that most of you know exactly what I mean (except for maybe Lisa, cuz she rocked the HS) so I'll stop here.

Which brings me to the music. Mott the Hoople: my roommate (who was also my best man) and I used to listen to them in between the blending of margaritas. Sonic Youth: My sister has a few albums of theirs, but I never really got into them. And - it was very funny that in the movie theater an audience member began clapping when (Junebug?) said that SY just made a lot of noise. Iggy Pop: One of the best concerts I've ever seen. The guy is 60+ years old and rocks hard, as does his music. In fact, I'm listening to Raw Power right now. It's cool how fresh but rough it still sounds. Thanks Constance for going with me to the concert, even though I didn't see you after the first song because I ran off into the pit. You shoulda been up there with me. Cat Power: What can you say about the beautiful Chan Marshall? Her concert was unexpected. (Have you ever been asked by the performer to sit on the floor at Neumos for 1 1/2 hours ? Yeh.) Her voice........................listen to We Are Free and tell me that you haven't broken down and not been able to speak. *sigh* The Velvet Underground: Nico. wow.

So anyway; Juno. Endearing and Lovely. Do high schoolers really talk that way? Who knows? Maybe my sister could best answer that (she's a high school teacher (but mostly ESL students I believe)), but the important thing is that Michael Cera, for me, brought all the uncomfortableness and awkwardness of being a high schooler back to my memory. Knowing what I know now, I would probably love going back to HS, but it would still be a tough time, not something I would wish on anyone (or most anyone.)

So go watch Superbad and go see Juno. I would say Juno is better than Superbad because Juno is sort of a Napoleon Dynamite type-thang, which, btw, was an incredible movie, although the song, The Rose, which is featured in ND, (and as kind of a significant role), (Helping Hands) was the song that came on the radio in 1980 right after when my sister and I told my brother that my parents were getting divorced. So, I've got that going for me. Anyway, thanks for enduring the longish post. I'll try to get some pictures of something up soon so that it's all viz-u-hell and not so text-u-hell.

And why don't you all leave some comments?! I'm lonely out here! Just a simple "J - you suck, but I read ya anyway because you look at my pictures." would suffice ya know?

Ryan Adams Kicks Ass

• 1 pint Stone Winter Ale - Beveridge Place Pub
  
• 1 Imperial pint of some beer I don't remember. It was strong though. - Beveridge Place Pub
• 1 White Russian - Talarico's Pizza

Ryan Adams. Fuck.

Chicks for Free

• 1 margarita - home
  

Last weekend while drinking in "The Grotto", the Brothers In Arms album by Dire Straits began playing. Whenever I hear this album - which isn't often, and I still own it too. It was one of the first cd's I bought. In fact, the cd was made in Japan because it was before they had cd replication companies in the US. This was in 1985 and my cd player cost $250. I used all my Burger King working money to buy it. When I moved to California after graduating six months later it was the only thing stolen out of my 20 or so boxes when I had it shipped. Don't ever use the original box to ship in when something is technologically new like that. - Anyway, whenever I hear this album it reminds me of high school because it was there, in the Generals' Journal, that my first ever Album Review was published in the school newspaper. Unfortunately I don't tend to throw this evidence away, and so I managed to find the review stored away in our basement. So, there it is, printed in it's entirety above. Can you believe I used the word "brilliant"? How brilliant was that? Brilliant is such a brilliant word too. Click on the pic for a larger view. As a bonus you'll see my review of Motley Crue's Theater of Pain as well! Do I have a career at The Stranger?

Trader Joes

• 1 Basil Hayden's - home
  

It totally makes sense that a woman wearing some sort of "stitch 'n embroider by numbers" cat vest would use a checkbook at Trader Joes. That should have been my first clue that I was in the wrong line. When she asked the cashier if she could use the "sticker" and the cashier had no idea what she was talking about until Cat Vest said "The thing to put your name down." and the cashier said "Oh, it's a stamp you need, not a sticker." that's when I knew I should have jumped to the alternate line when I had a chance. I was too tired to be irritated and decided to be amused. Hand stitched cat vests and Check Using Grannies. Ya gotta love'em. And just as she was leaving, the cashier asks, "So WHEN do you go into your surgery?" It was just too perfect.

• 1 margarita - home
• 1 pint hand-pulled ale - Elliott Bay Brewing Company
  

• 1 Vanilla Sex - home
  

Jim Beam and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

• 1 pint Paulanger - Leavenworth
  
• 1 shot Jim Beam - home
  

This was the drive home from Leavenworth day. I had the shot of Jim Beam later that night, while looking at pictures of the weekend. The pictures above are not from this weekend, but of my trip to Atlanta in August. Here I am at Martin's tomb with my eyes closed and below I'm at Ebenezer Baptist Church where MLK Sr. preached, followed by his son, MLK Jr. There is actually a newer, more modern Ebenezer across the street which I didn't go in to. I did go in the original Ebenezer however. It was......really something. It's great to have experiences like this to share with students.

Sunday Skiing

• 1 airplane bottle Chivas
  
• 1 airplane bottle Rum
• Jim Beam from flask
• few sips of Jose Cuervo
• airplane bottle of Jack Daniels single barrel
• 2 glasses of wine
• 1 glass of Paulanger
• 3 or 4 bottles of Rolling Rock
• random assembly of other drinks throughout the day

I'm not an experienced cross-country skier - this was only my second time ever in seven years or so - but I was still better than the guy in front of me who was much like a large bear searching for food in the snow. He had fallen and was crawling around in the snow and had decided that the best time for him to merge into my fate was right as I was descending a hill and making a turn. He had semi-cautiously stepped onto the trail without looking behind him when I realized what he was attempting. I blurted the words "Behind you!" as I was quickly closing in on him and, instead of slowly turning around to check out the voice (like most people would), he miraculously realized what was about to happen and began to step off the trail immediately. I still managed to slide over his right ski, but I continued upright and I'm sure he was quite proud of himself for realizing what "Behind you!" meant.

The pictures above are some of the sights on the trail. The snow fell most of the day, and even though the sky was gray, it was a beautiful time. Small bottles of alcohol are nice to have when in the snow.

Leavenworth here we come!

• 3 bottles of Rolling Rock
• 1 pint Hofbrau
• 1 pint Warsteiner
• 1 White Russian
• 1 Bailey's & Bushmills
• A menagerie of other drinks throughout the day.

Today Susan and I left for Leavenworth for a weekend trip with some friends. The drive was beautiful through Snoqualmie Pass and Blewitt Pass. It was snowing when we arrived at the Sleeping Lady, a beautiful cabin filled area nestled peacefully among tall trees and gravel paths. We had been there in September for Susan's cousin's wedding and it was surprising how different it looked when covered in 3-4 feet of snow...and how much colder it was. We unpacked our cars and drove the two miles into the village for some lunch and Bavarian nostalgia. We found it at an open air braut haus that sold vegetarian brauts and German beer on tap. Ya can't beat a veggie braut, so we settled in near the underpowered heat lamps and munched happily on brauts, pretzels, and bier.

The night "brought" (haha) other adventures as we ventured into "The Grotto"... Sleeping Lady's equivalent to Hugh Hefner's hidden water paradise, except this had no water and no naked bodies, however, what it did have was a nicely stacked, er, stocked bar with a brightly lit fire that kept the whole place glowing in warmth. After a round of Nine Hole we blearily departed the Grotto and headed back to our Fountain Cluster, to find some sleep.

Pictured above is the snowy bridge that had to be crossed to get up to the hot tub which is also pictured. The snow surrounding the hot tub is quite practical for storing bottles of beer.

• 2 pints PBR - Admiral Pub
• 2 Vanilla Sex - home
• 1 shot Patron - home

Everything happens for a reason.

• A coupla margaritas - home

It was a Sunday morning and I was eating wheat toast with berry jam when I answered the phone call from my step-dad. Jim had always been straightforward and he said right away, "Um, your mother passed away this morning.", and that's all I remember him saying. I still had a piece of toast in my mouth and it sat there, damp and dead on my tongue. She was 54 years old and that was nine years ago today. My mom, Yvonne - pronounced "e-vonn" - a beautiful name - had been diagnosed with cancer a few years earlier and it had been removed and she had led what she thought to be a changed life for a few years, but in September 1999 it returned. My mom and Jim were in the process of moving from Orange County, CA to Oceanside, CA where they had planned to retire. In December 1999 Susan and I; my brother, Ken; and my sister, Michelle spent Christmas at their new house. My mom sat restricted to a reclining living room chair where she ate and slept the entire time we visited. We watched a lot of TV together and it was the first time I remember watching Emeril Lagasse, because she enjoyed watching it and mimicking the way he talked.

She was only able to eat ice chips, and I remember the freezer being full of bags of liquid that she would take intravenously. She wasn't able to enjoy Ken's "24 hour lasagna" which I named on the spot because it literally took him 24 hours to make it. The whole time he was preparing it he talked about how much everyone liked it, but I never understood why it took him so long to make it.

I don't think at any time during the trip I was thinking that she would not survive. I know that when we all went to Mass on Christmas Day we were all praying for her. I think she had wanted to go down to the waterfront on Christmas Day, but she was too tired by the time we got to do it. Maybe we all did go down. I'm not sure if we did or not, and these are the details I wish I could remember.

I remember Jim pulling us aside and telling us, in his straightforward, almost uncomfortable way, "The doctor says your mom has three months to live. I'd like her to have a picture of all of you." This declaration caught us all off-guard because, as bad as she looked, we all had faith that she would live, but we took the money and drove to Wal-Mart where he'd told us to go. The photographer was a large Hispanic woman who we all thought had just been released from prison because she had tattoos on her fingers and hands that looked suspiciously like inmate tattoos. The picture she took is shown above. I think you'd never know that thirty minutes prior we'd been told our mom had less than three months to live.

Even though we refused to believe it.

There are many dates to her death. The date I last saw her alive...a few days after Christmas when I had to fly back to Seattle and I said goodbye to her as she sat in that recliner, and I said "I'll see you later." but I'm not sure if I believed it. The date that I last talked to her on the phone...a few days before she died. Nine years ago today when she died at 4:30 am. The date of her funeral....in Hughson, CA where she had grown up. The date when we spread her ashes....six months later when Ken, Michelle, Jim and I rented a powerboat and sped out into the Pacific Ocean off the Oceanside coast. We each spread her ashes and then Jim dropped the urn into the ocean. I'm not sure why it surprised me that it sunk so fast. My aunt spread some of her ashes in Maui, Hawaii, where she was born. I have some of her ashes in a film canister, of all places, as do Ken and Michelle.

I was 31 years old and it was the first funeral I had ever been to.

I'm still struggling to figure out the reason.

1-16-08

• 1 margarita - Cactus
• 1 Bushmill's & Bailey's* - home

*I'm not actually using Bailey's, but St. Brendan's instead because it's cheaper.

Tuesday

• 1 Vanilla Sex - home
• 1 glass 2005 Rosemount Shiraz - home

Nice marmot.

• 3 glasses 2005 Rosemount Shiraz - home

I've been pouring the wine into the decanter that Susan bought me for Christmas, and I must say that it tastes pretty awesome when decanted. The two bottles that I've had recently, I've decanted and it's tasted delicious, even though I wasn't expecting much from it...$8-$10 bottles. 

My brother found out that I watched "The Big Lebowski" last week and he's all over it...quoting lines from it and sharing information. He's so funny and he's reminded me of some really good lines as well. I think one of my favorite parts is when The Dude is driving back from Lebowski's and you can sense that he's so happy with his freedom and Creedance is playing in the background and The Dude is singing along "dooo dooo doooo lookin' out my back door" and he's smoking a roach and hitting the ceiling of his car, but then the roach drops in his lap and he's trying to put it out and he veers off the road and into a hydrant. That's high comedy there. "This aggression will not stand....man." Fucking hilarious. I want to watch it again. "Nice marmot." Goodnight....

Grits and Gravy

• 2 Imperial pints Tetley's Ale - Celtic Swell

An absolutely beautiful day. Walked to Mass at 8 am and the air was clear and still, there was no one on the road - much different than when I walk to work during the weekday. So peaceful and it felt warm too..the bank thermometer read 40 degrees, but it felt warmer than that. It continued to warm up throughout the day, so much that all I wore on a walk to Alki was a thin, long sleeve t-shirt and a wool cardigan. Susan and I stayed at Alki for a few hours, walking up and down the beach and stopping for lunch at the Celtic Swell. There were these two guys there, and they were probably with two other people that I saw who I could tell weren't from around here. It might have had something to do with the cargo shorts they were wearing with the running shoes...an altogether bad look. One guy was wearing a baseball cap backwards, the other was wearing a baseball cap forwards. Backwards Cap Guy was wearing a shirt that said "Celtic" on the back, and Frontwards Cap Guy was wearing a shirt that said "Grits and Gravy" on the back. That was the one who interested me. Were they from the south? What were they doing here? What was with the shorts? They toasted a shot of something (whiskey?), drank it and followed it with a beer. Then they took a picture of themselves by holding the camera out in front of them. They weren't rowdy, but I was wondering what they were toasting. Then they squeezed in with the other two people while the bartender took a picture of them. Minutes later the bartender was motioning with her hands as if she was sharing her topographical knowledge of the area. I always kind of feel sorry for bartenders because they must get shit like that all the time.

I took the above picture at an apartment complex today because I like old apartment names like this.

Cheeseheads

• 1 bottle Alaskan Amber - D & K's house
• 1 bottle Samuel Adams Winter ale - D & K's house
• 2 glasses Lockwood Cabernet Sauvignon - home
  

Ended up at D & K's house after picking up some things at Home Depot. Watched the entire Seahawk's game, which really was a disappointment. Even though I'm not a "fan" of football, it sucks to see your city's team lose and in the way in which they did. After the game, came home, ate dinner, watched some FLIP shows and fell asleep. Day flew by.