One Thanksgiving when I was a kid, my grandmother started crying when we arrived.

"Why are you crying, Grandma?" I asked.

"I'm crying because I'm happy," she said.

I didn't understand at the time, because I was just a kid. But now I understand. She had some kind of weird old-person crying disease and she wanted to protect me from the harsh realities of the world. Thank you, Grandma.

(In reference to this.)

LDH: Maybe I should have moved to San Jose or Orange County
so I can become the leader of a politically charged minority/GANG LEADER

me: More opportunity for--exactly

LDH: ROSA PARKS2K9

me: Maybe I should move there to become leader of a politically charged minority--to OVERTURN PROP 8

LDH: LOL

me: HARVEY MILK2K9

LanDHo12: LOLOLOL

The shape I'm in

Things that I'm thinking about:

- Tumblr is pretty cool. It's almost as if a picture says 1,000 words?

- I'm kind of sick of the Internet. It's really good for getting infatuated with something, because there's always more information about that thing to be found. But I'm finding myself tired of being infatuated with things that don't "matter" to me. That is, if it doesn't have to do with the business, exercise, books, food, movies, or (some) music, then I guess I don't really need it right now. Also, I'd rather experience things, I think.

- I feel very good about my life. I guess I always have, but now seems like a good time to grow, to be inspired by things, to cultivate something that belongs to me.

- I'm also feeling very good about getting rid of people/habits/thoughts that aren't good for me. I had one of the most stressful weeks of my life recently, and I more or less coasted through it because I was riding a high from a book I've been reading. I'd prefer more of that, and less dealing with negative thoughts/people/activities.

- I think it's time to start eating better and working out differently. Again.

Topics for hilarious things to write about:

- Breaking my iPhone

- A peanut is neither a pea nor a nut

- Being delirious after working a 21-hour day and having nearly everything in my business fall apart

- Being a celebrity; How it's more or less the recipe to becoming insane

- Teddy Pendergrass

- My business partner has never heard of The Smiths

- How it's important to be self-aware, especially after you're around people who aren't, and how you think they're awful

- I really, really like hamburgers

- I have not read the news in weeks; I believe there's something going on about health care at the moment, but I only know that due to Facebook updates

- Sly Stone: how he's from Denton, TX; a celebrity; and insane

They were careless people, Tom and Dasy--they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made. . . .

(The Great Gatsby, pp 180-181)

Day five - Successful coffee trip!

On Tuesday I was finally successful in hunting for great coffee in NYC. I started out at Macchiato, in Midtown. The place was VERY modern, house music on the speakers, a packed house, and sleek design everywhere. I had a tasty cappuccino there with nice latte art.



I continued by jumping on the subway and roaming around like a fool for about 40 minutes, which didn't seem like a promising start. But after a couple of wrong turns I lucked out and ended up exactly where I wanted to be: just a few blocks away from Cafe Grumpy.


I had a really nice cappuccino there, and chatted a little with the baristas about their coffee. They use multiple roasters and feature a "guest espresso" on rotation, which I thought was a pretty cool thing to do.



From there I went on to Chelsea where I visited Ninth Street Espresso in Chelsea Market. Wandering around outside the Market, I encountered The High Line, an amazing example of adaptive reuse and sustainable landscape architecture and design. From there I wandered around some more and ended up doing some window shopping.

After that I met up with Lan and Dan to watch cartoonist and humorist Michael Kupperman perform at The Strand bookstore. Fun, hilarious, and I got a signed copy of his new book Tales Designed to Thrizzle, vol. 1.

From there I left the group to meet up with Wade at a bar called Gatsby's. We had a couple of drinks, then went for a slice of pizza. Not a lot going on in the area, so we went back to Greenpoint (Brooklyn), where Wade lives. We popped into a couple of bars, but ended up at a really nice place called Black Sheep. The owner was there, so I chatted with him a bit about craft beers and the Brooklyn bar scene. He gave us a bag of Doritos, and then we headed home.

Another great day in New York!

Day four - Failed coffee trip, Rock of Ages

On Monday I made an effort to check out a bunch of different coffee shops around town. I pretty much failed. This was the first day I was on my own. Lan had to go to work, so we had a quick coffee at Oren's (a cappuccino--way too foamy) and then I set up my game plan. They didn't have any outlets at Oren's, so I tried to make my map on my phone, which didn't work out too well.

I got on the subway and rode back and forth for about 40 minutes for what should have been a ten-minute ride to Counter Culture, a coffee roasting company originally from North Carolina. Counter Culture is one of the most respected coffee roasters in the country, and I was really interested to see their setup in NYC. It turns out it's really just a training facility. I talked with a girl that worked there named Meister, who was super friendly and extremely helpful in getting to know some good coffee places to check out here in town. I promised that I'd see her again on Thursday night for the latte-art competition.

After leaving Counter Culture, I ran across the street to a place called Hill Country BBQ. Funny, right? The sign promised Lone Star, a bunch of Texas stuff, and good BBQ, so I thought I should check it out. I had a pulled beef sandwich, some mac and cheese, and a couple of Lone Stars and they were all quite good. The staff was ridiculously friendly, and we chatted about Texas, BBQ, and what to do in NYC.

From there I got a hold of Wade who was working on setting up the space for his new art gallery. Getting over there was much easier than it was to get anywhere else, and soon we were catching up over a couple of Stellas at a place nearby. It had been about five or six months since I'd seen the guy, so it was nice to hang out. We'll see more of each other this week for sure.

From there I took a cab to Manhattan to meet up with Dan and Lan because we had tickets to see Rock of Ages, a Broadway musical featuring the music of Journey, Whitesnake, Styx, Poison, etc. Before we went, though, we stopped at a food cart called Biryani Cart for some lamb wraps that were pretty great. Apparently Biryani Cart won best vendor food in 2008. I can't really validate that, but the food was pretty damn good.

Rock of Ages was awesome. It was kind of a sleeper thought--the first ten minutes seemed really cheesy and kinda dull, but after that it really took off. It was funny, exciting, and all the performances were really impressive. I have never seen a Broadway show before (well, not on Broadway), so this was a really fun experience.

After that, Lan and I trudged home through Manhattan, had a quick whiskey at the bar around the corner from his apartment, and passed out. Another great day.