It's Balmy

Mid-60s today. All I can say is that the weather in New York is crazy. There's supposed to be biblical-type rainfall tonight.

IKEA... Argh!

So, last night I spent about two hours putting together roughly six pieces of a TV stand. Ridiculous.

Even more ridiculous? The last part to add was a sliding drawer. However, I put the ends of the stand on backwards, so the drawer wouldn't go in. Tonight, I have to take everything apart and rebuild it again.

Oh, I also put the back on upside down, so I have to remove the 15 nails I pounded to flip it rightside up.

Dad, I miss you!

Congratulations!

My friends Kelly and Tim got engaged on Wed. night. It was a long time coming (at least for Kelly)... so I'm glad it finally happened.

Congrats kids. Keep me posted on the wedding date!

Seriously

Is this the cutest kid you've ever seen, or what?

Man, I miss little Miss Kaia. Can't wait to see her in less than a month!

Helllllooooooo!

Does this look familiar to you? If not, you need to watch more TV! I took a train uptown to find it, and it's right there off of about 110th and Broadway.

It's not too far from my apartment. I didn't actually eat there, as I was hankering for a slice of pizza. But, if you visit, we'll hit it if you'd like.

Fixed Stove

So, the maintenance guy came this morning to fix my stove. Turns out that the left and right knobs were reversed. Unbelievable. That was it. I sure wish he would've come on Tuesday. La Di Da.

Now I'm waiting for an IKEA delivery. I got the great 11 - 3:00 window. Is that the worst window ever? Right in the middle of the day. Again... La Di Da.

25, Feels Like 18

Unfortunately I'm not talking about a new woman in my life.

That's what the weather was (according to weather.com) when I went out for my post-Thanksgiving run. Ugh.

The run itself was rough... a little too much wine and turkey rumbling around my tummy. But the weather was brutal. When running against the wind, it felt like my face was going being pulled into a tight little ball. I was pretty sure my face was going to freeze and slide off of my skull.

I finished the run, took a hot shower and had leftover lasagna.

What a Spread

Man, we did it up right last night. Steven and Donna prepared Butternut Squash Rissotto, scallops, mashed potatoes, stuffing, mushroom gravy, beets and Brussel sprouts. It was all really good.

My turkey turned out perfect! And the Butternut Squash Lasagna also ended up really good. Thanks Adam for the turkey recipe. Thank you Giada for the lasagna recipe and for being so good lookin'.

Fantastic Thanksgiving

My cousins Steven and Donna were perfect hosts. We drank wine, ate a lot of food, and had a great time.

This One's for Kaia

I miss you kid!

Garfield

It's kind of cold, and pretty windy. The 'balloons' weren't allowed to fly at the proper height due to the wind.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Have a good one!

Interesting Start to Thanksgiving

No stove! On to plan B.

Well, it took about two hours, but I finished the Butternut Squash Lasagna. For any of you who had worked with Butternut Squash and didn't tell me that peeling and cleaning it sucked, shame on you!

I think it turned out OK. How could it not with 1/4 cup of butter, 3 cups of whole milk, 2 cups of mozarella and two pounds of squash. Probably not so good for my lactose intolerance!

Now here's a problem you don't often run into. My cousins, Steven and Donna live about eight blocks away. Not too far. However, they live on the other side of Broadway. I can't take the lasagna to their house to be cooked until after noon. Why? Because of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It runs down Broadway right in between our apartments.

When I wake up tomorrow, I'll brine the turkey. At eight pounds, it should only take about three hours to cook.

It's Cold!

And here I thought the weather was tempermental in Seattle. Yesterday I whined about the wet 50 degrees. Today, it's absolutely gorgeous out... unless you have to go outside.

It's probably 35 degrees with a serious wind. With windchill, it's gotta be around 20 degrees.

I took one step outside, turned around and grabbed my hat and gloves. Because of the hat, my hair now looks like Nick Nolte's famous mugshot.

Big Problem

So, I'm on the hook to make a turkey and a butternut squash lasagne for Thanksgiving with my cousin Steven and his wife Donna. I now have all the ingredients and all the kitchen supplies necessary to make the meal.

One small issue, though. My oven isn't working! Hopefully the maintenance people can come by tomorrow, or I'm royally screwed.

Bono in the House

Oh my God. Has Bono visited your workplace lately? This woman just came by to tell my co-worker something, and then said, "Oh my God, I just got out of a meeting that Bono sat in."

He's here. That's so crazy. BONO IS HERE.

Feels Like Home

No, I don't mean New York is starting to feel like home. Though, I do feel comfortable living here.

What I mean is the weather is totally Seattle-like this morning. It's about 50 degrees, grey, low clouds, slightly windy and wet. It's not really raining, it's just sort of misty wet. Not wet enough for an umbrella, but a gore-tex jacket is required.

Angry Asian Man

Got this link from the Boring Girls, AngryAsianMan.com is a cool blog about Asians/Asian Issues in the news.

As an Asian man, I guess it's my duty to link to the site, right? It's the most relevant Asian site I've read. If I read it long enough, I may even become angry.

A Trip to the Garden

I went to Madison Square Garden this afternoon to see the Knicks - Blazers game. Got to see both of my Nates-- Robinson and McMillan. For more on the game, check out my other blog, Dawg and the City.

The Garden, is an old building, but it cleans up nicely for basketball. I think I probably got screwed on my ticket. I asked the guy for the cheapest seat available. He said the cheapest seat was $45. I bought it. It was the last row of the top deck, but it was midcourt. I noticed there were TONS of open seats in the upper corners, which I would think would be cheaper than center court. Oh well. It was fun.

The Knicks City Dancers are so much better than the Sonics Dancers, you can't really even compare them. The half-time act was the Gentleman Jugglers, from Seattle. I can't escape them!

God help me, I might be becoming a Knicks fan. Or, it could've been that they were playing our hated rivals, the Blazers. I'm not sure. We'll see how the season progresses.

Apple Cup on TV!

So, I was listening to the Apple Cup on my computer and watching the Michigan - Ohio St. game. When Ohio St. won the game, I started flipping through channels, and BAM, the Apple Cup is on Fox Sports Net. Why? I have no idea, but it makes me happy.

Wow, Craig Ehlo Still Sucks

Watching the Sonics - Nets right now. In a strange twist of fate, YES Network lost power, so they're showing the FSN feed with Kevin Calabro and Craig Ehlo.

No question, Calabro is still the best in the business. There's little question that Ehlo is one of the worst. As an added bonus, Brian Davis just popped up at half-time. Glad to see he's still an idiot, too.

25 Words or More: Goblet of Fire

To paraphrase Trent from "Swingers," 'our little boy is all grows up.' This fourth film in the Harry Potter is a real departure from the other films.

This one's not for the kiddies. It's downright scary at times. I jumped at least three times. But, it's not just the 'jumpy' stuff that's scary. There are pure horror moments.

The special effects are dazzling. I would love to compare the flying scenes from the first to fourth films.

The kids are now decidedly teenagers and they look (and sound) it.

Even if you haven't seen the first three films, I think you'll still enjoy this on, easily the best of the lot.

Warm Morning, Dead Legs

It was really warm this morning. When I set off for my run at 7am, it was already 60 degrees.

I only went four miles. My legs are dead. Not a surprise, since this is the start of my fourth week of training. I'm going to 'cut back' this week, and add miles next week.

I think it's supposed to be near 70 until Wednesday. On Thursday, though, it's suddenly high of 48, low of 32. I guess winter is starting this weekend.

Watching Husky Hoops

I had no idea that when I subscribed to that Husky radio thing, I would also be able to WATCH games. I'm watching the Huskies vs. Morgan State. Right now, the Huskies are up by 47 in the second half. I'm pretty sure they're going to win the game.

The Week Ahead

Big movie week. Tomorrow night I'm seeing the new Harry Potter film. I'm pretty excited about that.

Wednesday night is Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe.

Friday night is a Disney party at The Rainbow Room, which is on the 65th floor of Rockefeller Center! Dinner and open bar. Should be a good time. I'm taking my camera as the view from up there has got to be insane.

I'm also going to try to get into a Memoirs of the Geisha screening. Not sure that's going to happen, but I'm meeting a Sony publicist for lunch on Thursday, and I believe the screening is Thursday night.

Lazy Sunday

Lazy day today. Woke up, put on some comfortable shoes and walked through the Park to the east side and did some shopping.

Went to Bloomingdales, H&M and Banana Republic. I bought nothing. Then came back and went to Bed, Bath and Beyond for some household stuff. Also went grocery shopping and stocked up on crap I should've had for the past month... ketchup, Tabasco, etc.

Now I'm watching the Jets. Boring.

Going to make a pasta dinner and settle in for a night of "Desperate Housewives."

Carriage in the Park

Someday I'll take my niece on one of these rides through the park.

Central Park

For those of you living in an area without 'seasons,' (Leslie) this one's for you.

Another gorgeous Fall day today. The leaves are nearly all turned, but there's still some color to be seen.

Dining Table

So, there's my table and chairs, and another book shelf.

New Shelf

The shelf fits nicely here. It also acts as a nightstand. And will soon house a clipped 'reading' light.

Dinner with a Cousin

I met my second cousing Steven and his wife Donna tonight for dinner. We went to a place called Matt's Grill.

Steven and Donna are great. I'm sure I'll be hanging out with them quite a bit. Steven works for ESPN.com and Donna works for an internet company.

The evening was a lot of fun. I look forward to seeing them again.

Rewind

I just realized I wrote an entire post about Suzanne and her boyfriend thinking I had already introduced them in a previous post, but I never wrote about our dinner on Wednesday night. So...

On Wednesday night, I met my friend Suzanne and her boyfriend Greg for dinner. Suzanne was in town for the marathon. Greg was in town to play a show on Friday night. Greg was the drummer of Mother Love Bone, one of the most important rock bands in northwest history, if not in musical history. If you don't know why, you should Google it. But, a little hint... the guitar player was Stone Gossard and the bass player was Jeff Ament.

We met up here on the Upper West at Niko's Bar and Grill for some Greek food. I had a lamb dish that was served over rice in stone bowl. It was good.

I'm getting hungry.

A Fun Friday Night

Last night I met Suzanne at a place called Gramercy Tavern. It has a low brow name, but it's decidedly swanky. Still, I looked at the menu and prices were very reasonable.

Suzanne was meeting with a literary agent. The guy was pretty funny, a born storyteller. However, I was glad when we had to leave.

From there, we went to see her boyfriend play at a bar called Joe's Pub. Again, Joe's Pub sounds like a dive, but it's also pretty swanky. Apparently, it's quite the musical institution. David Byrne is known to hang out there.

Here's another bit of trivia. Matt Damon has a loft next door to Joe's Pub. If you happen to be in NY, it's the place with the gold celophane-like stuff over the window at street level.

Following the show, we went to The New York Milkshake Company... for... wait for it... milkshakes. Actually, I had a vanilla egg cream, since it's a little easier on lactose intolerant body. Then we went to the Crooked Tree Cafe for crepes. I don't actually like crepes (or pancakes, for that matter) but, when in Rome.... I had a proscuitto and mozarella crepe. It was quite good, but would've been better on bread.

We finished eating at about 12:30. I've got to stop these 11:30 dinners...

Diet Dr. Pepper

I think I'm in love with Diet Dr. Pepper. I don't really know what else to say about that. But, damn, it's really good.

Dawgs on the Net

I'm listening to the UW - Arizona football game right now via GoHuskies.com. From there, I subscribed to a radio package that allows me to listen to all of the football and basketball games.

Man, we stink.

The Perfect Fall Day

Too bad the marathon wasn't held this weekend. Last weekend was kind of humid. Today was perfect.

It was mid-50s, with a slight breeze. When I took off for the run, the sun was high and bright. The leaves were falling onto the trail along the river.

I turned around after three miles. Coming back, the sun was setting. The sky was a deep pink. Again, it was simply beautiful.

By the time I got home, it was pretty much dark. It gets dark here at around 4:45.

Six miles in just under an hour. Happy with that. It's the first time I've run over four miles in about six weeks.

My New Table

Typing this from my new dining table. It's small, tall table with high chairs. Kind of cool.

I also put together my two leaning shelves today. The apartment is coming together pretty well. I'm still waiting for a TV stand and a dresser to be delivered.

Oh, the cable guy came today (for the fourth time!) and put a 'cable card' in my TV, allowing me to bypass the cable box. By doing this, I'm able to pick up HDTV (amazing!) and I can use my Tivo... sort of. The Tivo isn't picking up any channels above 80, meaning I can't 'tivo' HBO. The rest of the channels up there I pretty much don't watch anyway.

I'll have pictures of the new furniture tomorrow.

How am I going to get all of this furniture to Maui?

Gray's Papaya

When in New York, if you want a cheap hotdog, cup of coffee, buttered roll, smoothie, Gray's Papaya is the place for you.

Honestly, I've never tried it. So, why bring it up?

Every time I walk by it, I think of my niece Kaia. Her mom often calls her KaiaPapaya. So, now every time I see the word Papaya, I think of Kaia.

I miss my Kaia.

Running Update

The whole running in New York City is going great. I was a little too lazy to get out of bed this morning, so I ran tonight. Just four miles. but it was pretty quick (for me.) I'm going to do six on Saturday. Then sit on six miles for a few weeks.

It was easily the windiest weather I've ever run in. I fear the weather is turning here in New York. It's been 70 and sunny for so long, I kind of forgot I'm living in an extreme weather zone. I'm beginning to fear the winter.

Swapping Some Links

Time to swap out some links. It's not that I don't still the ladies at Get Yourself Some Boring or the lovely Jessa Jeffries, it's just time to spread the love.

So, I now present Lauren and Rusty Blue.

Lauren's blog, "LaurenYRC", is about, well, everything. But the focus seems to be on male-female interaction. It's a little girly, but it's clever and well written. Guys will enjoy it too. It's kind of funny to see how women think about men.

Rusty Blue's blog "At Least the Nail Didn't Go Through My Foot..." is frickin' hysterical. I would've linked to it before, but she doesn't post very often. Following her misadventures is an absolute pleasure. I mean, I'd love for her to be happy, I guess. But, I'm hoping she never meets the right guy so she'll continue to post her wild stories. You should go back and read from the beginning of her blog. It's really funny.

25 Words or Less: Walk the Line

Joaquin Phoenix and Reese Witherspoon can really sing! A revelation. Sometimes tries too hard for Oscars, but overall, quite excellent. Highly recommended.

25 Words or Less: Domino

Blech. Keira Knightley? Hot, too skinny. Director Tony Scott? Hate him. All flash, no substance. Hollywood, please stop giving him money.

The "Regular" Runners

Over 37,000 runners started the New York Marathon. It got up to 70 degrees today, which is probably a little warm for many of the runners. (They should try running LA in 95 degree weather... but, enough about me....)

What an amazing day. I hope to run the race next year. But, if I can't get in next year (its a lottery,) I'm guaranteed entry into 2oo7 by running in nine sanctioned races next year. Woo-hoo!

Men's Leaders

One word: WOW.

There you see the three leaders of the race. In the end, the guy in second place in this picture, Paul Tergat from Kenya defeated the defending champion Hendrick Ramaala of South Africa, by a third of a second. 26.2 miles... and the difference between first and second place was less than a second. Wow! Tergat's time was 2:09:29.

Tergat is the world record holder in the marathon, having run Berlin in 2:04:55. That's two hours and four minutes! Think about that...

The guy running in third place (and finished in third place) in this picture is Meb Keflezighi of the United States. Meb shocked the world by winning the Silver Medal in Athens.

Women's Leaders

Here are the women's leaders. I'm sitting at the 24.5 mile mark, meaning there were still 1.7 miles left. The winner of the race turned out to be white woman, Jelena Prokopcuka from Romania.

These women were flying. I'm totally in awe of the elite marathon runners. I run quite a bit, but these women can run their 26th mile faster than I can run my first mile. Amazing.

2005 ING New York Marathon

I got the race at aboout 1oam, which meant I had to wait about two hours before I saw a runner. However, after about an hour, the first wheelchair racer came by.

Last Apartment Picture

This is the reverse angle of the first interior shot. It doesn't look it, but there's about 12 feet from the chair to the wall. In the corner behind the chair, I have a high, two-person table and tall chairs going there. In the other corner I'm putting in a leaning bookcase (it kind of looks like a stepladder.)

The kitchen is to the left of the light. You enter the door from the right.

Another Interior Shot

This is my bed, the closet and the bathroom door. There's about two feet between the couch and the bed. I plan on putting up a shoji screen between the two.

Apartment Interior

This is taken from the front hallway. To the right of where the picture is being taken from is the small kitchen. It has a full-size refridgerator, stove/oven and DISHWASHER. I also bought a cheapie microwave.

You see the couch and my leather Archie Bunker chair. I still need a TV stand, which I just ordered online from IKEA.

In the far right corner, you see the corner of my bed. On the other side of the wall on the right is the bathroom.

The View from my Apartment

This is the view from my window. The body of water is the Hudson River. Across the river is New Jersey.

My Apartment

This is where I live. The building was built in 1994, so it's fairly new. We have a doorman and a front desk to sign for mail, call up if you have a guest, etc. It's kind of like a hotel, only there's hardwood floors instead of carpet. And nobody comes to give you fresh towels every morning.

New York Marathon

Tomorrow is marathon day. I'm getting butterflies and I'm not even running it. I'm so excited for my friends Doug and Suzanne.

Suzanne hardly trained, but she's a vet and she'll pace herself well.

Doug, on the other hand, is well trained. He should do great if he doesn't go out too hard and is able to tough it out once he hits mile 20.

I'm getting out to the course a couple of hours before the first runners finish, so hopefully I'll get a decent spot on the course.

The End?

Curtains are up! I'm not entirely sure this is a done deal, though.

While the curtains are up, the whole outfit is rather shaky. I'm sure I'll come home one day to fallen curtains, but for now, I may be able to sleep in.

Brooklyn Heights

My first trip off of Manhattan. Went to Brooklyn Heights and met my friend Doug for sushi dinner. Doug's in town for the New York Marathon.

The sushi was pretty good. The trip out to Brooklyn is a snap. It took about 20 minutes on the same subway line that I normally ride.

Beer Tonight

Met one of my New York friends, Ian, for a beer tonight. He works for Conde Nast, just down the street. We went to bar at the Mansfield Hotel. The place was old world nice. Ian said last time he was there, he saw Martha Stewart.

Oh, so speaking of celebrity sightings, I've only had one. At breakfast this weekend with Kelsey and Taylor (AKA Dish Diva) we saw Spike Lee. I would say Spike, Woody Allen and Robert De Niro would be the three quintessential New Yorkers. So, one down...

Cable Issue Resolved

So, the cable comes to my door at 8:45 this morning. The first thing he says is "it's fixed."

I said "what?"

He says, "uh, we must have turned your cable off. We probably just got around to shutting off the cable from the previous user. So, I turned it back on."

Gee, thanks.

So, I'm back online and able to spend all of my free time writing and watching basketball. Um, go Sonics?

Kaia Says "Happy Halloween"

Kaia dressed as Cinderella this Halloween. Can I tell how much I miss her? I love her so much!

My ONLY regret about moving to NY is that I'm now an additional six hours away from her (and Steve and Leslie.) Sure I miss my parents. And if you're reading this, I probably miss you, too.

But man, next time I see Kaia (hopefully during the summer) she's going to be in her Terrible Two's. She's going to be a little girl.

Just seeing this picture nearly made me cry.

The City That Never Sleeps

Apparently, by 'the city that never sleeps', they meant 'people never sleep in New York City.' With last night's cable debacle, and yet another hiccup in the hanging of curtains, I read for awhile then went to bed at 10:30. I was asleep by 11:00... and back up again at 5:30, for no apparent reason.

With nothing to do... no internet connection and no cable, I took a shower, examined the curtain situation again, and did the 30 minute walk to Home Depot. Once there, I proceeded to buy (another) drill, this one capable of going into cement, some anchors, a second set of cable hooks (not going to do all 12 ft. in one feel swoop, instead doing two six foot pieces), some rings to hang the curtains, a cement drill bit and some wire cutters.

Total cost of to hang the curtains? So far, including the curtains, I'm at about $500. This is insane.

I Hate RCN

Who is RCN? This jacked up cable company I currently subscribe to. I say currently, because I'm thinking of cancelling it.

Here in NY, I've found that I spend very little time actually in apartment. Tonight, I was stoked cuz I was going to make dinner and just watch TV. You know, just watch TV like a normal person. Maybe watch some HBO, that I'm currently paying for but have yet to watch.

But no, my frickin' cable is out. When the cable goes out, apparently the internet goes out, too, because I don't have that either. I'm currently riding on someone else's Wi-Fi.

When I called RCN, after five minutes of "if this is your problem, press one. If you need this, press 2...." Complete bullshit. After finally getting to the place where there's supposed to be a real person, I was on hold for 15 minutes.

When I got a hold of a guy, he said there's no issues in the New York area, so it must be my set-up. I told him I didn't touch anything between last night and turning on my television tonight. He said he couldn't help me, but he would transfer me to someone else who would set up an appointment to send out a technician, and I may be charged for the visit. What?

If my cable doesn't miraculously work tomorrow morning, I'm cancelling it.

RCN Sucks! RCN Sucks. I hate RCN.