Proud to be a Two-Fifteener

I just saw on the ESPN ticker that college football begins August 28th.  I'm excited.  There's nothing like football.  College football on Saturdays, pro football on Sundays.  It reminds me that fall is on its way, my favorite season of the year.

Earlier today, I met Jeannie outside La Colombe across from City Hall, while she ate her lunch from Five Guys and I drank a coffee.  Despite the very light drizzle, I rode my bike to see her.  It was nice to spend some time with her while her dad watched Seva at home.

After dropping off Jeannie at her job, I walked over to 15th & Market Streets, where I sat down and waited for my friend Mike to come by.  I waited for about half an hour, but I didn't mind because I enjoyed people-watching and that, for once, I wasn't in any rush to go anywhere or do anything.  It felt really nice actually.

Finally, when I saw Mike walking towards me, I noticed that he was with [F.B.], another attorney who I've argued cases against and who I know Mike has become friendly with over the past year or so.  When [F.B.] came up to me he gave me a hug.  Despite our encounters in Court, we've always been friendly with each other.  It was probably also cool for him to see that Mike's friend was me.  [F.B.] suggested that we grab a drink, so we walked a couple blocks to Tir Na Nog.  We mainly talked about the practice of law and our families.  It was a good time.  Eventually [F.B.] had to leave to go back to his office, so it was really nice to have a chance to catch up, just a little bit, with Mike one-on-one.

Having had a couple beers, though, by the time I got back home I was just enough out of sorts that I didn't get much done.  I still hadn't eaten lunch, so I did that first: ham & American cheese on seeded rye with wasabi mayonnaise and a slice of pickle, along with popcorn, a banana, and an apple on the side.

Fast-forwarding to tonight, Jeannie made salads as usual and I cooked macaroni and cheese with tuna and peas, while we watched the movie American Reunion on FXX.  While sitting on the couch, Seva began yelling as she has the past few days, not in any kind of angry or demanding way, but instead as a flexing of her voice and lungs.  It's hilarious.  I have to admit that, once Seva gets started, Jeannie and I encourage it by yelling too.  We laugh the whole time.  It's really funny.

Finally, to conclude this post tonight, I'll offer a totally random thought: I would not for any amount of money or at any level of income live in New York City.  Just the thought of living there tires me.  It's just too much of some things (people, money, attitude) and not enough of others (living space, trees, open spaces, a sense of community).  I happily prefer being a Two-Fifteener: just enough city, just enough sense of community, with quick enough accessibility to open spaces within the city and then the suburbs beyond.

Daydreaming of wandering north...

As I'm writing this now, I'm listening to Los Amigos Invisibles on youtube.  Listening to their music almost always makes me feel happy.  It's takes me away to another place, physically, psychically, and emotionally.  It somehow reminds me that there's a whole world out there, beyond the quotidian existence of my office, the world of family law, and the steps I take to get from home to the office and back.  I feel empowered even as I write this now.

Speaking of dreaming of other places, while at work today, between phone calls and other tasks, I looked at a map of Quebec province, Canada.  I daydreamed about my trip in the fall of 2011 to Montreal.  I remember the daylong train ride from Philadelphia through New York City, along the Hudson River and past Lake Champlain up to Montreal.  I recalled the sensation of feeling like I was in a European city, while still  knowing that my feet were firmly planted in North America.  I looked up some information on the city of Trois Rivieres on the banks of the St. Lawrence River and I hoped that Jeannie and I can make the trip there some time in the next month or so.  Just thinking about it, I could picture myself there and already I could feel my stress level declining.  God willing, we'll be there soon.

Finally tonight, I just want to say that I'm so thankful for Rocky and the Baby.  I love them so much.  While we sat on the couch eating our dinner of scrambled eggs with bacon and diced onion and red pepper, with a bagel with cream cheese, Rocky jumped up to sit between Jeannie and me and the Baby sat on top of the cable box like usual.  A little later on, when I was done with dinner and just sitting drinking a glass of orange juice, the Baby jumped up to sit on my lap.  Even now as I type, I look up from my desk and see Rocky perched on the thin ledge next to and above the stair case that leads down here to the basement.  These guys bring me so much happiness.  I hope they know that I love them so much.

Went to The Museum of Modern Art (MOMA) for $25.00 with Adaliz.

Follow-up on the Baby and no NYC

The Baby is doing fine. As I write this she's sitting on my bed, grooming herself by licking her tummy. Earlier tonight, Rocky and the Baby were chasing each other around the apartment. Rocky cornered her underneath the bicycles leaning against my bedroom wall, the Baby assumed her normal defensive position by lying on her back with her four paws up in the air, trying to stiff-arm Rocky's attempts to nose-dive into her and bite her, and the two of them alternately swiped at each other's paws to create an opening for "attack." It was fun to watch them play.

I was going to go to New York City this weekend, but I think that's no longer gonna happen. First of all, there is a very strong likelihood that the project that I've been working on is going to end tomorrow. The work has simply run out. That translates into once again having to be conservative with my spending. Second, I had hoped to hear back from at least one of two girls: one, Elsa, an El Salvadoran girl I met about a month ago when I last visited New York, and the other, Anne-Sarah, a French girl I met last November when we sat next to each other on a four-hour bus ride from Vang Vieng to Vientiane, Laos. Elsa lives in New York, Anne-Sarah is currently visiting New York. I had been corresponding with both of them a couple weeks ago, and since mentioning to each that I'd be in New York this weekend, neither one has responded. This has seemed to be my luck lately, in a general sense. I write to people and they don't write back at all. Oh well, what can I say, if they haven't thought to write back, then it's probably not really worth my time to go see them, I'll just keep doing my thing here in Philly. Finally, my third reason for staying in Philly this weekend is that my dad has offered to help me pick-up a television stand from Ikea, on which I'll put my new, pre-owned television. I'll also need to buy a digital converter box and an antenna, and then I'll be set to watch football. I've effectively not had television (other than to watch dvd's) for the past three months or so (whenever the digital transition took place). Now that it's starting to get dark early, with the coming of autumn, the nights have seemed just a bit darker and lonelier lately. The distraction of television and the accompanying illusion of other human voices in my apartment will be comforting. Not to mention, watching football is one of my true and simple pleasures in life.

Back to Basics

Today was a great day. While it rained all day outside, I spent the whole day watching football from my couch. After a long weekend, beginning with my bus ride from Philly to Easton on Thanksgiving, to my bus ride on Friday from Easton to New York, to my train ride from New York back to Philly yesterday, I was totally pooped. I've had more than my share of public transportation and traveling in general, and I was really looking forward to passing a day at home, by myself, and without any distractions. The weather played right into this plan. And I really, really enjoyed my relaxing day.

But I'm back to business tomorrow, as I've gotta prepare for a hearing this coming Wednesday morning. It'll be good to get to work.

Weekend Recapitulation

Friday. Paul came into town from New York. We went to dinner at The Striped Bass. I ate the black sea bass, with crispy yucca, lemon-garlic vinaigrette, and pickled vegetables. The food was good. We went to Alfa for drinks. We drank a couple rounds of beers. There were several good-looking girls there. We went to Vango. We stayed on the main floor for a little while. We went up to the roofdeck, a.k.a., skybar. The view of the surrounding Center City skyscrapers was amazing. We tried to go to G-Lounge. But because I was wearing sneakers, hip though they are, we were not let in. We went to The Walnut Room. We drank a couple rounds of beers. I ended up meeting a very good-looking girl right before we left.

Saturday. Evan drove up from Baltimore. We caught up while I ate breakfast: vanilla clusters with almonds cereal. We walked down to the courts at the Schuylkill River Park, just down at the end of Spruce Street. We shot around for a while. Eventually, several of my co-workers came: James, his brother Pat, and Jeff. Paul came later. And my friend Mike ended up coming too. Eric, another co-worker, showed up at the very end. I ran full-court for over two hours. I had a few flashes of my former brilliance. Despite some obvious rustiness, I'd say that overall I was impressed that I was able to hold up and run for so long. Evan, Paul, and I returned to my place to take turns showering up. We drove down to Citizens Bank Park to meet our friend Bill for the Phillies-Mets game. After having been out in the sun for two hours, playing full-court basketball, I was totally exhausted. I barely made conversation at the baseball game due to my lack of energy. We had amazing seats: just 20 rows directly, and I mean directly, behind home plate. Thanks for the tickets Bill! Unfortunately the Phillies lost by a score of 4-2. It was annoying how there were so many Mets fans cheering at the game. At some point someone was thrown out of the game for apparently starting a fight. Paul left immediately after the game to drive back to Hoboken. Bill drove Evan and I back to Rittenhouse. The three of us had dinner at Ten Stone. Then Bill left. Over the course of the rest of the night, Evan and I ended up bar-hopping: The Black Sheep, then Misconduct Tavern, then Loie, then Pulse. Although I had been running on empty since the baseball game, I somehow managed to stay out until 4 in the morning. After we left Pulse at 3:15am, we went to Tower Style Pizza for some late-night slices. We were back at my place and I finally crashed at 4:15am.

Sunday. I woke up at 12 noon. I cleaned up a bit around the apartment. I spent a good part of the afternoon just dozing on the couch while watching auto racing then the Lakers-Nuggets game on the television. Later I got up and out to do one load of laundry and food-shopping at Trader Joe's. While walking to the laundromat, I ran into the now-unemployed and homeless former attendant at my last laundromat, which recently closed down so that the owner could convert the property into a nail salon. I offered to take Al to the market with me so I could buy him a drink and some food. He took me up on my offer. I told him to pick out whatever he'd like and I'd buy it. He chose milk and ice cream. We walked back toward my place. He waited while I went upstairs to unload the groceries. We returned to the laundromat so I could transfer the clothes from the washer to the dryer. We walked out. I went to visit my friend Claire. Al went to sit down in Fitler Square. Claire and I hung out for a little while. I had to pick up a movie, "I Am Legend", from her that she wanted me to return on her behalf to our co-worker Ken, with whom she no longer works due to a general lay-off at our project just over a week ago. I also had to pick up a couple of cd's that I had lent her: "un dia normal" by Juanes and "The Venezuelan Zinga Son, Vol. 1" by Los Amigos Invisibles.

The weekend has now been recapitulated. Consider yourself updated. Guan and have a good week now, ya heard?

Willkommen in Deutschland

Five world cities in one day: Philadelphia, New York, Munich, Cologne, and Essen. It's now 7:30pm local time and I'm sitting in my friend Roland's house in Essen.

A couple interesting observations to confirm my arrival in Germany. First, while sitting at the gate in Munich airport, reading my book while awaiting my connecting flight to Cologne, I looked up casually to see a woman sitting across from me reading a newspaper. What struck my attention was the photo of a naked blonde woman right there on the front page of the newspaper. That's about the time I decided that German women are nice-looking.

The second observation to confirm my arrival in Germany came shortly afterward, when I was actually on that flight from Munich to Cologne. As the plane took-off from the runway and began its ascent, I looked out from my window seat toward the airport below. In the distance I noticed a long range of snow-capped mountains: the German Alps.

After landing in Cologne and picking-up my backpack from baggage claim, I walked out the door to exit the airport; I saw a girl standing there, so I approached her and asked if she was Roland's friend Tania. Fortunately for me she said yes. And so began my day in Cologne and my first lessons in basic, elementary German. It wasn't a problem, though, because Tania spoke English pretty well. We caught a train to Cologne central station.

As soon as one walks out of the train station, one is standing face-to-face with Cologne Cathedral (Dom). From what Tania told me, it is the highest cathedral in Germany if not in all of Europe. So of course we climbed to the very top; Tania did this, impressively, with high heels. [later I will upload photos of our climb].

As the afternoon wore on, my jet lag began to kick-in pretty hardcore. Although I closed my eyes and even slept a bit on the flight from JFK, there was no escaping the fact that I was walking the streets of Cologne at around the time I should have been just getting out of bed back at the double-deuce and Spruce. Later in the day we went to this great little coffeehouse called Starbucks so that I could try to get a caffeine boost; it didn't really work.

At 3:50 in the afternoon, Tania sent me off on the hour-long train ride from Cologne central station to Essen so that I could finally meet-up with my friend Roland. Although I knew I was risking appearing as an arrogant tourist, once I boarded the train I immediately stretched out, put my feet up on the seat before me, and quickly fell asleep. The alarm clock on my old-school digital Casio wristwatch woke me up in time to get off at the Essen train station.

And now, for the rest of the evening, I've been catching up with Roland and discussing our plans for the coming days. As soon as we reach Cairo we'll catch the first bus out of town en route to a small town near the Egyptian-Libyan border, close to the Mediterranean coast; this will be a 15-hour journey and Roland warns me that it will be very uncomfortable. From there, we'll then travel south to Siwa, an oasis in the middle of nowhere, also known as the Sahara desert; that's where we'll be camping.

Needless to say, some incredible experiences await me. I look forward to seeing the millions of stars under the clear desert sky. It will be good to feel so alive.

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania -- early morning

Simultaneously a lot has happened while not much has happened since the last entry. But I won't get into that now.

Just now I was lying in bed with Cherise lying next to me. As usual, I let my mind roam free; this sometimes leads me to interesting thoughts although it also sometimes leads me to dwell on other subjects better left alone. Tonight was no different and my mind was lead to thoughts and memories of my first meeting with Cherise, the night when she first walked into the door to the apartment here at 2124 Spruce. There were two main thoughts that materialized.

The first was a funny one: Cherise and her half-sister, Myesha, were either too scared or too uncomfortable to do anything but remain standing near the front door to the apartment. In fact, they didn't move the whole time we were here before going out that night. Of course, the irony is that Cherise now lives and sleeps here. She is just as comfortable now as I am to be here.

The second general thought that came to my head was not as light. In remembering that night it would seem to validate the idea of love at first sight: we saw each other immediately, our eyes met, we began a one-on-one conversation in my bedroom, we went out dancing, she grabbed my hand to go out on the dancefloor, we began kissing during the second song, and the night continued with dancing, kissing, and hand-holding until we exchanged numbers and said "good night."

Unfortunately, the set-up for love at first sight may not hold up since another, later weekend seems to disprove that possibility. I think it was either two or three weekends later that I invited Cherise to come with me to New York City. We held hands during most of the car ride there. When Paul and Corey went out to get food, Cherise came out of the shower to kiss me and massage me. When we all went out, Cherise was only with me for less than an hour before she left me for the night. I didn't see her again during that trip to New York; she didn't come back with Corey and me to Philadelphia. I found out later that she had sex with her ex-boyfriend in Brooklyn that night. Despite the complexities of it, that act basically opened the door to my decision to have sex with Tyette in Baltimore after Evan's wedding. Maybe each of us needed to sow our wild oats one last time before settling into a relationship. But the whole story makes it difficult to call our initial meeting 'love at first sight.'

San Jose, Costa Rica -- evening

Well here I am. Today of course is my birthday. Although I'm looking forward to going out for a few beers tonight, it doesn't feel any different than any other night of going out. Except for the fact that I'm in a country outside of the United States and am in a position where I must speak Spanish. I shouldn't over-state the cultural differences, though, since Costa Rica (at least in the capital city) is now quite (North-) Americanized. As I write this I listen to a song by Linkin Park that's being played on a local radio station. Last night, my cousins, Carlos and Marlen, invited me to see the movie Red Dragon in a movie theater connected to a decent-sized mall. Before the movie, we went to the food court for dinner. After checking out choices like Subway, KFC, Taco Bell, and other North American favorites, we finally decided on Burger King. Really, I should say that I had no say in the matter, even though I wasn't necessarily opposed.

Objectively speaking, I cannot say whether my cousins are purposely trying to ease the culture shock or whether San Jose is really that North-Americanized. If I had to roll the dice right now, I'd put my money on the latter. Which is a shame because the national culture and character of Costa Rica is increasingly being co-opted by North American popular culture. In addition to the music and restaurants, I have already seen several North American television programs, including Smallville and Maximum Exposure. At this point, I don't mind so much on a selfish personal level. But really, I'd rather experience a true cultural contact. For now, I'll remain patient.

I look forward to spending some time with my grandfather on the 'finca' in the country. I would hope that the rural areas retain their indigenous roots and national character. But it really pains me when I ask my cousins who the nation's greatest writer/poet is, and they're really not too sure. After a solid minute, Carlos provided me a name, however the response did not seem too confident and certainly not too proud. Nevertheless, to be fair, I should hesitate to use my cousins as true representatives of Costa Rican patriotism.

Now, if I may, I will attempt to quickly re-cap my trip here and the major happenings since. First, to take it back a few days, I had a great couple of days in New York City, most notably the last day on Monday, December 2nd. Paul and I took the subway from Queens into Manhattan. We went to a coffee shop in order to have some good conversation and also so I could sit down to call Verizon Wireless in order to cut off my cell phone service. The latter was such a pain in the ass; I was transferred at least four times from one bureaucratic bastard to the other. I think it was done purposely to dissuade me from actually cutting off my service.

Anyway, from there we crossed the street to go to the Empire State Building. The view from the observation deck was absolutely amazing. Thankfully we had a clear night, and so we could easily see Brooklyn and Queens to the east and New Jersey to the west. While taking a bunch of photos, Paul overheard a girl talking on a cell phone about an interview she had had earlier in the day in which she was interviewed (at least partly) in Spanish. Paul urged me to talk with her since I had nothing to lose, considering my departure in only a matter of hours. So I said 'why not?' I began a conversation with her that ended up lasting nearly an hour. Her name is Ana, and she is half-Mexican, half-Swiss. She was in NYC for an interview at Columbia Medical School. The clutch in the conversation was when I started dropping knowledge of classic literature, including Joyce, Kafka, Kerouac, Garcia Marquez and others. I think she was a bit impressed, and for me, I was happy to meet an intelligent and well-read woman. At the end of our conversation, we exchanged email addresses. I told her that I would surely keep in touch, and she said that she would do the same.

From that pleasant encounter, Paul and I left to get things started. We went for dinner at Carmine's, a nice Italian restaurant near Times Square. Since the wait was about an hour, we went to a near-by bar for a few rounds of Miller Lite. We returned to Carmine's for an extremely filling family-style dinner. I can hardly believe how much I ate, but I'm sure some adrenaline in anticipation of my journey and then the beers really kept me going. When we both started feeling the alcohol, Paul decided to take it up a notch or two by ordering Sapphire-and-tonic's. Broken up only by short yet meaningful conversation with my father, Paul and I had a great time. We joked and laughed quite a lot. With the two of us, though, that goes without saying. It couldn't be any different. It wouldn't be any different.

After dinner, we jumped to a few bars in the Village, but there isn't much to say from there. I think my impending trip began to weigh more heavily on my mind and Paul's too. We returned to Paul's apartment in Queens and he took a nap while I sent out a bunch of emails.

Fast-forwarding to the airport, I got there at about 3:30am for my 5:25am departure. Since my ticket was with LACSA, I should have expected the delay of departure until nearly 4pm. It may have ended up better though since I had a lot of time to sober up and also to rest in order to expel my illness. Now that I'm here in the warmer weather, I'm nearly over the cold.

Well, now that I'm here, I have to think and speak in Spanish. I've been playing it cool so far, but I realize that I must make more effort to communicate in order to learn quickly. I took the same approach when I began as a paralegal at PLA, and quickly 'picked up the trade,' so to speak. I must apply the same philosophy now so that I may be successful. More importantly, I want to be social. I have a lot of ideas to offer; silence will do me no good. For that reason, I'll stop writing now. Time to live life.