OH HAI!
July 14th, 2008 / 1 Comment » / by Mr. Pants
I’m back from the unknown. Temporarily, anyways, until I become disinterested again.
However, I feel like writing now, so I might as well embrace that moment, right?
First and foremost, you may have noticed a change in the blog layout. I’ve tossed NanoBlogger out and brought WordPress in. I have nothing against NanoBlogger at all - it was just starting to run slowly after 500+ entries were being compiled every time I added a new one. WordPress so far has been speedier. Most of the speed problem I’ll chalk up to my old webserver, but still - it was time for a change.
Also of note is that this page is still “under construction” somewhat. I potentially have things to change and modify, and I know I’m not totally at a happy “finished” phase yet. It’s all close, though, and everything works, but there might be some tweaks coming here and there.
Moving on.
It’s funny how I thought 2007 was a crappy blogging year. 2008 so far is the year where i have written the least. I still blame Twitter for all of that. Damn you, easy-to-use micro-blogging service that I update frequently!
My last *real* blog entry was on January 29, 2008. I suppose I could say the typical line of “a lot has happened since then” and then try to inform you all with my usual deluge of words and paragraphs, but I’m just not feeling it. A lot of it just feels like normal, run-of-the-mill “adult life” stuff. Work is still Monday through Friday, bills are still being paid, errands are still being run, home life is still good.
Things have just kind of calmed down a bit since the years when I first started this blog (in one of its many incarnations). Not to say that I’m not busy. As a matter of fact, I think I’m more busy now than I ever was before. Due to that, there’s not a lot to really mention that’s not just standard “boring” day-to-day stuff. We don’t see our friends as often as we used to. We don’t do too much from Sunday through Thursday. We don’t do as much *crazy* stuff (if you could call what we used to do “crazy”, that is). These things happen as we get older, and I’m OK with that.
With that being said, I’ll try to get out some stand-out things from the past six months. Google Calendar can hopefully help me out here..
Oh, and the easiest way for me to do this is LIST FORM.
- At some point in the winter (January or February), Jess, Chris and I went to a NY Islanders game where they lost to the stupid Philadelphia Flyers. This is only of importance because we picked up tickets on Craigslist for the game. This included meeting a guy in a Borders parking lot pre-game to make the exchange. Shady! All went well, though, and our hook-up was an incredibly dorky college kid and not a big, creepy, scary guy. I think WE intimidated HIM with our small gang. No worries, though. Plus, the tickets were half price!
- In mid-February, our good friends Adam and Joslyn came out to Long Island to stay a bit, visit and see the sights. Activities included heading to Jones Beach (yes, in the cold), eating pizza, watching the NY Islanders pummel the Atlanta Thrashers, hanging out in New York City, doing tourist-y things like checking out Top of the Rock, navigating through Times Square, getting hammertimed at The Continental on the Lower East Side, and watching the lovely couple get engaged (OWNED!), playing games, introducing friends, going ice skating, and doing a variety of other activities.
- In late March, I headed upstate to try to get out of (or decrease the severity of) a speeding ticket that I had picked up in November. Both the points and fine were decreased and I went on my way back home. It was stupid to have to take the three hour round trip of all of that, but it was worth it to not have it all on my record.
- In early April, Jess and I took my parents to the final Islanders home game of the season as a birthday present for my Dad. We had some pretty good seats in the 200’s and figured we’d watch the Isles pound the Rangers into submission, but, go figure, we lost 3-0. With the exception of all of the crappy Rangers fans in the Coliseum that night (when did they become a majority?), it was still an alright time.
- In the middle of the month, Jess and I headed out to Chicago since we missed Joz and Adam big time. Jess also had her spring break, so she had a week to spare for travel. We did such fun things as eating free samples in a food / cookware / etc. outlet store, meeting their friends, playing Taboo, looking at real estate, watching the NY Mets lose to the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field, discussing website ideas, and doing a variety of other activities.
- The weekend after we returned, I had the wisdom teeth on my right side taken out. I realized that I should have done that years ago when I had the left side pulled, but I’m an idiot and held off until they hurt.
- Around the same time, I discovered how awesome the films of the Marx Brothers are. Since then, I’ve gone through about six or seven of them (thanks to my Dad’s collection and Netflix) with “Duck Soup” remaining my favorite.
- In early May, we headed to Shea Stadium with Jess’ mom and sister for an early Mother’s Day present. We watched the Reds get crushed by the Mets 12-6 in the first game of a double-header.
- The day before Memorial Day was a day trip to Atlantic City. I had a pretty good run at the table and pulled off my third biggest winning session ever. Not to say that I struck it rich by any means - it was just a good day for me to be playing poker.
- In mid-June, Jess and I saw The Cure play at Madison Square Garden. The show was postponed from last September, and we already had mixed feelings going into it on top of the delay, but the show wound up easily being included in the top 5 concerts I’ve ever been to. Robert Smith still sounded incredible after all these years, and the band put on a fantastic show overall. Well worth it, and we would definitely see them perform again.
- July kicked off with my laptop finally getting delivered. I picked up Dell Vostro 1700 in early June and had to wait almost a month for Dell to get it to me. No worries, it’s here, I’m good.
- The Fourth of July weekend kicked off on the third, when Jess and I headed back down to Atlantic City just to get away for a day. We left around 5pm, got stuck in a bit of traffic, made a few stops, got stuck in more traffic, and headed into the Resorts parking garage at 11pm. Crazy.
- The Resorts room was shockingly large and pretty comfy. The clientele was also shockingly young. I say all of this because I thought Resorts was for old fogies. It still might be, but it wasn’t the night we were there. Then again, it was the cheapest thing going for the weekend, so who knows?
- On the fourth, we had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe and gambled at the Taj Mahal. Lunch was great, gambling was mediocre. A wacky Asian woman threw the table for a loop with alright playing, then a mid-hand rebuy (courtesy of her husband), then playing stupid like she was unsure, then having her husband HELP her play, then playing awfully and donating her stack to the table. Very strange. So, we hit the road early and headed home.
- That evening, we all met up at Jay’s place for a get-together. Good times were had.
- The next night, we took care of the location of the get-together and had everyone over. “Loaded Questions” was played and offensive comments were made. A pretty typical Bonanza Meeting in the end, I suppose.
- This past Friday, we became NY Islanders season ticket holders. We went 50/50 with my parents on two seats at the Coliseum for the 2008-2009 season, so there’s some splitting up and scheduling to do between all of us once the schedule of games gets released. Section 303, Row K, Seats 1-2 are ours for the year. How cool is that?
That wraps up what’s happened so far. Let’s see what’s up next.
- Jess’ birthday week has already begun this past Saturday and will continue through next Sunday. Fun times are expected to be had throughout.
- On the 31st, we start “Jess and Mike’s Summer Tour 2008″. We may or may not have T-shirts available.
- We first head out to Chicago to, once again, visit Joz and Adam. So far on the table is Warped Tour and.. well, that’s all I have so far. I’m sure more fun stuff. Maybe web development and idea-kicking-around and such? A variety of other activities, more than likely.
- After returning home for a day, we then head back out to South Carolina on the 7th to visit my cousin and his family. On the table is looking at real estate and Wii playing and hanging out and such. Also, a variety of other activities, I’m sure.
- We arrive back home the evening of the 11th.
That’s the first back-to-back trip either of us will have ever taken. We’ll see what happens.
So there you have it. A whole bunch of stuff to read, written by me. I’ll hopefully be back at some point soon with more. Maybe.
Enjoy.
