2005-05-30 
 

philly me up

Philly surprised me. Never thought we'd like it here quite as much as we do.

Had to snag a new 512M card for the camera. (Yes, you will soon be assaulted by a photographic essay on our little foray to this city of surprises.)

Labels: dose of mikey, g, looking eastward

* posted by me at 12:01 PM

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2005-05-28 
 

searching for cheesesteak

Over the past few days, I've been on a search for the perfect cheesesteak. Being in Philly makes this task harder than one would think. There's cheesesteaks on EVERY menu in town. The restaurant around the corner even offers a Kobe cheesesteak for $100. (Needless to say, I won't be trying that one...unless some kindly stranger wants to front me the cash.)

I've had cheesesteaks with regular provolone, with nacho cheese and jalapenos, with mozzarella and marinara sauce. Each with a variety of toppings ranging from the rather standard mushroom and onions to pepperonis. It occurs to me that no one's ever been able to describe to me exactly what goes into the definitive cheesesteak.

Today we're off to South Street with M and little E. She assures me that we'll have a variety of options there and that at least one of them ought to come close. I don't know. I figure it's a little twist on that old saw about obscenity: I'll know it when I taste it.

In the meantime, if anyone feels like letting me in on the perfect ingredients for a cheesesteak, I'd be quite happy to listen.

Labels: dose of mikey, looking eastward

* posted by me at 12:11 PM

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2005-05-26 
 

all i ever wanted

The presentations are over and the last boxes shipped back. No work until next Wednesday.

Happiness!

Labels: dose of mikey

* posted by me at 9:38 PM

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2005-05-23 
 

letterboxing and kaboom

G discovered a website dedicated to letterboxing. We decided to give it a try this weekend and have been having a great time traveling around San Francisco looking for boxes in our area. If you like walking/hiking and mini mysteries, give it a try. I have to admit being a bit skeptical before heading out for the first time, but now I'm hooked.

KABOOM happened on Saturday night. We headed up Twin Peaks with PG&E and two of their friends to watch the display from up there. (If you click the link at the beginning of this paragraph, be sure to scroll down past the recycling info to get to a fun DIY fireworks display.)

Sunday saw us letterboxing again. An added bonus to this new hobby is finding yourself in fun places that you wouldn't otherwise think of visiting. We ended up in several San Francisco parks that I'd never visited before...including a climb up Mount Sutro!

Labels: dose of mikey, g, linkage, san francisco

* posted by me at 3:12 PM

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2005-05-20 
 

those ARE ants big bird

Been flying quite a bit lately and will be leaving again in the middle of next week. Not so many entries lately, but quite a bit going on.

New York continued to be a good, but tiring, trip. Shopped Soho and read various trash mags while waiting for the photographer to send over polaroids. Saw B one last time and had a nice evening hanging out on a plastic couch at X-ES. (Ah, the gays and their clever naming schemes.)

Later that week, in Southern California, the real life OC I found myself in was very unlike it's television counterpart. We stayed in a very 70's hotel that boasted a view of oil derriks and new development. Eating in too expensive restaurants and speaking with confidence during my presentations, I felt like the business man I never thought I'd become.

Yesterday on the tarmac, waiting for the plane in front of us to take off, my glance to the ground prodded a long buried conversation to the surface.

BB: Wow! Look at all the people down there. They look like ants!

FA: Big Bird, those ARE ants. We haven't taken off yet.

It seems somehow fitting that I've gone from a kid in his early 20s who longed to be jaded, to a 30something man; happy to find that he's still got a bit of a kid inside.

Labels: dose of mikey, looking eastward, sharketing

* posted by me at 5:10 PM

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2005-05-15 
 

fantasmagorical

Spent the day shopping SOHO. Mind you, this was considered a work day. Sometimes my job rocks. You know what else rocks? My boss is NOT a morning person. We didn't have to meet until 10 this morning, which gave me a few extra hours to recover from my fun night with Launce. He and I dined at the Chelsea Grill and then crawled from a bar out of Woody Allen's Sleeper over to the East Village and ended up at The Cock. I decided it would be a good idea to walk back from there to SOHO in order to give myself a chance to sober up a bit, but ended up calling G to mapquest me back to the hotel. I had failed to remember that Broadway and West Broadway are two different streets. Ain't modern tech grand? 15 years ago I would've ended up in Little Italy and been very confused.

Anyway, went to see Chitty Chitty Bang Bang at the Hilton. Fabulous effects and rather good singers made for an enjoyable show. The only problem? The songs are very much stuck in my head right now. I swear the air conditioner in my room is saying, "chitty chitty chitty chitty chitty chitty." Or maybe that's the drink we had at Balthazar after the show.

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, random review, sharketing

* posted by me at 1:39 AM

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2005-05-11 
 

walk-ins welcome

Been busy as the ice cream man on a hot day this week. Working long hours preparing for my upcoming trip to NYC.

Keep telling myself it'll be worth it...especially since last time around I stumbled upon this fun sign while visiting the Canadian Niagara Falls. (And yes, nice people still exist, we got the digital camera back with all the backup batteries and memory disks intact.)

Labels: 1000 words, dose of mikey, sharketing

* posted by me at 11:41 PM

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2005-05-08 
 

strange signs

Spent Mom's Day out in Sacramento with G's parents. On the way home we traveled through a rather postmodern development.



This isn't photoshop, it's real.

I scrolled around the Google map and there's also a Deny Court. Not sure why they didn't just go all the way and call it Denial. Then folks really could live on Denial! How fun would that be?

Labels: 1000 words, dose of mikey, g

* posted by me at 8:40 PM

(1) comments



2005-05-06 
 

mom always said...

Got some disturbing news from a close friend tonight. He'd been messing around with his girlfriend and punctured an eardrum. Errrm...okay, first off get your mind out of the gutter. Then explain to me exactly what you think that they were doing?

The details are actually rather mundane and really aren't that important.

Point is, I hadn't thought about how much this particular person meant to me in a long time. The second he started telling me about it all, I forgot how tired I was from working and how disgruntled I was feeling. I just started saying silent prayers to the powers that be. Suddenly all that mattered was that he be okay. The doctors have told him that the eardrum should heal back to normal, but I'm going to keep sending good thoughts his way. He may think it's a bit corny, but I know he'll appreciate the thought.

Meanwhile, in less intense news, this link from Super B makes me smile. I may be a bit of a fair weather fan, but I know someone truly hardcore!

Labels: dose of mikey, linkage, shout out, spirit

* posted by me at 1:58 AM

(2) comments



2005-05-03 
 

pros and cons of hitchhiking

Saw Hitchhiker this weekend. In fine internet tradition, I’m latching onto Michael’s idea and giving a drive by review.

A movie about everything and nothing.
Not quite like the book, but pretty close.

Funniest name ever: Slartibartfast. Good at fjords, bad at threats.

In other news, a muchness of traveling coming up over the next few weeks. New York, London, Paris, Munich…(everbody’s talking ‘bout POP music.)

Well, really it’s New York, LA, Philly, Boston, but then my cutesy musical reference would be hanging by a really thin thread, so I rearranged reality for a moment.

Labels: dose of mikey

* posted by me at 9:24 PM

(1) comments