My West Side Story

You gave me a gift that will just keep on giving…

Sweet Jesus, I finally found outstanding Thai food in New York! I was telling a friend at work that I finally had good Thai food (went to Chili Thai in Hell’s Kitchen with Queen Bee) and she said I had to try Galanga down in the Village.

Last night, me and the lead Bee went Galanga. When we made the plans, I hadn’t realized it was her birthday. It was a great gossipy dinner. Too bad Kelly, who had to cancel, will never know what was said. That’s OK, though, cuz I know she’s not a gossip girl. Cough, cough.

Anyway, I had the Drunken Noodles. After inquiring/hoping that by “Vegetarian Duck” they meant “Vegetarian, Duck,” as in you can have either vegetarian OR duck, and learning that it was some concoction of veggies combined to taste like duck, I ordered my Drunken Noodles with shrimp. It was delicious. Fresh flavors with just right amount of kick. Loved it!

We also had some amazing spring rolls and, seriously, the best calamari I’ve ever had. It tasted like fried chicken, minus the chicken. Yeah, OK, I think you just have to try them.

Picked up Nike+ Sportsband today after work from the Nike Store on 57th. Currently owning a Polar RS800 and a Garmin 305, I need another watch like Lindsay Lohan needs another drink.

But, I’ve been curious about the Nike+ website. I was a bit envious of all those folks and their fancy social website to play with. However, I’m not an iPod owner and I hate running with headphones, anyway. I’m also not a fan of Nike shoes, but that doesn’t really matter.

I’ve got the watch charged up and ready to go. Tomorrow I’ll take it for a spin and I’ll see how it goes. If, after a couple weeks, wearing two watches becomes too geeky or uncomfortable, I’ll just donate it. At $60, the watch was cheap, and I’m sure someone else could use it.

This weekend, sick and sitting in my apartment, I started craving snacks that are hard to find anywhere outside of Hawaii. In particular, I was craving these crazy, little green pistachio nut things that my dad told me try. I remembered reading on the package that the nuts came from cybersnacks.net.

So, I hit the website and ordered up some snacks. Including shipping, I paid $60 for junk food! I could’ve kicked myself when the package arrived and I looked at the receipt. I WAS sick when I ordered the crap, after all.

However, now that I’ve sampled the goods, I’m OK with the purchase. I mean really… it’s just one less toy for Kaia, and she needs more toys like I need empty calories. Oh wait…

Anyway, here’s what I purchased:

1. Three packages of the pistachio crunch things. They’re hard to explain, it’s like they ground pistachio seeds, then reconstitute and bake (fry?) them until they’re hollow, little crispy balls. They’re amazing.
2. One pound of chocolate covered, peanut butter covered malted milk balls.
3. One pound of chocolate/toffee covered macadamia nuts
4. One pound of peanut butter cookies. They make the best cookies on Hawaii. Trust me.

I’m a happy boy.

It’s been awhile since I started a new blog, right? So, here’s a new one.

The new blog is using Vox. The software is free and easy. It’s also easy on the eyes. What it’s not is configurable. Of the software I’ve toyed around with, this is the most basic of the bunch. But, it’s great for multimedia postings. And again, as long as you don’t want to do anything funky, it’s easy to use.

I’ll try to keep this new running blog going through the New York Marathon. Once that’s done, all bets are off.

Oh, one more thing. I’m going to be getting Wii Fit on Monday (if it doesn’t sell out.) I’m going to be tracking my progress on the new blog. Though, I’ll make some posts here, too, so if all that running crap bores you, you won’t have to go there.

Nah, I’m not going out more. I mean the internet kind. You know, the kind that shares stuff, links to other blogs, responds when people are kind enough to comment your blog. That kind of social.

I want to meet more people without actually having to speak with them. Fall in love with nary a clue as to what they look like. Make friends at that push of button.

I think everyone that reads this blog I’m actually “real” friends with. Time to venture out into the fake world…

I’ve been hearing a lot lately about a new ramen place in the East Village that was opened by the “Ramen King” of Japan. So last night Anzela and took it for a spin.

I had heard horror stories of two hour waits, but when I arrived, I was told it would only be 25 minutes. It took 40, but that was OK because the bar was wall-to-wall Japanese women. It was kind of crazy. And I have a new bar to hang out in!

We started with the Spicy Tofu. This was most excellent. It was sort of a stew, served in a hot stone bowl. It almost seemed Korean. I highly recommend this dish.

From there, we dove right into the ramen. Um, I can’t remember the names of bowls we ordered, but I had the top one on the menu and Anzela had the second one. Mine was the lighter of the two, while hers was a little heartier. Both were great. Seriously, easily the best ramen I’ve ever had. OK, that’s not saying much, but still, it’s well worth waiting for.

For dessert we ordered the Green Tea “creme” brulee. Catering to Asians, I don’t think there was actually any cream in it. It tasted a bit like a warm version of green tea ice cream with a sugar shell. Again, fantastic.

I really liked Ippudo. It’s made my short list of places I’ll return to over and over again.

So, you think you have it rough with the cost of your gas? Ha.

Got word from my sister-not-in-law on Maui that gas is now going for… wait for it… $4.26.

Thank God she has this little cutie to keep a smile on her face, right? Sachi is now the cutest baby in the world. Congrats on stealing the title from your older sis! Though, she’s now the cutest girl in the world…

I think I’m the only person on the East Coast who didn’t get sick this past winter. I mean, i didn’t so much as get a runny nose.

Now, for the past two weeks, I’ve been totally healthy for all of two days. Ridiculous.

After a day of not leaving the house, I’m going to try to stay in the apartment all day tomorrow, too. I really, really hope I feel better by Monday.

I read the book “A Question of Attraction” by David Nicholls a few years ago. I think I may have reviewed at another one of my now shuttered sites. I really liked the book. It’s about a young man in his first year at university who gets to fulfill a lifelong dream of appearing on University Challenge, and Jeopardy-type gameshow where universities battle as teams. Along the way, things get complicated when he falls in love with a beautiful girl. The novel is very Nick Hornby-ish, in that it’s very British, very male, and kind-hearted.

That long intro leads us to the film “Starter for 10,” which is based on the novel. One of the executive producers is Sam Mendes (director of “American Beauty”) and one of the producers is Tom Hanks (no explanation needed.) The movie stars a young James McAvoy (”Atonement.”) With that pedigree, I expected something great… fluffy, but great.

I found the film to be entertaining, but not great. It stayed pretty true to the book, but in order to tell the story, it had to reduce the screentime between McAvoy and his best friend, so when an important scene in the film happens, it seems overly dramatic. With the right background, the scene doesn’t feel so awkward.

The soundtrack is excellent. The film takes place in 1985, which is the same year I started college, so the film basically uses the soundtrack of my freshman year… The Cure, Tears for Fears, Yaz, etc.

Anyway, if you live teen comedies, and spent your formative years watching and loving John Hughes films, then you’ll probably like the movie. If you now watch movies like “Pretty in Pink” and “Some Kind of Wonderful” and think yourself, oh my God, what was I thinking? Then, this movie isn’t for you.

Sitting in my apartment, sick again. This time, thankfully, it’s of the sore throat/achy body/chills variety. I’ve actually felt this way since Monday, but I decided to just chill out today.

I’ve had this show from Netflix, “Marathon Challenge” for a month now. Figured I should watch it so I can get something new. The show was produced for PBS. It follows 13 people as they train for their first marathon.

The group was given nine months to train. For the most part, when they started, none could run for one mile. In other words, the show mirrored my first marathon experience. The great thing was they talked about how running affects your heart, arteries and lungs. It also talked about how running can take a toll on your joints and muscles.

It was a really good show. Of course, I cried when the runners slowly, one-by-one, crossed the finish line. If you’re a runner, I recommend the program. So, in other words, this post was for you Kelly!

Michael Lewis helped revolutionize baseball with “Moneyball.” With “Blind Side” he takes a look a football.

Unlike “Moneyball,” though, which focused on the GM of the Oakland A’s, this book focuses on a 15-year old homeless kid, who grew up in the projects of Memphis… oh, and who happens to extremely athletic… and 6′5″ 350 pounds.

The story is about the kid, the wealthy white family that adopts him, college recruiting, and the evolution of the left tackle position in the NFL.

It’s a fantastic read. I read it in three days. I’m kind of sad I’m done with it.

Went to fancypants Bar Boulud last night with my friends Karen, Margaret and Glenn. I’ve been wanting to try to it, so after consulting with my dinner mates, I made a reservation three weeks out. It was the earliest I could get.

The restaurant is quite stunning from a design perspective. The design also works, at least if you get a booth. If you get a table, it looked like a typical NY restaurant… the tables are so close together you have to slide them out to leave your table. We had a booth.

While the joint looked great, the food was pretty average. Both Margaret and I ordered the Steak Frites. The steak was good, but it wasn’t ’special.’ The fries, however, were special… brilliant. Glenn and Karen both ordered the Coq au Vin. They were split on it…. Karen didn’t think much of it, while Glenn thought it was pretty good.

I started with Clam Chowder that was too soupy, which would’ve been OK if they were going to ‘light,’ but that wasn’t the case. The flavor, though, was quite nice.

We each ordered a different dessert, and they were all very good.

I probably won’t go back for dinner, but lunch is a possibility. They have a whole mess of sandwiches that are only served for lunch that all sound great. 

During the race, I saw my friend Glenn standing at about the 10 mile mark. When I finished the race, I had planned on just hopping on the subway and riding back. I was a bit tired, after having to wake up at 5:15 for the race.

Just as I was walking down to the subway, I saw Glenn again. He was with a friend, and of course I’ve forgotten her name. I think it was Missy. If not, that’s what we’ll call her. She comes back up later in this post. They said they were waiting for some friends and going out for brunch and I should join them.

Their friends were Nathan (”Missy’s” boyfriend) and another couple who’s names I’ve forgotten. Where’s Kaia when you really need her? She’s like Rainman when it comes to names. She remembers everyone.

Anyway, we all met up and went to Brooklyn Burger Bar. Apparently this group loves burgers. Yay for me… more friends! The burger was good, but I can’t really eat after a race, so I only at about half of it and about half my fries. These are some damn funny people. They’re also really smart, as they all met while going to Brown.

After the Burger Bar we went to a standard beer bar. I just drank 7-Up as I’m still a little gunshy and wanted to settle my stomach for the long ride back. Again, nothing but funny stories.

So, back to Missy. As we were walking to the subway I mentioned that I had just read Mole People. Missy had spent 8 months in the subway tunnels shooting a documentary for Discovery Channel! Unfortunately, she took a different train than me, so I couldn’t pick her brain. But, she did say that many think the author of Mole People embellished her story. She said I can borrow her copy of the documentary, but I’m going to see if it’s available on Netflix.

I survived! In fact, I nearly PR’d. I ran a 1:56:29, which is just a minute short of my best half-marathon time, set last summer.

The race started on boardwalk of Coney Island (more on that later) and finished in Prospect Park. Up until the last three miles, the course was pancake flat. But those last three miles were a doozy. I really thought I was going to PR, all the way up until the last mile, which after all the climbing, I figured would be downhill. Not so much. Oh well, I’m quite satisfied with my time.

The week off from the norovirus didn’t seem to affect me, and in fact, the weight loss probably helped me. I did lose a little energy there at the end, but I can’t complain about it.

The breakdown

• Mile 1: 8:51. Running on the boardwalk was interesting. Back in high school I ran at an indoor trackmeet in Idaho on which we ran on “boards” (wood.) This had a similar feel, except not all the boards were nailed down. People tripping left and right. You’d see people just going down, like there was a sniper firing down from the Cyclone roller coaster.
• Mile 2: 9:00
• Mile 3: 9:00 (yes, at the start of the race my goal was to run 9:00 minute miles)
• Mile 4: 8:34. We had stepped off the boardwalk and ran on the road. It was flat, wide and nice
• Mile 5: 8:39
• Mile 6: 9:02
• Mile 7: 8:52
• Mile 8: 8:57
• Mile 9: 8:53
• Mile 10: 9:05. It was here where the course started to get tricky. It was basically one long hill from here to the finish.
• Mile 11: 9:15
• Mile 12: 8:31. OK, there was a downhill section during this mile. It was here that I decided to go for a PR, thinking the rest of the course was downhill…
• Mile 13: 8:55. How wrong I was. The last mile was all uphill again. It was a horrible way to end a long race.
• The .1 part: 0:57. Even this part was uphill. Ugh

So, again, to recap. I ran a nice race. It was five minutes faster than that debacle in the Bronx.

Three down, two to go to complete the Five Borough Half-Marathon Challenge. The final two are Queens in September and Staten Island in October.

My brother sent mail today saying his girlfriend, who came over dinner on Sunday night, had the norovirus. So, I’m guessing that’s what I had.

My plumbing stopped leaking last night. And today I took my first solid shit! Everyone clap for me. I felt like taking a bow when I was done.

I’m actually feeling pretty good about the race tomorrow. I’ll let you know if I feel the same way when I’m done.

Went to the game 4 at the Garden last night. The Rangers were trailing the series 3 - 0, so a loss and the season was over. The Rangers responded with a near perfect game in winning 2 - 0.

It was so much fun. I’d give my left eye (that’s my bad eye) for a ticket to game six (if we win on Sunday.)

The Garden was electric. The Rangers fans are freakin’ crazy. I loved it!

I have to admit, I almost quit on the book after the first three chapters, but it picked up nicely and when finished, I was quite satisfied.

“Mole People” was written in the early ’90s and is the true story of the homeless living under New York in the subway tunnels. I found the book at its best when the author was giving first hand accounts of the tunnels and when she gave historical perspectives of life ‘underground.’ However, I thought the book faltered when she let her subjects tell their own stories, primarily because they didn’t seem credible.

Anyway, the book is quite fascinating. If true, the tales of some of the deep underground communities, that author couldn’t reach herself are quite remarkable. There’s a chapter devoted to teenagers that is quite touching, and another devoted to women that’s really sad.
For me, I just find it hard to believe how much NY has changed in 15 years. Back then, apparently you couldn’t ride in the back two subway cars without fearing for your possessions or even life. New York sounded like kind of a scary place. Today, it’s pretty much the safest city in the country. Statistically, I believe this is a fact. It’s like walking around Disneyland around here. Of course, it’s basically a police state with cops everywhere, but hey, you win some, you lose some.

If you leave here, I’d be happy to loan you the book. I think it’s something every New Yorker should read, if for no other reason then maybe you’ll be less annoyed when your standing in the subway and you hear “Excuse me, pardon me ladies and gentlemen, I don’t mean to disturb you, but I’ve recently fallen on hard times and…”

Through a work friend, I was able to score a ticket to tonight’s Madonna concert at the Roseland Ballroom.

At this point of her career, she reminds me a lot of Prince, in that she’s built up a nice back catalog, her new songs don’t completely suck, and she can flat out entertain. The show didn’t disappoint, except that it was really short… like in, about seven songs short.

The highlight of the show? Definitely when Justin Timberlake came out for whatever that song they duet on is. The set was great and seeing them sing and dance off each other was pretty cool.

You can watch the concert here.

Normally when you lose seven pounds it’s a good thing. Unless the reason for the weight loss is that there’s something going horribly wrong with your stomach.

I have not been able to keep food in my body since Sunday. I was definitely most sick on Monday. That day, I was vomiting so hard, on Tuesday I didn’t have my voice. On Tuesday, though, the fever was gone, but the ass-end of the illness, you know the diarrhea, stuck around. And is still hanging around.

Something still isn’t right, as I have no appetite (you know how much I love food) and what I do eat shoots right out the other end of me.

Normally, I wouldn’t give two shits about this, but I have to run the Brooklyn Half Marathon on Saturday, and I have zero energy. I have a feeling that race will be pure Hell, which sucks because I ran an awesome 16 miles on Saturday.