Great week. Watched Fast Five on opening night (so this might belong in the April post, but I don’t think anyone really cares). The best thing about going on opening night is the real life scene afterward where a bunch of idiots peel out and check their 0-30mph times in the parking lot. Anyway, I decided to play The Fast and the Furious in the background while sorting and folding laundry. That turned into sitting and watching the entire movie and not touching my laundry.
Guess what happened on this night? Some people say Osama’s death would be one of those moments where you remember where you were when you found out. I guess those people are right, because I probably won’t forget that I was sitting in my room procrastinating on laundry while watching The Fast and the Furious.
Big event for May was Jerry’s wedding. The ceremony was in front of the swimming pool, and so was the rehearsal. This kid didn’t have any shame and splashed around the pool during the entire rehearsal. After rehearsal, Jerry tried his best to drink, smoke, and gamble simultaneously.
Some more pictures. I love mirror pictures.
Let me tell you a quick story: a few years ago there was a girl who called me a mama’s boy and then proceeded to remove my heart from my chest. You know who’d never rip my heart out? My mama! But the thought hit me that moving to California meant that I don’t have as many chances to take pictures with my mom and that made me sort of sad. She always makes sure I’m well fed and when I asked for a bag of Chex Mix (Dark Chocolate), she took it as one bag a week until summer begins.
Here’s my “I love Seattle” picture. And my I love food picture. We went to the brunch at the downtown Ivar’s. Salty’s is a Seattle institution for a reason, but Ivar’s does a great impression for the price. I left filled with seafood and happiness.
“Who knew that studying in my bedroom and shit… would get a homie headroom in the whip…”
Went to Philadelphia for work. Landed, got the rental car, and drove straight to Pat’s and Geno’s. Got one at each (whiz wit), ate, then ordered another one at each to go. Both sell sandwiches for $9 a pop and they taste good but the touristy aspect is clearly built into the price. Not a life changing food experience.
“You say I’m Chinese, son? Here’s a reminder: check your MacBook it probably says made in China!”
I sent pictures of an iPad in Best Buy to my friends and said I was contemplating since there’s no tax in Delaware. And I was really thinking about it but then I realized that now wasn’t a great time to drop $500 on a whim. Instead, I bought a Kindle because I’m a grandmother. I was kind of embarrassed for hyping up the iPad purchase and instead buying a Kindle. Such a boringperson.com move, not a marginally-less-boring cesperon.com move. So I just didn’t tell them, until now.
Quick review of the Kindle: I read a lot more now. I love it.
I went with my coworkers to a local chain called Capriotti’s (there’s one in LA and one in Vegas also), which sells sandwiches. I ordered a large Bobbi. From reading reviews beforehand, I knew that the Bobbi was basically a Thanksgiving sandwich: turkey, crushed cranberries, and stuffing. What I didn’t know is that a large meant a two-foot sandwich. Talk about “stuffing” yourself! (“First, I’d like to thank The Man upstairs. Without you there’s no way I’d be standing here accepting the ‘Favorite Sentence of the Year’ award…“)
Quick note about Philly that doesn’t go with any of these pictures: LOTS of Philly beards here (think of the rapper Freeway). Other than cheesesteaks, my other goal was to check out and run up the Rocky stairs. Does everyone do it? Yep. Did it still feel cool? Absolutely. The guy I asked to take the picture of me actually wasn’t from out-of-town and told me he’s taken many of these and that I better clench my fists and raise my arms higher or I’d have to go find someone else to take it.
I did the 8-course tasting menu at Morimoto. The food was perfect. But you don’t go to restaurants solely for the food, you want the experience that goes along with it. And now that a month’s passed, the thing that sticks out the most is that I had the tasting menu alone. It becomes extremely obvious to people in the restaurant that hey that guy over there’s been sitting alone for two hours. And I didn’t know what else to do between courses or briefly chatting with the waitress other than look at my phone or my camera. I’d absolutely do another tasting menu, but never again alone. I’d estimate the enjoyment being at least quadrupled with company.
I had an afternoon return flight, so I was able to check out The Oyster House downtown. I read good things about The Oyster House on A Hamburger Today. The burger was allegedly pretty good, so I figured their lobster roll would be good also. It was. Excellent even. Actually if I could pick one thing to eat again that I had from this year it’d be that lobster roll.
After finishing it I started thinking about how much time I had before my flight and I also started thinking about the AHT review of their burger. It just wouldn’t be right to be all the way here and not get the burger, so I ordered one of those also. (AHT didn’t like the fried oyster on top of the patty; I loved it.) I could afford the food coma and I have no regrets.
Here’s Kayla, my friends Chris and Ty’s daughter. She hasn’t met a mirror she didn’t like. Underneath my hat, and the vanity, is a very cute kid.
Oak Harbor Freight Lines sighting. Let ’em recognize from City Beach to Rosecrans. Bumpin’ and grindin’ like a slow jam.
Visited LA to hang out with these losers. Super low maintenance girls. Which is a compliment that sounded a lot better when I was talking to them about it in person instead of it being written out here, where it sounds like a synonym for “butch”. Hmmm, if my points with girls were golden rings…
I digress. The trip started with a Segway tour through Beverly Hills. The tour started with a great safety video narrated by some guy with a heavy Boston accent who swore like a pirate. Basically: only move forward at a controlled pace or you’ll die.
“Wheel to wheel past the Beverly Center (and eventually down Rodeo Drive) like man, not giving a damn who sees us.”
Here’s my bowl of ramen from Orochon. Here’s my attempt to capture everyone’s bowls of ramen from Orochon.
Married to Jessica Alba, LL Cool J as the best man, Lambo in the driveway, fighter pilot during the days, 14 kids (with Jessica Alba!), one billion dollars (struck out on the $6969 million option), update: orange Lambo in the driveway. Life is good in M.A.S.H.O.—but ‘good’ gets boring sometimes so I also got a pet mastodon.
We hiked Runyon Canyon in hopes of running into a shirtless Josh Duhamel (who Joyce saw a few days before on the same hike). I’d say that it was the girls hoping to run into him, but hey I wanted to see a celebrity too. If you can’t tell, I’m pointing at the Hollywood sign in this picture. It’s that strip of white about 10 pixels wide. Squint a little.
We went to a (I’m sure there’s a proper term) soju place. If it’s not apparent, I enjoyed this night.
Day after coming home from LA, I flew to Dulles International for work in the D.C./Virginia area. Here was my home for the next few weeks. I landed on the last day of May. I loved this room. More about this trip in a June post—that I’ll probably write in November or something. Until then, I’m planning to get back to posting links. I kind of miss doing that.
Also until then, I’m gonna try and figure out what the hell the O stands for in M.A.S.H.O. I used to play Mansion Apartment Shack House like the normal kids.