Black Sheep

I checked my daily e-mail from Strickland headquarters and saw the following press release:

Columbus, Ohio – Roger Strickland, brother of Ohio gubernatorial candidate Congressman Ted Strickland, will visit the Allen County Fair in Lima Friday.

Has history taught democrats anything about letting their brothers blaze the campaign trail with them? Hopefully Roger Strickland will do a better job promoting his brother than Billy Carter and Roger Clinton (pictured).

East Versus West: Priorities

I may refuse to live east of the city, but for now on I will always go that direction for medical care in Cleveland. Normally I would go to Hillcrest Hospital in Mayfield for my emergency room care, but on Monday morning I decided to just walk the one block to Lutheran Hospital in Ohio City to get a small sliver of glass out of my heel. Four days later, I am regretting that decision.

One would think getting a small piece of glass out of my heel would be something that could be done in the emergency room. I watch enough cable programming to see almost anything can be done in the emergency room. What I found out is that the only thing that can be done in the emergency room at Lutheran is a lot of waiting and a lot of watching cable television. Ironic isn’t it? I spent five hours sitting there waiting to see a doctor. During that time, they took inconclusive x-rays and gave me a tetanus shot. The tetanus shot they gave me has now infected my right arm. My arm feels like it is on fire, though I am glad to say the swelling has finally started to go down after two nights of icing it. Nonetheless, the final verdict on the foot was that I would have to have surgery the next morning.

Tuesday morning I got ready for surgery by having a nurse try to find a place to put an IV into my hands. Three tries later both of my hands are bruised, but the anesthesia was definitely worth that small amount of pain. She kept telling me she always finds it on the first try and I was the exception. I guess that was reassuring for the next patient but it didn’t do a whole lot for my psyche as I headed into surgery. On my way in, my nurse asked me if I was related to the “Bainbridge Lieberths.” This was a good sign as I assumed she would never let anything happen to a “Bainbridge Lieberth” so I answered yes as quickly as possible. As I lay there, they showed me the piece of glass they took out, which I didn’t see but they swore they took it out, so I had no other choice but to believe them. It was like when they said the Tetanus shot would hurt for only a day or so, and they refrained from telling me my arm would swell up and make my bicep look like a tomato.

Two stitches later, my foot probably hurts the least of all my wounds. The bruising in my hands has turned a different color which I think is a good thing, and my arm doesn’t burn nearly as much as it has. My doctor who didn’t seem overly concerned said to come back to the emergency room next week if it was still swelled and burning. I have a feeling I will choose Hillcrest Hospital if that is the case. Not to mention the east side also has better Asian cuisine, so it is a good excuse to get some Thai food. Hmmm…better healthcare and better Thai food, perhaps I should consider a re-location. Nah, the bars are still better on the west side and in the end isn’t that all that really matters?

Meanwhile...One Tetanus Shot Later

I spent the day at Lutheran Hospital and apparently I will be spending tomorrow at Lutheran Hospital as well. It's funny how the smallest thing can turn into a big production. Long story short: broke a glass Saturday night, stepped on random piece of glass Sunday night, went to emergency room Monday morning and having surgery on my heel to remove remaining glass Tuesday morning. For those of you who read my blog on a daily basis, this incident did not involve a spider or a Swiffer Wet Jet through my living room window. I just wanted to make that clear.

Is This ESPN or Comedy Central?

Without ESPN.com, I wouldn't have had the following good laughs this morning:

1. Take a look at this picture of Maurice Clarett's car after his arrest yesterday morning. In his passenger seat you see two loaded guns, an empty bottle of top shelf vodka AND a lint brush. Apparently when you are driving around drinking straight from the bottle with two loaded guns and a bullet proof vest on you don't want cat hair and lint all over the place. I know where he is coming from on this one. I hate leaving the house with stuff on my clothes. You never know the impression this might make on a client or someone you are trying to gun down.

2.Then you have the sexual harrassment lawsuit against Isiah Thomas. The suit was filed by the former Vice President of Marketing for the New York Knicks, the team Thomas presides over. In the 12-page court document filed Wednesday, Thomas acknowledged he once touched Anucha Browne Sanders' shoulder, and may have even tried to kiss her on the cheek. But he insisted he did nothing wrong, reiterating his stance since the allegations were made public in January. He tried to kiss her on the cheek but he thinks that is okay. Since when is the workplace kiss on the cheek a normal practice?

Good times with our sports role models!

Bad Dream

For the past two weeks I have had the same damn dream. I wake up on a Sunday morning and it is the second week of football season. In both dreams I am initially excited because, well...it's football season, and then I stop and realize the season already started and I forgot to go to my fantasy football draft. Usually the realization I have missed my football draft is enough to wake me up, so the panic doesn't last that long. Nonetheless this can't be a good sign. Good thing my dad called last night to remind me the draft is September 5. Can't Wait! The OC Herons are back and ready to defend. Pictured: My dad and I opening the champagne after we won our fantasy football championship last year.

The New Strickland Shirt

Yesterday my new Ted Strickland shirt arrived. I am very excited about this particular item and it was made by a local who runs his own website. To get your own shirt please check out his site, Better Ted Than Red.

Best Week Ever

When I tell you my week started with Barbie in Fairytopia and ended with soccer moms, you may think that it was a quiet, family friendly week. Not quite. In honor of my favorite show ending for the season, I really did have THE BEST WEEK EVER.

If you read my last entry, you know last Monday night out with Barbie wasn’t all that family friendly but it sure was enlightening and the soccer game at the Wolstein Center turned out to be a lot more fun than we thought it was going to be. Couched in between these two events was a very long week of giving back to the community in my own very talented way: through eating and drinking. On Wednesday, my favorite watering hole, The Old Angle, hosted the Summer Restaurant Tour and gave 40% percent of the proceeds from that evening back to the Center. On Thursday, Union Station hosted Martini night and gave 60% of those proceeds back to the Center which turned me into quite the philanthropist. I don’t know if I necessarily recommend drinking and donating after this week. The reason for this recommendation is when it comes to the end of the evening and you ask yourself if you really want one more, you realize you are drinking for the cause and you have to have one more (and one more and one more after that…). Let’s just say I did my part last week.

Thankfully we took Friday night off to take out braids, my new favorite thing-that-I-do-every-three-months activity and Saturday evening did at least start out low-key. I felt like we were back in high school as we went out on a fun double-date that started at Johnny Mango and then headed to watch some soccer with free tickets won only a day earlier. I ended up enjoying the soccer much more than I thought I would because the original Cleveland Force legends played at halftime. I used to love the Force, so to see some of those players now was hilarious. After the game we decided to go somewhere we normally don't frequent and ironically enough we ended up in Ohio City. Touch Supper Club turned out to be the coolest place I hung out at all week with the DJ spinning for our table and the bartender impressing us with his talents. We finished that night off with a trip to Diana's, where a certain Cleveland blogger would agree their coffee actually puts you to sleep.

I do believe I will be taking this week off to recuperate and volunteer at the Center at night to get ready for the Summer Party. As if I didn’t already give enough last week…

By the way, the fun will be starting again on August 15 as Maria and I will be hosting the Summer Restaurant Tour at Momocho and don’t forget the Wing Thing on August 16 at the zoo to benefit Community Shares.

Apparently Barbie Can Sing As Well

It’s obvious I had a weird evening when the first thing I do upon arriving at work is Google the nationally touring play called Barbie Live! in Fairytopia. What was going to be a quick stop at Bounce last night for an appetizer or two, turned into a three-hour karaoke show put on by the performers of the nationally-touring play, Barbie Live! in Fairytopia.

Monday is karaoke night at Bounce. Usually this crowd consists of 10 people including the same two old men singing Better Midler songs, the two young guys who like to sing Kelly Clarkson and the woman who sings Johnny Cash. Every once in a while you might get a karaoke ringer or two, but what we witnessed last night was more like the Haley’s Comet of Kareoke at Bounce and we may never see anything like it again. After the first song, Proud Mary, included back up dancers, we realized we might not be sitting with the usual crowd. Sure enough as the evening went on, there were times we actually thought we were listening to the actual singer or even someone who sounded better than the actual singer. There wasn’t a bad singer in the bunch, though you could tell the pitch difference as they got drunker throughout the night. Or maybe you could just tell they were getting drunker because they started taking their shirts off.

We thought they might be from a local theatre but couldn’t place it. Finally I went up and asked the bartender who they were with and he said: “That Barbie show at Palace Theatre” In fact they weren’t local at all, they are currently on a national tour doing Barbie Live! in Fairytopia, a one-hour musical for kids. I for one am glad I got to see the evening show—I have a feeling it wasn’t anything like what they performed for the children. Look out Louisville, they are coming your way next.