My Dad Would Be Proud

Even with a tornado watch, I was still resilient. I debated grilling out tonight, but I still decided to move forward. I am glad I did.

It Was Bound To Happen

From the Cleveland State University Home Page:

Important Safety Message from President Michael Schwartz

I wish to share with you our response to a disturbing event. Some hand-written graffiti was found in a restroom stall in Main Classroom yesterday afternoon which threatens a repeat of the Virginia Tech event for May 12 – our commencement day.

I view this with grave concern and am taking every precaution to insure that our campus and commencement exercises are safe and secure and that commencement is the joyous occasion that all of us expect. To that end, the University Police have been in touch with the City of Cleveland’s Police Department and I have asked Governor Strickland for assistance from the Ohio Highway Patrol. The Governor has assured me of that help and I already have spoken to the Director of Public Safety and officials at the Highway Patrol. In addition, I have ordered that there be metal detectors at all entrances to the Wolstein Center on commencement day. You can be of special help to the University by keeping us informed of any suspicious activity and suspect behavior that you note or that may be related to this issue. You can call the University Police at 687.2020. We are determined to make our campus as safe and secure as it can be.

I appreciate your concern and, needless to say, I share it. As events warrant, I will keep you informed.

Not to make light of the situation, but after seeing this, my co-worker said: "Can you imagine if they acted like this with everything written on a bathroom stall?"

Generation Why?

(Please, please forgive me for doing this, but I am about to bring up that stupid Don Imus issue with the Rutgers Women's Basketball team...)
As I was standing in line at my local grocery store this weekend, I glanced up at the Newsweek with Don Imus and the Rutgers basketball team on the cover. The headline called this particular women's basketball team the next generation. I still can't figure out why they were termed the next generation of anything. Of all the people that were affected during this ordeal, I honestly think the women on this team were affected the least, or at least they were mature enough to act that way. With this in mind they aren't the next generation of protesters and I don't think they are the next generation of women to get harassed, because I don't see where one generation would end and begin with that distinction. So then what was Newsweek calling them the next generation for? They were innocent bystanders in a stupid situation. PERHAPS they are the next generation of innocent bystanders to be harassed in a stupid situation. That could be the case because they definitely aren't pioneers in that field-history has made sure of that.

My First Sunburn Of The Year

Yesterday was such a beautiful day in Cleveland that I decided I wanted to get out of the house and play in the sunshine. My playground for the day turned out to be the Lake Erie shoreline, which I always seem to rediscover every time I see it.

We started out at Edgewater Park to take pictures, made a pit-stop at a friends house, grabbed a bite at Max's deli in Rocky River and then headed to Columbia Park in Bay Village, all the while taking in all the magnificent houses along Lake Avenue from Rocky River to Bay Village.

We got some great pictures from Edgewater with the skyline in the background and of the waterfall at Columbia Park, which I kept saying existed but I just couldn't remember where.

This would explain why we went all the way to Bay Village because I was not about to stop until we found it. I was just like an exloper yesterday, though I probably should have put on more sunscreen. I wonder what SPF Christopher Columbus used to wear.

"I Think I Got A Speeding Ticket Last Night"

This is exactly what I said to my friends last Tuesday and everyone I told said: "You think?? Didn't the officer give you a ticket?" No my friends I wasn't stopped by a police officer last Monday night, but my premonition was proven true today as I opened my mail addressed from Operation Safe Streets. I thought I got the ticket because as I drove past the nice cameras on 106th and Clifton Boulevard, my car got her picture taken with three quick flashes and my stomach sank knowing full well what had just happened. In case I wanted copies of the pictures they were sent to me today with a nice letter telling me I owed the city of Cleveland $100. As I stood there wondering how I could fight it, knowing full well of my guilt, I just kept staring at the pictures they had of me coming, passing and finally from the back of my car going 15 miles over the speed limit. I just said to myself: "guilty as charged." There is a positive spin however because you don't get any points on your license when you don't get pulled over by a cop. So I guess the moral of the story is: if you are going to speed, avoid the cops and aim for the cameras. You might as well get some nice shots of your new car in the process.

Apparently I Blog Too Much

I walked down to The Old Angle tonight to get some wings, but the bar was full, so I just kept walking. I think I have been talking The Old Angle up too much and now people are starting to infiltrate my favorite bar. Perhaps I should say this: I hate The Old Angle and Major Hooples and The Winking Lizard (only the downtown and Lakewood spots), and The Parkview and Twist and Touch Supper Club and McNamaras and Lincoln Park Pub and Lava Lounge and Prosperity and Bounce. If you are considering going to any of these spots, you probably shouldn't (unless you are with me).

TGIF-Free Jukebox Style

I should have gotten a picture! I don't know why I didn't get a picture of the view from Major Hooples during the snowstorm Friday night. The view itself is gorgeous (see picture).However the snow made it even more spectacular. It would have been the perfect way to reveal what a great evening it was to live in Cleveland. Friday night started out in a local dive bar with what turned out to be a private game of darts, as my opponent and I were the only inhabitants in the place. Lucky for us that meant we also ruled over the free jukebox and the attention of the bartender. From there we got a fake distress call to go to Major Hooples, which is quickly becoming one of my favorite places . (Apparently my friends don't think I will show up quick enough unless they send fake messages of help.)

From our private game of darts on one side of Cleveland, we headed to Major Hooples located on the west bank of Cleveland to catch up with some old friends. While there we played bar bowling and got free drinks from the owner who also let us play free music on the jukebox. At this point in the evening we also got a message that the Detroit Cobras were playing at the Beachland Ballroom. As much as I would have loved to have seen the Detroit Cobras play, there was something about Major Hooples that made it hard to leave. It may have been my singing and dancing friends, or the free drinks, or the opening day crowd that had stumbled over from Jacobs Field, or the free music we got to put into the jukebox, but I think the main reason was the view of the snow falling on my favorite city. For those of you that were curious, the free drinks were a close second. Kidding...the free drinks were tied with my friends.

A Potpourri Of Clubbing Clothes, Peacepipes, Lunch Diets And Binge Drinking

I had so many things I wanted to write about today. Let me just touch upon a few of the highlights before I move on to the truly blog-worthy idea I found online.

First off, I had an interesting weekend working events for the women's basketball tournament. On Saturday, I found myself blocking the view of Geno Auriemma at the high school All-Star game as I was sitting in press row, and he of course was sitting wherever the hell he wanted to be sitting. I also scored tickets to the WNBA/WBCA after-party, but decided I may stick out too much to go. The person who gave me the tickets told me to try and blend in by wearing the clothes I would wear to go clubbing. I skipped that event. My clubbing clothes were at the cleaners.

Another blog idea was that I should mention I have started the Subway Challenge. Goodbye mayonnaise and cheese and hello honey mustard. I have decided to follow in Jared's footsteps and see if this six grams of fat marketing campaign actually works for lunch. That's right, I am only going to do it for lunch. It will take off the guilt from the wings and beer I will be consuming at dinner.

My original blog idea got bumped, so I thought I would just shorten it by giving a quick summary. Did anybody see that the Cleveland Indians played the St. Louis Cardinals in the Inaugural Civil Rights Game commemorating the civil rights movement in baseball? To stay true to the game, the Cleveland Indians removed Chief Wahoo off of their uniforms...for JUST this exhibition game. Doesn't it seem like more of a slap in the face to do that for just this game, and then put it back on for the regular season--ya know...the games that actually count. I think someone in marketing was smoking the peacepipe on this idea.

And finally the idea that trumps all others occurred just a little while ago as I was surfing the internet trying to find out the fat and calories in alcohol, to keep an accurate measurement of my Subway Challenge. I found someone else was doing a similar search, and had posted their questions for all the world to answer. I love this open letter almost as much as I want to find the person who wrote it so that I can hang out with them sometime. Enjoy...

"My favourite tipple is a double vodka with diet coke (the coke filled to the top) in a average glass served by pubs in the UK.
1. Can anyone tell me the average kcal calories content of a glass? 2. If I drank an average of 8-10 glasses of these on a weekend nightout, how many calories would I be consuming? 3. Would adding ice help reduce calorie content or increase sobriety? Or no different? 4. What is the lowest calories double spirits and mixer? (But withequal strength of alcohol)? 5. Does an increase in alcohol strength mean an increase in calories? 6. Is eating food (e.g. kebab, chips) after a drinking binge harmfulor not? e.g. helps reduce hangovers, or increases nausea in morningetc. What is recommended? Should I drink water before eating food, orafter eating food? Or both or does it make no different? Tips will be given for thorough answers."

I think I may have found my British counterpart!

This Is Better Than The Republican National Convention Anyday

Remember when Cleveland had a chance to host the Republican National Convention and there was publicity everywhere because of all the money it would bring to the city? How is it that the NCAA Women's Final Four is going to be in Cleveland this weekend and you aren't really hearing that much about it? This event is even bigger to me, but on a different level, and not just because it doesn't involve a lot of republicans running around my city. On top of the lack of Republicans, it will bring a lot of big names to this city for speaking events, games and coaching conventions, it will increase awareness of Title IX, as that legislation will celebrate its 35-year anniversary with a three-day convention in Cleveland, it will also empower young women in Cleveland with events held everyday to increase knowledge of the sport and of women in sports, and most importantly major sports publications are writing articles such as this one to shed positive light on our fine city. If you love sports and you call Cleveland home, hopefully you will realize what a wonderful opportunity this is for our fine city. I am lucky to fall into both of those categories, and I am also lucky becaue I got a volunteer gig at the event for the weekend, so I may be a little biased.

Everything I Need To Know In Life, I Learned From The Cleveland International Film Festival

Just a quick synopsis of what I learned over the past week at the Cleveland International Film Festival:
1. Director Jamie Babbit raids the cd collections of my friends
2. Sigourney Weaver makes movies better
3. When a movie is about beastiality, skipping it due to extreme exhaustion can be justified easier.
4. Norwegian movies make very little sense to me
5. British horror films are more funny (in a good way) than scary
6. Romanians make incest seem somewhat normal
7. My alma mater, Ohio University looks good on the big screen even if it is surrouned by unnecessary irony.

And All This Time I Thought It Was The Beer Making Me Fat

From www.msnbc.com and The Associated Press:

WASHINGTON - The typical Chinese restaurant menu is a sea of nutritional no-nos, a consumer group has found. A plate of General Tso’s chicken, for example, is loaded with about 40 percent more sodium and more than half the calories an average adult needs for an entire day. The battered, fried chicken dish with vegetables has 1,300 calories, 3,200 milligrams of sodium and 11 grams of saturated fat. That’s before the rice (200 calories a cup). And after the egg rolls (200 calories and 400 milligrams of sodium).

So much for my diet of wings and Chinese food. I Guess I will just have to stick to the wings-at least those are good for you, right?

“I don’t want to put all the blame on Chinese food,” said Bonnie Liebman, nutrition director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest, which did a report released Tuesday.
“Across the board, American restaurants need to cut back on calories and salt, and in the meantime, people should think of each meal as not one, but two, and bring home half for tomorrow,” Liebman said.

The average adult needs around 2,000 calories a day and 2,300 milligrams of salt, which is about one teaspoon of salt, according to government guidelines.

In some ways, Liebman said, Italian and Mexican restaurants are worse for your health, because their food is higher in saturated fat, which can increase the risk of heart disease.
While Chinese restaurant food is bad for your waistline and blood pressure — sodium contributes to hypertension — it does offer vegetable-rich dishes and the kind of fat that’s not bad for the heart.

So the trick is to order vegetables with your fried meats...that explains a lot.

However — and this is a big however — the veggies aren’t off the hook. A plate of stir-fried greens has 900 calories and 2,200 milligrams of sodium. And eggplant in garlic sauce has 1,000 calories and 2,000 milligrams of sodium. “We were shocked. We assumed the vegetables were all low in calories,” Liebman said.

Just like I assumed everything they served was low in calories. Now who is the dummy? Stupid researchers!

Also surprising were some appetizers: An order of six steamed pork dumplings has 500 calories, and there’s not much difference, about 10 calories per dumpling, if they’re pan-fried.
The group found that not much has changed since it examined Chinese food 15 years ago. That’s not all bad, Liebman said. “We were glad not to find anything different,” she said. “Some restaurant food has gotten a lot worse. Companies seem to pile on. Instead of just cheesecake, you get coconut chocolate chip cheesecake with a layer of chocolate cake, and lasagna with meatballs.”

What she is trying to say is stay away from the General Tso's Coconut Chocolate Chip Cheesecake.

The group says there is no safe harbor from sodium on the Chinese restaurant menu, but it offers several tips for making a meal healthier:
Look for dishes that feature vegetables instead of meat or noodles. Ask for extra broccoli, snow peas or other veggies.
Steer clear of deep-fried meat, seafood or tofu. Order it stir-fried or braised.
Hold the sauce, and eat with a fork or chopsticks to leave more sauce behind.
Avoid salt, which means steering clear of the duck sauce, hot mustard, hoisin sauce and soy sauce.
Share your meal or take half home for later.
Ask for brown rice instead of white rice.

What would even be the point of ordering Chinese if you have to follow these tips?

St. Patricks Day 2007...

...Or as I like to call it: Amateur Drinking Day at my favorite bar. This year we started out at The Old Angle, and as we found out later, we should have just stayed there. While at The Old Angle we got to watch the Ohio State game, even though they had to keep switching televisions for us, as the bar started to fill up, and we could no longer see above everyone. However the highlight of our stay there was a conversation I was privy to down in the bathroom:
Girl 1: I am so drunk on beer!
Girl 2: Oh My God, I am so drunk on beer too! This is so crazy.
Girl 3 (who stumbled in a couple minutes later): Oh My God, I am so drunk on beer! This is so crazy!
Girl 2: I can't believe how drunk I am on beer!
Girl 1: Me neither. I am so glad I ate first.
Girl 3 (from inside one of the stalls): How did you know to eat first???
Girl 1: I don't know. I guess I thought ahead.
Girl 2 and 3: Oh My God! You are so smart.

That is a conversation I never thought I would hear inside the confines of my bar. Other than that, let me recap the good and bad ideas of the day:
Starting at The Old Angle: Good Idea
Going to McCarthy's in The Flats: Bad Idea
However while we were in line for the bathroom at this bar, this stupid frat boy in a cableknit sweater yelled at the women's bathroom line to make out or tickle each other. At this point, my friend Allison said: "Does that guy know he is wearing a cableknit sweater, and that men in cableknit sweaters should never yell those things out loud because we will know he is gay?"
Going to The Harbor Inn in The Flats: Bad Idea
Going to West 6th Street on the advice that it wouldn't be so annoying because it was St. Patrick's Day: Bad Idea
Going to Cinergy on West 6ht Street: Bad Idea
Going to Panini's on West 6th Street: Bad Idea
Going to The Old Stand in Lakewood: Bad Idea
Calling someone to come pick me up in Lakewood so I could head home: Good Idea
Going to Bed at 8:00 p.m.: Good Idea
Waking up early to go to the film festival: Good Idea

All in all, it was a great four days off filled with a lot of basketball and a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone I spent it with, but next year I am staying put at The Old Angle for the duration of St. Patrick's Day.

Strong Enough For A Man But Made For A Locked Up Glass Case At My Local Ghetto Store

On the way to get wings last Thursday in Tremont I had to stop for cigarettes. While in the little ghetto store across the street from Lincoln Park Pub, I realized I also needed deoderant. As I walked up and down every eclectic aisle in this little store, I could not find any deoderant. When I walked up to the counter to inquire where it might be, the gentleman behind the counter pointed to a locked glass case underneath him. Inside that locked glass case I saw toothpaste, deoderant and body soap. I had to point at the one I wanted like I was at a deli. He then had to unlock the case to get my deoderant, and as he did this I wondered if I was getting some secret magic deoderant. Alas, it was regular Secret deoderant worth only $2.49. I laughed thinking how I passed much more expensive things while looking for the deoderant, but apparently there must be high crime on items used for hygiene. The only thing I could think of is there has to be some special ingredient in my deoderant used for drugs. If anyone knows a drug recipe using my Secret Spring Breeze deoderant, could you please pass it along?

Pro (Social) Life

As I was driving home down West 25th street past Metro Health Hospital, I may have seen one of the strangest events of my life. I saw the first man with a "Stop Abortion" sign and got the creeps, but kept driving. About fifty yards ahead at the stoplight there was another group of about ten protesters, and I was stuck at a red light looking at their gross signs. Keep in mind this had to have been the homeliest group of people I have ever seen. I always find it to be so ironic how ugly pro-life protesters look, but I guess in a way it makes sense. Nonetheless, I see the protesters walking out into the street where I thought the car behind me may have been yelling slurs at them like I wish I would have done. But NO, this is not the case at all. The protesters start hugging and high-fiving the people in the car behind me in a show of comraderie. I was stunned. I couldn't even move when the light turned green. I just sat there wondering if somehow I got stuck in the middle of some pro-life parade, but with much less candy and really ugly people.

Two Weeks Is Too Long

The past two weeks have flown by full of events and failed thoughts of blogging. To catch everyone up I got a new car, though it will never take the place of Ruby. I have to give a lot of thanks to my parents for their incredible bargaining ways as I am now driving a 2007 Hyundai Sonata. I also had to go to North Carolina for family business this past week. If only I had enough words and space to blog about the family events and craziness. Unfortunately you will have to wait to read Julie's book entitled: Does Crazy Sleep? which is sure to be made into a major motion picture or at least a Lifetime movie of the week sometime soon. I hear Meredith Baxter Birney is already auditioning for the part of crazy.

As for the next two weeks-I can't be more excited! This is my favorite time of year because of the NCAA basketball tournament (Selection Sunday is only two days away or 56 hours from now) and the Cleveland International Film Festival , which will also be going on over the next two weeks. This year I am actually lucky enough to have someone in my life to pull me away from basketball to see some movies and get me out of the house, or bar as the case may be. Do not fear, I have already taken March 15th and 16th off of work for the first two days of the tournament like I do every year. I am just glad those games don't fall on St. Patricks Day like they did the past two years. My boss always thought I was taking the days off to drink beer and go to the parade. When any normal person would know I was taking the days off to drink beer and watch basketball. I am obviously working with amateurs here.

RIP Ruby

I got news yesterday that Ruby's motor had gone out on her. It doesn't make sense to put $1,300 into my car due to the fact that she is ten years old, so I decided to let her move on to car heaven. She is not a person or even an animal, so my sadness seems unjustified, but she was my first car and I had her for eight wonderful years. Eight years that included her driving me downtown to Cleveland for work, living in Florida, driving back and forth to Kent on many many many occassions, getting towed away a few times for several mishaps and taking me anywhere I wanted to go, whenever I wanted to go. I am sure I will love my next car, but it just won't be the same without her.

Taco Twosday

Last night I met Liz for tacos at Lincolon Park Pub. When I walked in, I saw she was sitting at a table with two friends of ours that we don't usually hang out with on a regular basis. This translates to: two people who don't drink a lot. After I got my drink, I joined Liz outside for a cigarette. While we were outside, she proceeds to tell me she got a double of Stoli and tonic. This didn't surprise me because she normally does this when we get tacos. However her reasoning this night was that she didn't want it to look like she drinks a lot. She thought if she got a double she wouldn't have to get up as quickly to get another drink in front of these people who might think she has a problem. I found her rationale funny and we proceeded back in where our friends had gotten the bill and had a confused look on their face. They looked up and said: "why do we have two shots of Stoli on our bill?" They couldn't figure it out and I busted out laughing. Apparently the waitress put Liz's drink on their bill. The one girl looked at her margarita and wondered out loud if they put Stoli in there (this was a good indication of how little they drink), and I began to laugh even more. Liz came clean about her double and they looked astonished. As a matter of fact, they said: "who drinks a double on a weekday?" I decided to take the onus off of Liz and tell them I did a shot at the bar while getting my beer. They looked at us like we were from outer space, and left soon after. We stayed and got more drinks. It was Fat Tuesday afterall.

CARma

I had to take my car, Ruby, to the mechanic yesterday. Now that she has turned ten, she seems to be having more and more problems. While my car is being looked at, my father is letting me borrow his car that seems to also have some problems, which can best be described from our phone conversation yesterday:

Dad: Ok the keys will be in the car
Me: Great. Thanks! Anything I should know?
Dad: Well don't worry about all the weird alarms as you drive.
Me: Ok
Dad: There is actually nothing wrong with the airbags or brakes, so don't worry when the car tries to tell you there is something wrong with those.
Me: Ok
Dad: Oh and also, there is no cruise control.
Me: Ok
Dad: Also if you want to move the mirrors, you have to do it manually.
Me (At this point laughing): Dad, after we get my car back, you may want to take yours in to get looked at as well.

I Feel Like A Little Kid

We got word today that school has been cancelled due to the snow, therefore I have the day off. Yeah for snow days. Hmmm...maybe I will have lunch with Liz again tomorrow.

Lunch With Liz

I took the day off today and went out to lunch with Liz to a little hole in the wall. I had the veal-Roz will appreciate that-and she had a BLT. Just a normal lunch, nothing too crazy to mention...