Goodbye Frye!

Early reports this morning from my friend Staci, a very reliable source, say that the Browns have traded quarterback Charlie Frye to the Seattle Seahawks for a sixth round pick. Keep in mind she told me this two hours before it was reported on cleveland.com. Apparently I have contacts that rival Deepthroat from the Watergate Era.

My only question now is: Why does he get to leave? After his performance on Sunday he should be made to stay here and watch every game this season just like the rest of us. After playing the worst game of his life, he is now on a playoff team. The only logical reason I could think of is that because he is from Ohio, they found the farthest destination they possibly could as punishment.

Good Advice

Last week, my girlfriend received an e-mail from Cleveland+ about the opportunity to explore Cleveland with the chance of even winning tickets to go there. This seemed so inviting we decided to actually see this city of Cleveland we had heard so much about. On the advice of Cleveland+ we packed our Saturday full of Cleveland activities.

On Saturday morning we decided to do the Bridge and Subway Tour on the Veterans Memorial Bridge, which is only a few blocks from my house. This free tour allows people to explore the old streetcar routes in Cleveland. You start out by going underground to see the old subway stops, watch a historical movie on streetcars in Cleveland, and then walk all the way across the bridge to the other side of Superior on the lower level-the same route the streetcars used to take. As you can imagine the views of the city were spectacular, and a little scary as you are walking over the Cuyahoga River on a thin grate with a piece of plywood. I have a "small" fear of heights, so needless to say there were a few points where I was holding on for dear life. One of the guides told me it was completely safe, and that he would know because he worked in the Cuyahoga County Engineers office, which relieved me until he told me he worked in accounting. After exiting the bridge on Superior and West 9th we realized we needed water and batteries. Being the complete tourists, we had the digital camera in full swing so we had already run through our first set of batteries. Even though I wanted to get batteries at the porn store on West 9th to get the full feel of Cleveland, we headed to Constantines Market, where we were asked if we were from Cleveland because of the camera hanging by its strap around Julie's neck. We laughed thinking we actually looked like we won a trip to Cleveland (thanks again Cleveland+).

After refilling on batteries, espresso and water, we headed down to explore the flats. I was amazed by how the flats looked like a ghost town on the east bank. Other than Larry Flynt's Hustler Club, there was one bar left and a hair salon.

At points,we were the only people on the whole east bank of the flats and it was the weirdest feeling, however it did give us a lot of room to take fun pictures of the river, the bridges and the scenery surrounding the flats, including the panoramic picture above. We explored the west bank which was much more populated before heading home. We crashed so hard after walking around in the sun in Cleveland for four hours, but we knew we had to re-group because the roller derby was just hours away.

Saturday night we made our monthly trek to the North Olmsted Indoor Soccer Complex to meet up with some friends and catch the Burning River Roller Girls in action. Good times and Pabst Blue Ribbon in a tall can were had by all (except Julie who made thundersticks out of her plastic Bud Light bottles).

By Sunday I was exhausted, but I will never forget what a great day I had in Cleveland+, and I would recommend visiting this city to all my friends.

One Night In The City+One Night In The Country=Day Of Relaxation

This weekend had a little bit of everything. I spent Friday night in Cleveland enjoying the company of old friends while I spent Saturday night in the backwoods of Wooster enjoying the company of new friends. Sunday was spent recuperating from both these events.

On Friday we met friends at The Garage Bar. My friend Alison won a free happy hour, which entitled her to free drinks from 5 pm-9 pm, while her friends were allowed a free drink, though many of us had more than one drink. The Happy Hour lasted much longer than expected as Mindy came up and met us for more drinks after Happy Hour ended. We finished the evening off with dinner and drinks at the Old Angle. We got the wings, and because I was so hungry and a little intoxicated, I would have to rate the wings with five wings out of four, though they most likely should have a three-wing rating.

On Saturday we got up and went canoeing down in Canal Fulton and became one with nature, or at least ran into a lot of nature with our poor rowing. After canoeing we headed to a country home located on 27 acres out in Wooster. We spent the night cooking out, drinking beer out of a can and sitting around a bonfire. It was a true country night.

On Sunday I walked into my house and vegged out on my couch for most of the day. In the apartment below me, my brother was doing the same thing. Now that we are all rested up, I am taking Mark to his first Taco Tuesday tonight at Lincoln Park Pub. It is a rite of passage if you live on the west side of town. After tonight his life will no longer be the same, or at least he will now know where to get cheap tacos and drink cheap mexican beer. Same difference.

How I Spent My Time In Between CAVS Games

From Kenny Chesney going home with me to biking through the metroparks, the three days in between CAVS games were jam-packed.


After the game on Thursday we bar hopped around Lakewood where we ended the night carrying home a life-size cut-out of Kenny Chesney. When my friend saw the cut-out by the DJ booth she told me she wanted it, so I decided to slide it out the window into the bushes to get on our way out. Operation Kenny Chesney was successful, and it began quite an eventful weekend.

A couple months ago, I took a personality quiz that told me I didn't appreciate art. After this weekend I scoff at that quiz. On Friday we met some friends for dinner at Momocho, where we got the margarita and guacamole samplers before heading off to Just Art. Just Art was a show curated by one of my best friends during the Tremont Art Walk. Just Art benefited Greater Cleveland Community Shares, which is an organization close to my heart because of all the work they do for non-profit organizations in Cleveland. On Saturday we headed south to attend the Columbus Art Festival. After the festival, I ate authentic ethiopian for the first time in my life. I am not one to shy away from most foods, so it was a fun experience. After dinner, we took advantage of being in a different city and went to the Columbus roller derby. On the drive home we decided we were craving wings, but it was too late to do anything about our craving.

On Sunday morning our craving was taken care of when we decided to have Sunday brunch at the Winking Lizard. Thankfully we beat the church crowds there. After some wings and beer (pictured), I went home to clean and then headed out for a 10-mile bike ride at the Metroparks. Apparently the best time to bike is right before a CAVS game because there were very few people on the bike path. Even though I tried to keep myself busy in anticipation of Game 2, the result for the CAVS was still the same. I am looking forward to game 3, but I don't think I will be nearly as busy in between games.

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.

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.

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...

Happy Birthday Blog

Two years ago, the day after the Super Bowl, I started this blog when I did THIS ENTRY. Today I feel the same way, I felt on that day: So Now What? Now I have to wait five weeks until Selection Sunday when the NCAA tournament starts, and I have no idea what I am going to do without football. Last night when Peyton Manning held up that championship trophy, I shed a tear. Sure I was glad he finally won the big game, but my sadness was more for the end of the football season and losing my only justifiable reason to drink beer on Sunday afternoons. I do have to say the season went out with a bang thanks to my sister, Julie and Rozzy. I may want to stay away from Sunday drinking for a little while anyway after this weekend.

Smoking Tour '06...Where Were You?

What a week...what a weekend! This past week was fabulous, minus the fact that my fantasty football team took a turn for the worse, but you can't win 'em all.

Apparently I am on my very own Smoking Tour '06. With only four days left, I have tried to stop and have a cigarette in as many establishments in Cleveland as possible. Actually this wasn't done on purpose, but by Saturday I realized that I have made stops over the past couple days at: The Winking Lizard, The Old Angle, Bounce, McNamara's, Touch Supper Club and Melted and I still have four more days. Four more days. Ugh. Ok, enough about the smoking ban.

This weekend I got to go see the live version of Rocky Horror Picture Show at Cleveland Public Theatre compliments of Mindy. I am not the biggest fan of the movie, but the play was done really well as everyone in the show actually stole the show. Afterwards there were drinks and yummy food from Halite with the cast. Saturday was an adventure as I went to my favorite annual party in Cleveland. This year was crazier than ever with what seemed like hundreds of people showing up to get down. The host goes all out by hiring a DJ and poker dealers while inviting a very funny diverse crowd. I always feel like I am in a movie when I attend because of all the interersting characters I encounter. Sunday was peaceful. The annex cooked steak and eggs due to the fact that The Old Angle wasn't open yet and then I fell asleep after the Browns scored their first touchdown and woke up in time to catch them win in overtime. It was perfect. I should do that more often.

Catch me if you can at your favorite smoking establishment this week.

Let The Smoking Memories Begin

As I walked into The Winking Lizard last night, I saw the saddest sign posted all over my favorite smoking establishment. Effective December 8, The Lizard will be smoke-free. While I know almost every bar/restaurant in Ohio is going in this direction, this one hurts the most. There was always something so special about the smoking section there. This is where you could watch 20 differenct large screen televisions, sit at the bar and ask about all the different draft beers, play pool, arcade bowl or play darts. In the non-smoking room, if you didn't get the right seat, you would have to squint to catch the game on the small mounted televsions in each corner. It was always so quiet in that weird little non-smoking room--like you were in a library or at someone's wake. The Winking Lizard made it cool to be a smoker and they made it a lot more fun as well. It was almost as if they were telling their customers: "Sure you can sit in non-smoking but you aren't going to have any fun."

As Liz and I sat there last night, we talked about how this was our favorite place to go and have a beer and cigarette. We even had a funny memory to illustrate the significance. When she and I came back from Massachusetts last year, after a vacation in a non-smoking state, the first thing we did after we got back from the airport was head to the Lizard for a beer and a smoke. While most people are exhausted from traveling or would rather go to their neighborhood bar, we missed smoking inside and we missed smoking inside at the Lizard. I can only imagine how I am going to feel after December 8. RIP best smoking section in Cleveland.

*The writer of this blog does not condone smoking

For Your Viewing Pleasure

I have done some maintenance on the old blog and added some fun new features. If you scroll down on the right side of the page you will see a new category called "labels". I have categorized all of my entries so that you can look through particular categories. This is really more for my benefit, but I thought I would let you know.

On to the weekend...
Tomorrow is the Ohio State-Michigan game. It is the one day of the year when everyone in Ohio thinks they graduated from Ohio State and it cracks me up. My brother is going to Columbus for the game and I think he is crazy for doing that. You could not pay me enough to be south of Mansfield this weekend. On top of that I am looking forward to a fun weekend with family and friends and parties with both.

Halloween Blog

It's odd that the more pressure you put on a holiday, the more stressful it is in the end. Take for example every New Years Eve I have ever had. However when you put no pressure on a holiday, it always turns out to be so much fun. Take for example Halloween this past weekend. A last minute costume with last minute plans turned out to be fabulous.

On Friday we stayed in and watched scary movies with Tim where laughter and funny quotes were rampant. On Saturday we found costumes at the last minute (that were quite cheap as well) and then accessorized as Lou and Lucy Lucipher (see photo). We traveled around and went to a fun party near Kamm's Corners and then made our way back to the near west side for Liz's party before heading off to the Garage Bar to hang out with good friends I hadn't seen in months. Daylight Savings Time kicked in and we stayed out later than expected that night. Though that isn't saying much considering we were actually thinking about staying in. See? No pressure=more fun.

Birthday Blog

This was one of the best birthdays ever. I have included some pics from my birthday weekend, which included: a crazy memory-filled Friday night with my parents and their friends at Pickwick and Frolic followed by after-dinner drinks at the Marriott; Staying up until the wee hours of the morning with my brother and Liz after seeing Joan Jett which was an incredible show; Partying with Mindy on Sunday with incredible seats at the Indigo Girls concert followed by drinks at the Old Angle. My friends and family are so incredible and I had such a blast over the past couple days. Pictured below: me with my cake first thing Sunday morning, Mindy and I Sunday before the show, Liz and I Saturday after the show, Joan Jett rocking out and sharing a birthday drink with my parents' friend at Pickwick and Frolic.

Ten Years In The Making

Tomorrow I will celebrate ten years of legally drinking, or as some people might call it: my 31st birthday. While it is not quite as exciting as turning 21, I am still looking forward to turning a year older and spending this weekend with friends, who have been more than generous with the birthday activities. Tonight I will be celebrating with Maria, who also happens to be sending me to beer school at The Great Lakes Brewing Company; Saturday I am going to see Joan Jett courtesy of Liz and on Sunday Mindy is treating me to the Indigo Girls concert. I am sure I will be putting the experience I have gained over the past ten years to good use this weekend.

Just One More…

Sometimes saying “just one more” actually works out that way, but usually it translates into after I have just one more, I will most likely be ready for five more and this usually leads to a story you tell for the next week. Unfortunately Timmy Tim beat me to the punch for this blog idea yesterday which is ironic because when I left Tim Tuesday night, I was going to meet Mindy for “just one more” before retiring home after a long day.

On Tuesday after I finished my exam, I went out to dinner at Union Station with Maria, had a couple drinks with Tim and then got an invite to meet Mindy and Brent, who was in town from NYC, at Liquid. I have never been to Liquid but I have read about it on a certain other local blog and thought it might be fun. Not to mention, a night out with Brent always makes you feel like a rock star, even though I was only having “just one more”…ahem. I have never been a huge fan of the bars on West Sixth but this one had karaoke with a back-up band and that is always enough to hold my interest. I can’t remember the last time I went out with Brent and didn’t end up at a strip club, so the four of us soon found ourselves at Motion where “just one more” turned into the always famous five more. (Ironically the idea to go the strip club always seems to come from the gay boy and/or straight girl in the group.) After Motion we found our way back to the Ritz where Brent was staying. He gave us the green light on the mini fridge where I decided to have “just one more” while we waited on room service and a nice dinner wine-sure it was 2 am but we were still eating dinner so we needed a nice wine.

The best part of the “just one more” night is the turn of events. What started out as a nice quiet night with a Santa Fe Chicken Salad at Union Station ended up with shrimp cocktail and a stellar pinot grigio at the Ritz Carlton six hours later. Thanks for a great night Brent--I can’t wait until you come back into town in two weeks. Thankfully the next time will be on a weekend. “Just one more” Tuesdays are never a good idea!

I Know People Who Know People

Thanks to two of my friends I will be attending this event on Friday and this event on Saturday with free passes. Perhaps the people who know me best think I need a little more culture in my life and a little less fantasy football. Don’t worry dear readers, I will be in front of the television on Sunday.

Now Taking Requests...

I will be the first to admit I have been a bad blogger lately. The past three weeks have been crazy. I know I have let the blog go, but I received an e-mail this morning from a loyal reader which illustrated to me just how lazy I have actually become. The e-mail went like this:

Hey, How are you?
Just a note that might be of interest, I am pretty sick of seeing that same picture when I check for a new blog entry. Please add something so that horrible mug shot is not the first thing I see.
Possible blog entries: What happened at Camp Lieberth for the holiday? How is the “glass in the foot surgery” healing? Plans for winterization on the drafty home, which reminds me have you chosen your gas supplier for the winter? It’s time to check out the rates if you haven’t. Fantasy football?

I had to laugh out loud when I got this. I think my favorite part was the maternal questioning of whether or not I have chosen my gas supplier for the winter (thanks for the reminder Pam!). I have become so lazy my readers are giving me ideas for entries. At the risk of being post-modern, I do believe that is an entry in itself.

As for a life update: the summer party was a bittersweet success; my job has been out of control the past three weeks; I have decided to go back to school but I haven’t decided if I want another Master’s or just a graduate certificate or if I really want to go back to school at all (the idea of bettering myself is exciting but as I sit in Microeconomics for fours a night, I am second guessing my propensity to do so); the fantasy football draft was completed last night and as everyone else in my draft feels this morning, I think I have a winning team; I am looking forward to the fall weather and I had an incredible Labor Day weekend with friends and family. I promise to be a better blogger or at least respond to e-mails about what a poor blogger I have become.

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.

Sportygrrl=Sportygrill

The harder you work for something, the better it tastes. If that is the case then our meal last night tasted like the best meal I have ever eaten.

Maria and I had all our shopping done by 4, the likes of which consisted of hot dogs, bratwurst, burgers, steak, shrimp, salads and the ingredients for the now infamous beer margaritas. Tim said he would be over and add to our meat buffet with his boneless pork spare ribs topped off with Hoisan sauce for an asian flair. We were about to have the best barbeque three people could ever throw, however the barbeque gods were not on the same page with us.

With all our meat prepped and marinated, I went downstairs to light the grill. Except the grill didn’t want to light. There was a tiny little light but it went out. Earlier in the day I actually thought about how much propane gas I had. What are the chances I would run out on July 4th for our big barbeque? Sure enough I was out of propane. Time and the holiday were not on our side. We had to move and we had to move fast, except we didn’t know where to move to. I have never filled my propane tank in Cleveland before and the chances anything was still open were slim and none, yet we all jumped in my car and started driving west. 7:50, 7:55, 8:00, 8:05…time was running out. I pull into Home Depot where all the lights were out and the employees were walking to their cars. They told us if we drove down to the other door and begged we might get lucky. So we sped down there and saw a woman manning the propane tanks. As we were getting closer we rolled down all the windows and started yelling, “propane, propane, propane, we need propane.” She said if we hurried we could get a tank and she asked us where our empty tank was. Everyone turned to me and I said: “I didn’t know I was supposed to bring the old tank.” The woman looked at me like I was crazy and explained the price difference to be about $40 between turning in your old tank or just getting a new tank. We had a decision to make and we had to make it fast. Maria stepped up to the plate and literally took charge. When we went in to pay for it, they didn’t even know how to ring up a new tank because who would be stupid enough to spend that much money on a propane tank? My fellow readers please understand that when you have over seven pounds of meat marinating in your fridge on the fourth of July, you have to make rash decisions.

As we drove back to my house, with a full tank of propane gas in the trunk, it was almost like being in a video game. We could hear illegal fireworks going off on the streets around us and we all joked about the dangers of toting around all this gas on the fourth of July. Yet we were relentless. I got out of the car, switched tanks and went to turn the grill on. Click, click, nothing. Hmmm…click, click, nothing. Not only had we run out of gas, my ignition had gone out as well. Normally I would just throw a match into the grill, but my grill can’t be that simple. There is no bottom and we couldn’t find the “match hole.” Not to mention Tim and I aren’t the bravest people in the world when it comes to throwing a match into propane fumes. I got on the phone with my father and over the next 20 minutes I talked to all three of my brothers as well for some advice. Conversations that went like this: “Ok David this used to be your grill…think where the match hole is. Can you imagine how you use to manually light this grill?” No luck. Tim and I tried everything. We waved fired around the whole grill, made small torches out of paper to stick in every possible hole, checked all the burners, checked the gas and did the same thing over and over again. Finally, sweaty and gross from frustration and humidity, we took a couple minutes to let the grill rest and decided to give it one more try and this time it worked. FIRE! You know that scene in Castaway when Tom Hanks is so frustrated from not being able to make fire and then when he does it he is so excited? Yeah, it was like that.

We started grilling at 9:30. There I was standing in the dark with my neighbors smoky fireworks surrounding me but I didn’t care. I didn’t care that I could hardly see my meat or that I could hardly breathe. I turned on my grilling sixth sense and went to work (see picture above of the darkness/smoke surrounding the steak and pork). Tim and I spent the next hour outside grilling bratwurst, burgers, steak, asian pork and hotdogs and we savored every minute of it along with a lot of cold beer and beer margaritas which we have decided will be our new signature drink. If you want the recipe, let me know because it was awesome and didn’t take nearly as long to make as the meat if you factor in the trip to Home Depot and the hour spent praying to my grill before we actually got it to light. I hope everyone had as much fun on Independence Day as we did!