MonkOutfit

MonkOutfit
Originally uploaded by badblueboy.

I've been in the city for 2 years now, and today was the first time in those 2 years that I've been back to the American Museum of Natural History. It was a great time. We had free coupon vouchers that gave us a free IMAX show, and admission to one of the new dinosaur exhibits.

Monday's are a surprisingly good day to go to the museum, there aren't that many people, so it's not too congested. The IMAX show was The Amazing Sea, or something like that, and it was actually pretty good. One of my pet peeves though is having crying babies attend these things. If the kid starts to cry or babble, "shhhhh" isn't going to do it. You've got to pick the brat up and take him outside. (spanking him, once he is outside). Other than that, the show was good.

After that we went to the new exhibit and it was very interesting, with a walk through, that included video presentations, a walking model of a T-Rex and other displays.

The Monk's outfit shown in the picture above is in the Asian People wing of the Museum. This exhibit has special significance to me cause I experianced this aspect of Asian and Buddhist tradition. I wore these saffron robes, and carried the alms bowl. It was nearly 10 years ago, yet the lessons I learned are still with me today. Here's a treat for you, Buddhism in a nutshell.

*Nothing is permanent (can't live forever)
*Attachment is suffering (the more you are attached to something, the more it sucks when you either lose it, see above, or never attain it).
*Everthing in moderation
*Happiness is truly attained when you've released all ties to material matters.

That's more or less it, and you didn't need to meditate in a forest for decades to glean the knowledge I've just bestowed open you. Kneel before me now!

Free time begets random thoughts.

There was a time that I used to bartend. Don't why this thought popped into my head, but I've come to realize that there are 2 types of bartenders. The kind that can't wait until 4am, and his shift is over so that he can rush home. This guy, doesn't waste any time, he's got the chairs on the table and is sweeping the floor a half hour before the bar closes. When it's time, he's out the door on the dot. He's probably in bed by 4:15 am.

Then there's the other kind, the bartender that isn't really in a rush to be anywhere. He'll wait until 4 to start cleaning, if there are people in the bar, he'll just chill and talk with them until last call. Sometimes he'll lock up, have a beer, and watch a little tv before finally cleaning up. This guy usually gets home around 5:30 in the morning. He's more laid back, maybe a bit of a procrastinater. Then it hit me. It's true of all of life. You have basically these two types of personalities. Me I guess I'm more of a number 2 type.

Ultimate Fighter2 is on. This season is a little disappointing so far, 2 people have quit and one is injured and no one has fought yet. Of course it's only the first episode, maybe it'll pick up. The next UFC is going to held at Mohegan Sun, I'd like to go, but I've really got to start saving money.

I just finished Kung Fu Hustle, it was in my Netflix queue. I gotta tell you, I love this movie. The movie is friggan hilarious. I love that weird dance scene and there are so many homages to classic movies. I recognized the Axe Gang from "Gangs of New York", references to Bruce Lee, the Matrix and even Spiderman. I might have to buy this DVD. A five out of five starts for this movie!

Fantasy Football

It's tough to see, but here we are at O'Flanagans, poring over over our sheets trying to get our team together. It was a good turn-out almost everyone made here, or had a representative.

Paul, the bartender did right by us, so it was a fairly good night. I have a pretty decent team, would be really great to win this pool!

Lion's Dance

This is in Chinatown, where two martial arts students are having a demonstration of the Lion Dance. When these guys have the act done right, it looks really cool. These 2 were hacks though, I was embarrassed for them when they fell off the ladder.

Beautiful day today! You can practically smell fall coming. It's a little cooler, days are getting a little shorter and all the back to school ads are in full swing. Makes me nostaligic. Begining of school was like a clean slate. A brand new start. I miss school. All of it, elementary, highschool and especially college. Hopefully I'll make the most out of this time now, so I can look back one day and say 'I really miss my thirty's. Now that was some of the best times of my life'. Some how, I don't think so.

Other news. I paid nearly $3000 dollars to various debts today, just about getting me debt free. How the fuck does that shit add up so fast. I'm never carrying a balance again, Amex only for me.

Kate

Meet Katelyn, the newest addition to our family. Born on Friday, August 19th (another Leo!), Kate was a little over 6 lbs, full head of hair and a winning smile. Teresa's doing well too, she'll be going home today. She and Tony are both very lucky and very happy. I hope Candy (the dog), doesn't get too jealous!

Yay! Motorcycles!

Ok, it's really a scooter (though the weight and engine class technically qualifies it as a motorcycle). I feel a little cheesy zipping around in one and I sure do miss my Suzuki Katana. These things are still a lot of fun. Actually with gas prices so high, I was halfway contemplating getting one to commute to work. Then I was told, these run for $5000 each. For that kind of money, I'll by a used Ducati Monster!

Late baby shower

You gotta love our family. It's 8pm pitch black outside with a heavy thunder storm dumping water down on our BBQ and what do we do? Grill in the Garage!

The occasion is Teresa's baby shower, she's gonna be a Mommy in about 3 weeks, so we're having a little get together to celebrate. It's good to have the family all together, even though the weather didn't cooperate with us. As always the food was great. Now that I was off the hook for this weekend, I know I'm probably working next weekend - crap.

The Palisades

Last week we went all the way up to the Palisades to do a little shopping. Target was our main stop, I get so annoyed when I hear people pronounce Target "Tar-Jay". It's so friggan lame, and stopped being funny about 4 years ago. We ate at Chili's as you can see in the pic. I love their Blooming Onion, unfortunately so much that we were unable to eat our main dishes. I had the country fried steak, while Lek had the Ribs. I also got a frosty mug of beer, and got another one free, not sure why, but hey, I'm not complaining. Lek got the Margarita which came in a shaker that she got to keep. She managed to squeeze out 3 full glasses from the shaker, which was just the right amount cause Lek was mumbling something about how her face was getting numb and heavy. All in all, not a bad night out.

More Ramblings

If anyone is interested, this weekend, I'm going to be at my folks house for a BBQ. Pops is going to be cooking and it looks like the whole family is going to be there. It's going to be just like old times, so feel free to stop by and grab some eats. I hope every one has enjoyed their summers, cause it looks like it's rapidly coming to an end. It's still friggan hot and I really can't wait until fall. I want to go apple picking, I want football, I want my birthday, and halloween, and thanksgiving and all that great eating.

Speaking of football, I'm doing fantasy football this year, if anyone is interested. I have spots for about five more people if you want it. Let me know, we are probably doing it on ESPN.com and it's going to be $50 per person. Winner and person with most points get prizes. We'll most likely do a draft this coming weekend.

Happy Birthday to all my August people!

I'm not sure why this is, but I have a large group of friends who have birthdays in early August. Interestingly according to the Zodiac Libras (which I am) get along best with Leos (early August) and Gemini's (not sure when). So maybe there is something to this astrology business....

Anyway, Jeff, Chris, Liz and Catherine, may you have a Happy and Healthy birthday and many, many more and keep in mind that mine is only a couple months away! ps. Strawberry shortcake is my favorite!

Verizon Motorola 710 Phone

I am selling this nearly brand new verizon, Motorola 710 cell phone, with box and everything that comes original with the phone. CD, holster, manual, charger etc. This phone looks sweet with it's distinctive red eye cyclops look. It has a crystal clear display, is web-enabled, a 1.3 megapixel camera (same as many digital cameras), can take video, and also has bluetooth. I am selling it here for $100. I am also going to sell it on ebay and craigslist for $175. Let me know if you are interested or have any questions!

Hot, Hot, Hot!

This like the 3rd day in a row that it's been over 90 degrees. Argggghhh, it's so nasty out. Of course this year the air conditioning in my car goes kaput. Do I fix it? Or suck it up for the rest of summer? Summer is almost over, but damn it it hot!