week #22

Wow, I had a night of newness today. I had planned to go to the Cleveland Rib Cook-off this weekend, and I miraculously had my Sunday night free instead of working. So, I met up with two friends and headed down to the Time Warner Amphitheater for some rib eating. Just going to the festival was going to be new enough for me, but oh no, there was more to come. First, we decided that to maximize our rib variety, we would get a tasting portion of 3 or 4 rib bones from each place so we got to try more. We ended up trying 6 of the 10 cook-off competitors. We had two favorites, but I like Texas Thunder the best. The ribs were meaty and tender and the sauce was thick and sweet and spicy.

The rib fest alone would have been enough for me, since I've lived in Cleveland for almost four years and hadn't made it to the cook-off yet. While there though, I knocked out another new thing, sorta. I've never been to a concert. If you know me, or read the first entry of this blog, you knew that already. You also probably knew that I'm planning on rectifying that this year. It was supposed to be a surprise, but I have tickets to the Lady Gaga concert in July. SURPRISE! I'll talk more about that in a later post. It related to this post though in that I had my first taste of concert-going at the rib cook-off. L.A. Guns. Live.

The sound was great, classic, hair metal, and the crowd was fantastic. I really wish I had my camera to capture the eclectic mix of people there. Quite some characters. We only stayed for a few songs, but it was pretty fun.

Wait, don't leave yet, one more new thing happened tonight. After the ribs and music, we wanted to get some beer because the brewskis at the event were super expensive so we went to this little place by my apartment called Carney's. Evidently this place has been on my street foooooorrrrreeeevvvvveeeerrrrrr, but just recently they did some remodeling and actually put up a sign that they were there. I love a place with history. It's a total blue collar place and local laborers had been going there for years even without the sign. You just had to know it was there. The people were friendly. The place was clean and well decorated. And Billy the dog roamed around and I wanted to take him home with me. In short, I love this place. Also, I had a Blatz. Who has Blatz beer anymore? It went down like water and I'm pretty sure I'll have the biggest hangover tomorrow, but who knows. Blatz. Classic.

week #21

Got all my new stuffing in already this week. Ended up sorta being two things -- one planned, one... not so much. First, I planned to go to the local comedy club with a friend. We saw the guys from Broken Lizard. You know, the geniuses behind Super Troopers and Beer Fest. They were pretty funny and I had never been to a real comedy club before. I mean, one time Daniel Tosh came to my college and I went and saw him, but that's it. And, to this day, he still tells my favorite joke. Yep. The floor is lava. I grew up poor. YouTube it.

The other new thing is that I am now blogging on a MacBook. I feel like a grown up. My old computer went on the fritz Friday morning. I don't work on Fridays, so after a night out on Thursday, I got up and tried to get on the world wide interweb and it just wouldn't connect. I took it to a couple repair guys, they said it was toast, so I spent the afternoon at Best Buy talking to a geek. So now I feel very Sarah Jessica Parker circa 2001 . Carrie Bradshaw now uses an HP evidently. Not me though. I'm enjoying my hipster coolness.

week #20

Spent the weekend in Pittsburgh getting my new thing on. First, let's talk about driving in Pittsburgh. Now, don't get me wrong, the 'burgh is my city, but come on PA, those roads, that construction, signage people, signage! My brother and I ended up going about 100 miles all over the countryside just to get about 15 miles east. I saw more of Aliquippa, Sewickly, Etna, and Coraopolis than I ever wanted. Fun though, that we got to go old school with a Rand McNally map. In your face GPS.

We went to the Pittsburgh roller derby on Saturday night. Wow. I'm used to the Cleveland bouts, but my first time watching the Steel City Derby Demons was something else. I mean, these girls were serious. Their coach was out there making them do drills before the bout. Gotta say, this girl called Hurricane Heather was the BEST derby girl I'd ever seen. She got rocked in the first jam and had to be evaluated by the EMTs, but came back later. If the Steel Hurtin' (get it, Steel Curtain, Pittsburgh, get it??) are ever derby-ing around where you live, go watch them.

week #20 - thoughts for the upcoming week

So this is what I was afraid of. Here it is, a couple months into the year, and I'm out of ideas. This makes me feel like a boring, boring person. I mean, what happened to the spontaneous girl who flew off to Alaska for a few days by herself. Me. Alaska. Alone. That was how awesome I used to be. Now I'm counting "going to the library" as a new thing.

I mean, as my brother Sonny told me, "they can't all be Lady GaGa concerts and Warrior Dashes." Truer words have never been spoken. But still, I need to step up my game on this thing. Gotta get my awesome, fun, spur-of-the-moment, mojo back.

week #19

Not much to report for this week. My new thing was to head out to Bowling Green Ohio and watch my little bro graduate. (Hi Sonny!) Now all of my siblings and I are contributing members of society. All grown up. Makes me feel old, not gonna lie. And also lonely in a weird way. See, the little brother is starting an internship this week in Pittsburgh (at the University of Pittsburgh to be exact) and so he's moving in with the older brother in Pittsburgh. So now they're both living it up together in the Steel City, and I'm here in Cleveland. Alone.

Wow. That was a sad graph. It's not so bad. I just really like hanging out with the family. We're a fun bunch, just ask anyone who knows us. Life. of. the. party. And I feel like I'm missing out.

I think I'm going to move to Italy.

week #18 loophole?

So, TVs in bars... do they count? I try to not to watch, but they're everywhere you turn. SportsCenter in my face from every direction.

No TV at home has been going pretty smoothly. I find I have a lot more time to do stuff. I've been getting ready for a shindig I'm hosting at my apartment on Friday. (If you're in town, stop by.) I find I have a lot more time to clean, shop, organize, and prepare when Tough Love Couples isn't being repeated at midnight.

The other night I did watch a movie on my computer. Has anyone ever seen The Boy in the Striped Pajamas? Holy Hell. It is heart wrenching. I dare anyone to watch it without crying. Crying, and then spending the next two days wondering what is wrong with humanity. I am still in shock. I mean... I don't... how... it's just... what the... wow...

week #18

Howdy.

Originally this week was going to have something to do with the Kentucky Derby, but alas, my plans of getting up early on Saturday to drive six hours and wear a hat and sip mint juleps were dashed. So this week had to be re-thunk.

I ended up with this: No TV.

I work nights, so I don't watch a lot of primetime shows. But it is nice to come home from a long day of work and just switch on the TV and veg out for an hour or two before heading to bed. But I'm sure there are other, more useful ways to spend my time. Like going to play outside, cleaning the apartment, scanning the internet for great youtube clips, reading a book. Maybe this book...



I actually sorta slipped up this afternoon. I think my one big obstacle for the week is going to be Penguins games. Just today, shortly after 2 p.m. I flipped on NBC because that's the channel the online interweb told me would be showing the game. Not in Cleveland though. Nope. Sucky Indians games trump play-off hockey. Screw you Cleveland. SCREW. YOU.

Then I remembered I wasn't even supposed to be watching TV so I clicked it off straight away.