Happy Holidays! Krampus is coming!

     I hope you have been good this year because its that magical time of the year where we are rewarded accordingly for our actions.  No I'm not talking about Santa, Im talking about the Krampus!

     What is the Krampus you might ask?  Well the Krampus is a demon-like creature with origin ties in Germany and Austria as well as other nearby regions.  Krampus was the traveling companion of Santa Claus / St. Nicholas.  As Santa and Krampus would travel along from home to home Santa, or St. Nicholas depending on the region,  would leave presents for the good kids.  If Santa came across naughty kids Krampus would be set loose to punish the kids.   Most pictures would depict Krampus hitting the kids with switches and in some extreme cases the kids would actually be tossed into his basket and drowned in the local lakes.

To check out Wikipidia's complete description of the Krampus click on the following link here!  You can also check out the official Krampus site here!

I learned about the Krampus quite a few years ago and totally fell in love with this bit of lore.  Sadly this tradition is one of the few that did not make its way to the US.  I can think of quite a few kids that could stand to learn of the Krampus and what can result from their naughty actions.  Now of course you'll hear parents say how its such a horrible thing to consider teaching kids about such a scary creature but I honestly think its a great idea, especially in this time and age where many parents have have suck a lax approach (or total lack there of) to correcting their kids for fear of being reported for child abuse should they spank them.  Krampus has made a few modern leaps into the US through random TV cartoons like the Venture Bros and T-shirt sites on the internet.

Many towns are preparing to celebrate the Krampus festival on the eve of december 5th where the men of the towns will dress up as the Krampus and parade through the streets scaring the kids of the town.  These Krampus impersonators will travel from home to home scaring the kids to their rooms as they in turn enjoy a drink with the adults.  As the night would progress the growl would turn into slurs.





I've come across some great Krampus videos on Youtube and thought Id share them with you.  The first is a Krampus carol of sorts.



The second I found recently and is called "The Story of the Christmas Krampus".  This cute video takes a little time to explain one of the many stories of the Christmas Krampus.



The final is a video showcasing a collection of vintage postcards with the Krampus.



I wish I could find Krampus Christmas cards as I would surely send them out to my friends and family alike!

So in closing I hope you enjoyed this little bit of information about a very interesting holiday figure that again I really wish had made its way into our own holiday origins here in the US.

4 Subconscious Self Inflicted Halloween Tricks

So today for Halloween I got to travel to North East, MD for work.  The city is called North East because its the furthest north eastern point of MD, supposedly.

As The day progressed I slowly realized the four subconscious self inflicted Halloween tricks were inflicted upon myself!

Trick 01:
About two hours into my drive I was glancing at the back of my car through my rear view mirror at two zip ties that I had used on a latch in the ceiling of my car to hang my shirts as I traveled.  I thought to myself that I need to cut them out since now I had purchased a expandable clothes hanging bar to hang my clothes on.  Then my eyes went to the hang bar and that's when i realized that the dress shirts that should have been hanging on the bar were still hanging on a bar outside of my closet back home.  So instead of adding 4 extra hours to my travel day (2 back home and then turn around time) I stopped at a local Walmart and purchased a few to get me through.  That in itself was fun because the shelf was clearly over shopped and I had to hunt to find shirts in both the proper size and sleeve length.

Trick 02:
When I got to the hotel I unpacked the few bags I brought with me.  I love how it has taken me all year to learn to micro pack LOL.  I was in the mood for a cup of coffee and started searching my bags and realized that I had left my travel mug and my freshly purchased supply of Starbucks VIA on the kitchen counter.  The mugs have a bottom that unscrews so you can store VIA packets in the wall of the mug.  I remembered a extra mug in my car so ran to get it but alas it was empty.    

Trick 03:
My big plan for today was to relax in bed and watch Van Helsing on my iPad and that would be my Halloween excitement for the day.  I went and grabbed my iPad and switched to the videos app and for hat ever reason the movie did not sync to my device even though I remember selecting it.  There's a little bit of back irony to it as I had to tear through the boxes of DVDs I had already encoded to my digital media library to find it as I had stowed it away by accident without encoding it.  So I found the DVD and spent last night encoding it to the library, adding it to my iTunes library, and adding the artwork and description to it.

Trick 04:
I decided to quickly write a blog on this and thought id use the bloggpress app on my ipad to do it.  I grabbed my iPad and that's when I realized that the keyboard dock that I had purchased, for times just like this, was siting at home just feet away from the VIA and mug I left in the kitchen!

So all in all Id say my subconscious had a good day tricking me!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN EVERYONE!

Random Travel Day Thought!

Just a quick random thought:

You know what my favorite part of travel day is? (The day I travel to a work assignment)
The total lack of motivation to get on the road!
Sure my bags are 99.9% packed and the apple devices are syncing and yes I should be in the shower.

But instead Im glued to my computer playing with the apple devices and facebook!

OK Random moment over!

BTW HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

Unconnected

So at this point i don't know if this will make its way to my blog or just as a journal entry in my personal journal but here goes!

What do you do when you just no longer feel connected? Its been a rough year for me emotionally and physically and they're tied in together. This year has been rough on Paul and I due to my job. Im going to leave out the long drawn out details on this as I don't want a single part of it to be misconstrued.

Things were rough for me at my job this year as I learned to see the other side of people. My job was indirectly threatened this year, I was threatened to be sent through my companies correctional program a few times, one of my closest friends lost their job, I saw favoritism take place as my views and opinions were overlooked and ignored, and even though it is untrue I was told that my team didn't like me.

This constant bombardment on my emotional state has affected me in other ways. I lost the umpf I had when I started my diet journey and out of the 170 pounds I have lost about 60 have returned. I know what I need to do to get back on track but it just seems I lack the dedication and/or motivation to make it happen. I've made plans for what I'm going to do to get back on track. I picked up a new diet journal and set a start date for me with the diet, which may now be modified with being sent back on the road for an assignment, and plan on getting back in the gym. I just need to make it happen.

I even seem to have lost interest in the holidays that once excited me. I didn't put out one single Halloween decoration this year and Im not sure what I think about Christmas just yet. I totally stopped doing my youtube videos and even go through periods where I just don't want to do a single thing with my blog.

And the one thing affecting me that has totally taken me by surprise is all the LGBT youth that have taken their lives due to gay bullying. Can you imagine taking your own life because you are told time and time again that you are wrong for existing!?!?!?! Its so sad! But at the same time it saddens me on another level because it makes me think more how a growing portion of this world doesn't want me in it simply because I am honest with myself. Now don't worry I have no intention of bringing any self inflicted harm to myself. Its just something suddenly Im having issues with. Imagine daily seeing stories saying that someone was beat up because they have blue eyes or the love between brunets is not valid and undeserving of marrying rights or blonds have no right trying to adopt a child or be a parent.

There was a story recently about a Arkansas school board member who posted numerous hateful statements on his facebook account after Spirit day. Spirit day for those of you that don't know was October 21st and was a day where people were encouraged to wear purple in honor of the numerous LGBT youth who had taken their lives and to raise awareness of the bullying behaviors that contributed to their taking of their own lives. But I digress. This school board member stated that the only way he would wear purple is if all queers committed suicide. He then proceeded to state how he enjoyed that most give each other aids and die. I think it was eventually a senior that reported him. Eventually he apologized for his statements and resigned from his position, which I think is funny because word of that came just hours after Anderson Cooper supposedly ripped him a new one. But still, can you imagine living a life where you are constantly faced with people like this who would be happy with your death simply because you exist?!

But back to my original statement! Just what do you do when you feel your level of connection with things just isn't there any more?


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

While on vacation (Tuesday October 26th)

Had a rather productive day today, for a lazy day that is. Spent the morning relaxing, as I should, watching TV and playing Metroid: Other M. Its a great game and I've gotten quite far in it. Unfortunately Ill have to start from scratch when I get back home with the game.

After getting together for the day we headed out with mom. I had one goal for the day which was to locate the keyboard dock and maybe a new case for my iPad. We started out at the Starbucks my sister manages for a drink and then made our way to BJ's. I found new set of window candles that are LED and have a timer so they will turn on and off each night at the same time and run on batteries. I also found a great deal on pumpkin spice coffee for our Keurig machine, 80 pumpkin spice cups for $30.00 when you usually can only get 12 for about $10.00.

From there we made our way to Target where I struck gold and found the keyboard dock I had been looking for and also picked up a different cover for my iPad. The dock allows me to essentially turn the iPad into a laptop. I wanted it for when I do longer typing projects like typing this blog, my personal journal, long emails etc. etc.

After returning to my parents house Paul and I went out to meet our friends Michelle and Eric for dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings. Mom let me take her 40th anniversary mustang out for this night which was nice. It was great catching up with two of our closest friends and getting to meet their kids, which made me realize just how old we are becoming.

After dinner we headed back to Michelle and Eric's house to hang out for a while. Their all too adorable daughter gave us a tour of the house and hosted a tea party for us where we were served vegetable tea, vegetable pastries, and raspberry fluff frosting. Her less then 1 year old brother was copying everything she was doing which was fun to watch. Michelle worked all night on convincing Paul that we need to move back to MD. Lord I would love to say goodbye to NC and move to MD again but unfortunately I fear that there is too much wed have to do to make it happen. Either that or Id have to move back single, which I don't really want to do. Either way Michelle promised to keep working on convincing Paul that MD is where we belong. I was actually surprised to hear Paul say on the drive ohm that it would be nice to move back to MD so keep it up Michelle!!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

New Tattoo!

Yesterday while driving around a impulse tattoo idea came to me. Oddly I was thinking about Lady Gaga's peace tattoo near her wrist and It had me thinking of what I could do in the same kind of location and for whatever reason a symbol came to mind. So when I got back to the hotel I looked the symbol up and saved it to my phone.

The symbol I had picked was the symbol for The Deathly Hallows from the final Harry Potter book. The symbol for those of you that don't follow the series stands for three items referred to as the deathly hallows or relics of death! They are The Elder Wand (represented by the vertical line), The Resurrection Stone (represented by the circle), and The Cloak Of Invisibility (represented by the triangle).






Later that evening I met my coworkers for dine and on the way home I stopped into a tattoo parlor recommended by one of the employees at the project I've been working on. The guy working the shop at first thought it was for some album and said he had done one prior for someone and I explained what it really was. I was given a semi decent price and given a business card and said they usually have a two day wait. So I headed back to the hotel with the thought of checking other places in the morning.

The next morning I used the printer in the hotel lobby to print the graphic and then headed out to check other shops. I headed back over near the shop I stopped at the night before as I saw another shop near there. I went into a the first shop of choice and was nicely greeted enough. Unfortunately I was told my symbol would cost twice as much as what I was quoted the night before at the other shop.

I left a little disappointed and decided to do a search on my gps for other tattoo shops and found one called Loyalty Ink. I walked in was given a much better price and they were able to take me right away.

My artist name was Shawn and he was very cool. He had been doing tattoos for four years and just got into it be chance. If I understand right he is now a owner of the shop. He had gone to college for animation and was doing panels for Disney and Nickelodeon!

When all was said and done he took a pic to send to his cousin who is a Harry Potter Fanatic!




So here's the finished Tattoo, what do you think?



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Vet trips, reunions, Gaga, and jury duty OH MY! (Part 02)

Me with Jodi

Saturday was a day of catching up with a dear friend.  My friend Jodi moved away to GA about a few years ago and then recently moved back to NC with her mother.  Jodi came over with her son Kirian and we spent the whole day just catching up with each other.  I wanted to get a few things together for her as she had lost a good deal of her belongings in January in an apartment fire.  So Jodi sat on a chair in my dining room as I proceeded to organize and clean every drawer and cabinet in my pulling out random items that I could do without and that she would be able to use.

Sirius with Kirian

After filing a box with goodies for her we headed into the living room to relax and catch up while Kirian explored the area.  Sirius was so good and patient with him.  We've always had a crafty/cooking/baking side with each other so we decided to watch Matha's Halloween Ideas and Martha's Thanksgiving Favorites.  Jodi stuck around long enough for Paul to get home so she could say hi to him and so he could meet Kirian and then she headed back to her moms.

Sunday was by far the best day of my down time.  Paul and I went with our friends Aaron and Chester as well as Chester's Niece and a friend of her's to see Lady Gaga!  We had to be at RBC center in Raleigh at 8PM so we made our way there a little early.  The traffic to get into the parking lot was ridiculous as well as the line to enter the center. However the costumes of fans in the line was amazing, spooky, and down right scary.  We got to our seats with plenty of time to spare.

The concert started with an opening act by Precious Little Weapons.  Sadly they're a group that I could do without seeing ever again.  The lead singer was a strange, supposedly bisexual, guy who came on stage wearing a wife beater, women's tight pants, and a pair of glittery high heeled boots.  Just about every other word was just a little too profane, even for my taste, and at in the middle of the act he stripped down completely on stage and changed outfits, bending away from the crowd as to hide his junk.  At the end of the performance the lead singer invited the fans to come to their section of the stadium where they would be selling their CD, signing it, taking pictures and performing sexual favors.

After a brief intermission the real show began.  Lady gaga put on an amazing show starting with "Dance in the dark" and changing her outfit just as much as Cher use to!  Throughout the show she had new outfit after new outfit.  Sometimes her outfit changes were nothing more then removing her headdress but it was still amazing.  One outfit that really stuck out was one that had moving aspects on the head and chest of the dress to look as if it were breathing itself.  She paused a few times and spoke with the audience which showed a very personal side of her.  She joked with one fan near the stage when she loved a mask he had made and said that she would love to steal it and how she could go to jail for that.  She jokingly said "This just in, Lady Gaga attacks little monster for fashion item"!

Lady Gaga also spoke of a speech she would be giving the next day for a repeal against "don't ask don't tell" in Maine.  She continued with just bout every song in her two current albums as well as a new song called "You and I" from her forthcoming album "Born this way".  At the end of the concert she id a encore performance of "Bad romance" which was as wonderful as any of the other songs.

Lady Gaga giving her speech to repeal
"Don't Ask Don't Tell"

The next day I got a chance to see her speech online.  As amazing as her concert was I found this speech just as breath taking.  I think a person on twitter said it best when he said something along the lines of how it was amazing how a pop star can take a stand and fight for our rights when someone who fought for our votes wont.  If you'd like to see the speech, titled "The prime rib of America", which is a tongue in cheek nod to her meet dress she wore at the VMAs a week prior you can click here to see the speech which was posted on CNN.

Vet trips, reunions, Gaga, and jury duty OH MY! (Part 01)

Well its time for a Blog update.

How to survive a 9hr car ride!

Went home this past week/weekend for my down time.  My work period was over Thursday morning at midnight.  I had the option to go to the hotel and rest but I decided to drive straight through the night to NC so I could avoid traffic and essentially have an extra day off from work.  I spent most of the drive listening to the audiobook version of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows so that when the first part of the two part movie comes out in November im prepared for what will have to be left out of the movie for time and content lol!

New Halloween Costume: Mummy by Martha Stewart

When I got home of course I was greeted by an overly excited beagle.  After going through the mail I learned Sirius was due for a checkup at the vet.  I decided to get it out of the way and made the call and set up an appointment for the early afternoon.  Paul wanted to go with too since I had just arrived home so we pilled into his car and headed to the vet.  While Sirius was in the back we walked through the store and picked out numerous "I'm sorry I put you through that so soon after getting you excited that I was back" presents.  We found a new collar and ID tag for him.  The halloween goodies were out so I couldnt resist myself.  We got him a Halloween bobo (remeber the petsmart commercial with the little dog that caries the loofa squeeky dog everywhere and then his owner has to throw it out and take him to petsmart for a new one and the worker, who I think was Zach from the first Power Rangers show, says hey where's bobo.  So everyone in my family calls them bobos), a bandana, a set of pjs and a new costume by Martha Stewart.  This year he will be going as a Mummy.

The Halloween PJs

Sirius' exam came back great and hes lost a few pounds which is good and he got his needed shots and what not as well as his normal flea prevention treatment.  We go to Banfield, which is connected to petsmart, and have pet health care for Sirius through them and Im glad we do because his exam and the treatment would have normaly been over $300 but we only payed $29.

Does all this shit in my hair make me look gay?

All Better!

The next day we had planed to have a few friends over for dinner.  But before that I had to run to get my hair cut as It was long overdo.  I must love my stylist as I continually return to her and every time I let her experiment with a new way to do my hair.  It usually turns out about the same style just varying colors and textures.  She slathers my hair in junk and as I sat there I took pictures of myself all gooped up and sent it out asking if all this stuff in my hair made me look gay LOL.

Oven Baked "Fried" Chicken

When that was all said and done I headed home and made a great meal including oven baked fried chicken, mashed bake (kinda of a mashed potato casserole), biscuits, green beans, and a pumpkin spice cake with cream cheese frosting for desert.  The chicken is the best part because it came from a weight watchers cook book and its one I make as often as I can.  Its baked instead of fried and uses frosted flakes to give it the crunch of fried chicken.  Most of my friends love it.  In fact my friend Tina I work with was jealous when she learned I was making it while home and she wasn't going to have it!

Sadly my transition from overnights to ays got the best of me by this point and no sooner had everyone finished eating had i stepped over to the couch and passed out as our friends played Taboo with Paul.

New Diet Journal!

Ok so ive tried the lazy aproach and tried to use a diet journal app on a ipod touch and have found myself slacking so today I went out on a hunt for a new diet journal to try and motivate me back on track with my weight loss needs.  My goal is to loose about 100 pounds total.  What helped me the most to loose the first 100 pounds was to keep a diet journal because you just become more aware of what you are eating when you have to record it and the numbers are right there in your face.

~Diet Minder~

     The journal I picked up is called "Diet Minder Personal Food & Fitness Journal A Deluxe Food Diary by MemoryMinder Journals"!  I like this one because it has some great setups that line up perfectly with my diet.  I'm still following the Alli diet guidelines but ill go over them as I show the other pages for the journal.

~Personal Goals~

     This page allows me to outline my goals, plan daily food targets (calories fat carbs etc.) as well as my statistics like weights and measures and my goals for them as well.  I'm going to continue my guidelines for the Alli program due to its simplicity.  I will allow myself 1800 calories a day and a total of 60 grams of fat which breaks down further to 19 grams of fat per meal.  I know it doesn't sound like much but when you get into it it really is.

~Daily Food & Fitness Records~

     This page allows me to record my meals according to what i ate as well as total calories, fat grams, carbs, fiber, and protein.  Its broken down to allow for three meals and three snack periods.  There are also spots to record the daily weight, water consumption, physical activity as well as grand totals for the day.  One thing I also like is how it allows me to track my dietary supplements as well as multi-vitamins.

~Graph Records~

     There is a graph records page that is designed on a weekly basis that allows you to track whatever you wish (exercise times, weight progress, caloric intake).  I'm going to use it to graph my weight loss.

~Weekly Progress~

     The weekly progress page allows you to create a weekly progress report for yourself based on weight, cholesterol, blood pressure as well as body measurements.  I haven't quite decided what body measurements I would consider tracking besides weight and waist size.




     So there you have it.  I'm not sure yet but I think I may have a weekly blog update that discusses my progress with this journal!  Wish me luck because I have to make this happen!

Weekend with family!

     So I decided to go down to MD for the weekend for some much needed rest and I'm glad I did.  

     I got to my parents early Friday morning after a long week of night shift and went out for some much needed retail therapy with my mom.  Paul got me a PSP for our anniversary and after reading what I had on a few games I thought I didn't want it.  We returned it.

  

     Well recently the newest Kingdom Hearts game came out and its exclusive for the PSP.  I had thought about going ahead and buying the PSP when I learned my information on the graphics was misleading so I made my way to gamestop and picked up a special bundle they were selling which included the new kingdom hearts game, a memory stick, and the PSP 3000 in a special silver color!  Ive barely set the game down this weekend LOL.

     We ran around to another few stores and mom picked me up a bunch of Hallmark ornaments as well as Martha Stewart's Halloween magazine which has given me quite a few inspiring ideas.  I hope to start my fall decorating when I go home this upcoming week.

     The next day was my cousins birthday party for her son who just turned one so its a good thing I was in town.  Before we headed out I wanted to go out to pick up a few things and the parents surprised me by letting me take out their 40th anniversary mustang they obtained after my uncle's (mom's brother) passing last year.  Oh my god I now know what my next car will be.

     Later that day I headed to Baldwin MD with my family to see my cousins and more and it was a great evening.  I got to see all of my cousins kids which up to this point I had only seen via facebook.  It was great to spend an evening with aunts uncles and cousins for a much needed evening.  Everyone was excited to see me as they were not expecting me at all.  Unfortunately the downside to the few times I get with my family it depressed me to leave.  I really hate that Ive been distant from them since I moved to NC.

Counting my blessings!

So I found myself in one of those reflective moods this morning as I was rushing to finish work for the morning.

It was the last hour of a very very long night and everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off. I was trying to give some simple direction to a group of workers that were helping me from a local staffing agency and no matter what I said they just could not grasp the simplistic task of putting something together and turning another thing upside down! One of my regular workers understood and took over the assignment for me so I could go continue elsewhere.

As I walked away my usual mental thought would have been something along the lines of "what a bunch of idiots" but instead I found myself in a reflective and thankful state.

I started to feel very sad for these people because I really started to realize that although I'm here in a well payed career with a nice roof over my head and I consider myself a well educated person here are people older then myself that can't read or write and struggle each day to just get to the next day!

I find myself very thankful for the life, education, and direction I was brought up with and count my blessings for how things are for me. But how did we become the type of society where we allowed things like this to happen to people? Granted yes there are people who self destructed there lives but then there are those that just quite honestly were dealt a unfair hand!

Yes I enjoy the things I have because I work hard to get them but on the other hand I think now I have a little more thankfulness for the ability to do so!!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Travel Day! Two Attempts To Damage My Car

     So Im starting to dislike travel day!  In my travels back to NJ today I had two attempts to damage my car.

     The first happened when I stopped by a WAWA in Fredricksburg VA.  I had pulled up in front of the store and ran in to grab a hoagie for lunch.  When I got back out to my car I got in and sat there while I waited for my Garmin to start up before getting back on the road.  A car pulled up next to me and this guy, who forever in my mind will only be known as "Fat Old Fuck", opened his drivers door and slammed it into my side view mirror.  Thankfully it was okay but when the guy got out of his car he looked me right in the eyes with this "deer in the headlights" look.  Something took better control of me at the moment and I just nodded and he went on into the store and I left.

     The second happened as I was entering the Fort McHenry Tunnel in Baltimore MD.  I was in the right hand lane and was right up on the entrance for the tunnel.  A car in the lane next to me started coming over into my lane and I had no choice but to veer to the right when my car hit the curb sharply and bounced me back towards the other lane of traffic.  I was able to get control of my vehicle before a horrible mess was made at the tunnel entrance.  I drove further down highway 95 terrified that the front of my car was messed up.  I kept trying to catch glimpses of the front of my car in the reflection of other cars and was unable to see anything.  I also tried turning my fog lights off and on and was unable to tell a change in the reflection of the car ahead of me.  When I finally stopped I was relieved to find that my car was physically intact.  However, my front end alignment is now slightly off as my steering wheel is now slightly turned clockwise to go perfectly straight.  So now I already know what I will be doing this weekend, finding a shop up here in NJ where I can get an alignment done.

     Now on top of all that I get to keep myself up all night so I can sleep during the day tomorrow as I start third shift tomorrow night.  I did however get to play with foursquare as I traveled along and mark some fun areas as I traveled.

Personal message from Jake Cruise

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Déjà vu In Overdrive

     So we have all experienced Déjà vu, a sense of familiarity with a experience or the belief that you have experienced that exact moment before.  Lately I have been experiencing it in overdrive. I had two experiences yesterday where my mind instantly went to another point and time.  
     The first was when Paul and I were driving down the road and we came to red light.  I saw a set of apartment homes across the street and my mind went to another time and place when we helped a female friend of his move into an apartment complex that looked very similar back in MD.  My mind was so stuck on that experience that I asked Paul without thinking "who do we know that lives there again?".  Of course the answer was no one but my mind was so stuck on that similar experience.
     Later that evening I had my second experience.  I had gone to Five Guys with a few friends for dinner and had to excuse myself to go to the restroom.  The restroom was in the back of the restaurant and down a short hallway.  My mind immediately went to another place and I started reminding myself that once I get to the back window I would find it covered but would be able to look out through a crack and see a old menu board from the time when servers use to bring the food to the car side.  Of course this wasn't true as the restaurant we were in was part of a new strip mall only a few years old.  I was actually remembering a restaurant in Keyser WV called the Chat and Chew.
     I know this was a kinda silly blog subject but still isn't it funny how the human mind works!?!?

NYC Trip 08/21/2010

     So I went to NYC with my work family for the day and had a absolute blast.  We woke up extra early, on our day off mind you, and all piled into Tina's van and made our way to our first stop, Hoboken NJ!

Carlo's Bakery AKA: Location for TLC series Cake Boss!

  

Some of the many tempting treats!

     Once there we arrived on the corner of Carlo's Bakery which is the famous Bakery from the TLC series "Cake Boss".  We stood in line while others took the van to park it.  It was crazy to see just how many people were in line for a pastry or what not from this bakery.  We noticed a funny sign in a doorway close to the bakery and snapped a quick pic.  Once inside we were treated to the most beautiful scene of pastries, cakes, pies, tarts, and deserts to tempt even the most skilled dieter LOL!  I ended up getting a chocolate dipped canoli and a chocolate peanut butter cupcake, which I saved for the trip home!  When we left they had to erect partitions to shift the customers around as the line was now past the curb and wrapping around the side of the building.

Me with most of the group waiting for the right sub to NYC

     From there we headed to the local subway station and made our way into NYC.  By then we all had a little bit of sugar in our system from the bakery so we were ready to go!  We ended up getting of very close to "Ground Zero" so we decided to go check some things out in the area.  We contemplated going the few blocks away to see the site of the controversial Mosque but never made our way there.  Instead we checked out the 9-11 Memorial wish is free to the public.  It was amazing to see all the information crammed into a space not much bigger then some studio apartments.  They hope to have the new completed memorial by fall of 2011 I believe and I hope I get a chance to go see it!
     A few of the girls were interested in what has been nicknamed "an illegal purse" so we headed to Battery Park.  You see there are these guys, which at first glance you might mistake for a common homeless person, that go around the city with carts and trolleys and what not full of trash bags and tarps.  Inside are very very cheap, yet impressive, knock offs of name brand glasses and hand bags like Prada, Gucci, Coach, etc etc.  We made our way through the subway tunnels to Battery Park.  We walked through and one of the girls found a purse they liked and bought it.

     While in the park I got the chance to see two new experiences.  The first was the memorial for the armed forces and the second was lady liberty.  I have been to NYC a small handful of times and this was the closest Ive been to seeing her with my own eyes!  We also found a water fountain that sprayed in different timed intervals and that was fun to see and take a few pics with.

     From there we decided to go make sure we knew where our theater was and needed to grab a quick lunch.  We made our way to time square and searched for the Lutz-Fontaine Theater.  On our way to the theatre we made our way through China Town and Little Italy.  After locating the theater we found a quick pizza joint and then it was off to get in line for our show.  I don't normally do the whole musical thing, yeah I know I know insert stereotypical joke here where I should love them because I'm gay, but I decided to give this one a try since it was about the Addams Family and I was glad I did.  The main theme of the show is Wednesday has fallen in love with a "normal" boy and the show explores the implication on both sides of the family.  In all it was great and I would love to go see it again.

My ticket from the NBC Experience Tour

     After the musical it was off to NBC studios for a tour.  It was really kinda neat to walk through the experience.  Our two tour guides were a hoot and the one named Michael was ohhhh soooo hot LOL!!  We actually had to go through a type of Airport security where they make sure we didn't have any bad metal objects on us as we were unable to take any kind of pictures or video while in there unfortunately!  We started by seeing a short video recapping the history of NBC and then were escorted to one of the first stages where they film some of their sports programs.  It was interesting to learn the tricks they do to make the sets look bigger on TV and also how they show windows and shots of NYC when the set and said windows are in the center of the studio on the 8th Floor.  We next got to see the set for SNL which was great to See up close and personal.  Its sooo small in comparison to what you see on tv.  Funny thing was that once we left the tour we all wanted to go home and watch SNL.  Interesting thing about SNL, most very successful programs are moved to their west coast location where it is cheaper and easier to film but SNL has remained at their NYC location since day 1!  From there we were taken to a mock new room where my friend and another stranger got a chance to record their own news story and weather broadcast.

The Ferris Wheel!

Superman saves the day!

     After the tour we headed to the Toys R Us store!  Oh my god!  Three levels of toys and a huge ferris wheel in the middle of it all to boot!  Sadly I didn't find the two things there I was sure I would find!  But still WOW!  Corner upon corner of the store dedicated to a specific toy line instead of a 8' section on a counter in a regular store!  There were also some amazing sculpts and props all over the place.  There were even people in superhero costumes so the customers could get their picture taken with them.  the Iron-Man costume was the coolest since his chest light up.  I didn't grab a pic since others were paying for the same luxury!

     We all had to go to the restroom by this point so the hunt was on.  Now this makes me just a little curious and I have to sidetrack from my story for a bit to entertain it.  Working in customer service I hear the first side of this complaint all the time.  If a man were to walk into a woman's restroom it is revered as the most disgusting act a man can do in public.  Literally I heard a story recently where a customer complained about the design of a woman's restroom and how the paper towel dispenser was in plain sight and may encourage a man to get a towel in the women's room and that just nasty. . . . . . . . . . But I digress.  At the restroom in toys R Us there was a line for the women's room and a moderate one for the men's room.  I witnessed three girls come in and literally each shove a man out of the way so they could use a stall!  If a man ever tried that in a women's room he would first be slapped senseless and probably arrested for lude conduct!

Hotel from Home Alone 2

Ok where was I?  Oh yeah my NYC visit!  After Toys R Us we hunted for dinner and found a cool little bar and grill and then headed over to Central Park to make our way to the Apple store.  Sadly it was too dark to get any decent pics of the Park but did manage to get a pic of the hotel next to the park that was used for Home Alone 2: Lost In New York!  Shortly after there we came upon the Apple store which was absolutely amazing!  It is all underground except for the entrance.  the entrance is a hugs glass cube about the size of a small house that has a glowing apple logo in the middle of the cube.  In the middle of the cube is a spiral staircase leading upstairs as well as a elevator in the middle of the staircase that is straight out of the Jetsons.  It is nothing more then a glass tube that the staircase encircles with a platform that raises up and down.  I did manage to pick up a new connector for my iPad while there which will allow me to connect a SD card or USB cable for a camera to my iPad so I can send photos there right away instead of having to wait till I sync it again!

Heading back to Hoboken

Empire State Building at Night

     Drained and exhausted we made our way back to Hoboken via crowded subway car after Subway car!  When we got back to Hoboken I had the opportunity to snap a few more night times pics of NYC from the river in Hoboken.  My favorite was a pic of the Empire State Building which reminded me of the movie Percy Jackson.
    It was a great day!  If you would like to see more of the pics and are my friend on facebook you can follow this link to see all the pics from the day!  Link to Chris' Facebook Pics of NYC Trip

Cool whip fight

I love my work family! Today after work we all crowded in the same room for a nice dinner as we plan tomorrows day trip to NYC! Desert was over and two of my friends decided to have a cool whip fight! As the fun escalated I jumped out of the way and somehow still managed to get some on my back! Not wanting the chef to be left out Tina was included in the cool whip fun!

Location:Mt olive nj

Tell Target & Best Buy To Support Equality!

Hey followers,
     I don't normally jump on band wagons for this kind of things but this one really bothered me!  I had heard that Target announced that they did make a mistake and that they need to take further steps to look into a cause before they support them.  I did not know that Best Buy had supposedly donated to the same cause.  The following is from a email I received.  I like this approach because its not asking for a boycott of the two companies but rather send a letter asking them to make it right by matching their donation to someone who will stand for equality as well!  Please take a few moments out of your day to help send a very important message to these companies!




The Following is from a email newsletter sent to me via care2


Target and Best Buy have donated $250,000 to a political committee supporting a rabidly anti-equality candidate for Governor of Minnesota - a man with ties to a Christian rock band that advocates violence and death to gays.

Urge Target and Best Buy to support equality »

The news is all the more shocking because both of these companies have long records of providing fair and equitable workplaces for their lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) employees. Stand up for equality »

It's time to make things right. The very least the companies can do is to make equivalent donations to groups that support equality candidates.

Send a letter urging Target and Best Buy to support equality »

Collector's Find! Toys R Us Exclusives

     l went to the local Toys R Us not even looking for something and found three things I never expected to find!  All three are exclusive to that store which greatly increases their value down the road!

Lex Luthor vs. Skeletor

    The first is from the DC Universe vs. Masters Of The Universe line.  There are only two sets that I've heard of thus far for this line.  I happened to find Lex Luthor vs. Skeletor!  Like I said before there are two sets out at this time.  The second is Superman vs. Skeletor.  Ive seen it online and would love to get it!

Cybertron Ratchet

     The next two are from the Transformers Animated line.  For some reason Hasbro canceled the toy line shortly after the TV series came to an end and they had just announced alot of cool upcoming figures.  After an outcry from the fans of the series Hasbro went ahead and planed to release the figures they had planed on but as exclusives to certain retailers.  The two I found at Toys R Us was Arcee and Cybertron Ratchet.  Cybertron Ratchet's mold may be used in the future for a Ironhide figure which is kinda funny because in the original G1 series Ironhide and Ratchet were the same toy mold just different paint schemes.

Arcee

  
     The one I have really been looking forward to is Arcee.  Arcee from the G1 series was always a fan favorite and many were upset that a figure was never made of her.  In more recent years and incarnations of the TV series the character resurfaced and toys were finally made.  However nothing like the original character.  Finally in the new Animated series the character resurfaced looking soo close to her original G1 counterpart.  I wish I had found two of this figure because I would have been sorely tempted to open one just to be able to transform it!

I could be Steve Jobs' love child!

     You know Ive joked and joked about this and I know its not true but I just honestly could be Steve Jobs' love child!  I mean I'm totally owned by Apple products!  Every time a new one I get all so excited over it and cant wait to get my hands on it and make it mine.  Sadly the only Apple product I do not own is a iPhone and that's only because I have a sprint contract and must make due with a crackberry!  I thought Id share my collect of Apple product, how I use them, and then show that final reason and proof of my ownership by Apple and just why I think I could be Steve Jobs' love child!

     Mac Book:  This is my go everywhere mac.  It goes with me to all my work projects as well as my travels for vacation and what not.  Its perfect for working on my blogs and what not.  Plenty of storage and speed that it could almost replace the need for a desktop.  I actually am considering replacing it next year with a Mac Book Air and giving it to Paul to keep at home.

     iMac:  The central hub for my home entertainment.  A few years old now and still quite as strong as day one!  Never an issue of any kind.  This is where my master library resides.  Connected to this is five external libraries which allow me to expand the video on my itunes library substantially!  But more about that later.

     Airport Extreme:  Apples equivalent to a wireless router.  This unit, dubbed Vector Sigma (After my love for Transformers) is what allows most all of my Apple products to sync their internal libraries and communicate with each other as well as the Internet.

     Apple TV (two of them):  Remember how I spoke of my expanded itunes library?  Well thanks to the external hard drives allowing more storage space for my iTunes library (the main organization software in Apple computers for media) and the Airport Extreme I am able to wirelessly play anything on my iTunes library on either my bedroom TV or my  living room TV.  My ultimate goal is to convert my DVDs into digital media on my hard drives so I can pack up the DVDs and have a cleaning looking living room.

     iPod Classic:  This is my on the road entertainment device.  I only have video on this 160 GB baby and it keeps me entertained while I am on the road.  I use a audio video connector and iPod dock by apple to hook the iPod up to any TV so I can watch my favorite shows and movies during down time while I am on the road!  For example, as I write this blog I'm catching up on the episodes of True Blood Season 2 that I missed out on!.

     iPod Touch:  This little baby is my PDA of sorts and serves as a few things for me.  I don't keep much music on it and only my three favorite movies (John Watters films of course) and use it as a organizing device for me.  The Apps for it are great.  I use it as my alarm clock, weight tracker, workout tracker and sometimes a quick browser.  There is a app that allows me to use one as a remote for the AppleTV!

     iPod generation 5:  I recently took over this iPod from my partner and may just replace it in the near future with a iPod Nano.  This one is used solely for the music, audio books, and podcast I wish to listen to during my daily travels.  I sometimes use this one also for my cardio music while I'm at the gym.

     iPad:  I was at Apple's front door the morning this device came out.  This is a little bit of everything in one.  But the best part is all is the digital books.  I have comics, novels, and magazines all at my finger tips just ready to breeze through.  The e-mail and web surfing is great on it as well!  


and finally the icing on the cake for both my ownership by Apple and the reason I think I could be Steve Jobs' love child:

     The iMark:  Thats right my birth mark.  If you look at it just right you can see a resemblance to the Apple logo.  How else couldnt I be Steve Jobs' love child?  I was born with his companies logo embeded on my arm and have so many of his products!