The Early Years with my Brother

I should have known my brother Marc would be the biggest pain in my ass when I was 10. You see, there is an 8 years age difference so it was not uncommon for me to watch over my brother when he was younger; my mother would often just have me entertain him while she cooked or cleaned. One day I was laying on the floor while my brother is playing with a plastic cup. Not just any cup, but my Nestle Quick bunny mug which required 6 proof of purchases and shipping and handling to get it... and it was worth every penny. I mean this thing had been around for 5 years and had never even chipped. Even with my brother using it to beat the floor it never seemed to scuff.

So there I am, playing with my brother while he is sitting on my stomach, remember he isn't even 2 yet, and he is banging the cup on anything nearby. He is enjoying the sound it makes so much and he is quiet so I let him. I am actually paying more attention to cartoons than my brother. My mistake, he starts to bang it on other things, the table leg, the chair, my teeth.

That’s right, my teeth, now when this happened for some reason he started crying, it might have been the large amount of blood that came spurting from my mouth, it might be the realization in his infantile mind that he screwed up, but for whatever reason he started wailing away like I had just stabbed him. My mother who was alerted to the fact that something was wrong came into the room at that moment.

She took one look at me covered in my own blood and one look at my brother who was crying. And in that second the tone of my life was set. My mother who had given birth to both of us and loved me supposedly, didn’t spend a second to look at me. Instead she ran over and picked my brother up to make sure he was all right, meanwhile I ran to the sink and gathered the bits of teeth I had left.

As I was cleaning my teeth my mother comes over and asked me what I did to Marc. When I responded “HE HIT ME WITH MY OWN CUP!!!” She responded “Well don’t get any blood on the towels they’re new.”

10 minutes later I’m sitting there with Paper towels pressed against my gums praying that the bleeding will stop while my mom is calling a dentist and there is my brother sitting on the floor. Grinning and playing with my Stuffed Digum banging it against the floor wondering why it’s not making noise.

This son of a bitch knocked out my teeth than smiled about it.

I should have known than the problems he would cause me but a few years later he would prove his worth. See I grew up this weird kind of poor in The Bronx. I mean I went to a catholic school but we still got government cheese. Somehow my family was able to pull scams that allowed us to live beyond our means. We moved several times and at one point we were in a converted garage. As near as we could tell the house had a driveway that pulled into the back yard where there was a 2 car garage for the main house. The owner walled up the garage which became the master bedroom and what would have been the chauffeurs apartment was the 2nd floor (Don’t forget the Bronx used to be a wealthy area and some of the old houses are still around.)

So one year for Christmas my dad got us hand made bunk beds. Hand made was big when I was growing up because it was usually cheaper. Some guy would owe my dad money or a favor but would never be able to pay if off. So instead he had them do him a favor like make him bunk beds for his kids. My dad paid for the wood and we ended up with a set of bunk beds that look like they came from an old Pirate ship. Luckily it was sturdy for me and my brother.

Anyway, my brother had outgrown his baby bed, which was coated in a protective plastic layer in case his pissed himself at night. Before you start snickering he was a little kid and had a fairly good command of his bladder at the time. Hence the reason he was moving into a bunk bed. He must have been around 4 or 5 and he was supposed to be helping me get rid of his mattress but the mattress slipped while bringing it down the stairs, and slid all the way to the front door.

What??? The mattress slides down the stairs? I mean it really just flew down the stairs. Marc and I looked at each other and than at the mattress and a little cartoon light bulb lit up over both our heads. What if we sat on it and slid down the stares. Not being stupid I let my brother test it first, and it worked like a dream. We never had a sled but for a half hour my brother and I slid down the stairs down a 10 foot hall and stopped at the front door. Than I got the idea why don’t we open the front door.

This increased the fun factor by 3.5, a significant number considering all we did was open a door. I mean unless you are walking into trampoline night at the playboy mansion very few times will you open a door and things will be 3 times as fun. See it was winter and we hadn’t had real snow but decided that this was as close to sledding as we were going to get. So now we were sliding out the front door.

My mother being the keen observer that she was (and the fact that it was time for a commercial) found us sitting at the top of the stair ready to take off.

“What are you doing?” she screamed, at the time I couldn’t tell if she was surprised or angry. In my house it was learned early on if you can get mom or dad laughing the punishment will be lessened. The flip side is that if you swung and missed you were going to get a beat down.

My brother not missing a beat simply said ”you want to try?”, and she did! Some how my brother has always been able to get away with things with a grin and a wink. This was the first time I saw it in action.

So now me, my brother and MY MOTHER are taking rides on that mattress. In later years I would be able to manipulate my brother into using his powers for my benefit, but at that moment he proved his worth and that’s the reason I keep him around till this day.

Strangest Temp Job... So far.

So I start off on Monday and get there bright and early at 8:30, I asked for Mickey like the agency said,  but it's a new guard and he doesn't know who Mickey is, so I wait around for about a half hour till the receptionist gets there.  Now I have done a few temp assignments before and they always start a little rough but this one was just weird.  Now keep in mind I'm not in the best of shapes and I was never built for speed, I was built for stealth,  but to hear the guys I am working with complain about bending over and picking boxes I realize that these guys just like to complain. 


Anyway Joey who is the only one there shows me the mail room and where everything is.  I quickly realize that all he really does is wait till packages come in.  He gets what I would consider a fairly light mailing that day for an organization as big as his but hey everyone is used to different things.  So when he starts saying that they got hit hard today all I kept thinking is "This is going to be a breeze."  I soon regret that thought.  During the course of the day I find out all this guy does on a regular basis is receive, separate and  deliver all the incoming mail and deliveries and prep all out going mail.  A heavy mail day was when I prepped 800 envelopes that had to go out for a promotional.  Now by prep I mean run it through a machine that stamps it and seals it in less than an hour... and that was going deliberately slow cause there wasn't more to this job.

What amazed me was that this company has a facility management team made up of 7 people.  One supervisor, 1 engineer, 1 handy man, 1 mail room supervisor (Mickey who never showed up) 1 supply manager (Joey The guy who trained me) and 1 mail clerk (Freddie Who I was covering for)  and the receptionist.  The only reason I was hired was really to cover the receptionists break while the clerk was out on medical apparently he normally covers her breaks.  I was never introduced to the supervisor but I could figure out who he was by the way everyone acted when he showed up.  A lot of people saying "Look busy."  The handy man who was only there 2 months had been trying to find things to do he was so bored.  In the 2 Months he had been there he had repainted the light poles in the parking light repaired the broken power washer, power washed the entire building, repaired the elevator lights cleaned the outside camera housings, railings and generally did in 2 months what people who had worked there 15 years had never seen done. I never met the engineer but I think I saw him walking around.  The receptionist I discovered was watching episodes of Charmed when no one was around.  I think you are seeing a pattern here. No on had anything to do.

Now Joey, the guy who trained me was a little weird.  He had this short haired charlie Manson look about himself that disturbed me.  Add to the fact that he talks a lot and a I mean a lot, anyone who has hung out with me knows I talk a lot but I know that I will at least pause so the person I am talking to gets a word in.  Not with this guy.  I honestly believe I could have left and he would have kept talking.  But the guy didn't seem bad just a little weird.  I think what made it worse was he doesn't look at you, he looks to your side. as if he was talking to your shadow or some ghost that only he could see.

So I go back on day 2 for more of the same.,. but when I get there at 8:30 I figure I got a few minutes so I grab some breakfast sit down and eat,  and wait.  I see a few papers there I  sort those to who they go to and wait.... and wait... and wait... I finally find out that Joey doesn't show up till after 10 because he has a standing allergy shot he has to get on a weekly basis.  I find this out and proceed to try and find something to do.  Since I don't have any Internet connection All I can do is write in my mini Moleskin note book a couple of strips for the "8 spot".  There is just nothing to do.  There is so much down time I am literally burning out my blackberry texting friends and what makes things worse is they are hinting that this might turn into a permanent gig.  I need a job but I don't know if I could handle doing this all day with nothing else to do.  I mean if I had access to the Internet maybe... but truthfully I don't know if I could have handled it.

All these things leave my brain on the third day.  When I get there wait for an hour and Joey shows up and than Freddie shows up.  Now the first thing I think is what am I going to do if the guy I am covering for is there.  Than I hear this guy has some sort of medical condition and that is why they called me to come in,  they weren't sure if he was coming back.  Now apparently there was something shady about his medical but since he had all the paperwork he couldn't be fired, they were just hoping that he wouldn't come back.  So there I am sitting around helping a guy who I was supposed to replace and what sucks is I was doing the job better than him and he knew it.  He didn't say anything but he felt that I was a threat until I told him this was my last day.  It was so weird that when I got lunch I just drove around rather than eat cause I needed to clear my head.  I honestly felt like the day couldn't have been any weirder.  I almost thought I was on a reality show but it wasn't funny enough... just strange.  At one point one of the voices in my head just said "You know after you are done showing him up at his job why don't you just ask him if he needs pointers on satisfying his woman to."


It's sad that I am out of work and when they didn't ask me to come back I was ok.

The Hook Up

Ok I have started to develop another Comic strip idea and I am looking to the Web for inspiration. The new strip will focus on dating and relationships. As much as I enjoy writing @ The 8 Spot there are few chances to get into relationships. While i do get to dip into those themes sometimes I wanted to do something a little more about relationships. As such I am asking people to contribute there worse date story. You can either write it below or Email it to me privately at Section8comics@gmail.com.

And since i am asking for your stories I will tell you one of mine. It’s not exactly a date story but I think it’s funny.

So a few years ago I was in a wedding party in upstate new york. I have no idea where exactly all I do know was that except for my blood related family I was the only person of color for at least a half hour. So this was one of my first weddings where I was in the wedding party and I had heard that weddings make women horny so I’m thinking great maybe I can hook up. Than I find out I have to be there the night before because the wedding party has an entire bed and breakfast rented out. So the night before the wedding there are about 10 to 15 of us hanging out guys and girls. All the parents and kids who are to young have gone to sleep whle we were hanging out at the hall where the reception will be held. It was on the same property as the bed and breakfast and the Groom had gotten keys

So there we are dancing, drinking and just having a good ole time. When one of the guys mentions going to the lake, maybe do some moonlight skinny dipping. I wasn’t sure till this cute brunette named meredith comes up to me and says “come on it will be fun.” So like most guys who think with there penises I said “sure why not.” Now I am not a heavy drinker but I had a few glasses of wine and it gave me the courage to be a little smoother than I usually am.

We get down to the lake and I think Me and meredith are hitting it of fine. By fine I mean that I think I am going to get some. Since the only light out is moonlight no one sees that we are making out in our own corner.

Now I don’t have many rules when it comes to women but most of mine are non-debatable. One Safe sex is a must, I don’t know you that well I don’t care if you say it’s ok I am using a condom. Hell even with some of the girls I have known long time I will use a condom just to be safe. Second I don’t care if you have a boy friend but if you are married I am not messing with you. I will never cheat, but if a girl wants to get her freak on with me and she has a boy friend that is not my problem but the minute she is married she is off the market. I will never contribute to the destruction of a marriage. Third no one under 18... that’s not really my rule it’s something the government came up with.

Anyway Meredith seemed ready and she says lets go for a walk I quickly check for my wallet and realize that I left my wallet in my bag, in my room. which wouldn’t be a big deal except that’s where I had my condoms. I tell her give me 5 minutes I need to just get some protection. She says “hurry Back.” and that’s exactly what I do, but apparently 4 minutes was too long for her cause she has gone missing.

I ask around casually and one girl goes “Oh Meredith probably went into the woods with Tony.”
“What?”
“Yeah, Tony is Meredith’s Ex.”
“WHAT?”
“I just hope that Bobby doesn’t find out tomorrow.”
“who is Bobby?”
“Meredith's husband.”
“WHAT!”

Yes Meredith was married. I was so upset over this I decide to finish of several bottles of wine.

The next day at the wedding I only really remembered 2 things. Sweating out the alcohol while wearing a tuxedo in the hot June sun. And that Bobby was wearing a Charles Manson t-shirt to a wedding. Granted he did not actually attend the ceremony just showed up to pick up Meredith but it made an impression.

So again if you want to send me one of your stories. Post it here or contact me at Section8Comics@gmail.com

Ghetto Games Part 1

I think one of the things I miss most about being a kid was Ghetto Games. For those of you who didn't grow up poor. A ghetto game was something you could pay with little money. Footballs and baseballs are not that cheap but could usually be stolen from a school or a youth center, if you were slick enough. For the more God fearing kids some would just save up their allowance and trust me at $2-$5.00 a week that could be a long wait. Or that could be your one gift it was Christmas. So on a block with 10 kids at least one would have a football or a basketball. Now you never really needed anything other than a ball to play a game in the ghetto in the 80's. Except maybe a spray paint can.

See basketball is supposed to be played with a hoop. But sometimes the hoops would be stolen from the parks. Enter the spray paint can. You get a spray-paint can, which any body could get for cheap, you find any flat surface where you could draw a small box slightly larger that the ball at roughly hoop height. Than if you want to be fancy you lay out a half court in front of the wall but more often we used things like sewer caps and light poles as our markers for out of bounds. So it's entirely possible that you could get checked into a brick wall a light pole or an oncoming car, depending on how close the score is.

With stickball if you could find an empty lot to play with a wall you didn't need a catcher, because the wall became the catcher. See you paint a box on the wall that was roughly the size of a torso to create a "batters box. If you pitched the ball and the batter did not swing but you got it in the box it was counted a strike, and the ball would usually bounce back. So paint was actually pretty helpful in setting up some of the rules.

But the game I played the most was Street Football. The super bowl has nothing compared to the intensity of a simple game of street football. People would actually come out to see us play and would root for different players. There was no such things as teams cause we were all from the same block so 2 guys would choose up teams. And it would usually be 6 to 10 kids playing and each game was just as important and different as the next or last. Now we usually played 2-hand touch but that does not mean it was a gentle game. In fact I have a dent in my head named after Street football.

See what happened was it was a 3 on 3 game and we were down by 2 TDs and time was running out. (meaning the sun would be going down soon) And I'm not a fast guy but I used to have pretty good hands. So John (the QB) was going for a Hail Mary and I was running as fast as I could go trying to catch that damn football. I see it. Hell, I can fucking taste it, because I know I can make this catch. I just have to jump up and we'll be one more TD closer to a tie and if we tie at least we can't get bitched out. Because we all know bragging rights are the most important thing when you are growing up.

So I'm running, I'm seeing the ball, I'm running, I'm running, I jump... and than I wake up with my cousins and friends standing over me saying "is he dead?" "I don't know but who's going to tell his aunt?" "John can tell her, Eric's his cousin." "If he's dead can I have his kicks?"

"You're not taking my sneakers." I say as I start to become aware of my surroundings. Now as near as I can piece together after I jumped I went head first into light pole. And knocked my self the fuck out. The cool thing is I had just performed such an incredible stunt in the fact that I had stood back up and was willing to play some more, I didn't want to be called a bitch. But John and Randy wouldn't let me. Since my aunt was a nurse they made me go tell her what had happened while they hid. All in all it was a great game, even with the bleeding from the ear.

From behind the table: It’s Fucking Street Meat!!!

This one doesn’t really qualify as behind the table but screw it, I’m writing it, I can put what ever I want.  I could put the alphabet backwards if I wanted to… You can’t stop me.

What has quickly become one of the staples of the Comic book convention scene is the New York Comic Con. Considering that in 2006 was the first Convention it has grown in size to rival the San Diego Comic con, a Convention that has been around since 1970 and I say it’s a better con… mainly cause I’m from New York, but seriously we have the head quarters to Marvel and DC, we have the Museum of Natural History and we have Section 8 Comics (oh come on, how could I not plug my company). 

What we also have is some of the best food in the world and while most people know about the street vendors and how you can get hot Dogs and pretzels but what some people may not realize is depending on the place and time you can also find street vendors selling roasted nuts, Italian sausage, piraguas (Spanish snow cones), ice cream and chicken, beef or lamb shish kabobs.   One such shish kabob cart is stationed outside of the Jacob Javits center home to the New York Comic Con.  It’s also the site of the following conversation during the 2009 New York con.  Please note Customer 2 was dressed up as a Jedi.

Vendor:    What would you like?
Customer 1:    Is this Pork?
Vendor:    No we have Chicken, Beef and Lamb.  No pork. What would you like? 
Customer 1:     Is it Kosher?
Vendor:    Yes it’s all Kosher. What do you want?
Customer 1:    Are you sure?
Vendor:    Yes all kosher, all very good.  There are people behind you, what kind of Shish Kabob do you want?
Customer 1:    Cause I’m Jewish and I can only eat Kosher food.
Customer 2:    Order your damn food or I will shove my light saber up your ass.  It’s fucking Street Meat! You’re lucky if it’s not a womp rat!

No I Don't Want to be Rich

So I was working a Convention in a museum with my Business Partner Wilson.  As soon as Wilson stepped away for a moment this rather studious looking gentleman came up and I went into the whole spiel about our books and what I had to sell.  After I mention that I'm also the company owner the following conversation occurs.

Science Geek:         So you started your own company so you could have your ideas published?
Me:            Pretty much.   I also try to help other writers and artists.
Science Geek:        Well I have this great idea see I am a geologist and there is so many great stories that can be created.  Especially when you add in all that we know about various dinosaurs and animals that are extinct but because their skeletons are preserved in rocks we really have a wealth of data…
Me:            Well we have a submissions page on our website so you could send me a proposal. (I hand him one of our flyers with our website on it.)
Science geek:        I don’t have the time to write it and I’m not really a writer but I figured if I gave you the idea when it sells we could split the money.
Me:            Wait you want me to write a story based on your knowledge of science but you don’t have a character concept, a story or even the time to write up a proposal.  Than I have to spend my money to get artists to work on it and hope it hits big so I can give half to you? 
Science Geek:        Yeah, it will make you millions. I know it! 
Me:            Thank you but that doesn’t seem like a project that I would be interested in working on.
Science Geek:        Don’t you want to be Rich?
Me:            No, No I don’t. 

The Last Tough Generation

Now this will sound a little like bragging but I believe I came from the last tough generation in history. I'm sure everyone says that this is just part of the whole "kids have it so easy today blah blah blah." No this has nothing to do with that. Each generation will always have it slightly easier than the one before, that's just the nature of time, technology and the normal human desire to see there kids live easier than themselves. This has more to do with seeing a difference in the way kids are raised today. See I grew up with all these stories of serial killers who were all abused and molested. So somewhere along the way a logic jump was made that we can’t discipline our children physically. Which is some bullshit. Everyone learns through positive and negative reinforcement I don't care what scientist, sociologist or any other fucking "ist" says. If you learn that if you do good things good thing happen you keep doing good things and the opposite is true. If a child knows that if he is disrespectful to his elders he will get the shit kicked out of him he tends to be more respectful.

One night while stopped at a red light two little shits walking across the street stopped in front of the car to talk to some one else. When the light turned red I honked the horn. The kids moved to the side but as I started to move one of the little failed abortion started yelling at me "Why you fucking honking your horn!!!" I stopped my car and started to back up the kid started moving fast and there is no way I am going to win a foot race with 14-year-old punk. In retrospect I should have hit him with the car.

When I was growing up I would never have mouthed off to some body... Hell I wouldn't of stopped in front of a car at a green light. Why? I been hit a lot by the time I was 16 and I learned i didn't like that.  See my dad was a hard drinking partier who didn't always come home, but we knew which bars to find him if we needed to. My mom was slightly more responsible but much more bitter about having to watch her own kids.

So it was not uncommon for my brother and I to be shipped to my aunt's house while my dad and mom "went to go see a man about a horse." I always wondered what fucking horse till I figured out they were going to party so hard that they didn't want to kids to see them wrecked the next day and that must have been fucking Olympic levels of debauchery cause I have seen my parents fucked up so many times that whatever happened on "those" weekends must be something so spectacular that I can only imagine animal erotica was involved. And trust me that image has often made me wonder if I should just eat a bullet rather than contemplate it as far as I have.

Anyway on a number of occasions I would eventually screw up in some way while my father was in some form of intoxication and I would eventually be beat. My parents don't remember these disciplinary steps to well but I do. By the time I graduated High school I had been hit with my fathers hand, a belt, a switch (A type of branch), a phone chord, a phone, a shoe, a can opener (Both kinds), a frying pan, a portable radio, the bible, a base ball bat, a can of creamed corn (closed), a plastic bottle of baby powder, a soft ball (there not really soft) A chanqlueta (flip flops), a Frisbee, a car and a few other items. By the way I am missing gaps from my childhood memory.

The other thing you have to realize was that it was totally acceptable for someone else to discipline your child. Granted my grandmother may have been a little crazy and gone too far on occasion. She would beat her grandchildren for the slightest thing. I remember getting beat because I was crying from a beating I had received 5 minutes earlier. Yeah the bitch was crazy in her later years she became a nice old lady but I know the truth she is trying to trick god so she can get into heaven. Hippies like to use the phrase it takes a village to raise a child. But kids from my neighborhood knew that it took an entire block to beat a kid's ass.

See not only could you not fuck up in front of your parents, you couldn't fuck up in front of your parents' friends cause they would smack you around a few times than tell your parent. So now you get beat for fucking up as well as embarrassing your parents in front of others. The worse thing is I know that my growing up was fairly tame compared to other kids. See these events were not daily. And I deserved to be disciplined but what would happen is the punishment would not match the incident. I grew up with kids who would just get beat for walking in the house. See I never viewed my life as the victim of abuse. Some people may disagree with me but to me that was just the price I paid for being a brat. But I knew kids who used to get hot irons to their backs. Cigarettes put out on them. See the difference between me and those kids were that even when they didn't do anything wrong. While I may not agree with my parents over how I was punished I've learned to understand that I should have been disciplined. Not necessarily with a can opener, than again I was a pretty big kid...

Dangers of Being a Geek

I have been a geek for a long time and it's not easy, although it is almost always fun. Now you have to understand that while most people immediately think of Geek as a nerd that dresses in a Storm Trooper costume and goes to some sort of geek conventions. This is not the definition of a geek but merely an example. A geek is some one who takes any thing to an extreme. Yes you too might be a geek. Guys who go to weekly meeting of fantasy foot ball wearing some sort of uniform are geeks. People who go to kiss concerts dressed as members of kiss are geeks. And anytime you step outside of the norm you run a risk of being ostracized. But sometimes there are hidden dangers that people don't realize.

Like the Batman urban myth.

I first heard this story when my friends mother broke out laughing while reading a dear Abby column. As the story goes a guy coming home heard a woman calling out "help! Help!" The guy knocked on the door and asked if everything was ok and the woman said she could not open the door. because she was tied up. After breaking down the door the guy finds the young lady is tied to her bed dressed as a sexy robin while her husband dressed as batman is unconscious on the floor. Apparently The couple were enjoying some sex games where the husband was supposed to jump from the dresser onto the bed but hit the ceiling and knocked himself out leaving the wife tied up.

What makes this so funny to me is the whole conversation that brought this up.

"Honey tonight could we try something a little freaky?"

"Like what?"

"Well I was thinking we could dress up in costume tonight."

"Do you want e to be a hooker again?"

"Well I was thinking we could do something from comics"

"Ohh can I be cat woman or maybe Wonder woman."

"Well I was thinking more boy wonderish."

I wish this was the only crazy sex story I have ever heard involving geeks but well there is the whole world of Furries and Plushies. If you don't know what this is these are people who dress up as animals for fun. Now not all of them engage in kinky sex acts but some really get off on the idea pf doing it as an animal. As such some of the costumes can be really intricate. Well as the rumor goes one guy who was rather large and just getting into it had a really intricate panda suit made. While engaging in some carnal delights he didn't take into account how hot the costume got. Apparently not wanting to stop and get a glass of water he just kept going until he passed out.

Being a geek can be hard.

Friends Comics & Movies

This weekend I got to hang with some old HS friends and make some new ones. I'm constantly amazed at how lucky I have been in my friends. Growing up I didn't have a lot of friends and I guess you can say they were more situational friends than anything. Either we were in the same school or on the same baseball team but a lot of those friendships lasted until school was out or the season was up. Part of it was my own fault I'm clumsy, I stutter, I'm fat or at least that is what I thought. Why would anyone want to be friends with me?

Than the craziest thing ever happened I was kicked out of Catholic school and sent to Public school. Now I had been fights all the time in Catholic school and with all the horror stories my mom told me about public school I walked in there with a jail hose mentality. I was not going to be anyone's bitch. I created this shell that I wouldn't let anyone get past. I hardly spoke to anyone and after a while it affected me. I really didn't care about other people. If I did that would just give them a chance to hurt me.

Than I met this guy who really hadn't said much to me other than "hey, what's up" till he saw me pull out my comics. Now I have always loved comics since I first discovered them and when this kid asked to read mine I said sure. After that we always talked about the newest comics, eventually he invited me to go check out a movie with him and a couple of his friends. I like the guy and He got me with my second love movies, so I figure why not. I'll meet some of his friends maybe they will all be cool. Yeah they were real cool they stood me up. I was so heated when I was leaving I was just going to a pizza place I know and eat angry.

As I am walking out the theater I see them coming in... Apparently they got lost and had a mini adventure. I end up sneaking into the theater they are going into and check out another movie. After the movie as we are all walking home they tell me the story of how they got lost and ended up cutting through a cemetery, at night, in the Bronx. I was able to forgive them and from there Grew a few friendships and one person who I consider a brother.

Since than I have been lucky to meet some amazing people who I have been able to consider true friends. People who I have laughed with, Cried with, Even hated at times but when it's all said and done a friend is someone who is not there just when things are good but when the chips are down and I know I could call on any of them and they would do everything they can to help me.

I have a friend who is an artist who helped me go for my dream as a writer.

I have a friend who I don't get to see as often as I would like but to this day I love her as much as when we used to hang out every day playing cards and when we see each other it's like no time has past.

I have a friend that no matter how goofy I get I know he will not only accept me but join in on any crazy Idea I have.

I have a friend who has had more than 3 peoples share of problems but each time life tries to knock her down she picks her self up and just says "Is that all you got?"

I have a friend who whenever we talk I have to set an alarm cause we always loose track... I swear we were only talking 15 minutes not 4 hours.

I have 2 friends who are a couple who have always showed me nothing but love and have welcomed me into there home many times.

I have a friend who is so protective of me that she sometimes treats me like I'm her kid...Even though I'm older.

As I look at this list I know there are people who I have left out for one reason or another but I'm lucky to have made the friends I have and my life is better because of them.


What is a friend for? Through rich and through poor
Kinda like a marriage balanced on a different floor
A friend could tell you things that he wouldn't tell another
So in essence, a friend could be considered a brother

What Love is

Ok just caught a movie on my Netflix called What Love is Starring Cuba Gooding, Mathew Lilliard Sean Astin.  The actual story of the movie is simple;  Cuba Gets to his home on Valentines night and discovers his girlfriend of 3 years has just left him.  What follows is various rants on men, women, relationships and oral sex (One of the funniest scenes in the movie.)  One of the best rants is not a real rant, in between Cuba Gooding Jr & Mathew Lillard screaming there heads of Sean Astin calmly tells about the 11th Man theory.  The theory goes as follows: 

"say there is a woman in a room with 10 men, and all 10 men are telling her how beautiful she is, and how amazing she is and they are lighting her cigarette and buying her drinks and just treating her like gold. Then all of a sudden in walks the 11th man, he takes one look at her and says "hey how ya doin'", turns his back on her and starts talking to his boys, THAT'S the guy she wants to be with, the 11th man, not any of the 10 men who were treating her well all night, but the one guy that couldn't care less, why? Because for some reason women don't want nice, they don't want real, they don't want to be treated well, I mean not at first and sometimes not ever, and I think that's crazy and I refuse to play that game .... get a girl by pretending that I don't like her, I wanna be with a woman who's real, who digs it when I'm nice to her, who doesn't see that as weakness or take me for granted when I tell her that I think she is more amazing than anything else in the entire world, but unfortunately most women aren't like that, they say they are, deep down inside they want to be, but ... they're not"

Now this theory strikes a chord with me cause as I get older I'm seeing the results of dating that 11th guy.  A couple of Google searches indicate that the current divorce rate is about 43%.  Many of my own friends are on there 2nd marriage or have long term relationships that can only be described as shit awful.  And I don't know if the 11th man theory is the actual problem but how can a solution be found if the problem can't be identified. 

I've always liked puzzles because no matter how hard the puzzle was you knew there was a solution.  It could take me hours to figure it out but even if I couldn't figure it out I knew there was an answer, but not with people.  You can not look on a woman's ass for a cheat code that gets you to the boss level.  Trust me I've looked. 

Near as I can see it there is one big problem between men and women... No one knows what's real.  We read these books, watch these TV shows and see these movies and think that is how life will turn out.  The couple getting together in the third act after a ton of obstacles makes for a great story but life doesn't have to be that hard. 

Guys a woman will know within the first 5 minutes if she wants to sleep with you and nothing you will say or do will change that.  Now like all rules there are exceptions but it will be a lot easier once you find out she is not interested in you if you assume the most you can ever be is friends.  

Women a guy knows with in the first 5 seconds if he wants to sleep with you.  The next 4 minutes and 55 seconds is spent figuring out if he wants more than that.  A man's desire for sex is practically constant and when he sees a woman he know if he wants to have sex with her.  But wanting to have sex and wanting a relationship is not the same thing.  If he says before hand he is not looking for a relationship he just wants to hook up.  Don't be upset when he hooks up with someone else.  The whole men don't really know what they want logic is bull shit.  We may not know what's best for us but we know what we want.   

So it seems that the very act of dating is screwed up to begin with and I'm not sure what the problem is but I have a theory and it's a pretty easy theory. Most guys are simple creatures. We don't think things through. We'll take on projects that are beyond our scope cause we don't know better. It's like a guy saying I'm going into the woods to go camping and live of the land and all I'm bringing is a spoon. No I don't really have any wilderness survival skills but I was a boy scout for 6 weeks I'll be fine.

Women over think things they look at a situation and come up with a Million possibilities of what may happen and based on that they formulate there course of action trying to take in account all possibilities. That's like Packing for a trip with out knowing when or where you're going or how long you will be gone. It's not mentally healthy.

The very act of dating is a moron and a nut job trying to find each other... It sometimes seems impossible but it can't be because I know couples have made it work.

Than again what do I know?


Below is the actual scene from the movie.

The colors

    So yesterday a number of women posted a color on there status.  From what I figured it is the color of the bra they were wearing.  While women's underwear is something I enjoy in between my dirty thoughts was a rather profound one. 
    The internet is amazing! Most of us take for granted what we can do with the internet.  Lets ignore the 90% that is porn based (This is temporary guys, you can go back to searching for porn after you read this... I know I will after I get done writing about it.)  In the course of one day I had people from White Plains the Bronx and Queens posting there colors within 3 hours of each other.  By the 4th hour I read comments from people who lived in Seatle, Oklahoma & North Carolina. 
    From what I understand this is to support Breast Cancer Awareness so I can see why so many women would be willing to do it.  But it's the fact that they were able to do it that amazes me.  20 Years ago they would have had to spend millions of dollars to get the same word of mouth that they got in one day. Just because an organization is charitable does not mean they don't have to pay for Advertising.  Advertising being what it is I think this was a briliant idea and I hope that it helps with donations and awareness. 
    I think the fact that this phenomenon occurred and got me to not only look it up but read up a little on breast cancer is proof that the campaign is working.   Not only are the women putting up the colors but men are trying to figure out what it is about, and while I have read some message boards with guys talking about how they should expand on the ideas by showing women in there bras the joking has been good natured and none of the men have been disrespectful. (I'm sure if I searched hard i would find some insensitive dicks who would piss me off, but why bother wasting my time doing that?) 
    So now you have men & women who are aware of a horrible disease but in a way that does not talk down or depress people.  I mean cancer is serious but people's spirits need to be raised when you are sick.  I truly believe that a person's frame of mind helps them stay healthier and laughter is the best medicine.   This was a fun and effective way to raise awareness. 
    You may now return to your normal Porn searching habits, I know I am.

Below is a link to National Breast Cancer Foundation.
http://www.nationalbreastcancer.org/

Day 8

So on the last day of my trip I got on the road not a moment to soon. I loved being out on the road but you do eventually get home sick (Plus I was running out of money.) I also had the feeling Mercedes* was looking for her/my car. So I figured t was time to head out.

Now overall I have to say my GPS has been invaluable on this trip. But on occasion I have argued with it. I mean I know shortcuts that it doesn't but never having been to Ocean City before I had only the vaguest way to go back. It wanted me to take a ferry. I originally didn't want to take a ferry. So when I changed the settings on the GPS and told it no ferry it refused to give me a route.

Wilson: What’s wrong?
Eric: When I change the setting to no ferry it freezes...
Wilson: So can't we just pick up a map and figure it out ourselves.
Eric: A good map costs us about ten to twenty dollars. We loose a half hour to an hour by looking for a map and on top of that. On top of that if we don't take the ferry It will take another hour to 2. So screw it we will take the ferry.
Wilson: So you have given up all free will to the little box.
Eric: When the robot apocalypse comes I can either be a house slave or use as a battery. I'm listening to the GPS!
Wilson: You need help.
Eric: You have no idea. Yesterday morning I tried to use Ax body spray as shaving cream.
Wilson: WHAT?!?
Eric: I was so out of it that after I took my shower I grabbed the Axe and sprayed it into my hand like it was shaving cream.
Wilson: Than what happened?
Eric: I shaved my armpits.

So after a nice ride on a ferry we headed to Atlantic city because I still had a few hundred dollars to burn. Now I like to gamble but I'm not very good at it. But today I was up a little than down a little for over 4 hours. Normally I win big or loose big with in an hour and than I’m done. This time I broke about even but while I’m gambling I get a message telling me there is a huge storm coming at 8 o’clock and that I should find some place to crash instead of driving home. I figured I would just wait till late to drive home and solve the problem that way.

So afterwards we hit up the boardwalk and I take some pics. I love AC for 3 reasons. All you can eat buffets, gambling, and all you can eat buffets… I like food. So obviously while walking the boardwalk I got some food and checked out the girls in bathing suits (I’m still a guy).

After a couple of hours of killing time and loosing whatever money we had left we head home. Now I hate the GW bridge I will normally take the extra hour it takes ad go by the Tappan zee than deal with the GW. I should have done the same thing instead I took the GW I was 2 exits away around 12:30 AM figuring that I would be ok. Too bad they closed the lower level.

I didn’t get home till 3:30 in the morning.

Overall I had a great time. I was very lucky the only bad time I had was one bad hotel night, considering that I was doing most of this by ear it worked out well. My car was able to take it, I drove 1156 miles hit New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware & Virginia. I saw some great sites and met some very nice people, because of this I have decided to do mini trips like this. Instead of covering so many places in a week every month or 2 I will pick a place and go away for a weekend. In a few weeks I am taking my older brother to the Philly for the cheese steak challenge. The Cheese steak challenge is when you hit Pat’s have a sandwich and than head to Geno’s and have a sandwich and decide which is better. My older brother never got a chance so it will be nice to see what he thinks.

Check out my pics at: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=103757&id=528577688&l=0d4aece623

*The stripper from Day 1. If you haven't read that blog go here.

Day 6 & 7

So after I woke up and took a shower I ran out of that hotel from hell, but before I left I put everything on. Every light, the TV and I even the put the sink on a slow leak. I was going to cost them as much as I could, I didn't damage anything but I was bumping up there utility bill for the day. As had become our habit we headed to a mall so I could check what hotels were available in Ocean city. Since I did not have a full itinerary and was playing things by ear I needed to see what I could get. I lucked into this decent hotel called the Thunderbird that was only a few blocks from the boardwalk. I booked us for 2 days and than drove into OC.

After checking in I had to take a nap because of the horrible sleep I had in the room from hell. I have no idea what happened with Wilson I know I passed out till about 10. Just in time to go to a club called the Party Block. We had a great time the drinks were cheap the women were hot and the music was great. It was a little disturbing that the music seemed to be off of my I-pod. I actually checked the car to make sure it wasn’t stolen.

Now some of you may not know but I am not a heavy drinker, I have a beer here and there and I if I plan to drink a lot it usually tends to be “Bitch” drinks like Pina Coladas, Strawberry Daiquiris & don’t get me started on Jell-O Shots. I was surprised how hard my “Bitch” drinks were hitting me till I realized my stomach was empty and I was still off from the missed nights sleep. After a little while Wilson & I went to go check the dance floor. Eventually I headed to the bathroom, when I came back Wilson is missing. Now he’s a grown man so I’m not too worried about it especially in my inebriated state so I grab another drink and head back to the dance floor. After a while I notice that Wilson is on the dance floor surrounded by hot chicks.

Let me explain something Wilson is a great guy but he is not what you picture when you say the phrase chick magnet but every now and than he just attracts babes. I don’t know if it’s the Artists mystique or if he bathes in Catnip for women but some how women are drawn to him. I am not putting him down, actually I’m jealous I have to buy drinks for women and crack every joke I can, once the ice is broken it’s not a problem but to get that initial meet takes work. Wilson just stands there and sends out vibes and women just come a running. Son of a Bitch!

Overall I had a really good time at the Party Block and the end of the night was a little hazy. I remember stopping at a sub shop that was open late saying something to the affect of the following:

Eric: I have money, can I have food.

Counter guy: Sure what do you want?

Eric: Food.

Counter guy: What kind?

Wilson: Give him a sausage hero.

Eric: Ohh that sounds good can I have one too.

Wilson: Yes you can.

Eric: You’re a great friend; if I were gay I would marry you.

Wilson: Uhm I’m not gay Eric.

Eric: I don’t think you are trying that hard.

Counter guy walks away laughing.

Wilson: You’re not really that drunk are you?

Eric: No, but I’m funny.

The next day we wake up around 1 in the afternoon and head to this cool restaurant/club called Seacrets. It’s on the beach and you can actually grab a table in the water. It was really cool place and the spicy shrimp was great, messy as hell but the food was great. I would recommend the place to everyone families during the day party at night.

After eating I hit up the boardwalk while Wilson went swimming. I have to tell you the boardwalk in OC beats Virginia Beach. See what I like are small shops to look at stuff and find knickknacks, my brother and I both have Silver yin & Yang medallion on a chain that my father made for us. My dad based them off a cheap silver plate one I got in Virginia Beach 16 years ago. He used that one to make the mold for the one I wear now. When I was in Virginia I noticed all the stores were one block over but in OC the boardwalk had the kind of little stores I was looking for. There was even this really cool kite shop with all these huge kites staked down in front of the shop. At one point I was so hot from walking that I just walked into the ocean cooled down than continued walking down the boardwalk.

The only drawback with all the walking I did and Wilson going swimming is we fell asleep around 7 and woke up the next day. We had missed a chance to go to one of the other clubs that the girls told us about. But we had a blast and I hope to go back soon.

If you want to see some pics go to:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=103755&id=528577688&l=f5ed327a44

Day 5 August 18th (this one’s a short one)

So the day before I get a text from Nando telling me a mutual friend, Jade*, would like to meet up. So I text Jade and after a few texts back and forth we decide to meet up for dinner. She is about 2 hours from where I am but she would cook for Wilson and I. We headed out of Virginia Beach a bit too early so we decided to kill some time near her house just walking around one of the malls because it was raining hard.

Malls are a great place to kill time for me because most of them have bookstores. I can kill an hour just reading some graphic novel and if they have current comics Wi Fi and a Star Bucks I’m good for hours. The other cool thing about malls is that they are climate controlled. So you can walk all day and not be too hot.

After hanging for a little while I had a great time talking to Jade and her friend. Jade is amazing, the number of things she has gone through as a single mom and only came out stronger for it. Maybe some day I will tell some of her stories. She has only one problem, actually it’s my problem When I am sitting talking to some one who is interesting this weird time phenomenon happens where we talk for 5 minutes and suddenly 3 hours have gone by. I have had to over tip a few times at restaurants when I realized I took up one of their tables for 3 or 4 hours.

So Jade and I start talking around 6 and magically it turns into nearly midnight and we still have 2 hours to go. Before we make it to Ocean city. I finally get out of there about an hour after I said we should get out of there. We finally get out of there and I was good for a half hour but than all of a sudden I started drifting asleep.

Eric: AHHHHH

Wilson: What happened?

I rip the GPS off of my dash and hand it to Wilson.

Eric: Find us a motel now.

Wilson: Are you tired?

Eric: Not after the little nap I just had but I think we should stop the car before I take another one.

Wilson: WHAT DID YOU SAY?

Eric: I SAID FIND US A MOTEL BEFORE WE DIE!!!

Wilson: Geez you are cranky after a nap!

On this trip we discovered that my GPC also provides a phone number for the local hotels. SO Wilson called every hotel & motel with in a half hour and there was only 1 room available. It was a smoking double but I figured what the hell I needed sleep plus it was the first one we found that was within a half hour.

We got into the room and it was like walking into a flaming ashtray. The AC was broken and the room reeked of smoke. Both Wilson & me had survived summers in the Bronx so we figured we could tough it out. But there seems to be one big difference between the Bronx and wherever the hell we were in Maryland. In never got cooler, In the Bronx at around 2 or 3 it gets cool enough to sleep. It never got cooler and I tried every trick I knew. Wet towel on my neck, cold shower, putting the mattress on the floor. I honestly don’t think I fell asleep I think I passed out.

*If I have not heard back from a friend or forgot to ask them if I can use there name I will use an alias. Different people have different feelings about their name being listed on the web so I will use aliases for now.

Day 3 & 4 August 16th & 17th

When I got up on the 16^th I decided to see if there was any place nearby that would take my Marriot points. Over the last few years whenever I could I would try to stay at a Marriot for conventions. Mainly because they always seemed the official hotel of most of the conventions I did but also because I was part of the Marriot rewards point program. I punch it in and find I have enough points for a 2-day stay a hotel on the beach and it will only cost $12.50. So I quickly booked a room before my luck changed and told Wilson the good news.

Wilson: Are you sure it will only cost $12.50.

Eric: Yeah thanks to the reward points.

Wilson: Well since you got us the deal I’ll pay the $12.50

Eric: (Just staring)

Wilson: Fine if you want to pay the 12.50 I won’t stand in your way. I was just trying to contribute.

Eric: (Still staring)

Wilson: Remember you invited me.

Eric: I’m trying to remember why.

So to kill some time we decided to hit the movies and kill 2 hours. We saw the movie “District 9” very enjoyable and very surprising. Several times in the movie I expected it to go left and it went right. For all the sci fi fans out there I would highly recommend it. I do have one complaint I felt that there was too much camera movement and scene cuts. It just constantly felt like he jumped from angle to angle of each scene. I know it’s supposed to create the feeling of a fast pace but to me it actually took a little away from the film.

After the movie we went to a Barnes & Noble because we love free Wi Fi. While at B&N Wilson got an email from one of his clients who needed some work done. Wilson gave him the whole spiel about being on vacation but said he would get it to him soon because freelancers can never turn down work. So while we spent most of the days checking out the boardwalk and eating Wilson spent his nights working to get the project done. Which worked out because I was getting a head cold and at night I was dying. Yeah that’s right I go on vacation and I get a head cold. So the first night that we are on the beach we turn on the TV while Wilson is working the first thing we hear is ”Hurricane’s are expected to hit land sometimes in the next day. “

Wilson: Is that for here?

Eric: No, Florida.

Wilson: Do we have to worry?

Eric: No but if you hear any loud noises and I drop to the ground and yell “get down!” You do it.

Wilson: Fair enough I mean I really Doubt

BOOM!

Eric: Are you serious?

For a hot second I thought it was thunder, but it was too rapid.

We pull back the shades and see they are just randomly setting of Fireworks in front of us. We sit and watch for 10 minutes me taking pictures from inside the room while Wilson sits on the balcony. (I’m afraid of heights.) It was actually pretty cool.

The next day we walk the boardwalk and enjoy some of the sights (the statues, the shore, and the girls in tight bikinis… Don’t judge me, I’m still a guy.) and we have some grub I notice something Virginia beach seems more geared to families, not a bad thing just an observation, and the really cool stuff is not actually on the boardwalk but actually 1 block over. I go to Atlantic City all the time and that is geared towards keeping you on the boardwalk. You go one block over and you are reminded hey I’m in Jersey. In Virginia Beach there are more little shops 1 block over.

The other weird thing is that Virginia doesn’t have an actual Boardwalk, a boardwalk is a walkway made up of wooden boards. This was concrete just bouncing the sun back up at you. I drank a lot of water walking just half the boardwalk that might also be because I am out of shape but I like to blame the sun.

Below is a list of places we went to:

Oasis Bar and Grill: a little hole in the wall but the food was awfully good for under 20 bucks for 2 people.

Laverne’s/Chix Café: one side of the place is restaurant; the other side is a bar. It was a nice ocean side restaurant where they played live music. While the music was good it was not really my style of music. The food was good and the service and ambience made the place very enjoyable. I would definitely recommend this place to visitors.

Captain George’s seafood buffet, this place is great. I recommend everyone go there, the place has so much good seafood; I didn’t try anything and not like it. Besides it being a good restaurant the place is gorgeous. It has 2 huge stained glass domes that are just amazing.

If you would like to see some pics go here.

Day 2 Saturday August 15, 2009

We had stopped for the night at a Motel 6 in Delaware. It was a small 2 bedroom place but it served our purposes, and after staying at the Pickwick* few places scare me. I will admit I was a little disturbed by the bed being right under the window. I kept expecting an axe murderer to just crash through or maybe Mercedes would come looking for her/my car.

The next morning we were off to Geppi’s Pop Culture museum www.geppismuseum.com. Now I was not sure what to expect, a lot of the museums I have been to that focus on comics have just been fancy comic shops but this was actually quite impressive. Each room seemed to be filled with more and more memorabilia. I mean it was insane. One of the coolest things was that the comic room had a display where you could read a digital copy of a couple of comics. It was a nice blend of history and technology. And since you can’t interact with the books directly this was a great substitute.

The museum is located above the Legends of Sports Museum and is next to Oriole Park at Camden Yards and because it was a game day admission was $1.00. I was so impressed by the museum that I didn’t argue too much when Wilson walked through the comic book room 3 times. I did eventually have leave a trail of Swedish fish out so he would leave the museum.

Now the great thing about going without a plan is you don’t have to be anywhere. You go when and where you want. The bad thing is you sometimes can’t get into some of the really popular sites. I wasn’t able to get into the Baltimore Aguarium so I am going to have to come back some day. Unfortunately while it was a beautiful day it was hot as hell so we went to a Panera to upload my first blog www.panerabread.com. Never been to a Panera restaurant before it’s another chain like Atlanta bread company but the food was pretty cool and the free wifi was great. Afterwards we walked around Baltimore. It is amazing seeing some of the old architecture being reused for corporate greed. The United Railways Electric Company is now being used as an ESPN Zone, a Barnes & Nobles and a couple of other places. I normally can’t deal with companies taking over historic sites like stadiums and having them renamed after banks but in this case I think it was a great idea. I haven’t had a chance to look it up yet but I would guess if these companies did not step in than the building would have been torn down and that would have been a shame.

After a while we decide to get some food and I have been seaching the Diner Drive in and Dives web site so I can find some good cheap places to eat and I found this place called Chaps Restaurant www.chapspitbeef.com. And this is the conversation that happened on the way.

Wilson: So what are we doing after we eat?

Eric: Well it’s still early we could head straight to Virginia or we could go to a bar or a club.

Wilson: You want to go to another strip club?

Eric: No I meant a dance club. Not that I’m opposed to a strip club but I know that if we hit another strip club we’ll have to go back home. Besides I already gave Mercedes the registration to my car she may have people on the look out for me.

As we are driving towards Chaps We see a huge sign for another Gold’s strip Club.

Eric: How many Gold’s clubs are there?

Wilson: Are you sure you don’t want to go a strip club.

Eric: I swear it’s the GPS.

Wilson: Yeah, right.

GPS: Arriving at Destination.

Wilson: We are not eating at a Strip club Buffet.

Eric: No, look the Restaurant is in a corner of the strip clubs Parking lot.

And the place was a dive but it was so good. I had this huge burger with BBQ sauce and Wilson had a rib sandwich. We both had cheese fries. Now the food is all cooked over charcoal and it tastes really good. I would highly recommend this place the only thing is you should know that it is on a porn section of the highway. From Chaps I could see 2 Porn Shops and a strip club… I was so happy. However we decided that we would just drive straight to Virginia. Near DC we realized another flaw with Chaps they don’t have a bathroom. Wilson had to piss like a racehorse but I also needed gas so I didn’t make him piss out the car window… Again.

We than headed to Virginia Beach which was about a 3 hour drive. And got there around midnight lucky me it looks like a biker convention in the area and all the cheaper hotels were booked but after several phone calls and begging we finally found a cheap room. So after driving and being tense and needing time to unwind I finally got to sleep at 3 in the morning, but I was in Virginia Beach. VACTIONS ROCK!!!

If you want to see my trip picks click here.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=102167&id=528577688&l=6871c50621

* The Pickwick hotel was a hotel in San Diego I used a couple of times when I would visit San Diego. This place was a dive, as you walked by rooms you could swear you smell the scent of dead hooker permeating the air. I was often embarrased or proud to tell people I was staying there. It all depended on whom I was talking to. On the one hand staying at the Pickwick is not for the faint at heart and I slept with my knife in my hand. On the other if I found a female who was of low enough caliber to sleep with me freely I could not take her back to my room. Hell I would rather they thought I slept at the convention center than be at the Pickwick

Day 1 Friday August 14, 2009

So the initial plan was for me to wake up, go work out and than pick up my buddy Wilson. I have been trying to work out more often and figured if I got up at 7 I could be at the gym by 7:30 back by 8:45, the gym is around the corner from my house. After getting back from the Gym I am expecting an important phone call at 9, than be at Wilson’s around 10.  This plan was formed before I stupidly stayed up till 3 in the morning on Thursday.

So instead I wake up at 9 when the phone rings. Now fortunately for me (and my other buddy who I was providing a reference for.) I can wake up quickly when I want to. So when I spoke to the very cheery women and I was able to give a very favorable recommendation. In my head I am just saying “FUCK, FUCK, FUCK… I am so late!” Now the funniest part is the cheery lady starts feeling me out. It appears that she runs a staffing agency and started to ask me questions about my job past and plans. I had to nicely but quickly redirect back to my friend’s job reference and than finish the conversation.

So obviously I did not get to work out and was a mad man getting to Wilson but thanks to no traffic was able to be at his place at 10:10. So I’m only off my schedule by 10 minutes not bad right and I really am playing things by ear. I had said I would like to check certain things out but if I don’t I don’t and that just means I have to try for another road trip in the future. But the first place we were going to was the Brownstone diner and Pancake Factory in Jersey City. www.brownstonediner.com/ Now I had heard about this place from a friend and even saw it on the list of Locals on the Diners Drive in & Dives website so I knew I wanted to check it out but as with every time I go to jersey something went wrong. I plugged in the address into my GPS and it said we should be there in 30 minutes. Now I knew with NY/NJ traffic it could be more but we where stuck in gridlock for over an hour. Here are some of the things being said in the car as we are stuck in traffic.

Wilson: You know Alitha is right.

Eric: What about?

Wilson: “A Hungry man is an angry man.”

Eric: So I guess you are hungry?

Wilson: Yeah. I haven’t eaten all day.

Eric: What are you going to have when we get there?

Wilson: FOOD! I DON’T CARE WHAT JUST FOOD! THE WAITRES IS GOING TO COME TO US AND I’M GOING TO TELL HER YOU GO BACK THERE, TAKE WHAT EVER IS READY AND BRING IT TO ME, I’LL EAT IT!!! THEN AFTER THAT I’LL ORDER MY MEAL!

Eric: Stop making me laugh I can’t see straight.

Wilson: LIKE IT MATTERS! WE HAVE BEEN IN THE SAME SPOT FOR THE LAST 20 MINUTES!

Eventually we do get moving and make it into Jersey City while we are heading there along the way an interesting tidbit of info comes up

Wilson: Hey, I know where we are going?

Eric: Yeah The Brownstone Diner.

Wilson: No I have been there.

Eric: Really?

Wilson: Yeah I just didn’t remember the name; it was after one of the Parties.

Eric: A party at D’s

Wilson: Yeah

Eric: No wonder you couldn’t remember the name, after one of D’s parties your lucky if you remember your way home.

Wilson: That only happened once.

We finally get to the diner and all is right with the world. The food was excellent the service was very friendly and I had no complaints. We both ordered the King Combo 3 stacks of Pancakes (I had chocolate chips, Wilson had regular), 3 eggs (Scrambled for me over easy for Wilson) and a steak) It was so good. I could have just gone home and slept after that. But we traveled on. I may or may not have taken a little nap while I was driving.

When all is said and done and after all the traffic we hit we don’t get to the Franklin institute till 4:00 I only took pictures of outside because the exhibit we were going to see did not allow cameras, kind of a jip but the exhibit was really cool. They had a retrospective of the Star Trek exhibit and had all these props from the show. They even had a recreation of the Star Trek: The Next Generations bridge. Obviously I had to drag Wilson out of there kicking and screaming.

We stopped at a small cheap restaurant cause we were actually still full from “Breakfast” at noon. And than cause we were in Philly we stopped of at the Gold Club a gentlemen’s club. The Gold Club has become a part of every Philly trip we take because usually when we are in Philly its for a comic convention and after a bad con we needed to console our selves. It was actually quite nice to go just to have fun.

My philosophy on strip cubs is that it’s nice harmless fun you basically walk into this place and all the girls want to talk to you. Now I know they are only trying to make a living and put themselves through college (At least that’s what most of them keep telling me.) so the attention is fake, but so is the “It’s a small world” ride in Disney land. It’s fantasy and as long as no one is getting hurt no problem. I’ve been to a few clubs where all the girls were high or drunk and that actually made me uncomfortable. I keep thinking they don’t do this because they want to. They do this because they have to but here the girls are just very friendly.

Now we are having a good time but I know I still have another half hour to drive to go so we head out at around 11:00.

Conversation after we left:

Wilson: You know the strip is starting to come true.

Eric What do you mean?

Wilson: Every time we go to a strip club and you leave all the girls know your name.

Eric: I’m friendly.

Wilson: Yeah, How much did you spend?

Eric: I think I signed over my car to a stripper named Mercedes. She was topless talking to me and I don’t remember much after that.

So After I borrowed my car back from Mercedes We were on our way to a Motel 6 to crash for the night.

To see all my pics go here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=101863&id=528577688&l=67d0e54280