hi, nice to meet you...awkward...

dates are so nervewracking.

AMW and HFM were visiting the City this weekend, which couldn't have worked out more perfectly, because i had a date on Saturday afternoon in the City so i could essentially kill 2 birds with 1 stone. yay!

it was a good omen when, on Friday night, there was absolutely no traffic on my way into the City via the Holland Tunnel. recently, my drives to Jersey City or towards the Holland Tunnel have been plagued with reedonkulously long traffic jams and stand-still traffic. but this time, it was smooth sailing the entire way and i arrived in Brooklyn within 45 minutes from when i started.

Friday night was a throwback to the days of yore aka the Golden Age in Brooklyn because we went to the local, Brazen Head, which was where we spent a lot of our BLS years. it was also a big wake-up call as we realized the Brazen was no longer "our" bar/local anymore. we didn't know any of the bartenders and barely knew any of the ppl in the bar. this of course excludes Kiddo and Coleslaw, who still knew about half the ppl there and 1 of the bartenders. particularly impressive for Coleslaw, considering she hasn't resided in Brooklyn since we graduated.

the next day was D-Day aka Date Day. i'm not sure the day started off on the right foot: immediately upon waking up, i was Ice-d. i did relish receiving my first Ice-ing ever, and from Coleslaw which makes it even better, but first thing in the morning? touche Coleslaw. the battle is on. surprisingly, lime-flavored Smirnoff doesn't taste completely awful.
despite my morning alcoholic beverage, i was productive pre-date. i got my haircut in Chinatown, went shopping with AMW and NC, and we caught brunch at Broken English, a new restaurant on Smith and Bergen. the place is a beautiful space and the brunch menu, while short and simple, didn't disappoint. AMW ordered the French Toast served with bananas and strawberries ($7), NC ordered the Egg Pasta with Black Peppercorn and Parmesan ($12), and i ordered the Eggs Benedict served with Prosciutto ($10). The Eggs Benedict was good, although it's served on country bread which is really hard to neatly cut through. by the 2nd piece i'd abandoned trying to eat it and just ate the egg and prosciutto. the prosciutto was also much thicker and saltier than the type i usually encounter (perhaps because there was so much more of it, it tasted saltier). i substituted french fries for homefries and those were perfect: shoe string crispy fries. i ate all of that. AMW's French Toast was received favorably since she couldn't stop picking at it even when she got full. i tried a bite and it was a little too mushy on the inside for me, but it wasn't overly sweet and i could see the appeal. i couldn't get myself to try NC's pasta because i was too full by then but she ate most of it so i assume it was good. the service was nothing great, but it wasn't awful either. they don't offer a brunch drinks menu although they have a fully-stocked bar; they do show you a wine list if you ask. i ordered a Bloody Mary and it was totally worth the $7. ok, maybe not totally worth it, but pretty darn close. it's served in a pint glass with a giant celery stick and is very spicy. if you like your Bloody Mary spicy, which i do, then this is the perfect place.

so after having imbibed my 2nd alcoholic drink of the day, i headed out towards my date. it was essentially a blind date and this was our first time meeting in person. nerve-wracking. however, the dating gods were kind in that he was cuter than i was expecting (and taller: 5'11) and much, much funnier. i guess it was a good sign when he picked Housing Works Bookstore Cafe as our neutral date location. the location proved:

1. he reads

2. is socially conscious

3. liberal

4. intelligent (implied from the fact that he reads)

i should keep this place in mind the next time i go out on a date. i was curious how the date would go since he picked a very get-out-of-jail-free safety time of 4:00 pm and a very neutral/non-commital meeting activity (coffee). i'm not sure if i should've been offended or grateful for his foresight. i chose the latter.

Housing Works Bookstore Cafe closes at 5:00 p.m. on the weekends (it's workers are volunteers so i can accept that). i took it as a good sign that he wanted to extend the date and we spent some more time walking around the neighborhood and chatting some more before he walked me to my subway and we said goodbye. with a handshake.

um, what?!

so............. i guess that date didn't go well. darn, and i think i could've really liked him.

productivity

reading GMW's blog, i feel like the biggest slacker on earth. she updates every day. and creates a fun little comic with each post.

i'm lucky if i update every month. and if i'm feeling really ambitious, i post some ready-made pictures.

it's not because my brain is devoid of thoughts/rantings. they just completely fly out of my mind when the Blogger new post template opens up in front me. here's what happens:

"oooh, something interesting/funny happened. let me remember that for the blog."

3 hours pass.

"o yea, didn't i have something i wanted to blog about? let me open Blogger."

Sign into Blogger account. Open up NewPost tab.

"........................................................................."

Blink, blink, blink.

Tap fingers on keyboard randomly.

Sigh.

Close Blogger window.

and that's about it in a nutshell.

maybe i should invest in a dictaphone. then i can rant and discuss to my heart's content and then transcribe it later. then again, that seems like a lot of work. and kind of narcissistic.

and, worst of all, i'd have to listen to myself.

VETO.

JGL loooooooove

i am so in love with JGL. i mean, seriously.

it might be getting to the point where JGL might want to watch out for himself.

i would have to say it all started to manifest itself with (500) Days of Summer. he was just so endearing and adorable in that movie (which i subsequently purchased on DVD. it wasn't even a choice. it was a necessity). the way his character mooned over Zooey Deschanel/Summer and the subsequent downward spiral of the relationship was superbly realistic. his skinny boy look coupled with his deep deep voice started to make him very attractive to me. the 2 features seem somehow disjointed, as if they don't belong together, but JGL had a way of delivering his lines so that his baritone voice would occassionally break/crack at just-the-right-moment and would make me empathize with/sympathize for his character, as well as have an unsupressable desire to want to scoop him up and throw him on my bed-to comfort him, of course.

then Inception came out.

OMG. talk about using that sexy baritone and, sometimes, deadpan voice to full effect. oh, and those three-piece suits? ::melting:: good job wardrobe stylist on Inception!

the movie itself was already stellar. interesting idea coupled with great effectuation of said idea. i saw a making-of featurette on HBO and was also impressed that Christopher Nolan likes special effects to be as non-CGI as possible. so for instance, the scene between Leonardo DiCaprio and Ellen Page in the streets of Paris with fruit stands blowing up all around them? real. they used pressurized cannons to have the fruit in the fruit stands blow up the way they did. similarly, the amazing fight scene with JGL fighting in room that's making 360 degree turns? wire work. mmm, how i do love that scene. JGL fighting in a three-piece suit looking all sexy. that and him kissing Ellen Page scene. that lucky biatch.

speaking of lucky biatches, it looks like Devon Aoki and JGL are currently an item. even if i wanted to hate on her, i really can't because she's pretty f-ing gorgeous. ::mumble, mumble, stupid Benihana heir, mumble, mumble:: on the bright side, at least this means i could possibly have a chance with the JGL because he might be fond of the asian persuasion...

does Virginia count as "down South"? Part 1

being an Northeastern'er my whole life, i really don't know. how sad.

road trips with friends are always fun. especially when you know that drinking and debauchery are waiting for you at the other end. however, drama is never fun. and my trip to VB was almost derailed because of drama. BOOOOOO. you would think, the more the merrier right? wrong. when too many heads come together, there's just too many conflicting desires and personalities.

problems started even before the trip was underway. The initial plans were to go to Coleslaw's place in VB, so Cubed bought a plane ticket to VB. however, Coleslaw subsequently got a job in Richmond and was staying at a friend's place in Richmond and wanted to shift everything to Richmond. this coincided with AMW's desire to see her latest boy, who also resides in Richmond. not ideal for Cubed, who couldn't change his ticket without a monetary loss, or Kiddo and i, who balked at the idea of a weekend surrounded by strange boys as opposed to the law school reunion we'd initially pictured. BGA, who was also going, didn't care either way. strange boys make him happy and so do we.

a compromise was reached wherein Kiddo and i would drive to VB a day before everyone else so we could pick up Cubed. we would then drive to Richmond and rendezvous with BGA and AMW, who were taking the Chinatown bus. party in Richmond for 1 night and see where the mood took us.

i actually really like roadtrips, and it doesn't really matter if i'm the driver or the passenger. it all depends on the chemistry of the ppl in the car. Kiddo is a combination of a lazy/polite and reliable passenger. he defers to the driver for the roadtrip soundtrack, which i like since i'm an iPod tyrant of sorts, but it makes for tricky driving, particularly when i'm driving a route i don't know. plus, i get chagrined making ppl listen to music they don't understand, e.g. korean, japanese, and chinese pop music, which meant i was grabbing the iPod to skip a lot of songs. also, Kiddo is the type of co-pilot who would rather be sleeping, which is total co-pilot faux pas. however, since Kiddo isn't the most talkative person in the first place, whether he was sleeping or awake really didn't make that much of a difference so it didn't really matter. Kiddo is a pretty reliable navigator tho, so plus points for him on that. and, because he's so laidback, he took my occassional spazzy/scary driving tactics in full stride. and that is not easy to do.
when we arrived in VB it was pretty late (i had to drive slower because it was impossible to see on the windy backroads and there were no streetlamps). without many food possibilities, we ended up at TGIF's, which seemed to be the late-night hang out for the area on a Thursday night. it's interesting to be a tourist hanging out in a place where locals frequent. although Kiddo and i were engaged in our convo, i couldn't help eavesdropping on the convos of those around us.

staying at Coleslaw's apartment without her there was just as interesting an experience. first off, it was scarily messy. secondly, according to Kiddo, it was devoid of food. Kiddo and i diverge on this issue. there were plently of Lean Cuisines and microwave snacks and food at Coleslaw's which i completely categorize as "food", but apparently Kiddo does not consider those items consumable. and then there's Kittles, or his real name, Texas Pete, Coleslaw's cat. she was super friendly and kept rubbing her head against me. this is prob the only cat i've ever liked although i still had an unreasonable fear that she would smother me in my sleep. when i laid down to pass out in Coleslaw's bed, i heard a "mew" and all of a sudden Kiddles was right in front of my face. it scared the bejesus out of me! hence the wall of pillows for protection.
the next morning Cubed arrived and we all went out for brunch/ lunch. we attempted to go to Pocahontas Pancake House, which we read about on Yelp and has apparently been showcased on the Food Network, but alas, we arrived too late (uh, 11:30 a.m. is too late? apparently). so i called Coleslaw for suggestions but could not for the life of me, find the place she had suggested. so instead we pulled into the parking lot for Beach Bully's instead. we took the packed parking lot as a good sign.and it was such a good decision! aside from the embarassment of Cubed having to ask "what are hush puppies" and the deafening silence that ensued in the restaurant, the whole experience was extremely enjoyable and yummy. i ordered the fried catfish platter with mac and cheese and fries (you get the choice of 2 sides. i was not just being a fatty :p). Cubed ordered the sandwich which was so good, tender meat and delish BBQ sauce. Kiddo, being the growing boy he is, ordered the Queen Combo which is 1/4 chicken and queen rack of ribs + 2 side dishes. the chicken was "eh" but the ribs were fall of the bone yum.
my favorite part of Beach Bully's, aside from the clearly delicious food, was the abundance of sauce options. i wish they had these in every restaurant.
as i was lauding the food and wishing i could eat it every day, i noticed the size of some of the other customers and realized it's probably a good thing that there isn't a Beach Bully near me.

Alliance One bastards.

recently, my house been receiving calls from an anonymous (800) number. when they call, they ask to speak to my mother, _____ _______. as is customary in our house, since we're pretty wary of telemarketers (no offense to you guys), i always ask what they're calling in reference to. at this point is when the conversation immediately goes down hill. in an extremely condescending voice the caller (regardless if it's a male/female. it's always a different caller), asks me if i'm [my mother].

to which i respond, "no."

to which the caller responds, "put [my mother] on the phone."

again, i ask what the call is about.

to which the caller responds, in an even snarkier voice, "just put [my mother] on the phone. are you [my mother]? didn't think so. put her on the phone. "

and then usually when i say "no" since they won't identify themselves, they get pretty nasty. the responses so far are:
1. well you're just screwing [my mother] over, not me. good job with that.
2. screw you. have [my mother] call us.

this morning, right as i was headed out to work, they called again. this time, when i told them i didn't feel the need to pass the phone on when the caller refused to identify themselves, she responded (this time was a she), "you never asked" (said in a smug, self-satisfactory tone). touche. but that doesn't stop me from getting pissed. in the middle of me beginning a tirade about how ridiculous to expect anyone to speak to them when they refuse to identify themselves, she hung up.

this was the last straw. so i called them back. thank god for caller ID.

and that's how i found out about Alliance One. you debt collecting bastards.

don't get me wrong. true, i do think all debt collectors are bastards. not because they're collecting debt, but because of the methods they use. for the most part, unless the collector is collecting on behalf of the original creditor, as opposed to an entity that purchased the debt account from the original creditor (or more often times, from a purchaser-of-a-purchaser-of-a-purchaser and so on), usually debt collectors just do a general search of the main account holder's name and then harass all the people it finds until it finds the right one (or a sucker who's willing to pay).

they like to cast a wide net in order to catch a tiny minnow.

i used to work at Pressler & Pressler, which, regardless of all the angst some former employees harbor towards the place, taught me some valuable life lessons regarding debt collection and how to get them to f-off.

1. they are not allowed to speak to anyone except the debtor or the debtor's attorney. in order to confirm that they're speaking with the correct debtor, they'll usually request you verify some information. NEVER verify your place of employment or bank account information. they almost always don't actually have that information on file, so you've just been tricked into providing them sources to collect money from if they ever obtain a judgment against you. stick with the safe information such as YOUR BIRTH DATE, THE LAST 4 DIGITS OF YOUR SOCIAL SECURITY NUMBER, AND YOUR ADDRESS. i recommend these because often times the information may immediately eliminate you as the actual account holder. although, be warned, they may just change the information in their system so it becomes you. i've seen this happen.

2. tell them you don't want to receive any phone calls and want all correspondence in writing. it stops all the annoying phone calls.

3. tell them "don't write and don't call." this is also an option and prevents them from contacting you, EVER. however, be warned, this doesn't prevent them from sending you an initial contact verifying the debt or filing suit against you.

4. have them verify the debt. pursuant to the FDCPA (Fair Debt Collection Practices Act), as the consumer, you are entitled to documentation that verifies the amount of the debt and that you owe said amount. after you request such documentation, if they fail to send it to you, they cannot legally pursue you for it.

5. tell them you dispute the debt. this only works if the account isn't yours, you already paid it, or the amount's incorrect. there are no other circumstances to dispute the debt. being unable to pay it is not a dispute.

refer to the FDCPA (federal law regulating debt collection) as well as any applicable state statutes. the FDCPA is pretty simple to read. i believe NJ doesn't have any state statutes regulating collections and relies on federal lie.

i recommend performing these 5 steps first before becoming completely embroiled in any discussion with a debt collector that's calling you. many times ppl start talking to the collector, explaining about circumstances, hardships, etc.

let me clue you in on something: they don't care. AT ALL.

most collection agents are on the computer as they talk to you, with your file open in front of them, and taking down all the important information e.g. if you're going to pay, boo-hoo sob story, etc. the end-all-be-all is they want to get paid. that's it.

there are tactics and certain circumstances that warrant not paying an outstanding debt and negotiating a smaller payment or a payment plan. it's not really that hard. collectors are always authorized to some degree to negotiate with you. usually, if the debt's legit, i have no problem paying it, however, since Alliance One was such a bastard on the phone, i am praying for an FDCPA violation by them. based on our previous convos, i don't see it being that difficult. and each violation results in up to a $1,000 fine.

please, please, bring it. we could use the money.

going through the motions

don't tell the other drivers i share the road with on my morning commute (that's you people on 287 South starting from exit 43 down to 22), but i often find myself spacing out on the commute b/c it's so boring and tedious. even with fun music playing, i can't get motivated or energetic because it's so early in the morning. apparently, i have not acclimated to being a worker bee yet. the only times i'm truly alert is when i'm going through momentary road rage because of some stupid driver in front of me.

how i have not gotten into an accident is beyond me ::knock on wood::

meats=yummy

YAY YAY more trashy tv! i totally can't wait for this show. there's even an asian version of the situation who's also been involved in nude pictorials and, allegedly, porn. ::crossing my fingers that it gets picked up:: i'll finally get to see how stupid, trashy, and hilarious we can be ::excited squeal::

phew. all trashiness depleted for the moment.

haven't embarked on a Restaurant Week in a while due to complete lack of funds, but finally did and can't think of a better way to kick it off. GI has migrated back to the East Coast after having moved out to Cali for the past few years. GI and i met when we were both studying abroad in Edinburgh, Scotland, and, as it so happened, both of us were dating people when our friendship developed. in turn, there was never a sexually tense moment between us and, somehow, it's managed to stay that way throughout these 7 years we've known each other. i guess the fact that he was in Chicago and i was in Northampton helped. and then the fact that he moved to Cali and i was in NJ/NY also helped. but i've been in similar situations and something still happened so i'd like to think it's more than that with GI.

GI and i hadn't been able to meet up since his move to the east, and he's been here for a few months already so it was great that we could finally coordinate something between the 2 of us. we ended up deciding to eat at Rayuela, which i've always been interested to eat at since i hear good things, and also because they were offering an interesting Restaurant Week menu.

of course, on the date of our dinner, the weather was sweltering. by the time i got to the restaurant i was drenched in sweat. it was not pretty (or you could say it was really pretty-pretty gross). i arrived early so i grabbed a seat at the bar and lamented the fact that, even with the front door closed, the restaurant was still warm. a tall glass of ice water remedied that situation.

GI and i got a prime seat near the front of the restaurant but at the corner booth, which was really nice. the only drawback was when our waitress came over with a small towel wrapped on a stick. why, you ask? because the sweltering heat was making the A/C work overtime, which resulted on it sweating down on diners who were sitting underneath it. i really appreciated that they were coming around to wipe the A/C sweat so it didn't rain down on me, but then, after that initial wipe, they never came back! it only rained on me once, and i just scooted to the right a little and avoided any more mishaps.

Rayuela is not a bad date option, but it also serves just as good for a friendly-dinner option. the ambience is chic but not pretentiously so (yes, the tree in the middle of the room that grows up towards the 2nd floor is very cool) and the lighting is just dim enough that it could be romantic, but not pitch black so it doesn't feel weird if you're not on a date-date. GI commented he was surprised to see such a fine-dining-esque restaurant in this location, but i'm not surprised at NYC anymore and i truly believe the sectioning off of neighborhoods and types is growing blurrier and blurrier every day.

just to prove that great minds think alike, GI and i ordered the exact same menu, except for the dessert (which we split) and our choice of wine-pairings, which is only an extra $15 so i highly recommend-although i could skip the dessert wine. blech too sweet.
the amuse of gazpacho was a nice start and more than a shot glass's worth, which is always appreciated. sometimes i'm a fan of gazpacho, other times i'm not. because it was so hot outside, the gazpach was very welcome and refreshing. We both ordered the Carpaccio de Corvina & Calamari Ceviche. i'm a total sucker for ceviches so i was really looking forward to this, but it ended up tasting a little bland, which threw me off since ceviche usually entails a strong acidic/citrusy flavor. and the corvine did not taste like carpaccio but instead had the taste and texture of cooked fish. however, the sweet potato croquette was piping hot, crunchy on the outside but soft and starchy on the inside=totes delish.

As entrees we had the Piramide de Carne which is beef, duck, AND pork in a single dish. i had been torn between ordering this or the lamb or the swordfish but this completely paid off. although the portion looked "eh", the density of all those meats and a side of rice=completely filling. the poached egg was perfectly poached (something i wish i could do myself) and i broke it over my rice and swooped up any extra yummy yolk with my 3 meats.
for dessert, GI and diverged so that we could get a taste of both offerings. the Pastel Rojo=red velvet cake with typical white frosting. i like red velvet cake, don't get me wrong. but is that really latin american fare? the Natilla de Chocolate had so much potential but it was starting to melt by the time it got to our table and within 4 bites was a soupy mess.

overall i thought the meal was great, sans dessert, but honestly, by that time i was pretty full anyway.

****update****

yesterday i got a call from the NYC Department of Health. apparently somebody reported getting sick after eating at Rayuela on the same night GI and i did. i'm not sure what they ate or what happened but i just want to reiterate: GI and i were perfectly healthy after our meal. the only thing we left Rayuela with was a case of food satisfaction.

i blame Chef Boyardee

i blame him for why i have to awake at 5:30 a.m. to go to the gym and have someone abuse me and my thighs, abs, calves, and arms.

no, i haven't been stocking up on cans of those shamefully delicious meals.

i recently joined the gym because i couldn't handle my big fat ass anymore. especially since i am around my skinny-minnie, smaller-than-a-barbie-doll little sister. what's worse is that she's secretly a Hungry Hungry Hippo! she just eats and eats and eats and eats and eats... well, you get my point. yet she's just barely hitting 100 lbs. curse you H-Cubed!

even tho i've joined a gym and do want to take this get-healthy (PC speak for get skinny) thing seriously, it doesn't mean i've just instantly stopped craving food. and what's worse is that i constantly crave bad food e.g. meals by Mr. Chef Boyardee (or is it just Mr. Boyardee since Chef is his title, like Doctor or Esquire?). since i was a latch-key kid (save your sympathy. i want it not) i ended up eating a lot of Kid Cuisines, Chef Boyardee, and instant ramen. in hindsight, not a great food diet, and i've really developed a pretty bad eating habit. it didn't really start taking a visible physical toll until college (college=bad food and laziness all rolled into one).

however, since i don't like to take any responsibility for what happens to me, i need a blame scapegoat. so, curse you Chef Boyardee! and stop tempting with the 10 cans for $10 deal at my supermarket! you bastard!