As promised...

Remember way back when I started the blahhhgggg? A month and a half ago? Seems like only a couple of weeks to me, though. Time really flies.

In my second post I jotted down some idea of things I intended to share but was in danger of forgetting. Well, it didn't help. I forgot. But now I have re-visited the list in question. Let's give bullet #1 a go, shall we?

The Joys and Dangers of Not Stirring One's Coffee. (also applies to tea.)

I have this idea in my head that several really good, robust cups of coffee are a great meal replacement when I forget to eat breakfast or have worked through lunch. I do not claim this is correct or even healthy, but--when I am getting a bit peckish at the office, sometimes a hot beverage with the right amount of sweet & foam makes the hungry go away.

So, I have been imbibing a markedly increased amount of coffee and tea as of late. This also means I have been adding sweetener and cream-like-non-dairy-product to my beverages too. But in this age of Al-Gore-can-win-an-Oscar-for-scaring-the-shit-out-of-us, I have concluded that it is extremely wasteful to use the seemingly endless pile of little plastic straws, logo-stirrers, and little wooden sticks. I decided to not stir the coffee at all. Just hope that a little "swishing around" will do the trick.

It works. I feel much better about acting-locally, thinking-globally and I still get my coffee. In theory, I am happy. However, occasionally the mix isn't right or I didn't slosh it around enough. When this happens then my last few sips, the dregs if you will, are a coffee/syrup-y/creamer-sludge nightmare.

Yet I still drink it.

I feel good doing my part for Gaia, but I risk getting the diabetes from the un-stirred detritus in the bottom of my cup.

Was this worth the wait? Nah, not for me either. :)
--tomb

Ohhh...the places you'll go!

OK, ok, ok... yes, it's been 24 days since I last updated. But my dear droogies, if you recall the post immediately below this one (read it now if you need a refresher), nearly every possible moment of those 24 days has been occupied with weddings, travel, packing, etc.

Babies, I am tired. However, many many thanks are in order: I got a suprisingly high number of private emails and responses to the blog checking on me, reminding me that I have not posted, folks going though withdrawl, etc. Really it was touching as well as effective. I am back. I will continue to post when I can before the big move, and then...likely ALOT more often after the move.

So what's been going on? I was in NYC, then I did the wedding, then I went to Amsterdam/Dusseldorf/Maastricht for St. Patrick's day, spent a day at the British Consulate getting my visa, all the while sort and packing my accoutrement for the crossing.

During the entire time I kept a running list of weird things just for the amusement of the blog and its few readers...

1. The folks at the British Consulate seemed very happy to see an actual Chicagoan applying for an entrance visa for their country. During my day there, it seemed to be an endless stream of people from other countries, who happened to be in Chi-town, but looking to enter the UK. I have no idea why or how this came to be, but there I was, seemingly the only American in the room. Anyway...when my turn with the clerk came up, I got a nice conversation, recommendations for sights/food/recreation/etc. Everyone else just a got a stamp and paid a fee.
2. While I was in New York, I went to the bar that I usually frequent when I have to work in Manhattan. O'Reilly's on 31st and 6th. I was enjoying a Jamesons and some wings (yes, I was in my own personal heaven) when I suddenly realized I had been hearing nothing but Celine Dion songs on the sound system. It had been at least 4 songs, 2 of which had been in french. Odd, no? So I inquired of my waitress, since usually this particular bar pipes in XM radio and it is tuned to "Lucy", channel 54. She said, "yeah, this happens about once a week. Sometimes we have to tell that guy that the jukebox is broken." To which I asked, "which guy?" She pointed out a 6'5" , +350lb. giant black dude in a leather coat sitting at the bar. Alone. The server said he would play Celine songs all night if they let him. Chew on that one for a while.
3. Speaking of XM--it may be possible that I can enjoy it while in the UK. More on that experiment later.
4. I spent an evening at a Bowling alley/Laser Tag arena/4 Star Steak House in the Netherlands. I salute the entrepreneurial spirit that decided to combine those things all under one roof. You know what? It was crowded. Forget about getting to the salad bar.
5. St. Patrick's day in Maastricht NL is not the festivus that it is here in the states. Oh, I did go to the Irish pub in town and had a lovely dinner, but IE nationals had just lost in Rugby and the mood in the bar was FAR from festive.
6. You can never go wrong with the "30+ Party in D'heimel" Look here, in the fotos section and you will find a picture of yours truly dancing his ass off! (I'm the one in the Jameson's shirt.)
7. Upon my return from the UK, I will go into the Wedding business. Period. Getting married? I will do it for you. It was a blast and everyone was very enthusiastic about my homemade-not-too-churchy wedding service.

So, let me end this for now with the promise that I will get to it more often, now that I have a smidge more time.

--tomb

Irony Corner

I 've decided to start drinking more often, because I have been having too much to drink lately.

Strange, no?

The past two weekends I have had opportunity to "go out" on Saturday night and essentially had no limits. Last weekend I was at the RJR launch party. Corporate event, big dance club in Chicago, open access. Then yesterday, I went out with the neighbors which was also very cool. Went to three different bars, and I mean different in every sense of the word: one Japanese sake bar, one local headbangers/cowboys bar (not kidding on that descriptor) and one suburban dance club. That night also had limitless access to drinks since everyone is in the process of saying good-bye to us before our big move to the UK.

In addition to this, my next four weekends are similarly booked: I am performing a wedding on Saturday (with accompanying rehearsal dinner Friday), then the next weekend I am going to a St. Patrick's day party in the Netherlands, (yes, I know how weird that sounds) the weekend after that I am in Amsterdam, the weekend after that--my friends in Chicago are throwing a good-bye party for us.

SO--there is the potential for much too much drinking over the next month.

The last two Sundays, I have been not so much hungover as overly exhausted and bloaty, or in other words, miserable for a good chunk of the day. It doesn't help that the Saturday nights have included beer and shots and champagne, etc. within several hours of each other. See, I have not been a big beer drinker for the last 3 years, having it usually two nights a month when we'd do the show, and then only Guinness. Adding so much bad beer back into my system and then mixing it around with other stuff, has proven...detrimental.

It used to be that I would have a martini or a bit of Jamesons after work a couple times a week. Very nice, warms up the soul, lets one properly process the day, good for settling in with a book or whatever is on TV. However, because my weekends have been and will continue to be feasts of Bacchus, I have been eliminating my good drinks during the week, the higher quality things that I actually enjoy for the taste, only to replace them with high volumes of things that I don't normally drink.


I miss my martini's and feel like I am cheating on her with beer. Nasty dirty sex beer. Sure its fun that night, but the next day--It's like I got crabs...and pregnant...and I showed up on Maury only to find out that beer's not my baby's daddy, it's Jaeger Shots!

Therefore I have come up with a solution: Drink more of what I like during the week. Then, drink only that on the upcoming heavy weekends as well. No more multiple types of beer. No shots unless its something I am already drinking. If I start with wine, I stick with wine. Same for beer. Sipping two Jamesons will go just as far a five beers. That's it.


Drink more to drink less. It's a way of life, people. Embrace it.

--tomb