tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-58131142011-10-04T16:36:12.254-04:00Your online guide to my life at the Nexus of the UniverseJ. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.comBlogger5821100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-67868660578563767872011-03-17T20:24:00.000-04:002011-03-17T20:24:01.973-04:00

Friday, February 11th will be a day to remember. I came home from work that night and things were pretty normal around the house. The laundry was piled up in the hallway so that I could haul it down to the laundromat as soon as I got home and avoid the hundreds of customers that would make there way through the steamy, cheap bane-of-my-existence a few doors down. Oh laundry, how I loathe thee!

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-23979027046789387742011-03-17T19:36:00.000-04:002011-03-17T19:36:43.062-04:00

There has been plenty of baby preparations going on around our house lately. Last weekend, Erika had her baby shower, which was hosted and organized by the wonderful Roberta and attended by almost 20 friends and family of Erika's - including my Aunt Sam and my mother. Sean and I kept ourselves busy - and wet - by deciding to walk 16 blocks to have lunch at Republic in Union Square - despite the

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-55895459480552637702011-01-04T21:53:00.000-05:002011-01-04T21:53:00.792-05:00

This Christmas was great, as it always is. We got to spend some quality time with my family that I don't get to see so often, in fact it's been at least a year since I've even seen my parents! It's terrible to live so far away from both of our parents, especially as the new chapter in our life approaches. As expected, Erika got a lot of personal attention with our boy in her stomach and we

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-49962648829258398632010-12-12T17:02:00.000-05:002010-12-12T17:02:56.348-05:00

Considering the fact that the baby isn't born yet, there isn't too much that we can scrapbook yet. But we can at least do a little background work for the little guy. We have decided to dedicate  two pages to this subject, leaving lots of growing room for the future. Drum-roll please...... Page One (click for full size) So what we've got here is the first (title page) of the journal. Using the

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-89714014943389580412010-12-09T15:36:00.001-05:002010-12-09T15:36:31.504-05:00

Ahhh....baby journals. I don't really know how to make one, but Erika actually has (and uses) the creative side of the brain and made a shopping list for us on Saturday. We splurged for the Kolo scrapbook, one that is worthy of gracing shelves of some SoHo boutique scrapbooking store, but of the up-most quality. I mean, this thing needs to last several lifetimes, right? And then there were

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-25090699922323387432010-12-03T20:48:00.000-05:002010-12-03T20:48:22.416-05:00

I'm hoping that this post will help me fall off the wagon when it comes to not writing, and with the events recently I think it's time!  The last two weeks have been pretty bi-polar around here. The phrase circle of life is very cliche (thanks, Lion King), but it really has hit me like a capoeira roundhouse recently. Two weeks ago today, I attended the first funeral visitation in my life. I've

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-88966748264729239352010-09-01T21:21:00.000-04:002010-09-01T21:21:49.342-04:00

Since I'm half-baked at the moment (my favorite B&J froyo), I figure that I can dedicate a blog title to the great, late rapper Tupac Shakur, who was a visionary, who sought change, and died trying. But he didn't change his lifestyle enough and was eventually gunned down after getting involved in the east/west hip-hop gang wars. I suppose Tupac was named after the last Peruvian Inca Tupac Amaru,

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-68246567021755388582010-08-10T23:02:00.000-04:002010-08-10T23:02:28.327-04:00

While I continue to work on the detailed stories of our trip to Barcelona (a long time coming, but I shall persevere!!), I thought I would share some observations that I jotted down throughout the trip in my ultra-trendy faux-moleskin notebook that I carried along to document things while sitting on planes, trains, and automobiles. Here we go, bullet-point style:  On our second day in Spain, we

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-75249703229139000792010-08-05T09:50:00.001-04:002010-08-05T09:50:25.942-04:00

Happy birthday mom, you've got twins on the way! :-x

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-17889622639682598842010-07-19T20:29:00.000-04:002010-07-19T20:29:32.603-04:00

By the second day in Barcelona, we had the whole luggage escapade our of our system and we were ready to start checking off the boxes on our itinerary of amazing things to see in Barcelona. But where should we start? After doing some quick reading in our tour book, we decided to ponder it further over some variant of ham between two slices of bread at the Barceloneta mercado. Erika had had a

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-90516301135730334372010-07-13T22:50:00.003-04:002010-07-14T18:58:25.785-04:00

We're having a party at our humble abode, anyone want to stop by for an evening of indulgence and gluttony? Snacks Available After the party is the after-party... J. Riley, Oven opened, bun inserted

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-69263893175603839442010-07-10T12:56:00.001-04:002010-07-10T12:56:47.550-04:00

Friday morning, and Barcelona awaits us. I spent the last month studying the city and all of it's sites, but somehow it doesn't feel like we are on vacation. After all, we had no luggage. No clean clothing, no appropriate shoes for exploring, and no desire to get the day going. We hung out at the apartment hitting F5 on the laptop keyboard, hoping that British Airways would miraculously change

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-6357121223515071832010-07-10T12:14:00.000-04:002010-07-10T12:14:02.085-04:00

Thirteen embryos have been created. Now they're off to the lab for PGD testing! Assuming it all goes well and statistics are realistic and achievable, the embryo transfer should take place early next week. Erika, for one, can't wait to get this over with, these drugs are horrific!

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-75118390499241652102010-06-28T20:28:00.000-04:002010-06-28T20:28:14.298-04:00

After a colorful day in London, my feet were aching as a result of the overbearing backpack that for some reason I had packed to the maximum. On our flight to Hamburg the next week, we were going to be limited to 15kg for each bag, so the weigh-in at the airport in New York was useful for figuring out how much we were packing, so I had stuffed a couple items of clothing in my backpack both as a

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-61148859652356373432010-06-28T19:54:00.000-04:002010-06-28T19:54:28.908-04:00

Putting Europe aside for a moment, we received news last week that the Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis lab has completed it's setup - in more or less a month. Not bad considering they told us it would take up to eight weeks to have it all ready. We shortly thereafter received a phone call from the NYU Fertility Clinic that we are working with asking us if....we are ready for the next step! And

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-28801468556513580032010-06-22T21:27:00.001-04:002010-06-22T21:28:34.023-04:00

I've been to a few places in this world, but, shockingly, I've never been to England, the birthplace of football. It just so happened that American Airlines couldn't send us straight through to BCN International Airport, we had to spend a few hours in London. Like, eight hours. I've been to Heathrow before and know the kind of damage that can be done to a credit card with a limit there in eight

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-64934024949422386352010-06-22T20:16:00.000-04:002010-06-22T20:16:13.682-04:00

It was around 5:30am when I woke up, sweating and feeling disoriented. I sat up in bed and thought to myself, Where am I? I'm definitely not on stiff, uncomfortable seats at midnight on my way over the Atlantic with a microwaved chicken "dinner" slowly digesting in my stomach, or on my way to Barcelona with sore feet and a over-utilized shoulders, or on my way to Germany with a mind full of

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-35253965322951794302010-05-11T21:11:00.001-04:002010-05-11T21:13:48.072-04:00

The mosquito-inflected wounds on my legs barely healed before I was back at it again. Since last year, we'd been talking about taking a trip to Europe, but I sometimes doubted that it would be realistic for us to do that with all this IVF stuff going on with us. The Background Having accumulated some miles over the past few years with flights and purchases (more from the latter than the former)

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-65658906754002793072010-04-27T23:05:00.000-04:002010-04-27T23:05:09.957-04:00

Unlike Meet the Parents/Fockers, the sequel of Meet the Cuevas in San Marcos, Cajamarca, Peru was actually better than the first one that was released about a year and a half ago. It was certainly different than the first trip, especially considering the fact that I was picked up by Erika's dad and spent the first night at Erika's aunt's house without her around. And of course, no one speaks

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-88772867624722775992010-04-06T19:22:00.002-04:002010-04-06T19:25:38.535-04:00

I'm a changed man. Erika left me on Saturday morning for a multitude of reasons. Most of them are my fault, but one of them is because we are going to be god-parents in a few weeks and I cracked under the pressure, letting her fly down to Peru on her wonderful $200 round-trip ticket and leaving me all by my lonesome. Fear not, however, because I am going to be joining her down there on my $200

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-61877484183450852182010-03-10T21:54:00.001-05:002010-03-10T21:54:52.774-05:00

I had some strange transactions on my credit card recently - $12 charges (that appeared to be occurring monthly) being charged by something called "Reservation Rewards". Apparently, this is one of those scams that they get you signed up for when you buy from "reputable" travel sites like Orbitz. Check out your credit card if you have used one of these discount sites and make sure you're not

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-61359071380179183842010-03-10T21:41:00.000-05:002010-03-10T21:41:01.668-05:00

For once, I've actually been too busy to blog! Let's see, what's going on around here: In an effort to become cultured, we decided to go see a ballet at the NYC Ballet, which was also Erika's (belated) Valentine's Day present. As much as I mockingly "ooohhhed" and "awwwwwed", I couldn't really get into it. I'm not really sure what to look for when they are prancing and dancing around the stage.

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-510533535609445862010-02-24T22:04:00.000-05:002010-02-24T22:04:18.745-05:00

Here in Astoria, we have lots of delectable options for meals thanks to the largely immigrant community. The most prolific is Greek cuisine, but we never really go out for Greek food for some reason. Last Friday was a mellow night and we had been thinking about trying this one place that was highly rated both in the blogosphere, in the NYC Zagat guide, and by the local population (apparently,

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-1567924368119254782010-02-08T22:00:00.000-05:002010-02-08T22:00:40.798-05:00

This weekend was full of amazing deals...or no deal?? Deal: Ever since getting a newly styled haircut in Peru, I've been thinking about what I'm going to do when I need another haircut. Do I got back to my $10 barber and have them attempt to recreate the genius, or do I (acckkkk!!!) try a new hair stylist, randomly choosing one of the throng of hair stylist on my block. I hate going to new hair

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-74309978615902032702010-01-26T17:41:00.001-05:002010-01-26T19:09:02.517-05:00

Last night, I found out that I have a twin! I saw the guy across the room at a bar where a few of us (Paul, Cathy, Jeff, and D) were partaking in a Seinfeld Trivia Contest. We got slaughtered, I've never been so humiliated with my lack of Seinfeld knowledge! What do these other people do, just sit around and watch it all day? An amazing wealth of valuable knowledge these people have, though. I'm

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-89753707710744620962010-01-21T19:13:00.000-05:002010-01-21T19:13:08.555-05:00

I still haven't written about DC! GASP! AWWW! AGGGHHH! Oh, the humanity. I think people will survive. Anyway, I think I really love DC - for visiting anyway. I mean, where else in the country can you get so much historical culture on every corner? A few thoughts about DC that I will mention: Museums. Museums, Museums, Museums! Normally, I find them to be mildly boring, even the ones in foreign

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-59713355180999728622010-01-03T07:58:00.001-05:002010-01-03T08:01:37.310-05:00

I've had some busy trips in my lifetime, but the last seven (eight, now) days have been a whirlwind! Last week I was down in Peru for Christmas. Christmas is done a lot different down there, with the 24th actually being the day of celebration. Or night, rather. All of the events commence at midnight, starting with watching and launching fireworks from the roof of Erika's house. She has quite a

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-60310931189986698752010-01-02T10:29:00.001-05:002010-01-02T10:29:10.725-05:00

Never thought i would have to resort to eating at mcd's for breakfast in dc! Nothing is open!

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-80724194051713876942009-12-24T13:56:00.001-05:002009-12-24T15:31:29.319-05:00

There are certain times in ones life when the discovery of a tool leads to inspiration of sorts. Blogging was one of those events back in 2003 or so. After opening my account and remaining dormant for months, I had a back-of-the-cab discussion with Paul, Cathy, and a friend of theirs in town about the crazy city of New York and how there needed to be a way to keep track of places that I wanted to

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-22052612508137914062009-12-08T21:23:00.000-05:002009-12-08T21:23:49.132-05:00

It's been an unprecedented week and a half of greatness around here lately - and it didn't even include computers! Okay, I lied, there was some nerdliss bliss going on as well as some other awesome things. Such as: I caved in and took Erika to see a sigh-fi movie (pun intended). I am not the biggest fan of these movies and the thought of paying $30 for tickets and a drink to see "2012" is not

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-4881555103809903742009-11-19T16:34:00.001-05:002009-11-19T16:34:50.707-05:00

Wow, how long has it been since I've blogged? I have some really good excuses, and some really bad ones.Good Excuses:- I was in California! For three and a half days. Erika and I decided at the last minute to go visit the family and go see my grandma, who hasn't been feeling too good lately. We found some stellar prices two days before the weekend on Jet Blue and took advantage of the fact

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-82163094507003433112009-10-27T22:32:00.002-04:002009-10-27T22:37:16.752-04:00

1. Whats your name spelt backwards? (should that not be spelled?) Seniah Nitsuj.  Japanese maybe? I am the complete opposite of Japanese, so I guess that makes sense. 2. What did you do last night? Went to a cloud computing event put on by Canonical Ubuntu. Very exciting - and free food and drinks to boot! 3. The last thing you downloaded onto your computer? Match of the Day Highlights from the

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-55932973300936217912009-10-19T20:14:00.000-04:002009-10-19T20:14:17.096-04:00

Actually, they are more like visitors. After not having anyone visit me in the last few years after the initial rush, Summer and Mom & Dad have all visited us in lovely Astoria. Now, we've got Vas confirmed on a flight to come here for a week during Thanksgiving (my second Thanksgiving since I've been here, and my first where I can actually eat solid food) and on Saturday, Leif said "Hey what are

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-1152394929123420532009-10-05T22:23:00.004-04:002009-10-05T22:32:13.319-04:00

First off, congratulations to Summer on her accomplishment!  Last year before I moved into my new apartment, I went on a mad shopping spree to buy stuff for my apartment - you know the essential stuff like a futon, a table, dishware, energy-saving lightbulbs, etc. It was my first experience, but I was amazed at how cheap the stuff was there and, really, how some of the stuff is actually pretty

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-88500053893396478152009-09-24T21:48:00.000-04:002009-09-24T21:48:39.119-04:00

The results are in! I woke up this morning with a back that felt as good as it ever has. I don't even remember the last time that I woke up with my back to relaxed and flexible! One slight problem: I give the bed a thumbs up and the lady sitting next to me gives it a thumbs down. I hope she get's used to it - it would be a shame to have to cut it in half :o/ J. Riley, my body needs the topper

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-30476957956014965462009-09-23T22:53:00.000-04:002009-09-23T22:53:00.394-04:00

Wait, what's this? Do I miss the UES?

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-64584320097789833482009-09-23T18:18:00.001-04:002009-09-23T18:18:37.760-04:00

Foam mattress topper implemented to make my bed almost as tall as Erika. Starting the clock for the 30-day trial period....now! First impressions (pun intended): That chemical smell that I read about? Yes, it's true. I let it "air out" yesterday, but I am not willing to wait another day.  My mattress pad is massive, and is plenty big enough to cover the mattress topper.  Laying on the mattress

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-54639896564684533032009-09-22T20:49:00.001-04:002009-09-22T20:49:42.886-04:00

See what I did there? I love Google Reader, but I also love seeing my hit counter go up on the blog - self gratification or something like that. So now you have to click on the blog link from Reader to read it all. If I could add a link to Facebook to do the same (rather than posting the whole blog), I would do the same thing - force people to click on the link, increase my counter by one, and

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-65566640465863245472009-09-21T17:32:00.000-04:002009-09-21T17:32:09.359-04:00

So last week I got pretty much the first jury summons of my life. I think I got one a few years back when I was in California, but it was one of those bring a book, show up, get dismissed jobs that were good for providing excuses as a reason to wear jeans and not have to go to work for the whole day. In fact, that may have been one of the infamous "pool days" in the old apartment complex....

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-81571245854800748992009-09-20T02:27:00.003-04:002009-09-20T20:26:37.647-04:00

When mom asked if we could take a road trip when they were going to be here visiting, I had a couple ideas come to mind. Since I haven't really taken a road trip outside of Manhattan other than up to Cooperstown, it wasn't hard to find destinations. A fishing village in New England? Some hiking that would overlook the Hudson River valley? Long Island? Scenic lakes upstate? Washington DC? Through

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-5673560030824453012009-09-17T21:15:00.002-04:002009-09-17T22:31:18.963-04:00

This past weekend marked my parent's third trip out to New York to visit - but their first visit since I've lived outside of Manhattan. It was also going to be an interesting trip since they've seen the museums and the typical tourist stops and also because my mom wanted to drive through "the country" and see some landscapes, which would be the....second time I've made a trip outside of Manhattan

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-36766626807093274582009-09-11T16:20:00.001-04:002009-09-11T16:20:44.776-04:00

Ahhh....Labor Day Weekend. It's the last weekend of the year to enjoy true summer weather - if you live in New York and the year is 2009, apparently. In fact, it was pretty much the only typical summer weather that we go to experience the whole year, other than the two weeks of swampy nastiness that we got back in August. With the weather so nice out, it was great weekend to take advantage

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-50665231191140032562009-09-04T11:36:00.001-04:002009-09-04T11:36:13.834-04:00

So I've had a lot of problems with ye old mattress in my apartment - despite the fact that it was fairly expensive and only one year. I've thought about buying a new one, but it's such a waste of cash, especially considering that I just finished paying it off yesterday (literally - 18 months interest free!). I was thinking about getting a nice product from Ikea, which has amazing prices for

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-48793481730619678302009-08-26T16:37:00.003-04:002009-08-26T18:38:43.829-04:00

Erika and I had a nice couple days planned for last weekend. It all started out by making homemade pizzas on Friday night coupled with some movies on a disgustingly humid night. I hadn't made homemade pizzas before, and since I don't have a pizza stone, I wasn't exactly sure how the crust was going to work out. We ended up using whole-wheat pita bread with tomato sauce, a bunch of vegetables

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-85046030829173825222009-08-13T14:47:00.001-04:002009-08-13T14:47:01.679-04:00

Have you ever noticed how when you go to work in your business casual clothing and you forget your belt, you feel almost naked? Yikes, that's how I feel today...J. Riley, sore back AGAIN this morning.

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-30303009501673183302009-08-12T16:54:00.002-04:002009-08-12T17:58:55.931-04:00

Ohh....wittiest of titles, why do you fail me now? There is so much I can do with the word "back", but my creativity is lacking right now. Maybe that's because I haven't written anything for a few weeks :^oIn any case, Roland promised to write more, and he blasted us all with his warrior diet advertisement (or maybe, like my Twitter account, his blogger account was hacked?), so I will do

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-41706981380501492522009-07-27T22:28:00.002-04:002009-07-27T23:03:08.082-04:00

Last week I was watching the latest No Reservations from Anthony Bourdain, when he was traveling with his crew to Melbourne, the city that I consider "forgotten" in Australia. I really don't know anything about the place, which is why I found this particular episode intriguing. What I didn't realize is that Melbourne is a huge melting pot that he described as the San Francisco of Australia. So he

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-6331128197774613042009-07-10T17:26:00.005-04:002009-07-10T19:39:06.226-04:00

Scientists haven't figured out why yet, but lately I've been....motivated. It's really weird. I am not sure what it was that flipped the switch for me - among other things, it could have been the realization that I will most likely live until I'm only 60, it could have been the wife telling me that I should try to accomplish more things with my plethora of free time, it could be the start of

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-15137580800961889602009-06-30T17:59:00.007-04:002009-06-30T20:25:31.700-04:00

I'm back from my trip and, while I'm still working on recovering from my flight, I'm alive! It was a pretty busy week that involved lots of public transit, lots of naps on said public transit, and some interesting tidbits!Pluses:I met an interesting couple on the flight down to Peru that are from Cardiff-by-the-Sea (it's a small world). He is an English teacher in Oceanside and for some reason

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-63777321553307140642009-06-29T03:04:00.001-04:002009-06-29T03:04:13.289-04:00

You know how you feel when your flight was delayed, it's 3:00am, and the pilot just woke you up? Yea, that's how i feel.

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-12710712110186395392009-06-26T12:15:00.002-04:002009-06-26T12:21:07.361-04:00

Last night, much to my chagrin, we ate at a Pizza Hut in Peru, which is decorated to be an "elegant" restaurant here, albeit with the same greasy pies as we have in the United States. It's neighbor, KFC, was even much fancier than what we have in the States. The pizza was okay, but I was impressed with the fact that they brought out aji (hot sauce) as a condiment for the pizza. After complaining

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-91899228718099850642009-06-24T23:47:00.006-04:002009-06-25T00:29:37.925-04:00

After much pondering and reflection on just what the hell to do about my teeth while I'm down here in Peru, I decided that I would utilize one of my remaining appointments to at least get the tooth that needed the onlay checked out, because my conclusion on that tooth wasn't totally confirmed yet. I know that my dentist in NY had said that the area around the existing (metal) filling on that

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-87388420945072066702009-06-22T13:45:00.002-04:002009-06-22T14:45:56.916-04:00

I arrived in Peru last week with grand expections: we could kill three birds with one stone by fitting in my friends' Ryan and Lili's wedding, Erika's mom's surgery, and of course the completing the latest chapter in my storied dental history all in the course of a week or four. Although I'm only five days into it, it looks like I might have introduced another bird to the story.I had a dentist

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-65803419589642876072009-06-11T15:53:00.002-04:002009-06-11T16:22:43.344-04:00

I've lost count.Erika has taken off down to Peru to help her mom out with some stuff, so I'm home alone again. This is giving me time to work on all sorts of nerdy stuff on Linux and doing some self-realization with the help of an excellent, easy to read book called A New Earth.I've been doing all sorts of work on my - I mean Stefan's - new server. I was working on it enough to have a to-do list

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-78530290201422211692009-05-29T17:38:00.003-04:002009-05-29T18:03:04.202-04:00

Stefan and I (mostly "I") have been working on some "special projects" on my - I mean Stefan's - new Linux box. We've got the photo galleries working, I've learned about the exciting world of virtual domains with Apache, and I recently approved Stefan's shopping list of items that he's going to purchase for his other computers. I like how this relationship works: Stefan tells me what geeky tools

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-35375192139460949132009-05-21T20:51:00.002-04:002009-05-21T20:57:13.321-04:00

I'm starting to feel like an urban white trash nerd. Parked on my lawn (carpet), I have an old, dilapidated car (desktop computer) that doesn't run, a rusty lawn-mower (digital camera) that won't function, and a bunch of spare parts (keyboards, power cords, PC cover screws, hard drives) laying around.J. Riley, all I need now is a cold 40 ounce Mickeys (liter of fine, imported beer) to be set.

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-2776226281205004602009-05-19T10:49:00.001-04:002009-05-19T10:49:13.283-04:00

I really need new shoes. I really need these new shoes:http://www.zappos.com/n/multi_view.cgi?product_id=7499456&color_id=85731&view=multi&ref=multi-picJ. Riley, so I ordered them!

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-17964181269291702842009-05-18T21:18:00.002-04:002009-05-18T22:45:43.828-04:00

Last weekend, Erika and I embarked on a trip out to California for Faryn's graduation! The whole family was gathering, so I knew it would be a great time to hang out with everyone again and get to introduce Erika to Southern California and its peaks and pits. I feared the worst: that she would opt to stay in San Diego and let me go back to New York alone!In an optimization strategy, we decided to

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-53387891956614110672009-05-04T20:58:00.002-04:002009-05-04T21:34:58.131-04:00

Ever since I've moved to New York, I haven't been able to spend as much time geeking with computers running Linux because I don't have the luxury of a spare closet or one cubic foot of floorspace to let a second computer humm away and serve up web pages.One of the projects that Stefan and I have been working on for a few years now is finding decent a decent free photo album program to allow him

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-24624966977831855332009-04-30T19:22:00.004-04:002009-04-30T20:51:04.936-04:00

So I went and researched my options for getting my next dental adventure (two crowns) done down in Peru. It looks like they will likely cost me about a quarter to half the cost by going to one of the best doctors in Lima, plus my insurance will cover 50% of the work done (even in a foreign country, they'll even translate documents!!), so that will be half of THAT cost! So now I just have to

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-89306257606762265062009-04-13T21:18:00.004-04:002009-04-13T21:39:30.683-04:00

In the last post, I talked about how excited I was to get to weekend cleaning and putting the Rug Doctor into action. Well, the first part of my plan was successful: renting the Rug Doctor in the wee hours of Saturday morning to make sure I had enough time to clean the carpet and return it on Sunday. We came home from a movie and gluten-free pizza at Sean's at about 2:30am and picked up the unit

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-58014798349552535622009-04-03T14:53:00.001-04:002009-04-03T14:53:38.660-04:00

Those of you who have had the privilege of visiting/living in my apartment know that cleanliness is of vital importance and is probably the most enjoyable activity I can possibly engage in during my free-time :o|. Or you could ask Erika, who will tell you that when there are dishes that need to be washed, I can't sit still until I make sure they are all hand-washed, hand-dried, polished, and

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-49433397172611428022009-04-01T21:08:00.004-04:002009-04-01T21:33:02.249-04:00

Last weekend, we had a group of folks over to our house to watch the wedding video, see the wedding pictures, eat delicious, home-made Chinese food (courtesy of Erika's Taiwanese friend), and generally engage in liquid-fueled debauchery.I was chatting with Melissa early in the evening about exciting subjects like budgeting, finding out where we were spending all of our money, how much housing

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-31861913516926879082009-03-28T14:35:00.003-04:002009-03-28T15:11:30.969-04:00

Why do I scornfully look down upon produce that is made in China at my local grocery store, yet cherish shopping at a Chinese grocery store? Talk about double standards!What's great about shopping for groceries in New York? Yesterday I was at two Chinese grocers buying stuff for tonight's wedding video gathering dinner. Today, I bought cheese, rice, and cheese bread at a Brazilian grocer,

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-80872705336496381082009-03-25T20:07:00.003-04:002009-03-25T20:31:03.455-04:00

First of all, the wife has a blog. I suggest you brush up on your Spanish first!If any of you have had the pleasure of gazing upon my "sleek" upper body (with a hint of jealously, no doubt), you would know that my arms and shoulders are built for typing on a keyboard, not doing push-ups. In fact, I often struggle with doing 10 of them, which is pretty sad. Add on my honeymoon weight to my belly's

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-86732432318087645282009-03-18T22:36:00.002-04:002009-03-18T23:07:07.819-04:00

Some of you know that I tend to be a bit of an impulsive buyer, especially when it comes to shopping. And even more so when it comes to electronics. I have to admit that the last few years I've kind of fallen behind on the technological curve. I mean, I don't even own a Mac or an iPhone yet, my iPod is a second-generation, 15GB tank (as well as a refurbished Shuffle), and I'm only running 802.11G

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-50766953091136349322009-03-18T11:19:00.001-04:002009-03-18T11:19:35.014-04:00

Things have been a little bit crazy lately, technically speaking. For the first time in my life, I actually have a computer that has been fried. Dead hard drive? I've had one. Dead motherboard? I've had one. Dead computer that involves the pungent smell of burning electronics? I've got one laid out and dismantled in my apartment. The new questions is what to do now? Do I rebuild it using

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-81192084914901302772009-03-15T15:09:00.002-04:002009-03-15T15:19:06.804-04:00

Yesterday, Erika and I went to Bed Bath and Beyond to use one of our gift-cards and something was definitely..."off" there. If you've ever been to a Bed Bath and Beyond in downtown New York City (i.e. the same exact one that I was in), you'd know that this place is amazingly frustrating because it's chalk-full of people, lines out the doors, and people generally not giving a damn about who they

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-4416060992695673932009-03-07T16:03:00.004-05:002009-03-07T17:22:52.664-05:00

The day I was to be married, Saturday, February 14th, 2009, I woke up in the middle of the night in a deep sweat. Was I sleepless, tossing and turning in bed, nervous about the wedding? No, what woke me up was the sounds of my roommate tossing his cookies in the bathroom. I felt really bad for him at that time and checked to make sure he was going to survive at least through the wedding. And the

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-50983134420883126502009-03-03T10:36:00.001-05:002009-03-03T10:36:04.721-05:00

Last night after hitting the gym I hit the grocery store to replenish my empty refrigerator with random things to eat and I ended up buying a strange collection of food, none of which goes with anything else. I mean, I bought sardines and chipotle peppers for crying out loud! I have never bought those ingredients in my entire life, but I remember reading something about how sardines are

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-91781765393454003572009-03-01T19:35:00.005-05:002009-03-02T21:15:33.727-05:00

All/Most/Some/Few/None of you know that I got married down in Peru a few weeks back. Technically, I was already married at the time, but a proper Peruvian wedding was in order despite May's main-event.So, down came a group of gringos to attend. Fortunately, Nina and Marcus from Denmark had a trip planned for Peru at the same time as my wedding, thus ensuring that Europe was represented along with

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-2909240636385725322009-02-26T18:52:00.002-05:002009-02-26T19:05:17.485-05:00

I just got back home to Lima and am recovering from my wedding, honeymoon, etc. and will share some stories about it all when I feel like it. I get home this weekend on Saturday night, so I will have some time to write about some stuff on Sunday - my day of rest before returning to the boredom of everyday work! Some quick notes about everything though;I was thrilled that those of you who attended

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-62440527290923867042009-02-11T15:20:00.001-05:002009-02-11T15:20:24.805-05:00

Last night, for my last North American social event as a "bachelor" (though a married one), Susannah and her Irishman Shane took a road-trip (underground rail-trip?) to visit me in Astoria to have some food, drink, and friendly football banter since he is a blue-nose Everton fan (Liverpool's cross-town arch rivals who played recently).For the first time since the fall, we indulged in glorious

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-16068079828252702372009-02-09T18:09:00.005-05:002009-02-09T18:53:35.783-05:00

I totally fell off the wagon last week, just in time for my trip to Peru. It all started with the fact that my company is broke and didn't have any money for a Christmas party - not a free one anyway. They had plenty of other parties, most of which we had to pay for ourselves (lame). But there were some departments that bought some stuff, so we used to find out who and were and get our fix. But

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-64654016239883043412009-01-31T23:45:00.005-05:002009-02-01T00:18:43.018-05:00

You know, the subway can get real boring at 10:00pm on a Saturday night. I took Erika to the airport tonight so she could head back down to Peru. No, I didn't make her take the AirTrain, but only because her bag weighed twice my body weight. But I sure as hell took the AirTrain home and spent the 30 minute subway ride calculating the most efficient way for me to get back home. The most convenient

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-62268099263536493982009-01-26T18:45:00.002-05:002009-01-26T18:45:41.438-05:00

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-53735085369329275372009-01-22T20:36:00.006-05:002009-01-22T21:38:53.255-05:00

I've been doing stuff lately, I swear. Despite severe cutbacks in my family budget (that would be Erika and I), we've been trying to have some fun. Unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating and it has been ridiculously cold this winter. Last year, I bought a new "Fall" coat and I was amazed because I actually went through the whole winter using that coat, so I basically tossed my torn and

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-79109053242774879722009-01-04T22:28:00.002-05:002009-01-04T22:52:20.731-05:00

This weekend, I had to get some purchases out of the way. I've been looking around town for good deals on suit purchases, since, according to the wife, I need a new one for my wedding. I was thinking of something dapper with green pinstripes and she was thinking straight black, so straight black it was! I was thinking about ordering a custom suit from indochino, which I've heard great things

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-30577100278199746112008-12-18T17:42:00.004-05:002009-01-04T22:27:04.734-05:00

After our binge wine drinking on my first day in Peru, we had to wake up at 3:30am the next morning to hoof it to the airport to fly to Cajamarca and then take a "bus" (which is basically a minivan with zero leg room and about 15 people crammed into it) an hour and a half away to San Marcos, which is where Erika's mom's family lived. Erika has tons of stories about this place because it is where

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-81284586325773856202008-12-18T17:39:00.002-05:002008-12-18T17:41:43.024-05:00

I got an email this week from my volunteer organization. They were looking for a co-team leader for a project that takes place literally across the street from my apartment, so more or less guilt-tripped into volunteering me to be the team leader there. The project? Having conversations with adults learning how to speak English. Yea, I think I might be qualified for that one.

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-56969663901855702172008-12-10T20:15:00.000-05:002008-12-10T20:15:10.875-05:00

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-75722452384199291342008-12-10T18:14:00.004-05:002008-12-10T18:34:34.124-05:00

So last year Jeff started a huge debate about unisex bathroom etiquette. When leaving the bathroom after urination, should a male: a.) Put the toilet seat down so that if it's a girl that follows, she doesn't have to touch the toilet seat (Chivalrous); b.) Leave the toilet seat up so that if it's a girl that follows, she knows you're not the one that just pissed all over the seat.Personally, I

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-35354765575401699142008-12-07T16:23:00.003-05:002008-12-07T22:09:54.217-05:00

After my wonderful haircut earlier in the day, we had a lunch/dinner date at Erika's cousin's house, which was nearby. Erika had told me that Orfelinda (Orfi) takes very good care of her mom when she's gone and is a great cook. Eating is high on my list of favorite activities in Peru, so I was definitely looking forward to this event.We walked over to her house up a rock-strewn dirt road near the

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-80554147601613489542008-12-07T16:19:00.003-05:002008-12-07T16:23:42.227-05:00

Before I continue, let it be known that on Sunday, December 7th, 2008 I was really really pissed off because it's around zero degrees (Celsius) outside and I have to actually use my oven to heat my apartment. Is this really what $1700 a month gets you in Astoria?J. Riley, drinking hot tea and wearing my wool scarf. Indoors.

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-26426598209031418682008-12-05T18:40:00.000-05:002008-12-05T18:41:55.739-05:00

Ahhhh, Thanksgiving week: A time for cold weather, hanging out with the family, shopping, and eating an inappropriate amount of delectable treats and meals given your body mass. It happens every year for me, with little exception. There were some minor logistical differences this year, in addition to the fact that I didn’t eat any turkey.This year, not unlike last year, I took a few days off and

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-75663633926228086052008-11-21T18:02:00.004-05:002008-11-21T18:05:07.083-05:00

So my employer's stock went from about 12 to about 3 this week. I think that was around the same trajectory as Lehman went before they went bankrupt, Bear Stearns before they had to get saved by JPM Chase, and AIG before they got owned by the government, literally. It's a great time to go to Peru, hope my job still exists when I get back :o/

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-90088281169299198442008-11-12T20:49:00.002-05:002008-11-12T21:56:33.135-05:00

A few months back, I found out my childhood friend was going to be playing a show under his writer's name Bassnectar. Christmases excluded, I think the last time I saw him was about five years ago when I ran into him while I was in line for a club up in San Fran with Stefan and his friends. He had been playing that night and somehow we recognized each other and I got to pretend I was all awesome

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-36493896006422185382008-11-12T20:12:00.006-05:002008-11-12T20:38:58.248-05:00

First, some administrative information regarding the wedding next year. Erika has gotten ahold of the manager of a very nice, local hotel chain in Lima (Miraflores), Peru (Casa Andina for you Googlers)  and has gotten a verbal agreement for a 15% discount on hotel rooms for guests to our wedding. They have three local locations including a 3-star, a 5-star (for Sean), and one a little outside of

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-7286241213209384842008-11-06T20:04:00.003-05:002008-11-06T20:19:18.203-05:00

Paul is a Renaissance man when it comes to tunes. Last year, he introduced me to the wonders of boot-stompin', PBR-drinkin', ass-kickin' redneck-hipster bluegrass music in the Hackensaw Boys. Yesterday, he introduced me to yet another off-the-wall, who-woulda-thunk-it's-so-awesome genre of music, the Ukelele Wah Wah event at the Blender Theater. Yes, the ukelele.But before I get into that, let's

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-24742713932138920212008-11-06T15:41:00.001-05:002008-11-06T15:41:41.728-05:00

I've had some good stories in the past about flight mishaps and problems. Plenty, in fact. And Tuesday, I added a jewel to my crown of airport issues. Erika was flying to Peru on Tuesday, election night, where she would stay for the next month, visiting her friends and family, preparing for a certain wedding, etc. etc.Erika spent the last two days getting gifts for the myriad of cousins and

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-68599495006044119662008-11-06T15:22:00.001-05:002008-11-06T15:22:59.337-05:00

I'm not much of a Halloween person. I don't think I've dressed up for the pagan holiday since probably high school (when we raided and pillaged the rich neighborhood way up Shannon Road), but this year Erika was excited about it being her first one, so she wanted to go out in style. Sean had some "inside" scoop on some "underground" warehouse parties deep in Brooklyn, so we settled on that

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-83880610449432522682008-10-22T21:52:00.003-04:002008-10-22T22:00:18.575-04:00

So I'm taking these free Spanish classes at a local church to get an hour of practice in every week. Two weeks back, at the first class, I sat in on the intro class since Erika is convinced I am a beginner. After learning how to count from one to ten and learning how to pronounce the letters of the alphabet (zzzzz for me), the teacher determined that I could attend the more advanced class

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-91607021276599464442008-10-21T21:07:00.002-04:002008-10-21T22:02:20.760-04:00

Did I tell anyone that I went to Charleston, South Carolina two weekends ago? I bet you knew if you were on Facebook and you saw all of my pictures. Or if you have a Google account and happen to have me listed as a Favorite in your Picasa and saw that I just posted pictures.So, yea, I had the first vacation I've had since February, not including my trip to Cali for my wedding. That's a long

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-28041690824563834962008-10-21T20:49:00.002-04:002008-10-21T21:07:15.098-04:00

So today I'm sitting on the bus for my loooong 20 minute commute and am about to doze off when I see a couple police cars swerve in front of the bus and park next to the curb. Then I See more police cars. And more police cars, coming from everywhere and hauling some serious ass from every direction. I've seen this before on 34th St. or in Time Square when they are doing their drills. And I've

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-70986046294996952882008-10-06T21:54:00.002-04:002008-10-06T22:49:19.024-04:00

On Friday, I got my usual call at work from Erika, but this time it was a little different as she let me know that she had invited eight people from her class to come to our tiny apartment for a party. I thought that sounded like a pretty awesome idea, especially with the news that we'd be getting homemade Italian food, Chinese food, and sushi. It totally through me back 12 years (wow, that's

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-36805521372086591682008-10-03T17:48:00.002-04:002008-10-03T18:48:54.764-04:00

So last week I was getting a year older, turning the big 31. I had told Erika, mostly rhetorically, a few weeks back that she should organize a birthday party for me and my friends, since we haven't all gotten together much lately. She could surprise me with the location. She doesn't know much about the restaurants in New York or how to research them, so early last week I blasted my friends with

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-72306167747010627642008-09-23T21:22:00.004-04:002008-09-24T07:48:39.297-04:00

I've gotten some recent not-so-subtle messages from people saying things like, "Gee, your incessant blogging is swell and all, but what about life with Erika? How are things at home?". And that is a very valid question, for sure. After all, getting married to someone from a different culture, who speaks a different first language, comes from a different lifestyle is bound to beg the question.To

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-30392762148566453132008-09-10T18:59:00.003-04:002008-09-10T19:19:24.318-04:00

So my friend Sean just moved to a swanky new location in the city - SoHo, where he pays an exorbitant rent (by New York standards, no less) for a small studio. But that's not the point - he's in a HOT neighborhood! To "celebrate" his move, we decided to go down and visit him and go to dinner and "maybe" have some drinks. Sean is not known for being a penny pincher, so I knew that his move would

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-7598739399215281922008-09-08T22:33:00.002-04:002008-09-08T22:37:39.420-04:00

I have great news to announce - we are expecting....Erika's residency card! We recently received her travel documents so that she can travel outside of the country and actually come back into the country. In addition, last week she got her employment authorization card so that she can start pulling her own weight around here ;o). That's really all that's new around here, but stay tuned for more

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5813114.post-41279861533307752652008-08-29T15:49:00.003-04:002008-08-29T16:18:32.544-04:00

This week I had my quad-annual retainer checkup at my orthodontist. In a show of confidence of my teeth, or lack thereof, I found out that He's going to try a new device that sounds like it's a mouthguard-type thing that will slowly move my teeth to the perfect location, since they are already falling out of alignment, as they have since I got the braces off. I am less than thrilled by this idea,

J. Rileyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09755250092562451231noreply@blogger.com1