Here you go, pop-culture fiends! Barilla pasta is providing a free cookbook on their website with recipes from celebrities. For every one that is downloaded, Barilla will provide a $1 donation to Second Harvest Foodbank. Get it now!
http://www.barillaus.com/Celebrity_Cookbook_Download.aspx
J. Riley, yum.
Friday, January 19, 2007
Thursday, January 18, 2007
Friday, January 12, 2007
Keeping up with the Haines's
Now that half of my family is marked up with ink, I've been thinking about joining the crowd. The question is, what kind of manly tattoo would I want to get? I was thinking about getting something that demonstrates the pride I have for my Native American heritage (1/16 Cherokee), so I checked out some designs that are available for that. Cathy suggested that I check out the lead singer of the Red Hot Chile Peppers because he has a nice Native American eagle that spans the width of his shoulders and I think that it would look great on my bony shoulders :o/ . It is a pretty neat design, but it's a bit too complicated for someone with conservative tastes like my own.
Naturally, my next thought turned to another source of pride - Liverpool FC. Afterall, it is the most decorated club in the English Premiership and their fan base is known as being extremely
passionate. Anybody who's seen me wake up at 6:45am on a Saturday to go watch a game on TV or who has made the mistake of asking me about their history knows that I'm as hooligan as it gets when it comes to Liverpool Football Club. There is no doubt in my mind that I will always remain true to the club, and so I'm thinking about demonstrating my dedication with a simple design of the Liverbird (at right) and the club's slogan - "You'll Never Walk Alone".
These words have special meaning for both the club and myself (I can almost hear myself talking to the Miami Ink camera crew right now). Before every game, the supporters at the Kop end of the stadium sing the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" to the players as they walk onto the pitch. It's is the rally cry for the team and when the team is getting beat, the fans will again launch into the song in a voice of passionate defiance and dedication. This is the only team in England who have fans that are so passionate, despite what some Manchester United fans say.
On a more personal level, I think that it makes a statement about one of my (in my opinion) greatest attributes - loyalty. This characteristic has kept me in touch with many special people in my life over the years and I owe a lot of who I am to these people, so a small patch of skin isn't too much to ask for.
J. Riley, I honestly don't know if I'm going to do this, but my friends in Peru say that they know a really good tattoo artist in Lima who actually sterilizes his needles...
Naturally, my next thought turned to another source of pride - Liverpool FC. Afterall, it is the most decorated club in the English Premiership and their fan base is known as being extremely
passionate. Anybody who's seen me wake up at 6:45am on a Saturday to go watch a game on TV or who has made the mistake of asking me about their history knows that I'm as hooligan as it gets when it comes to Liverpool Football Club. There is no doubt in my mind that I will always remain true to the club, and so I'm thinking about demonstrating my dedication with a simple design of the Liverbird (at right) and the club's slogan - "You'll Never Walk Alone".These words have special meaning for both the club and myself (I can almost hear myself talking to the Miami Ink camera crew right now). Before every game, the supporters at the Kop end of the stadium sing the song "You'll Never Walk Alone" to the players as they walk onto the pitch. It's is the rally cry for the team and when the team is getting beat, the fans will again launch into the song in a voice of passionate defiance and dedication. This is the only team in England who have fans that are so passionate, despite what some Manchester United fans say.
On a more personal level, I think that it makes a statement about one of my (in my opinion) greatest attributes - loyalty. This characteristic has kept me in touch with many special people in my life over the years and I owe a lot of who I am to these people, so a small patch of skin isn't too much to ask for.
J. Riley, I honestly don't know if I'm going to do this, but my friends in Peru say that they know a really good tattoo artist in Lima who actually sterilizes his needles...
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Apocolypse Now
Anybody who knows me knows that I love Becks and I love soccer, so this is huge for our poor-excuse-for-a-league MLS:
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-beckhamhollywooddc&prov=reuters&type=lgns
J. Riley, I'm going to order a ticket for every game that he plays in in NYC
http://sports.yahoo.com/sow/news?slug=reu-beckhamhollywooddc&prov=reuters&type=lgns
J. Riley, I'm going to order a ticket for every game that he plays in in NYC
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Lo Siento
Last night I went back to the gym for the first time in over a week (busy social schedule has kept me occupied). It's unfortunate that I just got my routine figured out at the same time that the rest of the population decided to lose some weight and join a gym as their New Year's Resolution. Lucky for me last night was Open House night at my gym, which meant there were over one million people in the building getting a tour of the facilities and taking body mass indicator tests. The also had upper body and lower body strength tests, but I didn't even bother taking those since I probably wouldn't even register on their scales. But, in any case, I did my workout and exhausted a few muscles before my sauna session. I am happy to note that I stepped on the scale and have now set a new record for weight - I'm up to 157 pounds - and that was after working out! Previously, I was consistently at 150-155 since I graduated from college, despite some people who happen to be old enough to be my parents somehow thinking I was overweight and always greeting me with "Justin, it looks like you've lost some weight" after not seeing me for a few months :o/ . Well, to be fair, they were allowed to say that at Christmas since I had, in fact, lost five pounds post-surgery. In any case, hopefully the additional poundage is a result of my dedication to working out...
At the same time, I'm also getting myself prepared for my first big vacation of the year down to Peru next Friday. I'll be spending about a week with my friends Vanessa and Kira in Cusco, the legendary capital of the Incan Empire and then a few days in Lima. I did most of the tourist things in Cusco the last time I was there (Machu Picchu and what not), so this time I'm planning on just hanging out with my friends and doing some more local stuff like local clubs and hot springs a few hours away in the mountains. In Lima, I'm meeting up with a new group of friends. My old college roommate Ryan's girlfriend lives in Lima and he will arrive there to visit her the same day that I come to town. I understand that she has an itinerary for Lima and I understand that it will include meeting up with her friends (sweet!) and checking out the local discos and black-market CD shops. That works for me!
J. Riley, who is my new friend from Bucharest that keeps visiting my site?
At the same time, I'm also getting myself prepared for my first big vacation of the year down to Peru next Friday. I'll be spending about a week with my friends Vanessa and Kira in Cusco, the legendary capital of the Incan Empire and then a few days in Lima. I did most of the tourist things in Cusco the last time I was there (Machu Picchu and what not), so this time I'm planning on just hanging out with my friends and doing some more local stuff like local clubs and hot springs a few hours away in the mountains. In Lima, I'm meeting up with a new group of friends. My old college roommate Ryan's girlfriend lives in Lima and he will arrive there to visit her the same day that I come to town. I understand that she has an itinerary for Lima and I understand that it will include meeting up with her friends (sweet!) and checking out the local discos and black-market CD shops. That works for me!
J. Riley, who is my new friend from Bucharest that keeps visiting my site?
Monday, January 08, 2007
City View
As much as I like to biotch about having to work in Long Island City, Queens, I can't really complain about the view at around 4:45 these days...
J. Riley, the lack of lunch dining options makes up for the view.
J. Riley, the lack of lunch dining options makes up for the view.
Wardrobe Reloaded
Damn, are sales after the holidays always this good?? Yesterday, armed with a three-page list of requests from my South American friends (how naive can I get?), I headed out to the clothing district with the sole purpose of finishing off the list and maybe checking out some items for myself. I hit all the major stores on 34th Street - Express, Zara, Banana, Dr. Jay's, and of course the gold mine that is Macy's before heading uptown to Lucky Jeans. The sales were rocking everywhere and I ended up spending like $150 for two new pairs of non-denim pants, three long-sleeve shirts, and three short sleeve shirts in a variety of colors that were previously seriously lacking in my closet. I don't think I bought a single thing that was less than 50% off, amazing!
J. Riley, also went and saw Letters from Iwo Jima, which was great...
J. Riley, also went and saw Letters from Iwo Jima, which was great...
Sunday, January 07, 2007
Friday, January 05, 2007
The Recovery
I guess last weekend caught up to me after all, I've come down with a nice little head cold that is driving me crazy. New Year's Eve was pretty fun (see the pictures below), we ended up hanging out downtown in TriBeCa hitting up dive bars, Being John Malkevich sized bars, authentic Japanese karaoke bars, and capping the night off with a 3:00am Corner Bistro burger that was damn tasty at that hour.
For reasons unexplained (I'm sure it had nothing to do with the Hypnotiq drinks at the karaoke bar) we were given an extra hamburger and I decided that I would definitely polish it off because I was so hungry. These are monster burgers though, and after finishing the first, I dove into the second and only finished "half" (debatable!) of the sucker. The meat is the girth of a burger, and if I finished at least half the meat, I think that that should count, though my friends didn't exactly agree with my assessment and calculations. Nonetheless, I was going to finish that burger, so I got a doggy bag, packed the meat up, and took it home to feast up the following morning in a delicious omelet (sp.). Now that I think about it....a hamburger omelet? That kind of sounds disgusting. What was more disgusting was waking up four hours later with your stomach chock-full of meat and your throat cooking like a Weber grill from the burger-generated heartburn. Suffice to say that the burger is still in my fridge and I don't think I'll be making that omelet anytime soon :o/....
The rest of the week has been so busy that my new exercise regimen has been relegated to at-home workouts only. Tuesday and Wednesday I had a major headache that I believe was caused by the rubber bands in my mouth. I noticed on Wednesday that when I took them out to eat dinner, my head didn't bother me. But when they were in all day and night, I think they were causing a small stress fracture in my skull. Yea, I'm looking forward to getting these things off. Every day a different part of my jaw or a tooth hurts, so I know that they are moving something around. I hope that I've been putting them on the right teeth this whole time! :ox
Wednesday we went up to Melissa's for some awesome homemade enchiladas, rice, and beans and Thursday was a post-holiday party with my former boss that he was invited to. He's a funny Israeli when you get a few drinks in him and he starts talking to geek-product vendors about his opinions and views as a security professional :o) . I could learn a few things from him...
J. Riley, and tonight there will be rest (I hope)
For reasons unexplained (I'm sure it had nothing to do with the Hypnotiq drinks at the karaoke bar) we were given an extra hamburger and I decided that I would definitely polish it off because I was so hungry. These are monster burgers though, and after finishing the first, I dove into the second and only finished "half" (debatable!) of the sucker. The meat is the girth of a burger, and if I finished at least half the meat, I think that that should count, though my friends didn't exactly agree with my assessment and calculations. Nonetheless, I was going to finish that burger, so I got a doggy bag, packed the meat up, and took it home to feast up the following morning in a delicious omelet (sp.). Now that I think about it....a hamburger omelet? That kind of sounds disgusting. What was more disgusting was waking up four hours later with your stomach chock-full of meat and your throat cooking like a Weber grill from the burger-generated heartburn. Suffice to say that the burger is still in my fridge and I don't think I'll be making that omelet anytime soon :o/....
The rest of the week has been so busy that my new exercise regimen has been relegated to at-home workouts only. Tuesday and Wednesday I had a major headache that I believe was caused by the rubber bands in my mouth. I noticed on Wednesday that when I took them out to eat dinner, my head didn't bother me. But when they were in all day and night, I think they were causing a small stress fracture in my skull. Yea, I'm looking forward to getting these things off. Every day a different part of my jaw or a tooth hurts, so I know that they are moving something around. I hope that I've been putting them on the right teeth this whole time! :ox
Wednesday we went up to Melissa's for some awesome homemade enchiladas, rice, and beans and Thursday was a post-holiday party with my former boss that he was invited to. He's a funny Israeli when you get a few drinks in him and he starts talking to geek-product vendors about his opinions and views as a security professional :o) . I could learn a few things from him...
J. Riley, and tonight there will be rest (I hope)
Thursday, January 04, 2007
New Year's Eve Pictures
Some great pictures, more are likely to follow...
The group...
The player...
The picture de la noche...
The buddies...
The famish and feast...
The J. Riley.
The girls...
The group...
The player...
The picture de la noche...
The buddies...
The famish and feast...
The J. Riley.
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