Too Much NOT to Write

Seriously, there's been so much going on lately, I haven't actually had the time to write about it all. But now, taking advantage of my newly-gained two hours of free time after work, I have decided to dedicate some of it to the old blog. I was actually reading this article about Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secrets and, while it may not be exactly appropriate for my blogging time, it did make me think about how I should be writing more regularly and the best way to schedule time for it.

So, with that wordy explanation out of the way, let's get into it. Erika spent a couple days dedicated to getting our apartment in order by building Ikea furniture and collaborating with me on where pictures should be hung so that this place could feel like home and it looks great now. By the time we had the place put together, Roland and Csilla arrived from Slovakia for his first homecoming trip since he left 11 years ago after living with me and my family in Los G.

The night prior to their arrival, we went out with Paul, Cathy, D, and Jeff, who was in town on business. I was just getting settled into a miserable cold and had worked from home that day so we didn't stay out too late but did stick around for the Australian/kangaroo dinner at Eight Mile Creek!

In true Roland fashion, he arrived the next evening around two hours late. He apparently neglected to write down my address thinking that he could boot up his laptop, connect to the free Wi-Fi that is available around the world and get my address from his Gmail. Well, Wi-Fi is free in many places, but New York is not one of them! But he did arrive on the correct day, so he's improving his travelling skills I suppose :o).

We went out in Astoria for a bite to eat before they started falling asleep on me, so we went home and I gave them the 20 minute introduction to New York and outlined my recommended itinerary for their first day in town - without me. The next day they headed out into the miserable rain alone because Erika was complaining about her back - she thought she hurt it putting the heavy futon together a few days back - and wanted to be in good shape for the marathon tours I would put on that weekend.

So the weekend arrived and we walked a LOT on Saturday, seeing the Villages, SoHo, NoLIta, Chinatown, the Municipal District, Brooklyn Bridge and ended up at the Brooklyn Ice Cream Factory in DUMBO in Brooklyn before heading out for a traditional American dinner at - gasp - Taco Bell. Oh, the things you miss when you leave America!

For Mother's Day, we decided on a picnic in the Park - Central Park. So we packed up the lunches in backpacks and hit the city for a quick introduction to the park before hunger pangs hit us and we found a serene patch of grass to call our own for the afternoon. Paul, Cathy, and Paul's parents showed up shortly thereafter to join us for my first picnic in Central Park. After lunch, the girls were taught how to throw an American football and then a competitive game of whiffle ball started with me trying to get the ball out of the "infield" and everyone else trying to crack the ball past the outfielder. The weather was Spring-like and cool but we all had a good time relaxing all day.

Monday night we went to a jazz show at Blue Note to hear a local band that totally reminded me of Erykah Badu - minus the crack ;o). We all enjoyed the dinner and show quite a bit and headed home from the village at about 10:00.

Erika was complaining more about her back, but I continued to assume/hope that it was just something from the heavy furniture because I dreaded taking her to a doctor since she has no insurance yet. That all went out the window at 4:00am that night however, when she woke up shaking with the chills from a fever and saying she could hardly move because her body was hurting so bad. The flu? Or something more? She took some Motrin and eventually fell asleep and was still sleeping when I went to work the next day. I told her I would come home at lunch to check on her and was totally distracted all morning thinking about what to do. I came home at lunch with a thermometer and, still in bed, she registered in at 102 degrees so I went next door to the family clinic and asked if they took walk-in patients.

I brought Erika over, huddled up in a scarf, shivering, unstable and suffering without being able to walk because of her back. After about 15 minutes of waiting in the waiting room, the staff said they need to see us fast because they could tell something was wrong with her. Thankfully, the doctor at the clinic spoke Spanish, which made everything easier for her to diagnose Erika. After taking her vitals and finding the painful spots, she said that she was going to call an ambulance because she was pretty sure that she had a bad kidney infection. This was not what I needed to hear, but it was what I knew in my heart was true. I had neglected the problem hoping it would go away and in the end it was the wrong decision and we were heading to the Emergency Room at the local hospital because of it.

They got her to the hospital (which was, ironically, less than a mile away), hooked her up to fluids, antibiotics, and pain killers, and we waited. We were at the hospital for about seven hours before her blood pressure was at the required limit (it took three bags of liquid) and they sent us home with a prescription for some more heavy-duty antibiotics. The pain-killers wore off that night and Erika's fever and pain came back, but she fought through it and ended up sleeping most of the whole next day after the emotional and physical pains from the previous days wore on her.

But the antibiotics did their trick and everyday she felt better until she was pretty much back to normal by Friday. This being her second kidney infection in a year, this is something that were going to have to see a doctor for - when she gets insurance! Through a friend of our's, we should be able to get Medicaid and our tax dollars to cover much of the cost of the day, which will prevent me from filing for bankruptcy ;o) !

It's a good thing she was better by Friday, because this meant that Saturday's scheduled event could take place. Believe it or not, Erika still partook in her bachelorette party generously put on by some of our friends! Without needing to divulge much information, let's just say that Melissa has organized more than a few of these in Manhattan and the girls went to town and gave her the full send-off of bachelorettehood (is that a word?).

While she was out, Paul thought it would be inappropriate for them to have a party for her without having one for me, so we headed out with Melissa's boyfriend Jonathon to New York City's finest....paintball center for a night of bruising, pain, mask-donning , and all-out-war against strangers. I hadn't done this before, but it was damn fun - but painful. I have about a dozen bruises across my body which isn't bad considering we were there for about three hours and took part in two Ironman Contests, during which you shoot each other as many times as you want until you a.) run out of paintballs, b.) run out of compressed air, or c.) can't stand the pain anymore. Both sessions ended with me shaking my head with teeth clenched as my body fought the pain of getting nailed all over the place. Not fun, but a LOT of fun :o)! I would do it again, for sure!

J. Riley, and now we prepare for Friday night's main event, followed by Saturday's party during which I hope to introduce most of my readers to my wife! I don't think that's how it's usually done, but that's how I roll!

Apartment Pictures

J. Riley, random pictures taken with Roland's new camera that I'm testing out. Is that someone sleeping on the futon? Yes, it is ;o)

Moving On Out

So this weekend I moved my load of crap into my new apartment. It's
amazing how much stuff I actually had in my diminutive room in the
Bronx - a whole full-size van's worth!

Saturday's circumstances were possibly the worst possible for moving
as we had gone to a nightclub the previous evening to watch a great
80's band called Tainted Love play. But their gig started at 11:00pm
and we had some pre-show refreshments to go along with Erika's first
Peruvian meal in New York at Pio Pio, which was awesome and cheap like
always. We got home after having a few more refreshments at about
3:00am and then had to wake up at 8:30 to pick up the Uhaul truck and
start moving. Not a good idea. I actually was woken up by my mobile
phone at 9:45 with the humorless voice of the Bronx Uhaul employee
asking me where I was. Obviously, I was on my way, of course ;o). So
picked up the Uhaul and then went to the apartment to start the
mobilization, with special thanks to David for his Hungarian
beastliness and help with moving.

After the move out and move in, I had to return the van to the Bronx
and then clean up my room in the Bronx and take a subway all the way
back to Astoria, all-in-all taking me about 2.5 hours. When I got
home, I found Erika passed out on our new bed, which happened to
arrive just as we pulled up earlier. We tried to do some organizing
and as starvation set in, we gave up and went out to dinner. We ate at
a family-owned spot called Sac's Place (Google it) down the street
from us that had seriously one of the best pizzas (coal-fired) I've
ever eaten. And the fresh spinach raviolis? For lack of a better
superlative, AMAZING! After poking into some stores and buying a few
groceries, we headed back to pass out after a long, gruesome day with
plenty more to do the next day.

Sunday, I discovered a great feature of my new apartment: free
high-speed wireless, courtesy of my negligent neighbors! This is
crucial and with it I was able to get my weekend fix of soccer with
the Milan derby and the Liverpool game while trying to somewhat
organize my apartment a little bit.

We had furniture shopping in mind for Sunday but we ended up doing
that while touring our new neighborhood. Some highlights:

1.) This area is full of Greeks, Slovaks, Czechs, Bosnians, and Arabs.
It quite a cultural mix and there a slew of Euro-trash clothing
stores, compared to the hip-hop clothing stores in the Bronx.
2.) We found a brand-new, high-quality gym with steam baths, saunas,
and a plethora of classes (including jiu jitsu AND capoeira classes
:-o :-o :-o !!!) right down the street from us that is only marginally
more than what I currently pay for my gym in the Bronx. Erika also met
a lady that works there that is Peruvian, as well. I plan on switching
in the near future.
3.) I found a random store that sold Rifle jeans, which I have been
looking for EVERYWHERE since I bought my first pair at Macy's a few
years back. They were only on sale for $40, as well. Erika let me buy
two pairs.
4.) I was able to negotiate a purchase of a very-nice end-table and
dresser for a full 25% off with free shipping included.
5.) Discovered the community feel of the place by purchasing a
succulent chicken and rice meal from the street vendor and when I
realized I was $2 short, he said "hey, money's not important, pay us
next time". Think that would ever happen in the Bronx or Manhattan?
Negative.
6.) Found several produce stores and bakeries in a near vicinity to
our apartment.
7.) Bought a ton of houseware items for our apartment at these
cluttered, dirt-cheap family owned convenience-store type places that
haven't been pushed out by rising rents (yet :o/ ).

So, all in all, we're very excited about our new apartment and
neighborhood and look forward to having new visitors again, since I
had NONE while I was living in the Bronx.

J. Riley, today I'll buy the new furniture, pick up some things I left
in the Bronx, and try to make it to a spin class at the new gym.
Tomorrow Ikea arrives with much more furniture that we need to
assemble. Wednesday Jeff is in town. Thursday, Roland and Csilla
arrive from Slovakia. Busy? Yea, a little.

Security Alert

Up Date

So, there's been a ton of stuff going on lately. My to-do-list currently stands at 21 and this does not include blogging, but there's some important information that needs disseminating. First of all, our formal wedding date has been moved up to February 14th in order to accommodate my sister's school schedule. Wait, I knew that sounded familiar...that was the last blog.

The other important bit of news is that the celebration for our official, legal wedding will be on May 24th, which is Memorial Day Weekend. I thought that was a good thing because I could take an extra day off work (I will probably take 5 days off in total), but now that I think about it....I hope you guys - I'm thinking in particular the Manteca crowd and sibling- don't already have Memorial Day plans! I hope everyone can make it :-# . Should I change the date??? Feedback please!

My post-30 body continues to deteriorate - in someways to my pre-30 body. My eyelids have become infected again :-| .

On Friday, Erika's last day in Peru as well as her birthday, I was (as I term it) death reincarnated. I woke up the night before shaking in my bed. Thinking I was just cold in the desert air of Lima, I got out of bed and went outside to get a sweater to put on. I found it strange that it was not freezing outside like I thought it would be. Anyway, I put my sweater on, got back in bed, did a little more shaking before falling asleep. Apparently, it was a fever that I had, as I learned the next morning when I woke up feeling like death reincarnated. I had the typical estomago gringo so I went to the bathroom to empty my stomach and when I finished, I started throwing up. And that is how my day went. I couldn't get out of bed, as much as I tried. I slept, went to the bathroom, and slept some more. Feeling a little better later in the afternoon, I ate a little bit of soup but then it was back in the bathroom to toss my cookies and go back to bed. I was on the verge of cancelling my overnight flight for the night. I decided to give it another two hour nap and see how I was. I felt well enough to make it to the airport and that was good enough for me. Strange how much you miss being in your own bed when you're sick, even if the drugs are cheaper and the care is arguably better in Peru!

Anyway, although I woke up after our overnight flight feeling a million times better, I'm still trying to shake the stomach thing and not feeling that great...

J. Riley, I have three doctors appointments on Monday, one of which is about this myotonic dystrophy thing that I supposedly have.

Visa Interview, and All That Jazz....

This week has continued the chronological trajectory of the past few weeks of being both amazing and busy at the same time. I arrived back in Lima on Saturday morning with the ultimate goal of securing Erika's paperworks that will allow her to come to the United States on her 29th birthday, Friday 4/18.

Because of the short notice of the trip, and a suffering budget, I quickly realized that I wouldn't be able to get a private apartment for the week and thus decided to stay at her parent's house and work from her small bedroom, where her internet connection is. My boss was generous enough to allow me to work from Peru all week and allow me to continue my stingy-ness with vacation that was honed over the past few years when I had two weeks of vacation per year.

Saturday we had to run a few errands around town before the evening plans began, which were of course going out with her friends to some discos. Last month, I had done pretty much the same, going to an all-night party after arriving fresh off a red-eye flight and I was fearful of the same this time around. But this time, they decided they wanted to go to a karaoke bar after the first disco was found to be a dud. Normally I'm not opposed to karaoke bars (as some of you Def Leopard fans know) and this time I obliged again but something about the combination of a dark constrained atmosphere and songs in Spanish that I never even heard of and that all pretty much sounded the same caused me to hit a wall at about 1:00am. Somehow I suffered through two more hours at this location nearly falling off my chair sleeping a few times. I just didn't have it in me! I did manage to croon out Come Together from the Beatles which woke me up for a bit before I failed miserably at Jack Johnson's Flake to end the night. I guess I didn't realize how hard that song would be - notably the ending!:o/

Sunday had a lot in store for us. Besides missing Liverpool's game at 7:45am in order to get some extra sleep, we had an 11:30 meeting with our wedding planner so that I could meet her and, more importantly for her I suppose, so I could throw down some cash as a deposit for her services. For those who haven't heard, we have changed our wedding date to 2/14 to coincide with my sister's school schedule. As a coincidental, accidental bonus (not to manage the added cheese factor), this happens to be Valentine's Day which makes is great for all the bleeding-heart romantics!

Post wedding planner reservation, we headed back home where I was fed very well by her mom (not for the first time, I should add!) before we had to depart for the mammoth event of the day - for me anyway: Allianza Lima vs. Sporting Cristal soccer match at the natinoal stadium! I'd submitted my request to see a pro football match down here to Erika a few weeks back because I know the crowds are crazy and dangerous and that makes it pretty exciting! I was hoping to see gangs of hooligans roaming the streets striking fear into the fans of the opposing team, fights, police in riot gear charging the line of hooligans, etc. While the atmosphere was tense outside the stadium, it wasn't quite as volatile as I would have wanted, but there were plenty of riot police everywhere and we got to see a cracking game that included a comeback from behind by the home team (Erika's dad's favorite team) against the Allianza giants. I wanted to attend another one on Wednesday night, the "Classico" match featuring the two biggest teams in Peru that surely would have been volatile, but apparently the stadium hosting that match is in the ghetto of all ghettos and Erika won't let me go. She basically said that they would steal the shoes off your feet before you stepped onto the street getting off the "combi" bus - their version of public transportation. I'll let it slide this time, though I'd love to go still!

On Monday, I worked from home during the day and after I shut up shop at 4:00pm, Erika and I went to a giant shopping center so that she could try to find some new jeans. Given the substantial price difference between clothing here and in New York, I relented and agreed to buy her two pairs of jeans that she could bring to New York. Funny enough, spending the evening at the mall together felt like the first "date" event that we've ever had. It even included eating dinner at the food court, which isn't much different than any other food court at a mall in the states except that it featured "Bembo's", which is a Peruvian burger chain with some interesting combinations like the Hawaiian burger and the Lomo Saltado (a typical Peruvian meal) burger which I ate. They had things like fried plantains, fried eggs, and other various intersting things on the burgers, The meat itself was strangely quite tasty despite being grayish in color and of course we got fries to share and all meals came with a cup of Inca Kola. I could eat at Bembos every once in a while though I'm sure it violates even more social responsibility rules than McD's or Burger King (both of which were also at the food court, of course!).

Tuesday morning I got woken up at 6:30am and I just did not want to wake up. I was soooo tired and slightly grumpy, so all the horn honking, rooster crowing, blasting reggaeton music and dog barking that defines this neighborhood wasn't the ideal way to wake up. But this was the most important day of the trip, the interview for Erika's visa at the US Embassy. So we crowded into the combi-bus at peak rush hour time, which meant that I was hanging onto a bar of questionable strength inside the bus with half my body inches away from the street on the outside of the doorway. Gotta love Lima! In any case, we made it to the embassy with all of our paperwork in hand just in time. The interview was going fine until the interviewer looked at my passport and asked what happened to my past passport (with which I had an incident last year where I kind of left it in my pants when I Washed them). I got amazingly nervous at that moment when she stared straight at me with a death-stare and said nothing for what seemed like five minutes after I told her my story. Apparently the National PAssport Agency had stamped "Replacement for a lost of stolen passport" in my new passport. Gee, thanks for the accurate statement, US Government. After taking about five minutes for me to stop sweating all over my body (and presumptively changing my skin tone from bright red to white again), things went fine and she was cordial, telling us stories about her experience with people "losing" (i.e. selling) their passports to drug dealers and stuff like that. But everything went on without a hitch and an hour later Erika's visa was approved and we were home free!!!


To celebrate after working the rest of the afternoon, we went to Miraflores that evening to try to find that second pair of elusive jeans (black) and I ended up buying her some footwear and then at Ripley bought myself an awesome spring/fall jacket and a wonderful, quality shirt for work that were both quite cheap. We went to a few more stores, but still could not find those black jeans, but we'll save that struggle for another day I guess. For now, it's back to work for your's truely!

J. Riley, Erika is out trying to find those jeans as I type!

My New Apartment

I'm going down to sign the papers for this today - I think! May 1st,
I'll be moving in and I'm looking forward to furnishing my apartment
:-\ . Can I just register for everything in advance of my wedding???

http://hrvweb.tripod.com/id9.html

J. Riley, looking forward to taking free capoeira, yoga, and tai chi
lessons at the sculpture park around the corner from my apartment all
summer!

Excited To Move?

Erika's visa interview date had been set to April 7th last week,
giving us about two weeks to get all the documentation put together.
Clearly, two weeks is not enough time to go to the plethora of
government offices required and get the forms all filled out. So, I
called back the embassy where the interview will take place and
requested that they delay the interview if possible. They have
obliged, and a week later (yesterday) I was notified that the new
interview date will be a whole week later, April 15th. Now, Erika and
I have to try to figure out synchronous plane schedules that are
reasonably affordable, which is basically impossible. For some
ludicrous reason that I can't explain, airfares coming to the US from
Peru are absolutely ludicrous! There's something like $400 in taxes
and surcharges and what not, making any flight outrageously expensive
and giving me a nice little headache.

At the opposite end of the spectrum is my - GASP! - excitement to
move! No, not because I am now afraid of being gunned down in front of
my apartment in the Bronx, but because I am very excited to move to my
next borough, Queens. Astoria, to be accurate. I was stressing out
about having to move again until I visited an available apartment
recently and walked around the area a bit more. This area is sooooo
awesome and the rents are totally reasonable (relatively speaking).
This part of Queens borders the East River, giving some apartments
(including some I have visited) amazing views of Manhattan and being
just a short subway ride away from the middle of Manhattan. Furnishing
my apartment is a whole other matter, but I won't spoil my thoughts
about moving just yet.

In other news, it looks like Erika has found the perfect wedding
planner down in Peru to do some of the legwork for us while we are
both here living the city life. I'm pretty stoked about that and look
forward to meeting her when I go down to Peru in two weeks for the
interview and to celebrate Erika's 29th birthday!

J. Riley, now back to looking for flight deals....

House Parties and Holidays and Homicides, Oh My!

I've been getting verbally body-slammed about the fact that I had absolutely no time to update my blog while I was in Peru and I've been so busy in the one, err.....two weeks I've been back that I haven't been able to update my blog. Or, I haven't created the time to update el blogo. So, here's a run-down, bulleted style for Cathy.

A. Conclusion to Peru

1. My parents arrived in Peru about five days after the party. Erika and I showed them around the city, going to the downtown area and running around town trying to find the best food to eat in the short amount of time that we had. Sometimes things don't go as planned and you end up finding the best surprises that way, such as the ceviche restaurant that we went to on their second day there. Because of an earlier delay, our lunch schedule got pushed back...to about 5:00! We ran around Lima spending a good hour and a half and $8 in cab fares and found all three of the places that we wanted to eat at closed. We ended up on a quiet street (Nueva York St., as it were) eating at an awesome place in a small corner with the most AMAZING ceviche I've ever had. There are pictures of the food on my picture site.
2. On Saturday, we did a meeting of the families by having lunch at Erika's family's house. I should have known when I was instructed to wear pants to the event (though it was hot and sunny outside) and told to bring my proposal speech in Spanish. But, I was foolish enough to think that I'd get away easy with the proposal the week before. Oh no, I had to do the thing ALL OVER AGAIN, and worse yet, it was in front of HER parents, MY parents, her aunt, and her cousin! It's nerve wracking enough proposing, but to have to do it twice, in front of everyone? I really didn't want to, but in the end it was the right thing to do, the traditional thing to do. And I was happy that her dad was there this time around! Her mom made an amazing lunch for us and I could tell that it was a big event for them, as it was for my parents. Despite the language barrier, we could all somehow communicate and everyone had so much fun, laughing at the pronunciation of my dad's name: "Doug? Like Hot Dog? We call that 'pancho' in Spanish", and a new nickname for my dad was borne!
   
3. That night we took their, and my, parents to Brisas de Titicaca, a show demonstrating many of the traditional dances of Peru. Dancing is a big part of their culture and in a country steeped with so much history and ancient civilizations, it was fun to see. Her dad had never even been to the show, so it was fun that they could dress up for a night and have fun out on the town, something they don't normally get to experience.
   
4. I went to Cusco again! Despite being there twice before, I wanted to take Erika and my parents since they hadn't been there before.
   
5. The first day, we sucked down the mate de coca tea (from which cocaine is made) to help give us relief from the 12,000 feet altitude. The second day we wandered around slowly and met up with an acquantince that I had met the year before. She took a 2-hour bus ride to meet us and show us around town to some places I hadn't even seen before. We got the local tour of the giant market place with all the fresh food, some typical streets, some ancient buildings from the Incas, and ended up at the Inca fortress Sachsahuayman (sp.) at the end of the day before taking our guide to a fancy dinner before her bus left. We are very greatful to her for her time!
6. The second day, we had a private tour of the Sacred Valley, Pisaq, and Ollyatatumbo. We had a great deal from a tourist company for the trip, paying $60 for the day. Well, you get what you pay for! We had a tour guide who's English was poor and who basically knew very little. I was a better tour guide based on my previous trips than he was! The hiking around the Pisaq ruins brought back memories of my first trip with my friends, but this trip will always remind me that my dad is in way better shape than me, trudging up the hills carrying his tripod and massive SLR camera on his shoulder! I didn't do too bad on the hills, Erika was surpisingly fit (it must be her Inca lungs!), and even my mom did all of the hills!
   
7. The third day was the long trip to Machu Picchu on the train, leaving at 6:30am. Machu Picchu is not something you can get old of, but note to self: next time pay the $50 and hire a guide! You really can't appreciate everything without a guide telling you what each piece means. We got stuck on an early (and more expensive) train home but it wasn't a bad thing because it had started raining and you couldn't see anything after that. Next time, I recommend staying in Aguas Calientes (the town below the mountain) for at least a day so you can get a whole day on the mountain!
8. The fourth day, which I was bracing for the whole week, turned out to possibly be my favorite day - since I've seen all the tourist stuff before. The day of shopping! My wallet was already light from the trip and my mom had been teaching Erika the art of spending-your-significant-other's-money all too well. We ended up aimlessly wandering around the San Blas neighborhood of Cusco looking at jewelry shops and clothing stores, finding amazing views of the city, quiet, scenic cobblestone streets, a few good deals and unique items, and more than one hippyish cafes to stop and have some corn-based chicha morrada to drink. I didn't mind spending money on some of the jewelry, purses, and other things for Erika, she deserves it all and I loved shopping with her.
   
9. The next day, we headed back to Lima and bid my parents goodbye as they travelled back to the states. It was a very fun trip with them, like always, and it's good to know that they appreciate the gem that I have in this girl and that she loves them as much as they love her!
   

B. House Parties

1. Five days after I got back, Melissa had a small house / dinner party to celebrate my engagement! Everyone wanted all the details about my trip and to know about what's going to happen in the future with our wedding!
2. Speaking of weddings, I didn't have many of your email addresses in my email address book! If you didn't get my "guaging the interest of attending my wedding March 28th, 2009 in Lima, Peru", you might want to send me an email so that I can invite you! If you don't know my email address, send an email to my parents, who will forward on to me. I don't publish my email address for many reasons.....nevermind, I don't have time to digress on information security!

C. Holidays

1. Monday was St. Patrick's Day, the day for drinking significant quantities of beer, wearing lots of green, and eating too much marginal corned beef and cabbage. Paul brought up a good point: why should we go eat marginal Irish food just for the holiday's sake? Why not go out for a good dinner?
2. Good point Paul! So, it was off to the Meatpacking District, and under-appreciated neighbohood in our culinary repository, where we ate "Pan-African" food at Merkato 55 and dessert at the neighboring Italian, former-butcher-warehouse restaurant. Naturally, we had a lot of fun and had a few Irish beverages to boot!
3. Sean Murphy, as Irish as he name indicates, was conveniently born on St. Patrick's Day, so last night we celebrated his birthday with a "company party" (i.e. I don't have to pay nothing) at his Williamsburg, Brooklyn neighborly beer garden Radegast. They served up some wicked wursts, had a plethora of stellar imported beers including a rare breed of Schlenferla Rauchbier from Alex's town of Bamberg in Germany. The dinner was marginal, but the beers were great and the Hipster/Jewish music band was certainly interesting.
   

D. Homicides

1. As in, there was one. Close to me.
   
2. The scene: My apartment in the Bronx.
3. The situation: Me, Melissa and Jonathon were waiting for the crew to show up for our dinner party. Then, out of nowhere, we hear BANG, BANG, BANG, BANG very close to our apartment, followed by screeching tires and a minute later, sirens. The crew entered our apartment a minute later, having been in our elevator on the way to our apartment! We rubbernecked out of our 11th floor apartment and heard many sirens from the po-po and ambulances show up right next to our apartment.
4. The Resolution: The next day, we see on the news that a 19 year-old was shot three times in the chest and were looking for suspects! Today, I saw a HOMICIDE poster in the subway station with the suspect's mug-shot.
5. What did I do with that list of people that were going to visit me??
   

J. Riley, caught up, mostly!

Aaaand...More Pictures

There's some more picture albums posted at:

http://hess.homelinux.net/~jhaines/?level=collection&id=1