a slice of weiss

So this past week, I hads me a great lunch! I was one of the winners of the NBC "Locals Only" contest where the prize was a meal personally cooked by David Chang, James Beard Award-winning chef of the Momofuku empire. Of course I took my best gal, and we had suuuuch a good meal, which included smoked chicken wings, ginger noodles, pork buns, and "old fashioned donut" flavored soft serve, as well as drinks provided by Pepsi Natural. The best part about it though, at least for me, being a foodie and all, was that Jiller and I were about to meet the man himself David Chang, and take a photo with him, then thank him for the meal afterwards...it was pretty damn awesome...here are some pics!

so yesterday was an interesting day for me...I experienced something that I in all honesty I didn't think I would...I sat with Tanner as he had a chemotherapy session. For those who know Tan, he was recently diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma, which is a very common form of cancer, and is 90% curable.

So this past Friday, Ms. Anna and I were bartenders at a fantastic party at our friend's place in the village. The host (our friend/boss for the night) had a huge amount of liquor, four of the largest bottles of Goose, I've ever seen and asked us to push the Absinthe heavily, because he wanted to get rid of it. I of course, heavily pushed said drink, because who doesn't want to enjoy a fun night of giggles and visions?

I love Absinthe, but it really is one of those things that you either love it or you hate it. I personally am in the school of love for it, but not for it's purported hallucinogenic properties, but for it's strong anise licoricey taste and it makes ya a wee bit lightheaded too! Most people when I said "who wants to do a shot of Absinthe?" recoiled in horror, but those up for the challenge took the shot with pride. Now yes, most did haaaate it, it was fun to see the reactions on people's faces after-the-fact.

I first tried Absinthe about a year and a half ago in Prague with my friends, and we drank it after lighting a spoon with Absinthe-laced sugar, stirring and shooting. The more traditional way of consuming is to melt a sugar cube with cold water on a slotted spoon into your glass which then changes the color and consistency of the drink. I have yet to do it this way, which is indeed the most widely used preparation. Since it's legalization in the US in 2007, the drink is popping up everywhere, and I definitely want to drink it the right way...anyone want to findKylie Minogue with me?

this is me consuming Absinthe in Prague, September 2007

well, the inevitable has happened. It's hard for me to admit, and I am still struggling to come to terms with this, but I felt that my loyal reader(s) should know what I'm dealing with right now.

Once again for your listening pleasure, I'm happy to present you all with some fun music to get over this rainy hump day. Find some hawt new tracks from No Doubt (they're back!), Third Eye Blind (they're back too!), Dave Matthews Band (they sooo back!!) Eminem (he's back, but do we care?), Jesse McCartney, Death Cab For Cutie, Flo Rida, a few American Idol contestants, an unreleased Madonna track from her "Confessions" album and more!

These songs will only be available to you for the next seven days, so hurry up and download them before it's too late!

1: "20 Dollar Nose Bleed" by Fall Out Boy

2: "We Made You" by Eminem

3: "Triggering Your Senses" by Madonna

4: "Take It or Leave It" by Allison Iraheta

5: "Stand and Deliver" by No Doubt

6: "Poker Face" by Kid Cudi (ft. Kanye West, Common & Lady GaGa)

7: "Pete Wentz Is The Only Reason We're Famous" by Cobra Starship

8: "Patron Tequila" by Paradiso Girls (ft. Lil' Jon)

9: "Not Fair" by Lily Allen

10: "Mad World" by Adam Lambert

11: "Kind of a Girl" by Tinted Windows

12: "Kids" by Chiddy Bang (ft. MGMT)

13: "Jump" by Flo Rida (ft. Nelly Furtado)

14: "I'm Sorry" by Chester French & Clinton Sparks (ft. Wale)

15: "I Quit! I Quit! I Quit!" by The Click Five

16: "Hot Girls in the Bathroom" by The Dallas Austin Experience

17: "Goodbye" by Kristinia DeBarge

18: "Get Your Boots On" (Justice Remix) by U2

19: "Funny How It Is" by Dave Matthews Band

20: "A Diamond and a Tether" by Death Cab For Cutie

21: "Crash & Burn" by Jesse McCartney

22: "Away" by Third Eye Blind

23: "Anthonio" by Annie

Click Here to download the mix!

You will need to plug in the letters on the top right, and they are sorta hard to read, but just look hard and you'll be able to make them out...persistence pays off!

I could never live in Seattle, I think that the weather would just bog down my spirit. My attitude would just suck given the fact that it's rainy allll the time. I need a nice bright sunny day once in a while, because it's so incredibly helpful on the demeanor. Now, I know that I said that I would live in London, in spite of the shitacular weather, but really, it may have to be a seasonal thing, because it's intense there!

Noble the Turtle

November 25th, 2008 - April 13th, 2009

(probably not his birthday, but the day that I rescued him from the Chinatown man who was keeping him in a bucket outside of his tchotchke store)

Well sadface today, Noble, one of my two baby water turtles died today. I'm fairly certain that he took his own life, I could see it on the expression on his little face. He was always the weaker of the two, and his days were numbered from the get-go. Now, it's just Barnes & _____.

In lieu of flowers, I'll accept cash.

You know, these days I really think that we as a society really have lost all sense of courtesy. We no longer say please and thank you. We no longer acknowledge people for doing simple kind deeds anymore, and frankly, I'm kinda fed up with it.

I'm taking a holiday sabbatical for the day, I'm out in Woodbury on Long Island for Passover with my best gal Jill's family. It's a yearly tradition for me to come out here and be a part of the family for the night. Always a good time, always lots of wine and delicious food and great company. Chag Sameach to all my fellow Jews and to you non-Jews, Happy Thursday!

well, after some serious consideration and weighing out the pro's and con's, I've decided that I am not going to take part in the Wallpaper Magazine that I mentioned yesterday. Look, I know that it would be a fun opportunity to show my wild side (well, not really show too much of said wild side, per se), but in the long run, is it really worth it?

So I was bored and responded to an ad on Craigslist for a project being conducted by Wallpaper Magazine, which basically involves a famous artist/photographer named Robbie Cooper filming me from the neck up as I am...um...well, it's what you do behind closed doors...I know, it sounds gross, but to understand the technique, go to Robbie Cooper's site , click on Simulations, click on Immersions, click on Photos, then click on Play Video...this video is kids’ reactions while playing video games. This is not sexual, so it's safe for work. the original post that I responded to on Craigslist is here.

He’d like participants to provide the content with which they are comfortable, DVDs or internet sites, whichever we'd would prefer to watch. According to Wallpaper, "these are beautifully lit masturbation portraits, highlighting the beauty in ecstasy so the expectation is masturbation to orgasm. Again, no one will be in the room with you. The camera is hidden behind the screen. Robbie and a very small crew will be in another room recording. You will be filmed from the chest up and possibly interviewed afterwards about your experience. Neither the content on the screen nor anything from your chest down will be seen." So not even the photog or his crew would see my junk...

The photos will be in Wallpaper Magazine, on their site, and possibly part of an art exhibit. I would not be getting paid for this, but it would a fun experience and a great story to tell...

All in all, I had a really nice weekend, all things considered, but I slowly realized that being in the economic slump that I'm in, I really need to watch my budget! I spend money so willy-nilly, and with no viable income, that's just not the smartest thing, right? Look, there are some things that you just can't live without, like food, clothing and shelter, but I guess I need to scale down these things.

Well, due to the the shitacular weather today, all of our flights to Indianapolis were cancelled, which means no trip to Bloomington. All of our aforementioned fun that we were planning on having has now been postponed, which really sucks. We are all really upset...but, onwards and upwards I say! Bloomington isn't going anywhere, so when we do go, it will be even more exciting!

Can I just tell you how excited I am today? Well, in all honesty I have a raging hangover, but I'm pushing past it by utilizing the power of excitement...and some coffee, and some pepto...but more-so excitement! Yes, excitement!

My loyal reader(s), I'm pleased to give you all something to get you over this humpiest of humpdays, Adam's SuperFantastic Mixtape, v4!