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I thought this was pretty funny. I rarely ever read fwds cause they're usually wishes and corny jokes that are HELLA LONG...but I decided to read this one since the first paragraph reminded me so much of my dad's stories and i'm sure like many of our relatives stories. I hope you guys get a kick out of this like I did.


Here it goes:

When I was a kid adults used to bore me to tears with their tedious diatribes about how hard things were when they were growing up--what with walking twenty-five miles to school every morning uphill both ways through year-round blizzards carrying their younger siblings on their backs to their one-room schoolhouse where they maintained a Straight-A average despite their full-time after-school job at the local textile mill where they worked for 35 cents an hour just to help keep their family from starving to death.
And I remember promising myself that when I grew up there was no way in hell I was going to lay a bunch of crap like that on kids about how hard I had it and how easy they've got it.
But....Now that I've reached the ripe old age of twenty-nine, I can't help but look around and notice the youth of today...

"...You've got it so easy. I mean, compared to my childhood, you live in a goddamned Utopia. And I hate to say it but you kids today you don't know how good you've got it. I mean, when I was a kid we didn't have The Internet--we wanted to know something, we had to go to the goddamned library and look it up ourselves. And there was no email. We had to actually write somebody a letter--with a pen. And then you had to walk all the way across the street and put it in the mailbox and it would take like a week to get there.
And there were no MP3s or Napsters. If you wanted to steal music, you had to go to the goddamned record store and shop lift it yourself. Or we had to wait around all day to tape it off the radio and the DJ'd usually talk over the begining and mess it all up. We didn't have fancy sh*t like Call Waiting. If you were on the phone and somebody else called they got a busy signal. And we didn't have fancy Caller ID Boxes either. When the the phone rang, you had no idea who it was it could be your boss, your mom, a collections agent, your drug dealer, you didn't know... You just had to pick it up and take your chances. And we didn't have any fancy Sony Playstation videogames with high-resolution 3-D graphics. We had the Atari 2600. With games like Space Invaders and Asteroids and the graphics sucked ass. Your player-guy was a little square. You had to use your imagination. And there were no multiple levels or screens, it was just one screen forever. And you could never win, the game just kept getting harder and faster until you died. Just like LIFE. When you went to the movie theatre there no such thing as stadium seating. All the seats were the same height. A tall guy sat in front of you, you were screwed. And sure, we had cable television, but back then that was only like 20 channels and there was no onscreen menu. You had to use a little book called a TV Guide to find out what was on. And there was no Cartoon Network. You could only get cartoons on Saturday morning...D'ya hear what I'm saying?. We had to wait ALL WEEK.
That's exactly what I'm talking about. You kids today have got it too easy. You're spoiled, I swear to God. You wouldn't last five minutes back in 1984!"

Now did you guys totally relate to this or WHAT! hahahhahahha

Dropped by The Weekender
7:35 PM #

Ok another Foody Critique! And this one was AWSOME!!! Not my Awsome..but it was totally TO DIE FOR! But I have to tell you the whole day first. Awsome's b-day was a couple of weeks ago and I decided to spend the day w/ him. So I took 1/2 day at work and ventured w/ him to the Oakland Museum. Oooooooooooooh man... how tiny this place was. Although we didn't go to all the wings of the museum, it's still small. They have this small koi pond which was murky green.. NOT CUTE! Their garden.....was filled w/ lawn and bushes. I was thinkin it was goin to look like Butchart Gardens or something..oh well.. That's Oakland for you right??? SADNESS...

So we finally hit the Art wing and surprisingly we spent 2 hours in there...till close! What was pretty cool though was that we saw this panoramic of San Francisco in the late 1800's. To my surprise, alot of the buildings in San Francisco depict the architecture of that era!!! Yeah yeah..I know that these buildings are old, but sometimes I just don't stop and think about it. Since I've been w/ Awsome, i've been finally pickin up on things, such as what Diebenkorn's style is like and what an encaustic(sp?) artwork looks like. hee hee hee Although, it was quite tiny, I would still recommend a stroll through the museum. Just a suggestion, don't bother trying to look for street parking, all metered, just park in the garage.

So for the grand finale! I decided to take Awsome to Ruth's Chris for his b-day dinner in Walnut Creek!!! Yes they finally opened one up in the past year out there. I had originally made reservations for the one in SF but someone came by my office and told me about the one in the East Bay. Thank god since I didn't want to cross the bridge twice! ASS! Anyways, she recommened to ask for a window seat, which was great.

It was our first time ever to eat at this place and it was a total surprise for him. We've been wanting to dine at this place but never seem to get a chance too. Just like Morton's everything is ordered ala carte`. Of course they give you bread to start off with, which we tried not fillin up on. We ordered 2 appetizers, the stuffed mushrooms w/ crabmeat and the Lousiana Seafood Gumbo. OOOOOOOOOOOOOH MAN! HELLA GOOD! And why were we already full!!!! SERIOUSLY!!! Thank god we decided to split one of their steaks!! YES SPLIT!!!! We decided to get the Cowboy Ribeye w/ Lobster!!!!! OH DAMN! This was the cool thing. They brought out our order and split it right in front of us on these 500 degree plates. IS THAT SERVICE OR WHAT!!!! Oh and we did get creamed spinach to go w/ it. As soon as we cut into that steak, we had to let out a good as moan!!!! hahahha I swear they inject that steak w/ butter or something... It was sooooooooooooooo juicy and tender. We both had to pack our steaks to go and have it for lunch the next day. We were stuffed and couldn't even do dessert. We saw their desserts too and their HUGE! So instead we decided to go to Maggie Moos' which is like a Coldstone.

Anyways, I can't wait till the next time we go to Ruths Chris! NOW I LOVE STEAKS! No one's can compare...well maybe Morton's but I gotta try there's first! hee hee hee hee

Dropped by The Weekender
7:51 PM #

God! Talk about a delay on blogging! I swear! I think it's because so much has gone on lately that I don't have time to write it all down. Or just plain laziness.... We'll go w/ the first reason right??? Well I have to blog about my Leo party w/ the rest of my peeps on this website, namely Boy Wonder, Prostate Checka and Sticks! I know it's hella late but that's ok! You gotta hear my thoughts on it right????

Since last year, I've been wanting to throw a big bash for my 30th Birthday! And I knew hella peeps this year were turning 30. Luckily I found these 3 who were willing to throw it w/ me! But we only started finalizing things at the end of June!!!!! Talk about last minute. Anyways, we decided to have it on July 24th since our Boy Wonder was leavin for Europe the following week and wouldn't be back for another 3 weeks and that would have just been too late. Sticks had suggested this one place in Civic Center called Soluna Cafe off of McAllister and Larkin. So Awsome and I went to check it out and I did contact the "propreitor" beforehand. He gave me such a great deal that I couldn't pass it up. FREE!!!! The only hitch was that we needed to provide the DJ's and meet the bar tab. Since Awsome and I had checked it out 5 in the afternoon, of course it was totally empty right. So i'm thinkin...oh yeah.. we'll fill this or it might be a little empty. 150-200 max!

So what comes next, we gotta make up an evite. The evite was sent and i'm thinkin well since it's the last weekend of July, and there's so many events goin on, we won't pack this place... to my mistake ...WE DID!!! I think what got everyone was that it was FREE! NO COVER & NO DRESS CODE! One of my MUSTS for this party was no cover for our friends. I really didn't want anyone to pay to come party w/ us. Obviously their presence there was enough.

Unfortunately, the bar wasn't prepared for the amount of people and their barbacks turned into instant bartenders and the proprietor was freakin out w/ the mass of people in his bar, thinkin it was a fire hazard. All in all it was a total success! I got to see so many faces whom I haven't seen in such a long time which was totally great! Very memorable since I was SOBER at the end of the night!!!! hahahahhaha Let's just say I made up for it at Asia SF 2 weeks ago at a bachelorette! Awsome got to see THE WEEKENDER in FULL FORCE!!!!

Dropped by The Weekender
7:21 PM #

Have I become a foody? YES! Thanks to Ms. Voodoo! I can appreciate good food now, not like before. This past weekend, Awsome and I had made plans to check out a couple of restaurants i've been wanting to try out. The first was Roy's, which is located a couple of blocks from Metreon. This restaurant if you've been here has a pretty nice/quiet atmosphere. They're theme is more on the Hawiian fusion. If you plan on goin here, I would recommend to dress up a little bit. Please don't go in your capris and flip/flops, especially if you plan on puttin out for dinner at this place. Awsome and I decided to order The Samper (which consisted of an appetizer, entree, and dessert) an additional appetizer and dessert, and I ordered 2 cocktails. I thought it was kinda tacky of our waitress to say that The Sampler wasn't goin to be enough for the both of us, thinkin most likely that her tab/tip was goin to be hella small...Little did she know that we were goin to order other plates. I swear..don't assume things! That kinda bothered me a little bit. But anyways, we ordered the Calamari as the additional appetizer which was a hefty portion for the both of us. Note, the appetizer that comes w/ the meal is exactly 3 pieces. So that's not enough to share definitely. The entree was the pork roast, which was really good, served w/ applesauce and mashed potatoes. For dessert, we had their signature chocolate souflee and their banana creme brulee!!! OOOOOOOOOOH MAN, by the end of entree, I was about to explode already. Oh and as far as their cocktails, I had their special pineapple/coconut martini which was very yummy!

The second venue is a new place called Circolo. This restaurant is Latin/Asian Fusion. This is just the opposite of Roy's. This one is loud, very trendy, to be in the scene and be seen! So as you can tell, you need to dress up for this place. This place has a VIP area upstairs where you can have parties of at least 10 in a booth and a DJ set-up there, downstairs is a seating area for about 45, and their currently building another room for dancing. The entrance is composed of a bar and a little lounge area for drinks and tapas. What was hella funny was that as Awsome and I were waitin to be seated, who do I see walkin around the corner our way, MANGO AND VOODOO!!!! What the hell! My old foody sidekick! TOO FUNNY!!! They had just finished, and recommended a couple of plates which we took on. As we got seated, they had had taken our order and right away they gave us these little pieces of pan and cornbread w/ bellpepper butter..That's what it seemed like. And compliments of the chef we were given an eggplant soup w/ tiny tiny pieces of celery. What a nice surprise! Awsome and I decided to order the trio appetizer, which is a choice of any 3 appetizers ( short ribs, chicken, plantain souffle) which was plenty! As our entree, we shared the Surf and Turf, which was 4 pieces of filet mignon, 2 pieces of ravioli and a grilled lobster tail. This was to die for!!! How soft and flavorful was the meat, note medium is the way to go! And for dessert, we ordered the coconut flan, and it wasn't like an ordinary flan. I would have totally been disappointed if it was. I had to order a cocktail here and darn it..this waitress wasn't on point with her suggeston. It tasted like TUSSIN! gross! Don't order their signature drink. But overall, this place was great. I might just have my 3-0 here!

Dropped by The Weekender
7:24 PM #

So where has the Weekender been??? No where really...although I have to admit, when I get home i'm just pooped to be typin on the computer..let alone a computer that's sittin on my floor.. Why is that? Cause I've been plannin since the beginning of the year to get myself a brand new computer w/ an LCD monitor, but i've just been laggin like crazy.

So what's got me typin again? Well I'm home earlier than usual, and none of my favorite shows are on the tube right now so I thought i'd share my concert experiences lately. Back in April I had attended the First Ladies Tour..I think that's what it was called. It consisted of Beyonce, Missy and Alicia Keys. Missy was the first one up and I thought it was too bad and that all I heard was noise. I think the speakers were up too loud or we were just too close to the speakers. We had pretty good seats, stage right and close to the speakers. And then she had her dancers dry humpin each other for one segment and I saw these 2 little girls, probably 9 years-old grab a hold of their binoculars. WHAT A RIOT!!! Awsome and I were DYING! HAHAHHA

Next up was Alicia Keys. Now I think she should have headlined the show. She came on stage w/ a live band!!! Oh man...she can sing and play the piano. She did a little number though of swishin her hips and all..reminded me of when I saw Sade a couple of years ago. But she truly is no studio artist. She can blow them lungs.

The disappointment of the night was actually the headliner, Beyonce. Can you believe it??? I'd say about 75% of her time on stage was spent singin her Destiny Child songs and wailing..you know what I mean..where she just holds a long ass note... You know... I was hoping she'd sing songs from her new album. And she had a DJ, so you know what that means... Singin along w/ her own record... how sad..Oh well...

So to the best part, last night Awsome and I saw Prince in concert. I was gettin nervous since the concert was all the way in San Jose at HP Pavillion and we both have never been there before. We left DC at 6pm and got to the Pavillion at 6:45pm using 280 of course. The concert was suppose to start at 7:30pm but that didn't happen. 4 years ago when I had seen him at San Jose State he surprisingly did. But when we entered not even 1/2 of the Pavillion was full. So we took this opportunity to walk around and take the place in. Ooooooooooooh man! So much better looking than the Colliseum. But too bad their popcorn was old. I should have brought my own microwave popcorn. It would have been sooooooooooo much better.

Finally around 8:20pm, Prince took the stage and performed till 10:45pm. He did about 3 different dress changes w/ music intermission by members of his LIVE BAND!!! He even had an acoustic solo set, which was pretty dope. The set-up was pretty cool in which he was center stage, which means you can see him from all angles and a video screen on all 4 sides of the pavillion. I would have to totally recommend you guys seeing him live in September when he comes back to San Jose. I believe tix go on sale this Sunday. Even if you're not a huge fan, but are familiar w/ his songs and enjoy his classic hits...you'd really want to check him out.

Dropped by The Weekender
8:52 PM #

What a busy weekend! I'm glad it's over cause now I get to kick back...well not really...work isn't really kick back but at least i'm in one spot. Not trekkin everywhere in the Bay Area!!!!

Friday wasn't too bad! It's another Friday during Lent and I am tryin to stay away from meat and chicken. Awsome and I decided to try this chain that seems to be poppin up called Q-Cup?? Heard of it??? The one we went to is located over at EmeryBay, right next to Coldstone!!!! WOO HOO!!!! YUM! Anyways, they serve a couple of different kids of crepes and some combo meals and them awsome pearl drinks that have been finally poppin up at your local malls!!!! hahahhaha You know one of the first O.G's of them places was on Irving and 21st Ave??? Remember??? Anyways, back to Q-Cup, we decided to try these combo meals which include a pearl drink. So I ordered the popcorn shrimp w/ fries and a coffee pearl drink and Awsome ordered the mango shrimp combo w/ yam fries and mango ice drink which was 50cents more. When we got our order, oooooooooooooooooh man...it was HUGE!!! I would suggest to order just one combo to share!!! Awsome's yam fries were really good, but his battered shrimp was kinda over-fried and the mango part of it was just a dip. It was ok, not anything to die for. But I think the cherry on top was his mango ice drink!!! I should have ordered one myself. This I don't think is worth sharing..keep it for yourself!! hahhahah What's in it??? At the bottom, some mango gello, shaved ice, mango ice cream and chunks of syrupy mango on top!!!!! So would I go there again??? Well yes I would. Actually this was our 2nd time going. Our first experience was ordering the crepe cone, which had kiwi, bananas, strawberries and whipped creme! It was really good, but really messy. We're still tryin to figure out how to eat the damn thing. hahahha

Afterwards, we decided to pick my girl up at the Oakland Airport. On the way, we had taken the 880 and decided to swing by Awsome's future condo to check it out. You know how it is when you're anxious to move in.... Non-stop drive-bys!!!! hahahha Anyways, we had exited Broadway not knowing that we were in WEST OAKLAND!!! OOOOOOOOOOOOOOH MAN... Uh...I don't think we're in Kansas anymore!!! We finally made our way out and saw the condo and saw that they've frickin have no parking from 12am-3am MWF!!! What the hell!!! Well I guess that's better than what it was, which was EVERY NIGHT!!!! We'll figure somethin out. Anyways, on to the Airport and oh hell...We exited Hegenberger and passed the old club Ibiza and why is traffic CREEPIN!!! Peeps started gettin out of their cars and walkin down the street tryin to make their flight and we were still maybe a mile away from the Southwest Terminal. Thank god our girl decided to take BART w/ her man back to the house. She called us and advised us to turn back as soon as we can cause the cars at the Terminal weren't moving. Thank god right after she called, we were able to make a u-turn!!! What was the chaos!!1 SPRING BREAK!!!! So make note, do not volunteer or make plans to be at the airport around this time!!!! hahahha

Saturday morning I headed out to Mani/Pedi. It's been a long time comin, especially since the warm weather is comin back, it's time for them open toe shoes!!! And you can't be havin them nails all nekkid!!! So where is this place? In the Potrero Hill area, which is a very nice area and oh my god..there was parking!! Well I did go at 9 in the morning. hahhaha As soon as I got there, there, I checked in at the desk and to my surprise I did not expect to pay right then and there and to figure out how much I was going to tip. They actually charge it to your card and then give you back your tip in cash to give to your mani/pedicurist!!! How funny is that. Before I sat down to wait my turn, they had offered me tea or water. Wow ..this is service! I LOVE IT!

I had opted to get the spa pedicure and had added a manicure at the last minute. You get 2 people to work on you and your in a spa chair w/ the massage works and all.. WOO HOO...it's such a wonderful feeling to be pampered! Anyways, my total time at the salon was 45 minutes. 30 minutes for the mani/pedi and I think I had spent 15-20 minutes drying time. I never know when the paint's dry and I'd hate to touch somethin and it all go to ruins, you feel me ladies!!!

Sunday we had gone to my girl's son's christening at St. Catherine's in Vallejo. Have you guys ever been to this church??? Very funky church, built as a circle, which is very communal, but as you walk inside it's dark and the lighting is very minimal w/ a skylight. The pews are angled down w/ no stairs, but as I was standing at this 10-15 degree angle down, I thought to myself "how do the older folks do it, or the injured?" If you have ever had a back injury, you know what i'm talkin about. This design puts a lot of stress in your low back and also your knees. Yes yes..i know..it's the therapist in me comin out. Always analyzin things. Anyways, to the right of the altar there's a creek-like basin where the baptism is held and they actually submerge the child nekkid!!! What a site! To see Mighty Mom's baby the only one baptized during this mass!!! VERY SPECIAL INDEED!

Afterwards, we headed out to the Front Room in Vallejo!!! WHO KNEW!!! It's located in old downtown Vallejo by the Warf. They have a warf???? yes they do! What do they serve? Well, it's kinda like your TGIF, but mainly known for their pizzas. YUM!!! Nice seeing some old familiar faces. I'm looking fwd to this weekend. Less events I hope???

Dropped by The Weekender
8:47 PM #

Ok, I've gotta tell you guys of 2 great brunch places that is a must see. One is located in Palo Alto off of Emerson Street called Palo Alto Creamery Downtown. This gives you a feel of a soda fountain shop, just how Mel's and Nations tries to do. But this one is a tad bit different. You walk in there's booths and tables all over and of course there's seats at the counter. There's coat racks next to the booths and once you're seated, ALL the condiments are at your table. My god..talk about not havin to bug your waiter for anything, although I did have to ask for the A1 Steaksauce since I was havin steak and eggs. And this lil ol' bottle is one of them giant bottles from Costco. BUAHAHHAHA

What else can I tell you guys about this place, not only do they serve breakfast, but lunch and dinner. And when you look up at they're menu, they've got specials of the day and they've even got a WINE LIST!!!! Ok you don't see them at your Nation's or Mel's!!!! I think the only thing I didn't like was that Awsome and I were sitting at a table for 2 and since ALL the condiments were at the table, there wasn't much room for our orders and it just seemed like it wasn't feng shui, if you get my drift..... And also our table was facing the door, so it got a little drafty and I get sick easily...so that was a big minus factor for me.... All in all, service was great and the food was good.

The second place is located right here in S.F. called The Village Grill right off of West Portal. This was really a serendipitous encounter. I had intentionally wanted to take Awsome to this one cafe near the Starbucks, but as we were walkin, there was a line out the door of Village Grill. We stop and look at the menu posted on the window w/ it's sepcials and it seemed really appealing. We keep walkin up to One Tree Cafe??? I think that's what it was called... and there was practically no one there.. So we walk back, get seated in the back and noticed this one wall full of plates. I mean all sorts of decorative plates. Looks like the owners been traveling and this is what he/she collects. Gives the place a nice homey touch.

As soon as we're seated, the menu's on the table already and a server comes around askin if we'd like coffee and gives us water right then and there. We decide on the Spanish Omlette and a Belgian waffle w/ fruits and whip cream. Our food comes out like in 10 minutes. Goodness gracious..how quick is that and the first thing that comes out is our waffle...WHOH NELLY!!! Was this thing huge or what!!!! And what a wonderful presentation too. Awsome and I split this thing and I was already gettin full. We still had our omlette, which we split also. Thank god this wasn't totally huge but just the right size for the both of us. It was served w/ their house potatoes which tasted like potatoes in apratada?? Did I spell that right?? Anyways, this whole time we kept getting our waters and coffee mugs filled w/o having to ask.

This place was really homey like and quaint. We noticed right next to the door they also served some pastries and coffee to go, which I thought was a wonderful idea. So if you're into having breakfast/brunch and in these 2 area at any time, I would totally hit them up. I know I will!!!! YUM!!!

Dropped by The Weekender
9:54 PM #