June

June 1, 2010

I drove to work and was switching channels. Hot 97 came on and they're doing a segment named, "Things Black People Don't Care About." I immediately knew this would be gold. Dennis Hopper dying? They don't care two shits. Gary Coleman? Yo yo, that's a tragedy.
Celine Dion being pregnant? An ignorant bitch says, "Ain't she too old for dat shit?" Another dude says, "She just made that Titanic." He is quickly told that she only sang the song for it.
Kevin Eubanks news? Even though he's black, black people do not watch Leno.

At night, I drive into the city. We were maybe supposed to meet up with Stefan and Evan, but they bitch out. We get a few drinks at The Library, a dive. Then we go to the Lower East Side and try out a bunch of places. Some places are a bit crowded and poppin, but most places are dead because it’s a Tuesday night.

After that dies, we decide to call it an early night after some Artichoke. We go to Beauty Bar for a pee break, but we notice that both bathrooms had two people in them beforehand. Like a guy and girl walk out. I’m not sure what they were doing in there… After that, we drive back. No traffic, shit’s fast.

June 11, 2010
Plans today to go to Di Fara. I pick up Jonah and Bolanos and we're off at 11:40ish. It takes no time on the highway, but it's all local afterwards. The drive literally takes almost an hour. There's no line to order our square pie. I order a slice, which I get pretty quickly. Wow, best New York style slice I've had.
The square pie with double baking does a long time and we wait well over an hour. We finally get the pie, but they burn a pie and the entire place is smoked up and unbearable. People are being tear gased in there basically. We eat the pizza at the car and head back. We hit traffic on the Belt Pkwy. It takes forever to get back and I get home at 4:00. Wow... Almost a 5 hour "trip." Shit, this has gotta get planned better.
At night, Atron comes over and we get ready for the city. We head in early-ish and reach McFaddens for a graduation party that Annie is throwing. Murray shows up there too. I partake in the open bar even though I wasn't planning to drink much. Whatever, gettin' shitface brudda. I take the 1:19 back. It's fun to end the night relatively early, especially when the open bar closes at 12:00 anyway.

June 18, 2010

CNF is back for the weekend and we decide go to the city. I meet Bolanos, CNF, Atron, and Lauren on the train. We first go to International to have a few drinks. We meet up with Stefan and we split up. Stefan, Bolanos, and I stay at International while the other three go to Angel's Share.
We finally get a spot at Death and Co., but we get there a bit late and hang out with the guy outside, Trace. He has get rid of Austrain "cock suckers" from our spot and finds a liking for our special little Stefan. We finally get in and have a few drinks.

June 24, 2010

I drive into the city with Bolanos. We check out Cheap Shots that was closed down for letting underage people in. They have a police car sitting right in front and the bouncer now scans IDs. It’s pretty empty. There’s one bartender that’s a bit wild. She’s friendly or a bit drunk or something. Obviously we rock some Patriot Ale. Bolanos and I can’t help noticing this man that could only he defined as being a “beast.” Calling him fat would be an offense to fat people.. He’s ugly. He’s old. Just “beast.”

The other bartender is apparently British, but lost her accent a lot. She’s a cold motherfucker though and will have nothing about conversation. Our “beast” man is drunk as crazy and starts peeing on the bar. I feel so bad for the Mexican watching it as he is the one that works there and has the clean it.

Highlight of the night? One of the bartender slips into conversation that he’s the owner. WHA?! We thought he was just some loser that was getting to shitfaced at a shitty dive bar. Instead, he OWNS the place?! Wow… The bartender jokes around that he’s great for tips because he’s slobs around and it really scares of patrons.

Then, we stop at Sunny and Annie’s, a deli. Not a regular deli though. I’ll write my review on Yelp soon.

June 26, 2010

I run over to the liquor store near H Mart for some Jack Daniels. Shit’s not cheap, .750L for $27 with tax. Later in the night, Bolanos picks me up and it’s 11:00 and we drive out to Commack for a party thrown by Jill. Shit’s fucking far dammit. I guess we’re jaded for living only 30 minutes from the city, but most people out in the country have to drive pretty far to meet up with people.

Bolanos and I arrive to the party and people are there by now. We say Hi and then it’s time for shots. Apparently, everyone else brought Jack Daniels as well so there was little variety. Within 10 minutes, our boy is three shots deep and a Heiney. Lee’s a Jersey Boy and he reps it like a Jersey boy. More drinks, more chatting. Saying Hi to people that arrive and stuff.

At one point, I get pretty drunk and it’s meh. However, I regroup, chill, and I’m back in action. However, we do have some other boys that push it a bit far and they’re passed the fuck out. One’s outside on the straw couch. Another’s inside in the living room couch.

At one point, we make a run to 7/11. We pick up some 18 racks and some ping pong balls for beer pong. We play and I sink one cup early. However, the drunksky gets me and I miss all cups from there on. Bolanos has to hold up the team, while it’s very grim and looks like we’re going to lose. However, the other two guys are stuck on our last cup. We get to one cup and catch up. I’ve been missing like a crazy person and my shots are really off. However, on the last cup, I focus in. The zone is set. My eyes and right arm are one. I take the shot. I didn’t even believe that it was so perfect. It just drops in. Then, badda bing, Darwin with the clutch. Sink that single cup in like a motherfucker. Done-zo, Dweez finished that shit up clean. Adios, bitches. However, I don’t try to rep myself too hard because “clutch” is meh when I really only made 2 of the 10 cups.

Then, we make moves into the water. There’s a hot tub and pool. I’m reluctant at first to jump in, but fuck it. Darwin works out for his body, why don’t we take off our shirts? Obvs, we jump ino the water.

One boy is a drunk crazy guy and just gets butt naked. Good thing I didn’t witness this at all, but Bolanos got a full look and was not cool with seeing that business. I guess I do the miss the water a bit since it’s been fucking forever since I’ve been in a pool, hot tub, or the beach. Granted, I avoid these things.

There’s some nakedness, some bikininess, some girls makin out, etc. etc. Shortly after, shooting more shit, we end up leaving by 4:00ish. Basically everyone else ends up staying over for the night, which is probably a good idea since people are drunk and need a ride to the train station. Also, the train itself takes over an hour back to the city. When I get back home, I’m just about to walk into the house when I see Spamps literally pull up in front of my house. Wtf? Apparently, he was working until 5AM?! Seriously?

I jump in the car, say Hi, we randomly take a swig of Jack Daniels that is in my hand and we depart. How random. What a night.

Update: I have a cruise coming up at the end of August for 5 days from New York and Canada with stops. Going with mom and grandma.

Corinne’s supposed to visit soon, dunno when.

And hey, Ela from Germany is coming for her au pair gig. She’s staying for a year and going to be with a family in Connecticut, an hour from NYC. She’d bitch at me if I didn’t say she was awesome. So there we go. Another plus, I never go rock shows anymore. Ela will definitely be down, so yeah.

May, Summer Starts

May 12, 2010

It’s the day for graduation. It’s rainy as shit and cold as fuck. It’s the expected boringness just sitting there in my gap and gown, but in the rain and cold. Alec Baldwin had his little speech and such since he’s alumn from Tisch for acting. The Tisch people sing the national anthem and do a fucking funny ass job. It’s yucked up to a point of ridiculousness with 6-7 of them doing something like it was from Glee.

After the ceremony, I leave at 12:30 for Binghamton. I stop on the way at this “Hot Dog” place in Pennsylvania. Hole in the wall with a few benches. Fast service. Simple sandwiches, hot dogs, burgers, fries, onion rings, etc. My kind of place. Huge delicious grilled chicken sandwich and we drive on.

I get to Binghamton and go over to Bolanos’. After a quick dinner and whiskey run, we pick up Ben because he’s here to hang out before their parents come up for graduation. We sit around and wait to get the night rolling. Ben and I pregame for a while. He comes up with a fine comment and turns to me, “WOW, this is seriously good! Good one, Darwin!”(talking about his drink). I poured him whiskey and Coke. Apparently that is some kind of mindblowing concoction that I had just created out of nowhere…

Bolanos didn’t drink so we drive over to meet his friends. It’s two of them, Stan and Misha, and we play some pong. They beat Ben and Bola, and then Bola and I. We then go downtown for a little bit. We step in the Rat for a bit, and then over to Tom and Marty’s. The night ends and we go back. We then order Escape, which is their gourmet sandwich place. Fantastic place for only $6, you get a great great panini. That’s purchasing power in Binghamton for you.

May 13, 2010

I try sleeping on a chair and it does not work out at all. I sleep in while the others go to the diner at 11-12:00ish. I stay in to sleep and sleep. People are up and running around ready to party, but I didn’t sleep at night. By 1:00ish, people are pregaming and ready to move out. I get up, shower, and try catching up with them because they left about 10 minutes before. I grab half of a sandwich that I have left over. Small portions these days, I always have half sandwiches or leftovers sitting around.

I run out, half a sandwich, some water, and I’m ready for the bar crawl. People are graduating soon, so people wake up in the morning and are reading to drink all afternoon and “tour” through all the bars in town.

I walk from the house and go to the first stop, the Belmar. I’m supposed to meet people from the house there, but I run into Claudia, from the Montreal trip. She hustles me past the Belmar to catch up with Atron and the rest of the frat. I also get to say Hi to Murray, Eric Fidel, Brian, Annie, and Erin. Wow, lots of faces to see, yet I’m the only one that’s sober. These people have been drinking already. I get to the first bar and need to catch up. I’m about 6-7 drinks deep really quickly. We walk to the next bar and I’m starting to feel it. It’s a gay bar and Atron and I are drunk as shit so we class it up with some Jameson on the rocks. Shit is too cheap to not drink like a champ.

After running around town more and going to more bars, I realize now that I’m pretty fucking drunk. Well not like party pooper throw up drunk that I’m useless. However, I should slow down and not get too in trouble. Atron has to go because he has a paper to write.

I run into Bolanos and others who are outside at the “street fair.” For some reason, Bolanos wants to horse around and throws me over his shoulders to spin me around. It’s really dizzying and not really fun while I’m drunk. I get put down and almost fall. Then, he goes again. This time, I’m dizzy from the two spins and the drunkenness does not help at all. He tries to get me on my feet, but the damage is done. I can’t get my balance and boom. I fall. Probably the drunkenness stops my reflexes from kicking in. Usually from a fall, you scrap up your palms and it’s a battle scar, but you’re fine. I instead fall like I was knocked out cold. Only face contact. My chin is ripped up all over and my two front teeth are chipped. Great.

Bolanos helps me out to check it out at a bathroom and clean up. It’s fucking bad. I look like a vampire on one tooth and they’re reasonable chipped 50%. We walk back, he helps me grab some food from Wendy’s, and I just chill out online telling my friend Ela about how fucked up it is.

I call my mom a bunch a times and she says the best that could be done is an appointment for Saturday instead of tomorrow. I just go to sleep and not think about this shit.

May 14, 2010

I wake up and Bolanos’ parents are coming. I want to get home because there’s no point in staying. I was going to stay more, but I need to go to that appointment tomorrow. Also, I don’t need to the his parents because no one wants to explain that BS. I drive home and get caught in a bit of traffic. I’m home by 4:30ish. I end up doing nothing for the day because I’m still fucking annoying about all this shit. Wallet lost. Fuck it. But this haircut and now the teeth and chin, I look like the worst retard ever. Ugh.

May 15, 2010

I wake up and I’m supposed to call the dentist. I find out that the dentist ends at 11:30, while my mom told me that I was supposed to go in at 12:00. Fuck this. I don’t have an actual appointment and have to make one for Tuesday. I’m not sure how immediate it is. My dentist doesn’t make it seem like so. I try to make an emergency appointment and even though I don’t get one through, they don’t seem to make it urgent, despite online, it did seem like an urgent issue.

From what I read, I didn’t reach so far that they will have to pluck the tooth out. However, it is a bit painful to eat and when I drink something cold.

Well anyway, I do end up getting an appointment at another dentist. After a wait, an hour in and out, I’m good. My teeth still the same, but it looks fine. It’s not perfect perfect color, but the caps aren’t noticeable unless you look in light and try to look for it.

Afterwards, I treat my grandmother for dinner because we’re in Flushing already. We go to Canton Gourmet, which I’ve been wanting to go to. I still need to write my review for Yelp, but their Crispy Garlic Chicken is so fucking good.

Afterwards, I get home to get some working out done. I get online and speak to Erdem for a bit. I try to make plans and talk to him online for 30 minutes. He plays around with me about being picky. I don’t want to go here. I don’t want to do that. I don’t want to go to Astoria. I don’t want to go to the city. Any other ideas other than beer garden or Fat Cat? Any ideas other than going to the city? What kind of mystical places are there in… Port Washington or whatever town near us.

He finally backs out at 10:00 because it’s “late.” I’m fucking pissed for a bit and then give up. I don’t need this shit anymore. If he doesn’t want to go out, sure, do whatever you want. However, don’t antognize me about how I’m shitty at making plans. Then he becomes all picky because nothing is “good enough” for him because he’s apparently done everything his “old days.” Then after me searching online and talking to him on AIM and calling people for 30 minutes, he does the usual thing and backs out for whatever bullshit. Like I didn’t see it coming, I don’t need to waste time on this BS no more. Blegh.

May 16, 2010

I wake up late despite setting an alarm. I wake up and catch up with Ela for a bit. Just shooting the shit and stuff. It’s a Sunday though, who cares. I go to Starbucks because it’s the last day of half price fraps. Yummyyy. Sucks that it’s the last day, but I still get my Venti Mocha Light Frap, Affogato. Afterwards, I go to H Mart, which is having their festival thing. I walk around and try out their samples. I walk into the store to check it out, then I realize that I’m in cooking mood. I spend a shit load of time just roaming around. Like literally almost two hours. I confirm with mom that I’m making dinner tonight and lets go.

I gather the ingredients for soba. I want to do a Momofuku style pork bun, but they do not have steam bread. They only have buns, how silly. I also get the ingredients for Korean seafood pancake. Savory pancakes, that’s my shit.

I get home and get all that shit going. It’s really loads of prep and multitasking. My grandmother helps as a sous chef. Unfortunately, the pancakes turn out soggy and I throw most of it out. However, the soba turns out well and the pork belly that I slow roasted is ridiculously good. The fat rendered off well and there’s great flavor with the soy/brown sugar mix and the basting of honey.

May 18, 2010

Atron and I go into the city because we have nothing to do and it’s fucking summer. We go to Baoguette and meet Stefan. The waitress remembers giving Stefan free ice cream when he cut his finger. She does the same for us this time and doesn’t charge us for ice cream.

We then go to International to get some drinks. Stefan has to leave. It’s a good night to try out PDT so we give them our number. We then wait at the new Cienfuegos, which is at the back of a Cuban sandwich shop. We get a good seat where we see a rare sight of someone getting arrested. This young girl is just balling like crazy as they put her into the car. However, I think it was her friends that got her arrested so the one guy involved is crying his pants off. Friends are there to comfort him, what a sight.

Then we get into PDT, where this guy from San Francisco is guest bartending. Unfortunately, they don’t have their dogs, which I really want to try. Afterwards, we take the 319 back.

May 19, 2010

We go into the city again. Bolanos drives in because my brother isn’t home and took the car. We meet Josh and Evan and sit around at Hop Devil. We hang out a bit at International, which has become my stomping ground apparently. We decide to go back and find out that Bolanos’ car has been towed. A fucking stupid ass church didn’t allow parking for a 3-4 car area. We didn’t see it coming. Shit fucking shit. We take a cab to the west side and they give Bolanos the car after an expensive ticket and towing fee.

May 20, 2010

I go into the city to meet some peeps from online. We go to Motorino for dinner. Then we go some street drinking after getting a vodka at the liquor store because one of the kids is 19. We then go to Fat Cat, which I really miss. I get to meet Gabby, Kile, and Muk, good people. Elle is a cool gal as well.

We then go to the East Village and get some Led Zeppole, which I love love. We can’t go to any bars so we just stand around. I meet Bolanos and Jonah from the LCD show and then take the train back.

May 21, 2010

I’m meeting people again. I go into K Town and meet Elle, Amber, Christina, and Don (Thai) for a bite. Their kimchi bibimbap is pretty good. We meet Kit and we to a bar in the area for a few drinks. Kit drove so we meet people in the East Village at Sophies. People are nice and all. Cool people. Elle tells me about some drama that she’s been dating Kit for a month or so and he’s not making it seem like that. After a bit, we move onto a wine bar and we sit in the back. It’s close to Sophies. For some reason, I’m pissed because they’re being slow and can’t make moves. I leave “early” take the 319. I even grab some Taco Bell at Penn Station. Yummmmy!

May 22, 2010

I go to Josh’s graduation party. It’s loaded with people, his family, and parents. Good BBQ and we watch the baseball and basketball game inside. Stefan shows up for a bit. Atron speaks to Damien about doing a club night. Bolanos, Atron, and I go to Wendy’s for a bite because we ate early.

Oh and you know what, Evan and Bolanos were talking about my bad reputation. You know what, fuck it. I’m 21. We’ve all made mistakes and if haven’t, then you’re not having fun and not doing it right. Either way, I’m going to do it right and enjoy myself. And also, I’m on the fitness track these days so taking the drinking easier has been going well. Contain it to the nights that you’re actually going out and don’t get too crazy when you do.

May 27, 2010
I'm supposed to go into Bayside with Atron tonight, but Bolanos is leaving for Florida and wants to hit up the city. He drives all the time, so I end up driving today. We meet Evan at his place and they pregame a bit for his friend's birthday party. We go to the part in Tribeca and it is really lame. We leave and go to Cienfuegos because Death and Co. and PDT stopped serving. Evan has been drunk as shit since we left his dorm even though Bolanos is sober by now.
Bolanos and I are forced to drink the whole bowl of punch, which is really good, but still strong and a lot of volume. We then go to San Loco because of Evan's demands. Bad idea, shit is disgusting and overpriced. Evan goes back. Bolanos and I sit around at International for a bit before heading back.

May 28, 2010
It's been a long postponing of a club night, but finally Atron and I plan with Damien a night to go out. We meet up with Damien at Penn at 9:40ish. We head to a liquor store to sketch it out and pregame. We meet Stefan near Pacha, one of the bigger clubs in the city. We meet Candace who decided to join us.
We're pretty early so there's not really a wait. Damien got us on the list so we don't have to pay a $30 entrance. Hollah. We get in and it's a general awesome time. Dancing, sweating, all fun around with friends. Reminds me of the Prague days.
From the dancing and drinking, I'm thirsty as fuck and there's nothing to do. I don't want to get charged for water at the bar nor can I get water from the bathroom because they have staff running the bathrooms. Atron and I have a few hours are pooped out and decide to leave. We do feel a bit bad though because Damien went out of his way to club with us and we're bitching out early on him. Anyway, Atron, Candace, Stefan, and I take a cab downtown to chill out. I have a conversation with the cabbie about blues and the radio and stuff.
We immediately go to a bar where I buy the boys a tall boy. Stefan ends up calling it a night while Candace, Atron, and I continue to roam around. We check Superdive, but it's dead tonight for some reason. We go to Beauty Bar for a bit and go to the bar area dance floor before we have to cab it to Penn Station.

May 29, 2010
It's Bayside night because it was poppin' last week and Atron and I decide to test it out. However, it turns out that people must've gone to the city because it's completely dead on a Saturday. What a bummer. We walk by the dead ass bars on Little Neck and give up on the night. Fuckin' lame. I dressed and shit for this.