End of January

January 20, 2011
The weather is getting horrible and getting out is getting harder and harder. Bolanos is being a prissy and staying in and I’m feeling a bit sluggish myself. Getting into my law school sleep schedule has been annoying. Bolanos also sounds pessimistic about the night and how he doesn’t really want to do “big things” in the city. He also thinks that we don’t really “do anything” anyway. However, as I said to Bolanos, “Life’s too short.” Buck up brother, lets head out. I get dressed and bundled up, jump in my car in the freezing cold and head out.
I plan on meeting Stefan in the East Village with Sarah and her friends are supposed to be coming as well. Candace invites me to go to Arlene’s Grocery for live band karaoke. I both eventually want to go there and also do live band karaoke, but I don’t make it.
Sophie’s is quite fun fun with Sarah and all her NYU buddies. Sarah’s awesome enough to compliment my leather jacket. Hey, even a guy can be conscious and care about what a helpful female may think of their look. Hope they work out.
It’s good getting practice in the “mingling” game and chatting with all these new people, swapping NYU stories, and all that. I ask one of the girls if she’s also graudating this semester. She says, “Oh no, I can’t say.” Turns out she was only a sophomore and 20 years old. Obviously she didn’t want to shout her age out because she’s in a bar, but it’s more the being young issue. I’m tell her, “Hey, I’m 23, I’m the one that should be hiding my age for being too old.” Darn, being old sucks. Funny how we both dislike our ages for different reasons.
Some of the peope that show up weren’t expected to and the girls go crazy. I thought I was in the actual “Shit Girls Say” video. Screams, “I haven’t seen you in forever!,” “Oh my gawdddd!.” One of the girls is standing with her back to all this ruckus and she is visibly in pain from it. I ask if she’s used to it at all and she is not. That stuff really does take a toll on the ears.
I also bring up this interesting question about how straight and homosexual couples operate. If I was going out with a girl, I wouldn’t want her randomly pointing out the attractiveness of other dudes. It’s just a weird thing and I’m not good at judging how attractive dudes are. And the other way around, maybe I’m generalizing, but girls can be self conscious, as well as men. I really doubt she’d to be second guessing her own looks because I’m pointing out other women. However, I feel it would be easier for homosexual couples. Both parties can appreciate the looks of the person they’re checking out. Just the stupid things I think about.
These gangstas seem to come to Sophie’s as well. I’m not sure about the story, but it seemed like they just came across it while exploring the city. That’s awesome because that’s how I found Sophie’s. I didn’t even know the name of the place when I was going to it.
One of the girls shares stories about how awesome Amos is. He’s actually the one that hooked up Stefan and Sarah! How awesome. He sits in the front, hanging out, and eventually, he finds two people he can hook up. What a matchmaker. A bar with its own matchmaker.
She also tells a story about how some dude was buying her drinks and she ended up leaving with this dude. He then ran back into the bar to grab something. She decides she doesn’t want to go back with him and decides to split. Amos follows her and tells her to keep going and going and then tries to make sure she’s safe. If she needs a cab or whatnot. Wow, Amos is such a huge sweetheart. What a great dude. By the way, this is a rule for you dudes though. If you pick up a girl, make sure you don’t let her out of your sights. She might change or mind get picked up by some other animal.
Amos also eventually walks over and Stefan talks about how Amos better not be kidding about something because Stefan met his wife. Amos gets a bit silent and as he starts walking away, “That ain’t my wife!” I die laughing. I want to say that everytime I get in a pickle. He sort of explains that he doesn’t have a wife and how he’s dating someone or whatnot. A playa.
Eventually, Stefan is tired and he heads out. Sarah and her friends to do the same. Sam was in Chelsea and I wait for a little bit as she comes down to hang. Sam and Sydnee come down to Sophie’s. I haven’t seen Sydnee in forever. The three of us catch up on things. Sydnee is apparently back in New York working with North Hempstead county’s environmental policy. Amos is nice enough to see that the ladies are just sitting there empty handed and just comes by with two beers for them. Amos coming in again proving that he’s a great dude. Can’t give the man enough props.
When I leave, my friend Jesse says she’s at the shit holek, Fiddlesticks. I’m invited to go and want to, but it just started snowing and I decide to leave before it gets bad. I get home around 4:00.

January 21, 2011
I get up and I’m just feeling lazy. I think the cold yesterday gave me a hint of a cold and I’m just sluggish. Instead of getting shit done, I procrastination bake, my take on the Momofuku Compost Cookies. I’ve been working on them and trying to perfect the recipe. One of the hardest things is the baking time/temperature.
I throw in Reese’s Pieces, kettle cooked chips, oatmeal, molasses, black pepper, Cayenne pepper, salt. With the baking time, I’ve been burning them and dropping the temperature has fixed this. I also have to keep checking them depending on the size of the cookie. I also use an special nonstick pan that spreads heat really well instead of these other thin pans I have.
It’s Jesse’s birthday at Radegast in Brooklyn. Bolanos was supposed to come along, but he dropped out. I end up driving myself out to Brooklyn and the roads aren’t bad. I meet them at this really cool “biergarten.” It’s not an outdoor one, which is good for this weather. It’s rustic, but not trashy with big bright TVs and whatnot. They’re playing some Eastern European sounding music. It’s a bit loud for that kind of music, but I really like the place. They also serve 1L beers, Octoberfest style. Love it.
It’s Jesse, her boyfriend Teddy, Frank, his girlfriend Miriam, and Tom. The guys are all pals from back in CIA, Culinary Institute of America, basically one of the best cooking schools in America. I’m glad they like my cookies, that’s a huge compliment. People that graduate from the school basically are the people cooking at all the great restaurants in New York. Teddy doesn’t do that anymore and works in New York in broadcasting.
Frank also gave that up and wants to do medical school now. Tom is the only one still in the industry and is at DBGB. Ela has asked me why I didn’t go to culinary school. Teddy tells me that it’s a shit of a fun time. However, he tells me not to go because it’s just a bad decision for a career. Two of them aren’t in it anymore because they couldn’t pay the bills and needed to get out.
I never thought a culinary school is where people go buckwild, but apparently it is. They tell me that the girls just drink like animals. They share stories about how one of them got a blowjob after the girl was in a jalapeno eating contest. And then a story about how one of them gave a girl a Roman Helmut and posted the picture of his balls on her face and penis down her nose all over the bars. Sounds ridiculous more than funny because I feel bad for the girl. Naked pictures whatnot, whatever, the issue is when faces are there and people can be identified. Then stories about how they stole a golf cart and almost killed Teddy and crashed it in the wood during a snow storm. Just crazy shit. Maybe it would’ve been a bad idea to go to CIA, but hell, apparently I would’ve had a bitchin’ time.
Tom is a hilarious dude and tells some story about how he fried his own jizz with his girlfriend. Shit’s just way too funny.
After a couple delicious beers and a lot of stories, it’s 3:30 and we decide we want to eat. Williamsburg is right near the bridge so we go to Chinatown for Wo Hop. Just mind-blowingly good food for that time of the night. I wish I had been hitting this place up as late night drunk food for years. By the end, we’re all stuffed and call it a night. It’s 4:00 and I get home really quickly before 5:00.
After that I drive back. Both nights I drove instead of taking the train. Taking the train wouldn’t even be an option considering how cold it is, it’s just way too much. But also, it’s great because although I haven’t been absolutely the most productive this weekend, it still feels great without any hangovers. I’ve been getting home late and sleep in, but it’s nice to have a refreshing weekend. I’d actually love this a lot more if it were Spring and I could go out to enjoy my weekend. And one of the biggest is how I’m saving money by not spending it on beer. Without an income while I’m in school, it’s good to keep a tight grip on my financials.
Wow, I really enjoyed this weekend. Meeting new people, catching up with friends and people I haven’t seen in a while, funny stories. Hopefully next week will be just as eventful with a bit more productivity. I just can’t wait for it to get a bit warmer.

January 25, 2012
I recently explained this someone so I thought I’d write it out. My rant on males being friends with females.
Do you know how narcissistic you have to be to think that every attractive female you meet needs to sleep with you? It'd be like needing to rob a bank everytime you walked into one. In life, there's some people you'll have serious relationships with and some who will just be friends. Get over yourself, not everyone wants you. There's more fish in the sea.
Preventing half people, females, on Earth from being your friends is an absolute shame. You're just setting yourself back from the most enjoyable thing in the world, people.

January 27, 2012
It’s Luna’s birthday this weekend and she comes up from Oceanside, NJ to visit and stay at my place. I get her from Flushing after class and we head Fairway to get some stuff for a home cooked dinner.
Sauerkraut with kielbasa, which is really good with Dijon mustard by the way. Spaetzle (German egg noodle) with brown butter. Baked potato with bacon gouda. A Framboise beer. And the only thing that was a bit off from the menu was roasted Brussels sprouts with honey, Sriracha, and honey. Them sprouts is good.
We both hadn’t eaten anything all day and needed to pass out for an hour before doing anything ambitious for the night. Boom into the city. We plan on going to Solas for dancing, but then end up waiting around at Tile Bar for a while for Atron.
We then go to Booker and Dax, the new Momofuku bar, where Milk Bar used to be. It’s pretty basic with the décor as they haven’t change anything. I recognize this guy that’s walking around and I’m quite confused. I’ve seen his face before, but I don’t know where. Aaron ends up asking the waitress and it turns out to be Dave Arnold, a famous chef known for his work in molecular gastronomy. He works at the French Culinary Institute and is the co-owner of the bar with David Chang.
The place has just opened for a week and he offers a shot of Maker’s for everyone. I take a few sips before passing it on. Sober Sally Darwin driving tonight. He actually walks by the table and we get into a conversation with him. He seems very passionate about his work at this place. There are only a few reviews and he has read every single on Yelp and is already annoyed by some of them. I try to explain that it’s all about what he puts out and the quality of his product. Eventually, the bad reviews and unjustified criticisms will be weeded out. However, he treats it as if it was his baby. He still takes all of it quite personally. We share some little details of constructive criticism with him. He tells us some stories about how he makes the drinks. He’s a really cool and smart guy.
When we walk out, Aaron soaks it in, “Where else in the world can us, some random idiots, get into a long conversation with that guy?” We then walk over to Baohaus for a quick bite and then call it a night.

January 28, 2012
At night, it’s round 2 of the feast yesterday by eating the leftovers. I find out about Kenny’s birthday quite late, but can’t make it because I’m hosting Luna. We go into the city to meet up with her friends. We go to Down the Hatch, which is just like the rest of the Upper West Side bars, they’re run by the same group. After waiting for 30 minutes though, the place fills up quick fast and gets ridiculously crowded. We move over and head towards Peculiar Pub. However, it’s freezing and I randomly choose Kenny’s Castaways on the walk over. It’s awesome. There’s a live band in the back playing blues music with this gorgeous blonde as the front woman. Unfortuatenly, we’re not sitting in the back and don’t get to stay long. A no cover free live band. I’ll be returning to this place.
Stephen and Aaron are at Sophie’s and we all walk over. However, the place is too crowded and they won’t let us in. We walk over the Ace Bar, a place I normally dislike. However, tonight, it’s pretty awesome. It’s a bit crowded, but I like it. Lots of girls, people having fun, etc. Luna actually runs into an old classmate of her’s from middle school. They were best friends back then apparently and haven’t seen each other in years. She actually is a mind-blowingly beautiful girl with that same old story. She moved to LA, did some waitressing, tried to make it big as a model or actress. She currently is trying to getting into theater or something. Yadda yadda.
We eventually split and try Sophie’s again. Luna’s 5-6 friends don’t seem to like being out in the cold nor just being out at all. They end up splitting. We go into Sophie’s and get a warm welcoming from everyone. Sara is a sweetheart by trade and sends compliments about my slick attire. I awkwardly don’t say Hi to Lauren, the girl that Aaron didn’t work with. Sara is busting balls even though Lauren is her friend. She bashes her and calls her boring and what not, even I wouldn’t say that kind of stuff I don’t know her. This is because she’s best friends with this talkative fun girl and they’re apparently complete opposites. I find the candid comments absolutely refreshing and hilarious. Still, I wouldn’t talk about someone like this considering she is right at the bar.
People call it quits pretty quickly. Luna and I head to Crif Dogs so I can redeem by Groupon for two. I paid $14 for $28 worth of food. Three dogs, cheese and meat tater tots, a beer, and an Arnold Palmer. Shit was way too much and we couldn’t finish it. A much earlier night tonight.