End of the Semester and a New Year

November 20, 2012
I have a late class tomorrow. Scott and Jon are around so I need to hang out. Bolanos drives us to Brooklyn. Scott on the way tells us about this girl he’s hanging out with that cooks for him. We go to Levee and catch up on some cheap drinks. Scott is working so hard in med school. Jon is now in San Fran and works for LiveNation. We move onto Spritzenhaus for some really good beers and Jenga. Onto El Rey del Taco and then we head back.

November 21, 2012
I bought groceries throughout the week for Thanksgiving. Turkey is brined. Ham is soaked in water. Pumpkin and apple pies are made in advance. Jon and Scott are back. We all go to BHT to chill out. Evan and I Buck Hunt a bunch for some reason and I destroy that boy. Bolanos and I beer pong. I hold up the team, but we end up losing.

November 22, 2012
I wake up and start cooking at 12:00. It’s a whole day of cooking with help from my grandmother and some from my aunt. The family is over and my mom invited some people, so we have 16 or so.
There’s a turkey, a cherry coke ham, green bean casserole with creamy mushroom sauce, bacon brussels sprouts, sweet potato mash with marshmallows, an incredible sage, sausage, apple, cranberry, bread stuffing, and a wonderful gravy. I locked down how to make gravy.
I eat my face off and we decide to hang out. We go to Avi’s grandparent’s place. Surprisingly, Josh, Kristin, and Alysa are there. We talk some shit, hang out for a bit, and then we head out.

November 23, 2012
Brooklyn tonight. I drive Scott and Jon to Barcade to meet Aaron. There are three girls there that Scott knows. One is pretty cute that Scott knows. One is chubby, but nice to talk to. She’s from Minnesota and we talk about visiting NYC. This one girl is drunk and starts groping Aaron. I thought she was hitting on him, but he hilariously gets extremely angry about it. This girl is just a drunk mess.
We then move onto the next place and the girls are complaining. They take a cab. Good riddance. It’s NYC, you need to walk 5-10 minutes sometimes. We got them lost for 2 minutes, but I take the blame. That’s what happens when you take the responsibility for leading people to places. I’m the hero that the group needed, not the one it deserved.
We end up going to Huckleberry, which is a sick sick cool cocktail place. We then go next door to Bushwick Country Club, which is exactly my kind of dive bar. We’re chilling, talking some shit about Europe and stuff and then head back.

November 24, 2012
Jon and I try to get people to get people to go out. They aren’t down, so only Jon and I take the train in. We try to coordinate something, but the final plan is to wait for Reuben at Penn. He’s waiting for people, including his ex, who we’re gonna be hanging with along with other people. He’s talking about how he’s a bit stuck on her and why he’s hanging with her around. We give him some brotherly support.
We then head off to one of the worst places in the world, McFaddens. It’s $20 for an open bar. It’s stupidly crowded. I’ve been there and it’s one douchey place. Too many dudes, especially with the USC and Trojans games going on. It’s loud as fuck, but I run down as many drinks as I can to get rid of the noise and doucheyness around.
Elyse and her friend Tara then come. It’s surprising that she would even show up to that this place. She’s down to hang though and we have a fun time sharing stories and chatting. Alon comes along too, but without the new g/f. We’d like to meet her, but we haven’t yet.
CNF and the bunch eventually get bored of the place. We say Bye to people. CNF, Alon, and I go downtown to the E Vill. We go to Lovers of Today. After a drink there and then Sophie’s, we plan on going back for the 1:19 because CNF has a 7:00AM flight. However, I’m down to go crazy and I find out from Reuben that he’s in Murray Hill. Of all the places they have to be, it’s Joshua Tree. That places blows. It’s crowded as fuck and $7 pints of Bud Light?! In a plastic pint glass?! Are you kidding me?
Reuben thankfully is not with the ex talking, but instead got some drinks in him and chatting up this really cute mix. She looks half black and half something else. I catch up with his bros and then decide to head out. Reuben is awkwardly waiting outside the bathroom because his “girl” is in there with her friend, who is trying to cock block Reuben. I give him my condolences.
I then go meet up with Candace, who is in K Town. It’s her friend’s engagement party. How cool to be invited to such and I’ve met her before, she’s very nice. Funny thing, her fiance was drunk as hell and everyone was surrounding him, trying to take care of him. Better is a couple people give him water and just give him some time.
I sit down with the gang and have a couple drinks. It’s a swanky cool lounge. Then, I get a ride back from Candace, which is really nice of her. What a crazy night, I was all over.

November 30, 2012
Yesterday, I hung out with a few people from school. Had a few drinks and then met up with Kenny and Bolanos at BHT. Today, people don’t really seem like they want to do anything. I go to the Brooklyn Night Bazaar which is a sick place. Little stalls of food, they sell shirts, handmade jewlery. I didn’t buy anything as it’s relatively expensive. I grab a beer and walk around. It’s really huge and loads of people. There’s a concert going on. They are rocking some heavy hip hop jams and it’s a fun scene. There’s even soccer and ping pong in doors. I then meet up with Jesse and Teddy.
We go to Meat Ball Shop, really good stuff. Teddy is tired so Jesse and I go bar hopping. We go to Soft Spot Bar and Union Pool. It’s fun chatting and people watching the weird characters at Union Pool.

December 1, 2012
There’s a party with CUNY people, but I don’t go to that without knowing really who’s going to show up. I instead go into the city with Bolanos and we meet up with Sara, Marina, Stefan, and Alon. Alon is feeling sick at has to split. I’m having some Luna drama, so I go crazy with some drinks. Stefan gives me a man to man. He says that if she’s not giving me the time of the day, then fuck it, it’s not worth it. This fucks me up and I’m down for a binge.
We go to this classier Mexican themed bar. I give up on this and want some cheaper shit so we go to Iggy’s. We then bring Sara and Stefan about it. I’m over it now. I send some passive aggressive texts to Luna and then chat and have some fun with the pals. We laugh about Stefan and Sara’s “anniversay.” Bolanos is offended about the idea that it may not have been on his birthday, when the two of them met at Sophie’s a year ago. The other time would be New Year’s, when they hung out after our NYE party. Whatever the decision is, it’s cool. I’m glad those lovebirds are coming to a year and it feels even longer than that because they’re attached to the hip by now. Good for them kids.

December 13, 2012
I was watching the VS Fashion Show, like I’ve been for a couple years now. Posted some attractive women and Matt had some questions about why they were so “important.” My reply:

Because they are "super" models. There obviously is no metric to set on attractiveness and somehow they have emerged as a representation of what sexiness and beauty is. It may not be what you, I, or a majority of people think, but there is still agenda setting when it comes to the media's representation of a woman to the populace as a whole.
So I'm not saying that these women are curing cancer anytime soon, however, they still mean something. While we're men, it actually impacts the other sex when a little girl in Bloomington, Indian looks at a magazine cover while shopping with her mom at Kroger, or even women our age or older seeing an ad at the mall and being pulled into buying something special for themselves or their man. Essence of being human exists within something as superficial as the idea of these "angels."

December 23, 2012
Finals was a pretty stressful time, but I got through it alright. I wasn’t the best with time management. I wish I started outlining earlier and studying earlier, but in the end, I left myself about 2 day buffer at worst for each final. And really, 2 hard days of cramming was more than enough. It’s crazy to first see all the material and think it’s overwhelming. Then there’s a point where you’ve studied everything and you realize how little there was to be learned from the semester. I think I did alright with them in the end. Earlier on, I did not expect myself to keep up with my 3.5 GPA, but I think I might be able to do so this semester. We just must wait and see.
It’s been into winter break now. We had Bolanos’ bday, which was a good time. Many people came through. I even saw Rachel, from high school and from work, on the train. It’s been a decent

December 24, 2012
I invited people over for Christmas dinner. I cook the night before and the day of. A total of 5-7 hours.
The menu was a crackling skin pork shoulder. Home barbecue sauce. Red wine pork sauce. Chicken gravy. Roasted cauliflower. Roasted potatoes. Roasted chicken. Sauteed greenbeans. Fried polenta with goat cheese and honey.
Jenn, Bolanos, Reuben, Aaron, and family came over. We had some Makers and had a fun time eating. People then end up splitting and we go to BHT. We have a few drinks there and head back home.

December 31, 2012
Well, that seriously was one of the worst weeks of my life and the worst sick week of life. After getting back from BHT, I could feel something in my chest that was serious, more than a cold. I slept for the next 16 hours and did not even leave bed. When I did, everything was bad. My chest hurt, my head was killing. I was woozy. I had chills and hot flashes. I had a nasty cough. I lost my appetitite though my grandmother was able to be helpful and cook me noodles for the next 3-4 days and keep me alive.
I had a hard time sleeping from the constant coughing and unable to keep warm, despite it being actually warm. I was hallucinating some weird stuff when trying to sleep. It has seriously been the sickest I’ve been in my life. This continues on for 3 days straight with barely any chances. I’m able to hang on my computer at some points, but other than that, I’m bed ridden and do literally nothing.
One day, I finally feel better, but then at night, I get the serious nastiest cough ever. I can’t sleep as all I do is keep hacking up stuff from my lungs. I think I got the one two punch with pneumonia or something. I was getting better and I didn’t think I needed a doctor. Then I got worse and thought I did really need a doctor. This started on Monday night. So yes, I woke up on Christmas day to this BS. It continued all the way through Friday. Saturday wasn’t much better. Sunday was the first night feeling so-so and actually better. So seriously, this entire week has been taken away by a fucking flu. What a blow.
I’m watching Great Continential Railways, which uses an old travel guide book to travel current day Europe. I’m watching the one from Hungary to Austria. The first stop is Budapest and they go to the Great Market Hall. The guy goes to get the specialty, langosh, which is basically deep fried pizza. And dammit, I was at the exact stand and ordered from the exact lady that he orders from. Fuck, I loved this summer.
My brother and I this year decide to throw a party for New Years. The day before, we go shopping for supplies, beers, cups, liquor, etc. I end up spending about $70 on shit. We prep the house and I even make a punch with fresh lime juice, ginger ale, cranapple, rum, a bottle of bubbly, sugar, honey, and a huge block of fruit decorated ice that I froze.
People come over and it’s a pretty big gang. The Kantro/Gingold are doing city shit, so they’re over there, but everyone else is pretty much over. It’s a fun time finally drinking after being sick for so long.
At one point, after the ball drops, Dave brought a joint and we have that outside. I guess I should’ve pregame napped because it knocks me the fuck out. I stay in my room for an hour and then hang out for the rest of it. I’m feeling high and my eyes are killing me, but it’s alright. I die down by the end of the night while my bro drank a bit too much. People start clearing out. It was a pretty fun time in general.

January 1, 2012
Scott, Bolanos, and I go to Williamsburg to meet up with Aaron. We get some Crif Dogs. We then go to Levee and have some drinks. It’s a good time hanging out and having some drinks. It’s nice finally being out after over a week. Having some drinks, talking some shit, it’s just a good time in general.

January 3, 2012
At night, I make dinner plans. Aaron bitches out because he doesn’t know how to take a nap and gather his shit like a real man. Reuben, Tom, and I get some tapas. We then go to Keybar, where I finally get to use some of my drink tickets. We then go to Beauty Bar and meet up with Bolanos, Kerri, and Jonah. We then go to 12th Street Ale House, which is an extremely well light dive. The beer selection is actually pretty exceptional.
Bolanos then gets some late night eats, which I would’ve loved to partake in, but dinner was fucking huge and I unfortunately can’t fit anymore food in. It’s a good night in general. I definitely need to get out. I’m still on wanting to get out after I lost a week to the flu.

January 9, 2012
I would say it’s been a relatively unproductive last few days of sleeping in and not doing too much. However, I have caught up on a lot of Yelp reviews. I have been planning to write some reviews from even the summer when I was in Europe and just never got a chance to do so.
In addition to that, I’ve actually been listening to a shit ton of music. I try to be pretty picky, so I actually a decent portion of it after giving it a quite run by. For example, I’m currently on the Deftones album as I’m writing this. It’s actually not bad, but it’s not something I absolutely love or would go out of my way to listen to, so out of there. Same goes for Grizzly Bear, though I would say that is on a different level better though.
Today, I find out that Miah is back in town to walk the dog so we go get dinner at Fette Sau. We can’t gather anyone, but it’s sweet just hanging with the bro. We then go to Levee, but then he has to go home. I end up waiting at the bar for my brother. He shows up with two of his friends. It’s a cool time chatting and then we move onto Spritzenhaus. In the end, it was alright hanging with my brother. I was trying to be inviting, but I guess the two gals weren’t as comfortable hanging with me around. I try to be outgoing and everything, which works out okay, but I would not say the most comfortable social situation ever.
It’s still a cool time to chill with an old pal that I never get to see or chat with anymore. And then it’s great to finally get a night to hang with my brother that is only here for a short time and we usually don’t chat while he’s away.