last week 4/29 - 5/6

Sunday

Sunday was the TCC crawfish boil. Crawfish are good. So are red beans and rice. Yeah, that's about it. Justin made cookies that afternoon apparently, so he made a special delivery. I know there were two kinds, and they involved some combination of butterscotch chips, peanut butter, white chocolate, and something else. I don't know. Heaven.

Monday

Monday was my last psych class ever. The topic of the day was Health Stress & Coping, so the professor managed to get one last jab in:

"That's my picture of marijuana. I got it from Andrew."

And then:

"We're from the same hometown, so we have the same dealer."

I'm going to miss that course.

Calculus was a sort-of review. Not really. Say your prayers for my final exam.

American Popular Music was... the usual mayhem. Not to be outdone, the professor not only gave us a lecture about how "when you're partying or getting laid, music is in the background, but in this class, [he] want[s] it to be in the foreground!" And then told us an anecdote of how he had to go to court and testify against Juvenile for plagiarizing the lyrics "you's a fine motherfucker won't you back that ass up." I might miss that course too.

I went to Stephen's final review and then went to Kyoto for dinner with him and a few other architects. Japanese beer and wine both made appearances. I got a Stella Roll (a spicy scallop roll enveloped in tuna tataki) and a Hotbox (a rainbow box with eel, avocado, and pepper sauces).

Tuesday

Former Vice President Al Gore delivered his famous "An Inconvenient Truth" lecture. David had the hook-up and provided a few of us with reserved VIP seating, which is especially great because I honestly wouldn't have gone otherwise. But I'm glad I did. Gore was hilarious in-person (and would've surely won the election if his personality was more in attendance back then) and does the world's best impersonation of Bill Clinton. (Figures.) He also went on record to say that he is never running again.

Tara and I skipped lunch because of the lecture and because she forgot her phone, and Ben and I had an early dinner (last one, sob) and caught up on each other's apparently-very-interesting weekends.

God, this was a busy Tuesday. I went to the last 1718 for the year, a gathering which always coincides with Columns Happy Hour. Andrei Codrescu did the author reading and was hilarious. I was sad to find out he was reading from a yet-unpublished book, so I bought his tribute to New Orleans, which spans 20 years. And I relate wholeheartedly to this excerpt from it:

"How did you fall in love with New Orleans? At once, madly. ... Looking back, sometimes I think it was predestined."

As always, the bartenders are great for conversation. We were talking about old age, so one (a woman who shall remain unnamed) asked me how old I was, and then told me "You're not old! I'm over 40!!!" and (the guy, also left anonymous) asked me what my plans were. When I said they were unsure, he suggested "Travel, get drun, have as much sex as possible, and don't be afraid to forget it all." Apparently it's what he did after college. God, I love that bar.

A bunch of us moved on to The Delachaise for wine and food. I don't remember what I got, just that it was the red that paired well with the "beefy bruschetta" I ordered, which is basically bruschetta with grilled flank steak. David met up with me, and we picked up Tara and Alison to go to Balcony Bar for more drinks and more food. I was all about the beef apparently because I got a "balcony burger," which is a half-pounder with tomato, grilled onion, green peppers, mushrooms, bacon, and jalapenos."

Wednesday

Adrian finally had free time to go to the "birthday lunch" my Mom gave us in April. We went to Pascal's Manale. I got the stuffed eggplant for an appetizer, while he opted for a dozen raw oysters. I got their signature Barbeque Shrimp, which are huge and delicious. He got crawfish ettouffee. We topped it all off with bread pudding and pecan pie, respectively.

That night was also interesting. LOST and a trailer party. Then a bunch of us went out to Bruno's and then TJ Quills for a little bit, but the bar crawl ended there... for most of us. Lauren called me about half an hour later wanting to go back out, so we met up at The Rat and then went to The Boot, The Palms, and Snake & Jake's. There was a guy there proving the rule that if you get shot at or get naked at the bar, you drink for free. I'll let you guess which.

Thursday

I think I bummed around all day? Whatever. Shannon, David, and I went to Rock-n-Sake for dinner. Their clear soup is easily the best I've ever had at any Japanese restaurant, and I know that's a strange thing to remember, but it was awesome. We got a portabello tempura appetizer, which was awesome. I got an omakase (chef's choice) plate of sushi, sashimi, and crunchy rolls. Then we met up with more people and went to Spider-Man 3, which wasn't as good as the first two, but every fan should still see it anyway. The main problems with it are it's perhaps too comic-book-y (everything is more extreme; the evil, the jokes, the romance). But I still enjoyed it.

Friday

Storming and flooding. Calc final. Sleep. Dinner with Whitney and Tully at Sake Cafe. TNT. which is tuna stacked with rice, various roes, and a quail egg. And an Uptown Roll, which is a mix of fish, roe, and avocado. We stopped by Creole Creamery after, where I got an I Scream Fudge Sundae. (It's a chocolate overload. A hot fudge coated glass with two scoops of I Scream Fudge, chocolate chips, cocoa powder, whipped cream, and a chocolate covered cherry.) I can now say I've had every delicacy I've ever wanted there.

After that, Tully left and David met up with us. Monkey Hill. Drinks. Shots. St. Joe's Bar. Blueberry mojitos. Storyville. Ms. Mae's/The Club. More drinks. Stephanie's. Hookah. Waiting. Wine. Awesome night.

Saturday

I finished my adolescent psych final in fifteen minutes. I don't remember what I did all afternoon, so I probably wasted it somehow. Shannon and I went to Whole Foods and bought dinner there. Those Xochitl chips we love, guacamole, a surprisingly/insanely spicy mango and pineapple salsa, salads (mine was basically a Cobb), and a "California Club" (a huge sandwich on foccacia with turkey, bacon, avocado, lettuce, and a sun-dried tomato aioli).

David, Nate, and I went out and met up with Whitney, Matt and Paul for Cinco De Mayo. Lots of Corona. Tequila shots. My roommates and I decided to do more bonding by going to Camelia Grill(!) which was as incredible as I remember. I love breakfast at three in the morning. WORD. I got eggs over easy with bacon and fries. And a chocolate cherry freeze. I let it get to my brain.

Now that I'm all caught up, I will do my best to update this reasonably on-time. Besides, what else will I do since there's no more class?

the week

Tuesday

Shannon and I took Mountain Whore Jenna to Fresco for dinner. (We've missed her, but time flies. It seems like just the other week we took her out to a goodbye dinner.) We split a bottle of Shiraz with minimal help from Shannon because she was saving herself for a Columns mojito. We got to the student half of 1718, which was of course entertaining. We had a little roundtable on the word "moist" after because we discovered that Jenna hates it. Her discovery for the night? "Wow, I've never been to a bar where people were, like, smart and not just trying to get on each other." Learn something new everyday. We ended up at Bruno's with a bunch of her other friends playing drinking games, drunk-dialing Jerry, and going around the group and talking about "things we love about Jenna."

Wednesday

Classes. I tried to give blood as usual. They filled out the form with the info from the computer, completed the mini-interview, did the mini-physical, swabbed the area, put a tourniquet on my arm. They put in the needle. Nothing. One minute. Nurse starts fidgeting with needle. Two minutes. Nothing. Another nurse tries. Nothing. The head nurse tried. Still nothing. I've had this thing in my arm for almost five minutes now. She pulls it out. "Scar tissue and rolling vein. You'll never bleed to death, sweetie." I know what scar tissue is but have no clue about "rolling vein," so I ask. Apparently your veins move all the time, especially when you move, and sometimes when you try to get into one, they move out of the way. Mine, despite being large, are apparently very good at rolling.

I offer my other arm. I get off the chair, so they can swivel it around. Swab. Tourniquet. Needle. Nothing. Then the blood starts flowing slowly. It's dark. "High in oxygen, very healthy." Then it stops. "My God," says head nurse. I ask what. "Your platelets are off the charts. The blood just clotted even with the needle inside. Maybe next time, Wolverine."

I apologized for the lack of blood. They said "It's a good thing. Amazing actually. But just not good for giving blood." They told me I probably wouldn't need the bandages but they'd set them up anyway. And I should help myself to snacks and drinks at their canteen. They said I still lost a substantial amount of blood but "with your clear health, you can probably exercise and drink as soon as you want."

So apparently I have superheroic abilities. Super-Selfish-I-Don't-Share-My-Blood-Man.

Jenna and I went to dinner with some of her friends at Miyako. (My first time there. Pretty decent.) I got a sushi box which was a combination of fresh salmon and spicy salmon. We ordered a two-person drink called a "scorpion" which undoubtedly had everclear in it. She made me drink most of it, and it felt pretty good considering the lack of blood/fluid thing.

LOST with Whitney. Great episode.

Thursday

Brunch with Shannon. Then we said "seeya later at graduation" to Jenna, so she could go whore up to the the mountain again and be with her ancient 33-year-old boyfriend. (Seriously though nothing but love for Jenna and Jerry.)

Terrorism class. Crazy ACLU speaker. Lunch with Tara. We texted Jacque about plans for her August wedding and generally missed her, as usual. Brian's art show. Impressive. My favorite part was the sublimation of his love for paper clips (30something thousand of them) into a sculpture/curtain/thing and a 3D portrait of a male head and torso with X,000 cigarette butts.

I went to the Toni Morrison thing in McAlister. "I'm smart and black. Most of you are not." Okay, that's not what she said. She read excerpts from her four latest novels and did some Q&A. Intelligent and somewhat inspiring, pretty much what you'd expect McAlister was packed. I sat next to Jonathan, a former professor of mine.

Friday/Today

This was a question on my adolescent psych exam today:

19. Gino doesn't smoke and has now made friends with Andrew, who does smoke. Which of the following is most likely to occur?"

Har har har, Cunningham. You are so funny.

Had he written "drink" instead of "smoke," it might be valid.

off to a good start

Easter Break, that is. So far it's been pretty chill. Last night was just LOST and Monster's Ball since everyone was stressed/tired/gone. I really think Halle Berry poured out all her creative energy into that one movie, and all we get now is the nothing that's left. Mike called. He'll be in town this weekend, so I'm pumped for that. That'll definitely add some craziness to the next few nights.

My only Thursday class was cancelled, and lunch with Tara was cancelled (by her). So I had today completely free. I slept in, read a little, conference call with Dad and Adrian, conference call with Mom and Bella, and then went for a jog. During this, I got hungry, so I ran to Hana. Japanese is the cuisine I feel most comfortable at dining alone because you just sit at the sushi bar and chat with the chef.

I ordered omakase (Japanese for "chef's choice" and what I always like to do when eating sushi). After the requisite noodle salad with chopped I-don't-know-what on top, he made me two huge "tako wasabi" rolls, which were octopus but very tender, almost the consistency of chewy raw oysters. Awesome. And then a plate of California rolls and several nigiri: Eel, salmon both fresh and smoked, snapper, shrimp, squid, tuna, and a marinated white tuna.

One of the Samsung HDTVs was tuned to CNN, where the closed captioning told me they were reporting on the rising rate of college students binge drinking. Then they started listing how various states are changing laws and policies to stop this. New York is pushing this, Massachusetts is banning that, California's suggesting whatever, etc. They showed a map and highlighted states when they talked about them. Guess what Louisiana's doing? ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.

Speaking of binge drinking, I forgot to mention a discussion we had in my last screenwriting class. The professor pointed out that, in one of my colleague's scripts, "half the scenes" take place in bars. I gently corrected her that only two scenes took place in bars, but they were the ones with the most dialogue. She offered the idea that a movie in which "every character is drunk the entire time might get boring." Everyone's jaws fell. I also pointed out that in every screenplay we've read that's set in New Orleans (Is there a trend here?) a majority of the characters spend a majority of their time drunk. Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. She then observed that she's taught in several campuses around the country and that "you Tulane students definitely do a tad more drinking than average college students." Go us!

the freakin' weekend...

Baby, I'm havin' some fun...

What happened yesterday? Class. Nap. Whole Foods. Dinner with Matt and Becca at Brooks' place. I made a semi-Cobb at the WF salad bar, and Brooks had picked up sushi from Sake Cafe. I ordered my favorites, spicy yellowtail and New Orleans rolls. We played with Trek, his ex's dog, and Matt and Becca helped me completely fill in the blanks from Thursday night.

In the interest of privacy, I'll leave names out, but note that someone is singular and people is very plural. Here are more things that happened which I forgot in my previous update.

• people snuck into bars
• people pretty much made out
• people groped others' breasts, buttocks, and/or crotches
  
• people had nip slips
  
• people told someone they would do them
• people were throwing themselves at inappropriate people
• people fell... often into things or other people
  
• people couldn't drive/walk/read/speak
• people got laughed at by workers at The Rat
  
• people got into arguments over nothing
  
• someone accidentally hit someone else
• someone hid in the art building from someone else
  
• someone seriously danced with a stripper pole
• someone discussed their sex toys
• people passed out, impervious to light and noise
  
• people woke up still drunk
  
• someone woke up on a couch holding melted ice cream
  

Last night was much less Tara Reid. Some friends and I went to Karma. Last one ever. Sob. It was some people's first time ever, and it was also Tara's and my first Jacque-less one. The mix of food, drink, hip-hop, reggaeton, and bhangra was still amazing. Stephanie brought Samantha and Jeanine, just like I brought Adrian last year. Tara, Ian, Alison, Whitney, Lauren, David, Becca, and many others were also in attendance.

Some of us shuffled back and forth between Nirvana and the oh-so-cheap drinks at The Club: Miss Mae's. At the end of the night, Whitney and I went with some people to the only bar that's more of a dive than Mae's... Snake & Jake's.

spring break part 1: NOLA

Two thirds of my break were spent here in my beloved New Orleans.

SATURDAY

Saturday I missed ALL the St. Patrick's Day parade, which is quite different from last year. I thought I slept through the first two, but I was wrong since they ran so late. Tully drove Whitney, her friend Brittany (heretoafter referred to as "The -Ittaney's") to Babylon for dinner. Chicken tecka. Yum.

Adrian came over to use the kitchen to flex his culinary muscles. Whit, Keenan, and I went down to The Quarter to close out St. Patty's. We went to Pat O'Brien's, where we celebrated with carbombs, hurricanes, and Bailey's. Whitney and I danced to Flashdance's "What A Feeling," which I guess is "our song" now. When that died down, we went to The Palms, which was dead. Whtiney passed out, but I woke her up with the smell of sirloin steak quesadillas. Adrian and Monica were very finished with dinner by then, so I went with them to The Boot for a little bit.

SUNDAY

Tully, The -Ittaneys, and I took a Sunday Drive around the city, which may have lasted a little longer than we planned. We showed her uptown, the quarter, the marigny, and some of the destruction in mid-city. We grabbed a late lunch (mmm, chirashi sushi, salmon, yellowtail, tuna, crab, shrimp, mackerel, octopus, etc) at Mikimoto. We stopped by Blockbuster to pick up DVDs for break. I borrowed three that I forgot about and almost didn't watch.

Later that night, I went with Shannon to pick up her friend Ihita, visiting from Maryland, from the airport. Those two will be hereafter referred to as "Shanita." We met up at Port O Call with The -Ittaneys and Tony for monsoons and burgers.

Shanita was tired and frustrated with the loss of luggage, so they went home. The -Ittaneys and I went to The Pub, which rocks on "Sing-A-Long Sunday" because they play old music video, particularly from the '90s. We bought several rounds and David (my favorite bartender in the world because even though I'm never there he always remembers) gave us free shots. One was an Absolut Pear Kamikaze, which Whitney loved because its main ingredient is her favorite liquor. Then she and I chased whiskey with beer 'cause Garth said so.

After that, we went to Harrah's to play slots and Blackjack. Chad and I texted a bit. He would've been proud since it was an economically productive night.

MONDAY

Monday began with the Harrah's breakfast buffet. (bacon, andouille, smoked salmon, eggs/omelets made to order, fresh fruit, etc) We all ate too much.

After a nap, I went with Shanita to The Daiq Shack to get daiqiris (Starbucks Mudslide to wake me up) and Hana to get lunch (seaweed salad and spicy tuna, crawfish, and California rolls). We took our drinks and food to The Levy for a picnic.

The -Ittaneys and Tully met up with us, armed with daiquiris, and we played Circle-of-Death/Kings until the sun went down.

Shanita and I picked up Wes and Steve and then met up with Sam at Saltwater Grill. I love that place, but be prepared to WAIT if you order oysters. But we felt Ihita needed to try them raw. She approved. The owner gave us a baker's dozen to make up for the wait.

We met up with Josh, The -Ittaneys, and Tully and went to both old and new Bruno's for more drinks and C-o-D/K. I forgot my waterproof cards, but the bartender lent us some. Good times.

TUESDAY

Tuesday I mostly recuperated before a French Quarter afternoon with Shanita. We got dinner at Arnaud's Remoulade, which doesn't serve the largest portions, but they're tasty and filling. I recommend a Taste of Nola: Seafood gumbo, stuffed crab, and red beans and rice.

We got our palms read by Jerrik and tarot done by his daughter. He was amazing. I really do think palmistry can reveal a lot about a person. Her predictions were good to; the forecast is cloudy, with an occasional storm, but beautiful real soon.

We walked down to Frenchmen, which was chill, to grab a few rounds at DBA, and we gave part of the Brangelina Tour by showing Ihita their street, Whirling Dervish, and Angeli.

Then we hit up Tropical Isle and Pat O'Brien's so she could try hand grenades and hurricanes. She prefers the grenades. I (stupidly) combined hand grenade leftovers with hurricane leftovers and chugged it. We were all drunk, so we barhopped some more. We stopped by The Pub, where it was apparently lesbian night, so that was kind of funny, and then went to Cat's Meow. I was supposed to sing "Get Ready" with Shannon on back-up vocals, but they played "Sugar Pie, Honey Bunch" instead. All the drunk people told me I was "the best," but consider the source. Ihitia bought a little pizza (8 inches in diameter?), and we drove home.

WEDNESDAY

Wednesday we took Shannon's RAV4 to the Toyota dealership to get it checked out. We cruised the mall, like teenagers. Ihita and I hiked over (gasp) grass, her nemesis, to the Aveda Institute. She got a facial and, since it was the first day of spring, I chopped my hair off.

We went to Vietnamese lunch at Tastea Caffé. We all got bubble tea and beef. Grilled, vermicelli, and pho.

We stopped by the quarter again so Ihita could get some souvenirs.

We met up with Sam at Dick and Jenny's for dinner. I had an "escargot-boy" (a garlicky snail po-boy with creamy mushroom sauce) for an appetizer and a sampler entree (pain perdue, fried oysters, and crawfish alligator sausage cheesecake). We split a Nolamisu (tiramisu with local ingredients, Mom) and creme brulee for dessert. It's really good, but it's similarities to Jacques-Imo's invite comparison. My heart (aka stomach) still belongs to Jacques.

Back here, I went over to Whitney's to watch LOST and Saw 3, which we'd borrowed from blockbuster.

March already?

Another week flew by, another weekend flew by even faster, and suddenly it's Sunday night again... in March nonetheless. Seriously, where did January and February go?

My week was laidback, relatively speaking. Wednesday: Classes and LOST. Thursday: Class, lunch and hanging out with Rachel, 80s Night. Friday: Classes, Lunch and hanging out with Adrian, The Boot and The Rat with Keenan and some of his friends, a little bit of Dance Marathon. Saturday: A little more Dance Marathon, a delicious dinner (Ninja for various sushi, tempura, and rare beef tataki) with Shannon, Blockbuster, a Days of Heaven screening, and quality time with Ryanne and her roommates. Today: The ornithological society's crawfish boil in the park with Ry Ry, studying, napping, and I-don't-know.

I've added "labels" (for popular subjects) to all my journal entries and will continue to do so in future ones. The labels should allow for faster filtering if you want to look up something in past entries and at-a-glance notices of a new post's content if you're pressed for time.

F-ed Up Friday

It was... in both the good way and the bad way.

First class: Canceled after we turned in our discussion topics. Second class: Short. Third class: First exam. SERIOUSLY WHO GIVES AN EXAM THAT'S NOT ON THE SYLLABUS AT THE START OF THE YEAR ON THE LAST FRIDAY BEFORE MARDI GRAS SAYING THE ONLY OTHER DAY WE COULD HAVE HAD IT IS THE FIRST DAY AFTER MARDI GRAS AND DOESN'T OFFER MAKE-UPS? Joyce. That's who.

After that, I checked mail and found I'd gotten a package of homemade chocolate chip cookies from Marney, mother of my brother's best friend, lovely woman that she is. Makes me wonder what she send Adrian or her own actual son. That was a nice pick-me-up after the exam

Carter & Co came over to meet up with Peter and me, and we went to happy hour at the boot for a quick round before some shopping on Magazine St. (Apparently Carter missed certain stores and me as a "shopping buddy.") We picked up some new duds at the style lab and found exact replacements of ruined clothing at buffalo exchange.

Ben was nice enough to put us on the guest list for watching the Krewes of Hermes, D'Etat, and Morpehus at his St. Charles condo, so we stopped by The A&P to pick up some ice, Jim Beam, and a bottle of Grey Goose as a present for our gracious host. (We later found out that during the parades I ended up drinking half the bottle of Beam by myself; no mixers for it and no one else wanted it straight up.)

After the parades, we went to Sake Cafe and had a sushi feast and then went to Bruno's for a few rounds. Ben and Peter went their separate ways, but I went to Frenchmen Street with Carter & Co. Cafe Negril had an amazing live reggae band playing, and James Gandolfini was hanging out there too. We made eye contact and I mouthed "Tony Soprano." He responded with a smile and handshake and told me Happy Mardi Gras. Awesome

The rest of the night (or morning since it was 3AM at that point) went downhill from there. We should have followed Tony Soprano's lead and gone home and crashed, but we didn't.

A few highlights of the short version are:

• loud, sloppy Bourbon St
• tired and drunk and annoyed at the bar
• Carter&Co, aka my ride home, wanted to stay
• quest for a cab with Ben
• We became the drunk guys with dead cell phones and no rides.
• minor bitchfest with Ben
• almost fist fight with cab driver
• loud altercation at my front door with Carter

The story ends with me going to bed at 9AM.

Tornado Tuesday Two

Today was like the epitome of New Orleans weather rapidly shifting from gross to gorgeous. Apparently the tornado scared all the clouds away because the rest of today was sunny and in the 70s.

I went and got my haircut this morning, and, had Aidan Gill's fine barbershop not been packed and busy, would have gotten their "perfect shave." (I've never considered it before, but since this morning I could shower, brush my teeth, floss, mouthwash, and even put in my contacts but still NOT shave, it seemed it like a good time to consider it.) Luckily for my wallet, neither I nor the place had the time considering I hadn't made an appointment in advance.

I was almost late to my terrorism class, but then it was canceled along with the classes for the rest of the day. Awesome. Becca and I (and others) finally made good on our sushi date plans and then went to Creole Creamery for ice cream after. Then she and I went to the levee (which was more packed than I've ever seen it) and then to the park to enjoy the sunlight.

That worked out well considering that my regular lunch with Tara and regular dinner with Ben were both rain-checked due to scheduling conflicts. (Unrelated but picture uploads have also been rain-checked due to the lack of electricity and internet.)

When I got back here, finding the power restored, I did laundry and studied until going to the mall with Sylvia for a little bit. Good times.

I don't want to go back to class tomorrow.

food crawl part deux

After the gym, Mike and I took staggered returns to and showers at his apartment. We went to dinner with Gisela at this Asian place called Ping Pong. It was delicious. They’re BYOB, so we picked up a bottle of wine (no hints of leather or tobacco, Tara) and ate the little trio of Asian snacks they serve while you wait for a table. We shared a tuna sashimi dip, and Mike had the most delicious vegetable soup ever. The three of us ordered their signature “ping pong” chicken with veggies and walnuts, shrimp fried with fresh mangos, and tofu in a spicy hoisin sauce (which was so good it could have been eaten with just plain rice). We actually had dessert before our meal since there was a twenty-minute wait. I don’t remember the name of the place, but it was soft-serve ice cream with toppings mixed in. (McFlurries but better.) That was Gisela’s contribution to the evening. “We should have dessert first, while we wait, because we’ll have wine at dinner and after, and you can’t have ice cream after you’ve been drinking.” Mike’s response: “I like the way you think!” After that we did some more barhopping.

Leaving Chicago (and Mikey and ‘Sela) was really hard especially when both of them individually said some variation of “No, stay. It’s too soon. Don’t leave!”

Chicago was awesome. I really enjoyed myself. The only con is that it was cold. Sorry, New York. I think Chicago’s pizza and hot dogs are better. I miss the lifestyle there already. Lucky for me, Mike and Gisela (together even) and Viralyne are all supposed to come to Mardi Gras, so I won’t have to miss them too much. I guess I just have to miss David since he’s sooo far away, and I rarely see him.

Back here at home, I went to Lacoste in Georgetown with my Dad to buy him Adrian’s and my very-belated Christmas gift. We went to the nearby Benihana right after for their Endless Sushi Lover’s special. (Basically all-you-can-eat made-to-order sushi.)

This morning we went to mass at St. Mary’s, the parish for the school I went to for junior high. Wow, memories. Everything looks exactly the same as I remember. Then after that we went to Murphy’s Irish Pub for lunch. Fish and chips, shepherd’s pie, and of course corned beef and cabbage. They even have Smithwick’s on tap. I thought of Chicago again because when we left all the Bears fans were coming in to watch the game. We hit up Cold Stone right after to get some dessert. (I recommend the after-dinner-mint. It’s dark chocolate peppermint ice cream with chocolate shavings, marshmallows, and Oreos.) And of course, we had to stop by Chipotle because a burrito was on the list Adrian told me of things to bring back for him.

When I got home, Adrian came over and picked up his stuff and then I went to dinner with the girls and my roommates. Reginelli’s was actually not out of any ingredients. Amazing. Even more amazing (I don’t remember how) was Stephanie saying something about how the combination of raw fish and nudity didn’t go well together. (In Chicago, David and I were talking about the eat-of-a-naked-woman, $500-all-you-can-eat-sushi-for-four-people sushi place. We needed two more people who were not Viralyne or Gisela, and I suggested Lauren and Steph.) They were surprisingly uninterested?

We’re about to go out for our requisite Sunday-Before-Classes-Drunkfest, so this update ends abruptly.

Pictures of New Year’s, Chicago, and tonight coming soon. For now, here’s a video of the KA House burning down over break. (Apparently ZBT did also. The fires were unrelated.)

CHICAGO FOOD CRAWL

Coming at you live from Mikey’s iBook in his Lincoln Park apartment, it’s an update! I know... I’m surprised too.

So I get to National Airport and the flight to Pittsburgh is delayed. The ground attendant is pretty dumb and unhelpful the entire time and then proceeds to pull me and the other four people with connections off the plane right before it takes off because she says we won’t make our connections. Turns out she’s wrong but we’re off the plane when it taxis and takes off. Luckily another, competent, helpful guy shows up and rebooks me, telling me he’s booked a direct flight to Chicago that arrives there even earlier than I was supposed.

When I got here, Mike was still at his internship, so I just walked around the shops in the neighborhood, particularly Broadway. (I think it’s funny that he lives next to another street called Broadway, which has little resemblance to Tulane’s frat row.) I went to New Kyoto for lunch and got their “signature hamachi roll.” It’s hamachi (aka yellowtail tuna), eel, shrimp tempura, and spicy mustard. What makes it their signature, I suppose, is that they wrap it all in scallops and then torch it (think crème brulee) but only a little so the scallops seem lightly grilled rare. Delicious.

After that I went to Bobtail Soda Fountain because Gisela recommended it, and one of “the nicest (soda) jerks in town” told me Thursday is Root Beer Float Day, so I got one of those. It was awesome to see so many people of all ages coming to get ice cream despite the cold.

After that I went to Argo Tea Café (a tea shop, as opposed to a coffee shop) to do some reading and got a “teapuccino,” Earl Grey and frothed milk.

Mike finished work, so we went to his apartment to freshen up and stuff and then went barhopping with Gisela! Lots of fun times. I don’t remember the names of the places we went, but both Mikey and ‘Sela said it would be a chill night because they had work in the morning. After several cocktails and shots, we ended up staying out until two in the morning. Mike and I then decided it would be a great time for my first Chicaco Dog so we went to Clark St Hot Dog.

This morning we got up at 6AM to go to Clarke’s, spelled like Ryanne not like the hot dog, for omelettes. You know there’s few meals I love more than breakfast at a diner. Then while Mike went to work I continued to sleep.

I got up and showered and made a presentable second impression (as opposed to the drunken first one) on Mike’s roommate Preet and his girlfriend Erica, who both seem really nice and chill.

Then I went off with David and Viralyne on a tour of the city! Luckily David has his priorities straight, so we went to Giordano’s for their “special” (sausages, onions, mushrooms, and peppers) deep-dish pizza. And then we saw (in David-speak) “the bean thing,” “[his] fountain,” the art institute, “the face things,” the Chicago Tribune building with the cool rocks from different historic landmarks around the world (e.g. Taj Mahal), “Hale Someone, I don’t know who he is but he looks important because he has this thing named after him,” the river, and Magnificent Mile (the shopping street). We got some Garrett’s caramel crisp popcorn to munch on along the way.

I just got back from printing out my tickets for tomorrow, and now I’m off to the gym to work out with Mike so we can eat more tonight.

I'll post pictures when I get home.

last post of the year

Instead of packing I went to get sushi for lunch at Ninja with Lauren then flew home. (I travel light.) Back here I've gone out to eat a lot, done last-minute gift shopping at malls and been unsuccessful, watched Casino Royale a second time with my mom, saw The X-Men Trilogy again with Adrian but out of order, been searching for that Wii thing, and gone to a few Christmas parties.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

'06 was pretty much The Best Year Ever...
Let's close it with the killers' new single.

lost weekend / found food

This was a ridiculously amazing weekend. I sat a lot and ate even more. Don't read this on an empty stomach. It might make you hungry. It's all about food.

So early Friday morning (e.g. 2:00 a.m.) while at Big Easy Cafe with Whitney and Tully, I found out that Whit-Walk has a penchant for LOST much like some of my other friends. And she hadn't seen the second season at all because she was in Australia. So we got all excited and talked about it.

Friday for lunch David had the brilliant idea of going to New-Dunbar's on Loyola's campus. Delicious. Fried chicken and jambalaya and seafood gumbo. For dinner I went with the girls to La Crepe Nanou. Pate and cheese plate, French onion soup, and a ridiculous amount of leg of lamb.

Then we went to the Daiq-Shack (the daiquiri place on riverbend) and bought a gallon of "push-up" and watched Clue.

Saturday I went with Rachel to her friend Adam's Mexican independence day party. I didn't stargaze at the premiere. Instead I was eating chips with unfinishable amounts of pico de gallo and guacamole along with grilled pork and jalapeno poppers. (All of this made from scratch, mind you.) Then downing it all with Dos Equis and Negro Modelo beers .

Then for dinner, Whitney and I ordered chicken and sausage gumbo, house salad, and grilled shrimp po-boys from Uptown Cajun.

Sunday Whitney, Tully, and I tried to go to Kyoto. (It's the only uptown Japanese restaurant I haven't frequented.) But it was closed, so we went to Hana instead. Oshi zushi box and Hana special roll.

Then for dinner I went with Whitney and the Brittanys to her family's for dinner. Roasted turkey, gravy, cranberry sauce, green beans, vegetables, mushroom rice, lots of wine and beer, and a huge red velvet cake and ice cream in honor of her 21st birthday which I think by now has lasted longer than both Becca's and mine combined.

No going out or eating out for a while... with a few exceptions I already have in mind.

Oh, and Whitney and I watched the entire second season of LOST in one weekend... in between meals... while drinking daiquiris and beer.

So yeah, I think this is the first "best" weekend of senior year and in the running for one of the best weekends I've ever had.