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noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Sat, 01 May 2010 11:56:00 +0000

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noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 04:01:00 +0000

Stay Gold / The family you choose

Location: two hours ago, Rockwood Music Hall
Mood: entertained
Music: winning you with words because I have no other way

We meet again at midnight. Next week, back to the usual posting schedule.

Cool thing about my city's that you're only $2.25 away from adventure. The lady was working so I called up a buddy.

Me: Jaymay's playing downtown 8PM. You in?

Him: I dunno...

Me: You're single. Never turn down an invitation.

Him: I'll meet you there.

Great concert, seats and venue. She was super nice.

Me: So, I'm gonna do the stupid tourist thing and ask for your autograph.

Her: Do you have something to write on? (takes paper and writes)

Me: Are you writing something mean? (turning to girl next to her) Is she writing something mean, like in high school?

Her: (laughing and shaking my hand) Thanks for coming, Logan.

Have more stories for you; saw a great flick, baked a ham, and cut another friend loose.

Suppose I'll tell mosta them to y'next week.

The cutting of the friend, I'll tell you now. In a nutshell, your friends're the family y'choose. When you're a kid, y'choose them cause your mom tells you to or they got the locker nexta yours. Whatever.

But as an adult, there's really only one reason to call someone your friend - Someone's your friend if you can answer this in the affirmative: Will this person, to his/her own detriment, look out for me?

If you can, do the same for them. If you can't, cut em loose.

Been alive now for 13,500 days. Only got 12,780 days left here.

No time to waste it on anyone whom I can't answer that question in the affirmative. You don't got that kinda time either, kid.

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Admin note - for those of you reading me at: www.loganlo.com and RSS, I might be offline for a few days. @#$@#$@#$! Blogger.

I'll figure it out. Probably.

YASYCTAI: Go on a (short) adventure. It's $2.25 here; what's it where you are? (180 mins/2 pts)
www.loganlo.com
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noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 05:02:00 +0000

Thought of kindly

Location: in fronta three screens all damn day
Mood: drained
Music: not sleeping, cold wind blowing in the middle of the night

Spent the last four days cranking on a project. Just submitted it to the client a sec ago. So here I am with you, like old times.

Spoke to another old friend used to see every day. Lost touch, as things go. She had some static that I heard about so dropped her a line.

Her: Y'know, you gave me advice about things that I tell people to this day.

Me: Like what?

Her: (thinking) Well, a long time ago, I used to have to walk through this sketch alley to get home so I carried a knife with me. You told me to carry a small metal pen instead and showed me how to use it. I've been telling people that for years.

Me: (laughing) No kidding!

Her: (laughing) Yep. Plus I tell all my girlfriends so there's a group of women here in San Fran that carry metal pens, all because of you.

Recalled another girl that dropped me a note a while ago thanking me for something I wrote once. Suppose it's like that Donne poem, y'know - islands and alla that.

Funny how the things we say and do live on beyond our memory of them. It's good t'be thought of kindly.

YASYCTAI: Call up an old friend for no real reason. (45 mins/1 pt)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 12:30:00 +0000

Taking Algebra

Location: a yoga mat in 10
Mood: ambitious
Music: move on, Second best is never enough

Been working out for about 90 minutes a day for the past several weeks. Trying to turn back the clock, I suppose. It's tiring but the thought that 50's only 13 years away from me's a bit hard to take.
Have y'noticed that your parents spend more on stuff than when you were a kid? Like your pop buys a huge colour TV but when y'were a kid, he made do with the old set?

It's cause when you're younger, y'got more time than y'got coin. Then, after a while, it flips in your head and in real life.

In that weird middle place now, where the two're equally important. Dusted off my manuscript again cause I hear the devil breathing down my neck and think that I gotta get myself in gear.

So I sit down with my six cupsa joe and do

subject-verb-object
subject-verb-object

over-n-over again until I run outta subjects, verbs, and objects - or coffee.

----------

Not a baseball guy but watch for 22 seconds?

Music: move on, Second best is never enough
YASYCTAI: Dust off that project of yours and give it another whirl. (time/2 pts)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Tue, 20 Apr 2010 12:46:00 +0000

That which clings

Location: back in my black chair
Mood: grateful
Music: struggled in vain to solve this riddle with my brain

Thanks for the birthday wishes. Won't be calling on you again until a year from now.

My brother came with his girlie from Cali for my bday. No decent pizza round his parts so we hit up our local Queens pizza jointa as well as John's and Patsy's.

As for my bday, didn't really do much - some dim sum and then in bed by 11PM. Heartgirl's not about the dim sum.

Quite a different life than just a couplea years ago, yeah?

Speakinga which, my buddy's still getting over his girlie. He always has a million excuses why he won't clean his map.

Kept thinking he had a chance, if he just let it go for a year or so. But at some point, y'muck around with a scar too long and it doesn't heal. The very definition of clingy is that which clings. And no one wants that which clings.

Suppose parta why worry about him's cause I easily coulda been him with my ex. I mean, I lived with the girl; saw her ever day for four years. Then one day - *poof* - she's gone. Saw her again twice in four years.

She never came back and I never waited for her to.

See, y'can't plead, argue, beg, or logic your way into someone's life.

All y'can do is clean your map, throw the deuce, and say Peace out.

All y'can do is burn your boats and try to make it home.

If she comes back, great - try again with your semi-clean map.

If she doesn't, great - y'might meet a beautiful, green-eyed, blond who buys you nice shiny.

YASYCTAI: Get your teeth cleaned. I wanna make out with someone if only cause my teeth feel amazing. (60 mins/2 pts)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Thu, 15 Apr 2010 12:27:00 +0000

Logan's 37/Adulthood's funny

Location: in front of my iPad.
Mood: old but content
Music: find myself remembering now and then

Heartgirl got me an iPad. She's lovely - both the iPad and Heartgirl.

----------

Him: So why is oriental offensive to people?

Me: (shrugging) Three reasons, I suppose:

1. It means east, which implies easta someth'n, and if we're east, then easta who?
2. It picks up connotations just like any word does. Like there's nuthin wrong with the word piss, it's just the monosyllabic Anglo-Saxon waya saying the polysyllabic Latin urination. But connotations, y'know? (pause) And
3. it's a rug dude, something you walk on. Would you wanna be called something that people wipe their feet on?

Him: (laughing) No, I suppose not.

Met up with onea the fellas that I brought to court recently - not this idiot but his landlord - and cost me some Manhattan real estate. Nice guy, actually.

Adulthood's funny.

People you war with today, y'might find sitting across a peach-coloured couch in the future, discussing the finer points of etymology. The key's to not just fight hard but honorably. And when the fighting's over, just move on.

He gets props cause he fought a good fight. If things were different, we mighta been friends.

Speak'na adulthood, 37 on Saturday. Way closer to 40 than 20. Luckily, there's rum in my not-too-distant future to soften the blow.

For thosea you reading me for a while, you know the drill - wanna know if anyone's still reading besides the four or five stalwart commenters I got.

So, wish me a happy birthday, alla you bastards that read me but never say anything.

YASYCTAI: Hit that comment button. (1 min/0.5 pts)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Tue, 13 Apr 2010 12:20:00 +0000

Totally Should

Location: yest, all over Brooklyn
Mood: ambitious
Music: want to know if the answer's in my hands

Her: I'm too tired to work out. (pause) Tell me I'm fat, maybe that'll get me to go out and run.

Me: Sheyeah right - that's the adult equivalent of, "Hey, pull my finger."

Back when my insomnia was raging hardcore, was reading about a book a week. Lately, been reading about one every 2-3 weeks. Onea the books I read on vacation was Free, which had this interesting Tim O'Reilly quote I've always subscribed to:

[T]he enemy of the author is not piracy, but obscurity.

Her: So will you keep writing your blog? I'm just asking because I'm curious.

Me: Not sure. The whole point was to make a blog was to send out some stories I've written. Should get going on that.

I totally should.

----------

Saw Date Night for a date night. Quite good, actually. Had no less than two people commenting that they were concerned that all the funniest bits were already shown on TV in the previews - like that last Adam Sandler flick.

Luckily, no.

Actually, my weekend was quite nice as a whole. Also finally saw The Blind Side. Two great flicks in one weekend. Not a bad way to go.

YASYCTAI: Try not to say "um" today. (24 hrs/2 pts)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 12:27:00 +0000

Braun M&Ms

Location: the same old
Mood: daydreaming
Music: dreaming of blue skies, new horizons and sights

Just tried to make some sourdough bread and it barely rose. Damn.

I'll try again.

----------

Me: Do you wanna move to San Deigo?

Her: I heard it's boring there.

Me: We're boring.

Her: This is true.

Still daydreaming about elsewhere again.

Story goes that Van Halen put in alla their contracts that a bowla M&Ms without a single brown M&M hadta be waiting backstage for them otherwise they'd cancel an entire concert. Sounds like vain diva thing to ask, yeah?

Turns out, it was a shrewd business move, cause their shows're complex in terms of setup, and each linea their contracts had to be completed so that the show'd go off without a hitch. If they went backstage and there wasn't a bowl or any brown M&Ms, they immediately knew that no one read the contract closely.

Like I always say, it's the little things.

Speakinga little things, dusted off my old German book recently.

Vielleicht ziehen wir nach Deutschland um. Aber sie spricht kein Deutsch (nicht dass ich kann Deutsch). Und ich spreche kein Französisch..

Na, wenigstens haben wir Rum...

----------

It's April 2010. Gonna be 37 this month. Oh my.

Suppose it's better than the alternative.

YASYCTAI: Figure out how to get a certification in something. (120 mins/1 pt)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 12:33:00 +0000

And I'm not

Location: my grey half-couch
Mood: distressed
Music: You don't know me at all

Glad somea you liked my last post.

Interestingly, only four things I said're false.

Ah, mystery...

----------

Me: I think I can come. Lemme ask the girl.

Him: Why don't you tell her that you're going out, dammit?

Me: And that's why you're single and I'm not.

Him: That's probably true.

Saw a buddy on Saturday in a park downtown. The sun was out but the soil was still muddy. We started off fencing and ended up wresting in the mud.

Then the girl and I went off to the MOMA to check out some exhibits.

Sunday, went to church for Easter.

Assuming that I'm correct in that your life is your 1/3 physical, 1/3 intellectual, and 1/3 spiritual, felt good about my weekend.

Except for my Sunday night. It coulda been (lots) better, but y'can't have it all.

Monday, court again - not involving me, thankfully - and then off to see the rents. My dad's home from away.

Me: There's really no place like home, yeah?

Him: No place.

YASYCTAI: Intellectual, physical, spiritual - time for a stretch. (120 mins/2 pts)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 11:35:00 +0000

Today is...

Location: home for now
Mood: mischievous
Music: what I prove, that's what I move, that's what I give

...a day for changes.

It's hard living down your past. Learning Chinese, or martial arts, or anything, always found that the non-natives were tougher on me than the natives. Like the Caucasian Chinese teacher that graded us harder and gave more homework and exams than the Chinese ones.

Suppose he had something to prove.

Suppose it's why I gotta know something about everything. It's also why I think I lived such a violent life as a youngster - always had something to prove. Luckily, juvey records're buried after 16.

Made my money running onea the largest underground clubs in NYC for four years. That woulda been fine but also met the Devil and took a cut of alla the Xctasy money floating around.

After Leona Helmsley sued me for trashing her joint, put what was left inna Intel stock, then dumped that inna this apartment.

So, considering alla that, decided to sell my pad and give it all away to charity. And considering what's going on in the church, decided to go to seminary and become a priest.

Maybe this way I can make up for all those things that I've done.

Of course, I'll have to give up the girl and rum.

Now, if y'believe anya what I wrote above, consider again the title.

YASYCTAI: Think about what today is... (10 mins/1 pt)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:46:00 +0000

Well-Traveled Gentlemen

Location: rainy NYC
Mood: sweaty
Music: the wind will be wailing but I will be sailing faster

Merriam-Webster says that a gentleman is a man whose conduct conforms to a high standard of propriety or correct behavior.

Recently on ABC, report Brad Garrett on GMA, said about the scumbag that raped and killed seven-year old Somer Thomson "Law enforcement does not have time to keep track of people like this gentleman."

Could someone please buy Mr. Garrett a copy of MW or the OED and dog-ear "gentleman" and "scumbag" for him.

Evidently, he can't tell the difference.

----------

Went out to see the girl's family for dinner this past weekend. There's little better than a home-cooked meal.

It's a bit remarkable how different life is just an hour's drive from the city. There're deer there my friends, deer.

Onea of the most positive things about alla this blogging're the glimpses into lives so different than my own.

Mark Twain said that travel's fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness....Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.

Another quote I like's by Letterman, who said that Wherever we've traveled in this great land of ours, we've found that people everywhere are about 90% water.

Sometimes, think I've lived a rather sheltered life. Fella I know's off to fight a war ina dusty and dangerous place and another's come back. They've my appreciation and respect.

The weather's changing again so I'm thinkinga bridges again.

Her: Would you live there?

Me: (shrugging) Honestly, I be happy where ever you were. Well, you and the rum. (pause) Mostly you though.

YASYCTAI: Avoid shaking hands with anyone today. See how long y'can last. (24 hours/1 pt)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:33:00 +0000

Neufchâtel

Location: 5AM, awake in bed
Mood: annoyed
Music: love me or hate me, it's still an obsession

Y'know alla these annoying hyperlinks in alla my posts? It's to keep myself honest.

Won't tell y'that the smartest man in the US's was a Long Island bouncer or that what you think of as cinnamon is probably something called cassia unless I can prove it to you.

Recently told a young guy that the Republican Party was founded for the main purpose of stopping slavery and that Abe Lincoln the first Republican. He didn't believe me.

Grew up in quiet appreciation of Reagan saving the world and Giuliani saving my hide.

But George W. Bush's speechwriter David Frum noted that the Republican party went horribly wrong when they took the track of convincing people that the Democratic Party was looking to kill babies and grandmothers. They got the very dregs of the party.

Y'know why people become a genre of a person? The liberal flower power girl, the bow-tie wearing conservative? Cause it makes hard decisions easy. Simply parrot what the person to the right (or left) of you is saying and say it with enough umbrage that no one will question you.

Answering with reasoned thought seems to not be in vogue any more. Politics has chosen to let people who respond as children - with anger, hatred, and ranting - set the scene for discourse. And if I say anything, I'm not a true Republican.

It appears Nixon wasn't a true Republican either, as it was his plan Obama passed. Nor is Yale educated Frum. Nor is conservative Harvard educated speechwriter, Ben Stein.

If Sarah Palin represents the best of what we can offer, take my business elsewhere, thank you.

One more stupid fact: what we call cream cheese is actually the screw up of an old French cheese called Neufchâtel. But what we call light cream cheese is actually Neufchâtel.

My point's essentially the same point as the last entry: that I don't care what you call it. Things are what they are.

YASYCTAI: Try to make your next argument as dispassionate as possible. (60 mins/2 pts)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Tue, 23 Mar 2010 12:39:00 +0000

My will's done

Location: yest, 8PM getting drenched on 7th Ave
Mood: disappointed
Music: had a dream That I could fly

Rarely do a political post, but here we are.

In Underworld, the final words of onea the main character's, "My will is done, regardless."

When Bush was president, he made some jaw-droppingly poor choices, yes. But he also quietly tripled AIDS help to Africa. $9 billion to a continent where the average adult survives on $1,968 annually. He deserves recognitiona that. But the people that hate him don't wanna hear it.

Now it's flipped with Obama.

Consider the health care bill; the actual form of the bill's closest to the one that Nixon - the prototypical Republican - tried and failed to pass in 1974.

It's a universal health care paid by a sliding scale to help small business-owners and entrepreneurs, the backbone of the Republican party. Here's Nixons plan in his own words.

The current plan's shockingly similar.

And yet, cause it was introduced by the Democratic party, it's denounced by the same party that introduced it in 1974.

Prejudice in its simplest form, has nuthin to do with race, creed, or religion.

It has to do with making an uninformed decision.

Not married to any one ideology, my decisions're made on the best available information at the time. It's a reasoned way to live.

Stay away from those that're convinced they're right. Cause reason has no place in their world. And unreasonable people're dangerous. Insert my fave Nietzxche quote here.

As for health care, don't care that it's a Republican bill passed by the Democratic party or vice versa. My will's done, regardless.

YASYCTAI: Reason with your unreasonable friends. Then stop if they can't admit they might be wrong. (years/2 pts)
www.loganlo.com

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 12:42:00 +0000

Red Blood, Green Beer, Red Envelopes

Location: yest, 7PM, looking for gauze on Broadway
Mood: bleeding
Music: you cut me open and I keep bleeding

Her: (annoyed) Please, you've kissed half of New York.

Me: The female half!

Her: (glares)

Me: (thinking) That probably wasn't the right thing to say.

A fella I know opines that only the Irish should wear green on St. Patty's day or wish another person a Happy St. Patty's day. That's just ridiculous.

That's like saying no one should wish me a Happy Birthday on my birthday cause it's my birthday not theirs.

Y'don't say Happy _____ to make yourself feel good, y'say it for the listener.

Like if y'wish me a Happy Chinese New Year, I'd take it, regardlessa your race, creed or colour. Likewise, if I wish you a Happy Chinese New Year and you're not Chinese, I'm ok with that and hope y'd be too.

Plus there's green beer for one and red envelopes for the other. Both good things.

Next Chinese New Year, drinking green beer.

Or green rum. Or just regular rum.

Probably just regular rum.

Delicious rum.

Y'ever watch CSI or Dexter where they shine that light all over the place to show if there's blood splatter to indicate a crime occurred?

My pad'd glow like a teenage rave party. There was:

the time I sliced open my foot two hours before a vacation on a piece of glass (emergency room).
the time I fell down my stairs and smashed my face in, almost bleeding out (emergency room).
the time I sliced my hand in the kitchen (emergency room).
the time(s) I performed surgery on myself in the bathroom. (almost emergency room).
the time I killed the mouse in my other bathroom.
alla times I get knocked around wrestling or fencing.
today.

Should never live without a roommate.

On another point entirely, my insurance rate just went up. They must be reading this blog.

Well, at least someone's reading.

YASYCTAI: Thinka reasons why we're similar, rather than reasons we're not. (20 mins/2 pts)
www.loganlo.com

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 13:12:00 +0000

Bahamas 2010

Location: not the Bahamas
Mood: eh
Music: I felt complete And now my body fades

Her: So something happened today on the subway that's never happened to me before. I got hit with a cello. On the subway. It's like we didn't even go on vacation!

Me: Can I put this in my blog?

Her: Please do. (muttering) Get hit with frick'n cello...

Went on a mini-vacation to the Bahamas last week. We'd planned it for a while now; a good friend of mine scored us a balcony cabin on a nice cruise ship.

Most it was quite nice and the Bahamas looked like the pic above.

The only portion that wasn't fun was when we stopped by Cocoa Beach, FL, which did not look like the pic above. No jest, we got dropped off at a parking lot by the bus and had to step over a dead bird on the way to the beach.

Her: (looking out at the beach) What are we doing? This beach is like being on the Jersey Shore. Let's go. (turning to leave)

Me: Yep. (shaking head) Cocoa Beach - where dreams and birds go to die.

Ended up going to Atlantis which was all sortsa cool although hella expensive. Spent it lying on the beach reading the Economist, BusinessWeek and Free.

Quite the wild life I lead, I know.

Me: Do you have burgers right now?

Waitress: It's 8AM, we have breakfast food.

Me: Burgers are breakfast food.

Her: We don't have burgers at this time.

Me: I'm sure you can find a burger somewhere back there and throw it on the grill.

Her: (stone-faced)

Me: (sighing) Fine...

----------

BTW, if you want to get a copy of Free, for...free...click here.

It's a good book; here's a review I wrote about it.

YASYCTAI: Look for blue things today; people seem to really like blue. (60 mins/2 pts)

www.loganlo.com

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 14:03:00 +0000

Advice

Location: home getting ready to leave
Mood: still sore
Music: used to think I had to change the way I am

NYC's expensive but my friends and I've been here so long that we know where to go when the scratch's barely there - or non-existant.

Take Curry Row for example; just wrote about it for an LJ Group I read.

There, for about $9, including tax and tip, you don't gotta unwrap or open your food, cloth napkins, and silverware madea some kinda metal.

Every place's got a joint like this, yeah? Where's your goto place for cheap decent eats?

Anywho, met up with a buddy of mine still smarting over the loss of his girlie. Always preface any advice I give with, "Could be wrong, but doncha think..."

Cause, really, what do I know?

On that point, irritated cause someone gave advice to a buddy of mine that wasn't just wrong; it woulda seriously made him sick cause it woulda resulted in him eating undercooked chicken.

Advice's usually worth crap. Cause people usually give it, feel good about themselves, and go on their merry way. The listener of said advice hasta deal with the consequences.

If you're not sure, don't say anything or at least say, "Could be wrong, but dontcha think..."

Say whatcha want about my profession - a lawyer's just not permitted to give BS advice. He's got a duty to say either, "I don't know," or risk his license.

It's that lawyer in me that has to document every claim I make - like in this blog with alla my ridiculous links. Annoying, yes, but feel I gotta.

Whenever y'take any advice, always ask if the person's just giving it cause they wanna or if they actually know what they're talking about.

~~Even~~ Especially me.

----------

Administrative note: Not gonna be publishing for a week. Tell y'about it March 16th - cya then?

Read this review I wrote in the meanwhile.

YASYCTAI: Tell me where y'go for good, decent food. (5 mins/0.5 pts)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 13:28:00 +0000

Fame

Location: heading to Queens
Mood: sore
Music: baby The fame, fame Isn't it a shame, shame baby

A dude I met once with Sheridan was in alla papers cause he stole alla this dough. As a by-product of my out-and-about-ness, meet a lotta people that're marginally famous in my little city.

The desire to get famous for no reason at all's odd to me. S'one thing to be famous for doing something particularly good, quite another for doing something shady, yet another again for doing nuthin really at all.

My buddy Bryson's also in the papers a lot lately. Well, not him per se, but his work product; he's onea the lead people working on the Roosevelt Island project in the city papers.

It's parta the reason we had to hit Roosevelt Island together this past summer.

Said a number a times before, in addition to being an insanely talented architect, he's also a lethal man in the ring.

I'm only lethal if the other guy laughs himself to death seeing that he's gonna fight me.

Gotta be better to be well-respected than famous, dontcha think? And even more so if it's for two completely different things. Or is that just me these days?

As an aside, like to tell myself that somea my pictures're part of the tram project.

Which is probably only true in my head but, eh, like always, it's my head.

YASYCTAI: What your small goal this week? (5 mins/1 pt)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 13:35:00 +0000

The Acquisition of Knowledge

Location: in the heart of snow
Mood: still @#$@#$ sick
Music: I be the same when it all goes up I be the same when it all goes down

Was wondering why this song - which rocks - didn't get much airplay. Then I saw the video. Least it's a good song.

----------

Always kinda surprised by the people that marry their high school sweethearts.

If I married my high school/college girlfriend, woulda had one totally miserable person here in NYC.

I wouldn'tve been too happy either.

People go through massive changes from 15-21, again at 25-30, and once again at 30. The issue arises when one person changes one way and the other, another.

Elizabeth Gilbert said it best, Marriage is not a game for the young. Janeane Garofalo said someth'n like, imagine being married to the person who's sole qualification was that they had the locker next to yours.

Been having a series of parallel conversations with three different people. Alla them're very prouda the fact that they're the same person as they were in the past.

But suppose y'believe the earth is flat. And despite all evidence to the contrary, your answer's that you've always believed the world's flat and that's just how it's gonna be.

(Insert your favourite George W. Bush joke here)

Said once that being grateful is the key to not being broken. Lemme add the coda that it's also a willingness to say, OK, tell me why you think I'm wrong.

Put another way, why should the beliefs of a 16-year-old - when my buddy decided on something - rule the mind of a 35 year-old, his age now?

Are you better or worse if y'can say, I value the acquisition of knowledge above all else?

On yet another related point, become a man without a political party. The choice seems to be between a group enamored of their own ignorance and another inhibited by their own incompetence.

Gonna write in my mom as a candidate next year; if nuthin else, she'll stay until the job gets done and save taxpayer money by bringing her own coffee.

YASYCTAI: Consider the data. (10 mins/1 pt)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 13:46:00 +0000

Play the game

Location: heading to see the accountant
Mood: still sick
Music: get knocked down, but I get up again

Her: What happened to you?!

Me: (holding arm) Fencing.

Her: You're 36, why don't you learn to knit?

Falling apart. Sick and, for some reason, my wrist's in excruciating pain. Don't recall doing anything to it.

S'a bit sad; my skills're better than they've ever been (which is, admittedly, not saying much). But my body's betraying me. Injuries take forever to heal, my stamina's crap, my reflexes're non-existent. While I was bad before, I'm terrible now.

Thankfully, the reality's that I'll never actually ever get into a real fight.

Some'll find it silly, prepping for something that'll never come. But there're things that it teaches you that other things don't.

Firsta all, movie stuff 's movie stuff. Real violence's nasty, smelly, and...drippy. Y'want no parta it, lemme tell ya. Fight Club? That was written by a dude that's never been in a fight in his life.

But it also teaches you how t'play ~~the~~ your game. It's the stupid wrestler that tries to box a boxer; ditto for a boxer trying to grapple witha grappler. If it's taught me anything it's: never play someone else's game. Fastest way to a whooping.

And, without sounding all Hallmark-y, it teaches y'to get up when someone's trying his darndest - like for serious - to beat y'down. That's something.

Just as the runner who runs though there's nuthing to run for or run to, or the mountain-climber that climbs a big-ass rock just cause he can, I do it cause I dunno how to do anything else.

So I put on a ridiculous outfit, pop in the mouth guard, and pray that my insurance's paid up this month.

Her: What happened now?!

Me: (limping) Wrestling.

Her: What about yoga?

YASYCTAI: Hit the gym. It's one-thirda your life. (60 mins/2 pts)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 14:44:00 +0000

Time¬=Money; Time>Money

Location: in bed
Mood: sick
Music: with you I'm having a good time I don't mind

To add to the lista things that have the air of truth to them but no truth at all, lemme give you one I particularly despise: Time Equals Money.

A buddya mine put up this thing quoting just that and it reminded me that that's gotta be onea the stupidest beliefs a body could hold.

Time is so much more valuable than money. Money, you can make and spend; time you can only spend.

Put another way, if given X years to live, how much would you pay for one more year?

Any idiot can make a buck. But in 432,329,886,000,000,000 seconds, no one's figured out how to make an extra second for themselves.

Working at jobs y'hate, to buy things y'don't need, to impress those y'don't know. That's crazy.

So, if given the chance to make an extra $1,000 or go see your grandma, go see your grandma.

I didn't and I gotta live with that for alla the seconds I got left.

----------

Sick again. Y'know the drill, please send soup.

YASYCTAI: At least give her a call. (10 mins/1 pt)
www.loganlo.com
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noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Tue, 16 Feb 2010 13:22:00 +0000

Perfect Week

Location: surrounded by computer bits
Mood: anxious
Music: every time I snap my fingers, I switch back into the light

Slipped outta an office this past Friday for drinks with the fellas. On the train, a girlie reads the page I'm on over my shoulder. When I'm done, without a word, hand it over to her and her dude.

Her boy makes a comment about the station so I ask them if they're from around the way.

Him: (laughs) Yeah. Just kinda hard to see the station names.

Me: The next stop's Astor.

Him: Thanks. (pause) Hey, did y'get to the TV reviews yet?

Me: Coming up. (turn pages)

Her: That's you! (excitedly pointing)

Him (grinning sheepishly) Yeah, that's me. I got a new show out called, How to make it in America.

Me: No kidd'n! My girl and I were just talking about it. That's you? (peer at the picture).

Her: Yes, he's Ian Edelman.

Him: (laughs)

Me: Niiice. I'll watch it.

Him: Willya? That'd be great. I'd really appreciate it.

Me: You got it, man. Sunday, right?

Him: Sunday. Yeah, I hope you watch it.

He's a native New Yorker. Gotta tell you, the jerks I meet're usually not natives. They're usually someone from Nowheresville trying to prove something. Natives, we got nuthin to prove. Sure, that's a blanket prejudice but it's what I've seen.

Anyhow, super nice fella. Didn't seem the least bit fake and sounded hopeful that ~~I'd~~ we'd watch his show. So, for being a humble, nice native, he gets a plug here with me and alla yous.

----------

Met up with Paul and WM afterward. WM almost had the perfect week; Paul, the opposite.

Given enough time, y'get to see your friends hit their highs and lows. Ecclesiastics 9:11 goes, time and chance happeneth to them all. Yep.

Stumbled home and saw the girl on St. Vals, when we ordered in and watched Public Enemies.

Saw the rents for Chinese New Year and got my fill of some home cooking.

Maybe not the perfect week per WM but my kinda week: family, friends, girl, and a good story to tell.

YASYCTAI: Organize your picture files (hours/2 pts)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 13:28:00 +0000

A semi-clean map

Location: 20 mins ago, outside shoveling
Mood: hot
Music: It's hard to free the ones you love

As I once said, all emotional pain comes when your expectation of reality doesn't match reality. A guy who knows his wife's cheating on him regularly isn't all that twisted when he catches them in the act, cause he was prepared for it.

So my buddy in the last entry's having a hard time dealing with his breakup. Makes sense - breakups're hard. This whole blog came about from my last major breakup.

But to make it easier - the pain that is - I changed my map of the world.

Imagine y'had the job of erasing the word "Broadway" from every map you got. That's a tough task. And when you're done, the faint lines of the word'sre still there. But it's gone for the most part.

Dunno if y'know this, but I paid for law school fixing computers and networks.

A computer doesn't actually read a whole harddrive to find the data it wants, it has a map, a table of contents, that lists every file it has. When you want a file, it looks it up on the map, goes to where it is, and pulls it out.

When it deletes a file, all it does is erase that one line on its map. The file's still there, it just doesn't know it.

When you wanna get a file back, you can sometimes cause it can figure out what on the map's changed.

My buddy won't erase his map. I don't blame him. It's heartbreaking and hard.

But Broadway's gone. He's gotta scrub his map. If she comes back, that's great, the faint lines'll be there and he's got a semi-clean map ready for her.

If she doesn't, well, he's still got a semi-clean map to work with.

Either way, a semi-clean map's a good thing.

Only the stalker and the starkers say that Broadway's there when it's not.

YASYCTAI: Shovel. (60 mins/.05 pts)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:55:00 +0000

The Debt and the Deuce

Location: yest, Malachy's on 72nd
Mood: completely lit
Music: now we ain't wastin' time no more cause time rolls by

Me: Man, I'm lit. Think we each had a pitchera beer and three glassesa rum.

Him: (nodding) Did I do the right thing?

Me: Y'know, whether or not you believe in the Bible, the concept's relevant here. Say y'owe me a thousand bucks. And I tell you the debt's forgiven. But you show up one day showing off your iPhone. Even if I don't wanna, I'm thinking, This #@#$@ owes me one grand. How does he have money to buy an iPhone? And if I invite y'out to eat, you're thinking, Ah, I don't wanna, he's just trying to rub it in my face that I don't got no dough. Even if I'm not.

Him: (nodding) So I did the right thing.

Me: (sighing) She broke the trust pact. Let's say she worked late one night - even if she was being honest, you'd think, Is she really working late, or is something else going on? Y'did the right thing - for botha you. It's why I left my girl. Not just for me but for her too.

Him: Still hard though.

Me: Not say'n it isn't. Just saying that someone's gotta pay the debt, man. Sucks it's you, but there y'go. (laughing) Look, when I broke up with my ex, my buddy Rick swapped out her number with his own just in case I caved and called her. Want me to do the same?

Him: (grinning) Maybe.

Most times, it's best to throw the deuce, say Peace out, and cut it deep, cut it quick, and cut it clean.

Cause it's better to be the star of your own movie, than have a cameo in someone else's.

YASYCTAI: Cut it quick. Cut it clean. (1 min/3 pts)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 13:39:00 +0000

Where life takes you

Location: on way to Yonkers
Mood: busy
Music: with lovers and friends I still can recall

A buddy I've not seen in a bit came by the other day. We went out for a walk and randomly a frienda his invited him over to eat. So he invited me.

Next thing you know we're on a cab heading west and sitting in some girl's kitchen having some hommade jook and I'm moving a cello and he's hanging a tapestry.

Funny where the day takes you sometimes.

----------

Katsmw: Logan, I've told you this several times before!

Me: Sorry - most of the 90s and the first half of the 2000s were a blur to me.

Her: Why is that?

Me: My insomnia. Once I started sleeping well a few days in a row, it was like putting on glasses and seeing clearly.

Had some other friends over last night; an old college buddy and his wife. Made a roasted rack of lamb, potatoes, salad with blue cheese and cranberries rounded off with some gluhwein.

Afterward, played some Scattergories (lost one round and tied one round) and introduced him to the wonderful worlda rum.

At some point, y'sit around and chat about stories in college. Like how my buddy would come back from a hard run and then have a cigarette. He's since quit. 17 years I've known the fella. It's nice seeing how things change with old friends.

And how much things stay the same.

Me: (dropping carving knife onto floor) YIKES!

Everyone: Whoa!

Her: That could have cut off your toe!

Him: It fell into his lap first (laughing) so a toe woulda been the least of his problems.

YASYCTAI: Time for some dinner guests. (180 mins/1 pt)

noreply@blogger.com (Logan Lo) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 13:35:00 +0000

Showing up

Location: my desk
Mood: hungry
Music: life's too short for me to stop Oh baby

Him: You sound like a nice guy. I'd hate to have to bring you to court.

Me: I am a nice a guy. I'd hate to have to meet you in court.

Him: My lawyer's a professor of law at Columbia. She'll tear you apart.

Me: She's just another lawyer. I'm something she's not.

Him: What's that?

Me: I'm right. See you in court. (hang up phone)

Since I wanna keep somea my private life private, didn't tell you that I was in another lawsuit.

If the past three years have taught me anything, it's that most people're a lotta talk. But Woody Allen once said that Eighty percent of success is showing up. So I showed up.

It just finished. Won't get inna details but it ended up a lot more my way than his.

----------

Had my date with my lady. Ended up playing boardgames at my fave local dive bar - they got candy at every table, lotsa boardgames and few meatheads. My kinda joint.

Been running about, ever in pursuit of scratch. Meetings, meetings, meetings. Nice though, not having to run the show. Not saying I'd never run my own company again, but am saying that it'll be a while before I do it again.

Just signed up for onea those rent-a-car-by-the-hour programs cause I hadta sell my whip.

The inexorable marcha time. Suppose 36's as good an age as any to grow up. Kinda.

Her: Why won't this work?!

Me: Lemme see. (condescendingly) Honey, you put in the battery in the wrong way.

Her: Oh yeah? Well, at least I didn't put on my pants backwards.

Me: (looking down)

Her: Shyeah...put that in your blog. (laughs)

Me: (muttering) Dammit...

YASYCTAI: Find more uses for sauerkraut. (60 mins/0.5 pts)