RKMBs Forums MARCH 2003

yeah, thats right baby. i know you like it when i create new months.

yeah.

lemme try n'get this in before i forget it all. lots goin on.

i took thursday and friday off from work last week, so's i could go on vacation. i was so frickin busy in 2002 that i never got to use any of my vacation days (few of them, anyway). so my boss let me use some of last years for this year (which is the least he could do, considering its his money im making).

but im not even up to thursday yet!

after i left work on wednesday, i had a whole ordeal i had to go through.

DC comics is redoing their web page and message boards in a few weeks (more likely a few months). and, because i kick the ass, they wanted to bring me in to discuss and plan out all of the upcoming changes.

i left work an hour early or so, just to make sure i could make it into DC on time. got to hoboken at a little before 5, and by 5pm, i was on the path heading into NYC.

the path has these kick ass new ads that work on the principle of a flip book. basically, its 1,000 or so posters, all lined up inside the subway tunnel, so that when you ride past'em real quick, it looks like a movie.

incredibly cool.

so that made the ride fun ... i guess. im easy to please, what can i say.

whatever.

i get off the path at like 5:15. i attempted to grab a taxi, but they're all blazin by with people already in'em (it being rush hour time now). if i was black, i could say they didnt pick me up because i was black. unfortunately, im not, so i have no excuse for not hailing one succesfully. im just lame.

again, whatever.

i walk the 20 blocks or so in the bitter, windy cold. wasnt so bad, except i was wearing my timberland's which fuck up yer feet somethin fierce when you power walk in'em. oh well, whats a few extra blisters, right?

i make it to DC about 5:30, fill out the forms, and im on my way up to the 7th floor. i used to work on the infinitely cooler 3rd floor, which was the batman floor. the 7th floor is the superman floor, so its got all that sorta decor. cool, but no batman.

i meet up with jesus (my boss, not the boss) and ron and caty and we bull shit for a few minutes. i also meet up with john nee, who is a weird-ass sunhumma bitch. after a half hour or so, we decide to head across the street to a mexican bar.

basically, we had a 4 hour drinking fest that included nachos and quesadillas, all of which was fully paid for by DC since it was business related (and all of which could have been accomplished in a 20 minute phone call, but hey...)

while at this bar doing "business," this ridiculously hot "shot girl" comes over to our table. she's all sexy and slutty, which is a good thing.

her opening line is that she's not affiliated with the bar. she then hands us a little survey for BMG music and says she's not affiliated with BMG music.

ok.

then she says if we fill out the form, we could win a free CD from sony (not affiliated) or get a sam adams t-shirt (not affiliated).

ok.

we also get a free shot of tequilla if we do. ... again, she's got no connection with the bar.

right.

so i fill out mine, get my free t-shirt and get my shot of tequilla. she doesnt pour or serve the shot. she doesnt even go get the t-shirt (tho she does hand it to me).

basically, she did absolutely nothing and i can't figure out what she does or who she works for. however, considering her ridiculous hotness factor and the fact that she was oh-so touchy and flirty, i'm more than willing to look past all of that.

carry-on, slutty non-shot girl!

i ended up drinking 4 sam adams beers, even tho i hate sam adams. they didnt have anything else. i also ended up doing a double tequilla shot, because jesus didnt want his, so he poured it into my cup.

i killed it all in about 2 hours and then, we finally all split to go home.

jesus, ron, and i walked to the penn station area. made me think how cool it'd be to actually work, daily, with people you wanna talk to. these guys weren't even that similar to me -- both married and 10+ years older. but they were geeky and cool and fun and frickin took me to an all-expense paid bar with a slutty hot chick that touched me a lot.

that was cool as hell.

anyway, with all the booze in me, by the time i got home, i passed out almost instantly. sooooOOooo tired.

thursday was the beginning of my vacation. ... however, i still had to wake up normal time.

i had an interview at some random place at 11 or so. however, to prep for the interview, print out all the stuff i needed, etc, i had to wake up before 8.

interview actually went really well. guys seemed pretty nice, and i think they were overly impressed by my skills. suckers!

i dont really know what im doing with the job thing. im really gettin tired of my current day job -- i worked really hard last year, put in a lot of overtime, and ended up getting nothing for it. no real raise, no real bonus, no vacation time (cuz i was so busy). nothing. and, really, im worried that there's absolutely no growth in this company (as seen in the past 2 years). so, really, this interview was both just a confidence booster and a possible door opening experience -- just testing the waters. for now.

anyway, i did so well, they wanted a round 2 where i could actually meet some of the people involved. thats, suposedly, some time today (maybe 2pm?). no way im making that. thats more like a 5:30 meeting for me. however, i haven't heard anything or any sorta update.

oh well. not my problem.

alright. thats that. i get home around 12:30 - 1, and lex and i decide we're headin out at like 2:30.

quick shower, quick packing, quick preparing, and BOOM, we're off. its about a 2-2.5 hour drive from hoboken to atlantic city. but, with lex in the car as company, it goes real quick.

granted, in the back of my mind, im occasionally reflecting on my AC curse -- last two times i drove down, i had car accidents. but, hey, i made it there and back and a full day afterward unscathed this time around, so mebbe the curse's broken!

...meeeEEEeeeebbee....

so yeah. we get to the hotel at around 5:30 or something like that. its cool as hell being in a hotel. someone else to make yer bed and clean yer bathroom. you can watch tv or lay in bed all day without the phone ringing or some other annoying crap.

its basically an ass kicking time where you can feel as irresponsible as possible. and me rikey!

and lex and i really just lived it up. i even got her to gamble for a bit while we were there. mostly doin the video poker stuff. and, damn, she got pretty good at it, i must say! never really won any money or anything (god forbid) -- however, it took a reeeeal long time to lose it :)

thats basically the philosophy of gambling. if you hand the casino yer money as slow as possible, you win! .... yeah...

i got beat pretty bad. dropped a few hundred in roullette. but, honestly, it doesnt bug me so much. each night at AC is about $299 for the room. and, since i gamble so much, they give me free rooms. so, really, staying down for 2 nights shoulda cost me over $600, and it only cost me $100 (deposit and taxes and all). as long as i didnt blow more than 500 (which i didnt) i was ok.

i didnt even spend that much time gambling, actually. mostly, it was just lex and i hanging out.

we hit all the good eatin spots, did a lotta walkin thru out the casinos (which is like a walk in an air-controlled park), and did a lotta drinkin at the bar!

one day, this crazy, drunk-ass rich guy bought a round of drinks for the bar (like 50 people). he referred to lex and i as "the honeymooners." we made no mention of our not being married, for fear that he'd stop buying the drinks!

after about an hour or so, he had bought us EACH 4 rounds. lex couldnt even handle it and gave one of hers away. i was quick to oblige him, tho

AC was justa great time. sooo relaxing. great time with me and my girl. she's a hottie, y'know mrrRRRRrooowl...

we left on saturday at a little after 12 and got back to the boken real quick like, in just over 2 hours.

lq had to work that day (saturday!), but dropped by afterward. she got to my place at like 4, we watched tv for a bit, then we all headed to outback steakhouse (NOICE)

when we were done, we went to see "old school," that will ferrel movie. pretty good! it had some really kick ass funny parts and, i think, some really unnecessary slow parts. but, overall, it was a good flick. good dinner date, with my two broads. unfortunatley, there was to be no menage after the movie. .... prudes!

lex and i got back to the boken and just drank for a bit to burn the night out. at this point, i didnt even know what day it was, since the week had been so jam-packed and crazy.

sunday, my girl and i headed to olive garden for a good meal, i got some groceries (for like the 3rd time in 2 years), and we chilled-the-fuck-out.

no work, no rushing, no nothin. i needed the relaxation to take a break from all the... relaxation. hey, dont knock it, you know what i mean.

that was sunday. and this is monday.

work.

no further comment.

big plans yesterday!

interview round 2, refinancing, and business discussions with morgan.

.... big plans....

NONE of them happened. couldn't square up a time for the interview. UPS sucks my nuts and didnt deliver the refinancing packet. morgan cancelled because of work issues.

thuper!

interview thing was cleared cuz im sending them the necessary info via email. the morgan thing was rescheduled for tonight. my dad came up yesterday to congratulate me on my refinancing... which didnt happen yet... so the two of us drove to seacaucus by giants stadium to pick up my UPS delivery, since they suck (my nuts, remember?).

we waited there for about 30 minutes, finally got the stuff, and split. we reviewed it a bit in the car to make sure everything was kosher, and then he headed fer home. once again, my dad comes through for me big time, cuz he's an ass kicker. yay pop!

oh yeah, and now im at work.

well'p, i got my haircut afterwork yesterday. i think the chick screwed up, but i cant see the back of my head cuz im human and stuff. so, ill just have to live with it.

after that, i went home and waited for the refinance lady to show up. she got there, i filled out 800 forms, and BAM, i was done. refinanced. im just awaiting all of the paperwork and crap now. once it does tho (which should take a few days) ill be saving like 200 bucks a month -- thats excellent!

morgan also showed up last night, so's we could plan out his future on the web. details -- details.

oh yeah! and pachtman called -- he's comin up to jersey! so, im tryin to set up plans so's we can chill

yeah, im still at work.

snih

yaaaay!

sent home early cuzza snow!

(well... TOOK off early, is more like it.... but im home nonetheless!)

so, it snowed yesterday. bout 3 inches worth, or so. regardless, it was enough to get outta work a few hours early, so y'got 0 complaints from this guy.

got home at like 2 and basically just sat around, enjoying the time off and workin on my PC. i had spoken to my boss at dc comics last week about submitting some work for a colorist position. what the hell, right?

so i finished up one piece i was workin on and send in 4 quick samples. it'd be pretty frickin cool if somethin came from that, but... unfortunately... its just as unlikely anything'll happen.

so yeah.

lex came over also, cuz she'd have major difficulty going to east orange. might as well not chance it and just chill in the boken. thus, we hung out the whole night, watched some good tv and ordered up chinese food.

cant eat meat today! dont forget!!

and, also, pachtman is comin up today!! maybe jack, too. haven't seen scott in like 2 years, so it'll kick much ass.

wow. busy frickin sleep-deprived weekend. lets start it up!

friday! i give pacthman a call on my way home setting up the evening. give jack the same kinda heads up. i get to my place and then give scott the directions, so's he can take the train in.

its a pretty straight forward mapping, but its good to hear it ahead of time, just incase.

i get home at a lil before six, and after a few hours, the pachtman shows up. haven't seen the kid in over 2 years. definitely cool to hang out again.

ironically, he's balding ("ironic" because he's otherwise a monkey manimal). as crass as i normally am, i didnt mention it. its not like he's not aware of it, plus, hell, i haven't seen him in so long. not worth wasting valuable time pointing out stuff like that.

rather, we spend the first hour or so just bringing one another up to speed on whatever the hell we're doin in our own lives. i tell him about buying my apartment and refinancing and other adult-type stuff im doing. he tells me about getting a new car and living the california life (thats where he moved to a few years back).

he really likes it out there, which is kinda sad. i mean, im happy for him and all, but id prefer if he was livin closer to us, so's we could hang out more frequently.

oh well, time goes on, right?

so, after about an hour or so of talkin, jack shows up, and i buzz him in. the next few minutes have jack and scott refreshing one another on who they are, yadda yadda.

being 8pm or so at night, we're all frickin hungry as hell. i put in an order to benny tudino's, giving scott the rite of passage of hoboken pizza. he was impressed!

ok. now it was time to get down to business. to continue our legacy where we left off years ago:

video games.

we're sittin and eatin chips and drinkin lotsa alcohol. i bought a 6 pack of rolling rock for pacman before he showed up, so he's downing that. in traditional "i cant stand beer" fashion, im downing mikes hard lemonades. jack... had some orange juice. and how.

pizza arrives and we nash on that, too. they're both in awe of the benny's (i didnt realize jack had never had the famous house pie, either).

but all of this is going on during one important factor. killing one another in various games.

i let scott run thru rogue leader a few rounds, cuz he's a huge star wars fan and thats easily the greatest star wars game of all time. he seemed to dig it. but, its only a one player, so that wasn't gonna last long.

it was time to shift to something we could all join in on.

to the super smash bros melee!

we played smash bros for like 3 hours straight. basically just laughing it up and having a ball, destroying one another in ridiculous fashion. using baseball btas, monkey slaps, fire flowers, and bunny ears. sounds retarded and... well,... it is retarded. however... its so much frickin fun. just non stop, "gotta kill you first," action. unbelievably fun.

after the nearly 200 minutes of game play, we decided we were gonna go out for a bit. it was a friday night and hoboken is a happenin town. plus, i told scott id show him all around and buy him a "welcome home" beer and all that.

we made every attempt to get up. quit eating. stop drinking. and put down the gamecube controllers. ... but... that just never happened. we were addicted.

just like the good ole days :)

wanting to try something new, we switched gears to super monkey ball. easily the gayest looking and sounding video game of my uber-gaming system. but... good lord, is the game fun.

we played this mode called "monkey fight," which is, essentially, you controlling a monkey in a hamster ball that has a boxing glove attached to it. you then try to punch the other monkeys off the platform.

whoever knocks off the most monkeys in 45 seconds wins.

despite each round only lasting 45 seconds, we managed to play from about midnight to about 4 am -- completely forgetting (ignoring?) the idea of going out.

but you know what? i absolutely did not care. in fact, i preferred staying in. i never get to see the kid, and if we were out at a bar or club, i would have been preoccupied with hot chicks boobies and/or unable to hear him cuz of the music. this was more fun.

but, as 4 drew near, jack started freaking out (he did have a sip of booze in his system) and decided he had to leave.

... or did he...

we were really just bull shitting and having fun while playing video games. but once jack said he was leaving, scott and i knew we had to stir the conversation pot, to trick him into staying.

he puts on his coat. picks up his stuff.... and we sorta block the door, bombarding him with philosophical questions.

since high school, jack has really become all sortsa... deep, i guess is the word. he's very into yoga and meditating and shao lin stuff. he's very into deep thinking, like "are there any truths" and stuff like that. all the stuff you imagine when you make fun of stoned out hippies. you know "what really is life?" ... all those questions. he loves them.

we bait him with the easy stuff, like his thoughts on reality and/or the current iraq/war situation. stuff that was completely filling up his mind (being already tired at 4:30 am).

the conversations were flowing, big time. i like that stuff cuz i love debates and all that. scott was up for it too. jack almost always takes the opposing view point, so it set itself up perfectly to continue without resolution.

and as deep as the kid is, he doesnt seem to understand, or at least accept, the fact that there are just-as-right differing viewpoints out there. so the talks lasted nearly two hours. during that process, he slowly took off his bag. put it down on the floor. removed his coat. and took a seat back on the couch.

before you knew it, the sun was starting to rise and creep into my apartment.

figuring we only had an hour or two before scott's train, i offered for jack to crash at my place. he relented. .... and since we were all there, all awake, and all ready to go...

why not play more super monkey ball?

we killed each other for another few hours, just until 8:30, when scott had to leave to catch his train.

i walked them both downstairs, throwing out some trash in the process. we were all pretty tired, and the town was absolutely empty since it was so early.

we said our good byes and they were on their way. i headed back up to reflect on the night.

i was actually pretty sad to see them go.

the night prior was just so much fucking fun. and, really, it was a complete throw-back to how everything used to always be. every weekend we'd get together and do shit like this. every weekend, without fail. the locations would change, the events would change... but at least once or twice a week, we'd all hang out in huge groups, eat good food, play great games, and just pal around. laugh at everything, make up new jokes. beat each other up... fun bullshit guy stuff.

stuff i havent really been able to do in months and months. stuff i haven't really been able to do [i]consistantly[i] in about 7 years. and i really miss that.

scotts goin back to california. for at least the next few years, and quite possibly for life. that puts him about 3,000 miles away. morgan is always busy in nyc doing random shit. randy has his stuff goin on. jack is always in the city with his whole new life. brandon is who-the-fuck-knows where. south jersey, i guess.

hangin out just isnt a possibility anymore. hell, even for pachtman's 2-years-in-the-making return, we couldnt all pull together because of everyone's differing plans.

very depressing.

well, anyway... when i got up, i stayed awake for another hour before passing out.

i slept until 2 or 3 in the afternoon, and then just lounged around the apt all day. stayin up a whole night really hits ya! i was pretty much out of it all day.

asked lex if she wanted to come over later on. she said she'd see. she was goin to some school show thing first, with her mom and gramma. some wedding party.

eventually, she told me it was over at 10, and that she'd come over -- we could go to a bar or something.

sounded good, anyway. ... didnt really turn out htat well

all day, im groggy as hell. not tired enough to fall asleep, but certainly tired enough to slur my speech.

10 pm goes by, no lex. ... converesely, she calls up at a lil before midnight, sounding very strange. her mother is prompting her with what words to say. she says she needs help carrying stuff.

so, like a good young man, i head downstairs to help her with her bags. upon arrival, i see my gorgeous girlfriend stumble around like a homeless man. she is blasted out of her mind. in front of her mom and grandmother, no less (both of whom seem somewhat amused).

apparently, they were given drinks away at this school show. ... apparently....

so, lex more or less falls up my four flights as i carry her bags, and goes right to the porcelin god. she was very sick, very flu-like, and more or less speaking in tongues. crazy, crazy drunk.

as the minutes went by that she was there, i started to realize just how drunk she was -- to the point where i was gettin a lil worried for her. i've never seen her this drunk, not even close. i didnt know if this was "call the doctors" drunk or what.

at around 12:30 in the morning, she ended up passing out on my bathroom floor (which, by the way, chicks seem to love doing. i gotta try it one night). i was really concerned about her, and didnt wanna find her dead or something the next morning, so i figured i should watch her, just to make sure she was ok.

which wouldnt have been that muchuva problem, if i didnt stay up the whole previous night (and get 4 hours of sleep the 2 nights before).

i was deleriously tired.

but, i sat down next to her, brought out a whole huge stack of comics, and read'em to pass the time and keep me awake.

1 goes by. then 2. 3.... 4... im so frickin tired at this point. im banging my head against the wall to stay up.

after 4.5 hours go by, i figure thats long enough to monitor. the alcohol had to have started goin thru her system by now (half of it going through my pipes). so, i wait until she stutters a lil in her sleep (which is hard to notice, cuz she sleep talks.... and, on this night, sleep sings... true!) then convinced her to lay in a bed.

phew.

because she's drunk, she ends up waking up early the next day (something all people seem do the morning after, for some reason)

she's up at 9 and ends up waking me and my 4 hours of sleep up.

she's soooo much better in the morning, no longer sick or sad or anything. great change from the extreme opposite she was the night prior.

we take a nap at some point, but not a long one. instead, i take her out to the olive garden for a relaxing dinner, then head back to the apt for an early retirement (which, of course, doesnt really happen until 1:30 am, but... hey)

night ends. morning comes. i commute to work, and im here.

story is done.

yeah, im trying to give up biting my nails for lent.

so far, i've yet to make it 2 straight hours without forgetting that.

H to the!

iiiiiits the morning time!

alexis was over last night. she actually cooked like a mofo for me! chicken marsala, cookies, stoup (our own creation of soup/stew)

good, good stuff. lotsa food for me with none of the work for me!

plus, i got my refinancing check from the bank, which definitely padded my bank account (which was floudering around "nothingness")

snih.

very tired.

alright.

last night.

lex went to the dentist in hoboken right after school, so she ended up crashing at my place. i got home around 6, found her in my living room, and decided we needed to go out somewhere.

the weather was pretty damn nice outside (for this time of year, in this area) -- mebbe a solid 55 degrees, no wind. still very sunny cuz the days are getting longer. so, we figured we'd push it and walk the 13 blocks or so to hobsons, which is a barsteraunt (yeah) down the street.

kick ass place. good food, good booze, always loud, and... my god... they have the hottest waitress in the world -- easily the hottest chick in hoboken.

mrrowl.

anywho...

we get to the place after a nice, relaxing walk and, low and behold, michelle is standing at the bar. oh she's so hot. not to be confused, mind you -- my lex is significantly hotter, to the point where a comparison is unfair to any other girl. however, its still fun to stare and dream about other boobies. and do i!

so, yeah. we sit down, and the chick comes right up to us. we haven't been to hobsons in... i dunno... half a year? more? mebbe since last summer. but this piece of ass chick comes right up to us, and tells us our order, because she has it memorized.

noice.

we down a whole buncha beers and eat some way-too-hot chicken wings (which are so frickin spicy it feels like my lips are bleeding)

michelle comes to talk with us on and off thru out the night, sometimes staying for like 10 minutes at a time (keeping in mind she's the place's ONLY waitress). she's so nice n'all, and even exchanges many touches with lex (and some for me!)

we're mostly makin small talk, but eventually find out, like, where she lives and who she lives with and all sortsa personal info. hopefully, that'll continue to progress.

NOICE noice.

so, long story short, lex and i eat. we drink. i love this place. can't wait unitl they open up the tables for outisde loungin (which is really only another 2 weeks or so).

after a few hours, and s'more flirtin, we walk the relaxing 15 block walk back to my apartment. having not really had any sleep for the past two weeks, plus a few beers in my system, im frickin exhausted and almost pass out immediately.

quick hour or so nap, then im up cuz i got some work to do and phone calls to make, but, for all intents and purposes, the night is over and im fine with that.

a really good day