Ted: Food & Wine Connoisseur


Which Member from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy is your type?
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Ah, Junior year...
This year is starting out well, I'm really enjoying it (despite what I excpected). I'm guessing this phase will soon end, once the testing commences.

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Bowling for Columbine and Soda, Farah I love your hair, Tea and Psychology in Borders, random purchases, Vanity Fair, notes that remind you somebody has called, Molly <3 and the Tale of Columbian Gang Wars in Boca Raton, Olives vs. Marshmallows, I feel fabulus, SMS.

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Good weekend, good week and a half, hopefully good year. For everyone.

-Alex <3

Back!
Back from Jamaica.

At a loss for words (positive).

Beautiful country, beautiful people. I miss everyone :-(. I figure I'll just let Jamaica be a purely verbal tale.

My schedule:
1 - Psychology
2 - AP English
3 - Trig (yay!)
4 - AP Spanish
5 - AP US Hist.
6 - Chemistry (again with Swanson <3)
7 - Health

I love feeling complete and content.

-Alex <3 <3 <3

Hello, Florida
Well, I'm back.

Oddly enough, it feels nice to be home. I miss the city already, but being home is probably better for me. I need a few days to rest from a relatively sleepless 3 weeks. :-)

Wednesday afternoon, after a (seemingly) long flight home, I hung around the house for a bit, and then headed off with Mal to Tessa's birthday get-together. It was nice seeing him again, and despite what other people say, I like the bald Malcolm. It either looks French or Scottish--I can't decide. Burberry hat::Scottish look, Black speedo::French look. I had a great longing for Chelsea the entire night, it felt very weird being back, especially when someone popped in a tape of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy", one of the funniest shows I've seen in a while, and mostly filmed in the city. A few of the scenes were in very familiar areas, namely the Diesel store, Madison Ave. and Chelsea Wine Cellar. :-P Drove Mal home, and he was nice enough to gift me his iPod (he "had no use for it anymore") which is probably one of the nicest things he's ever done for me. *sniff* *tear*

Yesterday, Molly was nice enough to pick me up. Twas a very happy reunion (enjoy the Labyrinth sountrack!). We hung out at her house for a while, talked, listened to David Bowie, chatted with others in the household, etc. At around 8ish, Samantha arrived, and se we headed out to see this French/British movie "Swimming Pool" at Mizner. Got some coffee before the show (always fun), and caught up on things. Determined that the high school years are a time choad. Gotta love cliche'd scenes of side profile smoking. Wonderful night followed.

Today, Mol dropped me off, and I went swimming and fell asleep in the sun. Didn't burn, fortunately. Unfortunately, didn't get any color either. Scot/Pol pride represent. And now I'm here, loading stuff onto my new favorite toy.

-Alex <3

Wax & Wane
Well, as my 3-week vacation in NYC comes to an end, I realize that I haven't been very productive, but I've had many experiences that will lead to great....cocktail party conversation? :-)

While I didn't keep track of the trip as well as I should have (I've been reluctant to post everything, which I guess is respectable), I'll at least be able to use the posts as a way to jog my memory, a sort of future-reference. Heh, maybe I can even write a little novella a-la Jack Kerouac titled "On the E-train" or something similar.

I'm going to miss this city, especially the never-ending bombardment of different aspects of different cultures--being able to watch as millions of people mix on an island smaller than most cities in South Florida. If anything, the trip has been a combination of inspiration and detachment. It’s almost like a blur, for one reason or another. I got my white-bread culture the first week and a half (all major museums, Chelsea galleries, Shakespeare in the Park), and my contemporary ‘studies’ for the last week and a half. All in all, it has been quite memorable. I recommend spending time in this city to anyone and everyone.

-Alex <3



P.S. Siren music festival was great, but too crowded toward the end. !!! and Hot Hot Heat both put on a great show. I really enjoyed the company of Sara B (thanks <3). We met some awesome people on the subway ride back. Not alcohol.

P.P.S. The festival also made me realize how fucking status-quo the indie scene is. ;-)

6 days?
6 days until I'm home....I'm going to miss the city dearly, but I miss everyone back home <3.

I'm not sure what to say, so far this has been my best NYC vacation yet...I'm looking forward to meeting up with Sara B. on Saturday to check out the Siren music festival, should be awesome. Chkchkchk (!!! ?) is playing at 3pm, and Hot Hot Heat will play sometime later that day, in Coney Island. It should be packed.

*random* It seems that for every chain store/brand we have accross the county, the NYC location for each is 100x better than all of the sattelite locations. The Diesel store, on 14th and Union, is two floors, has a customizing service, and a full-time DJ. Yay capitalism, I guess....but then again all that shite comes from (socialist?) Italy. *random*

I'm gonna miss Chelsea :-(, but I can't wait to see everyone again back in Florida. I'll be back the 23rd. Then, a week later, off to Jamaica. I'm off now, got some chores to do.... ;-).

-Alex <3

Summer weekends in the North...
I'm in Princeton NJ right now, at my cousin's house. The town is beautiful, although I feel like such an idiot--just knocked his guitar over during a movie (Waking Life), snapped the neck. It was in a bad position, whatever, and he says it's not my fault, but I have to tell everyone now for some reason so I feel a bit better.

It's not that bad, considering I gave him copies of various CDs he wanted, and built him a great stereo from random components around his house. I had a lot of fun touring around Princeton today, took some photos, hung out in a record store around here. Very nice people, got into a few conversations, picked up Belle and Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister and T. Rex - Zinc Alloy and the Hidden Riders of Tomorrow. Nice non-pretentious indie children. 78 degrees and sunny. Enough said.

The day before was wonderful as well, stayed with some of my aunt's friends and a scottish family on the New Jersey shore...Manasquan. The beach is lovely up here, at least it was yesterday. 80 degrees on land, 65 degrees or so in the water. I took some photos there. Got the snot beaten out of me boogie boarding like the wimp I am, but hey, c'mon, it was yellow flag! Got some color, too. The scottish family was so great...drank like mad, were very entertaining, and had a 6 year old genius midget, Joel. They spoke low english in the home, so it was SOOO hard to understand them. It took me 10 minutes to figure out what a 'kitchen roll' was, but luckily I understood some other slang thanks to Snatch, Lock Stock, and a crash course from my mom and aunt upon their return from Scotland.

I'm kinda going in reverse order here, weird. At least my sleep pattern is back to normal :-). I'll be back in the city tomorrow, yay. I'm missing it already, but I love the Princeton area. I could live here one day.

-Alex <3

Top 5 reasons to love Chelsea (Manhattan, West Side, 34th to 14th St.):

5. The Animal Hospitals outnumber and are larger than traditional hospitals.

4. Speaking of Animals, a man cannot walk his Yorkshire terrier or Shih-Tzu unless the dog in question is accessorized with no less than 3 hair clips, all matching the color of the owner's shirt. Leashes are faux-pas.

3. If placing an ad for cleaning services, the physical description of the maid takes priority (at least 50% of the ad) than the actual employment credentials. Hey, the relationship with the maid will last longer than the relationship with your current boyfriend, they may as well be attractive while they clean your pad.

2. Every bar/club/coffee shop/beverage/food product must have a name laced with inuendo. (Rawhide, Big Cup, The White Swallow)

1. There are 11 GAP locations and 8 Starbucks cafes in Chelsea. (people, this is an area roughly the size of Woodfield Hunt Club)

I had posted this morning, but the post was lost due to a 404 error...or something.

Long story short, Saturday was slow, just relaxed, went out for a little bit mid day, but it was 1000 degrees outside, so i just spent the day in relaxing, resting my legs, reading. Spoke with Molly for a little bit (miss ya <3). Saturday night, mom and aunt came back from Scotland. Sunday, mom left for Florida in the morning, went to Hoboken NJ to pick up my aunt's dog (will send photos) and meet up with her friend. Beautiful little town, relatively low rents, 10 minutes from manhattan by train---good stuff. Came home, relaxed, made some calls (Farah <3), pissed people off on the street by speaking too loudly into the phone :-P. Called my newfound friend Andy, spoke with him for a bit, caught up on things.

Monday, I decided to go over to Queens to meet Andy at the MoMA. Had a little trouble with the 7 train, wound up getting there late, but I really enjoyed the exhibits--got to see a few Warhol movies, paintings, van Gogh's Starry Starry Night, a huge Max Beckmann exhibit, dada and de stijl, etc etc. Wonderful. After that, we took the train to downtown Manhattan to meet up with some of his friends. Had some Chinese ice cream, and sat in the 'pigeon park' (from Home Alone 2). Watched some midget try to kick a tin can into a garbage pail for 20 minutes, and clapped when he finally did. Went home, fell asleep.

Today, Abby and Sara drove into the city. I met up with them at around 12, much fun to be had. It's so great being with people when they're in NYC for the first time ever. They were both so giddy! It was great. I toured them around central park, took them to the Met, showed them around Chelsea. I ran into James on 5th ave. when I was with them, he had two tickets to Shakespeare in the Park, Henry V....i'm going tonight! I'm so excited.

<3

...he died from too much lovin'
Well, my July 4th rocked. I met a few people for pizza on ave. A in the east village, which was excellent. After pizza, we headed over to the apartment of Johann Olander, the swedish artist/journalist, to chat and watch fireworks. This guy was so cool, had tons to say, and is going to try and get me into a party at Gene Simmon's East Hampton house...he had this reaaally reaaallly thick accent and listened to cajun hip-hop. His wife was pretty cool too. His other artist friends showed up, and we talked art. Johann showed me his masterpiece (that was formerly a mural, at his old apartment): A picture of a bunch of old men drinking, and 'rocking out with their cocks out'. Some seriously funny stuff. Johann told me: "This is what my life is about, in one way or another". We eventually made it onto the roof of his building, and watched the fireworks---absolutely wonderful. When they were finished, we went back inside Johann's apartment, and he showed me his portfolio of art....hilarious. I see why a guy from Kiss likes this stuff, and invites him to the party. Everything Johann said was liek 100x funnier, just because of his accent. People started to leave around 1, so I left with James and his girlfriend, and we walked over to Ave. A, tried to get into a few bars (unfortunately, no ID), including a clockwork-orange themed milk bar....soo awesoome, too bad the bouncer actually paid attention. I finally got into Lucy's, some really divey place that was packed and had the *best* music selection. Hung around, chatted, and secretly made fun of the serious pool player with the mullet. That's what I remember, and the night ended at around 3am, when I took a cab home to Chelsea, walked into the apartment, and fell asleep. Good times indeed.

Mmm...nyc
Well, so far, NYC is turning out to be lots of fun. I have had the apartment to myself, and my aunt and mom don't return until sunday (yay, lol). I'm so exhausted right now from all the walking I've been doing.

Wednesday:
Arrived at 3:15pm in LaGuardia...had to get off that plane, sat near loud singing children and their drunken obesity of a mother (yes I'm evil). I finally got to the apartment around 5, dropped all my stuff, went to the Half King Pub with my friend James, ate dinner, had a few drinks, and wandered around the city for a bit. Came back to the apartment and relaxed, made some calls, slept.

Thursday:
Took the E train to 81st st., walked SW until I reached the Whitney Museum. Spent about 3-4 hours in there taking tours and looking at art...(the exhibits I saw were on the front cover of the NY Times Art Weekend section for Friday). I had never been to the Whitney before, so it was a real treat. After that, I came back to the apartment, relaxed, then took the L to the East Village, hung around for a bit, helped an old man in a wheelchair, bought some hilarious shwag, and met James for Sushi with his girlfriend on Ave. A. His girlfriend was really entertaining, and the restaurant had a greaaat atmosphere (weird DVDs, meatloaf records hanging from the ceiling, disco balls, etc). James parted with his girlfriend, and then him and I hobbled back to Chelsea just in time for the 11 o'clock improve battle at the UCB Theater. VERY VERY funny, great show. Got home at around 1:30, and crashed.

Friday (today):
Woke up with slightly sore legs from all the walking the previous day (over 200 blocks!). Hung around in the apartment for most of the morning, left at noon, took the E to 52nd and 5th. Walked up 5th ave. until I got to the Met. Toured the Met for about 3 hours, got to see all of the art I studied in Art History....very cool. After that, I got lost in central park, and eventually made my way back to the 52nd and 5th station, took the E back home, and here I am....I'm leaving in a little bit to meet a few people in the East Village for pizza + 4th of July festivities at 7:30.

So it goes.

-Alex :-)

Ah, finally....
Today I leave for NYC, departing around noon. I'm very very excited, the next 3 weeks will definately be interesting, but it's not like the past 6 spent it Florida haven't been ;-).

Last night definately was memorable, and Josh M. is the best driver, ever. What a rush. SaraB + Abby's Family, I must applaud both. What a great suprise. Vivi probably has photos up. (Thanks!) Hope everyone enjoyed the mixes. <3

Well, I need to go now, off to the airport. I'll post when I get settled in.

-Alex :-)


*UPDATE*: I'm here. :-D

Summer!
It's been quite a while since my last update, unfortunately. I really should get back into the habit of posting regularly, since I regret not keeping a journal while I was up in New York last summer. I've had this account for over a year now...I wonder how long I'm going to keep posting with it?

I'm finally 16.

I'd like to thank those who have made this summer excellent so far, and have kept me from reverting to my (entirely) nocturnal sleep pattern (like last summer). It's kind of dumb to list names, modesty is key...but you know who you are <3.

As far as the rest of this summer goes, I will be in New York in July for three weeks. (425 W. 23rd St., Apt 7B, holla if you're there), then off to Jamaica a short time afterwards. !Igby stalking time! :-)

I'm actually glad now that I didn't get that Norton internship...I realized that I would be pulling 12 hour days at least (commute + workday), 4 days a week, for 7 weeks. I can always do it next summer.

I'd like to pose a question to anyone who may be reading this (I like to hear how other people treat the blog...not patronizing or whatever word I'm looking for): When people stop posting, do you assume nothing is happening that is worthwhile to post? How does a neglected journal, in general, appear to you?

Good times, and more to come.

-Alex

I must say, I'm really happy with the way everything has been going. Life is great. The school year is almost over, it's almost summer, and I have my interview for the internship at the Norton on Friday. Four days of freedom, and a pile of books waiting to be enjoyed.

I noticed my journal was quite depressing, since my last post was the one regarding my friend Luke's death. I figured that if my journal were to be a reflection of my life, I might as well make it an honest reflection.

...and honestly, things are wonderful. <3's to all, as some would say.

-Alex ;-)