Draw yourself day

Last Sunday I took a friend on a tour of Philadelphia. She's been before, but it was nice to take her on a tour of MY Philadelphia, albeit abbreviated by schedules. Next time, we'll make sure to really get down and dirty- Italian Market, Mütter Museum, Olde City, et all.

We stopped off for drinks at Tattooed Mom's on South Street for a drink or three. I always forget that Sunday at Mom's means ARTS & CRAFTS supplies. Sarah and I got to work on the crayons. She coloured a Bratz page. I went a little more personal and made a crayon drawing of myself as a Simpson.

Sure, it looks nothing like me and nothing like a Simpson, but... the Jack and Diet Cokes were good.

It's not the size of your pencil, it's how you write your name

I've had an eventful weekend. My days as a hermit seem to be ended, as the cast of amazing friends I have continually lure me out of my funk and into actually having a social life. As my good friend Brian often says- "good or bad, my friend are all I've ever had". Too true, B.

Rain, my constant sunshine, convinced me to go out on Friday night. We had Pho (which was not, as promised by my brother, the best in the City) and went to a party sponsored by a site she works for. I ran into the one and only Jimmie Knuckles- owner of a beard that's better than yours- and his lovely lady. We laughed, talked beard and drank some disturbing "premium vodka with caffeine" called PINK because it was on the house.

Sometimes free booze simply isn't worth it.

Chickpea and I headed to the Bike Stop so she could finally meet the often imitated never duplicated Bob- had a few more drinks and headed back to Xanadont for some shuteye.

Brian, Bucket and Joli showed up nice and early on Saturday morning and together we headed to Edison, NJ for the 6th Annual East Coast BBQ.  Fun times, and an even more fun afterparty. I can't/won't share the pics on this blog, but I'll say for the record that sometimes when it rains, it pours, and luckily my digital camera is waterproof.

Go to sleep little ugly, Go to sleep little fool

Last night, thanks to a thunderstorm, the heat and humidity finally broke. After taking my beloved melatonin, I opened my blinds just enough to watch the lightning, and drifted off to sleep. 

I woke up several times over the course of the night- asking for more than 5 hours sleep is too much these days, even with the melatonin, but it's a LOT better than the 2 hours I used to manage.  As I floated in and out of sleep I was disappointed by the lack of ferocity that the storm carried with it. The winds were barely howling, the thunder few and far between and the lightning, while impressive, didn't last as long as I would have liked.

Growing up in Florida, you get used to a certain kind of storm- the kind that seems to have hell comin' behind it, ripping up pieces of your barn, uprooting trees and causing chaos for 15 hours at a spell.... We don't really get those kinds of storms up here.

*Portrait of me sleeping by Rain Polsky; Brokenumbrella.com

Weekend Fever

The Heat is starting to arrive in Philadelphia, joining it's more obnoxious friend Humidity. Both can, in the immortal words of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi; "suck my hairy curry rubbed codsack".

I'm a man who's just not suited for warmer climes. I've currently got my winder open with the ceiling fan on high, but soon I'll be setting the AC to a nice comfortable 62*, stripping down to my skivvies and enjoying a nice iced beverage in the cozy cocoon that is the Bunny Sweet.

I've nothing planned this weekend save a little time around the house with Robin, a visit from Rain and possibly some bike riding around the city if I can get over my fear of death and the SUPER uncomfortable seat that will soon be swapped out for a nice gel padded ass-grabber. Should be fun. I'll try to pack my camera with me to document the foolishness that is my typical weekend.

Not much else to report- my folks are still visiting so I'm spending a decent amount of time over at Bob and Carm's with the family. I'm mentally planning my BMEFEST/Modprom weekend (god do I need a proper vacation) as well as the other upcoming trips that are on my roster and just trying to take life as it comes; which is all any of us can ask for, I think.

I want to ride my bicycle

I was recently gifted with a bicycle, on semi-permanent loan. 

The idea of two wheeled transportation in a city notorious for it's asshole drivers is a bit daunting- but as my age and my waist-line both continue to advance, I figure now is the time to take the bull by the horns, the bike by the handlebars and just throw caution to the wind.

It's been slow going. I'm infamously out of shape and pushing myself on the bike has caused muscles I haven't used in an age to revolt against me- I see tonight being an epsom salts kind of night. Add to that the discomfort of trusting drivers to NOT kill me, people opening doors, kids running out in the middle of the street, and you have me in a situation I'm really not used to: loss of control.

So far, I'm liking it. Robin and I intend to start taking out our bikes every night, as weather permits. I think it'll be good for both of us.