I just stopped smoking again.
That's all for now.

Sometime after 5am on Saturday. I got tired of drunkenly wandering around the Lower East Side looking for a subway, caught a cab to Penn.
45 minutes to kill. Back upstairs and outside, light up a Dunhill.
Three puffs in my cigarette became disgusting. I couldn't take another drag. What was satisfying became vomit-inducing.
I've wanted to quit for awhile now. The money, my teeth, the long-term fears that just won't go away, I was sick of all of it.
There was a group of homeless people to my right. I looked at them, looked at my smoke and the universe presented a door.
I realized that I could ditch this cigarette and give the rest of my pack to the homeless people: That could be my way out of this addiction. I was sick, crazy and angry enough. The door was there, the action was the key.
I knew that if I didn't do it then, my taste for cigarettes would return the next day and then more weeks, months or years of smoking.
This was the person with the eyes, the hips, the smile, or the whatever who invites you back to their apartment, the amazing job offer that comes out of nowhere and the great dog wagging its tail at you behind the bars of an animal shelter.
Yes or no, sport? Your choice, but act fast. This offer ends in 10, 9, 8...



The homeless people were happy to get the smokes.

Here's my weekend, complete with links!

So my freelance writing career is GO! I had my first gig on Friday night. I reviewed the first show for the New York City rock band Stoned Fire and interviewed them after. I'll be writing (hopefully) for their press kit, press release and upcoming web site. They're a great bunch of guys and they really get along well. They've only been together for six months but they did very well. Their songwriting is not amateur at all, it's fairly sophisticated and has room to grow. They had the typical first show issues but that's normal. I see them working that stuff out. They all thought that they could've done better and they all agreed that they'd work towards that and not point fingers.
What's interesting is that they have a real grunge influence to them. If you're looking for something new in rock in the city, check these guys out. A demo is upcoming and you'll hear about it here.
I also met DJ Ody-Roc at the show. He sent me some of his stuff and let me tell you, this guy can DJ. His shows must be so much fun and his mash-ups are some of the best that I've ever heard, not the crap mashes that you usually hear.
I also gave out my brand new business cards to 10 different people including bands, a filmmaker, a photographer and a waitress. No, I wasn't trying to date her, she's into indie film so I figured, why the heck not? Cards are cheap.
I had to wait almost an hour for the bus in Kew Gardens. It didn't get there until like 3:10am. Luckily I was rewarded for carrying my nice, somewhat heavy jacket around all night because it was perfect. It wasn't so bad, actually. I had my iPod, plenty of cigarettes and just a little bit of drink in me. There was this cute younger couple sitting in an alcove near the stop. I thought about talking to them but I thought our little karmic balance; them watching me meander around as I recounted my bad past at that stop and also joyed in how the bad is in the past, me seeing them be all cute and cuddly, was too good to disrupt by talking to them.
Weird thing: There's a guy I always see going from the library near my house to the Dunkin' Donuts and back. He's probably mid-50s, beard, cane and limp. He reads a whole lot and never bothers anyone. He seems harmless, in fact, I'm mostly scared of him talking my ear off if I engage in conversation with him because of course, I'll talk books, history, philosophy, etc. Well, I saw this guy in the Dunkin' Donuts at 3:45am as I was walking home. I have to say, this adds a new element to him. More updates as they come.
Saturday was another fun night at the house of amalthea_23 and her beau. The LIRR conductor didn't take my ticket as I traveled from Hicksville to Ronkonkoma. He walked past me like 3 times. Oh well, I'll just have to go out and see them again.
It was a great time, dinner, MMA (Kimbo Slice=Joke and does not deserve a link), fire pit, hot tub, movie, a night in the best studio-plus apartment in all of Suffolk and fun all around. Fred is just nuts for that chicken, damn!
So Sunday I took the 5 minute train ride from Babylon to Lindenhurst. Again, no one took my ticket. This is the first time in my 16+ years of riding the LIRR that I got two free rides in two days. Not sure if I'm gonna use the Babylon-Lindenhurst ticket within the next 6 months, though.
Another highlight: A girl, one of those who could be anywhere from 18 to 26, dark skin, dark hair, nice little petite figure, got on the train soon after me. She had a slinky little top and small flowy skirt on and seemed unable to stop laughing or giggling. It looked like she was coming home from a late night (it was a 2:25pm train, btw) and I had this weird suspicion that she was a prostitute. She kept on looking at me, smiling and giggling but hell, drugs is wonderful things, right? No, I didn't initiate contact. Even I'm not that woman-stupid.
Anyway, in Lindy I met my sis, bro-in-law, niece, mom and step-dad. They were all going to the street fair so I joined them and not just for the free ride home. I love seeing my one year-old niece, who is the best one year-old niece in the history of one year-old nieces. I also had my camera with me and I knew that the fair would be ripe with great shots. Here are some of the best (pre-editing):



I'll eventually post the edited versions somewhere. Once I decide where, I'll post the link.
The most satisfying thing was all the evil eye that I got from the carny-types as I took my pics. Maybe they thought I was some sort of town/county/state inspector-type. Fun times.

Ye gods, people, it's in the Constitution and fairly clear, at that. Only those without a knowledge of history are against a separation of church and state. The writers of the Constitution wanted to protect the religions from government interference and preserve true religious freedom. I really with that those who oppose this idea take a look at European history from about the 1300s to the late 1800s and they'd see what I mean.

I'm a fan of boxing. Well, boxing history, at least. From the earliest evidence of boxing to about the time when Mike Tyson lost to Buster Douglas, boxing was an absolutely amazing sport. Since then, it's destroyed itself; MMA is just shoveling the last bit of dirt on boxing's grave.
Anyway, I love the fact that ESPN Classic shows a whole lot of old boxing matches and also brings in boxers and experts to discuss matches and fighters of the past.
They've cemented my love of Jack Johnson. Please, please, please check this out: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Johnson_(boxer) . I've learned about and seen Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, Ali and all the others who made the 20th century such an amazing time for boxing.
Anyway, they just showed the Tyson-Spinks bout from 1988, which I saw. I can remember that my parents got it on pay-per-view and invited a bunch of friends and family over. Well, it wasn't a long party as Tyson demolished Spinks, knocking him out in 1:31 of the 1st round. That was a well-spent  $39.99.
What's amazing about that fight is that Spinks was an experienced fighter, undefeated, a former world and Olympic champion. It seemed like Spinks was going to be Tyson's best opponent. His previous bouts were against some overrated champions and a 39 year old Larry Holmes.
Tyson just ripped his way to the top of the top of the heavyweight class. It should'nt have been so easy for someone so young. Tyson was just a few days shy of his 22nd birthday when he beat Spinks. By that time he had all 3 heavyweight title belts and was recognized as one of the best heavyweights ever. That is amazing for someone so young; boxing is a sport that rewards experience.
We all know what happened to Mike Tyson. He became the biggest example of wasted talent and potential ever. He also became an example of how management can mess up an athlete, so a big f-you goes out to Don King, that selfish prick.
The fight was nuts. Tyson just did not respect Spinks' jab or counter-punching at all. He just kept coming at Spinks. He knocked Spinks down with a body shot, then a flurry of punches resulted in a nasty left-right combo that landed on Spinks' head and he just fell back, dazed.
At that moment, Mike Tyson was the best heavyweight in the history of boxing.

What the hell happened, Washington Mutual? Y'all may have heard that WaMu failed, got taken over by the government and then sold to JP Morgan Chase (gasp!).
Sure, the fact that myself and other customers of yours who withdrew something like $17 billion dollars in the 10 days after your name was mentioned in the wake of the Lehman Brothers collapse probably didn't help matters. What were we supposed to do? Even though we're FDIC insured, it's really scary when you hear that your bank is in trouble, especially in this economy. I myself am lucky because some types of accounts and services are NOT FDIC insured but I don't have any of those. Besides that, I'm in love with my new ING online checking account (it offers interest with no minimums!) but I was going to still use you, WaMu. Now I can't. I was going to stay in the relationship for the good of my ING account and my convenience. I didn't cause this break-up; you did. The failure, combined with the JP Morgan Chase takeover is just too much for this hombre to handle. You are to blame for this, WaMu, only you.
Sub-prime mortgages? Really? C'mon, WaMu, someone who you pay six figures annually should've realized that they are a losing proposition. Doesn't your upper management have finance degrees and MBAs? I thought that people like that would know what they're doing and not seem bent on running businesses into the ground while they steal their all-too-large piece of the pie. I really can't feel sorry for a lending institution who honestly felt that sub-prime mortgages were a good idea in the long term. I, without any finance degree or background, could've probably told you that they were a losing proposition. Not that individuals aren't to blame here also but the banks and lending institutions should know what they're doing.
More and more information is coming out about the misdeeds and poor management of your CEO. Maybe I just don't know the finance world but I would imagine that a CEO of any financial firm would have a clue about what he's doing and wouldn't push the firm into risky territory. Oh well, as long as he gets his $10 million dollar buyout or golden parachute, things will be better, right? Karl Marx must be spinning in his grave right about now. So too must the actual J.P. Morgan. If you were running one of Morgan's concerns (businesses, but "concerns" sounds all old-timey) and you ran it into the ground but made huge personal profits, you'd only enjoy that money for a short time. Morgan would come after you, take all the money back, ruin your future career prospects and you might even end up dead. I know, it's hard for me to hate a company named after a person who managed his businesses like that but they're pretty far removed from good 'ole J.P.
Just had to push for each dime, didn't you WaMu. Just had to push for every quarter to be more profitable than the last, damn the consequences, right WaMu? So blame us depositors all you want but you know you yourself caused your collapse.
It's not all your fault, the whole financial industry in this country is kinda broken and has been that way for about a decade. I wish more people would notice this instead of maxing out their credit cards, taking trips that they really can't afford and reaching on their cars and homes. The stakes are so much higher now and I didn't even mention unemployment. What's it gonna take, a full-scale Depression? But heck, if the Dow goes up, all is good, right?
Now, because of your stupidity, WaMu, my assets are officially in the hands of the Evil Empire. I feel dirty and soiled now. I won't even give Chase an ATM fee unless there's no other reasonable alternative. If it's Chase ATM versus dirty bodega ATM, I'm taking the bodega one. Well, that and you can meet women in NYC bodegas. Just sayin'.
Now I'm going to close the damn account, which now complicates things because I bank without a car (that's what I get for going back to school full-time and living in a place that takes pubic transportation seriously). I need a linked checking account to make deposits into my sweet little ING account so now I have to find another local bank. Not that I don't live in walking/reasonable bus or biking distance of at least 8 different banks but still, it's a hassle.
Now, on the flip side, WaMu, this is a test of how deep my personal capitalism really goes. A real Chase location is actually the closest bank to me; a painfully easy walk from my house. Do I go for the convenience and side with the big player? Do I trust my financial future to the vast JP Morgan Chase empire? Do I side with the big dog? Do I travel around the New York City area, knowing that there is most likely a Chase ATM nearby, offering the joy of no ATM fee? In an insecure market, do I look the security of size and assets? These are all interesting questions but I'll have to flex my 21st century capitalist muscle and do lots of online research. Then I'll decide if my personal financial politics will influence my decision or not.
I'm gonna miss you, WaMu. You were my first commercial bank after years in a credit union. You were my first online banking and bill-pay experience. You opened up two convenient, walkable-from-my-house locations. Your advertising was interesting and eye-catching without being trendy, boring or pretentious. Your tellers wore those nice blue button-downs shirts. Yes, that created the whole "uniform=peon" feel but at least they were neatly dressed. Safe passage into the next life WaMu, you will be missed.

I'll be posting entries about my bank search. I'll include information and links in case y'all are interested in this stuff also.