Antonio is back from Cali! Sunny is also in the background.
So I went to the Ale 'N 'Wich Pub for the first time last night with a few of my friends... And I ended up going a little harder than I expected haha. I was pretty surprised with the bar and think that I'll be frequenting it more than my usual watering holes in New Brunswick. We got to watch Jamal Crawford play out of his mind against the Nuggets and we also received gifts from a random Santa Claus. I wish I took pictures of this, but some guy was dressed up and handing out wrapped presents, ranging from adult magazines to framed pinup girls. I don't know how he can afford to do stuff like that in today's economy or perhaps he robbed an adult entertainment store? All in all, the holiday specials at Ale 'N 'Wich were pretty good and the bar definitely warrants a revisit and my recommendation to friends. Lastly, we ended up making a boo boo by getting fat sandwiches at the Grease Trucks and playing pool at my apartment until 3/4ish... ugh.
Courtesy of The Wine Chateau in Piscataway
This morning I woke up 4 hours later than I usually do and had a headache haha. I immediately went into survival mode, ran to the kitchen, pounded some water, and scarfed down some lasagna. I managed to run some errands- drop off dry cleaning, bought some chalk for the weights, and picked up some spirits for the "snowstorm" or impending writer's block this evening... I've been working on the great American Novel for the last decade or so and obviously haven't finished it.
I'm about to supp-up and knock out some deadlifts at the gym. My cousin, Geoff out in Arizona, and I are comparing times for the workouts. A decent way to stay competitive and motivated. He just started a blog as well, so check him out.
Being that this is my first Christmas alone... ever, haha, I went to the 11am mass at the church less than a block away from my apartment. I wanted to be around a familiar community and surprisingly, Christmas mass didn't turn out to be the way I remembered it. It was like a ghost town and those who attended weren't lively. I felt like they were just checking off a box of a list of numerous things to do today. It was a little saddening, so I left right before communion. I didn't want to meet anyone new or shake anyone's hand because of the dampened mood. It reminded me of how I felt when I was in my 'tweens, I always wondered why there were so many unhappy people around during the holidays. Aside from my relatives, whom I love to death, sometimes I just wanted to be alone and curl up into a book or watch the movies I wanted to watch during my "winter vacation." Well, Don... haha, you got what you always wanted.
And I'm not gonna lie, it is lonesome, yet in my solidarity I am stress free. There's so much time at the tip of my fingers, I don't want to waste it on sleeping or doing nothing. I have to maximize this time to see something new, go somewhere, work out, read something, write something, etc. Upon returning to my apartment, I popped in some leftover lasagna in the microwave, then searched through Netflix for a movie that was going to get me into a livelier mood, not necessarily the Christmas spirit. I found Tropa de Elite 2 – O Inimigo Agora é Outro (sold to Americans as "Elite Squad: The Enemy Within"), a Brazilian film from 2010 that received high ratings. It didn't disappoint and what I found out later was that it's a sequel, a backstory Americans wouldn't know existed unless they dug deeper on the Internet . Furthermore, it reminded me of why I love foreign films more than American films- because they're original! The film's grittiness and storytelling quality also reminded me of Cidade de Deus ("City of God"), a 2002 Brazilian film that also highlighted the drugs & violence in Rio de Janeiro. Researching further, it turns out that Bráulio Mantovani wrote the screenplays for both films... bravo, he's an excellent writer and a talent I aspire to be like. My final note on Elite Squad- Wagner Moura is an outstanding actor! He plays the lead- a divorced no-nonsense militant type that is passionate about his work & struggles with his purpose in life and what the actual fruits to come from his labor are...
I'm undecided on what to do at this point- I may workout in an hour or so, but will definitely start reading. I have a lot of books to choose from on my shelves... Talk to you soon.
