Ctrl + Alt + Del… eat

Published
by
Justin
on Friday January 2, 2009
in General
. 4 Comments

Holidays kicked the crap out of our diet. Why did my mom make loaves of banana and pumpkin spice bread and then give them as gifts to Kim’s family? It seemed like everywhere I went there was delicious bread to eat. Dammit! Anyway, we kind of gave up part way into the stretch of holidays (Christmas, Kim’s Birthday and New Year’s) and by the time the Kabuti’s New Year’s Eve Party kicked in I was drinking beers and engorging myself on white rice and cheesecake. If only Joe had been there to eat those things for me… Who am I kidding?

I won $40 dollars playing Left Right Center and on New Year’s Day Kim and I spent some of that money at Game Stop on some used PS2 games. LCR has to be the most ridiculously exciting and simple game ever. I have seen Kim’s family doing things while playing this game that I have never seen them do. Jeron was barking in someone’s face one time.. it’s borderline offensive how people behave while playing this game.

Oh yeah.. the PS2. As much as I’d enjoy one of the fancy new game systems, we just can’t afford it. Plus, I can’t justify playing a PS3 or 360 on our tiny little TV because they look so great on an HD screen, so we have to prioritize. Nevertheless, there’s been a need in our house for fun lazy things to do (since we don’t have cable), so we got a used slimline PS2 with some our savings money. I had a PS2 in college that was stolen out of my apartment by burglars, so really I’ve been video game free for several years. This is fine for us, I can play Vice City every day without complaint and Kim loves her some Ape Escape 3.

I’d love to tell you about the debacle I went through to buy something as simple as a used PS2, but suffice to say that Game Stop can be a hellish place and it doesn’t matter which one you go to. Have you ever noticed just how MANY of those fucking stores there are? Starbucks gets a lot of shit for their overabundancy but I think there has to be– at least in Hampton Roads– two Game Stops to every Starbucks. Unlike Starbucks, however, I am convinced that working at Game Stop has to be one of the worst jobs on planet earth, there’s no way that those poor bastards are paid enough. Even though they screw something up every time I’ve gone there, I just make sure they fix it without getting too irate, there’s no point in getting upset.

So, Kim and I are rebooting our diet. I don’t know if we’re going back to strict Phase 1 (we’re probably gonna keep eating fruit), but we’re definitely cutting out a lot of the excess sugar and carbs. I’ve got 15 pounds to lose before Jan 29th (my 30th birthday). I weighed myself this morning and I am back at 229lbs. If I can come with five pounds of my 215lb goal, I’ll be happy.

Bialetti Moka Express

Published
by
Justin
on Saturday December 27, 2008
in General
. 5 Comments

A worthwhile $25 alternative to a hundred dollar espresso machine. I’ve been reading about the Moka Express and it was apparently a revolutionary invention in the 1930’s for Italians in that it brought espresso into the homes of people who couldn’t typically afford it. While it doesn’t render the crema of a fancy automatic espresso maker, it hardly matters if your one of types who only sees the foam of their cappuccino for the five seconds between when its made and when the Starbucks employee puts the plastic lid on the cup.

Oh yeah, I asked Kim to marry me.

She said yes.

Musicology: Bushwick Bill

Published
by
Justin
on Monday December 22, 2008
in Music
. 2 Comments

Gangsta is a totally overused word now. While it never held any kind of intellectual ilk, there was once a stronger sense about what was and what was not gangsta. Now the word is used to describe any manner of incoherent nonsense. I’m not saying being gangsta is something one should aspire to be, or that the definition of the word gangsta should be fought over in some strict sense of purity like a religious quest or anything, but it would be nice if fifty percent of the people who use the word on regular basis had any idea what they were talking about.

But I digress.

When gangsta rap was still the hot new thing, the appeal of the genre was propelled almost entirely on shock value and the absolutely terrifying grip it had on the middle-aged white establishment (and its youth).  In the beginning we were just scared by anyone named “ICE” (they all seemed like tough customers, even Ice Cube.. he actually used to scare the bejeezus out of whitey) but I don’t think there was anything that really frightened the holy hell out of us white folks more than the idea of a black gangsta rapper who also happened to be a little person. That was like our worst nightmare back in the 90’s: being attacked by gang of black midgets in doo rags and black denim.

I present to you: Bushwick Bill.