Unashamed self promotion.
Check out these scans of an article about Onmac.net that were in the japanese magazine Ascii. Does this count as my five minutes of fame? I wonder what the article actually says...
Translation:
The Man Who Opened Forbidden Doors
...??
Stocking your home bar.
I went to Spec's Liquor in Midtown today to stock my home bar. I asked the guy there to help me with the basics to help make sure I had everything I needed for when people come over. Here's my list:
Spirits
- Grey Goose (Expensive Vodka)
- Smirnoff Red (Cheap Vodka)
- Shustoff (Unique Ukrainian Vodka)
- Bombay Sapphire (Expensive Gin)
- Bacardi Gold (Dark Rum)
- Bacardi (Light Rum)
- Malibu (Chicks Rum)
- Makers Mark (Nice Bourbon)
- Gentleman Jack (Nice bourbon)
- Antigua Cruz (Unique Tequila)
- Vermouth (For martinis!)
- Agavero (Unique tequila Liqueur)
- Kahlua (Liqueur)
- Godiva Liqueur (For chocolate Martinis)
- Triple Sec (For cosmos)
Beer
Unless you are a big beer drinker (I am not), then just get a few basics.
- Amstel Light
- Heineken
- Domestic (Miller light, coors light, bud light) - they all taste like water
- Corona
- Negro Modelo
Mixers
- Red Bull
- Coke
- Diet Coke
- 7up
- Tonic Water
- Soda Water
- Cranberry Juice
Tools
- Cocktail Shaker
- Bar towels
- Blender
- Muddler / Pestle (for crushing up stuff in a glass)
That's pretty much your basics covered. Mix and match what I am suggesting, and make sure to have a signature drink! Mine is the chocolate martini Mojito!
Funny Homeless guys sign
This is the weirdest, creepiest sign I have seen. Luckily I had my camera, so I snapped a shot.
Help if you wanna help me with money and may all of you that are with me be forever. Signed, the true creator
Thank you for the shoes and t-shirts but now I just need 4 or 7 black pants size 40 waist and 30 length and 4 or 7 black or yellow long sleeve shirts **? and 7 or 10 pair of black socks to put on me when I sit west north so as when I perspire it will help reflect all spells from my powers and also if you could bring me 2 bags of ice please and 2 or 3 black caps. Thank all of you signed not god of the bible, but the true creator
Honest progress – 1 month of working out
Alright, so I was getting chubby before. I started working out - 5 - 7 times a week. I go to the gym 4 - 5, and play soccer 2 times. I started (as of last week) going biking one day a week too with a friend. Im feeling in great shape. But, it's all about looking good in a bikini 
- or just at the beach.
Here are some shots (deliberately unflattering) of my progress thus far. I've lost an inch around the waist (damn pants are too big), my arms are bigger and I am starting to get definition. I am not quite at the flat stomach and rock hard abs stage yet. Check back in another month!
Music Recommendation – Death Cab for Cutie – Plans
I got turned on to Death Cab for Cutie because the singer is Ben Gibbard, the same guy involved in "The Postal Service", my favorite new age electronic band. His soft, almost wussy singing voice is addicting and hypnotic. Their current album, "Plans" is an album where you wont be tempted to skip to the next track. Every track has its own merits and is good in its own right. I wont go as far as to call it musical genius, however if you've got a musically attuned ear and an active brain, you'll probably pick up on the deeper patterns in the way the different instruments fit together.I usually listen to music based on mood. Death Cab for Cutie and 'The Postal Service', I can listen to any time. I can drive to it, I can sleep to it, I can sing to it. I just love it. It's music you can get lost in and escape the reality of a boring day at work or a disturbing thought. It also helps me reflect on my day, feel relaxed and optimistic.
Tracks to look out for: Soul Meets Body, I will follow you into the dark, Crooked Teeth.
I get shivers every time I listen to each of those tracks.
How to be popular on Myspace part 1
Myspace is the ridiculously popular social networking site now owned by Australian media mogul Rupert Murdoch. There are tons of people on myspace and oodles of hot girls and guys. People browse through profiles all the time to check their owners out. We are obsessed with learning about strangers. So, how do you maximize your profile so strangers will obsess over you? Read on!
The profile image
This is essentially the first point of attraction. It's gotta be catchy and it's gotta be good. If you are attractive, focus in on it. If you are not attractive, it's really important to make it interesting. Im OK looking, but I decided to take a really crazy picture with my Photo Booth on my Mac and use that. On a page filled with profile images, mine definitely stands out enough that people will look a little longer. The pic doesnt have to be of you, but people are less likely to click if it is your dog or a beer bottle
Other Pics
With your other pictures, you want to show a wide range of things going on. Show yourself partying with lots of different people. Go out for a few nights and bring a camera with you. If you're a girl, take pictures with lots of different guys. If you're a guy, lots of different girls. The better looking the other people are in your pics, the better you look & the more fun you look like you're having. If you seem like a fun person, then people will want to get to know you.
The profile
So, you want to cast the widest net so that people will relate to you. No no no! Be certain about what you like, but also be a little vague in your details. If you lay out your entire life in your profile, there is nothing left for people to learn about you. Avoid the "I grew up in Plainsboro NJ and moved to blah blah blah". That's boring as heck. Make yourself mysterious and intriguing. Instead of saying you are a regional sales representative for xyz widget company, make a joke and say you are a professional superhero. Get imaginative and make it interesting.
Themes
People go all out with their themes on myspace. Im not a big fan of them, but that is just a personal preference. If you do put up a theme, make sure it doesnt take away from the functionality of your page. If people cant read it or use it, it's useless. Also stay away from too many flashing images. That wasnt cool on the net in the 90s and it isnt cool now.
Friends
Make sure you have a good base of existing friends on your profile. I would say that 20 - 30 is probably the minimum you want. Dont go around myspace asking everyone to be your friend so that you end up with 400 friends. You are not Tom. Get your friends to give you credibility by writing on your page and commenting on your pics. The more other people have to say about you, the more cred you get. It's kind of like a seal of approval. If you have a really good friend, make sure they dont bombard your page. You want to show variety and depth.
Once you've built up your profile, you're ready to go and meet people! Tune in next time to learn how.
How to get over an ex!
There is no surefire way to get over an ex boyfriend / girlfriend. When you break up, especially after being together for a long time, it is like losing a part of yourself. Do not fear though - it is not losing a part of yourself, it is just "like" losing a part of yourself.
There are a common set of 5 stages of grief that people go through during a breakup:
- Denial
- Anger / Resentment
- Bargaining
- Depression
- Acceptance
Denial
At this point, you cant believe what has happened and you are most likely overwhelmed by shock - half expecting things to go back to "normal".
Anger / Resentment
This is when it gets nasty & you might be inclined to do or say things that you will regret to the other person. You blame the other person for causing the situation or wasting years of your life, or being so difficult. In many ways those things are necessary because essentially fighting with each other and causing hurt makes the break up easier to comprehend for each person.
Bargaining
Im not quite sure that this is next after anger. Apparently, this is where you will feel inclined to try to convince the person that you can change or they can change and you really should be together. The decision to break up feels wrong and it seems as though the solution is to get back together rather than stay apart.
Depression
It's really quite straightforward. You feel down in the dumps, alone and withdrawn from the world. At this point, the loss is acknowledged and it takes time to deal with it and sort through the issues. This is when you will feel most alone in the world. But dont fret! the best is yet to come.
Acceptance
The breakup is now in your past. You're able to move forward with your life. Hopefully at this stage, seeing the person doesnt send you backwards in to one of the other stages.
What else?
Now that you know the stages of grief, you can at least understand what you are going through. Some other things you may experience during grief is a sense of a lost identity. You need to rediscover and redefine who you are without the other person. It's difficult and dangerous because its important to have stability in your life.
How to get through it
- Go to the Gym / work out - This is a fantastic thing to do when you are getting over a break up. Working out releases endorfins in the brain so you feel better than you ordinarily would if you were going through a break up (I am working out 5 - 6 times a week).
- Be more social - Hang out in coffee shops with a good book, make some new friends who dont know your ex, get out of the house!
- Generally get more busy - The less time you have alone to think, the less time you will be sitting alone thinking about your break up. Dwelling on a problem rarely presents a solution. The only thing to help with a breakup is time. If you can allow time to pass without overanalyzing the situation, it will help.
- Join a club, group or new activity - Increase the number of times you do an activity during the week. Take a cooking class. Join a book club. Do something you've always wanted to try. Go travelling!
All of these can help you take your mind off grieving for the most part but will allow you to think about it in moments - to process things without dwelling.
In this case, I am taking my own advice! I hope it works for you.
Does the car make the man?
I bought a 2004 Honda Accord EX 3.0 V6 a couple of months ago before I was single. The payment on it is about 450 bucks. Now I am single, I got this stupid idea (from people at work) that I needed to buy a BMW 3 series. Now, the young and irresponsible me wants to buy a BMW 3 series. However, the responsible me believes that the Honda Accord was the right decision and it would be stupid to get rid of it.
A friend of mine suggested that buying the BMW may be an attempt (wrongly) to compensate for something I feel is missing from my life. I think this is the case. For some reason, I thought having a 3 series would make me more fun, exciting, attractive? to women. Well, that's really retarded. I think that it is natural to feel that way because that is what society pushes on us.
Now I realize that although appealing to have a nice car now, I would much rather be rich later. There is a saying in texas: "Big Hat, No Cattle". I've decided that many of the irresponsible youth you see at the hotspots in Houston are essentially "Big Hat, No Cattle". As much as my young reckless urges tempt me to be irresponsible, I am glad I have not.
The car does not make the man. I am embarassed to have thought it had any impact. Cars are fun and a waste of money, but they are essentially tools, and at 24, I dont need to be wasting money changing my tool to get me from a to b
Crome in Houston: What the hell is the deal with the bitchy bartenders?
So, I went to Crome on Sunday evening. It's a nice place and they charge $10 cover to get in (surprising for a sunday!). When you get there it is pretty packed. A lot of people migrate from La Strada around 5 - 6 o'clock. The bar was cool - very nice with white "VIP" couches outside - reminded me a lot of Pangia in Marbella. Now here is the part where I bitch and moan . There was a bar at the far side of the outside where there were these two 30-something women (they could have been 20-something with too much sun, cigs and alcohol I suppose) working the bar. I went up there and asked them for a club soda since I am no longer drinking. They poured it and said "$3". I said "you're not gonna make me pay for that are you?". They just said "leave us a nice tip" and I said "keep being nice to me and I will". So, I grabbed me drink without paying and walked away.
Fair enough, I had to talk my way out of paying with these bitches. So I walked inside and hung out for a bit and then my drink was empty. So, I figured... I want to give these bitches a tip & I went back out. I said, "could I get another club soda please". She poured the drink, rang it up and looked at me deadpan and said "$3". I said "that's not very nice" and she said "$3". I said "you guys are horrible" and handed over $5. She rang me up and said "do you want to stay here?". I said "what?". She said "if you want to stay here, you had better not call us horrible". I said nothing and walked away.
So I guess I cant be that pissed - I didnt get kicked out. Frankly I would have been surprised to be kicked out for calling the horrible bartenders "horrible" for charging me for soda water.
The blonde (short w/ bad face) and brunette (taller w/ bad face) behind the counter have such a small circle of influence that pretty much extends to the four corners of Crome and in reality, they probably dont even have all of that. It's just sad when people try and abuse what little power they have.
All in all, it is a nice place. They just need to fix their policy on non-alcoholic drinks. I have never been charged for Soda Water more than one glass, and I dont expect to be - especially by somewhere that charges cover on a sunday! Crome - if you want to be seen with other people posing as rich and trendy, it's the place to be.
