Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in roningrendel's LiveJournal:

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Friday, April 14th, 2006
11:56 pm	Grendel's new toy...Grendel's death wish... Ok people recently Grendel has picked up some bad habits from his past. The Absinthe thing was a start but now it's pretty bad, we're having a couple of drinks every night to help get to sleep other wise we just stay up thinking bout life in general. This in itself is not a bad thing we guess but the little challenges Grendel gives himself can be...This post will probably start rambling but we'll do our best to keep it on track. The apparent "Death wish" people think Grendel has, really isn't that at all. You can't live life to the fullest without challenges. His best friend has always made the comment that Grendel can do anything and the only reason Grendel hasn't really made a success of himself is just that, he can do it and doesn't see the challenge. Thus Grendel tends to try things that he doesn't know he can do for kicks. Grendel tends to like things quantified and each "challenge" he's given himself is just an attempt to put his life in slots or packets of easily quantifiable experiences. Whether it be going to work as a bike messenger in sub zero weather, driving 4+ hours to pick up a friend, attempting to try every Absinthe on the market, or even loving his friends more than himself. Each task we agree to do no matter how stupid is for the experience and to say that we have lived a full life, then again we have lived a full life, done things most people won't experience in a lifetime, faced death once before and beaten it, and most importantly has truly fallen in love. People have complained to us that we do some stupid things but the fact is we're still alive to tell about it and we guess that keeps the balance. Yes we have played with drugs and tend to find them pretty boring, yes we drive too fast and whats the point. Grendel's choice to do some hazardous things does keep things in balance. we know we're not making much sense now... Anywhoo, we're glad that an old friendship has been resurrected in the past couple of weeks after what seemed to be a permanent falling out. We're glad that we do have friends; a special "Shout out" to J Wendy, whom I've known for 19 years, 7 months and a couple of weeks and at this point. Respect to the Crew, and you know who you all are, if you don't well then that's too bad. Hugs to the Sibling unit, out of the biological family units you're the one Grendel loves the most, and thank you for giving him the honor of walking you down the aisle for your wedding. To all the women he's fallen in love with, a special thanks for giving him a reason to. And for all those he loves...Thanks!!!.....wellll enough of this reminiscing and onto the new toy... Grendel + alcohol + flamethrower = not a good idea..... Soooo I finally got my mini flame thrower from British Airways after a week aggravation of going back an forth to jfk/ customs/ B A T F. and even the USDA. This in itself was a great story and if you think the people at DMV are bad, try explaining to the federales what/why you have a package coming from South Africa. But you know what, overall it was a pretty interesting process and we're suprised that though time consuming was overall pretty easy to sneak this by them. Anyways, we bought a bunch of party decorations for the club for a friends Bday party this week which has since been canceled and we're here staring at a whole bunch of candles and a flame thrower. Geeeee, here comes the quantifiable part, how long does it take to light up a bday cake and can we do it in one shot.....he he he We take another swig of absinthe and go out to the porch and start standing up all these candles on our garden table....Surveying the candles placement and planning a spray pattern that should light them all up in less that 5 seconds we take a deep breath and prepare to pull the trigger....just at the moment of ignition, a sudden burst of wind kicks in and draws the flame towards the bbq grill covered in a plastic tarp. trying to control the flame we point it back at the candles and start lighting them, problem no 1 the flame is too big and by the time all the candles are lit, the first ones are melted into puddles by the heat, easy fix we'll just scrape the dried wax off the table problem 2; even after pulling the flame off the tarp and going to the candles, the tarp had already ignited and the front part is a melted mass of plastic on the bbq grill, this will be a little bit harder to scrape off. take another swig of absinthe, contemplate where we put the marshmallows then run inside to get the fire extinguisher... Anywhoo, Grendel will not play with his new toy while drunk... dunno, why we felt the need for this post but new toy is coooooooooool.......that and I'm gonna get my CX4 in a couple of weeks.....we'll keep you posted when that toy arrives.... anyways, we love you all and gnight, we have a couple more drinks to consume.... Semper fidelis, Grendel (5 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, March 13th, 2006
3:46 am	False accusations, My biggest pet peeve... So after a completely crappy day at work last Thursday, and the weird week beforehand, I took Friday off and gave myself a 3 day weekend. I've decided that I will be giving myself these days off the first weekend of every month from now on. I find that in times of distress I try to make myself feel better by doing something with an adrenaline/endorphin rush, or excessive consumption. Friday I spent time at my friends car radio/alarm shop and Jack is now 3 times louder after upgrading cars woofer/amp. I'm now running over 1200 watts in my car. At full volume you can feel the bass in your chest(Cyn you are not allowed to test this with your breathing problems); the rear doors/quarter panels and roof are buckling. Saturday I had planned to go to Skirmish for big paintball game but ended playing at a local field 'cause I woke up a little late. Did my attempts to feel better work?, not really, I always end up feeling guilty overspending on myself when I remember that by being self centered doesn't really leave the world a better place. I found out that my friend needed some help last Friday and I immediately offered the resources at my disposal. We discussed what needed to be done and came up with a plan. I met him in the city after paintball Sat to help fix the situation. Things like this make me feel better, if this makes me a "doormat"/"service person"...FUCK YOU!, by labeling me as such you negate my entire existence. For those who know of my background, what I've seen, been through and the kind of family I grew up in, you know why I always offer to help the people I know and love. I've always been taught to try and leave the world a better place and since I can't do anything about the big things, I do what I can where I can, with the people I know. Being labeled as someone I'm not ties directly into my biggest pet peeve, Being accused of something I did not do. False accusations were one of my reasons for my decision to withdraw from college. Through the course of my college education, I had been accused by various professors at two colleges for plagiarizing my papers. Their accusations were always the same, that my papers were written too well to be undergraduate work. Considering I had already been writing 50+ page term papers for every AP class back in HS; the fact that I did take several courses in technical/business writing at a third college during my '92 stint in Delaware; that I am a very objective person as long as it is with matters outside my emotional realm, I already had much experience with how to write/present papers. My professors always retracted their accusations when I brought each respective department head copies of my old papers from HS and they saw my writing style develop and mature from my experience through the years. After enduring this for the umpteenth time early in my senior year I withdrew from school. Friday morning I was accused by one of my bosses, of messing up one PO that was sent to one of my companies suppliers. I took the PO and discovered that the mistake was done by another person in our company who occasionally places orders. After showing who/where the mistake came from he apologized, I gladly accepted his apology but by that time I was already in a crappy mood for the rest of the day. I told our secretary that I was leaving early and taking Friday off. On my commute home I kept thinking about the incident and various times in the past where I was falsely accused. Looking back, false accusations were most hurtful from people I loved deeply and did my best for. It is true that the people you love the most will also hurt you the most. I've run the gamut accusations from "not doing enough" to the opposite extreme of "doing too much" by the people I've loved the most. I've tried to do the best I could given the situation and as I've said before the only thing I will apologize for is not being able to do more for those I love. Love is a funny thing, even though false accusations really bother me I always forgive if it came from someone I care deeply about. At this point I'm starting to ramble, I've been up since 10am yesterday and at this point I have to get ready to go to work... "For those I love nothing, neither they nor I can ever do, will make me stop loving them." - Camus Semper fidelis, Grendel - I'm running out of time, I just refuse to accept it... Current Mood: drained Current Music: Rupesh Cartel (Comment on this)
Monday, February 13th, 2006
4:55 am	The closing door... "I no longer have friends, merely accomplices" -Camus Jacks hurt because of my fuck up, as some of you would know Jack/Jaqueline is my cars nickname, more on this later. Anyways here's another reason I dislike asking people for favors. It's related to fear of rejection and the fact that I need to see my friends in a positive light. Because of my idealistic view of my friendship, its understood that others will not be there for me as much as I have been there for them. The times I've asked for a favor from "best" friends and they've refused me I tend to look at them as less devoted to the friendship as I am. Rather than make me look at you as less of a friend because of your refusal for a simple favor I'd rather not ask you at all and keep my belief that you would be there if I do ask. I know this is not making any sense but I tried. And of the few favors I've asked people in the last couple years, I can count on one hand how many have helped. A special thanks to DJRavage for the favor he did for me last thursday in helping me purchase a 2nd car, with my fuck up with Jack it couldn't have come at a better time. Well, here it goes: I just decided to go to the Albany area to pay for my new car despite the less than satisfactory road conditions around NYC. Once I cleared the local NYC highways, the rest of the trip was easy; NJTP, RT24, RT78, GSP and the New York State Thruway/87 were all clear of snow. I was actually having fun racing a couple of people up the GSP and 87 on my way upstate. When I finally got to Hudson NY I met up with the car's seller at his furniture restoration store. His store was full of Art Deco pieces and I looked around making a list of stuff I had to come back and buy from him for my Parent's house up in the Poconos. I'm probably picking up a stained glass Coke logo light fixture and this 3 ft tall aluminum and glass tower fountain. He brought me to his house where I inspected the veh and asked more specific questions about it, which convinced me to go ahead with my purchase. We went inside to finalize the deal and fill out the paperwork, I was offered Turkish coffee and some yummy Romanian Cheesecake, which was pretty damn good(I better duck before the "Junior's" crew finds out that I was impressed by some other cheesecake not made in Brooklyn). Over coffee and paperwork we chitchatted about ourselves and the seller ended up being a Romanian political refugee working for the upstate restoration workshop of Sotheby's auction house, this pretty much explained why he had such beautiful pieces at his store. We went off on a tangent and started discussing world politics from the mid East to the Communist bloc countries. I learned a lot listening first hand to what life was like before the fall of Communism in Europe. After an hour of conversation I thanked him for the hospitality took my new cars' title and started home. The ride back was uneventful, played follow the leader with some Honda between exit 21 and 16 of the thruway, maxing out at about 105mph. Was cruising at about 65 going towards the rt78 to rt1/9 merge , thinking "great 25 more mins and I'll be home", when I fucked up. Somehow I ended up taking the wrong fork and ended up heading towards the Newark airport back lot. Because this was a relatively minor road, the exit ramp wasn't plowed, by the time I realized this the guard rail had already started and I was stuck driving through snow at 55. I managed to keep her straight pumping my brakes and slowing down when I started fishtailing. I was actually having a jolly good time correcting left and right when ran out of road and totally lost it at 35MPH and over corrected which ended up with me going sidways down a one lane ramp with snowdrifts on in front and behind my car. While I was actually sliding down the ramp drivers side first and the first thing that popped into my head was; "HAH!!! Mom was wrong, cigarettes aren't going to kill me." actually that was the second thing, the first thing I thought of was all my friends and wondering if there were any other promises I've made to you that I didn't finish. Also I wondered who would bother showing up for the wake/funeral if I did kick the bucket this time, realizing how busy people are I would understand if no one showed up. I started my last correction to try and get my car pointed forward and was fighting the skid slowly but the ramp started curving left. I didn't have enough room for further correction so Jack ended up plowed into a snowbank, perpendicular in the ramp. I glanced to my right back up the ramp expecting to be railed by the next car coming down. I saw some lights from the highway which looked like they were coming down the ramp when I was tempted to just unhook my seatbelt and wait for the inevitable crash. Seconds really do seem to extend to years in cases like this. Looking back up the ramp I realized that since this was a less used ramp I may have a chance at digging out Jack. So I started the ol reverse/forward/reverse trying to get out of this predicament. After a couple of minutes of doing this I finally get the car pointed down the ramp just in time to see another car definitely enter the ramp I was in. I gun it down the ramp to make sure I wasn't hit and stop at gas station to survey the damaged to Jack. I was surprised to find that only my front airdam was out of alignment with the drivers side piece cracked from sliding down the ramp. I continue on my way thinking what excuse I give my boss for not showing up at work. Well, two possible observations;A) I'm not really that good a driver my friends think I am, and should have been able to correct the skid, B) I'm not dying in/around a car, C) there is no third thing!!!:) Actually the second one I knew already after the '92 incident, and that everytime I end up dangerous situations that I don't know if I'll make it through, the first people I think of are my friends, not my family but you guys. I think of all our conversations, your LJ posts that make me smile, what you were wearing when we last saw each other, etc. Is it just me or does this show that I love you guys more than my family? I dunno where I'm going with all this but I just want ALL the people I consider my friends and whom I love, know that I do love you guys, Thanks for giving me a reason not to give up on myself... Semper fidelis, Grendel - "Without you, life is nothing but a waste of time" PS. I'm getting personalized plates for the new veh, and I'm open for suggestions. just so you know its a totally cute grey suzuki. Current Mood: thankful Current Music: T.O.Y. Another love song (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, January 9th, 2006
12:40 am	this is going to be a weird year.... Sigh, After what was a relatively crappy new years eve for me I have a feeling this year may be really weird for me: I had planned and gotten hotel reservations for Dec 30th - Jan 2nd, at The Marriot Newport up in Newport RI. I really wanted to have some time off to myself to think more about the things I have done; people I love; my friends; you know life in general. I really wanted to assess my life as the new year turned and I was psyched when I learned that my room would have a view of the harbor and what not. First week of December I find out that I was scheduled to DJ at the club soooo my loyalty to my friends took over and I put myself/wishes aside and canceled my hotel reservations. My cousin and her two friends from Cali came the third week of Dec to spend Christmas with the East Coast portion of our family, and I learned that they wanted to go to Times Square. New years eve comes around and I woke up finding that my cousins were already dressed and we arranged to meet at Times Square later that day, I told them to get there about 4/5 at the latest to have a good view. I arrive at Times Square bout 4 and immediately stake a spot on 44th street right across from the MTV studios. I get a call from my cousins saying that they were gonna skip times Square because it was snowing/raining, so I cut my losses and call Cyn up saying that I was coming to the club early. I get to the club and there was some more work to be done with decorating and opening up the new back room so I helped with that. I also learned that the club had to use my CD players and mixer in another room because of lack of equipment. I had wanted to use my players as I had my whole set planned but again I put my feelings aside and bit the bullet. After the bands when on and I started DJ'ing I found that the CD players I had been set up with could not read half my cds and there was a delay I wasn't used when pressing play. Because of technical problems I had to throw out my planned set as I loaded and ejected CD after CD finding out which one the players would read. It got so bad that at one point I hid behind the cd setup and started crying only reaching over to press the "fwd" button as a song ended. Another thing, for as long as I remember this was the loneliest New Years eve I've ever felt. I found this strange as I was amongst friends, but the feeling was definitely there. All the times I spent in times square with strangers for New Years eve, I have never felt alone, this aspect of the night will definitely need some more investigation. I've learned that how I feel on New Years eve usually sets the pace for me for the rest of the year and since I had a less thatn stellar evening it is a good guess how my year is going to be. So, I'm placed in the position of watching my back extra carefully again, a position I've been in once before. Being paranoid is something I don't like to be because it gets too stressfull in the long run. Anyone of my friends will know that I tend to be ambivalent and impulsive bout things, and that having to watch over my shoulder every step I take is just too much work. On a good note though, Grendel made several new friends at the club yesterday night, and made tentative coffee plans with Melissa. But then again, I have always been accepting of new people and history has shown that I tend to jump into friendships maybe a little to quickly. This aspect of my personality I will not change as I do in fact have a positive outlook as far as people go. This side of me also may piss off some of my friends as they have seen me hurt by it but that doesn't matter. All that matters to me is that my friends will always remember me as the one who was always there in a pinch and would did all I could for them. Sorry for going on a tangent but we'll see how things this year go and handle it the best that I can.... Semper fidelis, Grendel - "All I can do is plan for the worst and hope for the best." Current Mood: optimistic Current Music: Fuck you Lucy - Atmosphere (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, December 17th, 2005
5:53 pm	"You gotta move on sometime" aka, going to the mattresses.... This will be the last public post on this journal for a while. Grendel will be limiting access to his posts to people he trusts/loves i.e. the people he allows on his friends list. No more silly Absinth reviews/challenges. No more details of restaurants/Museums, Each and everyone of you knows a little bit bout Grendel but only one person on his friends list knows info that no other friend has and its time to come clean with this and other things. So We'll gather our thoughts and keep you guys updated. For the record this has been the happiest year that Grendel has had in a while and this will need an explanation over considering the amount of tears he's shed... Semper fidelis, Grendel - "You questioned if I cared... You can ask anyone I even said you were my great one..." - Eamon Current Mood: calm Current Music: Eamon (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Sunday, October 9th, 2005
1:06 am	Karma????....BOLLOCKS They say you have to learn from history to avoid making the same mistakes. What if the situation is whenever Grendel does something good he somehow gets screwed in the end??? We used to believe in "karma" but just as "religion is the opiate of the people", this situation of Grendel getting repeatedly screwed after a good deed negates any belief in the hope of karma. Details on what happened earlier tonight with a new friend will be saved for a later post as Grendel is not in the mind space to recount the incident objectively at this time. For now we stopped by home to grab our 3 day kit and we're heading south for a couple of days..... Grendel out. -end transmission- Current Mood: distressed Current Music: "Suffer in silence" (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Saturday, October 1st, 2005
9:46 am	Last weeks DJ set... La La Land You think your a man Ex Spricht der Fuhrer Robotiko Rejecto Ein Zwei Polizei Sandstorm - Zombie Nation vs Fragma remix Knight Rider - techno remix Shh Listen Scottish Anthem - techno version Beers Steers and Queers Turbo Lover - (kids remember that 80's metal is the basis of todays society:) Head Hunter - original version Nose Candy Egoist Oxyacetylene End of Ages Never trust a Klingon Send me an angel - techno remix China Girl - a KTU remix Boy - extended version Soviet Snow - dance remix Monkey on the Moon Orinocco Flow - techno remix Have in mind - original Neverending Story - German version Paranoid Silver Screen -FC Kahuna remix Stars in the Sky Behind the Wheel Driving with my Darling Another World Beyond here and now No Atmosphere Can't wait till tonight, have some new stuff that Grendel wants to try out.... Semper fidelis, Grendel Current Mood: hyper Current Music: Lara Fabian - I will love again (1 Comment |Comment on this)
9:36 am	absinthe review Ok so Grendel tried Hills Absinthe yesterday and heres the low down. 140 proof so about the same as Kings gold but much less than his homebrew bottle. Hills took a little longer to get Grendel buzzing and as the previous absinthe, Grendel still has not seen the green fairy. As far as taste goes the anise flavor was just a little more subtle than Hills and thus made a slightly sweeter glass of Absinthe. All in all a pretty good brand. As far as the louche effect Grendel noticed that it was very apparent with the hombrew bottle, which means the absinthe extract that was used had a larger amount of wormwood oil than either the Kings or Hills... Can't wait till the bottle of Vision Absinth comes...... Semper fidelis, Grendel - "I think I'm over you, but I'm really not sure" Current Mood: giddy Current Music: LFO - Summertime girls (Comment on this)
Friday, September 30th, 2005
4:01 pm	Yay, Grendels bottle of Hills Absinthe came yesterday..... Just had to share...now back to werk... Semper fidelis, Grendel Current Mood: busy Current Music: OMD - If you leave (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, September 23rd, 2005
12:27 am	This may be a bad challenge...... "To do good, you sometimes have to do bad things." Ok Grendel just did 2 glasses of Absinthe, homebrew and Kings, and was relaxing on his terrace with a smokepot lit. For some reason the flame flared up and sparks ,that looked like those sparkler firecrackers, actually flew out. Now is it even possible for sparks to come out of an oil lamp? or is the Thujone taking effect? Well we're not really sure but from experience sparks are not supposed to come out of an oil lamp. then again it is bit windy and if the leeward side of the wick gets dry it can conceivable produce a spark like effect..... Oh and Grendel now feels totally depressed, he's sorry he isn't the best friend he could be to all of you. Sorry that he's trying his best but can't do more. He tried his best in the only way he knew how... This rant really doesn't matter, he's just sorry he couldn't be more to all of you.... Love, Grendel - Current Mood: worried Current Music: Erasure - She won't be home (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Thursday, September 22nd, 2005
11:19 pm	A new challenge..... So two kinds of Absinthe arrived last weekend and here's the rundown.... First came a bottle of the most expensive brand Grendel could find, King of Spirits Gold. As with bringing a new friend out to dinner in NYC, Grendel figures get the best and use it to set the bar for future comparisons. This has 100mg Thujone and is 140 proof. Second came this Absinthe elixir from some vendor in Germany, small vial of green liqueur to be mixed in with the alcohol of choice. Grendel chose this kind because he's had the homebrew Absinthe made by soaking the seeds/spices and wasn't too impressed, then again after King Gold.... Anyway, Grendel chooses to use Everclear as a base, and follows the directions with the vial. As far as taste goes, King was better by far but the Absinthe liqueur made a pretty tasty bottle too, we just had to add a bit more sugar to the mix. As far as the supposed hallucinations, none apparent with either one, you'll get drunk first before anything else. The Everclear based absinthe obviously had faster effects. And we compared flavors with the traditional ritual; plain Absinthe and plain Absinthe neat; with and without water. sigh, Monday was a very very expensive one for Grendel, having polished off more than half of the bottle of King Gold. Tues/Wed was the comparisons between the homebrew and bottled. and tonight its just the homebrew stuff. Grendel has skipped dinner all this week for some reason...and no he is not becoming a lush but he will disavow any knowledge of what he did with his friends Monday night..... Grendel finds Absinthe a rather easy alcohol to drink and might have to give up Absolut as his drink of choice. And so here comes the challenge part...We are going to attempt to try every kind of Absinthe we can purchase. The time limit to this challenge is to try at least 1 new brand every 1 to 2 weeks at the longest, given the time it takes to ship this stuff. So Grendel has 2 more bottles coming, Vision and Hills.... Anyways, this must be the stupidest challenge Grendel has given himself and has two outcomes: Grendel will finally see a green fairy or will end up in AA meetings. Or, err three outcomes, cuts off his ear.... We'll report how we find each new bottle as they come.... Semper fidelis, Grendel - "I would gladly die for you, if I knew it was for me...." Current Mood: listless Current Music: Once in a lifetime - Gregorian Masters (Comment on this)
Monday, September 19th, 2005
5:01 pm	hmmmm, finally figured out why Grendel has had this uneasy feeling fo dread this last week. Not much he can do but deal with his realization that things are just as they should be....on to a quick review of the past weeks events. Went to see Corpse Bride last Wed. and it made the suffering through Charlie and the chocolate factory worth it. This movie is almost as good as Nightmare before Xmas. Definitely worth paying full price, even at NYC ticket costs.. Friday, hung out with DJ Ravage, Sherri, George and Diane at this club QXT's. Was only there to listen and support DJ Ravages' guest spot. I'ts a nice enough space with two floors and 3 rooms. Despite being with good friends, Grendel couldn't run away from the general feeling of dread. Grendel almost broke down crying several times that night...good thing he was with friends or else he would have. Ravages' set was great, and the final song was totally him....I'm a bad man.... Saturday, spent time with CyberMachina up in Sleepy Hollow and visited the Rockefeller mansion Kykuit. Amzing art collection in the basement galleries and Grendel was excited by the fact that they did have original Calder pieces in the collection. Field trips to all the Sleepy Hollow sights will replace museum visits for now while the weather is more amicable to outdoorsy activities. Ate at this Portuguese restaurant Caravellos in town and the food was great. Appetizer was grilled shrimp and mangoes and for their entrees, Cyber had some vegetable dish while Grendel decided on the stuffed Langostino. Generous servings and the wait staff was really friendly with quick service. Grendels only complaint about Saturday was because of this wierd feeling of something was about to go down, he couldn't concentrate on Dj'ing and will apologize for the train wreck mixes. Spent Most of Sunday loafing around and eventually went to Hellravers' place to hang out for a bit before going to Byte with Chia. Byte seemed more packed than usual but what was most important was that it gave time for Grendel to catch up on things with Chia since its been a while since they have hung out... Anywhoo, time will tell if Grendel is right about what has been causing his uneasy feelings and until then Grendel is just along for the ride.... Semper fidelis, Grendel Current Mood: confused Current Music: ABC - Be near me (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Friday, September 9th, 2005
8:21 pm	mid week review.... OK, so its the end of the week....nevermind. Just as Grendel was getting home and pulling into his parking spot Wednesday afternoon, Grendel gets a call from CyberMachina to hang out. Thinking laundry or hanging out with a hot chick, Grendel heads for Brooklyn to pick up Cyber. She wanted to go to the city and on their way to Manhattan Grendel was thinking of what sights he wants to share with her. Grendel finally decides to share one of his favorite spots in the city with Cyber Machina, Riverside drive park. It's on the upper west side right by the water and with a great view of the GWB and Jersey. After finding parking, they decide to have a bite to eat and some coffee at O'Neals cafe at the 79th street boat basin. Grendel decided to be uninteresting and simply order some nachos to snack on while CyberMachina decided on trying the Salmon with horseradish creme. After trying a bit of the salmon, Grendel thinks that the grilled tuna on the menu is a much better choice. CyberMachina introduces Grendel to a strawberry daiquiri with Baileys instead of rum, great combination and much better than a regular strawberry daiquiri. After dinner was a quick walk along the waters edge up and down the park. Leaving the Boat basin, they decide to take the scenic route back to Brooklyn. Driving down 5th, Grendel points out Rockefeller Center to CyberMachina. She mentions that she's never been there so they decide to park and have a little walk around 5th ave. Did some window shopping and they both decide to come back when the stores are open. They wanted Bubble tea and head down to China town, on the way down Cyn calls and wants some San Loco. After picking up Cyns' eats, Grendel and CyberMachina head for Chinatown looking for some Bubble tea. Alas none were open and they decide to look for some coffee. Heading back up to the Village their search for good coffee was futile and they decide to head home for the evening. So the lesson here is that in the city that never sleeps, one cannot find bubble tea or good coffee after 1 am...and Starbucks doesn't count as good coffee in Grendels book.... Anywhoo, another weekend begins and a new set of adventures. Sunday should be a visit to the Renaissance Fair in Sterling forest with Mandana, Templar and anyone else we can shanghai at the club tom.... Semper fidelis, Grendel - "when driven, I will react..." Current Mood: antsy Current Music: Blink 182 - "Miss You" (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Wednesday, September 7th, 2005
4:52 pm	Just wanted to share, Grendel got his 2 Absinthe glasses and spoons from Germany this morning. The spoons are soooo cute, they look like little devil heads with cut outs for the eyes and mouths. A couple more days and the Absinthe bottle should be arriving....YAY. Semper fidelis, Grendel Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: When in Rome - The Promise remix... (Comment on this)
Saturday, September 3rd, 2005
10:21 am	busy, busy, busy Another busy week for Grendel... Sunday 8/28: BBQ at Hellravers domicile. Damn good burgers brought by Cyn and Templar... Monday: work, work, and more work..... Tuesday: woke up late ,7:47, and was rushing to get ready for work when Grendel got a phone call from an old friend, Nerva. Totally bagged on work to help Nerva in picking up her daughter from the Boston area(damn thought we were done driving to Boston). Got a call from Kristen as far as where and when to p/u Terri. Brought Terri back down to NYC. Received a call from the boss unit and ignored it, figuring Grendel would be fired for not calling out. Went out to dinner at the Boat basin cafe after dropping off Terri. Great grilled tuna with Wasabi sauce....YUMMY:) and they have free range chicken.... Gas to Boston - $39 Lunch/Breakfast - $9.78 2 packs of ciggys for the ride - $11.60 Having a true friend willing to do anything they can for you - Priceless Wed: Received a call from the boss unit again, "just wondering if you're ok, we missed you yesterday, I hope your coming in, we cant afford to lose you." Got to Work and totally spin doctored the reason for not coming in the previous day and not calling in. Chalked it up to having a family crisis, which technically isn't lying just wasn't my direct family but my extended family of friends...Realized then, Grendel will own the company when his boss decides to retire and circumnavigate the globe on one of his boats... Thursday: hung out with Ravage/Sherri after work, then off to the NYC to talk a walk on riverside drive...Came home and Grendels new T7 camera was waiting for him at the gate, rushed up to the apt to plug it in and charge, this thing ROCKS!!! Woo Hooo, another toy to add to Grendels collection, he is such a techno-weenie...:) Friday: Get a call from Sherri saying that they were gong to see the band Grendel play somewhere in "Joisey" and invited Grendel to come. Grendel gives his staff last minute instructions and leaves work early. Meets up with Ravage/Sherri/Yonkers at his domicile unit in SI for the drive down to the Conduit club in Trenton. Ravage brings Grendel his new headlight bulbs and thermostat, now Grendel has to figure out where the hell the thermostat is in his enginge bay to replace it. Grendel show was pretty decent, some problems with the sound system though but otherwise an enjoyable show. Overall it was a good time with 3 good friends at Flux Fridays, Trenton .... Sat morning: Got in at 03:00 and checked Ebay, once again, EBAY IS EVIL!!!. Went to sleep bout 4ish but had to wake up at 06:00 to drive Wendy to the JFK. Got back home and caught a few more ZZZ's between 9 - 10. Anywhoo, we'll see what the rest of the long weekend brings and report back soon, Semper fidelis, Grendel Current Mood: contemplative Current Music: DM - "See You" (Comment on this)
Friday, August 26th, 2005
1:08 am	another week/end review......failed state/restaurant challenge sigh, Otakon was less enjoyable than Grendel would have thought. So here is a report of this weekends events: Friday, decided to cheat a bit on the restaurant challenge and had lunch at a Japanese place in Paramus. After a family dinner Friday, decided not to wait until Saturday morning to drive down to Baltimore for Otakon. Left his sibling units domicile in Williamsburg at 22:30. While on the road Grendel's car started becoming squirmy at 80mph a little bit after exit 4 on the NJ turnpike. Pulling over we discovered that the rear passenger tire had gone flat and was riding on the sidewalls. It is so much fun disassembling Grendels sound system to get access to his spare, even more fun changing a tire in the dark with just a maglight for illumination. So a simple 5 min tire change became a 30-45 min ordeal with the whole moving the woofer box and other assorted luggage out of the way. Finally arrived met up with Miaka at their hotel bout 04:00. Finally got to sleep at 05:30 after chit chatting and catching up on things with Miaka. Saturday: woke up at 9:30 and started calling every tire shop and speed shop looking for the same tire but finally had to settle for one of just the similar size with a slower speed rating, tip if your puting racing tires on your cars buy extra ones! Drove to some Pepboy location 5 min away from the hotel but then was told they were mistaken and didnt have the tire. Drove to another location 15 miles away and left the car for the mechanic round 13:05. Went shopping for a bit at a craft store next door and bought 5 shirts and some sewing and glass working supplies. After an hour went back to Pepboys and see on the progress, alas there was none. Had to wait another hr for the tire to be changed. Grendel is getting infuriated and wanted to smack the mechanic with the lug wrench and mount his tire himself. Finally got back to the Marriot by 15:30. Went to the convention hall and wandered around looking for his friends and some interesting panels/movies to watch. Hooked up with Miaka 16:45 and they decided to go to a Japanese place called Kawasaki, great rolls but rather boring shrimp :(. Wandered around a bit before returning to the hotel and getting ready for the party that night. Party was at the top floor of the convention center with 2 rooms and the music was some pretty good electronica. Grendel was approached by security and asked to shut off his shoulder mounted laser projector. Danced till bout 01:00 then stumbled back to the hotel and crashed. Sunday: more convention hall wandering and ended up in the dealer room. So, Grendel is at an anime convention and what does he purchase??? 2 lighters, a sword, night stick and 2 transformer pins and a bunch of synthpop/electronica/trance cds from the Different Drum booth....WTF? After a couple of hours went with Miaka to the Inner Harbor area of Baltimore for lunch at Fudruckers. Drove Miaka back to Philly then hung out with Cyn/Ravage and Yonkers. Despite some technical difficulties Grendel had an over all good weekend with friends. Technically Grendel also failed this weekend by not meeting the requirements of his state/restaurant challenge. We will make another attempt at this restaurant challenge thingy. Wed, ended up hanging out with Elaine for coffee at the Fireside Cafe on Macdougal before going to the Corrosion party. Anywhoo, Plans for this upcoming weekend include another museum and flea marketing in PA, will let you know how it works out. Semper fidelis, Grendel - "Whatever happened....To the world we call forever?" Current Mood: rejuvenated Current Music: Neuropa - Nothing left to lose (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 17th, 2005
4:47 am	weekend review Sigh, another busy weekend for Grendel. Friday night: picked up another laptop from repair, the upgrades rock but Grendel still needs MORE memory so if anyone has extra memory chips for a sony C1VN, let us know. Picked up Ellie and roamed Chinatown/Little Italy looking for new handbag for her. Saturday: Picked up DJ Cyn from Newark international and somehow lost a cell phone in the process. Finally brought out my Wheelman, http://www.wheelman.com.au/index.html, and attempted to play with it, alas Cyn had more success with the board. Drove Cyn and Ellie to Albion, as Cyn was having car trouble Sunday: Was supposed to go to a museum with Chrissy but we both woke up late and this will be rescheduled, ended up practicing a bit more with the Wheelman. Spent dinner with Cyn and family then went to the Byte party. Hung out for a couple of hours tried dancing a bit but wasn't feeling it so went to Chinatown again for a late snack and a couple arcade games. Anywhoo, 2 more days till Otakon, YAY! and hopefully the replacement phone Tmobile was overnighting will get here today. Semper fidelis, Grendel - "...when driven, I will react." Current Mood: anxious Current Music: DM - World full of nothing. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, August 10th, 2005
9:42 pm	Weekend update, and some restaurant reviews Just got home after having some italian ices with Wendy and wow, what a busy weekend for Grendel: Friday night after work, we went to the boat basin on 79th street to eat at O'Neils. They have a great grilled tuna with wasabi sauce and the chocolate cake for desert was definitely yummy. After dinner, Grendel sat a bit in riverside park to let dinner digest a bit before more activities. After a sunset that made even Jersey city and the GWB look like a painting, Grendel drove up to New Rochelle to sit and contemplate the meaning of life at a lake with a view of a castle looking building across the water. For you Trivia geeks, the largest Celtic cross in North America is located in New Rochelle as well. Saturday during the afternoon, Grendel and Ellie went up to the Met for a visit. This visit was spent in the Egyptian and 19th Century European art galleries along with a quick stop at the rooftop exhibition space for a quick smoke. The outdoor exhibit this time was a collection of rather uninteresting wavy looking multi colored sculptures and paintings; the kind that makes you say, "my 4 year old can do that stuff". After the Museum was a nice dinner at Grendel's favorite Japanese restaurant, Sakagura. Mid priced Japanese located a couple of blocks from Grand Central station. Great food and small enough servings that we tried 7/8 different things. The Grilled eel was mah-velous. Sakagura is also has free range chicken for you people on a natural food kick. Additionally the Sake selection is pretty varied and they have not one but two Sake specific menus which means you'll definitely come back numerous times to try them all. After gorging themselves on Japanese, it was time for the Albion Party and Grendel was rather pleased with his set list. We'll have to post those sometimes. Sunday ended up even busier than the previous day and a half. Grendel and Wendy, his long friend of 19 years , went to PA to visit a flea market. First they stopped of at a small Japanese restaurant on Rt. 209, Fijis, but the Teriyaki and Tempura left much to be desired. Pretty good Miso soup though. Getting to the flea market Grendel sat around waiting for his friend to pick and choose what T shirts she wanted. Getting bored with the whole process Grendel took off on his on for some quick recon to see selection and pricing. Lots of great stuff and we found a vendor who did custom swords, yay. After the flea market, we drove around and stopped by a couple of amusement park type things to contemplate on whether we wanted to go go-karting or ride bumper boats. We eventually just ended up at an arcade playing video games and skee ball. For the record, Grendel SUCKS at air hockey and was promptly trounced by Wendy 7 games to 2 :( Yesterday Grendel added another line of service and ordered a cell phone for another old friend and spent the better portion of an hour on threeway call with the said friend and Tmobile arguing why they should waive the activation fee since he'd been with them since OmniPoint days. but mission accomplished and we managed to get some extra stuff sent with the phone for free. Today at work, Grendel was on the verge of discharging Peter, his warehouse person, for below average work habits, but decided otherwise and sat Peter down and reviewed what was expected with the position. Otherwise it was a pretty good day at work and a lot was accomplished. Anywhoo, This coming weekend is a little truncated because of some previous engagements, so it'll probably just be a nice dinner with a friend/s this Friday night and another museum outing on Sunday. Right now it's a toss up between the Brooklyn museum of art; the Natural history museum or the Grounds for Sculpture. We'll have to spin the museum roulette wheel when we wake up Sunday. 10 more days till Otakon, woo hoo. And Grendel is rethinking the format of the multi state/restaurant challenge to make it simpler to manage. We will probably end up limiting the restaurants to a particular ethnic background for simplicities sake. We will keep you updated on when and where this trip will be held. Semper fidelis, Grendel - "I really want to make things right." Current Mood: determined Current Music: Akon - Mr. L... (Comment on this)
Monday, August 1st, 2005
6:42 pm	Hagakure Quote... "Above all, the Way of the Samurai should be in being aware that you do not know what is going to happen next, and querying every item day and night. Victory and defeat are matters of the temporary force of circumstances. The way of avoiding shame is different. It is simply in death. Even if it seems certain that you will lose, retaliate. Neither wisdom nor technique has a place in this. A real man does not think of victory or defeat. He plunges recklessly towards and irrational death. By doing this, you will awaken from your dreams." - Yamamoto Tsunetomo Current Mood: cold Current Music: Icicle Works - Whisper to a scream (Comment on this)
Saturday, July 23rd, 2005
12:38 pm	General update Past: Grendel lost someone very special to him 6/23/05 and has been stressed out trying to figure out what went wrong. A very special thanks goes out to all who have stood by him during these past couple of weeks and we will thank each one of you individually in person. Having real friends made him understand that he did nothing wrong and that people still appreciate and love him for who he is. Though he was dismissed as a friend, he will always keep a special place in his heart for her, because everything he did was truly done for friendships sake with no other ulterior motives. As his friend S reminded him yesterday, ...if your friend needed help, you would do everything you can for them, no matter what. Because she has known Grendel for the better part of a decade, she understands that though Grendel was hurt he will never retract his promise of friendship, much to the chagrin of other friends. Grendel will re-institute the , first we try then we trust, clause when dealing with new people and he promises not to put give too much of himself until friendship is actually established. Grendel now has some stuff he purchased before he was "discharged" intending to surprise her with gifts to finish her apt, which he now has to decide how to get rid off; blue womens Storm watch, wire shelving, curtains/curtain rod, one of those ovehead pot holders, DVD player, automatic cat litter box, a vodka gift set, bathroom shelving 21" wide, and some smaller stuff. His first choice is returning these to their respective points of sale but that is dependent on finding all the receipts and the companies return policy. Second option is Ebay, third is donating to charity and chalking up the financial loss to one of those life learning experiences. Another option for the watch and DVD is liquidating it through a fence in his tertiary circle of friends. Failing to get $$ back, we'll let you know if we decide just to give this stuff away. Present: 7/21: Grendel's boss Don, died after a long fight with cancer and has pushed these weekends plans of going away again on the back burner. This is troublesome to Grendel, for he feels slightly guilty in how he got his current job. He was just supposed to be a fill in for Don, one of the two owners of his company, while he was undergoing treatment for cancer. It was understood that once Don got better then Grendel would have been discharged. This is also more upsetting in that Don was a family friend who no longer will be there for familial gatherings in the future. All Grendel can hope for is that Don is in a better place now and that he no longer has to suffer the effects of stage 4 cancer. Future: Last weekends camping trip was great and a special thanks to Nerva and the Thompson family for use of their land for said activities. The peidmont section of PA/MD is a beautiful place to visit and Grendel could actually see stars in the sky:) YAY:) Anybody want a used tent? only used once, is a 1/2 person Weizel model, Grendel will be purchasing a slightly bigger tent so he can have more room to store his gear inside. It was great seeing the hottest Grandma Grendel knows and reminded him that real friendships last no matter how far apart you are. This weeks plans originally included a day trip to New Hope,PA. and some paintball on Sunday. but these have obviously been waylaid. So here is a tentative schedule(unless noted) of future day trips and stuff. 7/29 Fri, Webster Hall 7/30 Sat, A quick day trip to New Hope to visit some art galleries 7/31 Sun, Museum day, Moma or the Met 8/19 - 8/21: Baltimore for the Otakon anime convention and to catch up with his friend Miaka Some time between 8/1 - 9/1 a trip to the Rennaisance fair up in Sterling forest, most likely for the 2nd week of August. Aug/Sept: Six Flags; a visit to the Cloisters Sept: trips to the Mutter Museum in Philly; a weekend in Newport RI; a walk through the Grounds for Sculpture in NJ. Sept/Oct: weekend trip to Montreal, LA, or Miami Oct: a weekend in Bath/Corning NY to visit his cousin Kimmi; A weekend in Richmond VA, Busch Gardens babeee:) November: strangely enough a visit to Arkansas to visit a friend from the Philippines who now resides/works there first 2 weeks of Dec a weekend trip to DC to visit the national Art Gallery and stuff Dec 31: Times Square 2006 - the Bahamas, Hawaii or any place tropical, anyone know the exchange rate in Brazil??? Anyways, thanks once again to his friends and all your advice was greatly appreciated, Grendel had to look at his past and rediscover a passage from the Hagakure to tie all the different advice together and give clarity to his current emotional situation... Semper fidelis, Grendel Current Mood: optimistic Current Music: When in Rome: The Promise (Comment on this)