Golf, Gaffs, and Goofballs

Saturday was a day packed with action. We celebrated my buddy Justin's (J for short) bachelor party - he is set to wed his fiance, Lacey, on July 18th. I am a co-best man along with our friend Bill. Bill and I, with the help of Weltig, had a lot of planning to do. We all met up for a lunch a few weeks ago to lay out the plan - then it was just a matter of executing.

We started the day at 10am with a round of golf at Quail Creek in South County. We had 11 guys, so we split up into one team of three and two teams of four and played a scramble. The threesome was the first group out and was SO slow, but we managed. This group consisted of one of J's buddies from high school and two from college. All three are pretty serious competitors and wanted to be sure they played the best ball and made all the shots they needed to - explaining their pace of play. The next group was me, my brother-in-law Steve, Justin's sister's boyfriend Kevin, and Justin. We played a good round together. The last group was Weltig, Bill, and J's two uncles. I'm sure I don't have to tell you this, but the winning group turned out to be none other than our group. We shot one under par, beating the rest of the field by two strokes - they both were one over par. I was proud that we used many of my shots for our "best ball" style of play. We were also supposed to have a little action riding on the round, but no one wanted to pay up to the bachelor, so we let it go. Even though it was as hot as hell, it turned out to be a good day on the links.

Next stop was showering off the day's sweat so we could continue with the bachelor party. In the interests of saving time, I stopped off at my bro-in-law's house and showered there while the other guys took turns in our hotel room shower. We all got pretty and headed to dinner. Since we were staying at Hotelumiere on the landing and all the guys were there for the shower, we decided to eat at Show Me's. J loves Buffalo Wild Wings, but no one was driving so since there wasn't one near our location, we settled for Show Me's. The original plan was Hooter's downtown, but since Show Me's was in walking distance and had the same, shall we say... ambiance, we went with that. We had a good meal and some laughs and then it was time for our 7pm reservation at the next event, so we hopped in some cabs and headed to Washington Ave.

Justin is a pretty good bowler and its one of his favorite activities. Knowing this, I wanted to include it in the day's festivities. We went to Flamingo Bowl on Washington for two hours of pretty wild and crazy bowling. The place is really cool and the bowling was of the 'cosmic' variety. We bowled our first game pretty seriously, but we started getting kinda tipsy by the end of the second game and everyone pretty much just started goofing around - throwing balls in other people's lanes, spilling drinks, screaming profanities - the usual. J was having a good time and wanted to buy another hour, but the alley had some more reservations and everyone was tired of bowling and ready to move on, so we did just that.

Our next stop was just down the street at the Side Bar, a sports bar and grill. There weren't really any good sports on, but it didn't matter as no one was really paying attention to the TVs anyway. After about an hour here (it's after 10pm at this point) some guys started getting pretty drunk, including our bachelor. The highlight though was our buddy Jimi who got piss drunk - so much that we called his step brother to come pick him up... He went outside, pissed in a downtown parking lot, laid on the grown complaining of a leg injury, tried to get into a few fights, and couldn't walk so he needed Bill and Steve to help him. When his step brother was almost there to pick him up, he said he was fine and could make it the rest of the night. For some reason we believed him and let him stay, serving him cranberry juice and water. He actually made a full recovery and rallied the rest of the night until leaving the casino at 430am - but that's later. I hope Jimi isn't mad at me for telling this story, but it was hilarious and half the people that read this blog have already heard it by now or were there.

Next stop - east side! Lacey, if you're reading this, I hope J didn't lie to you about going east... haha. We (not ALL of the original group, but J's dad was there!!!) hit the cabs and headed to Larry Flynt's Hustler club... an hour or so later we left there. Nothing beyond your typical strip club experience really happened in the middle. J refused to get embarrassed on stage, promising to deliver broken jaws all around, so we did not do the normal bachelor thing and just left it at that. When we were leaving we had called the same cab company to come get us that dropped us off there in the first place. While we were inside it had started to rain, so we were standing out in the drizzle waiting for our cabbie - along with several other groups of guys doing the same thing. We saw our cab arrive and several other dudes pile into it. We were having none of this. It was the same driver, so I reminded him that I was the one that called, he agreed and allowed me to tell the other group of guys to kindly "get the fuck out of our cab!" They obliged and cried about being outnumbered - se la vie.

Now that we were back to civilization we were ready to gamble. I pretty much kept roost at the blackjack table for the better part of 3 hours. After the casino cut us off of liquor (casinos in Vegas do NOT do this!), most of the party went home or went to eat and then back up to the hotel room for some shut eye. It was just me, Kevin, and Jimi left - told you. We went to eat and I had one of the best burgers I've had in my life... I was starting to fall asleep at the dinner/breakfast table, so it was time for me to go. I'm not exactly sure what happened to the other two after I left, but I hear Jimi went home and Kevin stayed at the casino for about 3 more hours, walked back to his car at Flamingo Bowl (he met us there earlier), then went home... I went up to the room where I greeted four sleeping dudes - one of which was Justin who was on the couch. I told him to get up for a second because it turns into a bed and we could share it. He obliged by going and laying down on the floor - he apparently likes to sleep. He did get back up and we cuddled the rest of the morning... I slept with my clothes on ;).

We woke up the next morning and lazed around the hotel room for a few hours, people-watching out of our window. We watched a little SportsCenter, talked baseball, and checked out, where I left the boys in the parking lot. It was a great day and night and J was very appreciative and we're sure he had a blast, just as we all did. Now I'm looking forward to the wedding, so the girls can be involved!

King of Pop

Unless you've been living underneath a rather large boulder-like object, you are aware that the world lost an icon yesterday. Michael Jackson died at the young age of 50, of what is believed to be a heart attack - this is of course unconfirmed until the reports of today's autopsy are released. Michael was an influential piece of American culture. If you don't believe me, I can tell you that to this day I tell my dog "Shumone" when I want him to proceed forward instead of sniff things on our walks. He revolutionized the music industry with a new brand of music which we now refer to as "Pop". He blurred the lines of race in music (though not unprecedented) by performing a new kind of rock 'n' roll with a twist - and colaborated with Eddie Van Halen and his smooth guitaring. He paved the wave for what is much of today's on-air listening enjoyment.

He did not do this all without vain, of course. Sure, when he was a kid he got pushed into the industry, going on to make millions of dollars while sacrificing his childhood 'normalcy'. In the mid-90s he started to sink into obscurity and got caught up with a lot of legal and financial troubles. He physically turned into what could be described as a freak. Michael changed his nose (several times), cheekbones, hair, and skin to look like some sort of extra terrestrial incarnation. Getting into trouble for allegedly touching little boys did not help his image either. What was such a prolific career sort of faded into this bizarre mess of a man who a lot of today's youth will only remember as just that.

Fortunately I was a child of the 80s and early 90s and can remember Michael at the height of his popularity and talent. He cranked out some of my all-time favorites: Billy Jean, Beat It, Smooth Criminal, Wanna Be Startin Somethin, and who could forget the Thriller video (and song, of course). That video made me shit my pants. I was only a toddler when it came out, but it played on for years and I caught it on MTV when I was very young at the babysitter's house. I thought it was a horror movie, but then there was all this dancing and a seemingly happy ending. Very confusing for a tot my age, but I remember it and can still be amused by it to this day.

So anyway, I just wanted to share some of my thoughts and memories about Michael. Feel free to add to the conversation in the comments below.

New Digs

So I'm sitting here waiting for the goddamn Cardinals game to start (rain delay) so I decided to update all of you loyal readers about my living situation. As you know, I am moving to Chicago in about 10 days - Kristen is already there, staying with her sister.... but not for long. Today, she just inked the deal on our new place.

Since we still have the condo in Maplewood and realize it probably won't sell quickly in this market, we knew that the only thing we'd be able to do is rent for now. Renting is a big deal in Chicago. There are so many properties to rent it is unbelievable. The craigslist rentals page blows up everyday with nothing short of 100 listings. In fact, they even have Realtors up there that people hire to show them around and there is an MLS and everything. I'm sure we have that here in the Lou as well, but I know that it would be nowhere near the scale of what it is in Chicago - mostly because I've never heard of it until we started looking. Luckily we found one of these Realtors thanks to her being the wife of a coworker of my sister-in-law. She showed Kristen a handful of places that met our budget and furry four-legged friend requirements. Of that group we narrowed it down and picked one. We made the down payment and first month's rent and Kristen now holds the keys to our new home (at least for the first year).

The apartment is actually a rental unit in a condominium building. It's on a nice tree-lined street in the Portage Park neighborhood on the north side of the City of Chicago. We are extremely excited about it. It's a cute little place which was just rehabbed and Jake has lots of places around the neighborhood to play and do his doggy business. If you want to look it up on Google Streetview, or if you just want to send us a housewarming gift (haha) the address is:

4834 W. Henderson St.

Chicago, IL 60641

Phone numbers and stuff will remain the same for now, since they're cell phones anyway. The picture was taken from Kristen on her walk-thru to show me what the inside of each looked like. I have more that I will post on facebook or something at some point, but I encourage anyone that wants to see it to come up for a visit and take a first-hand look.

Anyway, as I said we are really excited. It's located in a quaint neighborhood almost on a corner lot, so we're hoping the street parking is manageable for our TWO cars. We are about 3.5 miles, or about 30 blocks, due west of Wrigley Field, so we have great access to watch the shitty Cubs attempt to play baseball - I am looking forward to Cardinals games so I can be an obnoxious St. Louis fan! The Lake is only about a mile past that, so we are still pretty close to the beaches and the bike trail. I can't wait to ride my bike around and do some swimming!

So that's the update, I guess. We got a place and are moving into it soon. Of course I will miss my STL since I am so deeply rooted here, but this will be a great change for me (I've never lived in any other part of the world then St. Louis), and of course a much needed return for Kristen to her family. Thanks everyone for your love and support. See you soon!

Catch-up

So it has been awhile since I have written to you guys. A lot has happened since the Magic House - and mostly everyone knows why. Kristen, Jake and I are moving to Chicago (where Kristen is from and her immediate family lives). In fact, as I write this, Kristen has already moved. She left this morning - I won't see her for a few weeks and it kind of sucks. I will be leaving around the beginning of July, but I will be back visiting often. Kristen got a new job and she starts tomorrow (Monday, June 15). I don't have an actual job lined up, but I plan on doing some work that I already have going on here, and trying to get some new projects on my own, so that maybe I can fulfill my dream of owning my own architectural firm and working for myself - being my own boss. I never really liked having a boss and this is the perfect opportunity for me to give this a shot. So I have been dealing with that for the past several weeks and we have also been preparing for Kristen's departure.

We have also been preparing for my departure, with the help of some really good friends. Everyone has been extremely supportive and Kristen and I are beyond thankful for that. Just Friday night we went out to dinner and a Glorious Blue show with some of our closest friends - they set it up and it was such a fun night. We ate at Dewey's Pizza in Kirkwood, which is a gourmet pizza place and is absolutely delicious. The Stewarts know Kristen and I love this place and we all share that sentiment, so they set it up for us getting everyone to come. We went to see Ray's show afterward and this was kind of sentimental for a few reasons. First, I met Kristen at a GB show because she was friends with the band members and so was I. Secondly, Ray said the guys tried to learn "You and Me" by Lifehouse which was our first dance at our wedding. He said that didn't go so well so instead they played "Far Behind" which we played as the final song at our wedding because it was one of the old-school songs that GB used to play when we first went to shows (and would sing loudly in my car on each drive home.. haha). Even though the lyrics sort of send a mixed message for what we were doing, the act of hearing the song was the important part and we appreciated the gesture. After that, most of the party went to Barneys... one of Matt's favorite south side bars... haha!! It was a lot of fun and we closed the place down at 3am!

So before all of that partying and cutting loose, the last few weeks have actual been quite stressful. We are still trying to sell the place here in Maplewood and we really have no idea how that is going to go. The unfortunate part is that we are moving out of state, so we need to find a new place. We will be renting in Chicago and we both have been working pretty hard to find a place we like, we can afford, that is in a good neighborhood, that meets our needs, that's a close commute for Kristen, and that will accept my 60lb BIG MAN!!! Aside from that, we know we will be pinching pennies for a while since we will be carrying a mortgage AND a rent, plus I won't be bringing in a steady income... sounds crazy right??? Hence my current stress level. Also, I am frustrated at my current job because I have just over two weeks left and I thought I'd be sailing through, but my boss is trying to absolutely slam me with work so it gets done before I leave... I am really having to earn this last paycheck and it is the hardest I've worked in years. Not to mention that I took on a major side job, so after I leave that hell-hole at 5pm everyday I come home to more work... arrgghhh. I know its all good things and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, but it just seems like a lot all at once right now. It's a small price to pay for moving my life 4 hours away, but I really needed to take this time to vent. The silver lining is that I had a few meetings in Chicago with prospective clients this past week and they both went well. I think I will have some good, cheap office space and I got several leads on more prospective clients. It will be a long, uphill journey, but it will make me happier and stronger.

In happier news, I found out last week that I will be Ray's best man at his wedding September 2010. He said he doesn't have a brother who typically fills this role and that he has always considered me an honorary little brother, so he asked me. I shared this sentiment and accepted happily. This made me really gleeful and surprisingly humble. You see, this will be the third time in a row that I am a best man in a wedding. I was Weltig's 5 years ago, I will be Justin's in 5 weeks, and then Ray's next year. It feels great to have such wonderful friends and to know that I have made such a profound impact in the lives of these three guys and what I can only assume are several more... but like I said, I'm staying humble. It is my honor to fulfill this duty for my closest friends. Also, the Weltigs will be having another baby boy in less than 3 months. I saw the 3D ultrasounds and the little guy looks cute. I'm looking forward for my little godson to have a little baby brother to play with, and, if my sister and bro-in-law move down by Weltig, my other godson will have some buddies! Again, that is another experience that I am grateful for and truly humbled by - the godfather thing.

I can't think of much else to share right now. I need to step away from this computer for awhile, so I will try to jump back on soon and be less cynical. I am excited for Independence Day, the All-Star Break, moving, and J's wedding - so all of those "events" should bring about great stories that are more typical of my usual blog posts. Later, guys! Thanks for reading!