I’m not the only one who loves me some flip flops. Oh how I wish I could be wearing them rignt now. But, alas, flip flops are not conducive to torrential rains and 40-degree temperatures. I’ll have to wait until spring, whenever that may be.
However, my point is that there’s even some famous people who enjoy showing off their toes. The latest person to rock the flip flops: The Franchise, Evan “Eva” Longoria of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. (Please fine me, Matty, please, I beg you).
Here’s Longo, the face of the MLB 2k10 video game, doing some fan relations with a thin piece of plastic between his toes.
I have sensitive ears. And, well, when my hair grows out, I have bad hair. Really, it’s a jewfro. No one can really rock the jewfro, as much as many of us try.
As a result, especially during the winter, I wear hats … a lot. Like every day. I also like variety, which means in the 2+ years I’ve been in New York, I’ve collected quite the menagerie of ski caps. And that’s not even counting the Polar Fleece hood my mother-in-law bought me for Christmas this year.
So, without further adieu, here are a few of my many chapeaus (my copy editor wife just made up that word, methinks).
So, the cold snap has seemingly broken. Down in Florida, temperatures returned to normal, with some places even reaching 70 degrees. Here in the great Northeast, it didn’t get that warm, but it did warm up. For seemingly the first time since Christmas, the temperature went above freezing, and well, I couldn’t be happier. I actually ventured outside without a ski cap, gloves and scarf.
Of course, my skin is still pale as could be, I feel like a ghost. As a result, I decided to check and see if it really has been as cold as I’ve felt.
As a result of my independent study, thanks to data from Wunderground.com, since Dec. 28, the high temperature here in New York has not reached the average high temperature until, well, today. In addition, the low temperature has only exceeded the average low twice in the same time. That’s what I call cold.
Depending on which service I looked at — my the Weather App on my BlackBerry, the New York Times Web site, my car or Bing.com — the temperature when I went to lunch at about 12:15 p.m. in Mineola was either 37 degrees, 39 degrees, 43 degrees or 39.6 degrees. Still, mostly all above the average temperature for today, 38 degrees.
Here’s my analysis of the temperatures, in chart form, from Christmas until today.
OK, so that’s a little clunky, but what it shows is that it is almost just as cold in Tampa as it is up here right now. The difference is that the temperatures top out in the 50s during the down south while they don’t get much above freezing up north.
So, my freezing Florida friends, take solace in the fact that you’re going to get your regular temps back. We’ll be in this cold, hot mess for the next three months or so. Rumor has it it might snow in Nash-Vegas later this week too.
And, as you have noticed for the past few days, it’s not fun.
Some advice, to deal with that ice on the windshield, start your car and put on your heater while scraping it off. If you don’t have an ice-scraper, a CD case works well.
Also, be sure to dress in layers. Undershirts, long sleeve shirts, sweaters, jackets, etc. I haven’ t had the need for this yet, but I’ve been told that silk underwear really keeps you warm as well. If any of you try that, let me know how it works out for ya, I’m going to need some help planning how to stay warm when we trek up to Vancouver for the Olympics next month.
No, this blog post does not refer to Vanilla Ice’s white-man anthem to hip hop in the early 1990s, although I guess since I’m referencing it, it most certainly does now, but rather, this blog post is about the fact that winter has hit the Big Apple.
After a few weeks of mild temperatures leading up to Thanksgiving, New York has turned cold. Not freezing cold yet, but still cold, and as a result this past weekend marked a few milestones. First, on Saturday, a day that will live in Florida Gators infamy, it snowed. It didn’t stick and it was more of a wintry mix, but there was definitely snow.
Here’s what it looked like from inside Lansdowne Road, the bar in which we watched the Gators lose to Alabama.
Looks like winter, no?
Next, after a wonderful brunch on the Upper West Side with our Tennessee transplant friends on Sunday, we headed over to Bryant Park for a little ice skating in what they call Pond, NY.
Now, if you know me at all, I’m sure you can easily chuckle at the mental picture of me on skates, and thankfully, no visual of photographic evidence has appeared yet of me wobbling around the skating rink holding on to Stacey’s hand for dear life. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t fallen and never would have gotten up.
As a matter of fact, the last time I stepped foot in a skating rink was in Brandon, Fla., where I decided I’d be more comfortable at the bar sharing a pitcher of beer than pretending I was Brian Boitano. I had no problem with that then, but this time, it was different. It’s the holiday season, it was a nice, chilly, sunny day. I figured, what the heck.
So, I went for it, and I skated. You want proof? How about this picture I took of Stacey skating? She looks comfortable on skates. That’s because she’s from the Poconos. Me, I’m from South Florida, where the average temperature in the winter is 68.5 degrees. Not quite conducive to growing up on skates is it?
That’s not to say I’m not starting to enjoy the holiday season. The beginnings of our decorations are up around the house. The menorah is out in preparation for Hanukkah on Friday night and we’re picking up our tree on Thursday.
Here’s some of our decorations.
Manny and his friend atop the bar.
The Menorah waiting to shine so bright.
Kissing reindeer on top of the air conditioner in front of a window of spray-on ice frosting.
Stockings hanging in the kitchen.
I’m also enjoying listening to holiday music on my XM/Sirius satellite radio on my commute home. It doesn’t make the commute any shorter, but it does entertain me. For instance, tonight I heard a reggae/dance version of “Little Drummer Boy” by Sean Kingston. I don’t think I ever heard a reggae Christmas song before. That was entertaining. Much better than any Christmas songs by ‘NSYNC or 98 degrees. I turned those off right away. I also turned off an awful version of Jingle Bells by Singing Dogs. That was odd.
So, now, for fun, here’s a list of some of my favorite holiday songs. In no particular order. I’m not big on rankings.
Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer - Growing up I always enjoyed singing this — you surely don’t ever want to hear me sing, ask my two sisters — and especially the ad-lib parts such as “like toothpaste” or “like George Washington.” Didn’t really get into the racier version. We kept it clean.
Santa Claus is Coming to Town — the Bruce Springsteen version. ‘Nough said.
Frosty the Snowman — I like this song because it tells a story. I like songs that tell a story. This song kind of reminds me of Jimmy Buffett’s “Jolly Mon Sing.” I know they’re totally different, but I make a connection somehow.
All I Want From Christmas is You — by Mariah Carey. Watch the video.
The Hanukkah song — by Adam Sandler. There aren’t very many good Hanukkah songs, but this is one of the best.
O’ Christmas Tree — Again, my sisters can testify that I used to love this song. Every year after going to see “the world’s largest Christmas tree” in Lantana, I’d endlessly sing this song over and over again making up lyrics the whole time.
Of course, this whole exercise is really just an excuse for me to link to this. My Port Tampa Tree video, formerly hosted on TBO.com. It’s disappeared, but luckily, I saved a version and it’s now on YouTube, hopefully forever. Click the link or watch below. Either way, enjoy.
There’s been a lot of flip flop hate out there these days, what with the two weeks of summer here in NY now coming to an end. Yes, it’s the end of August and we had only about three days I would actually consider hot this summer. Tonight, as August turns to September, there’s rumblings that temperatures are going to dip down into the 40s. Freeze me in carbonite now.
First, thanks to my new sister-in-law, I was made aware of a story on msnbc.om with the headline, Can your flip-flops kill you?. It’s similar to this story in the New York Daily News. The msnbc link is now broken, but basically the story detailed all the germs and bacterial microbes that collect on the bottom of one’s flip flops. Well, yeah, duh, there’s all sorts of nasty stuff on the bottom of anyone’s shoe. A flip flop is no different.
Next, there’s all the flip-flop fear-mongerers who claim that flip flops are bad for your feet and can lead to long-term health problems for middle-aged people. Now, I’m an unabashed fan of flip flops. Have been ever since college, but I realize they are not for everyone. First off, some folks just have nasty feet, others don’t want to wear thongs (a good excuse to show this photo. It is football season, after all) between their toes and still others just have bad feet for whatever reason.
So, it’s all about personal accountability folks. If wearing flip flops hurt, stop doing it. I could blame the Northwestern girl’s lacrosse team for getting this whole flip flop craze started, but it’s not their fault. Flip flops are cheap (at least some of them), easy to wear and comfortable. Who’s not a fan of that?
What flip flops are not are event specific. I’ve worn flip flops to weddings, to night clubs (along with shorts, OK?), just about everywhere. My flip flops are always not disrespectful. Maybe it’s because I wear Reefs, and only Reefs, which are high quality flip flops. Plus, really, shouldn’t people have more important things to worry about than my feet?
This is all said as a way to show you this video. In it, Kid, the dude with the footlong top fade of Kid ‘N’ Play, is hocking suits out west. He claims that you should buy a suit because there’s three occasions when shorts and flip flops just won’t cut it.
After not blogging for exactly two months, I’ve decided to make a comeback, albeit however paltry. I’ve been thinking for a good few days about how I would want to make my return to blogging, and then, this afternoon, speeding through the streets of Long Island, inspiration hit.
Thank goodness for this guy, Mr. IM AWESM, who decided to buy a vanity plate expressing his lameness for all of us to laugh at. Not only does he think so much of himself that he decided to express it to the whole world on his license plates. He thought it would be cool to do that while driving a Hyundai Tiburon.
Yeah, dude, you’re gonna get all the ladies driving that. A little research: Buddy shelled out somewhere between $16,000 and $20,000 on his awe-mobile, a car that is described as “Hyundai’s entry-level sports coupe” and “this coupe looks champagne expensive with a beer-bottle price tag.”
Oh, and it’s being discontinued. Awesome. No doubt.
It’s reasons like this guy that Long Island has this reputation.
After spending two weeks away from the Big Apple for the big wedding and honeymoon, and then a week later flying out again for a kamikaze trip to a friend’s wedding in Niceville, Fla., then out to Los Angeles a few weeks later for a surprise birthday party, I’m finally back and settled here in NYC.
That’s not to say I’ll be blogging any more than usual, but as of right now, laying on the couch with an achy back, and with my beautiful bride playing the role of happy housewife for the time being, there certainly will not be any long distance traveling in our near future.
Luckily, we have friends and family throughout the northeast and mid-Atlantic area who can visit throughout the summer, or, any of you can always visit us here! We do live in NYC, the greatest city on Earth!
So, I hope to have lots of more stories of my travails throughout the five boroughs in the coming weeks. Stacey’s mom will be visiting next weekend and we’ll be heading to the Bronx to see the Phillies play the Yankees, so I’ll report on the new Yankee Stadium then.
I’ve already been to CitiTARP Field, and it is beautiful. If only the home team were the Marlins, not the Mets. I hope to be going back when the defending American League Champion Tampa Bay Devil Rays visit next month. I’ll try to post my report on that experience then.
Nothing too earthbreaking here. Look up, read the banner headline. See something different? Yeah, am now married as opposed to being almost married or engaged.
I could use the fact that I only expect to spend one weekend in the month of March actually home in the Big Apple as a reason for my paltry blogging prowess, but well, that’d just be an excuse.
The fact is that I figured this would happen at some point. There’d be long gaps in my blogging followed by days of constant blogging followed by long gaps, etc., etc., etc.
I’m a manic blogger I guess. Ya’ll just have to deal. Please, please, please, deal. I don’t want to lose either of the two of you who might be reading this.
So, thankfully for me and my sensitive ears, I missed the blizzard of all blizzards that hit the northeast last weekend because, well, I was in Las Vegas!
What a great place to be while the east coast is blanketed in the fluffy white stuff. It was dry, 70 degrees, sun shining the whole time. I even spent one whole day of the three pretty much full days I was there outside at a park. Definitely not something I normally do while in Vegas, but a ton of fun. Nice to be out in the sun finally. Am so, so tired of having to bundle, layer and be uncomfortable the whole time.
The only thing that would’ve made that day better is if I had thought to pack some flip flops. I didn’t think we’d made it outside or it’d be warm enough, so I suffered wearing tennis shoes. I know, I know, woe is me.
I won’t be making that same mistake this weekend, however, as Mike’s magical North American tour hits Nashville, Tenn., aka NashVegas, baby! I can’t wait to see good friends again, and especially, the not-s0-lil Latino Tornado, my godson, Joaquin.
Then, after that, it’s just a matter of a couple weeks before I head down south and get transformed from being an almost-married man to being full of wedded bliss.
Immediately after that, the lovely lady and I come back to our home back in NY for a night before taking this trip international. We’ll be heading to Punta Cana, DR, for most of a week for a nice, relaxing honeymoon that’ll last right up into my favorite time of year, Opening Day.
Of course, at this point, all my vacation time will be used up, so everybody come to NY this spring and summer. We got a pull-out couch you can crash on. Or, seriously, hotel rooms are cheap right now. Our neighborhood rocks and we’re only a quick subway right into Manhattan. So visit often!
So, checking out the weather for NY and NV(NashVegas) this weekend, I’m pretty excited. It’s supposed to get warm here in NY this weekend, even possibly flip-flop weather. I’ll miss it, just like I missed the blizzard, but it’s supposed to be even nicer in Tennessee, so I’m not complaining.
Yes, the flip flops are already packed. I can’t wait.
