Elevating Substance...

The “Hot Sauce Committee Part 2″ Trailer Is Kinda Awesome

elevatingsubstance — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 13:29:57 +0000

Happy New Year…

elevatingsubstance — Fri, 31 Dec 2010 21:36:42 +0000

Here’s wishing everyone a happy and healthy (and safe!) start to the new year.

Who knows? Getting this blog back up and going could be resolution-worthy.

Wiley – Cash In My Pocket

elevatingsubstance — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 03:10:34 +0000

Downstairs Neighbor Coincidences (Or: New York Is Getting Smaller)

elevatingsubstance — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 19:45:06 +0000

Strange day yesterday. The night before last I accidentally left a portfolio full of resumes, business cards, checkbooks and the like in the back of a cab and woke up to a text message from the good samaritan who found it offering its return. We traded texts and ended up deciding that he would just leave it at the security desk at his apartment building and I’d swing by to pick it up. Upon arrival I realize that he lives in the same building in Flatiron that two other friends just moved into, two floors above.

Then last night I have a dinner date, followed by drinks, and after walking her home and arriving at her front door am surprised to find that she lives in the same three-floor building in Williamsburg that a friend I’ve known for 14 years lives in, two floors below.

This morning the Facebook intarwebz tell me that the same dinner date is also, completely independent of me, mutual friends with a former downstairs neighbor of mine from when I first moved to New York.

Weird.

My return is imminent. No, really.

elevatingsubstance — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 18:27:05 +0000

For those following, in the beginning of June I got laid off from the job for which I moved to NYC, had been at for several years, and for which I first began interviewing somewhere in the neighborhood of 2004. I spent a few weeks half-heartedly looking for work before packing up and taking off for a month out west; I had two weddings to hit in Seattle on back-to-back weekends on July anyway, so I decided to make a trek of it. San Diego, L.A., Seattle, the Oregon coast, back down through the bay to Lake Nacimiento, and back up to Ashland and Crater Lake before flying out from Seattle again…

In any case, tomorrow’s officially my last day at work. I should be back in the swing of things after that…

And lest I sound like I’m in a bad mood about it, fear not. In a certain sense I had an overwhelming sense of relief when I got let go, not the least reason for which being that the job had taken a pretty wicked toll on me over these past few years, and I was (and am) happy to be rid of it.

On a short list of things I’ve found particularly aggravating as of late?

elevatingsubstance — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:18:34 +0000

People who insist on using the word “everyday” as a noun instead of an adjective. Please stop. All of you. Immediately.

Weekend Recap (Father’s Day Edition)

elevatingsubstance — Tue, 23 Jun 2009 22:52:16 +0000

Two weeks after getting laid off I finally had a chance to get out of town and relax for a bit, such opportunity happening to coincide with both Father’s Day and the celebration of my cousin’s wife’s birthday, so on Friday bailed on NYC to DC for the weekend. Given that severance will, in fact, run out in a few months, and that I don’t have too many demands on my time these days, I decided to do the economical thing and hop the bus to DC rather than take a train or fly. I must say, having done the Chinatown bus thing on a few occasions, that BoltBus is far superior — the free wireless works fine, there are AC outlets at a number of the seats, both buses (on the trip down and the trip back) were way cleaner than any of the Chinatown buses I’d ever encountered, and apparently BoltBus doesn’t stop in Baltimore on its NY/DC route. I didn’t book either leg far enough in advance to score the $1 fares that they offer from time to time, but still… Not a bad way to travel if you’ve got the time.

The weekend was pretty chill. This was probably the first time I’d hit DC in a few years and actually spent all of my time hanging out with family and not trekking into the city to go out drinking. Monday aside I got a chance to run twice each day, which was good. Dad and new wife are good. Aunt and uncle are well, as is grandmother. Cousin and wife are also doing well, and their son’s become quite the talker. Nothing bad to report.

The trip back yesterday was a bit of a pain in the ass once we hit Lincoln Tunnel traffic, which took an hour and a half to plow through, making me a bit late for my scheduled cocktail engagement with a fellow departed colleague. Had a few drinks before meeting up with a friend to hit the Nightlife Preservation Community launch party at M2. I normally avoid that place like the plague, but the ever-gracious Steve Lewis got us right past the door, the drinks were free, and the lineup was pretty badassed… Martinez Brothers, Louie Vega, Q-Tip, Funkmaster Flex, Junior Vasquez, etc. I hadn’t caught the Martinez Brothers before but was pleasantly surprised to to hear them drop both “French Kiss” and “Night of the Jaguar”. Good stuff. Definitely had a few too many drinks, though, as my White Castle –> street taco –> Dunkin’ Donuts –> ice cream run on the way home evidenced.

Back to the gym…

“It’s embarrassing to have someone help you with your ‘personal matters’.”

elevatingsubstance — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 19:17:03 +0000

And just like that, I’m unemployed.

elevatingsubstance — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 01:04:36 +0000

12:17 PM C: WHAT?!?!

no way

no fucking way

12:19 PM me: yep yep

12:20 PM i’m officially on vacation

out of office is already turned on

3 months off!

C: WHAT?!?!

what happened?

where are you?

12:22 PM well, this solves the July issue

you’re coming to CA with me in July, then, right?

12:24 PM me: haha

fuck, why not?

C: seriously

is it wrong that I’m happy for you?

12:25 PM me: hahaha

C: is that just totally fucked up of me?

me: no, not at all

C: I mean, I’ll wallow and drink through the pain if you want but secretlly…

I’m so ecstatic for you

plus, you’re making more in 3 months than I make in a year

so you can suck it

12:28 PM me: hahaha

C: I have interesting news on my end, too

12:29 PM me: yeah?

C: they are hiring in CA for a position

so hopefully something will open up

me: no shit?

C: not sure who else is up for the position, but I’ve got people “taking care of me” is what I was told

me: was funny… was just talking to a guy i know who’s already mentioned someone who may be interested in picking me up

C: cheers to living rent free…

12:30 PM oh, you could have a new job by Monday

me: and to the extent there’s any spot in his outfit, there’s a good chance it would be in… L.A.

C: I’m not worried about you professionally

I’m more worried about the fact that you fucking hate that job

and by default, life

see, how everything comes together??

we just gotta hang in there

12:31 PM me: yeah, exactly

i mean, they’re basically paying me to hang out all summer

12:32 PM which money i should not fritter away, admittedly

but still

not a bad deal

brb

C: fuck you

it’s like you’re a summer intern

12:33 PM me: exactly

and now i’m gonna go drink like one

C: oh nice

Hard Time

elevatingsubstance — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:11:40 +0000

Ouch. [New York Post via Bitter Lawyer]