Seems Like A World Away

What a weekend...and it is only Sunday morning.

Yesterday, my roommate and i borrowed a canoe from our married friend D and C and decided to take a canoe trip down the Licking River.

The Licking separates Campbell and Kenton counties, emptying into the Ohio River. Even though I was born and raised in Kenton County, I never realized how large the river was. Trolling along the river for 7 miles, I found out that barges actually travel up and down this river.

It was a bit daunting being next to these behemoths, but this city boy quickly found his webbed feet.

Unfortunately, in the process of becoming acclimated with the water skiers, barge and other boat traffic, I was not able to take as many pictures as I had liked.

Another unfortunate note, my 1990 Honda Civic broke down on the side of the highway on the way back from the trip. Thank God for AAA. On a better note, after the two truck delivered my car to the service shop, he offered to purchase it. This sparked my interest, but since the service station was closed, I suggested that I first find out the extent of the repair before he makes an offer.

Is Cincinnati Ready for YouTube?

Of course it is. Bloggers such as myself and have used this video sharing website to the hilt, but now WLWT Channel 5 is honing in on the craze and introducing this fast growing entertainment behemoth to its viewing audience.

I thinks its a great idea. I would love to watch old news casts. Especially when my News 5 did an exclusive on my neighborhood when I was a pre-teen, or see live video of the riverfront before it was graced with the Paul Brown Stadium and Cinergy Field.

We can even take a look at talk show host, turned reality game show host Jerry Springer when he was a news broadcaster here in Cincinnati, just years after he was the Queen City's mayor. Make sure you listen to his commentary here, he actually makes a good point during the posted commentary.




My love of Youtube is not secluded to the fact that Channel 5 has a new YouTube Channel. It is gems like these that keeps me coming back for more.




-----Warning------- Offensive Language (but funny)

Pushing 30 Blues.....

I guess I should not call it "Pushing 30 Blues". I should call me recent state of mind, "Not so happy with my current job...Blues"

It's OK, I guess, but the place just sucks the life out of me every day I go into work.

Luckily, this past weekend brightened my soul a bit.

I made a vow to complete some of things that I have had under my hat for quite some time now and low and behold. Tico came into my life.

I am not sure if I will keep him or not, but he spent the night last night. I am putting up fliers around the neighborhood today to see if anyone has lost him. Here is a pic of the little cutie.

Quills up for Qualls

I think I just coined her next campaign slogan.

For those of you not in the loop, Roxanne Qualls, former mayor of Cincinnati is planning to fill the city council seat of my neighbor, Jim Tarbell when he steps down early next month.

While Ms. Qualls was mayor of the Queen city, she had a very high approval rating. A friend of mine had her as a professor while she was mayor and was flabbergasted that while going through all the trials and tribulations of being the mayor of a major city, she still had time to research poignant questions. You can read a bit more about her accomplishments here.

I am excited that she is stepping back into politics. I bodes well for the city and especially downtown.

Only In My Dreams

No, this is not in reference to the Tiffany song of the mid-80's. Or was it Debbie Gibson who sand that song?

Yesterday just before my afternoon kick-boxing class, I took a look at this pic. All the the class, I envisioned having a body like this (a bit darker skin of course) and it got me through the entire class. In fact, I think I work harder than I ever had. I think I found my my key for success...lol

Its not just my b-day party this weekend...

Every year on the weekend of my birthday, Cincinnati hosts the Macy's Music Festival (formally the Jazz Festival). Big names of R&B music like Mary J. Blige, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Robin Thicke and the Temptations are just a few of the names on the marquee. I was surprised to find out that this even is Cincinnati's number one draw for out-of-towners each year (I read it here).

Though I have never been, I love going downtown and people watch. Maybe I can snap some shots before my big bash.

So You Say Its Your Birthday.....Its My Birthday Too

Over the years, my family was not very big on b-days. I don't think that we ever had a birthday celebration for either my mother or my step father when I was growing up and I only remember a few b-day parties held for me as a child. With the meeting of new friends as i got older, things have changes a bit, but out of habit, I was not expecting too much when i walked into work yesterday.

My supervisor surprised my by treating me to lunch at Allyn's topped off with the best deck of cards. The deck is unique because each playing cards has a different Cincinnati scene on them, they are great!

A co-worker joined us for lunch and she remember that I told her that I loved cheese cake so for dessert, she bought two types of cheesecake from Bonbonnerie for us all to share!

The surprises were not over...

Around 7pm, as I was settling down to listen to Harry Potter, my roommate entered the apartment and stated that a few friends were coming over and we were all going to have a few cocktails at Universal Grille to celebrate the big 2-9.

So good times were had by all.

The big birthday bash will be this Saturday night complete with ex-girlfriends, old and new friends, Karaoke and a strip show so be prepared for a montage of fotos!

No word from any of the fam, but I am sure they are busy.

So The Saga Continues...

As with millions of other muggles around the world, I too have fallen prey to the thrawls of the latest Harry Potter book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. I was not one of those who wasted a perfectly good Friday night to stand in line and get the newest instillation of the series, but I did go to Joseph and Beth Bookstore that Saturday afternoon to purchase the book on compact disc.



I have acheived to listed to only 12 chapters of the book and am suprised about the number of new and old characters that have been (re) introduced. I am a bit dissapointed at Jim Dale's performances of the different voices of the characters, but I guess we (and the characters themselves) are getting abit older, so that must be taken into account.

Traveling A Go-Go...

Man what a weekend..

Last Friday at about 6pm, my roommates walks in the door from work and says..."Let's go to Pittsburgh!"

So by 12am, and about 5 hours of traveling on the road, we strolled into the Pitt.

With no place to stay for the weekend, and only a few hours left of party time, we decided to B-Line it to the the bars. We were in search of the Shadyside district so after we spent some time downtown and near Carnegie Mellon and the University of Pittsburgh (lets just say about an hour of toiling around aimlessly) we happened upon the district. A quick charge of clothes on the street and we were in the bar called 1508.

Though afraid that Pittsburgh clubs closed at a shocking 1am, we indulged a bit faster than we would have normally have done only to find out that 2am was the bewitching hour and that there was a great after hours spot downtown. So we hoped in a cab and checked out the second spot called The Saloon.

Finding a place to rest our wearing head after the travel and the libations was not very hard to find. We definitely needed rest for the next day's adventure.

The only reason that we decided to travel 5 hours was that my roommate wanted to purchase a Honda Ruckus so that he did not have to drive his behemoth of a truck to and from his full time job as a consultants but could still use his truck for landscaping jobs.

Here are is a pic of the new ride (behind the larger bike):

After a brunch at this great eatery called Hot and a long ( and I do mean long) nap in the hotel room, we eat at an OK Thai place called That Thai Place (appropriately named) before we headed out to 5801 again.

Great times and new experiences. I wonder where I will be travelling to next...

Random Shots Of Hottness

Well...not so random...

Slave Labor

In additions to pretending that I was in the book "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" I also helped my roommate finish an installation. I wish that I would have been thinking about blogging this great feat while I was seating to the oldies heaving soil, mulch and sod for hours upon hours, but of course, I was more concerned with getting everything finish.



It looks great by the way, not that it is all complete. I will try to sneak back and grab some shots of it.

Paddeling Down the River

Last Saturday, I participated in the largest Paddle Fest in the Mid-West and man are my arms tired...lol

My Weekend In L.A. Day 2

So most of you know that last week I took an adventure to Los Angeles for my uncles wedding (the third one I do believe), but have yet to tell you how it went. Well, it went off without a hitch (no pun intended). Though long (the ceremony began at 10am and did not end until 4pm), it was great seeing both so many family members in one place. Of course, I forgot my camera in my hotel room that morning, so you will have to wait to see pics until the photographer posts them on the web.



So a few hours after the ceremony (after helping tear down the decorations, taking them back to my uncles place and dropping a cousin off in downtown L.A.), I was finally on my own again and ready to hit the town. Again, I traveled to Santa Monica, but this time stuck with the bars that charged no cover. Again, pretty hot bois to look at, but not much to talk to.

That culminated my second day in the City of Angels.

Amature Hottness

In true stalker fashion, I was able snap a few hotties at the Cincinnati Airport while I was waiting for my flight to Los Angeles last weekend. Not as good as these pics, but they suit this mid-western boi just fine.

America's Birthday....What Can I Say

Not too much apparently....

I did not have any big events to attend this 4th of July, so I celebrated the birthday of the United States of America by painting my bedroom. Here is the before picture (sans furniture)

And here is the after picture, notice the lightness of the walls...

I am in the process of having new carpet installed as well, which should be put in later this afternoon. I will keep you posted.