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I Drink For A Reason Review

Sunday, February 28, 2010

I just finished David Cross’ first book, “I Drink For a Reason” after many trips to the bathroom.

At first I was really disappointed by the format of the book which is a collection of essays. I was expecting a constant story line or a little more autobiography (which there is some)… but after maybe the forth trip to “The Confessional,” I told myself, “Why should I expect the great novel by David Cross?” (No Offense)

I’ve been caught up in classic literature, why was I holding David to those standards? Maybe someday he’ll write the next “Lolita” but this was his first try.

This book is made for bathroom reading, short, funny chapters. Perfect reading while dismissing the sin from within.

I honestly think that his next book should be paperback and have a hole in the upper left hand corner just like the almanac… Move over Ben Franklin, David Cross is taking over this stall.

I would recommend this book to any David Cross fan…

Filed in Literary Exploration | | Comments (0)

2010 Reading List

Tuesday, February 16, 2010

New Year’s resolutions are lame and should be treated as such. Typical resolutions are to quit smoking and lose that 20 pounds you gained since high school or some other crap like that. Why not switch to more obtainable goals like wearing more green or stop picking your nose. If people really want to change their lives for the better why not a pick a random day in April; why does it have to be January 1st?

I admit to making resolutions; Be more nice to the girl at the office, try to be less cynical, don’t masturbate as much. All these resolutions end up failing because it goes against who I am as a person; A dick. Maybe this is the reason most other people fail at their resolutions. Some people are just meant to stay morbidly-obese and smoke two packs of USA Gold cigarettes a day.

This year’s resolution I felt shouldn’t go against the grain of my character so I picked something easily obtainable. This year I decided I would read twelve books.

Twelve books to some is nothing, but to most its unheard of! I’ve told some of my friends how I’ve stopped watching TV and supplemented my downtime with reading and they look at me like I’m some monster.

In fact I have become a little bit of a beast. Last month I bought a Kindle for myself. My wife being a literary purest (Jane Austin fan) was against the idea of a e-reader. She enjoys the whole experience of holding an actual book in her hands. I can understand the love for the feel and the smell of books but this thing is SWEET. She’s slowly coming around to it. We were able to buy a book off of Amazon that doesn’t come out in printed form in America until May. She was quite excited by that little perk.

Some were short, some were long, but I consumed 6 books in the first month. Unfortunately February’s list won’t be as prolific because my wife won’t let me count each book within War and Peace individually; There are 15 books plus 2 epilogs!!!

To the heart of my post. I wanted to highlight my 2010 reading list, which can be found here. Maybe some of you can join me on this little journey and share with me what you’ve been reading or what I should.

If you comment about me reading The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown, don’t, I already know its garbage; Stupid Dan Brown.

Filed in Literary Exploration | | Comments (2)

Blanton’s vs. Oragel

Thursday, February 11, 2010

(Rogue X-S Imperial Stout)
I’m in a very rare situation; I’m a stay at home dad and hold a full time job. This combination can be highly stressful on a person, to try to meet deadlines with a crying baby begging for attention.

I admit that the baby wins most of the battles for my attention during the day, although there are work obligations I can’t (Fuller’s London Pride) put off. There has been a few times during conference calls, phone in one hand, baby in the other, pacing the apartment to quell the tears of a four month old.

Recently Rosemary, our baby, has started teething. This has made it extremely difficult to work during normal business hours which has really put a kink into my current project. I’ve been working after dinner to make up for lost time which cuts into my “Me Time.”

This afternoon to my delight, my wife came home early to relieve me of my parental duties which to allows me to head over to my local and enjoy a few pints to relax. I’ve been listing the beers I’ve been drinking during this time in brackets.

This brings me to the heart of the title of this entry. How to deal with a teething baby? (Harpoon UFO Raspberry Hefeweizen)

Being first time parents, friends, family, and even strangers try to give my wife and I unsolicited advise. I do appreciate them trying to help, but so far all we’ve learned is to NOT LISTEN. You have to figure out what works for you and your baby.

One of the better ways to help with the pain we learned from my wife’s parents. Dip your finger in scotch and rub it on the baby’s gums.

I have quite a whiskey collection in the house and I’m always looking for an excuse to open a bottle. This is my daughter after all and I would only give her nothing but the best; Blanton’s Kentucky Straight Whisky. It worked like a charm! Not to our surprise, some folks frowned on us for giving our baby this most delicious ointment to numb the pain.

I like to limit the chemical intake of my child as much as possible. I’ve even go so far to piss off the pediatric nurse for stretching out our daughter’s vaccinations because I felt I didn’t want to overload her little body with all those chemicals at once. Recently with hesitation I bought Baby Orajel on the advice of my mother. Looking at the ingredients almost made my head explode. The list is as followed:

Active Ingredient
Benzocaine: 7.5% (Nighttime formula: 10%)

Inactive Ingredients
FD&C red number 40
Flavor (It’s cherry)
Glycerin
Poly-ethylene
Glycols
Purified Water (I have no problem with this one)
Sodium Saccharin
Sorbic Acid
Sorbitol

Just a lot of stuff compared to the good ole’ way; Corn, Rye, Malted Barley, Water and Yeast.

I also have a lot of faith in the people who make Blanton’s. Each bottle is hand written the barrel number and on what day the barrel was dumped. This little touch makes me feel that the people who make this bourbon truly care and love what they do. I have a tough time imagining some person in a white coat and hard hat in a factory in Uniondale, NY caring that much about the end product.

I half expect to get a visit from Children’s Services after I post this. I’ll be here waiting with my beautiful baby girl in one hand and 3 fingers of Blanton’s in the other.

Filed in Libations, Parenting | | Comments (1)

Well here it is.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Welcome to my new venture into the world of blogging. I’ve tried many times before writing a blog, but have failed miserably. Due to my minute attention span I typically lose intrest within the first couple of days and just take down the whole site.

A lot has changed since I last tried blogging. I’ve moved from New York City, got married and fathered a child; it’s been a hectic few years. During this time I’ve also made other changes in life: I’ve quit smoking cigarettes, stopped watching television and grew a big bushy beard.

Recently I’ve been trying to eliminate the unnecessary distractions from my life. To some, these changes are unthinkable…

I intend to use this blog to share my journey of paring down and my love for the more simple things; books, music, beer, etc.

Filed in Arbitrary | | Comments (4)