I'll start this off in an unusual way: by noting that this is the last one of these I'll post for this year. Next Monday I'll be in Kansas, as I've been doing for the past few Christmases. I'll be back on Monday, January the 2nd. I'll have plenty to talk about then, I am sure.
Honestly, I am ready now to be in Kansas, even if the drive there and back is a long, tiring experience. I don't talk about my personal life aside from the random things I do... but I do have to tell this tale. Around 2 months ago me and some young lady started talking online. The particulars aren't necessary; I'll just say she lives hundreds of miles away in another state so it's not like I'll ever meet her. Things were always fine and we chatted for a decent amount on a daily basis. This was an online only thing, as that is how I preferred it. Suddenly, things changed as of late and she treated me differently. I have no idea why, but she did. I got mad about it... from there it did not turn out well. Who knows what'll happen with me and her in the future, but since she doesn't want to talk anymore... I'll try to remember the nice chats we had but it'll be something that will take me awhile to get over, and I'll probably never know why she did this 180. It's not a good feeling to have.
I wish it didn't happen when it did, as I had other things on my mind at the time; I won't talk about the particulars there either, except that right now I feel a change of scenery (even if only for a week) is much-needed. Me being very different compared to most people and thus being an acquired taste, that is one thing. People in general acting like you're repulsive and not even caring what you have to say when you try to speak... I'll never fully be accepting of that. At least I still know plenty of people who are OK with knowing me, even if it's distantly and we rarely-if ever-chat. But I am sure that once things are back to normal and I can get a full night's sleep again, I'll have a rosier disposition. At least starting from today until I leave for Kansas in a few days, things shouldn't be so hectic for me. I don't need to get a lot ready and packed, thankfully.
Here's what I've done since last Monday. Monday the 12th, I went out and about. I was looking for an item in particular, but I stopped at a Walgreens first to get something else. Turns out, what I was looking for was there so after that, I was gonna to go a new place to chill for a bit. But, on the way there I decided to honk at a driver who flew by me as they were going at least 20 miles an hour over the speed limit. Well, this punk got all indignant about it and wanted to start trouble with me. I honked at them some more, then at a stoplight I was able to get away from them by going the opposite direction of where I was headed. I drove around aimlessly and stumbled upon a brand new Walmart. For a Walmart it's pretty nice, and also quite large. I got some miscellaneous items then left. In the future I'll have to do some actual shopping there. Stumbling upon it was a happy little accident, to quote the late painter Bob Ross. Tuesday, I went to the local Applebee's with someone. The service wasn't always the best but at least the food tasted good so I can't carp too loudly.
Wednesday I did not do a thing so onto Thursday. I was in Orlando to do a minor task I won't get into. After that, I was off to Daytona Beach. I went there to try out a new movie theatre that opened just earlier this month. There are no shortage of screens in the Central Florida area, that is for sure. Hopefully they all do well and none of them close, but you never know... this new one is Cobb Theatres. I've been to some of their other properties before, but this one they are billing as “luxury”, meaning those now-hip leather reclining seats, a curved screen, fancy sound systems, and even a restaurant you can eat at independently of seeing any film there. I was curious so why not see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story there?
While I wish that my burger would have been “medium well” as advertised instead of “burned to a crisp”, the place was nice, from the concessions to the auditoriums. But as there are nice places closer to me... as for the movie, I am not unbiased as I've been a Star Wars fan since I was a kid. Yet I thought that it was awesome and I am glad it was different from the norm when it came to the franchise. While I think there were a few too many one-liners and some of the CG was “eh”, otherwise I can't complain. I was glad it was different. I know that many were underwhelmed at best but that's understandable. Like I said I found it to be pretty dope.
The drama happened on Friday night. I'd rather not say much about my Friday to Sunday night. I was out and about (meaning dealing with incredibly awful traffic), I did not get much sleep... one interesting thing was visiting a new Whole Foods. I only go there rarely, as the whole organic thing is overblown. Yet once in a blue moon I'll get some random food & drink there; they also have a nice craft beer selection. Sunday, that was a day to forget. I actually went out and saw the Chicago Bears play. I went to the Friendly Confines sports bar/restaurant as they have tasty food. Their several locations aren't close to me but it's nice to visit infrequently. The Bears were getting whipped by their biggest rival (the Green Bay Packers), then came back to tie it, only to blow it at the end in a rather inept way. Between that ending and the number of loud bellowing cretins around... I don't mind not going out to see the team play, as it means I don't watch poor quality football and I also avoid the obnoxious idiots and knaves.
Like I said, I won't be posting anything here until Monday, January the 2nd. I cannot believe that 2016 is almost over with, not to mention Christmas is less than a week away. As everyone thinks, Praise the Lord that 2016 is almost over with. 2017 should hopefully be better for everyone.
Monday, December 19, 2016
Monday, December 12, 2016
Spirited Away, Earl's Kitchen + Bar & Terrifying Traffic
Here's what I've done since last Monday. Monday the 5th I ended up at Disney Springs. I went to the AMC Theatres there (which now has reserved seating. I must be in the minority here... most of the time I'd rather not have it. It reminds me of high school and its assigned seating, for crying out loud) and saw Spirited Away. I've only seen a small amount of Studio Ghibli, let alone Miyazaki. Everyone loves the film so I figured I might as well see it this way. Well, the animation was beautiful and the music was great... sad to say, the characters and story left me completely cold. I was not charmed, unfortunately. After that I walked around Disney Springs for a bit before driving home. I'll spare the details but for a minute or two I had to deal with a driver who had to be impaired in some way. I was actually chased by this lunatic for a minute or two before that cretin finally went away. Of course I never had the chance to get his license plate tag once I needed it.
Tuesday, I did nothing but Wednesday I ended up at a K-Mart for the first time in a few years. I typically have no need to go there; considering their struggles, many people feel that way now about the chain. I got some random items. Wow is their movie section not spectacular. There was only a few Blu, for starters. Then, much of it was from cheap DVD labels. No wonder why K-Mart is not doing well. Thursday, I went with someone to Hurricane Grill & Wings for the first time in almost a year. The way there and back is down to one lane for the most part so that is why. Highway 27 south from where I live was awful when all the lanes were open, mainly due to the low intelligence of the average person on that stretch of road. Now, it's pretty brutal. On the way back, someone in front was acting like something was mentally wrong with them; I have no idea why they were so slow or why they randomly stomped on their brakes one time. When they finally got off the road, I did not care that someone else was with me, I honked at that Troglodyte, as it was greatly deserved. At least the food at the restaurant was as good as usual.
Friday, I went to a restaurant I found out about the night before. I returned to the Mall at Millenia. I never went to the Blue Martini but awhile back they closed; now there is a mainly Western Canada joint. It may not sound upscale with a name like Earl's Kitchen + Bar; it actually is. It looks “hip” and you can decide for yourself how much that means to you. I sat at the bar and had my “almost always” of a burger and fries, which were admittedly real good. As the place looked nice too, it was a nice choice on my part. I went to a random place or two before making it back home. Saturday and Sunday I did not do a thing; I preferred relaxing at home. As the temperature finally dropped, not doing anything also seemed like a good idea for that reason. The Chicago Bears, they played against the Detroit Lions and I expected them to lose. My expectations were correct. The Lions won 20-17. Once again they had an opportunity to win but they blew it. I was glad I did not go out to see this somewhere in person.
When I return a week from today, I know I'll be talking about Star Wars. After that, who knows... but who needs anything else?
Tuesday, I did nothing but Wednesday I ended up at a K-Mart for the first time in a few years. I typically have no need to go there; considering their struggles, many people feel that way now about the chain. I got some random items. Wow is their movie section not spectacular. There was only a few Blu, for starters. Then, much of it was from cheap DVD labels. No wonder why K-Mart is not doing well. Thursday, I went with someone to Hurricane Grill & Wings for the first time in almost a year. The way there and back is down to one lane for the most part so that is why. Highway 27 south from where I live was awful when all the lanes were open, mainly due to the low intelligence of the average person on that stretch of road. Now, it's pretty brutal. On the way back, someone in front was acting like something was mentally wrong with them; I have no idea why they were so slow or why they randomly stomped on their brakes one time. When they finally got off the road, I did not care that someone else was with me, I honked at that Troglodyte, as it was greatly deserved. At least the food at the restaurant was as good as usual.
Friday, I went to a restaurant I found out about the night before. I returned to the Mall at Millenia. I never went to the Blue Martini but awhile back they closed; now there is a mainly Western Canada joint. It may not sound upscale with a name like Earl's Kitchen + Bar; it actually is. It looks “hip” and you can decide for yourself how much that means to you. I sat at the bar and had my “almost always” of a burger and fries, which were admittedly real good. As the place looked nice too, it was a nice choice on my part. I went to a random place or two before making it back home. Saturday and Sunday I did not do a thing; I preferred relaxing at home. As the temperature finally dropped, not doing anything also seemed like a good idea for that reason. The Chicago Bears, they played against the Detroit Lions and I expected them to lose. My expectations were correct. The Lions won 20-17. Once again they had an opportunity to win but they blew it. I was glad I did not go out to see this somewhere in person.
When I return a week from today, I know I'll be talking about Star Wars. After that, who knows... but who needs anything else?
Monday, December 5, 2016
Arrival, Championship Football & Large Intoxicated Men
Monday, I did something out of the ordinary. I went to the Tampa area. Among the things I did, I returned to a restaurant I went to once before this past spring, called Ford's Garage; its name is a long story, but they do have it licensed from Ford. They make some tasty burgers, that is for sure. Being able to build your own burger and having “pretzel bun” being one of the options: pretty dope. I went to a movie, then had a drink at the World of Beer in Brandon. It was only one, as there were too many annoying tools there, and the staff is not exempt from that description. I went to a brand new theatre in Riverview. It's a new group called Xscape; they only have a few locations across the country. They are part of the hot in 2016 idea of auditoriums having leather reclining seats. The groups that own cineplexes are trying all sorts of things to get people to attend, as attendance has dropped in recent years. I blame it on “Hollywood making a lot of bad movies” and “too many rude people acting rudely during screenings” more than the seats and being able to recline while watching a film... streaming and such things as 4K televisions don't help there either, but I guess putting in new seats is about as much as those people can reasonably do to try and fix that problem. As for Xscape in Riverview, it is nice, although there are also nice places closer to me too. Heck, even older places are putting in those leather seats.
Anyhow... what I saw was Arrival. I heard so many positive things about it, I figured it was time to check the film out. Turns out, I do rate it highly myself. I can't go into specifics as that'd result in massive spoilers. I'll just say that the surprises the movie has were well done and not seen by me beforehand, it was filmed well, and the cast is swell, with Amy Adams outstanding. Tuesday, I did not do anything and Wednesday I went to the local Chick-fil-A for dinner (note that this is not necessarily any endorsement for the chain's conservative Christian values) so onto Thursday.
Thursday, I went to a few places. I will mention that I got some German beer bottles from Total Wine & More and also a big can of Kirin Ichiban beer, as it was on sale. I've had several different styles and they typically are interesting... hefeweizen has a banana & clove taste and the appearance is cloudy. It's pretty good. There are variations of that like dunkenweizen (more a roasted malt) and kristalweizen (which is less cloudy), and there are others that vary from a little to a lot. Some I do prefer to others. I probably should drink more things like dunkenweizen or the darker doppelbock. Anyhow, after that I walked around the ritzy Mall at Millenia. I had some mall food for dinner. Friday I did not do anything but Saturday...
Saturday I did something I was not planning on until a few days prior. A big college football conference championship game (for the ACC, specifically) was going to be played in Charlotte but because of the law commonly known as either “The Bathroom Bill” or “The Transgender Act” where people of a different sexuality won't be protected by law, that game went elsewhere, as did plenty of other events originally scheduled for North Carolina. The game moved to Orlando at the stadium I'll always call the Citrus Bowl but technically is “Camping World Stadium”. The ticket brokers must have had a tough time selling tickets, as I was able to find on Seatgeek a fifth row ticket in the end zone for only 20 bucks, which was like 1/3 its original price. The attendance ended up being fine, all things considered.
I ended up parking at a random business on Orange Blossom Trail that was offering up spots. Considering its OBT, it was not a guarantee that my vehicle would be there when I returned, or that it'd be damage-free, but thankfully it was. The game had the sort of nonsense that still makes me “meh” in general on major college football but otherwise it was exciting. Clemson defeated Virginia Tech 42-35 in an expected result. There were more Clemson fans present, that is for sure, although my section happened to have more Tech fans. In the area there for various activities for all fans to participate in, which was nice. I didn't do any of that, though. I did enjoy the view and was thankful that I had no problems where I sat.
Plus, there was an incredible moment. After the game started, some people moseyed in and one of them was a large young man; he was highly intoxicated. I did not notice this due to him smelling like a brewery when I got first whiff of him... nor how he was barely intelligible when he spoke... nor how he was double-fisting large Bud Light cans... nor even his I (heart) BEER hat. No, it was all that + him passing out for most of the second half. No kidding. When literal fireworks went off before the 4th quarter, this was not enough to stir him awake. I know he was not deceased because he was up by the time the game ended. As it was an evening game, who knows how many hours of drinking he did beforehand. I can say that never was a hat and wearer more appropriate than in this case.
Sunday, I did not do a thing. I decided not to go out to see the Bears play, even though they played an even worse team in the San Francisco 49ers. The Bears easily won, but it was in ugly snow and freezing rain weather; beforehand I was expecting it to be among the worst games in NFL history and it may have been. Seeing some highlights at home and knowing that it took until midway into the second quarter for either of the two teams to even complete a pass... I am glad I did not go to a bar or restaurant and see such garbage. When I return a week from today, I do have a few ideas as to what I'll be discussing.
Anyhow... what I saw was Arrival. I heard so many positive things about it, I figured it was time to check the film out. Turns out, I do rate it highly myself. I can't go into specifics as that'd result in massive spoilers. I'll just say that the surprises the movie has were well done and not seen by me beforehand, it was filmed well, and the cast is swell, with Amy Adams outstanding. Tuesday, I did not do anything and Wednesday I went to the local Chick-fil-A for dinner (note that this is not necessarily any endorsement for the chain's conservative Christian values) so onto Thursday.
Thursday, I went to a few places. I will mention that I got some German beer bottles from Total Wine & More and also a big can of Kirin Ichiban beer, as it was on sale. I've had several different styles and they typically are interesting... hefeweizen has a banana & clove taste and the appearance is cloudy. It's pretty good. There are variations of that like dunkenweizen (more a roasted malt) and kristalweizen (which is less cloudy), and there are others that vary from a little to a lot. Some I do prefer to others. I probably should drink more things like dunkenweizen or the darker doppelbock. Anyhow, after that I walked around the ritzy Mall at Millenia. I had some mall food for dinner. Friday I did not do anything but Saturday...
Saturday I did something I was not planning on until a few days prior. A big college football conference championship game (for the ACC, specifically) was going to be played in Charlotte but because of the law commonly known as either “The Bathroom Bill” or “The Transgender Act” where people of a different sexuality won't be protected by law, that game went elsewhere, as did plenty of other events originally scheduled for North Carolina. The game moved to Orlando at the stadium I'll always call the Citrus Bowl but technically is “Camping World Stadium”. The ticket brokers must have had a tough time selling tickets, as I was able to find on Seatgeek a fifth row ticket in the end zone for only 20 bucks, which was like 1/3 its original price. The attendance ended up being fine, all things considered.
I ended up parking at a random business on Orange Blossom Trail that was offering up spots. Considering its OBT, it was not a guarantee that my vehicle would be there when I returned, or that it'd be damage-free, but thankfully it was. The game had the sort of nonsense that still makes me “meh” in general on major college football but otherwise it was exciting. Clemson defeated Virginia Tech 42-35 in an expected result. There were more Clemson fans present, that is for sure, although my section happened to have more Tech fans. In the area there for various activities for all fans to participate in, which was nice. I didn't do any of that, though. I did enjoy the view and was thankful that I had no problems where I sat.
Plus, there was an incredible moment. After the game started, some people moseyed in and one of them was a large young man; he was highly intoxicated. I did not notice this due to him smelling like a brewery when I got first whiff of him... nor how he was barely intelligible when he spoke... nor how he was double-fisting large Bud Light cans... nor even his I (heart) BEER hat. No, it was all that + him passing out for most of the second half. No kidding. When literal fireworks went off before the 4th quarter, this was not enough to stir him awake. I know he was not deceased because he was up by the time the game ended. As it was an evening game, who knows how many hours of drinking he did beforehand. I can say that never was a hat and wearer more appropriate than in this case.
Sunday, I did not do a thing. I decided not to go out to see the Bears play, even though they played an even worse team in the San Francisco 49ers. The Bears easily won, but it was in ugly snow and freezing rain weather; beforehand I was expecting it to be among the worst games in NFL history and it may have been. Seeing some highlights at home and knowing that it took until midway into the second quarter for either of the two teams to even complete a pass... I am glad I did not go to a bar or restaurant and see such garbage. When I return a week from today, I do have a few ideas as to what I'll be discussing.
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