Planning well in middle age

It was a year ago when my Brother called to tell me an account in my name had been set up by a brokerage firm. So my ignoring those emails from it was not the best idea. In about 24 hours the life and future of my family was altered. I've tried to do wise things, have made a few mistakes but have done some good moves also. Here I am learning about cost basis, mutual funds and strategies. As long as it all does not tank. Which in this day and age is not outside the realm of possibility.

This freedom allows us to do things like see Brian Wilson. To have a couple of cocktails in the new bar in the LeVeque Tower before the show. I got the practical car, and it has worked out very well almost a year in. It allows us to travel where we want when we have the time. And we're trying to help others too.

Later this week, another dream will arrive. Something I've wanted for about 40 years. I researched, went to local shops and finally pulled the trigger on eBay. I'm terrified, but it's cheaper and healthier than cocaine.

Dead icons and not wanting to hear it

Not sure what led up to this but one segment had my son removing one earplug and placing it on a bookcase in the dining room. He then took out the other earplug and threw it on the floor. I told him to pick that up, which he did and he put the earplug with the other one. Why he did not do that in the first place is unknown.

The other part involved Nelson Mandela giving a lecture in a small room. He did not really look like him, but like a bespectacled Greg Morris from Mission Impossible.



So he's giving a talk as Mandela but not looking like Mandela, who is dead but that not seem to matter. My friend Alexis was also attending. He seemed to have problems with cleaning his glasses so I got my sunglasses case out and handed him my microfiber cloth. He really appreciated that and made small talk with Alexis and I. Mandela kept asking us about getting a clearance, access or something we had to get online, and the password to get to the site was Mandela62.

And that's how that dream ended.

Failure to thrive

Traveled last weekend and came back with a sickness that has been kicking my ass this week. All the humidity on Long Island combined with going into air conditioning and not enough (never enough) rest added up to something nasty taking hold on my system.

Did get some things sorted about with my Aunt's estate. I now have the rest of her pictures and went though my Father's pictures and did some scanning. A lot of memories went by, good and bad ones. Did end up driving on the LIE during afternoon rush hour to see my Sister in LIC. Nice neighborhood, with a cool view a few blocks from her apartment.



Driving was tiring. Put over 1,500 miles on the car, and it performed wonderfully. Still, it was a long trip in a shot amount of time. That, and my son's annual IEP meeting always adds up to additional sadness and inadequacy as a parent. The meeting went well enough, his Mother had concerns about the amount of a therapy he was to receive, which made sense to me. That my son is attending a new school and they're still getting to know him adds more to the uncertainty. He does seem to be doing well there. We were very concerned about how he would take the transition to a new school and pickup and exchange between his Mother and I, but that has not been a problem. Which is a very good thing.

Called an accountant today, we're meeting next week to talk about finances. This is a first.

Week two of my NFL hiatus is in full effect. Weird getting messages during the game and comments directed to me the next morning about what happened the night before. I do not know the specifics, I see the headlines, but do not know how the Bills are sucking.

Now, back to trying to rest or avoid writing.

Columbus, Ohio 4:41PM, today

The scene: the southeast corner of North 4th and East Main. The meter has just been paid. A couple are on their way to dinner when suddenly...

"Excuse me Sir." A person walking with another person walking north on 4th yelled out.

"Yes?"

"Would you like to buy a tent?" In one hand he was carrying a medium sized black bag in which, I guess, was his ware.

"No thank you"

The man looked a little upset, thought he has a sure sale, but I have no tenting needs for now, or the foreseeable future.

The key is hope

It's been a week of near total anxiety, panic attacks and general stress. Been worried a lot about doing the right thing, making sure people are looked after, making sure myself and son are looked after. Closer to being on the same page with someone that took a lot of that fear away. Add a couple of glasses of red wine and a Mets win in which they scored a 12 run third inning and yes, I felt better.

Next week should solve and create a few more issues, but situations will be closer to working out.

It's a process, there are steps. Forms sometimes get filled out wrong, a reminder of a scene from seven years ago when I ticked the wrong box. In the end though, it turned out ok. We're all here, intact, and will be for the time being.

Who is this guy?

A friend messaged me this morning to tell me that I was on the CBS Morning News in a clip about Star Wars. This was news to me, I do not remember any cameras when I was in the theater.

Found the clip here and was a bit freaked out.
The person who looks like me is at the 1:53 part of the segment.

The wardrobe, the glasses, the hair. Honestly, it almost could be me.

Took a screen shot.



Honestly at first glimpse it's kind of jarring.

Now. How do we find this dude?

Two old COTA stories, not sure if I ever put them here.

Tonight on the 8 - from 2001

Before boarding the bus this evening a person who was herbally enhanced
accused me of being able to break a five for him. 'You've got to be able
break this five for me.'

Sorry, not my job in this universe to do so, I'm merely a vessel of
information. Not a vessel of finance.

I think the bus driver was able to get him change. 'Sweet!' came out of
his mouth. He looked like the slacker in the Dell commercials. You know,
'Mrs. Smith, I'll stop getting your kid high if you buy this Dell
computer.'

The driver got him situated, the driver more or less made the kid sit
right behind him - to keep him away from the rest of us?

I couldn't really hear but he then got into an argument with the bus
driver, 'I pay your salary.' You just know that it's going downhill from
there.

As the kid was getting off he kept telling the bus driver, 'If everyone
took weed, the world would be a better place.'

'Just get off the bus'

'If everyone took weed the world would be a better place.'

'Get of MY bus!'

'Weed!'

A couple of the passengers yelled 'If you get off this bus the world
would be a better place.'

Kid got off the bus and yelled 'Weed! Weed! Weed!' at his reflection in
the windows as the bus continued on its route.


From 1999 - a brush with greatness

There was a commotion as the new passengers of the #2 bus were
getting on.

"Don't you recognize me?" A man yelled from outside the bus.

He got on and exclaimed to all the people on the bus. "Don't you know
who I am? I'M GOD!"

God sat behind the driver, preaching about how we should all
recognize and obey him.

"That God, he crazy." A rider mumbled.

A number of passengers challenged God.

"Don't antagonize him," the bus driver pleaded.

God spoke to all of us of the year 2000 and how all that would be
left would be he and Satan.

A couple of stops later God burst out of the bus, issuing us no
farewell.

It turns out God got on the wrong bus.

How could someone as omnipotent as he do that?

No idea how he knew me

Bruce Springsteen was playing somewhere in Columbus. I did not recognize the venue, but there was a park outside of it where people gathered before the concert. I found my friend Alexis and one other person who I did not recognize and we hung out.

Then a very hairy Springsteen walked by us, carrying an acoustic guitar around his back. He was walking fast, to avoid being stopped and hounded, but he was also very friendly.

"How you doing?" He said to the ladies.

"Hey Ed!" He waved as he kept right on going.

So I got a Boss shoutout.

We then got in line to get in the concert hall and we were packed right in front by the doors, trying not to get crushed, trying not to think about Cincinnati.

No one was hurt, but I woke up before the show.

Another boss bites the dust

1985 was a crazy year. I graduated college, got married shortly after and began work for a local radio station that was in the process of having its broadcasting license revoked.

This is the second former employer of mine who has died in the past year.

It was a strange place to work, like many of my jobs, with weird and wonderful coworkers. I've never been so scared at work before, as I tried figuring out a newscast out of the local paper and nicking the other station in town. Had no idea what I was doing. None. There was no AP teletype in the station, the owner was too frugal to pay for that. The morning guy was a hoot, a former stand up comedian he made me laugh on the air constantly, God rest his soul.

The former owner of WBUZ, Hammerin' Hank Serafin, died on Saturday, aged 89. I've been playing with this for over a year and a half, finally got motivated to finish it today.



Ten Reasons You Lost Your FCC License

In 1989 radio station WBUZ Fredonia/Dunkirk had it’s license pulled by the FCC. It was only the second license revoked since the Communications Act of 1934. The owner of the station, Hammerin’ Hank Serafin, died on May 2nd.

1) Do not rig a contest in which first prize was a trip to Niagara Falls in which you sent a major advertiser and his wife went to because you were worried people in an immoral relationship would win. Second prize was a hi-tech radio you kept in your office.

2) That time you called the agency for a secretary then asked her supervisor if they had any white girls because the one that showed would make charcoal look white.

3) That day you hacked a public phone booth to air a high school baseball game.

4) Do not keep the public from inspecting your public file during business hours. Do not harass the person who came to view your public file by mocking his hair length.

5) Do not forge the records in your public file. Even if the guy you strung along for years so you could try to sell him the station lied for you.

6) You were also a well known local slumlord. Do not call an advocate for the poor a bitch on the air. Said person was the daughter of a well known county judge. But you could not help yourself, could you?

7) Never charge sponsors for ads they did not agree to run. It also helped your bookkeeper pay her electric bills without you knowing for years.

8) Do not lie about paying your ASCAP fee. Even the polka musicians had to get paid.

9) Because you were such a cheap bastard, you left a visible storefront in town, bought a double wide and parked it next to your transmitter. Enviably located next to a pallet factory at the end of a dead end street. Painted a sign that read the temporary home of WBUZ.

10) In the last days even nature knew you were done. Days before the station went dark a bird flew into the trailer, fluttered around the station, then shat on your desk

This Day

I thought it started with the monkeys, but that turned out to not be true.

It started a bit earlier, the night before on a simple Facebook thread about cars. A friend had an accident and may be shopping for a car. I jokingly sent her a link to an old Citroen DS I’ve been lusting for, then to my utter surprise found a Craigslist link to a 1957 Rolls Royce Silver Cloud that was driving on my own street two weeks ago.

That was one of the more surreal things I’d ever seen in this city. We were driving home and I pointed out to my wife what something very interesting was moving toward us. The car was gorgeous, still had a British license plate and right hand drive.

I sent the owner an email, that I did not have the $35,000 but seeing the car on my street was a day maker. He shortly after emailed me and said he lives on the West Side, close to my house and that he tries to take the car out once a week. In all the time I’ve lived here I’ve never seen it. If he emails back I’ll offer him some Jeni’s for a ride. I mean, if he takes it out once a week why not have a passenger or two?

In that Facebook thread to my friend I was talking about old Volvos and their problems. Had to mention that my Hyundai had never left me stranded.

Until today anyway.

After emailing the Rolls Royce guy I went to bed only to be woken a couple of hours later.

It was a dream I had, about the monkeys. It was 1:44AM and I had been woken up by a very disturbing dream about kicking monkeys onto plates. I’m not sure if I was very large or if the monkeys were very small. It was disturbing because I was one of the people kicking the monkeys and I have no idea why. All I remember was that these monkeys lives were not going to last much longer.

This morning I was planning to go see my son swim but the car would not start. I suspected the battery from the beginning, the lights were not working, there was no click from the ignition when I turned the key. There was a weird continuous ticking sound from behind the dash that was a relay switch struggling to do its job with no juice.

Called AAA and the guy was a bit dumfounded by the whole situation. The battery was dead but not dead. He suggested last night’s cold temperatures may have had an impact. The car did start when he charged the battery. The alternator is fine. I drove the car around to charge up the battery after he left.

The car seemed to be sluggish and that symptom really manifested itself at a higher speed. The revs were higher and it was much louder than normal. Took the car to a repair shop, but they were not able to fit me in today. Took it to a parts store to have the codes checked, but there were none to check. The clerk there did make a suggestion about an oxygen sensor failing. Made a mental note to call a repair shop on Monday for an appointment.

Later, my wife and I went out to lunch. While driving, the sluggishness had disappeared and the car was driving as always. Meaning normally. A friend suggested I have the transmission checked as he had the same situation with one of his cars. Well that’s just perfect, if that’s the case I may have to kick a monkey.

Only in my dreams though, and I do hope my friend finds a decent car.

A few short takes and two wakes

I really hope that 2015 does not turn out to be the Year of the Wake. Tomorrow will be the second in two weeks. My neighbor died a couple of weeks ago, she was 86 and in frail health. Yesterday, a former colleague from the Statehouse died. As you get older I guess you meet more people and the chances of them dying increase. No one said this is what happens when you age. I've family and friends struggling with all kinds of diseases right now. Me? I'm just tired from lack of sleep and have a kid that stays in his shell and we can't get him out of it.

Today we found out that Harper Lee will be publishing a new book later this year. This news was received with a lot of positivity, especially from the book industry who can use a new blockbuster. After a bit of time more than a few recent articles about Lee and her health were released and rehashed. Not much of it good. I just hope that this book is being issued with Lee's full consent and knowledge and she was not forced or tricked into it due to her age.

Still trying to figure out what the Hell Pete Carroll was thinking when he sent in that pass play that led to an interception to end a very dramatic Super Bowl on Sunday. I get that he may want to pass, but what the heck was the slant pass over the middle at the one all about. Call a fade to one of your receivers. Throw over the middle to the tight end in the back of the end zone. But it went into traffic and the New England defensive back picked it off. Then again, Carroll will always have at least one more Super Bowl ring than me, so what do I know?

Saturday is another Super Bowl as Everton take on their arch nemesis, Liverpool. The Toffees have been struggling this year and are languishing in the lower parts of the table while Liverpool are doing a bit better. I hope it's better than last Sunday's match between Celtic and the club that may still be known as Rangers (but now have a bit of Newcastle in them). That match was a horror show of poor soccer and a crappy pitch.

The new Belle and Sebastian is great to listen to, as is the Sleater Kinney. We're seeing B&S here in June and are excited about that. The Dylan is, um, his Christmas album of Sinatra covers. I'll leave it there.

Things I learned while the server was being moved

Ohio is full of creatures. This state has it's weirdness, its gateways to Hell, Air Force base hangars that house aliens and whatnot, Mothman and more. Today I learned about the Loveland Frogman, who may or may not be a lizard.

This got me to thinking about my time at CML, and the day two guys came in for library cards and to use our computers for their research. While I was processing their new accounts, they started talking to me about Bigfoot, and how they were seeking its existence in Adams County. I'm sure I wrote a Live Journal post about this, but can't find it. I wrote a lot of posts about the goings on and day to day weirdness and folly at the Hilltop branch. A couple of dudes looking up Bigfoot was not an atypical event. For that place, it was quite scholarly.

Today I found out about a film called Not Your Typical Bigfoot Movie, and seriously believe these were the two guys I gave cards to. You can watch it on YouTube, and I did. Here's the link. These two are from the most unkind part of Ohio, Portsmouth, and we see their life struggles. By the end of the hour long documentary, you may not have a clearer conclusion about Bigfoot. However, for all the craziness in this world, you learn these two guys are harmless, and believe in their convictions with pure faith and clarity.

May I be matched with you again, uh no

One of my favorites from All the Best Cowboys Have Chinese Eyes record made back in the day. Great band with Pete, including the rhythm section of Big Country, on the album. This Deep End Live band is also exceptional, there's a guy named Dave on guitar. Some of this song he gets right, some not, but it's not my song.

Overall it's a great record, with one or two clunkers but the album starts with the above song and ends with this one.

And this song really hits home, despite him messing up the lyrics. 

What happens when you move away from your things

In a random thought the other day, I was Facebook posting and thinking about my old pachinko machine. I received it as a gift sometime in the mid to late 1970's from either my parents or grandparents. They were inexpensive, due to the Japanese flooding the market with them at the time.

It was cool to have, trouble was it was very loud and then it broke so you had to reach around the back of the machine to advance the balls.

Looked up how much it would cost to replace a machine today and was rather shocked by how much they had increased in value. Then a friend piggybacked my post about things you owned in your childhood that was lost, and I may be able to find the book she was looking for. And I then made a comment to her about letting me know if she had a pachinko machine.

To my surprise and shock she and her husband own one. It's in their rec room, but does not work.

Then my wife found out her co-worker has a storage shed full of them, and may be willing to part with one at a reasonable price.

I am not sure how my son would react to having one of those in the house. Again, it is very loud, and the stimulation may flip him out. He's had some odd reactions to the skill crane in the grocery store so I may not be willing to put something loud and over stimulating around.

But it's a small world, you mention something you think is obscure and it pops up in the most unexpected places. I doubt my old machine is still in my step-father's attic, but I'm going to call him and find out if he knows what happened to it.

There's also a Rolling Stones concert shirt I owned which I last saw in the attic thirty odd years ago. Anyone have one of those lying around?

The true north strong and free

We got incredibly lucky with the weather over the past weekend and had an amazing road trip to Western New York with a trip to Toronto as part of the itinerary.

Everyone had their passports this time as we made the border crossing. Last time we went to Buffalo one of our party had to have his passport sent to the U.S. Embassy to get a visa for a trip to Africa. This time, there was a misplaced passport of another member of the party that was found with little stress and no tears.

My friend said that there would be a longish line at the border because of the holiday (Thanksgiving) weekend in Canada but when we crossed the Peace Bridge, there were no cars in the booth, just a border guard who examined our passports and let us in with no problems.

I keep forgetting that there are a few other large cities in Canada. I knew Hamilton was big with over half a million people, but Mississagua with over 700k, that shocked me. I was reminded that 40% of the country's population lives along the southern part of Ontario.

Our first destination was the Hockey Hall of Fame. Just outside the entrance is a display of goalie masks over the years. Here's Jacques Plante's. He was one of the first goaltenders to regularly wear a mask.



I believe that was a type of fiberglass. The HOF has a number of cool interactive exhibits as well, and some nice displays of the great players in the game.



There's a very cool exhibit where you can call a play and have it played back. I did it to one of Rick Nash's great goals when he was with the Blue Jackets. A lot of fun.

Hockey has the best hardware in any sport. All of the trophies (or their replicas, shh!) are kept in a hall that was once a bank.



It's an impressive display of the history of the game, and I'm glad we finally got to go there.

It had been well over twenty years since I've been to Toronto. There's a lot of construction going on, big buildings!



We took the subway, then a streetcar to the whiskey bar I found online. The Caledonian is a great place. It's run by a lovely Scottish woman who uses the words "Sweetie" or "My Love" in every sentence. She and my wife started talking, turns out she's from the same small town where my wife's Grandparents are from. Small world! The food was authentic Scottish.



Yes, they had haggis, and steak pie, a signed picture of Andy Murray on the wall and a very good whiskey selection. In selling the deep fried Mars Bar dessert, the owner said it's, "The best thing out of Scotland." Here, I had to correct her, because that would be my wife.



There's a billboard you can't see in America.

After a rare brief visit to IKEA we headed back to Buffalo.

We arrived the Canadian/U.S. border reentry point. There's not a long line. Guy in the car in front of us is getting questioned a very long time. After a couple of minutes I see the siren light over the booth go off, then the gate go down behind his car. My friend has been over the border hundreds of times and has never seen this happen. Border guy gets out of the booth, is on his radio, points to where he wants the driver to go. Driver goes to an unknown fate.

We pull up, tell him one place we went to was IKEA. Guard asks us if we spent $2,000 there. Four of us in a KIA Soul. These are strange times we live in.

We had a great time. Went to my alma mater for a too brief homecoming visit on Saturday night and headed home on Sunday morning in a bit of rain, but it was not snow or ice. The Subaru was magnificent, averaging about 30mpg the entire trip.

Just do not mention what happened to the Buffalo Bills.

Spam folder part deux

Bonjour
Je vous contact aujourd'hui car bien vrai que l'on ne se connait pas cela n’empкche ce geste de ma part. Je me nomme Mme Patricia Lagache nйe en France, mais pour raison particulier j'ai du кtre un aventurier а la recherche de je ne sais quoi.

La raison qui me pousse а vous est la suivante :Je voudrais passer par votre canal pour faire une oeuvre de charite anonyme dans votre dйpartement. Je suis nйe le 02 Juillet 1925 а la Saint-Philibert de Lille .C'est une donation en quelque sorte et elle s'eleve a la somme de 2.7 millions d'euros. Ma situation matrimoniale est telle que je n'ai ni mari et encore moins d'enfant а qui je pourrais lйguer cet hйritage, et je souffre prйsentement d'une maladie potentiellement mortelle, une esthesioneuroblastome, maladie orpheline et incurable, qui se dйveloppe dans la cavitй nasale et qui dйforme cruellement le visage je suis donc condamne а une mort certaine. C'est pour cela que je voudrais de maniйrй gracieuse et dans le souci d'aider les enfants dйmunis vous donner ce dit hйritage pour rйaliser cette њuvre de charitй .

Si vous кtes d'accord je voudrais avoir les informations suivantes :
Votre nom complet,
Vos contact ;
Un numйro de fax si possible;

Je compte sur votre bonne volontй et aussi le bon usage de ces fonds pour cette oeuvre.

Mme Patricia Lagache



And in Google Translate:

Hello
I touch you today as true that we do not know is it empкche gesture on my part. My name is Patricia Lagache nйe in France, but especially because I had to be a adventurer seeking а whatever.

The reason why I а you is this: I want to go through your channel to an anonymous charity work in your department. I was born on July 2, 1925 а Saint-Philibert de Lille. This is a gift somehow and it rises to the sum of € 2.7 million. My matrimoniale situation is such that I have neither husband and even less child а whom I could lйguer this inheritance, and I suffers prйsentement of an orphan and incurable potentially deadly disease, a esthesioneuroblastoma, disease, which dйveloppe in the nasal cavitй and which dйforme cruelly the face I therefore am condemns а certain death. That is why I want to maniйrй graceful and in order to help children dйmunis give you that says this inheritance for rйaliser њuvre of charity.

If you're agree I would have the following information:
Your full name,
Your contact;
A SERIAL NUMBER fax if possible;

I count on your good's will and also the proper use of these funds for this work.

Patricia Lagache

From a Mrs. Theresa Au

"Hello,

Please can you help me reprofile fund? I am Ms Teresa Au, HSBC Hong Kong, head of corporate sustainability Asia pacific region. A sum of (USD$23,200,000.00) (Twenty three million, two Hundred Thousand dollars) Million was deposited by our Late customer who died without declaring any next of kin before his death in 2006.

My suggestion to you is to stand as the next of kin to Fadel Ahmed. We shall share in the ratio of 50% for me, 50% for you. Please contact me via this e-mail: mrs_teresa_au@yahoo.com.hk. Thanks"



If I'm related to Fadel, it would be life changing.

Definitely orchestral theft

A couple of months ago musician Amanda Palmer raised over a million dollars to finance her new record via a Kickstarter campaign, where fans and admirers of hers donated money online for copies of the record and other perks. A great idea in a changing music industry.

As the still on the site suggests, perhaps this is the future of music.

A couple of weeks ago, she posted on her website that she was looking for volunteers to play strings with her backing band during her upcoming tour. The musicians would not be paid, heaven help that, but given hi-fives, beer and merchandise. It seems Palmer, after raising a million dollars, could not afford to pay musicians $35,000 to go on tour with her. There has been an onslaught of criticism in her direction. Palmer's been retweeting some of the comments on her twitter page, and to her credit has not deleted a lot of hyper-critical comments on her blog.

To my knowledge her only comments addressing this is her saying that, “If my fans are happy and my audience is happy and the musicians on stage are happy, where’s the problem?”

I am not a professional touring musician, but a lousy amateur. Paying trained help in t-shirts and goodwill while you're getting paid, while you're paying the backing band smacks of cheapness and disrespect. Did she pay the musicians who played on her new record, or was it hugs all around in the studio while the million she raised was put to other uses?

This is not a high school production, she's supposedly running a professional tour in venues that (this tour) are not garages and living rooms, but actual theaters and clubs, with actual seats, with paying fans, some of whom funded her new project.

This precedent does not bode well for musicians. How much of a privilege is it to get on stage to play for an artist, and not receive any form of monetary compensation? It's a privilege for me to get out of my house and see a show, perhaps I should get in for nothing, even receive a parking pass. I'll give the artist a high five and say a profuse thank you. Come on Bruce Springsteen, I can shake a tambourine, let me in your show for free and put me on stage! I may even mention it in my blog. How's that going to go over?

Yes, I'm on the couch, blogging.

Climbing onward

Breathing out after dealing with a surprise billing by my son's day camp. I'm still trying to figure out exactly what the bill was for, since we had paid in full. After talking to the big cheese of billing, I was reassured we would not be charged. Again, for what, I'm still trying to figure out.

I also bought something else I'd never bought before. A couple of years ago it was a mailbox.

This year it's a step ladder.



My wife was cleaning outside and could not reach the top of the windows, she may be tall, but she's not that tall.

Hit a Mexican grocery store on the way home, got some ideas for a future What I'm Drinking episode.

In very exciting news, Dirty Frank's Hot Dog Palace is opening a second location in Westgate!

As Yogi Berra said, "Nobody goes there anymore, it's too crowded." Which is how I feel, a little, about the first Dirty Franks location. It's always packed. I'm not whining, and admire their success. Damn those crowds though! It's wonderful that they're expanding to my side of town, where people (including myself) are starving for decent businesses to open. That The Columbus Food League would take a chance on the west side is a huge step to attracting more diverse retail and dining options.

Is a coffee shop next?

An admission that I was wrong

This place opened up in the Short North sometime in 2006, I think. Used to go there quite frequently. It was a place of Live Journal meetups, crying waitresses, first time I love you's and other awkward social situations.

I did not think they would make it. Usually we were the only people there, and they did not have what was ordered. Happily now, they're thriving, and have added an east side location. A downtown spot has been planned for years. They have a great brunch on weekends, this might be a good one to make a return. Last week I made an appearance on the radio show Speaking of Poetry. If you did not hear it and are interested, here is a link to the podcast. It was a good hour of radio in which we had a lively discussion of autism.