Something got ahold of (e:fellyconnelly) last night and she brought me home flowers, wine, and took me out for dinner. We decided to go to Mode. Why, I don't know, but that's what we did.


We got a bottle of Relax, Riesling from Germany and it was mighty tasty. What was even tastier was the cheese board appetizer that had brie, pecan encrusted goat cheese and gouda on it, accompanied by some strawberries, apples and bread. Oh my god, I love cheese. I ordered the pan-seared scallops on corn puree with chipotle sauce. I was honestly a little nervous about the whole corn puree thing. Didn't sound very appetizing to me, but I love scallops so I went for it. turns out that corn puree is mighty tasty and goes well with scallops. Who knew. And the chipotle sauce was faint, but that was fine with me. The scallops were perfecto. I love scallops in general, but these were fantasically cooked and coupled with the sauce and puree, they were just divine. Mmmmmm. Felly got some kind of fancy meat and potatoes which they called frittes. It looked pretty, but the meat was a little tough and the frittes, aka french fries, were awesome for about five minutes, then got kinda cold and not so amazing.

We had never been to Mode before. I have to say that, while I understand the whole ambiance thing, because of the tinted windows we initially thought they were closed. You can't see in and have no idea what kind of place you are entering until you are already there. However, it was really nice inside. the dining room is pretty small and we got stuck sitting next to the rich ladies wine and dine night, which was annoying and entertaining all at the same time. But, it's still pretty nice inside. Our waitress was really awesome. Very friendly and personable and everything a waitress should be.

Overall I think Mode was pretty great. We spent a little over one hundred for the whole thing, which isn't too bad. It's definitely not something we can afford to do all the time, but I wasn't disappointed in what we got for the money. I would recommend Mode, with the precaution that it's a little pricey, but if you are looking to get fancy and have some good eats, go for it.

Where is everybody lately? I posted on 8/17 and my post is still on the sidebar? Is it that it's too fricken hot to update or is everyone getting up off their behinds and enjoying summer Buffalo style?

Speaking of the weather...what the eff? Where did this come from? Now don't get me wrong, I prefer heat to cold any day, but I am sitting up in this second story apartment with few windows to speak of and papers all over that prevent the use of fans and I am down right miserable. I feel like taking a shower every five minutes. My forearms are constantly stuck to the computer desk and I am certain that I am sweating more than my water glass that has a small ocean forming around the bottom.

I have plans to go to Fantasy Island on Tuesday. Watch, thunderstorms all day long.

My thesis is due in EIGHT days. AAAAHHHHHHHHH. I am calm.

Felly and I have been packing a little every night, but I know that there are all those things that we can't pack until the very end because we use them on a daily basis...those things will kill us.

We did, however get rid of two garbage bags full of clothes and gave them to Amvets. Felt good to get rid of things...even though I am a hoarder who attaches sentimental value to inanimate objects, every now and then I get the urge to purge...eww...that sounded gross. but yeah, its good.

Alright. Just thought I would post a bunch of random nonsense and I think I successfully did that. Hope to see some of you out tomorrow night!

so...(e:fellyconnelly) and I went to see a place yesterday on Delaware, just south of Hertel. There was also another very nice couple who came to see the apartment at the same time. We walked into the place and it was HUGE and very nice. We quickly decided that we wanted it and afterwards, it was clear that the other couple wanted it as well. We stood outside with the landlord and chatted as he tried to figure out who he would rent it to. turned out they had a boxer mix that, according to the landlord, looked like a pit bull, so they were instantly like, "oh we will get rid of him"...so the landlord was like, ok.. well, what if I tell you that I am a member of ______. I won't put the exact name down because I know how searchable this is, but let's just say it's a caffeinated beverage that isn't coffee which is thrown into the water in protest of government interventions and taxes. Yeah. I just googled this guy and he's pretty anti-Obama, anti-healthcare reform, anti-"socialism" etc etc. So there's that.

what happened was, he decided that he was gonna flip a coin to decide who got to rent this place. They male of the other couple kept saying "ladies first" and I guess because we had two ladies and they only had one, I said "heads". Coin flips up into the air and lands heads up on the landlords hand. YES! We got the place!! Very exciting considering we were getting pretty scared that we had two weeks to find a place....

I can overlook the whole right-wing activist thing...I certainly won't ever get in a conversation about politics with him, thats for damn sure. But, for a HUGE bedroom with a bay window, a brand new kitchen, a dining room, giant living room with (non working) fireplace and a second bedroom...I don't care who the landlord is, as long as he treats me with respect, which I think this guy certainly will.

So, at the end of this month Felly and I will no longer be living on the elmwood strip, or even in Elmwood village for that matter. I am a little sad about that for sure. I love it here and am going to miss it. I am not especially looking forward to living on a four lane road across from Big Lots, but I do have a back yard and a quick walk to Hertel for a little culture and nightlife, so all will be well. Plus, winters coming and I generally stay in for most of that nonsense anyway :)

She never reads this anymore, but what the hell.

anyways, we had a successful trip down to Westchester/NYC/Queens/New Paltz. Spent about 5 hours in the museum of natural history! you can see pics on facebook. :)

My thesis is due on t-minus 16 days and only 19 days to find an apt. and move.

Hmm. apt. How long is too long to wait for the right one? All I really want is an upper with a balcony that has off street parking and is pet friendly. Not too much to ask right? But we just haven't really found anything yet and I am getting worried that I am holding out for a place that will never come. I guess I will wait maybe 5 more days or so and see if anything pops up and if not...I will have to make some compromise.

On the job front...when felly and I were still planning on moving to the city, I told my job that I was leaving and have decided that I am still going to leave in hopes of finding a full time job that will give me some resume experience...I don't know if this is the best idea either. Will I be able to find a job? who knows...let's hope for the best.

Oh...and for (e:metalpeter) and anyone else who is interested, Elmwood Regal had finally gotten the 3D projectors!! Going to take one of my kids to see G-Force in 3D today.

to begin, I am in the last 5 week countdown of my thesis completion. needless to say i am a little stressed...although it could be worse. i am trying to take a different attitude with the whole thing cause my lack of work over the last five or so months is a good indicator that whatever it was i have been doing wasn't working.

in other news
felly and i aren't leaving buffalo. we decided that we simply aren't ready to move yet. financially speaking, we don't have enough saved to be comfortable in making the leap and neither of us had found jobs when we made this decision. Emotionally speaking we just aren't ready and honestly, i think neither of us are sure that westchester/nyc is where we would go when we do decide to move. i think we certainly will be moving out of buffalo in 6-9 months, but not september, that's for sure.

we are, however, still moving out of our current place cause we told our landlords that we were and our downstairs neighbor already has her sights on our apt. im a little nervous about moving because we have it pretty good here, but i am on the look out for a pet friendly apt with a second floor balcony that doesn't have a bug problem and... oh yeah, good heat and hot water. i hate being cold. at first i thought we could move a little more north, but the truth is, i like down here in ye olde elmwood village. i could even do allentown or depending on the area, a couple blocks to the east or west of elmwood. maybe i am too picky. probably.

oh and

BATTLE AT BUFFALO
SATURDAY JULY 25 - - TOMORROW
7:oo ISH $5 cash at the door gets you hours of fun and excitement
910 Main Street above Hyatts Art Store just south of Allen
come one come all bring your friends

peace out.

I have to work tomorrow in Lackawanna...I usually take Elmwood straight down to get on the Skyway...my question is...should I just take the Thruway instead or will I still be able to get onto 5 from Elmwood?

Or

Is Elmwood closed off for Taste of Buff tomorrow and if it isn't... should I still just avoid that entire area completely?

I drove straight through the allentown artfest and thought it was kinda fun :)

Sigh. Ok...I have been thinking and thinking and thinking about this... and I don't exactly know why. I was not a Michael Jackson worshiper, I don't even own any of his albums. However, I have always had, I think, a complex understanding of how truly influential he was, beyond his music, beyond his dancing, beyond his persona. That being said, I have to get these things out of my head and this seems like a good place. Facebook is too big for me these days and I don't need all the comments that will certainly come if I put this there. But I need someone to read it and you folks are reliable...to give me feedback, or not. To read it, or not. But it will be there, at least.

To begin, what I think I mean when I say "beyond" is that beyond Michael Jackson as an individual, a human being (which I will get to) he, unluckily for him, represents only the beginning of the generation of tabloids, paparazzi, sick and sickening interests and obsessions with mega-celebrities and pop cultural icons. I think he was an easy target. A target, I mean that. Why we as culture, and I mean this both globally and the U.S. specifically, need to find outlets for our hatred, our disgusts, our sick fascination with people we believe to be different from us, I do not understand. I see Michael's body, his face, his heart as a dumping ground for our own self-loathing. How cowardly are we when our target is someone we cannot touch, yet secretly wish to so badly. We yearn for a taste of Michael's fame, his gigantic person even as we despite and chastise him for it. But there are many mega-stars these days who this can be said about, but none come close. None come close. Why Michael?

We all know the allegations. We all know the stories that start from him being so young. So young. A human being, center stage for all the world to see. A human being who everyone thinks they know, they know it all. Children in his bed. Bleach on his skin. Hundreds of plastic surgery operations and now, now, drugs. Overdose? He was just tired. Just so tired. But what can any of us know of the pressure, the all see-ing eye that watches every move, but can never see it all. How does one maintain any for of sanity through such a hailstorm of criticism, of hatred, of allegations and fingers pointing, pointing, screaming at you. If it sounds dramatic, it's because it is.

And then I think. Why now? Why this out pouring of love now? Millions of people expected at his funeral. Where were the fans last week, last year? Would it have mattered to him? I don't think so, because that is not the type of love that makes a human being feel loved. We wonder why he loved children so much. I don't. I doubt that there were many adults who could be around Michael truthfully, honestly and free from misconceptions, assumptions and expectations. Children, I think, gave him that. Gave him his humanity through their innocence, their honesty, their ability to be outside of it all. This discussion of course merits another...and although I am hesitant to participate in it, I will. Do I think Michael Jackson was a child molester? No. I don't. Do I think Michael did somethings with children that could be considered child molestation? Yes, I do. I will not speculate as to what happened, but I will say this. I do not think that Michael ever, ever intended on hurting, physically or mentally, the children he had in his care. I think that he was mentally ill and that his actions were the result of his own upbringing, and his inability to understand and respect cultural norms of behavior. That we would expect him to do so, I feel, is unrealistic, because we as a culture have been expecting him, always, to not be normal, wanting him, demanding him, to be otherwise. This does not make what may have happened ok. What it does is, I hope, make us realize that Michael was simultaneously victim and victimizer.

This brings me to a point that has been in the forefront of my thoughts, one that makes me nervous. Makes me question everything. I think that Michael Jackson was, or would have been, a gay man. I am scared to say this because first, so often homosexuality, particularly in men, is equated with child molestation, and I DO NOT wish to imply that this is the basis for my assumption. What I do think is that Michael grew up not only in a family where homophobia was rampant, but also in a culture where, no matter how many leaps and bounds we make, faggot, cock-sucker, and pussy are the worst insults one can throw at a man. I also think that Michael's youth, where one begins to understand and explore sexuality, was filled with mixed signals and hazing sessions into heterosexuality. From early on I believe that Michael showed signs of femininity, gentleness and the like, all of which pointed to his father that Michael may not be the heterosexual man he was supposed to be. Chances are, Michael began hiding his sexuality before he even understood what it meant.
Related to this, I believe Michael suffered from body dysmorphia and, as a result, anorexia. These types of mental illness are, I think, much more common in gay men. I can't help but wonder why, while everyone was so focused on Michael's nose, his skin, they never, or rarely commented on his ever thinning body. They called him frail occasionally, but I have heard only once or twice over the last few days the mention of an eating disorder. Would people be so quick to chastise him if they considered this? I don't know.

So I return to my question. Why Michael? I will not hesitate to say this. Michael was a genius and unfortunately, so often what comes with genius is torment. You cannot hold that kind of genius in your hand. The music, the videos, the dancing, the performer, the clothes, the everything, all combined and never stopping. You simply can't touch it, but we all tried. We are all still trying and will be, I think, for a long time. What I hope people will begin to realize is that his genius was genuine, human genius. Fragile and powerful and alive. I am so torn between what I hope is true, honest respect for Michael in his death and the ever increasing media storm that is surrounding his family at this time. What I can say is that you can see now that even in his death, Michael is bringing people together, dancing and singing in the streets. Dancing and singing in the streets.

Because it's funny.

So last night around 9:30pm I was outside on my porch when I heard a screeeeechCRASH! It was obviously a car crash and I knew right away that it wasn't any average fender bender, but what Felly and I (and practically all of our apartment building and the surrounding neighbors) saw when we got out there was more than I had expected.

First, right in front of our building was a COP CAR slammed into a parked car that happened to belong to my downstairs neighbor. On the opposite side of the street was another car that had been hit. Further north on the street was another jeep that was also involved. There may have been a fifth car but I did not venture up there in my pj's to check it out.

We heard one story that claimed that the cop car had been chasing someone without their lights on and had to swerve to miss someone who pulled out in front of them. Another story said that cop was just driving to fast. Either way, I can't quite make out what happened, especially after seeing the tire marks on the road this morning. Some twenty to thirty feet from where the cop car stopped the skid marks start...looking as though the cop hit a car up there and continued to slide that thirty feet, somehow hitting another car in the process. Either way, that cop was going WAY TOO FAST for a residential street. Unless he was chasing a murderer, slow the eff down, especially at night when you can barely see pedestrians crossing 10 feet in front of you. Someone could have been killed. If you are on the 300 block of Elmwood in the next couple days, check out the skid marks and the carnage.

Oh AND, my poor neighbor. SHE has to pay to get her car fixed and then the Buffalo police will POSSIBLY reimburse her! Need I not remind you that she was PARKED on the street, legally I might add, and wasn't even in her car when it happened and she has to pay AND she is moving to Rochester next week and they are going to make her drive back and forth for paperwork BS. All I can say is the Buffalo Police Department needs to take some responsibility here. I don't care if you have lights on your car and a badge with your name on it, if you are speeding down a street and cause a four car accident, you better pay.

Oh and. Why isn't this on the internet yet? I googled pretty much everything I can think of and it's a no show. I know there were news channels there last night because we saw there cameras. Hm.

So Beer-Ology ended up being a lot of beer and not a lot of ology. There were plenty of different breweries represented and they were serving beer past the 9:00pm deadline, but that was about it. There were a couple of presentations...we went to one and the guy seemed like he knew a lot about WNY and Buffalo old school breweries, but he wasn't the best public speaker, so we left. We did, however, find it quite enjoyable to look at science exhibits and the Egyptian exhibit while slightly intoxicated. Good times. All in all I got to try some new beers (for those of you who like light beers like Blue Moon, might I suggest Saranac's Pomegranate Wheat) and got to see some really interesting people all drinking in a museum. Not too bad.

The sun on Sunday made me so happy that I spent most of the day outside on my porch doing random things like cleaning the fan that has been sitting in out basement all winter, just so i could be outside. I also made friends with my neighbors...one old, one new. It's been so nice to take Ralphie for walks around the neighborhood and just have my porch door open. Sigh. I'm a happy camper. I haven't already marked 4 or 5 different Buffalo events on my newly printed out summer calendar. I'm ready to thoroughly enjoy my last summer in this crazy city. Word.