Blackout 2007

On Thursday, April 26th, 2007, at exactly 9:10PM the entire city of Bowling Green and some surrounding areas experienced an unexplainable blackout. This blackout occurred while Liz, Bryce, Tim, and I were across the street from my house at Quarters. It was kind of creepy drinking in a bar that was pitch black and the only light were flashlights, cell phones, and lighters. After getting bored of drinking in the dark, we all headed to ONE49 -- It was the only bar in the town that had working lights, music, etc.

Tonight is the DiBenedetto's party over at Pete's. I was going to go with Tim but I think him and I got into a little argument the other day so I'm gonna book it to the party with my girls instead. Oh well. Tomorrow Sara and I are going to the Zoo to see the zoo babies so I'm pretty pumped about that. I have to work today in a half hour until 3 and hopefully it won't be too busy. I don't mind working on Saturdays because it's never that busy but I just feel like today could be a bad day.

I was going to go out last night but I ended up going to bed at 8PM. It was crazy. I woke up a couple times throughout the night but sleep peacefully for the most part. It felt good to get almost 14 hours of sleep. No drinking or anything, I feel completely refreshed and ready to party-harty tonight.

All I gotta do now is shower. I smell like work from two days ago. This stench NEVER LEAVES.

No No No More Drama

Quite possibly the cutest thing I have ever laid eyes on. Makes me almost want to have kids.



Almost being the key word.

Chicago Weekend

This weekend was my memorable weekend getaway with Tim. I was a bit nervous at first to spend so much time with Tim, but the whole weekend ended up being better than I could have ever imagined!

We had to get up at 4:30AM to make the train by 6AM in Toledo -- The ride to Chicago was slow and boring and Tim and I took turns sleeping to make sure that neither of us snored while we were sleeping (ha!). We ate some breakfest on the train, read a little, and just chat chitted (yeah, I flipped that shit).

Once we got in Chicago everyone was freaking out because of luggage and where to go, but Tim and I being the cool, laid back folks we are, took our time and eventually got our luggage 45 minutes later. We hopped in a cab and took it to an amazing hotel, The Hotel Blake. Once we got settled in we booked our way over to "Edwardo's," this great pizza place and chowed down one some delicious pizza and booze.

Since the train had taken longer than expected to get to Chicago we could go to any museums on Saturday so we looked for some hole in the wall pubs to get our drink on and we ended up at Buddy Guy's Legends Bar. It was a pretty awesome bar and we ended up making friends with two older couples who let us sit with them, bought us some shots, and played pool with us. They were some pretty cool hippy folks.

We didn't make it too long and end up back in the hotel around 10PM after a crazy cab driver took us all over town when we only needed to got 5 blocks away from the bar to get back to our hotel.

Tim and I woke up early on Sunday (around 7AM) and got ready for the day. We went down to Lake Michigan and walked around for a bit, ate at Bennigan's for breakfest (for the sole reason that Dane Cook mentioned it in a joke that we love), and proceeded our way across the street to the Art Museum for a Vollard exibit. It was a pretty amazing exibit and I could tell Tim was really enjoying his time there... I would have much rather spent my afternoon in a history museum, but he really wanted to see this exibit so we went!

After the museum we headed across town to the Hard Rock Cafe to meet an old friend, Chuck, there. Unfortunately, he couldn't make it because of a "mishap" (aka he got sick on himself) he had on his train ride into the city, so Tim and I enjoyed a sampler, a couple brews, a couple shots, and just some good laughs until we had to head back to the hotel (and I swear there were no magnets there, mom!).

After Hard Rock we headed across the street to this Irish pub where I fell in love with all of the bartenders because they spoke in Irish accents. Tim wasn't too excited about that, but I was definitely interested in hearing whatever they had to say when they spoke to us. After the pub we walked around the city and went to these two hole in the wall book and music stores.

And that was that. We got back on the train to Toledo and slept the whole way here. Best weekend of my life. Hands down.

Aaah!

I think I'm about two minutes from having a nervous breakdown.

Deadliest US Massacre

"At least 31 people were killed Monday in a shooting rampage at Virginia Tech, according to two Virginia congressmen -- making it the deadliest school shooting incident in U.S. history. "Some victims were shot in a classroom," university police Chief Wendell Flinchum said."

For more information on the VA Tech shootings please check out CNN.com. The President will be speaking at 4:15PM EST about the shootings.

My thoughts are out to the friends and families of those that were killed, are wounded, or are unaccounted for.

Addicted to TV

Drive is quite possibly my new favorite show. It certainly can't come close to Friends, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, or Sex and the City... But if this show gets cancelled I'm going to be really pissed off.

Breaking My Mind

Mine and my dad's song. Love it. Listen to it.

Music Spot

Kelly Clarkson...
...is back with after a long break with a new hit off her upcoming CD "My December". Never Again is a great start for a single to a hopefully pretty rad CD.

Mandy Moore...
...is back as well with an amazing sounding new record to be released June 19th, 2007! Three songs off her new album are featured on her Myspace: "Extraordinary", "All Good Things", and "All That You Are". Her soft voice is soothing and her CDs have only been getting better and better!

Gym Class Heroes...
...I don't know what it is about these guys. I didn't like them when I first heard their song, "Cupid's Chokehold", but it slowly grew on me and now I think GCH's is a great new indie band with a unique sound and good songs. My current favorite is "The Queen and I", located (of course) on their Myspace page.

Hawthorne Heights...
...has one of the best sounds I've heard. I think they have a great sound that is shown in each song. Their most popular song, "Ohio is for Lovers" is classic and their newer songs are even better. Check 'em out.

Relient K...
...Ohio produces some great bands. That's all I can say about the last two bands I've talked about. Relient K is just fun to listen too. What's funny is that I first heard about them about 5 years ago on some random indie channel on TV when I had 2348734 channels and I've been addicted ever since.

Now that I've come across two fantastic Ohio bands, I began a search for bands and solo artists that originated in Ohio and just plain rock. I introduce to you the following:

Hawthorne Heights, Dayton Ohio
The Devil Wears Prade, Dayton Ohio
Relient K, Canton Ohio
Saving Jane, Columbus Ohio
Bone Thugs N Harmony, Cleveland Ohio
John Legend, Springfield Ohio
Hootie and the Blowfish, Fort Lormaine Ohio
Ray Charles, Rocky River Ohio
Blessed Union of Souls, Cincinnati Ohio
KC & JoJo, Eldorado Ohio
Over the Rhine, Cincinnati Ohio
Kane, Columbus Ohio
David Allan Coe, Cincinnati Ohio

Hot Chip...
...Straight out of London comes this unique pop group with a sound of their own. They are definitely worth a listen to if you are interested in a more Euro-pop sound.

Yacht...
...I'm in love with this band. They are fun, upbeat, and offer a much needed new sound in the same shit I listen to everyday. Their songs are definitely the ones that I listen to while I'm getting ready to go out. "Hock it YACHT Remix" is number one on my playlist right now, but all their songs are equally as good.

Flogging Molly...
...You can't be Irish and not like Flogging Molly. They are just fun and I loooove them.

Ok, I'm done raving about some of my favorite bands and good finds.

Mudhens Game

Last night was the Toledo Mudhens game and, unfortunately, it was suspended during the bottom of the 4th inning. It's in the middle of April and we got an inch of snow in north eastern Ohio. Although it started snowing while the gang (Sara, Dave, JB, Bryce, Tim, and myself) were tailgating, we stuck it out until the game was finally called off. Although the game was suspended, I did get the championship ring (which really is a large paper weight) I wanted. Woot! Even though it was cold, snowing, and we are all probably going to be sick later this week, I had a lot of fun going to opening night! They were winning 4-2 in the bottom of the 4th and that's where they will be picking up today at 1PM against the Durham Bulls. Hopefully they can pull off a win because my poor Mudhens are 2nd to last in our division with a 3-5 record this season. However, all their games thus far have been on the road so I'm hoping that having a home field advantage will pay off. Hopefully.

Before the game we all went to a restaurant in downtown Toledo called Tony Packo's. This place makes a killing selling the best hot dogs you will ever, EVER eat... And, to top it off -- Their fried pickles are phenomenal. Simply amazing. We were all at Packo's for about 2 hours just drinking, eating, and having fun. Lots of good memories. Davey ordered their largest hot dogs (a little over a foot) and almost ate it all but fell short.

A Classy Night

All that needs to be said about last night is that I started at 4PM and woke up this morning in my own bed with a dirty jacket on, muddy hands, and a rather large bump on my head.

Clueless on how all those happened.

None of Your Business

If I wanna take a guy home with me tonight
It's none of your business
And she wanna be a freak and sell it on the weekend
It's none of your business
Now you shouldn't even get into who I'm givin' skins to
It's none of your business
So don't try to change my mind, I'll tell you one more time
It's none of your business

Evolution of Dance

Mudhens

Two more days and I'm off with my favorites to the Toledo Mudhens opening night game against Durham. I'm more than excited since I LOVE the Mudhens! I read in a paper that they are giving away the championship rings that the Mudhens won last year to 3,000 random guests. I better get one of those rings!!!

Dignity

Kind of random and rather pathetic to admit -- But I'd really like to own Hilary Duff's new album, Dignity (which opened at #4) . Let it be known that I DO have a wide range in music, but I often find myself enjoying the most random of artists. Hell, I'm obsessed with the Olsen twins and I'm 6 months older than them. Pathetic.

Source: PerezHilton.com

Atheism

Being an atheist for almost 10 years has subjected me to numerous debates, plenty of family arguments, frustration towards those of you who may not be open-minded, and a much clearer view of the world around me. Not being governed by a "higher" power has allowed me to be governed by myself and my actions. I lead my life for me and things happen to me not because of fate, but because of the cause and effect I live. With that being said, I came across a blog today that, although may be inspiring and beneficial towards those of you who may be extremely religious and devout, but was highly insulting towards those of us who may question, are unsure, or just down right don't believe. It's pointless to start a religious war with myself on my own blog and single someone out that I don't even know, but it bothers me sometimes when people aren't open minded towards other peoples "beliefs." Whether those beliefs are of another religion or a belief in the nonexistence of a higher being. Regardless of the circumstances, it's insulting. It bothers me... No, it outright pisses me off when people subject me to feel like a lower being because of my lack of belief in a god. I would say that my biggest pet peeve is when people call me stupid, unaware of my surroundings, not old enough to comprehend something greater than myself, etc. etc. etc. I've known and believed in what I do since I was 13. And, much to my families disapproval, it isn't a phase.

I grew up in a fairly open household. My mother is Jewish and my father is a theist (meaning that he believes in one or more higher beings). We celebrated both Christian and Jewish holidays. I was never asked to have a Bat Mitzvah, and I was never pressured into one religion or another. Because of this (I believe, beneficial) household, I was able to conclude my own opinions. My parents may not have agreed with me, and may have thought that I was rebelling, but it was something I was serious about then and serious about now.

I suppose the point of this particular blog (besides ranting about my frustrations) is that I'm annoyed by people who aren't open-minded. I actually enjoy reading about various different religions, and take everything I've ever read, been taught, or debated about with an open-mind and I would expect others to show the same courtesy as I have bestowed upon them.

This is a great article about the debates of an existence of a god and someone who believes they can argue each point. For those of you who know little about Atheism, this would be a good article to read. Although it's essentially disproving the belief in a god, it shows legitimate reasons from Atheists as to why we think the way we do.

And, in a much more light-hearted end to this rant...

Happy Birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, SARA!!!

Today is my best friend's 22nd birthday!! I'm excited for a fun night since it is also our buddy, Taylor's, 21st. I believe Sara and I are going over to Taylor's to see him for a couple hours and then we're off to the bars to relive her 21st and make it better than ever! I got Sara a GREAT gift, she is going to be so excited.

For Christmas I made Sara a Cleveland Browns blanket and for her birthday I got her tickets to the Cleveland Browns vs. Cincinnati Bengals game in Cleveland. Now, although this gift also benefits me since the Bengals are my home team, it is in Cleveland and I'm pretty sure I might get shot showing up in a Bengals jersey. Nonetheless, she is going to flip when she finds out what I got her!!!

Do you know me?

I added this on my sidebar as well. But I was bored and made a quiz. Mostly for my mom to take when she gets bored.

Here it is too:


Create your own Friend Quiz here

Cheeseburger in Paradise

Remember your carnivorous habits.

Tonight one my dearest friends, Alex, and I are going out for dinner. She is visiting good old Bowling Green during her Spring Break from her big kid job in the glorious city of D.C. She's a 5th grade science teacher and she is amazing at what she does! I'm pretty excited to be seeing her tonight since it is so few and far between that I get the chance too. The last time I saw her was for my birthday and we had a blasty blast.

Whew, so much to do in so little time!

Storm Game

Friday night was quite possibly the best date I've ever been on. Tim and I left for Toledo around 4PM and headed to this Mexican restaurant he really liked called Fritz and Alfredo's. We had about 2 and 1/2 hours to kill so we ordered our food and afterwards sat at the bar until the game was getting ready to start. We got to the game about 20 minutes before it was supposed to start so we headed to the bar inside the stadium and got these HUGE glasses of booze. We actually stayed in the bar for the entire first period and then sat in our seats during the second and most of the third. The game itself was awesome. Storm, of course, beat Dayton and the entire time we were "those fans" that were yelling and cheering as loud as we could. It was a lot of fun to be able to be that goofy and have him be just as goofy with me. After the game was over I was already feeling a bit tipsy since we'd been drinking since 4PM and we had two of those huge glasses (which equals to 3 beers per glass) at the game. We head back to Bowling Green and meet up with Liz and Bryce at Junction. Before Liz and Bryce got there, though, Tim and I were sitting downstairs at the bar having great conversation and just a fun time.

Best. Night. Ever.

Tim and I finalized the Chicago trip plans for Apirl 21st-22nd. The month of April is quite possibly the best month ever. Storm game one weekend, Mudhens game the next, and then Chicago! Could it get any sweeter? Hopefully after the Chicago trip Sara's mom and my mom will be able to make it up to Bowling Green for our much needed Mother/Daughter weekend. Sara and I want to cook our mommies a great dinner with wine and the whole nine yards. Afterwards, Sara and I feel as though it's only right to take our moms to our favorite bar, Quarters. Besides, my mom owes me a birthday shot and a birthday beer so of course I want to drag her to the bars! I know as soon as I got my mom's butt into a bar I'd order up a Bud Light draft, a Screwdriver, and two shots of Quervo. Hell to the yes!

HAPPY EASTER, by the way to everyone. Today I'm going over to Sara's since her family is in town to have lunch with them. They've adopted me for the day since I didn't get to go home this weekend. All right, time for pancakes and eggs.

Random Night

Last night was the most random night ever.

Tim calls me up and asks if I want to go to an Eric Clapton concert up in Detroit because he forgot he had the tickets and wanted to go. Of course I said I would -- I mean, come on... It's ERIC CLAPTON! Well, we drive the hour and a half drive up there and the tickets are duds. Ticket Master sucks, pretty much. Anyways, Tim was willing to drop 70 bucks for each ticket and he was really pissed off about the situation but I became the voice of reason and suggested that instead of dropping 140 bucks for both of us we should just head back down to Detroit (we were about 40 miles outside of the city) and go to some great restaurant and walk the town. We get back downtown and go to this restuarant, The Fishbone, and get some fun martini drinks and the best T-Bones I've had in my life. There was a live band there which, coincidentally, was playing Eric Clapton cover songs. After our amazing dinner we realized we were right next door to a casino so we walked over there and gambled for a little bit. Neither of us won anything, but it was fun to say that we went. After that we headed back down to BG and met up with Liz and Bryce at Quarters. I always find myself at Quarters at one point or another during the night.

On our way to Detroit, though, Tim and I were talking about cities we've been too and what we liked about each one and today we booked a train ticket to Chicago for a weekend later in April. How random is that? So Tim and I are going on our first "vacation" to Chicago April 21st-22nd. We're taking a train up there at 7AM Saturday morning and getting a room for one night. I'm pretty excited about it... We're going to ask Sara and Dave if they want to come and I'm going to call my roommate from my freshman year since he lives in Chicago! Oh man, I'm excited!

Tonight Tim is picking me up at 4PM to go eat at some Mexican restaurant he heard was really good and then we're going to the STORM game! Man, this month is going to rock!!!

Plug

Rozzi's Famous Fireworks for all your fantastic fireworks needs.


P.S. My mom is the shit.

It's Not Alcoholism, it's Tradition

Meet Liz. We have the best times together at the bar. Last night was probably one of the greatest nights at Quarters. Ever. I worked a close last night and wasn't going to go out at all but one of my buddies that I work with, Pete, convinced me into going so after work I came back home, changed, and met Liz up at Quarters. It was Liz, me, Shane, Time, Pete, Brian, Greg, Dave, and Josh. We all got a huge table and just had a blasty blast. We were telling jokes, constantly laughing, and just having a good time. I didn't really want to be out too late so I only treated myself to an ice cold pitcher of Bud Light and shared a pitcher of Nati Light with Liz. Tim and I ended up leaving around midnight and headed back to his place to watch a couple of movies. I ended up passing out withint 10 minutes of the movie 'cause I had been pretty tired all day. I spent the night over there again (for the 5th night in a row). This morning we headed into town and met up with Bryce at his work at the Corner Grill. We all had lunch and now I'm back home contemplating whether or not I want to sleep more, shower, or clean my room. I'll let you all guess which one I'm going to do first.

I'm getting more and more excited for tomorrow night. Tim is picking me up around 4 and we're heading up to Toledo for dinner and the Storm game! I'm such a dork I was searching the 'net for information on the players, their stats, etc. I guess they are doing pretty good so that's cool. I love going to sporting events so I know I'm going to have a good time!

I'm even MORE excited for next weekend... The Mudhens opening night is going to be the shit. There's a huge group of us going and I know we're all just going to have a good time. Booze, friends, and baseball -- Where can you go wrong with that combination?

Time for this girl to catch up on some sleep.

It's a Sexy Time

Ah, so it finally "happened" with Tim and I. And it was good. It could be better, I'm sure, but it was good. I'm happy with him and it really looks like this is going to go somewhere. Yay for me finally finding a good guy. Him and I are going to a Storm game on Friday and I'm pretty excited because I've never been to a hockey game... He said that I have booze, fights, and hot dogs to look forward to. You just can't go wrong with that combination!

Sara's birthday is this upcoming Tuesday and Dave and I are planning a surprise dinner for her. The whole works -- fancy wine, pasta, cake, great friends. She turns 22 and we're going to top her 21st with a nice dinner and a crazy night at the bars. I can't wait! I think Dave (her boyfriend and my big brother) and I are also going in together to get her a day spa package since she has had a rough semester and has been stressed out lately. There's nothing better than getting pampered on your birthday!

I really have nothing substantial to post about... I think I've decided that rather than taking a semester off I might take one or two classes in the fall. I'd like to make up a lab I failed last fall and I'd like to finish my latin requirement before I graduate. We'll see though, it's all up in the air. I just know that I don't want another year like this one. I've pretty much just thrown a couple thousand down the drain and I feel completely disappointed in myself. Regardless, I learned and I grew and I'm ready to take the steps to fix what I messed up. I just hope it all works out for me in the long run. Wish me luck!

Repeat?

What. The. Fuck. The state of Ohio (more specifically, OSU) officially sucks. It was so grand being with all my friends, our fabulous keg, and watch OSU lose... Again, to the same team. Oh well, it's not like Bowling Green is really getting anywhere in the land of sports, so who am I to be pissed at a school that I don't even attend? Perhaps I'll start liking Michigan now.

HA!

Tonight is my buddy's 21st and since I don't have to work tomorrow until 11, I think I might do what I always do and go out. Amanda and I are going to Quarters at 10ish to watch Tim and Kent play in the pool tourny but I'm suspecting that won't last too long since both of those gentlemen suck. Don't let them know that, though.

In any case, we'll probably head over to Brewsters for free pool since we're all broke (and yet can still afford the booze but not four quarters for pool). Hopefully I don't run into my "good" friend Kevin over there. I was a mumbling idiot last week when I ran into him there. I don't think I've ever hated someone as much as I hate him. He was like a bad sex addiction and all that has happened to him now is he's gotten fat and mean. Thank god I'm over that stage of my life.

That's Amanda. She's my roommate for next year ove at the 'Burbs along with JB and Sara. She's my wingman tonight when we venture over to Quarters. Although I know Tim and Kent will be there I'm kinda hoping us girls can drift away from the watchful eyes of my new boy to people watch. Who am I kidding -- People watch? I just want to flirt.

I'm a horrible person and I'm going straight to hell for my evil ways. Even with a boyfriend I just can't stop LOOKING. And I wonder why I can't keep a serious relationship... I'm just too wild for my own good. Maybe Tim will be the one that stops my evil ways. Who knows.

GO OSU

Song of the Moment: "Hang on Sloopy" Yardbirds

Tonight Liz, Tim, Matt, Sara, Dave, and myself are heading over to Ryan's for some cookin' out, cornhole, booze, and basketball. Life can't get much better, right? I really need OSU to win tonight 'cause if they do then I have a chance of winning 100 bucks. Boy, 100 bucks would be super duper right now.

GO OSU! BEAT FLORIDA

Smitten

Song of the Moment: "Signs" Five Man Electrical Band

Christ, I'm completely smitten by a boy man. The last serious relationship I was in was three years ago with a jerk named Robert. He was the hardest thing I ever had to get over; I was completely heart broken and left completely jaded. Which, I think is why I've never let myself fall or "settle" down with anyone in a serious way. I've dated, I've hooked up, I've had my share of fun, but this is the first time since Robert where I've actually been able to say, "hey, I can really see this going somewhere." What's so weird about it all is that we just recently met... But we've been spending a lot of time together and we just click so well. I thought at first him being nearly nine years older than me (he turns 30 in September) would be a little awkward and I wasn't sure how my friends would handle that. However, Sara said it best when she told me that it doesn't matter how old you are all that matters is who you are. Although it's really creepy to think that when he was a senior in high school I was in the 6th grade or something ridiculous like that.

Back to the point... I did think it would be weird that he was so much older. Like maybe I was too immature or I would feel babied by him, but we just mesh so well and I don't feel that way at all. I actually really like the fact that he's older. He's grounded, responsible, not looking for "hook-ups," more experienced, so everything is definitely all good. The only thing that sort of freaks me out is what if Tim and I get serious and we date for a while and since he's so much older he wants to make steps forward that I'm not ready for? Hell, I was nearly engaged when I was 18 years old, I'm so not putting myself in that situation again -- But, what if since he's nearly 30 he's ready to settle down and make those steps?

You know what? I'm not going to think about it. It's far to early to even be worried about things like that and all I care about is the here and now. And in the here and now I'm falling for this guy really fast and I haven't feel this good about myself, another person, or how I feel when I'm with him. I never get this crazy about a guy so I know something's up.

No more talking about this boy, I need to think about other things like... cleaning this mess I call a room and taking a shower.

Here Today

I just had the best weekend ever. Saturday night Tim met up with me and then gang and we partied at my buddies place and headed to the bars to meet up with his friend, Bryce. We hung there and then headed back to his place to crash where some fun finally happened. Nothing too exciting, but it was still a good night. We spent all day Sunday together, watched a couple movies, hung out with Liz and Bryce, went out to dinner, saw Blades of Glory with Sara and Dave, and then I crashed at his place again with Liz and Bryce. Shit, I'm starting to fall.

Time to go to work... Boo.