I got off the ship in Acapulco today. It was hot and humid as you'd expect though the beaches weren't all that pretty sadly.
After passing up a series of beach-side restaurants, we ended up at a place that one guy loosely translated as "pork and love." I assumed that it was a kosher deli, but was tragically mistaken. I very much love Mexican food, but this was my first chance to have authentic Mexican. The meal started with various hot sauces, pico di gallo with avocado, black beans, pickled carrots and zuchini, and obviously freshly made tortilla chips. They then brought plates filled with carnitas (for the Joffe's, I think that's Spanish for Kosher chicken), guacamole, fried pork fat chips (which I took one bite of to try, but that was my last bite). To eat this with, they brought out freshly fried corn and flour tortillas. Of course, a cerveza washed it all down. It kinda made me want to move to Mexico.
On our way back, we stopped at a grocery store. I bought a few different kinds of hot sauce. Each one was under a dollar. It made me want to fill a bag with all different kinds. I limited myself to 3. Meijer kind of ruins you on some of these trips because you see products that you remember seeing at the international food aisle of Meijer. In addition to the hot sauce, I bought Bridgett her birthday gift of pure vanilla from Mexico. Sadly, we can't bring alcohol on the ship so I couldn't accompany that with Mexican tequilla.
On both our way there and back, there was a constant swarm of taxi drivers, street peddlers, children, etc, offering us goods and services. Most of us just walked on by but the New Zealand guitar player, who's never been out of his country would always engage with them. Eventually, he learned, but still needed to say "no thank you." Except when he tried to say it in Spanish, it always sounded like Italian. "Non gratzie"
Sunday, September 26, 2010
A Day in the Life
A Day in the Life
I haven't gotten off the ship yet, so there hasn't been much to write about. I thought I'd give you an idea of what my daily life is like. I wake up around 8am, check my email (in 2-3 min), and then go work out. Once I get back and shower, I do work until 11am when I can go upstairs and have breakfast. This may be the most consistently enjoyable meal of the day for me on ships. I have some oatmeal with banana, dried pinapple, and raisins, either hard boiled eggs or an omlette (today's was an egg-white omlette with onion, tomato, smoked salmon, and cheese), a whole wheat roll, and maybe some fruit.
After breakfast, I come back to my room to work on the dissertation until 2:00 when I go eat lunch. Usually a salad with some sliced turkey or roast beef or something like that and some soup. Then...back to my room to work on my dissertation. I'll have some sort of sound check at 5:30 or 6 after which I'll sometimes have a "pre-dinner" depending how hungry I am. This pre-dinner usually involves a roll and fresh cheese or some ffruit. It's way too early to go upstairs and eat, but I don't want to wait til 9 to eat again so...pre-dinner.
After pre-dinner, I'll go back to my room aaaand...do a little bit of work, but more likely watch some tv with my dissertation open on my laptop. 8:15 show. 9:15 dinner at the buffet. 10:15 show. 11:30 sleep.
Now that we're headed back to the east side of Mexico, we've gotten a lot more American (as opposed to European) ESPN so there's always football or SportsCenter to watch which has been nice. Sadly, on the passanger movie channels, they're still playing all the movies that were on my last cruise, but some are still worth watching again. There's an odd predominance of Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Garner movies (Blind Side, The proposal, Invention of Lying, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and others I can't think of).
Hope that was of interest. Feel free to post any questions you have about anything. I know Bridgett normally has a few...but it's best to keep her in the dark sometimes...
I haven't gotten off the ship yet, so there hasn't been much to write about. I thought I'd give you an idea of what my daily life is like. I wake up around 8am, check my email (in 2-3 min), and then go work out. Once I get back and shower, I do work until 11am when I can go upstairs and have breakfast. This may be the most consistently enjoyable meal of the day for me on ships. I have some oatmeal with banana, dried pinapple, and raisins, either hard boiled eggs or an omlette (today's was an egg-white omlette with onion, tomato, smoked salmon, and cheese), a whole wheat roll, and maybe some fruit.
After breakfast, I come back to my room to work on the dissertation until 2:00 when I go eat lunch. Usually a salad with some sliced turkey or roast beef or something like that and some soup. Then...back to my room to work on my dissertation. I'll have some sort of sound check at 5:30 or 6 after which I'll sometimes have a "pre-dinner" depending how hungry I am. This pre-dinner usually involves a roll and fresh cheese or some ffruit. It's way too early to go upstairs and eat, but I don't want to wait til 9 to eat again so...pre-dinner.
After pre-dinner, I'll go back to my room aaaand...do a little bit of work, but more likely watch some tv with my dissertation open on my laptop. 8:15 show. 9:15 dinner at the buffet. 10:15 show. 11:30 sleep.
Now that we're headed back to the east side of Mexico, we've gotten a lot more American (as opposed to European) ESPN so there's always football or SportsCenter to watch which has been nice. Sadly, on the passanger movie channels, they're still playing all the movies that were on my last cruise, but some are still worth watching again. There's an odd predominance of Sandra Bullock and Jennifer Garner movies (Blind Side, The proposal, Invention of Lying, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, and others I can't think of).
Hope that was of interest. Feel free to post any questions you have about anything. I know Bridgett normally has a few...but it's best to keep her in the dark sometimes...
Sunday, September 19, 2010
A blog, eh! (and other palindromes)
Thanks to some encouragement from some usual suspects and a new, last-minute encourager, I will be continuing my popular blog documenting my cruise ship experiences.
A warning for those who read this: I will likely run out of things to talk about after a while and my blog entries may become (or always be) sporadic. Read at your own risk of waking up to the crushing disappointment that I, once again, have not written a blog entry that day.
My travels take me from Vancouver to LA to Acapulco and ultimately to a run between Ft. Lauderdale and Acapulco. I will frequently pass through the panama canal (a man a plan a canal, panama eh!) which is good because I lost my panama canal pictures during my laptop theft incident.
While in the Toronto airport, I had the pleasure of eating lunch at Tim Horton's. For those that don't know, Tim Horton's is Canada's equivalent to dinner at the Ritz or lunch at the Carnegie Deli. Not really. Plus, I didn't even have one of their signature donuts. I'm saving up my appetite for the chocolate covered pretzels that Melanie Joffe was kind enough to make me and the trail mix that Daniella was kind enough to pack me.
So, that's all for now. I'll write more when I actually get on the ship. In order to keep this blog vibrant, I may return to an idea I had during my first cruise. On Mondays, I may post an entry encouraging questions that I could answer in a blog on Tuesday. Just a thought.
The end dne ehT.
A warning for those who read this: I will likely run out of things to talk about after a while and my blog entries may become (or always be) sporadic. Read at your own risk of waking up to the crushing disappointment that I, once again, have not written a blog entry that day.
My travels take me from Vancouver to LA to Acapulco and ultimately to a run between Ft. Lauderdale and Acapulco. I will frequently pass through the panama canal (a man a plan a canal, panama eh!) which is good because I lost my panama canal pictures during my laptop theft incident.
While in the Toronto airport, I had the pleasure of eating lunch at Tim Horton's. For those that don't know, Tim Horton's is Canada's equivalent to dinner at the Ritz or lunch at the Carnegie Deli. Not really. Plus, I didn't even have one of their signature donuts. I'm saving up my appetite for the chocolate covered pretzels that Melanie Joffe was kind enough to make me and the trail mix that Daniella was kind enough to pack me.
So, that's all for now. I'll write more when I actually get on the ship. In order to keep this blog vibrant, I may return to an idea I had during my first cruise. On Mondays, I may post an entry encouraging questions that I could answer in a blog on Tuesday. Just a thought.
The end dne ehT.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Ship me baby one more time
After some emailing and negotiating, I was offered a contract today on another ship in the same company I'm working for now. The ship starts with a trip from Canada to LA and then spends 15 days going from LA around mexico to Ft. Lauderdale. After that, it's a couple of itineraries fairly similar to what I'm on now, including panama, Colombia, adding Acapulco and Nicaragua.
I'll be gone for 7 weeks from Sept. 18-Nov. 5. The great part about this is that I'll be home for all but 5 days of my "favorite" time of year between Oct 31 and Jan 1. Also, it'll be good because I will be able to pay rent!
Although I wouldn't want to go out for longer, 7 weeks is a somewhat frustrating length of time because it's not long enough to cancel my cable, sublet my apartment, cancel car insurance, etc. So, basically, I'll have similar bills as if I were still living there...minus the living there. Does anyone want to sublet an apartment for 7 weeks in Cincinnati? I'll give you a real good deal....
Another positive to this is that it gives me extra incentive for my next learning goal. Ever since I've been doing ships, the language I find myself most wishing I would know is Spanish. Now that I'll be spending 7 weeks in all Spanish-speaking countries, my plan to learn Spanish has increased purpose.
The trombone player on my ship has Rosetta Stone software for Spanish that he can give me. So, I have about 5 months to learn Spanish! I don't need to be able to discuss the advantages of a 2 party system or anything, just the basics. For any of you who read my original blog, I may finally know how to say "don't shoot, I voted for Barack Obama" in Spanish!
I'll be gone for 7 weeks from Sept. 18-Nov. 5. The great part about this is that I'll be home for all but 5 days of my "favorite" time of year between Oct 31 and Jan 1. Also, it'll be good because I will be able to pay rent!
Although I wouldn't want to go out for longer, 7 weeks is a somewhat frustrating length of time because it's not long enough to cancel my cable, sublet my apartment, cancel car insurance, etc. So, basically, I'll have similar bills as if I were still living there...minus the living there. Does anyone want to sublet an apartment for 7 weeks in Cincinnati? I'll give you a real good deal....
Another positive to this is that it gives me extra incentive for my next learning goal. Ever since I've been doing ships, the language I find myself most wishing I would know is Spanish. Now that I'll be spending 7 weeks in all Spanish-speaking countries, my plan to learn Spanish has increased purpose.
The trombone player on my ship has Rosetta Stone software for Spanish that he can give me. So, I have about 5 months to learn Spanish! I don't need to be able to discuss the advantages of a 2 party system or anything, just the basics. For any of you who read my original blog, I may finally know how to say "don't shoot, I voted for Barack Obama" in Spanish!
Saturday, April 17, 2010
Accomplishment
I'm thrilled to report that after much hard work, I have a complete 12-page detailed outline of my entire dissertation. It contains a breakdown of each chapter, each point I'm going to make, and, even better, the musical examples I'm going to use to make each point. According to my outline, I will be making reference to somewhere between 100-150 different songs from about 80 different musicals.
Although writing the dissertation will be its own animal, this gives me a very concrete road map for writing. Now, in order to complete my proposal, I need to turn that 12 page outline into roughly a 10 page paper summarizing the entire thing.
Oh, and I went to jamaica today. It was rainy.
Although writing the dissertation will be its own animal, this gives me a very concrete road map for writing. Now, in order to complete my proposal, I need to turn that 12 page outline into roughly a 10 page paper summarizing the entire thing.
Oh, and I went to jamaica today. It was rainy.
Thursday, April 15, 2010
Piano Man
So, I haven't told you about one of the production shows we do on the ship. It's called Piano Man and it features me in some ways. The curtain opens to me alone on stage at a grand piano. WHen the show starts I play a solo version of Piano Man and then the black curtain just behind me opens to reveal the rest of the band. The piano and I slide back and we play the rest of the overture. It's pretty cool.
Want some cheese with that?
I told you all I didn't want to write a blog this time around. I told you that I'd run out of things to write about. But you all begged and begged. And what happened? I ran out of things to write about. Now some of you are whiiiiining that I don't write.
Monday, April 5, 2010
A Man, A Plan, A Cruise SHip, 3 hard-boiled eggs, and some corned beef hash...Panama
Where did you have breakfast this morning? I had it while travelling through the panama Canal. It was pretty cool. For those that don't know (aka everyone exceptt maybe Bridgett_, the Canal is there in order to move ship from one depth of water to another so the ship gets lifted and sent through the canal. You can feel it lifted and put on its path.
That's all. I went about my day after that. I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures for any of my favorites that might be excited by the Panama Canal.
That's all. I went about my day after that. I'll make sure to take plenty of pictures for any of my favorites that might be excited by the Panama Canal.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
The Great Cartegena, aka the Magna Cartegena
So, to show you how well I know my girls, I'm guessing that bridgett giggled out loud when she read the title and Sharon rolled her eyes.
Today I got off the ship for the first time. The port was Cartegena, Colombia. it's the closest to the equator I've ever been and it felt like it. It was hot. But it was a humid heat. So it was really hot. I got off the ship with the drummer, who's italian, his girlfriend who's a dancer, and another couple of Russian dancers. Everyone in the dance dept are coupled up so I'm constantly a 5th or 7th wheel. Oh well. Where was I? To quote a song from the 70's "the heat was hot."
You walk for about 5 minutes through the port and you come to a little port shopping area like you find everywhere. Except, unlike everywhere, there was a little bird sancuary where both enclosed and non-enclosed birds were wandering around. Most were parrots but there were also touccans which are amazing birds. I've never seen one before today I don't think. I took pictures. Super cool.
We then took a cab into the old city. The cab driver agreed to a price of $20 round trip. For some reason as soon as we left the port area, he got confused and decided that we would pay him $40 for the round trip. We corrected him by telling him we would give him $10 and then $10+tip if he came back to pick us up (there are dozens of cabs in the city, so we weren't in danger of being stranded or anything.)
We walked around in the old city and I stopped to look at some sunglasses from a street vendor. I couldn't find any I really liked (though I needed sunglasses). Finally there was one that was ok so I asked how much. $80. I said "no thank you, too much for me." He said, well how much. I explained that I just needed cheap sunglasses and I only could afford to pay 10. The rest of the negotiations consisted of him saying a number, and me shaking my head and saying 10. I bought the sunglasses for $10. I'm an awesome negotiator. They say Ray Ban on them. They look fairly cool.
The cab picked us back up and all was fine. We were only out for a little over an hour, but it was plenty.
Today I got off the ship for the first time. The port was Cartegena, Colombia. it's the closest to the equator I've ever been and it felt like it. It was hot. But it was a humid heat. So it was really hot. I got off the ship with the drummer, who's italian, his girlfriend who's a dancer, and another couple of Russian dancers. Everyone in the dance dept are coupled up so I'm constantly a 5th or 7th wheel. Oh well. Where was I? To quote a song from the 70's "the heat was hot."
You walk for about 5 minutes through the port and you come to a little port shopping area like you find everywhere. Except, unlike everywhere, there was a little bird sancuary where both enclosed and non-enclosed birds were wandering around. Most were parrots but there were also touccans which are amazing birds. I've never seen one before today I don't think. I took pictures. Super cool.
We then took a cab into the old city. The cab driver agreed to a price of $20 round trip. For some reason as soon as we left the port area, he got confused and decided that we would pay him $40 for the round trip. We corrected him by telling him we would give him $10 and then $10+tip if he came back to pick us up (there are dozens of cabs in the city, so we weren't in danger of being stranded or anything.)
We walked around in the old city and I stopped to look at some sunglasses from a street vendor. I couldn't find any I really liked (though I needed sunglasses). Finally there was one that was ok so I asked how much. $80. I said "no thank you, too much for me." He said, well how much. I explained that I just needed cheap sunglasses and I only could afford to pay 10. The rest of the negotiations consisted of him saying a number, and me shaking my head and saying 10. I bought the sunglasses for $10. I'm an awesome negotiator. They say Ray Ban on them. They look fairly cool.
The cab picked us back up and all was fine. We were only out for a little over an hour, but it was plenty.
No foosball
Well, you'll all be happy to know that there's not a lot of foosball playing on board. Fortunately for me, there IS a lot of ping pong playing! I spent an hour or so playing last night. It was awesome. They set up tables at night. There's a ping pong tournament coming up. Maybe i'll play...hmmmmm. More to come.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Self Esteem Machine
There are two options to explain what happened this morning.
I went down to the crew gym on deck 1. Although I like the feeling of going down to a dungeon to work out (I believe that the less nice the gym is, the better workout you get. It's the Rocky III training theory), I was not a fan of how hot it is down there.
So, two options. EITHER - I ran a 5k in under 22 minutes after not having run for a couple months OR - the treadmill was not exactly accurate in its estimation of my speed and/or distance. Either way, I've dubbed it the self-esteem machine because it makes you feel like you're running REALLY fast.
PS - yes, the machine measures in Km, not miles.
PPS - whatever this movie is with Sandra Bullock who is going to get deported to Canada unless she marries her assistant...is pretty cute. Or, maybe I just really miss Sandra Bullock. Lot's of questions in today's blog. Not a lot of answers.
I went down to the crew gym on deck 1. Although I like the feeling of going down to a dungeon to work out (I believe that the less nice the gym is, the better workout you get. It's the Rocky III training theory), I was not a fan of how hot it is down there.
So, two options. EITHER - I ran a 5k in under 22 minutes after not having run for a couple months OR - the treadmill was not exactly accurate in its estimation of my speed and/or distance. Either way, I've dubbed it the self-esteem machine because it makes you feel like you're running REALLY fast.
PS - yes, the machine measures in Km, not miles.
PPS - whatever this movie is with Sandra Bullock who is going to get deported to Canada unless she marries her assistant...is pretty cute. Or, maybe I just really miss Sandra Bullock. Lot's of questions in today's blog. Not a lot of answers.
How do you say "24" in Indonesian?
Well, I'm off on another one. After much prodding and begging and admitting she's wrong about lots of things, my Favorite prodder and beggar convinced me to write another blog. She did it under the guise of how Mrs. Mamola really likes my blogs, but I know that bridgett just can't handle not hearing from me every day. ...which is cute.
So, equipped with a box of matzah from Sharon's mom, Gayle, I flew to Miami to begin my 4th contract. This is kind of funny because when the band master asked me after my first contract if I wanted to come out again, I had to think long and hard.
When you are not a fancy band master and they put you up in a hotel overnight, you must share a room. So, here I am in a hotel room in Miami with a kid from Indonesia who speaks just enough English to...work in the engine room of a ship I suppose.
It was Monday and I knew 9:00 was rapidly approaching. He didn't really speak enough English to really follow American television fully, but, 24 was going to be on. I'm pretty sure ass-kickin' is a universal language, so I was going to put 24 on either way. He was pretty sleepy with the jet lag, so he didn't seem to mind some much. I'd like to think I brought jack bauer to indonesia.
When you need Jack bauer brought to Indonesia, there's only one man for the job: Me!
So, equipped with a box of matzah from Sharon's mom, Gayle, I flew to Miami to begin my 4th contract. This is kind of funny because when the band master asked me after my first contract if I wanted to come out again, I had to think long and hard.
When you are not a fancy band master and they put you up in a hotel overnight, you must share a room. So, here I am in a hotel room in Miami with a kid from Indonesia who speaks just enough English to...work in the engine room of a ship I suppose.
It was Monday and I knew 9:00 was rapidly approaching. He didn't really speak enough English to really follow American television fully, but, 24 was going to be on. I'm pretty sure ass-kickin' is a universal language, so I was going to put 24 on either way. He was pretty sleepy with the jet lag, so he didn't seem to mind some much. I'd like to think I brought jack bauer to indonesia.
When you need Jack bauer brought to Indonesia, there's only one man for the job: Me!
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Sorry
Sorry I'm a bad blogger. Nothing terribly exciting happened the last couple of weeks. I did buy 2.375 L of Crown Royal for $30. That was cool. And I bought some fancy rum for Bridgett and Shane.
It was definitely the easiest of all my contracts thus far by far. In fact, I now see how much the deck was stacked against me on my first contract. This ship was free of drama, the music was easier, the work was less....
Plus, after about a week or so on the ship, my boss told me he was going to recommend me as a music manager (band master, music director...etc) to the head office. So, if I get back on, it wouldn't be as a sideman again. So, private cabin, room service, etc.
Again, sorry to all those who checked my blog regularly. I'm just a big dissapointment!
It was definitely the easiest of all my contracts thus far by far. In fact, I now see how much the deck was stacked against me on my first contract. This ship was free of drama, the music was easier, the work was less....
Plus, after about a week or so on the ship, my boss told me he was going to recommend me as a music manager (band master, music director...etc) to the head office. So, if I get back on, it wouldn't be as a sideman again. So, private cabin, room service, etc.
Again, sorry to all those who checked my blog regularly. I'm just a big dissapointment!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Free Time
Free Time
So,in the 60 hrs between 6am Jan 1 and 6pm Jan 3, I worked a grand total of....1.5 hrs. Of course, that's not consecutive...I had a break in the middle of the two 45 minute sets. I mean, i'm not a machine!
Yes, work is incredibly light on this ship. Sometimes I'm happy to have a set just to break things up. The only sets I don't like are the variety shows or the welcome aboard shows in which we play an opener and then sit for 20 minutes and then play a 3 minute song and then sit for 20 minutes and then play a closer. It's amazingly boring. At least sometimes they close the back curtain and we can get up and leave for 15 minutes. I'll go watch a bit of a football game. Some guys will grab a drink.But still, not so fun.
In order to fill time during our time off, many of the musicians have taken up foosball. Of all the novelty table games in the ping pong/air hockey family, foosball was always my worst. I mean, I'm terrible at it. But, after playing a lot over the last week, i've gotten...less terrible at it. Like anything else, it's amazing what skills people come up with when they do something a lot. It's like pool. Unless you watched a pro play, you'd never think of using spin and varying follow-through and all sorts of things that the real pros do. It's the same in foosball. Amazing the shots people come up with.
So, you see why I haven't blogged too much this contract. I mean, I just wrote an entire blog about foosball basically. Next, advanced rock/paper/scissors stragey.
By the way, I'm happy to see that gail and Steve Arnow are now followers of my blog.
Oh, also, the other night they showed the movie "Inglorious Basterds" in the main theatre. It's a great Tarrentino movie with Brad Pitt about an American squad of Jews sent to France to kill Nazis in World War II. A ficticious story, but very entertaining. Pretty violent at times if that's not your thing.
So,in the 60 hrs between 6am Jan 1 and 6pm Jan 3, I worked a grand total of....1.5 hrs. Of course, that's not consecutive...I had a break in the middle of the two 45 minute sets. I mean, i'm not a machine!
Yes, work is incredibly light on this ship. Sometimes I'm happy to have a set just to break things up. The only sets I don't like are the variety shows or the welcome aboard shows in which we play an opener and then sit for 20 minutes and then play a 3 minute song and then sit for 20 minutes and then play a closer. It's amazingly boring. At least sometimes they close the back curtain and we can get up and leave for 15 minutes. I'll go watch a bit of a football game. Some guys will grab a drink.But still, not so fun.
In order to fill time during our time off, many of the musicians have taken up foosball. Of all the novelty table games in the ping pong/air hockey family, foosball was always my worst. I mean, I'm terrible at it. But, after playing a lot over the last week, i've gotten...less terrible at it. Like anything else, it's amazing what skills people come up with when they do something a lot. It's like pool. Unless you watched a pro play, you'd never think of using spin and varying follow-through and all sorts of things that the real pros do. It's the same in foosball. Amazing the shots people come up with.
So, you see why I haven't blogged too much this contract. I mean, I just wrote an entire blog about foosball basically. Next, advanced rock/paper/scissors stragey.
By the way, I'm happy to see that gail and Steve Arnow are now followers of my blog.
Oh, also, the other night they showed the movie "Inglorious Basterds" in the main theatre. It's a great Tarrentino movie with Brad Pitt about an American squad of Jews sent to France to kill Nazis in World War II. A ficticious story, but very entertaining. Pretty violent at times if that's not your thing.
lunch
Lunch
So, it's been 2 weeks and I'm pretty sure I've yet to have a food entry other than my steak house fun on Christmas. I've found my new favorite lunch on the ship. I go to the passenger buffet and make a big salad with lots of fancy things like dates and raisins and cheeses and nuts and anything else that looks good on the buffet. Then I take a wheat roll. Then I go over to the grill and get a plain chicken breast which I cut up and put in the salad. It's so yummy!
Of course, right next to the grill is the pizza buffet....calling to me like sirens. I've been able to resist so far but it smells soooo good. This week I've allowed myself a pizza and ice cream dinner. Maybe even tomorrow night since tomorrow morning is a running day. Actually, I guess that would make tonight ideal since I'll burn off all the carbs on the run. Kind of like when Michael Scott "carboloaded" with fettucini alfredo right before a race. Ok, tonight OR tomorrow will be pizza and ice cream night.
So, it's been 2 weeks and I'm pretty sure I've yet to have a food entry other than my steak house fun on Christmas. I've found my new favorite lunch on the ship. I go to the passenger buffet and make a big salad with lots of fancy things like dates and raisins and cheeses and nuts and anything else that looks good on the buffet. Then I take a wheat roll. Then I go over to the grill and get a plain chicken breast which I cut up and put in the salad. It's so yummy!
Of course, right next to the grill is the pizza buffet....calling to me like sirens. I've been able to resist so far but it smells soooo good. This week I've allowed myself a pizza and ice cream dinner. Maybe even tomorrow night since tomorrow morning is a running day. Actually, I guess that would make tonight ideal since I'll burn off all the carbs on the run. Kind of like when Michael Scott "carboloaded" with fettucini alfredo right before a race. Ok, tonight OR tomorrow will be pizza and ice cream night.
Thursday, December 31, 2009
New years
Well, tonight is new years eve. Unlike Christmas, I don't have anything fancy planned. I didn't even get off the ship today. We have a soundcheck, 2 shows, and then we're playing a formal big band dance tonight for midnight.
However, I am famous. Or, I will be. They had me record the bell chime sound for midnight on the ship. They'll play that over the ship-wide intercom. So...I'm famous.
Fortunately for me, we're still an hour ahead of NY. So, what the ship is doing is celebrating midnight and then at 12:45 moving the ship's clock back an hour and celebrating again!
I know I don't write a lot, but honestly, my days have been: wake up, work out, eat, lay out, study a bit, eat, play shows. Doesn't leave much to write about. I haven't really gotten off the ship much. I think next cruise I'll try to go to the beach in St. Maarten and St. Thomas.
happy 2010!!!
Fun facts from 2009: I spent almost 4 months of the year in total on a cruise ship - my complete earnings this year came from working as a musician - I visited about 10 different countries - I ate wings almost every wednesday apart from the time i was on a ship and i was working on my brief wing experiment - I became an in-state student in Ohio - I made Passover dinner without any help for the first time - I had my 10 year high school reunion (but didn't go) - I won my 2009 fantasy football championship -
What are your 2009 highlights?
However, I am famous. Or, I will be. They had me record the bell chime sound for midnight on the ship. They'll play that over the ship-wide intercom. So...I'm famous.
Fortunately for me, we're still an hour ahead of NY. So, what the ship is doing is celebrating midnight and then at 12:45 moving the ship's clock back an hour and celebrating again!
I know I don't write a lot, but honestly, my days have been: wake up, work out, eat, lay out, study a bit, eat, play shows. Doesn't leave much to write about. I haven't really gotten off the ship much. I think next cruise I'll try to go to the beach in St. Maarten and St. Thomas.
happy 2010!!!
Fun facts from 2009: I spent almost 4 months of the year in total on a cruise ship - my complete earnings this year came from working as a musician - I visited about 10 different countries - I ate wings almost every wednesday apart from the time i was on a ship and i was working on my brief wing experiment - I became an in-state student in Ohio - I made Passover dinner without any help for the first time - I had my 10 year high school reunion (but didn't go) - I won my 2009 fantasy football championship -
What are your 2009 highlights?
Monday, December 28, 2009
Champion!
Champion!!!
I am pleased to announce that the Cincy Burninators are the 2009 Fantasy Football league Champions!!!!! I'd like to thank not Bridgett for her apathy, and Adrian Peterson.
Now, it is time to figure out how to spend my $240 in winnings. I am placing ideas into 2 main categories: a purchase, or an event. Quick thought: can you buy Bengals playoff tickets for $120 each? Prob not, right?
In terms of purchases, I was thinking things like satelite radio, a new car stereo, a painting? In terms of events, I was thinking maybe a plane ticket to somewhere fun or some sort of day trip. Maybe a weekend in Chicago or something like that.
For those who know me well, you know that I have a difficult time spending any sort of gift money. So, I need to make sure I come up with something or it will dissappear into the shallow recesses of my bank account.
Please leave thoughts!
WINNNNNAHHHHH!!!!!
I am pleased to announce that the Cincy Burninators are the 2009 Fantasy Football league Champions!!!!! I'd like to thank not Bridgett for her apathy, and Adrian Peterson.
Now, it is time to figure out how to spend my $240 in winnings. I am placing ideas into 2 main categories: a purchase, or an event. Quick thought: can you buy Bengals playoff tickets for $120 each? Prob not, right?
In terms of purchases, I was thinking things like satelite radio, a new car stereo, a painting? In terms of events, I was thinking maybe a plane ticket to somewhere fun or some sort of day trip. Maybe a weekend in Chicago or something like that.
For those who know me well, you know that I have a difficult time spending any sort of gift money. So, I need to make sure I come up with something or it will dissappear into the shallow recesses of my bank account.
Please leave thoughts!
WINNNNNAHHHHH!!!!!
Christmas Day
Christmas Day
I'm not sure how you spent your Christmas Day.This is how I spent mine. After waking up and working out, I got off the ship with my roomate and his friends on the beautiful island of Grand Turk. For $7 each, we got into a minivan cab and took what should have been maybe a 10 minute ride. However, due to what I would later find out to be the "scenic route," it took about 20. It included a narration by the driver whom I wasn't 100% sure even knew we were there. I wondered out loud whether he narrated the trip even when passengers weren't in the car.
There were a surprising amount of horses and dogs wandering about the island. I'm not really sure why. It seems like an odd vacation spot for them. They probably would have asked directions to the beach, but they don't speak the language.
Once we arrived at the beach, we dropped our stuff off and went swimming. Unlike Barcelona, bathing suits were very much involved. The water was warm and salty. In fact, I was able to float on my back which I'm NEVER able to do. IThe beach floor was mostly sandy with big patches of seaweed which was kinda gross, but fine as long as you didn't, you know, step in it.
We eventually took a cab back to the area by the ship in which there were lots of shops. I scoped out some rum for bridgett's Christmas present and then got back on the ship. Just in time to...
Get showered and put on my tux. It was almost dinner time! With my tux on, I joined my roommate and his 3 friends to the ship's steak house. The table shared an appetizer of a pot of steamed muscles and my second course was the French Onion soup. Sadly, it was "fancy" French Onion soup which, unfortunately, translated into "gross." It was made with Jack Daniels in the broth, which would have been delicious except that the entire soup was vastly overpowered by the blue cheese used instead of mozzerella. Not only was the cheese too strong, but it didn't hold up to the broth and became mushy. The consistency of porridge or something. No good. But, not to fear. My main course came and the waiter brought me a SY strip steak cooked medium and 4 lobster tails (I ordered 2 but he took the liberty of putting in a 2nd order). Usual sides of mashed potatos, asparagus, and mushrooms were served family style. Dessert for me was a berry and apple cobbler served with vanilla ice cream. All in all, a wonderful Christmas dinner.
Unfortunately, I am an employee and did have to work after filling myself with wonderful food. We played 2 jazz combo sets in the lounge upstairs followed by a raucous British pub night thing during which I was kissed on the cheek by one of the girls on the cruise staff, kissed on the cheek by a middle aged drunk woman, and mounted by multiple guys on the cruise staff. Nobody told me I'd be judging which side of the room sang loudest, but it seems that representatives from both sides were quite adament about my choice.
All in all, a great day.
I'm not sure how you spent your Christmas Day.This is how I spent mine. After waking up and working out, I got off the ship with my roomate and his friends on the beautiful island of Grand Turk. For $7 each, we got into a minivan cab and took what should have been maybe a 10 minute ride. However, due to what I would later find out to be the "scenic route," it took about 20. It included a narration by the driver whom I wasn't 100% sure even knew we were there. I wondered out loud whether he narrated the trip even when passengers weren't in the car.
There were a surprising amount of horses and dogs wandering about the island. I'm not really sure why. It seems like an odd vacation spot for them. They probably would have asked directions to the beach, but they don't speak the language.
Once we arrived at the beach, we dropped our stuff off and went swimming. Unlike Barcelona, bathing suits were very much involved. The water was warm and salty. In fact, I was able to float on my back which I'm NEVER able to do. IThe beach floor was mostly sandy with big patches of seaweed which was kinda gross, but fine as long as you didn't, you know, step in it.
We eventually took a cab back to the area by the ship in which there were lots of shops. I scoped out some rum for bridgett's Christmas present and then got back on the ship. Just in time to...
Get showered and put on my tux. It was almost dinner time! With my tux on, I joined my roommate and his 3 friends to the ship's steak house. The table shared an appetizer of a pot of steamed muscles and my second course was the French Onion soup. Sadly, it was "fancy" French Onion soup which, unfortunately, translated into "gross." It was made with Jack Daniels in the broth, which would have been delicious except that the entire soup was vastly overpowered by the blue cheese used instead of mozzerella. Not only was the cheese too strong, but it didn't hold up to the broth and became mushy. The consistency of porridge or something. No good. But, not to fear. My main course came and the waiter brought me a SY strip steak cooked medium and 4 lobster tails (I ordered 2 but he took the liberty of putting in a 2nd order). Usual sides of mashed potatos, asparagus, and mushrooms were served family style. Dessert for me was a berry and apple cobbler served with vanilla ice cream. All in all, a wonderful Christmas dinner.
Unfortunately, I am an employee and did have to work after filling myself with wonderful food. We played 2 jazz combo sets in the lounge upstairs followed by a raucous British pub night thing during which I was kissed on the cheek by one of the girls on the cruise staff, kissed on the cheek by a middle aged drunk woman, and mounted by multiple guys on the cruise staff. Nobody told me I'd be judging which side of the room sang loudest, but it seems that representatives from both sides were quite adament about my choice.
All in all, a great day.
Sunday, December 27, 2009
An open letter to Mrs. Nancy Mamola
Dear Mrs. Mamola,
Thank you for so faithfully reading my blog. I have been distracted this week but I will make a point of writing more often. I hope you are having a wonderful holiday.
Warmest wishes,
Brian
Thank you for so faithfully reading my blog. I have been distracted this week but I will make a point of writing more often. I hope you are having a wonderful holiday.
Warmest wishes,
Brian
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