iDon’t have one

i have been thinking about this quite often for the past month. i do not own a smart phone. no berry. no iPhone.

does this make me an outcast or an incredibly smart human being? i am not sure.

the major reason why i do not own one of these devices is pretty embarrassing. my parents still pay for my cell phone bill. there, i said it. i am a 26 27 28 year old man that is still on the family plan. do you blame me!? a cell phone bill is an expense that i do enjoy not paying for. while the rents have not said a word about this issue in the past few years, i feel like i may be taking advantage of them. but then again, one could also say that this cellular contract has kept the family unit closer together (lame excuse for my actions).

wouldn’t it be odd if i were to ask momma ski that i would pay her the extra $30 a month for a data plan without bringing up the point of taking over full payments myself? so i have some options:

1. purchase a smart phone and pay for my plan on my own (big boy plan)

2. purchase a smart phone and still continue on the family plan (lame, but economical)

3. keep my current cell phone and continue on the family plan (double lame, but free)

4. keep my current cell phone and pay for my plan on my own (smart big boy plan)

i would like some opinions here.

May 26, 2010 | sean | Tags: , , | 3 Comments »

i like my dog happy…and my weekends

it’s pretty safe to say that happy dog is my new fav cle hangout/bar. went for lunch this past friday (while seeing quite a few friends also enjoying the dog) and again on saturday for kat’s bday bash. in my opinion, this establishment has a pretty high “sef” rating (service, environment, food). the staff is incredible, you simply cannot recreate the interior of this place and the dog toppings are unreal and ridiculously delicious. even if you don’t care for hot dogs, go for a drink or at least try the tator tots! p.s. – they also have a veggie dog that has an italian sausage-ish flavor.

this weekend also brought back childhood memories from my catholic school days at stm (saint thomas more). the whole family went to see my little cousin jack, who played john/judas in godspell. it was the very first time i heard him sing and it was quite adorable. it’s kind of crazy seeing your little family members grow up. i don’t like it. it scares me. but it is interesting. it was also interesting going back to my alma mater. it boggles my mind that veteran teachers still remember you after countless numbers of rug rats pass through the doors every year. remember kids, teachers are your friend. treasure them and listen to them for pete’s sake.

kev (bro), brandi (kev's gf), me, erika (cuz), jack (cuz) and missy (cuz' friend)

if one show wasn’t enough, i finished the weekend off with momma and papa ski at playhousesquare. i was never really a fan of grease, but i did enjoy myself. you really can’t help but love some of those frankie valli tunes. they sneak up under you and then all of a sudden, you’re standing up doing the hand jive.

oh, and how about this weather!? it’s official cle peeps. summa summa time!

word of the day – escarole

May 24, 2010 | sean | Tags: , , , , , | No Comments »

viva vaca

i want to go to there.

next week is already the last week of may! i feel like time doesn’t exist anymore. it’s like we wake up and have a productive day at work, then add either a weekday social event and/or community activity, then add sleep, plus weekend festivities, and all of a sudden a child is in your extra bedroom and then your dead. now, i have no intentions of having children, so let’s replace a child with elderly parents.

this summer is shaping up to be quite busy and while i would like to see and do everything humanly possible, we know that’s not going to happen. i am def in a traveling state of mind lately. for the past couple years (minus a vegas and l.a. trip) i haven’t really ventured to many places. part of that has to do with the purchase of my first home, which is obviously a sane investment. but this sanity needs to change. ignite insanity.

a trip to mexico this november has basically been set. however, i need to put a new york trip before that. i haven’t stepped onto that lovely island of manhattan in 3 years. and now, i hear vegas calling. doesn’t vegas in october sound just right? it’s a city that i could never live in, but a three day visit is perfection.

side bar – last night i had a wonderful dinner at zack bruell’s newest restaurant, chinato. and lzone was responsible for the vegas trip idea, so she is partially to blame.

word of the day – slots



May 19, 2010 | sean | Tags: , , , | 1 Comment »

the other OC

west side market.

almost moved there. actually, was outbid on a house on the lovely street of woodbine. i am not talking about the infamous OC of cali. i am referring to our wonderful neighborhood of ohio city. home to the west side market (prob one of the best public places in the cle), momocho, st. ignatius, beautiful residential architecture and SPACES gallery. similar to tremont, OC has a distinct neighborhood feel and charm. part of that charm def comes from the residents that call this place home.

for the past 7 or 8 years, i have been attending the ohio city home tour every may. this year is a little different because i will be volunteering for the first time! my aunt and uncle’s home will be featured on the sunday tour, so make sure to say hi if you happen to join in the festivities. one of these year’s i am going to have to put up the money for the saturday night dinner/tour. it’s the classy first half of the OC weekend which consists of fine food and fancy dwellings.

make sure you have a good weekend and make it a point to enjoy the outdoors. it looks like it shaping up to be a pretty fantastic weather weekend. oh, and make sure to check out the hooley tomorrow on lorain road. and if you can’t do the hooley, then try a tremont spot. you will find me there between the hours of 4pm and 2am.

word of the day – coolio

May 14, 2010 | sean | 2 Comments »

hot in cleveland

i had a good weekend and i hope you did too. instead of giving you a recap, i would rather talk about betty white. after watching snl last night (dvr is my best friend), i have come to conclusion that betty is probably one of the coolest people on earth. i am sure she doesn’t know it. and thats a good thing. because the truly cool people of the world don’t know that they are even categorized as being cool. ok, i am saying “cool” too much. you get the point.

we all know snl may bust out a couple laugh out loud skits per episode, with the rest being ridiculous (not the good ridiculous), but this week was different. i think most every sketch had at least one or two hysterical moments. although, with an adorably naughty 88.5 year-old icon at the helm, how could they go wrong? i will admit, i am not the most familiar with betty’s career. i didn’t watch the mary tyler moore show very often and never really got on the golden girls bandwagon. but i do know that she has had quite the hollywood adventure. you cannot help but love this woman. and i think snl (with the help of facebook) just lifted betty even higher up the pedestal. she was always on it, but she has def risen a few notches.

with her popularity currently soaring, i have recently read the news of her new sitcom on tv land. after reading a few articles, it sounds promising, but i am obviously in love with the fact that it is titled, “hot in cleveland.” i really hope the writers/producers bring cle into the limelight with more good representations than bad. we all know how that can go. and while I am at it, I would like to extend my services to the producers. how about a small role in an upcoming episode? maybe just an extra? either way, i am excited for this new series and it will hopefully be on the dvr list. and with betty on board, i am thinking it will be.

please enjoy the unaired “bronx beat” sketch below. i know by now you prob have seen most of the night’s fav moments on hulu.

word of the day – noodle


May 10, 2010 | sean | Tags: , , , | No Comments »

galleries and salsa

and another weekend is gone. who decided that it would only consist of two days? i am not a fan. it should def be increased to three days. the masses should vote on this issue. but who would we go to for this request? the president? god? mother nature? oprah? i don’t know, but something has to be done.

nonetheless, this past weekend was another good one. started friday out with a stop at luxe with neighbor-friend eric.

side bar – eric actually co-owns the urban infant with his sister. they specialize in earth-friendly baby wear and accessories. its pretty fantastic. you should go to there.

as always, dinner was good as well as that extra glass of wine i was accidentally served. after, we headed to robert maschke’s 1point618 gallery for his latest “hell and high water” opening. very colorful, interesting work. if you haven’t been to maschke’s gallery, you should. then traveled a little further west on detroit to wall eye gallery, which consisted of the most hipsters i have ever seen in one place. apparently the two bands performing that night brought the cle hipsters together. i did enjoy the first performance, but the second was well, different. before they performed they handed out ear plugs. not sure that’s the best way to market your music. which we listen too. with our ears. needless to say, it was fun.

eric in front of the new gordon square bus shelters. beautiful additions to the neighborhood!

saturday was fun-ish.

sunday ended on a nice note. met up with sbot and cinders for mexican at mi pueblo on lorain. there is something about that place that i like. not sure if it’s the gritty neighborhood or the keepin’ it real locals. good food. good margaritas. can’t complain.

mi pueblo margarita.

looking forward to cinco de mayo this week as well as next weekend’s festivities. boat drops in the water saturday. ahoy mates!

word of the day – fajita

May 3, 2010 | sean | Tags: , , , , , | 1 Comment »