im home...

I have been requested to blog today even though I am not out on the road, and will humor the person that wants me to explain what has been going on with me since I have been home.....so here we go....

  Today I woke up, crawled out of bed, put on my robe and immediately turned on the television to what just so happens to be a marathon of The First 48 on A&E.  I watched 2 episodes, muting it randomly at times to pick up my guitar and strum away a song i like or have an idea mind you, and got a buzz from somebody downstairs.  WHO COULD IT BE!?!?!?!  It was FedEx with my order from Woot.com, a 7 inch digital picture frame.  As I stepped out onto the sidewalk squinting from my first glance at the morning/afternoon sun from the day, i look across the street and the FedEx guy is in his truck laughing at me, this is not a joke.  Number one, i was in my robe with boxers and a tshirt, and number two, I had a rooster tail/cowlick in my hair that could have touched the sky.  The FedEx driver knew what was going on at 11:45 on this Thursday, and casually drove away.  I took the package upstairs and put it together ....dude I have been trying to figure out the damn thing all day, and have come to the conclusion that i need a usb stick/brain in order for it to work.  After that I called an old friend who was traveling through Asia for a while and went and got some Pho...... and oh god it was amazing.  I didn't know there was such a gem of a vietnamese restaurant on the Ave.  It was awesome.  The Ave is also full of such scum, so my presents isn't needed there to scum it all up......i'm a scumbag......no i'm not.  By the time we finished lunch it was about 2:30 and I needed to get to the Eastside to change 

the laundry in my parents washer.  When I went over there, I was kindly met by my g-ma, Emily and my favorite little man Leo.  After changing the laundry and playing trains and cars with Leo and chatting with mi familia, I left to come back home to possibly go on a run.  Unfortunately, the run was cancelled and I am sitting on the couch again watching the First 48 as I type this update.  I plan on running tonight, signing up for the Rock n Roll Marathon (I need motivation to workout and really keep a lifestyle where I stay in shape on the road and in general) on June 27th and playing more guitar.  I plan on taking it pretty easy.....deuces from my couch in Greenlake...

Danny D is pretty damn funny....

I am in Cleveland for like the millionth umpteenth time..... ummm yea i spelled that....  I don't really like Cleveland..... actually its the whole state of Ohio in general I don't particularly like.  In fact the only thing good that has happened to me in Cleveland is getting off the plane in the airport and hearing "Winds of Change" by The Scorpions blasting in the terminal.....just amazing.  Although I will say that Cleveland does have the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which prevents me from saying that Ohio is absolutely worthless.  Also, next to the hotel I always stay in there is a Subway that has 4 dollar footlongs on Tuesdays (its not Tuesday dammit), yes thats right one less dollar than the 5 dollar footlongs.  Four........Four dollar.......Four dollar FOOTLONGS!!!!!!  Just great.  

  So I was in New York for most of last week, and also hit up Indianapolis and Minneapolis.  After Fishkill, I went to a town called New Rochelle, about 20-25 miles north of downtown New York City.  I got the amazing offer from one of our good family friends to go to see an episode of Inside the Actors Studio filmed with Danny Devito.  Okay, one thing to know about me is that I rarely use public transportation.  Not because I am a snob (Rich lil bitch is my rap name....no it isn't)..... actually i'm pretty sure if someone checked my bank account (even on a computer) flies would fly out like in the cartoons and a horn in the background would go........WAH WAH WAH...... so back to the point.  I have no way of getting downtown, so I have to take a train to grand central, find the subway and get to the Brooklyn Bridge.  Well, I got off about 30 blocks too soon....just dumb.  So after taking a 35 minute train ride and 10 minutes subway ride, i was still a ways out.  I jumped in a cab and said "PACE University and step on it you crazy, smelly foreigner!"  I arrived at the last 

minute and they let me in after i said i was on some sort of guest list.  I sat down, hung out with Maile for a bit and thanked her for the opportunity and the show started.  Danny Devito is a hilarious character.  His stories were interesting, like how he use to be a hair dresser and his explanation of the incident on the view where he came on to the show drunk.  He ranted about how dumb Arnold Schwarzenager is for getting into politics (spelling?? fuck it) and literally went on a 20 minute rant with James Lipton about the word "fuck".  It took 4 hours to film and 3/4 of the way through my eyes began to hurt, but I enjoyed every minute of it..... and yes, Danny Devito is incredibly short.  His wife Rhea Pearlman was there too. She was a main character on Cheers. " Where everybody knows your name....DUN DUN DUN....."  After that I took the reverse way home and slept.  The next day we had like 20 miles to drive to Ronkonkoma (Indian name???  Tatonka??) and it took us nearly 2 1/2 hours to get through all the traffic.  It was snowing pretty hard and at point we were at a stand still.  This hotel was rad.  Since I am a priority club member (rewards for Holiday Inn) I got like free drinks, a free meal, free cookies, and basically anything to my liking.  Had some mexican food, some fresh fruit, couple bottles of water (I have stopped drinking pop at meals), and cookies galore.  It was phat, and will possibly make me fat.  After that nice little perk we flew to Indianapolis.

  Indianapolis only has the Indy 500 going for it.  It is a town that seems like its really struggling hardcore in the recession.  When I arrived, after our airline had 2 malfunctions on the runway, mechanical problems, and a lengthy wait in the cold for another plane, I was ready to check in and crash.  We were staying at an Embassy Suites, and as I checked in they had no reservation for me.  I was not happy after a long pointless day of travel, so they put me in the Penthouse suite.  It was rockin.  It was 2 stories, had a 48 inch flat screen, jacuzzi, a full kitchen, 2 bathrooms and was bigger than my apartment in Greenlake.  I slept like a baby/bitch....?  It was awesome.  Embassy Suites is a great hotel chain.  Although you have to pay for their internet, they have an awesome breakfast and usually an amazing fitness center.  The next day I wake up and haven't really shaved in a couple days. I am also tired from the days previous stress and getting in late.  I am still tired and half asleep tie my tie as if I am Rainman attempting it for the first time and go down to my seminar.  I look like crap.  Well my paperwork made it seem like my bosses boss was coming in to view the seminar the day after so I could clean myself up and be presentable the next day..... it was that day that he was coming in.  As I sit down at the table looking disheveled, my boss walks in slowly and I am sorta stunned.  I looked like shit. He glanced at me, calmly said "Hello Matt" and just began to critique my appearance through smug little remarks.  I actually have the sneaking suspicion that this boss just doesn't like me, so I really had nothing going for me that morning.  Well the rest of the day went fine and he left thank god.  I hopped on a plane later that afternoon to Minneapolis and after that seminar flew home.  The weekend was fun and left in the wee hours of the morning to travel to this shithole in Ohio.  I travel again to Minneapolis tonight and stay at the same place as i did last Friday.   Well I just had subway ad wished it were only 4 dollars....it was 5.48........ what a fuckin ripoff (kidding).  Alright I am out ladies and gentlemen.  Deuces from Cleveland, OH......

Reno, San Fran, New York....

Here I am.......in the northeast.....again.....in Fishkill, yes Fishkill, N.Y..  Its a pretty badass town name huh?  I feel like if you live here, you should own a motorcycle or have a tattoo of a skull on your arm or something......or maybe just be a fisherman (ignore the stupidity in that last one).  I flew in last night from San Francisco on Virgin American Airlines, a branch of Virgin airlines that I had never heard of and really liked.  Its an awesome company and am looking into if they have job openings somewhere, cuz it looks really rad.  They have basically transformed the way an airline serves the customer.  They have some pretty innovative ideas and technology to accommodate anyone flying. It was a very comfortable flight and went fast.  I watched the whole first season of 30 Rock to pass the time, just amazing...

   Well I will jump back a few days to Reno where i stayed at the Circus Circus for a seminar.  The Circus Circus doesnt allow smoking in its facilities which is awesome, and gives ya room to breathe freely while you throw your money away.  Also its nice walking out not smelling like an ashtray/shit.  I played my fair share of jackpot party and had some big swings but overall lost what would be the equivalant to a few drinks out at a bar on the weekend.  Reno is definitely a dying town.  The "strip" was a ghost town, and nobody was there.  You would assume big hotels and casinos would provide a lively atmosphere and be sorta be like Vegas..... NOPE.  Reno is where the gambling addicts from Vegas go to retire and scrape the bottom of their wallets/purses hoping to make some money off of the social security check they received last week.  I was the youngest person walking through the casino by 20 years, no joke.  It was weird.  There were probably also like 100 slot machines per person on the floor at any one time.  Just dead inside the casino.   Enjoyed Reno, but unless I am driving through there on a stop somewhere, I probably wont make an effort to go back. OH DAMN I FORGOT!  I had In n Out Burger in Reno.  It has been years since I had that, and last time i went to Vegas I didnt get a chance to enjoy the delicious food they serve.  It was just as good as I had remembered.  I took a picture of me enjoying my meal, but only have so much space on this blog.  After that seminar in Reno, I drove to Sacramento which seems like a nice city, but wasn't very exciting.

On the friday following the Sac (balls ....AHAHA), I had a short drive to go visit Sara and Lisa in San Fran.  I had a blast.  I visited Haight Ashbury where I picked up some sweet shades and a cool shirt and got an AMAZING gyro, went to Golden Gate Park, went to the beach, and walked ALL over the area.  I really like San Francisco.  Its another city, besides Boston and Seattle, where I could see myself living.  The people were incredibly nice and the night scene is awesome.  Everywhere you go there are small shops and cafes to stop into and its all around an awesome city. We went to an awesome bar where a cover band was playing great songs and had a few drinks and also ate some ridiculously good sushi.  It really helped that I had good friends there to show me around and show me an awesome time in thier town of San Francisco, CA.  

  Well, I go into New York this week, and might see some other friends that live there now.  I gots to go to some restaurants mentioned on the travel/food channel and definitely see some of the sites (statue of liberty? times square?).  I took a few pictures in San Fran and Reno and will post them below.  Deuces from Fishkill peeps.....