Stanley Cup...Game 1...Game On!!!

"I win for me...FOR ME!"


Those who don't know (and if you don't, then shame on you) the caption above is a quote from Rocky IV.  The reason why I point that out is that JUST like Balboa vs. Drago, I believe this fight is going to be a slobber-knocker!  I'd love to sit here and say that we're going to sweep the Blackhawks just like we swept the Penguins, but the Blackhawks have something the Pens never had...Leadership and Heart.  It's those two factors that supersede all the skill in the world once the NHL's 2nd season begins.  Look at Sid "The Kid" Crosby...I heard him referenced a million times as being "The Best Player In The World" to the point where I'm surprised he doesn't wear a t-shirt that states as much, but where was he when faced with a team loaded with leaders, with hearts of a champion?  He was nowhere, as his stats and play showed.  What's the point of be the best in the world at something if the end result is meaningless?  Honestly, it's like being the fastest kid in the Special Olympics.

I actually read this in a fortune cookie

The Chicago Blackhawks on the other hand have the heart to fight through adversity, have the leadership that brings a team together and has the skill to make ANY goalie look like Goldberg from The Mighty Ducks.


Worst...Goalie...Ever!
 

Aside from the fact that these are two of the Original-6, the individual match ups are amazingly exciting.  The Captains squaring off in Big-Z's defense vs. Toews unwavering offensive skill...The Studs with Seguin and Kane flying up and down the ice with more moves than Electric Boogaloo...The Pain-in-the-Ass Pests of Marchand and Andrew Shaw who you love to hate OR hate to love...The Goalie's who's stats and abilities are SO similar, if there's any advantage one way or the other, it's measured by a pubic hair...AND the match up I can't wait to see, Milan Lucic vs. Bryan Bickell who are the unstoppable force vs. immovable object (take your pick who is who).

What this series feels like

As it is Hump Day, normally I would have a soccer match to play (which I do), but I wouldn't be able to concentrate if I played.  I've pleaded with My Love, who is also My Teammate, to also call-in-sick to soccer so that we can watch together.  I can say that the way to a man's heart could be through how to you watch/enjoy sporting events, whether it's live or on TV.  It's just more fun watching shit with her and just like my playoff-5:00-shadow, I don't think we've lost while watching together...and I don't like messing with the sporting gods.

No matter what the outcome of the series, I can't wait to watch some good old-fashion hockey.  Two teams who will leave all they have on the ice for every game this series.  A couple months ago, My Love and I spent some quality time in a Chicago hookah bar waiting for our connecting flight back to Boston.  We spent a good amount of that time talking with a native Chi-Town resident and expressed how much we'd love to see a Boston/Chicago Stanley Cup and had some great friendly debate regarding our teams, our cities, ourselves.  Towards the end of the night we parted way, shook hands and wished each other well...and when the bill came for our dinner and drinks, we found that our new friend had paid our tab prior to leaving.  New friends aside, it's almost game time...Chicago acquaintances are put on hold, time to get nasty; blood, sweat and tears...and if you didn't need any more motivation, I'll leave you with these immortal words...

Hey Liver??? See, I Care!!!

Team Awesome Bringing The Love To Team Stanley!

I find it funny that my last post had to do more with the destruction and rehabilitation of my own liver, and here we are on Sunday, June 9th, to support Team Stanley at the Liver Life Walk - Greater Boston. 

My first step (Pun Intended, Waka, Waka!) towards a more healthy lifestyle began MUCH earlier than expected.  The Gruesome-Twosome and I had a sleep-over at My Love's abode, because we had a very busy morning to prepare for the Liver Life Walk.  Aside from loitering in the parking lot a Aveni Cleaners (which from the outside looks like the warehouse from Reservoir Dogs) and getting flipped off by Weymouth's finest, The Gruesome-Twosome neglected to get the memo that "up early" was MUCH later than 4:55 am!  Nothing a little Nintendo DS and Dunkies can't fix though.


Here's to waking up early, bad drivers and creepy parking lots

We made our way to Foxboro, beneath the banners of THREE Superbowl Championship banners and countless amenities that in no doubt contribute to the purchase of more blue-shirt-white-cuff/collars for Mr. Kraft to add to his collection.

"Hey Baby! Those people paid for this shirt...Let's have sex!"

Upon acclimating myself with my surroundings as well as being introduced to the rest of Team Stanley, we were off on a 2.5 mile walk around the parameter of Patriot Place.  The Stanley family, who are actually My Love's former in-laws (and such), were welcoming, hilarious, upbeat, loving and passionate and despite just meeting 95% of these people, made me feel part of the family.  I also got a lesson as to how a camel may feel.  Thankfully I wore cargo shorts because I needed every pocket and every square inch of the backpack I carried to hold 12 waters, change of clothes, wallets, phones, balloon swords, three french hens, two turtle-doves and a partridge in a pear tree...Not to mention I was getting peer-pressured into swiping 3 bunches of bananas, 6 oranges, 4 turkey sandwiches and a couple bags of BBQ potato chips!  I let Ms Amber worry about the hand sanitizer.

One would think that 2.5 miles would not be that bad...which it wasn't...for Yours Truly, but we were only 50 feet into the walk and Mr. Leo had already called a rickshaw.  Ms Gwen made it at least 1/2 way before starting a "Are We There Yet?" chant that is still ringing in my head.  Approximately an hour after we departed the starting gate, we arrived at the finish line and despite starving like the fattest Ethiopian in the village, I felt really good!

Now, I may not know (yet) what it's like to personally deal with liver disease, and I'm certainly in no position to donate money towards the cause, but I am more than happy that I was able to contribute my time and support to some great people and new friends.  There may have been a time when this would have been REALLY weird to say, but I will always be proud to wear my "TEAM STANLEY" shirt.

Picked A Helluva Day To Quit Drinking!

According to the Internet, Mark Twain famously stated, "Giving up drinking is the easiest thing in the world.  I know because I've done it a thousand times."  Who knows for sure whether or not he actually uttered those words about drinking...maybe it was about smoking...maybe it was about Asian hookers...all I know is that, no truer words have ever been spoken.

(Even Superman Enjoys Happy Hour!)

 

Another famous quote from is, "Da-Nile ain't just a river in Egypt", and for a long, LONG time I've done just that.  I would boast that moderation is the key to life, but who's to say what's considered moderate?  According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, "moderate" (on average) is "No more than 4 drinks on any single day AND no more than 14 drinks per week".  14 drinks per week...which (for you number-crunchers) is 2 drink per day.  If I take a sec to throw some ballpark numbers to see how "moderate" I am, this I where I stand at my very consistently worse...

 

 - Yours Truly Per Day = 8 to 12 regular sized beverages

(Boy That Looks Refreshing)

 

So, by my math, I'm consuming anywhere from 56 to 84 libations, PER WEEK!  Even if I were talking about giving my kids hugs, there's nothing "moderate" about that number!

 

Honestly, numbers do nothing for me and I suck at math, so I'd prefer to look at more tangible evidence to support my sobriety.  Very simply, when I drink, one way or another I feel like SHIT...and not that good shit that comes out clean and leaves you feeling 10-pounds lighter.  I drink to avoid stress, frustration, boredom, dealing with others, dealing with myself...To Avoid Reality.  That's what makes drinking so great; it makes reality less sharp, less harsh, less real!  Look at any booze commercial on TV...they show people without a care in the world doing extraordinary things.  There's no work, or significant other bitching you out, or whining kids, or crazy family members (and not the GOOD crazy).  There's just you, friends, good times and your beverage of choice - Life Is Perfect!  What they should show is people digging through their car for quarters to buy the cheapest vodka, waking up at 7am with an awful headache next to a hippopotamus you'd chew your arm off to get away from! (*DISCLAIMER - Scenario NOT from personal experience)

 

Not-so-surprising are the days, and especially mornings, that I DON'T drink (as few and far between those days are).  I feel Damn Good!  I want to get shit done, tackle the world, do the things I've always wanted to try and be the man I know I can be.  Yeah...that feeling last about 2 days, then comes the cravings, the headaches, the WORST nagging headaches, and you know that all it would take is a couple drinks to right-the-ship...so the cycle begins again.

 

I'm on my 2nd day without a drink and the withdrawals haven't started yet.  I know they are coming and I know that to beat this I have to deal with them.  What sucks is the rest of the world doesn't stop to allow me the time I need to weather the storm, break the cycle and it's that bullshit that always seems to drag me back down the bottle.  As cliche as it sounds, I have to take things day-by-day.  Thankfully, I have My Love to lean on and the Gruesome-Twosome are always a welcome distraction.  I still wish I could escape from time to time, but that's just another way to suppress and avoid reality.  Bottom line is that this needs to be tackled head-on with the type of strength and conviction I typically try to shy away from.  I'm hoping this blog continues to provide me with the motivation and introspection that helps me recognize the greater good...because I'm better than this.

("White-Man's Burden, Lloyd")

 

 

So It Begins...Again...

Once upon a time (like all great stories), I had a BLOG.  I think it was well received and I enjoyed sharing my thoughts...until this douche-bag at my work sold me out!  It's been a few years now and honestly, fuck that ugly, condescending, ass-licking cunty-bitch.

Whew...Anyways, I've been jonzing to write again.  As always, a lot of weird shit has happened and continues to happen in my life.  I think that if I don't have an outlet for all the craziness, I may end up jumping off the short-pier into Hingham Harbor, grow some extra limbs and live out my days as "Il Mostro" in depths of The Blue Hills.

There are oodles of new developments in my life that provide me plenty of fodder to blog about.  Here's a quick rundown, all of which I'll get into more detail as the days roll on.  First and foremost is that I'm Divorced!  Marriages come and go, which is becoming more commonplace and mine went, I waved it bye-bye and I'm glad it's gone.  The Gruesome-Twosome are much older from my last foray into blogging-cyberspace (Eight & Four!), and they continue to amazing me.  I'm very aware that I'm an alcoholic, and I'm still wrestling with getting that under control.  It sucks that I've allowed it to get to this point and I have no one else to blame but MYSELF...and ALL the whacked-out people who drove me this far!!!  When I'm not working, I spend a majority of my free time with someone who I will refer to as "My Love" (MUST protect the innocent), who is amazing, beautiful person who must be borderline saint to put up with my shenanigans...or she's just just as INSANE as I am!  She, like me, is also divorced with her own strange and wonderful twosome who I've yet to come up with a hilarious moniker for.  Everything else that I do is pretty much the same in some capacity.  Same friends, same extra-curricular activities, same job...you'd think my life were pretty boring, but I assure you that it's far from it.

So this is my launching point.  I honestly don't care who reads this blog (probably no one), but that's really not the point.  I'm no longer on Facebook and have no desire the advertise the fact that I even have a blog again.  If someone is to stumble across this or I mention it in passing, and those people choose to visit my little nugget of THE INTERNET from time to time, then Super-Duper.  Perhaps my perceptions, anecdotes, opinions, struggles, triumphs or just my random ramblings put a smile on your face...misery does love company!

I'm going to make this a daily thing, because it's a HUGE pet peeve of mine to visit a website and find no new content.  Plus, I have a lot of shit to say, and I tend to fuck up my message whenever faced with actual speaking.  Writing has always been more of a natural way to communicate to others.  It's funny, there's a kid in My Love's class who doesn't speak at all and I find that I envy that aspect of the kid.  I'm a FAR better communicator when I just shut the hell up!  So, without further ado...I don’t know where I’m going, but I sure know where I’ve been...Hanging on the promises in songs of yesterday, and I’ve made up my mind; I ain’t wasting no more time, but Here I Go Again!