Haircuts for Kristen

Cyclones Game

I took Heather to her very first Brooklyn Cyclones game tonight at the recently re-named MCU Park down in the heart of Coney Island. My aunt has a mini plan where you go to see 6 or 7 games, except my uncle was out of town for business. She gave the tickets to us instead, along with vouchers for free food! As sports fans (and fans of all things free), we weren't about to pass that up.

The game was at 7pm against the Aberdeen Ironbirds. They had a t-shirt giveaway for the first 2500 fans. The tee is commemorating the 10th anniversary of professional baseball coming back to Brooklyn where it rightfully belongs (I can't believe it's been that long ::insert nostalgia::). We also got a couple of free bags. They just couldn't help but throw stuff at us!

The seats were only 6 rows behind home plate. It was early so we meandered around the official merchandise store for a while. We got our traditional magnet to celebrate. Then we wandered around the stadium taking pictures and came across the place where you redeem the food vouchers for all season ticket and mini plan holders. Holy awesome, Batman. The voucher was good for 1 hotdog or hamburger, 1 bag of potato chips, and 1 can of soda. What a great gift to loyal fans! After devouring this classic stadium food, we headed back to our seats to watch the game.

The Cyclones ended up killing the Ironbirds 9-3. It started raining in the 5th inning, so we popped open our fantastically clear and huge umbrella. We got quite wet anyway. While waiting for the rain to clear though, we split a delicious Brooklyn Lager on draft. The rain simply couldn't put a damper on our spirits. Heather and I are the kind of fans who love to cheer AND jeer. We're a hoot in all kinds of weather.

There is still that one guy who tries to loudly start the "Let's Go Cyclones!" chant and fails. Someone cheered along but they kept yelling "Let's Go Cyclops!" Then there was the guy who yelled "Come on! Double play!" even though there was no one on base. His friends tactfully told him to have another drink. And lastly, there was the lady who brought a cardboard food tray back to her seat, except instead of a hotdog, she pulled out a bird... and held it in her hand while showing it to people. How many diseases does that thing probably have?!?! EW!!!

My favorite moment of the night though - a talent scout who was tracking pitching speeds the whole game stopped us on our way out just to say, "Good cheering tonight!"

This is baseball, Brooklyn-style. Oh, how sweet it is!

Mermaid Parade

Every year, the Coney Island corporation hosts the Mermaid Parade.  Being the nation's largest art parade, it overflows with creative expressions of sand, sea, and summer.  Despite the fact that Kristen grew up in Brooklyn, she has never been to the parade before (shocking).  When we wandered down to Coney Island back in April, I saw a building painted with an ad for the parade and was very intrigued.  Seeing how the weather was supposed to be beautiful today, we decided to hop the Q train and see just what this parade had to offer.

Well the weather was indeed beautiful.  The temperature was warm, but not unbearable and the cool breeze of the Atlantic was very refreshing as we walked down the boardwalk.  Unfortunately it was crowded as hell and the combination of crowd + heat + New Yorkers + tourists = a LOT of cranky people!  Navigating through the sardine can that was Surf Avenue was less than awesome.  Once we settled into a viewing spot though, it was all good.

The parade was definitely interesting.  There were countless "mermaids"- men, women, and children alike- showing their artistic expression in everything from a thong and pasties to full out glitz.  There were also plenty of Neptunes, Poseidons, and various representations of clams, jellyfish, seashells, tropical fish, and what I believe to be coral.  They had some classic cars in typical parade fashion and a myriad of floats and banners representing Coney Island history, myths, and legends.

After a while it got too hot to just stand still so we wandered over to Nathan's Famous for hotdogs and fries- yum!! The line was killer, but soooo worth it. We planted ourselves on the sidewalk for a bit and enjoyed a nice cool slushie while waiting for the crowd to disperse a bit.  That sorta never happened, but we caught a second wind and braved the crowd yet again to find a spot on the beach front.  We hung out there for a bit, enjoying all the lil kiddos splashing around in the water, and then strolled on down the pier for a photo op  It. was. gorgeous! Coney Island could not have asked for a better day!!

2010 Movies (So Far)

I love movies but we haven't seen that many since we moved down here because there's so much else to do! However, these are my semi-not-at-all-professional reviews:

Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief - In my humble opinion, this was not as fun as the book. It's missing the troubled, 'adolescent charm gets thrown into a mythological world' feel that I enjoyed so much about the series. It doesn't quite meet the qualifications to be classified as action, comedy, coming of age, or sci fi/fantasy. It lacks heart, more than anything. Sad.

Clash of the Titans - Disappointing. Sam Worthington is the most painfully average and forgettable action star I've ever seen who keeps getting these huge roles. I love Liam Neeson, but this was a terrible movie with very few redeeming qualities. Two thumbs down. I wish I could erase this from my brain.

Date Night - The clear winner so far this year. Funny and awkward with surprisingly honest sentiments. It captures the routine of marriage well but gives you something new to think about. It's also got some great action and a particularly fantastic cameo by Mila Kunis and James Franco. Steve Carrell and Tina Fey are one of the best comedic/romantic pairs I've seen in a long time. I would most definitely own this on DVD.

Death at a Funeral - Not a revelation, but funny in its own right. It put together a great cast. James Marsden was especially hilarious, creating accidental destruction and chaos everywhere he went.

To be seen:
Iron Man 2, Eclipse, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Pt 1! I might dress up for that last one...




Cop Out
Alice in Wonderland

Red Bulls

Being soccer fans, Kristen and I have always wanted to go to a professional soccer game.  The World Cup would obviously be our stage of choice, but thats not likely anytime soon.  In the meantime, we figured we'd aim a little lower.  Luckily we live pretty close to the home venue of the Red Bulls- the New York MLS team.  Although they are in fact the "New York Red Bulls" their arena is in New Jersey...typical.  So we bought some tickets and ventured on over to Jersey (ugh) for our very first pro soccer game.

Its worth noting that soccer fans have a level of enthusiasm possibly higher than any other sport.  Their heart and creativity is inspiring and contagious.  We were able to witness this first hand since our seats were directly across from the "Empire Club"- an energetic group of fans who have been following the Red Bulls for over 15 years.  They were totally decked out in fan gear and had plenty of cheers, complete with organized dance moves.  It was awesome to watch.  They never sat down or stopped cheering thoughout the whole game!

It was an awesome game.  The Houston Dynamos put up a good fight, but the Red Bulls came out on top in the end.  The teams were tied until the last minute when captain Juan Pablo Angel snuck in a fantastic goal to win the game.  Very exciting!!! We're definitely considering going back.

Kristen's side note: I particularly enjoyed the huge banner of an angry bull that they pulled out when we scored. We commemorated our time there by purchasing a souvenir magnet and knocking back a couple of draft beers! ::gulp:: Ahhh.

The Next Step?

Ever since we moved, I've been going slightly crazy trying to figure out what my next career move will be. When I finished college, I was certain that I'd end up as a counselor/therapist of some sort.  I hadn't quite pinned down what licensure I wanted or what specialty, but I'd been working towards a human services career for the previous 4 years.  When I graduated, I was very excited to begin my career.

Then I got a job in the field working with "at-risk" adolescents.  At first it was okay- I was good at it, but the work environment left much to be desired.  I thought perhaps it was specific to that agency and just the "nature of the field" (as my supervisors so often liked to claim) so I stuck it out.  Then it went from crappy to unacceptable.  I still assumed it would be fine if I stuck it out longer (naive much?), but began speaking out more often- trying to get the ball rolling for positive changes.  My intention was to improve the program within my Unit and help make it more consistent and efficient.  Unfortunately for me (and the poor clients) that particular agency is far more interested in saving money and following ancient (read: ineffective) protocols than in actually helping the families it claims to serve.  

My instincts (eventually) told me to get the hell outta there, but by the time that happened- the administrators had figured out they wanted me gone as well.  Apparently they aim for a staff full of mediocre (or worse) employees who really don't give a shit.  I am proud to say I do not fall under that category.  

Long story short: I no longer work there.

Leaving that place was honestly the best thing that could have happened to me.  In retrospect, it was actually even worse than I thought.  I know its better for me to be out of that environment, but any sudden change in employment is cause for stress.  I went through a typical grieving process, but at this point I am much more settled into the acceptance phase.  It may have taken me while to sort it all out in my head enough to make sense of the whole fiasco, but ultimately I feel much more content with the decisions I made and clearly see that it was for the better (if not a blessing in disguise!).

So now I need to figure out what to do.  I know I want to change careers, but to what? And how do I go about figuring that out?  What's the next step?

Coney Island

Nathan's Famous Hot Dog, french fries, 32-oz Killian's on draft, walking along the boardwalk, getting called to work, Keyspan Park.

Promises, Promises

With Kristin Chenoweth and Sean Hayes.

Third NYC Celeb Sighting

We waited in line for the "American Idiot" student lottery and unfortunately did not win.  However, as we were making our way back to Times Square, I tripped and nearly fell on Stephanie March ("Alex Cabot" from Law & Order SVU aka my fav show).  She was standing outside a doorway, concentrating very hard on reading something- probably memorizing lines for her next acting gig.  Kristen encouraged me to take a picture, but I'd feel like a freak if I did that...so although it is not officially documented, it was still pretty awesome to see her in person!

Syracuse Gebos

I've been up north visiting my family for a few weeks while my brother is home for spring break. Today we went to Syracuse to visit with our relatives there. We headed on over to my Uncle Don and Kent's house and luckily I was able to see Ashley and her baby, Ryan, as well as ALL of Traci's kids! This is the first time I've ever seen Calli and I haven't seen the other three since the benefit. It was a sad day for a number of reasons, but I was so incredibly happy to spend time with everyone.

Brianna May:

Mason Mikiah:

Anthony Joseph:

Callie Marie: