Surprised?

Whitney Houston died yesterday. Possibly from drugs. In other news, fire is hot. Were we really that surprised? For some reason I thought Bobby Brown would have gone first.

Well, my pre-birthday bash went stellar as planned. Kristen cold rocked it! I also found out I have a very strong affinity for fois gras. We went out on Friday, and had, quite possibly, the tastiest duck dish I've ever had (short of the one we had in Paris). It was actually paired with the right amount of sweet rice and cilantro. Wow, as I type this I really think I sound like a food snob....I might have to eat some Ramen to make up for it!

Sidenotes:

-If you haven't downloaded Asher Roth's Pabst & Jazz album, you're sorely missing out

-Apparently the Timberwolves are a real team this year. Not that they're winning many games, but they're better than watching college basketball for the first time in 4 years

-What can one man do with a $40 salt shaker?

-Mike Boo was in town the other week. Whenever he comes to Minneapolis, I aptly name that weekend: Mike-Boo-a-Palooza. He should come back more often.

-Some days I really feel like I'm a closet hipster. I caught myself saying "yeah, but they were better before they got on TV". Apparently something is only cool if I am the only one who knows about it. The minute it catches on, it is no longer on the radar. What a silly way to think.

Well, it's off to finish the birthday week. I can't believe it's the big 3-0. I'm really getting old.....

And Now What?

I can't believe I'm almost 30. I really have nothing more to add than that. But when I was 15, I never thought about becoming this old. And now I'm fast approaching. I might have to hang up juvenile tendencies for good. No more 3am strolls, no more carrying tools "just in case" and certainly no more doing sketches in 14 year olds books. I''m out for good.

In other news, Ricky Rubio is the new savior of Minnesota. Joe Mauer who?

Christmas Time of Year

I literally can't wait for June. Literally, I can't wait. Twins season tickets are set up to be SOLID this year. There is going to be a 10 day stretch with 9 home games against the Phillies, Cubs and Brewers. I just hope that Thome, Fielder and maybe Pujols are playing during those games. New seats this year too. Switching from 1st base side to 3rd base side. The view of Downtown is MUCH better. Pretty soon, the Twins will be like the Timberwolves. People will pay to see the other teams players. The only Twins that I actually enjoy watching are Span and Kubel. People always ask "but what about Revere, Cuddyer, Mauer and Morneau"? Mostly because they're overrated. Revere is fun to watch, but isn't going to turn into Torii Hunter anytime soon. And Mauer and Morneau are the most overrated players the Twins have had in a while. I wish they would bring back Lew Ford!

In unrelated news, today is one of my favorite days of the year. It is the day I go and get my christmas tree. The next few weeks leave my house smelling of pine like crazy! And, as tradition, I pump the christmas music up to 10, enjoy some Beaujolais, and decorate the hell out of that tree. I just put the finishing touches on my 2012 christmas mix. And I have to say, I LOVE LOVE LOVE a Charlie Brown Christmas. It reminds me of fond Christmas mornings with my parents. There's such a child-like enjoyment that only this time of year brings out in me. As soon as my wife puts presents under the tree, I pull them out and shake them. She literally has to hide them from me. I feel that my Christmas wish list is getting out of hand though!

I'm so glad Saucy Burts is still rolling downtown. I LOVE the foodtruck trend that has taken over Minneapolis. WSK and Burts are my two favorite. And with the cold weather, almost all of them have packed it up for the year. But not Burts. I literally ran a block and a half yesterday coatless in order to get a tasty meatball sandwich. Just thinking about it makes me hungry and I just ate a massive breakfast.

Come to think of it, I've become something of a food snob the past few years. I guess it has to do with getting older and changing tastes. But places like 5 Guys, Chipotle and Perkins are absolutely terrible to my taste buds! Now, I find myself frequenting Bar La Grassa and Saffron more and more during lunch and dinner events. There's something about experiencing food instead of just eating it because I'm hungry. Now my day to day diet of 5 hardboiled eggs and straight chicken breasts still does exist (hey, gotta load up on protein somehow), but there's something about the perfect texture of gnocchi that makes me melt.

As I'm writing this, I'm trying to find every way possible to NOT go to the gym. It's Saturday, and that means it's legs day. Which leaves me walking like an elderly man tomorrow. So I guess I'll give in and hit the weights for my 90 minutes and maybe soak in an ice bath afterwards. And because it's winter, it's eat, eat, eat season. I went from a steady diet of 3,000 calories, to almost 5,000 calories. I guess muscles don't grow if you don't eat! But needless to say, it leaves me a bit dodgy in the mornings.

Hopefully I'll post something else before the holidays, but if I don't, Happy Christmashanakkwanza!

Oh, and if you get a free minute, go download The Walk by Mayer Hawthorne.

The NBA and other stuff

What's that sound? Oh yeah, the silence of the Target Center. Why? Because even though the NBA is back on, the Center will remain empty as can be. But I might actually drop by to see the phenom Ricky Rubio. We can call him a phenom right? right?

So here are my pre-season predictions. Spurs win it all. Age and experience go a long way. And a shorter season = Tim Duncan holding up. If I'm wrong, it will probably be the Bulls.

In other news, I'm slowly falling in love with a ton of celebrities right now. For one, Mila Kunis. I developed a semi-crush on her during Forgetting Sarah Marshall. And the other crush? Zooey Deschanel. I LOVE the show New Girl. Any girl that is that sweet and breaks out into random song, gets my vote. And I used to REALLY not like Elisha Cuthbert, but WOW. She is wooing me on Happy Endings. I love this season of TV!

Christmas is also coming up. B-T-Dubs: It's my favorite holiday. So thank you in advance for picking me up a present. I could really use a new Macbook Air.

In completely unrelated news, I've got my travel itinerary done for 2012. San Francisco, Denver, Orlando and hopefully a stop in London. I love airplanes.

Need a good tune? Mayer Hawthorn's The Walk is playing on my ipod a lot lately.

I've started writing my next book. And my started, I mean started thinking about a topic. I'm totally at a loss. I'm thinking of some kind of comedy, but also a love story would be good too.

Ok, I've rambled on enough for tonight. I will TRY TRY TRY to do a better job at making coherent posts in the future. Until then. Peace and chicken grease.

-JB

TV killed true love

So I'm getting my oil changed today, and I'm super, super, super bored. I decided to start sending random texts to people. Long story short, I got on the subject of The Wonder Years with Marjorie. And it got me thinking....My childhood TV shows made me fall in love a certain type of woman. Who, in real life, does not exist.

Case and point: Kelly Kapowski. She was probably the first girl I had a TV crush on. I used to actually think a girl like her existed. Cool, sophisticated, big hair, and neon clothes. But take a look around--no where.

Girl 2: Winnie Cooper. The prototypical girl next door. She was such a tease though. Played those mind games with poor Kevin Arnold.

Girl 3. Topanga Lawrence. I actually fell in love with this girl when she was the nerd that Cory Mathews wanted nothing to do with. Then BOOM! She got hot in 1 season! And the rest of the world fell head over heels for her too.

Patti Mayonnaise: One of my first cartoon crushes. Looking back now, she should have given me the creeps, but she didn't.

Dina Alexander (from Salute your Shorts). Hands down, one of my favorite crushes. She was hot before I knew what hot was!

Kelly Brown (Hey Dude!). Again, hot girl on a horse. What's not to love??

Joey Potter. Katie Holmes is one of the most unattractive people on this planet. But during a very odd Junior year of high school, she was the bees knees! I told many lies about how I met "a girl that look JUST like her".

Iesha. Now this girl was just plain fictitious. But ABC made me believe there was an Iesha out there for me.

So the moral of the story is that for many years, I searched far and wide for these archetypes of women. But in the end, they don't exist. And why aren't there these types of women today? All I see on TV, is Miley Cyrus and Selena Gomez. TV producers need to do a better job at making unattainable women for young males to fawn over.

Night Time is the Right Time

I've always been fascinated with the nighttime. 2am (especially on a week day) has a different feeling to it. It almost feels as though the city itself is sleeping. It might have something to do with the fact that when I was between the ages of 14-26 I spent a lot of my time roaming around in the night doing things that I probably shouldn't have been doing. And the places I was at were even more desolate in the night. Take for instance an abandoned building, a train yard, or a rooftop on the outskirts of downtown Minneapolis. Even in the day, these places are isolated from the wandering public, and the nighttime enhances those characteristics. For the record, I am not counting Hennepin Ave. at bar closing as being part of this nighttime feeling, though it shouldn't be fully excluded. I should really explore this concept more in depth...perhaps a new book based on short stories? Maybe.

I need to get out of here

I actually have a valid excuse for not blogging this time! Kristen and I decided to spend two weeks in Italy. We headed over in October and spent two fantastic weeks between Rome and Tuscany (though most of the time was spent in Tuscany). We're already talking about what to do on our next round over there (hopefully within the next 3 years).

On the plane back home, I didn't sleep much. Instead, I had a deep reflection session with myself. The first question people ask, is "how was your trip", the second is almost always "what was your favorite part"? But how can I ever put those experiences into words? It's impossible for me to verbalize those amazing experiences. How can you describe the smell and ambiance of the Sistine Chapel? Or how the wind sounds at night next to the Colosseum? Or how soft Gelato is? Those experiences are somewhat personal and I don't know if I could ever fully explain it. So my answers are always "The trip was amazing", and "Seeing the Tuscan countryside (and wineries) was probably my favorite".

As I'm typing this, I can't help but think of similiar experiences I've had in my life. The two that jump out at me most, is how the lawn feels under the Eiffel tower at night (especially with a baguette and wine). And how the transition of overly-busy Rio de Janeiro feels when you walk a block to the beach, and suddenly it's peaceful and almost quite.

While on the train to Florence, a lady told me "There's a difference between vacation and travel". And I would almost argue that traveling is better than a vacation.....

And here are some sidenotes:

- Michael Cuddyer will be gone in the offseason. Sorry Twinkie fans. It's my off season prediction

- My Superbowl picks are Green Bay v. Pittsburg.

- Is there anything more tasty than sushi in the afternoon? I don't think there is!

- I went to Pinstripes the other weekend. Wine and bowling? Don't mind if I do!

- I'm on week 14 of my current workout regime. I've noticed a major definition change, but I can't seem to put on weight! My goal was to add 10 pounds of muscle, but so far I'm only up to about 4. Damn this rapid metabolism!

- I need a new arch enemy in my life. Joe Cooper just isn't cutting it in the "nemesis" category.

Well it's Saturday. And for me that means 2 hours at the gym, a HUGE lunch, a nap, and some major fun tonight. Minneapolis streets and random people I will see: I apologize in advance.