Gay Band-Aids

On Sunday night, I played tennis at the US National Tennis Center. I hadn't played since November and it felt really good to be on the court. I love playing tennis and just banging the ball away. It's one of the rare situations when I can really stop thinking about everything going on in my life and just think about hitting the ball.

Me and my friend were playing pretty hard that day. At first I was having a little trouble seeing the ball under the bright lights in the tennis court bubble. But soon I hit my groove and stopped framing the ball so much. We were having some pretty good rallies and both of us were hitting the ball hard and running each other back and forth. I soon started to get a couple of blisters on my hand. This always happens when I play tennis for the first time after a long break. I get them from the friction between my hand and the grip on my racquet. They always arise in the same place--lower bottom left corner of my palm and on the right side of my thumb.

I kept on playing because the pain wasn't that bad, but soon the blister at the bottom of my hand popped and I needed to find something to cover it up. My friend had a band-aid, but it wasn't really staying on. I decided to go to the front desk to see if they had a bigger Band-Aid. The guy at the front desk opened his first aid kit and started rummaging through there for a big enough bandage. Finally he handed me one. I thanked him and ran back to my court.

I tore off the wrapping. Oh my god. I never knew there was a such thing as a gay band-aid, but this was definitely the gayest band-aid I had ever seen. This wasn't your normal Johnson & Johnson Band-Aid. This was one of those "novelty" clear ones with a drawing on it. The drawing on the band-aid was this buff shirtless guy doing a volleyball spike over the net. My friend and I were laughing and commenting on the guy's physique.

Well, that band-aid didn't work that well either, but it worked well enough. As long as I held my racquet really tightly, my hand wouldn't hurt so much. The next day I bought some normal band-aids. Actually I bought waterproof band-aids, which are so awesome that I can't believe I've never heard of them before. And I was putting a cold pack on my hand the next day because it was still sore from my vise-like grip on my racquet.

Well all my pain and suffering was worth it. I got to play tennis and I got to wear a new gay accessory.

New Music

Like many people, I rarely buy CDs anymore. I get most of my music online. But I will buy the CD if it's by an up and coming new artist. I like to support artists who haven't made it yet and it makes me feel "in the know" since I can say to say all my friends, "Hey, have you heard that song? Oh you haven't? Well, let me tell you all about it!"

Last Thursday, I was having a pretty shitty day. I didn't go into work that day and just worked from home because I wanted to be left alone. I had my high school reunion that night, and contemplated not showing up, but I decided I should get out of the apartment. I didn't want to be a total hermit.

My reunion was at the Yale Club over by Grand Central. So I hopped on the 2/3 down to Times Square to eventually catch the S shuttle over to the East side. I know this trip well since it's the commute I take everyday to work. Since it was rush hour, there were lots of people running around in the stations.

As I was wading through the throngs of people at Times Square, I saw that a crowd had gathered in the big open area on the way to the S shuttle and the N/R/W trains. Oh great. Another musical performer. I really have no patience for crowds. That's the most annoying thing about New York--everything has a crowd or a long-ass line. When I see musical performers in the subway station and space made by the crowd so they can perform, I just walk right on through the space. I'm in a rush, and I have places where I need to be.

However, I always glance over and listen for the few seconds as I walk past the performers. And then usually I'm on my way. Since I was in such a depressed and crappy mood, I didn't expect to really be in the mood for any musical entertainment. This time, though, I stopped and listened for a few minutes and ended up staying for three songs. The girl's name is Susan Cagle. I really enjoyed her music and it definitely lifted my mood. Apparently she has an upcoming CD coming out on the Lefthook label with Sony/Columbia. Well I have now taken it upon myself to be a grassroots Susan Cagle promoter. I highly encourage everyone to check her out.

Seven things....

So I got tagged by Kristy. This is my first meme! Anyway, here we go:

Seven things to do before I die:
1. Go to business school.
2. Buy an apartment.
3. Get my six pack back.
4. Learn to surf and fence.
5. Reconcile with my parents.
6. Find someone to be with.
7. Be happy with my job.

Seven things I cannot do:
1. Be alone forever
2. Pass up the latest designer offering, especially if it’s on sale
3. Small talk
4. Hit on someone
5. Photograph well (i.e., my photogenic qualities)
6. Serve a tennis kick serve
7. Ski a double black run at Snowbird or any big ski resort out West

Seven things that attract me to blogging:
1. I’ve become more observant.
2. I’ve become more outgoing.
3. Feeling of being a “writer/journalist.”
4. Comments (Hint, hint to everyone who reads this blog.)
5. Gives me something to do when I’m bored at work.
6. Outlet to react in a human way to situations I see or am involved in.
7. Lets my friends know that I haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth.

Seven things I say most often:
1. like
2. I don’t care
3. I’m tired
4. What’s for dinner?
5. Wow
6. I guess
7. Cool

Seven books that I love:
1. Nobody’s Fool by Richard Russo (book & the movie)
2. New York Magazine (I know that’s not a book).
3. How to Eat by Nigella Lawson
4. The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
5. The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro
6. Thirteen Days by Robert Kennedy
7. The Best Little Boy In The World Grows Up by Andrew Tobias

Seven movies that I can watch over and over again:
1. Sabrina (1995)
2. Ordinary People
3. Friends & Alias (Yeah, I know. Neither is a movie.)
4. Notting Hill
5. Quiz Show
6. Lord of the Rings trilogy
7. Indiana Jones trilogy

Happy (Belated) Chinese New Year

On Sunday, I kind of invited myself to dim sum with my friend, Colin. I just had a craving for it ever since I saw Mr. I-think-I'm-so-great Ming Tsai on TV couple weeks ago take a trip to Hong Kong. There, he went to the Floating Restaurant and had an amazing array of different dumplings and other little plates of dim sum. I was drooling at the sight and wanted to go for some as soon as I could.

I picked a bad weekend to go. First of all, I hate Chinatown. I can't stand the crowds, the screwed up streets, 200 year old people who walk way too slow buying who knows what and the cheap business owners there who don't take credit cards. All of this was exacerbated by the throngs of people for the Chinese New Year Parade. I don't know what my friends were thinking because they told me they specifically chose this restaurant because it was away from the parade hoopla. My friends must have been crazy because it was smack dab in the middle of the parade.

Anyway, I finally arrived and had a nice time enjoying the dim sum. Too bad you have to go all the way to Chinatown for it.

Brave New Gym

This month I've been going to the Reebok Sports Club on a free pass that I got in the mail. The Club sent it to me as a friendly "neighborhood" gift since I live 5 blocks away from the Club. My membership at Equinox had expired and so this was a good time for me to try out the ritzy Reebok Sports Club.

This club has everything. Basketball courts? Yep. Indoor Rock Climbing Wall? Got it. Outdoor track? Yep. And of course it has your standard free weights, machines, treadmills, ellipticals, like any other gym. It's really an impressive facility, which is good because you have to pay an arm and a leg to join there. The initiation is $1,200 and then you pay $188/month after that. I could have joined for only $600 initiation. Geez, what a bargain. And I thought Equinox was pricey.

With my free pass to the Reebok Sports Club, I could also visit any Sports Club LA in the city. One night, with my free pass in hand, I visited the Sports Club LA at Rockefeller Center. It's a little difficult to find, but eventually I found it and handed over my pass and went down to the locker room to change. I had brought a green Nike t shirt that day and a pair of navy blue shorts. As soon as I changed and locked my stuff up, I went back upstairs to the exercise area. Upstairs, I encountered a sea of grey t shirts and grey shorts. Oooooook....this is a little weird. Then I realized that everyone was wearing the same thing! Turns out the Sports Club LA (but not Reebok for whatever reason) lends you clothes to wear while you work out.

While I can see the convenience of this, especially going to the gym without lugging a gym bag around, it was really weird. Working out with 100s of people who are all dressed the same, and you're the oddball out because you're not wearing the gym's clothes is a very bizarre experience. I felt like they were all clones and I was going to be kicked out for not conforming.

To top it all off, when I got back to the locker room and passed by the desk where you can borrow clothes, I saw that you could also borrow jockstraps.

Ok, now THAT is going too far.