Hey everyone! Hope you’ve had an enjoyable Thanksgiving holiday with friends, family, and loved ones…and you haven’t made life a living hell for them or the poor souls in retail on Black Friday (and having spent my entire life in customer service and retail management, believe me when I say there’s a special place in hell for you if you have). I got back this afternoon from a week at my mom’s back in Western New York, spending time with her and some friends, and while I’m thankful for being able to have done so, it’s also nice again to be back home where I can sleep in my own bed and get back into my routine here (until Christmas comes around next month and I’m back out on the road!).
And what a week it was! Both my beloved Sabres and Bills had some big wins. I spent some time with the homies down at Matty’s Pub, watching the UFC (or is it MMA? I have no clue. [Side note: Outside of a few highlight clips on SportsCenter, I’ve never seen UFC or MMA before…and I’m very clueless about it other than the general premise of watching two people beat the everlovin’ outta each other. So with those expectations and those only in mind, I was not disappointed.]). Matty’s Pub was also the venue of choice for Sunday’s Bills game (where there was also a brawl) but more importantly, this picture hung of my late brother who was a staple behind the basement bar until he passed two years and one week ago today.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bqnop9qH8mA/
Let’s see…what else? I had a run-in with the Subway at the Greyhound station in Syracuse because they made me a breakfast wrap they were incapable of ringing me out properly for, and after informing me I’d basically have to pay double for something other locations have made easily for me in the past and told me I couldn’t use my “Tokens” or whatever their loyalty program is now, got really shitty with me when I told them I didn’t want it (seriously, how much of a corporate hardship is it to slap steak/egg/cheese inside a sun-dried tomato wrap??)…and when I complained to their ownership group about it, got nothing more than an “Ooops, sorry about that, but we talked to the employees and it won’t happen again!”…uhhhh….ya damn right it won’t, cuz I have zero confidence now in your business practices and customer relations (especially when combined with your substandard food offerings in an area where my choices are Subway, Dunkin’, and the in-house bodega with no better selection than the vending machines). So yeah, that sucked.
But…mom and I took 2nd place in Pub Trivia (thanks to a colossal tie after the final question that necessitated a wild stab at the overtime question) on the quote-unquote Biggest Party Night Of The Year. After dinner some of my brother’s friends (ok, I can stop calling them that, because they’re my friends too now) came out for karaoke, where things proceeded to get loud and rambunctious (of course). [Side Note: This is the same place my brother took me to for my 40th birthday, where a very Crown-and Coke’d me vociferously complained about the karaoke DJ not having any Beastie Boys songs in his catalog.] While I am proud to announce that the DJ has made tremendous strides in his offerings, I cannot say with the same enthusiasm that my performance Wednesday night was as exciting.
But hey, fun is fun, am I right? My only regret is that I didn’t get a recording of me doing “Sabotage” also, where my boy said, and I quote, “You’re scaring people.”
Thanksgiving itself was low-key…just mom and I and some turkey and her stuffing (my favorite, and if you say anything other than stuffing in general is your idea of “the best part of Thanksgiving Dinner”, then you’re a cop) and football and me on the couch in my pajamas from morning ’til night. It’s hands-down my favorite meal of the year, along with Second Thanksgiving (the midnight raiding of the leftovers). And Friday was pretty low-key as well, or at least it was until I was tagged in a Facebook post from my publisher announcing the arrival of the Stigma Fighters Anthology Vol. 4 launch on Amazon…which she says is dedicated to me (!!) and not only includes my very first online submission for them, but also three poems that aren’t in 100. How #NorbAF and #dopeAF is that??
And hey, it’s not just me that’s in this amazing collection…I’ve met and/or became friends with quite a few of these people in a very busy and incredible 2018 so far, and it’s worth much more than your time to check out their stories and how we’re all trying to do our part in combating the stigmas surrounding various mental illnesses.
So yeah, it’s been a week y’all! I’m so thankful to have so many exceptional and amazing people in all the many facets of my life who care about me and do beautiful things and kick so much more ass than they even know. For that, I think it’s time to bang out a good ol’ Thanks and I love you playlist! Hit it!!
- The Tragically Hip, “Courage (For Hugh MacLennan)”
- Filter, “The Best Things”
- The Get Up Kids, “Holiday”
- Mike Doughty, “Thank You, Lord, For Sending Me The F Train”
- Death Cab For Cutie, “Autumn Love”
- Franz Ferdinand, “Come On Home”
- The Killers, “Ruby, Don’t Take Your Love To Town”
- Uncle Tupelo, “I Got Drunk”
- Hey Mercedes, “Our Weekend Starts On Wednesday”
- The Black Keys feat. RZA, “The Baddest Man Alive”
- Hail Mary Mallon, “Grubstake”
- The Hollies, “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother”
I understand this playlist may mean very little to you, but it means a lot to me and that’s kinda what counts…my blog, my rules! Anyway, that’s where I’m at…I’m off to take advantage of a couple Writing.com Cyber Monday deals and say what’s up to some friends there. Hope you’re all well, and if not you know where to find me. Much love, friends!
