Month: May 2007

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Remembering Officer West

Cleveland Heights Officer Jason West

Every little thing you worry about and stress over takes a backseat when you sit back and reflect on the loss of a life. We are not talking about a person who lived their dreams, had a family, visited foreign lands and died after spending seven, eight or even nine decades on Earth. We are talking about someone who died, robbed of accomplishing those things. It’s almost impossible to watch the touching tributes, the family grief and the outpouring of support from the community for Cleveland Heights Officer Jason West. Today, his family, his friends, his brothers in blue and people who didn’t know him said goodbye for the final time.

The Cleveland Police Patrolmen’s Association has set up an online condolence book where you can leave your thoughts.

Memorial donations can be sent to:
Jason D. West Memorial Fund
c/o School Employees County Credit Union
340 Griswold Road
Elyria, Ohio 44035

It’s a sad day for the communities of Avon, where Officer West grew up, Cleveland Heights, where he worked and all of Northern Ohio.

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Scott Smith Cancellation

Hey all, I feel embarrassed, after all of that hype for Scott Smith’s upcoming gig at Flannery’s, this is the message I got today. I’m big time bummed out…

Dude,

Regretably, I had to cancel my Cleveland trip. Some complications with my son’s schedule call for me to stay in the Carolinas. Bummer. Just wanted to let you know personally. I will rebook with Flannerys.

Hope to see you soon and thanks for the support.
S

I’m hoping, even with Scott’s cancellation, we’ll all continue plans for Flannery’s this Friday or Saturday night and still have a good time.

Sorry about this unforeseen circumstance, I’ll buy you a beer or something to make up.

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A little facelift!

Hope you like the new look of my blog. I’ve been working for a little while when I have the time to give the ol’ girl a little facelift. Now, I’m gonna go run and soak up a little of the sun. Yes, I’ll wear the sunscreen!

(personal running journal: 6.0 miles)

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Relationships

Disclaimer: As a rule, I don’t normally talk about personal things on this blog but I feel like I need to make an exception for the following blog.

I usually use Sundays to catch up with my friends on the phone. Why not just hang out with them? I know some of them from living in other cities. One thing I love is keeping up with my compadres. Don’t worry, I’m not going to use any names to protect the innocent.

During my conversations with both guys and gals yesterday, I got the same thing from my single friends. They’re all looking for same things, they’re all searching for someone who accepts them for who they are. They are all tired of being single. They want the comfort and companionship of another person. I know linking up two compatible people is something akin to winning the lottery, even if it is just a scratch off ticket. I hear from people they don’t necessarily need the looks but just the personality.

Here’s the part I find interesting. The commonality of all humans is just that we’re human. We love to be loved but hate to be rejected. Guys play the “Swingers” game, don’t call too quickly you’ll look desperate. Girls play the “you’re accessible so you’re not that attractive to me” game. Both sexes play the “I don’t want rejected” game so we cuddle up into our own world of safety, don’t communicate and potentially shrug off a potential relationship.

Most people in relationships (I’m excluding teenagers) are adults but many people act like the group I’ve omitted. If there’s no spark, why not just say “I like you but I just don’t feel a spark”. The opposite is true. If you feel that attraction, say it! I’ve felt like a matchmaker in the past telling two people to talk to one another because they both felt the attraction but were afraid to say anything.

Life is way too short for games. Yet we all play them in some way or another. Why? Is the fear of rejection or threat of mental harm that great? Honesty goes a long way and ends up eliminating a lot of future problems and trouble.

Your thoughts?

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Dude, Where’s My Car?

Gina Trapani posted this lifehacker.com. I haven’t tried it myself but it’s a strange concept that is a little scary.

“Can’t find your car in an enormous parking lot? This video shows you how to extend your car alarm remote’s range by holding it to your head. According to the video, “the oral cavity in your skull ampliflies the signal.” We haven’t tried this out ourselves yet, but you know we’ll be the weirdos out on the street with the remote to our head this afternoon.”

You can see if it works yourself. I know after I lock the car and start walking into the store I immediately wonder if I did indeed lock the door. So, I end up walking back toward the car to check for sure. Maybe this’ll take a couple paces off my journey.

You should check out lifehacker.com, it has all sorts of random tips for life. I stumbled onto it for the first time today.

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Baby laughing at Wii Golf


Isn’t it funny how something so little can temporarily make all of the big problems go away? Every time I see this video, it brings a smile to my face. I hope you enjoy the pure innocence of 10-month-old Theo as well. He’s now a youtube star. I don’t know him but he’s got one heck of a laugh!

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A Good Ole Fashioned Game Of Whiffleball

Jason’s long talked about whiffleball so as part of Brad’s bachelor party weekend, we went to Newburg Heights and played a game. Carlos (aka Carter) & Todd vs. Brad and Jason. Jay’s got a wicked competitive streak. I just wanted to get a couple of hits but I got at least one homer. I can’t remember. I was sweating buckets because of the humidity. I just had fun! These pictures are the hilights of the game. I have a couple more but oddly none of Brad at the plate. It was fun. Final score: 5 to 3 – Carlos/Todd. Final thought: FUN!

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Hidden Cleveland

Everyone knows about the Flats, East 4th, and West 6th. On any given night, you’ll find people on the West Bank at Shooters (in the spring, summer and fall), Flannery’s, Corner Alley, Pickwick and just name any of the West 6th places to hang out. There are some great lesser known places to hang.

I already talked about the South Side in an earlier post about Chicken & Waffles. It’s open with a good crowd every night of the week and even late night after a newscast.

I want to focus on the Velvet Tango Room. You have to be careful when trying to find it or you’ll end up missing it. It’s not well marked and it’s practically in the middle of nowhere. The classy martini bar is located on the corner of Abbey & Columbus. Don’t necessarily trust the directions you might get online either. Mapquest will send you the wrong way. We recently went there and enjoyed a night out on the back patio. There’s also a putting green there. The patio feels like your backyard. Inside, you’ll be treated to a live piano music sometimes accompanied by an upright bass. The drinks are pricey but they’re tasty. The atmosphere makes more than makes up for everything. The word, treated, applies at this place. You’ll be treated like you are a VIP no matter who you are. You’ll notice the nightclub almost reminds you of a speakeasy you see in old movies. Definitely somewhere to end a date with someone special. A special spot in Cleveland.

Tucked in the warehouse district is Little Bar & Grill. It’s down Frankfort Ave off of West 6th Street. I’m not revealing too much of a secret here, many people know of it. It has great burgers. It’s a relaxing hole in the wall type of hangout. The downstairs lives up to its name “Little Bar” but the upstairs provides a couple more places to hang.

Everyone also flocks to Panini’s late night, but there’s another secret you may have missed. A new pizzeria opened up on West 6th. The pizza is almost better and it’s not packed. You normally don’t have to stand in line either.

Everyone also knows about Flannery’s but it just wouldn’t be right if I didn’t recommend the place. It’s been a long time hangout for me. I even worked there for a short time. After all of these years, it’s still a great place to hang out with friends.
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Is It Friday Yet?

I’m looking forward to this weekend. Heck, I’m looking forward to June in general. This weekend (yes, weekend) is the bachelor party for my friend, Brad. It should be quite a time. Golf, dinner, partying and just an all around celebration.

Next week, I have a four day week. Nope, I don’t get Memorial Day but I’m not working on Friday. Scott Smith (see earlier post) is playing at Flannery’s so I’m trying to make his Cleveland visit well attended. He’s great and has a good CD. That’s June 1st and 2nd.

There’s the BNL concert later in the month, there’s the countdown to the wedding in Europe and about 15 other things going on I have on my calendar. I never needed one before. Is it just that I’m getting old? I’ll thank you not to answer that one.

Confession: Last week was a rough one. It was busy, exhausting and I let somethings slide. This one is going better. I’m back on my workout regiment that I’ve done since September. Yesterday’s workout left me sore this morning so either I’m rebuilding the muscle I lost or I just had a good workout. How much protein should I consume?!? Speaking of which, I’m off to run now.

Final Thought: I would have blogged about the “Heroes” season finale but I will this week. I’m still sorting out all of the twists and turns. I don’t know if I agree logistically with all of the storyline. There’s more to come on this subject