23 Apr 10 The Dream Cruise: A Story for Bobby Wheels
My Uncle Bobby Wheels was a big fan of the ‘Dream Cruise’, the annual parade of muscle cars down Woodward Avenue, the M-1 in Detroit. The Lareau family would get together and watch some of Detroit’s finest models and achievements come rolling down the street.
In honor of my very geeky uncle, who passed away this week, I’ve written a short science-fiction story that I think he would have liked. Dream Cruise in space?
Read the full short story here.
Tags: detroit, dream cruise, Family, science fiction, short story, wheels
10 Mar 10 I am fairly certain my Mom invented LOLcats.
The story starts on a dark, stormy night. It actually may have been any random night, with my Mom and I sitting on the couch, watching Star Trek: Voyager or a History Channel, TLC or Discovery program. She and I would watch documentaries, science shows, history shows…everything but the pseudoscience stuff. Mom would always be drinking decaf coffee (”Don’t mess with my coffee, man!”) and be sewing or occasionally reading. And then Mom would say that we didn’t have enough money to pay for school lunches all week, and would nag on me to make a brown bag lunch to save on money.
I would make my lunch, after much nagging, usually some form of meat-and-cheese or PB&J sandwich, and pack chips or some fruit with it. Sometimes leftovers that I could microwave in the teachers’ lounge. And every night, after I went to bed, my Mom would make a little note and put it into my lunch.
"Not to be confused with President's Day Kitty." - The Mom
These glued-together machinations of cat and random object always had the usual message – Hi! I’m <insert term here> Kitty! Do you love me? – and usually a line or two reminding me to either take the bus home, or follow through with something, or have a good day. Mom always signs her letters “Love, The Mom” and it’s kind of her hallmark to call herself “The Mom”. I received hundreds of these notes…and then my friends noticed.
Rather than being a point of ridicule, I think my young friends, men and women, were jealous. I mean, the notes were pretty silly–entirely a small joke that my Mom played out–but it was something that my Mom consistently did like clockwork. Every time I brought a bag lunch I had a note. Soon, my friends were asking to see them and passed them around the lunch table. They laughed and thought they were great…and occasionally, I saw a gleam in their eyes that hinted their hidden thought–’I wish my Mom did this…’
But now I’m ever so much more than 20. I miss the little notes that the Mom used to send to me, until last week I got this gem in the mail:
"Isn't this the coolest cat picture?" - The Mom
I’ve saved some of the more recent ones that my Mom has given me and I think I will keep them for a long time. But I wish I had saved every single one, nearly twenty years worth of paper-and-glue LOLcats from the Mom, my Mom.
16 Dec 09 Belisarius – A Farewell
Goodbye, Belisarius, faithful car of more than 5 years. 
We purchased the car in late summer 2004, as a way for me to get to work and school. It had 80,000 miles on it, a few scratches and dents, and cost $700.
Now it’s time is gone. Belisarius has been sold for $350, and had about 245,000 miles on it. With other expenditures for repairs and licensing, the total cost per mile was just under a penny a mile. What an investment!
P.S. My siblings named it “El Shit-o”. Needless to say, the name did not stick for me.
P.P.S. Could it be that the timely passing of this beautiful, liberal vehicle could indicate my next big update later this week!? Details forthcoming…
P.P.P.S. New Years Cards are in the mail!
13 Nov 09 Life off Lake Street
Living here with my roomies has definitely introduced me to some new food culture. After moving here, I found that my taste for food had dramatically (and sometimes, subtly) changed. The novelty of these changes have worn off, and we’re now in a typical weekly pattern:
Monday
Occasionally, Mondays hit with all the strength that Ali could muster in his early days. To relieve this pain, Cody, Mike and myself will typically throw a Mexican fiesta. Mexican food is very easy to cook for multiple people, and typically we’ll have nice sides like fresh guacamole or cotija cheese. For main dishes, we’ve had quesadillas, tacos, burritos and fajitas.
Any night Cody is closing
Mike and I, not wishing to burn the house down, will order a pizza. Originally, I was only a Pizza Hut guy, but since moving here, have become a major Pizza Luce adherent. While Pizza Hut is OK, and when warmed up again is OK, Pizza Luce is delicious and fresh (though have little to no reheat value, it tastes great cold).
Thursday
The famous Asian Thursdays. This has been tradition since the week I moved in: ordering some delivery Asian food from Star Dragon on Lake Street. Mike will typically get C19 (General Tso’s), I will get C15 (Sesame Chicken), and Cody will alternate between a few dishes. They’re got excellent, hot food–and a couple of amusing idiosyncrasies, like adding a clear 3 handfuls of those little sauce packets, or random dried egg rolls, and always saying that the food will be delivered in 30 minutes, regardless of the size of the order (I once fed a table of 10 people by ordering from them–and it came within 30 minutes).
Desserts
Lately, I’ve been big on having more filling snacks around than just Nutty Bars and chips. So, to that end, I’ve been making some cakes (made my first two-layer cake a month ago or so), brownies, and carrot cake occasionally. While these are still sweets, I feel like they’re a bit healthier than preservative-laden nutty bars.
Upcoming updates: I got a new job–details soon! The aforementioned and much promished short story, VIP, will be available by Thanksgiving at the latest. I’ll also be going to see the latest disaster porn movie, 2012, tonight–expect a review!
Tags: food, movies, roommates, weekly routine
04 Sep 09 Grudges.
What sort of grudges do you bear? Against what or whom? I’m interested to know, because I’m not really one to hold grudges. Granted nobody has really done me a serious wrong.
28 May 09 My 24th Birthday
Today is my 24th birthday. I have no significant plans–today is a meeting-free day so I hope to get out of the bedroom/office and go to the coffee shop to work. Pretty relaxing, quiet day (though I wish it was overcast and gray like yesterday, but the cool weather is fine by me).
My birthday party on Friday was a blast–I invited some 15 friends to go out to Gasthof’s in Nordeast and then came back to the apartment for fun, games, drinks and snacks (though the snacks were left alone–we ate so much at Gasthof’s!). It was nice seeing so many people who cared about me and who wanted to have fun.
I can’t think of any image more fitting on my birthday than this: how I consistently feel as an adult.
09 Feb 09 My brother survived.
