Long Time No Taco

Hoodies, light sweaters, and leather jackets dot the shoulders of New Yorkers.  Flu shots, occasional chilly nights, and, allergies will leave some afflicted. For the rest of the northern Hemisphere this means autumn arriving, but for New Yorkers and international media, it means an annual two-week period of Midtown East madness known as the United Nations General Assembly.  Leaders of of the world converge on the Big Apple, giving speeches that television media will play and replay, dissect and analyze. But the speeches themselves, while sometimes surprising, and even entertaining, do the least in the matter of reconciling state agendas with regional and global contenders. The true cause of the traffic nightmare, and the real foreign policy chess moves, occur over a rapid succession of serious, closed-door, bilateral or trilateral meetings between states, in sections of the United Nations, and its neighboring hotels, where the press are forbidden to follow....

By the way: I have a sweet sleeping bag. I spent every day the last week working at a new job, at  En Japanese Brasserie . Today marks both my seventh, straight day working, as well as the first official day, having finishing job training! While the job is just part time, to allow me more time to focus on writing, the timing perfectly caps off my August of unemployment, which ended stylishly, culminating in an epic farewell to lazy days. I had the great fortune, this Labor Day weekend, to camp with my fellow JET Programme Alumni and other friends. This was the first time in five years that I camped. By "camping" I mean, pitching tents and sleeping in bags. I am not counting staying in cabins, because although I still prefer the privacy and comfort of a cabin, there is a greater appreciation of comfort that comes from the end of an actual camping trip. Despite what I just said about roughing it, we ate like kings! My alumni group excels at planning and teamwork, and t...

TL;DR - Even if you've never heard of  Pendleton Ward's " Adventure Time" , you should watch BRAVEST WARRIORS, on YouTube. (Links below). I don't think this is the original artist, but this is a great picture! You may not know me. Perhaps you found this by chance. Who am I? One small voice in an online ocean, directing you here or there. Like the rhetorical structure "There are X types of people in this world", you can slice my personality into many shapes: journalist, beer maker, Japanophile, silly weirdo. My eclectic interest in all subjects allows me to converse and make friends easily with almost anyone. But, there are two places where this gets me in trouble: I come off as an insufferable know-it-all, sometimes. I constantly quote things from outside the area of interest of the people around me. I sincerely hope everyone understands both are unintentional. I do not feel smarter or better than anyone. I know what I have picked up from...

Sitting on the sofa, halfway through Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson documentary, I feel the sudden impulse to write. I wasn't watching in search of inspiration, although I consider the man himself a sort of incidentally inspirational figure. I know that I will never be anything like him. While I would love the notoriety and impact on society he achieved, I absolutely do not want the inner-demons responsible for creating the man. I envy what he attained. More than just an iconic career following his passion and flipping a middle finger to establishment and convention, he also had the confidence to marry and have a child, well before knowing exactly how he would provide for them. I have no idea of his age at this point in the film, but I imagine him younger than I, and my base instinct to compare myself wells up, asking "Why aren't you married? Where is your family? Why don't you act more boldly?" Why can't I be like him? At his core,...

More accurately: I Need to Start Using a Mash Tun.  Warning: The following contains more beer brewing jargon than the average person will care to learn. That said, you can replace most terms with "beer-thingy" in your head, and be just fine. I became passionate about home brewing after receiving a 1-gallon starter kit from Brooklyn Brew Shop  as a birthday present, a few years ago. This year, I finally made the jump to brewing 5-gallon batches. Left: One-gallon Black IPA, Right: Five-gallon brew-in-a-bag Galaxy hop IPA, Taken 8/23/15 Every home brewer has a different history and approach. My kit being for all-grain brewing, it wasn't until this year that I even saw what an extract looked like. Eventually, I would use both dry and liquid extracts to make a Rye Saison, and a clone of President Obama's White House Honey Porter, but it turns out, most home brewers enter the hobby exclusively using these extracts. Many never make all-grain batches, even after y...

Unlikely Boyhood Heroes Some of my friends tease me, while others still don't even realize it, but for over three years now, I have been  tweeting film reviews for movies I watch, especially those new to the theater, using " #MovieReview ". Growing up on Siskel and Ebert, "professional film critic" always seemed like a dream job. The depth and thought I put into my reviews is difficult to express in 140 characters, but it allows me to quickly go over the essential information: How was it? Should I see it in a theater? What stood out? Where did it go wrong? I rate every movie on a 10-point scale. Friends who tease me think I give too many movies a 7 or 8 out of 10. A big reason for this: I pay to see these movies, so my reviews pre-filter out movies that look awful (e.g. Max (2015)), or I know weren't made for me (e.g. VeggieTales  (2002), or  50 Shades of Grey (2015)). First, allow me to explain my rubric: 1-5 : Films scoring a five or lower mirr...

As the trite phrase "People ask me all the time..." goes, people do ask me all the time, even twice just this week, "Does Acupuncture Work?" Yes, I say. Then, transforming into a majestic phoenix, I soar into the setting sun. Fade to black. The end. I suppose,  if you yearn to be persuaded, I will provide more detail. when I sat down to write about my latest round however, I thought it would be more helpful to review my first experience: Acupuncture started thousands of years ago, and yet for the uninitiated the question remains: How do skinny needles stabbing you produce any medical benefits? Admittedly, I was one of these skeptics, five years ago. Stretching, massage, Japanese, Icy-Hot-like, sticky patches called "Salonpas" (perhaps more similar to Tiger Balm), and ibuprofen, all failed to relieve a pain in my knees and legs I sustained, rushing down the side of Mt. Fuji. That story could be a post of its own, but the resulting injury continued ...