“Was there something wrong with your service? Cause you kind of stiffed us on the tip.” 

Game 3 of the NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Chicago Blackhawks at Philadelphia with a two game lead in a best of seven series. A semi-filled bar on the northside of Chicago that markets itself as a “Sports Lounge” has both rooms covered in large flat screen televisions showing the game. As I walk in late due to rush hour traffic, but excited none-the-less, to meet a few people, they’ve already ordered the bucket special of beers. It’s 1-0 in favor of the Flyers and the first period is about to end. The Hawks are losing, the beers are running low and the appetites are growing.

“Hey buddy!” … nothing as I try to get the bar keep’s attention.

“Yoohoo hello!” … still nothing.

I let out a whistle … he walks right by us again.

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i just got back from my vacation in greece. two and half weeks in limnos, four days in mykonos and two days in athens. 

i know exactly what you’re thinking…not enough time. maybe in mykonos. but overall, i could’ve done another week in limnos, maybe a few more nights in athens. there’s just so much to see, do and time to be had to relax. why was i in such a rush to get back to this life of online courses for the next few weeks? well, truth is, the family booked the tickets together and so we went and left together. 

it was good though. i got to see family, friends, foes, that i haven’t seen in more than seven years. eight to be exact. no foes, i kid. i swam in beautiful beaches, i ate delicious souvlaki, i smoked my brains out with cigarettes to maintain the mediterranean lifestyle, i partied on the craziest island in all of the motherland, and i got a crazy tan to enhance my olive tone.

how could i complain? i’m not! i’d do it all over again in a heartbeat and then some.

but when? before this trip it had been eight long years since i last visited. will it be another eight? i hope not. there’s people i want to see there, there’s people i want to take there. eight is too long. but with so much other beauty and mystery to see in this world, how could i fall into that trap that so many greek american’s fall into of going back year after year and then never see another coast, mountain, sunset, monument on this earth?

it’s sad that some of these people never get to see another part of this world because year after year they spend their summers in greece. visiting their grandma, grandpa, aunts, uncles, cousins, and friends. but wait is that sad? or is the fact that i hadn’t seen the people that love me and care for me in such a long time, sad?

you give and you take. life is about moderation and balance. of course it’s beautiful to see the world and experience different cultures, but you must not lose touch with your own. especially when that culture is so rich and beautiful and full of life. 

so maybe again next summer i’ll take a trip out to greece for a couple of weeks. but then am i holding myself back from seeing other beautiful parts of this world? 

of course not, there’s the EURO RAIL!

“Who’s done more research than the good people at the American Tobacco Industry? They say its harmless. Why would they lie? If you’re dead, you can’t smoke. ”

(king pin, 1996) 

hello again fellow netw…helloBos readers. Last night I had the pleasure of taking some time out for 10-pin, having hilarious conversation that stemmed from the green fridge joke to the early days of web design, and finally being insulted and belittled because of the color of my skin oh and also being hit on by the bar man. 

so really what i experienced last night was how to be a woman and a black. not a black woman, cause well, they were separate occasions. 

let’s get started shall we…

So the Wii crew decided that we’d put down the controllers and head for the actual bowling alley. I’d love to say that i had taught them a good ole’ des plaines, we have like 8 bowling alleys (second most successful establishment next to the taqueria), bowling lesson. my friends that wasn’t the case. first of all, I had just gotten done with my gym workout so my right arms was quite sore. second the way the lanes were glazed or whatever you call it, was horrible. it was obvious that you would have needed to practice on their lanes to even come close to getting a good score. Anyway, I didn’t come in last and that’s all that matters.

So we get threw with the bowling and we go towards the bar for a few drinks. I decided I’d pick up this round so I go over to the bar man and tell’em we need a few Heinekens. Now it was probably my accent but right away he knew I was from america. So we get into a little chit chat about how, ‘yes i’m from america’. then he continues on to talk about how all us americans like cinnamon and offers me all these shots that involve some sort of cinnamon. and he wouldn’t back off so i had to tell him, “look, i hate cinnamon so just get us the Heinekens and we’ll think about the shots a little later.” I wasn’t mean about it, but I had to put him in his place…thing about that is, I think he liked it.

Now I’m back at the table, we have our Heinekens, we’re telling jokes, talking about the old days of the internet and our old Angelfire & Geocities accounts and it’s all good fun. What happens next? Our heavy set bar man walks over, puts a couple pints on our table says they’re on the house. Ok cool, I’ll take a free beer, why not. But he doesn’t stop there, he then proceeds to bring us shots, on the house and now i’m thinking, alright let’s take these and get cause clearly, ‘he’s trying to get me drunk.’

Couple beers and a shot later we’ve left the bowling alley/bar and headed for Starlight diner. They have this thing called the Yankee Doodle burger. It’s massive, I’ll post the photo of it soon. Anyway, we reckon we’ll all have one. The burger was massive. it was delicious. but it was all spoiled cause of a real racist incident.

A black woman walks over to our table, she’s drunk and she just starts laughing at us. say’s, “You know what I love about coming to Starlight at night? All you white people get so confused whenever we come over to talk to you and you all look ridiculous.” So my instinct right away is to say “well you know what else is funny, all you blacks look the same to me.” That’s just my wiener circle instinct coming out. But you see, had I said that, the two groups of black people that we were sitting between probably would have made sure I would never have the opportunity to write this blog post.

Anyway, so the racist black woman left and so did we. And I don’t think I’ve ever been on the other end of a racist remark based on the color of my skin. But let me just say this…

I have a dream that my little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. (MLK)

I have a dream that my little children will one day also live in a world where they can laugh in the face of racism and not have to live in this double standard world, where one race can discriminate against others and then start an uproar once they feel the pain they have also caused! (Bos) 

“A story like mine should never be told. For my world is as forbidden as it is fragile. Without its mysteries it cannot survive. I certainly wasn’t born to the life of a geisha. Like so much in my strange life, I was carried there by the current.” (memoirs of a geisha 2005)

Last night we had dinner at Conrad Gallagher’s restaurant Geisha. Conrad, a friend of my sister’s also a Michelin star chef, had opened up a Thai/Asian fusion restaurant here in Cape Town. To say the least, the least, the food was good but I wasn’t impressed. For a Michelin star chef, I expected a little bit more; however, there was one dish that caught me ear. It was called Baby Beef. It was little strips of steak, cut up and dipped into this yellow sauce. Eh…

Now for those that don’t now, Yev and I had been wanting to develop Baby (Italian) Beef’s for snacks or breakfast food. Like say you just had a Beef and hour and half ago and you want to nibble on something before your next Beef…Baby Beef. Or say you are just waking up, don’t want cereal or pancakes…Baby Beef. Or even better, you’re playing Madden 2008, it’s half time you only have a minute to spare before the next half and you’re quite hungry, yep you guessed it…Baby Beef.

Anyhow, check out Gallagher on Google. He’s pretty famous, I guess he has a show on Food Network.