Views and Blues

A Return to the Classics

2010-01-03T18:31:00.000-08:00

Early in 2009 while Jennifer and I were in Asheville for a weekend and we happened upon a used book store called Battery Park Book Exchange. Not your normal book store, this establishment has a wine bar to go with all of the excellent used books they carry. Most of what they have is in hard cover, which is our preference, it keeps longer and looks a lot better on our shelf. The place was set up with restored furniture and established a great ambiance for reading. Perhaps it is a good idea that the store is 2 hours away from us or I would probably spend way too much money. The pricing is affordable but they also carry collectables that sell for a few hundred dollars. If you are planning a visit to Asheville it is worth while to pay BPBE a visit!

The classics that I have read in 2009 are:

Moby Dick - Herman Melville
Red Badge of Courage - Stephen Crane
Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
Crime & Punishment - Fyodor Dostoevsky
The Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
Brave New World - Aldous Huxely
The Brothers Karamazov - Fyodor Dostoenvsky

Of this group I enjoyed The Count of Monte Cristo and Crime and Punishment the most, Moby Dick was quite the labor to get through especially the chapters on the science of whales.

Here is the list of the rest of my 2009 books:

The Revolution - Ron Paul
1776 - David McCullough
Watchmen - Alan Moore
The Eyes of the Dragon - Stephen King
Atlas Shrugged - Ayn Rand
Without Remorse - Tom Clancy
The Yankee Years - Joe Torre
Wild At Heart - John Eldredge
Golf Without Tears - PG Wodehouse
Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell

Sawyer Update

2009-04-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

Yesterday afternoon Sawyer had blood clots in his feces and Jennifer immediately brought him to the vet. Dr Casey did some x-ray work and found that he may be suffering from Intussusception and she recommended taking him to the emergency vet clinic for an ultra sound and potentially surgery. These parasites have really done a number on him and on top of that he still has hookworms, so more medication for him. The whole time he was being his usual happy self, when they brought him out to us he was jumping and licking was very excited to see us. We checked out and headed to the 24 hour clinic in Matthews.

When we arrived you can tell that he wasn't happy to be there, he didn't pay any mind to the other dogs that were around. There was a family that had just lost their pet and they were pretty emotional and he just kept looking at them and he kept sitting closer to us. It's amazing how dogs can sense human emotion and how it effects their mood. We met with Dr Husky and he looked over Sawyer's charts and explained the options to us, we decided to go with the abdominal exploratory. This would determine for sure if Sawyer had Intussusception and to check for any other abnormalities. Poor Sawyer who is extremely shy around men had his tail tucked between his legs and kept looking at us as the doctor examined him. We left around 9PM and the vet told us that he would contact us after the surgery which wouldn't start until midnight. He called us around 2AM and said that Sawyer did well, there was no Intussusception but there was one bowel that was slight twisted. His lymph nodes were slightly enlarged due to him fighting the parasites and he told us that he was going to put him on a different treatment for the parasites and that we should expect to pick him up tomorrow afternoon.

We got a call this morning that he woke up and 4am with his tail wagging, so we got him back earlier which was great! He has the big cone to wear which he was not happy about but as long as we are with him making sure he doesn't mess with his scar he doesn't have to wear it. He is home recovering, laying next to me. Hopefully he'll be back to his normal self and rid of these worms for good. If you are a dog owner, please check your pet for worms/parasites, it is very painful and uncomfortable thing for dogs to experience.

Tales of Our Sickly Pup

2009-04-20T07:57:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago we welcomed a new member to our family, Sawyer is a year and a half and is ridgeback/boxer mix. He was very timid with us at first but he quickly warmed up to Jennifer, he is definitely not shy with the ladies we have learned. He is however very shy and timid around men and sometimes very scared to approach a male, which leads me to believe that this poor fella was abused at one time. We rescued him from the Union County Humane Society, they have great people working their and they made the adoption process very easy for us and they still keep in touch with us to check on Sawyer.

His breed typically weighs in the area of 65-75 pounds and he is very underweight at the moment, 57 pounds when we received him. As skinny as he is he does have a great appetite and would devour two cups of food in about a minute. Last Sunday we went to the park and had a great time we our friends Jay and Beckie and their dog Daisy. At the end of the day he drank out of pet water fountain and the water was sitting there for some time and 24 hours later he was very sick. It started with his stomach making the most awful noises and he refused to eat, vomitting and diarrhea followed, definitely not a good thing for a dog that was already under weight. We took him to the vet and they found that he has Giardia, which takes anywhere from 10-20 days for a dog to get over on antibiotics. There is a vaccine that can be given to dogs to prevent this but we won't be able to get him vaccinated until he is over his current ailment.

This weekend he did well, only vomitted once and at all of his food and the noises in his stomach are not as bad. He has a follow up appointment with the vet this coming Saturday and hopefully he will be closer to 100%. He is tons of fun and just loves to be around us at all times and for exercise he really loves to hope the baby gate lol.

The Honeymoon

2008-10-23T12:18:00.000-07:00

We took a day off after the wedding to relax and take care of some errands before leaving for the honeymoon. I highly recommend taking a day after wedding before leaving, it makes everything that much easier. We left on Tuesday to the Mayan Riviera, great weather when we left Charlotte and even better when we got to Cancun. The resort was amazing, it's been open for 18 months and the service is excellent. At check in the bar maid bought us drinks while we waited, everything in the hotel was marble and someone was always cleaning something day or night. We had our share of top shelf booze and Cuban cigars just about everyday and the evening shows were really good too.

We had a butler and concierge service during our stay, and they were great, whatever we needed they made sure we got it. The room was excellent, it was right above the tranquility pool and was very quiet in that area. 3 pools, 4 restaurants and 2 buffets and 5 bars so you never went hungry or thirsty. The staff was very friendly, when you are there for as long as we were they remember you and since I spoke the language they were always happy to see us. It was sad to leave but we were ready and I definitely suffered from withdrawal when I got back to work. Not having to cook or clean for two weeks and lounging on the beach and pool can really leave you in a happy place especially after drinking dirty monkey's all day long!

We went on two excursions, the first was to Chichen Itza one of the 7 Wonders of the World and a great place to visit. They do not allow anyone to climb the pyramid anymore due to accidents and vandalism, which is a shame we were really looking forward to getting to the top. The place is amazing and the history behind it is very fascinating, I definitely recommend it if you plan on visiting Mexico. However it is an all day trip, we were gone for 12 hours and were exhausted when we got back.

Our second trip was to a local ranch to go horseback riding, I have not done that since I was 7 years old. Ironically enough that was in Mexico too but in Tijuana. My horse's name is Pirate and Jennifer rode on Zorro, our tour guide took us through the jungle and out on to the beach where you can ride in the water. One of the horses in the group had some issues with his butt and kept rubbing it on every object he could find lol, poor fella. Here is a link to the pictures, enjoy!!

The Wedding

2008-10-22T11:36:00.000-07:00

I know this is one month late but I was waiting for the pictures to arrive so that I may sure them with you. The wedding was a beautiful event and one that I will always cherish, there was a little scare of rain but the clouds behaved and the ceremony continued. There was plenty of rain leading up to the wedding and that made the gardens looks really pretty, and the pollen was under control. The musicians were great, our pastor Chris Payne gave a great sermon on marriage. The rest of the night was a blur, we took pictures, ate, toasts, visited tables, cut the cake and next thing you know the limo was outside waiting for us. We were so happy with the way everything turned out, everyone had a great time and we are grateful that our family and friends could share that special day with us. Enjoy the pictures and stay tuned for the honeymoon blog!!

Food of the Gods

2008-09-11T06:34:00.000-07:00

Changing directions here for a moment, I wanted to talk about one of my favorite topics and activities: EATING. For those of you that know me, you know that I can put away a good portion of food and ask for seconds and sometimes thirds. So once a week I will highlight a meal that just brings joy to my taste buds and belly, today's winner is a Bojangles biscuit. This morning my good friend AJ brought in breakfast biscuits for us and I thought to myself, this is worthy of a blog post. I've been in Charlotte now going on three years and I was told "you gotta try those Bojangle biscuits!!"! We do not have Bojangles in NJ so in an effort to embrace the local traditions I followed the advice and soon it became a daily ritual of stopping by the local Bojangles on the way to work. You may be thinking to yourself "what makes this a good biscuit?", well allow me to expound on that profound question. You have multiple options on how to dress your biscuit to suit your mood. Cajun filet, country ham, cheese, eggs, sausage, gravy (lots of it), steak and the cornerstone of breakfast meat BACON! The taste is delicous, very buttery and soft like a deep friend cake, throw in your favorite side and just sit back and smile with every bite. You may also ask "is this healthy?", considering the grease stain that it leaves on my desk through the wax paper the answer is probably no and these bad boys will most likely put a hurtin on you if you suffer from high blood pressure or high cholesterol so eat in moderation. But if you have a wild hair and want to monkey around with something unhealthy then be a gorilla and getcha a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit!!!

11 days

2008-09-10T07:07:00.000-07:00

Well it seems like we just engaged not to long ago and we are 11 days from the wedding, so much has been going on that the days have been flying by. Honeymoon is booked, we are going to Iberostar Grande on the Mayan Riviera for 11 days I am really looking forward to that. Let's hope that the hurricanes take a break during the time!! Combine the wedding plans with getting Jenn's place ready for the market and you have one crazy summer. I have to thank her mom for being such a great help in the wedding plans, I cannot say enough how much we appreciate what she has done.

I've also been trying as best I can to follow the presidential race and a good one it is but also a bit disheartening. I say this because it seems like all the media focuses on are the attacks that each party makes on each other and then maybe give a second or two to the issues that are important. I am however looking forward to the debates, as someone who is on the fence about who to vote for I am hoping to see some substance from the candidates. I will say that I am also leaning towards an independent party, some say it is a 'throw away' vote but the only way to get a viable third party on the map is to support them.

Engagement Photos

2008-05-07T07:32:00.000-07:00

Jennifer and I took engagement pictures a few weeks ago, they came out great!! Here is the link to the album. http://picasaweb.google.com/anthony.berrios/EngagementPhotos

Wicked

2008-04-10T07:13:00.000-07:00

Last night Jennifer and I saw Wicked and it was the best musical I have ever seen. Growing up as a fan of The Wizard of Oz and remembering how my cousins and I would look forward to watching it every year. Looking through the TV Guide and seeing the OZ insert that is was showing on Friday night and you just couldn't wait to see it. Of course we would assign characters to each other and I was always the scare crow lol. The musical was incredible, awesome set, great songs and excellent acting. The storyline ties into the original movie well, so if Wicked is in your area I definitely recommend you see it!

The Hunt for the Ring - Conclusion

2008-04-04T12:56:00.000-07:00

In my earlier blogs I was keeping everyone up to date on my search for Jennifer's engagement ring. Of course at some point I had to stop blogging about it before I gave away to much information. Bringing everyone up to present, I found the perfect ring for her in the beginning of March. Initially it would have taken 5 days to have the ring prepared, a beautiful blue sapphire stone with two crescent shaped diamonds surrounding it and a platinum band. Of course I didn't plan on a 2 1/2 week delay, it was worth the rate because as you can see the ring is a beauty.I had a really good plan for the proposal, one of our very first dates was a hike to Crowders Mountain, beautiful scenery at the top. I had my accomplice ready with the camera and two more friends that would help with the setup. As luck would have it, after a week of being in the 60's & 70's a lovely cold front decided to roll in and next thing you know its 40 and raining. Instead I opted for the intimate home cooked dinner, vino and then I popped the question :-).

And now on to the fun part of planning the wedding........

Glue and Duma Key

2008-03-04T08:12:00.000-08:00

These are two books that I have finished reading recently, I have never been one to write a book review, I normally like a book or don't like it. But this year I figured I would give this reviewing thing a shot.

Glue is written by Irvine Welsh, he has written Trainspotting, Filth and a host of others. His stories mainly take place in different areas of Scotland and is written in a Welsh accent, to give an idea of how that sounds know = ken, kin = can and there a slew of others. Most of his books contains a glossary to help guide you through this maze, the first time I read one of his books it took me three chapters to really understand what he was saying lol. If you are sensitive to profanity I would advise against reading any of his stories since they all contain large amounts of swear words. And now on to the story.....

Glue covers 4 decades of happenings between four friends and the trials and tribulations of growing up and the ups and downs of friendships and life. Each character is very distinct from the next, from their background, how they were raised and how they treat women. Each character narrates a chapter that revolves around a major event during that decade. I don't want to give away much of the story, the books has its ups and downs and some parts that I just struggled to get through. In particular when they used Scottish slang which took some serious reading into the context clues to figure out what was going on. I give this book 3 thumbs up on a 5 thumb scale, I liked it but way to many slow parts. Welsh does manage to make you like and hate his main characters, if you are already a fan of his work I'm sure you would enjoy it but if this is your first venture into Welsh I would start with Trainspotting.

Duma Key is the latest novel from Stephen King, last year I started reading the Dark Tower series and I really enjoyed it and come to think of it I have enjoyed other King novels that I have read, IT and Christine. So I joined the Stephen King Library, and I get a book every six week, hardcover and whenever a new book is released I get it right away and at a very good price. Duma Key is the second book I receive since joining the club, it was a page turner from the start! Edgar Freemantle is the name of the main character and he is recovering from a life threatening construction accident and a divorce. Suffering from various side effects (memory loss and temper) and injuries (loss of his right arm) he psychiatrist advises to recover in a different location, Edgar is from Minnesota and he rents a beach house at Duma Key a fictitious town that is near Sarasota. Well there is the setup and King works in the recovery, discovery of talent, new friends angles to perfection and what King story would not be complete without some good horror?! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and I am really looking forward to the next book that I receive through the club.

Got My Wood Fixed

2008-02-19T07:10:00.001-08:00

Well its not necessarily wood, its like a cross between stirofoam and fiber glass. Weird but its not strong and it weighs like 5 pounds, so I am not surprised that if it is not secured it wall fall off like mine did. Hopefully the contractor super glued it to the wall.

I did join modern society this weekend by purchasing a microwave, yes I have been living without one for about a year and a half. You may be asking "well how do you reheat/cook anything?" It was challenging at first but I renewed my relationship with my pots and pans we made it work. Turns out I enjoy eating reheated rice in the pot as opposed to the nuke machine, now the mission is to get this thing installed. It's an over-the-range model so there is like drilling and measuring involved, for those of you that know me you know that my skills with those things are piss poor!

Last week Jenn and I saw two shows the first was The Pink Floyd Experience, which was amazing. If you love classic rock then this is a show for you, great musicians and effects and from what I heard from some folks these guys sound better then the original group.

The second show we saw was the Alvin Ailey dance theatre, now I am not much into dance but these people were incredible. I saw this show when I was in 4th grade and I remember being amazed by what they were doing the second time around was just as good. Both of these shows are traveling throughout the US so if they are in your area try to get out there and see them you will not regret it!

Rings, Teeth and A Piece of Wood

2008-02-07T10:29:00.000-08:00

Last night was round 2 of the ring hunt which took us to South Park mall, I got to the mall before Jenn and did some recon work so we could see all the stores that we were interested in. I walked into Kay jewelers first just so I can see what they had and I ask the sales woman to show me engagement rings and when I mention I want a sapphire center I get the "you are cheap" look and she shows me the cheapest thing they had. So I thanked her and walked out, what a difference between a typical chain store and the top shelf stores. We went to Tiffany and the experience was completely different. The next three stores were more of the same, we think that I may be able to get a better deal on line. We have definitely seen more rings on line that she has liked over the ones in the store.

Had my dentist appoint this morning, this is always a nice occassion, office is really nice and so is the staff now my teeth, those are a different story. Short of it is the I need to get my last two wisdom teeth pulled and I would like to get invisiline but that is a whopping $4600 of which my insurance covers $0 way to go Delta! Teeth are clean but my mouth feels like I got hit with 50 jabs right to the grill piece.

I make a quick pit stop home before heading to work to find a white piece of wood on the overhang of my house. I must have stood out there looking at it for a few minutes before realizing that it was the molding above my window. I should have taken a picture of it, perhaps I will do that tomorrow. I still can't figure out how that happened, I know it was windy yesterday but not enough to knock molding from the wall. Hopefully Portrait can fix this without having to send someone to look at it first and then make another appointment to fix it.

The Hunt for the Ring

2008-02-06T10:59:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the first day of ring shopping, Jen and I went to Jared The Galleria of Jewelry stores!!! lol very catchy name and a really nice store, sales person was very friendly and not pushy at all. Instead of going with the traditional diamond ring, Jennifer would like a blue sapphire ring. After reading The Heartless Stone by Tom Zoellner you can't help not feel a disgusted by what goes on behind the scenes in the diamond trade.

Jared has a very impressive selection but only one ring really caught Jenn's eye, but it had a Canary Diamond as the center stone. If you are not familiar with Canary Diamonds, they are one of the most expensive rocks that you can get in a ring. The sales person was going to find out if they could change that for a sapphire but I got the phone call that they couldn't. But no worries just like when you make any other big purchase it takes time to find the one that you really like. Tonight we'll be visiting more local stores, more info to come soon.

First Post

2008-02-04T06:10:00.000-08:00

I have been meaning to do this for a while since I read quite a few blogs on a daily basis, just wasn't sure what to write about. I plan on writing some book reviews as well as general thoughts and opinions on the going ons around me.

Anyway, I may a few resolutions this year and as we begin a new month let's see how I am fairing. Resolution one was the learn to play the guitar, now this has been a recycled resolution and this is about the 4th or 5th incarnation of this. What is different this time you ask? Well I am glad you did, one word LESSONS. My girlfriend for Christmas gave a 8 classes at a local studio, now in the past I have bought books and tried learning that way but there is no substitute to learning from someone who knows what they are doing. I've taken 5 lessons so far and its been going really well, fingers don't hurt anymore and I can almost play a tune. So that resolution is moving along really well.

Resolution #2 was to improve my career skills, I work in IT so learning new things is a must. I'm attempting to learn SQL, not an easy task but a necessary evil for getting to where I want to go. Getting through the book, not the most exciting topic to learn or talk about but hopefully as I get further in to the books things will get more interesting.

That's all for now, yes I make realistic resolutions. I try not to get in over my head and then just give everything up and this is probably as far as I gotten this go around.