The Adventures of Mark Wins #7: A Night of Life and Death

I had a choice last night.

Go out and party with some friends.
Or play Streets of Rage.

I chose to go out last night.

Big mistake.

I was out with my friends Chris and his girlfriend Valerie, Eddie, and Krystal. It's been a while since we all hung out together, so this was pretty cool in theory.

We all met up on the Ave. (Jamaica Avenue) and we took the F train to find this place called the "R Bar," which Krystal had heard was a pretty cool place and whatnot.

That was a fucking lie... okay, not really, actually, but it just wasn't what we were looking for.

See, we were kinda looking for a kind of party where you can pretty much dance with anyone you like and, at the same time, be safe as possible. For whatever reason, we've all come to figure out that those two party traits (dancing with whomever and maximum safety) do not go hand in hand anymore. Obviously, this is just a theory, but it's been pretty difficult to disprove it.

Anyway, we get to R Bar, and we get in with no problem. We slip inside and we hear the music... not that bad,  but not that good, but actually, kinda better than some other shit that could have been possible, so I have no grudges against it. But everyone was white.

Now, this wouldn't be a problem... but they can't dance. No fucking rhythm whatsoever. Don't get me wrong, I'm no James Brown, but... even if I wanted to dance with these chicks that were there, hell no.

Funny thing is, I didn't even notice it at first... I had to use the bathroom, so I did. When I came back, Krystal and Eddie already had a drink while Chris and Valerie were dancing, and Krystal nudges me to show me these white chicks that were dancing horribly. And she could not stop laughing. She had been extra bubbly even before we got on the train, so it was clear to me that she had pre-gamed herself for the night. But she was dying of laughter while Eddie and I had this "are you fucking serious?" expression on our face.

Chris came up to us and was like this clearly isn't going to get any better. So we left.

Now we're out here in the middle of Manhattan wondering what to do. That's when I remember something about a place called Hype Lounge and it being free to get in tonight. I look up the place on my phone and it's a significantly easy walk away from where we were, so start to hoof it.

On our way there, we almost died. Twice.

The first time we almost died was when this obviously drunk driver decided that he didn't like driving on the street anymore, so he ran upside the curve and hit a street light. The crazy thing is that I felt that 4 out of 5 people on the road that night either didn't know how to drive and/or was intoxicated, so I was kinda wary about this, and I pretty much pulled us all out the way when the idiot hit the street light. And we were all kinda traumatized... except Krystal's bubbly ass. She was laughing her ass off.

So we move on because we don't want to be bother with cops and police reports on one of the rare nights we can actually hang like this, and we end up trying two other clubs before we get to Hype. The first one was called Urge, and it was wack. The second one didn't have a name, but when we went inside, it smelled of crystal meth. Now, I don't know it crystal meth has a particular smell, but if it does, my guess would be that it smelled something similar to what it smelled like in this unmarked club/lounge/drug house.

And the entering of that place is pretty much the second near death experience, because there's no telling what might have happened had we actually stayed.

We left that place, we walk, and we finally get to Hype... where we were denied access because of the dress code.

It didn't even occur to us that a dress code could keep us out of a place like that. We all pretty much had jeans, sneakers, non-collared shirts, and hoodies. But apparently, we weren't dressed to party. I... didn't even know that, but whatever.

Of course, Krystal's laughing at the bouncer that kept us out, talking all types of shit to this guy about both him and this Hype lounge. It wasn't funny until Eddie 1) insisted that we stay and let her finish and 2) Eddie continued to egg her on with the word "And", which led to her really going off. Like, she would say something, Eddie would say "Annnnnnnnnnd...?" and she's say something else. Then Eddie would say "Annnnnnnnnnnnnd...?" and she's say something else. We were dead ass there for at least five minutes until she seriously ran out of stuff to say... too funny.

So at this point, we have a choice... go home, or find something to do. Obviously, we should have just went home, but Krystal was like, "Fuck that yo. We came out here to have a good time and damnit we're gonna have a good time! We're gonna find something to get into and we're going to get into it! Let's go to Times Square!"

Super random destination is super random. I had no problem with walking, and neither did Valerie, but Chris and Eddie didn't like the idea, but they were kinda outnumbered, so we ended up walking to Times Square. On our way there, we damn near died again because some asshole decided that he wanted to run a red light. Fortunately, I saw that one coming too, so we stopped accordingly.

On our way there, we end up seeing three clubs/lounges/drug houses: The Hurricane Club, Club Ultra, and Pulse. We didn't even bother trying to get in because 1) The Hurricane Club looked like it had a $100 cover charge to get it, 2) Club Ultra looked wack as shit although Chris swore he heard of it before but wasn't exactly sure why and 3) Pulse was obviously not our type of crowd, complete with plenty of Asians. It also looked like it had crystal meth in it.

We get to Times Square. And nothing happens. So at this point, we decide to go home.

We look for a train station, and we find a NQR1237 station that tells us to go to 8th Ave. to enter for the ACE... and we kinda needed to be on the E.

So we walk to 8th Ave, and we see the subway station, but not before Eddie sees a Adult DVD store and strip club next to it. Krystal and Valerie want to go into the porn shop, so we go in. They're having a ball, laughing at the videos, the costumes, the lingerie, and everything, making a complete mockery out of the place by pretending to try some of the stuff on and mocking the positions that they see on the DVD covers. At one point, Krystal was on the ground, mocking some legs up in the air position, and at this point, it was clear that we needed to leave.

So we leave, and Eddie wants to go into the strip club, where my wallet bleeds. It's a $20 cover charge, plus one drink minimum .Minimum drink cost? $10. $30 gone and I ain't even wanna be in there.

Krystal wants a lap dance, Valerie wants a lap dance and insists that Chris gets one but Chris didn't want on. Eddie got, like 3 lap dances Apparently, this nigga is ballin' heavy tonight. I didn't even have enough money to pay for a fucking lap dance, so Eddie picks one out for me and insists that she gives me a lap dance while Krystal and Valerie hold my arms. After four songs, this psuedo-fetish lap dance comes to a mandatory end. Obvious highlight of my night.

We leave, we get on the train, we're tired, mostly silent and half sleep. I have no money for a cab, but this ballin' ass nigga Eddie offers to pay for mine ride home. I'm cool with it... until we get to a stop that has an F train chillin right there. I tell Eddie, "yo I'm a just take the 111 to save you money and shit," and he's like "iight cool."

So I transfer to the F, thinking that the F is gonna take a year to get to the Q111 stop and I'll be there just in time.

Big mistake.

This was the fastest F ever. Got to the stop and I had a 30 minute wait ahead of me. Whatever. It wasn't that cold, so it wasn't that big of a deal to me.

And this is where I almost die a fourth time.

So I'm out there, waiting on the bus. And some random guy comes up to me asking for money. I tell him I ain't got any. (I had a little bit, but fuck. I already spent more than I bargained for.) Big mistake, I should have just given him a little bit or whatever, cause this guy... well, he looked like he was kinda pissed about me not giving him any money.

He comes back after trying to talk to some girl, and he starts to talk to me about girls and shit. Okay, that's cool and all.

And then he says he's gonna take a walk and be right back.

Ummmm... excuse me?

Now my mind is like, "This guy is obviously going to come back and murk me. Nuh uh, not today."

So I book it down some street just as he leaves visual distance and I get to Sutphin Blvd. I'm not necessarily scared for my life or anything, but in my current state, I was not trying to deal with life and death situations on the spot. So I had to come up with a plan to get home...

The original plan was to take the airtrain to get to the Q3 to transfer to the Q111 or something like that. Then I came up with a plan to just wait it out and maybe he'd be home by the time I decided to just hop on the Q111. And then I realized that maybe I had enough money to take the LIRR home.

I had just enough money to take the LIRR home. So I took the LIRR home.

On my way home, I got stopped by the cops for the first time ever in my life because I ran across a street in hopes of not getting ran over even though I had the right of way. Cop car rolls up on me and he's like "Why were you running?" And I explain to him my night of life and death experiences and how I shoulda just stayed home and how I think this guy was trying to kill me over a dollar and I might have thrown in some more stuff, but... well, at this point, I just wanted to go home. He asked me where I lived and I was like 8 blocks down, and he let me rock.

And then I got home.

So in summary, I wasted $40+ dollars, had an adventure that was only slightly better than the destination, had 4 near death experiences, and got stopped by the cops for the first time ever in life.

When I got home, I thought to myself...

I should have just played Streets of Rage.

The Adventures of Mark Wins 6: A Return to Philly, Starring Sally Mae

So yesterday, I made an epic return to Philadelphia, PA.

For those of you not in the know, I went to Temple University for exactly one semester in 2006 after I graduated high school. While I was there, I met a number of cool people, but I hadn't met anyone nearly as beautiful, witty, intelligent, or elegant as Sally. (okay, the ass kissing stops here)

After that one semester, we somehow managed to keep in contact with each other. Years passed, and our friendship has blossomed into something special (though arguably not special enough... okay, the cheap shots might not end here).

I hadn't been to Philly since 2009. So, like, I made it kind of a big deal to return to Philly after a hiatus of one year and change. (actually, I didn't.) Still... returning here was... interesting, to say the least.

Like, okay... if you've been following this, then you may know that I've been adventuring around NYC practically all year and especially during the summer. I've seen some beautiful sights. I've seen some beautiful things.

Philly. On one hand, it's nice and all. On the other hand, it's not a pretty city.

Granted, I don't live in the projects in NYC, and I haven't exactly traveled to one either, so maybe there are places in NYC that look just as bad as Philly, if not worse.

And I'm not trying to rag on Philly, either. I am just making an observation. Philly is easily one of the not-so-beautiful sights in my adventures. And because I've had such adventures, it's contrast was even greater in my eyes... because, you know... I lived there for a while and didn't think it was that bad. Because it wasn't.

But that's a different story for a different day.

So in any event, the ride to Philly was a sleepy one. I got there relatively early due to an unclear understanding of whether the Chinatown Bus was shutdown or not, but the bus was operating on all cylinders, so I made the trip.

Got to Philly, got panhandled. lolollolol. Spotted some guy a dollar to "get on a bus" because he was a "dollar" short, but then did it like, three more times before he saw me laughing at him.

Yes. I laughed at him. Maybe he needs the money. Maybe he doesn't. Regardless, it didn't matter to me because I felt I was getting panhandled from the moment he showed up. Whatever.

So I wait a while and my dear Sally shows up. :D on face and everything.

First, we run an errand involving a doctor. As we walk, we first encounter some dude that apparently had a really good scheme for trying to talk to girls... except it was amazingly inconsistent... something about Sally looking like some girl he met in grade school, but then apparently being from Trinidad even though she said that she's not from around here, here being Philly, and him not even mentioning that he's not from here (Philly) himself.

We eventually find the train and on our way there, I sit on her lap and it triggers a random ass conversation with some old guy about how he once walked in on his wife eating another girl our. I'm not exactly sure how me sitting on Sally's lap triggers someone to tell a story like that (I have a theory though that, if anyone cares, I'll be willing to share). Odd story over, and boom, we're at the doctor's office.

I sit there and chill while Sally has her appointment, but then she tells me about some old guy that came in and started talking to her about relationships, sex, marriage, and the like, I suppose. Interesting stuff. I promise I was only in Philly for 2 hours when all this weird shit happens.

Anyway, we go to her house, eat some food, and I watch her play Spider Solitaire. Now I can play Spider Solitaire on Easy (it's a pretty brain-dead exercise), and I've heard my mom win on Normal, but Sally went balls to the wall and plays on Hard. The fact that she had the pure ability to play Spider Solitaire on Hard blew my mind, so I watched. At the same time, there was some show playing on the TV... I think it was called Dating Boot Camp or something like that. Oh, and then there was Bad Girls Club too. Both shows are relatively ridiculous, but at least the boot camp show tries to be real. Bad Girls Club is just so obviously a bawwing out for the camera that it's ridiculous. And to think... they get paid for this shit....

Regardless, Sally plays and Sally Wins. (lol see what I did there?)

Now I'm not one hundred percent sure about the jumble of events between watching her play Spider Solitaire, going to the laundry, and doing something else that I think I'm forgetting because it wasn't the game of chess that we were supposed to play but her cat hid the chess pieces and she didn't tell me this prior to such that I could bring a chess set and a Connect 4 game like I kinda wanted to do but ultimately didn't, but yeah. We went to the laundry because she needed my strength to help her out. Okay, not really, but she did need my help with carrying the bags, and I (un)happily obliged. The laundry mat had Ms. Pac-Man, and considering the quality of the joystick (read: complete ass), I did pretty well. I had two quarters in my pocket, so I played once on the initial trip and once on the trip back, and I scored pretty much the same thing, like 44,000 something points.

I don't think that was a top score since the machine had obviously existed when Joe was in his prime.

After that, there was an era of time that passed. I think we talked a bit and we orchestrated the rest of our time together. Oh, and there was a point somewhere along here where I learned that she plays Tetris. (in my mind, I'm like, "Wow, are you kidding me? I fucking love Tetris.") She suggests a competition for later. Challenge Accepted.

We head out to the movies and we see "Kevin Hart: Laugh at My Pain." This movie is excellent. If you haven't seen it yet, I just read direct off of Kevin Hart's FaceBook page that it's getting extended for like, an extra 2 weeks or something. I HIGHLY recommend that you see it. It is amazingly funny. So funny, in fact, that we almost died laughing. Well, Sally, almost literally died laughing, but that's another story for another day....

After the movie, we go to Ruby Tuesday's to eat dinner on that discount coupon status. There, we talk about a bunch of different things, including my trip to Atlantic City (I never did post that adventure on this blog... hence making it a lost adventure...). and other things. She suggests that we play pool, so we walk to this bar that just so happens to have a single pool room in it that is already occupied. We try to wait the ongoing game out by talking some more about various subjects... actually, I think I had to conclude the Atlantic City story, which lead to her minor Atlantic City anecdote, which somehow lead to me briefly informing her about my visit to the Wax Museum (another adventure that I didn't post on here.... hmmm... lost adventure indeed...

"Wow Mark, you really gave Sally the inside scoop. She must be important in your life, eh?"

What are you, Canandian? But yea. Something like that.)

We don't get the game of pool in, so we finally leave. On our way back to her house, I show her some pictures that I took at AC. She sees a picture of Jeff and she wants me to inform him that Jerseys died in 2006 ASAP. So I call him and tell him this and he goes off. And then I think he just hung up the phone shortly after I gave the phone to Sally, still going off apparently. Sally wants me to call him back, so I call him back but then give the phone to her. At this point, she informs Jeff herself that Jerseys died. They go into some kind of back and forth convo with Sally obviously trolling the fuck out of this guy and Jeff apparently still going off. Somehow the convo ends and Sally gives her impression of Jeff based on her obvious trolling.

We get home, and we get on with that Tetris competition. Essentially, we alternated with Marathon, a 15 level Tetris survival contest. She played first and got to Level 12 with a score of about 250,000. I played second and managed to get to Level 14 with a score of about 440,000. I pretty much won, but by watching me, she learned a technique or two. She tries again and fails (lol), but then she quickly redeems herself with a game that was long enough to put me to sleep, because at this point, I was devastatingly tired. (I hadn't slept the night before and the only sleep I got was on a bus and her bed was feeling mad comfy... well, not comfy enough, hur hur hur... but yea.)

She wakes me with an immature "made you look" joke and then she leads me back to the Chinatown Bus terminal. I hop on the bus and make my way home.

I just wanted to make a few notes about my ride home...

1) there was this escalator at the Canal Street stop on the F train line... shit sounds like it comes from a horror movie.
2) when I got off the F and had to catch the Q111 to get home, I had to run. Really fast. Because if I would have missed it, I would have had to wait an hour. In the fucking cold. I don't think I ran that fast in a long time (mind you, I'm quick as fuck) because my shoe soles literally felt like they were on fire when I got to sit down on the bus.

Ultimately, I totally enjoyed my trip to Philadelphia. Sally was a wonderful hostess, and she's just as funny as I remember her being. If things life decides that it wants to continue to cooperate with me, I will definitely be visiting Philly more often (and maybe I'll be able to bring Sally up here to NY for some fun times too)... but not until it gets warmer. I can't stand this cold shit. Like, I was there on Monday and what not, freezing my ass off half the time I was outside. So maybe in like Marrrrchaprillllmay... May, I may return.

But yeah, life and stuff. We'll see what happens.

The Adventures of Mark Wins 5: "Free-ness"

So I definitely enjoyed the complete shit out of my two days off (Thursday and Friday).

Wednesday night, I saw a free screening of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World at Hudson River Park. Pier 63 for those who like details.

Scott Pilgrim X World is still one of the greatest movies of all time. I'm glad I saw it again, as I was able to see interesting details that I get to notice in the first time viewing because it's a first time viewing... Like I didn't notice the reason Kim's every reaction to Scott the first go.

Thursday night, I saw a free screening of Kick-Ass at Tompkins Square Park. And it was after a neat little performance by this jazz-samba(?)-hiphop hybrid band called... fuck. I don't remember their name... let me do a little research right quick... Mamarazzi. Their music is pretty cool. You should check 'em out.

Kick-Ass is probably the best superhero movie ever conceived. I think what makes this movie the best superhero movie is the realness of the movie and how I could relate to it in a sense. It was also ridiculously funny.

Friday, I got my check, then went to Roosevelt Island and just chilled with a spirit named Lola. (don't ask questions) Afterwards, I checked up on Brookville Park right quick (you should probably come to Brookville Park on Monday morning... there should be something... interesting... going on). And then I played some Scott Pilgrim, Pac-Man Championship DX, and Tekken 5 DR at my dude Jacko's house.

And today. I'm back at work. Ugh.

But it's cool for the most part. Like I said, I definitely enjoyed my days off. And I didn't have to spend much money to enjoy it.

It's nice to have money though. It really is. Even if I spent as little of it as possible. I'm not sure if the cost is worth it though.

I'm glad that I made the decision to fully enjoy my days off, especially while there's still some summer left in the city. Work was kicking my ass to the point where I stopped enjoying life and was starting to become a slave to the dollar. I was definitely losing freedom. Granted I still don't have it, but I'm slowing learning where I can take it back.

Now I just have to come up with a plan to get it all back. Or, you know... like, 80-something percent of it.

additionally.....


as far as this blog is concerned... it probably won't be making a full blown return until like October, when it gets too cold to give a fuck about going outside to do anything. Summer is my favorite season, and it's a great season to do things... except blog... especially when you got work and you're secretly working on other projects on the side.

so yeah... October-ish. I make a full blown return.

The Adventures of Mark Wins 4: The Hunt for Issue Number 226

It's been a bit since I went on an Adventure due to work.. *silence* at work... but yeah, kinda sorta been on one over the past two days. And it all started mostly because of this...

Well, I don't think that's how it started, but that right there was the main driving force of this adventure...

Like, my dude Jacko tells me via FaceBook that he has Issue #226. Obviously, I must collect it as well. It's not about 1-uping him. No, not at all. It's about being a Sonic fan and having Sonic Genesis as a part of my admittedly not-so-popping Sonic item collection. So I make it my goal of getting it. 

And I see the issue in the flesh too. I spin through a couple of pages but I don't actually read anything because I wish to read it myself when I own it. So I look, I gasp, and I put it down.

Said adventure actually kinda sorta starts due to being invited to go see the Green Lantern movie on a Monday night, which I felt just wasn't really good. It had its moments, but overall... it just wasn't good. You have a hero with a green ring that can pretty much do whatever the hell he wants with it, and like... I dunno, I feel like they didn't try hard enough. Whatever. 

So we come back home and I play Super Smash Bros. Brawl and I dominate... Which is good for me because I'm trying to go to Apex, a national Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament, and the fact that I'm still leagues better than my friends let me know that my skills still have some kind of merit. In any event, after winning all but maybe 4 or 5 games, I play the Sonic Generations demo (see what I think about it here). Overall, I'm loving it... I just want more. I make a few more jokes about life, and then I leave for the night.

The next day (which would be yesterday), I wake up and run a few errands, including food shopping and stuff like that. After the food shopping, I go to Borders, looking for Issue #226. It's not there. Needless to say, I'm pissed. Sonic comics are there chilling, forever, but now everyone's a Sonic fan and wants Issue #226? Blow me, you're lying.... you're doing it for the money, but this is my life. And I'm upset. So boom, I'm about to make an emergency trip to the city to locate Issue #226, because this has to be in my possession, period.

Jacko decides to tag along as another friend of mine drops us off on the Ave, and we take a train from there. First, we end up at Midtown Comics, secretly located in the heart of Times Square. I search for Issue #226 there, but I find nothing. So I ask for help. They put me in the direction of the Sonic comics, but there is no Issue #226 in sight. Bullshit. Whatever.

We trek out to St. Mark's Comics, which is on St. Mark's Place, where almost everything just so happens to have my name on it. 

See?

Anyway, we get there, and I still can't find Issue #226. Sure enough, I ask for help finding it, and apparently it's "sold out." What the fuck. I don't understand why everyone's a Sonic fan all of a sudden. Whatever. 

So as Jacko is buying a few things out of the store, I take a look at Issue #225, however, and in the back of it, it clearly states that Issue #226 goes on sale the week of 07/05/11. In other words, Jacko got it early. Wow. So here I am, blowing blood vessels trying to find a comic book that shouldn't even be on the streets yet.... typically amazing, in my opinion. I resolve to snatching this comic up early next week. No games.

Afterwards, I show Jacko a video game store that, apparently, is called "8 Bits and Up." I had been here before, but I didn't realize that this was 8 Bits and Up, a gaming store that I had heard so much about. It easily lives up to its rep, ousting GameStop as the better video game store easily. The store has games from all eras. All eras. We saw SNES games, Genesis games, Atari 2600 games, and other shit that we couldn't even identify. We're definitely going back next week... well, I am, and if Jacko's available, he's surely coming along... and I'm gonna get Tony Hawk Pro Skater 4 and Virtua Fighter 4. Yes, on PS2. I'm not getting a PS3 yet, so relax. 

After that, we had an okay trip home. Upon the trip, Jacko let me have Issue #225, and I'm kinda mind blown by the result of that Issue... wow. I also read the beginning of this graphic novel involving Spiderman, Human Torch, and Iceman. Shit's hilarious...

And then I come home, back to regular life...

The End... for now...

Las Aventuras de Marco Gana 3: Poetry and Dance

Yesterday was the continuation of a string of just completely beautiful days weather wise. So it was a perfect day to go out and enjoy life.

Now the crazy thing is that I almost didn't even get to get out yesterday... my mom sent a message to do some chores, and being the good boy that I am, I did the chores before I started to prepare for today's festivities. This almost resulted in me not going out because she said that she wanted to go out, and with my brother Kevin having to go to work, this meant that I would be the one to have to stay in and watch my little brother.

FORTUNATELY! My mother came up with a back up plan that would have her take Justin out with her if she went out. Which was awesome. She didn't have to do that. But she did. I really love my mother. Like, she really didn't have to come up with that back up plan. And due to that backup plan, I had an awesome night. I really have to do something special for my mother soon... and I'm not going to wait until May to do either.

Anyway, I stop by my friend Janaya's BBQ. It's a simple gathering of family at the moment, not many people my age are there yet. Unfortunately for that, I had to go soon. I dropped off my basketball, ate a few burgers, some chips, and had some Dr. Pepper for the first time in years... and I left. And I kinda felt bad for leaving... like, I felt like "a typical nigga," so to speak. Furthermore, I realized where I was going and was thinking to myself, Clearly I ate a smidget too much...


Oh well. I hope my local buddies understand. I see them all the time, but I don't get to see Paola much. Nor do I get to ready my poetry much. So this was an opportunity that I felt I should not miss. It was also an opportunity that I thought I was going to be ridiculously late for, but MTA just simply agreed with me and allowed me to get there much earlier than I thought I would get there.

Note: Wishful thinking kicks ass. I think there is a power in my mind... a power I'm not yet fully harnessing, but... eh, whatever... continuing.

So I get there at about 8:30pm and the poetry readings hadn't begun yet. I had some or-derbs (that's not how you spell it... it's a French word that I have no idea how to spell), a Smirnoff, met some people, overall quiet like I usually am around new people though, and just chilled till the poetry readings started.

The poetry readings were pretty awesome. There was definitely some talent in there. Basically, the readings were done, filled with emotion and word play. The format of the readings were such that everyone would read one poem, then we'd take a break, then we'd read another poem, then another break, and so on. The Bilini sisters, who hosted the show, started most of the rounds with some pretty intense poetry. What I found really interesting about their poetry was how they would have a theme or a new perspective that I wouldn't have ever thought about. Most of my poetry is simply an outlet of some kind of feeling creatively expressed, but they, amongst others, took it to a new level of subject and perception that I definitely didn't see coming and might explore at a later date.

There was also this poet. He was literally a poet. Like, literally, down to his name. His name is El Poeta and he's pretty awesome. He recited my favorite poem of the night, "Rocket Ship." It was about how a young man sees his dreams and builds a rocket ship to reach his dreams and as he grows older he uses his rocket ship he reaches his dreams but then when he gets real old he realizes that he left everything that he loved for something totally different and is wondering whether or not his rocket ship was worth the ride. I'm obviously not that old yet, but I understood the concept, because I understand that ambition to be more than you ever were, but at the same time, I can't imagine not being able to live with certain things, such as family, friends, and various traditions... things that may change or even disappear the moment you hit the big shiny lights.

There were also poems about gluttony, envy, and lust, poems about sex, loves from the past, present, and future, there was a haiku, there were poems about personal problems and other people's problems... the variety was great. Speaking of variety, it's wasn't all poetry. We had some stand up comedy come up, but it was short lived because he had family matters to tend to, and then we had this one guy come up and simply talk about life. He said something about how a panhandler swindled him for $20 because he was trying to be a good guy and make the lady's day, and then he talked about how women label each other (which they do).

I had read some poetry myself. I brought 5 pieces, but only ended up reading three. One was titled "If Nothing is Forever," one was titled, "Critical," and the other... piece... I read... has multiple titles. In the end, they said it was more like a "monologue-y" "stream of conscious." Which made a whole lot more sense considering the way it came about via the intense feelings that I was experiencing when I wrote it.

One thing I noticed was that my "performance" of my poetry wasn't as intense and as engaging as the other works. I also noticed that my poetry (the first two pieces at least) weren't as long as the other pieces being up there. It was kinda one of those things where I'm like "Wow, am I under dressed for this?" But I thought about it and said, "Fuck that, here I go." I got pretty solid reactions though. All of the poetry was good, so everyone got a round of applause, but admittedly, there were some amazing, amazing pieces read that deserved the hyped up ovations that they received. Still, at the very end, I was able to hear some more personal reactions to my material, and they were very well received. :) It's always nice to hear when people you just met sincerely tell you that what you do... what you create... what you put your heart and soul into... is good.

In between the poetry was food, drinks, music, and bailando. (dancing). My stomach managed to digest enough of the food from the BBQ to be able to try the lasagna, which was really good. It also reminded me that I need to try and learn how to cook lasagna. Actually, I need to try and learn how to cook a lot of things, but that's a different story. Anyway, the lasagna was good. The drinks were good, but I kept it simple because I knew I had a pretty intense trip to make back home (from the Bronx back to Rosedale? late at night? yeah, no way I was OD'ing... I need maximum alertness).

The music... I heard reggae, reggaeton, merengue (!), bachata (!), and probably other stuff. I did a bit of dancing... LIES! I did more than a bit of dancing. I got to dance with Paola and/or Katalina and the Bilini sisters. Paola explained some of the basic differences between salsa, bachata, and merengue, and Maria showed me some basics of merengue. Now? I pretty much merengue like a pro. Okay, not really, but apparently I learned it pretty quickly. I didn't get to merengue with Paola because she was teaching some other guy how to dance, but he totally, totally need the lessons. lol. Still, it puts me one step closer towards my dream of having a Hispanic wife... the idea of getting my wife mad and having her angrily yell at me in Spanish? Nothing short of a turn on.

... nice! ;-)

Like all good things, the night came to an end, and I went home. The trip was long, but quiet, and I got home.

el finito.

The Adventures of Mark Wins 2: Yesterday's Short-Venture

So yesterday... it was a beautiful day outside.

Nice warmth.

Nice sun.

There was no way I was just going to sit inside and miss it.

So I went outside. I wanted to go to a park that I had my eye on for quite a while... a park that is just past Toys'R'Us, which is just past Green Acres Mall. Thus, I call it Green Acres Park. It's actually rather small, but there are plenty of examples of nice things coming in small packages.

I finally went there. For some reason, this park reminded me of Zelda games. It was nice and green. As I said I would on a FaceBook status, I found myself a patch of grass and laid there for a while, just enjoying the wind, the warmth, the sun, the cars driving by, unable to enjoy this peace, and the animals. I saw ducks and squirrels.

Here are some pics...

And that's all I really have to say about it. It was a very short adventure because the park was small, but I enjoyed myself none the less. I managed to come up with a beginning set of poems that I might share at this Poetry Slam Party that I might be going to depending on various circumstances (i.e. laziness). 

For those not in the know of my poetic abilities (or lack thereof), here's a small example of what I might do:

If nothing is forever, then everything is missed.
If nothing is perfect, then perfection don' exist.
If energy is neither created nor destroyed,
Then why are kids able to break their toys?

If nothing is forever, something is classic,
Something is useless, something is tragic.
If something is timeless, time is external.
But if nothing's forever, how is it eternal?

The paradox of time, the paradox of life,
The paradox of husband, the paradox of wife.
I can have one of each, or I can have two of both.
No matter the paradox, forever the oath.

Enjoy the puzzle, not the puzzle itself.
The puzzle will destroy your mental health.
Like when you try to figure out never say never,
Simply understand that nothing is forever.

And that concluded Mark Wins Adventure #2. I'm sure that I'll have an adventure on Saturday though... unless i.e. laziness strikes...

The Adventures of Mark Wins 1-1.5: Why did Blogger Destroy my Post?

Was my post so fucking ridiculously epic that it simply had to cut the first half out?

I have no idea how that happened... smh... that was a lot of fucking typing too.

Basically, I met up with Eddie, we went to Pacha, the nightclub is awesome, but the way the people party there is different from the way I party, so it was a clash of styles. Still, I think that Pacha is one of the best night clubs in the city regardless.

I am supposed to go back there next week. I don't know if I'm going yet because I need details from Paola.

Also, some guy got punched in the face for dancing with the wrong girl, hence all the jokes. Still, it doesn't matter because it was all supposed to tie in and be this epic post about night clubs and blown minds and how I got the crowd hyped for some guy to feed off the hype and make the crowd go OHHHHHHH and... meh, whatever.

You know, that was a really amazing post, if I do say so myself. I don't understand how it got cut off. :(

And then it makes AoMW 1-1 look like trash because there was a flow of how that was supposed to tie in...

fuck glitches. I'm really upset right now. Someone needs to cheer me up.

The Adventures of Mark Wins 1-2: The Night the World Ended

Now before I continue with the many "punched in the face" jokes that we came up with last night due to traumatization, I want to continue on with how good Pacha was a night club. Three floors of music, different music on each floor, and ultimately, the DJs were awesome. Black DJs could definitely learn a thing or two from whoever was DJing at Pacha last night. They didn't interrupt with bullshit promotion and/or sound effects (although there was this time while I was on the first floor, a giant, loud ass horn blew while the smoke and crack lights were in full effect... scared the shit outta me). They just let the music play. Too many black DJs come on and stop the music because they wanna tell us this or they wanna tell us that... does it look like I give a fuck? Play the fucking music and let me dance, dammit. These DJs know what they were doing, and I really do wish black DJs would do what these guys did on a regular basis.

Also, while the place was packed, there's always room to navigate when you're not on the dance floor. I think that's a very key feature when it comes to night clubs, especially in an environment where dancing with the wrong girl can get you punched in the face. 

Now, back to the story of the trip home. We basically get to Times Square, and we chill there for a while because Eddie doesn't feel like getting punched in the face while waiting for the bus in Jamaica, which we concluded is a slightly more dangerous area than Times Square, on the final trip home, so we uses his phone to find a good sync between the train and the bus. We continue with the punched in the face jokes as we wait in Times Square. As we walk to the train station, some guy walks by us at an awkward angle, and Eddie playfully threatens that he woulda punched them in the face if they came at them any wronger. We wait for the train, we get on the train, the train is moving at breakneck snail's pace, and Eddie threatens to punch the conductor in his face for moving the train so slowly. 

Eventually, this one guy gets on the train, and he starts snoring. But he doesn't just snore. No, that would be too easy. He sounds like he's inhaling squirrels or something. I start laughing because there was this one guy that was rather startled by the snoring/squirrel-inhaling that the guy was doing, and I continue to laugh when Eddie said "That's the kind of snoring that gets you punched in the face."

We get off the train, hop on the bus, more insignificant jokes about face punching and traumatization, and we eventually part ways. I do remember him asking me if I was going next week because I mentioned that Paola said that she wanted to go next week, and I remember saying something along the lines of, "I'm not sure yet. Depends on who she's bringing, when they're trying to go, and whether or not it rains. Also, I'm not tryna get punched in the face."

And I get home. Finally. The epic day known as The End of the World finally came to an end.

Final random thoughts

• Early bird gets the worm.
• I really wanted a picture with that blue sword. :(
• Parades often attract tons of hot chicks.
• Marko and Katalina need more encounters. (stop asking questions)
• Music is awesome.
• There was totally some guy that reminded me of a fusion between Undertaker and Randy Savage. RIP
• Wait, wut did i do thar?
• The game store and comic store that I randomly discovered on St. Mark's needs to be added to the Team Epic Takeover Tour of Summer 2011. 
• Certain people should not be allowed to wear Spider-Man costumes. Spider-Man is not short, stumpy, and fat.
• "You were shooting hadokens?"
• "You talk?"
• 99 cent pizza is the wave.
• Wishful thinking is wishful, but then again, even 1% is a chance.
• 1% is also a chance to get punched in the face.
• I just might have to invest in salsa lessons.

The Adventures of Mark Wins 1-1: The Day the World Ended

So I decided that I should blog about the many adventures that I have, and said blogs dealing with them will, from this day forth, be called, "The Adventures of Mark Wins." I will blog about them whether they are solo adventures, adventures with a partner in crime, or adventures with a team.

Interestingly enough, the adventure of May 21st (aka THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!) was so ridiculously huge that I'm breaking it up into two parts.

So I woke up at 8am, because there was a dance parade that my friend Paola invited me to. I had looked up some details and figured that in order to maximize the entire day, I needed to get there early so that I could take advantage of critical features.

It was a nice sunny day, and getting there was easy. I got there, and Paola says she wants a Pacha T-shirt (she's not quite there yet). So I attempted to get a T-shirt. Total madness for attempting to obtain a T-shirt. Complete bum rush, the dudes that were handing out the shirts were getting ridiculously upset, and people are stupid. Whatever. Guy randomly throws up a shirt, I use my a taste of my phenomenal rebounding skills that I learned when playing basketball, and I snatch a shirt out of the sky forcefully (because despite the fact that I had the superior grasp, people felt the need to try and snatch it. No, okay?) <---Win.

So I escape that crowd of madness, and confirm that Paola has a shirt. Nice. Then I snatch up another one, theoretically for me. Then I snatch up free tickets to Pacha's official after party. (lol... oh, we're gonna get to that after party in Part 2). While I wait for Paola, a number of people ask me if I want to sell the shirts. I was definitely not selling the shirt I rebounded for Paola, and I wasn't going to sell mine, but then I got the thinking... if these people are willing to buy a shirt that I know I totally wouldn't be willing to buy, it probably means much more to them then it does to me. So I sold my shirt. Made $5. Hindsight says I shoulda sold it for $10. Team Epic Time Travel Machine will have me go back in time, hi-jack the box, and sell them for $20 a piece. Whatever. Paola finally shows up, and THEN the Pacha float mobilizes. (background info: Paola brought Miami's sunshine with her on Saturday to the dance parade, thus Paola made Saturday. lol)

Paola is quite the dancer and quite the photographer. We're jamming through the streets, taking pictures, seeing and savoring the sights and the music. The music was fucking awesome. We were floating back and forth between two to three floats, vibing and jamming to the music. It was fucking awesome (yes, I know I'm repeating myself). We would eventually settle with the Pacha float, where I had noticed a glimpse of Katalina, so Marko Man had a brief introduction to her and ultimately, Marko likes what he saw. (wait, who is Katalina? You're asking too many questions....) We also collected a retarded amount of free after party tickets... we had 10 altogether by the end.

Spoiler Alert: Paola doesn't actually go with me to the after party. :(

So from there, she eats, she claims that she hasn't seen a Mr. Frosty ice cream truck in too long, I buy her a snow cone because I don't like it when women leave me via disappointment, and we part ways.

I stay in the city, and call up some people to see who wants to go to Pacha with me for free. Only one that wants to and/or can go is my dude Eddie, who I hadn't seen in a few months. He says he'll be there eventually, but before 11pm. Cool. So I'm out and about in the city. I find this awesome comic book store that I'll have to revisit some day, and I also find this awesome video game store that has a fuckton of classic games and systems. Both are on St. Mark's place. Epic coincidence. I eventually get up to the area of Times Square, and then I decide, with nothing else to do, to go and do some recon to see where Pacha is. It's quite a walk, but you can't miss it if you follow directions.

What I noticed about Pacha's location is that it's merely a few blocks away from Pier 84. I never even knew that Pier 84 existed, and my gosh, it was such a beautiful sight.

And at that point, that when I start thinking about how I need a chick that's just as epic as I am to be with so that I can share these amazing adventures. A lot of people say that New York isn't the greatest place to live, so on and so forth. We wonder why New York attracts so many tourists because we've been living here for years and we're on the inside looking out. We're always rushing to get somewhere by car, bus, or train, and we miss out on exactly how beautiful and amazing this city actually is. Like, half the awesome things that I find in any given borough of NYC comes from either leaving my comfort zone to explore a new area or simply just walking a given path when I could have taken a bus or train. The sunset that I saw was no different... and it reminded me that the End of the World is not a time or a date... it's a place... a location. And I need a young lady that will travel with me to the End of the World... but maybe not yet? I don't even know anymore...

Well, that's the end of part 1... stay tuned... the next part of this adventure has our experience at Pacha Nightclub... which is... quite the experience.