A Little Too Big For Fishsticks

Last month I went with some family and others on a party boat off of Montauk in Long Island.
(party boat = fishing for a group of people. Not quite the 'celebration' party........)

I won't go into the debacle we experienced the night before and why we ended up sleeping in our cars in a diner parking lot, but it was well worth it for the day of fishing we had.
A little backstory -- the first mate is a coworker and friend of my sister's, so we got a nice hookup.
HAH!!
get it?
oh nevermind..........



If you don't know the Montauk bay area, its chock full of stripers (Striped Bass) and bluefish.
Bluefish are fun to catch also and don't taste bad, but striper meat is really GOOD fish meat if you've never had it. Its nice, clean, non-oily white meat and is just.......MMMMM.

So we met up with the Cap'n and first mate at the dock and set out by 6am.
The boat is the November Rain and Steve & Jill were top-notch as fisherman go, and pretty cool people too. So guys - consider this free promotion!!

Anyway, we set out, caught some bait, tried a few spots unsuccessfully, then started nailing stripers out of NOwhere! I caught the first "big" one which was a little over 30 pounds, but we caught 9 stripers and 5 blues in total, with the biggest being just over 32 pounds. If you like to fish, this was a perfect day, without a doubt.

Enough words. Here's some picts:


Beautiful weather



Oh yeah, I'm happy


With my Dad and li'l brother



My sister fighting for her dinner



Victorious!!



Dad - happy with his catch



Best fishing trip EVER


Lots o fish in that cart!!



Happy buncha fisherman!

Daydreamer

Small moments of pause
throughout the day,
a few seconds
found amidst the chaotic hours,
a paralysis of body,
a stimulation of mind,
I find myself staring aimlessly
into space, from time to time
with thoughts and images dancing
around in my mind,
mixed with secretive wonders sublime,
then ending suddenly,
thrown back into reality,
finding myself sitting here in this class,
but not without a slight little grin,
knowing soon, I will see you again.

Break You Off A Li'l Somethin.........

So a coworker and I just happened to be pretty bored at the same time today so we somehow got into a rap battle over IM.

If it doesn't all make sense..................too bad!
Some of it is based off of inside jokes, so you probably won't get it..........
But still, my skillz are mad, undeniably.



CK: i think hes going to do very well in the ATL
ME: oh snap that rhymed
CK: lolol
CK: they call me the great white hipe, cuz all those other rappers are like toilet paper..WIPE!
ME: yo I'm keepin it hot and throwin out sparks, cuz you just old and crusty like brown streak marks
CK: nice
CK: dont be mad when i do a drive by on your family, sprayin clips, the blood goes drip, make you turn white like mircle whip
ME: oh why you breakin out the mayo? your rhymes are just weak though, thats why ur girl sees me on the street and she's all like "hey yo!!"
CK: OMG OLOL!
CK: that was funny
ME: haha
CK: Don't be scare if you feel a little rumble , in your tiny 1 bedroom, thats just me blowin up your condo, leavin u trapped in the rubble, fuckin with me is just trouble
ME: you only blowin up in fantasy and I don't mean football, cuz with Brady done your team aint won and Crazy Ducks got NO balls
CK: that didnt rhyme
ME: haha it does if you spit it right
CK: OMG
CK: the only thing you spittin is teetheses when I knock them out with dem braceses, rockin the diamond studded grill, so ill, when there's a blackout they ask me to smile
ME: see now I know you frontin cuz your wallet full of nothin, I know you can't cop ice cuz you can't pay, cuz no lie everyone knows you work at T-Play
ME: and now your flow has died and like KFC -- you fried, and whats left is only one, and thats me - the champion
ME: what
ME: what
CK: i was AFK cuz your girl was just givin me a fabulous lay, she likes to drive my ferrari , but everytime i get her in bed she keeps on screamin "ARE"...

What's Your Outlet??

I don't care who you are or what you do, everyone needs a distraction.

Something they like to do when they're not doing what they have to do.

Personally, I'm at work 45 hrs a week, and spend another 15 hrs commuting, plus on-call 24/7 every other week, which means I spend a lot of my time doing something related to work.

You know the saying.............

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy.."

So what's your play??

I like sports.
I like playing, watching, and fantasy-playing baseball and football.
[insert joke about fantasy football here]


I like working out.
I hit the gym at least 4 times a week.
Not only is it great for releasing pent-up tension and relieving stress, but it keeps you healthy.

I like writing. (although I don't do it nearly as often as I'd like)
Usually poetry or anything creative that comes to me.



So..............what's your outlet?

Boring Updates

They're updates.........

.....but they're boring.

So yes, that's what they are.

Hey!! This is a BLOG, ok?!??? Aren't I supposed to act like people actually read it and care even a slight little bit about what I'm up to????

(yeah..........you're probably right, but oh well.....)


Where to begin with the boredom????



Congrats to P for getting engaged! (A is a pretty cool chick!)

Good luck to TriniCandy for starting her own blog finally.
(She needed SOME kind of outlet to vent her frustrations besides writing morbid stories and trying to come up with ideas for new sex toys.............)

Day is starting school again on Tuesday and is NOT looking forward to her Summer ending.
But I have no sympathy for teachers. Nobody with Summers off should be complaining!!!

The Rutgers football season officially opens on Monday with their first game against Fresno State! I dished out enough moolah for 2 season tix, so you KNOW I will be there.
What should I bring to the tailgate?? Hmm.....I'm thinking maybe a shrimp ring and some 40's will suffice.......

Week #2 of my boss being gone on vacation and me having to run the whole Ops department.
Its nice to have the whole office to myself, but my workload is noticeably increased.
Though, I'm still rarely very busy.

I'm in the midst of two fantasy football drafts tonight.

I'm taking my Mom to a jazz and wine festival this weekend.
She loves jazz, and wine-tastings are always nice, so it should be fun.

So this guy who wrote "100 Things To Do Before You Die" .............died.
What humor in the irony.........

Why would a 9-yr old kid get kicked out of a Little League??
Because he's too good!
DUH!



OK......so on a more personal and introspective note, I've recently developed the urge to start writing again.

I'm not sure why, exactly.
Perhaps its the melancholy of Summer coming to an end,
or maybe its the creativity I've kept dormant for the past few years.

Whatever it is, I've decided to dust off the old works and open up my treasured leather-bound journal to explore my mind again.

I wonder what will come out....................

Drops of Black

Tonight,
here,
in the dark,
is where I sit,
with my eyes wide open,
seeing more
than I would in the light......
The ray of black
shining bright in my mind,
soaking with thoughts,
the painful kind,
appearing so clearly now
as it washes my eyes,
the shadowy clouds
glaringly disguised
by an evil light
that the darkness now
banishes,
revealing the insight
and burning flashes,
that perhaps a mind,
thought full of nothing,
is brimming with something
beneath the ashes.
Though not a light
it lets me see
a previously hidden reality,
cloaked in sunshine,
but wearing a suit of black,
never witnessed
until I brought the
darkness back.
Splashed all over me,
an evil rain
falling
from an evil sky
no stars to hide
and full of sights
previously unseen.
But now the dark
reflection,
reveals my true
complexion,
dripping drops
of evil spots
soaking my soul,
with something dark
that inside me grows,
cleansing my body,
nurturing the seed,
while no one knows
what grows inside of me . . . . . . . . . .

Lobstering in Miami

For the 2nd year now, I've gone down to Miami to spend some quality time with family as well as go lobster-hunting for the mini-season.

Mi tia, tio y abuela viven en Miami.
My Dad was also down there visiting for a month.

For those who haven't been following along, I'm half Cuban and that side of the family is definitely more energetic and lively, to say the least.
(my aunt is more like the Energizer bunny when it comes to dancing....just ask anyone)

So aside from obviously sharing stories and events with family I don't see that often, we have two days when private citizens can go catch lobster before the commercial companies go out and clean them all out.

A quick lesson in lobstering:
Most people don't use traps like they do with crabs.
Instead, you actually have to swim down to the ocean floor and poke them out of their hiding spots under rocks and coral heads. To do this, you use a metal rod called a "tickle stick." (Oh yes...........I know your mind is in the gutter right now.......)

Then, once you've gotten them to slooooowly walk out into the open, you ease a net over them from behind to snare them. Now here's the funny thing about lobsters...... they walk forward really, really slow. But when they feel threatened, they use their powerful tail to whip them backwards REALLY fast.
So once they're in the net, they start whipping around like crazy, trying to get away. That's when you have to grab them through the net with your gloves.

Why gloves????

Here's why:
The lobster in Miami aren't like the lobster in Maine.
These guys don't have front claws. Actually, they are called Spiny lobsters because they have really sharp spikes all over their body!

So anyway, once you can manage them out of the net, you give them a quick measure to make sure they're of legal size and then stuff them in your catch bag. (Basically a sack that has a one-way flap on it so they can't get out)

Also, for anyone wondering, we were in about 30 feet of water.
.....and no, we didn't use scuba equipment. Instead, we had an air compressor that sits in an inner tube on the top of the water with 80 ft of hose that leads to a mouthpiece that we breath out of.

So aside from catching some "bugs", you also get to see some beautiful reefs and tropical fish. I saw sea cucumbers, sea spiders and under one coral head was a 5-ft nurse shark! (she seemed a little annoyed at us pokin around her home so we decided to leave her alone.)

Ok enough words...........the rest of the story is in pictures and vids....


Sunrise over the bay as we're motoring out to our spots.






Another shot of the sunrise...........gorgeous





Speeding along








Alex and Dad gettin the gear ready






We're here! Let's go!






Rockin the dive suit.






Mi tio y Yo showing off our livewell full to the top!






Overflowin with bugs!! 48 total for the three of us.






Back at the marina, we cruised past this 9-foot alligator that just snagged a dolphin carcass from the docks.






Idiot at the marina who fucked up his truck. Even funnier?? He's going to get fined by the EPA for polluting the water! HAH! DOUCHEBAG!!






Little lizard chillin on the surface of the water in the pool.


Here, check him out in action









Mmmmmm..........it always tastes better when you know you caught it







Well.........I have some more picts and vids of dinner time in a Cuban kitchen, and if you don't know about that, then you're missing out on drinking, dancing, drum-playing, guira-scraping good times. I'll spare all the gyrating and salsaing and leave it up to your imagination........

Can't wait to go back!