4.30.2009

Coffee is my CrAcK


Never used to be a fan of coffee until college. Well, I take that back. I'd drink the occasional iced mocha's and frappacinos in high school, but I would never touch hot, bitter, black coffee. It became a necessity in College. It gave me a kickstart in the morning, and kept me up late at night cramming for exams, and writing 10 page term papers. As much as I used to hate this liquid of a drug, i think I became addicted. I'm crabby without my caffine in the morning. If I don't have my nightly cup of starbucks - I get a massive migrane (caffine withdrawls perhaps?). It's just as bad as cigarettes. I've tried alternatives (energy drinks, caffine pills, more cigarettes), but nothing seems to work.

I'm hooked, but I don't feel bad - since coffee can't be too bad for one's health.

Coffee Shops:

Favorite - Starbucks (convenient locations, free wi-fi, good price, FREE itunes pick of the week!)

Least Favorite - Java Jo's (local Waterford shop, expensive, watered down coffee)
Most Unique - Roast Coffee Company (offers coffee & food, cheap, small, collegy)
Smokey - Rochambo (can smoke upstairs, but it gets loud and roudy with east side hippies)

I'm only writing this post because I'm sitting at Starbucks right now drinking my Grande Coffee with cream and a raw sugar! It seemed like an appropriate post.

Checking out

The One & Only
t0m3k1

4.29.2009

88NINE radio milwaukee


Love this station. Haven't become a contributing member yet, but it's been crossing my mind a lot lately. I guess I'm just waiting for a BIGger paycheck. The thing I like the most about this station is that its ALL ABOUT MKE. The radio DJ's aren't talking about Kim Kardashian's cellulite, Britney's new boyfriend, or that Courtney Love bought a new shade of bright red lipstick.

Good music is played - a wide variety, nothing mainstream. No commercials! And they always have the scoop of what's going on around town each weekend. I've checked out some places that 88NINE has mentioned, and there was no dissapointment (yet).

The Neighborhood Project is going on right now. The station talks about different neighborhoods in Milwaukee, and the history of them. Actual people from these neighborhoods speak out - talking about the uniqueness of these places, and things that happened there that make Milwaukee what it is today.


Here's my favorite 88NINE songs i've heard lately:

Lykki Li - Little Bit
Madcon - Beggin
Northern Room - Galaxy

Back to my Coffee
The one & Only
t0m3k

4.27.2009

Chicago, We came (no pun intended)

This last weekend in chicago was amazing. The whole idea of going somewhere with no plan was a brilliant move. Here's just a brief post of Kristen and I's experiences.

The hotel was great. We wanted to say away from chain hotels, so we decided on Hotel Blake. The neighborhood was awesome (Printer's Row-comparable to Milwaukee's Thrid Ward). We were 3 blocks away from the Sears Tower, and one block from the El train which we used a lot.

Some of the touristy things we did were Millenium/Grant Parks. I was really looking forward to the 'bean'. I've seen so many facebook pictures of this thing, and was a little bit dissapointed that I never got a chance to see it - especially only living 1.5 hours away from Chi. We walked the Magnificent Mile. For anyone that doesn't know... that's Michigan Avenue. It's lined with tons of high end stores and restaurants. We went into Armani Exchange, and they had a DJ mixing tracks behind the glass in the store. A little weird at first, but a unique experience. The John Hancock observatory was a lot better than the Sears Tower, in my opinion. We ate at the Signature Room (which had okay food) the view was great. There's also a lounge one floor up with 360 views of the city. The drinks were expensive, but you pay for experience, i think.

The downtown nightlife wasn't too exciting for us. We went to the Division/Rush Avenues Nightlife district and it was way too crowded. Kind of like water street in Milwaukee. Our favorite place was in Lincoln Park area, a couple of miles north of downtown. Kincades is a neat bar under the EL train. We made friends both nights there, got free drinks, and free taxi rides back to the hotel. Enough said.

I don't want to go into too much detail about this trip, but for anyone that is on a budget, and not looking to spend thousands of dollars on flights and attractions, Chicago is a great place to visit and have a good time. I definately see myself back there - SOON!
the one & only
t0m3k


4.22.2009

Chicago, here we come


Kristen and I have been planning a little 'get-away' for a couple of months. With our limited budgets, we decided to go semi-local: Chicago. We've both been there briefly, but never experienced what Chi-town has to offer. There's no specific plan of what we're going to do.. just going with the flow. I think it's more fun that way. random.

So far the only plan is to take the train down there, to avoid parking hassels. Staying at hotel blake (downtown). Using public transportation and our feet all weekend. Checking out Jackowo (polish neighborhood), and the signature lounge (95th floor of J. Hancock building).

We might check out the zoo, or do a chicago brewery tour as well. I'll post pics and trip details when we get back. can't wait!
the one & only
t0m3k

4.20.2009

a little bored



What a crappy day. It's been rainy and cold since last night. It's freezing in my house, and turning the heat on won't do anything for about 7 hours. There's radiant floor heating in my house, so by the time it actually warms up, it'll be tomorrow and 60 degrees outside. Apparently this stuff is really energy efficient - your house stays heated up for days once it reaches your desired temperature. Doesn't help when you want heat NOW.

The new College song needs to be taken off the air. The song was okay the first time I heard, online. The radio edits so much of this song... making it sound more stupid than annoying.

"drink my drink and smoke my ssssssssssssss"

I can't believe they edited 'beer' out of this song... towards the end they're chanting: kegstand!, kegstand!, kegstand! Or the part talking about beer bongs-Pretty contradicting.

I need coffee.

The 1 & only
t0m3k

4.19.2009

Something New

Never really got into the 'blogging' hype.. i've done it every now and then on Myspace.. but nothing like some people do on a daily basis.

I decided to sign up because once in a while i'll get that random thought, or crazy dream, and it's fun to write it out in detail. Sometimes it's nice to vent as well.

I probably won't be on this thing as much as some of my friends... David, :) But who knows.. I'll see what it evolves into.

The one & only,
t0m3k