3 - May 31, 2010

Initial Impressions

Christopher Setterlund

May 31, 2010

1.      The fires in Quebec sent smoke all the way down to Cape Cod.  Early this morning it was like the apocalypse with a gray haze hanging over.  Falling flowers looked like ash, it was a surreal scene.

2.      Outside of the Marshside ended up being the end of the Memorial Day parade route.  Our lot was packed, people, marching bands, fire trucks, all hung out in the street.  Glad I worked early because some people were late because of it.

3.      Prediction: The Celtics will defeat the Lakers in 6 games, they are just plain tougher, the Lakers will try to match it but won’t be able to keep it up for an entire series.

4.      Happy Birthday to my niece Kaleigh who turns 11 years old today!  It makes me feel old just saying it.

5.      Ted Green, columnist for the LA Times wrote that Paul Pierce’s idea of a good time is going out clubbing and getting stabbed?!  Wow, just like hot blondes, jackasses grow on trees on the West Coast.

6.      Should have bought a greenish-yellow car so that the pollen would just blend in with it.

7.      Everybody that is in your life is there for a reason.  In mine there are some I wonder why, and there are others that I am hopeful are there for the reasons I am thinking they are.

8.      What could be worse than being on the highway and hearing that there is a six-mile backup waiting for you that is only going to get longer?  I believe that it’s there that the pain in the ass tourists pay their penance.

9.      Everybody should check out America: The Story of Us on History.  It’s my favorite subject but I think most people would enjoy seeing how we got to be what we are today.

10.   America is the king of the frivolous lawsuit.  Now a lady in Utah is suing Google for their directions on Google Maps.  She claims they led to her being struck by a car on a rural route with no sidewalks.  It’s called common sense lady, it’s free, you should use it often to avoid things like this.

11.   I keep wondering if Bret Michaels is living Final Destination right now.  I mean, was he supposed to be killed at some point and now death keeps sending hemorrhages, strokes, and heart conditions to finish the job?  Just wondering. 

12.   Now that I finally have all of the information I have been able to change my opinion on some things. 

13.   I have realized today that I am more afraid of beautiful girls than I am of grizzly bears, serial killers, flesh-eating bacteria, everything, is there a cure?

Quote of the Day: “Now it seems to me some fine things have been laid upon your table.  But you only want the ones that you can’t get.”

Song of the Day:  Right Me Up – State Radio

Photo of the Day:  The Man At the Wheel Statue – Gloucester, Mass.

2 - May 27, 2010

Initial Impressions

Christopher Setterlund

May 27, 2010

1.      I believe that there should be a sign in the window of all stores telling middle-aged women they must be ‘at least this hot’ before they can enter wearing their bathing suits.  It’s too early to throw up ma’am.

2.      I have to wonder first why people clutter their cars up with political bumper stickers, since it makes half the people immediately hate you.  Also, why do you keep political loser stickers on your car?  Wouldn’t you remove them?  So now half the people hate you and think you’re a loser.

3.      I stick to my belief that Bruce Lee could have taken anybody who has ever lived in a straight fight.  Anybody, anytime, he would lay them out.

4.      Dwight Howard is a con man.  A dirty player hiding behind a smile and clean cut appearance but his elbows tell another story.

5.      If you can talk on the phone, or read a book/magazine while running at the gym you are either supremely gifted or wasting your time.  My money is on wasting your time.

6.      So what’s up with these ads that keep saying cops are ‘cracking down’ on drunk drivers and folks without seat belts?  What were they doing before?  Slacking off?

7.      Finding out that the only person you can depend on is yourself is sobering but also empowering at the same time.

8.      I get stuck running at the gym next to a guy whose breath smelled like a rotting corpse.  Of course he had to have trouble catching his breath, and faced my way to watch a television.  Man, breath mints aren’t that expensive, are they?

9.      So, it’s that time of the year when the National Weather Service tries to scare everyone with the threats of a million terrible hurricanes.  How many do we get, like 1 or 2?  If you were a baseball player NWS you’d get sent to the minors.

10.   Find it funny that the vast majority of daytime television ads feature lawyers, or colleges targeting single parents.  Not everyone is looking to sue, some people are actually on a day off from work you know?

Quote of the Day:  “If you make a deal with the devil eventually you will get burned.”

Song of the Day:  No Reply – The Beatles

Photo of the Day:  Coast Guard Station, Race Point, Provincetown, Mass.

1 - May 26, 2010

Initial Impressions

Christopher Setterlund

May 26, 2010

1.       With all of the crazy advances of modern science would it be too much to ask that they create a hybrid season of spring and summer?  You know, long sunny days, but no humidity and temps no higher than 80?  Mid-90’s in May are not going to cut it.

2.      At Quizno’s today this adorable old African American woman ordered ahead of me.  75-years-old.  She was so funny and sweet and very particular about her sandwich.  However, she did blow us kisses and tell us she loved us before she left.  It made my day, that and the Baja Chicken Sub, serious goodness.

3.      What is the deal with the 9/10 cent in gas prices?  Is it supposed to be some trick to make us think it’s cheaper?  I’d actually rather gas be 2.85 than 2.84 9/10, sorry oil companies you are not that smart, obviously.

4.      I am thinking I must be part vampire, or cannibal, with the amount of times I bite my tongue and inside of my mouth.  Am I the only one who does that?

5.      Went to the beach today and the dreaded shacks are already at the entrance in anticipation of Memorial Day.  I think if you are a local you should get in free as compensation for the visitors that come and completely annoy us, not all, just some.

6.      I find it sort of amusing that these meatheads at the gym can lift 300+ pounds, but can’t lift a spray bottle to clean their damn sweat off of the equipment.  I’d be more impressed with that exercise big man.

7.      I think that holding the Super Bowl in New Jersey in 2014 is a good idea because it opens it up for Foxboro, but the cynic in me says it will probably be 20 degrees with heavy snow on the actual date.

8.      Wonder what percentage of girls date these loser tool guys for the challenge of trying to ‘fix them?’  I have a female friend who says that girls do that.

9.      What happens when there are too many people trying to be ‘chiefs’ and not enough willing to be ‘indians?’

10.   I would rather be shot down than ignored.  How about you?

Quote of the Day: “I would rather be hated for who I am than loved for who I am not.” – Kurt Cobain

Song of the Day: As – Stevie Wonder

Photo of the Day:  Beavertail Lighthouse, Jamestown RI

Getting Acquainted

I got this idea from a little blog I did after a recent trip to the North Shore in Massachusetts.  I do another blog entitled In My Footsteps which features my travel writing.  Those blogs are to the point, they give history of places I visit as well as interesting places to visit.  I realized that a lot of weird and funny things happen during the course of my trips and I wanted to share them as a simple, journal-like blog.  That is where the idea for Initial Impressions came from.  In daily life we all see and experience things that are funny, or sad, or confusing, we just normally don't write them down.  I am going to do that.  It will not only include things I see, it will also be thoughts on deeper topics as well.  I want to connect with as many people as I can through this, I know everyone will be able to relate to at least one thing I post in each blog.  Enough explaining what this will be about, what I am going to do is repost my first blog that dealt with my North Shore trip last week, that might give you a better idea as to what Initial Impressions will be all about.  Check it out and let me know what you think.  Thanks for reading!

Initial Impressions - The Pilot Blog - May 20, 2010

1. I am absolutely in love with Nahant, Mass. Very small semi-island, my fav spot of the day.
2. In going off the beaten path at Breakheart Reservation in Saugus I happened upon a young male deer, mating season, he was not thrilled to see me. Got photos and video before he snorted at me and ran off.
3. Kelly's Roast Beef is every bit as good as the hype, roast beef sand. and fries while sitting at Revere Beach, and that was my first stop.
4. My Nina was born in a house on Revere Beach, it's a three-mile stretch, kind of hard to pinpoint the exact location.
5. Saw a guy at Revere Beach with so much white hair on his back it was like he had a white glow to him, or shoulder pads, not cool, I'm eating here sir.
6. Added more color to my left arm by driving 250miles, $20 in gas, love the new car.(2009 Ford Focus)
7. Just because you miss rush hour does not mean that traffic in and around Boston is not a nightmare.
8. On the way up on Rt. 3 some douche New Yorker was on his phone and swerving all over the place, sort of hoped he'd just crash to protect everyone else.
9. CVS in Saugus looks exactly the same as CVS everywhere else.
10. I still have bitter memories of working at Target in Vegas and got a cold chill when I passed one in Saugus.
11. Mosquitos and other terrible bugs are out, they suck, that's all.
12. Why weren't High Rock Tower and Stone Tower in Lynn opened yet? Yeah, it's only a week before Memorial Day, no nobody goes out before then, right?
13. Have you ever heard of Dunkin' Donuts Cafe? That's what it was called on Nahant. Even their Dunkin' Donuts is freakin' cool.
14. A family of squirrels were living in a wooden wheel well at the Saugus Iron Works Museum, is that a safe place? What kind of parents are these squirrels?
15. Taking timed photos of yourself is hard, damn camera tipped over several times as I tried to shoot myself in front of High Rock Tower in Lynn.
16. Even the thugs in Nahant were classy, just sayin' is all.
17. Revere Beach was a three-mile stretch of hot girls or hideous ones, no in between.
18. Got to see a guy sucking booze out of a paper bag today, hey man you're just adding to the stereotype.
19. My car's SYNC system literally reshuffles my IPod's songs after each one, I passed some songs ten times in my trip, variety is key you idiot car.
20. I think at times my GPS is trying to get me killed. What British lady voice? Did you want to go out with me and I turned you down? I own you, do as you're told!
21. Saw the same little girl on a scooter three times on Nahant and waved to her every time.
22. Even on a tiny semi-island there is a golf course, what else would middle-aged white guys do? Maybe go to the freakin' beach?
23. At Lynn Woods two ladies were walking their dogs, a boxer and some little brown dog, and the dogs started fighting, their leashes got tangled, it was a mess, the ladies were yelling, which is why I had to wait until I was far enough away to laugh.
24. Took 200 photos and 3 videos and my camera's battery was still more than 1/2 full.
25. Am burned and tired but fresh and clean, watched The Hangover while eating D'Angelos. Perfect end to a nearly perfect day. Hope y'all enjoyed my recap, photos and articles to come later.

Song of the Day:  Brand New Day by Sting 

Photo of the Day: Nahant Beach