Hey everyone.  I have often heard that you need three things to live.  Food, water, and shelter.  While we can all turn on the faucet in the place we live, where are we going to get food?  Here are some of my favorite restaurants in the area.

KFC on Delhi Rd. - If you're looking to save some money, but still get some bang for your buck, KFC offers the Fully Loaded Box.  This consists of 2 chicken strips, a leg or thigh, 2 sides, biscuit, Snacker, and a large drink, all for around $7.  You can't beat it.

LaRosas Pizza on Glenway - If you're in the mood for pizza, I'd put my money on LaRosas.  It's a Cincinnati tradition! 

PF Changs at Rookwood Commons - I get the Chinese food bug a lot.  PF Changs has a great atmosphere, and is surrounded by a lot of shopping.  I enjoy the Mu Shu Pork.  You're looking at probably $20 a person.

Mongo's Mongolian Grill in Mason - Okay, check this out.  You get a bowl.  You pick from basically any meat, vegetables, spices, and toppings.  You put pretty much whatever you want in the bowl.  The kicker is, you can get unlimited bowls for one price!

Walt's Hitching Post in Covington - I know a lot of people think ribs and think Montgomery Inn, but Walt's has it going on.  Their ribs are cooked outside in a shack on a wood fire pit.  It's what ribs are all about, and a good deal cheaper than Montgomery Inn.

The Gathering Place in Newtonsville - So a lot of you probably don't know where Newtonsville is.  It's where I grew up, about an hour northeast of Cincinnati.  The Gathering Place is about the most run down restaurant in the world, but the food is greasy, unhealthy, and cheap.  You can't beat their breakfast.

Quatman's Cafe in Norwood - This is the real pearl of the group if you want a good old fashioned hamburger.  Yea, it's kind of a dive.  Until you go there and eat one of these burgers, you just won't understand.

See ya everyone!

Hey everyone.  So I just wanted to give a little update on how the baseball team is doing these days.  We finished a productive fall season a few weeks ago, which is basically a months worth of practice, and just give the coaches an outlook of who is going to be on the team and who will play the majority of the time.

Now comes the hard part.  The winter months are the worst months for a baseball player.  Right now we are just lifting and conditioning three days a week.  Once we come back from fall break though, we will go straight into practice, and then what I like to call ultimate conditioning.  I'm actually really trying to bust my butt this year, because in past years I haven't dedicated myself in the offseason and it's just a lot harder to stay healthy when the season starts.  This is the hardest thing for me.  Baseball players naturally want to be where?  On the field, preferably outside.  Where are we?  In the gym, lifting weights and hitting off pitching machines.  The first day of spring when we actually get to go outside is the best day of the year, even if it's still freezing cold.  Anyway, being in shape is probably one of my biggest weaknesses as a baseball player right now.  I like to use the excuse that I have short legs, therefore I have to run further than the guys with long legs. 

Also, I would like to mention that the baseball team will be at the Motherhouse on December 6th to decorate for Christmas.  It's actually one of my favorite functions the team does.  We put up a bunch of Christmas trees and lights, and get to talk to all the sisters about what's going on with school.  Also, we receive a small payment of cookies and cider, which ironically will put me right back in the weight room to lose that weight.  Hope everyone is hanging in there as the semester gets close to the end.  See ya.

Hey everyone.  As I flipped through the channels on my TV the past few days, about all I saw was news on the election.  Being informed, voting, and learning about politics and what's going on in the world is good.  Sometimes you just need to get away though.  When I do, I turn to sports.  Here is why.

Real life is hard.  I consider sports to be in the category of not real life, especially when you're not playing them.  I am talking about being a fan of your good old hometown teams.  I was at the Bengals game this past Sunday, and as many of you may know, we won our first game of the year.  People were chanting 8 and 8 and playoff bound and all that.  It's just amazing to see 60 thousand plus people at a sporting event when there is so much wrong with the world.  Why do we do it?  To get away from all that bad stuff.  That's why I do it at least.  I'm sure not dishing out big money to go to games because it's not a great escape for me.  All these people, at some level, probably care about what is going on in the world, in real life.  At some point though, you just gotta get away for a little bit.  It's like when Katrina hit New Orleans.  When the Saints came back and played their first game in the city, it was great.  People were able to forget about their hardships for a while and have something to cheer for.

I think that I probably need a little more time away from real life than most people.  I usually watch about 3 or 4 episodes of Sportscenter a day, an most of the time I already know exactly what happened.  The point is, when I need to clear my head for a little, I can always turn to the Bengals and the Reds.  They are both really, really bad teams right now, but fans never stop being fans when their team is down.  In the end, it's not all about winning and losing for real sports lovers.  It's about letting loose for a while, and enjoying a game before life comes back and punches you in the face.  See ya everyone.

 Hey everyone.  I think everyone has had a dream growing up.  Some of us dreamed of being movie stars.  Some of us wanted to be baseball players, or firefighters, or astronauts. My friend John had a dream.  His dream was to be a professional wrestler.  Just over a week ago, "Lawnjob Johnny" had his debut match. 

The day of the match, myself and three other friends packed up and headed to Club Destiny in Middletown.  There, we met other friends and family of Lawnjob.  At approximately 8:30 the bell wrang.  His debut would be a 20 man, battle royal, weapons match.  The winner would get a shot at the heavyweight champion, Sharkboy.  The 6'4" 300 lb. Lawnjob held his ground like a man.  He took as well as dished out multiple blows from things like chairs, frying pans, and stop signs.  He finished about 7th, but was a winner to all his friends.  The small town kid with a big heart had lived out his dream.  Later on he posed for pictures and signed autographs for the Lawnjob fans. 

The dream isn't going to end here for Lawnjob.  He claims his next match will be after the New Year.  What is he going to be doing in the mean time?  Well he is still in college, but I assume that working out is his main thing now.  This story can be an inspiration to all of us out there who have ever dreamed.  Sure, he is only a small part of a small wrestling organization, but he is listed as a legitimate professional wrestler.  How cool is that?  See ya everyone.

Hey everyone.  I want to be real with all my readers.  Sometimes we need to look at the hard questions in life that don't always have a clear answer.  Today's topic is super powers, and which one I would choose if I could have one. 

Shapeshifting is obviously something that appeals to everyone.  This is the ability to become another person, an animal, or an object.  Imagine the fun you could have transforming into one of your professors and then cancelling class.  Perhaps you could change into ketchup and then when you friend goes to put you on his cheeseburger you change into water which would make his bun soggy, therefore ruining his cheeseburger.  It would result in a deep belly laugh.

Unfortunately life is not all about laughs.  As we all know, sometimes it comes down to the all mighty dollar.  For those of you who think money is important, I recommed precognition.  You could foresee the future and know which teams are going to win certain games, or bet on horses, or go to a casino, or any kind of organized gambling really.

Invisibility is another popular super power.  With invisibility you could get into the movies for free.  This power also gives you the ability to reappear whenever you want, which is fantastic for giving people a little scare.  I would love to appear right in front of a moving car.  Imagine the looks on the driver's face right before he smashed me.

This leads me right into my next topic which is superhuman strength.  You should never get in front of oncoming traffic unless you have this power.  Other than that, I find it completely useless.

My superpower of choice would be flying.  I think flying would be ideal for a few reasons.  First of all, I hate sitting in traffic.  Also, I hate high gas prices.  That pretty much solves my main life problems.

I would like to close with saying that none of the super powers I have are used for anything that is beneficial for the human race.  I mean I see all these superheros on TV and they aren't doing anything to help us.  Have a good week.  See ya everyone.

Hey everyone.  I want to discuss something that has been weighing on my mind for quite some time now.  As with all of my posts, I try to talk about topics that are near and dear to me.  Although I do have strong opinions on this topic, I am always open to the feelings of others.  Today is the day I talk about Bigfoot, and if he is real.

Bigfoot actually comes in many variations.  There is the Tibetan Yeti, the Canadian Sasquatch, and the dreaded Japanese Hibagon.  Although we are very unlikely to run into one of these rare, perhaps mythical creatures, we are far more likely to encounter some of his American brothers.  Folklore tells us about the Fouke Monster of Arkansas, the Florida Skunk Ape, and our very own backyard friend, the Ohio Grassman.

Now, what originally got me thinking about Bigfoot was a special on the History Channel where researchers hunted down the elusive Grassman in Kenmore, Ohio.  Unfortunately, they were unable to prove the existance of Grassman, although they used many interesting techniques.  One of these involved the knocking of a piece of wood against another piece of wood in an attempt to lure the creature.  Modern technology has only come so far as far as Bigfoot-finding equipment.  So as logical, intellectual people, we need to come to our own conclusions of whether or not we think Bigfoot exists. 

Dating back to the 1870's, there have been over 300 recorded sighting of Bigfoot or Bigfoot relatives in the United States alone.  14 sightings were made in Ohio, so look out.  Bigfoot sightings date back to 50 A.D.  There have been numerous prints found that are yet to be identified by scientists.  Ohio State was actually given a 16 inch strand of hair to look at.  The scientists there were unable to place this hair in relationship to any known creature.  So is Bigfoot really out there?  Maybe there are just a lot of crazy people?  I tend to lean towards Bigfoot being real, if only for my own personal enjoyment.  What kind of world would it be if we had already discovered everything there is out there?  Enclosed is a picture of our dear friend the Skunk Ape.  See ya everyone.

Hey everyone.  Since I have this forum available to me, I want to talk about someone who I don't give enough credit to, my mommy.  Oh yes, she has been there since the beginning.  When I was a wee lass I suppose I don't remember all the things she did for me, but I honestly have her to thank for the man I have become.  When my brother and I were little, she had the hardest job in the world.  Raising us was no easy chore.  We were natural enemies for most of our youth, so one thank you goes out to Mom, for not letting us kill each other. 

Time went on.  I had baseball pretty much everyday.  Who took me too baseball?  Mom did.  I think she would come to every practice to see me play if I let her.  No one has been more supportive of me playing baseball for the past 15 years.  I assume I would have given it up long ago if not for her.  So a second thank you goes out to Mom, my biggest fan.

I kept growing up right before her eyes.  I was in high school.  Honestly, I could have cared less about my grades.  Sure, I wanted to be successful and make some money, but I didn't have any idea how to do it.  What did she do?  She got on my gosh darn case everytime she could about how classes were going and how my grades were.  I tried hard in school because I didn't want to let her down.  She knew what I was capable of, even if I didn't.  She didn't go to college, but she knew I could.   Now I have her to thank for helping me get there.  A third thank you goes out to Mom, for being my best teacher.

So here I am today, and Mom still calls me whenever she can, asking me about how I'm doing, and how school is.  I have everything I ever asked for because of her.  Thank you Mom.

Hey everyone.  Today is the last day of September and a few hours away from the first day of October.  I realize that the cold weather isn't here yet, but I am beginning precautionary measures for when it arrives.  Today I shaved every bit of facial hair I had.  My plan is to now let it grow in full for the next month or so.  Therefore, when the winter months come, I will be adequately prepared for the elements.  Growing a beard is more of a lifestyle than anything else.  Some people frown upon it because it can become unkept and retain food particles.  As I said though, its a way of life.  You have to really be one with the beard. 

I want to talk about some benefits of the beard in the cold weather.  When you are in your car, you reduce the amount of heat you use to keep your body warm, therefore reducing emissions and saving the environment.  Also, the beard acts as a windshield, so technically you could buy a car without a windshield and save yourself money.  Other features of the beard are it acting as a replacement for many winter garments such as the coat, scarf, and toboggan.  This is all based on, of course, how long you let your beard grow.  The last and most beneficial feature of the beard is the one we don't think about enough.  The beard has been known to attract more women than Orlando Bloom.  Chuck Norris is a perfect example. 

So, as September comes to an end, Beardtober begins.  Wish me luck everyone, and feel free to join in the fun.  See ya!

Hey everyone.  So here is what's going on.  One of my professors, who is new to the area, was asking what the deal is with eastsiders and westsiders around here.  This got me thinking a few things.  Where is this mysterious line that divides the Cincinnati area?  Ok, I am going to try to explain it as I learn it.  Pretend Cincinnati is an apple.  We are going to take an apple knife and cut this Cincinnati apple in half.  One side falls towards Cali.  The other side will fall towards Maryland.  Neither piece falls north or south.  So, in summary, we have the creation of the west and east sides of Cincinnati.  The west being composed of places like Cheviot, Delhi, Westwood, and Bridgetown.  The east side has Loveland, Milford, Blue Ash, and Mariemont.  I am actually from the far east.  A place called Owensville which is in the northeast part of Clermont County.

Coming to the Mount, which is on the west side and primarily composed of west siders, I came to realize that they aren't all that bad.  At least they are better than outsiders.  Of course there is the long running fight between the two sides, a kind of Cincinnati Civil War.  Really though, its not much more than a long running joke.  There are a lot of things that each side is known for.  West siders are known as the die hard sports fans, more community driven.  East siders are thought of often as more sophisticated, Starbucks loiterers.  The westies always use their trademark slogan, "west is the best".  The east side just responds by sitting back and checking their stocks.  These are all little stereotypes, some a little true, some not.  I've found that at the Mount, everyone gets along with everyone for the most part.  So, instead of a Civil War, I would have to give Cincinnati the new title of the Melting Pot. 

So sure our schools battle, our residents fued, and tempers boil sometimes.  Deep down we need to ask ourselves, which side is really better?  I would have to say whichever side is closer to Florida, which is neither.  Can't you see that we just need to get along.  The Mount is doing it.  I think that you can too.  See ya everyone.

As a few of you may or may not have known, the city of Cincinnati was recently hit by the largest storm in the history of the world.  Here are the events as I recall them.

I was at a friend's house when the storm began.  First, power lines and trees started to come through the houses, like a hot knife through butter.  I saw the nextdoor neigbor hanging out the window, about to plummet from the first story window to the rock hard ground.  I was able to MacGyver together a harness using only my shoe strings, a pillow case, and some of my own chest hair.  After rescuing her, she insisted that I accept a money reward, which I refused, knowing that other people were in danger whom I needed to help.  I told her only to pay it forward. 

I decided that I must return to my apartment to make sure that my food staves were still in tact.  On the way, my car was vacuumed into a tornado.  I was thrown from my car, and concluded that I must fight the storm in hand to hand fisticuffs.  We exchanged blows for the better part of 7 minutes until I struck a direct blow into the heart of the storm.  Hurricane Ike then dropped me back down to the ground, where I continued to home.  The 20 mile jog back to my house took about 2 and a half minutes.  I would have arrived sooner, but I had to perform mouth to mouth resuscitation on an infant who was hit with a live electrical wire. 

Upon arrival at home, my roommate insisted that we play Scattergories to pass the time.  I told him that we needed to set up more preventative measures to hold the storm back.  I finally gave in and played him in one game in which I beat him 279 to 2. 

After our game, I knew I had to somehow put an end to the storm.  I took up my trusty pocket knife and widdled a battle sword out of a fallen tree.  As I began my journey to the top of the tallest mountain, which the locals call Mount St. Joseph, the woodland creatures started to unite around me.  With our power combined we were able to conquer Ike and send him away.

I realized that until I was able to turn all the power back on in Greater Cincinnati, I would be without food.  This bothered me.  I then slaughtered the very forest animals that had united around me and cooked them on one very large skewer which I carved out of a fully grown grizzly bear's femur.  I then ate them all.  The end.

Jesse