JeffreyLipsey.com

The drive from Mokena to Aurora probably has never been smoother, as it took me less than an hour to traverse the suburbs. I left around 8:30 after taking a small nap and I got in before 9:30.


Kiyoshi and I grilled the burgers and corn we had purchased the day before and the dinner just didn’t match the awesomeness, unfortunately. The burgers we bought were combined with mushrooms but the problem is they used a food processor to combine everything. If you’ve ever run ground meat through a food processor then you’d know that it dramatically changes the texture of the burger patty. And when it comes to burgers, texture is pretty key.


The corn, too, was a bit different. Yesterday I left one layer of husk attached to it as I stuck it on the grill and I swore it was useless. Today, on the other hand, I took that layer off and the corn just didn’t taste as good. Looks like the husk wasn’t useless after all.


After dinner I was so tired that I just laid down and took an hour nap; Kiyoshi did too as I could hear him snoring on the opposite couch. I awoke to Jeff Dunham’s ventriloquism act on Comedy Central and I eventually got all my shit together and head out. My problem with taking naps is that is usually makes me feel more tired when I wake up than when I fell asleep; today was the case for that too.


As always though my stay in Mokena was a fun one and as always way too short. I wish I was able to spend more time with Mickey and I’m going to hold him on visiting me once I get settled in the DC area.
It sucks to keep having to say good bye to all my friends and family, and the worst hasn’t even started yet! I know it wont be forever though, and that helps a lot.


Good bye Mokena!

I got up today around 11 or so and I don’t feel as tired. I started out right off the bat with the laptop and TV like any normal day, but it took a little while for Mickey and Sarah to make their way down the stairs.


I was a little hungry and they wanted to make french toast; I’m not one to go against the grain, especially when free food is involved. The only awkward thing was the fact that they made it with Rye bread, probably my least favorite bread of them all. I was hungry enough to eat it though, with enough honey and syrup to make it taste less Rye-like.


Otherwise I’ve just been chilling around the laptop; Kiyoshi has gotten into Assassin’s Creed on my Xbox. It took him about an hour or so but I think he’s starting to like it; the first hour is so annoying because the controls are confusing and you don’t have a clue whats going on. After that though its pretty fun.


I don’t know when I’ll head into Aurora to stay at my Mom’s. I need to call Anna and set up a night I can hang out with her this coming week as well. Kiyoshi and I are planning on grilling some burgers and corn but truthfully that doesn’t take that long. Otherwise I’ll just be chillin out at his place.

After Hancock, Kiyoshi and I came back to find Mickey and Sarah a little drunk (to our surprise). When Mickey gets alcohol put in him it is one of the greatest moments as the things that he does and says will entertain you for the entire night.


Him and Sarah were doing doing Bacardi Apple shots; I’m not one to normally do the shots but once I had one I couldn’t stop. I always forget how quickly you can get drunk by downing a few shots and it wasn’t long before I was a little tipsy myself. Unfortunately at this time Mickey and Sarah were pretty tired and headed to bed.


Thankfully Kiyoshi wasn’t tired at all and, since I switched to water we decided to watch a movie. I suggested one of the awesome Chuck Norris movies I brought: Logan’s War. Since this was the 2nd time through I attempted to pick up some things that I missed the first time: there was none! Yeah, Logan’s War was so simple that I really didn’t miss anything; it was unfortunate as I was hoping for a little more depth in the movie.


By the end of hte movie I was pretty tired and I was already pretty tired so I crashed; I don’t think Kiyoshi liked it, but then again I don’t think he enjoys Chuck Norris’ awesomeness as much as me.

Going into Hancock, I didn’t really expect a whole lot given its just another random super hero script with an A-list actor. Will Smith did a good job with his acting, although I think the writing could have been better.


The first action scene of Hancock made me groan a little on the inside, as we see the drunken hero fly through the air. The first 30 minutes of the movie got pretty repetitive quickly, that was until Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman were introduced.


I wont give a plot summary, but Bateman’s character in my opinion is what made the movie believable.The story line was pretty predictable and the CGI was B quality at best (especially during flight scenes). I can’t fault the quality of the acting and if you think there was a problem with the acting then it is probably a script/director issue.


Is Hancock worth the $8.50 spent at the movie theatre + the $3.50 Code Red I purchased? Probably not. I’d recommend seeing it only for comical super hero value, and because it is a Will Smith movie. Otherwise, wait for it to come out on DVD; I don’t plan on seeing it again.

After we got back from Chicago, we already knew we were going to grill we just didn’t know what. Kiyoshi already had some chicken legs in his refrigerator, but not nearly enough for the both of us so we decided to head to the grocery store.


I wasn’t really in the mood for any red meat, nor was I in the for chicken as I already had that too for lunch. Also, the grocery store doesn’t carry the pork steaks that I like to eat so there was only other option: fish. I picked up a 3/4 lb filet of wild caught Salmon for $10.99/lb, even though when we got home we found it wasn’t the freshest of specimen.


We also bought: peaches, french bread and ears of corn (for grilling) and peach pie with ice cream for desert. When we got back and fired up the grill, everything went off practically without a hitch. Everything turned out fantastic, although my favorite was the corn and the garlic bread.
I did a half-assed job seasoning the salmon; I didn’t find any combinations that I wanted to try from my limited search online so I stuck to the basics. Lemon Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, Red Pepper Flakes and some grilled fish seasoning that Mickey had randomly all went into my seasonings. In the end, the flavor was OK and the only thing that I think would have made it better would be fresher salmon fillets.


We’re going to be grilling out today too, but only corn and hamburgers. It will definitely still be good though.