Friday, November 29, 2002

Only 600 shopping hours left...

So today is the big day, it is apparently the first and only day people can shop for Christmas gifts. What fool in their right mind would actually go shopping today? Have you ever been to the mall on the Friday after the fourth Thursday in November? It is crazy and people are exceptionally rude, I think it comes from the fact that since yesterday was a holiday they were extra nice and now to balance it out they are complete jerks today. Heck of a way to start off the big Birth of Christ countdown, huh. It is funny how much time there is to shop, something like 600 hours and people have to get it done today. It all comes from a lack of planning, what you should do is write down everybody you have to buy for and then figure out what you want to buy them. If you don't know what to buy them, you obviously don't know them well enough to get them a gift in the first place, so take them off your list and send them a card. Once the list is finished go out and buy the stuff, it should only take a couple hours and you may even be able to do it online. It will also save you money because you planned ahead and didn't impulse buy. It is probably a little late for advice since most of you are reading this on Monday and have already wasted your money impulse buying. Just remember for next time.

I guess I am just pissed that I actually have to work today, why couldn't they just move Thanksgiving to Friday instead, it would sure make things a heck of a lot easier or even better just make Friday a holiday, how about, National Shopping Day and close the stock market. The whole fourth Thursday in November rule is just crap, just make the holiday the last Friday in November and save people the trouble of taking a day off in the middle of the week. I mean seriously why does it have to be Thursday, is it because the Pilgrims supposedly had there Thanksgiving on a Thursday. Oh yeah I am sure they had such great record keeping and knew exactly the date of the first Thanksgiving. It is just like the whole Christmas being celebrated on the the birthday of Christ. I don't want to ruin Christmas for you, but apparently research has been done and he was actually born in like March or April. Okay no big deal so Christmas is a few months early, they also found out that he wasn't even born in the year 1 AD, but actually was born a couple years later. No big deal though we only based our ENTIRE calendar on his birth year (you know the AD BC thing), to think people got in big debates about when the new millenium began, heck it won't begin for a couple years. Yeah I know I am complaining, but that is because I can and besides nobody will be reading this today because they will all be shopping and more importantly NOT WORKING.

Anyway I did have a good holiday yesterday, I guess it all begins on Wednesday when I had to go find a pie I had purchased for charity. I wasn't exactly sure where to pick it up so Scott and I went to a few buildings with no luck. Finally we were given a clue by a security guy after I asked him if he knew anything about pies. He said I could get the pie at South Station. The scavenger hunt continued and after almost tripping over the display of pies, we found them and it only took a half an hour. I headed home and actually almost forgot the pie. I did however notice that a bird had crapped on my bag, but I don't know when because it was all dry.

Once home I went out with Britt, Nissa and Emily to Margarita's, it was a fun time, and afterwards we watched CKY with OJ. Funny stuff!! Yesterday morning was fun filled because I had to get a couple of kittens and put them in the car and take them to Revere, which conveniently was right next to the airport where I was dropping my Dad off. I finally got back to "The Bury" at ten, just in time to freeze my ass off at the football game. I think this was my last year, it is soooooo booooring, nothing ever happens, they only run and when they run they average two yards per carry. So that pretty much sucked, though I did get to see the girls including Becky this time. Went home after that and played guitar for four hours, and now my fingers are killing me, I think it is time for a lighter string. Britt and Nissa came over and we ended up going through a bunch of stuff I had saved from the past, including: a prom video, street riding video, old pictures and a ton of other old stuff. After that we watched CKY2K, which of course was funny then it was off to bed.

Does this look like me?


Weekend Weather
Today - Cold all day with increasing clouds and snow showers tonight.
Saturday - Warming up to the low 40's with some rain.
Sunday - Cold again highs in the low 30's and very windy.

Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song title: Rhyme & Reason
My head won't leave my head alone
And I don't believe it will
'Til I'm dead and gone
My head won't leave my head alone
And I don't believe it will
'Til I'm six feet underground

Wednesday, November 27, 2002

I'm dreaming of a white Thanksgiving

It appears my forecast was correct and we have in fact received some snow, why couldn't it have just waited until tomorrow. Well, it is here and there isn't much we can do about it except enjoy it by having a snowball fight or building a snowman.

Keegan's Thanksgiving Weather Report
The snow should be tapering off today from Northwest to Southeast, with just some cloudiness later in the day. The Highway department should have the roads nice and clear just in time for everybody to travel tonight. It looks like Turkey Day will be sunny, but a bit chilly with temps in the upper 20's. I know I will be spending some of the day watching the Amesbury Fighting Indians play there first home TDay game in like five years, hopefully the snow and home crowd will inspire them to win their first game of the season.

Lets see should I tell the funny story first or should I go off about the complaint I have. I think I will go with funny first. So here is a picture, which was drawn by Scottie:

Notice the guy in the picture carrying the pizza because he is the subject of this great story of just how stupid some people can be. Scottie and I went to get lunch and I decided on Jay-Bo, not because the pizza is good, but because it was cheap and since I am terrible at determining if something tastes good or not it doesn't matter to me. So I was in line and these three guys got a large pizza and some soda, the guy got the pizza and sort of tipped it and I thought, "He will straighten it out after he pays.". Well he didn't and ended up just tucking it under his arm like a book and walked out of the place. I couldn't believe it and Scottie wasn't there so I had no proof. Finally, he showed up and I totally forgot what it was I wanted to tell him and he asked if I had seen the guy carrying the pizza. It was so classic, it is as if the guy has never had pizza before, can you even imagine what a mess that pizza ended up in. Stupid People RULE!!!

Continuing with the stupid theme, I am certainly not exempt from being stupid, because when I decided yesterday afternoon it would be a great idea to meet a friend in Hanover, I was quite stupid. You may ask how could that be stupid, well lets just say it took me two hours to drive from Malden to Hanover, for those of you not familiar with these towns it is a short 27 miles according to Mapquest and should only take 30 minutes. I foolishly did not take into consideration the holiday and the fact that the meteorologists put everybody into panic mode by saying the two simple words SNOW and STORM. The traffic was insane, and I also learned another valuable lesson, even though it seems like a good idea, DO NOT, I repeat, DO NOT TRAVEL IN THE CARPOOL LANE on 93S. Once you are trapped in that damn thing, you are finished, there is no way out unless you have an SUV and can climb the curb. There are no exits and you are just forced to stick it out, I thought for sure I was going to get out of my car and jump off the damn bridge. At least in the other lanes you can jockey back and forth between lanes and feel like you are accomplishing something, but just sitting there really makes you realize you aren't moving. It is amazing people don't kill themselves out of road rage, I was going out of my mind, not only because I was late, but because I was stupid enough to even consider driving on such a day. The only good thing to come from the whole experience was that I am now sure I want to live in the country, perhaps Maine or Vermont ;o) I just need to get a cool telecommuting computer job and I will be all set, or perhaps if this journal really takes off I could just do this. Oh yeah to add insult to injury on the way home at midnight, I hit traffic again in the South Station tunnel because they decided to see if they could get three lanes to one lane in less than one mile, can you believe that?

Links of the Day
Two links today the first is fun game where you assume the role of a seagull and poo on stuff. Seagull Game

The next link is a Harry Potter related topic, but it is for all people, because for those of you who don't like the whole fiasco of Harry Potter, you can get a laugh out and I think people who do like it find it amusing also. The review is by Maddox a funny guy, be sure to check out the main page link at the bottom to see his other stuff. Check it Harry Potter Review

ADAM SANDLER Lyrics of the Day (for the holiday, I apologize if you end up singing it all day)
Song title: Thanksgiving Song Download It
Love to eat turkey
Love to eat tur-r-rkeyyyy

Love to eat turkey cuz its good
I love to eat turkey like a good boy should
cuz its turkey
to eat
so good

Turkey for me turkey for u
lets eat the turkey in a big brown shoe
love to eat the turkey at the table
i once saw a movie with Betty Grable
Eat the turkey all night long
50 million Elvis fans cant be wrong
Turkey-turkey doo turkey turkey that
i eat that turkey then i take a nap

Thanksgiving..is a special night
Jimmy Walker used to say DYNOMITE
THATS RIGHT

Tukey with gravy and the cranberries
cant believe the Mets traded Darrel Strawberry
Turkey for u and turkey for me
cant believe Tyson gave that girl VD

OOOOO white meat and dark meat
u just cant lose
i fell off my Moped and i got a bruise
Turkey in the oven and the buns in the toaster
i'll neva take down my Sherrel Tiggs poster

Wrap the turkey up in aluminum foil
my brother likes to masterbate with baby oil

Turkey and sweet potato pie
Sammy Davis Jr. only had one eye

OOOOOOO turkey for the girls and turkey for the boys
my favoirte pants are courdaroys
Gobble Gobble goo and Gobble Gobble giggle
i wish turkey only cost a nickel

OOOO I love turkey on Thanksgiving

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Tuesday, November 26, 2002

Mileage Contest

So far I have received eight entries for the mileage contest, I am kind of disappointed, because I think it is an easy 20 bucks. I will continue accepting entries until December 4, so just email me keegsands@aol.com and let me know your guess. For the rules see the posting from November 25.

More Eminem

Because the pictures are generally more interesting than some of the mindless stories I tell I have included this cartoon representation of Eminem in the film 8 Mile. The artist of this drawing was Scottie. Apparently in the movie Eminem plays the role of a rapper nicknamed Bunny Rabbit. Now that is a threatening name, he might as well take a name from the Teletubbies and call himself Tinky Winky. I guess my rap nickname probably wouldn't be anything menacing: Keeg Doggy Dogg, GoatBoy, Kay-W, Dr. Keeg, Ice Keeg, Kickin Keegan. The possibilities are endless, but I don't think I will be starting a rap career anytime soon. See now I am just trying to make stuff up, which is kind of stupid, I wish I had something good to complain about or a question to ask.

Wait actually I do, is it weird that I had peas, butternut squash and stuffing for the first time on Sunday. I think it is kind of good in a weird way that I haven't had them until now because it has opened up a ton of new possibilities for me. It is kind of like moving to a different country and getting to experience all new foods. Perhaps it is a bad thing though because it means I have lived a relatively sheltered life and this would mainly be the fault of my parents. Why couldn't they institute a rule, which a friend of mine said she had growing up. Pay attention this is a good idea I believe it was called the "No Thank You Helping", which means you are given a very small amount of a food you would typically say "No thank you" to. This way you don't have to eat a ton of it, but you are forced into trying it. Now in some cases such as with egg salad (for me at least) I could imagine this being considered cruel and unusual punishment, but most of the times it seems like it is a great idea. It certainly would have expanded my horizons.

I have decided to post some weather information on here hopefully with every entry, because I love the weather and trying to see what is going to happen with it. It will appear after the entry for the day, but before the DMB lyrics.

Keegan's Weather Report
Today - Sun along with some clouds, slightly windy with temps in the upper 30's to lower 40's.
Tomorrow - Snow Alert There will be a snow storm hitting southern New England starting in the morning and continuing throughout the day, with snowfall totals south of the city between 2 and 4 inches, but the north shore should end up with only a dusting to an inch. Temps will be around 30 degrees during the day.

Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song title: Ants Marching
Driving in on this highway
All these cars and upon the sidewalk
People in every direction
No words exchanged
No time to exchange

Mileage Contest
Wendy - 2800
Anonymous Complainer - 3676
Chris - 3920
Carol - 3972
Dale - 4134
Amy - 4387
John C - 4459
Elio - 4519
Carrie - 4575
Brendan - 4850
Heather - 4916
Erin - 5000
Dad - 5300
Sarah - 6000
Travis - 6432

Monday, November 25, 2002

Crazy Weekend

I had quite an interesting long weekend, it all started with a trip up to Sunday River on Thursday night. We got the whole apartment situation settled and then headed to the mountain for some skiing in the rain. The mountain was quiet and the rain wasn't bad until late in the afternoon. I did finally get to try out my new skis and I have to say shape skis are the best. I now feel as if I am twice as good as before skiing on them. They make it so easy to carve it is unbelievable, if anybody out there is still skiing on straight skis it is definitely time to make the switch. So after testing the skis out and getting totally soaked in the rain, I decided to call it a day around 3:15. Headed to Suds for some eats and to drink some hard cider and then off to bed at midnight. Woke up at six, thanks Mark for the wake up call, and headed back to Amesbury.

Once back in Amesbury I changed and headed further south to Boston, to pick up Britt, Vanessa (Britt's roommate ;-) and Jacq. We all piled into the Jetta and headed west for UMass Amherst. After two hours and some confusion on the UMass campus, we finally saw Nissa and parked the car. Hung out in the dorms for a while and then headed downtown for some food and shopping. Amherst seemed like a pretty cool place, though I don't know if I would want to live there. I also came to the realization, that I am old, because most of the people I met there were just freshmen and that means they are like seven years younger than I am. As most of you know, this is probably not the crowd I should be hanging out with ;-D It was cool hanging out and fun to see dorm life again, but I knew it was time to leave. I left in the afternoon only to return the next morning. I know it sounds crazy but I had a good time and would have to say it was a very successful weekend. To top off the weekend I had Thanksgiving dinner at my dad's house on Sunday night because he is going to be away for the next couple of weeks. The meal was great and I tried some new vegetables, including squash and peas, I think it is time to grow up and finally start eating them.

Mileage Contest
So after putting 700 miles on my new car this weekend I decided it was time to make it interesting. So I have decided to have my first livejournal contest. Whoever guesses the correct mileage on my car for December 31, 2002 at 11:59PM, without going over will win a $20 gift certificate to a restaurant to be named later. To enter you can either post your guess as a comment or email me at Keegsands@aol.com I will be posting the entries on the journal or on a contest page. The current mileage on the car is @ 2,234. Entry is free, so good luck. If you post it through a comment don't forget to include your name.

Lots of good stuff coming this week in the journal so stay tuned!!!

Link of the day
How popular is your name? Popular Baby Names web site allows you to put your name in and see how it ranks. Keegan is really gaining in popularity, from 520th in 1990 to 273rd in 2001. Enjoy!!

Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song title: Seek Up
Sometimes I feel like I'm falling
Fall back again, fall back again,
Fall back again, fall back again

Skier day tallies
Keegan - 4
Mark - 4
Kate - 4

Thursday, November 21, 2002

Let my weekend begin

Today is my last day at work, tomorrow I head to Maine for some skiing and to finalize paperwork on the apartment. Woo hoo, it is going to be a great winter.

Last night was BoCaNO at Grendel's Den in Cambridge and I must say the food there is pretty good. I had the potato skins and chicken quesadillas, which were both excellent, but the french bread pizza also looked good, but it would have been wrong for four of five people to order pizza. The best part of dinner was with a $3 beverage the entire menu is half price. I did have a kind of strange moment last night when I went to use the bathroom. I found the bathrooms and one door had a picture of a woman and said "Women", the other door had a picture of Einstein and said "Either Or." So I chose the Einstein door, I came out of the stall and there was a woman washing her hands at the sink, my first instinct was one of panic that I had accidentally chosen the wrong door, let me tell you I got quite nervous, but then I remembered the "Either Or" sign and realized I was okay. So if you are a guy and go to Grendel's Den be forewarned that you may bump in to a woman in the bathroom.

On the train ride home last night, I was given a second chance to do something I meant to do a few weeks ago. So I guess I should start from the beginning, last month I was at the gym in the morning, because I didn't work or it was the weekend, either way the point is that it was not my typical time to be at the gym. I saw this girl and knew I recognized her and finally after about ten minutes realized she had been in my class in high school. However, I am not the type of person to just walk over and say something, for fear I won't be recognized and because I am not huge on just walking up to people and talking to them. On top of it all I think most people who are working out at the gym don't want to be bothered. I contemplated through my entire workout whether I should say something or not, and as you may have guessed I left and didn't say a word. After thinking about it I realized I probably should have said something and it wouldn't be a big deal. Fast forward to last night, I was waiting for the train and saw the girl and her father, so I was given a second chance, but once again I spent more time thinking about whether I should do it, which usually causes me to doubt myself. So after about forty five minutes of reading and thinking about what to say I did it and went over and chatted for a few minutes. She and her father recognized me and the doubts I had in my crazy brain were just that, crazy. I have to do something about my second guessing. If any of you are wondering, no dice on the girl she is engaged.


Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song title: Warehouse
Shut up I'm thinking
I had a clue now it's gone forever
Sitting over these bones
You can read in whatever you're needing to

Wednesday, November 20, 2002

Free Bagel Day

On my way to work today I thought I would have nothing to put into the journal this morning, but over the past hour some stuff has come up. You may be wondering what possibly could have happened in one hour's time, I will tell you. First of all whenever there is free food at work a phenomenon occurs where all of the people, rush to the food as if they haven't eaten for days. Now I will admit, I am strangely drawn to the food and try my best to wait, but sometimes I just can't help but join in on the feeding frenzy. I try to theorize why people would act this way and it all comes down to the fact that no matter what the free food is, there is always going to be the flavor or toppings which nobody wants to eat. The people ordering the food always attempt to get a little bit of every flavor, to please everybody, but they seem to go too far and order really obsucure items. For example, today we had two bags of honey grain bagels, now I am sure they are great, but how many people are actually going to choose them. Pizza is another great example, we always seem to get the typical cheese, pepperoni or mushroom, but then there is always the random eggplant, hot pepper, and broccoli pizza. It is due these exceptions to the norm that people rush to get in line and eat, because nobody wants to get up there and be forced to eat the worst varieties of the free food. I understand that it is probably difficult to order and I am not sure I would do a better job, but seriously don't go out of your way to get exotic flavors because it is just going to go to waste. Just get cheese and pepperoni pizza and everybody will be quite happy, I mean the food is free.

My second thing about this morning is with regards to orange juice pulp. When Elio and I went to buy OJ this morning for the party, we got two of each: no pulp, some pulp and tons of pulp. Little did we know, nobody likes pulp, when did this start. I knew some people didn't like pulp but apparently it is not popular at all. I personally don't care either way, but feel the pulpy orange juice is closer to the real thing. I would love to hear people's opinions on this. Do you really notice the pulp when you are drinking it, I thought it all just went down the shoot together, I have never really noticed any pulp hanging around in my mouth after I had a drink. Please click on the post comment link below on the right and anonymously post your thoughts. Personally I think you no pulp people are crazy, if you don't want pulp go mix some kool aid and water together and enjoy that pulp free orange juice.

Link of the Day
This is a great sound page with sound clips from a few movies and tv shows.
The Sound Archive

Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song title: Too Much
I eat too much
I drink too much
I want too much
Too much

Tuesday, November 19, 2002

Meteor shower?, More like meteor sprinkle

Over the past week Barry Burbank from WBZ 4 News has been going on and on about the Leonid meteor shower. Let me set this up by saying, WBZ is definitely my favorite morning new show, because Kerry and Scott are pretty funny and for the most part Barry's forecast is fairly accurate. I am not a huge fan of the radio guy Gary Lapierre, but well what are you going to do. Anyway, a couple of friends were talking about how they were waking up early in the morning to watch the meteor shower, so it was fresh in my mind when I went to sleep last night at midnight. Luckily, since I am a complete freak and always wake up before my six o'clock alarm, I was up this morning at 4:55. I thought okay, since I am awake it would be cool to check out the meteor shower since Barry said it would be spectacular. I threw on my coat, hat, gloves and some warm pants and headed downstairs. My stepfather was awake and wondered what in the world I was doing up so early, I explained about the meteor shower and he just nodded. Once outside I got excited because there wasn't a cloud in the sky and I thought I was about to see something amazing. I grabbed my beach chair and set it up in the drive way and began gazing towards the heavens. Within seconds a trail of light blazed across the sky and I thought for once I made a good decision, then another shooting star just south of the first. Now the waiting began and continued for five frozen minutes before I saw the next meteor. After sitting outside for forty five minutes in sub freezing temperatures I gave up the viewing. In total I saw about twenty five different streaks of light and I will admit it was great to see such an event, but I was slightly disappointed because it wasn't exactly a shower of meteors and more like a flurry of meteors. You would think after going inside I would be happier, but as soon as I turned the corner into the living room they had a camera shot of the sky on the news and I realized I could have stayed inside where it was warm and watched it on the tv. Well at least I can say I saw it and get to share it with those people who decided to actually sleep last night. See what Barry Burbank had to say about it WBZ4 Weather go to Forecast Discussions.

Besides not sleeping last night, I did go to the gym for the first time in two weeks, which actually felt good and healthy. I also watched the rerun of Sunday nights Sopranos and the Curb Your Enthusiasm season finale. Curb was one of the funniest things I have ever seen, if you have never seen this show, check it out on HBO. Here is a link so you can see some clips. Curb Your Enthusiasm Episode Guide

I get my new skis back on Thursday and will make first tracks with them on Friday :o)


Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song title: Dancing Nancies
Look up at the sky
My mouth is open wide, lick and taste
What's the use in worrying, what's the use in hurrying
Turn, turn we almost become dizzy

Monday, November 18, 2002

Nice Weather

Once again it was another busy weekend for me. It all started on Friday night at PF Chang's for dinner, as usual it was excellent. Next was the new Harry Potter movie, which was a bit long but true to the book. Having to sit in the second row, did prove to be a bit exhausting. I don't know how they are ever going to squeeze the fourth book into a movie, it will probably be six hours long and will require an intermission. I am still going even if it is eight hours long.
Funny Story Time I got home at 12:30 and was quite exhausted, so I got into bed and shut the light off. I smelled something bad, and then my shoulder felt damp. I quickly jumped from the bed and turned the light on, and saw a wet spot on the bed, in an instant I knew the cat had been in my room. She has been sick lately and urinating all over the place, and unfortunately my bed was her latest victim. I took the sheets off and put them in the hall, but I don't have a spare set and my sleeping bag was in the attic. So I flipped the mattress over and rotated it, bundled up with about five layers of clothes and slept on the bare mattress. I have the best luck.

On Saturday, I went to my second wedding in two weeks for my friend Victor from work. It was great, but the snowstorm was really annoying. By the time we left the reception, my car was covered in ice and snow and it took about ten minutes to clean it off. The wedding ceremony was short, which is a good thing and the reception was fun. I can't believe how much food they serve at weddings, people are always saying that weddings are so expensive, I think most of the cost comes from the six courses they bring out. I think it would be easier to have a one course meal, first of all it will be cheaper and the second reason is because by the time the main course comes out most people have filled up on salad, soup, crackers, hors d'oeuvres, rolls, fruit, pasta and whatever else is served. It turns out that the most expensive part ends up being wasted because nobody has any room left. It would probably be okay to serve peanut butter and jelly sandwiches as the main course, since nobody will be eating it anyway, at least you would save some mad cash. The length of the reception would also be cut down drastically because more then 50% of the time at a reception is spent eating. Just think how much more time could be spent dancing, (oh wait maybe it is not such a great idea). Either way Victor's reception was fun and I had a great time. Best wishes to Victor and Lesley.

Now back to the snow, while it is not good for a wedding day, it is essential for skiing. The snow inspired me to head up north on Sunday morning, making it three weeks in a row, except this time I went to Sunday River. The roads were terrible and it took me forty minutes longer than usual to get there, but it was worth it. It is true that there were only a couple trails open, but American Express was amazing especially at the top and the terrain park was fun at the bottom. I can't wait to get the bindings put on my new skis and finally start practicing my helicopters :o) Hopefully I will be using them on my next trip up north on Friday.

Inside Jokes from skiing
stream->brook->side of the stream->brookside->ghetto
When they say word search, it doesn't mean you search for every word, just the words on the list they provide.

For a little Monday stress relief check out Poke a Penguin.

Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song title: Don't Drink the Water
I live with my justice
And I live with my greedy need
I live with no mercy
And I live with my frenzied feeding
I live with my hatred
And I live with my jealousy
I live with the notion that I don't need anyone but me

Friday, November 15, 2002

New Skis

I know I am late updating this today, sorry. Okay lets see, last night I went to the Boston Ski Expo with some BoCaNoers and my brother. I ended up buying some new skis, 2002 Salomon 1080's, but after some research, I may return them tomorrow and get some 2001 Salomon 1080's from a ski shop in Salisbury. I know this may seem silly, but the 2002's are white and have a little robot guy on them, while the 2001's are blue. I would also like to spend money in the local store instead of a larger chain. The rest of the ski show was pretty cool, I ended up with a bunch of stickers and some other free stuff. Stowe was giving out free t-shirts, stress yo-yo's and red pens. It was cool just walking around and checking out all of the different stuff. My two favorite things were probably the skaters doing tricks in the mini skate park and the girl who was jumping on the trampoline and doing flips in the air.

Opening Day Picture at Sunday River today. It is official the ski season has begun at my favorite New England resort. The lifts are turning and they are skiing and riding on a whopping nine trails, BUT my sources tell me they are expected to get up to 11 inches this weekend. So hopefully by the time I get up there on Sunday they will have at least 12 trails open. If only it hadn't rained last week, there would be over 20 open for this weekend, well the weather is certainly one of those things we just can't control, yet.

I saw this in the Metro today and had to post it. It is good to see people with a sense of humor.
From letters in the Boston Metro Weekend Edition November 15-17, 2002
You won't find bias in Metro monkey report by Stacey Lee from Boston
All too often these days, people jump to conclusions over someone's innocence or guilt after being exposed to seemingly biased reports in the media. I respect the Metro for their dedication to journalism in its purest form. Yesterday, the Metro was very careful to point out that despite overwhelming evidence at the scene (including the fact that the opening through which the crime was committed was too small to fit a human being), the names of the 15 monkey suspects were not printed. The Metro was also very responsible to report that the group "allegedly broke into the mansion" - nothing had yet been proven in a court of law. Thank you Metro.

Have a great weekend and look for an update next Tuesday, since I will probably be skiing on Monday.

Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song Title: So Right
Roll out down to midnight
Then roll on downtown 'til it's light
Because tomorrow we may die
Oh, but tonight we're dancing in the faint light
Don't you rob yourself of what you're feeling
Don't rob yourself of all that you could be
Roll hard 'til midnight
Roll 'til it's light

Come on now
Stay up and make some memories
Yeah, with us now
Roll the red carpet out with friends
To whom, to love and roll on

Thursday, November 14, 2002

EMINEM We Surrender!


First of all Eminem if you are reading this, it is not that I don't enjoy your music, because I do, but you are on the radio too much. So please don't bust a cap in my ass for the following opinion. A couple of us at work, John and I, have had about enough of the white rapper/actor Eminem. The problem is that this guy at work, we'll call him Rappin' Rob, likes to listen to a rap station all day. We are forced to listen since his radio is always blaring, but not quite loud enough for us to hear anything besides the bass and the few random whistles and chirps which appear in rap songs. So all day we hear the same dozen songs over and over again. How does Eminem fit in to this? Well since he is so popular lately we get to hear him every five songs, which is too much. Also if you go on the internet or turn on the tv he is there because of his movie. I haven't seen the movie, but I am sure he is a great actor and I think it would be great to see him in different roles. It is obvious now that he is a great musician and a great actor, now can't he just go away or tone it down a bit. Maybe we should just sabotage Rappin' Rob's radio so he can't listen to it or maybe even give him some headphones (now that's an idea).

Last night we had BoCaNO at the Good Life. I sat at the bar for a half an hour because I didn't realize everybody else had already arrived. The cool thing about it though was that my bartender was Rich, of Rich's Chocolate Martini on the menu. It was a good time last night, with the exception of the huge fashion discussion(thanks Mark).
Things I learned:
1) Depending on the neckline and your breast size a woman will button her cardigan differently.
2) Thongs are not on the way out, because panty lines will never be a good thing.
3) One piece bathing suits aren't good for women with long torsos especially if they have smaller breasts.
Once again thanks Mark for bringing that up. We also discussed relationships and how to succeed in them. Ironically I think everybody at the table was single. It seems to be a common theme lately, that all of the relationship advice I hear about now comes from people that are single. How can I take advice from single people? If they really knew anything about relationships wouldn't they be in one? So like any advice you kind of have to take it with a grain of salt.

One more thing for today, which was kind of disturbing. On the train ride home there were a bunch of people who had gone to the Celtics game and were very lively of course. I sat next to this one guy who is one of those talkers, who is kind of slow, but thinks he knows all there is about the athletes. I am annoyed by this, but I just kept my headphones on and tried to ignore him because he is also the type of person that will just start talking to you and if you acknowledge what he says at all, you just opened the floodgates for conversation. Luckily I avoided this, but the guys across from me were not so lucky and began speaking with him. The guys knew what they were getting into though and proceeded to make fun of the guy for the next thirty minutes. It was so funny and I ended up laughing most of the way home, I did kind of feel bad for the guy though, because at points they were kind of harsh, but it is all payback for the train rides I am sure he has ruined for some unsuspecting victim.

Have a great day!! :o)

Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song Title: Pay For What You Get
Work ourselves, fingers to the bone
Suck the marrow, drain my soul
Fingers to the bone
Pay your dues, and your debts
Pay your respects, everybody tells you
You pay for what you get
You pay for what you get

Wednesday, November 13, 2002

Oops Forgot this Yesterday

I know I am a bad kid for missing an entry yesterday, but believe it or not I was kind of busy at work yesterday. I do have to say I am ready for some sunshine, the weather guy today reassured me that the sun was still there and we will actually see it tomorrow. If he is right I can't wait. The most irritating thing about the weather is that ever since I purchased my season pass the temperature in Boston hasn't fallen below forty degrees, I have the best luck :o) In other ski news, Sunday River is opening this weekend despite all of the warm weather and rain. Unfortunately, I won't be there for opening day, but I am going to try and make it up there on Sunday.

Last night was a late night at work, we had a major late minute project, which didn't work the first time and I had to change it around, BUT in the end I was able to get it working correctly and think I helped save some people a little bit of time. The problem with staying late was that by the time I got home it was too late for the gym, so now I havent' been in over a week. I knew I shouldn't have purchased the four month pass, it would probably be cheaper to just pay per visit.

I have a link for you all to check out today. If you saw Dumb and Dumber and thought it was funny check out the Dumb and Dumber Sounds.

Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song title: JTR
Rain, rain, rain down on me
Again and again
Rain down on me

Monday, November 11, 2002

Veteran's Day

Eighty four years ago on the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, World War I came to an end. Originally in 1926, the "Armistice Day" national holiday was recognized to honor those who served in WWI. At the time it seemed the "War To End All Wars", would be the last major war. However, within a decade war had broken out again and the holiday was later changed to "Veterans Day" to honor those who have served America in all wars. So on this day of rememberance please take a moment and think about the sacrifices some people have made to allow you the freedom you have today in 2002.


The preceding is a public service announcement to encourage the recognition of our veterans. Now onto my weekend. It started out kind of lame, I got home at eight and decided I would prepare the racks for my car. I tried to put the bars into the feet and no matter how I tried they just wouldn't fit, so I drove to the mall thinking perhaps my load bars were the wrong size. Fortunately, EMS didn't have any and I was forced to play around with the old bars. After some strange accident I realized the feet had a release which allowed the bar to fit.

Saturday was spent running errands and putting the rack on the car. I ended up going to my dad's house for help with the rack. It turns out the release I found on Friday, is extremely difficult to unrelease. My dad and I then figured out how to put the rack on after about fifteen minutes of trial and error. If it wasn't for my dad, my skis or bike would probably have blown of the roof of my car. Thanks dad!! On Saturday night I went to my friend Karen's wedding. It was quite amazing, which is not a surprise because she has been planning it since she was just a little girl. I had a very good time at the wedding and the reception afterwards. I would also like to extend my best wishes to them. I left the wedding around 12:30 and was in bed by 1:15, and then five short hours later I woke up and went skiing at Killington. I picked up my Killington/Pico Ski America season pass and skiied for a few hours. The conditions were very spring like with a lot of bare spots. I basically just practiced my mogul skiing and went home after I started to get tired. Once home, Travis, my brother and I went to Pizzeria Uno. The Patriots game was cool, I couldn't believe they pulled it off in the end.

Here is a picture of my car, by the way it now has over 700 miles on it since last Wednesday.

Friday, November 8, 2002

Thank God Its Friday

I had some crazy fun last night at the Warren Miller movie at the Somerville Theater. It was my first time seeing one of his films in a real theater and it was cool. The three parts I enjoyed most were the Outlaw skiing competition segment, the mountain biking and the segment with the Dave Matthews Band as the soundtrack was great. We went to the Burren before the show, I have never been in a smokier bar, besides maybe Foley's. I was starving and decided to get some chicken fingers, just make sure you are actually starving before you eat food there because it is terrible. I got four chicken fingers and half of them were about the size of my thumb. After eating we went to the show and they were handing out free Clif bars, so I grabbed a few. I was kind of hungry on the train this morning and ate one of them, I forgot it had extra caffeine and buy the time I got to work my hand was twitching. I can't imagine what would happen if I had a cup of coffee.

I can't wait to go skiing now, I am determined to work on my bumps, even if it means taking about 20 runs a day on 3-D at the river. Only a week to go :-)

Quote of the Day
"If you don't do it this year, you'll be one year older when you do." - Warren Miller

Thursday, November 7, 2002

Back to Work

I just got back to work and my coworkers left me this drawing on the whiteboard.

The wheels aren't exactly round, but the front end appears to have been meticulously drawn to closely resemble the car. The most important feature to notice, for those of you not familiar with the whiteboard drawings, is my hair in the classic "Browkaw" style.

The drive to work was stressful today, I had to drive to Malden because I am going out after work tonight. I have never been so nervous driving before, it was certainly a good test of the new car. The traffic was insane on route one and then into Malden and for two days in a row I had to leave the car in a parking garage, I am just asking for the first scratch.

Last night's BoCaNO was great. It was nice to have two new people out with us Chris and Travis. I do have a couple complaints about the Cambridge Brewing Company, first of all the pizza had the thinnest crust of any pizza ever, it was just like they had spread tomato sauce onto wax paper and put cheese on it and surrounded it with a circle of bread. My other complaint is about the service, I asked for a lemonade three times and finally after twenty five minutes I got it. Besides those two things I did enjoy the beer and the nachos.

Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song Title: Two Step
Celebrate we will
'Cause life is short
But sweet for certain

Wednesday, November 6, 2002

My New Car

Some of you may wonder where I have been for the last couple days. Well I have been out purchasing a new car. It has been the biggest head ache ever, from the dealings with the dealer, to the paperwork, paperwork, paperwork and removing the cd changer from my old car. However, I now have some new wheels.


It is a 2003 VW Jetta GLS 1.8T, the official color is Alaska Green and it is a five speed. I will go into more detail later especially about the fun at the dealership.

Have a great day everybody!
Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Today's song is dedicated to Mabel, my old Jetta
Song Title: #41
Come and see
I swear by now I'm playing time against my troubles
I'm coming slow but speeding
Do you wish a dance and while I'm in the front
The play on time is won
But the difficulty is coming here

Monday, November 4, 2002

First Ski Trip

Yesterday I went skiing for the first time this season at Killington VT. The weather was perfect and although there wasn't much natural snow the skiing was still excellent. We got up there and they had 24 trails open, which I thought was pretty good for the first week of the year. Of course there were the icy people packed trails near the bottom, which I tried to avoid at all costs, but there were also several bump trails with very well defined bumps. The early season skiing has pushed the issue of whether or not to buy a season pass. I have been racking my brain for the past couple of weeks, but I really need to decide soon. The question is whether or not I will ski 30 times before the end of the season. There are certain pros to the pass, not having to stand in line for your tickets, lack of guilt if you get a ticket and decide you don't want to ski, 20% off at the ski shop. I don't know if anybody has a comment on this it would be greatly appreciated.

One more thing, I went to see the movie "Comedian" on Friday and I thought it was excellent. It is basically a documentary following Jerry Seinfeld and another comedian, Orney Adams, and there respective careers. It mostly shows Jerry trying to create a new act from scratch, it helps to give you an idea of how difficult it is to be a comedian. The other guy has been working for a while and is finally getting his big break. Orney was kind of annoying and was very arrogant even though he really didn't have a reason to be arrogant. It was interesting how Jerry was actually very nervous and not confident at most of his shows. It was certainly not a laugh a minute as you would expect, but if you have ever thought of being a stand up comedian, check this movie out and you will realize that you could never do it.

Dave Matthews Band Lyrics of the Day
Song Title: I Did It
I never did a single thing that did a single thing
To change the ugly ways of the world
I didn’t know it felt so right inside
I didn’t know it all
I open up the curtains
I heard sirens there, the lights flash and crawl
But I did it justice
I swear I did it for us all, you know

Friday, November 1, 2002

Dave Matthews Lyrics of the Day
Song Title: Fool To Think
Look at me dreaming of you
All I could hope is to have you
To have you walking with me
Laughing so in love, we two
Almost drunkenly
I did imbibe of this
Fantasy of you and me

Was I a fool to think?
The way you looked at me
I swear you did
But you looked away too quick
Was I a fool, was I a fool to think
That you would take me home
As if I was yours
Was I a fool to think at all?

I've grown tired of love
You are the trouble with me
I watch you walk right by
I smile, you do not notice me
Treat me recklessly
All you do is toss me pennies out
But the silence in me is screaming
Won't you come and get me?

Was I a fool to think?
The way you looked at me
I swear you did
But you looked away too quick
Was I a fool, was I a fool to think
That you would take me home
As if I was yours
Was I a fool to think at all?

Was I a fool to think?
The way you looked at me
I swear you did
But you looked away too quick
Was I a fool, was I a fool to think
That you would take me home
As if I was yours
Was I a fool to think at all?

You make a mess of me here
I dance a thousand steps for you
If you say yes to me
I'll be whatever gets you through

You make a mess of me here (was I a fool?)
I dance a thousand steps for you (was I a fool?)
Was I a fool, was I a fool to think?
Am I a fool, am I a fool for you?