Happy New Year everybody!

Does anybody want to do anything (a la dinner or drinks) Saturday night? Drop me a comment/phone call.

Jen and I are probably going to the mall (not sure which one) but the rest of the day/evening should be reasonably open...

Sushi fans, and anyone who's taken Japanese at school, you'll get a kick out of this video:

The Japanese Tradition - Sushi

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

This is what it looks like here (click to enlarge):

Current Mood: surprised

I found a mannequin head in the trash on Friday.



Her name is Viola.

Jen and I just got back from a nice outing. Went to the Circle K flea market in Newington. Nothing too thrilling there -- I didn't get anything -- but Jen picked up some old photographs. Picked up a new wallet at TJ Maxx since my old one was falling apart, and got some apartment stuff at Bed Bath & Beyond. Best of all, we found an excellent Italian bakery in Wethersfield, maybe 2 miles from our apartment up Route 99. They fill the cannolis as you wait.

That's all... enjoying my three-day weekend so far. Laziness factor increasing.

I just found out Terry Pratchett is coming to New Haven!

Friday Sept 16, 12:30 PM EDT
Yale Bookshop
77 Broadway
New Haven, CT 06511

And for you Boston people (this means you, ryenna):

Fri Sept 16, 7 PM EDT
Harvard Bookshop
Askwith Hall, Longfellow Hall
13 Appian Way, Harvard Square
Cambridge MA 02138

Jen is really funny when she's drunk.

I knew I was reminded of the Clockwork Orange soundtrack for a reason.

Jen and I were treated to the entire B-side of this album in the car this morning, and did not hear a single human voice on the radio for her entire commute. (I managed to hear the announcer as I was pulling into the parking lot at work.)

It was the Robert Moog commemorative edition of Radio Nothing on WPKN.

Last Saturday the 6th, my aunt Kathy passed away from lung cancer. It was quick -- only a few months from the initial diagnosis -- and she was only in the hospital for about two weeks before the end. The wake was last Sunday, and the funeral was Monday. She will be greatly missed.

Posts with more mundane things to follow later today.

As of this past Saturday, Jen and I have moved into our new apartment in Rocky Hill. After quite a few car-, minivan-, suv-, and pickup truck-loads of stuff (thanks to our family members that helped, and Liz), we've finally got pretty much everything there. We've arranged a majority of the large furniture items (bookshelves, desks, etc.), and are slowly unpacking all our vehicle-loads of stuff. It's looking pretty good. We'll need another bookshelf, as we have tons of books. (They'll be the death of me, said my mom as I was loading the car with boxes full of them.)

The apartment is pretty spacious, except for the kitchen, which is quite small. Not too big a problem, but there's hardly any good cabinet space -- hopefully a trip to Ikea will be able to solve this problem with some hanging baskets or something. There's a dishwasher, which is a plus (albeit no garbage disposal), and air conditioning (two units, one in the living room and one in the bedroom).

I took off work on Friday, and it's been an exhausting three days of moving stuff. It will be worth it, though -- I'm feeling good about the new place. I'm certainly going to have to bone up on my cooking skills. Feel free to shoot any favorite recipes my way.

In other news, also getting a new (used) car to deal with the commute. Paperwork is churning through the system, and I may be able to pick it up later this week. Updates to follow.

Went to Long Island with Jen this weekend to go to James and Sherrill's wedding. It was nice; everything (lodging, transportation, ceremony and reception) worked out nicely. The wedding was in Mattituck and the reception was in Southold. Ended up giving Neil a ride back to New Haven. The happy couple is on their honeymoon now in Scotland.

Saw the new Willy Wonka movie Saturday night with Jen. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and read the book (again) before you do. You can probably finish the book in about an hour -- it's a quick read -- and the new movie is a lot closer to the book than the old one. I quite enjoyed it. Tim Burton definitely places his touch on this one.

Didn't do much today; went to Mamoun's for lunch, though, which was good.

Opened my shade this morning, and noticed a little yellow thing on the roof outside my window. Looked a bit closer, and realized it was an injured bird. Went with my dad and took the ladder to the front of the house to try to get it down, and it heard the noise, got scared, and flew off, pretty much straight down onto the grass. We picked it up and put it it in a shoebox, then called the animal hospital. They gave us the number for a "wildlife hotline" run by the Humane Society. Left a message there, and got called back with the contact info of a songbird rescue place called The Recovery Wing in Southington. Drove up there with the bird in the shoebox, and gave it to the lady there. She said it had a broken wing, but she'd try her best to fix it.

Here's the little guy, btw:

Just saw this on fatwallet: 2 free Molson beer glasses. Form here.