i want to be a part of it ... new york, new york!

hello there, my loyal fans and fannesses ... i have missed you. did you miss me? i knew you did.

this past weekend, jamie and i traveled up to NYC (brooklyn) to visit my brother and attend a halloween shindig he was planning. all day friday i was dreading the amount of work i was going to have and planning on getting out of work late. usually i get out of work very late on mondays and fridays and so, all day i was praying to the all-powerful workload gods that they would be lenient. apparently my prayers only got halfway through. i looked at my workload and sighed ... i got about 50% more work than i usually get during the week, which is bad. however, upon closer examination i only got about 50% of the work i normally get on fridays, so while i was busy ... i wasn't busy. i managed to leave work a little after 7 p.m., i think, i don't remember, and i went straightaway to jamie's house. i would have been there sooner, but i got lost. i know, i know ... i've been to jamie's house countless times but i had never travelled there immediately after work so i got confused ... it's not very difficult to confuse me.

i meet up with jamie, we shoot the shit for a little bit and then load the car and then depart. bitching betty was all set up, her volume loud enough to be heard over the ipod (80's and 'they might be giants' the whole way). we stopped in deleware at a rest stop overpopulated by truckers, old tourists, thuggy people who pick up old receipts off of urinals to read them as they pee (it happened right next to me. eww. why would you even touch something left on a urinal?) and a troop or two of boyscouts. (shut up, jamie!) see if i ever crack jokes again. apparently i can't even glance at someone w/o jamie thinking i'm a peder. no thank you. so, we picked up a bite to eat at sbarro's (spinach & broccoli pizza pie pocket thingie) and a garlic stick. i also had a piece of the pepperoni and italian sausage pizza. we eat and then resume our trip. we ended up getting up to brooklyn close to 11 pm. we chilled out with my brother, amanda and brian (their roommate). we had a few beers, talked and then called it a night.

author's note: i know that i am repeating a lot of what jamie said.

the next morning we got up and started preparing for the party. i'll summarize:

>> buying groceries
>> pumpkin carving (have pictures)
>> toasting pumpkin seeds
>> buying alcohol
>> picking up leaves (jamie and i)
>> decorating
>> ironing my costume
>> having a couple celebratory beers

as jamie stated in his blog, he wasn't feeling well so i made him walk with me to the store to get some ice and so he could get some fresh air.

after 8 pm the guests begin to arrive. i'm decked out in my nun costume, jamie with his dick in a box, my brother as a brokeback cowboy or woody from toy story ... whatever, and amanda as a mermaid. at first we thought one of the girls was dressed as tootsie from the movie, can you guess it? ... tootsie. apparently, that's her normal garb. wow, new yorkers dress horribly. more on this in a bit*.

so, long story short, all of the guests arrive (whereas only like 1 other person dressed up if you don't count my brother's stalker who is trying very hard to go for that 'single white female' schtick and be, look and act just like him), which ended up being more of brian's friends than my brother's or amanda's. the pumpkin seeds we baked that afternoon (with lots of salt and garlci powder) were a big hit and were cleaned out in fairly short order. we drank, had a great time, and jamie's costume was a big hit until it broke off. his poor, poor dick in a box.

the next morning, jamie, my brother, amanda and i went to teddy's for brunch where i downed 3 bloody marys to recoup from the previous night of drinking while jamie, in his snobbish sort of way, drank mimosas. we ate, went back to the apartment, hung out for a bit, then jamie and i had to leave. we bid them farewell and got on the road. took us about 5 hours due to quite a bit of traffic on the jersey turnpike and at one point, i ended up falling asleep while jamie drove and jammed to bjork.

all in all it was a great weekend and i had a lot of fun and cannot wait to go up there again! it was great to see my brother and meet amanda and i miss them already. i love my brother to death and can't wait to see him again. also, this was jamie's and my first road trip together, we realized, but i hope it was only the first of many. he's a great road trip partner!

*NOTE: new yorkers wear the tightest, thinnest jeans imaginable. it's like baggy pants are sooooo last year. ick.

T.G.I.F. the 13th!

so, it's friday the 13th ... ooooh ... jason, jason, jason, jason, chh, chh, chh, chh, jason, jason, jason, jason, chh, chh, chh, chh. ok, that music used to freak the shit out of me growing up and my brother, seeing the discomfort that it caused me, used to do this trick that always scared me. he'd dry his upper teeth with his shirt and then push his top lip up over them where it would stick and give him this odd half-killer/half-mongoloid look and he'd whisper that song while walking slowly after me in the house. i'd run away, yelling at him to stop.

me: stop it! i'm going to tell dad!
brother: ::eyes wide with a blank stare, whispering:: jason, jason, jason, jason, chh, chh, chh, chh.
me: STOP!!! i hate you!
brother: jason, jason, jason, jason, chh, chh, chh, chh.
me: ::storming into my bedroom and slamming and locking my door:: you're going to hell!
brother: ::stands outside door and rubs his open fingers down it and creating a squeal that broke me::
me: ::crying::
brother: ::laughing::

and people wonder why we don't get along. to this day if he puts his top lip over his upper teeth, it gives me a chill. he's got the face of a killer.

hope you enjoyed that little trip along memory lane ... now, onto more recent issues:

seriously? why, why, why do people brake going up hills? it's unfathomable. i was stuck behind the slowest person in the world today on the way to work and there aren't that many hills, but every time we'd get to one and he'd start up it, he'd ride his brakes. is there some law of physics i don't know about that if you add more resistance to a hill climb that you will make it up with less difficulty? please, someone explain this to me. i can't imagine the thought process of this cooter as he begins his climb ...

old cooter: nice and easy now ... niiiiiice and easy ...

if you've ever been on the phone with me while i am driving, you can probably imagine what i was screaming at the guy. i'm a very angry driver at times, especially when i am behind retarded motorists. finally, another lane opened up and i whipped into it and passed him. he made me late for work this morning. i despise bad drivers and, yes, i lump slow drivers into that same category.

i am so happy it's friday! i have dinner plans at pazo tonight with jamie, terri, bill, steve, paul and bob-ooooooo. afterward, we'll most likely head to the central for drinks. i'm still a little undecided if i will go out afterward. i rather enjoyed my weekend off last week and i seriously wouldn't mind another, so it'll be one of those judgement calls once i am out in the city. and you know me and my judgement ..... it's a little skewed. we shall see. i'm just looking forward to dinner. i think that will be a lot of fun. i guess pazo is a type of place where you go and you basically stay for 3 hours and chat and eat tapas and i do so enjoy conversation. i will have my camera, so expect pictures.

ok, well, that's it for now. i should start posting my blogs later in the day so i can write about things that happen later, but i guess if anything exciting or funny occurs, i'll just have to write another one.

ta.