So, I've managed to not sleep one minute tonight. With my friend Andy's birthday being today (not technically) we, of course, had to celebrate in the way we know best... Eating, drinking, and being merry. I had baked scallops with shitake mushrooms in some rosemary gravy. It was yummalicious and you probably don't care. I wouldn't but the words "scallop" and "shitake" are just fun to say. SssscAllop! Shhhhhiiiiiita'ke! Oh my, I'm delirious.

Anyway... so here I am, finally packing my bags at 5:30am. Good thing I'm getting quick at this packing business, otherwise I'd be going to Eastern Europe with nothing but a yellow t-shirt, Jams, and a Q-tip.

I will see you all in 9 days. Actually, I'll try and post some pix while I'm out there but I don't know the internet access situation for sure.

If somehow I find myself making a crash landing in a Moroccan rain forest never to be seen again then godspeed to all of you.

Here're some pictures from the evening festivities.


Andy posing with our friends Liz (his g-friend), Karen, and Cat Van. Oh and wearing a grin only Andy could pull off.


Us two gents.


Group shot. I'll do names some other day - I've gotta go grab some coffee.

So, it's approx 36 hours before I leave for the Prague, Czech Republic and the only preparation I've done so far is waste money on clothes, eat some french fries, and buy Desperate Housewives. Obviously I have my priorities in order... awesome.

Actually, I just haven't had a chance to really do anything. Work's been an absolute bear this week.

Anyway, here are some things I'm looking forward to:
1. Cooler weather. Maybe some rain. Yeah - I said rain.
2. Getting a chance to do some photography.
3. Seeing European people who have no idea what a Quarter Pounder is. (a la Royale with Cheese) and their bodies speak for it.
4. Cars that fit in the back of a Chevy Tahoe.
5. Getting away from category 5 hurricanes and the $4 per gallon gas they bring.
6. Czech/Austrian/Germanic food.

I'm actually about to pop in some Eurotrash music to get myself in the spirit. No, not 'Blue' by Eifel 65. I did at least get some 'euro' looking kicks - Puma Roma's.

Watching television show's on DVD is pure bliss. Watching Desperate Housewives on DVD, commercial free and in its full high definition glory is euphoria.



Before you scoff and chortle you should know that the show is smartly written. Something along the lines of a show that HBO would produce.

Oh, and there's Eva Longoria... but that's an entirely different subject. To tell you the truth though - I think I'm a bigger fan of Marcia Cross (Bree VanDeCamp). I love OCD people.

A lot of this past weekend can be summed up into meals/drinks and the company they took place with. Now that I think about it - you can do that with a lot of things in life. Perhaps, this is the making of a regular posting... hmm.

When | What | Where | Who | Why

Friday | Dinner | Kaya | Parents | because that's what we do.
Friday evening | Fried Green Tea Ice Cream | Tomo's | Karen, Cat Van | precursor to night out.
Friday night | Drinks | Hannah's Cafe | a lot of friends | a lot dancing.

Saturday breakfast | yummy and runny red pepper, mushroom and cheese omelette | at my friend Karen's apt | Even better because it was unexpected.
Saturday lunch | mushroom-terragon hash on poached eggs and english muffins | the Gourmet Market Saturday brunch | my friend Melissa | because she's a helluva great sister/friend and we needed to catch up.
Saturday lunch 2 | bits of a McCallister's Baked Chicken Super Spud and sweet tea so sweet it'll make your teeth hurt | back at the apartment | my friend Catvan | she was ill and well... what better than a massive baked potato and seat-side service??
Saturday dinner | one and a half apple cinnamon bagels and approx 2/3rds of a box of cream cheese | I was forced to by Cat Van who showed me that it really is OK to have the cream cheese spread thicker than the bagel.
Saturday dinner 2 | Fried alligator, chicken wings | Outside of my friends Mike and Jamie's house | a legion of UT fans | watching the UT/Florida football game... sigh (terrible game).

Sunday breakfast | Are you kidding? I went to bed a 3am after being assaulted by a naked skiiny dipping male (no joke) the night previously. Another post in of itself.
Sunday lunch | Beans & Toast | my apt. | all by myself | Celebrity Poker Showdown on Bravo.
Sunday dinner | a cup of Iced Coffee | Border's | to meet Cat Van (a cameo appearance of Tim & Katie Ferraris) | because Border's is a good place to drink coffee and talk and read magazines... for free.
Sunday midnight snack | the bottom half of a bag of Sunchips.

So, all in all I consumed roughly ninteen thousand dozen calories. Just reading this makes me feel fat. But I don't care... I'm hungry again.

What a week it's been. Nearly 7 days since my last post...

Rather than recap the tumultuous and restless week I thought I'd share a little more of what's going on in this ol' noggin of mine. I don't think I've done that and it's about high time I do just that. I can/will recap later.

First, I'd like it to be known that I have a man-crush on Josh Rouse. I don't know what he looks like but his music (the following should be read out loud in a southern belle-like voice) 'right about sets my hair on fire.' I digress, back to the session.

Let me paint/write you a scene:

It's around 8pm on a comfortable early fall Thursday. I've pulled out a Mendocino chair, cushioned wrapped in some khaki material, out onto the patio in hopes that I can soak in the evening.

I think to myself that maybe I'll watch the sun go down and knock back some orange juice. No, no wine - just the pulpless Minute Maid orange juice, my drink of choice besides a tumbler of Disaronno on the rocks. All set up. The cell ringer is off, my laptop is nowhere in sight and I'm gripping a copy of Esquire. The soundtrack: Sebastian Tellier playing some oversampled tunes thru the stereo.

I settle into the comfy chair and suddenly I feel tired. Not the tired you feel in your eyes or a physical fatigue. The kind of tired you feel in your shoulders - a weariness. Sort of the feeling you get after you finish an exam and know that there's one more tomorrow but with a healthy dose of complexity stirred in for good measure.

Suddenly I realize I'm not really interested in much of anything and I forget where I am and what I'm doing... An hour or so later I found myself still sitting there having not moved an inch. Just staring at the hill off in the distance and completely unaware that it is a minute or two from being dark.

The magazine is still in my hand opened to some arbitrary page, which I'm paying no regard to. Evidently I've sipped on the juice just enough to show that it's been tasted. What have I been thinking about or even worse - what have I not been thinking about? Why is it that I find relaxing a harder activity than staying busy.

The Italians have this word "piacevole" which, in music, means peaceful and agreeable. Just saying the word makes me pine for an afternoon espresso in some remote piazza. I don’t know the noun form of piacevole but I need to find one (maybe a nice bottle of Chanti too) and I need to find it asap.

These days life has been absurdly hectic... landing somewhere in the neighborhood on Frenzied Street and Turbulent Ave. Not unlike (if I may) my 5-wood golf swing. There isn't a need to talk about what it is that's preoccupying my time and sanity but something makes me think that they're probably not the most important things in my life...

Maybe just maybe... it's time to reassess. I think my trip to Europe this coming Saturday is going to give me a chance to do just that.