Sangria 3-step

Sangria with a 3-step beat

Spilt on a wooden table that has no finish.

Their heels clack and toes whisk up dresses,

Who would even notice the wine?

Light is a stained glass window at this hour anyway.

Black hair,

She is a blood orange flower,

He is a wasp insistent on tasting her nectar.

Hold me, you devil.

Who do you think you are, now spin!!

5 little picks at the end of each guitarists fingers,

strum, stream, and blur.

Eyes and ears from the young, old, and the less-able feast.

Spin her again! Once more for me!

And her petals flash as entrancing as an octopus’s tentacles,

as menacing as a peacock’s full spread.

The masterful guitarist’s sweet soul pouring over the bar

Plays the solos of her legs, his hips, the chorus of their eyes.

Their fiery dance plucks each string.

Let no one be fooled,

The pushing wasp is not in control here.

This bar,

This spilled wine,

This evening’s remaining sunlight is for her.

And she blooms in it.

The young girls put her between two pages of a book,

The young boys bashfully struggle to understand and master such a beauty.

A familiar chord progression nods,

a look and a touch for him to have his final attempt.

Ba-chacha, ba-chacha, ba-chacha.

Sun spots burst and dress frills flurry with each departing spin,

he glides and dips behind her,

darting to see if she will dizzy.

The wasp has smelled a summer flower and,

For a dance,

wishes he was the golden bee.

One beat, two beat, three! Cha!

Middle-school mishchief: End-of-the-day toilet prank

One of my best friends in 6^th grade was a kid named John Schaller. We had a blast together. One of our favorite stunts was to leave for the bathroom right before the final bell would ring. We would go into the bathroom and crumple up 3 balls of toilet paper before running them under the faucet. Also, we would fill up a small cup of water, and one of us would bring the tp balls and cup of water into a stall. As soon as the final bell rang, there was a rush to use the bathroom before heading to the busses. Once someone walked in, the prank began..

“Hnnnnhhhh!-Errrr”

“John, are you ok in there?”

“I don’t know- hrrrnnnhhhh!- Plop!” John would be making grunts and groans in the stall followed by dropping in the smallest of the wet TP balls. This would, of course, draw smiles and curious and/or disbelieving looks from whoever was at the urinal or sink at the time.

“Hrrrnnnhhh!!!! PLOP!” The second ball making a bigger sound.

“My friend has been in there for about 20 minutes. We think it might have been the chicken nuggets today. How you doing, buddy?”

“Last one, I think. Hrrrnnnh!! Ugh- it’s a big one! HRRRNNNHHH!”

At this, the prankster inside the stall would throw the final ball into the toilet, creating a loud splash and simultaneously throw the cup of water over the stall door, hopefully hitting our target victim! Good times :)

Middle-school mischief: Lunch & Recess

One of our favorite things to do was cause trouble for the lunch/recess aids. There were about 3 or 4 Iranian women who I’m sure were very nice women, but their job was to keep 200 kids in line during a lunch and recess period, so naturally to us, they were witches. And we always gave a good effort to make their mid-afternoon Hellish.

Occasionally, we hurled chicken nuggets across the cafeteria. One time a particularly aerodynamic nugget actually hit a girl in the back of the head, and Jeff Rader laughed so hard that chocolate milk came out of his nose. We enjoyed catapulting grapes off of plastic spoons and had a decent collection stuck on the ceiling above our favorite table. Sometimes we’d all just make a loud humming noise solely to add to the roar and chaos of the room full of 200 kids eager to go outside for recess after lunch.

One of our main gripes was that the aides didn't allow us to play tackle football; only 2-hand touch. Now, my 5th and 6th grade is right when the 'Nerf Turbo' football design was first released. The Turbo design enabled a average 5th grader to hurl a football an additional 20 yards or so, taking the "go deep" routes during recess football to a whole new level! I remember recess football as some of the most fun I've ever had playing sports, largely due to the Nerf Turbo. We were boys though, and we'd be damned if everyday we didn't play 'tackle' until the aides blew their whistles and yelled at us to stop. Every day.

Those poor ladies must have hated us.

Middle-school mischief: Introduction to Wheat??

“Hey, have you ever smoked weed?”

“Have I ever smoked wheat?”

“No, weed.”

“Wheat??”

“WeeDD.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

I can clearly remember this conversation with Dwayne as well! We were on our way out of the principals office, 5^th grade, West Windsor, New Jersey. I had never heard of anything regarding drugs before, and D.A.R.E. wasn’t until 6^th grade.

Middle-school mischief: Sagging your pants

“Do you wear boxers or tighty-whiteys?”

“Tighty-whiteys, I guess.”

“You can’t sag your pants when you wear tighty-whiteys. You gotta start wearing boxers.”

‘Sagging your pants’ originally started when prisoners weren’t allowed to have belts as many of them had previously used belts to hang themselves. As a result, prisoners pants would rest on the top of their butts rather than their hips. Somehow it became a trend ‘on the outside’ to recreate this style, originally in recognition of either your time on the inside, or your homies still locked up. I hadn’t known about this phenomenon until that fateful day in 4^th grade when Dwayne Chisolm brought me in the loop.

I honestly think that was the last day I’ve ever wore ‘tighty-whiteys’.

Variety-pack Poverty

One night in 5th grade, I slept over at my friend James' house. James was black, and although I had a number of non-white friends in our racially diverse middle school, this was the first time I had ever hung out with a non-white outside of school or a team sport. James was quiet kid but I remember I thought he was pretty funny when he spoke, and was very good at sports.

I don't think I had ever realized, before that night, that all people didn't live as well as my family did. So, when I arrived at their small house in what was most likely housing projects, I remember being wide-eyed and a little startled. A small, two-bedroom apartment housed James, his older sister, and mother. In order to make room for me, a cot was pulled out for me, and the three kids packed in to the small second bedroom. Besides being a little surprised about the size of the house and furnishings, I don't remember anything significant or out of the ordinary happening that night. It wasn't until the next morning that I first realized was poverty was.

James and his sister shared one of the cereal box variety 10-packs that sat on top of the refrigerator. In the morning, I was given a choice of which cereal brand I wanted, picked one, and we all sat down at the table. I remember James' sister first bringing up the fact because there was an extra person in the house, there was now one less box of cereal for their week's rations. She didn't use the term 'rations', but basically I quickly came to realize that the family would not be buying any extra food when they ran out of their usual amount at the end of the week. Then, because I was James' friend, it was he who would logically be the one going hungry one morning. This conversation and realization floored me. To go without food because you were on too strict of a budget to feed a guest! And the fact that the mother must have known there would be a shortage yet still agreed to have me over for the night! I had never experienced poverty like this before and remember that moment extremely well.

Some 20 years later, I frequently think about that sleepover. When budgeting my expenses, or eating all the food on my plate, or sharing what one has no matter how little it may be, I have a vivid picture of the diminishing cereal variety pack in my mind. There are so many people in the world that don't nearly have the luxuries that we do, and the aftereffects of their poverty can be real and horrible. A child goes without breakfast because he had a friend sleep over one night and the family doesn't have enough room in the budget to compensate for the extra box of cereal eaten...

Finagling with a drunk is ever so easy

Scott: "Hey man, can I settle up?"

Me: "Sure, here you go"

Scott: "Wait, I don't think I had 9 drinks....right?"

Me: "Scott, you've been drinking since you were over at the pool table a few hours ago"

Scott: "But.. 9??"

Me: "I've been putting them in only one at a time"

Scott: "Oh... Ok."

The counter-argument doesn't need to be logical when your opponent is 9-deep and you say it with some conviction ;)

HAHAHA!

St. Patty's Day at FWOT last night

I was behind the bar and saw some pretty funny characters that were all sauced up on green beer and overpriced 'Irish' cocktails. There were two noteworthy highlights. I'll start with the good news...

There was a middle aged black couple that sat in a booth behind the bar and ordered dinner, but enjoyed a round of green/'Irish' Long Island ice-t's and green and orange jello shots before any food arrived. Soon after I served them their food, the guy asked for another round of Long Islands and jello shots. He said something along the lines of, "I like those jello shots because I like the soft things on my tongue" as he looked across the table at his date. Both her and I were blown away by the creepiness, but we awkwardly laughed it off. After they were done eating, he ordered another round of drinks and shots! As I'm sure you know, Long Island's are a lot of booze and they were going on their 3rd round plus accompanying shots. When I dropped the drinks at the table, the lady said to me, "why are you always giving me the jello shots with the orange on top?". I hadn't even noticed before, but half of the jello shots were all green and the other half were green and orange. Apparently I had given her the green and orange 3 times in a row and him the solely green 3 times in a row! "Because that's where all the sex drugs are" he interjected! HAHAHA! I was like, WHat?!? He said, "Yeah, the orange part is where all the sex drugs are, so we're in for a good night" or something like that. She did a "Oh no you didn't", and said "keep talking, I'm just closing up the more you talk. You think you're getting some action tonight?? ha!- It's becoming like a master lock right now. CLINK!" (she even did the sound effect as she pretended to put on a chastity belt!). The dude looks at me and goes, "Yeah, but I know the combination ;) " HAHAHAHAHA!!! I was dying laughing.

The second highlight doesn't have nearly as happy of an ending. Another couple was sitting at the bar and were getting pretty drunk. She was around mid-30's and pretty cute and he was around mid-40's and balding. I didn't take much notice of them until later in the night when I saw HER get off her barstool and bend down on one knee! Mind you, this couple was Drunk. Over the crowd and music, I couldn't exactly hear what she said, but it was clear that she was proposing right there along the side of the Fingers and Wings bar on St. Patty's day! HAHA! And he was motioning like "no, not know, I don't want to talk about this now..". Basically, "no"! Holy shit, did that just happen?!? Did she just propose and get rejected?!? So he gets up and goes to the jukebox, and she puts her fists on the bar and says, ".... I need a shot.". Awwwwkward. I said, "umm.. yeah, what can I get you :s" The couple ended up getting a ride home from one of the cooks and he said she was hitting on him the whole ride!

Quite a fun night, although I wish I was able to enjoy a few more car bombs with the patrons :)

Happy (belated) St. Patty's Day!!!

In Dapper Vagrants/Cosmic Bark... (somewhere in '05?)

Being in a band feels awesome.

Thank you, God. This is something I can do

and enjoy when almost everything else feels

dull and awkward right now.

Making music with other people

is one of the most creative things you can do.

It is painting an interactive picture

where you and the band can work together to make it

the most beautiful, rockin', crazy, smooth, bangin' masterpiece.

It's like children are creative when they use funny colors as

they try hard to stay between the lines.

But imagine if that firetruck, tree, or bird was 3-Dimensional

in the child's hands, and he or she could change it around and give it

crazy features like 10 wheels, secret trap doors, or the head

of a cow and the body of a duck.

Now replace the child with a rowdy roughneck and

a mad scientist

and replace the picture with influences from numerous genres

of music

culminating in a heavy, melodic rock that can

get some pretty fucking cool sounds and a rollercoaster of time changes.

EARTH SUCKS.

Bievenido a Philadelphia!!

Whatsup, Philly?!? You've pleasantly surprised me since moving into your south-western hood last week.

Streets here are very narrow, and alternating one-ways, but in a north/south, east/west grid, so they're fairly managable. I can't help but continue to look both ways though, even when its obvious that traffic can only go one way on the cross street (do locals immediately recognize me as a tourist if they witness this?? ... or maybe just an idiot? ). My parents drove the 45minutes into the city to help me move in and later showed me their first apartment in the city together as well as their first date spot (a tiny restaurant that is still operating about 30 years later!). On the second night in Philly, Matt (new roomie) drove me out to his hometown in east New Jersey for a party where the host had built a full, working bar room out of snow in his front yard! There was a bar with shelves, walls with colored lights in them around the area, built in seating, tiki torches and even a firepit. If this wasn't enough, the host was a legit chef/restauranteur, so we were eating and drinking some pretty fancy stuff in our snow bar (appropriately named "The Abominable Snow Bar"). Even though this was almost 2 hours away in NJ, it was a great way to kick off the new diggs.

The new apartment is great though. There's plenty of room inside, there's a small backyard for a table/chairs, BBQ, and my heavy bag setup, as well as a flat roof outside my second story window that I can walk out on and, well... do whatever one does on a walkout roof. I've decided to keep my white walls fairly bare with only a few pictures and two poster-boards that I've continually been drawing on. The idea behind this is congruent with the purpose of the whole move- to strip away things that could potentially distract me from focusing on writing.

There will be plenty of 'distractions' in the surrounding city though! Philly has got a lot more style than I expected!! I've found a ton of funky shops, bars, murals, architecture, and fashion styles in walking around on exploration missions this past week. The immediate area I live in is acknowledged as a very hipster area, but it does seem that this feeling of predominantly artesian businesses expands even further. Another thing that I've enjoyed is the size of the city I've experienced so far. It seems very similar to Boston in the sense that I wouldn't be intimidated to walk to another corner of the city on a clear day, but the buildings aren't so tall that you feel overwhelmed (New York!). Actually, there's a few buildings in center city that remind me of the Boston skyline when I catch a glance, so that's been helping to soften the blow. One final thing I've noticed about the city layout is that there is an actual progression from the nice/affluent areas to the poorer sections. In Boston, sections of town like the South End and Charlestown, neighborhoods on opposite sides of the social spectrum could be divided by only one street!

I've found what seems to be a great church here, St. Patricks. I've got to Confession, daily mass, and Sunday mass here already and have enjoyed all. The only qualm I have is that all Sacrements have been in the lower chapel when it seems that there is a beautiful, stone, cathedral-style church above. I was hoping Sunday mass would be held here, but no. Hmm. I have seen a good amount of cute chicks here though, and it does seem like a 'neighborhood parish', so there's some potential.

I went for a run today (the first nice day in 2 months??), and ran down Market Street for a little while, reenacting part of the epic Rocky run. I'm not entirely sure, but I think the museum (the steps Rocky runs up) is on the opposite side of the city, so it could be a run for later when I'm in better shape. We had a SuperBowl party tonight, and Matt has a solid crew here, so its been good to interact with some heads. I don't know if they'll be my core crew here, but they all seem like good people. Sister Olga hooked me up with a bunch of Philly contacts in Catholic young adult groups, so I've been pretty setup in terms of social life. Again though, I'll be trying to keep it to a dull roar here. We shall see.

Overall... man, I'm pumped. I like this city a lot so far. It's taken about a week to get fully moved in, but now that that's all set, I'm really looking forward to getting this show on the road. I definitely feel like I've gained a bunch of momentum and energy in just the physical move, so I'm excited to harness and utilize that flow.

So far, so good.

...The Philly/Pennsylvania accent sucks, I will say that...

Goodbye Boston! We sure had some good times. 2002-2011 Boston Highlights

In a loosely chronological order, here are some of the fondest memories I have of living in this incredible city.

-Learning the T system. Sounds kinda dumb, but I'm really going to miss the T!

-Breaking into Hillside Street apartment and throwing a kickass party. No one was living on the second floor of our house, so I used a coat hanger to pick the lock on the back door, hired a fantastic cover band, and threw a rocking party for about 100 of my closest friends! I think I made about $300, didn't get arrested, and even had the place shiny and clean by the next afternoon for realtor showings.

-21st birthday finale. At Flann O'Briens, the last stop of my 21st birthday bar crawl, I remember leaning against the pool table with my quarters in line. I remember being a jerk and smirking when the guys ahead of me missed a shot. Then, when I was up, in my brown/black out, I somehow miraculously ran the entire table in one turn after the break! Stumbling out of the bar, one of the bystanders who heard it was my 21st had bought me a shot and, in stride, I put it back and barely thanked him as we we headed out the door. Kind of a story about a jerk, but it kinda cracks me up when I think about it.

-Filming on Mission Hill and Arnold Arboretum. In my senior year film class, I had a blast shooting about 5 different short films with my good friends.

-Democratic National Convention with the Creep. After two cute chicks showed us a video of chickens in horrible living conditions, Novak and I were vegans looking to have a good time for about another 10minutes. We saw RHCP play too.

-Time Traveling convention at MIT. What an awesome nerd fest! We heard 4 different talks on quantum physics and worm holes and such, and then went outside at 10pm to welcome any time-traveling guests that had found an invitation that the host had been planting in obscure library books for years (even got the NYTimes to advertise it!). No one (from the future) showed.

-Patriots win SuperBowl in '02. I'm wasn't and am not a Pats fan, but as a newcomer to the city, it was pretty sweet to have the win. The city went berserk in the snow, and I remember a pastor offered to give Dave and I a ride back home (way out of his way) since all cabs were taken and stuck in traffic.

-RedSox coming from behind and beating the Yanks in the ALCS in '04. From my roof on Park Drive, I watched all of Northeastern come sprinting through the Fens towards Fenway to celebrate. It looked like a scene out of Braveheart or something. I sprained my ankle in a bball game the next week, so couldn't riot when we actually won the World Series, but the crutches did make for a good Tiny Tim Halloween costume...

-Giants winning the SuperBowl in 2008!!! 18-1! Thank you David Tyree. I can't believe I didn't get my ass kicked by some stunned and crying Pats fan walking down Gardner Street that night. I was laughing and yelling my face off in the middle of enemy territory.

-Celtics win 2008 Championship vs. the Lakers. Another big comeback for the title win in Boston. The following parade on Boylston street was a great hour long break from the work day.

-Marathon Mondays. Probably my favorite days in Boston.

-Gearing up in full pads and goaltending at Matthew's Arena with Koop. Since he was the nighttime rink manager, my old roomate Koop brought me to Northeastern's mens locker room one time and allowed me to dress in the backup goalies pads. I was in full gear from head to toe! Then, we went out onto the ice and he took slapshots and 1-on-1's with me, but I was horrible. Such a cool experience though!

-Husky hockey, Marino Center, Chicken Lou's, and NEU's secret bathroom.

-Working at Urban Outfitters for less than 2 hours. Fired before 8am.

-Being introduced to BU's Catholic Center. It was difficult at first to get to know this new crowd, but since then, I have built some incredibly strong bonds with many of these inspiring young Catholics. After taking/testing the RCIA program for two years, I finally got baptized by Father Paul at BU's Marsh Chapel on Saturday April 7, 2007.

-St. Clement's Eucharistic Shrine, Adoration, and Father Peter's homilies.

-Shows at Paradise, Great Scott, Middle East, and House of Blues (and Lupo's in Providence!). Bands that come to mind... Gogol Bordello, Devotchka, Arctic Monkeys, Explosions in the Sky, Goldfinger, BadFish, Middle Distance Runner, Sweet Thieves, 31 Knots, The Slackers, Parker House and Theory, and many more I'm now forgetting.

-Chasing down a shoplifter at Blockbuster! I had my hero moment. Some douchebag ran out of the store with a stack of about 30 DVDs and started dropping them as soon as he got outside. It was store policy to not chase down shoplifters, but after my boss ran out, I was all about it! I caught up to him about 10 blocks away (near Woody's pizza on Heminway St.) and stayed about 20 feet behind him after that, waiting to see a cop or something. He ducked into a back alley where he again dropped the stack. A lady was getting into her van and started laughing at him when I told her I had chased him down. He ran for another block or so, but finally placed all the merch on the sidewalk and I let him bounce. I felt like a freakin' redwood walking back into the store with the stack of recovered DVDs :).

-Dapper Vagrants practices and shows. It didn't end well, but I think we all could say there were some great times in there. Not a bad band either, if I may say so myself! I dream of a reunion show in a few years ;)

-Graduation day. Man it felt good to graduate Northeastern. After a checkered highschool graduation, this one was particularly special.

-Backchannelmedia. What a gong show! Run by a bi-polar visionary, the company was convinced it had the answer to time travel, it just hadn't invented exactly how to do it just yet. Long story short, I came home drunk a lot.

-The absurdities of media parties and rep outings. I quickly learned that interactive media was a fun industry to work in! With such growing success, as well as being on the agency side of the industry, I came to enjoy many (MANY) a free drink, lunch, dinner, and outing. It was just how the industry worked- everyone was young and had company money to spend on getting people buttered up! We had a drinking team that played softball, had free happy hours with gourmet food on random days of the week, sushi and steak lunches, baller fishing and cruise excursions, sports tickets... For the most part, it was a blast! and it made my roomates wonder how such an industry and working environment existed. In the house, it was referred to as 'the cartoon factory'.

-Meetings with Fr. Jeremy (then Br. Jeremy!), Br. Gary, Br. Pat, Sr. Olga, and Br. Sam. Vital to my young, growing faith. Thank you!

-Jazz at Wally's, Regattabar, Ryles, Top of the Hub, and Scullers.

-Watching Dolo and Sam graduate!!

-The Harvard bar circuit with Jesse and Jack. Good times! John Harvards, Jimmy's Chicken Shack (aka Charlie's Kitchen), and Tommy Doyle's.

-Rubik's cube class and certificate. Eureka Puzzles in Coolidge Corner, one of my favorite stores ever. Nerd toys. I went to 'class' one night and was taught how to solve a Rubik's cube. Upon completing the cube on my own, I was awarded a medal and certificate which I still hang with pride. In the bathroom.

-Nearby trips to Rockport and Green Harbor. Cliff jumping! 10-year old bridge jumper: 'These abs don't lie'. 7-year old on beach upon seeing Chris Mills: 'Manbearpig!'

-Southie with Tania and Peseta

-The Castle(both of them)!!! Halloween parties, Christmas semi-formals where people either brought a bottle of booze or a toy for charity, Easter/Thanksgiving feasts, 2 Beer Olympics, Valentine's 'red' party, basement billiards, gargoyles, sweet decks and yards, mirrors going from one corner of the house to the opposite corner in the old Castle, getting a soccer ball kicked in your junk as sport (too many years being oppressed with 'no ball in the house' I guess), Sherlock Holmes and the case of the missing Naked Eye, puzzles, Beer-B-Qs, salads that would somehow set off fire alarms, moving that f*$#ing massive TV, and too many other hilarious memories.

-Dirty Waters Futbol Club winless season. All losses were forgotten when Beer-B-Qing on the old Castle's deck and front yard afterwards though. Great summer fun.

-Mount Auburn cemetery. Gorgeous. Graves start at $10K and I think you need to be a Cambride resident...

-Volunteering through Boston Cares. Creating audio books for the deaf, ushering inner-city kids to an orchestra, distributing food to families before Thanksgiving, taking donations for local public radio, assisting in cooking class for inner-city kids, and mailing requested books to prisoners. This has been some of the most meaningful work I've ever done and I'm so grateful to have found the BostonCares organization.

-5 on 5 Spikes brawl.

-Valentine's Day charity Date Auction. So much fun! Thank you to all auctionees and especially Matt Z for MC'ing the whole night! I think we raised about $1,400 that night! I also had a lovely Italian dinner with Lindsay and Amy the week following :)

-Cantab poetry slams in Cambridge. I didn't realize it until only last week, but apparently Cantab is the bomb.com for poetry slams around the country! If you ever want to have your mind blown by some lyrical wordsmith genius', head over there on a Wednesday night. Thanks for being my poetry slam buddy, Sam!

-Catholic men's group. I had been looking for a group like this for years and finally found them. Thank God :) We usually got together every other Friday night for dinner, a reading about the life of a saint or holy man, and then a relaxed but candid discussion among 5 or 6 guys. We would end these nights with evening prayer from the Liturgy of the Hours, and Psalm 88 always struck me deeply. Also, our 2 men's retreats ('Sacraments as Tips for Survival', and 'Fishers of Men')in the woods in New Hampshire were fantastic!! This will be close to the top of things I'll miss in Boston.

-Charlestown Chef. Well, not the longest run, but it gave me so much pleasure to cook for good friends!

Goodbye Boston, I'll miss you a lot. Thanks for the great memories and opportunities for growth. Don't forget to write.

Highlights of 2010

-Cheering Doug on on Marathon Monday. Good job, homie.

-Directing the Calm in the Storm retreat with Lara, Aaron, Kate, and Tony, and 60 other awesome people of the Salt and Light community!

-Falling in love with a Peruvian doctor lady for 10 days.

-Trip to Honduras to visit Brett in Peace Corps.

-Got a new tattoo!

-Overnight tuna fishing trip with Dimitry. We caught a season high of 15 yellowfin tuna, 3 white marlin, and 1 blue marlin! Back n the dock, we ate the freshest sashimi you can get, with soy sauce and wasabi

-Multiple poetry/story slam nights with Sam. I even knocked off a 'life to-do list' bullet and read two of my own at an open mic.

-Held down the entire HBS account for 5 months at OTOi. ..and brushing the dirt off my shoulders from that one now.

-Making the decision to change career/lifestyle!

-Men's 'fishers of men' retreat and trebuchet with Aaron, Chris, Brian, Anthony, Peter, and Kevin.

-Gogol Bordello/Devotchka concert with Doug. Best concert ever? yes.

-Volunteering at Thanksgiving food drive at Harvest on the Vine. We got about 330 families ingredients for full Thanksgiving dinners!!

-Homemade beer with KZak

-Valentine's Day Date Auction!!!!

-'Guys weekend' at Paul's lake house with Paul, Witz, Dave, Doug, 2 Johns, Byron, and Lance. Poker, Risk, getting towed, launched, and eating shit in the tube behind the boat, more BBQ'd meat than ever seen and attacked in a 2 day period, dangle balls, beers, doobies, and a group of hilarious guys.

-Read The Alchemist by Paulo Coehlo. Life changing read :)

-The scattered run of the Charlestown Chef: crepes for the Charlestown Kindegarden Mom's group 'Mom's night out', Lord's day supper, Tanya's bday, Dinner Club

-Getting the news that Dolo's engaged!

-Dinner Club with Lindsay, Amy, Doug, Vanessa, Mike, Jesse, Zach, both Bens, Serena, and Elise. Those were great nights with really good friends.

-Warrior Dash with Doug, Vanessa, Jane, KZak, and Janet. So much fun, can we do it again next year???