"You were only waiting for this moment to arrive"

So this morning I saw a Suburban stuck in traffic behind a Smart car.  I don't know why this was so amusing, but it struck me as pretty much hilarious.  I guess the driver of the Smart car was just being a jerk, because he could have easily pulled over enough for the other guy to go around.  Maybe they could have negotiated some kind of deal.  I'm sure they could have just put the Smart car in the back of the Suburban and carpooled for at least the part of the drive that they had in common.  I'm all for saving the planet.  One thing that I could do without though is birds.  This year we have had--I'm gonna say an infestation of birds around town.  It looks like a plague, or perhaps something from a Hitchcock film.  They are so prevalent in our neighborhood, that some days I cannot see rooftops.  Our roof is currently a sickly white color from the high amount of bird excrement that is covering everything.  I am having to constantly clean off the porch, as well as my truck.  Maybe I need one of those fake owls like they have on top of Sears.  I would just as soon stand in the backyard and shoot them, but I don't know if I could get rid of them fast enough.  They might even try to peck out my eyes.  Is is true that eating rice will make them explode?  Rice is cheap.

It has already been two weeks since we got back from New York.  Time flies when you are having to work.  I think that's how that goes.  The trip went quite well.  All of the shows that we saw were good, but I think that we agreed that Promises, Promises was our favorite of the bunch.  Sean Hayes may be the best stage actor we have ever seen.  He was hilarious.  As for the rest of the trip, we pretty much took it easy.  The weekend we arrived was definitely an interesting time to be in Times Square.  All of the Halloween freaks were out in full force.  This is of course in addition to the normal weirdos that wear costumes for no good reason.  I'm talking to you naked cowboy.  We did spend a few hours in the Met one day.  We took a walk around the World Trade Center site and through Battery Park.  We hit some of the shopping highlights like FAO Schwartz and Macy's.  We also visited the USS Intrepid, which is a WWII aircraft carrier that is docked at Pier 86.  We also walked through the USS Growler submarine and the British Airways Concorde.  All of this was fascinating to me, and I think it would have been even more so if it hadn't been windy and rainy that day.  I can't complain too much though.  The weather was pretty decent for November.  I think we only wore our heavy coats one day.  The last night we were there, which happened to be our anniversary, we headed to Rockefeller Center to catch a taping of Late Night With Jimmy Fallon.  As I am a big fan of this show anyway, it was exciting to be there in person.  The guests were not anything special.  We had Dr. Phil, who like always had nothing to say.  Nina Dobrev from the Vampire Diaries was kind of interesting even though we didn't know who she was.  Musical guest Duffy needs to rethink her career choice.  Lastly, they had one of the guys from Microsoft there to demo the new Kinect that came out that day.  As if they were making up for the subpar lineup of the evening, they gave everyone one in the audience and XBOX with Kinect.  Getting them home was a challenge in itself, but it is always nice to win something.  Now I have two of these things sitting in my living room.  I fully intend to hook up one.  The other one may make a nice gift for somebody, or maybe I'll just sell it.  I will be glad to entertain all reasonable offers, whether they are monetary or not.  If you think you deserve it the most, let me know why.  I guess that about covers it for now.  The last two weeks have been nothing but work really.  We are looking forward to eating some turkey next week, as well as having a few days off.  You might hear from me before Thanksgiving, but I wouldn't bet on it.  Oh, and there are a few pictures of our New York trip on Tiffany's Facebook.  If you don't have Facebook, first I have to ask Why Not?  Secondly, something involving email might be arranged if you let me know.  Thirdly, if you do have Facebook, but don't want to be friends with Tiffany, I could probably post some pics on my page.  If you do have Facebook, but aren't my friend, stop reading this blog you creep.

"10"

I had planned to find some pictures of each of our New York trips for this blog, but life is busy these days and I just didn't get it done.  Photos from the first trip were shot on film, which means they are not readily available like the newer stuff.  There is actually only one picture from our honeymoon that has both of us in it.  It was taken inside the crown of the Statue of Liberty, where I knew nobody could run away with my camera.  That photo hangs in our living room today, and it is still one of favorite pictures.  Though I don't think it looks like us anymore, Ethan is able to point out both Mom and Dad in that picture.  I do think he is a genius though.  I have scans of most of the wedding pictures, and I had a good time looking through them once again.  It was a fun day for everyone, and not near as boring as most weddings.  I'm pretty sure I'm not biased.  Our family has changed a lot since then.  There are many new faces, as well as a few who are no longer with us.  Thanks to everyone who made that day special and everyone who has helped us along the way. Finally, thanks to my wonderful bride who has managed to stick with me for an entire decade.  Happy Anniversary!

To my friend Erin, who reads this blog:  I'm still sorry that your boss made you work on our wedding day.

I just realized that I got so caught up in the sentimentality of the day that I forgot to mention what we are doing.  We have tickets to Late Night With Jimmy Fallon!  I have been a huge fan of his since he was on Saturday Night Live, and I find myself watching his show more and more all the time.  I am super excited.  The only downside here is that I had to get this tickets with no idea who was booked for the show.  It turns out that the guest is Dr. Phil and Duffy (whoever that is) is the musical guest.  Tiffany is pumped about seeing Dr. Phil.  I could care less, but it's really Jimmy that I wanted to see anyway.  Despite the name of the show, it is actually recorded at 5:30.  We should be done in time to catch a nice dinner or perhaps another Broadway production.  Tomorrow we head home.

Let's Just Call This One Wednesday

Wednesday is a great day in New York.  Many of the shows have matinees, and so once again we have two shows to attend today.  The first is La Bete, which is a comedy featuring David Hyde Pierce.  We saw him five years ago in Spamalot, but most people know him as Frasier's brother Niles.  He is always hilarious, and I expect this play to be no exception.  Apparently the play is written entirely in rhyming verse, which should at least be interesting.  Tonight at 8 we will be seeing Time Stands Still.  The selling point for me on this play was the great Laura Linney.  I have been a fan of hers for a long time, and she never ceases to amaze me.  If you aren't a fan of independent film, you may have no idea who she is.  She has done a few big movies, so you would probably at least recognize her.  Currently she is on Showtime's The Big C, which is totally worth your time.

A Pound of Flesh

Happy Election Day!  Get out there and let the world hear your voice.  You know I don't need a special day to share my opinion.  We had to vote early since we are out of state.  I actually like the convenience of early voting anyway.  There are no lines, and I can vote at places like the mall.


Hooahh!  Tonight we are going to see Al Pacino in William Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice.  Seriously, what else do you need to know?  This is a limited engagement, and actually it is still in previews until November 7.  That means nothing to me.  I can't imagine they are changing much in regards to a play that is over 400 years old.  We were so excited to see Pacino in person that we had to rearrange our whole schedule for these tickets.  Dare I say it was an offer we couldn't refuse?  There is a film version of this from 2003 which we watched recently.  It was decent, but I am excited to see it in a staged production.  It's kind of a downer of a play, but did I mention that Al Pacino was in it?  He is playing Shylock, and some other people are probably playing the other parts.  That is all.

Gunter glieben glauchen globen

Tonight's the night we are going to see Rock of Ages.  This is the only one of our picks this year that was primarily influenced by outsiders.  It comes highly reccomended to me, although I probably would have decided to do this one anyway.  I don't even know that much about the actual plot, but I do know that all of the music is 80s glam rock.  I really didn't need to know anything else.  As an added bonus, Dee Snider of Twisted Sister is playing one of the roles.  There is no way that won't be awesome!  Joel Hoekstra, the lead guitarist from Night Ranger is part of the stage band.  I also read the other day that Jenna Jameson is probably going to join the cast, though it won't be until after we see it.  If you don't know who she is, it isn't a good idea to Google her.  Consider yourself warned.