Sam Bam is in the Top 5 of the funniest people I know. There. I said it.

My brother Sam is one of the funniest people I know. Without a doubt. Here are some gems from a Friday conversation regarding having to go to Thanksgiving with our Deadbeat and Emotionally Distant and Crippling dad. WARNING! We swear a lot:


Me: fuck, it was a gorrell thanksgiving last year
Me: because i have a picture of us making fun of joe
Sam: I thought I remembered not being miserable
Sam: FUCK


Me: cue the "you just lose a pricing game on the price is right" music
Sam: bwaaaaaaa
Me: you just sent the mountain man over the edge, buddy
Sam: it was a toaster...a fucking toaster!
Sam: CURSES!

Yep, I love that we compare having to eat Thanksgiving to losing the Mountain Climber Game on the Price is Right. Don't you?

"Busy" weekend

Due to the weather, Justin being in RI, Erin being smitten with Matt, Sarah going home, and me not really wanting to work to see people much beyond that... I spent most of my weekend indoors. I don't feel bad, since it was crappy weather and I was in a sad/crappy mood all weekend. Also, the weather was miserable out.

But fear not, I did actually get stuff done. For example:

--Watched three movies (okay, bad first example)
--Bought food
--Worked on my next sweater (holla!)
--Cleaned my tub
--Made risotto (mmm)
--Made Cinnamon Buns (mmm)
--Washed my towels
--Took risotto to my parents house and had it and pork with them and Ashley (always a great time)

So that's a lot. Could have done more (like wash the floor) but the motivation just wasn't there. There's always this week.

Pouring a 40 out for Paul Newman today...

My mom -- oh how I love her -- says she'll call for the good and even sooner for the bad. I got a call this morning at 10am telling me that Paul Newman had passed away at 83 of cancer. This is quite sad, as I am a fan of him, his body of work, his organic food, and his piercing blue eyes. I do realize that he had been very sick and was quite old and had a good run, but still. It's kind of sad to hear about the actors you grew up admiring and watching pass away. Kind of like when Jimmy Stewart died many years ago.

Justin and I have a long-running tally of "man crushes": dudes he kind of looks up to or likes, even though he's a straight man. John Cusack tops the list. I also call it man crushes, since they are mostly men and I think they're great. Yes, there are girl crushes as well (Helen Hunt is my #1 alive) but more man crushes. Paul Newman was always at the very top of my list. Even has an older man... damn.

When texting Justin this news he said "that is very sad".

I also admire him for being a rarity and being married to Joanne Woodward since 1958. 50 years! That's incredible in Hollywood and I feel like in real life. They also lived away from all that Hollywood stuff and in Connecticut. Very good.

In honor of Paul, I present some photos of the man. I am all about eye candy, and I have to say... even as an older man, he delivers. I also suggest you go out and rent a Paul Newman movie. Like The Color of Money. Cool Hand Luke. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. the Verdict. You get the idea.

Life Immitating my favorite childhood movies?

I just read that the fall of Wamu is related to the classic run on the bank. This makes sense. However, because I'm ridiculous and part of my love of film and lack of knowledge of history (yes I see the irony in me dating a history teacher), the only thing I could think of from this was the "Run on the Bank" scene in It's a Wonderful Life.


This is the "your money's in Joe's house and Bill's house!" scene which concludes with Mama Dollar and Poppa Dollar. Great movie and great scene for a shitty time in our economy and history.

The country is going to hell, so I'm going to rant on something else significantly less important...

It's so bad, with the fall of Wamu and the economy and the war and that moron Sarah Palin that I'm going to ran on something else that really doesn't matter...

The tv show ER.

I haven't seen ER since perhaps my senior year of high school. Last night I was finishing up a sweater, so I was up and happened to catch the last season premiere. Here are my thoughts:

--Why the hell is this show still on the air? I know it's the end, but seriously. No one who was originally on the show minus a nurse or two are still on the show. No one cares. This show doesn't matter any more.

--I never want to live in Chicago, because it seems like it’s a tragedy-a-day there. Buses, ambulances, helicopters, and so forth seem to blow up all the time. I’d fear for my life. I’m in no way important enough to live. I’d get a pole through my abdomen.

--Do we seriously need to kill Gallant? Does that make people want to watch this show more? No? Didn’t think so. Killing the only interesting characters doesn’t make an episode very “special” or make me tune in again.

--I hate it when ER calls characters our “friends”. Has any character from ER ever had me over for dinner? Who from the ER has ever picked me up from the airport? When was the last time they came to a game night at my house? Exactly. They’re not real, so therefore they’re not my friends.

--Back to Gallant. I called that he’d bite it in the first five minutes of the show. Exploding ambulance = dead popular character.

--The only highlight is that Buster Bluth showed up as a patient who had an older lady as a friend. And he was hilarious and talked their ears off. It was awesome. I only wish he had a run in with a loose seal during it. (and no, the older woman was not withholding and getting off on it)

I'm with the band... and the runners

Maybe it's just missing, but I decided after work today to sort pictures I had taken recently and came across the ones I had taken of Justin's most recent show, which was during a 5k at in Providence. That's him in blue. He's the front man of a band called No Town: The Justin Marra Trio. He's kind of a big deal:




Oh, and it's a 5k. There were runners. Right.


The best part of this was that his mom and grandmother were there. I haven't met them, nor do I think they know we're dating. So it was a very nervous 90 minutes. Couldn't just go up and say hi, and didn't know if they knew who I was. Lots of sweating it out from me. Erin went with me, and got a kick out of this.

Interesting pictures

Coworker/boss Dustin sent me a website a customer had, which had a collection of old pictures of a Mental Health Hospital in New Jersey. Creepy and weird, but also artistically beautiful. This is my favorite, though I'm not sure why:

I love the decay of the paint and the walls around the old sewing machines and hair dryers. So bizarre but cool.

The product of a lunch at work

Today Kirsten and I had lunch together and the subject of our friend Ben's blog came up. Then Kirsten said "you should have a blog". And I thought... "sure, why not?"

So here it is. My attempt at a blog. Probably random stories about my day, videos and articles I've found online, rants about how Sarah Palin spits in the face of everything women have worked towards, and so forth. I guess I should go through a cast of characters? Sure. Cast of characters:

Sarah: The roommate. Friend from home. Should not be confused with me.

Erin: Best friend/hetero lifemate/bizarro twin/college roommate. Often my right hand man and copilot in life. She's snarky and will try to push my buttons. Good people.

Brian: Erin's roommate, and another college friend.

Tim/Duffstuff: Other best friend. Just got married. Lives in Virginia. Freaks out about his health from time to time. Calls me a biddie.

Brad: Former coworker/gay man pal.

Dianne/Danielle: Friends from college who happen to be twins. Go to their house often for crappy food and tv. Great people.

Kirsten: Coworker and inspiration for this blog. Enables me to eat biscotti and coffee from now on.

Justin/J-Mar: Boyfriend. Intellectual equal. Have way too much in common for our own good, probably. Teacher. Lives in Worcester. Worth the drive. Frontman to a band I happily groupie. Fellow lover of the postcard, the Converse sneaker, and long walks in the rain.

Sam/Sam-Bam and Pete/Pistol Pete: Brothers. Great people. Make fun of me for my silly tendencies and falling asleep in cars.

Michnya: Older brother I never had. Snarky, cynical. Michelle's boyfriend. Great people.

Michelle: Great college friend. Michnya's girlfriend. Theatrical inspiration. Good lawyer. Fellow tea lover.


More/better to come.