Saturday, December 31, 2005

New Year's Thoughts

One tradition I have tried to instill is one of reflecting on the past year on New Year's Eve. It is meant to be funny and thoughtful. Here are the questions Ernie and I will try to answer wihle drinking a bottle of wine tonight. Maybe I will post our answers, maybe not.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

1. Funniest memory of 2005
2. Biggest personal accomplishment of 2005
3. Biggest professional accomplishment of 2005
4. Most inspiring moment of 2005
5. Biggest decision you made in 2005
6. Most difficult decision you made in 2005
7. Biggest disappointment in 2005
8. Someone who did something nice for you in 2005 – what did he/she do?
9. Someone you did something nice for in 2005 – who and what was it?
10. Stupidest thing you did in 2005
11. Smartest thing you did in 2005
12. Most challenging thing you did in 2005
13. Weirdest thing you did in 2005
14. One new thing you tried in 2005
15. Name a new person you met in 2005
16. Biggest purchase of 2005 (monetarily)
17. Best purchase in 2005 (emotionally)
18. Strangest thing you saw in person in 2005
19. Strangest thing you saw on TV or online in 2005
20. A good joke you heard in 2005
21. Favorite outfit in 2005
22. Something you’re sorry you did in 2005
23. Someone you owe an apology to for something you did in 2005
24. Someone who owes you an apology for something he/she did in 2005
25. Who did you have your biggest fight/argument with in 2005?
26. One person you made laugh in 2005
27. One word to describe your year
28. One word that you hope describes the year ahead
29. Personal prediction for 2006
30. Professional prediction for 2006

And Now for Some Photos

Before the New Year's Post - Here are some pics from Christmas 2005.

What's with the spots on the images? Camera malfunction or spirits of loved ones passed?

Aunts and Counsins


Aunts and Counsins
Originally uploaded by nadzent.
Thanks Grandma - we're still having Chritmas Eve together.

At the O'Neills.

Don't know why I'm not in any of these. I actually looked pretty good that night!

Sisters in Black


Sisters in Black
Originally uploaded by nadzent.
Carleen and Bonnie on Christmas Eve 2005.

Sisters in Red


Sisters in Red
Originally uploaded by nadzent.
Cheryl and Anne Marie on Christmas Eve.

Carleen and Jeff


Carleen and Jeff
Originally uploaded by nadzent.

St. Patrick's Stained Glass


St. Patrick's Stained Glass
Originally uploaded by nadzent.

The Others


The Others
Originally uploaded by nadzent.
Ernie and Eric man the bar - away from the crazy Germanos.

Ernie and Mom in Rockefeller Center

MIL came to visit for the week before Christmas. Of course we had to make the trip to see the tree.

Bonnie and Cliff - Christmas Eve at the O'Neills


St. Patrick's Cathedral at Christmastime


Playing Pop Culture Trivial Pursuit

After dinner and karaoke, I beat everyone in Trivial Pursuit. Tha's mom giving me the horns.

Pre-Christmas Christmas with MIL


Pre-Christmas Christmas with MIL
Originally uploaded by nadzent.

Christmas Karaoke


Christmas Karaoke
Originally uploaded by nadzent.
Dad is trying hard to hear his part. Mom is hamming it up for the crowd.

Ernie wanted nothing to do with Christmas karaoke


Adzentoivich Christmas 2005


Adzentoivich Christmas 2005
Originally uploaded by nadzent.
The tree came straight from Adzentoivich Woods. I cut it down myself. That bass case was for my dad - Ernie did not get a new bass for Christmas. He did get a Stratecaster Guitar though...

Dad's Gift From Santa


Dad's Gift From Santa
Originally uploaded by nadzent.

Ohhhh...Ahhhhhh...pretty wrapping job.

Who is more excited? Mom or Dad?

Bass Wrap


Bass Wrap
Originally uploaded by nadzent.
Some of these photos have "ghost" spots on them. So weird...

FINALLY he unwraps it.


FINALLY he unwraps it.
Originally uploaded by nadzent.
Dad unwrapping his new bass.

Tah-DAH! SCHECTER BASS


Tah-DAH! SCHECTER BASS
Originally uploaded by nadzent.
Dad's new Schecter bass.

Tips from the Master


Tips from the Master
Originally uploaded by nadzent.

Testing it Out


Testing it Out
Originally uploaded by nadzent.

Before the New Year's Post

I have to post some Christmas photos.

We spent Christmas Eve at the O'Neills for the first time. It was a lot of fun to be with all of my crazy Germano cousins.

Christmas day was just Ernie and I at my parent's house. we managed to amuse ourselves anyway.

It was our first Christmas in the new house with our little tree.

Some of these photos have spots on them. Especially the ones in the cathedral and around my dad when he opened his Christmas present. It is something wrong with my camera? Or is it the spirits of loved ones who have passed?

Thursday, December 29, 2005

So You Wanna Write a Book?

Go to this site. It is so cool! You can self-publish right online. It seems to be reasonably priced. And it's also a marketplace. What a great idea! I just stumbled upon it when I clicked on one of my Google ads on the blog.

Neat!

Now if I could only come up with a good story.....

Miss. Doxie - She Funny

OK. So Ernie has been trying to convince me to read this Miss. Doxie blog for months, He found her through Anne's blog. Anne sometimes gives her a shout out and has a link on her blog.

Well, seeing as it is the week between Christmas and New Years and every one of my clients and the Search Engines themselves are all closed - I am bored, bored, bored. I already updated my Friendster profile, worked on MySpace and read The NY Times online. So what next? I read Steph's blog, not updated. Deanne's blog. Anne and Josette have obviously taken a blogging hiatus, as has Searchviews. So I had nowhere else to turn but to Miss. Doxie.

I read two entries and was peeing my pants at my desk. I literally had to stop reading and look out the window because I was crying from laughing and didn't want my co-workers to see me. You see, our boss is out on vacation and I am the Senior team member this week aka The Man. It would be very unprofessional for my team to see me hysterical over reading a blog during the work day. But there I was.

And so, Miss. Doxie you now have my vote. Not that you need it. She has zillions of comments for every blog post. Oh my God. I just read one about a shark encounter she had while helping to clean up a beach after one of the hurricanes, oh my God...If you're looking for a laugh.

So now I will add Mss. Doxie's blog to my list to the right. Please read her in good health. And Miss. Doxie - keep up the awesome posts!

This is the End

My friends...

So as we wind down and head into 2006 I thought it might be fun to look back on the early blog posts. I suggest you click on a few of the archived weeks in the right sidebar. It is really fun.

For example, I forgot that back in January when I packed up clothes to take out to the first weekend on the farm I put them in Rubbermaid containers to protect them from all of the sawdust and mess that would be generated by the construction. THE CONSTRUCTION! Construction from CONTRACTORS! ha, ha, ha. Little did I know......where are those contractors anyway?

Enjoy!

Wednesday, December 28, 2005

Happy Birthday Deanne!!!

Hey lil' sis - Happy Birthday to you.

Enjoy it.

Sing karaoke.

Drink some wine.

Swim with dolphins.

Get a pedicure.

Love your life.

Here's to wishing you many, many, many more happy and healthy birthdays to come.

- TLCBS

Friends...

Don't let friends Blog drunk...

The Be Good Tanyas

Surely Anne, Josette and I can do this. Can't we? I really, really want to. I want to learn to play fierce banjo and sing old traditional songs. I think if the three of us get together we could really have something here. And if I could convince my sister from LA to give up those pie in the sky dreams of celebrity - boy howdy, how cool we could sound.

I'm practicing the songs right now. You can easily find lyrics online. Drink a bottle of wine and see what you come up with. I bet Ruth would do this with me. Let's do it.

I told Ernie if he would just become a rock star I could sing like this and market the crap out of it - all while fulfilling my soul.

Check them out - The Be Good Tanyas. They are so cool. And we can do the same thing girls. The harmonies are all a 5th. The lyrics are all old traditional songs. All we need to do is come up with melodies - easy.

Seems so easy.

Isn't it easy? I have such a crush on them. I want to be a Tanya. Be a Tanya with me, please?

Tuesday, December 27, 2005

Polar Bear Swim

Anyone care to join me this year?


January 1, 2006 New Year's Day
Join the Coney Island Polar Bears for their 103rd annual New Year Day's swim, 1:00 pm, on the boardwalk at Stillwell Avenue. Last year, over 6,000 onlookers crowded the beach to watch more than 700 swimmers brave the frigid Atlantic. Attendance at the NY Aquarium more than doubled compared to the previous New Year’s day.

This year we will again be hosting the Special Olympics New York. Make a pledge to the Special Olympics and have a hearty pre-swim breakfast at the New York Aquarium while enjoying the penguin and walrus feeding and sea lions show. Brooklyn's Hungry March Band will be providing their own special lively music.

The Coney Island Polar Bears wish to thank all the sponsors for their support: Special Olympics New York, the New York Aquarium, Jimmy Dean, Junior's Cheesecake, Coca Cola, Statewide Coffee, Crowley Foods, Aunt Butchie Cakes, Spirit Sense Center, Steve's Grill House, and Cropsey Bagel

Saturday, December 24, 2005

Merry Christmas

‘Come bring with a noise,
My merry, merry boys,
The Christmas log to the firing,
While my good dame she
Bids ye all be free,
And drink to your heart's desiring.

With the last year's brand
Light the new block, and,
For good success in his spending,
On your psalteries play
That sweet luck may
Come while the log is a teending.

Drink now the strong beer,
Cut the white loaf here,
The while the meat is a shredding;

For the rare mince-pie,
And the plums stand by,
To fill the paste that's a kneading.'

- Robert Herrick (17th Century)





Friday, December 23, 2005

For the Rest of Us...

So last night Ernie and I Aired our Grievances. You know AOG, today being Festivus and all (photo courtesy of Wikipedia).

I told him I wanted a divorce and he told me I was just stressed out. I decided he was right and then he wrestled me to the ground (If you don't get it, then you just have to click on the link and figure it out for yourselves).

Today is actually the true Festivus, we just decided to start a day early because I was already pissed off. Well, it worked and now we are all made-up and having our Festivus Feast - well, if you can call a bottle of Pinot Noir a feast. Last night we ordered a deluxe pizza after the AOG, so maybe you can call that the Festivus Feast, if you want.

You can actually buy a Festivus Pole, but we didn't this year. This year it was really more about the AOG than anaything else. Maybe next year we can do the pole thing. I think it can double as a vertical bike rack the rest of the year, or a prop for a stripper, depending.

You may be surprised to know that Festivus is a true holiday. I guess it is a way to clear out all of the old crap so that you don't carry any grudges or negative crap into the new year. It allows you to accept the Christmas, Hanukkah (MSWord spells it with one K, Google spells it with two) or Kwanza presents without any guilt, because you can really feel like you like, or even love, the person who is giving it to you (now that you've gotten all those grievances out in the open).

I have to say that I don't have many disappointements to air to all of you. You have all been faithful Blog readers this year.

I guess do feel that you could contribute more, though. It would be nice if someone wrote back once in a while. I mean, Tony C. tries every so often, and when he does it is a pisser (I know I have been using the adjective/adverb piss a lot in this post. Ernie just told me that Tony C. used to be in a band called Piss. How cool. Would love to hear some of that). But come on. Linda? Hello! I know you are reading this. Why don't you ever write? Randy? Steph? What gives? Are you guys all take and no give? Show me the love. And what about my dearest, who loves to be a backseat blogger but won't ever step up to the plate himself? MIL? You too...

Anne - your write so well, you're blog kills me every time, and I rarely write to you, so I won't include you in this airing. But Josette is another story, and I have no way to know whether or not Aunt Francie has been lurking here....

Now that I have a house - even though I don't live in it - I vow to hold the yearly Festivus. On Dec 23rd we will gather to honestly Air Our Grievances and then show feats of strength before enjoying a Feast and exchanging crappy re-gifted Festivus gifts.

Then we will all get drunk on Boil-o (photo courtesy of Google Images - Michael, you should be careful what you send to the nether regions of the internet - don't blame me Josette, I almost pissed my pants when I searched Boilo on Google Images and it gave me this...) and wake-up two days later to a truly Happy Holiday.

Enjoy!



Friday, December 16, 2005

Senate Rejects Extension of Patriot Act

AP - 5 minutes ago (via Yahoo! News)

"WASHINGTON - The Senate on Friday refused to reauthorize major portions of the USA Patriot Act after critics complained they infringed too much on Americans' privacy and liberty, dealing a huge defeat to the Bush administration and Republican leaders."

YEEEESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Tuesday, December 06, 2005

Now I Get It

Finally! Now I know what Mrs. Jinx is and where she comes from. I knew she was no ordinary cat. Seems they just discovered a new species of mammal in Boreno...

Here is a little quote, "... The animal appeared to be a cross "between a cat and a fox" and may live in trees during the day, coming down at night..."

And

"...slightly larger than a domestic cat with dark red fur and a long bushy tail...has very small ears and large hind legs, was spotted in the Kayan Mentarang national park in the mountainous jungles of Kalimantan, where vast tracts of rainforest still remain..."

These mammals also can be spotted sleeping on beds and scaling to the tops of acoustic double basses in apartments in Brooklyn and homes in Connecticut and Pennsylvania. There have also been a few spottings at the beach and in the woods...

More Pictures

Hmm...I am not sure what pix to put up here. I will have to search my iPicture Library to see what I have neglected the past couple of months.

Give the people what they want - I always say...

This is a nice one on a snowy December morning. Ernie as "Ocean Man" in Barbados...

And here is a little Green Monkey - mon, hanging out by the beach...
And, when we were tan. It lasted, like, a day...
Ahhhh. Now I feel much better. When I woke up this morning to more snow and wind all I wanted to do was pull the covers up over my head. But looking through my photo library reminded me of lovely warm Barbados. It is a place of happiness. You should go there. Maybe we'll buy our next piece of real estate down there - kidding! Shut up!

Don't get me wrong - I do love winter. Remember this?Notice the giant aluminum soup pot on the ground behind me? It must have fallen off my sled. That's right, sled. Remember?I don't know if we will be spending much time out at Adzentoivich Woods this winter. But last year sure was fun!

BTW - My sister says she likes Scions. What!? It must be an LA thing, because she isn't a 22 year old car-enthusiast boy trying to make it into 2Fast 2Furious 3 - or is she?

Next thing I know she'll be serving Turducken for Christmas.

Monday, December 05, 2005

Ernie Plays Lincoln Center

This Thursday Ernie will accompany the Brooklyn Youth Chorus in a concert at a private event at Jazz at Lincoln Center.

nice

More Pictures!

This is what I have heard from you guys lately.

I was so proud of myself for actually writing again and now I find that nobody cares about what I might have to say - they just want to see some goofy phots instead. So OK, here are a few to tie you over until the Holiday pics are ready...ENJOY!

The Family at Dad's 60th Birthday Non-Surprise Party:


Autumn in Adzentoivich Woods:
Godzilla wishing you a Merry Christmas (you didn't think we could get the hat on the other one, did you?):

The Scariest Cat Not on TV (Image)

OK. So remember the story about Mrs. Jinx eating my hair in the middle of the night? One of you made comments to me about how she sounded posessed and the new house sounds like the Amityville Horror (but please, it is in Connecticut, NOT Long Island - iew!...). Well, here is a recent photo of Mrs. Jinx to help you understand just how terrifying something that weighs 7 pounds can really be, middle of the night or not.