The Best Part of Moving Away ...

... is friends willing to go out on a Monday for drinks. Today, my friend Stevie emailed me to ask if she was imagining that I had taken pictures on Monday night when we went to my favorite local bar Sweet Afton. I took my camera out of my bag and flipped through. The last pictures I had were of my current room for a Craigslist ad, and then pictures of my friend Lillie's girlfriend mock-humping a guy who had passed out drunk at a bus stop (what?).

Then. Then, I checked my cell phone camera and WOW. Why didn't I remember this until now? Well, something in the neighborhood of six beers and a "Pickleback" shot (whiskey followed by pickle juice) is a pretty good place to start. Here it is, the photo series from Monday night, presented without commentary.

Crafting and Conan

Ever since interviewing for that job north of Boston last week, I've been consumed by the idea of moving back there. I said I'd take whatever job I could get, whether it's in New York or Boston, but I'm pulling for New England at this point.

In fact, I had another job interview yesterday with a different New England-based book publisher. And, guys, for the job they want me to be able to get excited about arts and crafts books - the easiest thing for me to get excited about besides bagels. And babies' shoes (they're so CUTE!). I mean, look, there aren't too many opportunities in life where talking about your latest craft project - cross-stitched moustaches - could easily transition into the conversation:

Or how about that time I skipped work to go to a taping of the Martha Stewart show and then made a screen print for a tote bag?

I'm still in the very early stages of interviewing with both companies and need to hear back for round two, but they were both very kind in regards my experience and delightful phone manner. I'm feeling confident, which is a rarity, and in my confidence I just bought two tickets to see Conan O'Brien at the Wang (heh) Theatre in Boston in June. Now, I don't have anyone to go with yet, I don't have a job in Boston or an apartment, but I'm trying to use the power of suggestion and ginger hair to maybe help out a little bit. Either way, the show's on a Saturday and I can always just go up for the weekend if things don't pan out with the jobs. See? I'm not so crazy after all. And, if any of my Boston friends read this (do you?) and have nothing to do on June 5th, let me know and I'll gladly be your date.

... And To Laugh Again

Last weekend, I saw this sign taped to this guy's car (with Massachusetts plates) that was blocking the driveway of my old building (c'mon - it has to be a guy who drives a Dodge Charger and parks ridiculously, right?): If you can't read it, it says: Hey Mass-Hole, You're blocking our driveway by this much. Do it again and the police will be called! Use some consideration next time. Red Sox Suck!
First of all, I'm not sure if "Masshole" needs to be hyphenated, and second of all I know exactly who wrote this sign - it HAS to be the landlord's daughter. She's such a curmudgeon with Transitions lenses and the ability to hold a grudge like no other. (For example, one time I had (loud) friends over and she knocked on my door at 10 pm on a Saturday, and said we'll wake the neighbors. Translation: I'm trying to watch my stories, and you're not allowed to have fun. After that she didn't say "hello" to me for like a month.)
Anyway, I was carrying many bags of groceries home when I saw this, but was laughing so much I had to put them down and take a picture. It felt really good to laugh, and I haven't seen this car on the street since.

The Benefit of Mom on Facebook.com

I just got off the phone with my mother who has recently joined Facebook. She has eight friends and has already blocked seeing my sister's status updates because they can be COLORFUL, shall we say.
Today she told me she saw pictures from [event withheld] and [people withheld] looked like the banjo players from Deliverance. I've never seen this movie, but luckily I found the clip online:

I guess this is a very vague post if you can't see the original pictures, but I hadn't laughed that hard in awhile because the truth can sometimes be hilarious, as they say. My mom's a funny lady.

Reason #24,895 I Love My Roommate

My roommate - a performer/real estate agent - sends me text messages like: "I just rented the apt upstairs to a 28 year old single nerdy guy! He’s cute and tall and makes 100,000 a year. Hehe. Thought u might like to know about our new neighbor."

She always has her nerd-feelers out there for me.

New Game! Horse Face

Last night, my friends' band was playing a show downtown. I got to the lounge around 9 pm. They were originally supposed to play at 10 pm, but then it got pushed back to 11 pm.

We had a lot of time to kill, and a reprehensible opening act to drown out, so my friend Matt and I decided to take pictures. I came up with an idea for a new game called Horse Face.

Rules:
1. Take a picture making a silly expression
2. Review the picture with your opponent
3. Your opponent must copy the expression to the best of his ability

If the expression is a match, the opponent counter-expressions. If it's a dud, you get a letter. The pictures we took are amazing; I hadn't laughed that hard in a long time.