Archives for the month of: January, 2009

last night i was boarding my flight from jfk to lax, and i walked by them in first class. yes, spencer still has the terrible beard, but he’s better looking in person. heidi is gorgeous, tiny, and has fantastic hair (though it’s the fake-est color ever).

since apparently ficlets is being shut down, i reprint here the one ficlet i managed to write. i had intended to write them regularly but inspiration was rare.

If Only It Were Pickles

“Does this smell OK to you?” Jack asked.

Sam recoiled. “I dunno what it’s supposed to smell like. It looks…OK. I guess.”

Jack gave the jar a lazy shake and watched the contents quiver. He shrugged. Sam held out the backpack and Jack dropped the jar inside. Sam staggered under the extra weight and winced. He balanced the bag on his thigh and tried to zip it shut.

“My mom says it’s four miles away,” Sam gasped, hopping a bit on one leg. “How long do you think it’ll take to get there?”

On the other side of the garage, Jack started picking through a stack of boxes and opened one marked “TOOLS”. He didn’t answer.

Sam took a breath and carefully shifted the backpack over one shoulder. “How long d’you think?” He eyed Jack and frowned. “What’re you looking for? That’s my dad’s.”

Jack pulled a long screwdriver out of the box, feeling its balance. “Something sharp. Or heavy. I’m not taking that thing anywhere without something I can depend on.”

Sam heard the jar gurgle. He was starting to have second thoughts.

Kind of on a whim, I decided to come to New York City for New Year’s since I’d never been before. I stayed with Travis at his place in Brooklyn. I spent my first afternoon wandering around SoHo, checking out the shops (and crazy packs of shoppers) while waiting for Travis to get off work. We went back to his place, changed, and headed back into the city to the Village. We ate at a great Thai place called Cafetasia and walked to Kate’s birthday party at Fat Cat Billiards. Fat Cat is in a big basement and has billiards, ping pong, tabletop shuffleboard, chess, scrabble, and who knows what else. Mike and Jon and Riana were there too! Eventually we had to leave because it was insanely hot and stuffy down there.

On New Year’s Eve, Travis and I made an obligatory trip to Times Square – we got there, I took two photos, and I said, "Ok. Let’s go." It was really cold and windy and snowing but already at NOON there were people lining the street, holding a place for the big celebration. These people had blankets (well, some of them did) and snow was slowly building up and drifting around them. CRAZY.

We walked down to Bryant Park to see the tree and ice skaters, then took the subway back down to SoHo for lunch. We met up with Travis’s coworker, Ed, and ate at The Cupping Room Café, where we saw a girl that totally looked like Nako.

Travis and I went back to his place and watched ‘Snatch’ then bought champagne, liquor and snacks and started getting ready for people to come over. By this time it was seriously windy and cold outside, so we weren’t sure how many people would actually venture out. We killed a good hour and a half with some Family Guy before Will stopped by. Then Kathleen, Tony, Nicole and Ed arrived. It was a really good time – very laid back. A good group of people. Kathleen brought party favors – the usual fare plus moustaches and glow bracelets. We watched the ball drop via Hulu and spent the rest of the night listening to the weird noises outside (maybe whales?), watching videos on YouTube and texting and receiving texts. Which I know doesn’t sound that thrilling, but was pretty damn fun.