Hello all. I would like to let everyone know that I am still alive and well. This past weekend Yilin and I went to Middlebury College for her brother's graduation and then to Montreal to scout locations for the wedding.
Good news: we found a place. We booked the place. Everything is A-OK.
Bad news: none. Ha!
I will be setting up a wedding website hopefully within the next few days, and a link here will point you there for all your wedding news needs. (I know you don't need to know every step, but it will save me time from calling my parents; especially if I can get Yilin to update the site.)
That's it for now. Expect a new post by early next week with news of the website. In the meantime, read about what is going on in Torrington. (For those of you who don't know, Torrington is the 'large' town/city down the road from Winsted, where I grew up.)
Wednesday, May 31, 2006
Thursday, May 18, 2006
Inconceivable!
Last night Yilin and I attended an event at the National Academy of Arts and Letters, where she used to work. The academy was inducting several new artists and writers as members. I knew that there were names I recognized (Stephen Sondheim), but it had slipped my mind who was going to be there.
That is, until we saw examples of art/writing displayed by the various inductees, causing me to immediately regret not bringing my camera. You see, the academy took it upon itself to induct Wallace Shawn. That's right: Fezzini from "The Princess Bride". Now, they say it is because of his writing, but we know the real reason he was inducted (his amazing performance in the aforementioned movie, naturally).
And then there he was, walking around in the crowd. This was my first celebrity sighting in New York City, and I can't imagine it could be better. Sure, with Yilin I have been within a yard of Robert Redford, Helena Christensen, Frederique Van Der Wal, Ryan Seacrest, Naomi Watts, Daniel Boulud, and I think a few others I am forgetting. But it matters not, since I never saw those people. We would walk past and half a block later Yilin would tell me. So I'd turn around to look but of course the person she mentioned would be gone.
But not Wallace Shawn. I resisted the urge to approach him and tell him how much I loved his performance in "The Princess Bride" as I am sure he is tired of hearing about it. I also resisted the urge to ask him to say "Inconceivable!" as I am sure everyone asks him to do that as well. So I just stood and looked at him for about a minute before moving on. (On a side note, he is rather short.)
Now my lack of celebrity sightings finally paid off. I must've been saving them up just for this one brief encounter, and it was worth it.
That is, until we saw examples of art/writing displayed by the various inductees, causing me to immediately regret not bringing my camera. You see, the academy took it upon itself to induct Wallace Shawn. That's right: Fezzini from "The Princess Bride". Now, they say it is because of his writing, but we know the real reason he was inducted (his amazing performance in the aforementioned movie, naturally).
And then there he was, walking around in the crowd. This was my first celebrity sighting in New York City, and I can't imagine it could be better. Sure, with Yilin I have been within a yard of Robert Redford, Helena Christensen, Frederique Van Der Wal, Ryan Seacrest, Naomi Watts, Daniel Boulud, and I think a few others I am forgetting. But it matters not, since I never saw those people. We would walk past and half a block later Yilin would tell me. So I'd turn around to look but of course the person she mentioned would be gone.
But not Wallace Shawn. I resisted the urge to approach him and tell him how much I loved his performance in "The Princess Bride" as I am sure he is tired of hearing about it. I also resisted the urge to ask him to say "Inconceivable!" as I am sure everyone asks him to do that as well. So I just stood and looked at him for about a minute before moving on. (On a side note, he is rather short.)
Now my lack of celebrity sightings finally paid off. I must've been saving them up just for this one brief encounter, and it was worth it.
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
Wanna buy a MIG-21?
Here is some interesting news (keeping in line with my recent post): A Chinese businessman recently bought a MIG-21 fighter jet off of eBay, but demanded a refund when he was told that the jet wouldn't be shipped overseas from the U.S.
It is unimportant in my opinion that he can't get the jet. What is important is this: his winning bid was a mere $24,730! Think about it: every young boy I knew dreamt of owning and flying a fighter jet. When we grew we forgot about these childhood dreams, as many people do. Little do we realize that as adults we can make them a reality. Especially when the cost of such a dream is less than a new car!
Forget buying a car when I move out of NYC, I am buying a fighter jet!
It is unimportant in my opinion that he can't get the jet. What is important is this: his winning bid was a mere $24,730! Think about it: every young boy I knew dreamt of owning and flying a fighter jet. When we grew we forgot about these childhood dreams, as many people do. Little do we realize that as adults we can make them a reality. Especially when the cost of such a dream is less than a new car!
Forget buying a car when I move out of NYC, I am buying a fighter jet!
Monday, May 08, 2006
It's a mad mad world
Do you read the news? I don't mean stupid political nonsense, such as U.S. President George W. Bush stated that his best moment during the past five years in office was catching a large perch from a lake on his property. (The sad truth is, that was his best moment in office.)
I mean real news, like the 104 year-old woman who just married her 21st husband, a 33 year-old idiot. (Really, who marries someone seventy years older than themself?)
Or did you read the one about the 550kg man who is trying to lose weight? (For those of you who quickly forget everything about the metric system moments after learning it in grade school, 550 kilograms is the equivalent of 1102 pounds.) Of course, the best thing he could do is to stop fucking eating! Seriously, take vitamins, drink water, and try to move.
Even better still, is the return of the Pillsbury Doughboy to his supermarket in NH. A four-foot tall Doughboy was kidnapped and held for ransom, in an attempt to prevent a grocery store from closing its doors for good. After a 3-week ordeal of sightseeing, strip clubs, and heavy boozing, the kidnappers left the unharmed Doughboy near a pond to contemplate his future unemployment. (This is a great video to watch, but I think it requires Windows Media Player.)
If my news doesn't read like Jerry Springer, then I don't read it.
I mean real news, like the 104 year-old woman who just married her 21st husband, a 33 year-old idiot. (Really, who marries someone seventy years older than themself?)
Or did you read the one about the 550kg man who is trying to lose weight? (For those of you who quickly forget everything about the metric system moments after learning it in grade school, 550 kilograms is the equivalent of 1102 pounds.) Of course, the best thing he could do is to stop fucking eating! Seriously, take vitamins, drink water, and try to move.
Even better still, is the return of the Pillsbury Doughboy to his supermarket in NH. A four-foot tall Doughboy was kidnapped and held for ransom, in an attempt to prevent a grocery store from closing its doors for good. After a 3-week ordeal of sightseeing, strip clubs, and heavy boozing, the kidnappers left the unharmed Doughboy near a pond to contemplate his future unemployment. (This is a great video to watch, but I think it requires Windows Media Player.)
If my news doesn't read like Jerry Springer, then I don't read it.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Ummm... Coincidence?
Yesterday, while eating lunch, I grabbed a copy of one of the free local newspapers lying around our conference room, intent on solving the crossword puzzle. I noticed that the date on the paper was this past weekend's (April 28-30), so for the heck of it I glanced at my horoscope, wondering what it would predict about the weekend I just had. Below is a scan of the date and paper name, as well as my horoscope:
No horseshit.
No horseshit.
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Are you word-verification-challenged?
For those of you who are word-verification-challenged, I am sure that you are delighted by Blogger's new adaptation of the handicapped feature. (I just noticed it this morning.)
Now, when required to enter the word verification in order to comment on a blog, like my blog for instance, you can click on the pictogram of the blue handicapped person near the text entry box. The computer will then read out loud the letters/numbers that you must type into the box.
I don't know if use of the handicapped symbol in such an event is proper or not, but shouldn't the little blue wheelchair-bound individual depicted at least be wearing a helmet? The type of people who struggle in correctly typing short sequences of letters usually fall down a lot or hit their heads on random objects like buildings.
It therefore amuses me to no end that certain friends of mine, who invariably struggle with the word verification, are now regarded as handicapped by Blogger. Well, perhaps that isn't a fair assessment. I will say that anyone who actually uses that feature is handicapped, and should be wearing a helmet. I think that those are the type of people who would choose to wear helmets while performing an activity which carries an extremely low risk of head injury, like snowshoeing.
Of course, I don't know why it is called word verification in the first place, as there are never words to type in, only random strings of alphanumeric code. I am certain that Dan, who is a novelist, can attest that the "words" are never actual "words."
Naturally, I will go so far as refraining to comment at all if I cannot enter the proper string of letters, rather than accept using the handicapped feature.
It's the principle of the thing.
Now, when required to enter the word verification in order to comment on a blog, like my blog for instance, you can click on the pictogram of the blue handicapped person near the text entry box. The computer will then read out loud the letters/numbers that you must type into the box.
I don't know if use of the handicapped symbol in such an event is proper or not, but shouldn't the little blue wheelchair-bound individual depicted at least be wearing a helmet? The type of people who struggle in correctly typing short sequences of letters usually fall down a lot or hit their heads on random objects like buildings.
It therefore amuses me to no end that certain friends of mine, who invariably struggle with the word verification, are now regarded as handicapped by Blogger. Well, perhaps that isn't a fair assessment. I will say that anyone who actually uses that feature is handicapped, and should be wearing a helmet. I think that those are the type of people who would choose to wear helmets while performing an activity which carries an extremely low risk of head injury, like snowshoeing.
Of course, I don't know why it is called word verification in the first place, as there are never words to type in, only random strings of alphanumeric code. I am certain that Dan, who is a novelist, can attest that the "words" are never actual "words."
Naturally, I will go so far as refraining to comment at all if I cannot enter the proper string of letters, rather than accept using the handicapped feature.
It's the principle of the thing.
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
I popped the question...
And she said, "No, wait. What's going on?! I'm confused!"
"No?! You said, 'No'?"
"Wait. Yes. I'm confused!"
There you have it. She rejected my proposal, but I managed to pressure her into marrying me. ;)
A photo slideshow is visible here. (Note that if you click on a photo, you should be able to follow a link to download a full-size version to print. For those of you who are interested, i.e. mom and dad.)
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