Well folks, here ...

Well folks, here is my #1 result:</p>Which Firearm are you?brought to you byStan RykerBut i prefer #3:Which Firearm are you?brought to you byStan Ryker

getting closer...

*whew* Last two pies are in the oven. I just hope they taste as good as the one I made for Thanksgiving. Not sure what drove me to bake pies this year - every once and a while I get a burst of domestication. However, most of the time it's the typical bachelorhood around here (mac and cheese for dinner, PB&J for lunch - tuna if i'm ambitious). It's a lot of friggin' work peeling and slicing 10 pounds of apples, and i have not yet mastered the art of crust folding. All in all, i think they turned out pretty good - they smell REAL good at the very least. You know, i should be out drinking and socializing, but instead i'm home baking pies. WTF? Who the hell am i becoming? :PTonight, i'm wrapping the rest of my presents and tomorrow i have to drive these pies to their respective families. After that's done, all of my pre-holiday preparations are done. Thank God! Only three more days till Christmas!

Beautiful Day...Beautiful Car!

I actually got my ass up early this morning and took my car in for an oil change. Got there at 8:30, was out by 9:45. The dealership even washed the car for me. Man, I cannot even begin to express how hot the car looks after being covered in salt and dirt for the last 2 weeks. Absolutely BEAUTIFUL!! I guess that's one advantage of the color black - every car wash makes it look brand new. The car's happy now too - good for another 3750 miles. I think I'll go for a drive this afternoon. The weather is absolutely gorgeous and the snowfall is very pretty in the sun!

Winter Driving

Ok, I'm gonna complain just cuz I can.Where the hell do some people learn to drive in the winter? I've lived the majority of my life in the Northeast, and I still can't belive how stupid some of the drivers are. When it snows, all the 4-wheel drive vehicles come out to play. Unfortunately, some still don't realize that it's STILL a car and it will STILL slide all over the place if you drive like these morons normally do. A few hints for the vehicularly challenged:Big tires don't help you in snow, in fact, they give you less traction because the weight of the car is spread out more. I know this because I have relatively wide tires on my 1500 lb. Sentra. It's sweet on dry roads, but can suck in the snow.SUV's and trucks can get you where you are going more easily, but they definitely don't stop easier. I wish the airhead behind me would have gotten that clue when he/she (gotta give equal credit to both genders here) was tailgating me on Bungay Road. Asshole. Diving in the snow is supposed to be fun (but only as long as I'm the only one on the road) *whew* I feel much betterOn a brighter note, I am happy that my car scaled the hills of Seymour with little trouble.

All we need is just a little Patience...

I have to admit, I was very skeptical of how the Guns 'N Roses concert at the Civic Center would turn out to be. I have heard numerous stories of Axl Rose's reputation of showing up late (sometimes not at all), and of the band's apparently poor live performance quality. Granted, Axl and Dizzy are the only original members of what is now called Guns 'N Roses, my prejudices lead me not to expect a stellar performance. Boy I was wrong.Many thanks to Dave, who offered me the chance to see this show, and drove all the way to Hartford despite his state of exhaustion. The concert was absolutely phenomenal. The band played extremely well, keeping close to style of the original 6, the visual effects were vivid and the volume was at an ideal level. Axl was energetic and seemed to be genuinely happy to be onstage performing (regardless of the 35 minute delay) and the other band members brought their own personalities onstage, furthering them from the stigma of being just a really good cover band. Buckethead is one of the best guitarists I have seen to date. He is also quite an oddity and very entertaining to watch onstage with his KFC-wing-bucket-hat with the "FUNERAL" sticker on the front. What a riot. I never thought I would ever say this about a G'NR performance, but they were superb - ranking up there with the best of the best in my book. Overall, my reaction is simple: "FUCKIN' AWESOME!!!"Kudos to you gentlemen, I might just buy your album when it comes out!

SNOW!!!

Driving may be tough, and I still have to go to work today, but GOD IS IT BEAUTFUL outside!!

Feeling Nostalgic

I have always looked forward to the week of Thanksgiving. It's a short week - and usually there's lots to do. But nevertheless, it's SHORT. What better way to end a gruelling week than to go home and enjoy the festivities. Not only do I get to sample dishes from the best cooks in the world (aka the women in my family), but I get to visit the place I will always think of as home. There is truth to the phrase "you can take the new Englander out of new England, but you can't take the new England out of the new Englander." Let's face it folks, most of southwestern CT is really another suburb of NY. Being born and raised in what was once rural Massachusetts seems to have instilled a certain love for a particular way of life. Sure college brought me out of my shell and helped me gain some very dear and life-long friends, but deep down, I know that I will one day want to move back there. Yes, I do consider (most of) CT a part of new England, but it feels different down here. No where have I seen a state that feels like all the places I love (Maine, MA, NH, Vermont). There seems to me that every town in the South-Central part of CT has a different character. Beacon Falls is like one of those remote Vermont towns with covered bridges and winding roads, and New Haven is thumping like Harvard Square in Boston. It's definitely closer to home than the Lehigh Valley, but not quite.I probably wouldn't miss it as much if I was living there still. Hell, there's even less to do there than in the Valley. Maybe it's my family I miss. I'm so close to them all, but far enough away to only seem them on occasion. However, its the holidays I really look forward to. I can't think of anyplace I'd rather spend Thanksgiving and Christmas than at home. Only 2 days till I can jump in my car (which is my pride and joy these days) and make the trip back up to Westford again. I can't wait!