Friday, September 05, 2008
I was in London the past two days for work and although it was a short time and I couldn't do the museums there (I love the Tate Modern and the National Portrait Gallery!), I had a blast. The office is on the 21st floor of a tower at Canary Wharf, so the view there was unbelievable, they had Nespresso machines everywhere, and the weather (mostly) cooperated.

I staid at this swanky little place called the Sanderson - and it is brilliant, smashing, major and wicked. The place was designed by Philippe Starck and is all a big study in transparencies and textures. Below are some photos of my room. The bed was amazing!




Now, a few things about London (after 48 hours there, I am fully qualified to make sweeping generalizations):
  • It is crowded - almost worse than New York!!
  • The bar scene is kinda awesome - hung out with Chicago friends Cassie and Mike and had a jolly good (drunken) time
  • People ain't pretty - quite a stark contrast with Paris!
  • They sure love their CCTV
  • The Tube was designed by, and for, midgets - if I don't stand in the middle of the car I have to bend my neck
  • They have the worst beef
  • The Eurostar is so cool - it's the second or third time I take it and I am still amazed that it's a train that goes under the sea - wtf!

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Thursday, August 21, 2008
Iceland was awesome! Here a bunch of pictures from the trip. They include the Blue Lagoon, which is a semi-artificial hot spring (created by the runoff water from a geothermal plant), a whale-watching trip (Minke whales and white-beaked dolphins), Reykjavik itself, the Gulfoss waterfall, the hot springs and geysers at Geysir, and the Thingvellir National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage site that's actually the intercontinental rift between the North American tectonic plate and the EurAsian plate (you can walk from Europe to America!).

Aside from the sights, we met really awesome people. On Friday Adam, a coworker of mine who tagged along, had arranged to meet with the team that creates a world-famous video game. He had told me he would contact them to see if we could meet up to which I had said "yeah, right, they're gonna drop everything and meet us just 'cause we're nice". Well, they did :) We had an atrociously expensive dinner and all hit it off so they invited us over to a house party, after which we all went out and got wasted. I do mean wasted, kids. I got home, somehow, at 6AM, after having consumed red wine, white wine, Brennivin schnapps, dessert wine, beers and rum and cokes. I had to stay in bed the whole next day (the giant jacuzzi in the hotel came in handy!), but it was fun nonetheless!

Few things to note about Iceland:
  • It's cold, even in the Summer
  • It's fucking gorgeous
  • People are very nice but don't always speak the best of English, even though they make it look like they do
  • Everything is atrociously expensive ($9 for a beer at a pub, $20 for a martini at a semi-swanky bar)
  • Their money is cute - looks like Monopoly money
  • Their food is nothing to write home about (whale steak? really just a gamey, chewy steak)
  • They drink - a lot
  • Their hot water smell like sulfur (comes straight up from the very deep underground where it's heated by lava)
  • Their cold water tastes like Evian



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Saturday, August 02, 2008
Three days at the house, 3 in Porquerolles, 2 in Port Cros, and a return trip via Pampelonne's crazy concentration of giants yachts. We even saw the Fashion TV "yacht", which looked like they had rescued it from a scrapyard in Bangladesh.



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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Riding the TGV last week. Still amazed at how fast and comfortable it is. Of course, we were prob only doing 300km/h... Not as cool as at the max speed the train can achieve, but still...

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Monday, June 30, 2008
Being stuck in an airplane for 9 hours has its advantages: you can catch up on Dexter's second season on your iPod, and you can ponder air travel's little annoyances and pleasures.

Yay:
  • Speeding towards the sunrise and all of a sudden realizing a day has passed and you're on another continent
  • Flying over Greenland
  • No BlackBerry or cell phone to monitor, no email either
  • Comfy shoes, eye masks, breath mints
  • The miles (which are bound to be soon declared null and void by all the airlines so let's redeem those babies while we still can!)
Nay:
  • The seat on which your ass will sit for the next 9 hours has been sat on for countless hours by countless asses - think about the number of farts that have gone through that foam and you, too, will use a home-brought blanket as a cushion next time; I wonder if I can fashion a sort of mini waterproof mattress pad...
  • The cunty flight attendants, who are getting bitchier every time, and still insist upon wearing loud heels for the ladies and louder fake-tans for the guys
  • The dumbasses who think an overhead bin is like a car's rusty trunk, and must be slammed shut every time
  • The "food" that manages to get worse and worse (how is that even possible?!)
  • The toilets with their creepy vacuum sucking sound
  • The CBS crap they force-feed you on "CBS Eye on American"
  • Kids

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Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Montmartre and a door to the Grand Palais.

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Totally forgot to post these from the weekend in the South. On the left is a gorgeous 70 Wallypower in the Baie des Canebiers in St Tropez. Brigitte Bardot's house is one of the houses that can be seen behind the boat. On the right, my friends, is a bitch of sail that took many attempts (yours truly was almost knocked out 3 times) but that made for a mucho fun afternoon.

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Saturday, April 19, 2008
As I am writing this, I am waiting at Charles de Gaulle for a flight to the South of France where 3 days of sun, rosé, and laziness await. The flight is all of 70 minutes long, but it's delayed over 2 hours. At CDG. Joy. French airports are like going to a drunk dentist (whose nurse is on strike, natch).

When I got to the "secure" area (I use the term loosely, as the guy didn't ask for my ID and barely glanced at my poorly printed boarding pass), I saw a bunch of signs saying anything I bought from that point on could be taken on the plane. So I went and got a bottle of water and some snacks and proceeded to the gate itself. Now, in this terminal, each gate has its own security check, with scanner and all (efficiency gives the French cancer), so I threw my stuff on the belt. Here's how the conversation went:

Me: Do I need to pull out my toiletry bag?
Agent: No, no need
Me: Cool
[i proceed forward, she pulls the 1L water bottle out of my shopping bag]
Agent: You can't bring liquids on the plane
Me: But I just bought it, right there (pointing at the Relay store, not 7 feet away)
Agent: You can't bring liquids on the plane, it needs to be in a sealed bag
Me: So what do I do?
Agent: Just go ask the guy at the Relay to put it in a sealed plastic bag
Me: This very bottle? You want me to take this bottle of water, go out of the security area, have it put into a plastic bag, and then come back?
Agent: Yes
[I go to the Relay, get the water bottle in the plastic bag and come back to the security check; I was gone for about 37 seconds]
Agent: Good evening (clearly not remembering me), please put your stuff on the belt
[water bottle goes through - hey, it was in a sealed bag, so it can't be a liter of liquid explosives!]

The gate area itself is of course derelict. No wifi. No bathrooms. No stores. Not enough seating. Bitchy agents.

This country is like Chinese water torture. I need to go back home soon!!

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Saturday, March 22, 2008
Had a lovely time last night partying with my friends and ending the night late, and all boozed up, with Scott and Sarah (who is also leaving Chicago, but for NY). Minibar, I shall miss you!

Of course that means I will travel hung over. For the 50th time, at least. The bright side is that I will hopefully pass out as soon as I sit (with some help from Mr. Xanax) and will be all adjusted tomorrow morning in Paris. I'd wish for a hot flight attendant but I've resigned myself to realizing it's a lost cause...

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Friday, January 25, 2008
Not a whole lot of pictures, since it was freezing and I only had my small point-and-shoot, but here it is... Click the photo below to get the gallery.

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Sunday, January 20, 2008
Just wrapping up a ski weekend in Vail and Beaver Creek with my friend Micah who lives in Boulder. Lots of fun was had by all, and my legs are shot. But if you're lucky, you'll soon get a video of me doing, of all things a jump (I was a good 4 inches off the ground!!!). I did succeed, but of course I had to gay it out by saying "ow" as I landed.

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Monday, January 14, 2008
My NYE activity - just thought I'd share... ;)

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Sunday, January 06, 2008
After a 28-hour trip (involving a missed connection in London and an unscheduled overnight stay in Boston), I am finally home. Well, have been for a couple of days... France was very lovely, but it's just good to be home...

Things I will miss:
  • La Grande Epicerie at le Bon Marché and their heaps of goodies (hm, cannelés!)
  • Dehillerin and their amazing array of professional kitchen stuff (bought a 10-in chef's knife)
  • People dressed semi-nice even to go to the gym
  • Leonidas chocolates (the poor man's Godiva - more buttercream!)
  • The gallons of Champagne and yummy wines my Dad opened up
  • My amazingly adorable nieces and nephews
  • The confit de canard I ate at a brasserie
  • Watching the NYE fireworks on a boat in the south of france

Things I will not miss:
  • The smell of the subway and its billions of stairs everywhere
  • The French's inability to form lines or to walk on a crowded sidewalk; maybe I've been to NY too many times lately, but I consider that walking super slow on the left side of a crowded sidewalk at rush hour and then stopping right there to answer a phone call or look at a store window ("oh look!, an objet!") is grounds for some serious caning
  • Cloudy skies, every day
  • Rude waiters
  • The absurdly expensive Euro, which meant shopping was out of the question
  • The current Paris fashion of super skinny pants and super pointy shoes

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Saturday, December 22, 2007
The little dentist appointment yesterday turned out awesome (though I need to go back as soon as I am back from Paris so they can finish the root canal). I was under the effects of 2 Xanax's, Nitrous Oxide, and about a liter of Novocaine. I was actually trying really hard not to hum the songs I was listening to on my iPod as the doc was doing things to my tooth that I'm sure would make me pass out if I only saw them. And afterwards I scored a scrip for Tylenol with Codeine... Pills are so great*... 

Meanwhile, I am now at ORD waiting for my flight (delayed an hour, of course). When I got to the terminal, the lines for international check-in were huge (maybe about 100 people ahead of me), but I noticed the electronic kiosks had a sign saying you can use them for international check-in now. So I did. No line, no nothing. I have an ancient passport that doesn't scan, so I just entered the info by hand and a very nice employee verified it. Dumped my bag at X-Ray, a few minutes through my favorite security check (right-hand side of Terminal 3), and I was done in literally 10 minutes. Joy! This should balance out the return trip nicely - I come back from NIce airport, which is this big beautiful building with maybe about 2 X-Ray machines at the top of escalators. Given the French's innate inability to form lines, you can imagine the fun that entails...

Merry Christmas to all - be safe and drink lots of Champagne.

*: Reminds me of that scene in The Rules of Attraction, where Fay Dunaway is waiting for her son Ian Somerhalder at some hotel bar with a girlfriend. They try to carry on a conversation through a cloud of booziness and her pal offers "want a pill?". She replies "what is it?". Her friend then says "does it matter?" and Fay shrugs and pops the pill. All the while Ian Somerhalder is upstairs in his white boxers jumping up and down on the bed (a scene I have watched over and over, as one may expect)

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Thursday, December 20, 2007


It's been a busy year - a total of 2 trips to SF, 2 to LA, 1 to New Orleans, 2 to Paris, and 11 to NY. I wonder how much cosmic rays I've been exposed to...

Wrapping up a really busy month at work (travelled 3 times, many very late nights); the only thing standing between me and Paris (I leave Saturday) is a root canal tomorrow (great month!) I just want to be home and for my Mommy to take care of me...

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Saturday, December 08, 2007


(yes, that is one lame pun)

Saw the coolest exhibit at the SF Moma on Thrusday after work. Olafur Eliasson is an Icelandic artist who likes to play with perception and light and color. The first picture is from a room in which you're surrounded by a big white canvas which lights up with all the colors of the rainbow. I imagine that's what an acid trip feels like... The second one is a really cool installation he made just for the MOMA's footbridge. The last one is a room lit in a very narrow-band yellow light - after a few minutes, it makes you see everything in black and white. If you're in the area, I'd highly suggest you go see the show, it's amazing.

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Wednesday, December 05, 2007
My travel schedule for December and January, so far: NY, SF, NY, Paris, NY, Denver. Yikes. Thoughts:
  • Why is it that my gate is always the very farthest from the terminal? Does walking to it count as exercise?
  • I wonder how much cosmic rays I am getting with all these flights. Should I check with HR if I should be getting some sort of worker's comp?
  • AA flight crew is really just a bunch of a-holes. Especially the prissy queen Air Waiter preening on his cell phone at the gate desk who simply flashed his CREW badge when I went up to ask a question and who finally reluctantly said "you need to wait for a gate agent" (after a sigh of course). Cunt
  • I am waiting to hear about the very first upgrade I might be getting, ever. I wonder what flying in First Class feels like. Will it make me feel better/ prettier/ smarter?
  • I'm sad I'm only going to be in SF for three days, but very happy I get to sleep in my own bed on Friday
  • I am on my way to having enough miles for my Big Trip to Argentina in March. BA, I venir aquí*
*: Clearly, a rough Google translation
UPDATE: Yup, got the First Class upgrade - which was quite nice - and what do you know, Prissy Queen Air Waiter was my flight attendant. Barely more polite than before. 

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Wednesday, November 28, 2007
I always kinda bitch when I come to the Brooklyn office because it's, well, across the river, but it does have it's advantages:
  • For half the price of a dump in Manhattan I get some 4-star awesomeness - my room is about 550* sqft and it's not even a suite
  • I'm only 2 subway stops away from Manhattan (that, and the firm comps any cabs we take to go there - I guess they feel bad for us)
  • The ride from LGA is even faster than if I was downtown
So all in all, I almost love it. Good thing I have fabulous plans in the city tomorrow though...

PS: At the airport while waiting to board it took all my energy to not snoop at some fat guy's computer as he was checking out his eHarmony profile. I managed not to snicker - but it took a lot out of me, I'm exhausted.

*: yes I measured, of course I measured. Did you not realize I'm a dork?

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Wednesday, October 24, 2007
So this morning's flight from ORD to LGA was a little more eventful than usual... First off, it left on time, which is rare enough to be mentioned. But it's only about 15 minutes before landing that things got really interesting.

I had just put away my iPod when I heard a thump thump thump sound coming from somewhere. Or maybe it was a flop flop flop. It sounded a bit like helicopter blades. The flight attendant had a fairly puzzled look on her face, and the road-warrior Mr. Corporate next to me also seemed a bit unnerved, which I took as the signs that the thump thump thump might in fact be the sound a fuselage makes moments before it peels off like a banana. After a few seconds, the sound stopped, and I turned my attention back to grinding my armrest with my fists.

Ten minutes later, the sound happened again. This time, the pilot went on the PA to let us know he had no idea what it was (reassuring), and that the engines looked (again, awesome choice of words) OK. He then let us know we'd be landing right away (we were already by LGA, so we basically just got immediate clearance as opposed to waiting around in circles like we usually do) and not to be alarmed if we saw emergency vehicles cruising down the runway with us after we touched down. Feeling the plane touching the tarmac was definitely a nice relief.

I have no idea what it turned out to be, but the emergency thing had its pluses: they unloaded the plane (passengers and bags) promptly so all the luggage was out on the carousel within, literally, 5 minutes of landing.

Awesome fun.

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Thursday, October 11, 2007
There's some work training I want to attend in January in Colorado Springs. It's Thursday and Friday so with a coworker we're thinking of making a weekend out of it. Therefore I need advice on ski resorts... Vail? Breckenridge? Aspen?

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Monday, October 08, 2007


Taken last weekend while touring NY harbor with my parents. I know, the purple's a bit cheezy - I'm experimenting...

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Friday, October 05, 2007
My wonderful hosts last week in NYC - Cub, Fagat, Chris and LL - enthralled in Gossip Girl. Those silly gays...

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Wednesday, September 26, 2007
En route to New York yet again, but this trip should be more fun:
  • I finally have "status" on American Airlines, which means complimentary massage with happy ending before each flight (or is that on Singapore Airlines?) More pragmatically I now get the choose my seat anywhere on the plane (emergency exits, here I come!) and I board first. I also get to pretend I'm the shit by checking in with the First Class people. It's the small things...
  • I am taking Friday off to spend the weekend with my parents, who are coming in for 3 days (Mother has already announced we are taking a horse-drawn carriage ride through Central Park, and that I have no choice in the matter)
  • I am staying in la Casa de Chris (thanks again, C. and C.), which means loads of fun all around
  • I scored a Xanax scrip renewal from my doctor so I took one last night - I now feel exceptionally refreshed for having woken up at 5 this morning (OK, and I did stay up too late watching the Golden Girls, my fault)
  • When I get back into town Sarah will be there - my hag is back!!!
  • I get to toast the very recent nuptials of my favorite Franco-American couple (well, the official nuptials, since the actual wedding is next year)

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Sunday, September 23, 2007

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Better late than never... Working on the San Francisco pictures now.

Oh, and this is Southern Decadence, so some pictures may be NSFW... ;)

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Wednesday, September 19, 2007


Another preview of the SF pics (now numbering 300...) Flying back home tomorrow morning - at last, my own bed!! (plus, my hotel room smells like a seagull died in the window air conditioning unit or something - good times)

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Monday, September 17, 2007


After New York last week, I am now in San Francisco for a few days - arrived Saturday. I spent all day yesterday driving around Marin County in a Zipcar BMW - awesomest ride if there ever was one. Within a few hours, the landscape changed from lush Redwood forests to Mediterranean vegetation, to rolling, grass-covered hills (Mount Tamalpais, above) to bare, lunar-like areas before steep cliffs plunging into the Pacific Ocean. Completely amazing. I have hundreds of pictures - yet another gallery I owe you, my dear readers. Oh, and driving on the San Andreas fault is also quite cool!

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Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Another trip, another hotel. This was also, sadly, in Times Square, but interesting nonetheless. The color scheme is pretty much "black, black, more black". My window faced a blind wall too, so it was just what I needed to get a nice long night's rest after working until 1:30AM Sunday night before a 5AM wake-up time.

My flight back home got canceled (sigh), so I got rebooked on another flight, this one out of Newark. The ride over is just as dreadful as I remembered: pollution, heavy industry, ugly people. Supposedly there's a nice side to New Jersey, but I'm doubtful. Then again, I only know of the Manhattan-Newark corridor and Atlantic City, so I'm probably biased.

Home for three days before the next trip. Yesss!

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Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Took over 350 photos this weekend. Need to go through them...

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Saturday, September 01, 2007
I know, dear readers, I have horribly neglected you. You see, life took over for a while, with travelling for work and all sorts of things to attend to, and blogging was just not on the agenda.. But anyway, I am ever so terribly sorry for doing that and prompting some of you to send me emails to check I was still alive.

I am indeed very much alive, taking a much deserved vacation in Nawleans with my college friend Aurélien and his lovely girlfriend. Since they live here, they've been able to show me a bunch of sights I would never have seen as a regular tourist, such as Uptown and a bunch of cute boutiques and all that. It's also really cool to be here 2 years after Katrina - its presence is still very strong, especially during this afternoon's flash thunderstorm.

Of course, this being Southern Decadence weekend (I suggest you wait until you're not at the office to Google it), I've also been doing some 'mo stuff. Including yesterday a quick lay by the Country Club's pool. It's not really the kind of country club that probably springs to mind; think gay bar outside, with a pool, and the whole thing being clothing optional. Of course, that last part means a bunch of nasty 60 year olds parading around with their sack hanging out, but whatever works, right?

Anyway, so far so good. We're taking it easy for now, preparing for another evening out in the Quarter. I've already consumed my weight in crab, crawfish, and Dixie beer. Yum! Tons of pictures forthcoming, natch.

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Monday, August 13, 2007


So far:
  • Went running tonight in Chelsea and came back in the Subway dripping sweat. A very good looking blonde girl started flirting with me. I tried to come up with something gay to do so she'd get the message, but I was fresh out of peacock feathers to stick in my butt.
  • Had a very lovely dinner last night with Sara, Grace, and Mel, at the very awesome Borgo Antico - amazing service, food, and $15 entrees...
  • Saw Maria Bartiromo yet again. This time she smiled and said Hi. We're so becoming best buds.
  • I guess it's Nature's way of preserving the Yin Yang: while Times Square has the Naked Cowboy, Wall Street has the Naked Indian: a very lanky Native American with long hair and two Heidi-style braids, seen today parading up and down Broad street, wearing nothing but very tiny purple briefs, as I was trying my hardest to finish my lunch.
  • My hotel is hosting a pool party tonight, with guest list and velvet rope to boot (scared off the bouncer with my sweaty workout clothes before I showed him my room key). Sadly, this one is for the straights. Which I suppose is for the best - combine a gay pool party and the huge two-person shower in my room and who knows what unmentionable infamies would take place...

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Sunday, August 05, 2007


My hotel in NY next week has a pool in the lobby. How fun is that? Note to self: remember to bring the pink Speedos.

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Wednesday, July 25, 2007


Had a grand old time in NY as usual - although I am ready to see my own bed and my boys again. Considering I booked three days in advance, I was pretty happy with the hotel. The bathroom looked like the place where gold goes to die, but the bed was heavenly (a big King size bed with crisp sheets and a fluffy comforter).

Entertainment-wise, every trip is pretty much a repeat of the one before. On Sunday night Sara, Mel and I hit g bar, then I hit Hiro, like I said in my previous post. And then on Tuesday it was time for Beige at b bar (different letter, different bar) with Cub, Chris and the fabulous Kevin, in town for something that had to do with getting someone's house into Architectural Digest. Yes, that is indeed a very gay reason to be in town.

Now I'm sitting in the pit that is LaGuardia, powerless (impossible to find a single power outlet that works) so no movie watching on my MacBook (had downloaded a bunch of Dexter episodes just for that purpose). My original flight is in two and a half hours (delays getting into ORD - shocker!) so I'm standing by on the next flight out, in a mere hour. Arriving at the gate I was all happy to see my name in fourth position in the standby list, but the agent informed that the flight before us had 50 people in their list, and when they closed it, all these people would go ahead of me. A quick check at the other gate showed their list is now 55 people. SO, I am now 60th on standby. Score. Maybe I should just cut my losses and hitch-hike back to Chicago.

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Monday, July 02, 2007
So in three days in NYC, I:
  • Had a very lovely evening with Sara - dinner at Cafeteria, drinks at G Bar (where she slipped my number to the bartender, who obv. didn't call) and Barracuda
  • Saw Michael Moore and Maria Bartiromo (twice) on Broad Street
  • Saw supermodel Mark Vanderloo doing a shoot on that same street
  • Did 5 1.5 hour presentations, 2 of which after having bitten my tongue at lunch ("ze thosftware will do zith")
  • Sat next to a very good looking man on the plane back, only to discover he had a wedding band
  • Swung by the 5th Avenue Apple Store at 6 on Friday on my way to the airport to check out the madness of the iPhone launch (obv. I want one!!)
  • Realized that NY is like an old Mustang convertible: it doesn't always start right away, the paint is peeling, it pollutes like crazy and there's a funky smell in the back seat, but it's still just hot

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Saturday, June 09, 2007
I've lost the habit of looking at my AA miles, but when I did last week, I realized I have over 45,000. Which is not that much, considering that's been accumulating for years. But still, it's a free r/t to Hawaii. Or Buenos Aires. So I've been thinking of going backpacking in BA at the end of the summer, to take advantage of the Memorial Day holiday. Well, of course, redeeming miles is like pulling teeth, so right now between the blackout dates and the 2-stop flights (via Dallas and Miami - wtf), it ain't easy.

But still, BA for a week. How cool would that be?!

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Thursday, May 24, 2007


I'm not sure if I have a problem communicating with them or if NY cabbies are just a bit dense, but in 4 days in NY, I had two really awe-inspiring rides:
  1. Going from 88th and York to 45th and 5th. The dude gets on the FDR going south but doesn't exit until 23rd and then goes further south. Turns out the moron thought I had said 25th. Yeah, 'cause "25th" and "45th" totally sound the same, even when you repeat them three times.
  2. Getting to la Guardia, I tell the driver I'm flying American. He drops me off in front of the US Airways terminal. "That's US Airways", I say. "Yes, it is" "I want American Airlines" "It's not the same?" "No, dude, it's not" "Are you sure?" "Yup, pretty sure".

[Sigh]

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Monday, May 21, 2007
I am sitting in a drab hotel room in drab Midtown in NY, watching basic cable after having pigged out on Whole Foods sushi. It is Monday evening, I suppose, even in NY...

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Friday, May 18, 2007
Domestic air travel is about to get a whole lot let uncivilized: Virgin America is finally approved and ready to go!

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Saturday, April 07, 2007
Carol and I goofing off at the Newport Pier. Sigh. What I wouldn't give to be back on the beach...

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Friday, April 06, 2007
I know, I am a bad, bad blogger. But I have a good excuse: I was at the beach, getting some sun, and improving my body-surfing skills (ahem). A bunch of us rented a house in Newport Beach, literally 92 steps from the sand (we counted), for 5 days. The weather was glorious, the waves fun and safe (no deaths to report), and the Jose Cuervo plentiful.

I don't care that Orange County is Republican, boring, and void of any kind of substance (or Black people, for that matter). It's all about the BEACH!



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Wednesday, March 07, 2007


Apparently there was some sort of snow event in Chicago so the entire US airspace is a total mess. I'm sitting right now at a shitty gate at crappy LGA and there are, by my estimations, 1200 angry people trying to get on any given outbound flight. With any luck, I'll be home by midnight. Or something like that.

Meanwhile, I found out my company's CEO just bought himself a Park Avenue condo worth 360 years of my salary. He should have some cash left over though, as he's worth 3600 years of my salary. Oh, Joy...

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Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Had a wonderful evening with the inimitable and lovely Chris, at a showing of Grand Hotel at the shmancy Soho House, presented by Matthew Broderick. There were only 50 people there (49 of them publicists, journalists or guests thereof) so M. Bueller was literally within inches of me many times. Still, I decided against going up to him and letting him know how much in love I was with Ferris when I was younger. Truth be told, I haven't seen that many other movies he's been in, so I would have been hard pressed to continue the conversation. But the drinks were good, the company delectable, and the evening very nice, even though Mrs. Broderick-Parker did not show up (that bitch). I shall return to Chicago tomorrow with fond memories of a fantastic time in NY, as always.

Meanwhile, I am seeing Das Personal Trainer on Friday, which is critical as I feel like I am starting to look like Cartman (JG Melon's amazing burgers on Monday night did not help.)

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Sunday, March 04, 2007


Had a wonderful Welcome Back to NY lunch with Sarah and the gang at Pastis where I gorged on the best fries dipped in the best tartar sauce, after wolfing down the best croque-monsieur this side of the Atlantic. Sooo good!

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Monday, February 19, 2007
The Eye and the Tate.


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After a 14-hour journey from a cousin's house in a small hamlet deep in the Northern France countryside, I'm finally back home. Here are some stuff I jotted down while in London...
  • Think NY Post headlines are trashy? Try British newspapers...
  • The Tube's freaking expensive at £4 a ride, but a daily ticket is only £5 - why would anyone ever buy a single ride is beyond me.
  • Their whole "driving on the left" thing took another dimension in terms of navigating crowds. In a tunnel you're supposed to keep left, but in an escalator, you still stand in the right, walk on the left, like in the States. I'm so bruised from walking into countless people, next time I'll just take taxis everywhere.
  • Note to UK emo kids: eat something, you look like you're about to vanish into thin air..
  • I'm glad I don't smoke anymore: everywhere I looked, Marlboro's were 10 bucks a pack!
  • At pedestrian crossings, the little person light is either red, green, or blinking green. The first two are simple enough. The last one, in my limited experience, means "cross and die".
  • Couldn't find a "Mind the Fucking Gap" T-Shirt in Camden, but I did see an adorable one saying "It's Not the Tourette's, It's Just That You're a Fucking Cunt".
  • Selfridge's is the best department store in the world, and there are very few things I wouldn't do for a 2-hours shopping spree in their Men's department.
  • Harrod's is a gaudy, messy, crowded pit.
  • Yes, I did go to Starbucks. Shuddup.

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Thursday, February 15, 2007
There are two things I will indulge in every once in a while: Mc Donald's and Us Weekly. They are, however, strictly limited to the beach and international flights. They're going to serve you crappy, artificial food, so might as well make it tasty and as artery-clogging as humanly possible. So I grabbed both and boarded AA's 777 to London 10 hours ago.

The flight itself was fairly uneventful, and I managed to sleep a little, a rarity for me (thanks self-medication!). A quick zip on the Heathrow Express, and here I am, sitting in an Internet cafe in Earl's Court, wherever that is, waiting for my hotel room to be ready.

I feel I should be doing some visiting right away, but I just want to take in the city a little bit first. The Brits have such a cute accent, it always tickles me. I just want to pick them up and put them in my pocket to enjoy later, like a Butterscotch candy (sorry, Botterskowtch). Their fashion sense however is not without reproach, what with the soccer jerseys and all. And I'll be nice enough not to mention their teeth.

This afternoon, Tate Modern. A Gilbert & George exhibit just opened there, can't wait.

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Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Great, it's V-Day...

Good thing I'll be on the plane tonight. Now, all I need is a very cute seat neighbor. They're usually little old ladies or sweaty overweight sales reps, but one may hope. Oh, and in London, I must stay true to my V-Day resolution: no more silly crushes on out-of-towners. So I shall be very good (or very bad).

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Monday, January 29, 2007


I'm in NYC for a few days for work and got a chance to meet some more characters from the only blog recovering from a mysterious disease (a.k.a. the DC Gays' Official Social Register), LL and Fagat (if you don't know who they are, you're just not trying hard enough). Saturday night was spent at some charity thingie in Chicago, at which vast amounts of wine were consumed by yours truly. Since I had not packed yet and I had a morning flight, I was no happy camper yesterday and was therefore wary of going out again. But the boys made some compelling arguments (they bought me a beer) and before I knew it, we were at Hiro.

Now, others have written about the night's events much more eloquently I ever could, others still are already spreading heinous rumors about it, but I will say this: thank effin' Gawd for Hiro. I had first been acquainted with it by dearest Frog (best Hag and Wing-woman in the world), and I feared my memories were skewed and the place could not possibly be that awesome. It is.

Only at Hiro can you find hundreds of cute NY Gays being nice and friendly, and well, for some, slutty, in the basement of a relatively random hotel on a Sunday night. And so far the place has managed to escape the Doom of the Bridge and Tunnel Syndrome. My celebrity sighting of the night consisted of a certain Falcon (if you don't know, don't ask) "star", who seems to have this habit of shaking your hand and then immediately taking said hand and rubbing it against his chest. Now, entire boy scout troops could camp on those pecs, and I was not complaining, but still, it was slightly disconcerting.

[Sigh] New York is fun...

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Tuesday, January 09, 2007
I need a one-night stay in a cute hotel in London (<$200 if possible) on Thursday February 16th. Problem is, London has like 1000 hotels and I have no idea where to start.

Can anybody help??

UPDATE: Ding ding, the winner is... Base2Stay. Looks clean, unlike most hotels I saw online, and it's less than 200 bucks.. Sold! Thank you thank you thank you, M@!

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Wednesday, December 27, 2006
On the plane back from home today I started a list of things I learned (or re-learned) this holiday break:
  • Parisian boys are fucking skinny bitches (and all look gay to my now-Americanized eye). Comparatively, I am a whale. Which leads to my NY's resolution: work out and eat celery sticks for the rest of my days.
  • Paris with not a single ray of sunshine for 5 days straight is about as depressing as Buffalo, NY.
  • French cars really are tiny, but not as tiny as French parking garages.
  • Everyone in Paris still smokes and seems to think second-hand smoking is some sort of Californian fad with no merit whatsoever.
  • The country's future is bleaker that ever, as it tries to find its niche, its "third way" between capitalism and communism. Good luck with that. My Dad told me of a survey in which a third of respondents said they believed in free market economy. Meaning two thirds did not.
  • The amount of time it takes me to miss the US when I am away is now down to two days.
  • It really is a small world as evidenced by a meeting with my friend Cedric yesterday. He was telling me he was going to Beirut for a wedding, and I cited the name of an acquaintance (who's family friends with my best girl friend, a French-Lebanese) whom I know is getting hitched there this weekend. Turns out they went to business school together.
  • Paris really is gorgeous.
  • I barely saw any dogs, and this is probably due to the mayor's crackdown on people leaving their pooch's refuse material behind. Unsurprisingly, Parisians would rather have no dog at all than be seen picking up their shits.
  • Shopping in Paris is retarded, since the Euro is so incredibly high. As an example, a Lacoste shirt (a French brand, obv.) is 72 bucks in the US, 72 Euros in France. Or 30% more expensive. Dumb ECB.
  • My niece and nephew are the most achingly beautiful things in the world.
  • American Airlines female flight attendents don't seem to believe in hair, makeup, courtesy, or basic customer service skills.

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Sunday, December 17, 2006


Spent another wonderful weekend visiting Mr. Cub in D.C. and was really struck at how small this city is, and how people that work here (as opposed to the elected officials they work for) happily coexist, no matter how bitter the political climate.

It seems that working in this town is not necessarily about politics, but about a career. You find someone you like and work for them, building up a network as you go along, hoping the horse you're betting on manages to get elected. But at the end of the day, Hill staffers are just that, staffers, not Democrats or Republicans. You'll see Bush White House people at very Democratic parties, and no one thinks twice about it.

Only in this town could we have spent part of the evening chatting, at some gay bar, with a New York Times journalist, a White House staffer (none other, of course, than that infamous Thomas B. Fabrice speaks so much about), and a Bush/Cheney speechwriter (sweet man, but he actually believes in what he writes - poor thing).

Oh, and we went to a very cute holiday party at the Georgetown house of some Power Gays (the kind that gives so much money to charities a non-profit in NY sent a rep to the party). There I realized that apparently in this town, not only is everyone gay, but they've also all been to Law School (preferably Georgetown, Yale, or Harvard).

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Sunday, November 12, 2006
Spent a wonderful weekend in DC visiting American-as-apple-pie Cub (and to celebrate the Democrats' Victory of course).

Saturday was studious (and incredibly warm - in the 70s), as we marked Veterans Day by doing all the Mall's Memorials. We started at the WWII, and then made our way around to the Vitenam, Korea, FDR, and finally the Jefferson Memorial. The FDR memorial was by far the best; its scale was very human and encouraged reflections on the words of one of America's greatest presidents. The current administration would be well advised to re-read a few of the quotes etched in the purple granit. We finished off at the Capitol, stopping short of taking V-of-victory pictures (well, I tried, but it didn't turn out too good).

That night we had dinner at an amazing Thai place, Rice, and then headed out to BeBar. The bar was very cute (an orgy of midcentury furniture + drinks - who wouldn't like that?) and I got to meet some of the cast of FHC's blog, including Thomas B. and Alex S. Nice to put a face to the names after all this time. After managing to escape the annoying drunk guy who kept chasing us around the room, we left for Cobalt (I'm afraid we're too old for that) and a McDonald's nightcap. Sunday was rainy and called for some movie watching at home and good ol' chilling before heading back out to Chicago.

All in all, a fantastic weekend with a great host, whose encyclopedic knowlegde of all things DC proved very educating.





Travel

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Tuesday, October 24, 2006


Finally, some pictures... In order, a scary Harajuku-type girl at a drag show, the Transamerica building, the Bay Bridge from Chinatown, the Golden Gate from Baker Beach, the De Young Museum gardens, the Japanase Tea Garden, the Golden Gate, Sausalito, and the ferry ride back (with the mandatory sea lions at Pier 39).






Travel, Pictures

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Those who know me will tell you I am not the most athletic person out there. Given the choice between watching TV, hiking the Grand Canyon and running a triathlon, however, I will gladly pick number 2. So when I was in SF a couple of weekends ago, I decided I owed it to myself to rent a bike and go around the city.

Obviously, amazing experience, and everyone should do it. I first walked for a couple miles, up Telegraph Hill, back down and then back up to Lombard Street, then back down to the Wharf (completely useless tourists trap, as I had been warned). There, I rented a bike and started along my merry way. The sun wasn't out so I didn't want to cross the GG bridge just yet, and simply went around the Presidio, through the GG Park (awesome De Young museum and Japanase Tee Garden), into the Haight, and then back up to the Wharf, to return the bike.

By then, the sun was out, and I could see the bridge just teasing me. So I took a quick break and went back out to the Presidio, and over the bridge. Crossing the Golden Gate Bridge ranks high in the amazing experiences of my life. The view of the bay on one side, and the Pacific on the other, is breathtaking. And the railings are low enough to give you nice chills when you feel the bridge vibrating (I kept chanting "please no earthquake now"). On the other side was the last hill of the trek (fucking hills!), and then down to Sausalito to catch the ferry back.

All in all, I biked 20 miles that day (of SF terrain, that's like 30 miles in Chicago...) Not bad. Of course, my ass hurt for 2 days afterwards, but it was well worth it.
Travel

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Tuesday, October 17, 2006
San Francisco was absolutely amazing! I'll post more later, but here's a shot of the GG from Baker Beach. I already miss it!


Travel

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Thursday, October 05, 2006
So next week will be rather exciting. I'll be in NY on Sunday thru Tuesday, and then in SF until the following Sunday. Now, I know Everyone's Favorite Hollywood Journalist is finding faaabulous parties for us to crash during NY's Film Festival, but what about SF?
I've never been so I don't really know what to do there. I will have basically 3 nights and one full day to do some touristy stuff. I'm thinking biking across the bridge, Japantown, Castro. Anything completely overrated I should avoid?
Travel

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Monday, August 28, 2006
We spent the weekend in Marquette, MI, to visit Ben's family. Last time we had stayed at the Holiday Inn, but this time decided renting a cabin on the beach would be a lil' more fun.

They call them "camps" there, and campy they definitely are. We counted, in a house less than 1000 sqf, four different kinds of floor coverings, three different faux wood paneling flavors, 115 pieces of "art" hung on walls, and countless little "deco" items, depicting deer, trout or bears in various poses (and the requisite poster-size dreamcatcher).

Here's a couple of shots from inside the house:



The outside, thankfully, was a bit more peaceful:




And then of course, we decided to do an impromptu photo shoot...


Travel

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Friday, August 11, 2006
I'm sure everyone has heard about the recent "events" in the UK and the new rules concerning air travel. Here's what I anticipate future rules will cover:
  • All passengers to be photographed, fingerprinted before boarding.
  • All passengers to be forbidden from moving about the cabin at any time during the flight. Colostomy bags and catheters to be provided by your friendly flight attendant at a cost of $5. Change appreciated.
  • All passengers to be cavity searched at security checkpoints before and after boarding.
  • All passengers to wear orange jumpsuits and be chained on the plane, to avoid interference with onboard National Guard personnel.
  • All passengers to be anchored with cinder block and thrown into pool of water; God to decide which ones are not evil.
In all seriousness, this is just getting ridiculous. The recent UK plot was uncovered because of counter-terrorism coordination between countries, not because someone was found at the airport trying to smuggle explosives on board. The key to fighting terrorism is invisible, unpublicized surveillance, not insane restrictions on the public that's supposed not to be terrorized.

If a terrorist really wants to kill a lot of people, he can always strap a bunch of dynamite to his body and take the NY subway at rush hour. How would you deter that? Inspect every single subway rider? Obviously not. Same goes with forbidding people from taking lip gloss on board. It's all just a big case of CYA from our governing elites...

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Monday, August 07, 2006
The sound of cicadas, on the island of Porquerolles, off the Mediterranean coast of France. Doesn't get much better than this...

porquerolles.mp3
Travel

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Sunday, July 09, 2006


En la casa de Mom and Dad right now, chillin with the Other Ben and Nicki. We went to the market this morning and I instantly went into food induced ecstasy. Stalls upon stalls of the freshest produce, meats, cheeses, it was pure f-in heaven. When I lived in Paris, I lived on a street that had a market every day. But it being there, it just didn't matter that much. I guess you don't realise how much you love something until it's gone.

Visiting the brother this afternoon, watching the game tonight. Good times.
Life

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Friday, July 07, 2006
Vacation starts tomorrow. It will involve, among other things:



Yay.
Life

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Friday, May 19, 2006
What better way to get into NY than La Guardia? Last time we had flown up the Hudson and then around the Bronx, but this time, we flew basically along the eastern side of Manhattan. From my left window seat, I had a fabulous view of the scenery, seming as though I was in a high-flying chopper. Down below rolled the Statue of Liberty, Wall Street and Ground Zero, the Empire State, Times Square, Midtown, Central Park, Yankee Stadium, and then we made a right turn to get into the airport. Amazing!
Travel

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Tuesday, May 02, 2006


Why no-one ever thought of this earlier is beyond me but behold, the movie-theater style folding airplane seat. Facilitates boarding, going to the bathroom, putting your stuff away. Brilliant.

And yes, much better indeed than Airbus' idea for a standing-room only seat, which turned out to be nothing more than an idea abandoned three years ago, but still made it on the cover of this week's New Yorker.
Travel

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Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Some pics from Cancun. We had such a blast. FrenchBenj the athlete even got to hone his skills at wakeboarding, and did in fact look magnificent doing so. The hotel was gorgeous and, even though most of the area is still under heavy reconstruction from Hurricane Wilma, everything was amazing. Impeccable service, heated pools, scrumptious food, a few cute locals.

Sigh. Sucks to be back in the cold...

The resort:


[+/-] Read More (Cute boys after the jump...)



Yes, I was the dumbass crouched over the pools, photographing the tiles...


A yummy local playing football with his friends, and an American dude with his girl. Mind you, they had *just* met. She spent the rest of the weekend straddling him by the pool. Slut. I'm jealous.


The beach, including a heroic shot of the Other Ben trying out wakeboarding, in spite of a brutal sunburn.



Pictures, Travel

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Friday, February 10, 2006
Hey kids, postng from Mexico here. We are in an internet cafe downtown, realizing tht, in Cancun, you are really just better off staying in the resort area. Downtown Cancun is basically two blocks. Part of the reason we came was to check out the two local gay bars, Glow and Karamba. Well, Caramba was destroyed by Wilma and Glow seems relly empty. So... Back to the Zona Hoteliera for us.

Anyway, the trip so far is amazing. The hotel we are staying at is absolutely gorgeous, and the service is impeccable. We spent the afternoon playing in really big surf (been really windy for days), trying not to drown, and drooling over a really cute Wake Boarder. Yes, I have pictures...

More when we are back. Ta Ta For Now.
Travel

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Wednesday, February 08, 2006
Weather this weekend in Cancun. Leaving tomorrow. Yay!


Travel

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Monday, February 06, 2006
Some pics from last weekend's trip to Devil's Head and the "Four Seasons" Chalet (the place, as we called it, where fake plants go to die).

Best quote of the weekend:
Scott: Hmm. This soup is delicious, I can't wait to try it, next Butternut Squash Season.
Jessica: Wait, you're gay?


Travel

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Tuesday, January 24, 2006
We're going to Cancun in a few weeks for a long weekend. I have no idea what to expect, anyone been? Any fun gay things to do, besides staring at drunken frat boys?


Travel

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Friday, December 30, 2005
Awesomest animation showing 24h in the life of US skies, showing all the planes in the air at any given time. Notice the flow to Europe in the evening hours and back from Europe in the morning hours. Very, very cool.


Tech

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Tuesday, December 27, 2005
At last, pics from our ski trip 2 weeks ago. Includes an adorable one of The Other Ben trying to act all cool after falling for the 12th time that day :)



Pictures, Travel

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Sunday, December 18, 2005
Pictures from our little weekend skiing are forthcoming. In the meantime, some videos to make you feel like you were there: during the day, at night, and the final one: the Other Ben's unmistakable style (first time skiing in 10 years, he did good).



Note: There may be some problems with the movies if you're on some versions of IE. Let me know if you run into them (IE may crash).
Travel, Life

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Monday, November 28, 2005


Over Turkey Weekend I flew upstate NY and, bored to tears, I examined closely the maps they have in the back of the American Way "magazine". They place two of the biggest cities in France a good 100 miles from where they should be. Interesting, especially given they're an airline and all...






Funny

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