hello mom. hello dad.

talking to mom and dad
Originally uploaded by Polish Carpetlayer.

I put in a quick call to my parents. Thought I might be able to bring them along for the ride to Washington DC. The cherry blossoms were out and the weather was absolutely amazing. I didn’t even notice that I was a bit hung over from the previous night’s birthday party, dancing and adult beverages. DC is a great city and this weekend it was even better. I’ve always wanted to see the cherry blossoms in person. Check. I'm glad I got that one done.

Outside the Adidas Store

promo for adidas
Originally uploaded by Polish Carpetlayer.

12 girls. 12 plexi boxes. A NYC intersection. And one interesting promotion. Evan, Suzy, Michelle and myself saw this one Saturday afternoon.

The Best Back Rub...

nyc sign
Originally uploaded by Polish Carpetlayer.

...for men and women in NYC. Period. (Or so the sign says.)

that's a huge rack

huge rack
Originally uploaded by Polish Carpetlayer.

The Safari Club wishes it had a rack this big. Michell, Evan, Suzy and I went to the Natural History Museum and when they were in town.

Manhattan’s First Trader Joe’s

Opening weekend
Originally uploaded by Polish Carpetlayer.

Michelle and I have been waiting a long, long, long, long time for this to happen. Trader Joe’s opened its first Manhattan store. Unfortunately a ton of other Manhattanites were also waiting to be graced by the wonders of Trader Joe’s. Look closely at the picture and you can see the line people waiting to get into the store. It’s at least 300 feet long. It’s like going to Disneyland and waiting in line for Space Mountain, except it’s a super cheap ride that’s designed specifically for your palate. Michelle was so excited, that she hit the new TJ’s at 9 am the morning it opened for business. Evan and Suzy missed TJ’s so much, that they insisted that we visit the store when they were in town. TJ’s is here. I can’t wait until they open another ten. Then maybe it will be a close to a normal shopping experience.

Another NYC Concert

On Friday night Michelle and I hit the concert circuit again. We again had tickets to see Jose Gonzalez (Hey we like Jose, but we didn’t mean to see him live 2 out of 3 nights…but he did sound amazing Friday night at the Bowery Ballroom). Headlining Friday night was a band named The Books. They consist of two guys, a guitar, a cello, a whole bunch of electronic samples, a projector and a screen behind them. They ran the film clips they edited for each song while they played the songs live. The music is a mix clips of people talking, random abstract sounds and beautiful music. It’s a sound collage like nothing that I’ve ever heard before. Michelle and I would definitely go see them again. And as a matter of fact, we may when we are in Portland. They are playing at the Doug Fir on Thursday, April 20th. Tickets are only $12. We recommend you pick-up a couple tickets for yourself and friends, if the show isn’t already sold out. I’ve put some links to mp3’s of a few of The Books’ songs below. Take a listen and enjoy.

There is No Other

Be Good to Them Always

It Never Changes to Stop

Venice

A New York Experience

Jose Gonzalez played in my living room last night. He sat down on a chair, pulled out his guitar and sang nearly every song off his album. Michelle and I sat on the couch and enjoyed every last note... not really, but it felt like it. He was playing at Joe’s Pub, probably the smallest, most intimate place I’ve ever watched a concert. We did sit on the couch, eat dinner and enjoy his music. And it was a truly New York experience.

Here are a couple links to some songs. The first two are live recordings. Enjoy the music. Michelle and I did.

Live recording of Heartbeats

Live recording of Hand on Your Heart

Crosses

We'll Be Home for a Week in April

I just like this picture and I wanted to put it up... (and I figured my mom could download it onto her computer). See everyone soon.

No More Weddings this Year... Please

I'm excited for my friends. Happy that love is the air. Thumbs-up. Smiles all around. Hey, join the club. Marriage is a wonderful institution. But, I have one request and I realize it's a selfish request. Please get engaged, tell the world, enjoy the betrothed bliss, but set the date for 2007 or 2008 or.... because I only have so much vacation. I want to make it to everyone’s wedding, but I just don't have enough time-off. And Ryan and Christen just took the last spot in 2006. Congrats to them.

We're looking forward to the big date. You can read all about it on their website. It's gonna be great and one week later Elijah and Camille are going to tie the knot. So that's all I got. I don't think I can do anymore weddings this year. But, if you must get married this year too, Michelle and I will try to squeeze it into our schedule. Just remember, we only have so much time and it's almost all accounted for.

More Perma-dating

More wedding bells for us. Mindy and Erik are tying the knot, getting hitched, hooking up for good, perma-dating, signing the contract and, apparently, putting up a damn nice wedding website. We can’t wait for the big day and the big party. We’ll be traveling to P-town April 14th and leaving the 23rd. In between, we’ll be soaking up all that Oregon has to offer. Let's celebrate Mindy and Erik’s union in sunny rainy sunny rainy sunny rainy sunny Oregon. See you there. Be sure to wear waterproof sunscreen.