i keep a diary

November, 2007

The November Roundup: Part Two

Here are all the rest of the random pics I took during November that didn't end up in their own entry! (Back to Part One)

Tuesday, November 20th

brett
I took Tuesday off from work. Early Tuesday morning, my brother Brett and his fiance (now wife!) came back into NYC! After dropping off suitcases, my brother and I headed out to do some shopping. Two Battjer boys going shopping? On a day off from work? That can only mean one thing...
brett
brett
...meaningful-video-game-release-date! In this case, ladies and gentleman, the game in question was ROCKBAND! My brother and I are huge Guitar Hero fans and we'd been waiting on it for months!
excited ˆ rockband ˆ taxi ˆ brett
brett
Fifty-seven minutes after our departure, we were back at the apartment and tearing right into that mother.
rockband ˆ brett
me
The only bummer part of the day was the my Xbox had just recently turned red ring of death on me and the warranty had expired. Wah-wah. So I had to buy ANOTHER one. Meh!
xbox ˆ me
brett
But it was totally worth it to see the look on my brother's face when he got the drums set up for the first time. Pure video game joy!
drums ˆ excited ˆ rockband ˆ videogames ˆ brett
amy b, brett, meredith
And in no time flat the two soon-to-be-Battjer-ladies came out into the living room to see what all the commotion was about - and ended up being in our first band.
rockband ˆ videogames ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ meredith
brett
Featuring: Pantless Bert on the skins!
drums ˆ rockband ˆ videogames ˆ brett
amy b, meredith
Harry Potter on vocals and special guest Marge Simpson on the guitar!
guitar hero ˆ towel ˆ videogames ˆ amy b ˆ meredith
amy b, brett
After, oh, I don't know....THREE STRAIGHT HOURS OF ROCKBAND...we finally had to take a break for food. Hello there, tasty delicious breakfast at the Dynasty (pronounced Dy-NASTY) Diner.
brunch ˆ amy b ˆ brett
meredith
After our meal, we went back to the apartment, packed up our bags, and hopped on NJ Transit to head out to my parent's house for Thanksgiving! Here's Meredith's impression of "someone from New Jersey."
grumpy ˆ train ˆ meredith
brett
Oh, what? You didn't think that we'd actually leave Rockband in New York, did you? Look at the guitar neck sticking out of the box! Haha. The guitar came in pieces and needed to be snapped together. But once snapped, you can't take it apart again so this was Brett's solution to "making it fit in the box again." (I love the proud expression on his face.)
rockband ˆ brett
dad, mom
Around 7pm, my dad started cooking dinner. Dad cooking dinner? That can only mean one thing!
8 radcliff drive ˆ cooking ˆ dad ˆ mom
Breakfast for dinner! Breakfast for dinner!
breakfast ˆ food ˆ pancakes
BREAKFAST FOR DINNER IS MY FAVORITE! YUUUUUUUUUM.
breakfast ˆ food ˆ pancakes
meredith
I think Meredith was a fan too. (Blueberry pancakes made from blueberry muffin mix = AWESOME).
food ˆ meredith
Later that night, we went to THE BARN; the bar in my town that everybody goes to the night before Thanksgiving for an impromptu high school reunion.
the barn
adam p, me
I ran into Adam Padfield (who I pretty much only get to see once a year at The Barn!)
roxbury high school ˆ adam p ˆ me
amy s, kara
Kara and Amy and a friend!
roxbury high school ˆ the barn ˆ amy s ˆ kara
erika, meredith
Scott and Erika came too! Here's Erika and Mer.
erika ˆ meredith
meredith
After the Barn, we went back to my parent's place, put on trench coats and prepared to streak the neighborhood!
meredith
erika, meredith
Just kidding. We did use the hot tub, though.
towel ˆ erika ˆ meredith
scott
And I admired Scott's asparagus tattoo he got back in the summer of '95. VEGETABLE HARDCORE 4 LIFE!
tattoo ˆ scott

Thursday, November 22nd

me, meredith
Thursday was Thanksgiving so that meant that I had to put on a sweater. Then we hopped into the car with my family and drove...
thanksgiving ˆ me ˆ meredith
grandma, mom
...to my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Elaine's house for dinner! Here's my gram and my mom whipping up some magic in the kitchen.
cooking ˆ thanksgiving ˆ grandma ˆ mom
dad
Big Bri is the designated turkey carver.
carve ˆ thanksgiving ˆ turkey ˆ dad
zoe
After we'd finished eating a HUGE Thanksgiving meal, Zoe the dog was totally in awe of...
dogs ˆ zoe
meredith, zoe
...the mysterious flag-wrapped snoring lump that appeared on the couch!
asleep ˆ dogs ˆ flag ˆ food coma ˆ meredith ˆ zoe
While Zoe pondered the mystery package, I went outside into the backyard and fooled around with my camera taking pictures of the weird light.
night ˆ tree
me
Oh yeah, and I might've spent a little bit of time playing around with the auto-timer feature too.
night ˆ me
me
And then I'm surprised by the fact that everyone in my family thinks I'm a weirdo.
night ˆ me
meredith
About an hour later, everyone's stomachs had settled down enough to have room for dessert! So I went and woke up the mysterious lump! Because there's only one thing that Meredith likes more than sleep...
cute ˆ food coma ˆ sleepy ˆ meredith
grandma
...and that's PIE! Hahaha. When everyone sat down for dessert, we noticed that cousin Chad was missing! I set out to explore the house and after going upstairs I discovered...
dessert ˆ food ˆ thanksgiving ˆ grandma
chad
...that cousin Chad had sneaked away to his bedroom to take an UNDER THE COVERS after-dinner nap fully-clothed! Hahaha. Epic.
asleep ˆ best ˆ food coma ˆ thanksgiving ˆ chad
dad, grandpa
Grandpa and my dad! Happy Thanksgiving!
dessert ˆ thanksgiving ˆ dad ˆ grandpa

Friday, November 23rd

amy b, brett, me, meredith
On Friday afternoon, my parents made the four of us get together for a photo in front of the fireplace (awww) before we all went our separate ways!
family ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ me ˆ meredith
josh newman, me
Later that night back in NYC, I met up with Stupid Newman who was in town visiting from Norwalk.
josh newman ˆ me
lisa, pauly
Late, late night I met up with these two (and Amanda and Scott) for a couple of drinks and then afterwards we went and got our drunk-snack on at...
grumpy ˆ lisa ˆ pauly
...SAN LOCO!
san loco
Holy meat-covered nacho nastiness, Batman!
food ˆ san loco
lisa
Lisa's face about sums it up.
gross ˆ lisa
lisa, pauly
I was trying to get another "nacho reaction" shot and I accidentally zoomed in without realizing it and took this photo. Which led to us taking a whole bunch of awkwardly zoomed-in photos! It's clearly the new "ugly face."
lisa ˆ pauly
pauly
Hahaha. Pauly repped first with a very solid "wonky eye."
wonky ˆ pauly
me
Here's my wonkerino.
wonky ˆ me
scott ward
Here's Scott's!
wonky ˆ scott ward
amanda
Amanda's! (Hahaha. Win!)
wonky ˆ amanda
lisa
Lisa had trouble getting just one eye to go wonky so she tried the old "stare at your finger and slowly move it towards your nose" trick.
wonky ˆ lisa
lisa
While Lisa failed to pull off "wonky eye," she did excel at doing "stoner eyes." Go figure!
squinty ˆ lisa
me
Yep, I went there.
flipped eyelids ˆ ugly face ˆ me

Saturday, November 24th

me
On Saturday morning, I was (obviously) feeling a little lazy and elected to skip the whole "getting dressed" nonsense and go directly to reading cool articles on the interweb. I guess I lost track of time and was sitting there long enough for Meredith to grab my camera and take this totally sneaky photo of unaware-me browsin' in the buff. After years of posting all sorts of compromising and embarrassing photos of friends and strangers alike, I figured it's only fair to post horribly embarrassing pics of me as well!
best ˆ naked ˆ nsfw ˆ wtf ˆ me

Sunday, November 25th

meredith
But hey, what comes around goes around! Less than twenty-four hours later, I managed to snipe this photo of Meredith's very own unique way of "relaxing" while she watches TV. (Yes, she really sits like this)
wtf ˆ meredith
meredith
Hahaha. Payback!
meredith
amanda, brandon, karen, leigh, meredith, siege, vince
Sunday night a WHOLE buncha people came over to our place to play play Cranium!
cranium ˆ stuytown apt ˆ amanda ˆ brandon ˆ karen ˆ leigh ˆ meredith ˆ siege ˆ vince
ellen s, katie, pauly, vince
I have no memory of who won or even who was on what team! But who cares! Let's get on to some action shots! Here's Pauly getting his Creative Cat on!
cranium ˆ ellen s ˆ katie ˆ pauly ˆ vince
amanda, benjamin, karen, meredith, scott
All these pics make me smile!
cranium ˆ amanda ˆ benjamin ˆ karen ˆ meredith ˆ scott
leigh, me, siege
Haha. I think this was the most wholesome activity the three of us had ever partaken in.
leigh ˆ me ˆ siege
ellen s, katie, sarah, vince
Hey guys. C'mon.
cranium ˆ grumpy ˆ ellen s ˆ katie ˆ sarah ˆ vince
ellen s, katie, sarah, vince
Sometimes friends fight. Hahaha. This photo makes me laugh so hard. If you've ever played Cranium, this photo will probably make you laugh too.
cranium ˆ grumpy ˆ ellen s ˆ katie ˆ sarah ˆ vince
brandon, sarah
Brandon and Sarah!
brandon ˆ sarah
Sure, sure. It sounds easy enough. Just use the blob of clay to sculpt three DIFFERENT things that your team has to guess in 60 seconds. No biggie, right? Until that timer starts ticking away and then the only question is...
cranium
...CAN YOU HANDLE THE PRESSURE?
cranium
karen, meredith
How about a little Karen / Meredith puppet action?
cranium ˆ puppet ˆ karen ˆ meredith
karen, meredith
Dino Arms? Tyrannosaurus Rex?
cranium ˆ puppet ˆ karen ˆ meredith
matt, siege
Puppet Team Rubano / Cubitt had no trouble successfully miming "coy finger-sniffer."
coy ˆ cranium ˆ puppet ˆ matt ˆ siege
matt, siege
Great success!
cranium ˆ happy ˆ hug ˆ matt ˆ siege
amanda, karen
Major controversy erupted when someone drew a "all teams compete" card and each team had to select a member to try to get their teammates to guess the clue "Jewish." Here's Meredith holding up the winning drawing, in front of her all-Jewish team.
best ˆ cranium ˆ drawing ˆ dreidel ˆ amanda ˆ karen
Here are the other two teams' drawings. Hahaha. I like how one team went abstract and went down the "no foreskin" road.
cranium ˆ drawing ˆ jew
leigh, lisa, me
Oh, Cranium!
leigh ˆ lisa ˆ me
amanda, benjamin, lisa, pauly, scott ward
Then we played Guitar Hero until the wee hours!
guitar hero ˆ stuytown apt ˆ videogames ˆ amanda ˆ benjamin ˆ lisa ˆ pauly ˆ scott ward

Monday, November 26th

On Monday evening, I decided to break out the special" Lindsay Lohan cookies" that Siege and Katie gave us as a gift. Just in case the celebrity the fine makers choose to embody their product wasn't enough of a warning, Katie explained people who had recently tried eating an entire cookie at a party ended up "holding onto the floor so that they wouldn't fall off." I took her advice and at about one-quarter of ONE cookie.
lindsay lohan cookies
Taking this photo is pretty much the last thing I remember about Monday night. Gosh Darn you, Lindsay Lohan.
lindsay lohan cookies

Tuesday, November 27th

On Tuesday night I stayed late at work to stick around and watch the big unveiling of Meetup.com's NEXT BIG THING...
crowd ˆ meetup
...That's right! It's Meetup Alliance! Er, what's that? You've never heard of Meetup Alliance? Well, let me just link you on over to the site...er, wait a minute. I guess it doesn't exist anymore. Huh.
meetup
chuck, meredith
After the big "unveiling" was over, I met up with Meredith and her dad for dinner!
chuck ˆ meredith
amanda, me, miss peepers
Then Amanda Miss Peepers (which is Amanda's name when she's not wearing her glasses!) joined us for dessert!
amanda ˆ me ˆ miss peepers
meredith
Meredith + Amanda's Glasses = Pure Fraggle Gold!
glasses ˆ meredith

Thursday, November 29th

On Thursday afternoon, I skipped out of work for a little bit so that I could....
city hall
...head downtown to city hall...
city hall
...then up to the 2nd floor to the MARRIAGE CHAPPEL so that I could be a witness at...
city hall ˆ sign
dave g, josh, vin
...this guy's wedding! Here's the groom-to-be with Dave and Josh!
dressed up ˆ wedding ˆ dave g ˆ josh ˆ vin
vin
After about 30 minutes of waiting, word came down that they'd be called into the Justice's chambers in just a couple of minutes! Here's Vin striking his last "disco pose" as a single man!
city hall ˆ dressed up ˆ wedding ˆ vin
aya
Aya, the lovely bride-to-be, getting giddy!
city hall ˆ flower ˆ wedding ˆ aya
josh
So nerve-wracking!
nervous ˆ josh
aya, vin
And then, before we knew it, we were watching Vin and Aya get married!
best ˆ city hall ˆ wedding ˆ aya ˆ vin
aya, vin
The ceremony was perfect. Short and sweet and wonderful! Congrats, you two!
best ˆ city hall ˆ wedding ˆ aya ˆ vin
vin
Three short minutes later and the whole thing was official! Here's Vin's incredible "I can't believe we're MARRIED!" face! Totally overwhelmed!
best ˆ shock ˆ wedding ˆ vin
aya, fyuko
The bride's witness posse!
wedding ˆ aya ˆ fyuko
dave g, josh, me, vin
Representing for the groom!
best ˆ wedding ˆ dave g ˆ josh ˆ me ˆ vin
dave g, josh, me, vin
A couple of weeks later, Vin emailed around this awesome drawing he did to thank us for attending!
best ˆ drawing ˆ wedding ˆ dave g ˆ josh ˆ me ˆ vin
aya, vin
Thanks for inviting us, Aya and Vin! It was an honor and a privilege to be there! Here's to a wonderful and happy life together!
wedding ˆ aya ˆ vin

Friday, November 30th

brian d, mark hannah
At work on Friday, somebody got some sort of Thanksgiving "Smoked Meats" Basket sent to the office and ended up giving all the choice cuts (the smokiest meats?) to Mark and Brian. They were in the midst of growing mustaches for charity - and their mustaches made them look just like the kind of extra-manly men that enjoy wood-cured animal flesh!
meetup ˆ brian d ˆ mark hannah
Later that night, I went to someone's awesome fashion showroom/apartment in Soho...
mannequin
...to celebrate Nina and Jason's joint birthday!
flyer
nina
Le Birthday Girl!
birthday ˆ nina
After spending a little QT with the birthday girl, I made my way through the loft and immediately ran into...
crowd ˆ house party
ellen
...Ellen!
ellen
ellen, piper
Here's Ellen a couple minutes later after she'd gotten all settled in (Drink. Hair Pulled Back. Dog Unpacked).
dogs ˆ ellen ˆ piper
nina
Nina in disguise.
nina
piper
Pipes in the corner making friends.
dogs ˆ piper
karen
Around two, we said farewell to Nina and headed over to Hanger Bar for the Stolen Transmission party.
crowd ˆ dj ˆ hanger bar ˆ karen
lisa, pauly
We immediately ran into our favorite hosers who were sporting a six pack of Bud Pounders and totally, in Canadian parlance, GIVIN'ER! Hahaha.
best ˆ hanger bar ˆ party ˆ lisa ˆ pauly
ellen, lisa, me, piper
Look at me totally off my mark! I was pulling my best tough guy face when everyone else had clearly decided (even Piper!) that it was a cute and cuddly moment. Check out Piper's tongue! As soon as we saw it sticking out in this photo, we decided to play our favorite Piper-game...
dogs ˆ tongue ˆ ellen ˆ lisa ˆ me ˆ piper
piper
...which is called GOT YOUR TONGUE.
dogs ˆ pinch ˆ tongue ˆ piper
brother lawrence, mandy, michael
Lawrence, Mandy and Michael! At first I thought Mandy and Michael were sharing a floating red leather hat, but that's when I looked closer and noticed Mr. Creepers McPeepers getting his L U R K on in the background.
best ˆ lurk ˆ strangers ˆ brother lawrence ˆ mandy ˆ michael
karen, mandy
Karen and Mandy!
karen ˆ mandy
kerri, sarah
Kerri and Sarah.
dj ˆ kiss ˆ kerri ˆ sarah
ellen, me
Ellen looking real witchy!
pretty ˆ ellen ˆ me
andrew b, sarah
Hahaha. OMG, I love Andrew Borin! Happy November 2007!
tongue ˆ andrew b ˆ sarah

8 comments

  • krisjuly 29, 2009

    Your wedding wingding should definitely have karaoke and cranium as part of the party. And hopefully you can find some special little tables-n-such for all your four-legged animal friends.

    But I think the wingding should last for several days too.

  • gregjuly 29, 2009

    A few things:

    1. I just saw Brandon last week in Dallas! Now here he is two years ago.

    2. Your mom is kinda hot.

    3. Vin, Fatty, Grant all married, and Brian soon to join them? (or did that happen as well? I'll have to wait til 2012 to find out on this site).

    I fear this means my nightmare is confirmed...no more exposed breasts on this site.

  • garthjuly 29, 2009

    Titties and Bitties will never go away. Thanks for the update Brian.

  • numbersjuly 29, 2009

    Looks to me like you were caught grabbin' the meat, surfin' porn...
    The shame...

  • alexjuly 30, 2009

    Brian,
    This may be where you are headin':

    http://mikey.i.ph/albums/im...

    just sayin'

    heh heheh

  • mommajuly 31, 2009

    And now Jake is gettin hitched! Damn, every boy that's brained another boy on this site is all growed up now. Congrats all around.

  • anonaugust 12, 2009

    Jake Bronstein is getting married? er, whoa!

    Might I be the first to say that Ellen is prettier now than when she was a model. Don't know how that works.

  • rex peeler.february 2, 2010

    I want to claw my own eyes out.
    I'm not sure how i ended up on here but it's been the dullest four minutes of my life.