i keep a diary

August, 2008

The August Roundup: Part One

Here are the first half of the pics I took in August of 2008 that didn't end up in their own entry!

Friday, August 1st

On Friday night I stayed at home playing video games until 3:30...
222 e 3rd
lisa, pauly
...then I went to Hanger Bar for last call! Pauly and Lisa met me there with a friend of theirs who was really funny.
hanger bar ˆ lisa ˆ pauly
brother lawrence, karen, michael
Karen, Lawrence and Michael were all still there!
dj ˆ hanger bar ˆ brother lawrence ˆ karen ˆ michael
lefty, nicole
The timestamp on this photo says 4:06am. The bar is closed and the gates are down. With all that squared away, that meant it was time for AFTERHOURS ARM WRESTLING!
afterhours ˆ best ˆ closed ˆ hanger bar ˆ lefty ˆ nicole
nicole
In the summer of 2008, word of Nicole's freakish strength had spread through Manhattan like wildfire and each night scores of gentlemen were lining up to see if they were man enough to pin her! Lefty (who was arm wrestling with his right hand?) went first! I think he came really close...
afterhours ˆ arm wrestle ˆ hanger bar ˆ nicole
lefty, nicole
...but couldn't pin her! Look at the size of his bicep and Nicole is just totally relaxed and smiling. That's her ultimate weapon - to just stand there smiling and unfazed while guy's try their hardest pin her. Hahaha.
arm wrestle ˆ bar ˆ best ˆ hanger bar ˆ lefty ˆ nicole
lisa
Lisa and her friend going head to head.
afterhours ˆ arm wrestle ˆ bar ˆ closed ˆ hanger bar ˆ lisa
lisa, pauly
We left Hanger a little before 5am so that we could get a FALAFEL around the corner before they closed! We were capital W wasted. Pauly is either talking about big tits or the utter awesomeness that you can still get a falafel so late at night in NYC.
drunk ˆ falafel ˆ lisa ˆ pauly
pauly
This particular falafel
drunk ˆ falafel ˆ pauly
Lisa made me promise her that I wouldn't post the picture I took of her drunkenly biting into a falafel with tiny, wonky eyes so instead I'll post this picture of falafels. Mmmmmm.
falafel ˆ food

Saturday, August 2nd

Hey there, sportsfan! ESPN makes reading glasses now. For fans, by fans? Really?
glasses ˆ wtf
meredith
Later that evening, a whole bunch of us got on the Metro North train to visit Ellen's new apartment just north of Manhattan. Meredith looking serene at the train station.
bridge ˆ hudson river ˆ pretty ˆ meredith
Check out the view of the Hudson from her apartment!
hudson river ˆ roof
It looked like we'd missed our stop and accidentally gotten off in Austria.
roof
ellen
Ellen doing some window peeking!
window ˆ ellen
me, sarah
Sarah was sad because she and Brandon had just broken up so I serenaded her with some soulful tunes of loss on my wooden pan-flute.
bed ˆ dogs ˆ flute ˆ monkey ˆ me ˆ sarah
me, sarah
Dear Friend, Greetings from the future! You are going to be just fine.
bed ˆ monkey ˆ me ˆ sarah

Sunday, August 3rd

jeet, meredith
Haha. This is Meredith showing Gurj how the guy was strapped to my back when I did a tandem skydiving jump...on the street. Hahaha.
skydiving ˆ jeet ˆ meredith

Tuesday, August 5th

leigh, max m
On Tuesday, we went to Rose Bar to celebrate Leigh's belated birthday. Here's the birthday girl and Max. They are not ugly!
sorta famous ˆ leigh ˆ max m
derek blasberg, scott m
The rooms at the Gramercy Park Hotel are awesome.
hotel ˆ derek blasberg ˆ scott m
derek blasberg, leigh, scott m
Hahah. Scoot's taking pics of the birthday girl lounging it up.
hotel ˆ derek blasberg ˆ leigh ˆ scott m
greg k, leigh, max m
Birthday cupcakes and everyone singing "Happy Birthday!" Awww, who's an embarrassed little duck?
birthday ˆ candles ˆ cupcakes ˆ shy ˆ greg k ˆ leigh ˆ max m
greg k, leigh
Happy 24th, Bad Good One!
birthday ˆ candles ˆ cupcakes ˆ greg k ˆ leigh

Saturday, August 9th

Can you believe that at one point we had FIVE PET RATS? It started out as ONE PET RAT! Then we read that rats are such highly social animals that some people consider keeping them alone cruel! Doh! So we got a second rat, NBD.
cage ˆ rats
Then Meredith saw a Craig's List posting that was looking for people who were interested in adopting fawn-colored rats. She went to pick up the fawn-colored rat and when she arrived they told her that they'd only give her a brown one if she ALSO took a second white rat! Two for the price of one bringing the grand total up to FOUR!
cage ˆ rats
When you have four rats, you obviously cross over into "crazy rat people" territory, which means that every single person either one of us knows sends us ANY kind of news that's even remotely rat-related (much to Meredith's greatest joy, btw).

It's through this "rat news network" that we learn of a woman who's adopted a tiny female rat from an owner who originally bought her to feed to his pet boa constrictor, but after the tiny rat survived multiple attacks, decided, like a little Emperor proceeding over a tiny gladiatorial colesium, to let her LIVE! (Yep, that tiny little one in the upper left corner of this photo).
rats
Any way, the addition of Pip (the survivor!) brought the grand total up to five. It was a total infestation...
rats
...of VERMIN ADORABLENESS!
best ˆ cage ˆ cute ˆ rats

Tuesday, August 12th

On Tuesday evening after work, I flew from La Guardia...
airport
...to Charlotte, NC for work. Awwww, yeah. The Hampton Inn & Suites, baby.
hotel
Go ahead, put on an mp3 of "Big Pimpin'" in preparation to view my illest of Hampton Inn BIG BALLER suites.
hotel
Three pillows? DAY-UM, son.
bed ˆ hotel

Wednesday, August 13th

I actually think Hampton Inn is THE JAM. Check out the situation in the breakfast nook in the morning: They have a fridge filled with microwavable baggies with numbers on them.
breakfast ˆ hotel
The contents of the numbered bags correspond to the food items in these numbered pictures! Just throw a bag in the microwave, press the button on the microwave that corresponds to the number on the bag you selected and- SHAZAM - your breakfast is cooked perfectly a couple seconds later and all it took was the press of a single button. Whoever designed this for them is a genius. For seriously.
breakfast ˆ hotel ˆ sign
Yodle's North Carolina office is housed in an awesome building that looks like an Egyptian pyramid that's had its top cut off.
car ˆ work ˆ yodle
ian c
My co-worker Ian and I were walking into the building when were alarmed by the unique stenciling on the office building's doors. Things are a little, uh, different in the south. Every time I look at Ian's eyes, I laugh. Hahaha.
best ˆ scared ˆ wtf ˆ yodle ˆ ian c
The building has fancy lobby chairs that no one sits in ever.
yodle
kent w
Kent!
yodle ˆ kent w
ian c
A bunch of people were traveling so we got to camp out in office that was one of the corners of the pyramid! Oooooh!
desk ˆ laptop ˆ yodle ˆ ian c
greg i
Later that night Greg and Kim came into Charlotte and I met them for an awesome Mexican dinner. Kim and I went to high school together
kim wilson ˆ roxbury high school ˆ greg i

Thursday, August 14th

I found this awesome kit online that converts your regular ol' toilet into a bidet (because having a clean ass is awesome). Unfortunately, our toilet was too close to the wall and I was unable to install it. (So much for having a clean ass!)
bidet ˆ box

Friday, August 15th

alysha, me
Alysha was in town visiting from San Francisco!
alysha ˆ me
After meeting up, we headed over to Hanger Bar around 2:30 with a Alysha's boyfriend and a couple other friends!
alysha, me, yonatan
The guy on the left is Alysha's boyfriend, Yonatan! He's a Berkeley PhD student and is currently living in Panama studying the biomechanics of gliding in wingless neotropical worker ants! AWESOME! Next to him is a friend of Alysha's who lives in the New York and came out to see her.
hanger bar ˆ alysha ˆ me ˆ yonatan
sarah
Sarah was there playing music and looking this adorable.
best ˆ dressed up ˆ pretty ˆ sarah
nicole
3am and not crowded! Nicole came out from behind the bar to play pool.
hanger bar ˆ pool ˆ nicole
lisa, pauly
Lisa and Pauly.
lisa ˆ pauly
nicole, yonatan
Yonatan hear about Nicole's legendary arm wrestling prowess and wanted to see if he could beat her. (Nope!)
arm wrestle ˆ bar ˆ hanger bar ˆ nicole ˆ yonatan
nicole
Then Alysha's friend gave it a shot.
arm wrestle ˆ bar ˆ hanger bar ˆ nicole
nicole
No dice.
arm wrestle ˆ bar ˆ hanger bar ˆ nicole
alysha, nicole, yonatan
Hahaha. I love this photo. Look at the glee and excitement on everyone's face as Alysha and her friend get ready to square off (after a bunch of good-natured shit-talking). Yoni's totally cheering them on!
arm wrestle ˆ best ˆ hanger bar ˆ alysha ˆ nicole ˆ yonatan
alysha
Grrrr! (I don't remember who won!)
arm wrestle ˆ bar ˆ hanger bar ˆ alysha
alysha
When Hanger Bar closed, we headed over to Velselka so Alysha could get some delicious, late-night pierogies! Mmmmm.
food ˆ pierogies ˆ alysha
I took this picture for Lisa because of something she told me that makes me laugh every time I think about it. She told me that when she's walking home at night in Manhattan and there's some big steam pipe coming up out of the street and it's billowing steam everywhere she feels like New York is trying way too hard to be "New Yorky." And she's disgusted by it. "Ugh, alright, New York. I get it, ok? You're New York." Haha.
nyc ˆ steam ˆ street

Saturday, August 16th

meredith
On Saturday Meredith and I went to Gruppo and HOUSED one of their amazing pizzas. I don't usually like thin-crust pizza, but for whatever reason, I love theirs. Easily my favorite pizza place in the East Village!
best ˆ food ˆ pizza ˆ meredith

Sunday, August 17th

me
On Sunday we got up early (for us!) to head to the beach via subway. Meredith took this picture of me and horrified me into realizing how long-overdue I was for a haircut.
hippy hair ˆ sunglasses ˆ me
meredith
We got to the subway...
stuytown ˆ sunglasses ˆ meredith
jeet, sarah
...and met up with Gurj and Sarah! (Gurj is reading Twilight, btw! Ha!)
subway ˆ jeet ˆ sarah
jeet, sarah
Vampire hiss!
book ˆ subway ˆ vampire ˆ jeet ˆ sarah
jeet, meredith, sarah
Hahaha. The subway was underground for a long time so when it finally came back up to the surface, the ladies abandoned their reading materials to text on their Sidekicks! Ha! (I was going to say that they were all sending tweets but this was two years ago and I don't think any of them were using Twitter yet! Things are changing faster and faster!)
sidekick ˆ subway ˆ jeet ˆ meredith ˆ sarah
amanda, jeet, meredith, sarah, scott ward
At the beach we met up with Amanda and Scott!
beach ˆ far rockaway ˆ thumbs up ˆ amanda ˆ jeet ˆ meredith ˆ sarah ˆ scott ward
meredith
Got your cape all tied on? Good! It's time for....
beach ˆ cape ˆ far rockaway ˆ sunglasses ˆ meredith
amanda, jeet, meredith, sarah, scott ward
....obligatory photos of everyone jumping at the beach! Yay! Take One: Gurj, Scott and Amanda have amazing form in this pic. Sarah, however, failed to achieve lift off.
beach ˆ best ˆ far rockaway ˆ jump ˆ amanda ˆ jeet ˆ meredith ˆ sarah ˆ scott ward
amanda, jeet, meredith, sarah, scott ward
Take Two. Total FAIL. But check out Gurj almost perfectly miming her exact pose and expression as the first take!
beach ˆ best ˆ far rockaway ˆ jump ˆ amanda ˆ jeet ˆ meredith ˆ sarah ˆ scott ward
amanda, jeet, meredith, sarah, scott ward
Take Three! Meredith got tangled up in her cape. Haha.
beach ˆ best ˆ far rockaway ˆ jump ˆ amanda ˆ jeet ˆ meredith ˆ sarah ˆ scott ward
amanda, jeet, meredith, sarah, scott ward
Take Four is my favorite! Everyone's doing their own thing.
beach ˆ best ˆ far rockaway ˆ jump ˆ amanda ˆ jeet ˆ meredith ˆ sarah ˆ scott ward
me, meredith
My skin feels like red.
beach ˆ us ˆ me ˆ meredith
amanda, jeet, me, meredith, sarah, scott ward
I busted out the auto-timer and captured this great photo of us waiting on the platform for the subway.
best ˆ subway platform ˆ amanda ˆ jeet ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ sarah ˆ scott ward
amanda, me
Beach-tired.
beach hair ˆ subway platform ˆ amanda ˆ me
scott ward
Scott was wearing little soccer shorts with no lining which meant that on the way back he kept unknowingly subjecting horrified subway passengers to epicly sweet peek-a-boo ball shots like these.

I was trying to take a sneaky photo so I could just email it to him later that night, but we all started laughing hysterically and he figured out what we were up to. (Also: A guy who reads this site was in the subway car with us and recognized us as we laughed about trying to take sneaky pics of our friend's bean bag! Hahaha).
balls ˆ subway ˆ scott ward
amanda, jeet, meredith, sarah, scott ward
We got off the A train at Canal Street and walked across town to Vegetarian Dim Sum House. This place is incredible. Even if you're not a vegetarian, I encourage you to check it out. (C'mon, it's not like you even know what's usually in them anyway, right?)
best ˆ chinatown ˆ dim sum ˆ amanda ˆ jeet ˆ meredith ˆ sarah ˆ scott ward
amanda, jeet, meredith, sarah, scott ward
I love this pic. Us about to dig into our Fried-tastic Feast!
best ˆ dim sum ˆ food ˆ amanda ˆ jeet ˆ meredith ˆ sarah ˆ scott ward
jeet
Hahah. The dim sum was so tasty it made Gurj dance like a happy Chinese kindergartner.
thumbs up ˆ jeet

Tuesday, August 19th

leigh
Yodle's old offices were located on 39th St and 8th Ave. On Tuesday afternoon I was headed back to the office after lunch and I noticed a certain familiar someone on the giant GAP billboard that they'd recently put up...
billboard ˆ nyc ˆ street ˆ leigh
leigh
...look who it is!
billboard ˆ leigh
leigh
Congrats, Leigh!
billboard ˆ leigh
leigh
All growsed up and all growsed up!
best ˆ billboard ˆ nyc ˆ street ˆ leigh

Thursday, August 21st

posh tony
On Thursday night I went out for drinks with this fruit. Posh Tony makes me laugh every single time I see him. A+
posh tony

Friday, August 22nd

On Friday afternoon, a bunch of my co-worker's wanted to take a picture of the new Yodle shirts we'd just gotten so that our recently opened Charlotte office could check them out. Ready?
yodle
Spell Y-O-d-l-E.
spelling with your body ˆ yodle
It's fun to work at a place where everyone is totally down with the company! (All this enthusiasm is no doubt the reason behind Yodle ranking 35th on the Inc. 500 2010 list, a compilation of the most entrepreneurial and fastest growing privately held companies in America! Yay!)
best ˆ spelling with your body ˆ yodle