i keep a diary

December, 2016

The December Roundup

I would usually break this up into a few entries, but we're just gonna keep all of December in a SUPERSIZED roundup instead. Here we go!

Saturday, December 3rd

Had a Messy, apartment-cleaning Saturday.
e9th apt ˆ kitchen ˆ mess
When all my winter hobbies conspire to clutter my apartment!
e9th apt ˆ living room
Spent the cold, dreary day in the living room...
e9th apt ˆ guitar ˆ living room
...working on writing songs!
notes ˆ songwriting
Also spent the afternoon listening to the hundreds of little song sketches I did over the past few weeks....
songwriting
...and writing them down into my song books and grouping them by name!
songwriting
Orange highlights are good things I want to circle back and keep iterating on!
songwriting
me
That NYC December feeling. lol
sad ˆ me

Monday, December 5th

The Buddhabrot is a Mandelbrot set that draws a figure that looks like the Buddha (complete with top-knot!).
buddha ˆ fractal

Wednesday, December 7th

me, vin
On Wednesday afternoon, Vin came over for a hang and we laughed about....
e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ me ˆ vin
...the still-destroyed state of my living room. Hi, sorry I'm a crazy person.
e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ mess
vin
Vin had brought along his most-recent sketchbook and I went through it admiringly.
drawing ˆ vin
vin
Still my favorite artist!
drawing ˆ vin
vin
Miss you, Vin! <3
drawing ˆ vin
fatty, me
Later that evening I met up with Fatty and we grabbed Indian food in the hood.
fatty ˆ me

Thursday, December 8th

maddy
Left Maddy outside my local sandwich shop...
dogs in outfits ˆ maddy
maddy
...and while I was inside the owner's French bulldog nipped Maddy's leg. I didn't notice the skin was broken until I got her back home and she was licking it.
ouch ˆ maddy
After a trip to the vet...
clouds
cone, maddy
...someone got stitches and a headcone!
cone ˆ maddy

Thursday, December 8th

cone, maddy, meredith
I had to run some errands on Thursday so Meredith came over to hang with Coney.
e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ cone ˆ maddy ˆ meredith

Friday, December 9th

matt
On Friday night I went to Rockwood Musichall to see Matt play a show with Mike Erico.
band ˆ matt

Saturday, December 10th

fatty, marina, seth
On Saturday night I headed out to Brooklyn for my favorite holiday party of the year....
house party ˆ xmas ˆ fatty ˆ marina ˆ seth
amanda, frank
...A VERY PICARAZZI CHRISTMAS at Frank & Liz's house!
band ˆ house party ˆ xmas ˆ amanda ˆ frank
We all get together, have a few drinks, eat holiday cookies...
house party ˆ xmas
amanda, chris a
...and do live band karaoke singalongs until the wee hours!
house party ˆ xmas ˆ xmas tree ˆ amanda ˆ chris a
amanda
Amanda even put on her festive holiday heels! <3
shoes ˆ xmas ˆ amanda
chris a, frank
I wish we did this once a month.
band ˆ house party ˆ xmas ˆ chris a ˆ frank
fatty, marina
Late night crew.
house party ˆ xmas ˆ fatty ˆ marina
chris a, crazy jen, liz, seth
Sang until almost 3am! Thanks for having us, Frank & Liz!
chris a ˆ crazy jen ˆ liz ˆ seth

Sunday, December 11th

Spend a lazy Sunday...
e9th apt ˆ home office ˆ ikad ˆ meta
...working on the July 2014 Roundup! Back then I was only 2 years behind as opposed to when I'm writing this now and I'm over FOUR YEARS behind. Oooops, time gets away from you!
ikad ˆ meta
cone, maddy
Coney's last day of cone! Awwww.
cone ˆ maddy
Finally got my apartment into a sort-of orderly state.
kitchen
Miscellaneous fridge crap!
kitchen
Trying to take care of my two dying potted palms.
e9th apt ˆ kitchen ˆ plants
leigh, randy d
Got a baby shower thank you card from Leigh & Randy. Cute!
card ˆ leigh ˆ randy d
me
Feeling sorta better but still had a tough case of the winter blues (I feel like I look like the wincing / smile meme guy here. lol)
me

Tuesday, December 13th

maddy
By Tuesday Maddy had graduated from the cone and wanted to resume her long morning walk.
east river ˆ maddy
Bought two excellent wool, National Parks Pendelton blankets!
blanket
david olk
Went into Voray to wrap up my work with them for the year! Thanks for having me! Fun to watch you guys grow!
flux capacity ˆ voray ˆ work ˆ david olk
Got a nice lil schwaggy backpack out of it!
backpack ˆ voray ˆ work

Friday, December 16th

me
Spent Friday afternoon....
e9th apt ˆ home office ˆ me
...cleaning up my office and getting it ready...
e9th apt ˆ home office
...for a new office carpet!
carpet ˆ e9th apt ˆ home office
Got into some Freaks and Geeks.
tv

Sunday, December 18th

me, meredith
On Saturday night Meredith invited me to come out and grab a drink with her...
me ˆ meredith

Monday, December 19th

All the talk about Thailand definitely meant I had a hankering for a Thai curry the next night!
food ˆ thai food
Monday night with the plants.
e9th apt ˆ living room

Tuesday, December 20th

siege
Got a little Christmas card in the mail from Siege that turned out to be...
card ˆ siege
astra, cynthia, me
...this excellent Polaroid he took of Astra & Cynthia ass-smashing my face back in 2010 at my 34th beach birthday party!
booty ˆ card ˆ gift ˆ happy ˆ astra ˆ cynthia ˆ me
I put it on my fridge so I'd have a little reminder of summer (and butts) every day.
refrigerator
Wrote this Shakespeare quote out from Prospero's speech in The Tempest because I was trying to memorize it.
quote ˆ refrigerator
Passed this cozy little yarn store on the way home and snapped a pic.
shopping ˆ window ˆ yarn
Treated myself to a Thai lunch (like a hug from the inside!)
food ˆ thai food
Stopped off at my chiro and got cricked real good.
chiropractor
david k
On Tuesday evening I stopped by Nolita to visit David...
christmas ˆ tree ˆ david k
david k, sonam
...and see his Xmass Tree!
christmas ˆ tree ˆ david k ˆ sonam
Came home to hang with my plants...
maddy
...blanket-up with Maddy....
maddy
...and recapped some more song sketches I'd written in December!
songwriting

Wednesday, December 21st

Balmy morning walk to East River Park with Maddy.
maddy
Into her new winter jacket (that has a built in flashing light.) Faaaancy.
dogs in outfits ˆ maddy

Thursday, December 22nd

Did some sketches for Voray on Thursday. You know it's an early stage start-up...
drawing ˆ flux capacity ˆ voray ˆ work
...if they've got me drawing product-page UX notes for the CTO!
drawing ˆ flux capacity ˆ voray ˆ work
Walked uptown through Union Square...
nyc ˆ walking
maddy, meredith
...to meet up with Meredith...
maddy ˆ meredith
maddy, meredith
...and drop the hound off with her for a few days while I head to DC to visit my family for the holidays.
maddy ˆ meredith
Later that evening I headed to Otto's Shrunken Head....
bar
vin
...to drink tropical drinks with Vin and catch up on the end of 2016!
bar ˆ girly drinks ˆ vin

Friday, December 23rd

Friday afternoon I went to Penn Station to take the train to DC.
crowd ˆ nyc
DC's Union Station has cool ceilings.
Admired the big wreath while waiting in the cab line.
washington dc ˆ wreath
Headed to a restaurant to meet Brett & Amy.
beer
leigh
Found out that Leigh was headed to the hospital to have her baby!
hospital ˆ preggo ˆ leigh

Saturday, December 24th

dad, max, mom, teddy
While my parents hung out with Max...
book ˆ dad ˆ max ˆ mom ˆ teddy
brett
...I helped my brother with some of his to-do items.
measure ˆ brett
brett
...which included incorrectly cutting the top instead of the bottom of one of his pocket doors. (Sorry, Brett!)
saw ˆ brett
max, mom
Mom hanging out with Max.
max ˆ mom
amy b
Amy cooking up our lovely dinner!
cooking ˆ kitchen ˆ amy b
Browning the croutons!
cooking
Watched Christmas Story (which I enjoy but sometimes makes me feel like I'm in a bit of a holiday Groundhogs day where the years get shorter every year).
tv ˆ xmas
amy b, brett, max
Got Max ready for bed in his Christmas Jammies.
xmas ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ max
brett, max
Very excited to wake up and unwrap his presents in the early morning.
xmas ˆ brett ˆ max
dad, mom
Speaking of holiday traditions!
best ˆ couch ˆ dvd ˆ movie ˆ xmas ˆ dad ˆ mom
After Max was in bed, I helped Brett get the presents under the tree.
brett
All set up!
gift ˆ thumbs up ˆ xmas ˆ xmas tree ˆ brett

Sunday, December 25th

brett, dad, max
Cut to 7am Christmas morning!
xmas ˆ xmas tree ˆ brett ˆ dad ˆ max
brett, max
Let the upwrapping begin!
gift ˆ xmas ˆ xmas tree ˆ brett ˆ max
amy b, dad, max, mom
Great to watch my parents be grandparents on Christmas.
christmas ˆ amy b ˆ dad ˆ max ˆ mom
mom
My mom was as excited as Max.
xmas ˆ mom
brett
Brett on putting-things-together duty.
toy ˆ xmas ˆ brett
amy b, brett, max
After all the presents were opened...
amy b ˆ brett ˆ max
...it was time for breakfast!
breakfast ˆ food
max
Max liked Uncle Bruce's Batman Castle gift the most.
gift ˆ xmas ˆ max
brett
Once we got to nap time...
videogames ˆ brett
...Brett broke out the games he rarely gets a chance to play.
tv ˆ videogames
Holiday traditions are different for everyone...ours have always involved videogames...
videogames
...and scratcher lotto tickets
lotto ˆ scratchers
max, me, spiderman
Max was in his Spiderman hoodie and I showed him how to take a good photo with someone. He took my phone...
hoodie ˆ max ˆ me ˆ spiderman
dad, mom
...and snapped some pretty good photos of parents...
excited ˆ dad ˆ mom
amy b, brett, melissa, shannon
...and Shannon and Melissa.
amy b ˆ brett ˆ melissa ˆ shannon
brett, max
Later that night we installed a cool, Captain America shield night light in Max's room.
best ˆ drill ˆ shield ˆ brett ˆ max

Monday, December 26th

On Monday the whole family headed from DC...
bridge ˆ river ˆ train
amy b, brett, emily b, max
...to my apartment in the East Village!
e9th apt ˆ food ˆ living room ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ emily b ˆ max
max, me
Max was excited to see my apartment.
e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ max ˆ me

Tuesday, December 27th

The next morning we walked to Astor...
amy b, brett, max
...and took the subway out to Brooklyn.
subway platform ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ max
max
Train is too loud!
subway platform ˆ max
amy b, max, me
We took the subway...
nyc ˆ subway ˆ amy b ˆ max ˆ me
amy b, brett
...to the Subway Museum!
nyc ˆ subway ˆ amy b ˆ brett
Apparently a popular museum for families! We added ours to the collection.
museum ˆ stroller
Old time New York City subway car!
museum ˆ subway
Had upholstered seats...
museum ˆ subway
...and ceiling fans!
museum ˆ subway
Dug this old case of fake tokens!
coins ˆ museum ˆ subway
max, me
Cooperative bus driving.
bus ˆ museum ˆ subway ˆ max ˆ me

Wednesday, December 28th

On Wednesday we took the ferry over to DUMBO.
Where Brett and Amy gave Max a present...
...with a very special message!
That he was going to be a big brother! The look on his face...
amy b, max
...when he realized what it said was priceless.
best ˆ amy b ˆ max
amy b, brett, emily b, max
He wanted to try on the shirt and he wanted...
amy b ˆ brett ˆ emily b ˆ max
amy b, emily b, max
....to see where Amy was hiding this supposed brother!
preggo ˆ amy b ˆ emily b ˆ max
Jane Anne came and met up with us and we took a family photo down by the water.
bridge ˆ brooklyn ˆ east river ˆ family
...and then we headed over to Shake Shack for lunch.
burger ˆ food ˆ french fries
jane anne, me
Holiday a-feastin'
jane anne ˆ me
amy b, max
burger ˆ food ˆ amy b ˆ max

Thursday, December 29th

amy b, max
On Thursday morning we went to Odessa for breakfast before Brett, Amy and Max headed back to DC.
diner ˆ odessa ˆ amy b ˆ max
fatty, grant, henry
Later that evening we took the metro north up to see the Fatemans!
violet ˆ xmas tree ˆ fatty ˆ grant ˆ henry
amanda, ellen, piper
Amanda, Ellen & Piper.
amanda ˆ ellen ˆ piper
Violet.
violet
fatty, marina
Had some holiday songs...
guitar ˆ fatty ˆ marina
amanda, grant
...and snuggles before calling it a night.
cuddle ˆ xmas tree ˆ amanda ˆ grant

Friday, December 30th

fatty
Fatty, er, ahem, Dave made us breakfast in the morning.
cooking ˆ kitchen ˆ fatty
henry
Enjoyed serving these two in their little jammies....
breakfast ˆ violet ˆ henry
...makes me laugh that they both always call me Mr. Brian.
breakfast ˆ food ˆ pancakes
dave g, vin
Back in the city that evening, I met up with Dave and Vin at Cherry Tavern
cherry tavern ˆ dave g ˆ vin
jane anne, vin
Jane Anne came by after a bit to join us for a drink.
cherry tavern ˆ jane anne ˆ vin

Saturday, December 31st

jared, jeet
Had an awesomely low-key New Year's Eve in Chinatown with Jared and Gurj!
chinatown ˆ new years eve ˆ jared ˆ jeet
We met up at 6pm at our traditional meeting place of "the cardboard boxes filled with ?????"
chinatown ˆ wtf
jared, jeet
And then we went and got our tootsies RUBBED together in a room.
chinatown ˆ foot ˆ massage ˆ new years eve ˆ sign ˆ jared ˆ jeet
Sir, this is a foot-rub place.
chinatown ˆ sign
It was a nice night so we walked towards my place looking for a restaurant that would take a last-minute party of three. We lucked out at a Mexican place on Bowery.
food ˆ new years eve
Afterwards, we went back to my apartment to cheeeeeil. Sarah came to say hi on her way to a real party.
e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ new years eve
jared
I showed Jared my latest batch of massage gadgets. This guy is great.
e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ massage ˆ new years eve ˆ jared
sarah
Sarah put some tunes on.
e9th apt ˆ laptop ˆ living room ˆ new years eve ˆ sarah
maddy
I feel like Maddy is really emblematic of the party's vibes.
best ˆ e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ new years eve ˆ sleepy ˆ maddy
maddy
Happy 2016, everyone! Good night!
e9th apt ˆ living room ˆ new years eve ˆ sleepy ˆ maddy

1 comment

  • anonymousmarch 10, 2021

    Wow, Leigh is all grown up and having kids. I started following you back in 2005 or so, and I think she was barely out of high school. Time. Jeez.