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Wikipedia's Random article

Today, I was just browsing around the Wikipedia, and I ran across an interesting link. In the left side bar, there is a link that says, Random article. So, I clicked it, and I got the page for Feast of the Ass, which obviously caught my eye.

The Feast of the Ass was a medieval feast celebrated on January 14th during the 11th - 15th Century. Read all about it. I personally can't wait until the next Feast of the Ass day!

Bigfoot Reunion Party

I used to work in NYC for a company called Bigfoot and then for a company called Bigfoot Interactive (now Epsilon Interactive). Having recently been sold, the old company founders are throwing a party at Hotel QT on December 3rd.

If you're a Bigfoot Alum, fill out the registration form, and I'll see you there.

That's where I'll be. Stay tuned for pictures.

My parents' dog Tommy

Thanksgiving finds me home in upstate New York, where there is plenty of snow, and the lives here move quite slowly. I've been eating a lot, reading a lot and sleeping a lot.

My parents have a German Shepherd named Tommy. He's big, playful, and unfortunately getting old. He does absolutely love the snow though. He'll fetch his ball, sit down, and then take a mouthful of snow. It's so cute.

This week, my first post on Carnival of the Dogs as well as my first post under the dogs section of The Friday Ark.

Some funny things

Today is the day before Thanksgiving, 2005. It's the busiest travel day of the year with an estimated 683,000 people in the region expected to travel.

Typically, when there is a holiday weekend such as this, the office is dead, as I'm sure most are.

Here are some funny things just to get you by today. Enjoy.

A penis joke

An Xbox ad [local link]

A blond antelope

Added: This one isn't so much funny as it is just well, cool. [local link]

If I find some more, I'll post them, but that's it for now. Happy Thanksgiving!

Look at Pip Stretch

Here's Pip on the floor in the kitchen this morning. He's doing a big stretch (and you can see his white crotch area). He's gotten pretty big and I think he's even outgrown his siblings.

Also, be sure to check out the Carnival of the Cats and the Friday Ark.

Philadelphia Eagles 20 Dallas Cowboys 21

Yesterday, I went to a Philadelphia Eagles football game in Philadelphia. It was Monday Night Football. The experience was great, the stadium is awesome, and the only bad part of the experience is that the Eagles lost the game. I've put up some pictures here. Now I have to go to another game so I can see them win!

Learning Ruby on Rails

Recently, a hot new programming environment has evolved. It's called Ruby on Rails. Sites like 43things.com are built on this platform. I've wanted to learn ruby on rails for a little while now, and now I'm doing so.

There is a great tutorial here, and I'm going through it a few times. I'm even considering moving this blog to Typo which is a rails powered blogging package.

I still have a lot to learn about Ruby on Rails, but coupled with AJAX (Asynchronous JavaScript and XML), this platform is super easy to learn. AJAX is behind great sites like Flickr, Google Maps and of course, the 43things site.

Stay tuned, you may see my new blog soon!

Election Day

Today, the Democrats won two key elections. John Corzine won the New Jersey Gubernatorial race and Tim Kaine defeated Republican Jerry Kilgore for the Governorship of the Commonwealth of Virginia.

This is a very significant milestone for me. Although I didn't have as much to do with this campaign as I did with the Kerry presidential campaign, it is refreshing to see Democrats winning again. I hope today brings a sense of closure for me. Having worked at the Democratic National Committee for over four years, last year's electoral outcome was a devastating blow to me personally.

When I first went to work at the DNC, there was one Linux machine there, that wasn't even managed by the DNC. I (and a bunch of other great people) worked our collective asses off to get Bush (who has borrowed more money from more foreign governments than all the previous presidents combined) out of office. I'm not sure if many of you can understand the disappointment of working 24x7 for that long for one goal and having it wrested from you. I've been in a rut for just over a year. I think with a combination of the victories tonight and a few other things, I'm refreshed and ready to go. Finally.

Unfortunate. Or is it?

In a similar vein of BUSH: One of the worst disasters to hit the US, Screenhead brings you....this.

From my moleskine

A few months ago, I bought a moleskine notebook. I didn't know what to write in it, so I took it to Louisiana with me. Here's the entry from October 1, 2005, when I was on my way down...

I'm on my way to Baton Rouge, LA right now. I've never been to Louisian before, and I'm volunteering for the American Red Cross to help in hurricane relief efforts.

The images that I've seen about the situations in New Orleans are devastating. I've had a pretty sheltered life where I haven't been exposed to really any sort of tragedy or loss. I guess I've been pretty lucky in that way, but at the same time, I feel like I haven't experienced some part of life. I guess that's partially why I volunteered. I'm sure that my life will change as a result of this trip, but I don't think it will fundamentally alter the course of my life. I need and almost want something bad to happen. Perhaps my experiences during the next two weeks will serve that purpose.

8:00 PM.
We're here at the First United Methodist Church in Denham Springs. We're staying (staff) in their auditorium/gym. There are probably 80 cost about 10 inches apart. Lights out at 10 PM and we have to be awake by 7 and ready to leave. Since we're not assigned yet, I have to take all of my stuff with me to get processed at DR865. From there, we get deployed to our assignments. Some will go to Lafayette, some to New Orleans (I want to go here). Apparently, I will get a day off, at which point I'm am going to go into New Orleans and take pictures.

A lot of people are religious here, and generally in health care. I've met people from MN, WI, VA and Chicago.

Another Red Crosser creates a page

So when I was in Louisiana, I met a guy named Philip Hotchkiss. He put up a web page recently about his time there, and I'm in some of the pictures.

I can't say that I created a web page for it, but my pictures are up.

Here's Philip drinking a mudslid out of a bed pan.

Wish Lists

Everyone knows that the holidays are coming. 3 of my family members' birthdays are coming up in the next few months as well. One thing that I ask is that everyone update their wishlists on bestbuy.com or amazon.com or whereever there is a wishlist. I've reviewed mine, and I think it's a good thing to do every once in a while. It's kind of like updating your resume, except maybe people will buy you stuff. Ain't nothing wrong with that is there?

Oh yeah, here's mine.

Pool Tournament

Last night, I was sitting at home, all ready to turn in early. One of my friends called me around 9 yesterday and asked if I was going out to play pool. I thought about it and said ok. When I got to the bar, I was playing pretty well and some of the people said that there was interest in playing a tournament. I was in!

So, the entry fee was $1. That's right, one dollar. That's cheaper than a game of pool! I ended up winning the tournament from a pool of 10 people, and now I have a $25 bar tab at the Li'l Pub. Sweet.