BAR, SOCIAL GATHERING FOR INTELLECTUALS...

So I went to visit Katie this past weekend, and we went shopping for damn near 12 hours. To my surprise...the coolest store wasn't Toys'R'Us, or a predominantly electronics store...it was a huge place called "Barnes and Noble". I'm sure you've never heard of it before, but apparently its this huge store with books, you know, those things with pages in them? They also have a small section of music and movies. Well I started off by just checking for bargain books, but eventually had to go the bathroom, which was located towards the back of the store, and decided to meander through the other sections of the store. Wow. This place is frickin' amazing. There are like little culture clubs all over the store, meeting, discussing, and sharing info and insight on whatever section they were in. Some talked fantasy, others history. I got caught up in a section on baseball books, and eventually Katie found me. The best title I saw for a book was "Reasons Why the Yankees Suck", or something like that. I decided upon the book "Faithful", which is the chronicling (sp?) of the year my beloved Red Sox won the world series. The season is told from Stephen King (yes, that one) and Steward O'Nan's little diddy's they wrote the whole season. Should be a good read. More impressive to me though was the music/movie section. While MUCH smaller than other places we had visited that day (i.e. FYE, Circuit City, Best Buy, Media Play et. al.), they had a great selection there, probably the best of the day. I picked up a CD by Muse called "Absolution", it is awesome! The movies section was unbelievable, with "Metropolis" seasons of the X-Files and a HUGE collectors edition set of Alfred Hitchcock's movies (of which Katie and I are on a huge kick of currently). But the most impressive thing I saw in the entire store (besides the million intellectually and physically attractive women) was a DVD of "Un Chien Andalou" or translated as "The Andalusian Dog". It was 20 dollars for a 17 minute film, but amazing that they had it. I watched it in a film class one time. It has one of the most amazing scenes ever put on video. Read up on it if you are curious. Also of excitement was a Italian movie called "The Bicycle Thief" which I also watched in my class.

Final goods for the shopping trip--
CDS
Kasabian-Kasabian (this rocks...get it)
Muse-Absolution (very haunting...very rocking...very fucking intense)
Natalie Imbruglia-Left of the Middle (this was on sale for 1.50!)
Movies
Freaks (very excited to finally see this...it was banned for a long time, now considered a classic)
Book
Faithful (description above)

NUPTIAL HAPPENINGS...

Well, in what has become the month that was cliche to announce your engagements, I have heard of about five or so, a few really big ones to mention. First off, Lindsay, who was my ex-girlfriend has accepted engagement from her new fiance, Andrew. Since I am forbidden to talk with her, as per his orders, I was unable to congratulate her on her facebook account. Hence, I will do it on here, and hope that in some way she sees it. Lindsay, I know we had some great times, and some rough times, I wouldn't take my time with you away for anything. I hope you can believe me when I say that I am very happy for you! If Andrew is what you are looking for, and it seems that he is, may you go as far as your imagination can guide you. I wish you both the best of luck in your marriage endeavor.

The other big announcement close to home was Nate and Karen's engagement and subsequent wedding plans. This one is going to be a short engagement, so that they can live together...I believe. Either way, I cannot say how happy I am for both of them. They helped me so much this past year, just by being there and helping me get through several rough times. Congratulations to both of you. I hope this is a special moment in both of your lives. And to top it all off, I got a phone call from Nate last night asking if I would be the best man at his wedding. An honor. I havnen't talked to him yet, hoping to do that in person soon, but of course I will say yes. Two of my best friends...how could I pass that up? I better start thinking of speeches, hey? Nah, actually I have it half done already, thought about it on my drive home, lol.

HOLIDAYS CELEBRATED, PRESENTS RECEIVED, FRIENDS MADE...

In summary of my weeks without an update, let me just say Christmas rocked! I got all kinda of sweet movies and gifts. Time with my family was awesome. New Years was fun, even if I did only go down to the ball drop with Matt. I have made a ton of new friends this holiday season, mostly I'm sure cause Dave and Katie are gone for good, and Nate and Karen were gone for the holidays. And sure some of it has to do with me trying to find a nice girl for myself. I figure I have hung out with more people in the last month, than I ever have in my life. So that's cool. I even got to go to Flint and see Marco and Kristy for a few days over break. Thanks so much for everyone who is in my life in any way shape or form. I love you guys to death, and may 2006 be even better than 2005 was. Keep rocking, YOOOOOOOO JOE!