Celebrity Collage by MyHeritage

So apparently on facebook it's celebrity look alike week. It got me thinking as to who I could possibly look like. I frequently get people telling me I remind them of seth rogen, probably because every pudgy-goofy jew reminds people of Seth Rogen. I was currious as to who I could possibly look like, so I decided to try and find out. Apparently, at least in the picture I chose, I look like Paul Newman the most (only 72%) and Topher Grace (really?). I have no idea who some of these people are, but I take Ryan Styles as some kind of weird compliment and Hugh Jackman as further proof that I am really Wolverine.

MyHeritage: Family trees - Genealogy - Celebrities - Collage - Morph

And in the words of that immortal buddy Samuel J. Snodgrass, as he was about to be lead to the guillotine:

Make 'Em Laugh!

So I completely forgot in my year in review to mention my joining of the improvisation troop, Improvodox. It's be a fun ride so far, and it's really a fantastic troop. And good news for you, if you have any interest at all in being entertained on Monday nights for the next few weeks, here is the facebook link to our show at the Tank:
http://www.facebook.com/#/event.php?eid=410360795590&index=1
We will be performing every Monday night through the 15th of February (except on the 1st of February), and every show starts at 9:30pm. I know it's tough, but if you can find the time, you should totally go. You'll enjoy the show, trust me. I promise you a full refund of your ticket price if you show up and don't laugh once (offer doesn't apply to people who don't ever laugh out loud, or who are really good at holding back laughter just to claim a refund).

In other news, 2010 doesn't feel any different yet. Am I the only one who has noticed this? Has my patience gotten worse?

Are We Ready for the Tens? OR The next few years will be inTENSe!

I think I like the second title for this post better. But you are getting both, so deal with it.

This is the time of year where we would look back on the entirety of it, reflect, dissect, and make empty threats of improvement. However, since a new decade is upon us, I feel it appropriate to reflect on the entire decade before heading into the next. I mean, think about it, we are no longer going to have sensible novelty glasses that represent the year on our faces (they released 2010 glasses, which are at every street vendor and dollar store in NYC, which look uncomfortable and stupid, with that '1' sitting on your nose like that). Also any company that put out forms at the start of the 2000's, thinking they'd be clever and leave the year as '200_' will now have to eliminate that extra '0' on all of their forms to make it '20__', but at least that will hold for another 90 years, and hopefully by then paper forms will be obsolete. Also, if Back to the Future has taught us anything, this coming decade will bring us hover boards, hover cars, self drying clothes, and Jaws XIX! But, also like Back to the Future taught us, we need to go to the past before we go to the future, followed by another trip to the past, then WAY back to the past. So let's take a brief look back at the decade that was.

For me, it's hard to believe that this decade (if we are counting from the year 2000) started in England, on my first trip over seas, winter break, freshman year of college. It's where I got my first, and only, ear piercing, which is remarkably still there, despite not wearing an earing for many years. It also included my last two (and arguably best) summers at camp, topped off with my chance to be a winning color war general in 2001. I was also "starring" and sometimes writing on my own "television show," which, granted was closed circuit and maybe watched by 10 people, but still I did it. Then things really started to pick up. I transferred colleges, and actually graduated. I have been employed by Spencer's Gifts, Starbucks, NBC News Specials, Managed a restaurant, managed three offices of two different real estate companies, got to PA on an actual music video, and started my own freelance graphic design business. My parents moved to Florida, and if I count college, I have lived at 10 different locations over the course of these past ten years. Granted a few of them were for a matter of months, but still, that's a lot of moving. I lived on Central Park West in Manhattan for a few of those years, until I discovered, moved to, and fell in love with Astoria, where I am still residing, in my longest residence of the decade (even longer than my parent's home in Suffern). I was introduced to, and immediately fell in love with DVR cable, and HiDef TVs. I learned that even adults can like animated movies, that my favorite comic books can be made better AND worse by movie adaptations. I have found a new love for reading. I have had a piece of art installed in an actual high end restaurant, which everyone tells me is their favorite part of the entire space. Not to mention, of course, the women. I will not go into numbers, or who or what, but I will state that it was a wild ride that taught me many, many things. The oddest part about it, and probably the best, is that I brought the Decade in dating one Rachel, and I am exiting the decade dating another.

Wow, I feel like I probably could have done the past decade more justice than one paragraph. Oh well. Suck it past decade.

Now if we were to look at this year, it's a pretty good representation of the end of one decade to start a new. It started off on a down note, and is definitely going out on a high. I don't remember too much of the start of this past year, probably because it was ultimately uneventful. I stopped buzz-cutting my head, and actually let it grow for 6 months just for the hell of it. I also had some fun with my mustache, creating a series of pictures which seemed to be very popular among all of you. Then there was one big summer wedding where I got to be in my first wedding party. There was a new (and awesome) beer garden opened up in Astoria (growing my love for the town even more). Then things got a little crazy in the middle there. Then there were more engagements, one of which ended in not just another wedding, and my first experience as a shomer (watcher/observer), but also a new roommate and a newly arranged living room (I am still excited about my new living room, yes). Of course the biggest news of the year, and possibly the decade, as I mentioned before, is probably Rachel. I have really found someone special, and I feel truly blessed and lucky as hell to have done so. I mean, she even was APPROVED by my brother, and glowingly for that matter. Anyone who knows my brother, knows how huge that is! It's only been a few months, but it has a feeling of a much longer time. The biggest event of the year though is finally making the effort to solidify my life's track. Granted I am still laying the rails, and the final destination has yet to be fully realized, but I feel closer to it than I ever have before, and really it makes me feel like the year, the decade, and everything else before hand, worth it.

So here I come 2010. You better be ready for me, because I am comin' atcha fully loaded, with a partner on the same mission that I am. Together we are an unstoppable force.

Happy Holidays, and Such

So I suppose I should at least update once more before the year is out. Maybe eve do a year in review and what I am thankful for.

Nah, I think I will save that for next week.

But as an update, I recently got back from visiting my parents in Florida. It was a nice relaxing trip where I made out like a bandit in Cosco (as in got a lot of stuff, not went around steeling kisses); getting new under garments (socks, t's, etc), lunch snacks for years, and various other things. I also got some cool gifts, like new bedsheets, and Super Mario Wii. My bro got me District 9, Inglorious Bastards, and Something Something Something Dark Side before we left (which if you note, was actually a week before 2 of those movies were actually available for public release). I'm happy with the haul. Also while in Florida I downloaded all my sister's Glee music (saving a couple of bucks from having to download it myself), so I can now rock out to that stuff (it's a good show and the music is fun, shut up). I also found out that my parents are going to be coming to NYC for Passover, which means I will be hosting my first family seder (minus Blair, who will still be in school) this year! Kinda exciting to cook a feast for my family (and if you saw the videos my dad posted on facebook, you can probably guess how it's going to go, but not entirely).

Also while in Florida, I saw Avatar. It was amazing. That's all I can really say about it. If you haven't seen it yet, do so ASAP! I saw it in regular 3D, and really, I feel like that movie needs to be seen in 3D. Cameron does an amazing job turning 3D from something that just makes things fly at your face, to something that creates a legitimate feeling viewing experience. More than once I had to remind myself that I was not actually on Pandora.

Before leaving for Florida, I had a great Channuka celebration with my girlfriend (that's right, there is a new lady in my life, and if you didn't know this by now, where have you been), Rachel. It was really nice being able to see her before leaving, since I was in Florida for 6 days, and the day after I came home (yesterday), she was leaving for Israel on a late night flight. So I managed to find time to see her after work Yesterday, and spent time before she went off for another 10 days. It really sucks to be apart with someone for so long when you have grown so close to each other. But I am sure we will both power through it, and then we'll be home to have our late new years celebration. I miss her already.

So yeah, I will be doing Christmas this year as I have in years past, ordering a days worth of Chinese Food and watching a movie marathon, never leaving the comfort of my pajamas. This year, the theme is going to be Saturday Night Live stars (only starring cast members, no featured players or hosts (unless of course the hosts were once cast members), since the first season). I spent last night tabbing the dvds in my collection to see which would qualify, and there is quite a tremendous collection. It will be interesting to see which get picked for viewing.

Hope everyone else has an equally productive and happy holiday!

WTF Moment of the Day

So dudes can do this http://www.weirdasianews.com/2009/12/02/japanese-man-marries-nonexistant-virtual-girlfriend/, but they can't marry other dudes. We are a doomed species.