loss. i found out that the husband of a good friend of mine during college died of leukemia this week. i didn't know jared that well, but anne and i were pretty good friends during school. both were such good, unselfish people it seems so unfair.

he did keep a journal and i'm posting the link in the event someone else may find it helpful in dealing with a similar situation.

whisky tasting. since new years eve wasnt enough to kill my liver, i decided to host another whisky tasting with some good friends. my best man even came up from philly to join us, which was an awesome surprise and welcome addition to the group. in total there were 9 of us. and since i got proper whisky glasses for christmas, we did it in style.

there was no real theme here, just what was on my shelf as i try to keep a wide range just these sorts of gatherings.

in the order tasted:
arran, unchill filtered, NAS (no age statement)
auchentoshan triple wood
glenfiddich 12 year reserve
longmorn 15 year
glenmorangie 12 year port wood finish
johnnie walker green label, 15 year
highland park 18 year (mine is the new design)
ardbeg 10 year
bowmore darkest

In searching for links to the whiskies tasted, i stumbled across this article comparing some of the same whiskies we tasted. As for my guests, i think the overall winner was the highland park 18 (certainly my fave for the night), although we had votes for the bowmore, ardbeg, glenfiddich and auchentoshan.

Christmas photos. We're now back in brooklyn and tomorrow back to work. I got around to posting the pictures from the holidays in san diego. It was fun to see the excitement of the boys on Christmas day. I just wish I had that much energy.

Happy new year kids!

no reservations. went to see anthony bourdain and michael ruhlman at a barnes and noble event on monday. a- and i are big fans of no reservations, the travel channel show, so we were excited to see him live. he was...himself.

Christmas is coming. today we woke up to an inch of snow. it seems like we completely skipped fall this year and went from summer to winter. this afternoon we picked up a tree and started the decorating. we've put on the lights and a few ornaments that a- bought. but without the lights on it looks a little bare. we'll have to find some more ornaments to put on. once we do, i'll post some pics.

dinner party. last night we had some friends over for dinner. a- made julia child's recipe for coq au vin. the food was great (of course) and the mixing of my friend from work and his wife with a-'s friend from her old job and her husband turned out to be lovely company. i'm sure the three bottles of wine and the whisky didn't hurt anything.

i went to the bedford cheese shop for cheese earlier that day and much to my surprise they also had penguins for sale. i couldn't resist even tho they were absurdly expensive.

wedding planning. we're still on track with the planning. less than six months now. we've created a website that will have the dates, times, places, and locations so that folks can make plans ahead of getting the actual invitations. we even have our own domain.

half marathon. i completed my first half-marathon today. it took me 2hr 26mins, which, although not a blazing speed, met my expectations of coming in under 2.30. i felt pretty good afterwards, but must have been more dehydrated than i realized. after i had lunch i had a crushing headache. otherwise my left knee is a bit sore, and my legs are tired, but nothing i didn't expect.

the weather and the course were fantastic. it was probably mid 50s during the start (8am) and much of the course was shaded. i felt really good through the first 7 miles. the next two i had to push through, then everything seemed to hurt at 10 miles. Once i hit mile 12, i gave it everything i had left and finished strong.

running. i've still be training for the half marathon coming up in a couple weeks. this morning i ran 8 miles. i had hoped to do 10, but it just started to hurt too much. i had been training more in the afternoon and it seems like i tend to run better at that time of day. the race will be in the morning, so i'll have to get better for morning runs.

whisky great dies. michael jackson died on sept 4th. can't believe it took me this long to find out. guess that's a testament to how busy i've been.

big events.
tonight is the production launch of the project i've been working on for months now. it's going to be a long night, but hopefully a relatively short day tomorrow...if all goes well.

wedding planning is going well. we now have the photographer and dj reserved, and have also decided on the rehearsal dinner restaurant. i've decided on the honeymoon destination and have to finalize the details and book all the necessary arrangements.

vacation. a- and i spent last week in the adirondacks with some of her immediate and extended family. i've posted pictures from the week.

firday night a- and i went to dinner for restaurant week at spice market with friends of ours. the prix fixe menu was better than the menu dinner we had some weeks back.

however, the real excitement of the night was during the ride home. our friends had driven into the city and were giving us a lift home. three motorcycles came buzzing by us on the right on a regular two lane city street. we're still not sure if he hit the car or a pothole, but he his bike went careening out of control in front of us and across into the oncoming lane where a cabbie had stopped. the bike slid into the cab and luckily the guy got up and appeared to be fine. (he rode off on a friend's bike and his friend somehow road the damaged bike with a rear flat and all).

marathon. i've decided to run a half marathon in october. there are a few guys from work that are planning to run, all of whom are older than i am and were giving me some crap about not being able to keep up. so, between that and the fact all my pants are getting tighter in the waist, i decided to run with them.

training has started slow, but has been encouraging, not discouraging. so this weekend i bought a new pair of shoes and order some running attire from rei (gotta use up that $3 refund!).

fireworks. didn't do much special yesterday. however, a- and i watch the fireworks from our apartment with the empire state building in the background. can get much more new york than that. and i have to say, the show was pretty darn good.

weekend update. i attended my first bar mitzvah on saturday. it was my second cousin (first cousin's son), and with two irish catholic parents, it's no wonder its the first relative's bar mitzvah. the interesting part was that it was at the showboat casino in atlantic city, nj. but a good time was had by all, and a- had the first 'large scale' introduction to my extended family.

we stayed at her parents house and just drove down for the day. the weather was downright perfect. on sunday we had a bbq and ate under the shade of a large butternut tree in the backyard. truly sublime.

makes monday morning a drag.

all sorts of busy and just not inspired to write much here. went to sea with some friends this past weekend. had a production release on sunday. attending my first bar mitzfah this coming weekend. painted some of the apartment a couple weekends ago. and it's bloody hot today/night. bed time.

holiday weekend. a- and i went to her grandmother's this weekend for a family get together. i got to meet some of the other cousins that i had heard stories about when she was younger. it was great to meet them and we all had a good time eating, drinking, and playing horseshoes and badminton.

apartment update. the apartment has some actual places to sit down now. this week we went to ikea and target to get some much needed furniture. when the couch comes, it will be just like a proper apartment!