That's a Big Apple

Ali and I headed south for a long weekend in New York City to celebrate our second wedding anniversary.  Ali lived in Manhattan for a few years and I've never been down (except for work).  Who needs a better reason than that?!

We had a packed schedule and were worried about checking everything off of our list.  The trip got off to a bad start when the four hour drive turned into seven and a half.  We rolled with the punches though.  Instead of a longer sit-down dinner, we cruised over to one of Ali's favorite NYC pubs: Plug Uglies.  It didn't take me long to understand why this was such a good place for a couple of girls to go:

1. male to female ratio HEAVILY favors the women
2. pool table, a juke box, and a shuffle board table
3. they don't serve food.  wait...what?

This is pretty common in NYC and it's kinda genius.  No kitchen means that the bar area is bigger and they can welcome more people.   Even better, the bartenders will give carry-out menus and call-in the order for you.  That's right, anyone who delivers is on the menu at Plug Uglies!  It's really pretty cool.

Saturday was packed with touristy activities.  We cruised from Liberty Island to Ellis Island, to the NYSE, to the Charging Bull, to the 9/11 Memorial.  My Ancestry.com interest made Ellis Island my favorite stop.  Obviously, they've done a lot of work to the island since Wasyl & Maria passed through in 1913 & 1914 but a remarkable amount of the main processing building has been restored and/or hasn't changed AT ALL.

As visitors, we're welcome to walk through the exact same rooms that Wasyl, Maria, and Ali's Great Great Grand Parents walked nearly 100 years ago.  During processing, migrants were required to walk up a long set of stairs to the second level.  The purpose of this was so that doctors could easily spot anyone with an injury or disability.  The point?  If you weren't of a physical condition suitable for work, America didn't want you.  In which case, you were in danger of being returned to your country of origin.  Ali and I walked up those same steps!  ...we didn't get deported.

There's another, slightly happier set of stars on the opposite side of the second floor.  These steps led to the train station, New York City...or the detention facility.  Being directed down the left or right sides of these stairs meant that you were permitted entry into America.  The stairs were the site of many goodbye's, hence their name, the Stairs of Separation.  Ali and I walked down those same steps too (we steared clear of the center staircase).

We really enjoyed the visit.  It made us think about generations gone by, their nightmare of a journey across the Atlantic, the prospects of a new life in a new country, and the movie "Hitch."

Click over to the NYC photo album to see more pictures and details from the trip.

Playoff Season

Ali and I rushed home last night from the Sox - O's game at Fenway so that we could catch the end of the Celtics - Heat game.  Boston split the games last night (Sox won, Celtics lost) but the excitement in the city during this time of year is special.  This city loves our pro sports teams and for good reason: each one of the majors have won a championship since I moved here in January '05.  Six months can't go by without one of the teams making a playoff run.  May & June are the peak of the insanity; as spring turns to summer, both the NBA and NHL are in playoff mode while the MLB season is hitting full stride.  Nothing stirs the pride like a Bruins jersey on George Washington or Celtic jerseys on the 'Make Way for the Ducklings' statues in the Public Garden.

Attending a home game is really a lot of fun.  Some of my favorite memories are singing along to Sweet Caroline at Fenway and the loads of Bobby Orr jerseys that surface at a Bruins game.  Speaking of which, why don't I have one of those yet?

We're not without our hiccups though.  Just yesterday, for example, Mayor Menino referred to Kevin Garnett as "KJ" and Rajon Rondo as "Hondo".  Ooof.  I was hoping that the incident could somehow be blamed on his heavy Bah-ston accent (which it couldn't).  ESPN had a field day with that audio clip...

Everyday I'm Puzzlin

I've been Puzzlin' of late.  It started in Nantucket where I tackled two.  The first puzzle was this evening seen at the North Pole.  This one only had a couple hundred pieces and was enough to stoke the fire.

After the warm-up puzzle, I started this far more complex 1000-piecer.  "For Ages 12+" my arse.  While I disagree, Ali insists that I bargained our way into an extra day in the house ONLY to get some extra time with the puzzle.  Was it needed?  Yes - I'll give her that.  BUT she was the one who wanted the extra day in the first place.  So what if we didn't do anything else with our time except work on the puzzle!?  Here I am placing the last piece.

I got another opportunity to stretch my puzzle legs in PA over Memorial Day.  This was a 500.  It was a team effort and only required a couple of hours (we took a lunch break in the middle).

In my opinion, the most difficult part of a puzzle is the act of breaking it down when you're done.  Goodbye's make me uncomfortable so I employ the practice of leaving the assembled puzzle as a gift to the homeowner.  You're welcome.

Editor's Note: The title of this post should be sung to the tune of the Party Rock Anthem.

Where for art Thou Davio?

These photo scans are like the project that will never end.  The output is quite rewarding though.  You might recall that the girls used to call me "Davio" during my younger years.  At the time, it was terribly embarrassing.  Slightly less embarrassing was "Dennis the Menace."  Anybody up for a game of guess the year?

...look at those dimples in the late High School years!

Bad iPhone, Bad

I saw an ad for the 4S that read something to the effect of, "the only camera you'll ever need."  And until this past 2 weeks, I was starting to think that Apple might have done it.  I forgot my Nikon Coolpix S9100 in Boston last week.  In a nutshell, I accidentally forced myself to test the 4S hype at, among other things, a baptism and a week of vacation.

I had loads of photo ops but soon found myself skipping the photo op because I knew the picture would be crap.

Wanna zoom-in on the ferry with Brant Point Lighthouse in the background?  Forget it; it's only a digital zoom.

Wanna snap that action shot?  Forget it; shutter speeds are slower than the Slowsky's.

Wanna save that low light Workbench?  Forget it; the flash doesn't know when to fire.

The 4S just isn't very flexible. It's sweet spot is pretty narrow.  By the end of my journey, I had found the sweet spot and was taking some pretty great pictures.

Now for the kicker: as we were waiting to board our ferry back to the mainland, I noticed a mysterious bump in my book bag. It was my beloved Nikon megazoom!  Son of a....

Back to 02116

We landed our butts back on the mainland today. I'm unable to accurately determine who's depression is deeper: Ali or Jake's. They both long for the Nantucket lifestyle.  Ali for the carefree attitude Jake for the lax Leash Law.

Reality is a harsh wakening.  Construction on the Sagamore Bridge slowed us to a 3 mph for 40 minutes. Once we got inside the city limits, it only took four stop lights before we witnessed the first act of roads age between an 18-wheeler and a taxi (totally the taxi's fault).  A police officer briefly stopped all traffic through the intersection while the two drivers sorted it out.

On the upside, Spring has made a lot of progress on our street. Our "privacy screens" have returned in full force.

Life's a Beach

Ali and I rescued Jake in 2007.  Like me, he used to live in North Carolina.  Jake had a bad case of heart worm. His family couldn't afford the treatment and were forced to take him to the local shelter.  The shelter gave Jake the heart worm treatment and, through a relationship with Adopt-A-Lab.org, he moved up to New England in search of a new happy home.  When we met Jake, he was staying at a foster home in Connecticut.

You can take the boy out of the beach but you can't take the beach out of the boy.

This trip to Nantucket is the first time that we've taken Jake to the beach.  Even though it was only 60 degrees, his eyes lit up and he hit that beach like it was an official homecoming.  I don't think I've ever seen him get SO excited SO quickly.  It reminds me of Ali's excitement when we walked into the jewelers to shop for engagement ring diamonds.

I caught this moment on video while Ali and Jake were playing in the surf.  They might have been my favorite moments of the whole week.  My favorite favorite parts are each of his 180's.  And yes, that water is really cold.

Interesting Jake Factoid #1: When we first met Jake, his favorite snack was baby carrots.