Today on our way up to see lil’ Piper, we took the long way around and stopped to get some shots of the changing leaves. The colors still aren’t peaking. I’m thinking probably next weekend will be better. There were still some pretty good ones already, though. I might get in trouble for posting some of these photos. A couple of them, Reagan told me that she didn’t like. I think that she is crazy. In my opinion she is so photogenic, it is really hard to get a photo of her that doesn’t come out great. Here are a couple of more goodies:

We found this cool old house/pavilion that was in the middle of the woods.

More photos over here.

After our little jaunt into the countryside, we had a nice visit with Piper, before heading home and watching Lost Boys. For the Twilight crowd: Lost Boys came out before vampires had developed sparkly skin or played vampire baseball.

Now comes the real irony. After the movie, I noticed a little brown spot on my leg. At first I thought it was a new mole. Nope. Some how, during that grand total of 15 minutes that Reagan and I spent outside of the car taking some photos, I managed to become a host to a blood sucking tick. The whole time that we were watching Lost Boys, I had my own little vampire friend doing some work on my leg.

We burnt him with a match (which killed him) and thought about trying other traditional methods of getting him out, before I had Reagan do some research online. We discovered that matches, crisco, soap, etc., are pretty much worst things you can do. Whoops. ultimately I was able to pluck him out with a pair of tweezers, with his head intact. Here is a photo of the little guy. A close up, on the left, then the one on the right, for reference.

^–Dash Snow Tribute in SoHo

It is such a nice surprise, when I think that I’m going to be working all weekend, then find out on Friday afternoon, that I’m off the hook. I took full advantage and slept in on Saturday until noon, to catch up on some sleep. Reagan was a good sport, to let me. She wakes up before 7 AM every day by default. Normally, on the weekend, she is jumping on the bed to get me up too, so that she doesn’t get bored.

This afternoon, we took an impromptu trip downtown with our friends the Carter’s which was cool, since we haven’t really been able to kick it with them since, like, last month. Reagan wanted to check out a flea market in SoHo, plus we were meeting up with one of Aubrey’s other friends. So Col and I were just kind of along for the ride. It was cool though. It definitely felt like fall, today. It wasn’t cold, but it is definitely not summer anymore.

^—Reagan and Addie

I had the camera with me. So of course I got some shots of SoHo and Chinatown. Os Gemios are a street art duo from Sao Paulo, who are identical twins (which is actually what Gemios mean in Portuguese). They came to NYC recently and threw up this mural:

It was the first time that I have seen it in person. So that was kind of cool. Like the first shot in the post, the mural is a tribute to Dash Snow, a legend from the neighborhood, who died this summer.

Other noteworthy event= Utah Football chalked up another W. It is probably one of the last games that I will be able to get on TV out here, this season, since conference play starts soon.

Oh man. I opened my email yesterday and this is what I saw. I’m starting to get really excited for this race, and fall marathon season generally. I will be running this one with my friend Carl (who does not yet have a blog, but is diligently thinking about it). Reagan will be doing the half. I can’t believe that it is less than a month away. We have the Queens half-marathon this weekend, then the next race will be the Hartford Marathon.

I’m getting super excited for the NYC Marathon too. It is such an exciting and motivational event, anyway. But it will be especially cool, this year since we have some friends who will be running it. As if football and the leaves changing weren’t enough reasons to get excited about the fall. I love running.

I have had really bad luck about things being stolen, lately. I had my bike stolen this summer, I have had various Ipod accessories stolen from my office. This last weekend, my favorite cardigan was taken right off of the back of my chair. So freaking lame. I normally leave one in my office all of the time, in case I forget to wear one under my jacket, and I get cold sitting here during the day. It wasn’t even like it was very nice. It was men’s wearhouse $40 (the one pictured to the left). I was trying not to let it get me down. But today when I was trying to figure out what to wear with some dark green wool pants, I had to end up wearing, a chocolate colored cardigan, which made me look fairly monochromatic, and kind of lame actually. But I really didn’t have a lot of options, since my only other light colored sweaters are grey or green. What am I supposed to do? It is finally the season that I can cut back on the khakis and start wearing darker pants, and now, no light colored sweater to balance them out. I know that I’m being petty, but are times really that tough, that you have to steal someone else’s favorite cardigan?

Fall has shifted into high gear. This last weekend, I could especially feel it in the weather. Since it is now October, there are some pretty fun times right around the corner.

This coming weekend is the Hartford Marathon. I’m getting pretty excited/nervous about the event. It should be a total blast. I’m am a little nervous though, because once again, my training regime has tapered down to pretty much nothing, since the Philadelphia race. I had some lofty goals of qualifying for Boston, etc., this weekend. Oh well. It is always fun to get out and run, right? Anyway, it should be extra fun for a couple of reasons. First, there are a huge group of our friends from church that are also running this race. In addition to those friends, Deanna is making the trek from the Carolinas to join in on the fun. Deanna is one of Reagan’s friends from Tennessee. When they get together, all I have to do is sit back and be entertained.

The following weekend, my sister Sarah and her family are coming to visit from Alaska. This means that Piper will be able to meet some of her cousins on my side of the family. That weekend also happens to be my b-day. Normally I don’t really get pumped about my birthday, but I think that it will be really fun to celebrate it with some of my family in town.

Side note: I’m glad to see that the passage of the bailout bill was able to restore faith in the credit market. It is very apparent that it is already working, as I watch the Dow drop under the 10,000 mark. Way to go Congress. You really came through for everyone.

October means Halloween season. Here is a picture of our costumes last year. We were 80’s gym rats. Reagan came up with the idea 20 minutes before the party. All in all, I feel like it played out pretty well.

Why am I writing about this crap, you ask? Partly because it is October 1, partly because I feel like I needed to post some lighthearted stuff, to try to counter all of the recent propaganda I have written about the B——-t P–n. I promised myself not to mention it all today on this blog. So if you are in a political type of mood, you can check out all up in your biz. But I’m not even sure that I will post anything on there either. Until tonight after “sundown” Hahahaha.

Back to the Halloween topic. Reagan still hasn’t finalized an idea for our costumes. Any ideas?

PS, Carl don’t suggest anything that involves exposing myself. I feel like that one is still pretty played out from last year.

When I was walking from the train to my building this morning, I came across a guy wearing a huge scarf, thick corduroy blazer and wool slacks. He was visibly sweating. It is (and was, at the time) 70 degrees outside. I know that everyone just hit all of the back to school sales and is excited to try out all of their new garb, but come on. He is not the only person that I have seen do this. It is a phenomenon that I noticed from the first fall after moving to the east coast. It almost seems like a lot of people who live here dress according to the calendar, instead of the weather forecast. So there he was sweating away, taking every opportunity that he could to check himself out in the reflective windows that we were walking past. I wanted to say “Don’t worry guy. Yes, you still look ridiculously overdressed.” Just because the kids have gone back to school does not mean that it is appropriate to wear sweaters and scarves. My advice to you, buddy, is: sit tight. Don’t worry, soon enough you will be shivering wearing that same outfit. Milk the warm weather as long as you can. Your new clothes will still be there in a couple of weeks.

Nothing says “fall is here” like doing some pull ups in the woods, wearing only boxer briefs. I think that, in this ad, Perry Ellis was aiming for a composition that all guys can relate to. Because honestly, what guy can’t say that in all of those times they found themselves wandering through the woods alone in their underwear, they didn’t stop a few times for a quick round of chin-ups on a tree branch?

This picture was taken earlier this week of our new little Avocado tree. It is now almost as tall as the other plant in the pot. See how much it has grown in one week!

It looks like of the anxiety surrounding the start up of the CERN Hadron Collider was all for naught. However, just because they are spinning protons, doesn’t mean that they have smashed anything yet. I think that is what people are nervous about. I seem to recall reading earlier this year that they won’t actually accelerate to full speed, or start smashing atoms, until the spring. So I guess the world may still suffer death by man-made black hole, in the spring.

It’s autumn! When I was riding my bike this morning, not only was I cold, I got a freaking ice cream headache. As soon as I got into work, I had to throw on a cardigan and drink some tea.

One weekend left until the Philadelphia Distance Run. Reagan has run almost 100 miles in the last 2 weeks. She has seriously been detonating. I have had a pinched nerve in my neck (lame excuse, I know), so I haven’t really run for about a week and a half. I’m feeling great now though. So I still plan to try to sneak in a few more training sessions next week.

2 more weekends until Weezer. If you read Reagan’s blob (and I’m sure you do, because hers is about 1000 times more entertaining than mine), you probably saw that Weezer is playing the Garden this month. Reagan picked up some tickets for us on Monday. We are getting more excited by the day. In fact, last night we watched “Nirvana, live tonight, sold out” to get us pumped for live rock shows.

Alright, as with the Guess and Nautica ads, I actually think that the clothing in this particular ad is swanky. I also covet the G-70. It appears to be a finely crafted vessel. This shot though, comes off so awkwardly. What is going on in this picture? They get all dressed up for a boat ride through the fjords in the trusty ol’ G-70. He throws on his mock turtleneck, she: the white pea coat and stilettos. They pull up to a rocky bank and decide to lounge for a bit. As they gaze down the shore line, they become entranced by the spectacle of a mother seal eating her young. He is fascinated, but overcome by moral instincts. He mutters “c’mon baby, lets go” and gets up to leave. She, with eyes still fixed on the carnage, whispers “Not yet. Not… yet.”