Title courtesy of the Raconteurs off their new album, "Consolers of the Lonely." I'm loving this CD. The more I listen to it the more I love it. I prefer CD's like that, they have to grow on you. At first listen I thought it sounded like a fuller sounding White Stripes disc, obviously because Jack White (guitar god) is in both bands, but the more I listen, the more I dig its uniqueness.

OK, so the reason for the title? I didn't quite hit my goal this month of losing ten pounds. At best, I'd put it at about 5. But I'll take any little bit I can get. Its a marathon, not a sprint, after all. Plus, I still have four months to get into game shape, even though I'll probably buy my tux in a few weeks since I need one for a May wedding we'll be attending. I can always get it altered if I drop a ton of weight. But I'm going to keep plugging away and I know that the scale will eventually start moving in my favor.

So, enough about that. This weekend was extremely productive. I'm shocked to admit just how productive it was. Friday night was our usual night of just sitting around, watching TV and whatnot. Saturday morning continued the routine of spinning at 8:30 AM and my 11:00 AM guitar lesson. The lesson was really good. We were playing through Cream's "Sunshine of Your Love," and my teacher had me play through the entire song, while he played bass. I was great up until a little bit into solo when I totally lost it and forgot it (not that I ever really new it well to begin with) but I stopped playing and admitted to my mess up. My teacher said those are the two things you never do! If you don't know it, just fake it by playing notes that you know are in there, and as long as you resume at the right spot, you'll be OK. So I did that, and we finished strong. Felt awesome. Now, onto the next song, Jeff Buckley's "Lover, You Should've Come Over" which is a radical departure from all the stuff I've been learning lately, as its a more mellow, crazy chord full song, whereas things like, Highway To Hell, or Sweet Child of Mine are more riff based, rock songs. I know a good chunk of "Lover..." I just need to clean it up and learn the parts that I'm clueless on. But its a beautiful song, so check it out.

After my lesson we headed off and checked out two restaurants to have a dinner for out of town guests and the bridal party the night before the wedding. Its not a rehearsal dinner per se, because Jewish people don't really do that, but thats basically what it is. We liked the first place we looked at, as to me, it was much nicer on the inside, and the menu was a little more diversified. We just need to slap down a deposit to hold the place and date. Saturday night we went into the city to have dinner with Missy's brother and his fiance and a bunch of their friends. We went to this Italian place on the east side of mid town, which was awesome, then went drinking at this bar a few blocks north of the Empire State Building. Her parents were in the city too, and met us for a drink, and we hopped a ride home with them.

Sunday afternoon was spent going to a local judaica shop to pick out our Ketubah and yarmulke's, which thankfully we managed to do in quick fashion. I really like the one we picked out, a picture of us holding what it'll probably look like can be seen here. As you can see, its pretty big and will be a prominent piece of artwork in our home. If you actually read the Wikipedia article, you can see how important it is. No sex if we don't know where it is. That would suck!

Anyway, so those were a few big things to cross off the wedding to do list. Sunday night we shored up the guest list with the latest additions, getting first and last names correctly and whatnot. We're up to 365 people, and that includes us and our parents. Nuts, right? I hope about 100 don't come! But they can still feel free to send a gift! I also had to order additional invitations, because we're going to need about 175, and we only initially ordered 125. Speaking of, I need to call them to verify that they were able to add it to the existing order successfully, or if we'll have to put it in as a new order. Regardless, we need them, its not like we can't not send invitations to a bunch of people and just tell them when it is and ask them if they're coming, you know? So the guest list was one thing, the other thing is the wedding program. We got a template to work off from a good friend of Missy's which was extremely helpful, and we just changed what we needed to. It looks awesome, and all we need to do is bring it to Kinko's or someplace to get printed, and thats another thing down off the list.

And thats about all thats going on here. Have I mentioned how I can't wait for my honeymoon? I need a vacation!

Johnny Cash, the Man in Black. Enough said.

This may get a little too graphic, so I'll try my best to keep it as non-gross as possible. Lets just say the title is appropriate. Yesterday for lunch I went with two co-workers to this hot wing place in town, and got some boneless wings with the hottest hot sauce they offer. They call it afterburner. And yes, its that hot. So needless to say, once my stomach digested everything, it was only a matter of time before I paid the price for the tasty, spicy food. Lets just say I had a painful morning whilst sitting on the porcelain throne. Enough said. But, that sure isn't going to stop me from enjoying those wings again in the near future!

OK, now that the nastiness is out of the way, onto the rest of the news.

Tonight Missy and I are probably going to check out 21 in the movies. It looks entertaining enough, and I really like Kevin Spacey (I did name my dog Keyser, after Keyser Soze, after all) and the new kid from Across the Universe thats in this one. Lets hope it good. Tomorrow we have our usual 8:30 AM spin class, which reminds me, I wanted to e-mail the instructor and put in a song request! Then I have my weekly guitar lesson. After that, we're going to go check out a few places to have our dinner the night before the wedding, and later Saturday evening we're going into the city for a little engagement party for MIssy's brother and his fiance. Looking forward to that too.

So now that our wedding invitations are ordered, we now have to finalize the guest list so we know how many invitations we're going to need to send out. We initially ordered 125, but that's not nearly enough. The grand total of people we're inviting to this thing is 353, and thats not counting Missy and myself, so that puts it at 355. 203 of those come from my parents and my list, the other 150 for Missy's list and her parents. I was told thats about how many people my brother invited to his wedding, and they had about 260 attend, so thats about 25% of people saying no. Not bad odds, if you ask me. I know off the bat a few people on that list that will not be attending, so that's a very good thing to start. A few of my dad's partners won't go because of when it is (during a Jewish holiday) and some of Missy's co-workers will be on vacation. And of course some friends won't make it. I'm not too worried.

And that's about it thats going on in this neck of the woods. Have a great weekend people!

Title courtesy of The Raconteurs, off their brand new album "Consolers of the Lonely." Pick it up now, trust me! Its awesome.

So my friends bachelor party really messed with my diet, in a big way. I knew it would, and I knew there would be no way to really control myself that weekend, so I kind of just went with it and enjoyed myself. I figured I deserved a weekend of fun since I've been pretty diligent since the beginning of February. But then the bad behavior started creeping into my week. So yesterday I put my foot down and started back on track in a good way. The crowner to yesterday was going to two spin classes in a row, again. Well, they weren't totally back to back. One ran from 4:00 PM to 5:00 PM, and the other from 6:30 to 7:30. So I had a bit of breather in between. I actually took a power nap in between. How I did two, I have no idea. But I passed out around 9:30 last night, and had absolutely no energy to get up this morning and go the gym. But that's OK, I'll be going tonight with Missy to spin, yet again. I'm telling you, spinning... Best. Workout. Ever.

Enough said.

Other than that, there is nothing of note to report. Wedding planning will be continuing this weekend. We're going to try to find a place to have a family dinner for out of town guests on Saturday. Sunday we're going to try to pick out our Ketubah and various other religious things we'll need for the big day. I think thats about it for the planning this weekend. Who knows though. I just want to be done with all the annoying little things that are left, you know? I know we'll never be done until the day actually comes around, but if we can get a good amount done, I'll be happy. To be honest, we've gotten all the big stuff out of the way already, and thats a really good thing. Invitations were a big thing that I wanted to get done, and thankfully those are all set and are being made as we speak. We should have them in about 16 more business days.

Alright, time to get ready for work. Yay.

Title courtesy of the Boss, Mr. Bruce Springsteen.

So the title is pretty obvious as I was in Atlantic City, or just AC on Saturday night for Brett's bachelor party. All told it was a fun night of drunken debauchery, but after a night I'm convinced that I do not want to have my bachelor party there. I won't go into details as that's against guy code of law, I'll just say I had a good time, had an awesome dinner, drank a lot of alcohol and dropped $400 at the casinos. $100 on blackjack and $300 on craps. Good times, you know?

So I've already told my brother to change up my party, instead I'm thinking rent a beach house for a weekend and just chill there. Bring plenty of food, beer and people and a good time is guaranteed! I have Randy on it, so I have faith.

That's about it. Back to the grind. I'm sure I'll have something more interesting to say at a later date do stay tuned!

Title courtesy of The Beatles. Missy and I finally watched the movie Across the Universe on Sunday. I say finally because we borrowed the DVD from her parents, who are huge Beatles fans, about three weeks ago and its been sitting around her apartment since then. We've been meaning to watch it, but didn't find the time until Sunday afternoon, when we watched the first hour and a half, and we finished it up later that night. I must admit, it was a damn good flick. If you like the Beatles, you'll like this movie. The plot is pretty basic, and there really weren't any surprised in it, but the way the plot integrates into the music was just genius. And the fact that most of the characters names were taken from songs was pretty damn cool. I highly recommend it. Check it out!

So its what, Wednesday already? Thankfully this is a really short week, as I have Friday off. Its an even shorter week for Missy, as she was off from school starting today. She's so lucky. I think she's off Monday too. I'm so jealous of her work schedule sometimes. But then I realize that being a second grade teacher is probably no easy feat and must take an infinite amount of patience, which is something that I have zero of sometimes. Especially when it comes to little kids. I fear that I may not even like children. The problem is that I don't know too many, so its really hard to gauge a feeling towards them. I'm sure I'll like my own kids, as long as they're well behaved. Thats a huge pet peeve of mine, misbehaving kids in public places. I can't stand it. If your children can't behave and act civil, don't bring them into public. Keep them at home so that you're the only one that has to listen to them whine and cry. Anyway, my friends and I have had this discussion, and it boils down to this, don't rush kids! Its the one decision you can't undo. You can't give them back, like you would a dog. I know that all sounds horrible, but its kind of true. So pardon my crassness, but I'm just being honest.

So its Wednesday, and I just have work tomorrow, which isn't bad. Then Friday off and a nice long weekend. Well, not really. Its going to be a busy as hell three day weekend. Friday night we have to go into the city for a baby naming ceremony for one of Missy's best friends who just had a baby girl at the end of January. I know what you're saying, its almost April and they don't have a name? They do, its a Jewish thing. If it was a boy, you'd have a briss when he's eight days old, but for a girl, you have a baby naming ceremony where you give the kid its Jewish name. So that's Friday.

Saturday morning we're spinning as usual, then I have my guitar lesson. Once thats over with I need to run out and pick up Seth, then drive to Brett's new house and from there a bunch of us are heading to Atlantic City for Brett's bachelor party. I really don't know what to expect there. I'm keeping an open mind though, since I basically told my brother that I wanted to do AC for my bachelor party as well. So I'll be taking careful notes while we're down there. Like I said, it should be interesting. Getting Brett drunk always has amusing, yet very annoying consequences. Although the same could be said of me. Whatever...

Sunday, if I'm still alive, I think my cousin is coming into town before she ships out to Turkey for work. Yes, Turkey, as in the Middle East. She went to George Washington in DC for college, interned at the Department of Homeland Security, then went to the private sector, and now she's going to work for the government again, but in Turkey, for two years. No fears though, she said she'd be back for my wedding. She better, she's the only grooms maid!

Anyway, thats about all the recent stuff thats going on over here. Wedding stuff continues. I think on Friday we're going to look at a place we can book for our dinner the night before the big day for out of town guests. We Jews don't do rehearsal dinners, but this is basically it. We're looking at a Chinese restaurant that my parents love, hopefully it'll be available and affordable. And hopefully it can fit the numbers we're talking here, because by my best guess, it might be like 50! Hell, my parents guest list is about 165 people, mine and Missy's runs about 100, then her parents are probably over 100 as well. So thats a big wedding! But I can't wait. So its all good.

Alright, back to work. Take it easy.

Title courtesy of Our Lady Peace. I was listening to it on my subway ride today, so I thought it fitting.

I'm in the city today for some meetings with customers. Had one this morning and I have another one in about an hour, which hopefully will go well, so I can hop on a train and go home! I need to hit the gym. I'm a roll and I need to keep it up! I've already gotten a few compliments from various people at the gym, like some spin class buddies, and one instructor, who said it looks like I've lost weight. I may have only dropped like 10 or 20 so far, nothing too major, but every little bit helps, and having someone notice and compliment me definitely helps my motivation. I got a wedding to get in shape for, dammit!

Missy's photo shoot ran in Newsday over the weekend, and we were all very excited. I had a few people at work who didn't know about it come up to me and compliment her on it. They basically ran what was already on the web at ExploreLI.com, so nothing new to report there. Sadly, they used a really small picture of her, which is a shame, but what can you do? She was still thrilled to see it in there, and I was even psyched over getting my name mentioned as well as her soon to be husband. We also had the joy of picking out invitations over the weekend. We were going to go two weekends ago but we had to cancel because her brother was in the hospital. We rescheduled for last weekend, but then the woman canceled on us. So in order to not waste time, we just went somewhere else and picked them out. We get a proof back in a week or so. Its funny how invitations make it all seem very real again, and very close. They'll probably get mailed out in the third week in May, which is really only two months away. Reply by July 3, and then the big day is August 3! So now we need to finalize a guest list so we can get an accurate count of just how many invitations we need to order and send out. Fun times.

Thats about it, really. Had another awesome guitar lesson over the weekend as well. I really like my new teacher, and even though when I get married I'll be living very far from my parents house, I'll still take weekly lessons from him. Its really helped my playing, and thats important. Gotta stick with the good stuff, you know?

Alright, enough wasting time for now. Adios.

The Doors. Enough said. I've seen Jim Morrison's grave in Paris. It was pretty cool, I must admit.

So the reason for the title? Missy and I went a little insane yesterday. I got home from work a little early yesterday, which was a very nice thing. It gave me time to get my haircut, which I desperately needed, and let me tell you, the guy did an amazingly fantastic job. I know it may sound lame, but I love my haircut! I may need to have this guy do it for me the day before my wedding. We shall see. Anyway, so after the haircut Missy came over after work and we were able to head to the gym to catch a 5:30 spin class. Usually we do the 6:45 on Thursday, because I don't get home in time to catch the 5:30, but yesterday I did. Then we decided, what the hell, after one class, why not take the second? So we did a double. Two hours of pedaling like crazy. To say I was exhausted last night afterwards is an understatement. To say my quads are killing me would be taking it lightly. But hey, we did it, and it was well worth it!

The agenda for the weekend? Nothing brewing tonight. Tomorrow its back to the gym for our usual Saturday morning spin at 8:30. Then I have my guitar lesson at 11:00 AM, then its off to pick out wedding invitations with our mother's at one. After that, we're going out to dinner with friends of MIssy's that just got engaged. She's actually one of Missy's bridesmaids, and he's a cool guy, so it should be fun!

That's about it. About to get ready to head off to a fun filled day of work. Peace out party people and have a great weekend yourselves!

"And the law won!"

Just kidding, its a punk song that Green Day covered a few years ago. I use it because I'm currently at an area Police Department doing work. Or, more like waiting to do work!

Anyway, I got a call from Missy this morning as I was sitting in the dentist chair getting a routine cleaning, and her message stated that Newsday published more photos and such on their website. I think the whole Spring Bridal Planner is up on the web, although it comes out in print this weekend. I saw all the photos, I just can't view the video on my iPhone. But check it out, http://www.exploreli.com and click the wedding link on the left hand pane.

That's all for now as I type away on my iPhone! Peace!

Dave Matthew Band. I used to be so a huge fan of theirs in high school and in college, but just really lost interest. Maybe its because I didn't like any of their CD's after Everyday, which was like late 90's early 2000's. Plus, they have like 5,000 live CD's out there, thats just way too much to keep up with in one artists discography.

Anyway, the title is because the lyrics go something like, "Eat, drink and be merry..."

And I have food on the brain. Watching like 4 hours of Food TV with my mom the other day will do that to you. The story goes as such. My dad bought a new computer, so once I got that thing up and running to his satisfaction, he gave his old computer to my mom, to put in their bedroom to replace her old piece o'shit. So I copied off all of her data, which sadly, is just digital pictures, and started installing Windows onto my dad's old PC. Between the install, getting any applications on that she might actually use, and running Windows Updates, which there's like 100+ of them for a new install of Windows XP SP2 (How sad is that?) it took awhile, to say the least. And she likes to watch the Food Channel, so I watched and waited. Damn, a ton of that stuff I would probably never eat, but it just looked so good. I printed out a bunch of recipes that looked good, so we'll see if she or Missy can actually make it.

In other news, Missy's brother is still in the hospital. He's doing a little better, but still in there. Hopefully he'll be going home soon though. So keep sending the good vibes.

Nothing much else has been going on this weekend. I had an awesome guitar lesson yesterday, which always feels good. Watched the Rangers win a close one today, 1 - 0 in a shootout, which was just a crazy game.

Alright, enough babbling from me. Enjoy your Sunday evening party people.

Title courtesy of Nine Inch Nails. They just released an album of all instrumentals that you can get for all of $5.00. Check out nin.com for more info. I bought it, I just haven't listened to it yet.

I didn't officially weigh myself in this morning, but I know I'm down to my goal for this Friday. We'll see come tomorrow morning after I spin just where I'm at. An emergency came up last night that prevented me from hitting the gym this morning or even staying at my own house. Missy's brother had to be taken and admitted to the hospital with severe abdominal pain. They might have to do surgery as it looks like he has scar tissue causing a blockage in his intestines. I'm still waiting for more info from Missy as she's still at the hospital and will be rotating with her family throughout the day, night and weekend. It really sucks. I feel horrible, but I know there isn't much I can do except be supportive. Her brother doesn't even want his own fiance to see him in the state he's in, so I'm sure he doesn't want me around.

More details as I get them, but send out some good vibes his way.

Title courtesy of the White Stripes, although its really a cover of an old Betty Page song from the 50's, I think.

So even though I don't post or really track my weekly weigh ins anymore, I have set goals for myself. My main goal is to slim down as much as possible for my wedding in August. If I can get back to my lowest weight of 2006 right before I met Missy, or even close to it, I'll be happy. In order to do that, I figured that I'd need to average at least a 10 pound loss a month. That's a reasonably doable number for a guy, especially a big guy like myself. I didn't hit that number in February, but I think I'll hit it in the first week of March, so better late than never.

I just need to keep on going on this track. February was a really good month, so I need to continue that momentum into March as much as possible. I went to a spin class yesterday afternoon and I swear, I must've sweat more than I've ever sweat at a spin class before. I'm talking my t-shirt was soaking wet. Good thing I stopped wearing plain white T's (horrible band if you ask me) otherwise it would be a wet t-shirt contest, and no one needs to see that!

Other than that, nothing new or of note to report. Just waiting for the weekend to get here so we can go looking at invitations! Woo hoo! Can't wait for that!

I couldn't resist. Missy and I saw Young Frankenstein on Broadway last night, and it was awesome. If you love the movie, check out the show too, you won't regret it! We may go back, who knows! My mom wants to get tickets for everyone for a family outing, so we may go again. Not sure.

So the plan for today is to attend a Binghamton vs. Stony Brook basketball game at Stony Brook. I graduated from the Brook, while Missy and her brother went to Binghamton. So Missy's whole family will be attending and its a very them against me situation. But its all in good fun. After that we may go to John Harvards for dinner and beer, which is always a good thing.

And in positive news, Missy asked her landlady if I can move in when we're married and she said yes. So we'll save a ton of money by paying very little in rent and just the cable bill as the utility. How awesome is that?

Peace.