So I have two different website tracking programs that allow me to see how many people look at my site every day.  One of them tells me that the most visits I’ve had on any given day in the last two weeks is 13 visits.  The other source says the fewest visits I’ve had in one day in that same period of time is 89.  These numbers aren’t even close!

Now I know how politicians get their statistics.

Folonari Pink Pinot Grigio 2005 – I’ve opted for simply making all rose wines in one catergory, whether it be a true rose (like a white zinfindel) or one of the many new combinations they’re coming up with (like white merlots, or just ‘house blush’ if the mood fits)  One thing to bear in mind when drinking a blush wine: your masculinity will immediately be called into question.  Know this, and be prepared to get into a fistfight, if need be.  Now this wine, which surprisingly comes from Italy, was a delightful surprise.  At around $11 base price, I was expected something that tasted sorta like Pinot but with hints of suck.  I couldn’t have been more wrong.  This was a delicious wine if you don’t mind getting your ass kicked for it.  It was slightly sweeter than a typical Pinot, while not being bad-face-making sweet.  I would definitely get this one again, if it were to surface at a cheap price.  If it’s full price, I got other wines to sample.  About a hundred thousand of them.  This wine review column has a way to go.  Folonari Pink Pinot Grigio gets an 8/10.  Good job.

Cavit Pinot Grigio 2005 – For Thanksgiving, my plan was lots of wine at not a great deal of price. So I bought the Cavit 1.5L bottle. In the “discount wines” section (which is the area of the wine store that people with no self-respect go), Cavit is the most expensive wine, though it’s pretty much like calling it the tallest midget. It was exactly what you’d expect from at $14 bottle of MUCH wine. Quite drinkable if you’re a Pinot fan (much better than the Beringer, and infitely better than the Barefoot variety). It was a nice compliment to a delicious Thanksgiving dinner. 6/10.

So Scott Fourre (the Jester himself) comes from Idaho where he’s stationed, and I go down to Don’s house on Friday (before Thanksgiving) for some poker. After losing my initial $20, I put in my last $4 and work that to over $50. Good times. Scott was also ahead, so it was a good job. Scott comes up and visits on Monday for some shenanigans and good times, as can be (sorta) seen in this picture.

From there, we go over to Mark’s to watch some football. I’m not a big football fan particularly, but Matt Skiena was in the area from LA, and it’s good to see him, his girlfriend, and his brother. And I’m glad we went because this picture never would have happened otherwise.

See, it’s not just me who can’t take non-blurry pictures indoors with my camera!!!

Tuesday, I had my gig in the city, and it felt good to play original music alone after two years of not doing it. Good reactions, especially the two girls who were pretty much shocked that I was singing “Women Are Insane” in public. Oh well.

Wednesday came and went, and Thanksgiving happened with reckless abandon. There was much food to be had, and Susan did an excellent job as hostess and main chef. See her at work here.

The only chef I know who wears high heeled boots while cooking

The dinner was plentiful, and even the decorations were nice. It was enjoyed by myself and Susan, Susan’s boyfriend Max, Susan’s brother Craig, and their roommate Jen. Good times were had by all. Wine and Sangria went around, and there was massive amounts of gluttony and American lavishness! Viva la engorgment!

And finally, the aftermath.

While it isn’t entirely over, last night more or less put the capper on it with a fantastic game of Dash, starring an all-star cast of characters including Kevin and Angela from CA, Jay Marshall from CT, Sara from Long Island, and various other veteran dashers. For a list of the goodies, click here.

Parkway Diner Pinot Grigio #1 - Now I’m sure many of you will jump down my throat telling me not to expect anything from a diner wine, and for the most part I’d agree. But just a week ago, I had lunch with the lovely Kate Kenney and had wine at a diner in NYC. It was decent, if not earth-shattering, wine. And, in fact, I’ve had the Pinot Grigio at the Parkway Diner in Elmwood Park before. It was decent. But last night, I ordered a glass and after two drinks, had to ask them to take it back because, whatever it was, it clearly wasn’t potable.

It was the first time in my life I’ve sent ANYTHING back at a diner/restaurant/brothel. I’m normally not picky and not one to complain. But this tasted like a squirrel vomiting in my mouth, and that was before the nasty aftertaste. No thank you. 1/10. Do NOT order the Pinot Grigio from Parkway Diner (the substitute White Zin they gave me, which tasted conspicuously like Sutter Home White Zinfandel, was acceptable.) Why did I give it a 1 instead of a zero? It wasn’t coffee or tequila, and until I drink something that bad, it won’t get a zero rating.

Bec Malbec Nuevo – 2004. Another deep red wine from the land down under, by which I of course mean Argentina. I now notice that between two local wine carriers, I have about ten different Malbecs to sample, so I’m a happy man.

This was certainly a delicious Malbec, probably equal to the Traipeche I had bought. It was a bit tough to truly evaluate as I was drinking it during a Giants game, and drinking wine during football is like being a tough-ass French beer drinker – it just shouldn’t happen. But distractions aside, I truly enjoyed this wine. It had the same richness (meaning money) as the Traipeche and as Undead Red, at the same cost (also meaning money). I think it was a $10 bottle of wine. And best yet, no preparation needed. 8.5/10

So I remember during The Unusual Suspects, the cast would often bitch that my lyrics were hard to memorize.  And the way they spoke, it was like we’re talking Gilbert and Sullivan hard, or Sondheim hard.  I never saw it, really.  I had no problem memorizing them.

Now that I have a gig next week, and it’s only a half hour of music I’m preparing (with a few backups just in case), I realize I don’t know ANY of my lyrics.  So far, I haven’t made it through a set once remembering everything.  I think you could make a great drinking game out of it, since we’ll be at a bar and all.  At least make my mistakes entertaining.

Only two weeks late, and by popular demand, here as some pictures from my Halloween party. I incredulously didn’t take pictures of nearly anyone, as I expected other people to, I guess. So this album is painfully short on pictures. And there were some great costumes. But I will begrudgingly post my picture. I went as a dishwasher that stopped working.

And, of course, someone had to slap my ass because of it. Although in this picture, it looks a bit more involved than that. But who am I to argue?

And here are two other creative outifts: Sara went as Miss Trailer Park 2006, complete with stapled sash. Susan went as Superman (woman?) midst transition. Clarkette Kent? I don’t know the title, but here’s the pic.

And finally, one of the two co-winners of my costume contest. I stupidly didn’t take a picture of Brit (the other co-winner) who came brilliantly dressed as the Operation guy, replete with tongs to try to remove her pieces and a buzzer if you missed. Well done. But here is a picture of the winner, Jeff.

Until next year…

So here’s the Catch-22 I’ve noticed about my life.  I’m single for much of it.  That’s nothing new – my friends have even taken it upon themselves to often remind me how single, exactly, I am.  But as for my writing, I’ve said for years (since high school) that I do my best writing when I am happy – not sad.  I am, as I have coined, the anti-poet.  And it’s not just happy writing either – I write my best sad or dark stuff when I am in a truly great mood. 

And I figured out today why – I just don’t feel like writing when I’m depressed or in a bad mood.  If I’m depressed, I’ll play piano over just about anything else.  So the impetus to create is more or less gone when I’m sad.

Now, this isn’t to say that I’m depressed every time I’m single – in fact I am someone who is very (perhaps too) comfortable left alone.  But living on my own without roommates for the first time has made me become aware that I would like to be single on my own terms, and not from lack of options (as is now the case). 

So, for the unobservant, where is the aforementioned Catch-22?  When I’m dating, it eliminates nearly all of my free time, as I like to spend most of it with my girlfriend (this isn’t as impressive as it sounds – my ‘vast’ free time usually still falls well short of female expectations).  But I am generally happy in a relationship, and that often makes we want to write, or produce my writing, or just create in general.  So then when I am dating, I often spend much of my free time writing, because the ideas are floating and the ambition comes back. 

And that often causes a rift in the relationship, which sours, and I’m left alone again.  For a brief time after the break-up, I write like a fiend, still inspired.  Then it fades, and the apathy settles back in, and I get really good at All-Star Baseball 2005 once again. 

But it’s been a year – I want to get off the Bachelor Train and get happy again – and since professional happiness is still also out of reach, I would love to try for personal happiness (it could have something to do with the FIVE sets of friends who have announced their engagment in the last 3 months – Congrats JMar and Jen!!).  As my good friend Jaclyn says, “You’ve just had bad luck with women since [2002], haven’t you?”  I cause alot of that luck, but yup, it’s been an impressive streak so far. 

And I want to want to write again.

So a week ago, I put a new contest up for captioning a photo – due to an underwhelming response (I assume because I picked a bad picture) I’m abandoning that picture and putting up a brand new one. Same contest, different picture: caption this sucker. There’s an esoderek.com bumper sticker in it for the winner. Enter as often as you’d like (and you can even write it as a “comment” if you want everyone to see your submission, or you can click here to submit it in private for consideration.

Good luck!