2006

12.30.06

I spent most of the day today watching coverage of the funeral ceremonies for the 38th President of the United States, Gerald R. Ford. The ceremonies were impressive and it was interesting to hear how history has looked upon his legacy during his service to our country. He was often criticized, but most people now believe that he was the right person to lead our country through the difficult times after the Nixon era.

I particularly admire President Ford because he was a fellow Eagle Scout - the only President in our history who has achieved the rank of Eagle. It was great to see the Eagle Scouts and other Boy Scouts who were involved in his funeral procession. As I was watching the television coverage, I noticed that one of my Order of the Arrow friends from the Washington DC area was one of the twelve Eagle Scouts in the honor guard to salute the President as he arrived to the World War II Memorial. I chatted with him briefly tonight and thanked him for representing his fellow Eagles in saluting the President. What an amazing honor that must have been! I also took the time to look back at some of the letters that I received from various dignitaries when I earned the rank of Eagle and President Ford's letter was among them. Many of the letters and cards were affixed with the standard printed signature, but President Ford's letter was personally signed... that's just the kind of person he was.

12.29.06

I've been away on vacation for the past few days with the family in the Poconos. We left on Sunday and relaxed for a few days before my cousins from Charlotte drove up to meet us. After that, it was the typical family vacation filled with fun, food, movies, lack of sleep, and everything else that comes with it. We had the chance to meet Beverly's fiance, Sam, which was very nice. I unfortunately had to cut my vacation short to return home and attend to a few matters. I came home yesterday to go to the annual Owaneco Lodge Winter Banquet and also attend the Vigil Honor Selection meeting scheduled for tonight. The banquet was very nice and everyone had a lot of fun. The evening concluded with a keynote address by our Scout Executive who announced my appointment as the next Lodge Adviser of Owaneco Lodge, effective July 2007. I'm really looking forward to the opportunity!

12.18.06

I just returned from a quick long weekend trip to Dallas to attend Bob and Danae's wedding. A few other friends came into town from Illinois, Florida, and Oklahoma. Shortly after we landed in Dallas, we met up at (of all places) the National Scouting Museum in Irving. I was really impressed with the museum and everyone enjoyed seeing the displays and joking around. The original Norman Rockwell and Joseph Csatari paintings were really neat to see. After seeing the museum, we checked into our hotel, relaxed, and went to the rehearsal dinner in the West End area of Dallas. After dinner, a few drinks, and a few toasts, the group went to Bob and Danae's apartment for a little while. We left the bride and bridesmaids so they could get to sleep, and we headed to the hotel to continue the party. After a few more drinks and a few bagels and english muffins, we called it a night... and it was a great night!

The wedding was on Saturday afternoon. It was a very nice ceremony and it was great to see much the family and guests were enjoying the special day. After the wedding, we relaxed for a little while back at the hotel before going out to dinner with the guys. Then Steve, Mackie, and I went out to Deep Ellum and spent some time with the locals at Coyote Ugly.

Sunday wrapped up with a trip to Sonic. We don't have any of them up in the New York Metro area, but we see the commercials all the time. It was a different fast food restaurant. Everything is drive in to stay or go and employees deliver the food directly to your vehicle. We then continued to see the Sixth Floor Museum and Dealey Plaza. The museum was very impressive and covered the life of John F. Kennedy, the tragic assassination, and historical perspective of the events that followed

The weekend absolutely flew by, and it's hard to express how much fun it was to spend time with old friends and gather for such a special occasion. We only have the opportunity to see each other once a year or once every other year, but we always make the best of the time we do have. Congratulations to Bob and Danae, and we all wish them a happy life together.

12.03.06

Wow, it's December already! The past few months have gone by extremely quickly. In fact, where has 2006 gone?

It was another great weekend... I've had a bunch of those recently! On Friday night, I went to Toad's Place in New Haven to see Big Shot (Billy Joel Tribute Band). Once again they were great, as expected. After a few hours of sleep, it was off to Long Island for Matt and Lisa's engagement party. It was really nice to meet some of Lisa's family and friends, the food was great, the atmosphere was great, and everyone had so much fun! We decided to continue the party, grab hotel rooms, and stay over in Long Island for the night. It was a great trip. I can't wait for the wedding!

11.26.06

After a week off from work and Thanksgiving, I had a really great weekend! I went up to UCONN on Friday night and stayed at Rob's apartment. Then on Saturday a bunch of us went to the UCONN football game, complete with tailgating. It was back to Rob's after the game to continue the festivities. Who knew a bunch of Eagles and Vigils could do that kind of damage?! Some of the best times have been with the BSA's finest...

On Sunday, we woke up and decided to make a quick side trip. We drove up to Exit 74 and had breakfast at Travelers Food and Books, an old hot spot. After eating, we made a trip down the road to CP. It was really nice being there and walking around. Not much has changed and it brought back some great memories.

11.12.06

Ok, I realize that I have been slacking but things have been non-stop busy for the past two months. Life has been, well, hectic. There hasn't been a lot of interesting events to share, but it's been an interesting ride and I've had a lot of different things to think about - work, scouts, politics, and life in general.

A few notes:
My cousin, Beverly got engaged on 10/9 (which happens to be my birthday).
I celebrated my birthday - it was a good time.
The volleyball season is almost over. The Fairfield Volleyball team just completed an 18-0 MAAC regular season and won the Regular Season Championship.
The Fairfield Basketball season began with the return to Alumni Hall for the first time in six years. The atmosphere was crazy and reminded me of my freshman and sophomore years.
The next few months should be exciting!

09.20.06

On Sunday, I went to the New York Yankees vs. Boston Red Sox at Yankee Stadium. I had great seats to the game - 8th row, field level box seats on the third base side just outside the infield dirt. I got to the game as the Stadium opened in hopes of catching up with my friend, Craig, before the game. Craig has had a pretty good season with the Red Sox this year since he came up from Triple A. I was the first person through Gate 2 and I decided to stop to see Monument Park since I had never had the opportunity before. As I was walking down the stairs, I looked out to the field and I saw Craig. It was definitely a weird sight seeing him on the field wearing a Boston Red Sox jersey. I quickly yelled out and said hi and continued on. I was the first person in Monument Park that day and I was able to get some great pictures before the crowd started to grow. It's a neat place and contains so much baseball history. The monuments of all of the Yankee legends stand tall and honor some of the best players ever. Be sure to visit if you ever have an opportunity to go. The game was pretty exciting and even though the Yankees lost, it was still a great time.

09.11.06

Five years... It feels like it was yesterday when terrorists attacked our country at the site of the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. Today the country remembered the innocent people who lost their lives, those heroes who died trying to help, and the brave soldiers who fight and protect us on a daily basis. In many ways, today was similar to that day five years ago. The weather was the same - a cool September day with clear blue skies. The feelings of sadness and loss were the same. The feelings of pride of patriotism were also the same.

Much has changed since that day five years ago and the world is a very different place. The war on terror has been long and difficult. There have been setbacks, but there have also been many victories and milestones. Like President Bush says, "we are safer, but we are still not safe." We stand at a critical time in world history. We have stopped several attacks from happening, we have captured terrorists around the world, and we have been fortunate that another attack has not happened within in our country.

I will always remember September 11, 2001 and how it changed the world. I think about it often - almost every day. It's hard not to. Our lives were forever changed and it is important to remember that day five years ago when thousands of innocent people were killed without warning. Remembering 9/11 should reinforce the simple lessons in life: never take things for granted, appreciate the things that you have and the little things in life, live a meaningful life, and always remember to tell the people who are important to you how much you care.

09.04.06

Over the past month, I have been pretty busy - nothing new there. It seems like I've been jumping from "project" to " project." After NOAC, the focus shifted to preparing for the Section NE-2C Conclave which was held last week at West Point. Mix in two trips to Rhode Island and the month passes by quickly. September looks to be the typical September when the scouting year starts up again after the summer. Next weekend is the Lodge Officers Retreat, followed by the September Ordeal the next weekend.

It's back to the office again tomorrow after a long weekend. We're starting to feel the crunch on the desktop support end, but hopefully we'll be able to fill one of the support positions soon. I am once again responsible for purchasing responsibilities until we hire someone for the position. We're a little shorthanded at the moment!

08.04.06

I just returned from the 2006 National Order of the Arrow Conference (NOAC) held at Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. The conference was the largest ever held, with over 8,000 Arrowmen in attendance. It was exciting to see that many Arrowmen gather and know that we set an attendance record. It was also great to make some new people and catch up with all of my friends and spend the week working with them.

I once again had the opportunity to serve on the Inductions and Ceremonial Events (ICE) staff as the Lead Cell Trainer for "The Vigil Commitment" session. I also helped with Ceremonial Evaluations and QA process. The ICE staff consisted of some of the best trainers and ceremonialists in the country. We worked well together and gave our participants the very best training and feedback. A record number of ceremonial teams were evaluated and great improvement was seen since the last NOAC in 2004.

This conference also had it's share of memories... Several of my friends were presented with the Distinguished Service Award, but it was especially exciting to see my good friend, Bob Crume, receive the honor. The conference wrapped up with the theme show, "Testing BRANDon," which reminded us that everything we do is seen by someone. 2006 also saw the return of "blip," spin the wheel, the keyless entry system, push ups, and some other unforgettable memories that will last a lifetime.

07.18.06

Coast to Coast Run: A Run for Survivorship began a few weeks ago on the Pacific coast of California. A Fairfield University graduate named Christian McEvoy began his cross-country journey in an effort to raise money and awareness for cancer survivorship. I didn't know Christian while we were at Fairfield (he was two classes after me) but I have been following his story for the past few months and it has truly been amazing. Visit the webpage - you will be inspired... and pass it along to those who you know. It's for a great cause!

I just spoke with my friend, Leslie, who is on the road with the team and is recording a documentary of the trip. The team crossed the California/Nevada line yesterday and they are currently in Tahoe. She said things are going well and I can tell she's having a great time. I have yet to see her write on the blog and run, but she assures me that she will do both. I plan on sponsoring a mile of the run, there are plenty of miles still available.

07.04.06

It's the 4th of July weekend and I have been away from the office for a full four days. Which doesn't mean that I haven't done work in the past four days, but it was a nice break nonetheless. On Friday night I went down to New Jersey to spend Saturday with the NJ.NY.CT crew for the annual 4th of July BBQ. We went to see Superman Returns soon after we arrived in NJ and Saturday was the typical BBQ, basketball, pool, and flag football (a new addition). The family and I came home late on Saturday night and I drove up to Rhode Island on Sunday afternoon to spend the rest of the weekend with Matt and his family at the lake.

Rhode Island was fun and relaxing as usual. We did some tubing, swimming, and water skiing. I learned pretty quickly and I was able to get out of the water, but I had some trouble staying out once I was up. I did pretty well for my first time water skiing and I did manage to succeed and I had a short ride before losing my balance again. It was a lot of fun and I'm sure we'll try it again next time.

It's back to the office tomorrow morning for a short three day work week. It should be like this all the time!

06.05.06

This afternoon at work, I was promoted and I received a new title and a raise! I am now the Desktop Support Supervisor and I will oversee the desktop support side of the department which currently consists of six other people. I have been performing the role since October so it's not really new to me anymore, but I am excited anyway!

06.04.06

The last month has been absolutely crazy. Since my last update, I have kept busy on the weekends with the rain-soaked May Ordeal and Vigil Honor induction weekend, Scott's birthday and the Connecticut Republican State Convention and Bobby K's UCONN graduation party, Memorial Day weekend up in Rhode Island at Matt's lake house, and another wet, but eventful weekend. The past few weeks have been a ton of fun and I've spent a lot of time relaxing and partying with my closest friends, which is always nice. Tim and I had the opportunity to shake hands and meet Jodi Rell, the popular Governor of Connecticut a few weeks ago. The more I hear about her and hear her speak, the more I am impressed with her morals, her character, and her leadership.

I spent the Memorial Day holiday weekend up in Rhode Island with Matt, his family, and some friends. It was a great weekend with great weather. We spent time relaxing, fishing, boating, playing ping pong, canoeing, and using the steam bath sauna. Matt's new phew is a Tenderfoot scout and I taught him how to build a fire. He lit the fire with one match and we all enjoyed time around the campfire toasting marshmallows and making smores.

Matt, Tim, and I went to dinner at Marisa's Ristorante on Friday night and stayed for a few drinks before calling it an early night. Yesterday we made up for the early night and went to Matt's for a little party. We started at around 2:00 and partied all day. Unfortunately the rain ruined our plans for a bbq, but we made the best of it and had a lot of fun anyway.

05.07.06

Well, it was another eventful weekend and the start to a very busy month. Yesterday I went to my co-worker's wedding on Long Island with my friend Natalie from the Fairfield volleyball team. The wedding was really nice and we had a great time! The banquet hall was right on the water on the southern shore of Long Island. There was some dancing, a live band, and an awesome dessert hour with Italian pastries, ice cream sundae station, chocolate fountain dipping station, cotton candy machine, and a ton of candy and sweets. Everyone enjoyed the dessert hour and I felt bad for the parents of the little kids who were running around on sugar highs!

I spent the afternoon today at Fairfield University and watched the softball team split their doubleheader with Siena. The team dropped the first game but won the second game, which sends Fairfield into the MAAC Tournament next weekend and ends Siena's season. After the game, the seniors were honored and the team had a nice celebration. The annual softball alumni/family/friends game followed the festivities and we all had a great time. We called the game after four innings with an 8-8 tie. I'm sure we'll all be sore tomorrow in the office, but it was tons of fun.

04.25.06

WOW!!! Last night was awesome! For the second time this year, I went to Madison Square Garden to see Billy Joel live in concert. It was his 12th and final show at MSG and also his final show on the tour. I thought it would be hard to top the earlier concert that I went to in February, but somehow he managed to exceed my expectations! In honor of his record breaking 12th concert at MSG, a "Joel 12" banner was raised to the rafters along side all of the famous New York Knicks and New York Rangers retired jerseys and championship banners. I added some more pictures from the concert in my online album.

My seats were in the same section as the last show and they were still great. He ended up playing a a bunch of different songs than the concert that I went to in February. The song set was just about the same as that concert, but he also played Summer, Highland Falls, The Entertainer, And So it Goes, All for Leyna, Captain Jack, A Matter of Trust, and his guitar technician, "Chainsaw," rocked the house with his rendition of Highway to Hell. I also found out that Billy Joel will be releasing an album in June called "12 Gardens Live" that will showcase songs from the MSG tour. I'll definitely be buying that one!

The complete song set included: Prelude/Angry Young Man, When the Saints Go Marching In (piano), My Life, Everybody Loves You Now, Circus Music (piano), Honesty, The Entertainer, She's Right on Time, You're My Home, Miami 2017 Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway), New York State of Mind, Laura, The Downeaster Alexa, Stiletto, Pop Goes the Weasel (piano), Zanzibar, Summer, Highland Falls, Allentown, An Innocent Man, Sleeping with the Television On, All for Leyna, Good Night Saigon, Movin' Out, Pop Goes the Weasel (piano), Circus Music (piano), Angelina/Zooma Zooma (piano), Pop Goes the Weasel (piano), The Night Is Still Young, And So it Goes, The River of Dreams, Keeping the Faith, A Matter of Trust, Highway to Hell (Chainsaw), We Didn't Start the Fire, Big Shot, It's Still Rock n' Roll to Me, You May Be Right, Only the Good Die Young, Scenes from an Italian Restaurant,Piano Man.

The concert was the icing on the cake for a great weekend overall. On Friday night, Tim and I went down to Fairfield for a bit. I ran into some of the volleyball girls and some old alumni from Fairfield who happened to be in town for the weekend. On Saturday, I had a crazy night at Hula Hank's in New Haven with Matt, Lisa, Scott, Brian, and a few other friends. Charlie was only there for part of the night since he got kicked out of the bar.

04.12.06

It's been a hectic week at the office so far. I just want to get through the week and relax this weekend! The weather looks to be nice, so hopefully I'll be able to motivate myself to go for a run and get some exercise. Tonight we had a Republican Committee District Meeting to elect new leadership. I was elected District 1 Vice Chairman and Tim was elected Chairman. It's only been three days since my last update, so other than that... there's nothing new to report.

04.09.06

Well, it looks like my one update per month pace is staying true to form this year! It's certainly not intentional, but I guess it means I have to make a better effort at it. Anyway, things have been going well for the most part. Work has been busy, but manageable. I have been taking on more of a managerial role lately. I'm hoping to be promoted in the near future and the wheels are in motion, but moving slowly.

This past weekend was really busy. On Thursday night, I stayed in Manhattan after work for dinner and drinks since Jason R. is getting married next month. I stayed out really late, but it was a good time. I took Friday off from work and met with the Connecticut Yankee Council Scout Executive to discuss my "Leaving a Legacy" document to complete my National Lodge Adviser Training Seminar (NLATS) requirements. We had a nice chat and I was given my NLATS leather portfolio. I also spent the day working on my syllabi for the session that I'll be teaching at the National Order of the Arrow Conference this summer. On Friday night, I went to Toad's Place in New Haven to see Big Shot - The Billy Joel Tribute Band. The show was awesome and I had a great time. After the show, I had the opportunity to chat with John Scarpulla, who occasionally plays Saxophone for the band and was a member of the band for the Movin' Out Broadway Show.

Today I ran in the 2nd Annual Donnelly Dash in Fairfield. The 3.5 mile road race is held in memory of Tim and Kim Donnelly who were murdered last February in their jewelry store. I found out about the event two weeks ago from their daughter, Tara, who is a friend of mine from college. I decided to run the race even though I have not run that kind of distance since I was in high school. In fact, I haven't run at all since last summer when I did some light jogging. Even though I am completely out of shape and I struggled through the race today, I really enjoyed running and I had a lot of fun. My official race time was 37:54, but I ended up pulling a cramp and walking for part of the race so I'm really not that slow. I'm happy with my overall performance because I felt pretty good when I was running and I surprised myself with the endurance that I had. Besides, running a great time was not a one of my original goals. I ran to get some exercise, challenge myself, to remember the Donnellys, and to support Tara and her family... so it was definitely a successful day.

"Never be afraid of the distance between your dreams and reality." - Tim Donnelly, 2004

03.05.06

Well, it's March already and so far the year has been flying by. It's been a fairly relaxing time lately. I really haven't been up to anything new or exciting, but it's been nice to just zone out and relax. Last night, a bunch of us went down to Stamford to meet up with a few friends that we went to college with. As always, it was a good time and we managed to stay out of trouble even though a few of them walked down the streets of downtown Stamford screaming James Blunt "You're Beautiful" lyrics. Scott had the song stuck in his head and figured that he'd get it stuck in everyone else's as well. Apparently, it worked...

A few days ago I signed up for a MySpace account. So far, it's pretty neat. I have found so many people that I haven't heard from in years, and it's been nice to catch up with them. If you have an account, look me up.

02.03.06

Last night I went with Tim to see Billy Joel in concert at Madison Square Garden. It was absolutely AWESOME! The live music sounds just as good as the albums. My seats were to the side and slightly behind the stage, but they ended up being pretty good seats. The rear stage seats are a lot closer than some of the other seats in the arena, and the view is just as good because Billy plays most of his songs while he sits at the piano. The piano is located in the center of the stage and rotates so that he has an opportunity to face each part of the audience, so nearly every seat in the house is a good one. I was able to take some great pictures from the concert.

The song set included a bunch of older songs as well as most of his biggest hits: He has so many great songs that nearly every song is a classic. The songs included Angry Young Man, My Life, Miami 2017 (Seen the Lights Go Out on Broadway), Everybody Loves You Now, You're My Home, New York State of Mind, Stiletto, Zanzibar, Allentown, The Night is Still Young, Sometimes a Fantasy, Sleeping with the Television On, Goodnight Saigon, Movin' Out, The Downeaster Alexa, She's Always a Woman, Keeping the Faith, The River of Dreams, I Go to Extremes, We Didn't Start the Fire, Big Shot, It's Still Rock and Roll to Me, You May Be Right, Only the Good Die Young, Scenes From an Italian Restaurant, and Piano Man. Unfortunately, I missed seeing him perform some of my favorites that are a not as widely known, but I still enjoyed the concert.

01.01.06

Happy New Year!

Tomorrow is the last day of my vacation. I've had a lot of time to just lounge and relax. I spent the week watching tv and movies, playing video games, cleaning my room, and seeing friends. Last week was also the annual Owaneco Lodge Winter Banquet where I was awarded the Order of the Arrow's Founder's Award. Receiving the award was definitely a tremendous honor.

Overall, 2005 was a really great year for me. Hopefully 2006 will be even better!

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