Meredith is serious about being a good rat-owner like other people are serious about their "normal" pets. ˆ meredith ˆ cage ˆ

She used her crafty skills to make wire "hammock" for Ratso and Roxie. ˆ cage ˆ rats ˆ

She also always is taking old clothes and cutting them up and making fun little cloth "tubes" for them to enjoy. Here's Ratso enjoying life on the hammock from the inside of an old leggin. ˆ ratso ˆ rats ˆ

Oh, hello there! Do you want to come out and look even more adorable? ˆ ratso ˆ rats ˆ

Four days after playing Guitar Hero for the very first time at our apartment, Sarah and Gurj went out and bought it for their apartment. Addicted! ˆ sarah ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

On Saturday night, Meredith and I went up to Kip's Bay to see a movie (because the theater is usually less-crowded on weekends). After the movie was over, we stopped to laugh at Homer's stolen arm... ˆ meredith ˆ the simpsons ˆ

...and I gave the Silver Surfer a quick rimming. ˆ me ˆ rim ˆ

A little after midnight on Tuesday, I went to Piano's to see Schoolyard Heroes, one of the new bands that Sarah signed to Stolen Transmission, play a show. ˆ band ˆ schoolyard heroes ˆ

Then after the show, I went upstairs to sing karaoke and found that Guitar Hero had REPLACED karaoke for the night. WHOA! I also found that Shandi had dressed up (complete with face paint!!!) as Lars Ümlaüt, her favorite Guitar Hero character. Amazing. ˆ shandi ˆ best ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

The resemblance is uncanny, right? ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

On Wednesday night I went out to some party way too late in the night. I showed up at 2am, and immediately ran into Max and Leigh on the way in! ˆ leigh ˆ max ˆ

Scott was there too. You know, just doing his thing. ˆ scott m ˆ awkward ˆ

I went out on Thursday night and when I came home at 1am I found Meredith and Sarah at the apartment getting crafty together. ˆ meredith ˆ sarah h ˆ

Sarah was totally making (googly) eyes at me. ˆ sarah h ˆ

Just when things were starting to wind down, I got a call from Sarah and... ˆ sarah ˆ

... Brandon! They were in the neighborhood so they decided to come over! I fired up Guitar Hero so that Brandon could give it another shot, but he clearly wasn't in any kind of shape to handle that action. ˆ brandon ˆ lifted ˆ

"Faaack this. I'm going to bed." ˆ brandon ˆ

On Saturday night I went out for Emily C's 28th birthday! Here's the birthday girl with Rachael! (I went to high school with these two lovelies! There were freshman when I was a big, bad senior. Awwwww!) ˆ emily ˆ rachael ˆ birthday ˆ roxbury high school ˆ

Here's Emily opening my gift! OMG! It's a... ˆ emily ˆ excited ˆ gift ˆ

...BONSAI TREE! Hahaha. ˆ emily ˆ rachael ˆ bonsai ˆ gift ˆ

"No, you're the man now, dawg." ˆ emily ˆ bathroom ˆ point ˆ

Here's Tim, Emily's boyfriend (now fiance!) bringing over a fistfulla drinks! ˆ tim ˆ

Emily giving her man a smooch. ˆ emily ˆ tim ˆ kiss ˆ

Emily doing a "Ms. America" wave with her birthday bouquet. ˆ emily ˆ flower ˆ

After making sure we were good and "warmed up," we hopped in a cab around 2am and headed down to 2nd on 2nd for some... ˆ crowd ˆ karaoke ˆ

...Birthday Karaoke! Don't let her "Who, me? I'm shy!" act fool you. ˆ emily ˆ karaoke ˆ

Emily's a karaoke MONSTER! ˆ emily ˆ karaoke ˆ

Hahaha. Who's a happy, little birthday girl? ˆ emily ˆ excited ˆ

Rachael stuck around to see the birthday girl's first jam, but called it a night pretty much right after the last note was sang. ˆ emily ˆ rachael ˆ drunk ˆ

I closed out karaoke and on my late night walk home I ran into my neighbor Kathleen who I'd met for the first time just a few weeks earlier. She and her friend weren't ready for bed yet either, so I invited them in to play Guitar Hero (at 4:15am). Hahaha. I like living in New York because there are so many other crazy people here that it makes me feel less-crazy. ˆ kathleen p ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

Just in case you haven't seen enough pictures of our pet rats, here's a picture of Roxy (aka - "The Bad One") curled up in a ball and looking not-to-happy about me waking her up with my camera. But, since she was already awake... ˆ roxy ˆ rats ˆ

...she decided to give my camera a closer look just to make sure it wasn't a treat that she might be missing out on. "OH HAI! I has a fuzzy, bulbous nose?" ˆ roxy ˆ rats ˆ

On Sunday night we decided to have a last minute dinner party! I cleaned up the apartment and set the table... ˆ 239 e 7th ˆ table ˆ

...while Meredith got busy in the kitchen! ˆ meredith ˆ

Look how nice! ˆ food ˆ table ˆ

We told people to come at 9pm (but with everyone we know, that usually means 9:45). So we were totally shocked when Brandon and Sarah showed up... ˆ brandon ˆ sarah ˆ stove ˆ

...right at 9pm! Unheard of! ˆ clock ˆ

After dinner, we fired up Guitar Hero! Yes! Here's an action shot of Scott tuning up as he prepares to take on little miss Leigh Lezark (bonus points to Max and Meredith who are on opposite extremes of the "excitement spectrum" in this photo). Hahaha. ˆ leigh ˆ max ˆ meredith ˆ scott m ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

Sarah on the sidelines anxiously waiting to take on the winner. (Soooo addicted!) ˆ sarah ˆ

Brandon, who plays guitar in real life, once again decided to skip the fake guitar festivities and watched from the other couch across the room. ˆ brandon ˆ

After a couple of eyeball-drying hours of Guitar Hero competition, we decided to try to play poker. Here's Tins counting out her stacks. ˆ leigh ˆ poker ˆ

Meredith gave Ratso some loving and then... ˆ meredith ˆ cage ˆ rats ˆ

...Sarah brought Monkey over for an introduction. ˆ dogs ˆ monkey ˆ rats ˆ

Leigh shows off the rat she sculpted out of clay and then painted (crafty!) that she made us as a housewarming present! Awwww! ˆ leigh ˆ rats ˆ

Then it was time for more Guitar Hero. Hahaha. ˆ max ˆ scott m ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

Late on Thursday night I went to China 1 to meet up with Scott and Leigh. ˆ leigh ˆ scott m ˆ

We got our free drink on and took stupid pictures to celebrate being reunited after four long days apart. (I don't remember what the party was for...maybe is was something related to V Magazine?) ˆ leigh ˆ me ˆ scott m ˆ

Leigh was worried that she was smiling too much in photos lately so we decided to take a "coldstare" photo lest people start to think she's going soft. (Bonus points to Scott for his Colonel Mustard freestyle!) ˆ leigh ˆ me ˆ scott m ˆ

After a couple of drinks, it seemed like some dancing was in order. ˆ leigh ˆ scott m ˆ dance ˆ

I totally caught Scott mid "shimmy" in this photo. Hahah. ˆ leigh ˆ scott m ˆ dance ˆ

Careful, Scott! If you don't leave enough room between you and your dance partner (for Jesus), swing dancing can get the ladies all hot and bothered and before you know it... ˆ leigh ˆ scott m ˆ dance ˆ

...they'll try their best to un-gay you! ˆ leigh ˆ scott m ˆ best ˆ kiss ˆ tongue ˆ

Sweaty Dance Floor Monster! Here's Leigh and Scott with a girl whose name I forget but I think she was one of the people who organized the party! So, er, thanks! ˆ leigh ˆ scott m ˆ monster ˆ

At some point in the night, Leigh and I ended up snooping around in the basement (as we're wont to do....NOSY!) and we ended up finding one of those dragon heads that they wear in Chinatown when they do their whole "conga line dragon" thingy for Chinese New Years! ˆ leigh ˆ dragon ˆ

ROWR! Hahaha. ˆ leigh ˆ dragon ˆ

Stop looking so stylish in that thing, Leigh! You don't want to start a dragon-head fashion trend, do you? (Er, wait. Actually, I want that to turn into a trend more than anything else in the world. On second thought, keep that thing on!) ˆ leigh ˆ dragon ˆ

Eff you! ˆ leigh ˆ dragon ˆ the bird ˆ

On Friday night I met up with Vin and we headed to the Mercury Lounge to see Group Sounds play their "last show." ˆ sign ˆ

I put "last show" in quotes because Group Sounds broke up like 2 years ago and they play a "last show" every six months. Hahaha. Every time I ask them about it they're like "Well, we might play another show in a like a year, but who knows! And if we don't, then this definitely will be our last show." (And they say that same thing EVERY time.). ˆ jared ˆ jesse ˆ sexy joe ˆ band ˆ group sounds ˆ

The show started out like any normal rock show, but after only a couple of songs, Sexy Joe stripped down into his undies...and then a few songs after that... ˆ jared ˆ jesse ˆ sexy joe ˆ band ˆ group sounds ˆ

...and Jared was inviting the entire audience to join the band on stage. The bouncer dude had the sound guy kill the audio and ran up to Jared and was like "No. No way. Got it?" Hahaha. ˆ jared ˆ jesse ˆ sexy joe ˆ band ˆ group sounds ˆ

But then as soon as the music was turned back on and the bouncer guy walked to the back of the room, a bunch of people went up anyway to help the band play the last few songs. ˆ jared ˆ jesse ˆ sexy joe ˆ band ˆ cowbell ˆ group sounds ˆ manties ˆ

Hey Rainbow Shirt, MORE COWBELL! ˆ jared ˆ sexy joe ˆ band ˆ cowbell ˆ group sounds ˆ manties ˆ

Vin checking out Sexy Joe's sexy blue manties. ˆ vin ˆ

Hahah. I love how Sexy Joe is keeping his balance by wrapping his arm around Jared's head. ˆ jared ˆ sexy joe ˆ band ˆ cowbell ˆ group sounds ˆ

Chicken fight, fucker! ˆ jared ˆ sexy joe ˆ band ˆ group sounds ˆ

The crowd giving it up for their epic "last" performance! ˆ jared ˆ sexy joe ˆ band ˆ group sounds ˆ

Congrats on your last show ever, guys! See you in a couple of months at the next last show! (PS - Randy, wear a shirt next time!) ˆ jared ˆ randy ˆ sexy joe ˆ band ˆ group sounds ˆ

After the show, Sexy Joe was acting out on the sidewalk. ˆ sexy joe ˆ guitar ˆ

Jared and I reminisced about Sexy Joe's previous post-show antics (like when he draped his ding-dong on Meredith's arm!) and we tried to talk him into getting completely naked and posing on motorcycle that was parked on the street, but he totally wasn't having any of it. ˆ jared ˆ sexy joe ˆ guitar ˆ

He did finally relent and shyly flashed his peen a little bit though! (Sexy Joe, what happened to you? All growsed up!) ˆ jared ˆ sexy joe ˆ guitar ˆ

On Saturday night I went to a rooftop party in the LES at Caitlin's apartment. This photo about says it all. Hahaha.

On Sunday night I went out to Siege's apartment in Brooklyn to help with him with some web stuff. You'd think that when two "shutterbugs" like us get together, there would've been more photos taken, but I guess that's what happens when it's just me and him and no boobies around. Haha. I did, however, take out my camera to snap a picture of the garbage can next to his work desk. Kid's 100% fueled by treats! (He ate a whole box of Pop'ems by himself! Ha!) ˆ garbage ˆ

Monday night I went to Karaoke Killed the Cat at Pianos! Here's Matt, Chris and Lord Easy tearing it up! ˆ goldteeth ˆ lord easy ˆ matt coats ˆ karaoke ˆ

After singing a few jams, I headed down the stage room (at 3am!) to play Guitar Hero on the big screen! Here's Alex Chow and Susan going head to head! ˆ alex chow ˆ susan ˆ guitar hero ˆ videogames ˆ

Susan has stubbly pits! Susan has stubbly pits! ˆ susan ˆ armpit ˆ

Meredith took this totally embarrassing photo of me because she says I sleep like a "naked synchronized swimmer" and after years of posting totally embarrassing photos of pretty much everyone I know, I figure it's only fair that I occasionally get a taste of my own medicine. (And, also because it presented me with an opportunity to create a new photo-tag called "man ass."). Happy June 2007! ˆ me ˆ asleep ˆ man ass ˆ