I took Tuesday off from work. Early Tuesday morning, my brother Brett and his fiance (now wife!) came back into NYC! After dropping off suitcases, my brother and I headed out to do some shopping. Two Battjer boys going shopping? On a day off from work? That can only mean one thing... ˆ brett ˆ

...meaningful-video-game-release-date! In this case, ladies and gentleman, the game in question was ROCKBAND! My brother and I are huge Guitar Hero fans and we'd been waiting on it for months! ˆ brett ˆ excited ˆ rockband ˆ taxi ˆ

Fifty-seven minutes after our departure, we were back at the apartment and tearing right into that mother. ˆ brett ˆ rockband ˆ

The only bummer part of the day was the my Xbox had just recently turned red ring of death on me and the warranty had expired. Wah-wah. So I had to buy ANOTHER one. Meh! ˆ me ˆ xbox ˆ

But it was totally worth it to see the look on my brother's face when he got the drums set up for the first time. Pure video game joy! ˆ brett ˆ drums ˆ excited ˆ rockband ˆ videogames ˆ

And in no time flat the two soon-to-be-Battjer-ladies came out into the living room to see what all the commotion was about - and ended up being in our first band. ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ meredith ˆ rockband ˆ videogames ˆ

Featuring: Pantless Bert on the skins! ˆ brett ˆ drums ˆ rockband ˆ videogames ˆ

Harry Potter on vocals and special guest Marge Simpson on the guitar! ˆ amy b ˆ meredith ˆ guitar hero ˆ towel ˆ videogames ˆ

After, oh, I don't know....THREE STRAIGHT HOURS OF ROCKBAND...we finally had to take a break for food. Hello there, tasty delicious breakfast at the Dynasty (pronounced Dy-NASTY) Diner. ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ brunch ˆ

After our meal, we went back to the apartment, packed up our bags, and hopped on NJ Transit to head out to my parent's house for Thanksgiving! Here's Meredith's impression of "someone from New Jersey." ˆ meredith ˆ grumpy ˆ train ˆ

Oh, what? You didn't think that we'd actually leave Rockband in New York, did you? Look at the guitar neck sticking out of the box! Haha. The guitar came in pieces and needed to be snapped together. But once snapped, you can't take it apart again so this was Brett's solution to "making it fit in the box again." (I love the proud expression on his face.) ˆ brett ˆ rockband ˆ

Around 7pm, my dad started cooking dinner. Dad cooking dinner? That can only mean one thing! ˆ dad ˆ mom ˆ 8 radcliff drive ˆ cooking ˆ

Breakfast for dinner! Breakfast for dinner! ˆ breakfast ˆ food ˆ pancakes ˆ

BREAKFAST FOR DINNER IS MY FAVORITE! YUUUUUUUUUM. ˆ breakfast ˆ food ˆ pancakes ˆ

I think Meredith was a fan too. (Blueberry pancakes made from blueberry muffin mix = AWESOME). ˆ meredith ˆ food ˆ

Later that night, we went to THE BARN; the bar in my town that everybody goes to the night before Thanksgiving for an impromptu high school reunion. ˆ the barn ˆ

I ran into Adam Padfield (who I pretty much only get to see once a year at The Barn!) ˆ adam p ˆ me ˆ roxbury high school ˆ

Kara and Amy and a friend! ˆ amy s ˆ kara ˆ roxbury high school ˆ the barn ˆ

Yay! ˆ kara ˆ me ˆ roxbury high school ˆ the barn ˆ

Scott and Erika came too! Here's Erika and Mer. ˆ erika ˆ meredith ˆ

After the Barn, we went back to my parent's place, put on trench coats and prepared to streak the neighborhood! ˆ meredith ˆ

Just kidding. We did use the hot tub, though. ˆ erika ˆ meredith ˆ towel ˆ

And I admired Scott's asparagus tattoo he got back in the summer of '95. VEGETABLE HARDCORE 4 LIFE! ˆ scott ˆ tattoo ˆ

Thursday was Thanksgiving so that meant that I had to put on a sweater. Then we hopped into the car with my family and drove... ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ thanksgiving ˆ

...to my Uncle Wayne and Aunt Elaine's house for dinner! Here's my gram and my mom whipping up some magic in the kitchen. ˆ grandma ˆ mom ˆ cooking ˆ thanksgiving ˆ

Big Bri is the designated turkey carver. ˆ dad ˆ carve ˆ thanksgiving ˆ turkey ˆ

After we'd finished eating a HUGE Thanksgiving meal, Zoe the dog was totally in awe of... ˆ zoe ˆ dogs ˆ

...the mysterious flag-wrapped snoring lump that appeared on the couch! ˆ meredith ˆ zoe ˆ asleep ˆ dogs ˆ flag ˆ food coma ˆ

While Zoe pondered the mystery package, I went outside into the backyard and fooled around with my camera taking pictures of the weird light. ˆ night ˆ tree ˆ

Oh yeah, and I might've spent a little bit of time playing around with the auto-timer feature too. ˆ me ˆ night ˆ

And then I'm surprised by the fact that everyone in my family thinks I'm a weirdo. ˆ me ˆ night ˆ

About an hour later, everyone's stomachs had settled down enough to have room for dessert! So I went and woke up the mysterious lump! Because there's only one thing that Meredith likes more than sleep... ˆ meredith ˆ cute ˆ food coma ˆ sleepy ˆ

...and that's PIE! Hahaha. When everyone sat down for dessert, we noticed that cousin Chad was missing! I set out to explore the house and after going upstairs I discovered... ˆ grandma ˆ dessert ˆ food ˆ thanksgiving ˆ

...that cousin Chad had sneaked away to his bedroom to take an UNDER THE COVERS after-dinner nap fully-clothed! Hahaha. Epic. ˆ chad ˆ asleep ˆ best ˆ food coma ˆ thanksgiving ˆ

Grandpa and my dad! Happy Thanksgiving! ˆ dad ˆ grandpa ˆ dessert ˆ thanksgiving ˆ

On Friday afternoon, my parents made the four of us get together for a photo in front of the fireplace (awww) before we all went our separate ways! ˆ amy b ˆ brett ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ family ˆ

Later that night back in NYC, I met up with Stupid Newman who was in town visiting from Norwalk. ˆ josh newman ˆ me ˆ

Late, late night I met up with these two (and Amanda and Scott) for a couple of drinks and then afterwards we went and got our drunk-snack on at... ˆ lisa ˆ pauly ˆ grumpy ˆ

...SAN LOCO! ˆ san loco ˆ

Holy meat-covered nacho nastiness, Batman! ˆ food ˆ san loco ˆ

Lisa's face about sums it up. ˆ lisa ˆ gross ˆ

I was trying to get another "nacho reaction" shot and I accidentally zoomed in without realizing it and took this photo. Which led to us taking a whole bunch of awkwardly zoomed-in photos! It's clearly the new "ugly face." ˆ lisa ˆ pauly ˆ

Hahaha. Pauly repped first with a very solid "wonky eye." ˆ pauly ˆ wonky ˆ

Here's my wonkerino. ˆ me ˆ wonky ˆ

Here's Scott's! ˆ scott ward ˆ wonky ˆ

Amanda's! (Hahaha. Win!) ˆ amanda ˆ wonky ˆ

Lisa had trouble getting just one eye to go wonky so she tried the old "stare at your finger and slowly move it towards your nose" trick. ˆ lisa ˆ wonky ˆ

While Lisa failed to pull off "wonky eye," she did excel at doing "stoner eyes." Go figure! ˆ lisa ˆ squinty ˆ

Yep, I went there. ˆ me ˆ flipped eyelids ˆ ugly face ˆ

On Saturday morning, I was (obviously) feeling a little lazy and elected to skip the whole "getting dressed" nonsense and go directly to reading cool articles on the interweb. I guess I lost track of time and was sitting there long enough for Meredith to grab my camera and take this totally sneaky photo of unaware-me browsin' in the buff. After years of posting all sorts of compromising and embarrassing photos of friends and strangers alike, I figured it's only fair to post horribly embarrassing pics of me as well! ˆ me ˆ best ˆ naked ˆ nsfw ˆ wtf ˆ

But hey, what comes around goes around! Less than twenty-four hours later, I managed to snipe this photo of Meredith's very own unique way of "relaxing" while she watches TV. (Yes, she really sits like this) ˆ meredith ˆ wtf ˆ

Hahaha. Payback! ˆ meredith ˆ

Sunday night a WHOLE buncha people came over to our place to play play Cranium! ˆ amanda ˆ brandon ˆ karen ˆ leigh ˆ meredith ˆ siege ˆ vince ˆ cranium ˆ stuytown apt ˆ

I have no memory of who won or even who was on what team! But who cares! Let's get on to some action shots! Here's Pauly getting his Creative Cat on! ˆ ellen stagg ˆ katie ˆ pauly ˆ vince ˆ cranium ˆ

All these pics make me smile! ˆ amanda ˆ benjamin ˆ karen ˆ meredith ˆ scott ˆ cranium ˆ

Haha. I think this was the most wholesome activity the three of us had ever partaken in. ˆ leigh ˆ me ˆ siege ˆ

Hey guys. C'mon. ˆ ellen stagg ˆ katie ˆ sarah ˆ vince ˆ cranium ˆ grumpy ˆ

Sometimes friends fight. Hahaha. This photo makes me laugh so hard. If you've ever played Cranium, this photo will probably make you laugh too. ˆ ellen stagg ˆ katie ˆ sarah ˆ vince ˆ cranium ˆ grumpy ˆ

Brandon and Sarah! ˆ brandon ˆ sarah ˆ

Sure, sure. It sounds easy enough. Just use the blob of clay to sculpt three DIFFERENT things that your team has to guess in 60 seconds. No biggie, right? Until that timer starts ticking away and then the only question is... ˆ cranium ˆ

...CAN YOU HANDLE THE PRESSURE? ˆ cranium ˆ

How about a little Karen / Meredith puppet action? ˆ karen ˆ meredith ˆ cranium ˆ puppet ˆ

Dino Arms? Tyrannosaurus Rex? ˆ karen ˆ meredith ˆ cranium ˆ puppet ˆ

Puppet Team Rubano / Cubitt had no trouble successfully miming "coy finger-sniffer." ˆ matt ˆ siege ˆ coy ˆ cranium ˆ puppet ˆ

Great success! ˆ matt ˆ siege ˆ cranium ˆ happy ˆ hug ˆ

Major controversy erupted when someone drew a "all teams compete" card and each team had to select a member to try to get their teammates to guess the clue "Jewish." Here's Meredith holding up the winning drawing, in front of her all-Jewish team. ˆ amanda ˆ karen ˆ best ˆ cranium ˆ drawing ˆ dreidel ˆ

Here are the other two teams' drawings. Hahaha. I like how one team went abstract and went down the "no foreskin" road. ˆ cranium ˆ drawing ˆ jew ˆ

Oh, Cranium! ˆ leigh ˆ lisa ˆ me ˆ

Then we played Guitar Hero until the wee hours! ˆ amanda ˆ benjamin ˆ lisa ˆ pauly ˆ scott ward ˆ guitar hero ˆ stuytown apt ˆ videogames ˆ

On Monday evening, I decided to break out the special" Lindsay Lohan cookies" that Siege and Katie gave us as a gift. Just in case the celebrity the fine makers choose to embody their product wasn't enough of a warning, Katie explained people who had recently tried eating an entire cookie at a party ended up "holding onto the floor so that they wouldn't fall off." I took her advice and at about one-quarter of ONE cookie. ˆ lindsay lohan cookies ˆ

Taking this photo is pretty much the last thing I remember about Monday night. Gosh Darn you, Lindsay Lohan. ˆ lindsay lohan cookies ˆ

On Tuesday night I stayed late at work to stick around and watch the big unveiling of Meetup.com's NEXT BIG THING... ˆ crowd ˆ meetup ˆ

...That's right! It's Meetup Alliance! Er, what's that? You've never heard of Meetup Alliance? Well, let me just link you on over to the site...er, wait a minute. I guess it doesn't exist anymore. Huh. ˆ meetup ˆ

After the big "unveiling" was over, I met up with Meredith and her dad for dinner! ˆ meredith ˆ mr silverman ˆ

Then Amanda Miss Peepers (which is Amanda's name when she's not wearing her glasses!) joined us for dessert! ˆ amanda ˆ me ˆ miss peepers ˆ

Meredith + Amanda's Glasses = Pure Fraggle Gold! ˆ meredith ˆ glasses ˆ

On Thursday afternoon, I skipped out of work for a little bit so that I could.... ˆ city hall ˆ

...head downtown to city hall... ˆ city hall ˆ

...then up to the 2nd floor to the MARRIAGE CHAPPEL so that I could be a witness at... ˆ city hall ˆ sign ˆ

...this guy's wedding! Here's the groom-to-be with Dave and Josh! ˆ dave g ˆ josh ˆ vin ˆ dressed up ˆ wedding ˆ

After about 30 minutes of waiting, word came down that they'd be called into the Justice's chambers in just a couple of minutes! Here's Vin striking his last "disco pose" as a single man! ˆ vin ˆ city hall ˆ dressed up ˆ wedding ˆ

Aya, the lovely bride-to-be, getting giddy! ˆ aya ˆ city hall ˆ flower ˆ wedding ˆ

So nerve-wracking! ˆ josh ˆ nervous ˆ

And then, before we knew it, we were watching Vin and Aya get married! ˆ aya ˆ vin ˆ best ˆ city hall ˆ wedding ˆ

The ceremony was perfect. Short and sweet and wonderful! Congrats, you two! ˆ aya ˆ vin ˆ best ˆ city hall ˆ wedding ˆ

Three short minutes later and the whole thing was official! Here's Vin's incredible "I can't believe we're MARRIED!" face! Totally overwhelmed! ˆ vin ˆ best ˆ shock ˆ wedding ˆ

The bride's witness posse! ˆ aya ˆ fyuko ˆ wedding ˆ

Representing for the groom! ˆ dave g ˆ josh ˆ me ˆ vin ˆ best ˆ wedding ˆ

A couple of weeks later, Vin emailed around this awesome drawing he did to thank us for attending! ˆ dave g ˆ josh ˆ me ˆ vin ˆ best ˆ drawing ˆ wedding ˆ

Thanks for inviting us, Aya and Vin! It was an honor and a privilege to be there! Here's to a wonderful and happy life together! ˆ aya ˆ vin ˆ wedding ˆ

At work on Friday, somebody got some sort of Thanksgiving "Smoked Meats" Basket sent to the office and ended up giving all the choice cuts (the smokiest meats?) to Mark and Brian. They were in the midst of growing mustaches for charity - and their mustaches made them look just like the kind of extra-manly men that enjoy wood-cured animal flesh! ˆ brian d ˆ mark hannah ˆ meetup ˆ

Later that night, I went to someone's awesome fashion showroom/apartment in Soho... ˆ mannequin ˆ

...to celebrate Nina and Jason's joint birthday! ˆ flyer ˆ

Le Birthday Girl! ˆ nina ˆ birthday ˆ

After spending a little QT with the birthday girl, I made my way through the loft and immediately ran into... ˆ crowd ˆ house party ˆ

...Ellen! ˆ ellen ˆ

Here's Ellen a couple minutes later after she'd gotten all settled in (Drink. Hair Pulled Back. Dog Unpacked). ˆ ellen ˆ piper ˆ dogs ˆ

Nina in disguise. ˆ nina ˆ

Pipes in the corner making friends. ˆ piper ˆ dogs ˆ

Around two, we said farewell to Nina and headed over to Hanger Bar for the Stolen Transmission party. ˆ karen ˆ crowd ˆ dj ˆ hanger bar ˆ

We immediately ran into our favorite hosers who were sporting a six pack of Bud Pounders and totally, in Canadian parlance, GIVIN'ER! Hahaha. ˆ lisa ˆ pauly ˆ best ˆ hanger bar ˆ party ˆ

Look at me totally off my mark! I was pulling my best tough guy face when everyone else had clearly decided (even Piper!) that it was a cute and cuddly moment. Check out Piper's tongue! As soon as we saw it sticking out in this photo, we decided to play our favorite Piper-game... ˆ ellen ˆ lisa ˆ me ˆ piper ˆ dogs ˆ tongue ˆ

...which is called GOT YOUR TONGUE. ˆ piper ˆ dogs ˆ pinch ˆ tongue ˆ

Lawrence, Mandy and Michael! At first I thought Mandy and Michael were sharing a floating red leather hat, but that's when I looked closer and noticed Mr. Creepers McPeepers getting his L U R K on in the background. ˆ brother lawrence ˆ mandy ˆ michael ˆ best ˆ lurk ˆ strangers ˆ

Karen and Mandy! ˆ karen ˆ mandy ˆ

Kerri and Sarah. ˆ kerri ˆ sarah ˆ dj ˆ kiss ˆ

Ellen looking real witchy! ˆ ellen ˆ me ˆ pretty ˆ

Hahaha. OMG, I love Andrew Borin! Happy November 2007! ˆ andrew b ˆ sarah ˆ tongue ˆ