We have pet rats. They are cuter than most people would like to admit. They enjoy lazing around on top of each other. ˆ lulu ˆ mitzi ˆ rats ˆ

Meetup, I hardly knew ye! After a short-lived, four-month stint, Monday was my last day at Meetup.com! My former boss Court took a job as CEO of Yodle.com (a startup that helps local businesses use the internet to generate leads), and when he offered me the chance to head up Yodle's product group, I jumped at the chance to work together again.

I told Court that I wanted to take a couple of weeks off before starting the new job and immediately started planning a trip! (I ended up going to Egypt for two weeks. More on that soon!) ˆ meetup ˆ

Later that night I went out to celebrate the anniversary of the birth of a great man: MATT RUBANO. Where did this celebration commence? ˆ matt ˆ

At motherfucking BOWLMORE LANES! ˆ bowling ˆ

Check out the birthday boy's MEDINA SOD shirt! (For any of you that are not huge Big Lebowski fans, this is the shirt that The Dude, the protagonist of the movie, wears throughout the bowling scenes in the movie.) ˆ matt ˆ bowling ˆ

Birthday friends at the scoring console! Also: Sean looks like a homeless man in this photo. ALSO: I wonder why Ellen is leaning away from him like that. It's almost like she's dodging a bullet or something. ZING! ˆ ellen ˆ posh tony ˆ sean m ˆ bowling ˆ

Before things got too hot and heavy on the lanes, Karen and Sarah busted out a birthday cake! ˆ karen ˆ sarah ˆ birthday ˆ cake ˆ candles ˆ

MAKE A WISH, BIRTHDAY BOY! ˆ karen ˆ matt ˆ best ˆ birthday ˆ cake ˆ candles ˆ

Hahahahaha. Such a good cake inscription. ˆ birthday ˆ cake ˆ candles ˆ

Go ahead, ask about 'em. ˆ birthday ˆ bowling ˆ tv ˆ

Let's hear it for birthday party packages! ˆ tuggin luggage ˆ

You may not know this (in fact, why would you?), but in addition to being a singer/songwriter , small business entrepreneur and the only white man who can convincingly impersonate JB Smoove, Antony "Posh Tony" Ellis is also an EXCELLENT bowler. Here is getting ready to "roll" for the first time. (He got a strike). ˆ josh adcock ˆ posh tony ˆ bowling ˆ

Here he is after his next turn, gloating about getting two strikes in a row. ˆ posh tony ˆ bowling ˆ

In bowling, if you get three strikes in a row, it's called a turkey. It's exciting because it's a pretty difficult thing to do (I mean, after you get two strikes in a row, the pressure mounts because everyone is watching and wondering, WILL HE BE ABLE TO PULL IT OFF?). Posh stepped up to the lane and... ˆ posh tony ˆ bowling ˆ

...BLAMO! Delivered! Since electronic scorekeeping came out, getting a turkey has been elevated to LEGENDARY STATUS mostly because people love the hokey "turkey animations" that the different bowling scoring systems throw up on the scoring display. ˆ bowling ˆ turkey ˆ

Hahaha. I love this photo. Our friends flooded the lanes right in the middle of the game to congratulate him. It was some real Chariots of Fire shit. ˆ josh adcock ˆ posh tony ˆ sarah ˆ hug ˆ

Most of other photos of people walking away from "the line" after their turn are portraits of defeat. Here's Jamie marching back to the bench after NOT getting a strike. ˆ jamie ˆ bowling ˆ

Looks like the pins don't care that it's your birthday, bitch. ˆ matt ˆ bowling ˆ the bird ˆ

Look at Ellen's "I can't believe I missed that spare" face. She looks like a little elf. ˆ ellen ˆ bowling ˆ

THIS GAME HARD. ˆ matt ˆ ugly face ˆ

Dog in a bag! Dog in a bag! ˆ piper ˆ dog in a bag ˆ dogs ˆ

SEA FOOD! ˆ elle ˆ matt ˆ gross ˆ

Check out the follow through on Josh! Hoo-ah! ˆ josh adcock ˆ bowling ˆ

Ready now? Sexy time bowling portraits! ˆ sarah ˆ bowling ˆ

Hi there. You smiling at me? ˆ karen ˆ bowling ˆ

Three words: RAW. ANIMAL. POWER. So it's a couple of frames later, and Posh has gotten himself another two strikes in a row and he's on the cusp of a SECOND TURKEY IN THE SAME GAME! I told him he looked a little nervous. And Posh Tony, well Posh Tony just smiled, slowly strolled up to the line and... ˆ posh tony ˆ bowling ˆ nervous ˆ

SHA-BOOM! Bonus points for somehow also managing to throw up metal horns whist simultaneously releasing the ball, Posh. Nicely done. ˆ posh tony ˆ best ˆ bowling ˆ metal ˆ

TWO TURKEYS! Look at his face! This photo makes me laugh every time I see it. (I'm going to do a little foreshadowing here and tell you that Posh Tony's athletic prowess on that blond flooring was getting a certain member of our little group all worked up!) ˆ posh tony ˆ scoreboard ˆ

Well, Karen too, OBVS (because we all know that she doesn't watch sports because she likes sports) but she's not the secret scandal I'm hinting about. ˆ karen ˆ posh tony ˆ lick ˆ tongue ˆ

Pretty ladies...

...looking pretty. ˆ jenny penny ˆ

Mouth stretch FAIL. (click here to see mouth stretch WIN! ˆ karen ˆ

Carson Daly! Macaulay Culkun! Drew Barrymore! Claire Danes! WOW!!!! I like how if you look in the mirror in the background you can see how totally starstruck I am by the caliber of celebrities Bowlmore has gotten to autograph bowling pins. Nicely done, also, Bowlmore Lanes. ˆ autograph ˆ bowling ˆ

Omar Epps would've been good all by hisself! But Omar Epps AND motherfuckin' PEPA on. the. same. pin? GOD DAMN! ˆ autograph ˆ bowling ˆ

THE HOFF. NUFF SAID. (This is like the Abbey Road of bowling pin autographs. It's like, once he's signed a pin you might as well throw away the special ceremonial bowling-pin-autographing-pen they have, right? Who could possibly top this?) ˆ autograph ˆ bowling ˆ

Can I get a high five? ˆ jamie ˆ mark holmes ˆ high five ˆ

Happy birthday, Matt Rubano! WE LOVE YOUR HUGE BALLS. ˆ matt ˆ balls ˆ bowling ˆ

After we'd finished bowling, we hit Pianos for some Karaoke Killed the Cat karaoke action! ˆ matt coats ˆ karaoke ˆ

Antony scouring the song book for his jam. Oh, remember what I said about somebody getting all worked up Antony's athletic prowess earlier? Well... ˆ cyan ˆ posh tony ˆ wink ˆ

...it certainly wasn't this lovely lady. This is Cyan, Antony's girlfriend. ˆ cyan ˆ posh tony ˆ surprise ˆ

*THIS* is what I was talking about. Awwwww yeah, Birthday Boy, it's yaaaaw birththday. GET SOME! ˆ matt ˆ posh tony ˆ dance ˆ gay ˆ

Totally shocked by gayness! ˆ matt coats ˆ karaoke ˆ kktc ˆ

Jenny and Sarah! ˆ jenny penny ˆ sarah ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

Hahaha. ˆ jenny penny ˆ sarah ˆ duet ˆ karaoke ˆ

Happy Birthday, Matt! ˆ josh adcock ˆ matt ˆ

On Tuesday I purchased my plane ticket to Egypt! I'd have just enough for a two-week trip (all by myself...awwww) before starting my new job at Yodle in the beginning of April! Later that afternoon, I went to the bookstore to pick up a book about Egypt so I could begin making a list of places to visit and things to see! ˆ book ˆ egypt ˆ

I also found this book, which was nominated for the coveted STAFF PICK, no less. Check out Rick's hair and sultry gaze. ˆ rick james ˆ book ˆ

I hadn't not had a day job in a while, so it was nice to have a chance to catch up with the rest of the kids who have somehow figured out to avoid the nine-to-five chains. On Wednesday morning, Posh came over and we played Xbox until early afternoon. ˆ posh tony ˆ couch ˆ stuytown apt ˆ videogames ˆ

This is the weird face that Posh Tony makes when he's concentrating on trying to not get his ass handed to me in video games. ˆ posh tony ˆ

Later that night Vin came over! ˆ vin ˆ

I took a bunch of his drawings that he scanned and built him a website to show off some of his portfolio! Looking to hire a great illustrator in New York City? Check him out! ˆ vin ˆ meta ˆ

Later that night I went out to Bar on A to grab drinks. ˆ bar on a ˆ

Nader and Mandy ˆ mandy ˆ nader ˆ

Posh Tony and a girl whose name I forget! (Sorry!) ˆ posh tony ˆ

And there was even a surprise pop-in visitor: ASIAN PORNO LADY! Asian Porno Lady roams the East Village in the wee hours of the night pushing along a little cart stocked up with cheap smokes and illegally-copied DVD porn! She's the best! ˆ asian porno lady ˆ me ˆ

Here she is helping me show off a few choice titles: Amy Fisher Caught on Tape and Kamikaze Premium! ˆ asian porno lady ˆ dvd ˆ porn ˆ

Hahaha. And here she is showing off HORSEFUCKER (which is my favorite title in her selection) while Mandy holds up City of Sin. ˆ asian porno lady ˆ mandy ˆ dvd ˆ horsefucker ˆ porn ˆ

Me and Posh. ˆ me ˆ posh tony ˆ

On Saturday afternoon, Meredith and I went to a Gymboree uptown to celebrate her nephew Cooper's first birthday! ˆ gymboree ˆ

Mer's Grandma Sue and her friend Duffy. ˆ duffy ˆ sue s ˆ

Mer and me! The pics end here because I left for my two week solo-trip to Egypt the very next day! ˆ me ˆ meredith ˆ