i keep a diary

the june roundup: part one

june, 2008

Here are the first half of the pics I took in (a party-packed!) June 2008 that didn't end up in their very own entry.


Monday, June 2nd
, jeet
On Monday night around 11pm, I got a text from Gurj that her good friend Fran was in town from the UK and they were at 2nd on 2nd singing karaoke and that my presence was requested.   tags:fran jeet karaoke

, jeet
I immediately hopped on my bike and arrived in the midst of a Fran & Gurj duet. (Love this photo!)   tags:fran jeet best karaoke

, sarah lewitinn
Rest of the crew already in attendance!   tags:fran nick snow sarah

sarah lewitinn
Hahaha. What's more adorable than this little midget singing UB40's Red Red Wine...   tags:sarah karaoke

sarah lewitinn
...in her little stripey dress and super-short bangs that look like she let a little kid cut her hair.   tags:sarah karaoke

, sarah lewitinn
But in a good way, right? Sarah Wilson was in town with her fiance Tim, and she came to sing after Tim's band (Cursive!) finished playing a show.   tags:sarah sarah wilson

, jeet
Gurj and Cara.   tags:cara jeet duet karaoke


Nick Snow (looking like a Dr. Seuss drawing in this pic)!   tags:nick snow karaoke


Nick returning the mic.   tags:nick snow karaoke booth

sarah lewitinn
Sarah Flagpole-Sitting, of course.   tags:sarah karaoke

, sarah lewitinn
Sarah and Sarah sung a duet. I don't remember what it was and my flash is whiting out the lyrics on the screen.   tags:sarah sarah wilson duet karaoke

, sarah lewitinn
Looks like it was a dancey number, though.   tags:sarah sarah wilson duet karaoke

, brian battjer
And it apparently inspired us to take this photo in the middle of it.   tags:cara me


A little after 1am Tim showed up and did Gen X's Dancing With Myself.   tags:tim kasher karaoke sorta famous


It you're wondering if it was as awesome as you're imagining it was...it was.   tags:tim kasher karaoke sorta famous

, sarah lewitinn
Sarah and Sarah and another girl! Is another girl drunk? She looks drunk! That's it! I'm tagging this photo with "drunk!"   tags:sarah sarah wilson drunk karaoke

sarah lewitinn
"Oh." Yep, she's drunk! ;-)   tags:sarah drunk duet karaoke

, brian battjer
I think it's safe to say we're all getting a little drunk at this point.   tags:me sarah wilson crazy drunk tongue


Hahaha.   tags:duet karaoke


I don't know this gentleman, but his karaoke game (he's singing a jam from Phantom of the Opera) and his karaoke-face were both so strong, I had no choice but to take photos.    tags:karaoke strangers


And for the very last song of the night, Tim & Sarah closed it out with a duet of Summer Lovin'.   tags:sarah wilson tim kasher duet karaoke sorta famous


The Farewell Party.   tags:sarah wilson tim kasher duet karaoke

sarah lewitinn
Pics or it didn't happen.   tags:sarah camera


Tuesday, June 3rd
benjamin apple
On Tuesday night, I went to the UCB Theater to see Benjamin Apple's improv group perform.    tags:benjamin improv ucb


Thursday, June 5th

Yodle's old offices were on 8th Ave and 40th Street and one side of our office windows faced the New York Times Building. We were working in the late afternoon when the relative quiet was disturbed by all sorts of sirens. We looked outside and saw a huge crowd and a bunch of fire and police vehicles gathering at the base of the building.   tags:buildings nyc nyt building street


See the "Z" about halfway up the left-hand side of the building that's facing the camera? If you look just to the left of the "Z" you'll see a tiny white pixel. Do you know what that is?   tags:buildings nyc nyt building


How about I zoom in a little bit?   tags:best buildings climb nyc nyt building


A little more zoom...   tags:buildings climb crazy nyc nyt building


...all the way zoomed in and...HEY WAIT A MINUTE! IS THAT A FUCKING GUY CLIMBING UP THE SIDE OF THE GOD-DAMN BUILDING?   tags:buildings climb crazy nyc nyt building


Apparently, unbeknown to us, earlier in the day, someone had climbed the other side of the NYT building and this was the SECOND free-climber to scale the same building in a several-hour span!   tags:best buildings crazy crowd nyc nyt building


Check out the gridlocked insanity on 8th Ave. Looks like they're filming a Hollywood disaster movie or something.   tags:buildings climb crazy nyc nyt building

caitlin crisco
Later that night, Meredith and I went to the Bitter End on Bleecker to see Caitlin Krisco sing.   tags:caitlin band

caitlin crisco
She's an AMAZING singer. She and her band are getting ready to go out on tour this summer. Check out her bands' site - if they're coming near you, you should definitely check them out!   tags:caitlin band

, scott treude
And then on the way home, we stopped off at Otto's Shrunken Head because Scott Treude was playing drums in a rock and heavy metal karaoke band. Mike Blancaflor on the mic!   tags:mike blancaflor scott treude live band karaoke


Saturday, June 7th
meredith silverman
On Saturday evening, Mer and I had a light sushi dinner (and Meredith put chopsticks up her nose!)...   tags:meredith chopsticks


...and then we went to the roof party of someone she went to college with down on Ludlow.   tags:party roof


The view north up Ludlow from the roof.   tags:nyc roof street

meredith silverman
A little after midnight, Mer was ready to call it a night, so I bid farewell to her...   tags:meredith

, brian battjer
...and headed downtown to meet up with Nina and check out a new party the MisShapes were doing at Santos Party Haus.   tags:me nina


The place was fucking PACKED. After wading through the crowd all the way to the back of the venue...   tags:crowd dance santos

, leigh lezark
...we found this little elf who ushered us up into a little private area where Leigh poured us sneaky drinks OUT OF HER PURSE. Hahaha.   tags:leigh nina santos vodka


The view of the dance floor from the DJ booth. Ooof!   tags:best crowd dance santos


Sunday, June 8th
, brian battjer
The next morning, Nina and I got up super-early and took the A train out to Far Rockaway.   tags:me nina beach far rockaway sunglasses


It was completely and totally deserted and it was AWESOME. Crazy that this is beach is a 45-minute, $2-dollar subway ride away from Manhattan, right?   tags:beach far rockaway

brian battjer, meredith silverman
Meredith had spend the afternoon uptown at her parent's house. After I got back from the beach, I went to meet Meredith at their apartment...   tags:me meredith us


...because my parents had also come into town and both of our parents wanted to all get together and congratulate us on our recent engagement! Check out the cake!   tags:cake

, meredith silverman
Check out our dads (Chuck and Brian Senior!) helping light 'er up!   tags:dad meredith mr silverman

meredith silverman
Future Mrs. Battjer!    tags:meredith cake candles

, brian battjer, meredith silverman, stephanie battjer
Chuck took this great photo of the rest of us. Future in-laws!!!   tags:dad me meredith mom mrs silverman family


Monday, June 9th

On Monday evening I was leaving work and it was one of the nights where the sunset was almost aligned with Manhattan's street-grid. Pretty.    tags:nyc sunset


Friday, June 13th
brian battjer
On Friday night, Meredith and I went out to see a movie. We got out around 1am, and she decided to call it a night because we had to get up early the next morning to attend her cousin's wedding in Brooklyn. Me, I'm a bit of a night-owl, so I went over to Leigh's house where we did some pre-game drinking and wearing of women's vintage sunglasses from the late 70s.   tags:me sunglasses

brian battjer, leigh lezark
By the time we finally motivated to leave the apartment, it was 3am (which is pretty much the best time to start your night in our neighborhood because it's the hour when the invading hordes of visitors call it a night and head home!)   tags:leigh me sunglasses


We got to Hanger Bar around 3:30 and it was really nice and mellow. So I ended up playing pool with Nicole. Nicole is the arm-wrestling, shit-talking bartender at Hanger Bar. She totally acts like a big sister that's always trying to boss you around. After having failed to beat her at arm wrestling a few weeks prior (it was a tie!) she told me that she could beat me at pool and so it was on. TRICK SHOTS ONLY!   tags:nicole hanger bar pool


This photo makes me so happy. Hahaha.    tags:nicole hanger bar laugh pool


Hahaha. TRICK SHOT! I also love how this photo makes her look like she only has one leg. (I'm writing this two years later and she's married with a baby! Congrats, Nicole!)   tags:nicole best hanger bar pool

john f
Speaking of ONE LEG....ha! The best part about Hanger Bar (which has since closed down after not renewing the lease, noooo!) was that our friends owned it so after it closed at 4am, we'd usually hang around and keep on partying. After closing time, it it came out that John has really small feet, which of course led to him putting on Alana's shoes and showing off his MOVES! (Doing the sprinkler here, obvs).   tags:john f cross dress dance hanger bar

, john f
Hahaha. Alana was stoked, but felt that John needed a little something extra to complete his new "look."   tags:alana jones-mann john f coldlamp hanger bar

john f
Yep, there we go. Perfect. Hahaha. I love John's expression in this photo so much.   tags:john f cross dress hanger bar

, karen +1, leigh lezark
Gate-down after-hours!   tags:karen leigh nick m hanger bar

, brian battjer
Betsy and me.   tags:betsy me hanger bar

, john f
Nicole behind the bar and John pouring drinks!   tags:john f nicole bartender hanger bar

leigh lezark
Leigh!   tags:leigh

, john f, karen +1
John had heard me telling stories about how Nicole's really strong and that NO ONE beats her at arm wrestling and decided to try her on for size!   tags:john f karen nicole arm wrestle hanger bar

, john f, karen +1
She is freakishly strong.   tags:john f karen nicole arm wrestle

, john f
The worst part is when you'll be totally trying your hardest to pin her arm and it'll look like she's trying really hard to resist, and then all of a sudden she'll turn and start having a casual conversation with folks at the bar (or worse, start pouring drinks which I've also seen her do). So god-damn funny.   tags:john f nicole arm wrestle hanger bar

, john f
Check out the totally legit interlocking hand-grib on the bar. This ain't no joke, sheeee-it. Also, please note Nicole's expression as she summons the extra bit of power necessary to TAKE HIM OVER THE TOP! UNNNGGGGHHHH!   tags:john f nicole arm wrestle best hanger bar


End of the bar.   tags:hanger bar

brian battjer
Me being a bad lil' smoker.   tags:me cigarette hanger bar

john f, karen +1, leigh lezark
Summer time is the best.   tags:john f karen leigh hanger bar


By the time we called it a night, it was light out!   tags:afterhours hanger bar

, john f, karen +1, leigh lezark
Leigh thought Nick was getting fresh but it turned out to be John! Hahahaha. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G.   tags:john f karen leigh nick m hanger bar

, john f, karen +1, leigh lezark
Take two with 200% more glamor from Karen!   tags:john f karen leigh nick m hanger bar

, john f, karen +1, leigh lezark
Closing 'er down!   tags:john f karen leigh nick m nicole afterhours best hanger bar

karen +1, leigh lezark
Check out the truck parked right outside of the bar! I asked Leigh and Karen to strike sexy, slutty-girls-in-an-automotive-calendar poses and this is what they came up with. YES!   tags:karen leigh best truck


Karen hopped in a cab and headed up to to Union Square, while I kept walking east with Leigh. On the next block we saw one of those tiny Smart cars pulled over to the side of the rode.   tags:passed out strangers

leigh lezark
As we got closer we noticed two buddies inside totally crashed out and sleeping it off with the windows down! So sleepy!   tags:leigh best passed out strangers

leigh lezark
Awww, nappy-nap time! Nothing is funnier than trying to be really quiet around sleeping people that you're kind of fucking with and after I took this photo we were both laughing hysterically but also trying to be as silent as possible.   tags:leigh best passed out strangers


Because "silence" is the only necessity when you're playing a new game we invented on the spot called "Let's see how close I can get this camera to the adorably sleepy faces of these strangers sleeping in their tiny car!"   tags:passed out strangers


FOR THE WIN! As soon as this image showed up on my camera, we both started chortling and we came dangerously close to awakening our new friends and had to run down the street before our heads exploded with laughter. OMG, I'm crying with laughter right now while I type this. Holy shit, was it funny. (By the way, this is totally the right move in this situation. When I've passed out drunk in a car, I've always made sure to snap a photo of myself before passing out. Hahaha.)   tags:best passed out strangers


Cab ride home.   tags:driving taxi


The view up Avenue C on the way home! Yay, summer!   tags:driving sunrise

25 people tagged in this entry
alana jones-mann benjamin betsy caitlin cara dad fran jeet john f karen leigh me meredith mike blancaflor mom mr silverman mrs silverman nick m nick snow nicole nina sarah sarah wilson scott treude tim kasher

48 other tags in this entry
afterhours arm wrestle band bartender beach best buildings cake camera candles chopsticks cigarette climb coldlamp crazy cross dress crowd dance driving drunk duet family far rockaway hanger bar improv karaoke karaoke booth laugh live band karaoke nyc nyt building party passed out pool roof santos sorta famous strangers street sunglasses sunrise sunset taxi tongue truck ucb us vodka

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