...sometime after Europe...

 

 

 

 

Charles the backpacker is no more.

 

 

After calling a place home for almost 20 years, it was pretty shocking
coming home to a new "home".

 

 

The office.

 

 

We got a yard now... and my mom has a new hobby.

 

 

The dogs next door. They bark incessantly, but it actually doesn't bother
me much. It's not as bad as the neighbors' barking at the old place.

 

 

Backyard.

 

 

What a difference moving to the other side of the pond makes.

 

 

Ducks in a row.

 

 

A dead fish.

 

 

Nathan getting back into his indoor rock climbing thing.

 

 

Newport is known for its mansions and stuff... yawn.

 

 

Perilous.

 

 

Peril-less.

 

 

Crabs, anything with more than 4 appendages freaks me out.

 

 

Not exactly Ireland.

 

 

A llama.

 

 

The eurotrip heart logo mystery solved.

 

 

Dustin hangin' out. He moved down to Florida... adios amigo.

 

 

My mom working in the backyard.

 

 

I hate spiders.

 

 

I love my cat.

 

 

Black Friday shopping with Nate. I really controlled myself this year.
Usually I buy hundreds of dollars in stuff I never really needed. Maybe
I've grown as a person.

 

 

Nate finally bought a digital camera.

 

 

Dusk.

 

 

Ghis at wushu now. Things have changed.

 

 

The most horrible toupee ever.

 

 

That hand looks ridiculously large.

 

 

Snowbunny.

 

 

Gary Hoey, guitar shredding extraordinaire performed an incredible
Christmas set in Manchester.

 

 

Some band.

 

 

Forget guitar hero, Gary Hoey is a guitar god.

 

 

Skiing up at Mt. Snow in Vermont. The wind chill temperature on top
of the mountain was a mind numbingly cold 15 degrees below zero.
The bandana became a frozen weapon.

 

 

Seth's friend, Zippy.

 

 

It was so cold that the rest of the winter hardly bothered me.

 

 

It was so cold that even the manager called it "dangerous conditions".

 

 

It was so cold that even I... Mr. picture taker had to muster a ton of
will power to take my hands out of my gloves to snap a few shots
before they got numb within 5 seconds.

 

 

Rich also moved into a new house and moved on to the Xbox 360.
I'm out of the loop now. Goodbye late night video game camaraderie.

 

 

Wine & Cheese event... right.

 

 

My best friend.

 

 

Two things I tackled on my spare time, the Rubiks cube
and learning Japanese... one I've mastered.

 

 

Ever since I posted my travel journal online, I keep on getting emails
from strangers asking for travel advice .... like I'm some kind of
travel expert. It's sort of fun answering them actually... maybe I
should become a travel agent.

 

 

Holiday party with the folks at Kenpo. Sifu Tyler got an award
for PAL Volunteer of the Year... Congrats!

 

 

Free food... and not just any food... Steak!

 

 

Kentucky Alex and his GF Sheila came up to visit. They're not unhappy,
I just forgot to say smile.

 

 

Wushu Nancy's husband opened up a new pool hall in Ellington.
Marco and I went to play a few times... almost felt like the old days.

 

 

My last longish hair day on New Years Eve.

 

 

I'm happy the cats adjusted to the new home so fast.

 

 

Princess Francesca.

 

 

Rich and Alison at the Blue Turtle. The mall changed too, opening up
a classy bar/lounge/recreation establishment. Nothing like the good
ole' days at the Timeout arcade though.

 

 

I won.

 

 

Winter in my backyard.

 

 

Chinese people are weird. This was during some Chinese New Year
performance the wushu school performed in.

 

 

Well... that's new.

 

 

Mariana and her son and mom. Her mom is really awesome, very
interested in travel and culture like me.

 

 

Some night skiing at Ski Sundown.

 

 

Is that really the most comfortable position?

 

 

Civic Center for the women's Big East final.

 

 

Cheerleaders... they look like they're ripping apart.

 

 

Uconn loses to Rutgers. Pretty much the whole Uconn basketball
season, men's and women's, sucked.

 

 

Nathan's sister, Julie came home on leave from the Airforce.
A memorable night of ups and downs and ups and downs and ups
at Mohegan Sun.

 

 

This was one of the downs. "I'll have an 18 year scotch," says Nathan.
Little does he know he also just ordered a $22 scotch.

 

 

It better be the best fuckin' scotch he ever had.

 

 

Bored at home.

 

 

What do you think this is? A hotel? Stop getting your
hair all over my clothes!

 

 

I raided Nathan's refrigerator and found a pot
of bones... please explain.

 

 

umm... okay.

 

 

Trespassing.

 

 

Newport.

 

 

Staredown.

 

 

Underpainting of the first painting I've started in
a year and a half.

 

 

A Manchester fire truck.

 

 

People canoeing in the river behind my house.

 

 

Must you climb everything?

 

 

Nate's old house... random memory.

 

 

Rusted.

 

 

Unyielding and uncomfortable.

 

 

Drive up to Vermont... for some Killington skiing action.

 

 

Woohoo, Gondolas (the non-Venitian kind).

 

 

Rich is white.

 

 

We stuck to the green courses... amateurs. It funny how the green
trails in Vermont are as challenging as the black diamond ones in
Connecticut. Connecticut sucks.

 

 

The snow was so white and the scenery so perfect that it felt fake.

 

 

And away I go.