New Pictures

I've uploaded pictures from this month, including Mothers' Day and Memorial Day Weekend.

From Steve & Kathy's BBQ on Sunday, pictures at Flickr.

From Mothers' Day & Memorial Day with my family, pictures at Yahoo Photos.

All You Need is Some Water and Sunlight

This picture is amazing...Notice the contrast in brightness between the area within the rainbow and around it.

EDIT: This picture has been removed from the original link. A smaller version can be seen here.

New Photos

I've added new pictures from Thanksgiving and my 10-year high school reunion to my online photo album here.

New Pictures

I went to Penn State with friends this past weekend. We had a lot of fun, although our beloved Lions lost against Notre Dame. Also, the weather was beautiful, aside from a quick shower late Saturday afternoon.


You can view all my pictures at Yahoo Photos.

Some Pics

I still have many Disney pics to put online, but here are a few other recent ones in the meantime.

The following two are from a night out in Philly at Fado's Irish Pub:

It was *almost* like a high school dance...girls at one table,
guys at the other...
except for Adele and Nancy messing it all up!

Also, you can see pictures from my friend Lauren's wedding here.

Disney pics coming soon!

Congrats to My Sis

My sister, Kelli, graduated from high school this past Friday. It was a very nice ceremony and a beautiful day. Something very funny happened when one student's name was called out to receive his diploma...someone in his family blew an air horn in the church! Fortunately, it wasn't a mass, just a ceremony, so most people laughed.

Anyway, below are just a few of the pics taken after the ceremony.

Kelli, the Graduate

3 Sisters - Colleen, Kelli, Erin

Kelli with her friends, Mari & Meghan

With our Mom, Dad, & Mom-Mom

Peace, Air

The Twins

New Pics

I've added new pictures online from Pearl Jam's June 3rd concert in East Rutherford, NJ. I went to this concert with my friend Patrick...we had an awesome view from our floor seats! One of the funniest things we saw that night was crazed fans running from one merch stand to the next, looking for posters that were selling out all too quickly. We decided not to join the poster people, though...we bought a few cool stickers instead.

You can view my concert pics here.

My Eventful Week

I just got back today from visiting my sister, Erin, who lives outside Baltimore, Maryland. She's been bugging me for quite some time to come down and stay for a few days, so we finally made it work for the both of us. While I was there, I went to the community college where she works as an Athletic Trainer. She even put me to work on the computer for a little bit...well, actually, I volunteered. It was very impressive to see her in her element. She's very good at what she does (which I already knew), which has earned her the nickname, "Dr. Erin."


She, of course, apologized for dragging me to work with her, but it wasn't all day long...really only a few hours on each day, Tuesday and Wednesday. With all the new things to look at, and the overall quiet in the training room, it gave me plenty to learn about while I was there. And well, I somehow always manage to keep myself busy.

I met some of her co-workers and colleagues, and saw some of the facilities. Her friend & co-worker, Kate, stopped in a few times to say hello, and we visited her as well. Overall, I didn't mind being there because I received some much-needed therapy on my lower back. So, I can't complain.


Going to Erin's training room wasn't the only thing we did...far from it, actually. On Tuesday night, we went to see Pearl Jam at the Verizon Center in Washington, D.C. I had bought a pair of Fanclub tickets and decided to take Erin as an early birthday present. She hasn't seen them since 1998 (yikes)...and so, it was about time! This also worked out perfectly in planning my visit. We took the Metro down to DC a little ahead of rush hour, and made it down there around 5:15. After picking up my tickets at the Will-Call window, we had to wait until just about 6:40 for them to open the doors...people outside were hot and tired of waiting. Upon getting in, we rushed to the merchandise stand so I could get my poster and a t-shirt.

We then went to get some food to bring to our seats, in hopes of catching an acoustic pre-set by Eddie Vedder. When we got down to the floor, I was happy to find out exactly where my seats were (as I had not looked at a seating chart since I picked up my tickets)...we landed 10 rows back from the stage, dead-center! I was flying high (on life only!). While we waited, I pointed out some of Pearl Jam's road crew and security to my sister, who looked at me with a mix of marvel and fright. Not more than 20 minutes after we sat down, sure enough Eddie came out and performed a cover of Cat Stevens' "Don't Be Shy." Many seats around were still empty, so we were happy to catch the pre-set with a great view and without being bothered.

They played a very good mix of songs...hitting every album from their first, Ten, to their current self-titled one. The setlist was as follows:

Set 1: Release, World Wide Suicide, Severed Hand, Corduroy, Animal, Do The Evolution, Given To Fly, Low Light, Unemployable, Grievance, Even Flow, I Got Id, Present Tense, BetterMan, Inside Job, Wasted Reprise, Life Wasted, Why Go, Rearviewmirror

Encore 1: Man Of The Hour, Masters Of War (by Bob Dylan), Small Town, Come Back, Alive

Encore 2: Comatose, Leash, F***in' Up (by Neil Young), Yellow Ledbetter/Star Spangled Banner

A note about "Betterman"...it was a beautiful, re-worked version, starting out slower with a piano intro by Boom Gaspar. Because I can't comment on all the songs, I'll say the highlights for me were: the overall mix of songs, calling the opener ("Release"), hearing the intro music to Ten as the band walked on stage, the re-worked Betterman, Matt Cameron throwing drumsticks out to the crowd and them landing not even 5 feet from our seats, hearing "Leash" live for my first time, hearing "Inside Job" live (amazing!!) and, of course, seeing the concert with my sister. Even though the guy behind me spilled beer on my chair and the back of my leg, I had a great time...Pearl Jam never disappoints.

Wednesday was my last full day in Maryland. In the morning, I had an opportunity to meet some people at an educational writing/editing company that I've done some freelance writing for. Erin's friend, Jocelyn, works there...she's the one that got me started on the freelancing, so she invited me to come in and see around her office. Then, the three of us spent the late afternoon and evening walking around the Inner Harbor. It was a beautiful night considering we had sweltering hot days this week. We had hoped to make it into the Baltimore Aquarium, but we ran out of time. That will be the plan for the next time I visit my sis...Thanks again, Air!!

You can see the above pictures and many others from the concert in my online photo album.

Family Pics

As is the tradition for most Sundays with my family, we get together for dinner, usually at my grandparents' house. Here are a few pics I took this afternoon as we enjoyed the beautiful weather outside.

Poppy & Mom-Mom

Me and my cousin, Gina

My sister Kelli, Gina, and my Mom

My cousin, Julianna and her cousin, Timmy

Some Garden Pics

Garden stones that the 7 grandchildren
made 8 years ago!

Total Eclipse of the Sun

While many of us in the United States were still asleep early this morning, there was a total eclipse of the sun visible to some parts of the world stretching from South America eastward to Asia. NASA has a lot of information available on their website, along with pictures and video clips.
Here is a short blurb from NASA:

This year's eclipse is also special because the total phase lasts over 4 minutes at the center of the path. This is quite long for a total solar eclipse since most last just a minute or two. The next total eclipse,on August 1, 2008, will be seen in northern Canada, Greenland, Siberia, Mongolia and northern China. It will last about 2 minutes. The next total eclipse visible from the United States won’t happen until August 21, 2017.

At Exploratorium.edu, you can view an archived webcast of the event in addition to reading a wealth of information regarding the eclipse. There, you can also see an image explaining the narrow path of totality.

Finally, ABC News has a brief slideshow of pictures for viewing here.

New Pictures!

I've put two new photo albums online. Click the links below to view them:

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• Tommy's 30th Birthday Celebration

• Carol's Bachelorette Party

UnHappy Valentine's Day to Me

Not only is it Valentine's Day (which already sucks when you don't have a valentine) but I have to spend it in pain, and virtually immobile. Somehow, this does not seem fair. Unfortunately, I now have a pinched nerve in my back which is causing this pain. I've never had it as severe as this...I've had back problems for quite some time now, due to being in unfortunate car accidents, but this is something very different. Usually, I just experience bad aching in my lower back, which I've learned to manage after going to physical therapy. This, however, is actually a sharp pain that stretches from my lower back down into the back of my left leg. I am worried that it could be my sciatic nerve, because it's stopping me from moving certain ways and makes me feel as though my legs will give out when I stand.

I really didn't feel anything until Sunday night when the shoveling was done. Honestly, I don't think it was the shoveling that did it, though. I think it was from trying to pull the snowblower up our driveway, or from lifting something the wrong way. I can't really be sure. It wasn't the kind of thing where I was doing something and all of a sudden, I couldn't move. It was just something that came on after heading inside for the night.

After speaking with my sister, who is an Athletic Trainer, she advised me to keep putting ice on it, to not lift anything, and to sit and sleep with a pillow or two under my knees. She also wants me to do some light stretching. I'm kinda surprised that this is happening to me now. I would have expected something like this after I was injured in an accident a few years back...but not now when I've been exercising 5 days a week and keeping up with exercises from PT specifically for my lower back. I just don't get it. I'll most likely be going to the doctor if this doesn't get better soon.

Well, anyway, enough complaining for me. I am going to go find myself some chocolate and peanut butter and try to find something on TV that has nothing to do with V-day.

Oh yeah, here are some pictures from our recent party at Tom & Jon's place. Enjoy!
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My Pictures of the Recent Nor'easter

Here are just a few pics that I took on Sunday, while we were digging out. It was still snowing lightly, although the bulk of the heavy snow came late Saturday afternoon into the evening.

Stunning Pictures of Ice

Even though these pictures are a year old, I just discovered them in December. My sister had sent me an email with a PowerPoint file attached. It was a slideshow of pictures from a January 2005 ice storm in Versoix, Switzerland (near Geneva) in the Léman Lake area. I literally have never seen anything like this before and can't imagine what it would be like to experience it. I've found a few places on the net which capture the ice beautifully. Have a look for yourself:

• Jean-Pierre Scherrer's Gallery

• Daniel Rychcik's Gallery

• Nicolas Tardif's Gallery

• Anonymous Gallery

• Link to the PowerPoint show (look under "Ice Storm")

A Promise Kept

Okay, so my buddy Tom reminded me that I never uploaded my pictures from our November Virginia trip into my photo album...I apologize, Tom...I can be a little absent-minded once in a while. So, in keeping my word, here are the uploaded pictures. And, don't be afraid of the demon...she's harmless.
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Holiday Pictures

These are just a few of my recent pictures from Christmas and New Year's Eve. You can see all of my crazy holiday pictures in my Online Photo Albums. I never realized how many times my camera was hijacked...

My Recent Visit to Virginia

I forgot to post these pics from a couple weeks ago. My travel buddy, Tom, and I went down to VA for a weekend, to visit Alicia & Tommy. Below are just a few of the pics I have. Within the next day or so, I'll be putting the rest up in my online photo album.

The girls--Alicia & Me--at dinner

The boys--Tommy & Tom...aka Tom²

Alicia & Tommy with their new dog, Shadow (a lab-dachsund mix)

I just couldn't resist!!...Shadow reminds me so much of my first dog, Pappi, who died when I was 10.

A pic at the Civil War Museum, where we went sightseeing