Hey, if you are not an atheist, tomorrow could possibly be a big day for ya. That's right, it's Ash Wednesday for you. The whole idea of Lent intrigues me, at least the idea of giving something up for a limited time. Ditto with Ramadan, but the idea of not eating all day is not my idea of a fun sacrifice. Not often you hear those two words together now in days...

"Hey kids," says the medieval pagan, "gather the goats and that virgin over there, it's time for a fun sacrifice!"

"Huzzah!" cheer the kids.

No, that's not what I am talking about. Every time around this year, I am always tempted to jump on or off the drinking wagon, whatever the right term is. There was this time I was hanging out with a band member of Brave Combo, and he didn't believe in Christianity, but he still did a holiday away from the sause, just to cleanse the system and such. I've always been impressed by that for some reason. Could I spend 40 days plus Sundays, hanging with my friends drinking virgin gin and tonics, and not seem like one of those righteous non-drinkers I so abhor? And what exactly would I gain from this act? This is usually where the thought process breaks down and I decide to not celebrate Lent. Sacrifices are so.... non-palatable.

My thoughts are also on the strange abutment of decimation and celebration in the New Orleans, as the floats of Marti Gras meander through the old town that safely floated above the flood, while below... well, you know what's going on there. LINK. I'm for the celebration; if I lost my house, I'd sure want a party to take my mind off of things.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 11:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For all y'all who read this and have not heard the news, I am heading to Australia come May. Eric and I have been planning to leave our great apartment this year, and this is how the cards have fallen. He is getting hitched and I'm going on an epic walkabout.

I really can't make much fun of Eric and his new fiancé status because I am going on this crazy trip for this girl, Christy. She is down there for a few months getting here MFA in painting, and I thought it would be fun to hang out there for a while. Maybe do some self-education, freelance, and perhaps some crocodile wrestling. Maybe I can pick up a couple of Australia's amazingly deadly snakes they have.

Here is the obligatory cute couple picture. Of course, I look like a fool here, but it's the only one I can find this morning.

So yeah. 2006 is going to be a big year.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 12:10 PM | Permalink

My roommate is now a fiancé. Last weekend his girl, Lynn, made him a really nice dinner and once they were digesting in the bedroom, she popped the question. He said yes. They're getting married. Woop! No more bachelor pad references at our crib...

They have no wedding date set in stone yet, but they are leaning towards having the big day in December. I'll pass on the info when I know it. And it's pretty likely that he'll pass it on to you directly.

Man. I came back from a three day weekend of Vermont skiing with a terrific story of a 360° flip on ice—with a fist sized bruise on my ass to boot—and he pulls this on me. What a trump card. For some reason people would rather talk about his ring than look at my bruised butt.

Hope to see you at the wedding.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 12:48 PM | Permalink

Good lord I have been slacking on writing in here. I am sorry. I have no excuse.

Well, since I last wrote—and as you probably already know—it snowed like the dickens this weekend. I was surprised to see that the Times was taking pictures out where my and many of my folk were out sledding on Sunday. Lookie here, that one girl in the intertube was really annoying because she kept running into us. There always is someone who can't control themselves on the slopes.

There was also an epic snow fight on Saturday night, before the snow got too fluffy to make good snowballs. I also did a late night blizzard trek through the mile-long Prospect Park meadow on Friday to get back home. Not too many people out there for some reason. It got to the point were I was concerned about getting frostbite on my cheeks, but thanks to my hoodie no skin was lost.

So much for winter being over. It was too good to be true.

Posted by Colin J Allen at 1:06 PM | Permalink