Yay the holidays are over! I'm sitting at my desk with nothing to do on my lunch. Too cold to go outside, too boring to sit in cafeteria. Does anyone know if Roswell has a work out place or something for peoples lunch breaks? I really would like to do some cardio on lunch rather than be as (e:mrdeadlier) has coined a "fatty mcfatfat"! I'm sick of eating cakes and cookies and chocolates and more fat and more fat...i just wanna be lean and mean. Instead my ass is planted in this chair and the only time I get to move is in the gym which closes early because of the holidays when I need it the most. Stupid Holidays.

Thanks for the New Years Party (e:pmt). I would have liked to unwrap the gift that was on your couch that I saw in (e:metalpeter)'s pics. Great to see (e:ladycroft)! What a great surprise.

I'm looking forward to many changes in 2008!

BRRRR it is cold outside.

That's all.

I want to see this!



I love him!!!



I keep adding more vids. This wasn't isn't him, but I like it!



Hilarious, but definitely not Venamin.



I'm your number one fan Venamin.

I kind of consider this our first snow. Not sure if it is or not. Picture taken 12/16. It kind of felt like the first real snow to me.







Here is (e:mike)'s accident photos. It was a good thing that (e:paul) took pictures too, or else it would have taken you this long to see anything.







Poor Mikey. Look how sad he looks.





This is where it shows his car being towed away. Good bye nice car with the heated seats.....I'll miss you.

This is gross. I just dusted last Sunday. My DVD player is right next to the air vent. I'm going to get a new air filter as soon as I can. This is just not right. I was told that I shouldn't have to worry about getting a new filter, that someone would take care of it, but clearly this is wrong.




I just put vent filters on my registers. You are so lucky if you have radiators rather than forced air that comes from your nasty basement.

Here I am with my new hip hugger laundry basket. The picture in the inside show some woman figure with a laundry basket glued to her side like this.



My best friend and I went to White Trash Mountain. I actually don't remember the real name of the store, except it has mountain in it. People who like to hunt go there and they have lots of extremes. Lots of camouflage and lots of bright orange jumpsuits. Julie being a non-white and me being me, we stood out more than the bright orange-- don't shoot me dick cheney jump suits.



Here I am on this beautiful camouflage sofa. It is only like a thousand dollars. It would go perfectly with my decor.


I think this was in Macy's, but could have been Lord and Taylor. Mike would remember because him and his friends also tried on the coat and took pics! We didn't even know that we each had done so until after the fact. That is so weird how can two groups of people try on the same coat just to make fun of it. The damn fur is rabbit fur by the way!

To make me happy on Xmas all you need to do is give me a little filth. I love John Waters! This shot comes "straight" out of the About Gay Life Magazine's holiday issue. I feel like they know exactly what I want for xmas. Not only that, but they also have this awesome extension tool for your camera so you can ditch the mirror when taking shots of yourself. This was made for me...just look at my current userpic and this new one from Thanksgiving day. Honestly I would rather have a tripod, but that thing is totally cute for the vain photographer.







Cha Cha heels are all I want for Xmas! Scene from Female Trouble. Dawn Davenport aka Divine.

Elmwood Ave is changing. Out of town, even out of state investors are buying up the vacant properties. The fall of the US dollar will lure in Canadians especially with an advertising campaign including residents of Ontario. This Buffalo News article highlights some changes some of which appeal to me, others that don't. I'm sure (e:joshua) will love the Village Beer Merchant.

[box] Out-of-staters lured by quality, low price
By Mark Sommer NEWS STAFF REPORTER
Updated: 11/23/07 7:42 AM


Bill Wippert/Buffalo News




Elmwood Avenue is on a lot of radar screens.

It can be measured by new local businesses and particularly, interest from out-of-state investors.

Justin Azzarella of the Elmwood Village Association says some of the attention stems from being named one of the "10 great neighborhoods in America" by the American Planning Association in October.

"The amount of interest in the Elmwood Village, and this street, is huge," said Azzarella, the group's executive director.

Susie Lenahan, a real estate broker in MJ Peterson's new downtown office, concurs.

"The New York-Boston-Philadelphia- Washington, D.C.-type investor just can't believe how inexpensive the prices are here. They're seeing the buzz about Elmwood, and Elmwood has never looked better," Lenahan said.

A New York investment company has bought the Elmwood building that houses Ujima theater and the former Jimmy Mac's and Chef's Deli. Commercial property along Bryant Street, west of Elmwood, was purchased by a Boston company.

The popular shopping district, which is in a continual state of flux, continues to have vacant properties, but some hard-to-rent spaces have recently been leased. For example:

> Elmwood Market will open in the former DVD Dot storefront near North Street. Groceries, frozen foods, deli items and made-to-order subs are among the expected offerings, along with an outdoor patio and free deliveries to seniors.

Latina's, a supermarket on the same block in Stuyvesant Plaza, closed in April.

"This area is so vibrant, and we really want to be part of this new Buffalo," said Alex Alarshi, co-owner with Dale Ali.

> Village Beer Merchant, locating in the former Chef's Deli, will offer upper-end and specialty beers, as well as a deli counter and pastas.

> Bryant Street Cake Co., 291 Bryant St., will be housed in the former home of the old Buffalo Rome restaurant.

> Hunt Real Estate, at Elmwood and Breckenridge, will open a store for sales and rentals in 2008, allowing window shopping for a new home.

> Evans National Bank will go into the current Elmwood Taco & Subs, which is moving a few doors down to take over a former Burger King space.

> Pano's has received city approval for an expanded, twostory building, with a groundbreaking expected in early spring.

> Bank of America will relocate from Utica Street to an Elmwood storefront vacated almost two years ago by Pier 1 Imports. The bank, which is expected to open in the spring, will have a "faux second floor," a compromise worked out between the bank and the association.

"It's going to look like a twostory building, with the ability to build out if the bank should ever leave," Azzarella said.

Bel Cibo, which means good food in Italian, opened earlier this month on Elmwood Avenue near Bidwell Parkway.

> The plaza where Bank of America currently resides, next door to a recently closed Eckerd's drug store, will become a surface parking lot for staff of Women and Children's Hospital.

That decision has drawn a cool response from the association. "Surface parking is not a positive for an urban environment," Azzarella said.

> Bel Cibo, a casual, Italian- American restaurant, opened earlier this month in a location vacated 2z years ago by Sofra, a Turkish restaurant. It's best known for housing the longtime Soda Bar & Pastry Co. The owners are Marty Palame and Buck Kaber, who also own Mode at Elmwood and Utica.

> The eclectic gift store Neo recently relocated near Elmwood and Utica from its longtime home on Allen Street.

> Firebrand, a sneaker boutique, has opened on Elmwood near Breckenridge.

To boost holiday shopping, the Elmwood Village Association is distributing 46,000 guides about the commercial strip in subscription-based mailings in southern Ontario and Western New York. Canadian shoppers have been pouring into the Niagara Frontier because of the decline of the U.S. dollar.

"There's been a really big uptick in Canadian shoppers," Azzarella said.

A much wider distribution - as many as 300,000 pieces - is planned for the spring.

msommer@buffnews.com
[/box]

Already I feel that Elmwood is not what it used to be. Many of my favorite businesses are gone. Pier 1 although a chain was somewhere I could enjoy going to, but a bank I have very little interest in. I feel that the banks already here more than suit my needs. I don't have to wait too long when going to the teller. Same thing with a real estate office. I love the space that they are moving into where Feel Rite used to be. Now it will become absolutely useless to me and many other city residents. Increased traffic could considerably change commute times for everyone. To me the thought of economic growth is exciting, but it concerns me that residents may not be able to take advantage of the growth. I really just hope that our interests are not sold out to outside investors.

This 10lb hairball was surgically removed from a women who obsessively ate her own hair. It is called Tricophagia. Ten pounds is like the size of a huge baby! It really just makes me want to vomit.

This guy I talked to today was 15yrs old and wanted to quit smoking. He really wanted to stop and he made me think of myself at 15 years old and smoking. He also started very young at like 12 years old. I pleaded with him to stop and told him how much I wish I stopped when he did. It was nice to feel like OK maybe I didn't stop at that age, but that this guy could and that I could help him. That feels nice. I think I'll try and call him to check on him. It is so hard to stop at any time but I really tried to tell him how much harder it will get if he waits. I told him about all the smokers who wish they stopped earlier.

I'm not for prohibition, but I think cigarette advertising should be illegal, and that the manufactures not be permitted to add anything to the tobacco leaf. This is a major crisis in our country and in the world. New York State's goal by the way is to reduce smoking prevalence from 19% to 12% by 2010. It is a lofty goal, but I believe it is a good one.