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December 2, 2007 :: Welcome to Wintertime

Winter finally struck the Great Northeast this weekend with blustery blizzards dropping a fluffy layer of pretty white snow all over this region of the US. The temperatures had been dropping steadily over the past several weeks so it was only a matter of time before the precipitation turned from wet rain to freezing rain and finally to snow.

A couple weeks ago I went out to Los Angeles, CA to visit Logan and my friends from NBC Universal: Paul, Erick, Jayzen, Michael, and Tim. It was funny to see people in thick winter coats when the temperature there was in the 60°'s (F). I told my friend Paul, who's originally from NY/NJ, that I was disappointed that he had to wear a coat at all in that weather. Haha I guess I should give him a break since he's been in LA for almost a decade. :)

Paul gave Logan and I a tour of the Universal Studios Theme Park and Backlot where several movies and TV shows are filmed. It was great to get a tour from someone on the inside as opposed to the standard tourist tram ride. He was able to tell us a lot more history about some of the rides, shows, and sets that we wouldn't have gotten otherwise. We even got to go inside of the house where Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds starred in the "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas". It was so neat to be inside of the very house.

Later that night the gang of us went out on the town in West Hollywood. Despite all the times I had gone out there to visit Logan, this was my first time actually going out at night. It was fun. I even got to sing karaoke at one of the bars before having to get up early the next morning to head back to New York. That was one thing I had wanted to do in life, just because...there's extra excitement when you're singing in a city where you never know if an entertainment scout of some kind might like your performance and change your life forever. Haha of course that didn't happen to me, but it was just as exciting!

Since coming back from LA, I haven't done too much traveling other than to NYC, Upstate NY, Hartford, CT (to see Wicked the musical...which was amazing!), New Haven, CT and today I'm getting ready to head out to Boston, MA to see one of my best friends, Craig. I make my pilgrimage to Boston around this time every year, even if it's just for a couple hours, to take part in his annual holiday dinner. It's always good to touch base with the crew out there and especially to see Craig and his sister, Holly.

Before we know it Christmas will be here and then New Years. 2007 has flown by! I've traveled like a maniac both for work and for play. I'll be based in New York City for my first assignment in 2008, so perhaps there won't be as many trips in store at least for the first part of the year. That's after, of course, going to Orlando, FL in mid January to see...January :) Good times ahead!

Cheers,

M@
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