Perfect Little Planet Blog!!

Something's Missing...

2011-03-26T21:00:00.003-04:00

If you checked my blog this morning, you would have seen 88 posts. But now, including this one, there are only 58. So where have the other 30 posts gone? No, I haven't deleted them. They've been moved to an exciting new blog.

Isa and I were talking the other night, and she reminded me what this blog was originally set up for: to tell the stories behind the pictures I take and put up on PerfectLittlePlanet.com. If you've read any of my posts in the past year or so, you'll know that I've strayed, posting about everything from Hannah Montana to Wicked the Musical.

In my last post, you learned that together, my wife and I are "Brisa." We decided to create a new blog about our life, called Everything Brisa. On it, we'll post about everything we like: food, travel, touristy things we do in New York, and random things that happen in our lives. I've moved all the posts about us from this blog to that one, comments and all. (Cool that you can do that, huh?)

Stay tuned to this blog, since I'll be updating at least once a week with back-dated travel blog posts with pictures that I never put up, like from my 2-week trip with friends through Italy, a 10-day solo trip through London and the Netherlands, and quite possibly some really old ones from Angkor Wat and my month-long trip through Cambodia and Bangkok, Thailand. Older blogs should still come up in your feed or on Google Reader. Let me know if you don't see them and I'll just post them with today's date instead of back-dating them.

Long Layovers (New Zealand and Venice Beach)

2010-11-22T21:00:00.005-05:00

My father's 60th birthday was just on November 15, so Isa and I flew back to the states to celebrate it with him (along with the entire family) in Disney World. We spent a week in Orlando. It was fast-paced, hectic at times, but totally worth it and super fun. But that's not what this post is about.

On the way to Orlando, we stopped in Auckland, New Zealand (for those of you that just got REALLY confused, Isa and I are currently living in Australia). It was way fun! We slept in the airport, which has an upstairs skydeck that is really quiet and peaceful and as far as we're concerned, made for sleepovers.

We started out on the floor by our bags there, and then took over the benches when they left for their flights. We had about 18 hours in New Zealand, and this was about 2am. So the next morning, we woke up and took a bus into town. We walked around Queen Street, which is their main street, but it wasn't all that interesting (although possibly because we were there on a Sunday, so maybe it's better on weekdays).

Isa had a great idea to take a ferry over to one of the neighboring suburbs - Devonport. It's such a cute little town with great views of the City.

We explored the fort on the hill and ran through the tunnels. It was a lot of fun and I'm really glad Isa saw the deal to get us out there. There are a bunch more pictures up on Facebook, so you should check those out too. After hiking around and lazing in the sun for a while, we headed back to the ferry and back into town.

And then we took the bus back to the airport and embarked on the rest of our 46-hour journey.

Less than one week later, and probably only a day or two after we fully got over our jet-lag, we headed back to Australia. This time, we had a 10 hour layover in Los Angeles. I got a message saying the newest Del Sol store had opened a few hours earlier in Venice Beach. So we found a bus and headed to the beach. Venice Beach is hippie-ghetto. It's a little crazy, to say the least. But the sand was nice and it was a beautiful day.

After a bit of wandering, we found our destination:

The store is in a great location. It's right on the beach, right in front of the skate park and where everybody hangs out. We hung out with them for a little bit, checked out the new fixtures and merchandise (we love new designs and stuff) and then headed to the beach/skate park to watch the sunset.

I love that picture, and then Isa pointed me over to a lifeguard station to get this picture:

After the sunset, we grabbed a bite to eat at a local cafe and then headed back to the airport. We had no time for another excursion in Auckland on the way back (they actually held the plane for us because our flight was a little late getting in - we were picked up by Air NZ staff and walked VIP style right to the gate and right onto the plane).

So hooray for long layovers!

Longest Flight Ever

2010-10-27T19:57:00.002-04:00

Not to spoil the ending, but WE'RE IN AUSTRALIA!!!

Getting here took a lot longer than anticipated though. So here's the full story:

We started off in New York, with a direct flight from JFK to LAX. Not bad, but it's so sad that they don't serve meals on flights any more. And we got on at 5pm, so they definitely should have fed us dinner.

It was at LAX when the flight started getting interesting. First, we thought LAX would have everything JFK does. Like lots of food. We were wrong. In our terminal, there was one option - some sort of bar/cafe thing - and our slice of pizza and lettuce wrap totaled up at $13. How ridiculous is that? We couldn't wait to get on the plane to get some real food.

We boarded the plane and found our seats in front of some rather rowdy kids. I hoped they would fall asleep soon, as it was nearing 11pm, otherwise this would surely be the longest flight ever. But instead the pilot told us something fell off a luggage cart, and they're checking the damage or something, and we need to just stay put for a bit. Thirty minutes later, they told us to get off the plane and wait in the terminal for further information. Still no food. Still starving. While waiting, we discovered a window so we could see what happened:

Somebody drove the luggage cart into the engine of the plane and they PUT A HOLE IN IT! So they cancelled the flight (after another half hour of waiting). They told us they'd provide hotel vouchers and to come back in the morning. We waited a few minutes because we knew there'd be a line at the counter, but we were not prepared for what we saw when we came around the corner. I didn't realize how many people could fit on a 747 until I saw them all in line in front of us. Isa and I, still starving, decided to play cards (BullS***) to pass the time. Two hours later, completely delirious (because we hadn't slept in about 24 hours) and weak (because we hadn't eaten in 14 hours) we got in the now dwindling line to get our vouchers. Happy to be on the way to a bed, we stepped outside the terminal into another mob of people - waiting for the shuttle bus from the hotel.

We decided to sit on a ledge to wait it out, and we managed to work our way to the front of the mob to get on the second bus (no doubt thanks to the skills we've picked up getting on the bus at 161st Street - people in the Bronx do not believe in lining up for the buses). This dropped us off at La Hacienda, into another line (but this time of only about 150 people or so) waiting to get rooms. Another 45 minutes or so passed until we finally got a room around 3am. Around 3:15 came a knock on our door - the hotel given our room to another family - but we invoked the "first come, first served" rule and sent them back to the front desk.

Four hours later, I woke up for breakfast - the best part of my journey so far (we never did get to eat anything else the night before) - and it was wonderful. Eggs, bacon, sausage, hash browns, toast, jams, orange juice, everything. I ate. And then ate again. And then I made a plate and brought it back to Isa so she could have breakfast in bed.

We went back to sleep for a few more hours and then woke for lunch (the airline had called the hotel and told us to be back by 2pm for a 4pm departure). Still groggy, a little stinky (they kept our luggage - and even though we had planned to carry everything on, they wouldn't let us take on anything over 6 kilos - that's about 13 lbs - so we couldn't brush our teeth or change our clothes) and completely out of it, we went back to the airport, through security, and found our flight was delayed again.

By this time, we're starting to recognize other people on our flight so we pass the time learning other people's stories - some on honeymoons, some going home, others on ridiculously cool vacations - and playing cards until we finally board again around 5pm.

I thought the flight went pretty fast. I watched three movies and Isa read the Hunger Games (I've since read it too. IT'S AWESOME!!) and before long, we were crossing into a part of the world I've never been:

The Southern Hemisphere!!

That's right, on all my travels, I've never been over the Equator. So I was pretty dang excited about that. And then just a few hours later, we crossed the international date line, and Sunday night turned into Monday night, just like that. We arrived in Fiji around 11pm, but all connecting flights had already left by then, so the airline had to put us up in another hotel (as much as we were excited to stay the night in Fiji, we were not excited about another line for another hotel voucher and then another line through customs). At least we got our bags so we could shower and change and brush our teeth. We woke up in the morning to find this our our balcony:

Not bad, Fiji. Not bad. Isa and I woke up early and went for a walk to see the beautiful countryside. The airline told us to be back at the airport by 7am for an 8am flight, so we couldn't go too far. But we saw enough to know that we definitely want to go back. :)

So 7am came around and the lady at the ticket counter told us that our flight to Brisbane was way overbooked and she asked if we would like to stay in Fiji another night (or maybe even two nights) all expenses paid until we could get on a flight. Oh decisions, decisions. Ultimately we decided that we were already a day late for work in Australia and we shouldn't make them wait any longer. So they put us on a different flight through Sydney, and then continuing on to Brisbane via Qantas Airlines.

But they didn't tell Qantas. So when we got to Sydney, Qantas said they had no record of us, and they wouldn't allow us to fly until they had signed paperwork from Air Pacific. Which we didn't have. They put up enough of a fuss that we missed our flight to Brisbane. Eventually they found us and put us on a later flight.

We finally made it to Brisbane around 5pm and ran onto the train to the Gold Coast. We had no phone, and we hadn't had internet since La Hacienda, so nobody in Australia knew where we were or when we would arrive. So when we finally got to our train stop over an hour later, not only was nobody there to get us, but nobody was even in Surfers Paradise. They were all in Brisbane, and could have easily picked us up from the airport, but we had no way to contact them. :(

So we got on a bus which promised to take us to Surfers. In deed it did, but we didn't know where to get off, so we went straight through Surfers and continued on to the next town down the coast. Our bus driver laughed at us when we told him where we were headed, "You should have gotten off 20 miles ago" but he let us stay on the bus until it made its return trip.

We hopped off and wandered the streets of Surfers Paradise for a little bit until we found our store. One of the employees showed us the way to our apartment. And we made it. 62 hours after getting on the subway to the airport in New York, we arrived at our little apartment in Surfers Paradise, Australia.

Here's a pic of Isa on the beach the next morning:

If you want to see more of that trip (as if reading that ginormous account wasn't enough), feel free to watch it on my youtube page: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i9LCxYHUIE

The High Line

2010-09-19T21:48:00.004-04:00

I've wanted to go to the High Line ever since I saw the plans for it in a special exhibition at the MoMA years ago. Finally, Isa and I made it down to the Meat Packing District to check it out. Basically, the elevated tracks were used for freight trains in the 1930's, but they soon fell out of use, and nature had its way with the structure.

A few decades later, New York Parks came out and tamed the wilderness and put paths, benches, and railings in so that we could enjoy it.

And it's got a sweet view of the Hudson.

So if you're in New York, you should definitely make the trek out to the High Line. It's one of the most unique parks I've ever been to. A perfect combination of two of my favorite things to photograph: nature and architecture.

New York City for a Week

2010-08-17T20:57:00.005-04:00

After a month in Canada and a week-long road trip through the West, we finally made it back home to the Bronx. It's nice to be home. :) After a few days to relax, we headed down to New Jersey for my Nana's birthday party.

The whole family gathered down at Aunt Jeanmarie's house for the party, which also doubled as a birthday party for Uncle Peter, and a 25th anniversary party for Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Patty. But as much as we love all them, it was an excuse for us to be stupid on a diving board.

After failing miserably at no handed cartwheels, barrel-roll dives, and 1 1/2 flip/dives and hitting the water at various painful angles (watch the video I put together of all our craziness), we played some wiffle ball and ate A LOT of food.

Sunday we went to church and to Chris's Spartan Race. If you don't know what a Spartan Race is, watch this video. This is how Chris looked at the end of the race.

Monday was our only day to play in the City, so we took our Key to the City (remember that?) and went over to the Cathedral of St. John the Divine and opened a side chapel there. This was our second time there. We went with Esther and Marie a few months ago and climbed to the top. It claims to be the largest cathedral in the world.

After that, we went to Bryant Park for our favorite use of the Key. We turned on and off one of the lights. This light:

Super fun. :) I'll post a video of that soon.

Then we went home, packed, and took off on a plane for our next adventure: Florida. Stay tuned for that fun story soon.

Temple Square to Las Vegas ROAD TRIP!!

2010-08-11T19:13:00.004-04:00

After Spokane, Isa and I flew down to Salt Lake City to see friends and stuff. Isa had never been to Utah (or Vegas) so we wanted to do and see as much as possible. So we started out at Temple Square. If you haven't been there, you should go. It's really pretty and not just for mormons. We were there on a Friday so we played "spot the bride" most of the time. There were plenty of newlyweds around and it's always fun to see (and judge) the wedding gowns they chose.

I had never been up to the top of the church office building, so we did that. It's really cool and offers fantastic views of the capital building, the temple, the grounds, and the conference center.

The guides up top are also full of cool little insights too, so I highly recommend you talk to them. For example, did you know the capital building is built on a foundation of rubber pillars, allowing it to sway up to 2 feet in any direction in case of an earthquake (which is apparently long overdue).

After a day in SLC, we took off down toward Vegas. We made a stop in St. George to go on a little hike. We went up to Snow Canyon and hiked the sand dunes (which are super cool and really fun to see the wind whipping across them - and then pelting you which is not as fun) and then we went over to Jenny's Canyon. It's a really small canyon, but it gives you a good example (albeit on a MUCH smaller scale) of what Zion's canyons look like.

After our hike, we went on to Vegas, which is always farther than I think. If you've ever driven to Vegas, you know what I mean. I always think, "This is it... Just up and around this bend and you'll see Vegas." And then it's still not there for another 50 miles. Boo. But we finally made it and visited with my little brother Jason and his family (wife Christy, 3-year-old Ty, and baby Madison Jayne). We went to dinner and to see their new house (a ridiculous 5-bedroom house that they can actually afford because of the housing crisis in Vegas) and then we headed in to play on the strip.

We saw the volcano explode at the Mirage, we walked through the Venetian through the Grand Canal, and of course we saw the water show at the Bellagio.

Vegas has also changed a lot since I was last there. The whole new Aria and City Center right in the middle of the Strip was new to me. And I don't remember the Encore next to the Wynn either. But of all the new things that I noticed, probably the most surprising was a wonderful little restaurant out front of Caesar's Palace. (Go ahead and click on the picture to enlarge it.)

Yeah! Serendipity 3 is there now, complete with $10 Frrrozen Hot Chocolates. MMMmmm. Vegas baby, YEAH!!

Music!!

2010-07-02T13:18:00.002-04:00

I finally caved and decided to add music to the blog. I followed the lead of people that are cooler than me (Elisabeth and Tyler - although they recently took down their player, which made me a little sad) among a few others that I read.

What do you think? Hate any songs? Love any of them? Should I add/delete any of them?

Followers

2010-05-11T00:37:00.004-04:00

Ok, I've been on Blogger for years, and I've always felt they should do something like YouTube where you can subscribe to people's blogs so I can be notified when my friends update their blogs or post new things or whatever. It wasn't until today when my new friends Jordan and Chad showed me the little "Follow" button at the top left of the screen. So YAY!! I'm now following everyone I know about that has a blogger and I'll be leaving comments and I'm a happy little blogger right now. :)

If you have a blog on here then leave a comment and I'll follow you too. And here's a little picture of me and Isa, just for fun. :)

I don't know if I'm allowed to post wedding pictures yet, but this is my favorite. Actually it's one of my favorite pictures ever, not just out of the wedding pictures. So props and many thanks to my good friend and very talented Selena Moshell for sticking with us into the cold dark Central Park December night to get this picture. You're the best.

Culebra

2009-03-03T00:07:00.007-05:00

Culebra is a little island about halfway to St. Thomas. When we bought our tickets in the morning, they told us that the return ferry was "conditional." Basically, if the weather turned any worse they would cancel the ferry and we'd be stuck on the island for the night, and Isa would miss her flight back to New York the next morning.

We figured it was worth the risk. :)

The ferry ride over was crazy. The people on the top deck were screaming like they were on a roller-coaster. I thought the boat would flip a few times. Way fun.

The island was gorgeous. We went straight to Flamenco Beach, which apparently is rated as one of the best beaches in the world. I beg to differ, but whatever. What do I know about tropical beaches, right? It was pretty, but one of the best, I don't know.

The coolest part of the beach were the abandoned tanks out on the LEFT side of the beach (not the right, as Isa and I found out when we hiked all the way out past the rocks into the bees nests and found no tanks).

At the end of the day, there wasn't a cloud in the sky and the water was calmer than a lake, so we had no problem going home:

El Yunque

2009-02-28T22:57:00.006-05:00

Yay. Isa came down to visit me. :)

We went out to El Yunque. This is the only tropical rain forest in the US. It was amazing. I've never driven though anything like it before. My favorite part was all the bamboo. I don't think I've ever seen bamboo growing in the wild. It was pretty exciting for me. You know, I'm pretty simple to amuse. :)

We went out and hiked to a waterfall and then continued up (off the trail) along the river. It was fun.

You should watch the video: I swung from a vine over a river just like Tarzan. It was awesome.

Puerto Rico

2009-02-23T11:14:00.007-05:00

Woohoo! I love this island! I've only been here a week but it is quickly becoming one of my favorite islands. The people here are great, the energy level is high, and the island is beautiful.

I've been working a lot, but I just went and explored Old San Juan yesterday. I'll post a video on YouTube shortly, but here are some pics to start out with.

This is El Castillo San Felipe del Morro (watch my video about it):

And this is my apartment. Pretty sweet, huh? :)

NYC Update!

2009-01-28T17:43:00.004-05:00

Hey Everybody,

I'm just sitting here in my apartment trying to stay out of the slush and it occurred to me that I never told you about the final decisions regarding our Greece/Turkey trip in March. Well, you know how the news does the New York Minute? Well here's a New York Update in under a minute (as long as you can read faster than me).

We couldn't make Turkey and Greece work. Sad, huh? :*(

So we're going to Italy instead. :) I'm so excited. It will be 7 of us all together. Five from the original Europe trip (five years ago - oh my gosh has it really been that long?) and then two husbands. They're cool too, and we're all really tight, so it'll be a great trip. We'll be spending two weeks there, starting March 15 and going through to the 31st. We start in Milan and go up to Lake Como, then down through Cinque Terre to the Amalfi Coast (Positano, yay!) all the way down to Sicily and back up to Rome. I am so excited to get back to Italy I can't even tell you.

Also, there are several store openings in the works. I'll let you know about them as soon as I know for sure.

And that's all the time we have for today folks, tune in next week for more exciting adventures! :P

Top of the Rock

2009-01-23T22:56:00.005-05:00

I don't care if you're a tourist or a local, you need to go to the observation deck at Rockefeller Center. It's called the Top of the Rock and it's amazing. This was my second time up, Isa's first. We went up for sunset tonight. No lines. No waiting. I love New York in January. :)

They also added a very cool room with lights that can sense where you are and they follow you around. Here's a little clip so you get the idea, but you seriously just need to go see it for yourself.

Road Trip for Selena

2009-01-07T22:44:00.005-05:00

Florida is LONG!!

So my friend Selena dances (well, danced) at Disney World in the Animal Kingdom. This weekend was her last performance. She sent out a blog and invited anybody in the area to come see her dance and also go to her house afterward for a party. And I thought, 'Hey, I'm in Florida. I'm 'in the area.' I should go!' So I committed. It wasn't until I was planning out the hours that I realized just how far that was. It took me about 8 hours to drive it. Eight hours!! Going up wasn't that bad since I was excited to see her and her show. I really didn't want to leave though.

It's funny to think about that if I were in New York, and she was performing in DC, I never would have driven down because DC is SO far away from New York. But in actuality it's only about 4 hours. Half the trip! But because we were in the same state, my mind just assumed it was in "the same area." haha

Well I'm so glad I went. The show was absolutely incredible. Selena was amazing. She got us backstage to meet the cast:

They actually brought me out on stage for part of the show. I loved it!! The party was super fun too and their house was unbelievable.

I borrowed Adam's camera and I also used some footage from Selena's dad's camera to make a video:

Happy New Year

2009-01-02T18:33:00.002-05:00

I'm in Key West, which is apparently the third largest gathering for New Year's in the US (behind NYC and Vegas). I don't doubt it. There were a ton of people on Duval St. last night. It was insane. Instead of a ball that drops, they lower a drag queen in a ruby slipper at midnight. Unfortunately, I am sans camera. I broke it in St. Thomas. :*(

I'm using my new Blackberry (I got the Storm just before I left for St. Thomas - it's touchscreen and very cool) to take pictures and video, but it doesn't hook up to my Mac (seriously Blackberry, what's up with that?) so I can't get them to you very easily. If I figure it out later, maybe I'll come back here and put up some pics or something, but honestly, I doubt it.

So if you want to see the craziness, just google Duval St and look at pictures. Know that the pictures will probably not be safe for children.

Oh, funny story. So the other day I was at the grocery store and the checkout person was a drag queen. So he/she checks me through, and as I get my bags I notice that none other than Elvis was behind me. So I stopped and stared for a minute as Elvis bought his groceries from a drag queen - Only in Key West.

St. Thomas!!!

2008-12-28T08:23:00.003-05:00

I've been offered a lot of positions here, but I turned them all down. I've always wanted to come here, but none of the jobs ever felt right. So finally, thanks to Sky and Steph (remember them from Juneau?) I'm here.

And it feels so good. The second I climbed out of the airplane and the humidity enveloped me I remembered how wonderful it feels to be warm. And sitting here on this balcony looking out over Yacht Haven makes me seriously wonder why I ever left the Caribbean. I do miss New York when I'm gone, but man, I love the Caribbean.

St. Thomas is a crazy little island that is so third-world that I can't believe it's technically a U.S. territory. They have a lot of work to do: no clean water and massive crime being the two most glaring issues.

But overall, I'm loving it. I'm glad I'm just visiting because I don't think I'd like to live here. I'll still take Aruba any day. But St. Thomas is definitely a fun place to be for a while. You can see some of my adventures here: WATCH THIS VIDEO.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-24T09:05:00.002-05:00

I probably won't have internet tomorrow because I'm not home and I can't tell you where I am yet because I haven't held the contest yet for my youtube subscribers. So I'm wishing you a Merry Christmas today, even though it's only Christmas Eve.

And I wanted to show you this. For all of you that live in or around NYC, you'll really appreciate this:

Hope your holidays are as fun as mine. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-27T07:12:00.003-05:00

Although it's just another normal day up here in CANADA!! Yeah, I'm in Edmonton. Well, West Edmonton actually. I opened a new store here in the largest mall in North America. It's actually pretty cool. The store is located right next to the largest indoor waterpark in North America (Dubai beat them on both records - I can't wait to go there).

I never left the mall (I'm leaving to go back home in about 30 minutes). Ok, I left once. To IKEA. Don't you just love IKEA? Mmmm. But as far as adventures go, not here. I finally went exploring yesterday. I went to the amusement park and rode the roller coasters and elevator ride from hell thingy (you know the one that shoots you straight up 150 feet and then you drop down and then back up most of the way and down again).

I didn't really take any pictures because Edmonton is pretty flat. Just plains. Calgary looked pretty cool (we flew through there) and I hope I can go back there some time (update! I did). I took a bunch of video in the mall, and maybe some time I'll put it together and put it up on YouTube, but for now you just have this blog saying, "I was there."

:)

New England Fall Foliage Road Trip

2008-10-27T18:28:00.005-04:00

Whew. That's a long title.

Isa had a performance (she plays the violin) up at her old school in Massachusetts. So I rented a car and we road tripped up there. Her school's campus is beautiful:

And the road there and back was pretty too. We had a good time.

**Update**
I made the video. It's a little different than my normal style. But I still think it's ok. I'll let you judge for yourself:
Click here to watch the video.
Also, if you'd like to see Isa's full performance, click here.
She's amazing. :)

New Job, New Trips

2008-10-23T18:49:00.004-04:00

So I just got a new job with the same company that I've been working with for the last few years (Del Sol). I'm opening new stores for them. Whenever a new store opens, they'll send me out and I make sure the store and computer systems are set up properly, I train the staff, managers, and owners, and then I work with them for a few days until they're all comfortable.

I just got back from Sedona, AZ and I'm going to Edmonton, Canada next month.

Sedona was cool. I've been there before (that's where my coyote story comes from) so I was excited to go back. Unfortunately, I was working the entire time and I was unable to take time to go on a hike. Here are a few pictures I took while I was there though:

Home, Sweet Home

2008-10-07T14:12:00.002-04:00

I'm back in New York City. I love to travel, and I love to meet new people, see new places, and have new experiences. I always love everywhere I go, but I always come back to New York. It just feels like home here.

Mt. Jumbo

2008-09-24T21:09:00.002-04:00

Can you tell that the season is winding down? What is this, my fifth post this month? It's exciting when I have time to explore and go on more adventures. Sky, Steph, and I took off early today to hike Mt. Jumbo. This is the tallest mountain on Douglas Island (across from Juneau) and actually a fairly difficult hike. We had to do it fast to beat the sunset, but we made it (of course). Here's a picture of Juneau from the top, and I'll put up the video as soon as I make it.

Swimming with Icebergs

2008-09-20T17:51:00.003-04:00

Some day I'll look back on this and laugh. No wait. I'm already laughing about this.

Skyler and I decided that we would not leave Alaska until we had swum out and touched an iceberg. I'm not completely sure what we were thinking, but there's no stopping us once we had decided.

Isa made me do a lot of research last night on hypothermia and how long it takes for body parts to start shutting down in cold water. It's really interesting, and EXTREMELY IMPORTANT if there is anybody in my audience that plans on doing this in the future. Keep in mind here that in water that cold, your body starts to shut down after about 2 minutes and you DIE at 30 minutes, so 15 seconds is LONG ENOUGH, thank you.

We got warm clothes on and jumped into a heated car immediately after this. Our legs were still tingly for about 45 minutes after that.

We did this as a joke, but seriously, that water is nothing to be trifled with. Sky and I are both excellent swimmers in really good condition. If you plan on doing this, make sure you'll survive before you get in the water!!

Do your research: Click Here to Learn More about Hypothermia

Ok, now you can watch the video:

Ice Caves

2008-09-17T23:13:00.004-04:00

First, just check out this picture:

Ok, now we can proceed. So remember that time that I hiked up the west glacier trail in sandals? Well we passed a local that told me that I need to stick to the trail and not venture out onto the glacier. She said that, "Anyone who hikes on the glacier in sandals will die." So I heeded the warning and when we set out this morning to hike on the glacier, I intended on wearing sneakers. But I'm not a morning person and we got up so early (around 9am!) and I brought socks but forgot my sneakers. Oh well, I tried.

And then I got tired of wearing sandals and eventually went barefoot:

Overall, it was a fantastically fun hike. You can watch the video to find out if everyone who hikes on the glacier in sandals will, in fact, actually die:

Holy Crap!

2008-09-10T02:05:00.004-04:00

I just saw a bear! He looked kinda playful and I toyed with the idea of petting him, but ultimately decided against it. I would have, but people talk about how dangerous bears are here as much as they talk about how bad the water is in Mexico. So I didn't touch him, but I did take a picture with him. :)

**Update**
This is Friday night, now. I just ran into a mama bear and her two cubs. Now that one scared me. A lot! So I made a video about it:

Tracy Arm

2008-09-05T22:19:00.002-04:00

Now this was cool. If you have the time (it's pretty much an all day excursion) I highly recommend going to Tracy Arm. Here are some pictures, and I'll ~~embed the video later~~ (see sad update below):

**Sad Update**
My computer crashed and I lost all the video footage from the Tracy Arm trip. I had my film camera and used that a lot, so I didn't lose the entire trip. However, it takes me FOREVER to develop pictures, so you may not see those shots until some time in 2009 (2011 update: still not developed).

I Saw A Glacier!

2008-08-20T19:11:00.003-04:00

I've been insanely busy. Sorry about not posting for a few weeks here. And now I come in with a weak one. But whatever. We went over to Mendenhall Glacier and we hiked up the west glacier trail (in my sandals) and I took one of my favorite pictures to date:

Hope you're all doing well and for those of you getting ready to go back to school, I'm sorry. But good luck.

Juneau and then some

2008-07-29T00:26:00.003-04:00

So remember back in April, I made a list of things that I was planning on? They all came true. I went to Utah, I had dinner with my aunt, I went to Sitka and made it ridiculously successful. Just thought I'd update you on that.

I'm probably not going to run the marathon though.

Last week they moved me up to Juneau to help run the store there. It's bigger and faster paced, with anywhere up to 6 big cruise ships in at any given time. I love it! The added ships, coupled with my trying to catch up on two months of sales, means I'm working about 14 to 18 hours a day. So if you're coming from YouTube and you're wondering why I haven't uploaded a video until now, there you go.

I still go back to Sitka every few weeks to check in and to see friends. Sitka still feels like home, much more than Juneau does, at least.

The season ends here at the end of September. I'll probably be back in Utah for a day or two, and then fly back to NYC. I plan to be in the City before October 5th.

Plans are in the works for Turkey and Greece in March/April next year. I'm stoked. :) That'll give me about 4 months (minus the christmas season) to get my book published (it's all done, I just have to mail it to my friend Savannah out in London for her review).

Life is very good. I'm extremely happy with how everything is playing out.

Leave a comment if you have any questions that weren't answered.

Heart Lake

2008-07-13T18:50:00.002-04:00

I bought a bike.

When I was younger, I rode my bike over 75 miles across the Finger Lakes in upstate New York. I swore I would never get back on a bike again. And I've done pretty well with that promise since then. But it just seemed like the right thing to do up here: you know, being all "back to nature conservative-y" and stuff.

So my friend and I decided to test it out. We took them out to Heart Lake. It was a fun bike ride even though it was pouring like nobody's business. When we finally got to the lake, we were completely drenched.

So we decided to jump in. I know. I know. What were we thinking, right? I don't know. It seemed like a good idea at the time. It was FREEZING!!! But definitely worth the experience. :) Here's a video so you can experience it too:

Happy 4th!!

2008-07-05T01:12:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday America from Sitka, AK!

Indian River Falls

2008-06-18T21:38:00.004-04:00

My roommate Bryan and I (Matt wouldn't go after last time) hiked Indian River Falls. Don't let the guidebooks fool you. It's a LOT longer than they say. But we were determined, so we made it all the way (I've already been beaten by one hike this year, I wasn't about to lose again - btw, I haven't forgotten about Verstovia, I'm still planning on beating it some time). Go ahead and watch the video and then I put some pictures below too.

Still Alive...

2008-06-05T23:58:00.001-04:00

Before my mom died, I used to call her after all my big adventures and tell her all about them. I would always start with the same line: Mom, before I get into this story, I just want you to remember that I'm talking to you right now. I'm alive and well with no serious injuries. Everything is ok. I thought it would help her keep things in perspective.

I've gotten myself into some serious situations before, but I always knew I would survive. Maybe not come out unscathed, but survive, yes.

Not so today.

We hiked Harbor Mountain today and things turned bad surprisingly quickly. We (my roommate Matt, who will never hike with me again, and I) hitchhiked out to the trailhead. The trail goes up and over the far side of the mountain, and then it comes down the near side into town and it's just a short walk to our apartment from there. As usual, no map, no water, no anything. At least I wore shoes. :) Well, we lost the trail at the top, and then found it. We went down this trail for about a mile or so and then it dead ends. So instead of hiking back up to the top and searching for another trail, we decided (rather foolishly, in hindsight) to just cut diagonally down the mountain towards town. We almost fell off cliffs, we both got cut up pretty badly, and there were several times when I wasn't real sure we were going to make it off alive. The one good thing is that we're in Alaska, so at least I knew we would never run out of sunlight. :)

But I'm alive and well. And I'm talking to you right now, so everything is ok. :)

**Update**
Here's the short video:

**Update again**
My Mac crashed so I lost all the footage I had on this and so I won't be able to post the longer version like I had intended. Sad, huh? But at least this one was already up.

Starfish? In Alaska?

2008-05-28T20:02:00.002-04:00

Yeah, they're everywhere. I don't know why but I always associate starfish with warm waters. Perhaps it's because I never saw them in New England, but I'm more familiar with them in the Caribbean. But yeah, they're here:

And if you have a minute, you have to go check this video out. My friend Elaina and I were walking around and saw a Limousine for sale, so we took it for a test drive. :)

Busy Busy Busy

2008-05-18T22:50:00.001-04:00

The store is open, cruise ships are coming, tourists are shopping. Life is good. We had a solid opening and I'm really impressed at how successful we've been thus far. I hope it keeps up.

But I'm not going to talk business on here. Just wanted to let you know that I'm super ridiculously busy and I haven't been able to explore much lately. But I will. When have you ever known me to go somewhere and not make time to get out there and have some crazy adventure, right?

For now, you can have this picture, which we took yesterday out at Indian River:

Oh so picturesque...

2008-04-22T22:23:00.003-04:00

Happy Earth Day!!

Sitka is BEAUTIFUL!!!

Just thought you'd like to know that my camera is happy.

By the way, that last picture of St. Michael's Church has Mt. Verstovia in the background. And we know from last week that the snow at the top is at least waste deep. :)

Oh, and I just posted a contest video on my Perfect Little Life channel. So if you want to try and win some free stuff, go over there and guess where I am. Well, where I was when I took the picture, you know where I am now. :)

Verstovia Beat Me

2008-04-15T21:08:00.001-04:00

Happy Tax Day!

So yesterday, my friend and I attempted to hike Mt. Verstovia. It's a beautiful mountain just next to Sitka. The base of the mountain (like all of Sitka) is a rain forest. So it's muggy and it gets rather warm when you hike. But then it cools off as you ascend the hill, and then it starts to snow, and then you're up to your waste in snow and it's an all-out blizzard. My friend stripped down to his shorts at the base and he was too stubborn to put his pants back on when it got COLD. I was in jeans and sneakers, so although I was not completely prepared, I was in better shape than he was. :)

I've never been on a hike where the weather and hiking conditions changed so dramatically in such a short amount of time (our entire time on the mountain from base to "top" back down to the base was about 3 hours). This is also the first hike EVER in my life that I have not completed. We couldn't make it to the top because of the weather conditions, although we came dang close. You can watch the video and decide for yourself if you think we should have proceeded.

My personal favorite part of the hike, aside from the rapid descent in the snow, was my hat. :)

Enjoy:

Try to Keep Up...

2008-04-02T00:54:00.001-04:00

Here's the plan:

Wed, April 2 - Fly to Utah, hang out with friends (WOOHOO!!)

Thurs, April 3 - Training at Del Sol HQ, dinner with my aunt

Fri, April 4 - Fly to Sitka, Alaska

April through September - Design, Build, Merchandise, Employ, and Open a new store, and make it ridiculously successful.

Sun, October 4 - Run the St. George Marathon. Hey, why not?

:)

AK Here I Come!!

2008-03-19T23:01:00.001-04:00

I know I quit to come back and live in New York, but my old company (Del Sol) just offered me a great opportunity. I'm going to be opening a new store in Sitka, Alaska. Apparently it's about 100 miles south of Juneau. It's a big island (over 4000 sq mi) but it's a small town (pop. 8000 from what I can tell). That's definitely gonna be a shock from living in NYC, but I think it'll be a fun experience.

I leave the beginning of April, so in just a few weeks. Don't you love how quickly my plans change?

Save a Child

2008-03-07T22:44:00.002-05:00

I totally just sponsored a child. :)

Every day, I convince the good people of New York City to give me, a random stranger, their credit card information with a promise that they are making a difference in a child's life.

They do it. Even though I hadn't done it. But now I actually have the authority to tell them to do it, since I have my own child now. Here's a picture of her:

Her name is Marjorie, she's from the Philippines and she's 10. That's all I know for now, but I'll get more info in a week or so and then I'll keep you updated.

By the way, this definitely solidifies the Philippines as a future destination in my travels. :)

If you would like to sponsor a child, click here.

I love NYC weather

2008-02-26T00:00:00.002-05:00

My new job has me working outside for 7 hours every day. Rain or shine. Or snow. Or sleet.

So last Friday when I woke up to 4 inches of snow, I bundled up layer upon layer and went to work.

Saturday was a little different. It was nice in the morning, but then it got bitterly cold. It snowed for about an hour and then that turned to rain. Then it cleared up and got warmer, only to drop below freezing about night time.

Today was about 45 degrees and beautiful - definitely sandal weather. I went to my dad's house and he still had snow in his driveway (he's been away for a few days). So my brother and I shoveled the driveway and the sidewalk. I had never shoveled snow in my sandals before. That was fun.

Hiking Gone Wrong

2008-02-16T14:00:00.004-05:00

I posted this last week on youtube, but I thought I should put it up here on my blog because it is directly related to my exploration of our Perfect Little Planet. It's the "Hiking Gone Wrong" saga from Mexico. I think only my mother saw the original videos that I posted a year and a half ago. If you haven't seen it yet, it's a little over 6 minutes long, so get comfortable and hit play:

I'll post another story tonight. So if you're reading this on Sunday or later, click here.

Thanks for watching!!

I challenge you!!

2008-02-06T01:18:00.001-05:00

Click here to try to beat my best kick in Monkey Kick-Off!

I know. This is a random post. It's ok. It's late.

'08 is Great

2008-01-02T23:01:00.001-05:00

2007 was a great year (Aruba and my book). It was even better than 2006 (Mexico and PHX). Which definitely beat out '05 (Utah and NYC). Which somehow managed to squeak by my amazing 2004 (Europe). Which was able to top my incredible 2003 (Cambodia/Thailand). And I'd venture to say that that beat my 2000-2002 (the mission). And '99? Graduation and Disneyworld. '98? That's when I got cancer.

It seems that cancer started the most wonderful snowball effect in my life. Every year gets progressively better than the previous. Not that '98 was a low point in my life at all. That was also a great year. It just makes me wonder: how good can it get? I have an idea that I haven't seen anything yet.

'08 is setting up to be (yet again) the best year of my life:

- I got an apartment in the Bronx. How cool is that?
- My book is done. Now I can work on getting it published. I wrote a book. Seriously, that's so cool to say.
- I have a vision for my website. I just have to make it a reality.
- I am LOVING youtube. I love the community and I love making videos and people are actually watching them. :) That makes me happy.
- I'm finally going to be somewhat "stable" (I have the apartment, hopefully I'll actually live there) so I can have an actual relationship. DOWN WITH FLINGS!!

Just thought I'd share. I am really excited about the future.

I hope your '08 is even greater than you imagined.

Jack's Book is Done!

2007-12-26T22:49:00.001-05:00

Hey everybody,

I finished Jack's Book on London early Christmas morning. It was a fantastic Christmas present to myself.

It ended up being 221 pages, which is 67 pages when you put it in 8.5 x 11 format. I've reread parts of it, and I love it. I hope you will too.

Please let me know if you want a copy by sending an email to brian@perfectlittleplanet.com. (2010 Update!! You can buy one now for just $10 on Amazon.)

I'm really ridiculously proud of it, but I know it's not perfect. If you see something I should change (spelling, grammar, or entire parts or stories) please let me know. I plan on reading it this week and I know I'll be making changes too.

Woohoo! I'm done. :)

The Pacific Ocean is COLD in December

2007-12-12T23:19:00.002-05:00

So I went exploring today and ended up at Asilomar Beach at the tip of Monterey Peninsula watching the surfers and enjoying the sunset. I had no intention of getting in the water because the sand alone was ridiculously cold, I couldn't even imagine how cold the water would be. But it's been almost 6 years since the last time I'd touched the Pacific, so I figured I'd just put my feet in.

You know the rest of the story, don't you? I got my feet wet and it was FREEZING!! But I saw the surfers and I got a picture in my head and I ended up going pretty far out into the water to get the picture. You can watch the video here:

Don't you love the music?

I also put two videos up on my PerfectLittleLife channel. One is from my day at FDNY's Fire Academy with Chris (my brother). It was so much fun. Click here to watch "FDNY Fire Academy" video.

This last video is one that I am extremely proud of. It's a compilation of clips from 30 locations in 8 different countries. I've been putting it together for over 3 months. It's a response to a questionnaire posted by Michael Buckley, one of the channels I subscribe to on YouTube. I made it into a game so you can watch the video and try to guess what city or even country I'm in, and you can learn a little about me as I answer the questions. Click here to watch this video.

Let me know what you think.

California

2007-12-06T23:37:00.001-05:00

Yeah, I'm in California. I'm in Monterey, a little town about 2 hours south of San Francisco. My company sent me here to help out a store for a few weeks. I plan on being here until mid-January.

I hope to be able to visit some friends in Sacramento, but I'm working 10 and 12 hour days, so I don't know how possible that will be. I'll keep you guys updated.

I'm still working on a few videos from New York. I'm trying to decide if I should still post the video I took at the Macy's Day Parade. It's a little late now, but what do you think? Do you still want to see the floats and Santa Clause riding down Broadway? I also have a video from my day at FDNY's training academy on Randall's Island. That was cool, and I can't wait to put it together to show you all.

I'm just about to post a video project that I've been working on for about 3 months. As soon as I post it, I'll send out an email to the mailing list so you can watch it. It's a video with random info about me and it contains clips from 8 different countries. I thought it would be fun for you to see what places you recognize. It should be easier for you, since you know what countries I've been to recently.

I'll be back in NYC for New Year's (just for 3 days, then back to Cali). My older brother and I just got an apartment in the Bronx, about 2 blocks from Yankee Stadium. So now I am officially a resident of NYC. Feel free to come visit any time. :)

Euro Trip

2007-10-25T19:01:00.001-04:00

Hey everybody. I'm just procrastinating. I'm supposed to be packing for my trip out to Europe (I have to be at the airport in 6 hours) so I decided to update my blog instead.

I'm extremely excited for the trip. I'll be by myself, so if anybody happens to be reading this and you're in the London area some time in the next week, shoot me an email at brian@perfectlittleplanet.com and we'll go do something.

If you're not in the London area, you can feel like you are every day by watching my daily vlog. I'm planning on making a video every night I'm out there of what I did during that day. If I post it at midnight there, it'll be about 6pm EST, so check it out each evening. The link for that page is youtube.com/perfectlittlelife. (Update: Click here to go to the London playlist)

I'll be back on November 13th, so if you're in New York or CT around then, let me know and we'll hang out then.

Talk to you all later.

Love, Brian

Phoenix

2007-09-27T15:01:00.001-04:00

So I got a buddy pass to fly stand-by to Phoenix. I checked the internet before I got to the airport and both available flights were soldout. I didn't have anything to do, so I figured I'd show up anyway and give it a shot. I have pretty good luck, so why not, right?

So I get to the airport and I tell the checkin girl my plan and she laughed at me and told me there is no way that I'm getting on the flight, but she gave me a pass to get through security anyway. I show up at the gate and the guy looks at me like, 'Are you kidding?' But I joked around for a while with him about how I have nothing to do today and I've got my iPod and I'll just kick it all day and if I don't make either flight, I'll just go home and try tomorrow. He ended up changing my priority and hooking me up a little, but he told me that he still didn't think I'd make the flight.

Five minutes before the flight they still hadn't called anybody (no stand-by's, no missing people from the flight) and then the announcer came on, "Passenger Ciccotelli please report for boarding." What?!! I ran up there and he laughed and said I'm the luckiest person ever. I ran down the tarmac tunnel to the end but the girl shut the door before I got there and the sign said "Departed." I banged on the door but she couldn't hear me and they moved the ramp away from the plane. Luckily, another employee was in the tunnel with me and she unlocked the door and let me out. I ran to the plane, stopping them from putting up the stairs, and I ran onto the plane. "Do you have an extra seat?" All the way in the back, one open seat. I hadn't even gotten to my seat before they closed the door and the plane started moving about 2 minutes later.

Whew.

So now I'm in Phoenix.

I know, it's been a while

2007-09-19T00:31:00.001-04:00

So, a few things have happened in the last two months. Here's a list:

1. I'm no longer in Aruba. I finished my contract with Del Sol and I came back to America. I'm currently in Utah, but only for one more week. To see the constantly updated plans, go to perfectlittleplanet.com/plans. In the next two months, I'll be in 5 states and 4 countries.

2. I'm addicted to YouTube. I now have two channels, both of which you can get to from the links at the top of PerfectLittlePlanet.com. The first (youtube.com/perfectlittleplanet) contains videos I make while out on my adventures. The second (youtube.com/perfectlittlelife) has all the videos I make while just hanging out with family and friends. This will also have my vlogs whenever I start doing those.

3. I'm no longer using my pc. I bought a mac and I LOVE IT!! It comes in especially handy while making my videos and putting up pictures on the website. Everything is so streamlined... iTunes, iMovie, iPhoto, and everything else works together so well it makes editing so easy.

4. PerfectLittlePlanet is now widescreen- and mac-friendly. Woohoo.

5. Lots of new pictures have been posted to the Aruba slideshow.

6. I shrunk all the original photographs used for my slideshows to stop people from downloading them. I'm in the process of changing the site over to a business. The slideshows still look the same, but now if you want a size suitable for your desktop wallpaper or something, you need to email me and ask for one. They're still free for now, but we're heading away from that direction.

7. The book is on the front burner and I'm just about half way done. I'll be in London at the end of October to put the finishing touches on it.

8. I finally got an iPod (it came with the new computer). I've reached a whole new level of happiness that I didn't think possible. Seriously, you guys have no idea how long I've wanted an iPod, but I could never justify spending the money to buy one.

9. Now that I'm back in the states, I don't use MySpace that often. Everyone I know is on Facebook though, so I have an account there and I go on every day or so, but I don't really understand it (all the applications and stuff).

10. I'm currently designing a logo and a theme song for PerfectLittlePlanet. I'm excited about both of those and I'll keep you posted as they progress.

That's all for now. Hope you're all having a wonderful day.

Love, Brian

New Stuff!!

2007-07-22T19:03:00.001-04:00

Hello!

I added two new pictures to the Aruba slide show, including one of my new all-time favorite pictures. It's a sunset picture taken at Moomba Beach. Besides the colors being incredibly vibrant, I love the couple holding hands on the bottom left of the picture (you have to really look for them, it's subtle, but fantastic). I think they make the picture that much more romantic.

Also, I added a new video entitled "Lost Keys". It's a combination of the three part series I posted a few weeks ago. I just made it nicer and added some music (now that I know how to do that). :) So check it out because it's fun. (2011 update: Oof, not my best work. It's amazing how far I've come with editing and video making skills.)

I'm also going to add another video about the abandoned plane I explored today. It was very cool, and I thank Grant and Janae for pointing it out to me (although it sits just 20 feet from a road I travel at least twice a week, I had never seen it in 6 months of driving past it).

And if you haven't seen the Transformers movie yet, go right now. Turn off the computer and go. It's awesome.

YouTube, My Book, Aruba, and Friends

2007-07-13T00:29:00.001-04:00

Hey, I've been busy. Here are some reasons why I haven't blogged in sooo long:

I've been making lots of cool videos. If you haven't checked it out recently, go over and check out my youtube account (www.youtube.com/perfectlittleplanet) and watch all the latest videos, especially this one (Aruba Hi-Winds 2007) because I'm so proud of it.

I'm writing my book. Remember, I want to finish it (if not completely then at least the majority of it) before I leave Aruba. If you have no idea what book I'm talking about, email me at brian@perfectlittleplanet.com and ask me about it.

I only have 6 weeks left in Aruba, so I'm trying to do so much because I know time is running out. :(

Lots of friends have been coming to visit. They know I'm only going to be here a few more weeks so they're all coming now before it gets too late.

But above all, I'm just lazy. :)

Much love, Brian

Perfect Little Planet Adventures

2007-05-04T16:27:00.001-04:00

I created a new section on Perfect Little Planet which contains pictures and videos of adventures I have while out taking pictures or just having a good time. I just posted the first story which happened less than a week ago on the south point of the island. It is called Sunset Waves Attack. I am extremely happy that I am still alive to tell the story.

More adventures will be posted as I have more time in the future.

Brian

Millions of Fish

2007-04-26T23:10:00.001-04:00

I have gone snorkeling at least once a week for the past 11 months, sometimes as many as 4 or 5 times a week. I can't get enough of it. This past week, in one day I saw more fish than every other dive combined. I saw two schools of fish with seemingly countless fish. To give you an idea, here's a video of the first school I swam into:

I took one of my new favorite pictures ever this day. You can check it out on the Aruba Slideshow. It's the first picture in the show.

I also had an interesting experience at this same location two days before this dive. You can read about it in my MySpace blog. Just click the link on the right entitled, "New Snorkeling Adventure."

Also, I've updated PerfectLittlePlanet.com with a few new maps to make it easier to navigate. Go check it out.

Brian

Yet another new camera

2007-03-30T20:00:00.001-04:00

Remember that time I bought "the most durable digital camera in the world" and I managed to break it in 4 days? Good times.

I called Olympus tech support, which was a complete joke. My support guy was about as helpful as a 4 year old giving me algebra pointers. You know how the camera just came out 2 weeks ago? I think I was the first person to ever call in with a problem.

So I went to the store where I bought it and I toyed with the idea of yelling and screaming (as my friends put it, "You're American. You're supposed to be loud and obnoxious. Use that.") but I thought I'd have more success if I was nice to them. I smiled, showed off my broken Olympus Stylus 770 SW, and gave them the sad puppy dog eyes until they gave me a new camera and a new warranty card.

The camera takes great pictures. You can go check out the Aruba page to see some new pictures (that I took with this new camera). I put them at the beginning of the slide show for you. Enjoy.

Brian

New Camera and New York

2007-03-26T23:30:00.002-04:00

Remember that time I bought a brand new Pentax Optio W20 in January to replace the one that broke after 3 months of usage? And then the new one that I bought stopped working in February?

So I went back to the store and they won't replace it. I have to send it in to Pentax to have them repair it. So instead of sending it in and waiting for them to send it back again, I just bought another new camera.

I bought the new Olympus Stylus 770 SW. It's been on the market for 2 weeks. It claims to be the most durable digital camera in the world. It's waterproof up to 10 meters (33 feet), shockproof up to 5 feet (if I drop it), freezeproof to 10 below Celsius (so I can take it snowboarding), and crushproof up to 220 pounds. I am extremely excited to have a new underwater camera that is not a Pentax, since I haven't had the best of luck with them. I'll try it out soon and let you know how it works.

Also, I put up a few pictures of New York City. It is by no means extensive. These are just a few random shots I took when I was home for Christmas. Enjoy.

I'm working on Mexico right now. They'll be up soon.

Brian

Update!!

2007-03-23T16:10:00.001-04:00

I know it's been a while. I don't know what you know already, so here's everything I've got on the site up to date:

Europe

Aruba

Chicago

You can click on any of those cities to go directly to that slide show.
I also put up a list of FAQs that you may or may not find interesting.

I'm still working on the website construction itself to make it easier to navigate and easier for you to find pictures you want to see. If you have any ideas on what you think would make it better, let me know.

Brian

Mailing List

2007-02-21T23:48:00.001-05:00

**Update: I don't use this anymore. Just subscribe to the blog if you want updates.**

The mailing list works!! I've been playing around with it for a while, but now it's up and running. Put your name and email in the form on the right and click "GO". You'll have to reply to a confirmation email, but then you're in.

Don't worry, I won't sell your info. And if somebody tries to buy your info from me, I'll get their email address and we'll all send junk email to them.

Brian

New Everything

2007-02-18T22:36:00.000-05:00

Hello everybody!

Welcome to my blog. Eventually, I'll use this to keep you all in touch on what country I'm in, what I'm doing there, and I'll let you know when new pictures are up on my website. Please be patient, as I am building all of this in my free time.
Thanks!

Brian

ps: If you have any comments at any time, please feel free to speak your mind.