Well, this last week saw the arrival of my friend href="http://rotomonkey.org/">Chris the rotomonkey in California. He and
his beloved, Athena, told us months ago that href="http://danimal.org/SenorTaco/2004/05/04#cb-athena-moving-west">they’d
be moving out here. Athena came first and for a few months Chris was still
in New York with the occasional visit to help keep both he and Athena from
going nuts-o (so not so much nuts-o…wait…yeah, nuts-o).

So, at the Whitney House we had a party with a dual focus. First,
to celebrate the arrival of the rotomonkey. Second, the href="http://pixar.com/">Pixar summer interns were all on their last day
and we had a farewell party for them. There must have been 60 to 70 people
at the peak of the party. There was much queso (a.k.a. liquid crack) and
guacamole that went way too fast. We also cooked up some of the Whitney Hot
Wings and people were nuts for those. The salsa I made that no one ate I
should have done a few days earlier, because now it’s perfect: hot, tangy,
and zesty. Everyone had a good time and my room mate has even said that people
at work that weren’t at the party heard it was good. I fear the next one
we do, we might reach critical mass or something.

I’m really glad the rotomonkey is out here. At the end of next month I’ll
be back in NY for his and Athena’s wedding and I can’t wait. I know some of
our href="http://speak.pushmedia.com/archives/2004/08/25/bye_bye_rotomonkey.php">
friends back in NY will be missing him, but that just means they’ll have
to come out here for more visits since we have the better weather. I also
look forward to some excellent pictures in the href="http://rotomonkey.org/">rotomonkey’s blog from his adventures out
here. I would have posted a picture here but like a dum dum I forgot to take
any of the party. Oh well, next time.

My friend the rotomonkey has just joined the blogging world. He’s got a bit
more than a passing interest in photography (what with the dark room in his
basement at his last place and all that) and hopefully will be giving us
the gift of more goodness soon.

Oh yeah, and he’s moving out here to California soon. I can’t wait.

This last week was my 30th birthday. Somehow I was able to wrangle
fourteen of my friends into going to Las Vegas for a weekend to celebrate.
I must say I had a blast and the presence of my friends only made it better.
The partying until 4am, the great food, the games of 21…all so worth it.

There are many pictures, but not as many as I had hoped to take (such is life).
I’m still going through mine and I’ll put them up soon. The best part is seeing
some I don’t recall taking at all. Oh the joys of people making sure I got
from place to place. For now here are two from the first day. Getting
started on the plane and then walking around the town. Also, any friends that
want to send me their sets of photos will be muchly appreciated.

src="/SenorTaco/images/vegas-plane.jpg" />
src="/SenorTaco/images/vegas-lights.jpg" />

src="/SenorTaco/images/roto_lightning_small.jpg" />


Photo by Chris Burrows

So, yesterday my friend
KP posted an image (above) taken by our friend href="http://rotomonkey.org/" title="Camera Punk">rotomonkey over at href="http://www.gothamist.com/weather/archives/2004/05/11/storm_photo.php"
title="Gothamist: Weather">Gothamist Weather of lightning in New York. The
picture even made it’s way to the href="http://www.gothamist.com/archives/2004/05/12/lightning_storm.php"
title="Gothamist">Gothamist front page. I think it’s a great photo and
would very much be interested in a print to hang in my place should Mr.
Monkey be interested in allowing that (he’s a good photographer, i envy him
for that). Good work rotomonkey, don’t be afraid to share more of your
pictures with us.

alt="Athena and her Monkey" />

Photo by Chris Burrows

Yesterday was a good day. My friend Athena was spreading news that
she had accepted a job out here in the Bay Area and would be arriving in early
June. Not only is this great news, but to add to the excitement her fiance
and one of my best friends, Chris, will be coming out at the same time.
I can’t even really express how happy this makes me. Congratulations Athena!
Let the partying begin (any of you other souls back in NY can instigate your
own partying by making similar leaps :)

Dear New York Friends,

With the onset of such cold weather in your region of the country I hope you
now see the clarity of my decision to move to California. As much as I say
it I really do miss you guys, but I do not miss the cold temperatures. Were I
to still be living in New York at this point I have no doubts that I would be
insane (or more insane than normal) right now. I salute you for sticking it
out and I just want you to know that if you want to warm up and enjoy the
weather then there’s room at my place for your cold and weary bodies.

Love & Slugs,

danimal

Well, Thanksgiving this year was just as good as last year. Once again the
group of former Blue Sky folk got together and cooked some mighty fine vittles.
Andre got a turkey from him employer again this year so the gathering was set
in motion. We had 11 people, 6 types of sides, the fried turkey, and 5 pumpkin
pies (Keith accidently doubled the 2 pie recipe and someone else brought one
over). All in all it was a good time with much delicious food and not a lot of
left overs, except for pie. Mmmmm, pie.

So, on Saturday I went over to Mitch & Deb’s and help them cook some food
for a barbecue that they were hosting. There was mucho food and drink. Many
people eventually showed up. Keith and Colin came over and had the most
amazing queso dip I’ve had in a long time. That plus the guacamole was
heaven, heaven I tell you.

Later in the evening Ryan (M&D’s cute as heck little boy) was watching an
Elmo DVD before bed. He ended up chilling on the couch with Colin and Mark
(who were also fascinated by the Elmo DVD):

alt="three cool guys" />

So then, Ryan got enthralled with Colin and was crawling all over him. He was
so darn cute:

alt="Ryan! The Cutest!" />

So, a fun time, good food, and dessert (a great cake from Nina)
was had by all.

My friend Jan has been a director for many years in the animation industry. He
just started at Wild Brain (well, a few weeks back). His inaugural mission
with the company is at least two months in India helping to get production
for a children’s series going (it’s being produced by Wild Brain, just the
animation is going overseas). I had a chance of going, but the fine folks
at the studio in Bangalore have their act together on the technical
side of things (such is life, I would have liked to have gone, but I’m not
going to fret over it).

So, since Jan leaves the Bay Area on Friday a few of us got together and
planned a little party to send him off right. We all met at the Whitney House
(home of Keith and Colin, party masters) and had some drinks, talked, and had
some awesome food. Two kinds of ribs, hot wings, Keith’s amazing broccoli
casserole. It was all so good.

I’m pretty sure Jan had fun. At least we were able to send him off so he knows
that we’ll miss him. Now we just have to plan the party for when he comes back.

KP was in town for a couple of days after going to SIGGRAPH in San Diego and hanging out with his brother in L.A. It was good to see him if only for lunch. He seemed rested and well sunned.

I miss that bastard so much (well, to be honest I miss most of the East Coast Friends Crew a hell of a lot).