Photo-A-Day #236 11/30/05

Photo-A-Day #236 11/30/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

On my drive back from Texas to Little Rock Arkansas (yep I had the flight cancelled and opted for the open road. I have now been at my hotel for an hour and had I waited to take the flight I'd possibly be boarding the plane in an hour and a half (In Dallas). As I drove along I saw signs for this place (Ramage Farms) and well, being the BBQ buff that I am I had to stop. Yeah, they had good BBQ. With a little snack out of the way I continued on to Little Rock and to dinner at the Flying Fish (Photo-A-Day #234). Nice little place, they have one whole giant wall covered with the singing Billy Bass. The whole way to Little Rock I saw the sky turn amazing colors with the sunset. Which was much better than yesterday getting blinded by the sun driving to Mesquite Texas.

Photo-A-Day #235 11/29/05

Photo-A-Day #235 11/29/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

Outboard motors again? I hate to use the subject matter two days in a row but tonight when I got to Mesquite, Texas I had dinner at Posado's. Outside on the porch at the entrance to the restaurant I was amused to find about 15 outboard motors lined up as decorations. I really don't know what outboard motors and mexican food have in common but It made for another interesting picture.

So today I drove from Camden, Arkansas to Mesquite, Texas. I made a stop in Texarkana at Doolin's Harley Davidson and picked up some pins and a children's book called "Why Grandpa Rides a Harley." A good little book. We'll be adding it to the books for grandkids that my mom has been collecting.

I was looking at a 5 hour ride through a part of the country that seems to have no radio stations whatsoever. On the ride from the hotel to the hospital today the seek button just spun through the dial. So I picked up a book on CD at Wal-Mart. And what I found was Eragon on CD. 14 hours of a fantastic book. I would reccommend this series. It is great so far.

Photo-A-Day #234 11/28/05

Photo-A-Day #234 11/28/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

These are some lights on the side of the Flying Fish, a restaurant in Little Rock, AR. It took me all day to get here but I am now here and ready to get up at 5:00am to drive to the site to demo tomorrow.

I spent most of the day in Chicago O'Hare airport as my flight was delayed again and again. I finished Book Six of the Incarnations of Immortality by Piers Anthony called For Love of Evil. A pretty good book in the series.

Wedding Pictures at Kodak Gallery

You can now see our Wedding Pictures at Kodak Gallery. I uploaded all of the photos. There are over 1000 up now. So if there was anyone at the wedding who also took some pictures and would like to get them to me please send them along. Thank you.

Photo-A-Day #233 11/27/05

Photo-A-Day #233 11/27/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

Christmas is coming. The annual North Attleboro downtown parade came through this afternoon. Mom and Tara and Allison and I headed down to check out the parade. I think we have like 15 dance studios in town.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

Tonight Allison and I saw the 4th Harry Potter Book turned into a major movie. We saw Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. I have to say that this movie was my favorite of the bunch. I would gladly see it again, maybe in IMAX. The action was more intense and the kids are certainly coming into their own as actors. They are living the characters in each movie. I can't wait to see how they tackle Book 5. Great Movie. Go see it.

Photo-A-Day #232 11/27/05

Photo-A-Day #232 11/26/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

We received our wedding photos today from Cullen Jones. We met him at the Cracker Barrel off 133 on our way home from New Hampshire. He gave us a proof book with about 400 printed photos plus 3 CD's with over 700 photos. The photos came out great. I've uploaded all photos that we have received from various sources to Kodak Gallery (well, I am in the middle of uploading all of them, over 1 1/2 gigs of photos. Yikes!). If you are looking for a wedding photographer we highly recommend Cullen Jones.

"Karate Kid" actor Pat Morita dies - Yahoo! News

"Karate Kid" actor Pat Morita dies - Yahoo! News: "Mr. Miyagi" is gone. I am very sad. He was a wonderful actor and comedian. The 80's was better because of him and the Karate Kid. I'll even forgive the Next Karate Kid. And as Arnold on Happy Days. Bye Pat.

Allison and Lindsay

Allison and Lindsay
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

Having a good time at their 9 year High School Reunion.

Photo-A-Day #231 11/25/05

Photo-A-Day #231 11/25/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

Tonight Allison and I went to her 9 year high school reunion. Yeah 9 year because someone on the reunion committee cannot count. Anyway it was held at the Manchester Historic Association Millyard Museum. What a very interesting place for a reunion. Not sure I would have had a 10 year reunion from High School there maybe a 20 but people were pretty respectful to the museum none the less. We had a very nice night. I got to meet alot of Allison's high school friends and the snacks were good. Lots of chocolate covered strawberries and one cannot have enough of those. These are the stairs down to the museum. I though that they were pretty interesting.

JCB

I have just discovered a great song and flash video called JCB. The band is an acoustic duo called Nizlopi and man what a great song. The video features an appearance by Optimus Prime but don't worry not a transformers song or anything. It is a very touching song about a boy and his father. Just a fantastic song. I'll be featuring JCB on myspace as soon as Nizlopi adds me as a friend. Check out the video it is worth a listen.

JCB Video

What is a JCB?

Photo-A-Day #230 11/24/05

Turkey Day! I can't wait till we slice into this bird, doesn't it look fantastic! Thanksgiving with the in-laws. Dan and Marcia always throw a great feast, this year we are also grilling steak tips. I think that should remain a tradition.

Photo-A-Day Updates

Okay, I'm back, back in the States, back in the swing of things and back doing Photo-A-Day. Man, I am so thankful to everyone who participated in Guest Photo-A-Day. I'll recap the images for you all.

#1 - Tiger pooping by Christopher Williams. That was just classic.
#2 - Garth Brooks' Butt by Lisa Spodak. Right place, right time.
#3 - Stephen Driving by Andy. I knew it would be funny.
#4 - Movie Set Neighborhood by Kym Rohman.
#5 - Drummers by Matt. Rock out.
#6 - Sunset by Mo. Wasn't taken that day but I'll let it slide for all the great work she did while we were on our honeymoon. Thanks for taking over the blog while we were gone Mo!
#7 - Comics by Wes Molebash. We think you are Rad too.
#8 - Christmas Decorations by Gabrielle. We're gonna have to make it a point to get down to NY to meet our Photo-A-Day friends.
#9 - Train Station by Kostika. Something I would have taken a shot of for sure. Just love it.

Thanks so much for to everyone who stepped up and helped us out while we were away in Aruba. Since the wedding I have been informed that many more people are now reading the blog and having you guys help out while we were gone gave those folks something to read and see instead of having to wait till we came back home. I'm so happy to have met (either in person or online) such nice people. Thanks.

So, was I idle during the honeymoon, sipping Aruba Vices or Aruba Arribas all week and therefore let my Photo-A-Day skills lapse, heck no. I took at least one Photo-A-Day but more like 30-40 photos a day. I finally got together the ones I would pick to showcase for each day. And I have posted them to Buzznet, Which is being a real challenge about the blog this feature. It seems like they still haven't fixed the problem with the blogging to Blogger, I still get the error that Mo got. By the way Mo thanks for taking the initiative and extra time and care to post each photo manually to the Blog. I really appreciate that extra effort. Buzznet however was able to let me post to MYspace. So I posted each of the Photo-A-Day pictures that I put on Buzznet to my MYspace blog. Then I cut and paste the post to the Blogger Account. I posted each Photo-A-Day so that each would be on the day that they were actually taken. This means that the 9 photos that I took are no interspersed throughout the blog on the appropriate days. But instead of having to sift through the November archive you can see the photos three ways.

Way #1
Photo-A-Day #220
Photo-A-Day #221
Photo-A-Day #222
Photo-A-Day #223
Photo-A-Day #224
Photo-A-Day #225
Photo-A-Day #226
Photo-A-Day #227
Photo-A-Day #228

Way #2
Start with Photo-A-Day #220 on Buzznet and click the right arrow to move from image to image.

Way #3
Go to My MYspace Blog and scroll to the bottom and read each post as you scroll up.

I hope that everyone enjoys these photos. There are many more to come from the honeymoon and when I get all the wedding images there will be all the wedding photos too.

Photo-A-Day #229 11/23/05

We're back home. And were greeted by Snow this morning. Yikes. Granted when I returned last night I was wearing shorts. Allison at least had the sense to were pants before we left Aruba. Neil was great and he picked us up at the airport and we had dinner with Neil and Andrea at Box Seats. Thanks for everything Neil.

Man, there is so much to talk about. To tell you about the island and how much fun we had there. To post pictures of the wedding, the honeymoon and all things that have gone on in the past 9 days. I need to post up my 9 photos a day that I took during the honeymoon. I am so appreciative to all the help that nine very special people did while Allison and I were gone. The Guest Photo-A-Dayer's. Did you enjoy their stuff? We certainly did! Thanks also very much to Mo for posting everything to the blog too.

Allison and I were greeted with this sign that Jenn made for us to welcome us home. Jenn took care of Oliver and Duncan for the week and was a great cat sitter. The boys are none the worse for wear.

I'll be posting photos as soon as we get them together. Check out the new sidebar for Photo-A-Day. Buzznet certainly stepped up to make a great tag.

Thank you!!

Hello Fans of the BenSpark! Ready for Turkey Day? Tradition for me is to travel to my grandmother's in Hull, MA. This year there will be 10 cousins, 2 of their spouses, 7 aunts and uncles, 2 "significant others," and a Nana in a pear tree...all cozy in a room that shouldn't fit a quarter of those people!! But Nana's 82 and she likes it-so we do what we can. I'd much rather be home watching "Home for the Holidays."

Thank you so much for putting up with me all week!! I hope that everyone enjoyed the Guest Photo A Day as much as I did...it's amazing how much talent is out there. I'm anxious for the master bloggers, The Bennetts (awww!!), and steer the ship once again. I hope the trip was amazing, I can't wait to see pictures...of ARUBA!!


Happy Thanksgiving, BenSpark-ers!! Enjoy your holiday and travel safe!!

"Guest Blogger" Mo

GuestPAD-Day Nine-Kostika

Guest Photo-A-Day #9 11/22/05

Hi I'm Kostika. Mild mannered IT Admin.But secretly I am the masked photographer. Swinging here and there and everywhere, taking pictures wherever I go. About the picture. This in Whitchurch, England. The train I take to work everyday comes down these tracks, so I see this view every morning. This picture was taken with my Sony Ericsson K750i phone.Well you can find my photography at kostika.deviantart.com And my moblog at moblog.co.uk/blog/kostikaThanks alot for letting me help Drew. See you soon.

Photo-A-Day #228 11/22/05

Photo-A-Day #228 11/22/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

Sunrise on the beach the day we departed Aruba. When I got up I looked out the window and there was this huge cruise ship going by the beach in front of our room. I grabbed the camera and ran out to take picutres. None captured how awesome and huge the ship was but I did like how the sky was looking that morning so I caught that and the cruise ship, which docked about a 1/2 mile from our room.

GuestPAD-Day Eight-Gabrielle Krupnick

Guest Photo-A-Day #8 11/21/05

Hello - This is so much fun and I'm so glad I get to join in. My name is Gabrielle and I haven't met Drew & Allison but congratulations! I was inspired by Kym's photo-a-day site, which is howI got my big break that led me down the path to today's stardom. :-) I started posting last June on Flickr and use my site to give friends and family a glimpse of what my life in NYC is like: the strange, the beautiful, the humorous and once and a while, the boring... Mostly though, it's just a good excuse to keep my eyes open and catch those bits of magic that are really a part of every day life. Times Square is starting to throw on more sparkle than usual as the town gears up for the holidays and I loved this scene this evening. There must have been a dozen people in these three small trees and they were almost done by the time I'd taken a shot!

Photo-A-Day #227 11/21/05

Photo-A-Day #227 11/21/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

Finally a night with the sunset without many clouds. I love sunsets and the colors that appear at that time of day. The Aruban sunsets were great when there were no, or very few clouds.

GuestPAD-Day Seven-Wes Molebash

Guest Photo-A-Day #7 11/20/05

My name is Wes Molebash, and I'm the creator of the webcomic You'll Have That published by Viper Comics. This is a picture of my wall next to my drafting table. On the left is an original "Frazz" comic strip drawn by Jef Mallett. On the right is a caricature that Dicky Barrett, lead singer of the Mighty Mighty Bosstones, drew of me. Both are totally rad. You know who else is rad? Drew and Allison. They exemplify what it is to be "rad".

Photo-A-Day #226 11/20/05

Photo-A-Day #226 11/20/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

The 'EX' Natural Bridge, the Natural Dam, The Broken Bridge. No matter what name the Arubans call it now, the famous Natural Bridge is no more. It broke about 3 months ago. This is what is left and after several years that too will be gone. As they said there in Aruba, nautre made it nature took it away.

GuestPAD-Day Six-Mo

Guest Photo-A-Day #6 11/19/05

Guess who's baaaaack?!?! Hi everyone, I can't believe that a meer week ago today Allison and Drew got married!!

Because they are in a beautiful location for their honeymoon, (and I am totally jealous!!) I decided to share a photo I took last Christmas in my favorite place in the world...Indian Rocks Beach, Florida. Growing up, my dad's cousin and his kids, as well as my family would all get together for a few weeks in some cottages at this beach. It's about an our and a half from Tampa, right near Clearwater Beach. I have wonderful memories of my time spent here with my family. Unfortunately, a few years back the cottages were torn down and condos were put up in their place. Fortunately, (always an upside), my dad's cousin bought one of those condos and was kind enough to let us stay there for the Christmas holiday last year. This was just one of the amazing sunsets I have witnessed on this coastline. The colors are perfect, I was very lucky.

If you care to, please stop by my blog www.wereinafight.blogspot.com . Peace, Mo

Photo-A-Day #225 11/19/05

Photo-A-Day #225 11/19/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

Allison the daredevil. Allison takes a leap off of a bridge near the Aruba desalinization plant. Since heights are not my thing I stuck to my boat and snapped this shot on her way down. Besides did you see how secure that ladder looked, no thank you.

GuestPAD-Day Five-Matt

Guest Photo-A-Day #5 11/17/05

Pete Abdou & Student

This is how we do it. Rock Out! Pete Abdou

Photo-A-Day #224 11/18/05

Photo-A-Day #224 11/18/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

Snorkeling off the Palm Pleasure catamaran. This was at the wreck of the Antilla, a German supply ship that was deliberately sunk by the captain, rather than surrender, during World War II. Diving around the wreck was amazing. The pictures don't do it justice at all. Allison had a great time at each of the dive sites. This site was my favorite.

GuestPAD-Day Four-Kym Rhoman

Guest Photo-A-Day #4 11/17/05

Hello there - Dang - the competition is fierce!! My name is Kym and I didn'texactly meet Drew & Allison but I was at a concert in New Hampshire they were at and remember seeing them because Chris (tiger poop camera boy) was sitting at their table - and we snuck in and stole him. REGARDLESS, it was an Ellis Paul show and Drew's blog was posted on Ellis's chat board because he had written a fabulous review of the show. I there learned that Drew was doing a photo-a-day accredited to Christopher Williams' photo a day project. Cyber is a small space yes?

I started doing photo-a-day in June of this year, faithfully - i really started in January but failed. Picked it back up and started posting on Flickr.
The rest is recent history.

I can talk a lot so I'll try to make this short. New York City is a town of extroverts and for introverts such as myself extroverted tendencies can be thrilling and exciting, which in time become stressful and draining. Tonight was one of those days I had to cancel plans of going to a seminar and go home for a date with myself. I haven't gone home straight after work since October 13th (i looked it up). I thought it appropriate to take a picture of my peaceful neighborhood...i LOVE the brownstones around here. And since youcan't see tiger poo, poodles driving cars, and Garth Brooks in Times Square, every day - I thought I'd give you a taste of the every day ;)

GuestPAD-Day Three-Andy

Guest Photo-A-Day #3 11/16/05

OK this was way harder than I thought it was going to be. Yesterday I saw lots of things to take pictures of and I am sure I will see lots tomorrow. Today not so much but keeping with the spirit of photo of the day I had to take the picture today. Damn where are the crapping tigers when you need them. After picking up Stephen at day care. Yes we got a dog and we pay someone to take care of him 1 day a week. Anyway he did not want to get out of the truck when we got home so I left him in it. I went back out to get the camera and by the time I came back he had managed to start the engine and was pulling out of the drive way. If you happen to see a black Toyota truck drive by with a black Golden doodle driving please give me a call. He only has 3/4 of a tank of gas but I need to get to work tomorrow. Can anyone give me a ride? Andy

Photo-A-Day #223 11/17/05

Photo-A-Day #223 11/17/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

The sunsets were gorgeous in Aruba. Lots of clouds each night but made for some nice light at sunset time. This is the beach where we spent most of our time.

GuestPAD-Day Two-Lisa Spodak

Guest Photo-A-Day #2 11/15/05

Hi! My name's Lisa and I'm flattered to be the guest PADertoday. :) I first heard from Andrew last month when he was searching for other folks doing similar projects and stumbled on my blog.

I live in New York City and have been doing the Photo-a-Day for almost 3 years now... had a bit of a lapse for a few months this year as I was distracted doing the Avon Walks for Breast Cancer, but, I'm back on track now. :)

My blog can be found here or syndicated on LiveJournal.com at
"lisasphotoaday".

On to the picture... I was walking home tonight and decided to walk down to 42nd and across to Times Square so I could take some pictures at the new temporary skating rink at Bryant Park (the last time I'd been by there, I'd realized I left my camera at my friend Melissa's place!). Pleased with the shots I got, I continued on home. Headed down into the subway to find that the guy was shutting the gate and sent me back up. Grrr. As I crossed the street to another entrance, I heard a*lot* of noise. I thought maybe they were showing the CMAs on big screens or something and went over to investigate. Well, it was part of the CMAs, but, it wasn't on big screens! It was Garth Brooks, set up right in the middle of Times Square to perform! I was actually across the street from the stage, but, had a great view... of Garth's butt. ;) Luckily, he eventually spun around a little and I got this shot. :)

GuestPAD-Day One-Christopher Williams

Guest Photo-A-Day #1 11/14/05

This photo was taken at the Nashville Zoo - it's great when the tigers pose in action for you, I just couldn't resist. Taken by: Christopher Williams http://www.christopherw.com/

A Picture Says a Thousand Words...

Hello all, It is I, as I was called at the wedding this weekend "The infamous Mo from the blog." Geez. Apparently this week is my chance at my 15 minutes of fame because Drewbie and Allison seem to have quite the huge fan base for their blog. I have to apologize to all of you for not posting sooner...especially to the Guest Photo-a-day'ers out there because buzznet seems to hate me. I returned late last night from a business trip, and when I went to post the pictures from Monday and Tuesday on the blog I get this message:

There was an error posting to your blog! Here is the error: 0

Rude. And what is the error?? Zero?? Or is that a version of a smiley face that looks like Mr. Bill?? So now I'm successfully letting down bloggers all over the world who want to partake in the goodness and light that is the BenSpark Blog Guest Photo A Day!! I'm literally robbing you of your joy. Well, not me really...I'm trying. I will try from a different computer...but until then PLEASE see the photos posted so far-they are brilliant!! And if you can deal with me, please feel free to stop by the BenSpark this week to hear me rant or offer words of wisdom...I might sneak in some embarrassing stories about Drewbie...might...I don't want to jeopardize my future blogging guest spots.

And if you'd like to hear even more from Moi, feel free to stop by my blog...www.wereinafight.blogspot.com. It's young and is still being molded to what I like...if nothing else gets you there...know this...there IS trivia:)

Thanks all!!

Peace,
"Guestblogger" Mo

Photo-A-Day #222 11/16/05

Photo-A-Day #222 11/16/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

Mexican Hat Dance anyone? The second night at the resort we saw traditional mexican dancers. During one of the dances a guy who was dancing brought this hat over to Allison and put it on her head. She was happy, felt like being back at La Caretta in the old days at St. A's.

Photo-A-Day #221 11/15/05

Photo-A-Day #221 11/15/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

Carnival Dancers. At our resort there was entertainment each evening. The first evening there we watched some carnival dancers in their elaborate costumes. They were very good. I got lots of pictures but unfortunately the light wasn't great and my flsh not powerful enough so this is probably the best of the bunch.

Wedding Cake Topper

Wedding Cake Topper, originally uploaded by abennett96.

Doesn't it look like us?

Photo-A-Day #220 11/14/05

Photo-A-Day #220 11/14/05
Posted by: abennett96 on Buzznet

Allison and I spent most of the day at the New England Aquarium. Could have spent the day just watching the sea lions. Allison loves them.

Guest Photo-A-Day

Allison and I are on our honeymoon and I have not taken the laptop or the means to post images for Photo-A-Day (I am bringing the camera and will be taking tons of pictures.). But don't fret I have taken steps to keep you visually and mentally stimulated for the days we are away. I have solicited the help of many talented individuals to help with the posting of images and content. From November 14-22, 2005 the BenSpark will be featuring a Guest Photo-A-Day and a guest blogger, Mo, of We're in a Fight.

Guest PADer #1 will be the one and only Christopher Williams. My inspiration behind Photo-A-Day. Back in 2002 Christopher took a Photo-A-Day and posted them to his website. Sounds like a simple concept, but some days it is much harder than you think. Christopher, however is an awesome folk singer and travels all over the country to play, so he has many great shots from all around the U.S. Allison and I love to go and hear Christopher sing. We had a few of his songs played at our wedding.

Christopher Williams Web Page
Christopher Williams Myspace Page
Christopher Williams Photo-A-Day

Guest PADer #2 will be Lisa Spodak. Lisa is a friend of Christopher's from college and she has been taking a Photo-A-Day for a three years now. That is committment! And speaking of committments, Lisa walked in all eight (314 miles) of the Avon Breast Cancer Walks in 2005 and raised over $25,000 total. That is a fantastic accomplishment. Lisa has a rather unique way of raising donations, she gets celebrities to sign a tag on a breast cancer bear and then auctions them off, most with a picture of the celebrity and the bear. I tried to bid on the Neil Patrick Harris bear but lost.

Lisa's Photo-A-Day
Lisa's Cafe Express Store
Lisa's Avon Walk Blog
Project Teddy Bear

Guest PADer #3 will be my friend from High School and now as well, Andy. Andy is a kite boarder and has written a book on Cisco Routers and has a great fiance named Rondi. Allison and I have spent many fun nights at their house playing board games and having great meals. Andy also comments on this blog often and that is a good thing because he has a rather dry, sharp, and funny wit. Andy has some great pictures of his dog Stephen. Let's see what he takes this week.

Guest PADer #4 is Kym Rhoman. Kym is a fan of Christopher Williams and was also inspired to take a Photo-A-Day by Christopher Williams Photo-A-Day project. We have not met, but we were at the same Ellis Paul show back in October at Tupelo. After the show I posted about the show and Kym left a comment. Since then we have exchanged links and are fans of each other's Photo-A-Day projects.

Kym's Photo-A-Day
Kym's Blog

Guest PADer #5 is my cousin Matt. Matt is a fantastic artist of many, many mediums. He is also an accomplished drummer and has been in many bands. His latest musical incarnation is called Bossburner. Matt also keeps a buzznet photo blog with some really great stuff. Matt, it seems, is all over the web. He has his own graphic design website called Spychild Design. He also has a site that showcases his art http://www.msloboganart.com/. I am looking forward to what Matt has to post for his Photo-A-Day image. He's been on buzznet less than six months and already has a featured photo. Great job.

Matt's Buzznet Blog
Matt's Art Page
Matt's Bossburner Page
Matt's Spychild Design Page

Guest PADer #6 is our friend Maureen, or rather, Mo. Mo runs here own blog called We're In A Fight and she has the enviable task of making sure that each Guest Photo-A-Day that is posted during guest week on my Buzznet Account is then transferred to this blog. Mo also hosts a trivia contest each day and is one of the funnier people to breathe the air of this world. Mo will be doing the Prayer of The Faithful at our wedding and she is a former Saint A's Residence Hall Director like I was. It was fun working up on the hilltop with Mo. And Mo was added as a contributing blogger to this blog so she can update it with content while we are away.

Mo's Blog (We're In A Fight)

Guest PADer #7 is the talented web comic artist Wes Molebash. You may recall that I purchased some of Wes' original art recently. I ran across Wes' comic You'll Have That probably a month or two after it went up on the Viper Comic site. You'll Have That is the story of Andy and Katie, a newly married couple. Allison and I just love Wes' characters and his stories. We felt at one point that Wes was secretly taping our lives because the comics rang so true. Wes is also a very nice guy and genuine. We look forward to meeting Wes and his lovely wife Tricia if they ever come up this way to a comic convention.

Update: I wrote this whole thing before I received my fantastic gift from Allison, The weddig comic strip by Wes Molebash. Check it out.

Wes' You'll Have That webcomic
Wes' Myspace Page

Guest PADer #8 is Gabrielle Krupnick. I found Gabrielle through Kym's page. I'm looking forward to what Gabrielle contributes to Guest Photo-A-Day.

Gabrielle's Photo-A-Day

Guest PADer #9 is Kostika. She is a fan of You'll Have That and she volunteered to help me out when I put out the call on the YHT Forums. Kostika has her own moBlog (mobile phone blog) and some photography on deviantart.com.

Kostika's Blog
Kostika's MoBlog
Kostika's Photography

Please check out the Guest Photo-A-Day pictures and the homepages of the Guest PADers. They are being a great help to me while we are away.

I would like to thank everyone for participating in the Guest Photo-A-Day project. I can't wait to see what everyone posts. (When we get back from Arubua that is.) Also be ready for all of the Photo-A-Day stuff I took while on the honeymoon. I'm sure there will be plenty of galleries uploaded upon our return.

Wedding Slide Show....

Okay I can't keep it in any longer. For our wedding favors we made CD's with a slideshow of over 400 pictures and 7 songs, but part of that CD is also playable in the CD player with the songs from the Wedding Reception including our song, the Father Daughter Song, the Mother Son song, and Anniversary song, and the Wedding Party song.

We showed this at the Rehearsal dinner and part of it at the reception. Then I showed the whole thing in my parent's room later that evening for a group of family members. It was so much fun to make and share with everyone. I'm glad folks liked it.

Here are two clips from the slideshow.

All About Allison

The Dirt on Drew

Photo-A-Day #219 11/13/05

Photo-A-Day #219 11/13/05, originally uploaded by abennett96.

The day after...

The rings are on, the cake was cut, and today the cleanup. We are heading home with the gifts. This afternoon Allison and I opened the gifts with our parents and our in-laws. The wedding was fantastic and I will write about it when we get calmed down and re grouped from the weekend.

Full Wedding Comic Strip...

Here is a link to the Full Wedding comic Strip. Wes Molebash the creator, writer and artist of You'll Have That was commissioned by Allison to create this as my wedding gift. Wes sent us the original black and white strip and then a file with the full color version of the strip, which he colored as a gift to us.

Here is the full, full color version.

We are displaying this at the Reception and showed it to everyone last night at the rehearsal dinner. Everyone loved it. It is so appropriate for Allison and I. Thanks for such a thoughtful and excellent gift Allison!

Make sure you head over to You'll Have That, vote for Wes on the webcomics list, (he should be #1) and go back through the archives to read about the lives of Andy and Katie. Such a good comic strip. We wish Wes all the luck and success in the world.

Photo-A-Day #218 11/12/05

Photo-A-Day #218 11/12/05, originally uploaded by abennett96.

Our Wedding Day! I took today's Photo-A-Day this morning at 6:35am. That is the last picture I am allowed to take today. The photographer will now become the subject. Well, it is here, the big day. Many thoughts and emotions are running through my mind. I know a couple of things; I am making the best decision of my life to marry Allison, I am surrounded by friends and family that love us, and I had better take a moment to really see the day.

In the foreground are some antique cufflinks that belonged to my Great Uncle Richard Belanger. I am wearing them today and my Dad is going to wear a matching pair. I am glad that my mother gave them to me because I can feel that a part of Great Uncle Richard is with us today. Great Uncle Richard loved parties and loved to take pictures rather than be the subject himself. Kinda like someone else I know...

And since today is the wedding day I can now reveal the wedding rings. These were a gift from my Uncle Rich. He has been so generous to us and has helped me pick some very beautiful jewelry for Allison over the years.

So wish us luck as we take the next step in our lives.

Night before the BIG day.....

So it is 11:00pm the night before our wedding. I am sitting here listening to the music that we will be playing tomorrow and thinking. My best thinking is done by tapping out my thoughts onto a blog post. Allison is at the Holiday Inn Hotel with the bridesmaids because they are going to be getting ready there and then taking the limo over to the church. The groomsmen are going to come here early in the morning to have breakfast and then get into their tuxes.

Tonight was the wedding rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. All things went very well, there were a few slight bumps with things I did not anticipate, but we worked everything out and not much about that was noticed. I have to learn to roll with it when these bumps come along.

At the church I took a bunch of pictures when I wasn't doing my parts. I tried to get all the girls as they came down the aisle. Then I gave the camera to my Dad. Danielle will be taking my camera tomorrow so not to worry, I won't be photographing my own wedding. And I wouldn't put it past me to actually try and do it either.

Before the wedding rehearsal Allison and I met with Fr. Dave. We did so because I find that it is time for me to return to being a full member of the church. I wanted tomorrow's ceremony to have my full participation. And I feel so much better for doing so. It has been almost 12 years for me to be away from the church, but with Allison by my side I began to go back. Then for myself I began to see what I had been missing. And now I have decided that I want to fully participate again. It has been a long faith journey for me and it will continue to be so.

After the wedding rehearsal we all went to the Moose Cabin in Attleboro. Al and his family are so great, very accommodating and generous. They put out a fantastic spread for us and no one went hungry. Once everyone had gotten their meals I began the entertainment for the evening. And I still can't say what that was because of the wedding being tomorrow and everyone getting to see it tomorrow. Anyway it is the super secret wedding favor. Right before the entertainment was over I paused it and had my Grandparent's Bennett cut the cake that we had my Aunt Carol make.

It is their 56th wedding anniversary today and I wanted to acknowledge that accomplishment and how much that means to our family. Then we finished the entertainment and began giving out the gifts for the wedding party and our parents. I spoke about each of the guys and Allison spoke about each of the girls. Then my two cousins Madison and Haley (our Flower Girls). We then gave the readers their gifts and then Uncle Fr. Dr. Tom (Allison's uncle who is a priest, a doctor and an uncle, obviously. He is doing the ceremony tomorrow with Fr. Dave.) Then we gave gifts to our parents.

We also displayed the color version of the wedding gift that Allison gave me. Our newest piece of art from Wes Molebash. To read more about that and to see the picture check out my post about the wedding gifts and my post of a picture of Allison and I at the Rehearsal dinner.

I have to say that I am a truly blessed man. I have a fantastic family, a beautiful and kind bride-to-be, and some wonderful lifelong friends. I can't wait to be married tomorrow. And now I had better get to bed and stop blogging.

The New Framed Molebash!

The New Framed Molebash!, originally uploaded by abennett96.

This is Allison and I by our new, Framed Molebash. This is one of two gifts from Allison to me for our wedding. Allison gave me two pieces of original framed art by Wes Molebash. One is the original drawn strip the second was colored by Wes as a gift to us. Wes is so cool. You have to read You'll Have That.

Tonight at the Rehearsal dinner we displayed the colored art image on the easel seen here. Everyone at the rehearsal dinner just loved it and hopefully Wes will get a few more loyal subscribers from the exposure.

Photo-A-Day #217 11/11/05

Photo-A-Day #217 11/11/05, originally uploaded by abennett96.

Happy 56th wedding Anniversary Grandma and Grandpa Bennett.

Tonight was the rehearsal and rehearsal dinner. While at the rehearsal dinner during a break in the entertainment (still can't say what it is because everyone hasn't gotten their wedding favors yet.) we took a moment to cut the cake that my Aunt Carol made. I asked my Grandparents to cut the cake because it is their anniversary tonight. They have been a positive influence in my life for love and communication between spouses. Both Allison and I are blessed to have such wonderful and loving families and I look forward to joining those two families tomorrow.

We need more walls....

With all the fantastic Framed Molebashes that we have, we are gonna need more walls. What am I talking about? Well, you see, tomorrow is our wedding. Allison and I are getting married in about 27 1/2 hours. Today is the day that we told ourselves that we would exchange our wedding gifts to each other. Allison has been practically buzzing out of her skin lately because she has wanted to give me my gift. So, this morning we woke up at 5:30 (dang internal alarm and body conditioning) and lay there for a little bit talking and deciding whether we wanted to go back to sleep or not. Because, you know that when you have nothing to do you can never get back to sleep, but when you have something to do you oversleep. (Yeah Andy my overproductive self is a curse of the early morning wake up. Nice comment you left the other day, very funny.)

Anyway, on to the reason we need more walls, or rather, wallspace is that Allison got me the most perfect wedding present ever. Something that she knew I would love. She got me an original piece of framed art by web comic writer and artist Wes Molebash. If you don't know who Wes Molebash is then you haven't been reading my posts. And if you have been reading my posts, but haven't gone to the You'll Have That webcomic, Why Not? Wes Molebash is a genuine talent, and an all around nice guy. He's even going to be a Guest Photo-a-Day participant. Allison and I have been fans of Wes' for some time now and we actively participate in the You'll Have That Forums. I would say that they are the best Forums on the internet because everyone is so nice and Wes is so welcoming. Wes, thank you for going above and beyond with this gift, it means so much to me and even made me tear up a little when Allison presented it to me. You captured us so well and the whole strip is exactly something that I secretly wished would happen someday. I really wanted someday to be captured as a character in your artwork. I unfortunately didn't get off my butt when you had your guest in You'll Have That contest and send in an entry. Wes you and You'll Have That are now taking the top spot over Scott Kurtz and PVP on my list of Webtainment sites.

I am not posting the strip here in case Wes puts it up as a bonus strip this weekend, (Saturday, maybe) which would totally blow my mind, but I am putting up a teaser panel. That is Andy and Katie (the main characters of You'll Have That) attending our wedding. And that is exactly how I would picture them at the wedding. The gift is so wonderful. Allison framed both the original art and the art that was scanned and colored. So now we have three Framed Molebashes. These new ones are displacing my favorite Jim Brandenburg "Peace in the Forest" framed wolf print from the coveted above the mantelpiece spot. And once that is done I will post a picture of it. But before they are displayed for our houseguests to see. The color one will be displayed at our Rehearsal dinner and at our Wedding Reception.

I would also like to mention that I gave Allison a gold necklace with a Sapphire and Diamond pendant. She really likes it. Thanks Uncle Rich for helping me pick that out. My Uncle Rich is a jeweler and you should check out his stuff on IslandJewelers.com. I designed the title image back a few years ago.

Photo-A-Day #216 11/10/05

Photo-A-Day #216 11/10/05, originally uploaded by abennett96.

Got some packing done. These guys can't wait to get on the plane to Aruba!

2 Days away.... the waiting....

Okay so there is a downside to being as organized as I am. There is nothing left for me to do to prepare for the wedding and now it is down to the waiting. I think that the day before the day before the wedding is probably the worst day of waiting through this whole process. Oh there were a few things for me to do today. I had today off because I worked on Columbus Day (Steve that explanation was for you.) and was able to get alot of things done. Allison spent last night up in New Hampshire with her parents and got a manicure today. I took all the gift bags, spare directions, the rest of the placecards (for the wedding party, the hotel wanted 'em so that's cool), my suitcase with clothes for after the wedding and a sign for the guest book. The guestbook is a special one with 15 pictures of Allison and I in black and white that we want our guests to write in like they would a Yearbook. The sign explains that. And I also brought some stickers to put on the inside of the wedding favors that say that wedding pictures and Aruba pictures will be available on this blog once we are back from the honeymoon. I realized yesterday that in none of the printed materials was there any information about the website. So I went over there and popped the stickers on each favor. You'll understand when I can explain everything about the wedding, after the wedding.

Then I packed my suitcase for the honeymoon. Just a preliminary packing because some of the stuff I am taking is in the other suitcase at the hotel. Plus I wanted to make sure I had everything I needed in case I had to do some more shopping.

I of course got up at my usual time today despite not having to go to work. So I spent some time with my new online addiction, Myspace. Specifically the myspace music section. I have found a bunch of new musicians there as well as some of the ones I know and love. The past couple of days I have added a bunch of new friends, mostly musicians but sometimes people who have contacted me. As I find new musicians that I enjoy I will add them to the music site lists. If you'd like an idea of my musical tastes check out my myspace profile and friends.

So today I am waiting, with excitement and anticipation for the wedding. I am really looking forward to it.

Photo-A-Day #215 11/09/05

Photo-A-Day #215 11/09/05, originally uploaded by abennett96.

Tonight I finished up the gift bags (Thanks Harry S.) for the people who are staying at the hotel. Just had to add a welcome card with directions to the church into all 36 bags. And they are filled with all kinds of goodies. Water (Thanks Paul D.), pretzels, cookies, granola bags, mints, candy (Thanks Dan and Marcia). We hope everyone enjoys them, only 3 more days

Shawn McDonald

Thanks to Kym I have found another singer that I enjoy listening to. Thanks Kym, keep those suggestions coming. Check out Shawn McDonald and his version of Over the Rainbow, like nothing you ever heard before. Take my hand is also very nice and so if Gravity. Shawn McDonald is being added to the music list on the side.

Paul Wright

Paul Wright is musician that I found through myspace thanks to Kym. Give Paul Wright's songs a listen. You can check Paul Wright out on my Myspace account to here a fun little song called pumachillin.

I'll be adding Paul Wright to my music sites drop down list.

Chomp Champ

Ruby Tuesday has a fun little game called Chomp Champ. It is pretty easy to win. The characters are funny though.

Photo-A-Day #214 11/08/05

Photo-A-Day #214 11/08/05, originally uploaded by abennett96.

So, Allison and I have been trying to eat healtier, cooking whole foods and eating multiple times a day. What this means is that there is alot of preparation and alot of cleaning of utensils and washing of dishes.

Well, we made guiltless french fries and used a mandolin to cut them up. Allison cut her left thumb while slicing the potatoes and I cut my right thumb in my obsessive cleaning mode.

Nothing like a mutual injury to bring together a soon to be married couple.

This picture was taken left handed and the camera is most certainly set up for a right handed photographer.

Finally a Podcast worth Listening to.

Lost Podcast.

ABC is launching a weekly LOST podcast. Great!

LED Faucet Light - Gizmodo

I think I'll get one of these. LED Faucet Light - Gizmodo.


Not really. That is ridiculous, the only place I could see this working is in a nightclub atmosphere. It isn't for someone who actually washes the dishes.

Photo-A-Day #213 11/07/05

Photo-A-Day #213 11/07/05, originally uploaded by abennett96.

Tonight Allison and I went to the Hotel to meet with the banquet coordinator, Kevin. Kevin was super helpful and great to work with so far. We went over the whole event. It is all shaping up. I wanted to get a picture of the room but was unable. So I took a picture of this on my way out. A nice fall scene.

Photo-A-Day #212 11/06/05

Buzznet is being a pain in the neck lately so I am manually posting this image.

Today Allison and I took our Wedding Crash Course Dance lessons. Did I remember to bring the camera, no. There are many reasons why this was forgotten even though I thought about it all day long. And when we got there it woud have been a great place for photos. Well, lit, lots of mirrors. Just would have been awesome, well, instead I got this, the shoes that we danced in on our kitchen floor. I guess planning for a wedding and the last week before makes you forget a few things.

The place we took the lessons from was called Best Foot Forward. Sara and Norm were great instructors. They were so nice and so patient with everyone. By the time we were done with the 2 1/2 hour Wedding Crash Course we were moving very gracefully. I think we will be ready for Saturday. Things like this are making us so very excited because it is really bringing it home that we are only a week away. Another thing that tells me that the wedding is coming up soon is the number of checks we are writing from the wedding account.

While at the Wedding Crash Course another couple asked about our wedding song, which is Words by Ellis Paul. They loved it and so do we, the instructors even played it twice for us. Thanks Sara and Norm!

New To the Comedian List - Greg Behrendt

Greg Behrendt is a really funny comedian and also an author. His two books are He's Just Not That Into You and recently It's Called a Breakup Because It's Broken. And this week he is releaseing a DVD called Greg Behrendt Is Uncool. I've seen his stuff a couple of times on comedy central and it is very funny. And Allison read He's Just Not That Into You for book club and loved it. So check out Greg Behrendt. I've added Greg Behrendt to the comedian list on the right.

Photo-A-Day #211 11/05/05

Photo-A-Day #211 11/05/05, originally uploaded by abennett96.

Today Allison and I went for a nice walk because the weather was so beautiful. When we came by a pasture near my Aunt's house we saw this white cat in the pasture. He looks so beautiful all white with the green and the log around him.

Jowlers.com | Shake It Up

I stumbles across this site while reading a newsletter from Guster. It's an interesting take on photography... Maybe Drew's next Photo-A-Day will be a Jowler-A-Day.

Jowlers.com | Shake It Up

Our Original Framed Molebash!

Our Original Framed Molebash!, originally uploaded by abennett96.

A one of a kind addition to our home. An Original Framed Molebash. Wes Molebash is the creator and artist of "You'll Have That" a fantastic webcomic about Andy and Katie, a young married couple.

Allison and I just love his stuff. That is why I bought her this piece. It came back from the framers today. I tried it in a few locations around the house.

We found the place for this. Right above the closet as you enter the apartment, it will cause our guest to look up and see our Original Framed Molebash!

Check out a few more pictures of the Framed Molebash!

Photo-A-Day #210 11/04/05

Photo-A-Day #210 11/04/05
Posted by: abennett96.

Why is a package of boxer briefs today's Photo-A-Day? Look closely, notice something that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense? Resealable bag for your purchased underwear! Who was the marketing genius behind this one. I can just picture the boardroom now.

Joe: "Okay we need something to tell the consumer that these are fresh pairs of underwear. Bob, what is that you are eating?"

Bob: "Duh, a sandwich..."

Joe: "Sandwich, well I bet it is fresh isn't it!"

Bob: "Uh, yeah... I made it this morning and sealed it in a ziploc bag."

Joe: "And... can you seal it once it has been opened?"

Bob: "Yeah Joe, it is a resealable ziploc sandwich bag."

Joe: "A RESEALABLE Bag! To preserve freshness."

Bob: "Joe where are you going with this?"

Joe: "Don't you see, we can put our underwear in RESEALABLE bags to show that they are fresh."

Bob: "That is so stupid it may work! I declare, RESEALABLE bags for all of our products that will never go back into their original packaging. Brilliant!"

Joe: "Really, you like my proposal."

Bob: "No, you're fired! *But we'll make 'em anyway*."

Lost & Found Investigations

I thought that this webcomic was rather humorous this morning. If you are a fan of the food network you may enjoy this. Lost & Found Investigations

Photo-A-Day #209 11/03/05

Photo-A-Day #209 11/03/05
Posted by: abennett96.

Today's photo is of Oliver, he was so cute in the little tube of his new cat condo. Working from home on Thursdays will most likely be cat picture day, at least it feels like that.

Photo-A-Day #208 11/02/05

Photo-A-Day #208 11/02/05
Posted by: abennett96.

I have this collection of wolf themed beer steins. They all have intricately designed pewter tops. I played with the macro lens to get this shot.

Productive Day...

Today I took care of some of the yearly medical exams. I got my eyes done this morning, after I had dropped off my suit at the cleaners, run to Michael's to see if my framed piece of You'll Have That by Wes Molebash artwork was ready. It was not, no they did not call, but it was beyond the date when they were supposed to be done with at and I was anxious. I was however able to get a frame for the original sketch that Wes drew for me, (see below). Then I had an eye exam. I think I am finally going to get the cataract taken care of. I have been hesitant to do this because it really freaks me out that my eye will have to be sliced open and I just have this insane fear that it will deflate like a balloon, I know that is not possible and that is why it is an insane fear. So I got the eye exam taken care of then headed to Taunton to drop off the cake topper (which came yesterday) to Arts International Bakery and pay the rest of the money for the chocolate mouse filling. I had gotten eye drops at the Eye Doctor so driving over there I had to stick my sunglasses over my regular glasses because my sunglasses are just some cheap, non prescription ones. Which Allison likes because then I won't be able to see anything at the beaches in Aruba. After that I ran back to North Attleboro and swung by Achin's Garage to get my inspection sticker. No I am not super efficient and got my sticker on the first day of the month but rather I took step one of my twelve year plan to save $29.00 by getting my sticker the first day of the month after my sticker was up. It is so deviously simple (wrings hands and laughs maniacally). I ran into Sarah who works there and who also went to Saint A's. We got caught up and talked about being back on the hilltop (Another name for Saint A's). I stopped by the house and dropped off the cookies I bought for dessert tonight and got another check from my checkbook (I used the last on as my co-pay for the Eye Exam.), ran across the street to pick up a program from the church so we could start work on ours, then stopped by Tower Square to have Allison's Engagement ring sized. Next It was off to my annual Physical with my new doctor. The new practice has some great high tech stuff. They have tablet PC's that each person brings around with them and then places them in docking stations in the exam rooms and they are all connected wirelessly. Dr. S. just got married two months ago, he's pretty young, probably even younger than I am too. So that is good. I got a few things checked out and a couple of referrals I needed and wanted too. Very easy guy to talk to.

So I think my to do list is finally complete. A very productive day.

Oh wait, couple of more things, Grocery shopping and made reservations for us at the spa in Aruba. Now I think I'm done.

Signed Sketch

Signed Sketch, originally uploaded by abennett96.

This is my signed sketch from Wes MoleBash. He is the creator of the very funny You'll Have That webcomic. I bought a piece of original artwork (which was not done being framed today. Arrgh!) from Wes and this came along with it. It is a sketch of Andy, one of the main characters of You'll Have That You should check out You'll Have That

Photo-A-Day #207 11/01/05

Photo-A-Day #207 11/01/05
Posted by: abennett96.

Picked up these tasty little treats during my very productive day. When I dropped off the cake topper to Arts International Bakery in Taunton I spied these guys and had to get one for me and one for Allison.

October Winners...

October 2005

64 players played during the month.

1. abennett48 (374 points, 4 wins)
2. johngalt (350 points, 2 wins)
3. ahami (277 points, 1 wins)
4. pinkpiratepants (269 points, 2 wins)
5. dbarryzzz (269 points, 1 wins)
6. Mo (252 points, 1 wins)
7. roller74 (251 points, 1 wins)
8. super stud (245 points, 1 wins)
9. triviamonkey (242 points, 2 wins)
10. tvossen (231 points, 1 wins)

A new month, a new chance to be the big winner. The current topic is Chick Flicks. Please go and play.