Blog Master G

On Thursday, January 3, 2008 I made the front page of the Saratogian (whose Web site sucks so much it’s not even loading for me right now). The story wasn’t really about me, but it’s no less cool to see my name right on the front page in the top story — barely:

The full sentence, including after the jump on page 8A, reads:

With Gabe A_nderson’s term on the Zoning Board of Appeals over as of Dec. 31, Johnson appointed Mary Annne Mecica to fill his seat.

That’s right: I’m big news here in Saratoga Springs. You see, I spent most of last year as one of seven members on the mayoral-appointed, quasi-judicial Saratoga Springs Zoning Board of Appeals. It was a really interesting experience and I learned more than I ever thought I’d know about zoning code, setbacks, area and use variances. As I wrote to my fellow Steeplechasers on November 28, 2007 when asking if anyone might be interested in filling my seat:

The ZBA has a very direct and real impact on shaping the future of development and neighborhoods in our beautiful city, and being a member of the quasi-judicial, volunteer board is an amazing learning experience. You needn’t have any previous knowledge of zoning code — only a desire to learn and a commitment to our city.

There are 7 members on the ZBA and 2 of us will be leaving at the end of the year (there’s been talk among newly-elected council officials to reduce land use boards to only 5 members, but as of now that’s not the case). My fellow board member Matt Veitch won a seat as a county supervisor, and the term I was appointed to fill ends this year.

As much as I’ve enjoyed some aspects of the ZBA — I now know more about zoning code than I ever thought possible, along with neighborhoods in Saratoga I never knew existed, and have gotten to know a committed and passionate group of people — overall it’s not a good fit for me (it’s a big time commitment about twice a month with a lot of meetings and a lot of paperwork), so I’m not seeking reappointment (a full term is 7 years, though people often step down short of that for one reason or another).

It was a great experience and I’m glad I did it, but it just wasn’t for me for the long-term. There was a lot of paperwork, bureaucracy, and many a long meetings, not to mention entire Sundays dedicated to viewing properties and reading applications.

I even got a letter when I was originally appointed and a certificate of appreciation at my last meeting from now-former Mayor Val Keehn, and had my name on city letterhead (here’s a sample Word doc agenda from last year). So that was pretty cool.

The last time I made the front page of a newspaper was on November 23, 1998, when I wrote this front-page story as a college intern for the business section of The Poughkeepsie Journal:

(That scan is light blue because I have the original plate that was used in the printing press to print the front page that day; it’s pretty cool.)

And lest we forget the time Jen’s photo was on the front page of the Post Star in November 2005.

Monday was one hell of a way to say goodbye to 2007 and bring in the new year. The day started with a 9:30am invitation from Hugh, Jami, Eric, and Michele to join them for snow tubing at West Mountain — and after 6-plus inches of snow the night before, I just couldn’t say no. So tubing we went (OK, so maybe there was a pre-tubing stop at the bar):

Here’s what my first run looked like from my perspective:

Hugh rolled down a hill. Jami challenged a 4-year-old to a snowflake eating contest.

Later on, we had a 6pm Eastern Time / 12am Spanish time New Year’s Eve toast, complete with the 12 grapes Spanish tradition. We leveraged the same bell chiming .WAV file we customized for the experience last year.

Before heading out to Bloomers, I got to try on my new shirt (though “it’s not a shirt, that’s a way of life“), which went perfectly with my ‘stache, might I say. Jen was obviously pleased (“that mustache is made of the shards of my broken heart,” she said more than once that night).

En route to Bloomers, Alex and Eric tried to score with their ladies in the party van (why do you think it’s called the party van?):

We had (yet another) delicious meal at Bloomers — this time it was 6 courses and the consensus was that all but the stinky cheese were superb. Jen and I actually enjoyed the cheese, but it was really pungent (our strategy was to eat each piece with the pear accompaniment while pushing the plate aside).

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, we rendezvoused with Hugh, Jami, Eric, Michele, Justin, Seth, and Niki for a few hours of post-midnight party fun. Jami wore a tux, which Sarah inspected:

We raced home in time to see the clock strike midnight midnight:

It was a rockin’ good time and a really long, action-packed day. The post-Bloomers party only lasted a few hours given its late start — but Jen, Niki, and I managed to rock out to some Tom Petty, Hugh kept the porch diving tradition alive, Jami showed us all how it’s done with the Alcohawk, we all rocked some Taboo, and I, of course, had mustache admirers galore.

Happy 2008, one and all! Here’s to another year of good friends and good times!

I’m still waiting for Pete to post his final entry, but in the meantime, here’s my final day with his mustache eve photo:

What will his final entry bring?

Here’s where you can vote.

Yesterday was an awesome, action-packed day, but I’ll save all that for the next blog post. For now, I’ll keep it short ‘n sweet. Here it is — my final entry in the ABMGC 2007:

It’s been a fun ride, Pete. You are a noble competitor. Now, we let our readers vote on various criteria of our sweet ‘staches.

So it’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for — from perviness to mustachitude, it’s time to vote on all the qualities of your favorite ‘stache.

And this was the scene last night — well, at around 4am this morning as our New Year’s Eve wound down — yes, thanks to Alex, I have yet another oh so sweet Hawaiian shirt in my collection (this one’s from Florida):

Happy New Year, everybody! It was a fun 2007 and I’m sure this year will also rock.

Wait a minute, who let this guy into the competition?

Last night after a belated celebration of Jen’s birthday and Christmas with Jen’s parents — gifts and a delicious dinner at Springwater Bistro — I was struck with the inspiration for a midnight shave. My ‘stache is well into NASCAR Dad territory now, people.

Here’s the before:

And here’s my NASCAR Dad after:

Still disappointed, commenter Ben? I hope not.

Meanwhile, Pete posted a long overdue ‘stache update yesterday. It’s the home stretch, everyone! The contest officially ends New Year’s Day, but people have been asking me what will happen after that.

Only time will tell, but this ‘stache could be growing on me.

Sometimes pictures speak louder than words:

I win.

Christmas Eve night Tom and Anne stopped in to drop off some great gifts, including my Christmas Eve miracle and my new muse, Hairy Gabe:

And then Jen got in on the ‘stache action (I knew she was jealous of this contest from the start):

Tom and Anne stayed for a delicious Jen-made lasagne, some wine, Christmas poppers, and some mean Taboo action:

Meanwhile, it’s time to give my ‘stacheometer another crank:

That’s right: Just call me Chia Pet; Magnum P.I. here I come!

And Pete’s back on the scene with a before-shave update. I suspect his first shaven entry will be next.

Merry Christmas, everybody!

Yesterday was another mostly lazy day with some exciting highlights — the first shaving of the ‘stache contest (the neck hair was starting to freak me out — before | after) and a visit from Hugh, whom I joined in founding the Saratoga Porch Diving Team.

But first, lazy updates from the day: I watched Aeon Flux, which was a fun sci-fi action flick I’d been meaning to watch for a long time, and then a bunch of episodes from season 2 of Entourage.

Later in the evening, Hugh ran to our place through the rain and snow for some wintry party fun, including this uplifting pose of Hugh and Jen with Russian chocolate:

Hugh is often struck with brilliant inspiration — on the last day of the track 2006, he climbed a tree to incredible heights, and last night, he became the inaugural member of the Saratoga Porch Diving Team:

So I promptly joined him — here’s my inaugural dive:

The first Saratoga Porch Diving Team dual dive:

Oh yes, “nothing like a fresh blast of snow to the ear” indeed. Words to live by.

For those of you who can’t get enough of the Saratoga Porch Diving action, there’s more action that’s not suitable for prime time on the blog, so if you’re interested, drop me a line.

Not too much to report from Day 6 except that I got a haircut Saturday and told my longtime stylist, Jessica, all about the contest. She thought it was hilarious and wished me luck in the competition. Here’s my official entry for Saturday, Day 6 of the ABMGC 2007:

Inspired by Peter’s singing mustache telegram:

…and encouraged by ‘stache contest fan Sarah, I created my own singing ‘stache-gram (a good example of what not to do with a ‘stache):

The past two days have been really lazy. Saturday we watched Walk the Line, which was pretty good, then were joined by Anne and Tom later that night to see Walk Hard, which was pretty bad. Jen and I can’t figure out why it’s been getting such good reviews; we didn’t think it was all that funny.

Merry Christmas Eve, one and all!

Stay tuned for my ‘stache action on Day 7, coming soon…

Yesterday was Day 5 of the contest, and I was negligent in my blogging. Pete tells me that he’s experiencing technical difficulties with his cell phone camera, so that may delay his ‘stache updates.

But here I am. So here we go.

Last night we rocked the town (as usual), beginning our evening with a delicious Italian dinner at the Principessa Elena Society men’s club, where we engaged in some mean shuffleboard action, followed by a round at The Local, after which Patricia and I found some inviting rocking chairs outside a shop on Beekman Street:

Next destination: The Parting Glass, where Jen once again proved that she’s the unstoppable, undefeated Irish Car Bomb champion. It’s pretty unreal what she does when an ICB is involved. Seth captured all the action:

1. Irish Car Bombs Commence
2. Jen Finishes her Irish Car Bomb in the Blink of an Eye
3. Gabe Places #2 in the Irish Car Bombs
4. Justin Finishes his Irish Car Bomb in 3rd

Next time someone challenges Jen, we’ll have to get a video. It’s truly amazing: She pounds the entire Guinness-Jameson-Bailey’s concoction before anyone knows what’s happening. And then she and Patricia break into song:

Here’s another guy who sings a Holly Jolly Christmas — and check out his ‘stache:

We capped the night off with some dog action at Jami’s place, where JC showed us how to tame her herd:

And the photo at the top of this post, of course, is my official Day 5 entry — chillin’ with Hugh and Jami’s cat Mingus, who looks like my old friend, Licky Boy.