So I'm off to a trade show for work April 9th - April 13th. On Wednesday night after I get settled in the hotel, I plan to be a tourist in my own town and eat at Bubba Gump Shrimp Company; afterwards, I plan to go to check out Ripley’s Believe It or Not! I have to get up very early on Thursday to have breakfast and catch a cab over to the Javits Center with my boss. The other days there will be a shuttle bus, but it will probably take me longer than my usual 30 minute subway ride from Brooklyn to the office in SoHo...The company is putting me up in the swank Crowne Plaza and I do get an expense account for meals, so it's almost like a working vacation.

I will be online for a bit tomorrow night. I haven't been away from my computer this long since the last trade show I attended in Las Vegas. Six days away from the keyboard is almost unfathomable, between my Web Work and my Writing, but it's something I must do...I'll see you on the other side...

I hope everyone had a great New Year's Eve!  I had the day off from work yesterday, so I decided to take care of some errands; first stop: Reel Life South, but they were closed at noon--that did not make me happy--I'd planned to pick up some DVD's to watch at night.  Frustrated, I walked to the drug store on 7th Avenue here in Park Slope, where I stumbled another video store--I think it's called the Video Gallery--that was actually open!  I became a Member at the Video Gallery and picked up Black Snake Moan and The Host, two movies about two very different kind of monsters.  It turns out that the rental fees are cheaper at the second video store and, which is only slightly further away from my apartment than the first one.

I managed not to put an eye out when I opened my bottle of champagne.  I tired to drink the whole bottle over the course of six hours, but there was too much for one person, so I ended up dumping two glasses worth down the drain.  I tuned in to watch the ball drop on TV;  I actually went to Times Square one New Year's Eve with some college chums one year.  It was a wild and crazy time!  Did you know it was the 100th anniversary of the ball drop?

I plan to get out more for "me time."  Not an easy feat with work, various writing projects and Web sites to keep current for a handful of Web Clients, but I'm tired of being tethered to a computer all the time.  I've come to realize that on rare occasions that I'm not working, I'm either talking about work or thinking about various projects on my plate--that's not healthy.  This year, I'll strive to maintain a balanced life, with equal parts work and play.  I have plans 3 weekends out of 4 this month that will help!