Tuesday May 13 2008 ~ potential titles of future posts, v8

$17 to $93 in 9 minutes?
process samples
pep and zip
envy has shifted
t-rust
like you know it's meant to
smashing
processed by ozonation, advanced filtration and reverse osmosis technologies
change 430 to 507
when I was your age pluto was a planet
part of you has to be stupid so you can believe it's actually going to work out okay
i pretend that I am creative
damn it feel good to see people up on it
when we gonna make it work?

Tuesday May 13 2008 ~ bullshit

0

Tuesday May 13 2008 ~ now i'm feeling like a true blogger cuz i'm cuttin' it first, like:

1:48 am

iTunes has added full seasons of Sex and the City, The Sopranos, The Wire, Maude, I Dream of Jeannie and Married... with Children to their catalog. Start downloading now, you know you want to, but I will not provide you with direct links in order to spare you the downward spiral my checking account is experiencing right now.

2:04 am Update: Death Cab for Cutie's album has also been released. Payday can't come quickly enough.

Monday May 12 2008 ~ quickie

Randomness from last Friday (this will be updated with a play-by-play tomorrow):

"You don't have to be a beautiful woman to know you should be with women."

Unagi Trio: avocado and unagi roll topped with baked unagi and sweet unagi sauce

Japonai Startini: Belvedere cytrus vodka, citronage, passion fruit juice, cranberry juice, and lime juice garnished with a starfruit

"Shut up not yes!"

"Hold up guys! We gotta hit the piehooole"

"Oozin over your hotness shut the fuck up"

And still more from last Saturday:

"Thin must blood. That's just wrong."

"Let's make that be the truth."

Stage name: Les Few

"It's colors and numbers, match 'em!"

Maybe he is just actin like he don't know what's goin' on

Jonathan does not know how to play UNO.

This evening is going to be our rooftop BBQ night. We were thinking of doing some chicken and steak fajitas, but we're getting up a little late from last night's google-a-thon. The girls have their list and are off to the grocery store; we boys have our list and we're off to the meat market and the liquor store. The Meat Market reminds me of Eastern Market vendors except this is a standalone store. It's much smaller than Eastern Market but provides all your butchering needs under one roof. We decide that sausage, peppers and veggies are the way to go, so we pick up six large sausages and some mini-dogs. {{Jonathan can you send me which varieties we bought?}}

Next we're to the liquor store where we're getting supplies to make mojitos: white rum, simple sugar (of which they have none, but a quick call to the girls and they've added it to their grocery list) and JJ decides to pick up some tequila, just in case. I add a six pack of Hoeggaerten, just in case.

Back at 3201 the unpacking begins. I get started on crushing mint and sugar for the mojitos while Jonathan starts with the avocados. While our fajita cookout has changed its menu to sausages, we've retained certain aspects of our Mexican outing, hence the guacamole. It's a bit chilly up on the roofdeck with the temperature having dropped and the wind picking up... and then the rest of the evening ensued without pictures but with another pitcher of mojitos. Conversations were going this way and then that way and then they flipped back around and came across from the other side.

That's about it for the play-by-play, and here comes the pix which include some from Sunday:

Thursday May 08 2008 ~ in the air

A sleep-in morning, with everyone jumping on their own form of computer immediately upon waking up. Kristin: white iBook; Jonathan: black Macbook; Mary: white iMac; me, black iPhone.

I think manis and pedis are the call for the afternoon.

Lunch at Schuba's Harmony Grill:
Honey Chicken Brie Sandwich: grilled chicken, honey glaze, brie, field greens, granny smith apple, pecans and potato salad.

"bring a roadie"

The four of us have a 3:00 appointment at Divine, where they are having a special: when getting a mani/pedi also includes us a five- minute massage. Fantastic! Just the perfect thing for a mini-vaca and the start of summer. Fashion Alert: Divine is bring legwarmers back, and the four of us are helping to usher in its new popularity. We are maniacs, maniacs on the floor.

We're getting a late start this evening, mainly due to naps and general taking-our-timedness, but our original plane was for tonight to go to the Hancock Building's 96th floor Signature Room cocktail lounge, check out the nighttime view, have some appetizers and then head out for sushi. But because of our late start the evening was spent having cocktails 96 floors above the earth, laughing and taking pictures, sans sushi.

Lake Shore Martini: Grey Goose, Chambourd, Marquis dela Tour sparkling wine.

What takes up the remainder of the evening once we get home is trying to determine a celeb's name that Kristin saw at the beach in Santa Monica. Our only clues: tall male, longish gray hair, in his 70s, portrays presidential/corporates types in movies. Not much to google on. After about an hour and guessing about 200 people, we finally got it: Donald Sutherland.

Wednesday May 07 2008 ~ travel to chicago

After the most hectic of days, with a lunch offer that I was anxiously awaiting but had to turn down, I leave work early for my 7:45 flight to Chicago. In spite of wanting to get out of work as early as possible, I hate being stressed out before traveling, whether it be getting to the port/station or being delayed through security.

I'm arriving at National around 5:00, and the glamorous looking check-in gal informs me that me she can probably get me on an earlier flight. Fine by me, that's less time I have to sit around in a faux sports bar watching talking heads talk about some meaningless primary election results. It turns out the flight is boarding in 15 minutes though, and I still have to get through security.

Security: schmecurity. There is no one in line! Amazing. So I get to the boarding gate and while they do have seats, they're all "center seats". I decide to get a boarding pass anyway and leave two hours earlier than my booked flight.

Mr. Window is sitting reading a deposition or transcript, something about DHS and the legitimacy of this couple's marriage. I smell deportation.

I take my seat and wait for Aisle Person to show up. Naturally, just to thwart my joyous attempt at new pre-dusk arrival, Mr. Aisle is a wide man. So wide that even with his arms folded in his lap, his elbows and upper arms still spill out of his seat. It's only a two-hour flight, right?

Now I'm having to turn diagonally in my seat, just so that I'm not having Mr. Aisle's upper arm (and now body) pressed up against me. Where is that beverage cart?

Turbulence!!

I'm trying not to get too annoyed by Mr. Aisle. It's not his fault and he's not really doing it maliciously. Maybe I should have waited for my original flight, but this will give is a little more of a full first evening in Chi. I can tolerate this. For just a little while longer.

Looking out of the plane windows I can see the encompassing cloud cover that will make my trip to Chi cooler, grayer and possibly a little more somber than I had hoped.

The last time I was in Chicago, four years ago, I had a bit of a mission while I was there, to exorcise a demon that I thought had long been put to rest. That mission was to contact and meet up with Mr. Shipman. If I ever get those OpenDiary transcripts posted you'll know who I'm talking about. Some of you might know already.

Global Warming 2008=Y2K 1999

Mr Shipman is married now, with two dogs and two cats, and has a cooking blog that you van google if you're cunning. I won't be exorcising any demons on this trip to Chi. They no longer live in the Midwest.

Today is my first Wednesday in May without celebrating a birthday for The Twins™ in seventeen years. Rattle. Hum. Rattle & Hum.

Descent into Chicago...

Dinner and wine at Frasca.

Monday May 05 2008 ~ caution step up

I don't care this morning. I haven't cared all weekend about this morning and the rest of this day. I don't care if I make it to work on time, I don't care if I make all my transfers. Maybe today would be a good day to use the "I fell asleep on the train and ended up in Rockville" excuse.

After the last couple of week's demotions and firing of 1/10th of the staff while at the same time hiring three new senior-level managers, I'm not especially jazzed about going into work. Can you tell? Since some coworkers may be reading this, I'll leave the details out. They already know them.

Friday May 02 2008 ~ empty

Wednesday April 30 2008 ~ potential titles of future posts, v7

formatted for tv, edited for content
deludinoid
no beams, no bars, no vault
caution, drop!
you shouldn't think what you're feeling
2,147,483,646; 2,147,483,646 unread
could everyone agree that no one should be left alone?
i'm sacred and bound to suffer this heatwave
don't slide
i've bathed in nothing but sweat
ordering a boarding pass, traveling in business class
illusion never changed into something real
sway through the crowd to an empty space
the artist creates, the critical destroys
yellow line 5184
effectively synergizing backward overflow
a kick in the teeth
no more song lyric titles!
pay out or get played out
so wrong in all the right places
who dat ninja
model through it/fashion has no mercy
this bus is running on clean natural gas
iron chef vs sauce boy
as long as the music's loud enough we won't hear the world falling apart
don't pound in the rebar until you're all done drilling,
tattoo regret

Tuesday April 29 2008 ~ whirling sterling

As I'm driving around Sterling today for the 2nd day in a row, I make the realization that Sterling Park is kinda like me. We both showed promise when we were relatively new in the 70s, when there was nothing really to compare us to and we shone we the brightest possible hope for the future. Thirty-five years later, we're both showing a little wear and, looking around me, it seems obvious now that the hope that once existed for us was nothing but a sham. And we're fools for not recognizing it earlier.

After press inspection day #2 and a gym workout, I decided to take a drive while I still had time on my Zipcar. It wasn't intentional; it just happened. I started off by traveling north on 8th St, towards the Zipcar parking space, but I kept on going. I then turned left onto Florida, and followed that to U St. Then I turned north on 14th St, deciding to check out the new Clarendon Columbia Heights. Good God. The quaint run-downness of the Waffle Shop on Park St is gone now (it's a Mattress Discounters) and everything is big chain box stores. For about two blocks. Then it abruptly turns back into the 14th St I picture in my head: taquerias, corner stores and liquor stores before bars. But before the "No White Man" zone there was a gaggle, a plethora and a throng of white folk running in and out of the Best Buy, Target, Washington Sports Club and the Bed Bath and Beyond or whatever it was. They all looked hip and cool and probably were, paying twenty-five-hundred a month for their new "loft" condos which I will never own nor be invited to, directly above the Metro station. Oh, and there was a Ruby Tuesday that signaled the end of the white zone. I'm sure it acted as a boundary for those on the north side, looking down towards all this and having the Ruby Tuesday be the welcoming landmark.

I continued north in 14th until I hit Arkansas, which I took to Piney Branch and then onto the Rock Creek Parkway. I got off at Calvert and took a right on Connecticut, to see how my peeps on 17th St were hanging out but then I asked myself why, since they would be living full of life a mere three blocks away from their fabulousity so instead I went to The Circle and flung it wide, spun off on Mass Ave and headed back to the more quiet, isolated urban living.

Monday April 28 2008 ~ paper thin

It's raining all day today, which is fine by me. Except that I have to walk to my Zipcar (MY Zipcar is apparently getting repaired for the next month and is off the market) and in doing so I walk the bus route on C St and see some of the same people who board the bus after me. They give me a look of disdain and confusion, wondering why I'm walking in the rain and not getting on the bus. At my next opportunity I shift over to D St and continue my walk to the car.

I'm getting a car because I have a press inspection in Sterling. A press inspection is like working on a presidential advance team, or being on set with a reclusive actor or major technical problem: there's a lot of downtime. Since I have rented a Civic hybrid (not on purpose, it was simply the closest) I decide to burn a little green and drive around during my downtimes, instead of sitting there reading, surfing or watching a movie.

The printer is in my old high school neighborhood, so I drive around to pass old friend's houses, remembering fond times and amazed at how much has changed. Luckily I have some 80s-artists CDs with me so I can play them and pretend as if it's 1984 and I'm driving to pick up a friend. Then I get bored with that, and just a little depressed, but it's still better than a day at work.

I decide to do a little shopping for Chicago and hit some stores in the area, then drive out to Leesburg for the outlet shopping (which, possibly for the day, has been taken over by lesbians and/or German tourists) which is really dull and not much of a bargain. Then I decide to drive to Fair Oaks Mall and check out the new Apple Store, where I purchased a connector to plug my iPhone into the car stereo. Swell.

I've spent a lot of the day in the rain but I've enjoyed it because I haven't had to go into work. It turns out the press inspection is stretched until tomorrow (the ink hasn't dried on the sheets we ran) so I have to go out to the printer again for the day. And that's fine by me.

Sunday April 27 2008 ~ re: friday april 25 2008 ~ failure

A friend of mine once said "It's amazing that after spending all that time listening to Tears For Fears and The Cure in the 80s that we came out okay." At the time I laughed and agreed with the statement, but I'm thinking now that maybe we didn't. Or maybe I didn't. I can't speak for anyone else.

My five-year-plan, when people ask about such concepts, is always to be happier. I think I'm on my seventh 5YP right now and I don't think it's ever panned out. I don't think I'm happier than I was five years ago. And I don't think I was un-happier five years before that.

Some people are fortunate to go through life in a stable, non-aggressive environment where they are allowed to flourish, to have positive reinforcement and solid foundations laid for their growth. Some people have the familiarity of growing up in one surrounding, one environment, in which they are able to pintpoint the strengths and weaknesses: align with the strong, attack the weak. This is easy to discern if you're viewing from the photographer's side of the camera.

I try to do my best in life, whether that be robbing banks, loving someone, demonstrating independence or achieving success. I haven't succeeded in anything of these things. I haven't tried robbed banks yet but I'll let you know how that works out when that comes around. I try my hardest and fail without realizing what the rules are because, growing up, the rules were always changing and therefore no longer valid and I was always having to relearn a new set. After a while, I think I gave up on trying to figure them out. Put a smile on and you can skate on by for a while. But only for a while.

Friday April 25 2008 ~ failure

Friday April 25 2008 ~ guy on train, a continuing series: two

Wednesday April 23 2008 ~ dirty epic

I was first introduced to British trance band Underworld by Bruce what's-his-name that owned now-defunct Record Rack in Houston. This was 1994. I was deep into Blur, the Charlantas UK, The Farm, the whole Madchester Scene and all those Brit bands that soon came to be grouped together as "BritPop", especially once Oasis threw their hat into the mix. While I was loving the Britpop and Madchester, raves attempted to get started in Houston and other musical influences started to creep in.

Underworld was one of them. So was The Orb for that matter. But Underworld's dubnobasswithmyheadman, with it's RayGun-esque deconstructivist black and white artwork definitely signaling a shift. It's still a great album, front to back. As a matter of fact I'm listening to it right now. Underworld also directed me to the design group tomato, but that's for another post.

By 1995 I had moved to DC, and upon visiting Houston and Record Rack, I asked Bruce what was hot and new. He directed me to Wipeout XL, a soundtrack to a video game. It had a new Underworld track on it and he let me listen to some others, and they sounded pretty cool so I bought it. Little did I know it would introduce me to the soundtrack of my life for the remainder of the decade and beyond: Future Sound of London, Fluke, Photek, The Chemical Brothers, Prodigy, Daft Punk, Source Direct, Orbital and Leftfield are all on the soundtrack. (It contains Daft Punk's song Musique, a rare find that was like no other song I had ever heard. It has since been included on their great hits album of the same name.)

Back in DC, the nightclub STING was happening and I remember hearing this great song there, tracking it down and finding it on a Trancemaster 3-CD set. That song was also by Underworld and called Born Slippy. I remember playing the hell out of it back when I lived up in the sky at 6th & Constitution. This song was included in the movie Trainspotting a few years later, and then everybody and their brother knew it.

Underworld continued to thrill me, with albums Second Toughest in the Infants, Beaucoup Fish, Everything Everything, and A Hundred Days Off. (I'm downloading their latest, Orblivion With Bells, as I type this.)

Today at 6:00 PM UK (1:00 PM Eastern Standard Time) Underworld broadcasts live from the internets. From the press release:

After live broadcasts from Cocoon in Frankfurt and the Oblivion Ball in Tokyo, shows beamed to the world from backstage on their recent world tour and numerous late night "guerrilla" style test runs, Rick and Karl announce a series of quarterly web-radio from their studio in deepest Essex.

Exclusively at underworldlive.com

Featuring live studio jams, fresh new material straight from the mixing desk, classics from the vaults—expect to hear Underworld as never before! The shows will also feature music from their favourite artists, friends, DJ's and record labels, covering all the genres and styles that have and still do influence Underworld and their sound.

To kick things off—there's a one-off broadcast on Wednesday 23rd April, and then the schedule thereafter looks like this:

11th June 2008, 6pm (UK)
10th September 2008, 6pm (UK)
10th December 2008, 6pm (UK)
11th March 2009, 6pm (UK)

You can also listen to their previous broadcast, from 12 December also on the website. Mmm Skyscraper I Love You.

Monday April 21 2008 ~ guy on train, a continuing series: one

I'm starting a new series here on fuju today. It's pics of hot (or maybe not) guys I see on the Metro. I don't see anything wrong with taking their picture; it's not harming anybody. It might be considered an invasion of privacy but then I think of all those tourist snapshots that I'm unwillingly put in the background of and I think I can call it even.

With that said, here's Guy On Train, a Continuing Series, One:

Saturday April 19 2008 ~ snitch

Because the weather was so beautiful today, I made a list of things to do: go to the market, take a bike ride, investigate purchasing herb seeds at Frager's, taking photos of the green spring. Instead, I stayed inside. I can always go for a bike ride when it's raining, right? I finally settled into my den, clearing out an old Ikea dresser and positioning my computer table, assembling shelves, etc. It actually looks kinda nice now, and I think I'll have enough room to park my bike in there instead of leavin' it out in the living room overnight. Done, done done. It feels good and looks good. Now I think I need to get a little rug to put in there.

Once I decided to stay inside (with the outdoor exception of chatting on the phone on the steps and talking with Mrs. Robinson, two doors down) I opened the blinds and front door and turned on some fans to get the air circulatin'. As I'm opening the blinds behind the bar I'm noticing that there is a family of four getting ready to hop into my Zipcar. It's a husband, wife, and two kids, maybe two and five years of age. They've even brought their own child seats, so they must be prepared. It seems a little odd that a family of four wouldn't actually own a car and would been in need of renting a Zipcar, but to each their own. If they can make do that way, then do it.

Then I noticed that they had backed my Zipcar directly into a parked car owned by a neighbor who lives in the house where the Zipcar is located. Kinda rear bumper to rear bumper knock-up, so it's just some scratching on those plastic end panels. I watch as the mother gets out of the car, examines both, and takes down the license plate number of my neighbor's car. She gets back into the Zipcar and they drive off. I immediately go online and search for the protocol after having an accident, and what Zipcar puts forth is very "moving accident" written, instead of fender bender in a parking lot. context.

I also checked when the reservation was going to expire, or when the car was next going to be free to reserve, so that I could check to see how the family would deal with the car they had hit whey they returned. Maybe they had tickets to something or really needed to be somewhere on time, and needed to go immediately and would deal with the hit car afterwards. No problem. So then I started thinking, do I call Zipcar and turn them in? Surely they're a responsible family, bringing their own car seats and all, and would do the right thing? I was torn on whether to nark on them or just stay out of it.

I did notice when they returned the car, and while they casually examined both, they locked up the Zipcar and proceeded to walk away. It was then that I realized that my neighbor was the one who potentially was getting screwed in this. He would come out and find his car was hit, and would have no information about it, and I decided that was wrong. I've met him one time, and even though he still has not transferred his H8ST8 plates to DC, I had to stick up for him.

I walk out to the front yard and ask the mother as they're passing by if she is going to leave a note on the car that she hit. Immediately upon speaking I can tell that they're not Americans, they're Swiss or German or Austrian, and she's a little uncertain on what the proper procedure is. I tell her that she should leave a note on the car to at least alert the owner that Zipcar will be getting in touch with him and then they can work it out from there. She said they live around the corner and she needs to go home and feed the kids dinner and that she'll come back and leave a note on the car. I understand that, but I'm still discreetly snapping pix of them while we're talking, just in case they don't return.

SUNDAY UPDATE: When I got home last night after movie and pizza night at the pHierce school, I found a note from Sonja, the driver of the Zipcar. A quick google search hints to me she's Swiss and and adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Her note says that she has left information with my neighbor, and also included her phone number with a request to call.

I phoned her this afternoon and while I was a little apprehensive about what the phone call would consist of, it was actually quite pleasant. We talked about the accident, Zipcars, getting around without vehicles, keeping the peace in Northeast, etc. She's left a note with my neighbor and contacted Zipcar and gone through all the proper channels. It's all good. I will not post their pictures.

Saturday April 19 2008 ~ a new interrobang order

People who know and love me are aware of my love and devotion to the interrobang. For background, I actually tried to register interrobang dotcom back in the early days of they's internets, back in 1996. T'was taken.

For those who don't know and/or don't love me, an interrobang is a punctuation symbol generated by some advertising Creative Director trying to sell panty hose in the 60s and needed more excitement, more ummph, more moxie to his headline. It is one punctuation symbol that combines these two symbols: ?! and would be implemented liked this: "What the fuck?! <substitute interrobang>

Now you know. Know me. Love me.

I'm thinking there needs to be a new punctuation symbol. I don't have a name for it yet but I'll think about it this weekend. But I'm thinking now that this, like the interrobang—wait a minute—all punctuation symbols are only written. Scratch that. Reverse.

This new symbol needs to represent the subtle difference between a period and an exclamation point in texteses and emails. F'r'instance, please check this example:

OMG. I cannot believe that shit. She so did not say that about Kylie.

Compared to this:

OMG! I cannot believe that shit! She so did not say that about Kylie!!

Pretty extreme difference, huh? Shouldn't there be a way to bridge the unemotion of the first example and the over-the-top exaggerated second example? I think so. Let me ponder this, think of a name, and possible repurpose some other symbol on the keyboard so it can be entered as text instead of a graphic. Hmmmmm…

Thursday April 17 2008 ~ all i see

This acoustic version is referenced as "a rehearsal" but you know it took them a day to film it. Regardless, it's pretty nice.

And if you don't know who this is, you've earned one demerit.

Wednesday April 16 2008 ~ eight minutes on a bus

Bus leaves at five ten
I'll spend the thirty-five cents
To transfer not walk

Exterior white
Blue is the shade of inside
Should this make me calm

This I have noticed
Women won't sit in the back
Unless they have to

Bus to train and back
Boring hours that bring me down
Not good for my soul

And now a haiku
Of lines going all which way
Colors on a map

Dupont Circle red
Braddock Road blue and yellow
Cheverly orange

Tuesday April 15 2008 ~ a melody always finds me whenever the thought reminds me

Back in the pre-patriotic year of 1975 I was living in a maize-colored house on Gaynor Drive in Killeen, Texas. It was in this house that my older brother played with his Evel Knievel figure with stunt-bike, my oldest brother started to distance himself from the family (he was a teenager and therefore too cool to be seen with the rest of us) and where we also got our family dog, Tip.

One thing that, for some reason, I always remembered about living here is that our mailman's truck was numbered 321339. This seemed easy to remember: a countdown from three, and then three multiplied by itself equals nine. This number has always stuck in my head. I guess I'm waiting for it to resurface again, like magic lottery numbers.

Now, 28 years and 100 million people later, mail trucks have seven digits in their issue number so I'm assuming ol' 321339 was either retired or upgraded along the way. But I doubt that particular truck is still clunking around Gaynor Drive. But quite possibly it could have made the transition to a seven digit number, and I wonder if it did, how did they adapt the 7th digit? Take a zero to the end of it or issue it an entirely new number? One that was quite possibly not as memorable?

As I'm waiting for the bus to take me to the Metro after work today, the mail carrier-man is parked outside the building, filling his truck with the plastic boxes full of outgoing mail. His truck's number is 3211230 and I wonder if someone on his daily routes notices this unique number and carries it with them, silently waiting for the day it reappears into their life.

Monday April 14 2008 ~ today, yesterday, yesterday's yesterday and the day before that

T:
A hellish day back into the fire, followed by an evening of laundry-folding and an 8:00 bedtime. I've gotten sick after too much bike time on Saturday with a shortsleeved shirt and no jacket. I'm sniffling and sneezing and coughing, the most awesome of triple threats.

Y:
Sakananot. Dinner with Single. Sakana is our familiar restaurant of choice and since the weather is cold and threatening rain, I decide to use up some of my Zipcar credits and take the Jetta from next door. After meeting up with Judy, Swannie, Viv and Jen from the night before for some pre-dinner festivities I hop into the SingleStang and we head to Sakana. Only to find. It's. Not. Open. Simultaneous gasps are omitted from the Stang and had we had the top down, pedestrians on the sidewalk would have jumped. We stare in disbelief at the darkened doors but it only looks as if they're closed on Sundays only, and that they haven't soaped their windows, as my Father would say.

Now we don't know what to do.

We opt for Thai Tanic, which is chock-full and oddly enough, showing golf on huge televisions throughout the restaurant. Damn the flat panel revolution that allows one to put a television anywhere they feel like! I accepted a dare and asked the hostess if she would change the channel from the golf tourney to something more abstract, like a screensaver or an aquarium. Apparently people do not like to watch screensavers during dinner while they ignore their dinner companions, but they love watching golf. Whatevs.

I won't bore you with the transcripts of our dinner conversation, but it was thoroughly enjoyable and may or may not have included the following topics: blogging, Jamie Lee Curtis, the 1526, five-year plans, the iPod touch, rebates in the form of debit cards, Blowoff, traffic circles and taillamps that don't work properly, gees, elles, bees, teas.

YY:
Miss PJ Goldy wasn't feeling well, and hadn't eaten in a few days, so I accompanied the other Goldy to the Alexandria Animal Hospital for a rather expensive checkup. And then some even more expensive xrays. Nothing conclusive was found, and she is on medication now that helps her with her appetite so that's good. You might recall Miss PJ Goldy was the cat that I sat for late Feb/early March. We did manage to squeeze in some Generous George's pizza, though: "ROASTED PIZZA—Our dough is lightly brushed with an aromatic blend of minced garlic and olive oil, topped with roasted red peppers, sliced tomatoes, spinach, and provolone." Yu-Umm. I couldn't stop myself, foolishly ignoring the fact that I was going to be going to La Lomita in a mere four hours.

But in those four hours I had a haircut to administer and an art opening to attend. I managed to do both, spend some time at Dick & Kittie's Poolside Annex and make it in time for dinner. I was meeting M's friend Kenton so I had to be on some form of good behavior. It was Kenton's first time at LL so we had to school him on the routines but thankfully the queso was omitted (remember the cheese pizza? Yeah) from our experience. The T.A.C. were a hit though, all 'round the table.

(And this is why I'm feeling sick now:) then another bike ride back down to Dick & Kittie's No. 1 to rendezvous for the night's main event: Blowoff. A lot of fun, as a usual, followed by a trip to Florida Grill for breakfast. I think Ive had about 8000 calories by the time I was laying my head on my pillow.

DB4T:
A surprise lunch treat on La Lomita's patio, the first of the year. It's very exciting and I take more photographs of tulips that are wide open, heralding spring and beckoning bees to visit.

Friday April 11 2008 ~ cho sho

Today is all about yesterday. Frinstance, I took today off working thinking we'd stay out late after the Kelly/Margaret Cho show at Warner Theater (we didn't). And I was worried about getting everything at work wrapped up so I could get out of there at a decent hour and have a little time for a cocktail before the show (I did).

K-Ryan(n) and Olive were meeting at La Lomita at 6:00, which I knew I could never make in time, and Goldy was running home to change, so I headed straight downtown to meet them at the theatre and then realized I might have 30 mins or so to pop into JRs and then bust a cab back downtown before the 8:00 curtain. I'm glad I did. Not for the lame-ass crowd that JRs usually accommodates, but because I ran into friend John M, whom I hadn't seen in quite some time. He swears I've seen him since he chopped his dreads, but I begged to differ. Regardless, it might have been so long that I've seen him that I didn't remember his new look. Just goes to show ya.

I first met John M when he asked me to spot him lifting a reverse incline bench press at RTG. He was lifting about three times what I would have been lifting and wondered if I was up the job, should he fail. There was no disaster in the spotting. Okay, back to last night. John M asks me if I'm going to see Margaret Cho and I said that actually, yes I was, and that I needed to leave in about 6 minutes. He told me he had interviewed Liam Sullivan, the opening act in his character of Kelly, for the Express. And since I'm not reading the Express too much lately, I told him I'd download the pdf. John M's article can be found here, betch.

The concert was quite funny and entertaining, with Margaret saying things that would make a whore blush, accompanied with facial contortions that I'm-going-to-keep-making-until-you-laugh. Funny stuff, and she frequently touched on topics of tolerance & acceptance, which I don't understand why there isn't more of in this world.

Here are five pics: 1: Soon to be outdated cab zone fares; 2: Kelly; 3: Ms. Cho; 4: Woman who sat behind me with screaming/eardrum-rupturing/cackle laughter; 5. Texting party.

Wednesday April 09 2008 ~ this is a new day, this is the faith

Tuesday April 08 2008 ~ i've still got it

Since I've purchased my iPhone my commute has ceased consisting of logical deduction reasoning and has turned into giggles, taps and investigations. This means that I no longer pick up an Express for the Sudoku puzzle, and that now I watch TV shows or movies, blog (as I'm doing now) or surf.

As I was hobbling along towards Union Station from the bus, I decided to do my first Sudoku puzzle in almost two months. Since the Red Line Train was too crowded to have the necessary elbow room to start scribbling, I waited until I transfered to the Yellow Line at Gallery Place to begin the puzzle.

I completed it before I saw the light of day after L'Enfant Plaza. That's _two_ stops for those who aren't paying enough attention. Today's puzzle skill level: Medium.

Sunday April 06 2008 ~ when i come around

After a night of restless sleep, waking up in the middle of the night and wondering if I would be able to get back to sleep, I wake up exactly one minute before my alarm is due to go off. Why is an alarm set on a Sunday morning, you ask? My 5:30 alarm is set so that I can be at the Metro at 6:30 and on The Mall in time to start the Cherry Blossom 10-miler at 7:50.

I'm running again this year with Katie, and we're both a little apprehensive about completing the race. Neither of us have sufficiently ramped up our training to feel confident enough to complete without stopping like we did last year.

We get off to a good start, completing the first five miles that round us out around Haines Point. Once we're back by the tidal basin, Katie's ankle starts giving her problems and we decide to wall for a bit. Honestly I think I could have kept running but I welcomed the walking. We proceeded to run/walk for the remainder of the race, completing it in around two hours.

Did I mention it's also cold and rainy? Not the best running weather, as clothes are getting soggy, puddles are getting run thru and the run across Memorial Bridge is a bit windy and thankfully brief.

After the race we went to Henry's for their brunch and then I had to come home and get back into bed and nap for the afternoon. My legs and back are pretty sore but now that I've woken up for the evening, I'm finding my ankles are hurting me the most. Let's hope this doesn't last for more than a few days.

One thing I realized today is that I actually enjoy running, if I can get past the first twenty minutes. That's the hardest part for me, anything after that is actually enjoyable once a rhythm and pace is developed. The next long race is the Army 10-miler in October. I'm thinking if I devote more time to training for this one then I should be able to best my time from last year's Cherry Blossom.

Saturday April 05 2008 ~ potential titles of future posts, v6

http/1.1 service unavailable
i love strikethrough
everything will change forever
it's such awful manners
i need you so much closer
lada 4x4
hr 2744
snatchsnacker
no matter what you start with it ends up being so much less
$973
xfr
your lips move but i can't hear what you're saying
popism: the warhol '60s, page 178, 2nd paragraph, last sentence
and now the prop has occupied my time
just a vacancy
the symbol formerly known as the artist formerly known as prince
the meaning should be neutral
welcome to the experimental jetset
creativity is undiscovered plagiarism.
stunt sex

1 login <sn> <pass>
2 status <msg>
3 send <sn> <msg>
h help

Friday April 04 2008 ~ recent visitors (thank you)

Thursday April 03 2008 ~ today it happened again

I had another one of those hallucinations dreams. This one happened, appropriately enough, on a Yellow Line Train. Here's how it went down:

I'm dressed in black lightweight wool Kenneth Cole slacks, a charcoal gray dress shirt from FCUK and a loosened black silk tie (Calvin Klein). My shoes are black leather Presidio, also Kenneth Cole, and my socks are Yves St. Laurent, black with charcoal pinstripes. I may or may not be embellished with a slight application of eyeliner.

Mr Consultant is wearing cuffed dark navy Lucky Jeans, a red somewhat-plaid Abercrombie & Fitch long-sleeved shirt, with a white Calvin Klein undershirt. Shoes are high-top dark brown Timberlands. His socks are indeterminate. He has a lot of product in his hair.

He's waiting for me underground at the Gallery Place Metro stop. He's reading the Food section of today's paper, and as my train arrives he stands up to greet me as I exit the car, with suggestions and hints about what we will prepare for dinner that evening. He smiles. I'm already smiling. We briefly kiss and head upstairs where we will catch a Red Line Train to our neighborhood of Brookland, where we own a quaint bungalow. It's painted dark gray with white trim and has a large front porch, the optimum place to share a bottle of wine.

While walking home from the Brookland station Mr C decides he's going to take the car (it's a Saab in this fantasy) to the grocery store; he's inspired by a recipe from the paper. I phone a few friends and ask them over for the evening. I tell them Mr C is cooking and they quickly clear their schedules to join us for a fun yet casual night. I mix a pitcher of mojitos and change into shorts and tshirt, setting the standard for a relaxing time with friends.

Mr C proceeds to make a fabulous meal and, as we are wont to do, we spend the remainder of the evening on our front porch playing Scrabble or Pictionary or some other silly game. This time is punctuated with breaks of laughter with storytelling and remember-when-this and remember-when-that. Afterwards we'll say goodnight to our guests and clean up the kitchen. We're still smiling at each other, even to this point. We'll go bed and be accompanied by a dog or two cats or possibly a dog and two cats.

Tomorrow we'll sleep in together and once we've had our coffee (in the back yard this time) and texted friends to check in, we'll plan our day. Possible scenarios for the day include museum trips, thrift store shopping, a day trip to Harper's Ferry, an afternoon at the Inner Harbor, a 6-mile run, yard work, sex.

Wednesday April 02 2008 ~ it has begun

The Tourists are here. Trying to hold open the train doors. Smacking their gum. Wearing garish colors. Looking confused and overwhelmed, pointing at maps. By this evening they will be wearing FBI and CIA tshirts, purchased 4-fer-$10 from street vendors on the Mall.

The Cherry Blossom Festival is traditionally the kickoff to Tourist Season here in DC; sometimes I wish it would start later, at least Memorial Day, to give us residents-with-no-representation a springtime to actually enjoy our city, before it's overrun with buses of loud, uncontrollable teenagers and the QVC jewelry wearing chapperone crowd.

But on a cheery note, the cherry blossoms are in full bloom. And while I have a limited view while crossing the Potomac, the ones a block away and rhe ones in Stanton Park are gorgeous and in full bloom. It's supposed to be gray and rainy for the next two days, but sunshine is projected for Sunday's race. I'm hoping these beautiful cherry blossoms can keep me going for my ten mile run! You can always be down there to cheer me on, if you like. Or you can meet us at Henry's afterwards for a hearty brunch with bloody mary's. I think I will have deserved it after the run, especially if I complete it successfully.

Tuesday April 01 2008 ~ rain, run, reservation, rick

Rain in my neighborhood this morning forces me from the bike to the bus. It's crowded on the trains, too, maybe other cyclists are put in the same position that I am. Some are dressed for the weather and some aren't. Those that aren't, I presume, are those fortunate enough to have a quick commute, probably being dropped off at a Kiss & Ride and then having their office right on top of a Metro stop.

Last night I attempted to do my training run but only made it through about 40 minutes of the hour, than I did some cardio, if only for leg muscle conditioning. Then I came home, ate an entire head of lettuce and went to bed. Sunday's race is going to be a challenge for sure. Hopefully my knees will not give out.

I've purchased tickets for a trip to Chicago in May. It's only for five days but I'm seeing friends Jonathan and Mary that I haven't seen in a few years, plus Kristin is coming in from LA so we should have a blast. J+M have a new condo with rooftop deck that I haven't seen yet so I imagine at least one BBQ up there with some margaritas and lots of laughter.

YouTube Rickrolled viewers today, linking all of their Features Videos to Rick Astley's "Never Gonna Give You Up". Funny. Don't know what Rickrolling is? Click Here. Now you've been Rickrolled.