Vibrant.(Still) Unrepentant. Badass. Old. Queer

Good Sunday Afternoon, Kittens! I guess it's time to update everyone on my week and weekend.  It has been fabulous (mostly). After work on Monday, I busied myself by getting My Cocky & Rude Bloggy Gift Exchange packages ready to mail.  I hope that they (a) have arrived by now and (b) that they arrived in one piece. On Tuesday, my co-worker drove me to the Pottery Studio so I could pick up the last few pieces of my pottery.  I was mostly pleased with how things turned out.  Especially this bowl: Which I gave to my co-worker as a thank you for the ride And My Little Yellow Soup Tureen: Once I got home, I had to get ready for my building's monthly board meeting.  So much fun.  not really. On Wednesday, I did laundry and M (not the one in Las Vegas.  Obviously) came over for an Adult Sleepover.  We watched Men in Black 3 and ate pizza.  And maybe did a few other things ... On Thursday, I relaxed mostly.  And, made...

Good Evening, Kittens! This past week has been chock full of fun and excitement!  Especially if you define "fun and excitement" as "feeling like Death Warmed Over!"  YAY! I contend that V from Philly gave me some sort of Deadly Philadelphia Germ.  He refutes that claim, because he has not been sick. Whatever.  Carrier. ANYWAY, I spent most of the week feeling like El Crapola.  The cold has been mostly in my chest.  Lots of coughing and hacking.  Not much sinus pain (huzzah for small favors).  And, thus, I did not do much. I did go to pottery class, where I threw two (future) mugs and a bowl. I also made two very yummy soups: black lentil/tomato/vegetable and thai red curry butternut squash (pictured above). This weekend, I have been feeling a bit better.  Still, I cancelled my planned daytrip to Philly to hang out with the fabulous Lora and Bossy.  I will see them -fer sure- when I run the Philadelphia Half Marathon in Nove...

Oh, hai, Kittenz! Apparently, none of my local Kittens want any of my crappy pottery, so I guess I am going to be forced to leave it on the side of the road or throw it into Sligo Creek as a gift to the Pottery Gods.  Oh, well.  Crappy Pottery is so unloved. (Alternatively, it could be that there are no Local Kittens, but the thought of that gives me the sadz.  Begone Sadz Thoughtz!) When you last read VUBOQ things were peachy keen and we were on the Cusp of a Brand New Weekend.  Well, that weekend was chock full of fun and excitement. On Friday, I had Happy Hour with my co-worker, Tomokito, Bobby (formerly known as Steveandbobby), and Jerry at Nellie's.  My co-worker left and the rest of us were joined by Mike (Who Makes Cakes) at Alero, where we had many, many margaritas.  At least, I had many, many margaritas.   Saturday, I made marinara sauce.  And sliced up watermelon. Because I had early Sunday morning plans, I stayed in, an...

Good Friday Evening, Kittens!  I may not have had a lifetime of nothing special (yet), but this week was mostly nothing special ... with a few minor exceptions. On Tuesday, I met Eric (Not From Baltimore) for happy hour.  We went to Central.  I had a yummy cocktail.  It was like a French 75 (gin, champagne, lemon) with the addition of cucumber and Benedictine.  Tasty.  Boozy.  Durnk. On Wednesday, can you guess what I did?  I'll give you a hint:  It starts with an L and rhymes with "raundry." Then, on Thursday, I met D (the guy recently out of the 20 year relationship that went all batshit crazy on his ex.  Remember him?) for happy hour.  And, let's just say ... he's still crazy.  Of course, he still wants me.  But that shit ain't happenin'.  Really.  I don't need that kind of crazy in my life right now ... or ever.  I did have many many margaritas though.  and cheese dip.  And that's alw...

Good Morning, Kittens! How about that 4th of July, huh?  What a crazy riot of fun!  I stayed on the sofa ALL DAY and watched the Lord of the Rings Trilogy (extended editions).  I made serious progress on my knitting project (pictured).  At the rate I'm going, I *may* finish the scarf before it gets to be winter ... we'll see. I am currently reading Game of Thrones, Book 3.  It's a surprisingly good series; however, I've getting very frustrated with one character's storyline right now.  So, I may have to put the book down for a bit to give myself a break.  Anyone else into this series?  For dinner last night, I made this: Spicy Tomato and Cucumber Salad, Sauteed Green and Yellow Squash with Basil and Pinenuts, and Rice with Red Quinoa Very American, what with the squash and the tomatoes and the quinoa, right? As for my back, it still hurts.  I am able to get up and move around, which is good.  I think I may have overdone ...

Good Afternoon, Kittens. It's been awhile, so let's play catch up with a quick, bullet-pointed list of what's been happening.  When I last wrote and update, I was in Atlanta ... The hot guy came over again on Thursday evening (May 10th). It was fun.  BUT, once again, I proved to myself that I really don't enjoy casual hooking up. I need emotional connection as well. May 11th, last day of class.  Yay!   Mexican food with my friend, Christal, and her Very Obstinate 2-year-old, MAC. May 12th, returned to the DeeCee. May 13th, called Mom for Mother's Day. May 14th, Doctor's appointment.   May 15th, registered for the Army 10-Miler and attended a rather uncomfortable Co-op Board Meeting. Also, CSA Farm Share vegetables!  Nom nom nom May 16th, did a shit-ton (metric) of laundry. May 17th.  D came over.  We had the oral secks.  And, he got so light-headed he nearly passed out.  Yes.  I am that good. Howeve...

Good Evening, Kittens. As you may recall, I am a government contractor. And, today was one of those days which exemplifies why working as a contractor sux sweaty ballz. First, I had to sit through a two hour long meeting o' drivel. DRIVEL! Then, when I got back to my desk, my company called. Guess what? The organization for which I work has not completed our contract renewal information. And, that is bad because my contract expires in a week and a half. My company (the sub-contractor) is working on it. The prime contractor is working on it. The agency in charge of the contracting vehicle is working on it. Who isn't working on it? My clients. Some of whom I would call totally incompetent except it would be an insult to totally incompetent people. GAH! So, in two weeks, I'm going to have to report to company headquarters (which is VERY FAR AWAY) for a few days. If nothing is resolved, I will (more than likely) be furloughed until the contract is renewed ... and who ...

Good morning afternoon, kittens. Happy Valentine's Day. I spent the morning in the laundromat. Yay. This afternoon, I am treating myself to a boozy lunch at Adega. Then, I'm going to go grocery shopping, iron, and end this Day of Romance at pottery class. Fun times. This weekend was chock full of fun. Friday night, I did nothing. Yay! On Saturday, I slept in. Did a little cleaning. At 2PM, I had a coffee date. He seems nice ... not exactly my physical type ... and was most definitely not over his most recent ex (even though they've been broken up for over a year). I think maybe we can hang out sometimes, but I see nothing romantic coming out of it. Saturday evening, after a disco nap, Eric from Baltimore came down. We ordered pizza with Tomokito and SCGB and then we went to Town. On the way there, we were rearended (and not in the fun way!). BUT, it was a light tap with no damage to either car. *whew* At Town, SuperCute Blogger Kris joined us, as well as a c...

Good Morning, Kittens. Not much going on right now. So, enjoy the progress on the Never-Ending Baby Blanket of Doom (pictured). I've been working on it almost every night for nearly a week and am about 1/3 done. Yesterday, I did laundry. The washing machine threw itself out of balance and so I had to take a whole bunch of stuff out. If those sodden clothes *ever* dry in this weather, it will be a miracle. Later in the evening, I went upstairs to hangout with Tomokito and her family. Her parents are visiting from Japan and her father returns today. That was fun. I have forgotten *so* much Japanese. Of course, it's been well over ten years since I have spoken it/heard it on a regular basis. No real plans today. It's cold and dreary and gray and rainy. I may venture forth to the pottery studio this afternoon. We shall see. *smooches*

Good Morning, Kittens. Oh, yes, yesterday was chock full of fun and excitement. I did laundry. I knitted. I got overly frustrated with the (temporary, but not quite temporary enough) roommate. I decided to make a couscous salad last night for dinner. Before I started cooking, Y sat down on the sofa with a plate full of toast and hummus. I made the salad - couscous, corn, black beans, red onion. The dressing was olive oil, chiles, basil, lemon juice, garlic and spinach (pureed). When it was finished, I fixed myself a bowl and sat down on the couch to eat. Y: *loud sigh* V: What? Y: *sigh* V: Would you like some salad? It's in the refrigerator. Y: I just don't understand why you are like this. V: Like what? You just ate a big plate of bread and hummus. I said you could help yourself to the salad in the fridge. Y: Well, it seems like since I paid for the groceries ... V: (interrupting) Did you want me to serve you the salad? Is that it? You need me to get up from enjoy...

Good Morning, Kittens! We have a special treat for you today! Oh, yes, we do. It's how I do laundry ... just in case any of you ever want to come over and do it for me. Step 1: Survey the Damage Step 2: Sort. I make two piles: Colors and Whites. If there are enough Whites for a mostly full load, I do two loads. If not, I take out the essentials (socks, some t-shirts) and throw them in with the Colors, saving all the other Whites for Another Time. Step 3: Re-load up the laundry basket and carry it over to the Laundry Room. Step 4: Sprinkle detergent into the machine. Step 5: Carefully and loosely load to ensure Proper Machine Balance. Step 6: Set the Temperature (Colors or Whites). Step 7: Put in the quarters. And wait. Step 8: Unload. Separate items to be line dried vs. machine dried. My rule is Expensive Jeans and T-Shirts Which Cost More Than $20 = Line Dried Step 9: Throw everything else into one dryer (and, to save money, cut your dryer sheets in half). Step 10. When t...

Good Morning, Kittens! The hot news this morning (at least in Japan) is that SuperCute Member of SMAP, Kusanagi Tsuyoshi, has been arrested for being drunk (and naked!) in a park. Read all about it here (in English!) (no pictures *sad face*)! A fun thing to do while reading this article is to pick out all the kind and indirect ways the author writes "HE'S GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY!" Here's my favorite: "In a survey among single people in their 30s, Kusanagi was named the No.1 representative for "Soushoku Danshi" i.e. guys who are caring towards friends and family but are not too keen on romance." As for my hot news? There is none. I spent yesterday doing laundry and knitting. And rolling quarters. And I vaccuumed. I have all the fun. Today, I am going to do a little job searching stuff. Then, I'm heading to the pottery studio. After finishing there, I'm going to Mike's for dinner (and to pick up a couple of pairs of free jea...

Yes. It's the One Year Anniversary* of my first date with Y . We are going to that very same bar tonight to relive the good times ... All the exciting details tomorrow. Stay tuned. Last night was laundry. I have clean sheets. Yayz. My parents bought me these super soft Ridiculously High Count Egyptian Cotton sheets. I love them. I also hate them. They come out of the dryer uber-wrinkly. Shouldn't sheets fresh out of the dryer look clean und crisp? Not like they've already been slept on for 3 weeks? So, when I put the wrinkly (yet clean!) sheets on my bed, it looks icky. My bed only looks super nice about once every 3 weeks when I put clean sheets on. And, now, it doesn't even look nice then. *le sigh* And, srsly, who is going to iron sheets? Not me. Fer sure. Later that very same night, Across the Hall from DUN Neighbor came downstairs and I taught her how to fold origami cranes. DUN joined a few minutes later for a resume review session. It was tot...

Y came over. We watched Edward Scissorhands again. I said that I thought the movie was a gay allegory. And, he was all, "but he likes that girl." And then I had to say, "you don't know what allegory means, do you?" And, he was all, "No." So I had to explain it. *bleah* What do you think? We drank almost an entire bottle of wine and went to bed. Well, I went to bed. Y stayed up reading or studying or something. Before going to bed (and after watching the movie/explaining the Allegory of Edward Scissorhands ), we discussed what we are going to do on May 15th - a day which will live in infamy, the anniversary of our first date . We decided to go back to the Irish bar where we met. We're also thinking about taking a trip to NYC, either for Memorial Day Weekend or the next weekend. It really depends on if our friends' sofas are available those weekends or not. In other news ... it's Laundry Day! Huzzah! I have to get quarters at s...

It would seem that the last bisque firing is going to be on April 21st. This is not good. I still have BUTTLOADS of clay left. Plus, 4 mugs which need trimming and handles. Hopefully, I can get out of work early on Friday, run to the studio (it closes at 5) to trim and pull handles. Then, maybe on Sunday the mugs will be dry enough to put in the kiln on Monday. There will probably not be enough time to throw anything else. GAH. But, I don't want to abandon all my leftover clay, either. *sigh* Looks like I'll be signing up for a summer course ... [which, in and of itself, is not a bad thing ... unless I'm unemployed at that time. Then, it would totally suck and be money that I shouldn't have spent.] The last glaze firing is the 28th. My exciting plans for today after work include: vaccuuming! laundry! and sweeping! OMG! I haz all teh funz. ALL OF IT! I'm also going to eat cheese and olives . Because if I can't have alcohol, at least I can have good...

Last night, I found myself in front of my refrigerator vermouth in one hand, chilled martini glass in the other, when I remembered, "Alcohol-Free April." D-man. It's going to be a long, long month. How did everyone else do ? Last night for dinner, I made a really weird salad, involving mushroom , onions , and chili peppers sauteed in raspberry vinagrette and then served over mixed greens with warm pita. It wasn't bad , but I won't be making it again. Then, DUN, DUN's bf, and SCGB came down for chocolate tofu pie . It tasted a lot better than it did at Y's party. I don't know exactly why. Perhaps because (1) I knew it wasn't going to be sweet and (b) I wasn't distracted by 60 gabillion other choco-choices. Delicious. My plans for today, beside suffering through work, include buying Sweeney Todd on DVD and attacking Mount Laundry. Srsly. Dirty laundry is overtaking my bedroom. Blame it on weeks of houseguests and only one working w...

The interview went very well. I'm sure they loved me (How could they not?). I am tired. And doing laundry. And eating pretzels. And soon to be drinking a martini. Interview details to come tomorrow. Many thanks for all the good vibes sent my way. *smooches*

My fun evening activities last night: 1. Laundry. Two Loads. 2. Making the bed (Clean sheets! w00t!). 3. Cooking Thai Green Curry. 4. Putting away laundry. 5. Going to bed. Where did the evening go? I felt like I didn't even get to relax? How did that happen? Y came over for dinner. He was too tired to do anything other than sleep on the sofa. What is it about IT people and their nocturnal ways? Does it have something to do with network traffic being slower at night? This morning, I strained the blueberries out of the blueberry-infused vodka: Blast off! More later, kittens. *smooches*

I found my mittens last night! Yay! Apparently, I had left them in the laundry room when I was replacing the fuses. And, speaking of laundry, that is what I will be doing tonight. I will not be watching Project Runway , because Tomokito has to go to San Antonio for work. And we will not be able to access her cable. Boo. Hiss. Oh, well. I think I will invite the neighbors down for booze and conversation though. I guess that's about it. Perhaps I will be more interesting later on ... but, I doubt it. *smooches*

Happy Blogrthday to VUBOQ Happy Blogrthday to VUBOQ Happy Blogrthday to VUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBOQ Happy Blogrthday to VU. Yep. Today we are two . Hard to believe, huh? I mean, like, so much has happened in two years. I drank a lot. And I knitted. And I watched DVDs. *whew* Seriously, people, why do you keep reading this schlock? I find it a little baffling, really. Oh, well. I promise to keep on drinking, knitting, and watching DVDs for years to come ... just for you . Stay tuned. Meanwhile, we had an ice storm last night. I love how the trees looked like they'd been dipped in glass this morning. I didn't love walking (er ... sliding) to work, though. I also didn't love how the traffic lights were out near my office. Listen, people, I don't even drive and I know that, when the traffic lights aren't working, you treat it as a 4-way stop . It does NOT mean that you can just speed through the intersection like it's not there. And, I'm looking at you gigantic garbage...