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

Good Evening, Kittens!  And Happy (motherfucking) New Year!  2013!  Can I get a "w00t w00t?" ANYWAYz, my weekend was pretty awesome (and five days long!).  Friday was my flex-day.  I spent most of the day running errands and stuff.  Very exciting.  In the evening, my co-worker and I had tickets to see "White Christmas" at the Kennedy Center.  However, she texted to say that she had the flu!  GAH!  So, I had to find a replacement date!  Everyone I asked already had plans.  I eventually texted R, the young and well-hung ex-Marine, and -as it turns out- he was free for the evening. So he was my very sexy date to see "White Christmas" ... which was absolutely amazing!  YAY!  I'm still sort of singing "Sisters.  Sisters" in my head. Saturday, I ran errands for most of the morning and afternoon.  I also pickled a shit-ton (metric) of CSA radishes: And, then, in the afternoon, I headed to Union Statio...

Good Morning, Kittens! It's the last workday of the year! YAY! And, there are only two of us in the office today. YAY! All I have to do is pound out my monthly report for December and, then, I am surfing the internetz for the rest of the day. SUH-weet. So, last night, I had a first date with this guy, R, who I met on OKCupid. He seems nice enough, but he, like the few other guys I have met on that site, has the slight whiff of desperation about him. Or something. Or a tinge of the crazy. I'm not sure what it says about me since I am also on the site. Or maybe I am sure, but I am unwilling to admit it. ANYWAY, we met at the Clarendon metro station (in Arlington ... where I did see some guy wearing brown flip-flops (um? hello? it was 30 degrees outside. Put on some fucking shoes and sucks, douchebag!)). On the way to the little coffeeshop place, I unexpectedly ran into my friend, Carolyn. So totally random! She got a new (and awesome) job in Pennsylvania and is only...

Good Morning, Kittens! This is Jasha. He's a kitten, too. Jasha is Ray's cute little ball of Russian Blueness. The reason Jasha has taken up residence in BOSSY's Guest Room is because Ray is moving to a new apartment. Until Ray gets settled, Jasha will be with me ... and Isabella. Although the whole Jasha/Isabella introduction thing? Not going very well. Of course, it's not going horribly either (need I remind you of the Gertrude/Isabella disaster?). So, my weekend ... New Year's Eve was quiet. I had the final happy hour of 2009 with Tomokito and SCGB in his apartment. I decided not to go to the party with ScooterGuy, because the weather was crappy. Later, I watched the ball drop with Tomokito and her husband. Then, I returned to my apartment to drink champagne and watch Mad Men . New Year's Day, I did lots of blobbing around the house in the morning. In the late afternoon, I headed over to Ray's apartment to help him pack and to pick up Jasha. ...

Happy New Year, my sweet sweet kittens. Maybe the start of a new year is not the time for reflecting on years past, but that's what I find myself doing. Ten years ago, I had finished my first semester of graduate school. And, I spent the turn of the millennium with my friend, Anne-Marie, who I had worked with in Japan and who had taken my position at a small junior college on the outskirts of Beijing. Here are a few photos I found from that trip ... Top Left: Mao Ping (Anne-Marie's boyfriend) and I in Tiananmen Square at Midnight(ish) (Neither of us had a watch) Top Right: Anne-Marie, her friend Louise, and I enjoying lunch Bottom Left: Louise, me, Anne-Marie on a traditional street having a traditional snack Bottom Right: Anne-Marie and I play in the snow at the school In 10 years I traveled internationally (China, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, England, Scotland); I earned a graduate degree; I became vegetarian; I worked; I got laid off; I found a new job; I made new friends; I re...

Good Morning, Kittens. It's a Popsicle World in the Winter/ When the sleet covers the ground. And I have to venture forth to work. Ugh. Fortunately, I should only be working a half day. I think I am going to chicken out on my New Year's Eve date with ScooterGuy ... especially if this weather sticks around. I would rather hole up on my sofa with a kuddly kitteh, a bottle of champagne, and Mad Men Season 2. Oh, Don Draper, come give me a New Year's Kiss. *mwah* Perhaps I will even type up some sort of "end of the year/looking forward to the next one" kind of post. That seems like a unique thing to do (*cough*). OK. Must start getting ready for work. Have a great last day of 2009! *smooches*

Hello, Kittens. Before I take all the empty bottles of champagne out to the recycling bin, I thought I should record them here for posterity's sake. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to read the labels properly ... Here goes, in order of highest to lowest Taste Test Rankings: 1. Villa Jolanda Pinot Rose (Italian Sparkling Wine) 2. Terrazzo Prosecco Extra Dry (Italian) 3. Tott's Blanc de Noir (Californian Champagne) 4. Domaine Carneros by Tattinger 2005 (Californian Carneros Sparkling Wine) 5. Mumm Napa Brut Prestige (Californian) 6. Lunetta Prosecco (Italian) 7. Freixenet Cava Carta Nevada (Spanish) 8. Baby Prosecco (Italian) Oh, and the champagne I used in the punch was Tott's Extra Dry (Californian). Funny that no one brought *actual* French Champagne, huh?

Good morning, kittens! Here's a run down of my Rockin' New Year's Eve (and Day) ... Wednesday, I spent the day cleaning and prepping for the party. For food, I had a couple of types of cheese, an assortment of olives, and chips and salsa. I also prepared a simple champagne punch - cranberry juice, ginger ale, frozen raspberries, raspberry sorbet, and champagne. The guests started arriving around 8:30/9. Lots of people contributed snacks and bottles of champagne.Around 10, we started the champagne tasting. In all, we tasted 8 different sparkling beverages. Each champagne was rated on presentation and taste. In the end, Kristi won with her choice of a sparkling Italian Pinot. It was quite lovely. I think about 15 or 16 people attended ... The final guests left around 2:30. I washed dishes until 3:30, and -finally- went to bed at 4. My alarm went off at 9 ... and I stumbled out of bed about half an hour later. Around 11:30, I headed up to SCGB's apartment. He host...

Or maybe it isn't. Whatever. One of us is a little overhung and doesn't really care ... My New Year's Eve Champagne Tasting was a total blast. 7 people came. We started with a delicious (if I do say so myself) Cranberry Champagne Punch, which I modified from a recipe I found on line. Here's how I made it (try it at home, kids!): 64 oz. cranberry juice 2 cans of ginger ale 1 pint raspberry sorbet 1 bag frozen raspberries 1/2 bag frozen cranberries 1 bottle dry champagne (I used Barefoot Bubbly Brut Chardonnay Champagne) Unfortunately, I forgot to take pictures, so you'll just have to imagine the good times which were had. I crawled into bed around 3AM ... *oog* Here's a list of the champagnes (and sparkling wines) we tasted: Sofia Blanc de Blanc (It comes in cans! Tres chic!) Finca La Linda Extra Brut Chardonnay (from Argentina. Too extra brut) Marwood Brut Sparkling Wine (from Italy. Sweet and fruity) Tenuta S. Anna Prosecco (also from Italy. Unanimously the gro...