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

Good Evening, Kittens! What a fun weekend had I!  On Friday, after attending a fun environmental/green building symposium, I met SCGB, Bobby, Tomokito, and Eric from Baltimore at Nellie's for happy hour.  and, then, we went to a really yummy (but, probably over-priced) Thai restaurant for dinner. And, then, I staggered home.  Yay! On Saturday, kind of overhung.  BUT, my co-worker, Dana, and I went to this local eco-design business (which we had learned about at the aforementioned symposium).  She was looking at backsplashes, and I am thinking of having them design/build my new kitchen.  Yay for new kitchens! Then, I walked up to the Whole Foods, shopped, and had lunch at Adega.  Yum.  Once home, I made a metric shit-ton of hot sauce (using chili peppers from our CSA). For dinner, I made corn on the cob and green bean in a walnut miso sauce.  YUM! Saturday night, I watched "The Bubble," an Israeli film about a Palestinian/Jew...

Good Evening, Kittens.  It's been awhile since my last post, so we have quite a lot of ground to cover.  I'm going to skip the Giant Cesspool of Crap which is my job and focus on the Fun Stuff. On Wednesday, after work, I headed over to K's condo for an Adult Sleepover.  He made caipirinhas (I am not sure I spelled that correctly ...).  I brought over most of my CSA vegetables, because I would have no opportunity to use them.  And, then, to use one of Mush 's favorite phrases, he fucked me through the bed.  It was quite lovely.  And, luckily, my back seemed to hold up ok.  It was a little twingy the next day, but not too bad. Thursday evening, I did laundry and packed for my trip to New York City!  The Very Large Apple!  Yay! My train was super early (6:30AM).  On the plus side, it meant I got to Uni-Qlo right when it opened.  No lines!  No crowds!  It was a beautiful shopping experience, except I had troubl...

Good Evening, My Sweet, Sweet, Furry Kittens of Joy! My weekend was chock full o' fun and excitement, if you define "fun and excitement" as "being on the sofa, watching DVDs, and knitting." On Friday, I went to an orthopedic surgeon.  He (well, his nurse) took x-rays of my back.  And, it looks fine (so he says).  There are a couple of picky little things going on with my lower vertebrae, but they are probably not the cause of my SuperIntenseBackPainOwOwOw.  So, he prescribed physical therapy (meh) and a Bottle of Miracle Pills (aka NSAIDs).  Seriously, I took the first one and, in, like, 15 minutes most of the debilitating back pain was Gone!  I still have a nagging little twinge and am not nearly as mobile as I would like, but, OMG, so. much. better (ish). BUT, although mostly mobile, I felt I should spend most of the weekend resting.  Which I did.  It was lovely. Mike (Who Makes Cakes) came over Friday evening for a little while. On Sat...

Good Morning, Kittens! Grab a cup of coffee and let's chat about our weekends ... Friday, I had a chill evening at home, watching Charlie's Angels , Season 1, on DVD.  Oh, yeah.  Good times.  A HUGE storm came through, so that was fun.  Luckily, my building didn't lose power. On Saturday, I did lots of blobbing around the house.  And I cooked up some of my CSA veggies.  I did a stirfry with sweet onion, green squash, and tatsoi (which is some weird Asian leafy green).  AND, I threw in a jalapeno that I grew in my "garden." That afternoon, Tomokito had a small gathering at her apartment.  K-Factor and the Canadian were there.  And Eric from Baltimore came down.  And, I invited V (not the V in Philly, the V that lives up the road a ways).  Lots of boozy good times.  Then, V, Eric from Baltimore and I went to dinner.  Yummy Yummy Thai Foods.  Mmmm.  Tasty. After dinner, Eric from Baltimore headed back to ...

Good Morning, Kittens. It has been awhile, hasn't it? Sorry about that ... Last week was a bit of a hot mess. I had to go to Franconia-Forking-Springfield every day because my contractual issues still had not been worked out. Of course, they still haven't been worked out, so I am on Paid Leave this week. More on that later ... The only good thing about going to Franconia-Forking-Springfield was that I got to hang out with Amy, the Blogger Formerly Known As Shallowgal. She took me out for lunch one day. We went to this cute little Thai place. I can't remember the name. Bangkok something? It was delicious. Friday, after work, I met Eric (Not From Baltimore), his boyfriend, and another friend of theirs for happy hour/dinner. We went to Sidebar/Jackie's in Silver Spring. The cocktails were delicious (highly recommended!). The service was lackluster. And, the food was also quite tasty, but -in my opinion- over-priced for what it was. So, go for the cocktails. ...

Good morning, Kittens! Well, we did it! I finished the Army 10-Miler and didn't die (completely). My official results were: Net Time: 1:39:09 Pace: 9:54 Overall: 12321/21914 Gender: 8359/12245 Age Div (40-44): 1411/2103 Not too bad. My pre-surgery goal was to complete it in under 1:30. My post-surgery-i-couldn't-train-as-much goal was to complete it in under 2 hours. So, Yay me! I guess at some point there will be photos posted and I will be able to snag them. As for the rest of the weekend, on Friday, I slept in (yay!) and, then, went to pick-up my race packet. After that, I went to the pottery studio. I spent most of the time trimming and attaching handles ... Then, I had a boozy late lunch at Adega. Spent the rest of the afternoon/evening knitting and watching Mad Men. Saturday was such a beautiful day! I wandered around Downtown Silver Spring for quite some time. Then, I came home and blobbed and knitted and watched Mad Men. I also cooked pasta for dinner (carb-lo...

Good morning, Kittens! What a weekend of doing almost absolutely nothing ... Friday, I had a super fun happy hour at Bar Dupont. Then, I came home and blobbed. Saturday, I got up and (after waiting for the rain to abate and then getting caught in it) ran for 8(ish) miles. And, then, I ordered a pizza. Nom. Pizza. Later, Tomokito came down for martini time. Afterwards, I joined K-Factor and the Canadian (and two of their friends) for a delicious dinner. Nom nom nom. On Sunday, I went to the pottery studio ... I made the pitcher pictured above. I also did a little experimental bowl like thing. It started out like this: Then, I tossed it around on the table, and it ended up like this: I'm not sure if I like it. Then, I came home and watched Episodes 3-5 of "Downton Abbey" ... It is fabulous. And that was my weekend ... Or at least the highlights of it. Have a happy Monday! *smooches*

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*

Good Morning, Kittens. You are looking at yesterday's Big Project: Turning a Heel. It was quite an Knitting Adventure, fer sure. I never want to have to go through that again! (except I will either have to or amputate one of my feet ... hmm). The Y Frustration of the Day involved our differing concepts of Time. I have a realistic one. His is entirely forked up. Around 11, Y asked if I needed anything from Whole Foods. I took a quick inventory and gave him a list. As he was leaving, he asked, "Do you need this for lunch?" No. Of course, I assumed that meant he would be returning with the groceries in time for dinner. And, he did! If you eat dinner at 10:30PM. Fortunately, I had some stuff lying around that I could fix for dinner. I picked some basil and whipped up a quick pesto. I suppose it was all right, but it tasted like disappointment. After my pesto + pasta dinner, I watched the first two episodes of Season 1 True Blood . It was OK. I don't qui...

Good Morning, Kittens! Happy Friday! Did everyone watch Project Runway 6 last night? Or should we withhold discussion until you watch the reruns over the weekend? I didn't get to watch the All-Star Special , nor did I stay up for Models of the Runway , but I was able to catch the actual show. And, all I can say is "Hallelujah! It's Back!" Besides the tv watching, yesterday was quite a busy day. First, I met the wonderful Ms. Clio Bluestocking for Boozy Lunch at Adega. It was fun. And Boozy! AND, I got to hear all about her New Man! I am not going to spill all the deets here though (sorry). It's her sordid and tawdry tale of luv to tell. After lunch, I metro'ed into DC to do some yarn shopping. I bought two skeins of beautiful yarn for a special (and secret) knitting project. I love the yarn and the colors! So pretty and soft. I was also looking ofr some gold or silver metallic thread, but the yarn shop didn't have any. I remembered there ...

Thanks to Biddy ... Oh, yeah. Mad Men, baby. Mad Men yourself here. *smooches*

Let's see if I can pound this out before midnight ... Friday, I did nothing except drink and watch Mad Men. Saturday, I filed papers and shredded papers. And, then, I went over to Mike's to watch him make this: And, then, we transported it to Town for a private party. We ate. We drank. We danced. We left around midnight. I came home. And watched more Mad Men. Sunday, I blobbed. A lot. And I also watched some Mad Men. Oh, and I did some proofreading for a neighbor. It is difficult. I was supposed to finish yesterday. That didn't happen. I still have about 15 long and tedious pages to go. *urgh* Tomokito came down for Martini Time. She left. I ordered pizza. SCGB came down for pizza and beer. He left. I watched more Mad Men. And, that's about it. Good night, kittens. *smooches*

Good Morning, Kittens! So, last night, after dinner, I was having a glass bottle of wine and I made a shocking discovery. The wine I was drinking was better as a spritzer than straight. Whoa. I immediately contacted K-Factor to see if she wanted one. She called back, "I'm baking. Wanna come up?" Is a dog scared of its own farts? Of course, I wanted to come up because it would inevitably mean "take home bag of goodies." Yayz. Behold, the glory that is a Chocolate Zucchini Cupcake sparkling in the morning sun. Teh YUMZ. Then, I ran into* SCGB who generously let me borrow Disc 2 of Mad Men Season 2. I watched the first episode last night. Oooooh. So good. Pottery class this evening. Yay. Have a fantabulous day. *smooches* *If one defines "ran into" as "pounded on his door asking 'are you done with Disc 2 yet' repeatedly"

Good Morning, Kittens. Sometimes, it pays to have good relations with your neighbors, because you never know when they might show up at your door with something like this: Why, yes, that is a handle of vodka and an award certificate which states: Project HostGay Award This certificate is awarded to Stevie Martini the 2009 winner of the "take this crap and make an awesome farewell party" challenge. Although the guest of honor's prize did not reflect an understanding of the event*, the award committee recognizes the immense effort involved (signed) K-Factor This is, of course, in reference to Crazy Neighbor's Going Away Party, which you can read about here . To thank me for hosting her going away party, Crazy Neighbor gave me this: Why, yes, that is a wooden Christmas tree ornament which she probably found while cleaning out her apartment to move. I was so touched. So, anyway, last night, I started watching Season 2 of Mad Men on DVD. OMG. So good! In Episode 1...

Hi, my name is VUBOQ and I don't have cable. However, I do try to keep up with network TV via the Web 2.0.1, which is how I found myself watching Glee on Hulu.com . And, seriously, people. Is this the State of Modern Network TV? Did the bigwigs at FOX think "Hey, Disney's High School Musical did really well so let's take that and make it worse?" (as if that is even possible ... ha! ... I kid. I totally *heart* High School Musical (all three of them (although the third one was slightly disappointing in that Sharpay's twin brother, Ryan, totally should've come out but didn't even though he is Gayer than last year's Gay Men's Chorus Pride Float ))). So, in Glee ... we have Zac Efron Some Guy as the Popular Athlete Who Can Sing! and some Pretty Girl Who Can Sing (with Gay Dads!)! Plus, there's a Guy in a Wheelchair! And a Fat Sassy Black Girl (with a serious set of pipes, btw)! And an Obviously Gay Guy! and a Non-descript Asian Chic...

Good Morning, Kittens. I hope all is well in you world. Yesterday was quite the adventure. My phone interview went well (IMHO). Here's a question though: Should one send a "thank you" email for an initial screening phone interview? I'm not entirely sure what's expected. Of course, I would send one for a face-to-face ... if I ever have one of those again. What say you, my Loyal Minions? Afterwards, I had planned ot take Iris, the SuperCute Tiny Little Netbook, to Downtown Silver Spring for a bit, but I totally got sucked in to watching the Rupaul's Drag Race finale and reunion (ru-union?) show on Tom and Lorenzo's blog . So, instead of heading to Hip, Happenin' Silver Spring, I went rollerblading in the park. The sunshine was deceiving though and my ears nearly froze off. K. Brr. For dinner, I made a warm salad of chickpeas, pecans, and rice with a ginger lime dressing. It was pretty good. I should have marinated the chickpeas or something first though....

with the arrival of this: Melrose Place, Season 2. The perfect Valentine's Weekend viewing material. Also, my Federal Refund has been deposited into my account. As soon as it clears, for the 10% Refund Challenge , I will be making $50 donations to the following four organizations: Food & Friends Medical Students for Choice Theater for a New Audience , and Washington Animal Rescue League It works out to be slightly more than 10% of my refund, but I felt like I should give to all 4 worthy organizations equally. Remember: You, too, can participate in the 10% Refund Challenge by pledging to donate 10% of your tax refund to charity. By doing so, not only do you do some good during difficult economic times, but you will be entered into a drawing to win Fabulous Prizes (like pottery! or infused vodka!). Plus, if you donate to one (or some! or all!) of the four charities listed above, you will be entered into the drawing twice! If you don't get a refund (*awwww*), you can sti...

Good morning, Kittens. This blogs is spiraling into the Depths of Lameness (I'm pretty sure I must've been #12 on * that * list). And, to try to crack the top 11, I am now going to share with you my Lame Fact of the Day : A neighbor sent me a link to aol's free full CD holiday listening party. And the Very First CD I chose to listen to was this .* AOL is also featuring some good albums. Go. Feel the Christmas Spirit. Yesterday ... lunch with Ray was fun. We went to Teaism. I had the veggie burger. Yum. Later that evening, I was presented with two conundrums (conundra? conundri?): (1) I briefly considered inviting Y over to "watch a movie" [I didn't]**, and (2) This superhot guy "in a committed relationship" kept hitting on me (online). and I was sorely tempted. [Nothing happened though ... meaning, I didn't metro over to his place like he wanted. Hey. A girl's got to have *some* standards.] Then, I watched La Dolce Vita . And, um, does anyone...

Good Morning, Kittens. As you know, I went to the Tim Gunn lecture last night. And it totally solidified my uber-crush on him. He's so smart and articulate and stylish and funny and ... and ... and ... *swoon* Anyway, here's another piece of PR gossip: Tim Gunn's favorite look from all 5 seasons: [highlight to read] The Chris/Christian Avant-Garde dress from Season 4. Before Tim Gunn's lecture, I stopped by the pottery studio and glazed a few things. Today is SuperPanicPartyMode! I've got to make the shopping list. The guy I went to dinner with two nights ago (henceforth known as "Mark" (because that would be his name)) is bringing by a 30-cup coffee maker this morning. Very Special Out-of-Town Guest arrives and we have to arrange a time/place to have a Passing of the Keys. At some point this afternoon, I will be heading to Costco and Giant with Mike to do fun fun fun grocery shopping. Gah. Fun times, kittens. Let's hope my brain doesn't esp...

Hi, Kittens! I'm home from the UMD talk by Tim Gunn. And I have dish (oh, why didn't I think about live blogging it? or tweeting it? or something?) ... I have written the answers in white, so you'll need to highlight to read ... that way you can play along ... Tidbit #1: The Designer from each season Tim Gunn wouldn't mind if they were on a desert island ... Season 1 - Wendy Pepper Season 2 - Zulema Season 3 - Vincent Season 4 - Victorya Hong Season 5 - Kenley ("I would row her out there myself ... and then she'd tell me 'you're doing it wrong!'") Tidbit #2: Possible Season 6 Spoiler ... Here it is: There is a green neoprene (sp?) dress/outfit which one judge hated so much she tried to filibuster, but it WINS! There you have it! See what I do for you? *smooches*