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

Woo hoo! I bought my ticket to London this morning. I got a pretty good deal on US Air, I think. Although with the way my luck tends to run, I'll find a cheaper ticket tomorrow. The tickets I've been seeing have been priced around $700. GAH! Way too much. Today, I saw a ticket on Orbitz for $467. When I went to US Air's webpage, the price was $456 departing from a closer, more convenient airport (DC National vs. Baltimore/Washington). YAY! Now, all I have to do is buy a few guidebooks and figure out when and how I should go to Scotland (Glasgow). Let the Vacation Countdown BEGIN! Edited to Note: In my excitement I forgot to include my travel dates. I'm leaving on the evening of October 6th, returning on October 22nd. Anyone want to PsychoKittysit?

I think things will be a little slower here in VUBOQville today. Crazily enough, I actually have work to do. Not that I'm going to do it today (that's what Last Minute Friday Rushes are for), but I need to start getting everything organized ... What must be done: 1. Update internet factsheet and table 2. Assign contact list updates 3. Update training manual 4. Compile and distribute monthly Federal Register table 5. Phone schedule for next week 6. Begin creating graphs for annual report fun fun fun Yesterday, after work, not much exciting happened. I walked to Whole Foods. I bought groceries. I walked home. I knitted. I did laundry. I knitted. I ate a veggie burger. I knitted. I watched Walk the Line (which I loved, btw). I called Mike, but it went straight to voicemail. I didn't leave a message, because I was going to bed. I went to bed. I need to work on some exciting plans for the holiday weekend. Mike wants to go to Be Bar 's grand opening on Friday. We've d...

Even though no one else in Silver Spring/ Takoma Park (MD Legislative District 20) reads this blog, here's an open letter to our State Senator ... Dear Senator Ruben : I realize you actually have competition this year for your long-held Maryland Senate Seat, so I can see how someone who lists her occupation as " elected official " might be getting worried. However, I am tired of your ceaseless campaign mailings. As of yesterday, I have received over a dozen mailings from you, more than all the other candidates combined. You've made your point. Even with your endorsement from the Maryland League of Conservation Voters , I'm not going to vote for you. If you truly believed that "leaving a healthy environment to our children is our greatest responsibility," would you continue to mail out so many environmentally-unfriendly flyers? I doubt it. Your greatest responsibility appears to be re-election. It's time for someone new. Sincerely, vuboq

I am so juvenile. I giggled all through Frank Deford's sports commentary this morning on NPR. Pluto's Link to the Sports World Listen here .

It would seem that the Flickr photo world is filled with a bunch of PERVY MONKEYS. I uploaded this picture: on August 24th. As of a few minutes ago, it had been viewed 78 times ... probably by some very disappointed pervy monkeys. I tagged it with pussy, lips, and Isabella. It is now my 5th "most viewed" photo. As a comparison, this photo: was posted three days earlier (August 21st) and was tagged with meatfree, squash, orzo, pinenuts, basil , tomato, and cucumber . It has been viewed a whopping 6 times. I wonder... why the discrepancy?

Interesting day. I've already written three posts (two are still drafts, but will probably be up this afternoon). When I got home yesterday, I decided to give my new Rodney Yee Back Care Yoga for Beginners DVD a try. I had watched it once on Monday and it looked hard . Doing it didn't seem so difficult. Sure, I can't straighten my legs in half the poses like I'm supposed to, but ... still ... not that bad. This morning my back is a little stiff und sore. I guess that means the DVD worked. I knitted a lot. I'm trying to finish a Harry Potter scarf by the time I go to the parents' on September 15th. The scarf consists of 19 alternating bands of purple and white. Each band is 22 rows. I started on Saturday and have knit 5 bands so far. If I can do about 1.5 bands per day, I should be done in time, I think. I haven't actually done the math, but that's my goal. I had two disturbing dreams last night. In the first one, I kept bouncing checks. I ...

Who comes up with TSA's list of items not allowed in carry-on baggage? Who? And are they on drugs? TSA's Make Up and Personal Items So, let's review: corkscrews, knitting needles, sharp scissors, and safety razors? OK! deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste, and mouthwash? GOD DAMN TOOLS OF THE TERRORIST INSURGENCY!!!! Go straight to jail, you HATERS OF FREEDOM!!! Thank god, for Wonkette ... "Next time the high-school-dropout TSA goons try to take your moisturizer, conditioner, Neosporin, suntan lotion, bath oil or hair gel, just look ‘em straight in the eyes and say, ' It’s personal lubricant , and it’s for fucking.' "

A few years ago, Robert and I were on the metro returning from Tomoko's wedding party. We were quite drunk. As we sat chatting on the train, I pointed out a guy slumped in his seat across the aisle, about two rows behind us. "He doesn't look too good," I said. Robert agreed. The train arrived at Woodley Park Station. Robert disembarked. The doors chimed and closed. Immediately, the "doesn't look too good" guy vomited. Lots. And it was rank. The ride from Woodley Park Metro to the next station, Dupont Circle, is long, and, on this trip, it seemed even longer. When the train finally pulled into the station, the entire car EMPTIED, with everyone telling the passengers waiting to board, "Don't get on that car! DON'T!" At the next station, Metro Center, the train stopped for a very long time. We waited and waited and waited. Finally, the doors chimed and closed with the conductor announcing, "Thank you for your patience and w...

Last night, I made pasta with mushrooms, spinach, and squash. I was bored, so I made it into a happy face. Not that I was feeling particularly happy last night. I watched The Squid and the Whale . Good movie. I so love Laura Linney. I knitted. Then, I watched The Nightmare Before Christmas . Which reminded me of my annual Pumpkin Carving Party. Which reminded me that the one last year was held at John's. Which reminded me of John. Which made me sad. I cried. So, to combat the negativity, I tried to do something positive. I rummaged through my spare room (currently for storage, eventually an office). I found my Japanese calligraphy set and got to work. Sitting at my butcher block table, I laid out the black felt cloth. I put a little water in the stone basiny thing and rub-rub-rubbed the stick of black ink. I took a piece of calligraphy paper and folded it into sixteenths. I put the paper on top of the black felt cloth. I placed the heavy metal bar across the top of the paper ...

About one week before I closed on my home and moved, my PCP (primary care physician) stopped accepting my insurance. I had very good intentions to find a new one; however, with the moving, the boxes, and the rapid last minute packing, I lost all my insurance information. And, then, well, I forgot about it. Until last week or so. I went online, registered to use the NEW and EASY (*cough*) insurance homepage. However, when I tried to pick a new PCP, the system wouldn't let me. Curse the System! Curse the System! I meant to call later, but ... well ... I forgot. I don't get doctor-visit-worthy sick very often, so it didn't cross my mind again. Until today. So, I went online, located about 5 doctors who were in easy walking distance of my office and/or home, and called the insurance company. It was relatively painless. Except for the screaming my social security number into telephone part. When I said it at a level that my entire office couldn't hear, the little tel...

Ok. The Sunday Update post which blogger ate has suddenly shown up. The odd thing is that I wasn't even trying to publish it on Sunday. I was trying to save it as a draft. Well, now you can read two different takes on the same weekend. At least the Sunday one doesn't read as "poor me" as I remembered. Also, the fire alarms have stopped. Yay.

I've been at work for about 20 minutes now. "They" are testing the fire alarms. They go off for brief spurts of 15-20 seconds about every 5 minutes. I think my head may explode. Anyway, I wrote a post yesterday at Christal's ... which was promptly eaten, and never published, by blogger. GAH! It's probably for the best, because -if I remember correctly- it started to skew "oh poor me and my life" towards the end. Ick. Friday, I met Robert and Terry at Fab Lounge for Happy Hour. We had never been there before. It was a nice space (even if it was located above a seedy strip club). Unfortunately, even though it looked pretty, it was dead. DEAD. After a drink or two (ok. 3.), we headed down to Alero for a light nosh and margaritas. Then, we dropped Terry off at the metro and waited to meet Darryl and Mike [They were at another happy hour across town]. Mike was a little tipsy. He's so cute (ok. cuter.) when he's a little tipsy. We then went to Omega, J...

I'm at Christal's. I came over to take some pictures of her condo for her craigslist ad. She's going to be renting this place in a few months. The pictures are on my flickr count for now. I'll probably delete them after she downloads them. I checked her mail. Watered her plants. And, now, I'm goofing around on her computer with the slowest dialup connection ever. I decided to check my gay.com profile. I hadn't updated it in over a year (I think). Of course, halfway through making the changes (current status: single. *sigh*), I decided to fuck it all and delete everything. I uploaded a picture from flickr and deleted everything in my profile. I figure if I ever decide to try online "dating" again, I'll simply create a new one. For now, I'm pretty much done with the whole gay.com thing. I met some nice friends through there, but none of the actually dates ever seemed to work out. Other weekend news ... Friday night's happy hour ...

Yesterday, I tried on some cute boots at DSW. I'm still debating if I should buy them or not. The odd thing is that size 9 was too big. 8.5 fit perfectly. 8.5! I haven't worn an 8.5 since 7th grade! I began thinking about my clothes in general. In high school, I wore 32 waist pants. Now, I wear anything between 28-30 [depending on the brand/fit]. In high school, I wore large shirts and pullovers. Now, I usually wear a small or medium. The only problem is that sometimes, with small/medium long sleeve shirts, the sleeves are too short. What's happened? Have I shrunk? I don't think so. I'm still 6 feet tall and (a few pounds shy of) 140 pounds. Diablo linked to an article this morning which provides a better answer. When I was in high school, I was uncomfortable with my body. I wore clothes that were baggy, that would hide how I look. My body hasn't changed (much), but my attitude has. I'm more comfortable with who I am and how I look, so I wear clothes which...

Twelve weeks ago, tonight, after Jen and Walter's housewarming, John and I went to his house and had unprotected sex. The very next night, while I was at a friend's movie party, he fucked a tall, thin, twenty-something with long hair and bad skin. Thus, beginning one of the worst weeks of my life (so far ...). A little black spot, a reminder, has been on my calendar since then: August 25th, HIV test. Make an appointment. How hard can that be? So hard I still haven't done it. I make excuses. I'll do it during lunch. Ooh. Shoe-shopping. I'll do it tomorrow. Oops. They don't do testing on the weekend. I'll wait until Monday. Hm. I don't finish work on time. I'll wait until Wednesday. Maybe if I wait long enough, the worry will go away. Maybe it will wilt and die like a neglected plant. Maybe it will fade like an old memory. I don't know if it's the results that scare me or if it's the finality ~ He cheated. I have to get tested. ...

Playing with the website Jacksonpollock.org : Love me. Love my art.

From the WaPo: Pluto Is No Longer a Planet, Astronomers Say The new definition of planet is "a celestial body that is in orbit around the sun, has sufficient mass for its self-gravity to overcome rigid body forces so that it assumes a ... nearly round shape, and has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit." As for Uranus, it has definitely cleared the neighborhood . Poor Pluto. No longer a planet. Simply Mickey Mouse's pet. *sigh*

I didn't get to watch PR3 last night *sniff* Mike invited me over; however, one of the two dryers in the laundry room was out of order. Thus, it took a lot longer than usual for me to finish my laundry. I checked the results online, and I am, well, shocked. I am withholding any sort of scathing comments until after I see the actual show (possibly tonight). In other exciting news, as I was getting dressed this morning, I -somehow- managed to hit my hand on the ceiling fan. Ow. My finger hurts. I think it may be bruised. The sad thing? This is the second time this week I've done that. A smart person would learn by now to stop getting dressed under the ceiling fan. Unfortunately, I am pretty. And a creature of habit. And like to get dressed in front of my mirror, which happens to put me directly below the ceiling fan. Last night, I took a picture. I call it Pussy Lips . On my computer, Isabella's eyes are all green and glowing and creepy. HOT HOT HOT! I *heart* my...

Let the joyous news spread throught throughout the land! It's Bad Poetry Afternoon here at VUBOQville! Please leave your original bad poetry in the comments. There are no rules other than they should be godawful! Have fun! Here's my contribution (possibly more to come): A Poet -Meaning VUBOQ- Uses His Very Nearly Consumed Lunch As a Metaphor for His Life Bits of pasta swimming in olive oily pesto Slightly hardened by reheating Bell peppers Onions Veggie Italian Sausage Farts in the making. *applause* Thank you. Thank you very much. Update : So far, people, I am underwhelmed. Here's another poem, inspired by an article in the WaPO ... Restaurateurs See Faux Pas in Ban on Foie Gras A Foie Gras ban? Where are we? Afghanistan? Or Iran? Pity the poor Chicagoan, Who craves The liver of a duck Force-fed grain from a truck. Animal cruelty? Who gives a fuck? *applause* *applause* Thank you. Thank you very much. Updated Update : Not another poem (I heard that collective sigh of rel...

With terrorist plots to blow up planes from the UK to the US, one would think that the airfare would be a little cheaper. BAH! Cheapest ticket I've found to London so far = $625 RT. My travel dates are approx. Oct. 7th-22nd (if anyone is so inspired to research bargain flights for me). Have I mentioned that I hate Orbitz? They do this mean trick where they post a cheap price (say $400), but the very small print will say "$650 including taxes and fees." Bastards. Meanwhile, does anyone have guidebook suggestions? Last time I went, I took Time Out London , which I liked. This time, I'll need something that includes Scotland. I'm not a big fan of the Let's Go series nor Lonely Planet nor Frommers (or any of the other high-end guides). I usually like Rough Guide, but I don't know if they do guidebooks for the UK. I'm going to the bookstore during my lunch break. Guess I'll just wander the travel section for awhile.