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

Caught up in the giddy joy of having a newly painted spare room (soon to be study/guest room), I bought some new furniture. This (in oak): and this (in oak): They're from JC Penney and were on sale! Nearly 50% off! *woot* I think they will work well because (a) the room is tiny and (b) the room is tiny. Now, all I have to buy is a rug and a futon mattress. Yay!

Happy Monday Tuesday Morning, Kittens! Yesterday's holiday ( Thanks for Discovering America, Columbus! ) has thrown my body calendar completely off whack. Lessee ... you can read about my triumphant AIDS Walk Adventure on Saturday morning here . Chelsea , the contest winner, emailed me this morning with her charity of choice, so I've sent $100 off to FINCA International in her honor. Microfinance rocks! Good choice, Chelsea! Picking up the weekend thread from the end of the AIDS Walk, my parents arrived at my home Saturday afternoon. We didn't do much. They unpacked. We chatted. Then, we headed to downtown Silver Spring. I bought paint and supplies for the spare bedroom. We wandered into some shops, and, then, had dinner at Thai at Silver Spring. Yum. Once home, Dad and I watched Galaxy Quest , while Mom cleaned ... for a little while. Suddenly, she comes out of the kitchen in tears. "I thought we had trained you better," she said between sniffles. ...

I'm a bit too tired to type out my whole weekend now. So, you'll just have to wait until tomorrow morning (after I get the weekly report done for work) for all the exciting details. Until then, here is a pot/vase/thing I made in class tonight. Isn't it lovely? Hopefully it will survive the trimming, firing, glazing, and firing. Good night. *smooches*

Photos from the National Gallery of Art (first 2) and the American Art Museum (last 3). A few more photos at flickr .

And I would walk 500 more. Just to be the man who walked a thousand miles to fall down at your door. I had such a great morning at the AIDS Walk. Thank you so much for your support and encouragement. It means a lot to me to know that I have such great friends all over. Here is a little AIDS Walk Photo Essay (with an extra special surprise at the end): Tomoko and Peter, my Walkers-in-Crime, who helped keep my team "One is the Loneliest Number" from being so lonely, looking not so awake ( It was 9 AM. On a SATURDAY ) on the metro. Waiting for Peter to buy coffee so he would look more awake during the Walk. The Walk (and, yes, I was taking a picture of that guy's really nice ass). Peter abandons us about 6 blocks from the end. Bye, Peter. *sniff* Good luck in the Army 10-Miler on Sunday! Finally, a well-deserved post-Walk bloody mary! YAY! Brunch. Thanks to YOU, in only 2 weeks, I raised $815 for the Whitman-Walker Clinic, which was, like 6 Billion Per Cent more th...

I'll be wearing this tomorrow: Thanks for your sponsorship :-) *smooches* [There's still time to donate, if you want . No pressure.] PS. If you don't want your name/nickname advertised for all to see, let me know and I will turn it in to pretty flowers or something .

*w00t* I am so happy. The Guardsman Stain Removal Man arrived right on time . He assessed the damage, took a few photos, and spritz, spritz, spritz, zoom, zoom, zoom, in approximately 30 minutes the wine stain was HISTORY! *happy dance of joy!* Could I be more excited? I doubt it, but ... maybe ... In other news ... Tonight is my little cocktail party for the people who have agreed to walk with me tomorrow morning in the AIDS WALK . BTW, it's not too late to throw a few pennies my way and sponsor my walk. In fact, if you do, you'll be entered into a fun drawing for one of two fabulous prizes [prizes TBD, winners announced this weekend at some point]. Click here to make your dreams come true .

Nancy asked in the comments for my pupusa recipe. This is the one I use: Title: Papusas (Salvadoran) - Marion Cunningham Yield: 1 Serving Ingredients: 2 c masa harina 1 1/2 c warm water 1 tb ground cumin salt and pepper 6 oz Monterey jack cheese; grated [I like to play with other kinds of cheeses] 1/2 c cilantro; chopped [I usually omit the cilantro] Instructions: In a mixing bowl, mix together the masa harina, water, cumin, and 1/2 tsp. salt and stir into a manageable dough. The dough should be soft but not sticky; add more flour if needed. If dough is dry and hard to form, add more water. To make 3-inch round papusas, put about 1/2 cup of the dough in your hand for each pupusa. Roll into a ball and flatten in your hand. Put 1/3 cup cheese, 1 tsp. cilantro, and salt and pepper to taste in the center. Work the edges up over the filling and again form a ball, completely enclosing the fillling.This takes only a few seconds. Flatten each ball to about 1/4-inch or less and cook the pupusas...

... Or how to make links in your comments clicketyclicketyclickclickable ... Kittens, you know how much I love you, right? I love you almost as much as I love a perfectly made martini ... and maybe a little bit more. But I really, really, really hate it when you (No, not you. You) , put web addresses in the comment sections [Not *my* comments section. Other people's. Comments on my blog are like happy little tumbleweeds rolling through every now and again ... ahem ... anyway ...] without making them clicketyclicketyclickclickable . Copy-and-pasting is so Windows 95, or whatever geek-term means "like 20 years ago." The How To : You want to direct all the readers of some fabulous blog, like this one or this one , to a really great post you read on an even more fabulous blog . What do you do? What do you do? You look at the following example. That's what you do! Please note that in the following example, I replaced with { and }. When you decide to make your links c...

Didn't do much last night other than tidy oop , chat with a few friends, and laundry. Today, during my lunch break, I'm heading to the Whole Foods. I invited the friends who are walking with me on Saturday over for cocktails and light snacks on Friday evening. Plus, tonight, I want to make this Sweet Potato/Black Bean Stew (with modifications*). Then, during my afternoon break, I'm going to scurry into the District to pick up my AIDS Walk t-shirt (and, thus, avoid the lines on Saturday). Speaking of the AIDS Walk (did you know I'm participating in it?), if you haven't contributed, and you want to, there's still time . Click here . So far, I've managed to raise $735, which is just friggin' awesome . Can I tell you how much my friends [you!] rock? Can I? They [You!] AYERS ROCK ! Friday, the Stain Removal Guy is coming in the morning. Yay! Everyone cross your fingers that the wine stain will be successfully eliminated. After work, I will clean...

What? Like on vaykay? Let's all go! ROADTRIP!! I have no idea why, but that scene has been playing in my head for most of the afternoon ... Maybe it's because I still haven't decided what to do for my End of October Holiday excursion?

I took a walk to the Safeway this morning and bought: 1. Laundry detergent, and 2. Rechargeable batteries for my digicam ! Yay! Now, I should be able to take more than 1 photo before the thing shuts down with the Red Bar of Death: Low Battery . I can't wait to snap pics of the AIDS Walk * on Saturday, my parents' visit, and ... my attempts at pottery-making! I know you all are looking forward to seeing those. In other news, yesterday, I almost got run-over by a gigantoid Mercedes with the vanity plate "GOT CRST?" I have no idea why they were asking about my toothpaste, but whatever. *Speaking of the AIDS Walk, it's not too late to sponsor me! Click here ! I have been overwhelmed by everyone's generosity. I'm still thinking about this, but one (or two) lucky sponsors may win a Very Special Prize ! **I'm kidding about the nude photos.

[Thanks for the great title, Rachael . Speaking of whom, I keep forgetting to pimp your blog. So Here goes: Hey, Everybody! Some of you from the heady Days of Diary-X may remember Rachael as Citizen Erazed. She's back and better than ever with her own blog! Go ! Read it ! But be sure to come back here! /PSA] Now, a little cocktail making tutorial. I read an article about creating one's very own specialty cocktails. According to the article you need: 1. A base liquor 2. Some sort of liquer 3. A mixer Take for example the Classic Cosmopolitan - 1. Vodka 2. Triple Sec or, for those of you with bigger wallets, Cointreau 3. Cranberry Juice. Voila! Cocktail! And, that's really all you need. So, for my BYOP Pumpkin Carving Party * last year, the specialty cocktail was 1. Apple Vodka 2. Hot Damn! Cinnamon Schnapps 3. Apple-Cranberry Punch Voila! Cocktail! Easy. Peasy. Last night, I was experimenting with my Chili-Infused Vodka . First, I tried 3 oz. of vodka shaken over ice and to...

Here's a question for you: Someone wants to make a NEW and EXCITING cocktail, using the following: creme de cacao and chili-infused vodka However, he does not want the magic third ingredient to be anything dairy-like . No cows were harmed in the making of this cocktail, kittens! moo. What should he use?

Last night, I pulled a handle (like in the photo, just not as well). I trimmed the bottom of my pitcher. I attached the handle. Then, I made ... another pitcher. Seriously, I must have this totally one track mind. How many pitchers does one need? [Don't answer that, kittens.] In the class, there is one girl who I find to be the most annoying person I have met recently. I'm guessing she's a Freshman, because she still has that put-on perky bubbliness that some insecure people use in order to be perceived as outgoing. Last night, the cylinder she was making collapsed. She folded it in upon itself to make some sort of folded-in-blobby thing. "Will this explode in the kiln," she asked the instructor. "No, it should be fine." "Good. Because I kind of like it." And that's when she passed by my wheel and I saw what she had made. "Or at least my mother will," she added quickly when she saw the horrified look on my face. I thought to myse...

I bought a 4" Grilled Veggie Sub from Jerry's today for lunch. About halfway through, it began to taste like crab. Even when I ate meat, I never liked crab. Crab is icky. My sandwich was ruined. I threw it out. And ate my fries. Mmm. Fries. I am not having happy tummy now. Also, one of my co-workers came in sick today. If I get her cold, I am going to be even not happier. I will take lots of vitamin C tonight in hopes of warding off her germiness. Finally, last night, I dreamed (dreamt?) that I was taking not one, but TWO, pottery classes, one on Monday and the other on Thursday. I had forgotten I had also registered for the Thursday class and decided to start attending it as well. I was very excited about all that extra playtime with the clay. Of course, when I woke up, I realized I was not taking 2 pottery classes. *sigh*

Friday, after work, I met Tomoko and Mike for happy hour at Nellie's, the new gay sports bar on U and 9th. It was fun. $3 Snow Queen Vodka cocktails! The food was typical sports bar food, lots of battered and deep-fried goodies. The best food we had was something they are going to be discontinuing soon - Mac 'n' Cheese Fritters. OMG. Deep-fried balls of mac 'n' cheese served on a bed of curly fries. YUM! Did you hear that sound? It was one of my arteries clogging. The bar has a really cool roofdeck, so we went up there for a bit. And a few more drinks. Then, it was time to go. Tomoko and I got to Silver Spring metro station and just missed a bus. We decided to wait for the next one at the bar at Austin Grill. Mmm. Margaritas. While there, we met this cute little boy [early 20s, under 5'5"]. We talked to him for a bit, but couldn't decided on his sexual preference. When we left, we gave him our contact information to see who he would con...

Because I haven't posted enough photos of the PsychoKitty: Isabella on the Sofa (Can you spot the wine stain ?) Does that print look crooked? Close-up! Cat in a Hot Tin Tub I'm a little overhung today. Last night was fun. I think I'll wait 'til my Weekend Update on Monday to fill you in on the all the gory details, though. There's more excitement happening tonight and tomorrow. [Oooh. Suspense. Can you handle it?] AND, many, many, many thanks to all of you are sponsoring my AIDS Walk ! Because of YOU, I have surpassed my goal!!! Seriously, you made me cry last night when I looked at my donation page. I am sending you all HUGE HUGS and SMOOCHES . [If you still want to donate, you can. Click here . The Walk is on October 6th. I think I'm going to put all your names on a card or something to carry with me.]

OhEmGee, kittens. Like, I am a fountain of weepiness . How the hell did this happen? This morning, I was fine and dandy. Ever since about noon o'clock, I have wanted to crawl under my desk and sob. I have, like, little tears squeezing out of the corner of my eyes. What the fork is going on? And, then, like the fool I am, I had to go check out my AIDS Walk page ... I'm only $60 away from reaching my Team Goal, considering I'm the only one on my team. I have the most awesomest friends EVER! Seriously, if you're my friend ~and if you're reading this more than likely you are~, give yourself a BIG HUG from me. Right now. Do it. Squeeeeeeeeeeeeeze really hard. Of course, reaching my goal of $500 in less than two weeks would be TOTALLY awesome, but you know what would be TOTALLY AWESOMER? Surpassing that goal! Yep, that's right. That would have to be the most TOTALLY AWESOMEST THING EVER ... ... except for, maybe, meeting and falling in love with a TOTALLY AWE...

On my walk to Whole Foods to buy lunch, Perky GreenPeace Volunteer : Hi! Want to hear the story about how I got arrested? Cranky Someone : No. Want to hear the story where I kill the Perky GreenPeace Volunteer?