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

Good morning, Kittens.   Happy Monday.  It's the first time in nearly a month that I've had to work on a Monday.  So. Unfair.  At least, unlike some of my co-workers, I have working internets.  Yay!   So, Friday, our boss let us leave at 4PM.  I stopped by the wine shop and the Whole Foods on the way home, and that was the last I saw of the Great Out of Doors until this morning.  Friday night, I watched 3:10 to Yuma and started knitting a sock.    Saturday, I knat.  And Tomokito and SCGB came down for drinks.  Then, I knat more.  And, I may have napped.  I also cooked brussels sprouts.   This is what I knat .  It's going to be a sock.  Eventually.   Sunday, there was the potential for a coffee date, but he postponed (We are currently rescheduled for Thursday).  So, I watched DVDs.  And knat.  And ironed a lot of shirts.   I may have napped as well.   Mostly, this was my recover from the awful cold weekend.  And I do feel a lot better.  Hurrah. Still a bit sn...

For lunch today, one of my co-workers and I decided to go to Matchbox on Barracks Row. The table across from ours was a rather large party of about 7 or 8. It looked like a bunch of work people out for a business lunch. Possibly some sort of government contractor gathering. Mostly upper middle-aged (like 45-50?). I was chatting with my co-worker, but since their table was in my line of sight, I couldn't help but be distracted by what was going on. Two slightly younger blonde women at the end of the table seemed to be in charge and ordered appetizers for the group as they waited for a few people to straggle in. Before the entrees arrived, the women stood up and, after explaining that they had meant to do this earlier ... the paperwork took a long time ... the CRA (Continuing Resolution Act, which probably means nothing to people outside the Beltway), etc. etc. etc., they passed out gift bags to each person. "The pink ones are for the women, the blue ones are for the men,...

Good morning, Kittens.   I am at work.  Yes, I pulled myself out of my sickbed and managed to crawl to the office.  Where I discovered most of the people in my wing don't have internet.  And won't have it for at least a week.   Luckily (and weirdly), one co-worker and I do have working internet.  The rest of my office doesn't.  Oh, well.   Lessee.  Yesterday, I lounged on the sofa and napped.  And watched DVDs. After much consideration, I decided not to re-cast on the sweater I frogged the other day.  Instead, I cast on a sock using this cute brown tweedy yarn.  I am going to knit the entire sock as a 2x2 rib.  Once I get a little more knat, I will take a picture for you.   I don't have many exciting weekend plans.  Tonight, after stopping by Whole Foods to replenish my juice and veggie supply, I am going to knit and watch 3:10 to Yuma (the remake, not the original).  Saturday, I may try to make it to the gym (I haven't been in 2 weeks!).  And, on Sunday mo...

Good Afternoon, Kittens. On my way home from Philly on Monday, I felt the tell-tell tickle of a cold coming on. Tuesday, when I woke up, it was worse, but not so bad I couldn't go to work. so I did. Then, I came home. Late. Because the Red Line was a ginormous clusterfuck. I had to rush to get to my co-op's Annual Shareholder's Meeting. Fortunately, I was not elected to the Board. yay! Of course, this means that I will most assuredly have to be on the Board next year. I went to bed early. When I got up, I thought I heard snow/sleet. I looked out the window, and I was correct. A couple of inches of slush and stuff covered the ground. Also, I felt like poop. After having some ginger lemon tea, I decided I couldn't make it to work. So I called out and went back to bed. I woke up at 11:30. Since then I've been feeding my fever to starve my cold. Or whatever. I've been eating a lot. I tried to do laundry, but it seems *BOTH* washers in our laundry room ...

Good morning, Kittens!   And Happy Tuesday.  I am back at the work after a SuperFun 3-Day Weekend Extravaganza!  YAY!   Friday, after work, I met SuperCute Former Blogger, Kris, one of his friends, and UberSuperCute Guy (who needs a new nickname because typing so many SuperCutes is becoming tiresome.  What about "Pond-Scum Sucking Dirtbag?"  HAHA!  I kid.  I tease.  I jest. He is still UberSuperCute) at Nellie's for Happy Hour.  SCGB was there with some of his grad school friends.  We had a good time.  I drank too much.  And, so did Kris.  *hehe*  After pouring Kris into a cab, I headed back to Silver Spring and my soft warm bed.    Saturday morning.  Very.  Hung. Over.  But, I had a lot to do.  Grocery shopping.  Ironing.  Packing. And getting ready for SCGB's Graduation Party.  At the Giant, I bought the fixins for a "healthy" trail mix.  See?  It may have some junk foods in it, but it'll be better than eating a bag of cheetos every day when the...

Good morning, Kittens.   And Happy Friday.  One of us had a Very Difficult time getting out of bed this morning.  *ugh*   Not much new and exciting has happened the past few days.  On Wednesday, I did laundry.  Oooh.  Fun.  And, then, SCGB came down for a couple of drinks.  Someone may have over-bourboned it, because Thursday morning was a bit fuzzy.   Thursday, I had a kind of important meeting in which I presented a couple of ideas for feedback.  I am slowly coming to realize that the people I work for have difficulty with the comprehension of questions.  It is annoying, and I feel like I am always thinking "that's not what I asked" when they attempt an answer.  I left work a little early for a very important meeting ... with the Colornatrix.  Here is an after shot (taken this morning).  Once re-blonded, I met Mike (Who Makes Cakes) for dinner at Guapos.  Mmmm.  Tex-Mex.  Tasty.   Today, after work, I am meeting some friends for happy hour at Nellie's.  U...

Good Morning, Kittens.   Last night, after much deliberation and waffling and procrastination, I went to the gym.  What had happened was that after work, I realized I had no food.  So, on the way home, I stopped by the Whole Foods to do some grocery shopping.  Which meant that I got home later than usual.  Which meant that I couldn't eat a quick, light dinner and properly digest before heading to the gym at 7:30.  Which meant that instead of having a quick, light dinner, I had a very nice martini.  While drinking the martini, I made a not so quick, slightly heavier dinner - veggie tacos.  Yum!   Once I had eaten those, I floundered around thinking of what I should do next.  I watched a DVD.  Around 8:15, I thought, "Hm.  Maybe I should go to the gym, because I'm not going to have another chance until the weekend."  So, I rushed around, put on my gym clothes, caught an 8:25 bus, and was at the gym by 8:30.    I ran for about 3.25 miles in about 40 minutes (I wa...

Good afternoon, kittens.   After a morning filled with 2-hour weather delay for work, and a huge delay on the Red Line, AND internet not working at the office, I am finally able to fill you in on my Weekend of Fun and Excitement and Boozy Good Times.  (If one defines "fun and excitement" to mean "shredding about 3 years worth of old bills").   So, Friday evening, I met UberSuperCute Guy (who I met the Friday before last at a happy hour) at the National Portrait Gallery.  He was a little late because of work, but we did get to see the Hide/Seek exhibit ... which was quite interesting.  Then, we had dinner at Austin Grill.  Yum. Then, I went home.  He's a nice guy (and have a mentioned ubersupercute?), but I don't see it going anywhere.  Whatever.   Saturday, I did cleaning and shredding.  And more cleaning.  And more shredding.  And perhaps some drinking.  I also watched "The Darjeeling Limited."  It was OK.  Adrian Brody is a hottie.   Su...

Good Morning, Kittens. Eleven years ago today, I became a(n ovo-lacto) vegetarian. I had recently finished my first semester in graduate school in an international environmental policy program. During the semester, one of the books we read was Peter Singer's Animal Liberation . Although I understood the animal cruelty argument, what truly resonated with me was how environmentally damaging the raising of animals for food is. The more I thought about it, the more I came to realize that, if I wanted a career in an environmental field, I would need to make some serious changes to my life and habits. How could I try to convince other people to work to improve the environment, if I couldn't make those changes myself? So, I resolved that I would become a vegetarian ... right after my Millennial Trip to Beijing (aka Land of Delicious Meats). While in Beijing, I gorged on many, many yummy meaty foods - duck, lamb, pig. Nom Nom Nom. On the flight back to the United States, I request...

Good Morning, Kittens.   I am having randomly disconnecting internet issues at work today.   I love working on an email and KA-POW, Outlook goes down (and not in the fun way).   Yesterday, I went to the gym.  Yay!  I ran for about 45 minutes (well, walking the first and last 5 minutes).  Almost 4 miles.  Not too shabby.  I need to go on Saturday or Sunday, as well.  And, that's about all the excitement from yesterday.   As for my weekend plans, they are still in flux.  You may remember that last Friday I met an UberSuperCute Boy at happy hour (who then joined me -and a group of friends- for dinner/drinks the next night as well).  Earlier this week, I sent him a text to see if he would be interested in doing dinner this weekend.  He texted back and said he would, and he would call Wednesday night to make plans.    He didn't call.   When I woke up Thursday morning, I had a text.  He had to work late (like until after 11) and didn't want to risk calling/waking me u...

Good Evening, Kittens. Look! It's my 12 of 12 for January ... Some of us have to get up at 5:30 AM ... even if the Evil Snow Shovelers are shoveling snow at 1:30AM and it wakes us up and keeps us up for an hour. Even though we get up at 5:30 AM ... sometimes we don't make it to the metro station until Much Later (*cough* 7:45 *cough*) ... but then we get on a train and it whizzes (*heh*) through the snowscape. Eventually (meaning "forEVER"), I arrive at work and see ... snow-covered bicycles. Check email. Eat breakfast. Die one thousand deaths before 9AM. Meetings. Paperwork. Incompetence. *ROWR* Creating survey. Annoying little pop-up thing that Won't. Go. Away. How cute are these boots? How CUTE are these BOOTS? Wandering around taking photos of damage in my building ... Don't Panic. It's almost Go Home Time. It's a good thing the Count of Monte Cristo is 3261 pages long. Red Line Delays on the way home. *ughz* Laundry! Icicle! And, soon. ...

Good Morning, Kittens!   Could you guess what I did yesterday? (Sorry, Earl Cootie, I'm not getting a locker near yours.  So sad.)  I joined the gym, the Washington Sports Club in Silver Spring!  As part of 2011: Year of Health, I am working on getting fit and losing all these extra pounds*.  One of my goals is to run the Army 10-Miler in October, so I need to start getting on the treadmill ... I hate running outside when it is cold.  After signing up on line (only $1.11 + $29 processing fee, and the rest of January is free), I metro'ed over to Target to use the two gift cards I found whilst cleaning on Saturday.   I bought some work out clothes.  And Eucerin lotion.  Winter dry skin is full of teh suck.  I actually have little scabs all over my legs from dry skin.  Ughz.  Several people have recommended the Eucerin.  Let's hope it works.   On the way home from Target, I stopped by the WSC to get my little swipey card thing.  And, then, I treated myself to a Healthy...

Good Evening, Kittens. I have had a busy, busy day (the photo to the right should give you a partial hint), but I'm saving all that news for tomorrow's post. ooh. anticipation. I am such a tease. My weekend has been fabulous. Friday, after work, I met SCGB at the U St. Alero for pre-happy hour margaritas. Then, we walked down to Nellie's to meet CJ and AQ for super-cheap drinks and good times. CJ brought his new co-worker (and partner). And, AQ invited another friend ... who I happened to find UberSuperCute and we hit it off quite well. Tomokito also joined us. We had lots and lots of vodka. I may have been a little tipsy. Saturday? Very. Hung. Over. BUT, I rallied just in time to have a tomato soup and grilled cheese party with K-Factor and SCGB around 1:30. I made the soup. It was (if I do say so myself) delicious. Tomato soup from scratch is super easy. So you should never use canned. I used a slightly modified (of course) version of Mark Bittman's r...

... I miss my metro stop in the mornings.   Good Morning, Kittens!  Yes, you read correctly.  This morning, I somehow missed my transfer at Metro Center. I'm not really sure what went wrong.  The last station I remember was Judiciary Square (two stops before Metro Center).  I was reading my book.  The train was doing this awful stop/start/stop/start in the tunnels before each station.  I looked up and thought "the next station must be Metro Center."  WRONG.  The next station was Farragut North.  Oops.  Overshot by one stop.  And, so I was a little late(r than usual) to work this morning.   Lessee ... not much has happened in my world recently.  Last night, one of my neighbors came over for a little while to watch TV.  She and her husband recently got a new 40" Plasma TV and it is giving her headaches (weird?).  So, she wanted to watch my cute little 27" LCD TV for awhile to see if it gave her headaches as well.  It didn't.  I guess maybe they will get a...

Good Morning, Kittens.   Bad news.  I did not win MegaMillions.  I suppose I will get over it.  Just so you know, I would be really good at being fabulously wealthy.   I guess winning the Coke Machine Lottery was all the luck I was allowed yesterday.  In case you missed it on twitter/facebook, I put a dollar into the Coke machine down the hall from my office, pressed the "coke" button, and out came a can of Coke.  And another can of Coke.  And another can of Coke.  And another can of Coke.  And another can of Coke.  And it was starting to get ridiculous. And three more cans of Coke.  Then, the machine gave me my $0.25 change.  So, for $0.75, I got 8 cans of Coke.  Crazy.   Once home from work, I made a martini and cooked dinner - black bean chili.  After dinner, I watched "Finding Nemo" and had a fun little phone flirtation with this OMGsuperCute guy in Mississippi (who is planning to move to DC in the next few months ... so he says).   No plans for this e...

Good Morning, Kittens!   Four days into the New Year, I'm almost ready to put my New Year's Resolution into ACTION!  Before the holidays began, SCGB and I were talking about New Year's Resolutions.  He had heard somewhere that, rather than making a long list of resolutions, it's best to only make one.  I have several things I want to accomplish this year, but most of them are thematically related.  So, I have declared 2011 to be the Year of Health!   *applause*   I want to eat better.  Exercise more. And get some (rather pressing) health issues (which I have been ignoring ... do you know how hard it is to find a gay/gay-friendly doctor who (1) accepts my insurance and (2) I like?) taken care of.   I want to eat healthier foods (like this tangerine I'm eating for breakfast ).  And, I want to stop eating lunch out so frequently (it's expensive and not always the healthiest option).  The problem with not eating lunch out is that my building is a soul-crus...

Good Morning, Kittens!  And Happy New Year! Hard to believe another year has come and gone, isn't it?   My New Year's Weekend was quite fun. On Thursday, I left work around 3 to board the Bolt Bus to NYC.  The bus was full but traffic was light.  We made really good time until we hit traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel.  I disembarked around 9:30 or so and got to Jake's condo around 10.  I was STARVING, so we went to a little Thai restaurant in his neighborhood.  It was tasty.  I had vegetarian crispy duck salad.  I'm not normally a fan of fake meat made to taste like real meat, but this duck had the crispy texture it needed and a nice falvor.  Hurrah.   Friday, Jake and I had lunch at Bread and, then, met David at Uni-Qlo.  I was a little sad because Uni-Qlo had nothing for me.  Waah.  But, I perked up when we went to a bar for drinks.  Yay.  Drinks!  David left, and Jake and I went back to his place to rest up for the crazy New Year's Eve party.  We met up with Dav...

Good morning, kittens!   Today, after work, I am boarding a bus for my fifth (!) and final trip to the Big Apple this year.  I'll be crashing at Jake's Penthouse in the Sky, and we'll be attending a New Year's Eve Party with David.  Other than that, I don't have plans.  I would like to meet up with some other friends, but I think it will depend on the weather and if the Mountains of Snow have been successfully cleared.  I also hope to make a pilgrimage to the Mothership (aka UniQlo).  I am really not looking forward to the bus rides there and back.  Fingers crossed that there is no traffic.   This will be the first time in a very long time that I haven't spent the New Year in DC.  In fact, I can't remember the last time I was out of town for New Year's Eve ... Hm.  I will have to research to find out.    Anyway, have a great and safe New Year.  I'll (possibly) be doing an End of Year post when I return, plus a breakdown of my New Year's R...

Good Evening, Kittens! And, here is my eagerly awaited Holiday Update with Photos. Yay! So, my trip began, as some trips do, at Dulles International Airport, where after passing through security (and having to remove my sweatshirt ... y'know, because their high-tech metal detectors can't "see" through thick jersey?), I boarded the cute little train to Terminal A. As I exited the train, I thought, "Oh, shit. I had a rollybag carry-on." Yes, your hero, left one of his bags at the security checkpoint. Oops. Of course, I have an excuse (or two). 1. I was pissed at having to remove my sweatshirt, so the gathering of all my scattered clothes combined with having to get dressed distracted me, and (b) I very rarely have a carry-on rollybag. Normally, I have one carry-on because I've checked a bag (one of the perks of business travel = they pay for that checked bag! Yay! More shoes for my tripz!). ANYWAY, so I had to schlep back to security to get my b...

Good morning, Kittens.   I forgot to upload my pictures last night, so I'm not going to do my full-blown (*heh* "blown) holiday post until I get home tonight.  Until then, here's a little something to tide you over ...   A big whoops at Airport Security. There was snow.  6-8 inches of it. Lots of food. Good presents.  Not nearly enough booze. And, A delayed flight home.   Once home, SCGB picked me up at the airport.  yay!  So, I took him out to lunch.  We ate at Adega ... and drank a bottle of wine.  Back home, I took a long winter's nap.  And, then, SCGB and I met Mike (Who Makes Cakes) at McGinty's for Pub Trivia.  We got SPANKED.  BUT, our team did when a prize for best team name: FAUXpocalypse.   Not much going on today.  I need to do my year-end employee self-review (why, yes, I *did* do a FANTASTIC job).  Then, grocery shopping, ironing, and blogging.  Woo hoo!   Have a groovy day! *smooches*