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

After work yesterday, I went home, fed the psychokitty, packed an overnight bag, and headed to Y's. We had a good talk about the speed our relationship seems to be developing. Fortunately, we both are comfortable with it. So far. He made dinner - taboule, cheese and, then, pasta. We watched Casanova on DVD. We had fun. And lots of it. I am tired. I am not going out tonight, because I need to catch up on my sleep. Martini. Movie. Knitting. Tomorrow, a few of the kittens are driving up to Baltimore for Saturday Afternoon Margaritas: Baltimore Edition II! *woot* No plans for Sunday yet. Depending on our state of intoxication, we may all be spending the night in Baltimore. I'm looking forward to a mildly relaxing weekend. Yay. Oh, and *Happy Birthday Smooches to GayProf *

VUBOQ is only working a half-day tomorrow. He will not be updating this blog until the afternoon. Try to remain calm.

Last night was uneventful. I did two loads of laundry. I watched movies. And, I knitted (Therefore, I am'ed). The Oscar Project is coming along well: Except, I'm not sure if I have enough scrap yarn to finish it. That would be a problem. Meanwhile ... *singing* Meet me in Las Vegas, VEGAS! Meet me at the ... SPICE GIRLS WORLD TOUR !!! (December 8th. Mark yer calendars!) *shriek* Lessee ... Y was supposed to come over last night, but he fell asleep. Behold the ravages of jetlag! I'm headed over to his place after work. I don't have to be at work tomorrow until 12:30, so we can have a relaxing morning in! Yay. (*rowr*)

Inadvertently assigned all the difficult email inquiries to myself. Will be back with more substantial update later today. Stay tuned.

"Ooooh ... you're buying healthy food," said the crazy lady behind me in the express line at Whole Paycheck as she eyed my whole wheat bread, soy milk, hummus, nachos [organic!], and garlic-stuffed olives. "Um. Yeah," I replied. "You're too thin," she said. "Uh." "I'd feed you some mashed potatoes and gravy and big thick steaks ..." her voice trailed off. "Um." "You can keep those olives though. Too salty for me." "Thanks. Bye."

For my birthday this year, SuperKnitter Chelsea sent me a book, Knitting for Peace . It is filled with wonderful charity knitting ideas - hats for preemies, sweaters for orphans, etc. etc. etc. As I sat on my sofa, surrounded by piles of leftover yarn from knitting 5 Harry Potter scarves, I came across the perfect project. Not only did it use the exact same yarn I used for my Harry Potter scarves (Plymouth Encore Worsted), but it could also be knit in memory of someone who played an important, but brief, role in my life, Oscar , the DemonDog Puppy from Hell. Using a simple garter stitch and lots and lots of leftover yarn, I could make a blanket for a cute (or not-so-cute) puppy or kitty at the animal shelter where John and I picked out Oscar. As this idea bounced around in my head, I realized that maybe lots of people have lots of leftover yarn from knitting Harry Potter scarves. Maybe they could use that yarn to make blankets too! Or they could pool their leftover yarn and one lucky...

Some of you may remember me blogging about the SuperSecret Long-Awaited Knitting Project. Well, it has been received and a photo has been posted. Check it out ! Ms. Martini was runner-up in a little haiku contest I ran a while back (like maybe a year and a half ago?), so I promised I would knit her a scarf. We decided on a Harry Potter scarf. The only problem with that, which I failed to see at the time, is that the main color in the HP scarf was very similar to the color of the Never-Ending Sweater of Doom. So, I put the scarf aside until I finished the sweater. At least both projects are finished now, and I am, now, trying to figure out how to organize my Charity Knitting Project Idea. I will think on it tonight. And, now, I guess you are eagerly awaiting my report from last night? Well ... my Meat-Free Monday meal was delicious! I made a caprese salad [tomato slices, topped with basil and mozzarella, and an olive oil and balsamic dressing] for the first course. Then, we had pasta ...

Something has gone horribly awry with my budget. I don't have a copy of my budget here at work, and not being able to work on it to figure out why my budget and my bank account are not in positive alignment is totally stressing me out. *deep breaths* I currently don't have enough cash in my checking account to cover my monthly bills. This is usually not the case. I will have to transfer money from my savings, but I want to know why this happened. I'm thinking the problem is either a) rather than charge it! I used more cash than usual or b) somewhere there is a spreadsheet error in one of my budget columns. It's a good thing my sewing class check got lost in the mail, because in a few days, it is going to magically transform into rubber. Alchemy is COOL . I will not be taking the sewing class this summer. The financial hatches are about to be battoned.

What a weekend, kittens. Friday night, I had a relaxing night in filled with knitting, martinis, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch , which I would like to say is *much* better than the director's other film (my impressions of that movie are here ). Saturday, I did some grocery shopping. Blobbed around. Weeded some of the front garden (with help from a professional super-weeder, DUN). Then, headed off to Dana's (not-quite-a) Suprise Birthday Party held waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay out in the hinterlands of Maryland. I saw COWS! and DEER! and TRACTOR CROSSING SIGNS! GOOD LORD, DANA, WHERE THE FUCK DO YOU LIVE? The party was fun. Alyssa (who drove) and I helped ourselves to much beer and food and chocolate fountain goodness. Then, Dana dumped a beer all over Alyssa (It was an accident *wink wink*) and we left. Sunday, I did some cleaning. Then, Tomoko and I went to the E Street Theater to see Paprika , which was AMAZING. I tell you, American animators should be working on ex...

Alternative Title: Why a "Middle Class" Salary in the DC/Metro Area Totally Sux Ass (and not in the *fun* way) I met Mike for a lovely lunch at a Thai restaurant near the Tenleytown Metro Station. It's not the best Thai food in town (by far), but the company and the cool breezes more than made up for that. Then, I spent a few fruitless hours shopping in Friendship Heights. After my supercute new Converse shoes began to hurt (even more), I called it a day and returned home for a well-deserved MARTINI and some chips and salsa. Mmm. I've been cruising the Internest, reading movie reviews. Practically every movie I want to see now is showing at the SAME theater: E Street Cinema . If only I could afford the $9.50 per show ticket price to see them all! Tomokito and I are going to see Paprika, a Japanese anime, on Sunday. I also want to see, Waitress and Once and Paris Je T'aime and ShowBusiness and ... and ... and ... I suppose I need to update my NetFlix queue an...

Or, in my case, teh sex or teh sewing? Mike reminded me that the sewing class I'm interested in taking begins on June 25th (6:45PM-8:45PM), which -as we all know- just so happens to be the day of my happy happy sex-filled reunion with Y. AUGH! What to do? I need to call the registrar, because -apparently- my registration check and application never arrived. So, this whole dilemma may not come about if I can't get into the class ... even though I mailed the check last month . What up with that, DC and MD postal carriers? Y was very sweet and offered to reschedule or come over after the class. I was like, um, no. So, I'm hoping that -if I can get into the class now- missing the first lesson will not be detrimental to my sewing career. Priorities, kittens. It's all about priorities.

*woot* I am outta here at 12:30 today! YAY for Summer Hours! Plans include meeting Mike for lunch near AU, doing a little shopping, then heading home for an easy night in. Aah. Last night was fun. Met Jerry at the National Press Club for drinks and dinner. Then, we went to see a special screening of A Mighty Heart , which was awesome. Angelina Jolie was amazing. Let it be known, that, when Hollywood decides to turn my life into a big cinematic experience (well, bigger than it already is), I want to be played by Angelina Jolie! Other than that, not much else is going on. I'm watching the hours slowly tick by until Monday. I told Y I would cook dinner, and this is what I'm planning: caprese salad (tomato, mozzarella, and basil) pasta tossed with homemade pesto garlic bread My biggest decision, now, is what wine goes well with that? I'm thinking either a light red or white (like pinot grigio?)? Any suggestions? Have a great weekend, kittens! *smooches*

"We're just here for Pride," one Chick was overheard saying.

I've been sitting here thinking about parts of one of the stories I wrote last night. I'm going to have to delete about two pages of text. It was so cliche. Yuck. I do remember liking about two sentences though. I'll keep those. I also really liked a scene (even though it needs work) that I added to another story. I have a tendency to write things that veer off into sappiness. What I added was an important course correction. Hopefully. Not that this makes any sense to anyone other than me. Sorry. And, Y just called me "pumpkin" in an IM. *giggle* This looks like an interesting job . Too bad the pay is crapola.

*oog* One of us is a leeeeeeeeeeeeeetle over hung this morning. I left work at 3:30 yesterday, went home, weeded a bit in the garden, typed a bit on two different stories, made a martini, and did lots of blobbing around. I also did laundry. Reheated my leftovers from Meat-Free Monday's dinner. And cracked open a bottle of white wine. 3 hours, 2 movies, 1 long telephone call, and an IM conversation later, the bottle was empty and I went to bed. Mmm. Bed. Bed good. Of course, because I had washed the sheets, I had to make the bed first. Not fun. I hate making the bed. Making the bed while slightly intoximacated is even less fun and more hated. Today after work, I'm meeting my friend Jerry at the National Press Club for drinks and snacks. Then, we are going to a press screening of A Mighty Heart . Oh. And Happy Summer Solstice! Everyone go out and drink a margarita in the sunshine today! *smooches* PS. Y told me yesterday that he's coming back to DC on Monday! His original p...

Yet, the gauntlet has been thrown . Right earring (only) hunting. What fun. Anyone care to join in the festivities?

Sometimes, in bed, with the fans running, muffling the outside noises, in the darkness of my room, as I teeter on the edge between sleep and wake, I hear conversations. Just snippets really. Voices in the dark. And, unlike when I feel there is someone in the room with me, it isn't creepy and disturbing. In fact, it's almost comforting. The voices are soothing, like late-night lovers talking to each other in drippy sleep-filled murmurs. Someone, I don't remember who, once said, "Vuboq, the only person interested in your dreams is you." Ever since then, I've tried to keep my dreamstories to a minimum ... except when they are frequent and recurring. Because that usually means something is pricking at my subconscious, and typing it out helps me sort things through. For the past few days, my dreams have dealt with something I've been thinking about quite a lot recently: coming out to my parents. I should have done it a long time ago. It's something I...

Nothing of interest to note: I have been feeling very unmotivated lately. Mike is dogsitting this week, so I went over there last night for dinner and a movie. We watched Xanadu . *heh* Cheesetasticness! My chili pepper plants and tomato plant haven't died yet. I saw a bird's nest in a very interesting place yesterday. I took a photo this morning and will try to take some more this afternoon to post later. Tonight is laundry night. The month is not even close to being over and I am rapidly approaching dire budgetary straits. And I am almost out of booze. I am missing Y. Or at least I am missing the sex with Y. *sigh*

I am not a National Spelling Bee Champion; however, I do understand the basic rules of spelling. It would seem a lot of people do not. And that irks the living crap out of me. I know that some words are very difficult to spell. For the life of me, I can never remember how to spell occasionally . I have to look it up every time I use it [and, yes, I just looked it up]. Fortunately, Blogger has spellcheck. Google suggests corrections to misspelled words. Merriam-Webster has their dictionary on-line. They are all QUICK. AND. EASY. TO. USE! It offends my sensibilities to see things like this (all taken from a post I read about 10 minutes ago): "...writting..." "...to bad your a lazy..." "...doens't..." *shudder* I'm tempted to buy a dictionary and mail it to that person. Too bad I'm broke.

It was a gabillion degrees outside yesterday, so I -naturally- decided to cook something that required lots of boiling, stirring, and optimal use of the gas burners. I. am. clever. I picked up a yellow squash, some spinach, and a lime (for the Dark&Stormy) at Whole Paycheck on the way home. Then, the cooking: Step one: Make Dark&Stormy. Step two: Boil water. Add 1/2 cup of orzo. Cook 11ish minutes. Step three: Repeat Step one. Step four: Heat frying pan. Add olive oil. Toss in a couple smashed garlic cloves and a sprig of rosemary (from the bush in the front yard). Toss in thinly sliced red onion. Thinly sliced yellow squash. Once sort of soft and browned, add some leeeeeeeeeeetle tomatoes and spinach. Step five: Repeat Step one and three. Step six: Drain cooked orzo. Mix in some crumbled feta and toasted pine nuts. Step seven: Arrange orzo and squash mixture lovingly on cute plate, like so: Step eight: Repeat steps one, three, and five. Step nine: Eat, Drink, Be Mary....

Scene : Men's restroom at Merriweather Pavillion. Time : During Rufus Wainwright's Never-Ending Set of Either One Really Long Song or 5 Songs That All Sounded Exactly Alike The restroom was very crowded. Suddenly, someone tapped VUBOQ on the shoulder and said, "We should really stop meeting like this." VUBOQ was momentarily confused. He is not used to people speaking at him whilst he is in the act of urination. VUBOQ was flustered. Then, VUBOQ recognized the voice. It was Convertible Mike, one of the many Mikes in the long, long line of Mikes Who Have Broken VUBOQ's Heart. Convertible Mike said, "Because people will think I am stalking you." VUBOQ replied, "I can think of worse people for you to stalk." Random man at adjacent urinal laughed. VUBOQ flushed. [and then washed his hands, unlike many of the other men who were using the facilities]

Last night, thanks to a generous friend of Robert, we were able to go to the True Colors Tour ! And, man, was it awesome or what? So much fun. Seems like every fag in the metro area was there. I ran into Convertible Mike in the restroom. And Robert pointed out a member of the gay bloggerati . [Which raises an interesting question: What's the etiquette when you spot someone who you've never met, but you read their blog regularly? Is it OK to go and introduce yourself? Or is it best to admire from a safe and respectful distance?] Anyway, Margaret Cho hosted, and she was on point! Very funny. And, I say this from the point of view of having recently watched her DVD, Cho Revolution , and not being impressed. at all. The Opening Act was The Gossip . And, like, wow. True color me impressed. I want to run out and buy all their CDs and be a giggling screaming little school girl at all their concerts ... except, for some reason, I think a giggling screaming little school girl might get ...

This is the post in which I tell you all about my wonderful weekend plans and you all seethe with jealousy. Ready. Set. SEETHE! Friday night : Happy Hour at Halo with the Kittens! *woot* Tom Collins! Saturday : BBQ in the Park with Diagonally Upstairs Neighbor and friends! Sunday : [Are you ready for this?] True Colors Tour 2007 ! Debbie Harry! Erasure! Cyndi Fucking Lauper! [Yeah, so it's a fundraiser for HRC , wtf-evah. Our tix were free!] Suh-WEET!

There be no picture here, though, because my crappy rechargeable batteries can't hold a charge for more than 12 hours apparently. GAH. But, now, I have 12 little baby chili pepper plants all in cute little rows in front of my building. Don't step on them!!! Please ... Hopefully they all won't die a horrible death. I kept three in a pot indoors, just in case. If they do all survive (and produce), I will have enough Thai Dragon Chili Peppers for a lifetime! Enough to share with my neighbors and, maybe, some lucky chili pepper loving blogfriends! *woot* In other news, the SuperSecret Long Overdue Knitting Project is FINISHED! I hope to be mailing it to a lucky (and, recently, infrequent) reader of mine! After it is received I will post some photos (assuming that I remember to charge my crappy rechargeable batteries before I mail the package). And, at 5PM today, International Liver Resting Week 2007 will be OVER! *woo hoo* I plan to partake of the Official Intoxicatin...

I actually have a bit of internet access this evening, so here's what was in the Super-Secret Prize Package from GayProf : And, here's a photo of me this morning: Donchawish you had played now, kittens?

One thing I hate about attending the Capitol Pride Street Festival is running the HRC gauntlet . Every five steps one is accosted by a perky little volunteer saying, "Hi, do you have a few moments to talk about HRC ?" Erm. No. And I also don't have a few dollars to give to HRC either. Their cute little faces get these sad little crushed expressions, and it makes me feel a teeny-tiny twinge of guilt. I don't really like explaining that 1) I don't give to political organizations, 2) HRC's administrative and fundraising (AFR) expenses seem a little high, and 3) HRC hasn't impressed me with their overall effectiveness. According to Charity Navigator (which is a very cool site, until it stopped working for me), HRC's AFR is 35.4%. The Combined Federal Campaign website states that "an AFR in excess of 35% is considered high by many in the philanthropic community." I prefer to give my money to smaller, more locally-focused organizations. I have do...

When I got home from work yesterday, I was met at my door by a HUGE PACKAGE! I was so excited. I rushed in and ripped it open! And, because I know you all are pervy monkeys, I took pictures. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to get a good internet connection to get them off my laptop. But, as a tease, let's just say that *I* have slept with GayProf ! Be jealous, kittens. In other news, rain, and lots of it, prevented me from transplating my baby chili pepper plants last night. Hopefully, I will be able to do so this evening. The rain also made getting to and from the laundry room quite an adventure. More later. *smooches*

I've spent the last 30 minutes or so watching the antics of 6 teens on the roof of the parking garage across from my office. Two of them have spent a significant amount of the time in the opened trunk of their car with their legs dangling out. Making out, one would assume. Another couple walks around randomly making out in the parking lot. And the other two kids (also a couple?) just wander back and forth talking on their phones. I wish I had a camera with me. Kids are weird.

Perhaps this is what Dan Rather meant :

Yesterday, Mush made me sign up for this thing called Twitter. Here be my page . Now you can all sign up to be my friends! Yay! When I got home from work, I started weeding the little overgrown garden plot in front of my building, but it started raining. Bah. It was a quick thunderstorm, so, about an hour later, I returned to do more weeding. Then, I planted 4 cute little chili pepper seedlings into a long trough-like planter, using some of our co-op's homemade compost and the last of my potting soil. Hopefully, they will not die. Today, after work, between laundry runs, I plan to finish weeding and plant the remaining chili peppers in the garden. I will take photos. Maybe. **We interrupt this very important blog post to note that vuboq hates weaving in ends on the long-awaited super-secret knitting project. Thank you** Later, DUN tried to tempt me with alcoholic beverages. And, then, she called to ask for advice on how to make a mixed drink! I resisted the siren song of the Evil ...

In light of this recent news , VUBOQ submitted a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request to the Air Force and received the document below. You all may thank me later for helping expose this horrible, horrible scandal.

International Liver Resting Week 2007, Day 1. I got home from work around 5:30. "I could really use a martini," I thought, opening up the freezer to pull out a chilled martini glass. "Oh, wait, it's International Liver Resting Week 2007, Day 1. Damn." Mmm. Ginger ale. I decided to finish the Long-Awaited Super-Secret Knitting Project. I only had 6 rows to go and to teach myself how to do a three-needle bind-off . In the middle of the three-needle binding off, my parents called. "Now, I really need a drink," I thought, heading to the freezer to admire the chilled bottles (yes, bottles) of gin. Alas, once again, I remembered that it was International Liver Resting Week 2007, Day 1. Phone call finished. I resumed the binding off, only to learn that the three-needle binding off technique does not work all that well on circular needles. Perhaps, the instructions should include a note: If you are using circular needles, it would behoove you to transfer the w...

Interesting weekend this Pride was. Overall, it was just like last year ... without the heartbreak or the hot sex. I guess no Pride is perfect. The weird thing about Pride is it's fun to get out and see friends, some of whom I haven't seen in years, and to meet some new people, and to drink loads and laugh, but the background scenery never changes: Same floats. Same people. Same booths. Same crowds. I dunno ... I look forward to Pride, but then while it's happening it seems sort of blah. Here's the run-down: Friday, Robert, Tomoko and I went to Halo for happy hour. Then, Mike joined us at Alero for margs and mexican food. After two pitchers and dinner, we ended up at Omega. Mike and I got into this conversation in the porn room, in which we reminisced about what we were doing last year (having lots of sex). I mentioned that I'm glad we did hook up, because otherwise we probably never would have become good friends. Darryl, our mutual friend, likes to keep his differ...

I'm bored. My eyeballs still hurt. Here are a few photos. Enjoy! Today's wallet: Purchased in Thailand a few years ago. Made from an old pair of Levis. Recycling! So hip! So trendy! Today's wristwear: Purchased when I worked in the Sackler Gallery of Art Gift Shop. The battery died a year or so ago. I haven't bothered to have it replaced. It's cute and it matches, so who cares?

Last night, I met up with a former co-worker and envirobuddy, Dana, for drinks at a new restaurant, Gallery. New restaurant. Old crowd. And, one of Dana's friends was not too pleasant to be around. It was a total blast catching up with Dana though ... Perhaps, a more interesting venue next time, D? After leaving Gallery, we headed over to the Whole Foods Plaza. Mmmm ... eggplant fries at Adega. And cute counter help. *giggle* Lots going on this weekend. Not only is today the one year anniversary of the breakup with the cheating cheater, BUT it is also Capitol Pride. *woot* Tonight, the kittens are gathering at Halo for happy hour [and might I add that I look particularly cute today]. Tomorrow, some of us are going with Mike to an afternoon Pre-Pride Parade Party and, then, staggering down the street to watch the parade. I don't have any plans for Sunday, but I'm fairly certain I will end up at the Street Festival at some point during the afternoon. Finally, to get everyone...

Following a link from Faggoty-Ass Faggot , who got it from the Oprah Winfrey Show, I took Harvard's Sexuality I mplicit Association Test . My results: Your data suggest a strong automatic preference for Gay People compared to Straight People. Surprised? I know I was! Meanwhile, check this out: Sexiest Celebrity Vegetarian . Anyone notice the GLARING OMISSION?? Here's a hint: Where's VUBOQ?

I'm wearing one of my new pairs of shoes (not the Converse). They are stinky. Hopefully, they will not remain stinky. Last night, I decided to make a frittata for dinner. I was going to caramelize half a red onion, slice up a tomato, use some fresh picked basil from my windowsill Chia Herb Garden, and add some yummy blue cheese. As some of you may know, I am not the most patient cook in the world, and caramelizing an onion takes FOR-friggin'-EVER. Then, I remembered that the SuperFantastic Cuzin had told me that her mom does this "speed-caramelizing" thing in which she cranks up the heat and covers the pan. Voila! Caramelized in an instant! So that's what I did. I cranked up the heat. Covered the pan. And went to go clean out the catbox. And started to dust. And brushed the kitty. And completely forgot about the caramelizing onions until *sniff* *sniff* What's that smell? SMOKE! Smoke everywhere. Charbroiled extra-crispy black as night onions. The house filled...

I can't decide if I like the first pair, but they were on sale. And who can say "no" to a shoe sale? I am very liking the Converse though. I also bought laundry detergent and got a roll of quarters. My days are filled with fun and excitement. Meanwhile, yesterday, Y casually asked if I was going to meet him in NYC when he returns from vacation. I am kind of thinking about it now ... even though he gets back on a Sunday. I could go up to NYC for the weekend and stay with my wunnerful lawyerly friend, Alison. And, then, I could hang out with Y when he flies in. And he drove up, so I'd only need to buy a one-way ticket. Of course, he will be all jet-lagged and shit, so -maybe- it isn't that good of an idea. What would you do?

1. Woman in my building's elevator talking on her cell phone very loudly. We're in an elevator for chrissake, tone it down. I almost pulled out my cell phone and said, "I'm sorry, but I'm in an elevator so I can't talk now. Oh? That noise? It's some loud woman on her cell phone. In the elevator." 2. Every time I leave my office building I am swarmed by angst-ridden college kids schlepping for some Important Cause . No, I don't want to hear about endangered Tibetan tigers in the Himalayas. No, I don't want to give a few dollars to help Democrats take back the White House. No, I would not care for a Prayer Card. No. No. No. All I want is to go to the grocery store in peace so I can buy a bag of potato chips for lunch. What about my fast, determined pace and listening to my iPod indicates I want to talk to you? Other than that my day was PeachyKeenWonderfulSunshinyHappiness. More later. *smooches*

My mother is an excellent cook. However, she can't make a decent chocolate pie to save her life. Her first attempt at chocolate pie-making resulted in the, now legendary in our family, request, "I'd like another cup of pie, please." Chocolate Pie is my mother's cooking Achilles' heel. Mine, it would seem, is mac 'n' cheese. The last time I tried to make mac 'n' cheese (from scratch, yo. I can make the box kind) the result was less than pleasing . This time, although my teeth didn't feel chalky, the sauce was not creamy. And I burned the butter when making the roux. [The heat was too high.] And, then, thinking that the butter was ruined, I dumped in the flour and it went all foamy and brown. Totally weird. I still used it though. Which made the milk, as it thickened, look kind of brownish. And it would get this weird skin on it that I had to keep stirring. I started to lose patience with the milk so as soon as it looked sort of lik...

When I was at my brother’s house for Christmas (and I may have blogged about this before but recent events have brought this story back to mind), he mentioned that his girlfriend’s son had brought home a letter from school: The front side of the letter was in English, but the reverse was in *gasp* SPANISH! My brother went on and on about how this is an English-speaking country this and how immigrants should learn English that. Finally, I had had enough and I asked him, “If you were a parent in a foreign country, wouldn’t you appreciate learning about your child’s education in your native language?” He made some lame excuse about people needing to learn English. I told him maybe they are studying English, but it takes time to become fluent. Seriously, did he think people are born fluent in every language? When I moved to Japan, I knew about 3 words of Japanese. As soon as I got there, I began to study very hard. Japanese is not an easy language to learn. Even after three years and being...

And the consensus seems to be that I should drink a negroni tonight. Mmm ... negronis. [In case you don't know, a negroni is equal parts gin, campari, and sweet vermouth. Although the cousin has suggested using dry vermouth ... which I may try tonight to see how I like it.] And, I think I'm going to make mac n' cheese for Meat-Free Monday tonight. What are *YOU* making?

Last night, I had trouble sleeping. Among the tossing and the turning and the odd dreams about being in contestant's row on The Price Is Right (and why did I bid $2.89 on the jar of JIF peanut butter?), I had some disturbing dreams. First, I dreamed that my cat, Sherlock, who died in 1996ish (at the ripe old age of 14), was walking across my bed. GHOST CAT! Creepy. Then came the dreaded "there is someone else in the room" dream. Augh. I totally hate that dream. Needless to say, it freaked me out, and I had a hard time falling back asleep. It's times like this that I really hate sleeping alone. The odd thing is that I haven't had creepy dreams like that in quite some time. In fact, it was almost exactly one year ago today that they started happening on a frequent, recurring basis. Yes, today is the one year anniversary of my discovery of the Cheating Cheater's cheating . I'm going to try not to dwell on it too much this week, but forgive me in a...

I started this short story last night, but decided it wasn't going anywhere. So, here are two paragraphs of blah. Enjoy. The Rain It smelled of rain. The morning sun crept in through the gap in our thick velvet curtains. When I opened them wider, I smelled the coming rain. I smelled it the way I always have, ever since I was a child. I smelled it the way Mama smelled the beer on my Dad’s breath, even before he started one of his drinking binges. I could smell snow, too, which makes sense, if you think about it. Snow smells like rain, only colder. I told Daniel rain was coming, but he insisted on packing the picnic basket and loading the car. “Have I ever been wrong before,” I asked him, as we drove up the mountain. “Have I?” Daniel stared straight ahead. “I don’t want to argue about this.” “OK. But don’t blame me when we’re halfway through the picnic and we have to run to the car.” “Why did you come then,” he asked with frustration. “Why did you insist on going,” I replied. “This...

First, I'm a winner ! *woot* Go me! I felt it might be inappropriate to gloat in GayProf's comments, but -since we are in Vutopia now- I ROCK! The rest of you? I spit in your general direction! *victory dance* Of course, the spitting? It's done with love. Really. I love you all! Yes. Yes, I do. Every single one of you. Even you! *smooches* [And, no, I'm not drunk ... yet.] Anyway, the It Was a Dark & Stormy Night Party was a HUGE success! I had so much fun! And the Dark & Stormies are YUMMY! Here's the recipe: Fill a highball glass with ice. Add 2 oz. Gosling's Black Rum. Stir. Add 3-4 oz ginger beer Squeeze two thin wedges of lime. [You can also add some fresh sliced ginger] They were awesome. So refreshing. So intoxicating! Mmmm ... You all should run out and make them tonight. Really. They are *that* good. I might have another one (or two) tonight. In attendance were Steveandbobby, Mike, New Upstairs Neighbor (formerly known as Tomokito) [NUN(fkat)] ...

But, not (too) queeny. The combination of heat and a skoosh too much booze last night has resulted in me being not well-rested and slightly headachy this morning. oog. I really should turn on the a/c, but I remembered that towards the end of the summer last year the Little Air Conditioner that Could nearly conked out, sending forth only moderately conditioned air (wash, rinse, repeat). I turned it on briefly two nights ago to make sure it was working. It was. Although, it did spew forth some lovely bits of black gunk. I haven't turned it on again, because I want my apartment to be cool for my It Was a Dark & Stormy Night party tonight. AND, I didn't want to risk the Little Air Conditioner that Could conking out prior to the party. See how I suffer for my friends? Meanwhile, last night, I watched the movie Kinky Boots , which I first saw on Tomokito's Netflix queue. I am not surprised she liked it - a movie about SHOES! and Drag Queens! What's not to love? ...