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

I met SCGB for lunch at Adega (also know as Only Me 's favorite restaurant). I ordered the portabello mushroom sandwich, eggplant fries, and a glass of the house cabernet. The owner handed me my glass of wine and said, "It's on the house." aw. *sniff* I luv Adega . Later, SCGB and I decided we wanted another round of wine. He went up to order it. SCGB told the owner that it was my last day of work and GUESS WHAT? The second glass was free, too! The owner said, "with my condolences." Wasn't that sweet? SEE? Sometimes it pays to go to certain restaurants all. the. forking. time. Of course, now I'm a little tipsy. At work. Drinking coffee. Hoping I'll sober up in time for the office happy hour tequila shots. *smooches*

Good morning, kittens! It's my last "Good morning, kittens!" from this computer, cubicle, office, building, street ... Doesn't that make you a little misty? *sniff* It's OK, kittens. Let it out. Meanwhile, I'm whooping and whollering on the inside. So far this morning, I have updated my resumes (changing everything to past tense ), printed several copies, signed my final timesheet, and had not quite enough coffee. It's free! Enjoy it while it lasts! Even though it is the crappiest coffee known to man (well except for a certain person I follow on twitter, who sometimes tweets about the nastiness that is Blueberry Coffee ). *shudder* My plans for the day include cleaning out the remainder of crap in my desk, meeting SCGB for lunch at Adega, surfing the internet, and then going to our final happy hour! With Tequila Shots for All! YAYZ! Last night, I didn't do much of anything except watch Project Runway (liked the judges' decision) and Shear G...

It's time. You've read the hints: Hint #1 Hint #2 You've made the guesses. And, now, it's time for the Big Summertime Contest Announcement . It's a Cold Soup Contest ! Perfect for Summer! Delicious! Refreshing! All Natural! What must you do? Very easy: Send VUBOQ a Vegetarian Cold Soup Recipe and Photo that you either (a) created yourself or (b) modified from an already published version. VUBOQ (and a crack team of Cold Soup Experts) will review the recipes and choose the top 3. VUBOQ will make each of the 3 Finalist Soups and determine which one is the Summertime Cold Soup Champion!!! VUBOQ loves this contest idea so very much, because (1) he loves the cold soups in summer and (2) it encourages something that he holds very near and dear to his heart: Creative, Experimental Vegetarian Cooking! The RULES. 1. All recipes and a photo of the finished product must be EMAILED to VUBOQ at environy(at)gmail(dot)com by midnight August 15, 2008. 2. All recipes must be OVO-L...

Good Morning, Kittens (especially Kristen*!). Last night, I was lucky enough to be invited to the Nationals vs. Phillies game. It rocked. As you may know, VUBOQ knows a lot about baseball ( see this post ). So here's my take on the game ... The Home Team (Go Nats!) wore white. The Visitors (Go Phillies!) wore ... dingy. I mean, really. What up with that color, Phillies? Do you not use bleach? Talk to your laundry service. Srsly. I got to watch the game with my SuperHot BlogCrush, ShallowGal . OMG. She is so funny (and knows waaaaay too much about baseball - player stats, differences between the two leagues**, and that the Nats have no cute players***). Go read her blog now. No. Wait. Keep reading this post first. ZOMGz. Teh Cuteness is Unbearable. Every now and then, the play would stop and the groundskeepers would break out the rakes. Even baseball teams understand the importance of Good Grooming. Really, a well-manicured lawn is essential. And, you, yes, you, the one with the un...

Good morning, kittens. As some of you may know, one of the major stumbling blocks in my relationship with Y is our stance on children. Basically, Y wants and I am not so sure (although last night I had a startling revelation, which needs a bit more introspection before I blog about it). In the past few months, I have made the acquaintance of several fabulous FBWCs*, and, in reading their blogs, I learned that baby sitters make a lot of cash . Yes, cash. Tax Free. Non-reportable. Under the Table Income. So, let's do a little math: 1. VUBOQ needs a job, but is not overly excited about the children. 2. VUBOQ's BF loves the children. 3. VUBOQ has been meeting the fabulous FBWCs. Put it together and what have you got**? VUBOQ pimps out his BF as a baby-sitter, taking 20% off the top (because scheduling is hard work. Srsly). Suh-weet. Back in the real world, pottery class was good last night. I glazed two things. I trimmed Canister #3, a vase, and a mug. And, I picked up two finished...

Reading Mel's recent post about his weird dreams reminded me of what happened Saturday night ... I was sleeping on the air mattress in the living room. At one point, I started having this very disturbing dream about being attacked. I waited until my attacker seemed vulnerable, and *WHAM* I kicked him in da nutz! and *EEEE-YOWCH! !!* Not only had I kicked the attacker as hard as I could, I had also kicked my very solid wood coffee table with equal force. Pain is so not my friend. Surprisingly, I don't seem to have any bruises. In other -less painful- news, I was trying to figure out how to get all my personal files off my work computer. My CD drive isn't working. I don't have a floppy drive on my laptop. And, Office Depot only had SUPER-Expensive flash drives for sale. Then, a friend told me about xdrive . It provides 5GB of free storage space, and it's really quite quick and easy. Later tonight, I'll see how easy it is to download them from there to my laptop....

Does anyone know why visits with the parental units are so stressful? Here are a few stress-inducing highlights: Mom came in and said, "It's so clean." Then, she pulled out all my cleaning stuff, started dusting, and showed me how much dirt she's picking up. I. Can't. Win. Or what about after an entire morning/early afternoon driving around and talking, I'm enjoying a few quiet moments on the sofa when she said "Why aren't you talking? How come we don't have conversations?" Or maybe Dad trying to have the "You're going to be unemployed soon and will probably be depressed" talk. Um. Yeah. Thanks. That was almost as fun as the "dating" talk*. But, even with all the stress and pressure, they are fun to be around (most of the time). So, here's the weekend rundown. Friday evening . I cleaned (but not well enough, apparently). Saturday morning . I cleaned more (see above parenthetical). Saturday afternoon . We...

Baby! Alpacas! YARN! More tomorrow. *smooches*

And guess what I did last night? I spilled an entire container of peppercorns all over the kitchen. GAH. I still have loads to do to prepare for the Parental Visit. The living room is mostly organized, but I still need to dust, sweep, vacuum, and do a bit more general tidying. Kitchen? Disaster. Dining Nook? Disaster. Bathroom? Disaster. Bedroom? Major Disaster. Bossy's Guest Room ? Minor Disaster (but not a big deal, since I'll be sleeping either there or in the living room ... depending on which is cooler). I have a lot to do tonight. And tomorrow. As for activities ... I think we're going to take a field trip to Target! Hurrah. I can has gigantic buckets of kitty litter. We might go to the Afghanistan exhibit at the National Gallery of Art . And, on Sunday, there's a local farm tour/open house kind of thing. So, I'll make them drive me all over. Apparently, there is an alpaca farm somewhere in this county. Fun. *oog* More later, kittens. *smooches*

And, you may worship me ... from a respectful distance. Or you could just give me lots of money and/or gin. ANYWAY, thus far today, I have: 1. Completed the horrible essay question for the government job AND faxed my transcript to HR.* 2. Called the investment company which manages my 401(k) to find out how to roll my funds over to a personal 401(k) once the impending unemployment occurs. 3. Decided what I'm making for dinner tonight: Vegetarian Fried Tofu with Garlic and Black Pepper and Spicy Sesame Noodles with Chopped Peanuts and Thai Basil . 4. Made a sandwich and an iced coffee. OMG. I'm exhausted. I should take the rest of the day off! BUT, before I do, here is another hint about the rapidly approaching New VUBOQ Contest: The first hint is here . Allrightythen, guess that's it. *smooches* *The chances of me actually getting this job (even though I am highly qualified) are relatively nil. The position was announced on 7/22 and closes on 7/25. Such a short announceme...

1. Washed dishes. 2. Fed the cat. 3. hmmm ... there must be something else. 4. Made a margarita. And another margarita. 5. Played lots and lots of Scramble on Facebook. 6. Heated up a veggie burger. 7. Strained the Thai Basil-Infused Vodka (it is delicious mixed with tonic), 8. Watched Project Runway (so sad about who got auf'ed). 9. Watched Shear Genius. 10. Went to bed. Which is all well and good, except ... Do you see anything on that list that says cleaned the house ? or wrote the essay for the job application ? Me either. GAH! And the parents are arriving in T-minus 54 hours. ACK! And the job closes at midnight on Friday! PANIC!!!!! So, one of us needs to buckle down and git bizzay ! *looks for a volunteer* More later. *smooches*

My Parents are visiting this weekend. This is what they look like: This is an example of our phone conversations: It's Amazing I Turned Out as Well as I Did This is why their visits make me a little stressed out: Weekend Update: The Parent Trap (see paragraphs 4-6) This is an excerpt from a phone conversation a few weeks ago: Mom : We want to come visit soon. We're thinking the last weekend of July. V : The last weekend of July isn't a good time. Mom : Really? V : Yes. My job will be ending. I might be SuperStressed. I may just want to relax by myself. Mom : OK. This is an excerpt from a phone conversation one week later: V : Hello? Mom : We've decided when we're going to come visit? V : Great. When? Mom : The last weekend of July. V : ... On the bright side, the visit's only from Saturday to Monday. More later. *smooches*

This food? I cooked it last night. This picture? I took it myself. This blog? I write it myself. These are my words, my thoughts, my ideas, my hopes and dreams, my tears, my own private drama*. I wanted to clear that up. I am me . The words are my own. Because I am honest about my life (or, at least, as honest as I can be), I tend to believe what other people write is an honest representation as well**. It's a little shocking and a lot hurtful when I find out I've been misled. ( See Dykewife's post here - You'll need to scroll down to the entry titled "Cry, Thief"- and the victim's original post here .) But, I move on ... to write about my food, my booze, and my dreams. Last night, I made, what I like to call, Refrigerator Pasta, which consists of whatever food I can find in my fridge that I think will be yummy tossed with pasta. So, I diced a bunch of grape tomatoes, some black olives, scallions, and Bulgarian Feta and mixed it with olive oil, red wine...

New pottery photos are on flickr!

The Upcoming Contest. A Hint: Care to make a guess? *smooches*

Good Morning, Kittens. Here's a little teaser photo for you. Can you guess what they are? Do they look a little familiar, Mel ? Give up? Ok. They are mugs. And they are glazed with the same glazes I used on the mugs Mel won in the 10% Refund Challenge awhile back. Unfortunately for you, these mugs are not prizes. The one on the right is Dad's (slightly late) Father's Day present. The one on the left is Mom's (slightly early) birthday present. Yay. And, since they are coming up this weekend, guess who won't have to pay a fortune in shipping charges? Anyway, there are more pottery photos to take and post, but you are going to have to wait until I get home. Sorry. Last night in pottery, I felt semi-productive. I glazed one canister and a plate. And I threw a vase and another vase (which may end up being a very tall mug). I was hoping to trim Canister #3, but it was nowhere near ready for trimming. Oh, well. Next week. There are only 2 more pottery classes left this ses...

I was planning to spend my afternoon randomly applying for federal government jobs on USAJOBS. When I logged in the little screen instructed me to change my password to something between 8-20 characters with at least one character being capitalized, one being a number, and one being a symbol, like ! or ~ or ^. So I did. I felt like I was typing in some sort of weird l33t sp3ak!*&! I can haz txtmsgs? I hit enter and * pow * * bang * * fizzle * myUSAJOBS sort of went all blank and sh!t. Thus, rather than search for jobs or do actual work (yes, I have about a gabillzillion email to proofread), I read blogs. Oooh. Fun. I stopped by Why I Hate DC , And, guess what? There seems to be a new Hater in charge. I used to be a regular WIHDC reader before Rusty took over a few years ago and filled the blog with too much baseball, guitar hero, and Late Night Shots. That, coupled with infrequent posts, pretty much killed my interest. The new girl has a quirky writing style which could ...

Good Monday Morning, Kittens :-) Our phones seem to be working again. Huzzah. I have about a Gabillzillion email inquiries to answer. And, I'm out of deodorant. Oh. Woeth art I. So, weekend roundup time ... Friday, after ditching work at noon:30, I headed over to Y's. He was at school, so I played with Fuego, wasted time on the internet, and ... um ... that's about it. Then, around 2:30, I headed over to the pottery studio, where I trimmed Canister #2. I feel much better about it now. At first it was all wonky and off center, but I -somehow- managed to fix that. Yayz. I left the studio around 4, met up with Y, and walked back to his place, where we, um, well, uh, y'know ... Then, we made cocktails using the Raspberry-Lime Infused Vodka. The first cocktail was the vodka plus ginger ale. I thought it would be yummy. Unfortunately, it wasn't. It needs to be mixed with something a tad sweeter. So, next, we tried it with cranberry juice. Much better. I think it still nee...

Guten Morgen, Katzchen. It be Friday! HUZZAH! That make-a me happeh. And, I am only working 'til 12:30 today. AND, the phones are still BORKED, so I won't have much to do. YAYz. After leaving work yesterday around three, I pretty much wasted the afternoon. I went to Whole Foods. I made a tall, tall, icy cold margarita. And, I blobbed on the sofa. Of course, I also watered the garden, strained the raspberry-lime vodka, and made a yummy dinner. Dinner was this: Thai Masaman Curry [tofu, tomatoes, mushrooms, and scallions in a peanut-y curry sauce]. Delicious. Later, I made a fun label for the raspberry-lime vodka, since it's for a friend's birthday party. See: After work today, I'm heading over to Y's for a bite (*heh*). Then, I want to go to the pottery studio for a couple of hours. After I finish there, I'll go back to Y's for dinner and movies ( Ratatouille and Infernal Affairs ). Saturday, we will return the SuperCute (ButNotQuiteAsCuteAsIsabella) Kit...

I noticed around 11:30 this morning that our call volume had decreased significantly. As it turns out, the EPA decided to switch the hotline to the new contractor ... even though the new contractor isn't supposed to take over until August 1st. Plus, they haven't completed training and have no idea how to answer the questions. HAHAHAHAHAHHAHA. *sigh* In more hopeful news, I have submitted 4 job applications in the past three days (2 federal government, 1 DC government, and one with a nonprofit association). Maybe something good will turn up soon :-) *smooches*

OMG. Kittens. Did you see it? Did you? Did you? Did you? Huh? Huh? Huh? Project Runway Season 5 Episode 1 was absolutely delicious. I devoured every delectable morsel and followed them with swigs of fabulous blueberry margaritas. Mmm. Mmm. I was very pleased with the results. I loved the top 2 dresses and hated the bottom 2. YAYz. VUBOQ knows Reality Show Fashion! And, some of the boys are CUTE . I'd break it down for all of you, but there is better site for that . THEN, immediately following PR5 was Shear Genius. kyaaaaaaaaa!!!! Could life get any better than bitchy fashionistas followed by bitchy scissor-wielding prima donnas? I. think. not. I was sad to see the loser go home. I liked her. *le sigh* I am *so* very very very glad that Tomokito has cable. Otherwise, I'd have to dump Y and find a BF with cable ... and, on short notice, that can be difficult. More later. *smooches*

Good Morning, Sugar Muffins! After all of the excitement at work yesterday*, experimental cooking at home proved to be SuperRelaxing! First, I made the Raspberry- Lime Vodka Infusion , using about a pint of raspberries and 2 sliced limes . See: It seems to be infusing quickly and should be done in a few days. Hopefully, it will be delicious. Then, I cooked dinner. First, I made a slightly modified version of this soup from epicurious: Chilled Cucumber and Avocado Soup . It was super easy. I omitted the coriander** and the 1/2 cup of ice***. As the soup was chilling, I boiled some linguini and tossed it with butter, olive oil and herbs from the garden, rosemary, basil, and oregano. Ta da! Well, hello, Chef's Little Helper, tequila with lemon soda. The soup was creamy and delicious, although a bit on the tart side. I believe I may have added too much yogurt. Next time, I may blend up a chili pepper with it to see what that does (other than make it spicy). In other news, no one see...

And do you know what that means? I'll bet if you put on your thinking caps, you can figure it out. Go ahead. I'll wait.

And I have a big bag of potato chips on my desk. At 9 in the morning. IS THAT SO WRONG?!?!?!? Guess what? I found a federal government job which had NO essay questions! I applied this morning! EXCITEMENT! Of course, it's in Colorado ... which might present a small problem, but (this needs to be said again) there were NO ESSAY QUESTIONS! I had to apply. Also, I'm mailing my application for the DC government job this afternoon. AND, I only have one final essay question to answer for the DHHS job (which closes on Friday, so I'm a little pressed for time ... but not much). Lessee ... pottery class was relatively good last night (except for the very end ... which I'll get to in a moment). First, I glazed lots of things: two mugs, two vases, and a flower pot. Then, I trimmed a serving bowl. My plate and first cannister have not been fired yet. Boo. Then, I threw cannister #3. The really cool thing is that I had run out of clay, but the front desk girl had already lef...

Because David did it ...

1. He took a nap yesterday afternoon for about an hour. 2. He stayed over at Y's (and he *never* sleeps well at Y's). 3. He went to bed at 10:30, which means he woke up at 2. 4. Y's apartment was too cold. 5. Y's apartment was too hot. 6. Y's apartment was too cold. 7. Fuego is a naughty kitty. 8. He had to get up to go to the bathroom at 2:30. 9. Y came to bed around 3. 10. He was thirsty at 3:30. And, 6:30 came awfully early. Now, vuboq can't decide if he hasn't had enough coffee ... or if he's had too much.

Good Morning, Kittens. Sorry for the later-than-usual post, but I was busy working on two job applications. One, for a DC government job, will be ready to mail tomorrow, and I have one more KSA to write for the other, a federal job with the Department of Health and Human Services. The federal job closes on Friday, so I need to work on the last essay today and tomorrow. So ... my weekend ... I didn't do much of anything Friday night, other than a bit of cleaning. SCGB and DUN came down for a drink, so that was my only fun. Saturday was Co-op Yardwork Day, starting bright and early (8AM!). Then, I had to get ready for Saturday Afternoon Margaritas: Stay at Home Edition. You can see pictures in the previous entry. It was a lot of fun, and Blueberry Margaritas are fantastic! OMG. So yummy. And a complete spur-of-the-moment inspired creation. Sunday, Y and I had a bit of a lie-in. Then, I cleaned up all the dishes from the party and made breakfast. Later, we moved Fuego, DUN's kitty...

So here's my day in 12 fun pictures ... Co-Op Yardwork Day started bright and early at 8AM. Heather's job was to spray the poison ivy. Lucky Heather. Esther hoed a new garden bed. Yardwork done. It was time to get ready for Saturday Afternoon Margaritas: Stay at Home Edition (with Special Guest Star, Xanadu ). You could eat off this toilet. Srsly. Then, came the hoovering. OMG. So. Clean. A quick trip out to the yard to weed the flower bed. Pre-party nap with Isabella. Esther and Peter arrived first. They had to leave early for a beach trip. The party is in full swing. The pitchers of margaritas are flowing. Blueberry margaritas are surprisingly yummiliciuos! Mike "watching" Xanadu [He actually fell asleep. Imagine!]. The rest of the pix from my day are here. And there you have it. 12 of 12. *smooches*

Good afternoon, kittens. After a morning filled with yummy breakfast, coffee, and a *smidge* of teh hot buttsecks, I'm at the office and ready to take on the day! *w00t!* I don't have any big plans for this evening, other than cleancleancleaning the house and watching a movie or two. Then, tomorrow, SuperEarly in the morning is our Co-Op Yardwork Day. YayZ. After that, I'll run to the store and pick up the ingredients for the liquid cheese, the margaritas, and (possibly) pupusas. Around 3PM, the Saturday Afternoon Margaritas revellers will begin to arrive. Many margaritas will be drunk. And, Xanadu will be watched. Huzzah! No plans for Sunday yet (other than recover from the Margarita Event of the Season). Have a good weekend. *smooches*

Ok. Do panic. Here is a short list of things which cause mild panic attacks (what? our hearts aren't *supposed* to beat at 150 times/minute?) if I think about them too much: Impending Unemployment Not having a new job lined up Running out of money John McCain An apartment which looks like its insides exploded Having an apartment which looks like its insides exploded, but still inviting about 10 friends over for margaritas (and a very special viewing of Xanadu ) on Saturday. Having an apartment which looks like its insides exploded, but still inviting about 10 friends over for margaritas (and a very special viewing of Xanadu ) on Saturday even though there is the impending unemployment and serious concerns about running out of money. Thank Gawd for deep breaths, cheesy poofs, booze, and a squeezable kitty.

Good Forkin' Mornin', Kittens. I decided to hit the ground running this morning by typing in my application for a pretty cool-sounding job with DC government (actually, DC National Guard). I've been working on the stupid KSAs for weeks (and still haven't figured out how to answer one of them). However, I thought that, if I started working on the application directly, the writing juices would begin to flow. They did. I was making good progress. Then, I made a fatal mistake: I saved my work. Yeah, yeah. I know. You're supposed to save your work. That shouldn't be a mistake. Except that for some reason, when I opened the newly saved file, it was BLANK , not the nearly complete form I had been working so diligently on for the past 1.5 hours. Yippee. And, then, when I went back to the DC site, my form there had disappeared. Gone. Ka-PUT. I hit refresh and, guess what? Yep. It was BLANK too. To quote one of my favorite lines from To Wong Foo, Thanks for ...

Exhibit A : I had this absolutely fabulous Str8Guy post in mind ... and have completely forgotten what the idea was. Exhibit B : I was reading something ... somewhere ... this afternoon and thought "this makes me so angry! I should write a post about it!" If only I could remember what it was or where I read it ... And, finally, from a photo taken by Goblinbox in March (and posted on this blog before apparently. Not sure where, but it's showing up in my blog photo file), Exhibit C : [teh ginormous eye wrinklz] If my blog posts stop suddenly, it's because I have forgotten my password.

Good Morning, Kittens! This is a picture of my dinner. I -sort of- followed this recipe from Epicurious: Sweet Potato Salad with Chili-Lime Dressing . Most of the modifications I made were with the dressing. I used my own Thai Basil instead of cilantro and replaced the chili powder with 3 of my dried Thai chilies. The dressing was still a bit ... not zingy. I think it needed something else, but I'm not sure what. Maybe a smidge of red curry paste? I tossed the salad with about a cup of red quinoa to give it a bit more nutritional value. The result: Surprisingly Delicious, even though I cooked the potatoes for a smidge too long. I give this recipe Two Thumbs Up ! Way up! Chef's Little Helper last night was gin with lemon italian soda over ice cubes with blueberries frozen in them. Yumminess! Meanwhile, I'm still pounding away on the stupid KSAs. I think I am stuck and need to have a brainstorming session with some friends. Because there are a couple of questions which I hav...

My boss emailed me this morning in reference to our annual pay/merit increase: "Since the increase will be for one month, Corporate has only given us a 3% increase instead of 4%." OK. My first thought was that, well, since our contract ends in one month, any increase is nice. But, then, I thought "WTF." I mean, really, not giving an extra 1% because it's only for one month seems kind of petty. A 1% increase works out to an extra $10 per month (maybe less, I haven't bothered to do the actual math). Is the company in such dire straits that they can't afford that? Also, knowing that we are all looking for new jobs, couldn't they give us the highest possible amount so that we have that extra little bargaining chip with our new employers? Not to mention that it could also affect the amount of our unemployment benefits if we don't find a job. The Corporate Office is always trying to sell the line that they *care* about their employees, but a move like ...

Good morning, kittens. I am trying to be productive with the job search today. So far, I have brainstormed on the KSAs* for two jobs. My goal is to get both of those applications completed by the end of the week. If I can do a bit more note-taking at work today, I should be able to complete rough draft essays for all the questions tonight. Then, tomorrow, I can finalize the questions and submit the applications online. Fun. Times. Pottery class last night was semi-productive. I trimmed a plate. Then, I made another lidded canister. I haven't glazed anything yet ... I was going to do some glazing last night, but ran out of time. Plus, a certain classmate managed to get dirty wet clay fingerprints all over my bisqueware. Which annoyed me. Was it entirely necessary to pick up every piece of pottery on the shelf to see if you'd made it? I can (usually) tell just by looking if a piece of pottery is mine. Then, I look at the signature to double check. I also wash my han...

Waiting for the Fireworks Fireworks ZOMG! Cutest. Bloggers. EVER! Mmmmm... Good-bye, NYC! The rest of the photos are here!

... except, well, my fireworks pictures were full of teh Suck, and I haven't even uploaded them yet ... so, you'll just have to settle for a boring, unillustrated version of my SuperFantastic Fireworks Spectacular Weekend in New York City! *w00t!* *ahem* So, Thursday, after work, I met Jerry for dinner at Thai Tanic. I scheduled the dinner because Y said we would not be leaving for NYC until either "late" or "Friday morning." I interpreted "late" to mean "after 10PM" (especially considering that this is the guy who normally goes to be around 2 or 3AM). Unfortunately, as I was on my way to dinner (around 6), Y called and was all "Do you think you'll be ready to go around 7?" And I was all, "Um. No, because I'm meeting Jerry for dinner. You said we weren't leaving until 'late'." Thus, it was decided that we would leave Friday morning. Which we did. About an hour outside of NYC, Y's friend cal...

VUBOQ is highly upset. The Shear Genius previews last week made us believe that this week's episode would be all about teh Angels of Charlie. However, when we tuned in, what was it? The Housewives of Orange County . *le ew* VUBOQ wanted to see the truly gorgeous Jaclyn Smith and Kate Jackson interact and have witty repartee and share fabulous hair tips and tell us what it was really like to work with Farrah. Alas, it was not to be and VUBOQ returned home at the end of the show to cry bittersweet tears into his pillow. So. Sad. So disappointed with the misleading Shear Genius previews. VUBOQ shall never believe them again. In addition, VUBOQ has this weird patch of dry skin near his elbow. What up with that? OK. Enough with the third person. It's time to break down the weekend plans, even though I still don't quite know what they are. This is the last time I leave the planning up to Y. I mean, srsly, how hard is it to determine what freakin' time we are leaving ? Or r...

Don't forget to watch Shear Genius tonight at 10PM on Bravo! It's the Charlie's Angels hair challenge with special guest judge, OMFG, Kate Jackson! *squeeee*

Wow. That's a long-ass title... Anyway, good Wednesday morning, Kittens! I hope everyone is bright-eyed and bushy-tailed this morning. Yesterday evening was absolutely gorgeous, even though I had to suffer through a Co-op Board Meeting. Fortunately, the meeting started and ended with cocktails. That's how all board meetings should work. Srsly. I discovered that if I opened up my bedroom window I could get a nice cool cross-breeze going. Plus, with the fan running, the traffic noise was mostly bearable ... until the buses started roaring by at a little before 5. Prior to the Board Meeting (and after my martini), I decided to make a recipe I found on epicurious, Quinoa and Bulgur Salad with Feta . If you've been reading this blog for any amount of time, you probably have already realized that I made a few modifications in the recipe ... 1/3 cup 1/2 cup quinoa 4 cups 1 cup water [I cooked the quinoa in my rice cooker, so there would be no need to cook it in all that extra w...

Well, kittens, we're down to the final month of employment and I'm going through my desk. Here are a few things I'd rather not throw away, so leave a comment if you want them: Endocrine Disruptor Screening and Testing Advisory Committee (EDSTAC) Final Report: Volumes I & II (August 1998) Here's a gem from Volume II (which contains summarized public comments, like this one): K--- L---, a citizen from Channelview, Texas, outlined personal health problems since moving to Houston in 1975. She expressed anger and frustration at the deleterious* effects chemical exposure has had on her health, and urged the Committee to help others in similar situations. VUBOQ can only imagine what she said ... and wishes he could read it in its entirety, but is way too lazy to get the transcript from those meetings (even though he knows how). Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Parts 700-789 (2002-2005) Code of Federal Regulations, Title 40, Parts 790 to End (2002-2006) Code of F...

Good Morning, Kittens. The voting for the winners of the VUBOQ-inspired contest closed a few moments ago. I'm sure you are all breathlessly waiting to learn which wonderful entry took the prize in the Battle of the Beltway Babes... May I have a drum roll, please? [drum roll] Congratulations, Shallow Gal ! You are the first place winner. And, here's your prize: [Yes, I'm assuming you want the Prize Package which includes the jelly bean pooping reindeer. ] The second prize goes to Ellen : Both entries were seriously fabulous. Srsly. I don't know how those of you who voted could make a decision. Beltway Babes, maybe we can get together for a Happy Hour soon and I can personally deliver your prize packages? Email me: environy (at) gmail (dot) com and we can coordinate! In other exciting news, pottery class was an exercise in non-productivity. All I did was trimming. And two things I've made weren't even ready to trim. So, I trimmed a vase, which I've turned into...