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

Good Evening, Kittens. So, what's new and exciting in your lives?  I'm doing laundry.  Yay!  And, drinking a martini. I suppose I should try to catch you up on all that's going on in my life, except not much is going on in my life.  Just the usual: Work. Sleep. Eat. SteamyHotButtsecks. Pottery. Tap. Tappitytappitytaptap. And running. I have signed up for the Asheville Half Marathon in June.  I know.  WTF, right?  Normally, I wait for a Fall Half.  But, I figured I need to visit the Parental Units and Asheville is close to their town. The course is hilly as all get out.  I'll survive somehow. Cuddly Little Boo Bear McLovin' has signed up for the Wildwoods 8K in NJ in May.  I'll be sidekickin' it there.  He doesn't want me to run (fine by me!). Of course, it's the weekend after my work trip to (wait for it) MIAMI!  Oh, yeah.  The reward for being sent to Detroit in February is a May trip to the Land of the Dolphins...

 Hello, Beautiful Kittens.  I hope you had a wonderful December.  Apparently, there was a holiday or something recently.  I was in North Carolina for the aforementioned holiday.  My mother forced us all to wear elf hats as we opened presents (on Xmas Eve, because I flew back home on Xmas morning). I had a good Xmas.  I received some very nice gifts.  My parents helped to pay for my new spectacles and for another session of pottery class.  My brother and his GF gifted me with lots of colorful socks and a cookie press.  Plus some other things.  And, once I got back to DC, I had a fantastic XXXmas with M.  In addition to copious amounts of teh hot buttsecks,we watched a lot of streaming movies on the Netflix, including The Hobbit, White Christmas, and Blackfish. Yeah.  It seems like we are in it for the long haul.  He gave me Apples to Apples (which, he reminded me, we played at a game night with Mike (Who Makes Cakes...

  Hello, Kittens.  What up? Things in VUTOPIA are about the same as always ... work is fun, but superbizzybizzy.  Pottery class has ended until next year.  Sad Facez.  I am still taptaptappin' away.  I missed the most recent class because I had a cold.  Yuck! So, you may not have noticed, but there was a holiday recently.  We call it Thanksgiving.  And, as is our tradition, my building held our 3rd Annual 10(ish)K and Brunch.  This year, because our normal hosts moved, I hosted the brunch.  It was fun.  My apartment looked like this: I made tofu scramble, pumpkin coffee cake, and baked egg casserole with spinach, mushrooms, and salsa: I also had cheese and crackers and a varied assortment of homemade pickles and sauces. Other people brought delicious foods as well! Bread! Fruit salad! Vegan sausages!  And lots and lots and lots of champagne. It was all quite tasty and fun!  But, I was quite happy when ...

In preparation for a visit by a World Renowned Author, Professor, Ex-Blogger, I have been cleaning out my spare room.  During which, I discovered a treasure trove of memories.  One of which being the above drawing of a 48-hour chick embryo.  Which I made during the most difficult class I ever took, Comparative Vertebrate Embryology. So, I posted the photo to the facebooks and a former classmate said she had also saved all her drawings and reminded me of the nickname we had given ourselves (ourselves being the 8 students in the class): The Pig Masters. This was because we spent way too many hours every week in the lab staring into a microscope making sketches of cross-sections of a 10mm pig embryo.  Oh, yeah.  Good times.  And, at 3AM, things could get a little punchy ... AND, then, tonight, I phoned my BFF from College (who was also in that class) and she was at her mom's house for the rest of the week.  Her mom is amazing (of course, everyone ...

OMG, Kittens!  Remember me?  How are you?  Is anyone still out there? My Exciting New Job started on the January 28th and settling into that has been busy busy busy.  I don't even know where to begin to start catching up on my life. So here are just some of the random things that have happened in the past two weeks that I can remember ... At some point, I had a fun little Adult Sleepover (without actually sleeping over) with K (remember him?).  He is still as enthusiastic as ever.  *rowr* The Little Red Car's battery has died.  And, I need to give it a jump.  But, that seems scary. So, I have been procrastinating. M (not the one in Vegas) decided he didn't want to hang out with me anymore.  But, now he has changed his mind. And, we are getting together on Sunday for a little Super Bowl Part for two.  So, that should be fun. This SuperHot guy I hooked up with about two years ago contacted me out of the blue.  But, I have ...

Good Evening, Kittens.  As I sit here waiting for Sandy, I thought I'd take a few minutes to update you on my week and weekend. The week was SuperCrazyBusyInsane!  I had a major deadline on Friday plus an event for Energy Action Month on the same day.  I spent most of the week trying to get all of that done.  GAH!  Fortunately, the event was a success (yay!) and I managed to get all of my reports and databases turned in on time (double yay!). After work on Friday, I was in a celebratory mood, so I came home, put on my pajamas, and made a martini.  As I was settling in for a long night of sofa-blobbing.  My friend, V, texted, "are we still going out tonight?" ... D'oh!  I had totally forgotten about that.  Oops.  SO, I put on real clothes.  He picked me up.  We had a quick dinner in Downtown Silver Spring, and, then, we went to the Green Lantern.  We left around midnight.  It was boozy good times. I may (or m...

Good Evening, Kittens. Last night, at pottery, a couple of pieces had been glaze-fired ... Prepare yourself for some Unattractive Pottery Porn Too big to be mugs.  Too squat to be useful. Actually, this isn't half-bad.  I may gift it to a family member.  Or a family member's girlfriend. And, there you have it.  In other news,  work.  It is keeeeeeeeeeeeeelling me.  I just have to make it through Friday.  I can do it!  I know I can. Have a fabulous evening (or day.  whatever)! *smooches*

Good Saturday Evening, Kittens. I'm sure most of you are out drinking many many pitchers of liquid sunshine in celebration of this most joyous of (pseudo)holidays, Cinco de Mayo.  For those of you who aren't, here's a brief update on my life ... Things with D are in a weird holding pattern for right now ... his intriguing backstory (which I don't feel comfortable sharing across the internetz) has reared its ugly head and is causing ... well ... drama.  I'm pretty sure he likes me, but he needs to get his head on straight before anything moves forward, IMHO. Other than that, work has been yucky (as one would expect).  I have several BIG deadlines approaching.  Ugh. After work on Friday, my co-worker and I headed to Austin Grill in Silver Spring to celebrate Quatro de Mayo.  My huge nose zit, Stan, joined us. I bought a lottery ticket. I did not win. Today, I ran 7.25 miles.  Then, I headed into the DeeCee to meet my friend (who wants to be mo...

Good Morning, Kittens! I was actually busy at work yesterday (I know! WTF?), so I didn't have time to tell you all about my exciting Monday. Lessee ... I woke up. And then I went to the dermatologist for an Annual Mole Check. If you have never had one (I never had), be advised: The doctor is *very* thorough. Luckily, I have no mole-y melanomas. Yay! And he said that I don't really need an Annual Mole Check. More like an Every 3 to 4 Years Mole Check (Tri to Quadrennial Mole Check, I suppose). Oh! I forgot to mention that on the bus ride to the Silver Spring metro station, I ran into a cute neighborhood gay. We've hung out before. He's supercute, young, not very bright, and *ahem* rather well-endowed. SO I'VE HEARD! We were totally like "we have to hang out again." So maybe we will later this week. ANYWAYz ... After the appointment ended, I headed home and to Trader Joe's, where I spent a ridiculous amount of money. Then, I went to Whole F...

Good Evening, Kittens. It's been a busy couple of days. Last night, Ray came over to visit with his kitty, Jasha. We ate leftover butternut squash lasagna. He left. I stayed up too late. And, this morning came too early. Work has been busy. Two unexpected projects have been dropped in my lap. Plus, I am supposed to give a brief presentation at the full staff meeting tomorrow. Gah. Then, today, the department (division?) I work in had "Staff Development" ... which consisted of lunch and a teamwork building activity. Unfortunately, even though I told the Executive Assistant that I am vegetarian. There were no vegetarian food options. I ate chips. And the meeting was just over 3 hours long. I wasn't able to eat anything until around 3:45PM. Fortunately, one of my co-workers had some leftover vegetarian chili to share. Hurrah. There's co-op drama as well ... mostly concerning the co-op fee increase. Ugh. The emails are flying. I will be *so* glad to b...

Good morning, kittens. I'm actually busy at work today. Can you believe it? Neither can I. I mean, really, what the fork? I'm almost done though (yay!). I have one more horrible email to answer [about a nationwide master list of sites where polychlorinated biphenyl (PCBs) have been left in-place. Short answer: There isn't one. Long answer: ... VUBOQ thinks it has to do with the fact that there is no required reporting to EPA if PCBs are left in place; however, he has to dig through the regulations to verify this. Of course, if it turns out there is required -or even, optional- reporting, VUBOQ is fairly certain that the EPA is not organized/efficient enough to compile that information into something readily available and usable. See what I have to deal with? *sheesh*]. So, while VUBOQ reads fascinating documents with fun titles like 40 CFR 761.61 and 40 CFR Parts 750 and 761 Disposal of Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs); Final Rule and, maybe, if I'm lucky, Polychlorin...

Good Morning, Kittens. VUBOQ is a little peeved this morning. He had all sorts of plans and things to accomplish today. Until his project officer sent him 43 pages of email to answer by COB tomorrow. Yep. Email for the entire month. Email that the PO has been sitting on since June 3rd. VUBOQ is seriously considering doing less than half and not worrying about it (because, hey, we only have 5 more weeks left on this contract). Let the new contractor deal with the fallout. Whatevs. See this face: It does not care about the new contractor's problems. I have not accomplished much on the Job Search front, which is disappointing. I need a big dose of motivation. Today, rather than work on those stupid email inquiries, I think I will try to complete at least one job application. Then, when I get home tonight, instead of wasting the evening plurking (and writing short stories), I will work on the very intimidating KSAs. I will reward myself by watching the season premiere of Shear Geniu...

Good morning, kittens. It's been a bit busy at work this morning. I forgot my annual performance evaluation and updated resume were due today, so I had to crank those out*. Bleah. I have a buttload of email to answer today too. *ugh* Lessee ... Meat-Free Monday was a success (yay!). Photo will be uploaded and posted tonight. Stay tuned. And, here's a little reminder that small-minded bigots are still alive and well (unfortunately). It seems like we touched a nerve: [from The Daily Star (second item)] Homosexuals at greater risk Thanks, The Daily Star, for publishing my letter of Feb. 1 opposing homosexual behavior. Some opposed publishing my letter. They don't realize most Americans, including the local population, are against homosexuality. But perhaps only my detractors' letters should be published. Glad they aren't the editors. They want me to listen. And I do. But when I speak, many head for the door, afraid they will hear a discordant tone. Those left tell me ...

... And it certainly was interesting to see/read what you had to think concerning my Alcohol-Free April. Meanwhile, I'm feeling cranky today. I haven't heard anything from the job recruiter, even though she said she would contact me Wednesday or Thursday. I'll probably shoot her an email after lunch. I'd rather not have to sit through the whole weekend without knowing any additional information. Also, people who don't read are driving me BATTY. There is going to be a public meeting at EPA next week, which was announced in the Federal Register. In the announcement it clearly states who to contact if you want to attend the meeting. It is not us. We are listed as a contact for general information (which, naturally, no one has provided us). However, guess who about 15 people in the past few days have contacted to request to attend the meeting? Here's a hint: US. GAH. I really want to reply to their emails much more snarkily than I am. Fortunately, there are l...

What up with that? I've been busy today. I need a break. We received a buttload of email to answer from our project officer. Then, there was a conference call with some EPA peoples. Now, I am done and eating as many greasy potato chips as I can shove into my face. I think I'm going to play Minesweeper for the rest of the day ... *smooches* Updated to Note : It's HOT. And I seem to have gotten chocolate on my shirt. How did that happen?

BONUS VUBOQ POST!!!!!! w00t!!! I managed to finish all my assignments: updating the contact and referral list merging that list with another list answering about 12 email proofreading 10 email creating and coordinating the phone schedules for the next two weeks AND picking up the rental car! OMG! I rock. Speaking of rocks, I'm not getting enough pottery lurve so here's the exact same photo from the previous post, only BIGGER: Behold the Glory that is Vase 6! Now, if I can only get everything I need done tonight. GAH.

And, like, O-Mah-Gawd, I came into work and have had to work! What is up with that? See, what's happening is this: Part of the enforcement and responsibility of the Act on which I work is being transferred from one part of EPA (OPPTS) to a different part of EPA (OSWER). Supposedly, this is to consolidate responsibilities. Apparently, "consolidation" means "creation of nearly twice as many technical contacts." I've been updating our referral lists all morning. *woot* Fun. Times. I've also been polishing my resume [insert little doohickies over the appropriate vowels] and cover letter ... which reminds me of what I was actually going to blog about today: I invited Y over to watch a DVD last night. "What movie," he asked. It's a French film, called "The Page Turner." "What time," he inquired. I don't know. How about 8? "Ok," he said. He arrived at 10 after ... NINE . *sheesh* I asked if he would mind look...

I had falafel. I feel a gabillion times better. Not quite better enough to take on Chapters 9-16 of the Training Manual though. My boss figured out the issue I was having with Chapter 2, which proves the old adage: Even a blind hog can find an acorn every now and then. I never even thought to move my mouse randomly around the text clicking like a crazy person. Live and learn, VUBOQ. Live. And learn. Looks like we'll be going to Straits of Malaya tonight for dinner. They have good food, but, because they don't assign waiters to certain tables, the service can be a bit spotty (and that's putting it nicely). Hopefully, the staff will be "on" tonight. *smooches*

Stupid MS Word. I got all involved in trying to get it to do what I wanted (rather than it getting me to do what it wanted), and time slipped away. I missed my lunch break. VUBOQ is v. hungry now. I have another break in about 45 minutes. Hopefully, I won't waste away to nothing by then. That grumbling sound? It would be my tummy.

1. Arriving over an hour late for a dinner party in which you volunteered to bring the appetizers is not cool and does not endear me to you. 2. Low Blood Sugar VUBOQ = Cranky VUBOQ 3. New Rosh Hashanah food tradition: Apples soaked in honey ... and VODKA! For four days! Then frozen! YUM! [Credit the Supercute Y for this one. Although, VUBOQ would like to think that his summer-long vodka infusion experiments were somewhat of an inspiration.] 4. Sometimes very smart people say very stupid things. 5. If the Supercute Y thinks that Cranky Low Blood Sugar Annoyed at Smart People Saying Stupid Things VUBOQ did not have a good time at a dinner party [even if VUBOQ *did* have a good time ... once his blood sugar level returned to normal], there will be amazingly hot secks when they return home. *smooches* PS. OMG. I'm only on Chapter 12 of the Training Manual. AUGH! Need. Motivation.