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

Sligo Creek before the Deluge Good Afternoon, Kittens! Well, Sandy has come and gone.  She tried to do her worst, but we persevered.  The power flickered once, but that was it.  Hurrah! So, how did I spend my day "working from home?" I'm so glad you asked ... I baked a pumpkin in my toaster oven. I sat on the sofa a lot ... except when a certain Ball o' Kitteh stole my spot. I ventured out into the wind and the rain to take a photo of the roaring torrent, Sligo Creek. I made Blue Hubbard Squash Risotto, using this recipe (minus the radicchio). Isabella and I celebrated when the radiators came on. Then, I headed up to K-Factor and the Canadian's apartment for an evening change of scenery. And, that was my day.  Good times for sure. Today, I am trying to be productive, but it's not happening.  Boo. *smooches*

Good Morning, Kittens. It's a Popsicle World in the Winter/ When the sleet covers the ground. And I have to venture forth to work. Ugh. Fortunately, I should only be working a half day. I think I am going to chicken out on my New Year's Eve date with ScooterGuy ... especially if this weather sticks around. I would rather hole up on my sofa with a kuddly kitteh, a bottle of champagne, and Mad Men Season 2. Oh, Don Draper, come give me a New Year's Kiss. *mwah* Perhaps I will even type up some sort of "end of the year/looking forward to the next one" kind of post. That seems like a unique thing to do (*cough*). OK. Must start getting ready for work. Have a great last day of 2009! *smooches*

Good Morning, Kittens. I am "working" from home today. Oh, yeah. Federal government closed, but I can't take the day off. Must continue to slave for the Man. *sigh* So, you may have heard this already, but we got a s**tload of snow on Friday. No official Sligo Co-op totals, but probably somewhere between 16"-20". I am kind of annoyed because our new snow removal contractors only showed up at the beginning of the storm and haven't been seen since. Gah. ANYWAY ... Great fun was had by the residents of Sligo Co-op. On Friday night, I had cocktails with Tomokito in her apartment. SCGB joined us later as we sipped negronis and watched the cars slide into each other on the snowy hill in front of our building. Saturday afternoon, we gathered at K-Factor's apartment for food, games, and drinks. Lots of drinks. In fact, so many drinks, that we created the First Ever Sligo Snow Triathalon (loosely based on my pottery teacher's Greenbelt Triathalon...

Good Morning, Kittens. Yesterday was totes dreary and cold and rainy. I had planned to go for a run, but I no run in the rain. Srsly. What up with people who do that? I was also planning on sleeping in, but had a work related call at 8:43AM. What up with people who do that? Then, I couldn't go back to sleep. So I blobbed around the house. At 1PM, I had a work conference call. For an hour. On a Federal Holiday. At least I could bill the time - 2 hours, since I spent an hour afterwards typing up my notes from the call. Around 4, I went up to Tomokito's for Martini Time with Baby Hana. Baby Hana loves the martinis. Later, I did laundry. Then, my New Boots arrived. *heart* I am wearing them today. Be jealous of me and my New Boots. Today, after work, my New Boots and I are going to Men's Wearhouse. They are having a buy one get one free sale on suits. I need a new suit (or two!). I'm thinking brown and navy, since I already have charcoal gray. Have a great d...

Good Morning, Kittens! Rainy Rainy Rainy Rain this morning. And I have to lug two GINORMOUS packages to the post office today. One is a prize a donated to Dr. Mel's No on 1 Fund-Raising Contest . In case you want a sneak preview of the prize, this is it . The other package is a long-promised present for my friend, Dr. Liz . Then, I might go back to the pottery studio to finish up some things I started last night but didn't quite finish. As for yesterday, I didn't do much. Ran some errands. Had lunch with a neighbor. Went to pottery class. Fun and excitement. That's my life. Have a great day! *smooches*

Good Morning, Kittens! I have a bit of a Rant Post gurgling within mah belleh, but it still needs to percolate for a bit. Until then, you must make do with the tale of my Thursday. The plan was to meet Ray for lunch and then spend a lovely afternoon at the Zoo. In Vutopia, the weather would have been sunny and warm with a lovely breeze ... not Land of the Torrential (and Ill-Timed) Downpour. So, I met Ray for lunch at Open City Diner in Woodley Park. It was quite nice (except for a minor service snafu). As we were finishing up, it started to sprinkle. Ray stopped to buy an umbrella at CVS, and, by the time we got to the zoo (he had an appointment near the zoo entrance), the rain was falling steadily ... but not steadily enough to deter my desire to See the Flamingos! Oh, how I love the flamingos. Back when I lived in the neighborhood, I used to get drunk on margaritas and wander to the zoo to watch the flamingos be all goofy and flamingo-y. It's been awhile since I've bee...

Good Morning, Kittens! It seems like summer may have arrived. Yesterday, around 6:30AM, I awoke to the crash and flash of a line of thunderstorms rolling through, creating havoc and setting off car alarms. I thought about the poor saps who had to go to work in that mess and fell back asleep. Ha! The rest of the day was not productive. Can I blame the heat? I think I will. Then, just after Martini Time, another line of thunderstorms passed by. Take a look at the Fabulous Ms. Bluestocking's photos of the storms here . The storms passed, and in the rain, SCGB and I headed over to our friends' house for dinner. We had a yummy mixed greens salad with strawberries, portabello mushrooms caps, and quinoa with black beans. Tasty tasty. After dinner, we played darts in the basement. Good times! SCGB and I got home a little before 11, and I decided to watch Gypsy (with Rosalind Russell and Natalie Wood) on DVD. It was slightly different from what I remembered. It's possibl...

Two accidents at the intersection in front of my building, the second of which seems to be a bit serious. Sligo Creek Parkway is closed (for potential flooding, methinks). Here's what the creek looks like now:

Happy Blogrthday to VUBOQ Happy Blogrthday to VUBOQ Happy Blogrthday to VUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUBOQ Happy Blogrthday to VU. Yep. Today we are two . Hard to believe, huh? I mean, like, so much has happened in two years. I drank a lot. And I knitted. And I watched DVDs. *whew* Seriously, people, why do you keep reading this schlock? I find it a little baffling, really. Oh, well. I promise to keep on drinking, knitting, and watching DVDs for years to come ... just for you . Stay tuned. Meanwhile, we had an ice storm last night. I love how the trees looked like they'd been dipped in glass this morning. I didn't love walking (er ... sliding) to work, though. I also didn't love how the traffic lights were out near my office. Listen, people, I don't even drive and I know that, when the traffic lights aren't working, you treat it as a 4-way stop . It does NOT mean that you can just speed through the intersection like it's not there. And, I'm looking at you gigantic garbage...

Remember when you were a kid and you had those toy cars that you would pull backwards and then release? And, they would go speeding off? That's what I thought of when I was replaying these videos ... The Invisible Hand of God is all "eeeeeeeehhhn, eeeeeeeeeehhhn." And the salt truck is all "VROOOOOOOOOM!" And this plow truck is the same, 'cept it's all "VROOOOOOM!" then, "eeeeeeehhhn." Yeah, I was bored at work yesterday. What of it? I'm going to upload some photos to Flickr in a minnit.

My mom IM'ed yesterday evening to say this: "I hear Silver Spring is getting Snow Flurries." Now, I know living in the NC Mountains can sometimes skew people's definitions of snow ; however, I responded: "If you define flurries as over 4 inches and non-stop snow since early this morning, yes, we are getting snow flurries." Meanwhile, I was overcome by a burst of cooking creativity last night ... in between loads of laundry, I ... (1) Made Mush's cranberry cordial . The recipe says it takes 4 weeks, which means it won't be ready by Christmas. I am hoping to sneak a taste then anyway. (2) Made Sweet Potato and Red Bean Soup. Here's what I did: Bring approx. 4 cups of water to a boil. Add chopped onion, sliced garlic, veggie boullion cube, and lemon slices. After about 10 minutes, remove the lemon. Add one diced sweet potato and a tablespoon or so of red curry paste. Once the potato is nearly tender add a large can of red beans (no need to drain,...

For DC/MetroAreans: Bone Marrow Drive for a Member of our Community (Cheek-Swab Test — you do not need to give blood) Saturday, December 15, 20073 pm – 6 pm Location: Janney Elementary School4136 Albemarle St. NW, Wash. DC (intersection of Albemarle St. and Wisconsin Ave NW, across from Best Buy and the Tenleytown station on Metro’s Red Line) A local parent of South Asian descent is battling CLL (Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia), a form of blood cancer. She is in urgent need of a bone marrow transplant. Because there are so few South Asian donors in the national registry, finding a match for her may be very difficult. By registering with the National Marrow Donor Program, you may give the gift of life to this special person, who is a friend, daughter, wife, and mother. We are most in need of donors of South Asian descent (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, East Africa, Guyana, Afghanistan). Donor registration is free for these individuals as well as those of African-American, Hispani...

Vuboq is tired of teh snow. It's all pretty and stuff ... but, ugh, I hatez going outz in it. And, at some point, I have to brave the madness that will be the grocery store during snow . GAH. I feel like a big ol' cliche because I need to buy milk. Of course, that's if I make mac 'n' cheese. And, I think I've OD'ed on cheese. My company bought lunch for my office from Maggianos. The things I could eat were: salad (with blue cheese), cheese ravioli, fried cheese, fettucini al fredo with broccoli, and cheesecake. And garlic bread. Cheesy carby goodness. I need a nap. And a session in the vomitorium. So, if I skip out on the mac 'n' cheese. What should I make? Hmm ... perhaps a baked sweet potato.

This is the view from my cubicle: It is very snowy out. This morning, I woke up and thought, "Hm. It's dark outside. I wonder what time it is." So, I put on my glasses, looked at the clock and *GAH* 6:24. The alarm usually goes off at 6:20, but I had forgotten to set it last night. Oops. Good thing I woke up, huh?

Talk about foreshadowing, kittens! Yesterday, we had a taste of the snow flurries. Today, it's a BLIZZARD!!! Well, not exactly "blizzard" more like "light snow showers," but the Weather People are saying 1-3" of accumulation. I dunno, but December the 5th seems too early for snow. Forkin' Climate Change. In other news, I finally had an idea for StickSteven's 2007 Year in Review ! Yay! It should only take a couple of days to get those ideas sketched, drawn, and copied! YAY! I also got my first Christmas Holiday Card! Thanks, Sassy ! Oh, and a little note to people who want to choose "all of the above" on the Best Blog in the Entire Universe EVER. I'm sorry, but that's not an option. It's a cop-out. You have to make a choice! Also, you shouldn't have to enter your email, just hit "skip" and all should be well. So, vote now. Vote often: I guess that's about it. Today is laundry day. I want to mak...

1. We had snow flurries this morning. Snow flurries = good. Snow storms = bad. 2. My building's stairway REEKED of teh pot yesterday after work. I think my cranky pothead nextdoor neighbor forgot to open a window or something. The smell of teh pot makes me queasy.

I braved the continuing rain (which, I suppose, is good for the drought and the slugs eating my chrysanthemums, but bad for my leaking shoes and wet socks) to visit the likker store, which, as luck would have it, is right next door to my office. It's practically the only thing I like about my job. Does proximity to a big likker store count as a perk? I picked up a couple of bottles of wine for the party. Then, I remembered I was out of sweet vermouth. Then, I thought, "I have sweet vermouth, what if people at the party want to make Manhattans? I don't want them drinking my good bourbon!" [Ha. I kid, People Who are Attending My Party. OK. I'm not kidding. Keep your clammy little hands off my good bourbon.] So, I purchased a still good, but not quite as good, bourbon for them (and me!) ... if they (and I!) want to drink Manhattans. If they (and I!) don't, there will be other booze options. I might have a Manhattan tonight though. Mmmm. Manhattan. Aft...

At the start of my break, the sun started peeping through the blanket of gray clouds, so I packed up my troubles and headed to Safeway. Halfway there, it started raining again. GAH! Umbrella-less, I continued on my journey ... where I found: Pumpkin Carving Kits - 60% OFF! suh-WEET! And, CANDY CORNS! OMGWTFBBQPONIEZ! I LOVE CANDY CORNS. I bought 3 bags. One for the party, and two for very special friends overseas. The BYOP is FAST APPROACHING!!! Can you feel the excitement? CAN YOU?!?! I had a funny story to relate next, but the yarn I ordered last week arrived and I've forgotten the story. Maybe it'll come back to me in a minute ... It did! Another reason to be excited about the BYOP, besides the aforementioned Carving Kits and Candy Corns, is this party will be the debut of the Made in NC blue pottery chip-and-dip bowl, which my parents bought for my birthday. After showing it to Y last week, along with the matching big plate/bowl thing and relish tray (both previous gifts ...

Whatever shall we do? I know! Let's all be late to work. And, thus, I'm the only one here. *sigh* Has anything gone right this morning? Slugs are eating my chrysanthemums.* My shoes are leaking. My socks are wet. Every. single. one. of. my. coworkers. is. late. On the bright side , last night, I hung up some of the Mexican banners and they look FAN-forkin'-TASTIC! YAY! Also, it would seem that one of the chili pepper plants in the Chili Pepper Graveyard has survived and is bearing fruit. *woot* AND, on my way out this morning (before I discovered I am wearing leaky shoes), I met SCGB. SCGB : I'm looking forward to the party. ME : Have you bought your pumpkins? SCGB : Yeah, we have two small ones, but I think we should buy a big one. ME : Size does matter. SCGB : It's not the size of the pumpkin. It's how you carve it. ME : Only people with small pumpkins say that. hearty laughter ** Plans for today: Bank. Shopping at Safeway***. Laundry. Cleaning. Waiting for t...

When the outside thermometer is soaring to 8 GABILLION and 3 degrees , and the bedroom is a soothingly cool 8 GABILLION and 1 , this is how VUBOQ stays cool at night ... Read and learn, kittens : 1. Angle a fan to direct the cooled, conditioned air into the bedroom. 2. Crank fan to high. 3. Make the Y, who doesn't like fans blowing on him (*cough* freak *cough*) , sleep on the sofa. 4. Crank A/C to high. 5. Watch A/C *gasp* *sputter* and *wheeeeeeeeeeeeze* 6. Place a wet handtowel in the freezer. 7. After the towel is thoroughly frozen, place in plastic bag and put in your bed. [It's like a hot water botter , only cold .] 8. Take a VERY cold shower . 9. Don't dry off. Stand in front of *gasp*ing A/C 10. Keep a spray bottle full of cold water near your bed. If you get hot during the night, give yourself a refreshing *spritz* . 11. FOOT CRAMP! FOOT CRAMP! OW OW OW! 12. That didn't have anything to do with staying cool , but it happened last night. Not. Fun. 13. Fina...