I swear I'll go to bed, but there's just one other thing on my mind that I just wanted to get out.
While Joshua is an ex, yes I still hang out with him. Just because we dated at one point it doesn't mean I can't ever be a friend or still hang out with him. We have a good time together, and we both have no illusions about the bond between us. In fact, if it turns out that the guy he is currently interested in is someone that I know on DC Front Runners, I'll be promoting Joshua to this guy.
So If I hear one more person ask me or Joshua "Why do you hang out with your ex?" or some variation of that, I will hunt them down and beat them senseless with a clue-by-four.
Thank You and Goodnight.
October 31, 2007
More young adults on cholesterol drugs
Article Link
Just from reading this article, the first reaction I have is to think "Shouldn't the doctors be telling them to quit eating a cheeseburger, get their fat ass off of the couch, and take a run around the block, and I don't around down to the local Krispy Kreme either" However, one who knows me could also argue that I am a hypocrite for saying that, because I may end up as one of those young people who ends up on those drugs, as much as I hate the idea.
On my father's side of the family, a condition known as Hyperlipidemia type IIb occurs in many of the members. In our case, it's a genetic condition that results in our liver producing too much cholesterol and triglycerides. If it is not controlled, most members died of a massive heart attack in their early 50's. Unfortunately since my father has it, it means I could end up having it as well. It has meant for me that now every year I get bloodwork done to check my levels to make sure I am okay. Last April I had it done and while my overall cholesterol was fine, my triglycerides were high and so was my LDL cholesterol. They weren't high by much, but it was enough for me to notice. However, instead of demanding drugs as a quick fix, I decided I was going to make lifestyle changes. As it is, this reading does not mean I have Hyperlipidemia, there are other factors that could have created the high result.
My dietary habits had become awful over the last two years. I could easily go into a page or two of what went wrong, but it's completely off the subject. When I started dating Joshua he started pushing me towards some better eating habits, which I found made things easier for me to change. Weeks later, I was on IM with Brian and he basically said that he was looking to change his diet because he knew his was not that great either, so we started giving one another feedback on things we had read and things we had tried, and it seems to have worked for the both of us. I have dropped from a 34 inch waist to about a 32-33 inch waist, so that's real progress for me. I was shocked when I realized that on a belt Joshua had given me that I had gone from the third notch to the fifth notch.
So, I am going to continue to watch my diet carefully and start to push up my exercise more, and hopefully the next time I get my bloodwork done, my levels will be more normal. Maybe I will have lucked out and dodged a bullet genetically, but that doesn't give me an excuse to become a fatass either.
Oh, and also, that article doesn't mention the downside to a lot of those cholesterol drugs, which are that they will screw with your liver and even your pancreas, putting you at risk for even worse problems (Diabetes anyone?). That is especially the reason why I do not ever want to go on these drugs, if I do have a problem and I can control it by diet, I'd rather make the effort to control it that way than to just think I can take a pill and make it "go away." I have the discipline to be able to do things the right way.
Just from reading this article, the first reaction I have is to think "Shouldn't the doctors be telling them to quit eating a cheeseburger, get their fat ass off of the couch, and take a run around the block, and I don't around down to the local Krispy Kreme either" However, one who knows me could also argue that I am a hypocrite for saying that, because I may end up as one of those young people who ends up on those drugs, as much as I hate the idea.
On my father's side of the family, a condition known as Hyperlipidemia type IIb occurs in many of the members. In our case, it's a genetic condition that results in our liver producing too much cholesterol and triglycerides. If it is not controlled, most members died of a massive heart attack in their early 50's. Unfortunately since my father has it, it means I could end up having it as well. It has meant for me that now every year I get bloodwork done to check my levels to make sure I am okay. Last April I had it done and while my overall cholesterol was fine, my triglycerides were high and so was my LDL cholesterol. They weren't high by much, but it was enough for me to notice. However, instead of demanding drugs as a quick fix, I decided I was going to make lifestyle changes. As it is, this reading does not mean I have Hyperlipidemia, there are other factors that could have created the high result.
My dietary habits had become awful over the last two years. I could easily go into a page or two of what went wrong, but it's completely off the subject. When I started dating Joshua he started pushing me towards some better eating habits, which I found made things easier for me to change. Weeks later, I was on IM with Brian and he basically said that he was looking to change his diet because he knew his was not that great either, so we started giving one another feedback on things we had read and things we had tried, and it seems to have worked for the both of us. I have dropped from a 34 inch waist to about a 32-33 inch waist, so that's real progress for me. I was shocked when I realized that on a belt Joshua had given me that I had gone from the third notch to the fifth notch.
So, I am going to continue to watch my diet carefully and start to push up my exercise more, and hopefully the next time I get my bloodwork done, my levels will be more normal. Maybe I will have lucked out and dodged a bullet genetically, but that doesn't give me an excuse to become a fatass either.
Oh, and also, that article doesn't mention the downside to a lot of those cholesterol drugs, which are that they will screw with your liver and even your pancreas, putting you at risk for even worse problems (Diabetes anyone?). That is especially the reason why I do not ever want to go on these drugs, if I do have a problem and I can control it by diet, I'd rather make the effort to control it that way than to just think I can take a pill and make it "go away." I have the discipline to be able to do things the right way.
October 30, 2007
Visiting Connecticut Part 2
Saturday morning I was up bright and early, and after breakfast it was on to working. The first task was to fix one of the windows in the house. It is one of those old fashioned slide windows that has a rope fixed to the bottom window, the rope goes over the pulley and there's a weight inside, this holds up the window when you lift it. Anyway, one of these ropes was fraying and my grandmother had put some duct tape over it, but it kept snagging on the pulley. So I took a look to see if the rope could be replaced. It would have taken ripping out half of the frame to get to it, so I said forget it, and instead cut off the old tape and replaced it with a new piece of tape that was a single layer so that it would not snag.
A light bulb had burned out on the stairs leading to the upstairs, and so it was impossible to see going up there the night before. We set up a scaffold to get to the bulb, however, the first board that was used is great for my grandmother to stand on, but not for me because I could feel it sag a bit under my weight. We found a stronger board and I was able to stand on it and change the bulb. I replaced it with a fluorescent, so it won't have to be changed again for years. I also took down a curtain for my grandmother to wash.
By 10 AM my aunts arrived and we got started by first sealing one of the front doors with plastic for the winter since it was not going to be used. After that it was hours of scraping the porch ceiling, floor, railings and pillars for both front and back porch. We were able to finish the scraping by about 3, so I got out the primer and we laid down a coat of primer on the ceiling and around the door. We also laid down the first coat of paint on the porch railings and posts as well. To reward the hard work, it was a night of pizza and ice cream. Afterward it was the movie Tea with Mussolini, and then after a few phone calls, bed time.
Sunday morning was spent painting over the ceiling, basically anywhere there was white to be painted. I also put down layers of green paint on the posts and railings as well. By the time I was done in the early afternoon the only thing left to be painted was the gray on the floor and steps of the porch, which was planned for Monday. The paint can lied to me though, it said that it could be cleaned up with some detergent and water...all that did was spread paint completely over my hand. I ended up using turpentine to take care of everything.
By the time all was said and done, we headed over to my aunt's place in Bristol, I did the driving over there of course. First we made a stop at the library book sale. For the record, you should really keep me away from book sales, especially when it's really cheap. It was $1 per bag of books, and yes, I walked out with a full bag. They had moved into a new apartment in a 55+ community a few months ago, so I got to take a tour of the place while they prepared tea. We had tea, and then I got down to doing some computer fixing. They had recently been moved over to PeoplePC for Internet and they wanted to see if they could still use Outlook Express for E-mail because they hated the web interface. They had heard they could, but the tech support guy claimed they couldn't. However, one look through the online help, and I had the POP3 settings I needed to get them all hooked up. I got that done and sent a few test E-mails to make sure all was working.
We talked while dinner cooked, and then enjoyed a pork roast with potatoes and peas. Dessert was a spice cake with pears. Eventually it was time to head home and while there, I had run across this serving dish in the cellar and I asked my grandmother about it, she wasn't sure where it had come from, but she said I could take it. So with a bit of bubble wrap, that made its way back to Maryland. Along with that, I also packed up a "Christmas Plant" as my grandmother calls it. It was originally given to her by my late aunt Emily thirty years ago, and this is one of it's descendants as whenever the plant got too big, my grandmother would cut it back and split some of it off to other pots. So since she had a few around, she encouraged me to take one of those as well. So there's a bit of family history sitting in my house now.
Actually, there will be other family history coming along in the future. There's a set of small lasagna pans that have been used for at least 50 years in that house that have been promised to me, along with the US Flag that was on my grandfather's coffin. So I will have something to remember her by when she is gone, and something to remember my grandfather by. Besides that, the pans will be very useful because it's a way for me to make lasagna and have a week's worth instead of three weeks worth.
Monday Morning was painting the floor of the porch, which was the easiest part, that was done within a few hours, and not a moment too soon apparently because since I have left, it has been rainy and cold up there. I also got to go over to a local deli where I got some Cappicola, Proscuittini, and dry olives to take back with me. I tried stopping by the library to get my reservation number for my flight, but when I got there, there was a line for the computers. Thankfully I was able to call a friend that I had left my itinerary with and got the number, so no worries there. When the paint was dry enough, I got pictures of the porch, along with pictures of us standing in front of the porch as well. One last thing I did was also paint the house numbers to be more prominent. I didn't want to admit this out loud to my grandmother, but it was to make sure that if she has an emergency, an ambulance or police can find the house from the street. Then it was time to pack up and make my way to Hartford. I was dropped off at the airport and since there was no line to check in, I was through there and security in 15 minutes again so I had to sit and wait, and wait, and wait. Thank god for an airport bar with beer on tap.
I got back to Baltimore without a problem, got home, unpacked, and crashed out. So that was my trip to Hartford, which was by no means a vacation, and when you see the pictures of the porch, you'll see why.
A light bulb had burned out on the stairs leading to the upstairs, and so it was impossible to see going up there the night before. We set up a scaffold to get to the bulb, however, the first board that was used is great for my grandmother to stand on, but not for me because I could feel it sag a bit under my weight. We found a stronger board and I was able to stand on it and change the bulb. I replaced it with a fluorescent, so it won't have to be changed again for years. I also took down a curtain for my grandmother to wash.
By 10 AM my aunts arrived and we got started by first sealing one of the front doors with plastic for the winter since it was not going to be used. After that it was hours of scraping the porch ceiling, floor, railings and pillars for both front and back porch. We were able to finish the scraping by about 3, so I got out the primer and we laid down a coat of primer on the ceiling and around the door. We also laid down the first coat of paint on the porch railings and posts as well. To reward the hard work, it was a night of pizza and ice cream. Afterward it was the movie Tea with Mussolini, and then after a few phone calls, bed time.
Sunday morning was spent painting over the ceiling, basically anywhere there was white to be painted. I also put down layers of green paint on the posts and railings as well. By the time I was done in the early afternoon the only thing left to be painted was the gray on the floor and steps of the porch, which was planned for Monday. The paint can lied to me though, it said that it could be cleaned up with some detergent and water...all that did was spread paint completely over my hand. I ended up using turpentine to take care of everything.
By the time all was said and done, we headed over to my aunt's place in Bristol, I did the driving over there of course. First we made a stop at the library book sale. For the record, you should really keep me away from book sales, especially when it's really cheap. It was $1 per bag of books, and yes, I walked out with a full bag. They had moved into a new apartment in a 55+ community a few months ago, so I got to take a tour of the place while they prepared tea. We had tea, and then I got down to doing some computer fixing. They had recently been moved over to PeoplePC for Internet and they wanted to see if they could still use Outlook Express for E-mail because they hated the web interface. They had heard they could, but the tech support guy claimed they couldn't. However, one look through the online help, and I had the POP3 settings I needed to get them all hooked up. I got that done and sent a few test E-mails to make sure all was working.
We talked while dinner cooked, and then enjoyed a pork roast with potatoes and peas. Dessert was a spice cake with pears. Eventually it was time to head home and while there, I had run across this serving dish in the cellar and I asked my grandmother about it, she wasn't sure where it had come from, but she said I could take it. So with a bit of bubble wrap, that made its way back to Maryland. Along with that, I also packed up a "Christmas Plant" as my grandmother calls it. It was originally given to her by my late aunt Emily thirty years ago, and this is one of it's descendants as whenever the plant got too big, my grandmother would cut it back and split some of it off to other pots. So since she had a few around, she encouraged me to take one of those as well. So there's a bit of family history sitting in my house now.
Actually, there will be other family history coming along in the future. There's a set of small lasagna pans that have been used for at least 50 years in that house that have been promised to me, along with the US Flag that was on my grandfather's coffin. So I will have something to remember her by when she is gone, and something to remember my grandfather by. Besides that, the pans will be very useful because it's a way for me to make lasagna and have a week's worth instead of three weeks worth.
Monday Morning was painting the floor of the porch, which was the easiest part, that was done within a few hours, and not a moment too soon apparently because since I have left, it has been rainy and cold up there. I also got to go over to a local deli where I got some Cappicola, Proscuittini, and dry olives to take back with me. I tried stopping by the library to get my reservation number for my flight, but when I got there, there was a line for the computers. Thankfully I was able to call a friend that I had left my itinerary with and got the number, so no worries there. When the paint was dry enough, I got pictures of the porch, along with pictures of us standing in front of the porch as well. One last thing I did was also paint the house numbers to be more prominent. I didn't want to admit this out loud to my grandmother, but it was to make sure that if she has an emergency, an ambulance or police can find the house from the street. Then it was time to pack up and make my way to Hartford. I was dropped off at the airport and since there was no line to check in, I was through there and security in 15 minutes again so I had to sit and wait, and wait, and wait. Thank god for an airport bar with beer on tap.
I got back to Baltimore without a problem, got home, unpacked, and crashed out. So that was my trip to Hartford, which was by no means a vacation, and when you see the pictures of the porch, you'll see why.
Visiting Connecticut, Part 1
As many of my friends know, I visited Connecticut over a long weekend to take care of some handyman jobs around my grandmother's house. She is fine, and she does well taking care of the day to day stuff with some help from my aunts, however, there's always those odd jobs that need to be done seasonally that they can't completely do by themselves. Normally this is a task that my dad would do since he has made it his point to travel every fall and spring to take care of those odd jobs. Along with that, I would try to make visits to join him and help out when possible. However, this year he had done so much traveling and work during the summer to get my brothers moved into their respective colleges (including a cross-country trip) that he really wasn't in a position to make it out to Connecticut.
Around the time he was deciding this, I got an offer from Southwest DING! offering to let me fly from Baltimore to Hartford for only $36 each way. I was able to convince my grandmother that I would be fine being there with only her and that I was there to take care of her, and not to have it turn into a big visiting weekend. So I set myself up to go on October 20, and out of respect to my grandmother, I told no one else I was coming, leaving it up to her and my aunts.
Thanks to the generosity of some friends of mine, I was given a ride to BWI at 6 in the morning since my flight left at 8. As usual, I was through security in less than 20 minutes, so I sat around and listened to some music on my Stiletto while I waited for my flight. I also grabbed a bowl of oatmeal at the local Au Bon Pain so I could have a good breakfast before getting on the plane.
The plane ride was rather uneventful, except that it was just turbulent enough that the flight attendants could not serve drinks. Oh well, it happens. I felt like I was on that plane for less than the hour it really took. It helped that I had a book to read, if anything it felts like my morning commute on the metro.
So I got to the airport, met my aunts, and we took off to the house. I was at my grandmother's by 10:30, and after a bit of visiting, it was lunchtime of course. After lunch, the first thing to be done was remove the window A/c and put it away for the winter. That went fine of course, and we got the window all sealed up. I then helped replace all of the screens on the doors with the storm windows. After that, it was down to the cellar to see what was available for painting.
I have to thank my grandfather for the fact that whenever he started a new project, he bought a can of paint. So my task was to go through the thirty or so cans of paint and see if any were still good and see what we could use. As expected, some of the cans were stone dry, others had such a thick skin of dry paint that they were not worth saving, and even others were not needed, such as car paint. However, there were also a few good cans of paint that were in the colors we needed to paint the porch. After an afternoon of sorting paint cans and ending up with multicolored hands, it was time for tea. Yes, my grandmother has a tea time around 4 PM.
I had tea with my grandmother and aunts before being sent upstairs to take a nap. No, it wasn't because I was being forced to, I really was that tired. At one point I almost fell asleep sitting at the table. I crashed for about two hours before being woken up by the banging on the stovepipe for dinner. Dinner on Friday night consisted of pasta with tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, and meat, as a sort of make your own lasagna. It was very good of course. After that, I said goodbye to the aunts and my grandmother and I watched Executive Decision before heading to bed.
Around the time he was deciding this, I got an offer from Southwest DING! offering to let me fly from Baltimore to Hartford for only $36 each way. I was able to convince my grandmother that I would be fine being there with only her and that I was there to take care of her, and not to have it turn into a big visiting weekend. So I set myself up to go on October 20, and out of respect to my grandmother, I told no one else I was coming, leaving it up to her and my aunts.
Thanks to the generosity of some friends of mine, I was given a ride to BWI at 6 in the morning since my flight left at 8. As usual, I was through security in less than 20 minutes, so I sat around and listened to some music on my Stiletto while I waited for my flight. I also grabbed a bowl of oatmeal at the local Au Bon Pain so I could have a good breakfast before getting on the plane.
The plane ride was rather uneventful, except that it was just turbulent enough that the flight attendants could not serve drinks. Oh well, it happens. I felt like I was on that plane for less than the hour it really took. It helped that I had a book to read, if anything it felts like my morning commute on the metro.
So I got to the airport, met my aunts, and we took off to the house. I was at my grandmother's by 10:30, and after a bit of visiting, it was lunchtime of course. After lunch, the first thing to be done was remove the window A/c and put it away for the winter. That went fine of course, and we got the window all sealed up. I then helped replace all of the screens on the doors with the storm windows. After that, it was down to the cellar to see what was available for painting.
I have to thank my grandfather for the fact that whenever he started a new project, he bought a can of paint. So my task was to go through the thirty or so cans of paint and see if any were still good and see what we could use. As expected, some of the cans were stone dry, others had such a thick skin of dry paint that they were not worth saving, and even others were not needed, such as car paint. However, there were also a few good cans of paint that were in the colors we needed to paint the porch. After an afternoon of sorting paint cans and ending up with multicolored hands, it was time for tea. Yes, my grandmother has a tea time around 4 PM.
I had tea with my grandmother and aunts before being sent upstairs to take a nap. No, it wasn't because I was being forced to, I really was that tired. At one point I almost fell asleep sitting at the table. I crashed for about two hours before being woken up by the banging on the stovepipe for dinner. Dinner on Friday night consisted of pasta with tomato sauce, ricotta cheese, and meat, as a sort of make your own lasagna. It was very good of course. After that, I said goodbye to the aunts and my grandmother and I watched Executive Decision before heading to bed.
October 29, 2007
October 26, 2007
Movie Review: Across the Universe
I am several weeks behind on getting entries done in my blog, but I want to get it out now.
I saw Across the Universe a few weeks ago at a local theater. The basic summary of the movie is that it follows the lives of a few people during the late 1960's as the Vietnam War is raging on, and there is a backdrop of various Beatles music. To me, the movie was well done, I was able to follow along with the story and the music was woven very naturally into the scenes as well. This isn't like some musical where suddenly everyone is doing a song and dance for no apparent reason, a good example would be when one of the characters, Prudence, has locked herself up in a closet and refuses to come out, some of the other characters start to sing "Dear Prudence" which eventually brings her out to join the others.
Anyway, so the movie goes along, it gets rather intense towards the end, and of course it resolves itself. There's even a twist that occurs that left me wondering about just what was going to happen now; if that was it, the movie was over or if there was going to be more. One make-or-break for me when it comes to movies is that if I can basically call what is going to happen in each scene five to ten minutes before it happens, then I get bored with the movie. There was only one scene where I could call what was going to happen, but that's because it was blatantly obvious. If you see (have seen) this movie, I'm sure you can guess which scene, especially if you know 60's culture and/or stereotypes. It happens towards the middle of the movie.
Jim Sturgess does an awesome job playing Jude, and his voice fits perfectly (and he's great eye candy along with an English accent, rawr!). I also really get into Dana Fuchs as Sadie, because she basically is Janis Joplin, including her voice.
Before I go off and basically give away the whole movie, I'll just shut up in regards to describing it. In my opinion, I strongly encourage you to see this movie in the theater, and buy it later when it1 comes out on DVD. It's the perfect movie you can take a date to, especially if you like the Beatles. I would also suggest getting the soundtrack, the deluxe version that's on iTunes is the one to get because it has every single song from the movie. I have this loaded onto my Stiletto to listen to at any time I feel like it. I hope this movie wins some awards, they will be well deserved.
I saw Across the Universe a few weeks ago at a local theater. The basic summary of the movie is that it follows the lives of a few people during the late 1960's as the Vietnam War is raging on, and there is a backdrop of various Beatles music. To me, the movie was well done, I was able to follow along with the story and the music was woven very naturally into the scenes as well. This isn't like some musical where suddenly everyone is doing a song and dance for no apparent reason, a good example would be when one of the characters, Prudence, has locked herself up in a closet and refuses to come out, some of the other characters start to sing "Dear Prudence" which eventually brings her out to join the others.
Anyway, so the movie goes along, it gets rather intense towards the end, and of course it resolves itself. There's even a twist that occurs that left me wondering about just what was going to happen now; if that was it, the movie was over or if there was going to be more. One make-or-break for me when it comes to movies is that if I can basically call what is going to happen in each scene five to ten minutes before it happens, then I get bored with the movie. There was only one scene where I could call what was going to happen, but that's because it was blatantly obvious. If you see (have seen) this movie, I'm sure you can guess which scene, especially if you know 60's culture and/or stereotypes. It happens towards the middle of the movie.
Jim Sturgess does an awesome job playing Jude, and his voice fits perfectly (and he's great eye candy along with an English accent, rawr!). I also really get into Dana Fuchs as Sadie, because she basically is Janis Joplin, including her voice.
Before I go off and basically give away the whole movie, I'll just shut up in regards to describing it. In my opinion, I strongly encourage you to see this movie in the theater, and buy it later when it1 comes out on DVD. It's the perfect movie you can take a date to, especially if you like the Beatles. I would also suggest getting the soundtrack, the deluxe version that's on iTunes is the one to get because it has every single song from the movie. I have this loaded onto my Stiletto to listen to at any time I feel like it. I hope this movie wins some awards, they will be well deserved.
October 17, 2007
VA Beach Part 2
Saturday Morning I woke up early and took a ride on my bike on the boardwalk for some exercise. I stopped for breakfast at the Pocahontas Pancake and Waffle Shoppe. They have some great pecan pancakes and waffles. A bit of advice, it doesn't take much syrup to enhance the flavor, which I learned the hard way. I was feeling totally sugared out by the time I finished that meal.
Went back to the hotel and grabbed the bodyboard and hit the beach. I have never been bodyboarding before, so I got out there and slowly learned how to catch a good wave. After about an hour in the water, I headed to my spot on the beach, laid down, watched people for a while, and then proceeded to nap. I woke up with a nice bit of sunburn on my right side, ouch! Got up, went back to the hotel to rinse off, and decided to take a walk up the retail side of the boardwalk. I made a few inquiries into some things I wanted, but I was good and decided to wait.
Later in the afternoon I took a drive up Shore Drive to see what was available in the area. I got some nice pictures along the way before heading back in. That night I decided to catch an early bird special down at a local restaurant. I basically gorged myself on a seafood buffet, including crab legs, just because I felt like spoiling myself. The meal was good, and I got my money's worth, so I was cool with that. I read some more of Atlas Shrugged in the hotel before heading to bed.
Sunday was up, exercise, then breakfast, before hitting the beach again. This time I had better waves, and it meant a longer amount of time in the water. This time I was smarter about it and wore sunscreen to minimize any further damage. After about 4 hours on the beach, I headed back in and relaxed throughout the rest of the afternoon. That evening I hit a local pizza place for dinner.
Monday it was time to head back home. I finished some leftover Chinese food, then packed up and checked out of the hotel. I took one last walk along the water before I headed towards home. I stopped at the Yorktown Victory Center along the way. That place was fun in that it was a lot more interactive. I got to see medical care during the Revolutionary War, I also got to watch them demonstrate firing a mortar and a musket. There was lots of noise of course. I tried getting a picture of the mortar firing, but I think I timed it too perfectly because the picture blurred. I don't know if it was because I moved or because the vibration of the shockwave hit right as the shutter was open, but still, it was fun to watch.
Eventually I got home and unpacked. All in all, it was a rather enjoyable weekend. I could not have asked for more perfect beach weather as it was nice and warm, and the water felt great. I also came to a few conclusions that weekend. First and foremost, I rather enjoy being on my own, especially the aspect of being able to do whatever the fuck I want, and I don't have to answer to anyone for it. I am back in touch with the part of me that's a history buff because let's be honest, I may not be here forever, and I should see all of the historical things I can. I also know my wild side is alive and well in a number of ways. I really enjoy being out on the water in some way, shape, or form. I am always comfortable and it puts me in a good place. I still can't stand line dancing. I am who I am, and no one is going to control or change that about me. I don't need a man to make me happy, it's all in my own head.
Went back to the hotel and grabbed the bodyboard and hit the beach. I have never been bodyboarding before, so I got out there and slowly learned how to catch a good wave. After about an hour in the water, I headed to my spot on the beach, laid down, watched people for a while, and then proceeded to nap. I woke up with a nice bit of sunburn on my right side, ouch! Got up, went back to the hotel to rinse off, and decided to take a walk up the retail side of the boardwalk. I made a few inquiries into some things I wanted, but I was good and decided to wait.
Later in the afternoon I took a drive up Shore Drive to see what was available in the area. I got some nice pictures along the way before heading back in. That night I decided to catch an early bird special down at a local restaurant. I basically gorged myself on a seafood buffet, including crab legs, just because I felt like spoiling myself. The meal was good, and I got my money's worth, so I was cool with that. I read some more of Atlas Shrugged in the hotel before heading to bed.
Sunday was up, exercise, then breakfast, before hitting the beach again. This time I had better waves, and it meant a longer amount of time in the water. This time I was smarter about it and wore sunscreen to minimize any further damage. After about 4 hours on the beach, I headed back in and relaxed throughout the rest of the afternoon. That evening I hit a local pizza place for dinner.
Monday it was time to head back home. I finished some leftover Chinese food, then packed up and checked out of the hotel. I took one last walk along the water before I headed towards home. I stopped at the Yorktown Victory Center along the way. That place was fun in that it was a lot more interactive. I got to see medical care during the Revolutionary War, I also got to watch them demonstrate firing a mortar and a musket. There was lots of noise of course. I tried getting a picture of the mortar firing, but I think I timed it too perfectly because the picture blurred. I don't know if it was because I moved or because the vibration of the shockwave hit right as the shutter was open, but still, it was fun to watch.
Eventually I got home and unpacked. All in all, it was a rather enjoyable weekend. I could not have asked for more perfect beach weather as it was nice and warm, and the water felt great. I also came to a few conclusions that weekend. First and foremost, I rather enjoy being on my own, especially the aspect of being able to do whatever the fuck I want, and I don't have to answer to anyone for it. I am back in touch with the part of me that's a history buff because let's be honest, I may not be here forever, and I should see all of the historical things I can. I also know my wild side is alive and well in a number of ways. I really enjoy being out on the water in some way, shape, or form. I am always comfortable and it puts me in a good place. I still can't stand line dancing. I am who I am, and no one is going to control or change that about me. I don't need a man to make me happy, it's all in my own head.
October 10, 2007
VA Beach, Part 1
This past Columbus Day weekend, I packed my bags and headed to Virginia Beach, VA for some sun, fun, relaxation, and processing.
I actually had planned this trip about two months ago, why? Because I could. I realize that every single trip I have taken, whether it was for school, work, family, or pleasure, all involved me going with at least one other person. While I don't mind being with other people, it has also meant that bit of tension about making sure that everyone else involved is happy and that you end up compromising on some of the activities that go on. Besides that, I was going through my break-up with Joshua and I wanted some time for myself. I didn't really take time off for myself when I broke up with Mike, and I think a big part of that was because I was pretty much gone from that relationship emotionally when the break-up finally happened. Either way, I just wanted to be alone, even if it was simply to see what it felt like if I basically was somewhere where I knew no one and I had to feel things out on my own. I had to teach myself to be completely independent again.
Besides that, I kind of liked the idea of being able to do whatever the fuck I wanted, whenever I wanted, period. :-D
So Friday morning I loaded my car up with some clothes, some books, my bike, and directions to the places along the way that I wanted to stop at. It was then off to Virginia early in the morning. My first stop was at a Sonic Drive-In for a Rt 44 Cherry Limeade, Chicken Club Toaster, and Tater Tots. I have yet to find another place that can do a cherry limeade like Sonic can. After that brunch, I stopped at the local Russell Stover Outlet to pick up some chocolate just to have around, plus I bought some to use for a party in the future. It's nice to be able to buy 3 pounds of seconds from the factory for only $10, and they generally taste just as good as the regular. I drove on, got down around Williamsburg, and by this time it had occurred to me that I had forgotten to pack my bike lock, so I ran into a local store to purchase a $4 chain lock.
As I flew down I-64, I saw signs to go to Jamestown. Considering it was the 400th anniversary of the founding, and I had never been there, I decided on a side trip. I went over to Jamestown and toured the galleries first. The galleries had some amazing artifacts in them, including a copy of the Magna Carta, porcelain from China brought over here, and bits and pieces from the different cultures from around here. One thing I noticed about some of the artists was that they seemed to really like to paint the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus when Mary is about to feed Jesus, which means an exposed breast. I'm sure those kinds of portraits were considered shocking and blasphemous Unfortunately they did not allow for photography inside the galleries.
I did get pictures of re-creations of the ships that first landed at Jamestown, a re-creation of the Native American villages, and the re-creation of the Jamestown Fort. Eventually I headed back on the highway and it was onward to VA Beach.
I arrived at VA Beach in the late afternoon and got checked into my hotel. I was only a block from the boardwalk, so immediately I was on my bike to ride up along the beach and see what had changed from last year. I noticed a few playgrounds were added on the beach, plus the sand sculptures from the Neptune Festival the previous week were in a completely different location. Unfortunately the big Neptune sculpture was gone by then, and a number of other sculptures were already falling apart. Oh well.
So I went up the boardwalk and then back down the street to look at all the shops. As I headed back I took note that many of the stores were having their off-season sales, including a few that were 50% off the entire store. I ended up stopping at one because I saw a towel that I liked. It had (surprise surprise!) the face of a tiger on it. While in there, I also noticed a bodyboard that had a design I liked as well, so I basically bought both items for only $20. I walked those back to the hotel, stopping along the way to order some Chinese take-out so I could kick back in the room.
After dinner and a bit of cleaning up, I headed out to The Rainbow Cactus, which is a gay bar in the city. I ended up leaving after about 1.5 hours because it just wasn't my scene. One side of the bar was the country side, and they were giving line dancing lessons for a while before just switching to music, which of course was all line dancing. I hate line dancing, if there was two-stepping, I could have gotten into that. Take note boys, I lead. The other side of the bar is more pop and hip hop music. However, most of the people who came to the bar were with groups of friends and they pretty much sat at a table and talked to one another, there was no one on the dance floor there. It felt a bit awkward to be on that side because there's no good way to try and gauge when to introduce yourself, plus most of the time, you're maybe interested in talking to only one or two people in the group of five or so that are sitting around the table at first, and of course you look like a dickhead for doing that. So rather than feel like an outsider all night, I took off for the hotel.
I actually had planned this trip about two months ago, why? Because I could. I realize that every single trip I have taken, whether it was for school, work, family, or pleasure, all involved me going with at least one other person. While I don't mind being with other people, it has also meant that bit of tension about making sure that everyone else involved is happy and that you end up compromising on some of the activities that go on. Besides that, I was going through my break-up with Joshua and I wanted some time for myself. I didn't really take time off for myself when I broke up with Mike, and I think a big part of that was because I was pretty much gone from that relationship emotionally when the break-up finally happened. Either way, I just wanted to be alone, even if it was simply to see what it felt like if I basically was somewhere where I knew no one and I had to feel things out on my own. I had to teach myself to be completely independent again.
Besides that, I kind of liked the idea of being able to do whatever the fuck I wanted, whenever I wanted, period. :-D
So Friday morning I loaded my car up with some clothes, some books, my bike, and directions to the places along the way that I wanted to stop at. It was then off to Virginia early in the morning. My first stop was at a Sonic Drive-In for a Rt 44 Cherry Limeade, Chicken Club Toaster, and Tater Tots. I have yet to find another place that can do a cherry limeade like Sonic can. After that brunch, I stopped at the local Russell Stover Outlet to pick up some chocolate just to have around, plus I bought some to use for a party in the future. It's nice to be able to buy 3 pounds of seconds from the factory for only $10, and they generally taste just as good as the regular. I drove on, got down around Williamsburg, and by this time it had occurred to me that I had forgotten to pack my bike lock, so I ran into a local store to purchase a $4 chain lock.
As I flew down I-64, I saw signs to go to Jamestown. Considering it was the 400th anniversary of the founding, and I had never been there, I decided on a side trip. I went over to Jamestown and toured the galleries first. The galleries had some amazing artifacts in them, including a copy of the Magna Carta, porcelain from China brought over here, and bits and pieces from the different cultures from around here. One thing I noticed about some of the artists was that they seemed to really like to paint the Virgin Mary with the baby Jesus when Mary is about to feed Jesus, which means an exposed breast. I'm sure those kinds of portraits were considered shocking and blasphemous Unfortunately they did not allow for photography inside the galleries.
I did get pictures of re-creations of the ships that first landed at Jamestown, a re-creation of the Native American villages, and the re-creation of the Jamestown Fort. Eventually I headed back on the highway and it was onward to VA Beach.
I arrived at VA Beach in the late afternoon and got checked into my hotel. I was only a block from the boardwalk, so immediately I was on my bike to ride up along the beach and see what had changed from last year. I noticed a few playgrounds were added on the beach, plus the sand sculptures from the Neptune Festival the previous week were in a completely different location. Unfortunately the big Neptune sculpture was gone by then, and a number of other sculptures were already falling apart. Oh well.
So I went up the boardwalk and then back down the street to look at all the shops. As I headed back I took note that many of the stores were having their off-season sales, including a few that were 50% off the entire store. I ended up stopping at one because I saw a towel that I liked. It had (surprise surprise!) the face of a tiger on it. While in there, I also noticed a bodyboard that had a design I liked as well, so I basically bought both items for only $20. I walked those back to the hotel, stopping along the way to order some Chinese take-out so I could kick back in the room.
After dinner and a bit of cleaning up, I headed out to The Rainbow Cactus, which is a gay bar in the city. I ended up leaving after about 1.5 hours because it just wasn't my scene. One side of the bar was the country side, and they were giving line dancing lessons for a while before just switching to music, which of course was all line dancing. I hate line dancing, if there was two-stepping, I could have gotten into that. Take note boys, I lead. The other side of the bar is more pop and hip hop music. However, most of the people who came to the bar were with groups of friends and they pretty much sat at a table and talked to one another, there was no one on the dance floor there. It felt a bit awkward to be on that side because there's no good way to try and gauge when to introduce yourself, plus most of the time, you're maybe interested in talking to only one or two people in the group of five or so that are sitting around the table at first, and of course you look like a dickhead for doing that. So rather than feel like an outsider all night, I took off for the hotel.
2007 IBUC Pictures
My pictures from the 2007 IBUC are up on Flickr. It features mostly social events, including tours of the Chesapeake Bay and US Naval Academy.
October 09, 2007
Recent Museum Visits
The Census Jug pictured above was one of many items that I saw at the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. What is this jug doing in the Air and Space museum? Well, since the American History Museum is being remodeled, a number of "America's treasures" are on display in the Air and Space museum.
Basically I was down in DC one Saturday because I was supposed to meet someone, he stood me up, so I said fuck it and headed over. So I got to see all the planes and space capsules and rockets as well besides a few treasures of American History. For all of my 'mo readers, there some gay rights protest signs on display as well in the museum.
I think that as I visit and revisit various museums in DC, I'm going to keep adding to the Flickr Museum set I created, and I'll let y'all know when I update them.
October 02, 2007
Catching up
Thursday and Friday were a ton of fun. Thursday was the day of the mystery social event, and it turned out it was a trip to the US Naval Academy, a two hour boat tour of the Chesapeake Bay and Severn River, then dinner at Phillips. We had our choice of entrees, and I decided to have the crabcake and shrimp, always a classic around here. It was good, but that's what I would expect from a place like Phillips. There was also free beer, so no complaints from me!
Friday was the last day of the conference. As per my usual routine, yes, I wore my Baltimore Ravens jersey since it is Purple Friday after all. The last presentations went well, and I took away a lot of information that I can use. I talked with one of my bosses during the afternoon and we discussed where to take things next in the department. Next May we will finally put into production the survey I have been working on since day one of my career, and that means that we will have finally moved all of our surveys from DOS to Windows, or from PAPI only to CAPI (or CATI). Since we should not have to devote so much energy into making sure these surveys work (unless a sponsor wants a major revision done), we can start looking into building some tools to help automate our programming and testing processes. I saw some amazing tools that the University of Michigan has come up with, and if the powers that be let them, I'm going to obtain the source for one of them to see if we can modify it for our own purposes. It was a good talk with my boss, and I'm thinking it means some opportunities down the line for me.
So for the final big event, a number of us went out sailing on the Chesapeake bay. I have some amazing pictures from it, and once I get them uploaded from Flickr, I'll be sharing them here. It was fun, and I wonder now what it would take to learn to sail, there was something comfortable about being out on the water. I'll have to look into it.
We got back to shore and had dinner at Pusser's Caribbean Grille. The food was good, and on par for what you would get for seafood. I had the Tilapia Chesapeake for dinner, so basically it was a fillet of Tilapia wrapped around a mixture of crabmeat. I drove home from there, planning to head out to DC and the nightlife, but on my way home I started to feel a bit sleepy, so I decided to bag it and head in.
Saturday morning was my fun run with the DC Front Runners. I did much better than last week because I was able to run over 2.5 miles before I had to slow down, and that was only because my ankles stiffened up and finally screamed ¡No Mas! I did have an odd thing happen though, my left foot went numb towards the end of the run. I have never had that happen before in all my years of running. After I pulled off my shoe and sock I was fine. The next time I go I had better make sure to check and see how tight my laces are, because I suspect those were the culprit. Went to Starbucks as usual, then it was off to Best Cellars where I picked up a merlot from Chile to try. It was only $8 and I'll be curious to see how good it turns out to be. I grabbed lunch at Zorba's Cafe. I had never been there before, though I had always passed by it. I'm glad I went in there, they have excellent Gyros, and it's the kind of place where they take the meat off of a big chunk of it roasting on a spit. It was also a great price, so I'll have to keep it in mind the next time I'm down at Dupont Circle and I don't have much cash. I went home, then went on a walk with Kris, came back, went back into DC for drinks with some people from the morning run, then home for bed.
Sunday started out as the usual kind of Sunday, went to church, came home, did the weekly deep cleaning of the house. Then it was off to Blobs Park for beer, food, and dancing. While Blobs Park looks like it can use an update, they do serve good and authentic German food, and they have great beer. There was also a honey liqueur that I tried with the other folks, and it was like drinking pure honey with a little kick. I must find a bottle for the house, I bet it would make a great flavoring. So I would recommend going there since admission is only $5, and you can get a pretty good meal for only $7-$8. The only complaint I have was service was a bit slow, but considering there were only two waitresses for a rather large hall, I can understand why. The woman who served us was helpful when she did get to us, so we did give her a good tip.
Monday was just a usual Monday, today was more of the usual stuff at work. Tonight I went over and worked out to an exercise tape at church, so that's another thing I can consider making routine.
The rest of this week is shaping up to be busy. Tomorrow night I am going to go listen to the Bishop of the Diocese of Washington talk about the recent House of Bishops Statement that came out. I'll tell you folks that the media does have it all wrong with the way they're reporting the statement. Nothing has really changed from the current position, and that's not a bad thing because the church could have given in to the demands of a few voices of folks who have no power who are trying to dictate what the entire church should do, but instead they decided to stand against it. I have already heard my rector's comments on the statement, I'll be curious to see what the Bishop has to say.
Thursday night I have a date down in DC, we'll see where that goes. Beyond that, nothing necessarily planned for the rest of this week. That's not a bad thing at all.
Friday was the last day of the conference. As per my usual routine, yes, I wore my Baltimore Ravens jersey since it is Purple Friday after all. The last presentations went well, and I took away a lot of information that I can use. I talked with one of my bosses during the afternoon and we discussed where to take things next in the department. Next May we will finally put into production the survey I have been working on since day one of my career, and that means that we will have finally moved all of our surveys from DOS to Windows, or from PAPI only to CAPI (or CATI). Since we should not have to devote so much energy into making sure these surveys work (unless a sponsor wants a major revision done), we can start looking into building some tools to help automate our programming and testing processes. I saw some amazing tools that the University of Michigan has come up with, and if the powers that be let them, I'm going to obtain the source for one of them to see if we can modify it for our own purposes. It was a good talk with my boss, and I'm thinking it means some opportunities down the line for me.
So for the final big event, a number of us went out sailing on the Chesapeake bay. I have some amazing pictures from it, and once I get them uploaded from Flickr, I'll be sharing them here. It was fun, and I wonder now what it would take to learn to sail, there was something comfortable about being out on the water. I'll have to look into it.
We got back to shore and had dinner at Pusser's Caribbean Grille. The food was good, and on par for what you would get for seafood. I had the Tilapia Chesapeake for dinner, so basically it was a fillet of Tilapia wrapped around a mixture of crabmeat. I drove home from there, planning to head out to DC and the nightlife, but on my way home I started to feel a bit sleepy, so I decided to bag it and head in.
Saturday morning was my fun run with the DC Front Runners. I did much better than last week because I was able to run over 2.5 miles before I had to slow down, and that was only because my ankles stiffened up and finally screamed ¡No Mas! I did have an odd thing happen though, my left foot went numb towards the end of the run. I have never had that happen before in all my years of running. After I pulled off my shoe and sock I was fine. The next time I go I had better make sure to check and see how tight my laces are, because I suspect those were the culprit. Went to Starbucks as usual, then it was off to Best Cellars where I picked up a merlot from Chile to try. It was only $8 and I'll be curious to see how good it turns out to be. I grabbed lunch at Zorba's Cafe. I had never been there before, though I had always passed by it. I'm glad I went in there, they have excellent Gyros, and it's the kind of place where they take the meat off of a big chunk of it roasting on a spit. It was also a great price, so I'll have to keep it in mind the next time I'm down at Dupont Circle and I don't have much cash. I went home, then went on a walk with Kris, came back, went back into DC for drinks with some people from the morning run, then home for bed.
Sunday started out as the usual kind of Sunday, went to church, came home, did the weekly deep cleaning of the house. Then it was off to Blobs Park for beer, food, and dancing. While Blobs Park looks like it can use an update, they do serve good and authentic German food, and they have great beer. There was also a honey liqueur that I tried with the other folks, and it was like drinking pure honey with a little kick. I must find a bottle for the house, I bet it would make a great flavoring. So I would recommend going there since admission is only $5, and you can get a pretty good meal for only $7-$8. The only complaint I have was service was a bit slow, but considering there were only two waitresses for a rather large hall, I can understand why. The woman who served us was helpful when she did get to us, so we did give her a good tip.
Monday was just a usual Monday, today was more of the usual stuff at work. Tonight I went over and worked out to an exercise tape at church, so that's another thing I can consider making routine.
The rest of this week is shaping up to be busy. Tomorrow night I am going to go listen to the Bishop of the Diocese of Washington talk about the recent House of Bishops Statement that came out. I'll tell you folks that the media does have it all wrong with the way they're reporting the statement. Nothing has really changed from the current position, and that's not a bad thing because the church could have given in to the demands of a few voices of folks who have no power who are trying to dictate what the entire church should do, but instead they decided to stand against it. I have already heard my rector's comments on the statement, I'll be curious to see what the Bishop has to say.
Thursday night I have a date down in DC, we'll see where that goes. Beyond that, nothing necessarily planned for the rest of this week. That's not a bad thing at all.
October 01, 2007
It's Working
You know that your dietary and lifestyle changes are working when you realize that you had better start wearing a belt every day or else the pair of pants you're wearing will help tell the office what kind of underwear you like to wear.
Guess this means I can start considering buying size 33 pants again.
Guess this means I can start considering buying size 33 pants again.
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