A Post-Lenten Reflection

Are you there God?  It's me, Mangi.

Okay, maybe not quite that kind of conversation at the moment, but the past 40 days of Lent did give me a chance to put a few things in perspective.

It started with my usual perusal of my Facebook news feed on Ash Wednesday.  At that point, I was kind of frustrated with what I was seeing.  The whole Oregon Standoff drama was finally winding down so there were less posts about that, but the primaries were ramping up and with it I saw a lot of sniping between people on there.  It was especially getting nasty between some Bernie and Hillary supporters, to the point I wanted to lock a few of them in a room and say "Okay, either fight it out or fuck it out but you're not leaving until y'all can be civil."  Add on that I was also seeing articles being posted that meant I was doing cross-checks on Snopes and FactCheck every day and often pointing out corrections, it was getting tiring to even look at Facebook.

Then I saw a status posted by a friend, MR.  She said she was so tired of the current dramas that maybe she should quit Facebook for Lent.  I read that and thought, "You know what? That's a great idea, I'm doing that."  So after services that night, I logged out of Facebook on my phone and computer, and that was that.

If you're reading this because my cross-posting to Facebook still works, you might think that you missed reading that I was going off of Facebook for a while, or something similar.  You didn't.  I said nothing about what I was doing (sorry mom!).  There were a few reasons behind that.  Usually when I have seen people say "Oh I'm leaving/taking a break from [social network] for a while" or similar it turns into this whole thing of "Oh don't go, was it something we did?"  I wasn't looking for that kind of attention.  Also since I was doing this for Lent and Lent isn't supposed to be a competition, I generally don't talk about if I am giving something up for Lent.

However, since Lent is supposed to be a time of self-reflection and perhaps growth, did I learn something from just hopping offline from Facebook?  Yeah, the picture below sums it up:

Social media sites have made it easy to hear about the things going on with people you meet.  You can respond to what they have shared, and then move on to the next subject.  Yet, the cost can be that you really don't sit and have a richer conversation with that person and so you don't interact as much as you should.  Also, I realize that Facebook has kind of been a crutch for being social with some of the people I know.  It's been convenient to just respond to their posts and maybe shoot them the occasional message, but once I removed that, I found out where I had been neglecting some aspects of being a friend or at least an acquaintance.

A perfect example was coordinating seeing a concert with SF and a few other friends.  He had originally sent me the invite on Facebook.  I hadn't made the decision to go when I started my "No Facebook" days, and I discovered I didn't have his number so that I could call or text to RSVP and coordinate meeting up.  Thankfully I did have buried in my address book an E-mail address for him, but he happened to also contact one of my other friends for my phone number so he could get in touch with me since he had not heard from me on Facebook.

Okay, so maybe it was a moment where I should have said something before I hopped off Facebook.  However, it also showed that I really let that convenience of just using Facebook to contact someone take over to where I really didn't have other methods of communication to get in touch with some of my friends or acquaintances.

I know this may also sound odd to some, but it's like even when I do have things like E-mail, phone numbers, or instant messenger name, I'm hesitant to E-mail, text, or call.  I don't entirely know why, but I get it into my head that I'm probably interrupting something and being a bother.  It's dumb really, I know, but I guess old habits are hard to break at times.  I mean, yeah, a phone call does demand your full attention, though if you can't be interrupted, you can send it to voicemail.  A text, IM, or E-mail doesn't have to be answered right away.  I don't expect people to immediately snap to attention and answer me the minute I ping their phone or computer.  I certainly don't answer immediately if I am in the middle of something else.  If it was really that important, then I should be calling.  Yet I've never been able to fully break from the idea that I'm just going to be bugging them if I shoot them a random "Hey, what's up?"  That's something I need to work on.

So I've seen that I need to improve on actually talking to some of the people I know, especially local people and those I have known for years.  It's going to take some work and some time, but I should be able to do it.  The first step is to actually get info like E-mail, phone numbers, and IM names from people whose info I am missing.  Of course I will share mine, and I have a number of ways to be contacted.

Another thing I found was that I could put more attention into other activities both online and offline.  I rediscovered a few websites I had not visited in a while, plus there was more time being put into activities like reading or video games.  Of course I still have the backlog of both of those, but I will get caught up.

The funny thing is despite this, I don't feel this urgent need to immediately hop back on Facebook.  I know I should clear a few things out because Facebook was oh so helpfully harassing me via E-mail about all of the things I was missing.  Seriously, logoff from Facebook and they will start sending you an E-mail every few days telling you how many messages and status updates you have been missing.  Then they ratchet it up to every day, sometimes even twice a day.  A few new rules in my E-mail account fixed that.

Anyway, so while I'll be back on Facebook, its role in how I use it is going to change.  I'll keep up here and there, but I don't want to go back to where I am checking it at least once a day.  Besides, if it turns out my news feed is still overrun with sniping politics, I have better things to do with my time at that point than try to wade through all of it.

So onward with a fresh perspective on where I stand when it comes to my online activities and how I keep up with the people I know and the people I will meet.

Holiday Cookie Orders!

Hey all, this is from my friend Stephanie and she makes some awesome cookies, so I wanted to put the word out there that she's taking orders.  She'd love to get a baking business going and this would help put her on her way.

It's once again that time of year where we scramble around trying to figure out what to give our loved ones.  And as much as we'd all love to be able to hand out new luxury sedans with red bows tied around it, we all know that's not a wallet-friendly option.  Do you want to know what is a budget friendly and oh so thoughtful option? Fresh, homemade cookies! 

I know, I know. You're thinking: "Who has time to bake cookies? I have shopping to do, lights to string up and holiday parties galore! And I can't bake those pre-packaged Pillsbury cookies, let alone real cookies!"  Well, take a deep breath and relax because I'm here to help!  For the low price of $15, you can give your loved ones, co-workers and random strangers a festive, holiday tube filled with a dozen fresh, homemade cookies! These aren't just your every day, run-of-the-mill cookies either.  It's an assortment of four different flavors, all made from scratch from the woman behind Adventures in Shaw!  I've always made homemade goodies as gifts and now you can too...without the resulting mound of dirty dishes. 

Each cookie tube comes with three cookies of each flavor.  The flavors include: chocolate dipped coconut cookies, salty oatmeal cookies, chocolate chunk cookies (with or without walnuts) and buttery cherry jam cookies.  The tubes are a holiday red and come festooned with a bright, holiday ribbon! And a personal holiday message can be included! 

I accept Pay Pal as payment and all tubes can be picked up at designated times in Columbia Heights (a convenient one block from the metro).  For more information and to place an order, click here!  I will be taking orders until December 20th!

If you have any questions, email me at adventuresinshaw at gmail dot com and I'll be more than happy to work with you.  Feel free to pass this along to others who might delight in cookie goodness during this festive time of year!

Happy holidays and thank you for ordering from Shaw Girl's Kitchen!

Far Point

A few weeks ago I went to my very first Sci-Fi convention, Far Point, up in Timonium. I didn't know what to expect for sure, but from what I told, it would be a fun weekend.

I took a half day at work that day, which was fine because this was the Friday after the two Snowlyshit blizzards. The roads were still not great so I wanted to drive up to Timonium during the daylight hours before things could turn icy. The drive itself wasn't terrible at least since I was sticking with 95 and then 695, those roads had actually been cleared off for the most part.

I got to the hotel, got the key from RB and met up with DB and MA briefly before I headed back down and started exploring the dealer area just to see who had set up. I also was checking out the program to figure out what I had wanted to see. The one thing I did know was that I was going to get an autograph of Mira Furlan for JN, since he couldn't make it and asked that I get that.

I would get to meet some new folks this weekend, and we ended up hitting it off nicely, especially as we hung out at the bar. I have to give some credit to the bar because they held up as best they could, considering that the storms screwed up getting any of their shipments before the con, however, collectively the con goers did kill quite a few of the bottles. Along the way, between GB, CiA, myself, we helped invent a new drink with Allie, the bartender there. It's called a Sex in the Snow, and in a glass with ice you add 1 shot each of vodka, creme de menthe, and peppermint schnapps. It was good, and we got pretty hammered on them. I had warned my friends that if I did any tweeting, it would be drunken tweeting, and yes, apparently I delivered in the form of tweets that looked like I just mashed random buttons on my phone. I ended up staying up and hanging out with folks until about 4 AM before I finally got back up to the hotel room and crashed out.

Saturday morning around 9 I woke up, pulled myself together and got dressed and headed downstairs. For a bit of fun, I did some cosplay, but not in the way you would think. I took the Rocky Balboa boxing robe, shirt, and shorts that I had used one Halloween and wore that for the day, including wrapping my hands in the gauze the boxers wear under the gloves. It definitely caught the eye of some folks and it was good for a laugh. I hit up some of the panels during the day, including a Q&A from Felicia Day. She was a real sweetheart and clearly she loved to interact with her fans. I also made a few bids on some items in the art auction there, including a few pieces I knew that ChA would love.

When the evening rolled around, I changed into the kilt and vest I would be wearing for the evening, and then hung out before the masquerade began. RB and DB had entered the contest dressed up as officers from Space Battleship Yamato, complete with lip-synching the theme from the show as they entered. There were a lot of well done costumes there, including a female mandalorian. It turned out that she had modified an original mandalorian costume, no easy feat because she had to cut it down from being for a 6' tall man to a 5'4" woman. She ended up winning an award for craftsmanship. One guy was dressed as a Cthulhu Cultist, another pair dressed as Orcs, one woman recrated Kaylee's social dress from Firefly. There was definitely a lot of good work put in.

After the masquerade was the charity auction, and this became one of the craziest con moments I had seen so far. One of the prizes was lunch with Felecia day. By the time the bidding sheet had been filled in and it went to the live auction, someone had bid 300 dollars. From there people started to bid like crazy. I thought it would end quickly because that would become too rich for some people's blood, but then a bidding war started between 3 folks and eventually dropped to two folks, and the price climbed into the four digit figures. Felecia looked a bit embarassed that the price was going that high for a lunch with her. In fact, her and the emcee mentioned a few times as a reminder that it was just lunch. By the time the dust had settled, the final figure came in at $5,000.  Just, wow, it turned out that was the single highest bid ever made in the history of the charity auction.  Ultimately at least the money went to something good.

Clearly I had blocked this part from my brain but it has now come back,  I was warned about one of the con goers, simply known as the troll or the cabal.  She is basically one of those folks who will hit on anything with a penis, even though she is truly nothing to look at, except to maybe turn around and run away.  I'm sorry if I sound mean, but really, if you wanted to destroy someone's belief that there is a God, just show them a picture of her.  Anyway, so the cabal was trying to get cozy with one of the guys down in the lobby, and she is wearing this super short black dress.  Well apparently somehow part of her skirt was flipped up and in the belt line, because someone in our group noticed and said look, we turned, and then there were about 15 of us screaming simultaneously because we realized that the cabal not only was in a short black dress and the skirt needed to be pulled down, but that bitch wasn't wearing underwear (this is why I drink, to forget!).  CiA would save the day by going over and basically pulling the cabals skirt back down into place.  I hope she got some kind of hazard pay for that one.

The rest of the night would be spent hanging out in the lobby at the dance area.  I also went and hit a late night panel as well.  Once again I would end up staying up until about 4 in the morning before coming in and crashing.

Sunday was the day to begin winding down and packing up.  I went down and finished the last of the art auction because a few pieces I had bid on in the bid sheet had gotten enough interest they went to the live auction.  I feel slightly bad for the woman I got into a mini bidding war for the udon noodle bowl because she wanted it as well, but all is fair at that point.  I walked away with several beautiful pictures (that I still need to put into frames!) and a bowl, plus I got the items for ChA as well.  I also got a copy of the first season of The Guild signed by Felecia Day during the autograph session, which was pretty cool.  Mira Furlan commented on how much she liked the shirt I was wearing that day, which was an asian shirt that my parents had sent to me the last time they were in the Chinatown section of San Francisco (hope to go there this summer!).  To wrap it up, I attended a showing of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, which is still a riot to this day.  After that it was time to drive back to Greenbelt and recover from a rather busy yet awesome weekend.

Of course, now I am ready for more, DB, RB, and I have already signed up for Shore Leave in July, in big part because Edward James Olmos and Katee Sackhoff will be there.  That part is what is exciting for me, I can't wait!

OutQ NEM Meetup

So as a part of the National Equality March this past weekend, there was a planned meetup of those who listen to SiriusXM OutQ. Several show hosts and producers were planning to be down at the Helix Hotel in DC and would make an appearance at the hotel bar. Frank Decaro, Doria Biddle, Mr. Greg, and Michelangelo Signorile were the line-up, and while I had met Mr. Greg previously, the other folks were people that I had wanted to meet for various reasons.

If you're a regular listener to OutQ, then you know of the (in)famous CR from PA. We have met up several times, and this time was no exception. When he arrived in town he gave me a call and I met him and his friend Eric down at the local Silver Diner for a late lunch. Afterwards it was off to the Metro to get down to DC. If you're a local, you already know that Metro was all screwy this weekend due to track work. Luckily our destination was on the Red Line, and it became to our advantage to transfer at Ft. Totten in order to get down to Dupont Circle.

We arrived at Dupont Circle and the first order of business was to hit the local liquor store because we figured we'd butter up one of the hosts with booze (Yes we're that bad). CR knew that Doria loves Chopin Vodka so he picked that up, and I picked up Vampyre Vodka as something different for her to try. After the booze run, it was a walk to the hotel. I saw along the way just what 15th and P has turned into, though it really can't get much more gentrified. There were also protesters outside of a new house that the Scientologists were opening up. I would have taken pictures of them, but I think it would have freaked them out. They were wearing masks as it was to avoid issues the the Scientologists.

The three of us got to the hotel and found our way to the lounge, and it was early enough that we were able to get a table together. Drinks were ordered, there was chatter, and plenty of clock watching as well. The lounge would then get very crowded with other listeners who were also showing up. Eventually I got up and noticed that arriving in the lobby were Frank and Doria.  I pointed that out to CR and we both headed to the lobby.  I said hi to Doria and she immediately recognized me as "Mangi in Maryland."  It probably helped that I was wearing my Haloti Ngata jersey as well.  I then met Frank as well, and I got to watch CR's reaction as he met Doria.  It was all classic.

A few minutes later Michelangelo Signorile arrived as well and of course was immediately mobbed just like Frank and Doria.  I eventually got back to my bag and returned with my copy of Queer in America for Signorile to sign.  Of course he was more than happy to sign it for me.

About 20 mins later, I saw a woman I would immediately recognize the minute I heard her say "darling."  It was the very well known Tori in DC, someone that I have heard call in to Frank, Michelangelo, and Derek and Romaine for many years.  A few years ago I missed seeing her at pride, so I didn't want to let this opportunity slip away.  I must say that she is very charming and fun to be around, we enjoyed chatting with one another.  Later I saw her husband, and clearly she has good taste in men ;-) 

Most of the night would be spent talking with other listeners, getting pictures, and of course, hearing what the hosts had to say.  I was there for about four hours with folks before finally leaving since we were getting hungry (none of us had dinner).

BTW, if what Doria tells me about men is true, I might have to consider a move to L.A.  Below are pictures from the meetup, click on Frank and Michelangelo to see them all.

Sunday Spirituality, Dancing, and Dinner

For the first time in about five weeks, I went to church. No, it's not because I'm at odds with St. Georges, I just haven't been at home to attend. KS started a search of finding a church that was accepting of her, and she has found Grace Lutheran Church in Las Cruces. I was invited to go along, and since I had never been to a Lutheran service, I decided to check it out.

The nice thing about the Episcopal Church and the Lutheran church is that their services do follow a similar structure, so it is not like I was lost at where we were at during the service. I definitely noticed some subtle differences in worship style, but that could also be the way Grace Lutheran does things, and not necessarily the entire Lutheran Church. The sermon was definitely something worth listening to for a lot of people, a discussion about forgiveness. In summary, forgiving can mean trying to engage someone about the issue at hand, but forgiving does not mean forgetting. If there is someone who continually wrongs you, you can forgive them and learn not to engage with them again in a situation that will cause a wrong. It also means learning to let go of the residual anger behind the fact that you were wronged. If you can't do that, you haven't really forgiven the person.

After the service, I met with the priest and some of the other congregation members. Everyone seems very nice and made me feel welcome, sounds kind of familiar. I wonder if they're also the kind of people who will take care of one of their own when that person is down with illness or surgery ;-) Seriously, my dad reminded me earlier this week that his mother remarked that she was glad the people of St. Georges took care of me when I had my appendix out because that would not have happened at her church.

A few of us headed over to Break an Egg for Sunday brunch. The restaurant itself is different in that it is very movie themed. The inside lobby looks a bit like a theater box office area, and there are posters of various movies all over the place. There are TV screens playing a movie in the background (Thoroughly Modern Millie that morning), and some of the menu items are named after known movie jobs, such as The Director, The Producer, etc. The food itself was very good, though for some reason service was slow.

After brunch, KS and I headed over to the local mall to look at shoes to go with her dress for a wedding the following weekend. I had already seen the dress that morning, so I was serving as the "second opinion" for finding something comfortable for her to wear, and that could be used with other outfits in the future. We hit the payless and after looking at several pairs of shoes and sandals, we found some sandals that would look perfect for her dress and would totally rock with her tight jeans at the club.

We looked at a few cameras at Radio Shack and did some inquiries about finding some earrings to replace one that she had lost somewhere. I also met KS's cousin since we dropped in to chat at her workplace while it wasn't completely busy. I got to be filled in on some of the family drama that was going on, which believe me, if I didn't know any better, I could claim that KS and her family was Italian ;-)

We went home and watched a few episodes of stand up comedy while I napped for a bit. In the meantime I also got a call from my friend HT and made arrangements to do dinner at La Posta de Mesilla. Around 6 we headed over and met up at La Posta. If you're in Las Cruces, you should make a stop there. It's a famous place and you will see why once you've had the food. It was very good to see HT because I haven't seen her since I left for DC four years ago. Her family is doing well, and it was great to be able to catch up. KS enjoyed their company very much as well and they seemed to enjoy her. I would definitely like to get back over HT's way to see Silver City and how much it has changed because it is one thing to hear someone tell you what has changed, but it's another to actually see it.

After dinner KS brought me to the store and I went in and raided the green chile bin. Nine pounds of chiles later and I had restocked one of the main things I came for. Seriously, green chile is the one thing that I will not break my addiction to. Besides, how harmful can eating hot peppers be, they claim it's good for you in so many ways. We got back to the house and CO came over for a visit as well. We showed him Nurse Jackie, which KS got me hooked on over the weekend thanks to on-demand. I have so got to see if I can find the show somewhere online to watch. Besides that, Thor reminds me of someone I know, I just need to pull the clip and show it to them.

After watching some TV and getting laundry done, it was time for bed, since I had to be up early tomorrow to get myself to the airport and return home.

Weekend Update

After spending Friday night tagging items for my churchs yard sale, I was back Saturday morning to lend a hand.  It went very well for us, I ended up being surprised at how much stuff had already been sold in the first half hour of the sale before I got there.  The only snag we ran into was that we didn't have our supplies to sell hotdogs, oh well, next yard sale.

I drove up to Baltimore to meet up with DB and RB to watch the final rugby game of the season with Chesapeake.  The team did well enough to win both games against the NYC club they were facing.  DB and I got to do some catching up while RB took pictures of the game.  Unfortunately thanks to all the rain and the port a potties that had not been cleaned out the week before, the field had some funk going on.  I hope by now that Don's Johns have shown up and taken care of them, blech.

After the games we went over to Mums and had some Boh with the teams before heading back to DB and RB's place.  They had plans that evening to meet up with a friend so I headed off for home, and that is where things went to hell.  I was getting onto MLK Jr. Blvd when traffic basically came to a dead stop.  There was a wreck at the intersection with Baltimore St.  Fine, okay, yeah, it happens, but oh no, we weren't done yet.  Two intersections down at Lombard St. was another wreck, and that one was bad enough to close two of the three lanes.  It took me half an hour to get through it because there was no place to detour.  By the time I got through there and out of Baltimore, I was good and pissed off, vowing that if I was going anywhere that evening, it would be either by someone picking me up, or by Metro.  I ended up chilling out at home that evening since some potential plans fell through.

Sunday I got up and went for an early morning run.  I need to start doing more cardio exercise because I can tell I am starting to get out of shape otherwise.  I went to church and had one of the shared worship services with St James.  One of these days I need to explain this whole deal with St James right now.  After church I used my time to tackle some housework that had been neglected, including vacuuming, dusting, and mopping.  I picked up a steam mop recently to help with keeping the floor clean, it is easier than dealing with a mop at times.

Hung out with some buds in the evening and ended up watching Any Dream Will Do on BBC America.  I hate to admit it but I actually liked the show.  What was really attractive about it was that the judges who give their critiques actually have been working with the contestants during the week, so you will often hear them talk about how this person did one thing during practice when working with them, but then they didn't hear it during the performance.  We'll see what happens with this show, but it's not like I'll know because I am still giving Comcast the middle finger.

People Can Be Crazy

What do you do when you watch someone cockblock themselves?  Do you observe and mentally make notes so you don't do the same thing in your own interactions, or do you say something to the person?

It's just something I have noticed both times that I was out on a Friday night.  Someone I knew was working to get the attention of someone else, and right when all is going well, they do something unexpected to completely sabotage their chances.  Then they're wondering why they're not getting laid that night.

I admit, in one situation I called a person out on it, saying their actions were pretty stupid, and in another one someone already was on them about their actions so I didn't have to say anything.  Still, one wonders when it is and is not inappropriate to say something.  Not just in a situation like this, but in a number of situations that can occur in our daily lives.

Shamrock Fest Pictures

The pictures are up from Shamrock Fest, click the beer above to see them all :-)

ShamrockFest 2009

Last Saturday I went to my first ShamrockFest, and boy was it a blast.

TB and I met up with RB, DB, and CA in Bethesda and had lunch at Cosi before hopping on the Metro to go to RFK Stadium.  We got there about 15 minutes before the gates opened, and the lines were already pretty long.  What was funny is that the line for the VIP entrance was way longer than the other one.  It made me wonder just how limited the VIP tickets really are.  Then again, I got to buy VIP tickets at one of the lower prices so I really cant complain about that eh?

We got in, got our mugs, and immediately headed over to get the beer.  Luckily even though Budweiser was a sponsor, Bud was not our only choices, I was able to stick with Bass and a local brewing company that had "Shamrock Ale"  It had a familiar taste, but I couldn't place my finger on which brand of beer it was.

Despite the cold and rain of the day, there were still a lot of good performances to watch.   A lot of U2 songs and Irish themed songs were played.  The only band I was really there to see was Mr. Greengenes, and they rocked as usual.  TB really got into them so I'll have to keep an eye on their schedule to see when they're in town.

Between sets on various stages, we all hung together and chatted about various things throughout the day, including comments on some of the crazy clothing that other folks were wearing.  I can't really talk though as I had on a bit of a provocative shirt as well, but it was found to be funny, so it worked out nicely.  Only one or two people didn't necessarily get it, others asked where they could get one like it, I told them I made it myself, which I had.  DB had thought about getting CA a shirt that says "Fuck Me I'm Irish" but couldn't find it in her size in time.  Then we saw that a number of people were wearing them at the festival so in a way it was better that she didn't look like a whole bunch of other people.

The booths were fun to explore as well, I ended up picking up a silver Celtic Cross and TB got a silver shamrock to wear.  We also got a few biz cards of other businesses that looked like fun to talk to later.  There was a leather journal that was beautifully ornamented, but the leather was dyed hot pink...not really my color, or RB's color either.  Perhaps one can be found in that same pattern, but in a dark blue or dark purple.

Eventually as the day wore on and the sun went down, it started to get cold due to the rain.  TB and DB took off a bit early to head back to Bethesda and wait for the rest of us because we wanted to see Flogging Molly.  Well about 30 minutes after they were supposed to start, we gave up and walked to Metro as well.  We rolled back into Bethesda and met the others at Harp and Fiddle in Bethesda for a drink and a quick bite.  Eventually it was time to get home, considering it was about 11 PM when all was said and done.

Overall it was a blast of a day.  If it had been warmer I would have stayed longer, but it's how it goes.  TB enjoyed himself and we both enjoyed hanging out with our friends.  They like him, so it's a good sign ;-)  I definitely plan on doing it again next year.

National Cherry Blossom Festival, 2008

National Cherry Blossom Festival, 2008, originally uploaded by theblackdog2071.

This past Saturday I was down at the National Cherry Blossom Festival with Rob and Dan. It was the predicted time that the blossoms would be at their peak, so I figured I would go this past weekend just so I could finally see them at the right time for once. Rob and Dan had plans in DC anyway, so it was only logical that we might as well meet up.

First of all, I'm glad I am a regular Metro rider and carry a SmartTrip card. The lines at the farecard machines in Greenbelt were a total clusterfuck. I think all of them had at least 10 people waiting to get farecards or to refill their Smartrip cards. As expected, the train was full, which was no big deal thanks to having good headphones and my Stiletto.

Getting to L'enfant Plaza, the platform for the Orange and Blue lines were crowded, and whan a train going our way arrived the first time, everyone and their mother tried to crowd on the train, which meant there were multiple tries before they could finally close the doors. By the time all was said and done, the people were packed in like sardines. What fools, if some of the people cramming in there at the last moments had just had the patience to wait another two minutes, they would have boarded a much less crowded train.

So I get to the tidal basin and listen to a performance of the Japanese Choral Society of DC before Rob and Dan arrive. We take our time wandering around the Tidal Basin looking at the trees, taking pictures, and dodging some of the crowds that were there. It would be an understatement to say that there were a lot of people there. I just pulled up Metro's subway ridership numbers for Saturday, March 29, 580,751. On the very same date last year it was 464,981.

Anyway, despite the crowds, it was good to be out, and it was a beautiful day. Eventually we wandered over towards the National Mall, where the Smithsonian Kite Festival was going on as well, so we got to see all sorts of kites. I had plans for the evening or I probably would have flown a kite as well. There are pictures of the various kites that were in the sky. There was one club that made a really good effort to make a dragon kite fly, but we think they needed more room to be able to move and get it going, instead of the small space they had in the "arena" that a competition was being held in.

Eventually we headed back towards Metro so I could board, but we got to the one Smithsonian Station entrance that was supposed to be the entrance, and they had made it an exit only, so we went over to the other entrance, and that was gated off, with a big crowd standing around it, so no one was getting in. Who the hell knows what was happening then, but it definitely left me wondering how the hell Metro was going to handle Nationals games if they can't seem to handle the festivals.

Rob and Dan were kind enough to take me over to the Archives/Navy Memorial Station, so I hopped back on the train to head back to Greenbelt before heading to Baltimore that evening.

Great day, I suggest if you're in the DC/MD/NoVA area within the next week or two to go over and see the blossoms. Perhaps the pictures I took will entice you to go ;-)

Phoenix, Day 6

Wow, has it really been my sixth day in Phoenix?

So what have I been up to the last few days?

To start, I found out that Root Seller Gallery and Apothecary moved over to a new location in Phoenix, so yesterday I went to check out their new store. They've done quite well with the new space, and there's definitely a lot to look at. I picked up a present for JH while I was there, along with a few other items. I'm tempted to go back for an item for myself...I have until Tuesday to decide if I want it.

The other night I went out with my mom and a friend of hers to the Ft McDowell Casino to play slots. It's an activity that my mom and her friend do every so often. Basically they go out there at about midnight and play slots for a few hours, moving from machine to machine and playing different ones that "feel right." and at the end they split the proceeds. Well we did pretty well for themselves, me especially on the penny and two-penny slots. One machine has bonus games just randomly show up while you're playing, and one of them I had to keep choosing what bonus I was going to get, eventually I matched getting 40 free spins, so I got to sit back as the coins came in. I had originally put in $20 and I walked away from that machine with $60...and this was a two-penny machine!

We also would be the folks who were playing the big Wheel of Fortune slot machine which does have a big wheel in the middle for the bonus game, and so when we'd get the bonus going we'd stand up and clap. There were a few folks that were staring as we did that but we didn't care, it was all about fun! Also, since it was the middle of the night, there was no one there, so it meant that we basically got to go to any machine we wanted to. The only time we were kicked off was when they were collecting money out of a row of machines that we were playing, which was too bad because I was on a bit of a hot streak with that one.

Friday Night I went out to Apollo's Lounge for karaoke. That place has undergone a renovation since I was last there 2.5 years ago, the major thing being the addition of an outside patio for smoking. It's just basically your neighborhood bar, but with karaoke that's actually up-to-date with the song offerings, unlike most other bars. I had called a friend of mine from college, Robert, and we met up and chatted for a while before I headed home.

Saturday night I talked with JH on the phone for a bit since we hadn't chatted much during the week except via a few text messages. He was leaving a party and heading over to Town, which he would later tell me was a blast and that I need to go with him. Next time he gets tickets or if the cover isn't too outrageous I'll definitely go. I also visited with another buddy of mine, Antonio. We had started chatting online at random one night when I was in my last year of school, and it turned out he had gone to the same school so that spring break we met at Phoenix Pride since he was working one of the booths. Anyway, he's planning on moving to San Francisco this summer and he's always wanted to go so this should be a great opportunity for him. At the very least it means I know someone should JH and I ever travel out that way.

This morning was Easter of course, so it means I was up early hunting eggs in the backyard with my brother. After lunch my dad went to take my bro back to college. My mom and I were going to go to the botanical gardens, but then it just got too hot to be outside for a long period of time. It seems to have skipped the 70's and gone straight to the 80's temperature-wise here, it will probably be another long, hot summer.

Tomorrow my parents and I will be going to watch the Brewers take on the Rockies for spring training, that should be a good game. Tuesday night there are tentative plans to hit Padlock Cellblock with Antonio for a beer, then Wednesday I head back home.

I'm just glad to have taken this vacation, I haven't had to think about work and I can just relax and do nothing. Of course, I have also felt weird about actually sitting back and doing nothing and have had a few moments where I have wondered if I needed to be doing something to stay occupied.

Could Wednesday Just Get Here?

The last few days have been a roller coaster, and not in a fun way.

Friday afternoon one of the software testers comes to me and says that they have a problem with one of the instruments I released earlier this month. Apparently when they exit the survey, they get a red X of death that states there's a memory access violation. Last month's survey release did not do this, but something about this month's has. I spent the afternoon with my project manager hammering away at this issue, trying to figure out what was going on. We were unable to figure out what was going on that would cause this error, yet even though this error was going on, it did not seem to be dropping data out of the instrument either.

Eventually I left and met up with some friends to go out to dinner. It was nice, had to leave early though because I was under the mercy of the Metrobus system, and I was thinking they were going to close up shop around 10 or 11.

Saturday was nice, I accomplished a major task of shopping thanks to Costco once again. I spent the afternoon puttering around, doing some cleaning and such. Talked to my cousin Josie and there's an offer on the table to go up and visit with her and her kids and grandkids for Christmas day, I may take her up on that. I really don't know what I want to do in all honesty. Part of that is just that I am still in that bit of self-denial about the fact that I am not going home this Christmas, but that's just how it goes when your life is in upheaval at the time you should be buying plane tickets.

Saturday night was split between two Christmas parties, one with some friends from church in Bowie, great spread and lots of good conversation. The second one was in DC, and it was being hosted down at the 17th Street Cafe by a friend of mine from New Mexico that I had not seen since I had moved out here. He just moved to Arlington so it was my chance to re-connect with him, which I did. As usual I don't consider the fact that it's a party in DC and show up underdressed, but I didn't care, I wore that nice T-shirt with a whole lotta confidence.

Yesterday was the usual morning service at church, this time discussing the gospel lesson of John the Baptist sending out his disciples to ask Jesus if he is the one, and being told to observe and report back to John about what they saw and heard. I actually participated in the sermon by reading the part of John in a small skit that imagined the conversation between him and one of his disciples about what they saw and heard.

I went down to Joshua's house that afternoon and got to meet his new boyfriend. He's a pretty nice guy and Joshua's pretty devoted to him. We went to a Christmas party down in Accokeek thrown by a mutual friend of ours, Chet. The party was fun, mostly spent the afternoon shooting the shit with people and playing pool as well. One thing I did notice (and so did Joshua and Bryan) that a lot of the guys looked the same, basically shaved head and goatee, I think that says something about the host's preferences in men.

Anyway, so we got back and watched The Simpsons and Family Guy and American Dad as well, and what I will say about all of the rest of that night is that I love Joshua to death, but he was being a bit overprotective of me in regards to my relations with J. However, he did admit that he really doesn't want to start drama over it, he just wants me to be happy.

As for today, it was basically spent hammering away at this program, and still no success on figuring out what was wrong. So we're going to roll back to the last month's survey release (no content changed so it's a bit more transparent) which gives me some breathing room to figure out what the hell I did to break the damn thing. Actually, this survey is sorely in need of having it's code re-written, and perhaps this situation will make a case to our sponsors to spend the dough to have it done, but we'll see.

Orphan's Thanksgiving Anyone?

For many of us in the DC/MD/NoVA area, there's family in the area or close by that you can visit on Thanksgiving. However, if you're like me, perhaps the family is far enough away (Phoenix) that it's not practical or inexpensive to go home for Thanksgiving.

Joshua is planning on holding an "Orphans Thanksgiving" for those in the area who otherwise would end up staying home. I plan on attending, would anyone like to join us? Leave a comment with a way to contact you and we'll talk.

Birthday

Yesterday was my birthday, which means that there will be an entry coming reflecting on the year, but first it is time to record all that went on.

Basically it was a lazy do what I want day for me. First I was woken up by my parents, so I got to finally open the boxes that have been sitting in my hall for about 2 weeks. I received two sets of Fiesta dishes in the color I had been asking for, which was awesome. I also received a towel with the logo from the recent Broadway production of The Ritz. I played the Wii most of the morning, finally beating Super Paper Mario. Did some surfing on the Internet, randomly decided to check
Ikea to see if maybe the desk chair I wanted in blue-green was in stock, and it turned out it was. After two months of waiting, I finally got the chair I wanted on my birthday, there must have been some luck going on.

So after doing a bit of cleaning and organizing around the apartment, I headed to Ikea and got the chair, then stopped at the UPS store to pick up a package that was waiting for me. I decided to treat myself to lunch at a local Pho place. The Pho was good as usual, I then moved on to the Cold Stone Creamery next door and had dessert.

I came home and chilled a bit before heading to RedRocks for dinner. There I was joined by Brian, Moose, Joe, and Joshua. It was nice to just sit back and chat with friends, enjoy a beer and have some pizza. While the pizza wasn't quite something to write home about, it was decent tasting. I think I kind of like Ella's wood-fired pizza better. The funniest moment came when Joe showed up, he was wearing the exact same shirt that I was. Of course everyone thinks that we planned this, but I swear we didn't!

Dinner ended, and I was given a ride home by Joe, where I ended the night by just chilling out before heading to bed.

All in all it was a great birthday, I got to see some great friends and enjoy some good food as well, and pretty much do what the hell I wanted.