Tonight St. Georges had their annual Oktoberfest celebration, and while this year it was different, the differences were a lot of fun.
To start with, we had a bigger spread of food, there were potato pancakes, red cabbage, sauerkraut, bratwurst, bockwurst, pork tenderloin, German potato salad, onions and cabbage, pickles, and bread. I don't think there was anyone that was left unsatisfied this evening, and in fact most of the food was gone by the end of the event.
We hired a musician who regularly plays over at Blobs Park for entertainment. I didn't see much dancing, but we did cheer and appreciate the music as it was being played. He helped out later with our raffle that we had put on with lots of prizes.
There was also a bingo game held this evening, and it was fun, though I didn't win (dammit!). The silent auction went decent, I won some mini beer steins. However, I think the auction might be better suited for Mardi Gras.
The big thing for me though was to sit and catch up with some folks I have not seen for a while. A number of us have been busy lately with stuff going on in our own lives that we've missed seeing one another at services or other social events. So I always like it when I have the chance to sit with folks again.
Overall, a great party, I wonder what we're going to be up to next.
Showing posts with label party. Show all posts
Showing posts with label party. Show all posts
October 18, 2009
October 12, 2009
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.
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.
February 23, 2009
Mardi Gras
Saturday night was my church's Mardi Gras party. It's one of our big fundraising events and it is a lot of fun since there's dinner, drinks, music, and a silent auction as well. People donate items or services to the auction and you never know just what you may find from year to year. Two years ago I took home a basket of kitchen type items, including candles placemats, which I still use today. Last year it was a fondue set, which I have been bad about using, but that may change shortly in the future.
This year, especially after getting TB excited about going to Mardi Gras with me, we both worked on building baskets of items for the silent auction. We decided to create baskets of items where people could give themselves an at-home spa day, the thought being that since the economy is down and folks don't want to spend the dough on going to the spa, they still want to be able to pamper themselves. So running with that idea, we started looking at items and throwing ideas back and forth, and ultimately we came up with two baskets, one for a couple, and the other for a "single" person. I put single in quotes because it was designed for one person, not for someone who is single.
Ultimately the baskets we came up with turned out very nicely. For the couple, there were two towels, a manicure kit, a facial mask, cucumber mint candles in holders, port wine, two wine glasses, Godiva chocolates, and massage oil. The single basket got one towel, one wine glass, the manicure kit, a sea salt and eucalyptus body scrub, a sugar cookie candle with a marble holder, a slightly smaller box of Godiva chocolates, body lotion, and a bottle of port wine as well. One could definitely spoil themselves for the day with this stuff.
In the afternoon, TB and I went down to the church to help decorate and set up for the party, and we brought along a friend of his, BB to help as well since he had the weekend off. Setup was fairly easy since there were other folks there as well, plus a few of them had wanted to meet TB anyway. I helped get some decorations up, got the stereo hooked up for music, and then helped finish blowing up balloons for the tables before all was said and done. TB and I then headed home to change into our costumes for the festivities in the evenings.
In true Mardi Gras fashion, we both had masks for the event. TB had a green man mask that he wore along with a shirt that matched in a similar pattern. I wore the dragon shirt my parents gave me along with a tiger mask. They definitely were noticed at the party :-) We all mingled for a while before having dinner. Dinner consisted of a buffet of bruschetta, jambalaya, fried fish, stuffed mushrooms, and salad, along with soda and wine for drinks. For dessert there was bread pudding with rum sauce.
After dinner we mingled out in the hall and bid on items for the silent auction. I shamelessly promoted our baskets in between looking over and making a few bids on some things I wanted. As tables started closing out, that's when things got exciting for a few items that people were hovering over. A bidding war started for the cider, a week vacation at a house in Maine, some jewelry, and the couples spa basket. It was fun to watch and see just what people went crazy over. When the night was over, I walked away with a beaded nametag necklace, a bin of Super Nintendo games, and a basket which had the theme of the stained glass at the National Cathedral. TB walked away with a homemade prayer shawl for his aunt.
Besides the auction, there was the mingling as well, especially to see some of the folks I had not seen in a while. Everyone seemed to like TB, which was a plus as well considering that some he had met before from attending service, but others were meeting him for the first time. He and BB hit if off well with one of our members to where there's talk of getting together for a wine party or even a game night with a few of the other church folk as well. I'd say they like him ;-)
Finally the festivities were done, we all stayed to help clean up before going home. Now to just plot for next year's silent auction, we have ideas already *evil laughter*
September 13, 2008
Baseball and "Family"
Greetings from New Jersey!
Once again I am on the road traveling because that's all it seems I ever do. JH and I had planned a trip a few months ago to Shea stadium in NYC since that stadium is going the way of the dodo after this season. Since it's close enough and cheaper, we have opted to drive up there. It also happens that one of JH's cousins is having their 50th birthday this weekend so JH's parents are along for the ride. We dropped them off at NJ before heading up to NYC. Traffic into NYC was not bad at all, but it also helped that we stayed on main highways and didn't have to drive through the city streets to get there.
We had a good view from our seats, unfortunately those were some of the most uncomfortable seats I have ever sat in at a stadium. Those seats were clearly not designed to accommodate tall people because the space in front of me was the size of my shoe, and to put it into perspective, I wear a size 12. We were in the front row of that section so there was a small wall in front of us, and I would have to put my feet up over the edge if I wanted to stretch my legs out. I dealt with as much as I could stand but there were definitely a few times you could hear my knees pop when I would try to move them.
After visiting Yankee Stadium and Shea stadium, I have come to the conclusion that Mets fans are more obnoxious during the game than the Yankee fans. During the Yankees vs Orioles game, the O's basically spanked the yanks but the fans were at least respectful about it, and the fans were decent to JH and I, even if we were in O's gear. As for yesterday, it was Braves vs. Mets, and every time a Braves player came up to bat or when they made a play, they got booed by the fans. Now I've done my fair share of booing at sporting events but there's a fine line to when booing becomes obnoxious, and the Mets fans clearly do not know where that line is.
So after 5 1/2 innings of uncomfortable seats and obnoxious fans, JH and I had enough and we bolted out of there. Since we bolted early it meant that we were able to get back to NJ in time for the beginning of the surprise party and surprise the intended recipient.
The party was fun, and as usual it was meeting a whole bunch more of JH's extended family. I swear though there has to be Italian in that family because much like my own family, there are lots and lots of cousins. It really becomes a game of figuring out who knows who and in what way. The food was good and so was the drinks. Allow me to reiterate my love for margaritas.
Woke up this morning after a decent sleep, had breakfast with the folks, and now we're back on the road heading towards Baltimore. Luckily there have been no traffic issues. As it was just reported to me, it's 94F outside, so that means I am likely returning to a hot apartment. Joy...
Once again I am on the road traveling because that's all it seems I ever do. JH and I had planned a trip a few months ago to Shea stadium in NYC since that stadium is going the way of the dodo after this season. Since it's close enough and cheaper, we have opted to drive up there. It also happens that one of JH's cousins is having their 50th birthday this weekend so JH's parents are along for the ride. We dropped them off at NJ before heading up to NYC. Traffic into NYC was not bad at all, but it also helped that we stayed on main highways and didn't have to drive through the city streets to get there.
We had a good view from our seats, unfortunately those were some of the most uncomfortable seats I have ever sat in at a stadium. Those seats were clearly not designed to accommodate tall people because the space in front of me was the size of my shoe, and to put it into perspective, I wear a size 12. We were in the front row of that section so there was a small wall in front of us, and I would have to put my feet up over the edge if I wanted to stretch my legs out. I dealt with as much as I could stand but there were definitely a few times you could hear my knees pop when I would try to move them.
After visiting Yankee Stadium and Shea stadium, I have come to the conclusion that Mets fans are more obnoxious during the game than the Yankee fans. During the Yankees vs Orioles game, the O's basically spanked the yanks but the fans were at least respectful about it, and the fans were decent to JH and I, even if we were in O's gear. As for yesterday, it was Braves vs. Mets, and every time a Braves player came up to bat or when they made a play, they got booed by the fans. Now I've done my fair share of booing at sporting events but there's a fine line to when booing becomes obnoxious, and the Mets fans clearly do not know where that line is.
So after 5 1/2 innings of uncomfortable seats and obnoxious fans, JH and I had enough and we bolted out of there. Since we bolted early it meant that we were able to get back to NJ in time for the beginning of the surprise party and surprise the intended recipient.
The party was fun, and as usual it was meeting a whole bunch more of JH's extended family. I swear though there has to be Italian in that family because much like my own family, there are lots and lots of cousins. It really becomes a game of figuring out who knows who and in what way. The food was good and so was the drinks. Allow me to reiterate my love for margaritas.
Woke up this morning after a decent sleep, had breakfast with the folks, and now we're back on the road heading towards Baltimore. Luckily there have been no traffic issues. As it was just reported to me, it's 94F outside, so that means I am likely returning to a hot apartment. Joy...
September 03, 2008
Luau, Kings Dominion, State Fair
Saturday night I went to a party to celebrate the 20 year anniversary of some friends I knew from church. They decided to throw a luau themed party and it was pretty awesome. I decided to make two batches of gougeres for the party, one batch of Blue Cheese, and the other using Cheddar Cheese. They ended up being a hit, and my priest wants the recipe for it, and a few other folks as well.
The party itself was a night of chatting with various people about anything, including roller coasters and football, two of my favorite subjects. There were also conversations that if you came in at the wrong time, the conversation sounded totally wrong, including a discussion of someone's thighs.
Either way, it was a good night overall.
Sunday I went to Kings Dominion with JH, where I rode the other side of Rebel yell for coaster credit 96. We also rode Dominator and Scooby Doo for coasters. Other rides included the log flume, whitewater canyon, screaming eagle, and the space flyer. For the last weekend in the park there were a lot of people there. Unfortunately you could also tell that they had already lost staff to folks going back to school as some rides were only operating at half their capacity, or in the case of the space flyer, there was only one person to check all the riders and operate the ride. It was ridiculous that it took 40 minutes to get through three groups of riders. I would think that if it's down to just one person operating it, either they need to put on extra help, or just consider not running the ride at all. That's way too many things that one person has to do.
After the Space Flyer we called it a day and headed back to DC. That evening I headed up to Baltimore to meet a friend, LS, who just moved to Baltimore from Phoenix. I got to see his new apartment, which is pretty sweet, and very conveniently located to shopping and the bars. We watched The Birdcage and chatted for a bit before I headed home.
Monday I hit Arundel Mills mall to look around and ended up scoring a deal on some Ravens hats, then it was over to JH's to plan to go to the MD State Fair. He wasn't feeling well at first so I waited around for a bit until he felt better. We went over to Timonium and first tried to find parking around the fair, which was a no-go. So we drove over to a nearby light rail station and hopped that to come down to to the fair.
The fair itself was interesting, but very very crowded. It didn't quite help that it was very hot that day. We spent more time inside than outside for obvious reasons. Eventually after seeing all the vendors, the arts and crafts, and buying some candy from the bulk candy place, we took off for the Glen Burnie area to have dinner. We went to Costas Inn and had whole crabs. I have to admit these were some of the best crabs I ever had. They were full of flavor and there was lots of meat to eat. It was enjoyable.
Afterward we played a round of mini golf. I didn't do too bad, finishing 3 strokes behind JH. Of course, now I learn he purposely screwed up on a few holes so as not to completely kick my ass at the game...bastard :-P Either way, it was fun. There have to be more places around here to play mini golf.
So that sums up my labor day weekend. How was yours?
The party itself was a night of chatting with various people about anything, including roller coasters and football, two of my favorite subjects. There were also conversations that if you came in at the wrong time, the conversation sounded totally wrong, including a discussion of someone's thighs.
Either way, it was a good night overall.
Sunday I went to Kings Dominion with JH, where I rode the other side of Rebel yell for coaster credit 96. We also rode Dominator and Scooby Doo for coasters. Other rides included the log flume, whitewater canyon, screaming eagle, and the space flyer. For the last weekend in the park there were a lot of people there. Unfortunately you could also tell that they had already lost staff to folks going back to school as some rides were only operating at half their capacity, or in the case of the space flyer, there was only one person to check all the riders and operate the ride. It was ridiculous that it took 40 minutes to get through three groups of riders. I would think that if it's down to just one person operating it, either they need to put on extra help, or just consider not running the ride at all. That's way too many things that one person has to do.
After the Space Flyer we called it a day and headed back to DC. That evening I headed up to Baltimore to meet a friend, LS, who just moved to Baltimore from Phoenix. I got to see his new apartment, which is pretty sweet, and very conveniently located to shopping and the bars. We watched The Birdcage and chatted for a bit before I headed home.
Monday I hit Arundel Mills mall to look around and ended up scoring a deal on some Ravens hats, then it was over to JH's to plan to go to the MD State Fair. He wasn't feeling well at first so I waited around for a bit until he felt better. We went over to Timonium and first tried to find parking around the fair, which was a no-go. So we drove over to a nearby light rail station and hopped that to come down to to the fair.
The fair itself was interesting, but very very crowded. It didn't quite help that it was very hot that day. We spent more time inside than outside for obvious reasons. Eventually after seeing all the vendors, the arts and crafts, and buying some candy from the bulk candy place, we took off for the Glen Burnie area to have dinner. We went to Costas Inn and had whole crabs. I have to admit these were some of the best crabs I ever had. They were full of flavor and there was lots of meat to eat. It was enjoyable.
Afterward we played a round of mini golf. I didn't do too bad, finishing 3 strokes behind JH. Of course, now I learn he purposely screwed up on a few holes so as not to completely kick my ass at the game...bastard :-P Either way, it was fun. There have to be more places around here to play mini golf.
So that sums up my labor day weekend. How was yours?
July 31, 2008
The Luau
One summertime tradition I have is that when my friends DB and RB throw their annual Luau, I will be there, come hell or high water. It means a night of meeting new people, catching up with other folks I haven't seen in a while, and of course, partying! This year was no exception.
I actually was at the house early to help with setup for the party. Myself, DB, and JX did some cleaning up and organizing. RB came home and so we made the run to get ice for the coolers. I would spend the rest of the afternoon running around helping them out, and keeping the dog out of the way, except for when I had to hit the local Safeway for some cream.
The trip to Safeway got rather interesting because at checkout I got stuck in line behind a person who had a gift card, and her purchases went over the amount, so she was there figuring out what she could put back. At one point the cashier suggested that she ditch the 6 pack of Pepsi bottles and just get a 2 liter instead. So she goes over to a display of sodas that are not on sale, and the cashier is trying to tell her where to go, and she just isn't getting it, so he just throws up his hands, and runs over to the place and gets it for her. What killed me was to watch her put back food that she could have benefited from keeping, such as bananas, but kept the junk food. To make it better, after I checked out and was walking out the door, she comes walking back in and is asking where the toilet paper is. I hustled it out of there, and so did the cashier since it was his lunch break and he was ready to just run.
So the party gets started and people show up and so I get to meet folks I haven't seen in forever, plus new folks of course. CX shows up, and it's her birthday, and so I loaned her a paddle for spanking people with, along with her getting her spanks. LM shows up as well, she is totally my fag hag, and she refers to me as her gay boyfriend, which is funny to hear, especially because another guy, JS, is vying for that title. Too bad that I'm the one who actually makes time to go to lunch with her, especially when she is on-site at my workplace.
I had also brought over my Wii stuff and for a while I was playing Mario Kart online against DB's brother, who lives in CA. The first round of races we tied for points, the second time I ended up losing. Those of us in MD also got to experience why it is never a good idea to reason with a 6 year old. There was a girl there who got into playing, and it wasn't always easy to get her to share and take turns. Ah well, we made it work. So there was Wii playing going on all night as well.
JH eventually arrived at the party as well, so he got to experience the luau. It included him telling one of the guests she had a pretty skirt, and could he borrow it. She immediately handed it over, and I have a picture of him wearing said skirt. To top it off, her BF came up the stairs and said "I leave you alone for five minutes and you're already taking your clothes off!" I about died laughing.
I discovered that Barenjaeger liqueur and Lingonberry Juice (from Ikea) mix very well. I had a few good drinks of that. There was plenty of the usual craziness going on as well. I swear there just needs to be video cameras and a bank of screens so that people can see what's going on everywhere, because as much as myself and others would like to be in every room to see and hear what's going on, we can't.
A little after 11 JH indicated he was ready to bounce, but I wasn't ready to go, and in a way it was good I didn't leave right then. I ended up listening to someone who just needed to vent about some stuff that was going on with him. I get the feeling he will be doing a lot more venting in the next few weeks.
Around 12:30 I finally bounced out of there. Normally I would crash at the place, but this year I ended up controlling how much I had taken in for a number of reasons. Either way, I still had a blast; it is always worth going to the luau. If it's held again next year, you know I'll be there.
I actually was at the house early to help with setup for the party. Myself, DB, and JX did some cleaning up and organizing. RB came home and so we made the run to get ice for the coolers. I would spend the rest of the afternoon running around helping them out, and keeping the dog out of the way, except for when I had to hit the local Safeway for some cream.
The trip to Safeway got rather interesting because at checkout I got stuck in line behind a person who had a gift card, and her purchases went over the amount, so she was there figuring out what she could put back. At one point the cashier suggested that she ditch the 6 pack of Pepsi bottles and just get a 2 liter instead. So she goes over to a display of sodas that are not on sale, and the cashier is trying to tell her where to go, and she just isn't getting it, so he just throws up his hands, and runs over to the place and gets it for her. What killed me was to watch her put back food that she could have benefited from keeping, such as bananas, but kept the junk food. To make it better, after I checked out and was walking out the door, she comes walking back in and is asking where the toilet paper is. I hustled it out of there, and so did the cashier since it was his lunch break and he was ready to just run.
So the party gets started and people show up and so I get to meet folks I haven't seen in forever, plus new folks of course. CX shows up, and it's her birthday, and so I loaned her a paddle for spanking people with, along with her getting her spanks. LM shows up as well, she is totally my fag hag, and she refers to me as her gay boyfriend, which is funny to hear, especially because another guy, JS, is vying for that title. Too bad that I'm the one who actually makes time to go to lunch with her, especially when she is on-site at my workplace.
I had also brought over my Wii stuff and for a while I was playing Mario Kart online against DB's brother, who lives in CA. The first round of races we tied for points, the second time I ended up losing. Those of us in MD also got to experience why it is never a good idea to reason with a 6 year old. There was a girl there who got into playing, and it wasn't always easy to get her to share and take turns. Ah well, we made it work. So there was Wii playing going on all night as well.
JH eventually arrived at the party as well, so he got to experience the luau. It included him telling one of the guests she had a pretty skirt, and could he borrow it. She immediately handed it over, and I have a picture of him wearing said skirt. To top it off, her BF came up the stairs and said "I leave you alone for five minutes and you're already taking your clothes off!" I about died laughing.
I discovered that Barenjaeger liqueur and Lingonberry Juice (from Ikea) mix very well. I had a few good drinks of that. There was plenty of the usual craziness going on as well. I swear there just needs to be video cameras and a bank of screens so that people can see what's going on everywhere, because as much as myself and others would like to be in every room to see and hear what's going on, we can't.
A little after 11 JH indicated he was ready to bounce, but I wasn't ready to go, and in a way it was good I didn't leave right then. I ended up listening to someone who just needed to vent about some stuff that was going on with him. I get the feeling he will be doing a lot more venting in the next few weeks.
Around 12:30 I finally bounced out of there. Normally I would crash at the place, but this year I ended up controlling how much I had taken in for a number of reasons. Either way, I still had a blast; it is always worth going to the luau. If it's held again next year, you know I'll be there.
June 01, 2008
Wow What A Night
Last night ended up being a total blast.
"Little" JH's (Yes, it's another JH, so since he's the little bro, he'll be known as Little JH) party got going in the afternoon, with various family and friends dropping in to visit. I swear it reminds me of when I visit Connecticut and everyone is having dinner at my grandmother's house. There's about 20 different conversations going on that one is trying to keep track of, and lots of noise, laughter, and other stuff going on. I have to admit it does make for great people watching.
There was also a game of "corn hole" (I think they'll be changing that name) going on. How this game works is that there's two inclined boards placed par apart, and at the top is a hole cut into the board. It's two teams, each take turns throwing beanbags at the boards. If you get one on the board, it's 1 point, if you get it into the hole, it's 2 points. At the end of each round if you and your opponent both have beanbags that scored points, the points cancel each other out. So if I get 3 bags on the board and my opponent gets 2 on the board, I only get one point and they get zero points. The strategy is to knock your opponent's beanbags off the board so that you gain more points, along with aiming for the hole. Considering that it was my very first time playing, I didn't do too badly.
Eventually JH and I took off for his HS reunion. He had some reservations about going because he had not seen any of these people for a decade, plus he had not always felt accepted by many of them, so it made him feel a bit nervous. However, a lot of those fears would be put to rest. I met a number of the friends he had in HS, including ex-girlfriends, and they were totally cool with me. I absolutely loved his friends Ju and Je. Ju is a total anime geek, and she certainly is not as innocent as she once was in HS ;-). Je was just plain fun, including for dancing. The nice thing was that JH was able to actually introduce me as his boyfriend to most people and they were cool with it.
So we ended up there until the party ended around 10 PM, then it was back to Little JH's party to meet a number of new people who were there, shoot some pool, and just have a good time. I think JH and I crashed out around 2:30 this morning.
Fun times were to be had by all, even if the Orioles lost last night...dammit. At least the Diamondbacks spanked the Nats.
"Little" JH's (Yes, it's another JH, so since he's the little bro, he'll be known as Little JH) party got going in the afternoon, with various family and friends dropping in to visit. I swear it reminds me of when I visit Connecticut and everyone is having dinner at my grandmother's house. There's about 20 different conversations going on that one is trying to keep track of, and lots of noise, laughter, and other stuff going on. I have to admit it does make for great people watching.
There was also a game of "corn hole" (I think they'll be changing that name) going on. How this game works is that there's two inclined boards placed par apart, and at the top is a hole cut into the board. It's two teams, each take turns throwing beanbags at the boards. If you get one on the board, it's 1 point, if you get it into the hole, it's 2 points. At the end of each round if you and your opponent both have beanbags that scored points, the points cancel each other out. So if I get 3 bags on the board and my opponent gets 2 on the board, I only get one point and they get zero points. The strategy is to knock your opponent's beanbags off the board so that you gain more points, along with aiming for the hole. Considering that it was my very first time playing, I didn't do too badly.
Eventually JH and I took off for his HS reunion. He had some reservations about going because he had not seen any of these people for a decade, plus he had not always felt accepted by many of them, so it made him feel a bit nervous. However, a lot of those fears would be put to rest. I met a number of the friends he had in HS, including ex-girlfriends, and they were totally cool with me. I absolutely loved his friends Ju and Je. Ju is a total anime geek, and she certainly is not as innocent as she once was in HS ;-). Je was just plain fun, including for dancing. The nice thing was that JH was able to actually introduce me as his boyfriend to most people and they were cool with it.
So we ended up there until the party ended around 10 PM, then it was back to Little JH's party to meet a number of new people who were there, shoot some pool, and just have a good time. I think JH and I crashed out around 2:30 this morning.
Fun times were to be had by all, even if the Orioles lost last night...dammit. At least the Diamondbacks spanked the Nats.
May 29, 2008
Memorial Day Weekend
Memorial Day weekend was somewhat quiet, at least until Saturday afternoon. I spent Saturday morning taking care of stuff around the house before I drove up first to Pasadena to pick up some work pants that JH had forgotten, then to Baltimore to where JH works. He was the on-call manager this weekend so it meant he was staying at the hotel and dealing with any sort of shenanigans that customers were going to pull on him (Note to JH: Customers Suck! ). We did manage to have dinner together over at Meli, including excellent salmon for an appetizer and an awesome chocolate almond mousse with raspberry and ganache.
I hung out with JH for a while before heading up to our room and taking a nice long bath. Afterward JH joined me and we went and got some gelato down the street (spicy chocolate and strawberries and cream for me). Eventually we headed in for bed; thankfully this time around there were no phone calls in the middle of the night.
Sunday morning after JH got off to work I had breakfast downstairs, got packed up, then used the time to walk around Fells Point and a bunch of lower Baltimore just to see what all was there. The next time I go I'm bringing a camera, that's for sure. I dropped into a local store and ended up picking up the Porky's trilogy, along with Shaun of the Dead. A little after 1 I called my friends Dan and Rob since I had been invited to a BBQ at their place and since it was basically starting "in the afternoon" I wanted to be sure I wasn't going to drop in unexpectedly.
I headed up to their place and we chilled for a bit having a few beers and shooting the shit before other folks showed up as well. There was a good amount of time for socializing before some folks went off to play D&D while the rest of us watched TV. By the end of the evening, I watched Transformers: The Movie, Clue, Episode Zero of PGSM, and some of Dr. Who as well. I got to meet some great people as well and as usual, I had a blast, including playing with the dog. His favorite game with me now is to play keep away with one of his toys and to try and hide, then when I get close he'll growl and snarl at me before running away from me as I try to grab for the toy.
Most of us ended up leaving after midnight (that's when the D&D game ended) so it was a long trip home for me, but so well worth it.
I hung out with JH for a while before heading up to our room and taking a nice long bath. Afterward JH joined me and we went and got some gelato down the street (spicy chocolate and strawberries and cream for me). Eventually we headed in for bed; thankfully this time around there were no phone calls in the middle of the night.
Sunday morning after JH got off to work I had breakfast downstairs, got packed up, then used the time to walk around Fells Point and a bunch of lower Baltimore just to see what all was there. The next time I go I'm bringing a camera, that's for sure. I dropped into a local store and ended up picking up the Porky's trilogy, along with Shaun of the Dead. A little after 1 I called my friends Dan and Rob since I had been invited to a BBQ at their place and since it was basically starting "in the afternoon" I wanted to be sure I wasn't going to drop in unexpectedly.
I headed up to their place and we chilled for a bit having a few beers and shooting the shit before other folks showed up as well. There was a good amount of time for socializing before some folks went off to play D&D while the rest of us watched TV. By the end of the evening, I watched Transformers: The Movie, Clue, Episode Zero of PGSM, and some of Dr. Who as well. I got to meet some great people as well and as usual, I had a blast, including playing with the dog. His favorite game with me now is to play keep away with one of his toys and to try and hide, then when I get close he'll growl and snarl at me before running away from me as I try to grab for the toy.
Most of us ended up leaving after midnight (that's when the D&D game ended) so it was a long trip home for me, but so well worth it.
December 17, 2007
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.
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.
November 12, 2007
Soup and Bad Movies
Saturday afternoon and evening was spent visiting Moose for his Soup and Bad Movies party. It was a lot of fun, basically we watched some of the worst movies ever made and made fun of them, a la Mystery Science Theater 3000. When I arrived, Assault of the Killer Bimbos was playing. The movie was so bad it was hilarious, and we heard one of the best lines of the afternoon; "Oh no, a bimbo with a gun!" (southern accent). I must find a way to work that into a sentence this week.
The next movie was Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter. I may have to rent that one myself just for a good laugh. Basically vampires are preying on lesbians and it's up to Jesus to stop them. It doesn't hurt that the guy playing Jesus is hot, especially towards the end of the movie. Where else can you see Jesus kick the crap out of people while techno music is playing in the background?
Next we watched the movie The Apple which if you ever want a reason why musicals should never go mainstream again, this is it. This one was just too easy to make fun of, especially the landlady, who sounded very much like a nagging mother.
Eventually soup was served, which was really good. I have to get the recipe from Moose, basically it had veggies, beans, and curry among other things. As Moose mentioned tonight, basically it was all gone by the end of the night.
We started watching Ghoulies, but got bored with that so we switched to Girls Will Be Girls. That movie is just so campy. We also had the treat of Moose and Brian giving us the lines in stereo. After that it was time for Showgirls. However, many of the other party goers were grossed out over the major amount of boobs that were being shown, so that movie was shut off after about 20 mins. I must have missed the memo, but I don't have an issue with seeing boobs, even as a gay man. I could have watched Showgirls just fine, but to each their own. We did watch a bit of the Are You Being Served? Movie as well.
Finally, the Josie and the Pussycats movie was started. Now in their opinion it is not a bad movie, but I can't make a call on that one. By the time that movie was started, it was after midnight, and after many hours of movies and glasses of wine, I was fading and so were a few others, so we headed out to Metro to head home.
The party was fun, I got to meet some fun people. There was one guy that aggressively hit on me and I pretty much had to tell him to back off. I had to laugh at the end of the night because as he left Metro he said keep in touch...too bad he didn't get even an E-mail address from me. :-P
The next movie was Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter. I may have to rent that one myself just for a good laugh. Basically vampires are preying on lesbians and it's up to Jesus to stop them. It doesn't hurt that the guy playing Jesus is hot, especially towards the end of the movie. Where else can you see Jesus kick the crap out of people while techno music is playing in the background?
Next we watched the movie The Apple which if you ever want a reason why musicals should never go mainstream again, this is it. This one was just too easy to make fun of, especially the landlady, who sounded very much like a nagging mother.
Eventually soup was served, which was really good. I have to get the recipe from Moose, basically it had veggies, beans, and curry among other things. As Moose mentioned tonight, basically it was all gone by the end of the night.
We started watching Ghoulies, but got bored with that so we switched to Girls Will Be Girls. That movie is just so campy. We also had the treat of Moose and Brian giving us the lines in stereo. After that it was time for Showgirls. However, many of the other party goers were grossed out over the major amount of boobs that were being shown, so that movie was shut off after about 20 mins. I must have missed the memo, but I don't have an issue with seeing boobs, even as a gay man. I could have watched Showgirls just fine, but to each their own. We did watch a bit of the Are You Being Served? Movie as well.
Finally, the Josie and the Pussycats movie was started. Now in their opinion it is not a bad movie, but I can't make a call on that one. By the time that movie was started, it was after midnight, and after many hours of movies and glasses of wine, I was fading and so were a few others, so we headed out to Metro to head home.
The party was fun, I got to meet some fun people. There was one guy that aggressively hit on me and I pretty much had to tell him to back off. I had to laugh at the end of the night because as he left Metro he said keep in touch...too bad he didn't get even an E-mail address from me. :-P
November 06, 2007
Toe Tapping Violation
Here's a photo of me dressed as Sgt. Dave Karsnia of the Minnesota Police for Halloween. He's the one who busted Senator Larry Craig in the now infamous airport bathroom.
It was taken at a party I was invited to the Saturday before Halloween. I took Joshua with me and we headed out to Ashburn VA to meet up with Dax, his hubby Rob, and a number of the folks that Dax works with.
I have to say, we had an awesome time there with a lot of great conversation, and of course, all the craziness that goes with a Halloween party. We were there until about 3 AM before finally heading home. I was being the DD that night, so no crazy alcoholic antics from me to report.
Actually, I saw a very good reason not to drink as I drove Joshua back to his house. Three lanes of the beltway were blocked off with emergency vehicles. As I drove by the clusterfuck of vehicles, I saw that they were all around an SUV that was flipped over in the middle of the beltway and all the windows were shattered. To complete the scene there was a beer box and cans of beer lying by the SUV as well. It suggests to me that it was a drunk driver, but I have been unable to confirm it. I searched the Washington Post, WTOP, NBC4 and other news sources trying to find any sort of a blurb about what happened, and of course there was nothing.
I hope everyone was okay.
July 16, 2007
Too much to do
This week is going to be a very busy week. I received a phone call yesterday that there were some 2 bdrm apartments opening up in our complex, and I could move into one either August 1 or Sept 13. Well if I were to take the August 1 date, it would mean having less than 2 weeks to pack everything up and move. That would be difficult even if I were living by myself because of work, GodSpell rehearsals, and other obligations.
So I told them I would move in September, that's great, of course, now comes the dreaded "Apartment Inspection." Basically they make sure nothing major is broken, and that the place is in decent shape. So that means I will be doing lots of cleaning over the next few days. I've already warned Mike he needs to step up to the plate and clean as well because I sure as hell am not doing it by myself. Already I've cleared out some of the boxes that were in the living room. There's stuff that's been there since Mike brought it down here that he hasn't touched. Well I went through them, kept the things of mine that I wanted to keep, consolidated his stuff, and put it in the bedroom. It's for him to deal with, not me. I also threw out a lot of crap that didn't need to be around. I am sure I will be throwing out more and more.
Actually the apartment is in decent shape, the big thing will be cleaning the carpet when we move everything out because it definitely needs to be done. Also, there is a scrape on the wall I need to cover up before Friday. I hope we pass inspection. At least we have a good rental history with this place.
I just want to have my own bedroom, I'm tired of sleeping in the living room. It will be nice to have my own bed and my own space to be in. My other plan is to set up my computer to connect to the wireless, then I won't have to keep it out in the living room. Honestly, as it is, I just want my stuff in my room, besides, I'm not here as often as I used to be.
Work is work as usual, finally there's some questions coming back from sponsors so I have those tasks to work on. Joshua and I are fine, we had a great time in Baltimore last weekend visiting our friends Dan and Rob, who were throwing a party. Much fun and drinking was to be had. Also, another guy I've talked with for a few years online, Jarrod, flew out to Baltimore so I got to meet him as well. Between him, and the awesome Laura, it was a party to remember.
Now it's after midnight, so time for bed.
So I told them I would move in September, that's great, of course, now comes the dreaded "Apartment Inspection." Basically they make sure nothing major is broken, and that the place is in decent shape. So that means I will be doing lots of cleaning over the next few days. I've already warned Mike he needs to step up to the plate and clean as well because I sure as hell am not doing it by myself. Already I've cleared out some of the boxes that were in the living room. There's stuff that's been there since Mike brought it down here that he hasn't touched. Well I went through them, kept the things of mine that I wanted to keep, consolidated his stuff, and put it in the bedroom. It's for him to deal with, not me. I also threw out a lot of crap that didn't need to be around. I am sure I will be throwing out more and more.
Actually the apartment is in decent shape, the big thing will be cleaning the carpet when we move everything out because it definitely needs to be done. Also, there is a scrape on the wall I need to cover up before Friday. I hope we pass inspection. At least we have a good rental history with this place.
I just want to have my own bedroom, I'm tired of sleeping in the living room. It will be nice to have my own bed and my own space to be in. My other plan is to set up my computer to connect to the wireless, then I won't have to keep it out in the living room. Honestly, as it is, I just want my stuff in my room, besides, I'm not here as often as I used to be.
Work is work as usual, finally there's some questions coming back from sponsors so I have those tasks to work on. Joshua and I are fine, we had a great time in Baltimore last weekend visiting our friends Dan and Rob, who were throwing a party. Much fun and drinking was to be had. Also, another guy I've talked with for a few years online, Jarrod, flew out to Baltimore so I got to meet him as well. Between him, and the awesome Laura, it was a party to remember.
Now it's after midnight, so time for bed.
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