Friday, October 24
Wednesday, September 24
I'm such a daddy's girl.
Monday, September 22
Monday, September 15
LEED and Whatnot....
It's been an insanely busy couple of months.
In late July I started studying with Carolyn and Tanya for theLEED Accredited Professional Exam, and this morning we took the test. It costs $300 each time you take it and has a 50% fail rate, so I was a little nervous, but all 3 of us were well prepared and passed with flying colors. *phew* T & C played hooky for the rest of the day, but it's a busy week for me, so I headed into the office after our celebratory lunch.
Jason and I have also been spending a lot of time practicing. We're doing the Adv./Pro strictly at VSO, because I heard the results from the Lindy divisions at Swing Fling a couple of months ago and thought "Where are all the people I know?". There are tons of great dancers in DC, and none of them are entering comps that are right in our backyard. So we're putting our money where our mouths are...or something. Whatever happens, I've been having fun practicing, and I'm in the best shape since I stopped competitive swimming at 17. Ten years ago.
Christ. That was a long time ago.
Sorry, I got sidetracked.
So yeah, swimming, dancing, getting lovely bruises while practicing airsteps. And that work thing. We've got a presentation for a project I'm working on at the ANC meeting on Wednesday night and FLB already got a call from some lady who's freaking out about zoning codes and height restrictions when the site is surrounded by 90-110' buildings.
Blurgh.
Oh well, It's late I should sleep. More soon, I hope.
In late July I started studying with Carolyn and Tanya for the
Jason and I have also been spending a lot of time practicing. We're doing the Adv./Pro strictly at VSO, because I heard the results from the Lindy divisions at Swing Fling a couple of months ago and thought "Where are all the people I know?". There are tons of great dancers in DC, and none of them are entering comps that are right in our backyard. So we're putting our money where our mouths are...or something. Whatever happens, I've been having fun practicing, and I'm in the best shape since I stopped competitive swimming at 17. Ten years ago.
Christ. That was a long time ago.
Sorry, I got sidetracked.
So yeah, swimming, dancing, getting lovely bruises while practicing airsteps. And that work thing. We've got a presentation for a project I'm working on at the ANC meeting on Wednesday night and FLB already got a call from some lady who's freaking out about zoning codes and height restrictions when the site is surrounded by 90-110' buildings.
Blurgh.
Oh well, It's late I should sleep. More soon, I hope.
Thursday, September 4
"Unnecessary" "Quotation" Marks
Friday, August 29
Omnivore's Hundred
OK, so I'm kind of a half-assed omnivore, but I am a pretty adventurous eater within my chosen parameters so I figured I'd give it a shot.
Here's how the game works:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini -- the drink and the food
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
Total: 62%
Not bad for someone who was strict ovo-lacto vegetarian for 8 years, and has not had red meat or poultry for the last 5.
Here's how the game works:
1) Copy this list into your blog or journal, including these instructions.
2) Bold all the items you’ve eaten.
3) Cross out any items that you would never consider eating.
4) Optional extra: Post a comment here at www.verygoodtaste.co.uk linking to your results.
1. Venison
2. Nettle tea
3. Huevos rancheros
4. Steak tartare
5. Crocodile
6. Black pudding
7. Cheese fondue
8. Carp
9. Borscht
10. Baba ghanoush
11. Calamari
12. Pho
13. PB&J sandwich
14. Aloo gobi
15. Hot dog from a street cart
16. Epoisses
17. Black truffle
18. Fruit wine made from something other than grapes
19. Steamed pork buns
20. Pistachio ice cream
21. Heirloom tomatoes
22. Fresh wild berries
23. Foie gras
24. Rice and beans
25. Brawn, or head cheese
26. Raw Scotch Bonnet pepper
27. Dulce de leche
28. Oysters
29. Baklava
30. Bagna cauda
31. Wasabi peas
32. Clam chowder in a sourdough bowl
33. Salted lassi
34. Sauerkraut
35. Root beer float
36. Cognac with a fat cigar
37. Clotted cream tea
38. Vodka jelly/Jell-O
39. Gumbo
40. Oxtail
41. Curried goat
42. Whole insects
43. Phaal
44. Goat’s milk
45. Malt whisky from a bottle worth £60/$120 or more
46. Fugu
47. Chicken tikka masala
48. Eel
49. Krispy Kreme original glazed doughnut
50. Sea urchin
51. Prickly pear
52. Umeboshi
53. Abalone
54. Paneer
55. McDonald’s Big Mac Meal
56. Spaetzle
57. Dirty gin martini
58. Beer above 8% ABV
59. Poutine
60. Carob chips
61. S’mores
62. Sweetbreads
63. Kaolin
64. Currywurst
65. Durian
66. Frogs’ legs
67. Beignets, churros, elephant ears or funnel cake
68. Haggis
69. Fried plantain
70. Chitterlings, or andouillette
71. Gazpacho
72. Caviar and blini
73. Louche absinthe
74. Gjetost, or brunost
75. Roadkill
76. Baijiu
77. Hostess Fruit Pie
78. Snail
79. Lapsang souchong
80. Bellini -- the drink and the food
81. Tom yum
82. Eggs Benedict
83. Pocky
84. Tasting menu at a three-Michelin-star restaurant.
85. Kobe beef
86. Hare
87. Goulash
88. Flowers
89. Horse
90. Criollo chocolate
91. Spam
92. Soft shell crab
93. Rose harissa
94. Catfish
95. Mole poblano
96. Bagel and lox
97. Lobster Thermidor
98. Polenta
99. Jamaican Blue Mountain coffee
100. Snake
Total: 62%
Not bad for someone who was strict ovo-lacto vegetarian for 8 years, and has not had red meat or poultry for the last 5.
Sunday, August 10
Saturday, August 9
Spore!
DJ got me to download the Spore Creature Creator trial last night. He has created a monster that...creates monsters.
I may just have to break down and buy the full version so that I am less limited in my flights of dancing creature fantasy.
Sunday, August 3
Saturday, August 2
Even lava is limited to 3oz. bottles...
sandy: but good news
WATER ON MARS
me: awesome
want to go in on a beach house up there?
sandy: let the mass exodus begin.
yeah dude
me: i hear it's alittle chilly
not the best for sunbathing
sandy: we can bring lava?
me: possibly
unless the TSA is in charge of space travel, too
in which case we could only bring 3 oz
fuck you, TSA!
we need lava, dammit
sandy: haha
me: awesome
sandy: next the TSA is like, your clothes can only be this thread count
YOU! TOO MANY THREADS
me: and then you'll only be able to wear natural fibers
because if you wear polyester and set it on fire, the fumes could make people sick
sandy: indeed
you could weave bio-death-cloth
and that would be no good
me: yeah
sandy: so only patchouli-rubbing hippies could ride planes
me: and no more luggage
sandy: but they hitchhike anyway
me: since the clothes in there could burn too
you have to travel gyspy-style with only the clothes on your back and a love of adventure
(but dont' mention your love of adventure while you're going through security, since it could be construed as a terrorist threat)
sandy: you'd also have to love having lights shined into your eyes
and getting wanded
me: heh
you said "getting wanded"
sandy: I did
me: [/beavis and butthead]
sandy: nice
Wednesday, July 30
Leading: ur doin' it wrong.
Tuesday night at the Jam Cellar must have been a little lead-heavy, because I got out on the floor and got asked to dance almost every song. There were a lot of newbies and a few pretty decent people in from out of town, plus Chance and Swifty, who both fall in the category of Completely Awesome.
I ended have a lot of nice but generally unremarkable dances during the time I was out on the floor and not hiding in the side room squeezing some extremely sweaty practice time in. One Very Nice Guy in particular, though, did something during our dance that just drives me insane. Now, in an attempt to take the edge off of the cattiness that will follow, I feel the need to point out that most of the dance was pleasant, he has a swingout that is better than many, and he seems to be a competent lead in general.
However, during the dance he attempted to lead what I can only assume must be a simple move, but I had absolutely no clue what he was on about. None. Even after it must have became clear to him that I just did not understand what he was trying to lead, he just kept trying to lead the same thing, in the exact same way, for multiple 8s, with me awkwardly stepping back and forth in weird semi-closed position without even the small blessing of a little breathing room so I could just vamp on the music a little until the Mystery Move was over. Afterwards, I thought "Gee, that was awkward. Glad it's over."
Then he did it again.
Same 'move' (I think...hard to tell when you don't know what it's supposed to be), same awkwardness, same me being extremely confused. I believe there may even have been a third and a fourth attempt, but at that point I was just too flabbergasted to count.
I don't claim to be the best dancer in the world. Hell, most of the time I'll play the modesty card and claim that I'm not actually all that good. But I have been dancing regularly for 9 years now, and I've become--at the very least--a solidly competent follow who can work her way through just about anything if it's lead clearly. I give newbies the benefit of the doubt by guessing what they're trying to lead and helping myself through it a smidge to keep the dance moving nicely when necessary. (Debating whether or not that's the right thing to do is something for another post, but most of the time, I find it makes everyone's night more pleasant.)
So if I don't get it at least enough to fake my way through, especially after multiple phrases, you're not fucking leading it right.
I don't mind when someone is trying out a new move, and the timing is a bit off the first time, so they do it again later in the dance. I do this with moves and styling all the time. But to have something be so completely incomprehensible, to the point where I can't even figure out what the move is supposed to be, and then to keep doing it over and over again? No bueno. It's uncomfortable for me, and it must be uncomfortable for the lead, so why continue?
None of the explanations I can come up with are very nice. Either he assumed that he had led it correctly and that I was dense, so he repeated it for my benefit, he was trying to correct his lead so that he could lead it in the future, or he just didn't notice that there was anything wrong. I think the last one is the saddest of the possibilities, and the first the most insulting to me, but whatever the reason, I hope I don't have to deal with this situation again any time in the near future.
I ended have a lot of nice but generally unremarkable dances during the time I was out on the floor and not hiding in the side room squeezing some extremely sweaty practice time in. One Very Nice Guy in particular, though, did something during our dance that just drives me insane. Now, in an attempt to take the edge off of the cattiness that will follow, I feel the need to point out that most of the dance was pleasant, he has a swingout that is better than many, and he seems to be a competent lead in general.
However, during the dance he attempted to lead what I can only assume must be a simple move, but I had absolutely no clue what he was on about. None. Even after it must have became clear to him that I just did not understand what he was trying to lead, he just kept trying to lead the same thing, in the exact same way, for multiple 8s, with me awkwardly stepping back and forth in weird semi-closed position without even the small blessing of a little breathing room so I could just vamp on the music a little until the Mystery Move was over. Afterwards, I thought "Gee, that was awkward. Glad it's over."
Then he did it again.
Same 'move' (I think...hard to tell when you don't know what it's supposed to be), same awkwardness, same me being extremely confused. I believe there may even have been a third and a fourth attempt, but at that point I was just too flabbergasted to count.
I don't claim to be the best dancer in the world. Hell, most of the time I'll play the modesty card and claim that I'm not actually all that good. But I have been dancing regularly for 9 years now, and I've become--at the very least--a solidly competent follow who can work her way through just about anything if it's lead clearly. I give newbies the benefit of the doubt by guessing what they're trying to lead and helping myself through it a smidge to keep the dance moving nicely when necessary. (Debating whether or not that's the right thing to do is something for another post, but most of the time, I find it makes everyone's night more pleasant.)
So if I don't get it at least enough to fake my way through, especially after multiple phrases, you're not fucking leading it right.
I don't mind when someone is trying out a new move, and the timing is a bit off the first time, so they do it again later in the dance. I do this with moves and styling all the time. But to have something be so completely incomprehensible, to the point where I can't even figure out what the move is supposed to be, and then to keep doing it over and over again? No bueno. It's uncomfortable for me, and it must be uncomfortable for the lead, so why continue?
None of the explanations I can come up with are very nice. Either he assumed that he had led it correctly and that I was dense, so he repeated it for my benefit, he was trying to correct his lead so that he could lead it in the future, or he just didn't notice that there was anything wrong. I think the last one is the saddest of the possibilities, and the first the most insulting to me, but whatever the reason, I hope I don't have to deal with this situation again any time in the near future.
Sunday, July 27
Well, it's Sunday night, so I guess I'm allowed to do the weekend wrap-up now.
DJ's been out of town since Wednesday, and I think this is the longest we've been apart since shortly after we started dating. I've always rather liked living alone, but it's weird to be in an apartment by yourself that you're used to sharing with someone. Luckily, I had plenty of activities planned, so I haven't really spent all that much time at home except for Wednesday night and most of today.
Thursday I had a hair appointment right after work, which took even longer than usual because we were experimenting with the shade of the blond and we had to tone it twice before we got the color we wanted. We also changed the location of the accent color a little bit, and it makes a surprisingly big difference. As usual, I had a great time hanging out with Bryan while he worked on making me extra-fierce, which is a plus when you spend 3 hours at a stretch in the salon. Afterwards I met up with Jason and Sandy for delicious Indian food at Jyoti in Adams Morgan and they came over and drank wine with me for a while.
Friday was an uneventful day at work, then home for a light workout, food and shower before heading out again to meet some work friends at Sequoia. I really hate that place (overpriced, overcrowded, and inconvenient to everywhere I hang out) but I was overruled by the yuppie work friends. The only saving grace was that it was a particularly nice night to be chilling outside on a patio by the river, and a few people who I don't get to see very often were out. After a while, several people walked up to M Street to grab a late dinner, but I headed towards more the familiar waters of the Black Cat for the Soulfuck dance party and was pleased to see Arnold working the point when I got there. He's a nice guy and a good bartender, plus it helps to have someone who knows you working at a place that gets as crowded as the Cat. A decent crew ended up showing up (minus Jason, who passed out while he was trying to get ready :P ) and we did a little dancing and a little booty shaking, and then I caught a ride home from Amber around 2:30.
I managed to drag myself out of bed around 11 on Saturday morning. I was definitely not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but a big mug of french press and homemade breakfast burritos with a side of tots went a long way towards putting me in a state to carry out the day's plans. Sandy was out of town this weekend, too, so Jason and I had made plans to run some errands together before we knocked out the rest of our choreography and hit a party over at Shereen's. We briefly debated skipping all of the aforementioned activities and catching a Chinatown bus up to NYC to see the Cangelosi Cards, but common sense won the day, and we stuck with the original plan.
I metroed up to Mount Pleasant and we completed the Ikea run. I had 5 or 6 pretty inexpensive things on my list, and ended up with $121 worth of stuff. Such is the blue and yellow box's insidious evil. On the plus side, we now have a whole bunch of the large wine glasses that we like, so we have plenty of backups for when DJ starts breaking them at his usual alarming rate.
Dance practice was next. First order of business was the fresh trick we've been working on for a while now. It's still getting better every time we work on it, and this time was the best yet despite me nearly punching Jason in the junk--twice. We'd been having some luck with the beginning for a while, but the end had eluded us. With a couple of tweaks, the end started flowing a lot better, and I'm confident that we'll have it pulled together for the Jam Cellar showcase on the 12th. We also finished up our choreography, and I think it's going to be a pretty sweet little routine. Now we just have to hope that there are going to be other people performing, otherwise it will will literally be the One-Minute Showcase (aka The Meg and Jason Show).
We then cleaned up, grabbed some food and gelato (mmmmm...gelato), then headed over to the party at Shereen's. It was nice to see her and Mike and Clare (her roommates) again, but it was a weird crowd and we didn't really end up mingling much. When we did, it was with the super queeny guy who just would not be convinced that there was absolutely nothing going on between me and Jason (funny at first...less funny 2 hours later), or the weird Scottish guy who was trying to convince us that Edinburgh is "the sticks". *snort* At around 2:30 Mike's little uber-'mo came down and told us that we had to leave, which was weird, but then Clare showed back up and was like "Fuck that guy! You guys should all stay!" So we hung out for a while longer, and finally started stumbling home around 4:15. I didn't feel like trying to catch a cab in Columbia Heights at that hour (near impossible), so I took J up on his offer of the futon and a ride home in the morning when he went out to Alexandria to teach.
I got home around noon today and have spent most of the day puttering around, putting away the stuff I got at Ikea yesterday, and generally recovering from the excitement of the previous 2 days.
Phew. I think I got tired again just writing about my weekend.
DJ's been out of town since Wednesday, and I think this is the longest we've been apart since shortly after we started dating. I've always rather liked living alone, but it's weird to be in an apartment by yourself that you're used to sharing with someone. Luckily, I had plenty of activities planned, so I haven't really spent all that much time at home except for Wednesday night and most of today.
Thursday I had a hair appointment right after work, which took even longer than usual because we were experimenting with the shade of the blond and we had to tone it twice before we got the color we wanted. We also changed the location of the accent color a little bit, and it makes a surprisingly big difference. As usual, I had a great time hanging out with Bryan while he worked on making me extra-fierce, which is a plus when you spend 3 hours at a stretch in the salon. Afterwards I met up with Jason and Sandy for delicious Indian food at Jyoti in Adams Morgan and they came over and drank wine with me for a while.
Friday was an uneventful day at work, then home for a light workout, food and shower before heading out again to meet some work friends at Sequoia. I really hate that place (overpriced, overcrowded, and inconvenient to everywhere I hang out) but I was overruled by the yuppie work friends. The only saving grace was that it was a particularly nice night to be chilling outside on a patio by the river, and a few people who I don't get to see very often were out. After a while, several people walked up to M Street to grab a late dinner, but I headed towards more the familiar waters of the Black Cat for the Soulfuck dance party and was pleased to see Arnold working the point when I got there. He's a nice guy and a good bartender, plus it helps to have someone who knows you working at a place that gets as crowded as the Cat. A decent crew ended up showing up (minus Jason, who passed out while he was trying to get ready :P ) and we did a little dancing and a little booty shaking, and then I caught a ride home from Amber around 2:30.
I managed to drag myself out of bed around 11 on Saturday morning. I was definitely not bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, but a big mug of french press and homemade breakfast burritos with a side of tots went a long way towards putting me in a state to carry out the day's plans. Sandy was out of town this weekend, too, so Jason and I had made plans to run some errands together before we knocked out the rest of our choreography and hit a party over at Shereen's. We briefly debated skipping all of the aforementioned activities and catching a Chinatown bus up to NYC to see the Cangelosi Cards, but common sense won the day, and we stuck with the original plan.
I metroed up to Mount Pleasant and we completed the Ikea run. I had 5 or 6 pretty inexpensive things on my list, and ended up with $121 worth of stuff. Such is the blue and yellow box's insidious evil. On the plus side, we now have a whole bunch of the large wine glasses that we like, so we have plenty of backups for when DJ starts breaking them at his usual alarming rate.
Dance practice was next. First order of business was the fresh trick we've been working on for a while now. It's still getting better every time we work on it, and this time was the best yet despite me nearly punching Jason in the junk--twice. We'd been having some luck with the beginning for a while, but the end had eluded us. With a couple of tweaks, the end started flowing a lot better, and I'm confident that we'll have it pulled together for the Jam Cellar showcase on the 12th. We also finished up our choreography, and I think it's going to be a pretty sweet little routine. Now we just have to hope that there are going to be other people performing, otherwise it will will literally be the One-Minute Showcase (aka The Meg and Jason Show).
We then cleaned up, grabbed some food and gelato (mmmmm...gelato), then headed over to the party at Shereen's. It was nice to see her and Mike and Clare (her roommates) again, but it was a weird crowd and we didn't really end up mingling much. When we did, it was with the super queeny guy who just would not be convinced that there was absolutely nothing going on between me and Jason (funny at first...less funny 2 hours later), or the weird Scottish guy who was trying to convince us that Edinburgh is "the sticks". *snort* At around 2:30 Mike's little uber-'mo came down and told us that we had to leave, which was weird, but then Clare showed back up and was like "Fuck that guy! You guys should all stay!" So we hung out for a while longer, and finally started stumbling home around 4:15. I didn't feel like trying to catch a cab in Columbia Heights at that hour (near impossible), so I took J up on his offer of the futon and a ride home in the morning when he went out to Alexandria to teach.
I got home around noon today and have spent most of the day puttering around, putting away the stuff I got at Ikea yesterday, and generally recovering from the excitement of the previous 2 days.
Phew. I think I got tired again just writing about my weekend.
Thursday, July 24
I Welcome My New Google Overlords....
Well, it's not new, really.
I just figured that since I have Gmail and use Google Documents and Video constantly, I have the rest of my life plugged in to Google, so I might as well move my much-neglected blog over here, too. Maybe if it's neatly grouped with everything else I use all the time, I'll actually update it more often. We'll see.
What prompted this?
I was reading through some of my old LJ blog posts while trying to figure out what date DJ's and my dating anniversary should really be on (neither of us remember for sure, so I guess it's not that important), and it was really interesting. Posts about my bike accident, now-ex roommate/friend and certified crazy person, the beginnings of me and DJ, and the period of time not too long after I moved to DC and started hanging with many of the people who I now count among my best friends.
The past couple years haven't been very well-documented, but I'm hoping to change that in the future, and possibly entertain a couple of people along the way.
If anyone besides me is actually reading this, that is.
I just figured that since I have Gmail and use Google Documents and Video constantly, I have the rest of my life plugged in to Google, so I might as well move my much-neglected blog over here, too. Maybe if it's neatly grouped with everything else I use all the time, I'll actually update it more often. We'll see.
What prompted this?
I was reading through some of my old LJ blog posts while trying to figure out what date DJ's and my dating anniversary should really be on (neither of us remember for sure, so I guess it's not that important), and it was really interesting. Posts about my bike accident, now-ex roommate/friend and certified crazy person, the beginnings of me and DJ, and the period of time not too long after I moved to DC and started hanging with many of the people who I now count among my best friends.
The past couple years haven't been very well-documented, but I'm hoping to change that in the future, and possibly entertain a couple of people along the way.
If anyone besides me is actually reading this, that is.
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