29 February 2008

Them's My Boys!

In today's Weekend section of The Washington Post, NightLife covers late-night eats around the city. And, lo and behold, there featured in the third picture in the slideshow are my boys Mark and Charlie! To quote Charlie, "How glam and tragic at the same time."

True that, my friend. True that.

Royals At War

Okay. First, WOOF! Second, good for him. Third, shame on the media for reporting the story.

I do understand the need to know, but this really isn't something that is a need to know. Perhaps the fact the he was serving overseas was something of which people should be aware, but what and where exactly should have been handled as TOP SECRET information. Whoever leaked this should be prosecuted.

Or maybe that's just me.

28 February 2008

Thank You, Daddy! May I Have Another?

I'm sorry but I don't buy the results of this analysis. I would venture to guess that the majority of my generation was subjected to some form of corporal punishment in our childhood. (What is the plural of childhood? Childhood? Childhoods? Childrenhood?) But I doubt that the majority of that majority turned out to be kinky sex fiends. Hell, the fastest way to turn me off is to get rough with me. (Not that you needed to know that.)

26 February 2008

All I Wanted Was A Cup O' Joe

How difficult is it to make coffee? For some people, it's difficult enough that it requires three hours of additional training.

*sigh*

Here, I'll make it simple for you.
      Coffee Instructions:

      1 12-cup filter drip coffee maker.
      1 coffee filter.
      12 cups of cold water.
      4 tablespoons of ground coffee beans, not instant.

      1. Open lid.
      2. Place coffee filter into coffee maker filter basket.
      3. Pour ground coffee into coffee filter.
      4. Pour water into coffee maker water reservoir.
      5. Close lid.
      6. Make sure that pitcher is placed securely underneath the drip.
      7. Turn on coffee maker.
      8. When coffee has finished dripping into pitcher, serve hot in coffee mug. Add sweetener and creamer to taste.

        Total time = 10 minutes.

There. Now you know more than some people.

25 February 2008

Things Will Be Better When ...

How did you finish that sentence?

Write it down and take a good, long look at it. Think about it. Meditate on it. Take your time with it.

Do you honestly believe what you wrote?

You do?

Really?

I want you to take another moment now. Think about the last time you thought "things will be better when ...".

Did things get better?

They did?

Well ...

... if they did ...

... why is it that you're still looking toward "when"?

A Long Week

And where have you been, Mr. Man? HMM?!

Yes, I've been a bit MIA the past week. There had been a lot on my plate, mentally and emotionally, which left no room for creative writing. But we're back now ... mostly ... and I'll have a few semi-important things to say in the coming days.

And if you're good boys and girls, I might have something later today for you. If not, it's off to bed without dessert for you.

15 February 2008

Like, Total Randomness, Y'know?

  1. I am treated far too kindly by people who barely know me.
  2. I love my ex and am saddened that we find ourselves where we are today.
  3. There is too much unsettlement in my life at the moment.
  4. Waiting for other things to happen so I can proceed sucks (and not in a good way).
  5. Mario Spinetti rocks my socks. (Hey, Mario, where's the full-length album already?)
  6. I still hate exercising. Cardio sucks. (But waiting still sucks more.)
  7. Jim Zorn? Okay, if you say so. We'll see how that works out. At least I have something to be excited about right now.
  8. I'm already hoping that Obama wins the White House so that, after his first veto, I can start using my newly coined term ... Barak-ade©! (As in, the latest bill passed by Congress was Barak-aded© by the White House.)

I'm Shocked. Are You Shocked?

"Remember all that stuff I said on Wednesday? Well, it wasn't exactly what I meant. What I meant was ..."

14 February 2008

The Populist Mayor Comes Around

I would love to know what prompted this shift in position at the mayor's office. Don't get me wrong, I have been a supporter of this idea from the beginning and have always thought that it would be good for the city, for D.C. United, and for the residents of Ward 8. But Mayor Fenty had been so adamantly against using public funding for private stadiums ... well, it just makes me wonder.

Happy St. Valentine's Day

Image taken from here

12 February 2008

The Potomac Primary


Hopefully all of you Republicans and Democrats are out there pulling levers, pushing buttons, and marking exes in blood on your ballots. Those of us who are not affiliated to either party are, unfortunately, left to watch the election process at this point.

(No, I will not register for any party that does not share the bulk of my ideals just so I can whittle a number of candidates down to one. I'll wait until the general election, thank you very much.)

I only ask one favor of you who do get to vote ... please don't screw this up for the rest of us.

Happy voting!

05 February 2008

Why I Hate why.i.hate.dc

Once upon a time, I happened across a blog site. This blog site was written by a fellow tagged "James F." and he dedicated his corner of the web to being critical of the District. What made his blog readable was his sense of humor, his wry observations, and his wit. More often than not his tirades pissed me off (because I happen to love D.C.) yet I could not help but chuckle at his posts.

"James F." has since moved on to other places (Seattle, to be specific) and, after an extensive auditioning period, he passed his mantle on to a new blogger. This new blogger, "Rusty", would maintain the venom, wit, and humor that readers had come to expect from the blog site, "James F." reassured his readers.

"Rusty" is the anti-"James F.", as it turns out. He has no sense of humor. His posts lack wit. Most of the time, "Rusty" displays the cynicism that often creeps into District transplants after a few years.

why.i.hate.dc has become quite painful to read. It seems that "Rusty" posts just to have something to complain about, without applying any time to find the humor in things that "James F." showed. A good example would be the most recent post about the Washington Post employees who are currently running a campaign against the paper to shame it into acting fairly in regards to wages, raises, and pensions. "Rusty" is upset about how the Farragut North Metro Station is plastered with WashingtonPostUnfair.com advertisements. That's it. No snarky comments. No sharp retorts. Just wholesale bitching. A missed opportunity, if you ask me (which you didn't).

How is that remotely entertaining?

Most of the comments on the site since "Rusty" took over have been about how the site has gone downhill and how "Rusty" should just shut up. Personally, I think "Rusty" should keep blogging. Cry-baby whining aside, he does point out some things that should be pointed out.

But I also think he should spend a day watching this man to see how complaining should be done.

01 February 2008

Rainy Day Metro (Or, My Underwater Adventure)

I take Metrobus to and from work every day. When probable, I take Metrobus to get into the city proper. I do this for three different reasons:
  1. It saves gas and wear-and-tear on my car.
  2. The Metrorail station is too far to walk.
  3. A Metrobus stop is right in front of my building.
I generally don't have any complaints about the bus. It's been fairly reliable (although a bit erratic during non-rush hours) and, in my experience, been fairly clean and safe.

But the ride home from work today was different. My bus was ... how shall we say ... not up to snuff. I understand that Metrobus funding, even more so than Metrorail funding, leaves much to be desired. I understand that some buses in the Metrobus fleet are a bit long in the tooth. But when, on a rainy day such as today, the bus is leakier than the Bush Administration ... well, I think it's time to retire that bus.

I submit to you the following for evidence:

PEOPLE'S EXHIBIT A
Notice how the metal bar is rusted and pulling from the roof. This, my friends, is the breach in the bus. This is the origin of the waterfall. This is dangerous.

PEOPLE'S EXHIBIT B
See that white streak along the left side of the blue roof (near the hand hold)? Water!

I know what you're thinking. So what? So water's dripping from the ceiling. At points it was just dripping. At other points it was ... um ... more than dripping. Which leads us to ...

PEOPLE'S EXHIBIT C
These seats were across-ish from me. Both seats, if you look closely, have pools of water in them. I counted about 11 seats on the bus with such pools of water, making them unusable. This bus had 1/3 of the seats unusable on a busy bus during rush hour. Unacceptable!

And just so that you can see more clearly for yourselves, here, my final exhibit, is a closer look at one of these seats.

PEOPLE'S EXHIBIT D
This was one of the smaller pools. You would seriously need a squeegee and a beach towel to dry these seats off enough to make them useable for passengers.

Seriously, Metro, let's do something about this, huh? I know Metrorail gets most of the love, but you've got a large ridership on Metrobus too. How's about you not forget about us people either?