I Apologize

The actual quote of the month spoken to Agie:

"I was with you on the penis until I saw crossed legs".

Second Favorite Quote of the Day

"Drug dealers need to eat too."

Quote of the Day

"Why are there no homeless people?" in response to not finding anyone to give our dinner leftovers to.

Kite Fights and Bruin Ball

Saturday I met XM at his place and we walked down to the mall for the annual kite festival. We stopped for a quick lunch at an Indian restaraunt we both have been wanting to try and then headed to the festival. It was really neat. All around the Monument were 100s of kites of all shapes and sizes. I had warned him that I turn about 5 years old around stuff like this (also see: fireworks, etc.) and I didn't disappoint.

We walked around looking at the different kites, sat for a bit and then headed over to the WWII memorial because he hadn't been there yet (how's that for taking your city for granted?) and then headed back through the kites. We were about to leave when I heard an announcer saying something about kite fights. We had to stay! It turned out to be pretty exciting to watch. Very fun.

Later that night Jim and I watched the UCLA/Memphis game which is quite possibly the worst display of bball I have ever seen. After the embarrassment that was the game we headed to a party out in the burbs. Very odd group of people. We left pretty quickly after arriving.

25 Years

Today is the 25th anniversary of the shooting of Reagan. I was but a young lass of 7 when it happened but I can remember it like it was yesterday.

I was in second grade and had just got my first pair of glasses. Our teacher had us all write letters to Ronnie and to prove that I don't hate all Republican presidents I will share that my teacher suggested that 13 reallys was plenty when saying I really (xs 13) hoped he got better soon. Who would have thought 25 years later I would be living down the street from the Hinkley Hilton?

Album of the Day

James Hunter - People Gonna Talk

Perfect album for a beautiful Spring day. You can't be in a bad mood listening to this. Unless you don't like Van Morrisson, Sam Cooke, etc. then I suppose this would put you in a bad mood. But seeing as how I'm a sucker for horns and a good rhythm section this album rocks.

Pink Elephants and Dumbo

We've been discussing pink elephants this afternoon and a few people who are usually very informed had no recollection of the pink elephants on parade scene in Dumbo (for a refresher or an introduction, click above). Now, I may be more familiar with it than most because whenever my cousins from up North would come down to visit they would want to watch Dumbo over and over and over and over and well, you get the point. Looking back, I can't really fault them - they weren't allowed to watch television or movies - but would a little diversity have hurt them? I can't tell you how many episodes of A-Team my brother and I had to sacrifice for those younger cousins.

Friday

Melissa and I hung out Friday night which was a fun time. We both realized halfway in that it was the first time we had done something together without anyone else along. Luckily we like each other. DC 9 was having a listening party for the new cd of a band she really likes (Mates of State) so we had a few drinks, listened to some good music and chatted. She has always been a really fun girl to hang with but Friday night I found out we actually have a lot in common and we touched on some pretty serious stuff too. It was a very enjoyable night and hopefully we will do it again soon.

Song for the Afternoon

One Thing - Finger Eleven.

Ron asked this afternoon if I had this song along with some others. I didn't know what song he was talking about (I immediately thought of the INXS song) until I heard it and realized I love this song. I can't figure out where I've heard it - must be a movie trailor or some slo-mo, cheesy, heart-tugging montage at the end of some TV show. Give a sister a hand and tell me if you know where I've heard it. Thanks!

Things That Are Keeping Me Up Tonight

Literally, these are the thoughts that I am thinking as I try to fall asleep. In no particular order. God help me.

1. What games am I going to get when we divvy up our Nats seats next week?

2. Why does my cat nap all evening and then decide to run around like a bat outta Hell right when I am going to bed?

3. I am honestly 95% happy with my life right now. Not too shabby. Especially considering the 5% is being worked on.

4. My chances of going to Brazil are looking better and better. Still not getting my hopes up too high.

5. Thinking about this weekend and how I am going to fit in naps (still not 100% better). I'm going out tomorrow night, lunch date with XM Sat, party Sat night with XM's ex and others, movie and drinks Sun. I'm tired just thinking about it. One would think I would be able to sleep but no.

6. I am really far too impressed with my 'plumbing' work earlier this evening. Granted, I've always been pretty mechanically inclined...much to the dismay of my mother coming upon my brother and me taking something apart (always his idea mom). It didn't hurt having a very strong, independent grandmother who helped raise me and a grandfather who encouraged us to learn how things work (see above reference to taking things apart). Also growing up fairly poor really teaches you to fix things and do things on your own rather than call someone to do it for you.

7. I miss my grandparents every day. No exaggeration. Something makes me think of one or both of them every day. And every day I appreciate having had them in my life more and more. They were truly amazing, wonderful people and I can only hope that I am 1/2 what they were.

8. I wonder if I will ever get to hold a panda.

9. Whatever happened to Paul Reiser?

10. If train A is travel...just kidding.

11. I want to learn to play accoustic guitar this year. I am fairly confident I can teach myself. I'll keep you posted.

12. I think I could be okay never seeing Paris or London if I got to see Moscow and parts of Africa.

13. I really like the people I work with for the most part and for that I am thankful.

14. How did 'Paint the Silence' get stuck in my head?

15. I would love to be asleep right now. Tomorrow is going to drag.

Plan B the Plumber

My showerhead has been giving out less than stellar water pressure the entire 2 years I have lived here (I have always blamed the low-flow feature on it) but recently it has been near non-existant to the point where it takes me a good 5 minutes to get the shampoo out of my hair. Ridiculous!

I mentioned to Ron at lunch that I need to buy a new one and he suggested I just take it apart and remove the gravel buildup that was most likely the culprit of my lessening water flow. When I mentioned it was low-flow he also told me I should just remove that device while I had it apart. I *heart* him!

I got a pipe wrench and headed home to tackle my shower head. Turns out all I needed was some needle nose pliers. The head came off relatively easily and I was able to remove the gravel buildup with no difficulty. Still bad pressure so I took it upon myself to dismantle it and see what would happen. I ended up not breaking it and with enough power to rinse my hair in seconds. All of this without an astronomical bill or plumber's crack! I'm stoked.

Last Night

Jim and I haven't seen each other for weeks (I was gone on trips and then he was) so it was great to catch up with him last night. We ordered Chinese and watched The OC from last week that he had missed. I really miss him when he's not around and evidently he misses me so it was wonderful spending time with him. We will probably be hanging out this weekend as well - some sort of party that will likely turn out to be another odd evening given the track record of the person throwing it...I'm a bit leery but have signed up regardless.

Some interesting news I found out yesterday - I may get to do some international travel for work this summer. I'm trying not to get too excited about it until it's finalized...and I don't want to jinx it by talking about it too much...but if it does work out it would be an amazing opportunity to see a place I've been wanting to go for a long time. Keep your fingers crossed for me :)

Colbert Report

There is something about Steven Colbert that is attractive. I can't put my finger on it but am going to chalk it up to his sarcasm and intelligent wit. It isn't all the time but take his show last night. He was interviewing Connie Chung (click above for link to video) and she asked what he looks like without his glasses. So he whipped them off and ... Oh crap. I just realized he reminds me of my friend Mark...it was the glasses thing. In French class in high school (was it senior year Mark?) M. Mason had us do commercials en francaise of course. We decided to do our version of the International House coffee commercials. Mark and I were a couple in front of a fireplace (no fire but I'm pretty sure we put something in it - help me out Mark). In one take he whipped his glasses off while he said his line and it was quite possibly the funniest thing I had seen up to that point.

Laughing now at the memory...Colbert not so sexy now that I think of Mark when I look at him though. No offense to Mark. I'm told he is attractive, I just haven't ever thought of him in that way.

Meow

I have fallen in love all over again and I blame XM. I had completely gotten over my unrequited (only because we haven't met) love for Josh Charles. But now, after spending hours with him and Sports Night over the past few days, I am once again a smitten kitten. I think I may have to start going to more O's games now that I know he is from Baltimore.... He is the near perfect man. If only he was taller than 5'11".

Brunch and Bach

Breaking News - I totally overdid it this weekend. I called in sick to Angie last weekend for the New Order v. Duran Duran dance off at the Black Cat so when I should have done the same today I couldn't.

A friend of hers from undergrad is in a touring musical group and they were here in DC today performing Bach and Vivaldi. We got there right on time after meeting for brunch. Turns out we should have got there early. Who knew a free concert at the National Academy of Sciences on a Sunday afternoon would fill up? We hung out in the foyer with the 50 other people who underestimated the city's love of classical movements and concertos. They were piping the music so we could at least listen to her friend sing his solo.
We met up with him later and she was able to say hi and catch up.

It was a great afternoon with one of my favorite friends and I am paying for it now. So sleepy and run down....and the damn Sopranos made me cry.

Another Saturday Night

After my doctor visit yesterday which went well, spot on my lung is getting smaller yay, I went home, took a nap and thought about whether or not I wanted to go to the Matt Pond PA concert. I decided I did because I really like the guy so next step was finding someone to go with since I had cancelled the scheduled date earlier in the week due to the whole walking pneumonia thing.

Katie ended up being the lucky girl. She's a good friend. We met up at Dukem's, the city's best Ethiopian restaurant, and had dinner with her roommate and two of his friends from TN. Really fun time. Her roommate is a really funny guy who pretty much says what is on his mind. Good times.

We walked over to the 930 Club and just as we got to the coat check (one of God's many gifts to us) Melissa and Chris walked up and said hello. It was great to see them and we spent a minute catching up. The first band tried really hard to be something different than every other non-offensive band out there. Luckily they didn't play too much longer. Melissa came over to chat in between bands which was great. I really like her and am so glad she and I have been able to cultivate a friendship outside of who we are dating. After some time she wisely decided to rejoin the group she was with, which included the person I met her through and some of his friends I used to know (more on that later).

Katie and I are pretty tall girls and we were both wearing heels so the concert was great. We had a completely unobstructed view of the stage and had a bit of convo about how we just can't feel any compassion for short people at concerts. I usually try to not stand in front of uber short people but other than that my thought is deal.

When he announced last song we headed to coat check to beat the rush and I inadvertently picked what turned out to be a bad route. Walked right smack dab through the ex's group of friends. I discovered this because I looked up, saw a friend of his that I had done numerous things with during the 11 months, said "hey" very nicely because that is what you do in that circumstance and got a really rude, bitchy head nod "hey" in return. Okay then. Good to know that's how it is being played.

Melissa came and caught us at the coat check, said goodbye, hugged and made sure we are going to do something in the future. Katie and I walked down to Local 16 (the site of her first date with Peter and mine with XM) for a beverage since the night was still young. We had fun chatting and then both headed home.

Ryan caught me as I was almost home and somehow managed to get me to turn around and meet him out for a bit. I made it for one drink before pulling the plug but it was nice to see him.

Soul Beat & English Asylum

Wait, that isn't right. Went to the 930 Club last night for a double bill of Soul Asylum and English Beat. So much fun! I actually had energy for the first time in a week so I was able to enjoy myself. XM and I met for dinner before heading to the show. I have a good time with him. Conversation never feels forced. I wouldn't be surprised if we ended up friends.

We got there after Soul Asylum had started. I was relieved to see we were nowhere near the oldest people there which was a welcome change. Treat of all treats - Tommy Stinson was playing bass. For those of you not in the know, he was one of the founding members of The Replacements....at age 12.

English Beat rocked of course. They are always so much fun and sound great even in their 50's and without Rankin' Roger. They didn't have a set list at all which made the concert more fun somehow. Good times.

I walked XM home this morning on my way to the dr (which is where I am now, waiting to get my follow up chest x-ray) and am looking forward to going home and taking a nap. Not entirely certain if I am going to go to the concert tonight. I don't know if I should push my luck going out twice before I am completely better. I will make the decision post nap and x-ray.

I Don't Need You To Talk

Vin Diesel makes sounding dumb hot. He blushes whenever he gets asked about dating and makes sure to talk about his mom in almost every interview. I wonder if he is actually somewhere near intelligent. After all, he is working on a movie about Hanibal to be filmed in 3 languages. I wonder if that would make him hotter. Mmmmm...hotter Vin Diesel.

Moms and Dr.s Are Always Right

I totally should not have gone into work today. I am feeling worse than I did this morning, but still better than yesterday so I guess I am still ahead of the game. I will be staying home tomorrow.

Good news is I will get to watch seasons one and two of Sports Night thanks to some thoughtful courriering by XM. He had planned to bring it by my place but I threw a wrench into his plans by going to the office. So he had a messenger bring it to my office as a surprise with a nice little note inside. When I thanked him, all he said was 'You’re welcome.  You’ll find I’m very strong on thoughtful acts that require no cost or effort on my part.'

XM story 2 of the day (I promise this will not be a daily fixture): out of the blue, today Matt invited me to a party Saturday night that is being thrown by XM's ex's friends of all people. What are the chances? DC is turning into a very small city.

I've Got Cabin Fever

I am going into work tomorrow against the advice of both my doctor and my mother the nurse because I am going crazy. So not good at this stay home sick thing. Mad About You, Knight Rider and Sin City aside, the lack of anything even resembling good television is definitely compounding this insanity. And before you hassle the hoff, I loved that show as a kid. Plus it was either that or the Golden Girls and I am neither a gay man nor 80.

XM (new name for the ex guy - his name starts with M; if you don't like it come up with something better) checked on me a couple times today and offered up some quality viewing along the lines of Sports Night and News Radio. I'm still feeling like crap, haven't showered for two days and am vain so I didn't take him up on the offer but he definitely won points for the offered effort and taste in tv shows :)

I've talked more about the sitch with Jim, who has been checking in on me from CA, and I'm getting more concerned with the position this has the possibility of putting him in. He keeps saying he knows nothing and that will be the story I stick to as well. Plus it isn't like he had anything to do with the set up. XM had my email from awhile ago. Still afraid of possible repercussions especially if this turns out to be just a fun spring fling. I'm taking my meds and going to bed.

At Least It Isn't TB

I have had a head cold for about a week and a half now. After the wedding weekend it had moved from my head to my chest and I developed a pretty nasty sounding cough. I was going to see the doctor last week but my coworker was out and we were hideously busy. I took it easy this weekend but still woke up this morning with a fever over 101. So I emailed in sick and got an appointment for the afternoon.

Turns out I have walking pneumonia. I feel as though I have been beaten, my body is on fire and I get tired walking from room to room. My temp is still pretty high and I've been sleeping all day even with the shot he gave me and both meds. Figures this would happen when the weather is so incredibly nice outside.

Almost Too Cute

He had an appointment yesterday morning so we walked out of his place together, kissed goodbye and exchanged some fun banter before walking in opposite directions. I'd gone about 100 feet when my phone rang. It was him (EBoFoaF - I need to come up with a better moniker if this sticks) so I answered with "you can't possibly miss me already". He laughed and explained that protocol is to call the next day but since he wasn't sure what the next day was in this case he was calling then. We chatted for a bit and said goodbye after letting each other know again what a good time we had with each other.

Normally something like that would make me roll my eyes but in this case, it was really cute and sweet and unexpected and it made me smile to have someone go out of their way to tell me they enjoyed my company. It has been a long time.

Outside Drinks

So it turned into a date. I had a really great time and am a bit unsure how I want to procede from here. We had arranged to go to a concert this weekend before the night turned datey so I do know we're going on a date this weekend. My concerns are these:

1. He ended a 2 1/2 year relationship right about the time I ended my shorter one.

2. The girl he dated is a really good friend of Jim's. I talked to Jim about it who intentionally didn't ask questions when he found out I stayed the night (nothing more than some kissing people - get your minds out of the gutter). He said no when I said I would walk away in a second if he wanted, but he doesnt want to know what is going on which is understandable.

My main concern is my friend so I will play it by ear. I don't know that this is going to go anywhere so I shouldn't worry about it too much I guess.

Is This Okay?

I just got an email from the ex of a good friend of a good friend asking me if I want to drink outside somewhere. My first response was "yes. heavily. now." but that's just because of the day I'm having. I don't think it would be odd to grab a drink and hang out on a patio with him - I hear it's absolutely beautiful outside and I will hopefully get out of here before I have to be back tomorrow morning. But then I started thinking about it wondering if it was okay. It's not like it's a date, right? I can't imagine he knows I am single since I haven't seen him since,I don't know, October? Granted I wasn't very happy at that point and it became kind of a joke that night but I can't imagine he is asking as anything other than friends. I don't even know what I would do if he was. Hopefully I won't have to think about it. It's okay that I go, right?

Fridays Are Supposed To Be Fun

Big stuff in little DC. We got a heads up yesterday afternoon about something airing tonight and our office has been in full speed since. To say it's been stressful around here would be an understatement. At least we're all laughing and having fun, well as much as possible given that we all have to work tomorrow for an as yet to be determined amount of time. Did I mention we're having our first nice weekend in forever? Yeah. Woo. Hoo. I did get a newfangled Blackberry - very, very sad that THIS is the highlight of my day. Sigh.

Song of the Day

Landed - Ben Folds

I've always been a sucker for musicians, especially folically and/or optically impaired ones for some unexplainable reason (See: Midnight Oil, Weezer). That said, Ben Folds has been a mainstay in my playlist rotation for quite some time (seeing as how he's both). No one else rocks the suburbs quite like him. Landed is one of his newest songs - the poignant lyrics kick ass plus the piano, as always, is beyond high quality. Enjoy.

Have You People Ever Seen A Chicken?

Chaw! Chee Chaw! Chee Chaw! This cracks me up everytime.

Weekend Update(s)

I'm going to try to post *brief* write-ups of the weekends I've been remiss in posting about. Here goes.

February 17 - 20
Birthday and Bachelorette Bacchanal Bashes.
Friday was Angie's birthday party. All us ladies went in knowing we needed to take it easier than usual because Heather's bachelorette was the next night. I didn't listen to my own advice. Shocking, I know. It was a really great time with Cuban food and karaoke. Okay, the karaoke wasn't great (there is a reason none of us are famous singers - I did not partake btw) but the conversation and company were. Mojitos and wine flowed and I got home about 1 am. Thankfully I slept in (10 am) that next morning and recovered in plenty of time to meet the girls at 7 for dinner. We met up at Rumba Cafe which (aside from being a near perfect first date restaurant) is a great place for Central/South American food and drink (caipirinhas, mojitos and pisco sours). The 8 or so of us had a nice, two 1/2 hour dinner and headed out for dancing. The Black Cat kicked us out around 2:30 am and we headed over to an after hours club that only lasted another 45 minutes or so. The five of us remaining didn't feel like we could let Heather go home before the sun came up so it was off for Bloody Marys, steak and eggs. Unfortunately, it was too late for Bloody Marys so we ate, had a great time until about 4:45 and headed home (this is where the "Oh wait, there's more" story comes into play). I woke up at nine, couldn't go back to sleep and ended up going to a noon lunch/movie with Agie. I was hurting to say the least. Can't recall what I did the rest of Sunday and Monday. Hmm.

February 23-27
Concerts and The Vegas.
Thursday was The Fray concert at the 9:30 Club and my first post-breakup run in with Paul. It was weird. 'Nuff said. Angie and I had a great time. Friday was The Dan Band concert with Agie, Melissa and Melissa's sister (twins, but you would never guess it). Agie and I met up first to grab a bite to eat and a beer and sat with a table of guys that had been drinking pretty much since lunch. I gave one of them most of my dinner - he needed it more, trust me. The concert was beyond fun. We ended up meeting these two guys (Pat and some jackhole brother of a friend of his) who Agie and I hung with most of the night and grabbed drinks with after the show. Nice to know my ability to attract young, 20-something, freakishly tall, attractive boys hasn't diminished. He even gave me his number. Too cute. I got home sometime around 2 am and started packing for my 6 am flight. Which was cancelled. Totally. Sucked. Went home, took a nap and got on a noonish flight. Got into Vegas around 6:30 and met up with Debby at the circle bar at Hard Rock where we were staying where we met some guys who had just won $40,000 (not sure if they had all their teeth - we are lucky, lucky women). Went up to the room, refreshed and had dinner at Simon's, cocktails at the circle bar where we met these guys straight from the movie "Hitch". There were about 45 of them there on a field trip with their instructors. We caught on after the second guy came up with pretty much the same opening line. Odd to say the least. Then we headed to Body English for more drinking and dancing. We got pulled into a booth and spent most of the night with a group of people who had been out in LA and decided flying to Vegas for the night sounded like a good idea. Fun times. Debby went up to the room earlier than I did and I met some more interesting people. Included were the older brother, twins and quadruplets all from the same parents without fertility drugs. Crazy. I've never had so many married men hit on me in my entire life - and I live in DC. Moving on. I got to the room around 11 am I think....went to sleep, woke up to Debby eating a BLT, ate 1/2, went back to sleep and woke up for good around 5:30 pm. At this point neither of us were feeling a pressing need to get out of our pjs and get pretty so we decided to stay in, order room service and watch movies and TV. It was great. We both left that weekend feeling like we'd been at a spa we were so relaxed.

The wedding really deserves it's own post so I will end this lengthy one here.

Songs of the Flights

iTunes loves me - always knows what I am in the mood to hear. I generally make playlists for any trip I am going on and didn't have time this go about given that I was only home for three days between trips and most of those three days were spent working and doing the wedding cds. There was a date thrown in, but we'll get to that later. Maybe. Moving on. I put my pod on shuffle on the way to and from Nassau and my ears were delighted to hear, among other songs:

1. Last Stop: This Town - The Eels
2. My Town - Armor for Sleep
3. Miracles - Michael Tolcher

I have had all of these songs for a long time. I forget about 2 and 3 so it was a nice little reminder of some good music that I hardly ever listen to, but 1 is one of my favorite songs and I have loved it for going on seven years now. Not sure why, but it makes me happy every time I hear it and I really needed that on the way there Friday. I was originally supposed to be going on a nice, romantic getaway and instead was heading out solo to a destination wedding in a romantic setting with mostly couples. Yay. I wasn't sad, but I wasn't looking forward to the weekend as much as I have in the past. I did a lot of thinking on the flight and on the beach and came to the conclusion that I had a way better time alone than I would have if someone had gone with. Not because I wouldn't have had fun with the guy, but because I would have been constantly wondering/worried that he wasn't having a good time which would have impeded on my having a good time. Which I did. It was a completely great weekend from start to finish.

I'm Back!

Okay - I'm back from my globe-trotting adventures and will spend time as soon as I can updating you guys on the escapades. Was planning on doing some of it from Nassau, but the Blackberry wasn't working down there (darn....). In short, the wedding and trip were awesome, Vegas was a ton of fun and I feel like I've had a month's vacation. Ahhh....amazing what sun, sand and good friends will do for your mental well-being.