Vibrant.(Still) Unrepentant. Badass. Old. Queer

Hurray for Dead Ex-Presidents! Our Project Officer has allowed us to close on Tuesday! Woo hoo! 4 day weekend! Yippee!!! And, I may just shut down the hotline a little early today too. I deserve it :-) Hope you all have a Merry New Year! A fabulicious 2007! And, I'll type to you next Wednesday! *many happy smooches of New Year's joy!*

One of my Christmas presents from the parents this year was a daruma . I'm supposed to think of a wish (or a goal) and fill in one eye of the daruma. When that wish comes true (or that goal is accomplished), I fill in the other eye. The only problem: I can't decide what to wish for (or what goal I want to attain). What wish/goal do I have for the year that is *so* important that I need to invoke Japanese Buddhist rituals in order for it to happen? Love? Happiness? Whirled Peas? A new kitchen? To finish the Never-Ending Sweater of DOOM? I am at a loss. I've never been good at making important decisions. Hm. I just realized that today will be my last day of blogging for 2006. What an interesting year it's been ... *smooch*

You wanna see the cute yellow hat I made? Do ya? Do ya? I made it over Xmas. It's cute. And yellow. And when I say "yellow," I mean " YEEEEEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLOW ." I know you do. Here 'tis: Last night, I made pizza bread. And burned the roof of my mouth on the molten cheese. Oops. I was hungry. And impatient. Sue me. I also have a couple of mouth ulcers forming. le ow! We hates the mouth ulcers. The swishing with the anti-plaque pre-brush rinse and the anti-bacterial minty post-brush mouthwash is not so fun with the burnt roof of the mouth and the couple of mouth ulcers. Flossing? Well, that's still OK. Agenda for this evening: Melrose FUCKING Place !!! woot. Doesn't look like I'll be knitting on the Never-ending Right Sleeve of Doom of the Never-ending Sweater of Doom as my request for aid has gone unheeded. *sniff* I mean, really, what are you knitterpeople doing? Not blogging? At home enjoying your families? Not working? What up with that...

I. am. so. bored. If this workday moved any slower, it would be going backwards. To help pass the time, I compiled a list of movies I want to see ... that way, if any of you want to take me out, you'll have some ideas. Aren't I clever? Here they are in no particular order: Dreamgirls Volver Notes on a Scandal The Queen Curse of the Golden Flower The History Boys Children of Men The Last King of Scotland Now, I will sit by my phone and wait for the date invites to pour in. Don't delay! My schedule books quickly! In completely unrelated news, Whole Foods 365 brand Organic Jasmine White Tea is not very delicious.

While brushing my teeth this morning, I was overcome with thinkiness ... which is always a dangerous thing for me to do, especially early (or in this case, since I was running late, not so early) in the morning. The topic of this thinkiness: Americanism and the "Enemy" Culture. First of all, let me be clear in stating that I am not a historian. I've had all of about 3 history courses in my life [9th Grade American History , and Western Civ: Beginning of Time to the Middle Ages or Whatever and this very cool History Study Tour , which was a 3 week bus tour covering East Coast Revolutionary and Civil War sites in college]. However, even given that I know relatively little about American History, it seems that nearly every major era of our history is defined by having an "enemy." If one enemy is vanquished, another rises to fill the void. The example I was thinking of this morning while trying not to swallow more toothpaste was how rapidly radical Islamists h...

My one man shopping tour de force continues unabated. Today, during my lunch break, I purchased something I have always wanted! The Cooking bible , The Joy of Cooking - 75th Anniversary Edition . I needed a good cooking resource, one that explains that cumin and cardamon are different spices. Now, cumin and coriander ... I'm not so sure. Over my Xmas visit with the fam, we were talking about cooking. My mother didn't know how to cook when she married my dad. She bought (or was given?) the red and white checked Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook . She only made recipes from that book, following them exactly. Only later did she realize that she could reduce measurements to make smaller serving sizes. Poor Dad having to eat a week of Spaghetti - serves 8! 40+ years later, Mom still has that cookbook in her kitchen, and she still follows recipes to the letter (although she does know how to reduce the measurements now). I remember watching her make cookies awhile back. The ...

Last night, I drove to Target. Normally, I love the Target. Last night, not so much. It was crowded, filled to the brim with pushy self-important MetroArea-ians shoving their gigantic carts overflowing with 50% off Christmas decorations and wrapping paper and cards and various other assorted Xmas sundries. The Spirit of Christmas apparently dies on Christmas Day. People's true natures shine forth. I loaded my cart with that which I needed: 38 lbs of kitty litter, 2 bags of cat food, toilet paper, mouthwash, lotion for extra dry skin, and Bette Midler. Not the real Bette Midler. She's not for sale at Target. But, I decided to treat myself to her Xmas CD, Cool Yule , after reading a positive review on Rebel Prince's blog last week (or was it the week before?). I drove home. Traffic. Cars. See above re: MetroArea-ians. I stopped off to gas up the rental. I unloaded the car and hopped a bus to exciting, hip, happening Downtown Silver Spring. The bus was free ... ...

I shop. Or so it would seem. Today, I have purchased: 2 pairs of corduroys from J Crew (Winter Sale - extra 25% off!): these (in dark straw) ... and these (in dark chocolate) ... or maybe the former are chocolate and the latter are straw? I can't remember. and 1 half-price calendar from BN.com: here . Clearly, I either need to find some other way to spend my time or I need a higher credit limit.

I'd be a 2 x 4. 12:30. I have finished the weekly report and sent it to our project officer. I have eaten lunch (half a Chipotle burrito). I have paid my bills. I have RSVP'ed to a party. I have balanced my checkbook. I have paraded naked down the office hallway. I have received one (1) work-related phone call. I may let the underlings leave at 3:30 ... depending upon how generous I feel. Right now, I'm feeling a little cranky. Not so generous. Maybe that will change once the lunchtime dose of caffeine kicks in. But, I doubt it.

My Christmas Day was fairly uneventful. I got up around 8, and hit the road around 8:45. The drive was pretty miserable. I rained the whole way. And, it rained hard. Fortunately, traffic wasn't too bad. Once I got to within 30 miles of DC, traffic started to get really gross. Fortunately, the HOV lanes were open to all traffic and hardly anyone was using them. It was like I had my own private road. I decided to take the HOV lanes all the way into DC instead of exiting onto the Beltway (which looked PACKED). After a few wrong turns in the District, I headed up North Capitol and made it home before 2PM. Not too shabby. PsychoKitty Isabella seemed happy to see me. Lots of meowing and purring and rubbing and giving forth of the Vomit of Joy. I unloaded the car, unpacked, made a snack, and set up my NEW 26" LCD TV. Then, I spent the rest of the day/evening, drinking martinis, eating leftovers, and watching Season One of Melrose Fucking Place ! I also finished the front panel of t...

As I suffered, hungoveredly, on the sofa this afternoon, I thought about my Christmas Wishes for my friends ... Not that Christmas Wishes are things I traditionally make. However, let's cast that aside for a moment as I try to verbalize the things I wish ... For those of you who are in love, I wish that it lasts. For those of you who want love, I wish that it finds you. For those of you who are happy, I wish that your happiness never ends. For those of you who aren't happy, I wish that happiness will embrace you. And, as I write about my Christmas Wishes for you, I realize ... they are wishes for myself as well. Have yourself a merry little Christmas, Let your heart be light From now on, our troubles will be out of sight Have yourself a merry little Christmas, Make the Yule-tide gay, From now on, our troubles will be miles away. Here we are as in olden days, Happy golden days of yore. Faithful friends who are dear to us Gather near to us once more. Through the years We all w...

*woot* After a fun dinner with some of my brother's friends, we decided to go out for a few drinks. I realized that I had forgotten my ID at home. I was denied entrance into not one ... but ... yes, TWO bars. I may be fucking 36 years old, but -apparently- I still look UNDER 21! yay. So, we went home to drink. I am very drunk. Yet, am sleeping alone. sigh. Where are all the fun gay people? *smooch*

Conversation while playing cards: Vuboq : I guess that's how he and his friends relieved stress during graduate school. Vuboq's Mom : How did you relieve stress? Vuboq : Frequent masturbation. *stunned. silence.* Lessee ... This morning, we got up around 8ish. Had coffee and began to open presents. Everyone loved their knitted goods (naturally) and the Girlfriend liked the little makeup bag I got her. (Yay). The hightlights of this year's haul: 1. Cute pottery crockpot with a glaze I *heart* [It's the same glaze as this coffee mug .] 2. 26" Sylvania Digital LCD TV *woot* ... although I have to pay for part of it ... but whatever. New TV! WOOT! 3. Season One of Melrose Place on DVD. Did you hear that? Season One! Melrose! Fucking! Place ! WOO HOO!!! Now you know what I'll be doing on Xmas Day after driving back to DC - watching MP on my new TeeeeeeeeeVeeeeeeeeeee! Unless I decide to go have a round or two at Halo. After opening presents and eating brea...

Maybe it isn't really Christmas Eve, but my family is celebrating Christmas tomorrow ... having coffee and Christmas bread while we open presents and laugh at the gifts in our stockings. I don't know about other families, but our stockings have always been stuffed with practical gifts. Things like dental floss. And chapstick. And deodorant. I guess that's a little odd. Or is it? Maybe the rest of you get things like that in your stockings too? Seriously, I am kind of hoping for some new Mach 3 razor blades. Those fuckers are expensive. I spent most of the day today knitting (I'm almost finished another cute hat! If you look good in yellow, let me know, and I'll think about sending it to you) and watching the ST:Voyager marathon on Spike. Hurrah for cable TV! I so love the Captain Janeway. My brother and I met his v. pregnant friend for lunch. Thai food. Yum. I was supposed to meet one of my college friends, who was planning to drive through on her way ...

I'm blogging from the brother's abode in sunny funny Greensboro, NC. His next door neighbor's gave their "differently abled" son (I think he might have Down's Syndrome?) a set of bongos for Xmas. Bongos. I'm hearing them through the wall. Since I got here. I'm beginning to feel like I'm in King Kong ... if only Adrien Brody would come rescue me. This morning, I was hungover. Curse be the 2-for-1 happy hour specials at Halo. Curse them. Cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuurse them! But, love them as well. I managed to pick up the rental [red. Ford. Focus.] on time - 10AM and finished packing and cleaning and leaving out kitty food and hitting the road by a little before 11. I have no idea if any of the clothes I brought match. Stupid late night drunk packing. I also think I brought a suitcase full of dirty clothes. Odd. I will need to do laundry at some point though. The drive? It was insane. Have I mentioned I hate driving? The other cars? The bumpy roa...

A few words to the wise: If you happen to be on the roads between Silver Spring, MD; Durham, NC; and Greensboro, NC, between the hours of, oh, let's say, 11AM and 8PM tomorrow, be alert . Yes, that boring rental car barreling down the highway will be me. I'm not saying I'm a *bad* driver. In fact, I like to think I'm pretty good. I have never had a speeding ticket* or a (major) accident**, and I've been driving for over twenty years. TWENTY. YEARS. Fuck, that's a long time. Of course, in the last 11 or so of those years, I've driven a car about two times a year (on average). Fortunately, tt's not like one forgets how to drive a car. They don't switch the brake and the gas pedals every couple of years ... or do they? Brake is on the left, right? ANYWAY, wish me good driving luck! Have a Merry Xmas ... or other Winter Holiday of Your Choice. *SMOOOOOOOOOOCHES* *Two "warnings," though, during my crazy college years. Thank the GayProf that I h...

CNN.com reports: Miss USA Not Fired! *woot!* But she will be entering rehab, and that, my pretties (and my thinkies), is where your career is MADE! Well, either there, or betwixt the pages of Penthouse magazine. [Hello, Vanessa Williams, we're looking at YOU!] Hm ... CNN doesn't mention her making out with Miss Teen USA . *sigh* I would give my right eye for a MISS USA! LESBIAN! LIPLOCK! TEEN SCANDAL!! headline on CNN. Really. I would. I guess they don't go for sensationalism. *cough*

Look! Moorish Stew! Kind of like what they make at Jaleo [my favorite restaurant, for those of you interested in buying me a gift certificate . It's almost Christmas, y'know!]. I found the recipe online somewhere. And, after learning that cardamon isn't the same thing as cumin, I had to make a few "adjustments." Here's the real recipe [I made a half-recipe and some changes, which are in red]: 1/2 lb. dried chickpeas, soaked in water overnight (1 can of cooked chickpeas, drained) (1.5 cans of water) 1 head garlic (about 5 cloves of garlic) 1 bay leaf 2 medium-sized onions, 1 whole and 1 diced (1 onion, dice half and cut the other half into large chunks) 6 Tbs. extra virgin olive oil, preferably Spanish (I forgot to measure how much olive oil I used) 1 large tomato, coarsely chopped 1 heirloom tomato, also coarsely chopped 1 tsp. paprika (um. chili powder, I just shook it over the pan until it looked right) 1 tsp. ground cumin (curry powder. as above.) 1 lb. spi...

Under the Toxic Substances Control Act, there is an every 4 year report [soon to become an every 5 year report] that chemical manufacturers must file if they manufacture (and/or import) over 25000 pounds of a chemical substance during the year preceding the report due date. Reports are due to EPA between August 25 and December 23. Three years ago, EPA published an amendment to the rule which eased some requirements, but also required manufacturers of specific previously exempted chemicals (such as inorganic chemicals) to report and required additional reporting for manufacturers who produce more than 300000 pounds of a chemical substance. Since that time, EPA has published numerous announcements. They have held countless workshops. They have created an online computer program to make reporting easier and more accessible. We received a lot of calls asking if EPA would grant an extension. We referred those callers to our EPA technical contact. But, I really wanted to ask these people ......

What a weekend! Friday, I met Mike and Darryl for happy hour at BeBar. I don't really like BeBar. So, after one drink, Darryl left and Mike and I went to Halo ... where we happened to see Whitey White Whiterson, the boring suburban-looking man with bad shoes who I saw last week and on whom I am beginning to have a crush. I had decided that the next time I saw him I would go up and say hi. However, before I could do that [I had just seen him and realized "Ooh, it's Whitey White Whiterson"] someone else [who is not nearly as cute as I] swooped in and began chatting him up. Then, they disappeared upstairs. The only bright spot was after about one drink, I saw WWW leave as the Not Nearly As Cute As I Guy tried to follow, was stopped, then just gave him his phone number. I say, NNACAIG struck out. HA! WWW still secretly pines for me. I am a bit perplexed by this crush. Normally, I don't crush on boring white suburban-looking guys in bad shoes. What's happening to m...

Our office Xmas Luncheon was today - food catered from Maggiano's, a "family style" Italian joint. One of my co-workers always brings "special" homemade egg nog. Having a slight buzz at 2PM? Not all that great. I want to be REALLY rude to all the stupid people who are calling in through the hotline. Bastards. Maybe I should get some more egg nog. As an aside, Christina Aguilera's Get Mine, Get Yours was playing on my iTunes a few minutes ago. For some reason, I always hear: " living in my new kitchen ," instead of " lemme get mine, you'll get yours ." What are some of your favorite misheard lyrics? Discuss ... I'm going to get more egg nog.

*heh* "coming" *heh* PERVY MONKEY! *slap* Lesseee ... the rundown of my last night ... Met Matt and his friend whose name I've already forgotten at Teaism. I was a little late. Matt was "anxious," because of something to do with his visa. So, he wasn't as personable as he usually is. Alas. I'm sure the whole visa process is frustrating and anxiety-laden. Better him than I, eh? Still, good to see him before the holidays, and hopefully he will be headed over to Scotland soon. *fingers crossed* Once I got home, I called Mike to see what time we should meet for the concert at the National Cathedral tonight. And, he was, like, "Oh... that ... we'll ... you see ... I forgot to buy tickets and now Brian doesn't want to go, so I'm not buying tickets." What? I'm OK with not going; however, I'm a little peeved that they made this unilateral decision for the group. AND, Mike called me at about 3PM yesterday and said, "I...

We have reached Day 4 of All Messiah All the Time and *still* no co-workers have complained. I must be doing something wrong. Perhaps I should crank up the volume ... Or start singing along. For lunch today I am eating a bag of potato chips. Kettle Chips: Tuscan Three Cheese: Mediterranean VACATION in a bag! woo hoo! Tres. Healthy. At least they're better than the feet-like Cheddar Beer flavor (gag). (sorry, Billy .) Oh, tonight, I'm going to Teaism in Penn Quarter to meet Bellringer Mike's boyfriend. If you remember, BRM is the guy I was going to meet in Glasgow, but his visa didn't come through in time. He's there now though. But, the boyfriend's visa is stuck somewhere in a quagmire of red tape and paperwork. Joy. Then, I'm going home. To knit, natch. *smooches*

Presents. Wrapped. I still need to buy ribbon to tie around the rosemary I've rooted from the one in our front yard for various family and friends. I should finish the final knitten today ... if all goes according to my evil plan, that is. And, all of my Christmas crap will be done! YAY! Well, at least most of it. I had a very weird dream early this morning. I was in a Japanese post office buying stamps. The clerk asked me how many stamps I needed. I said, "seven." She brought out international airmail stamps for letters, but I told her that I needed international airmail stamps for postcards. The weirdest thing was that this conversation was all in Japanese and -if I remember my Japanese correctly- both the clerk and I used the wrong counting word* for stamps. We used ko (which is for small things) instead of mai (which is for flat things). But, maybe I'm wrong. Maybe it's OK to use ko for stamps. I can't remember. *Counting words: The Japanes...

Over easy, actually. Sunnyside up. On toast. With a side of soysage [It makes you GAY!]! I am a bad supervisor. The quarterly update of our contact list is due on the 15th and I haven't even distributed the assignments to the staff yet. I suppose I'll make up some crap to my boss explaining why it's late ... some crap that doesn't involve "I'm lazy and suck." In fact, the crap will probably be along the lines of, "Because of the holidays, we aren't able to get in contact with many people on the list to verify their information." That seems plausible. Maybe if I didn't hate the job so much I would be more motivated ... maybe. My yoke is not easy. Nor overeasy. Nor sunnyside up. Nor served with soysage [It makes you GAY!]! Speaking of food ... what do I want for dinner tonight? I have no food at the house. I must stop by the Whole Foods on the way home anyway because this morning I ran out of every single toiletry I use and Safeway doe...

I just noticed that I've had over 20000 hits. That is all.

*sigh* Last night, I finished my brother's scarf. I watched lots of Harry Potter movies. I drank a martini. I ate leftovers - which were extrafabulicious, because I added soy crumbles (They Make You GAY!), soy sauce, and more chili garlic sauce to my tofu, spinach and mushroom creation. Yum. I worked on a new pair of knittens. And, that was my exciting evening. This morning, on my walk to work in the cold, gray rain, I reflected on a dream I had last night in which I was sitting on John's front porch. Waiting. And waiting. And waiting. And that was it. I'm going to assume that it is my subconcious trying to deal with him being in Iraq. Thoughts of John naturally turned to thoughts of sex ... and how I haven't had any in quite some time. I laughed as I thought, "Hell, I could practically reclaim my virginity." I wonder if there is a specified time period in which, if you haven't had sex, you could start calling yourself a virgin again ... and how long would...

I am attempting to post my annual StickSteven Year in Review Xmas Letter here. Hopefully, you will be able to click on the photo to embiggen. If not, please send me an email and I will send the picture to you :-) *many happy smooches of StickSteven joy* ps. Marve , check out the fabulously drawn toilet (and sofa)!!!

Yes, it's a Messiah morning, again ... as it probably will be for the rest of the week. I likes Messiah . Unfortunately, there is no Meat-Free Monday photo for you today, because I went to Mike's last night and he made his super yummy veggie pizza. Mmmm. Then, we watched the finale of America's Next Top Model. Yay! Fun times. And, that was pretty much my evening. Something weird happened with our work email yesterday. Suddenly, a whole bunch of old messages were sent out (from as far back as August). I don't know if these were messages that were previously sent or if they were never sent. Ah! The mysterious internet! It eats the email and it regurgitates the email. The other weird thing that happened last night was this: On my walk home from work, I walk past a middle school. Last night, 2 early teenage girls were standing at the bus stop, ocassionally running into the street. As I approached, the smallest of the two stepped out in front of me. I started ...

and the title of this entry reminded me of the song "Kindred Spirits" from Anne of Green Gables, the Musical ! [Yes, I'm a freak. I'm OK with that.] So, I've been singing "Christmas Spirits" to that tune the way I remember "Anne" singing it when my junior high school produced the musical ... with a heavily accented final syllable - Christ-mas Spi-RUTS! Christ-mas Spi-RUTS! Even though some people , don't particularly care for the holidays (and you know who you are ), I love them ... not as much as I love my FAVORITE holiday [St. Patrick's Day], though. I love all the candy and cakes and pies ... And getting Xmas cards ... And singing carols (badly) ... And listening to Neil Diamond sing Xmas songs ... And drinking. Lots. Lots and lots of drinking. Which brings us to the point of this post: Egg nog? Rum or bourbon. Discuss.

I'm listening to my Messiah CD ... I think track ten on disc 1 (For unto us a child is born) is my favorite. I mean, who doesn't love "The Hallelujah Chorus" ... but, I remember playing this part in concert band. The alto sax played the viola part of the song and *fuck* it was difficult. 16th note city, babydoll. *whew* The feeling of accomplishment after making it through that section without fucking up was amazing. Anyway, my weekend was SuperFantastic. Yes, it was. Mm-hmm. [Ha. That reminds me of my Chinese students. They would always make the 'mm-hm' sound after verbally agreeing to something.] Although, I have now solemnly sworn *not* to attend 3 holiday events in one weekend ever again . Friday's happy hour was fun. Tomoko, Robert, Darryl, and his friend visiting from NYC joined me at Halo for a couple of rounds of drinks. Later, Tomoko, Robert and I met Mike for dinner at Thai Tanic. Yum. After dinner, Tomoko and Robert went home and I ...

1 hour to go! WOO HOO! Then, Holiday Happy Hour at Halo. It's 4H time ... just without the cows and shit. WOOT! The rest of my weekend plans: Saturday: Holiday party somewhere out in the wilds of Virginia Sunday: Holiday brunch in DC YAY! Par-TAY! I will also be knitting, shopping, and ANTM finale watching (hopefully). Have a superfantastic weekend, my pretties!

My Christmas Cards are DONE! (mostly) HUZZAH! And mailed! (except for the international ones and the ones which will be included in packages ... and they'll be mailed on Monday. most likely) HURRAH! Now, I will sit back and wait for the accolades to roll in. And, the Xmas Cards from people to whom I didn't send Xmas cards. And, there will be the "I didn't send him/her a card" guilt. I hates that guilt. Not that I will send a card later ... but, still, I hates the guilt. Meanwhile, the day drags on and I have nothing to do. *sigh* Special Note to Chelsea : My company's Evil Firewall of Doom has decided to start blocking your site as a "games" site. GAH! Fortunately, I can read your posts on bloglines. Unfortunately, I won't be able to comment anymore. *sniff*

I finished my StickSteven letter! Eventually, I will be scanning it and emailing it (and maybe posting it) for the WORLD to see. Once again, I believe it is a triumph of skill, artistic talent, and humor, bringing a little light and joy to the otherwise dull and boring world of annual Christmas Letters. I, also, found my markers this morning! YAY! Now, I can properly address envelopes and write colorful, meaningful messages in all my cards ... which, if all goes according to my evil plans, should be finished TODAY! Hurrah! After I finished my letter, last night, I watched Cache . I had to call Robert afterwards to get him to explain it to me, because WTF?!?!?! I needed resolution and there was no resolution. GAH. I say "3 Stars." I started knitting another pair of knittens. I will probably give them away, but I'm making them to fit me just in case I don't. They will be purple ... well, a kind of purply gray with flecks of light blue and red. TONIGHT, I am me...

VUBOQ is not high maintenance. Discuss.

1. I am rapidly discovering that, not only can I not draw toilets, but I also can not draw my sofa. 2. Why am I so worried about John the Cheating Cheater being in Iraq? It's not like I'm consumed by it [as I probably would be if we were still together ... of course, if we were still together, I doubt he'd be in Iraq], but there's a little mosquito-like buzz of concern in the back of my brain. Very annoying.

Several of you requested to see my purple Xmas tree. As promised, here's a picture. Enjoy! It's purple. It's tinsel. It's about 4 feet tall. Love me. Love my purple tinsel Xmas tree. I didn't do much else yesterday. Margot came over to pick up a bicycle I gave her and to borrow my coffee-maker for a brunch she's hosting on Sunday. After that, I addressed Xmas cards and worked on my StickSteven letter. I think this year it's going to be a contest as well as a letter. *heh* Maybe. Tonight, I'm going to attach the tassels onto my brother's scarf. Maybe I'll vacuum. Maybe not. A few other ideas that are floating around in my brain right now: 1. Hosting a New Year's Day "linner" and making Japanese food ... not o'sechi ryori though. Probably something simple like miso and chirashi zushi . 2. Having a "Winter Blues" party in mid-to-late January. 3. Volunteering on Saturdays for some environmental organization ... My back ...

I've been tagged. Thanks, Ms. Martini . *heart* you. It would seem that for this little meme, I have to list 6 Weird Things about myself. Let me tell you, this is a really difficult meme, because -lest you forget- I'M THE NORMAL ONE !!! It's the rest of you that are weird. Trust me. In light of that fact, here are 6 Things that Make Me VERY NORMAL : 1. I don't have cable TV. I have 2 reasons: A) It's expensive. I can't afford it. and B) If I actually had cable I would never get anything done. All I would do is waaaaaaaaaaaaaatch TV. Project Runway Marathons! Top Chef Marathons! America's Next Top Model Marathons (btw, ANTM's finale is tonight. No one tell me who wins -especially if it's the crazy one, Melrose- because I might not be able to see it until this weekend)! 2. I tend to give my pets long tedious names. Example : Isabella's full name is Psychokitty Isabella, Giver of Vomit of Joy, Attacker of Feet that Move in the Night, ...

Yesterday, I created a little activity involving Christmas ornaments and some of you got in a snit about "not having a tree." What the fuck ever people. Did you not read the assignment, or did you simply gloss over the part that said: "If you don't have a Christmas tree, maybe you could use a holiday decoration instead?" Props to Cooper for posting his answers for most unique/memorable Christmas tree ornaments (and bonus points for the "charming and handsome" bit!)! For my unique Christmas tree ornament, I debated among several, including my little green frog and this weird beaded thing my friend, Michelle, made me one year. But, I finally decided on this: Yes. It's a blender. From the Smithsonian Institution's Julia Child Collection. Seriously. A few years ago, the National Museum of American History received Julia Child's kitchen, and to celebrate they created Christmas tree ornaments . I decided no self-respecting alcoholic gay ...

I just had this really cool idea. For those of you who have Christmas trees, take a picture of: 1. Your most unique Christmas tree ornament, and 2. Your most meaningful ornament. Then, post the pictures and explain why those ornaments are your most unique/meaningful. If you don't have a Christmas tree, maybe you could use a holiday decoration instead? I think this could be fun! And, I'll try to remember to do it tonight when I get home from my hair appointment and dinner.

For Meat-Free Monday last night, I made a simple soup from Lorna Sass' Short-Cut Vegetarian cookbook. Of course, I loaned the cookbook to Mike several months ago, so I had to call him to get the recipe. I remembered all the ingredients, but I couldn't remember if I needed to add water (I did). Here's the recipe: 2.5 cups water 1 can coconut milk 1 can diced tomatoes with chili (undrained) 1 box Fantastic Foods Instant black beans salt/pepper to taste chili sauce (like Tabasco) to taste (I didn't have any Tabasco, so I used red curry paste) frozen corn (optional) [You can also add a cup or so of cooked rice to make it a little heartier] Bring water, coconut milk, diced tomatoes to a boil. Slowly add instant beans. Add corn. Simmer until corn is heated. Eat. This is what it looked like: I also had cornbread with it. Then, I put up Christmas lights and my purple tinsel Christmas tree. I watched some DVDs and I knitted. In fact, I've *almost* finished another pair of k...

Sleeping single in a double bed Thinking over things I wish I'd said I should have held you but I let you go Now I'm the one sleeping all alo-oh-one Two of the things I learned this weekend: 1. I have trouble approaching men. I have trouble approaching men even when intoxicated. I have trouble approaching men even when intoxicated and even when they are giving me "the eye." I. Am shy. Really. 2. I sleep better with someone than alone. This has not always been the case. When I first started ... um ... not sleeping alone, I was constantly aware of the other person's presence. Every time he would turn or move or snort or whatever, I would wake up. I spent a lot of mornings being crabby. Crabbier than usual, that is. Now, it seems I'm constantly aware that there is no one sleeping beside me. And it's lonely. I suppose I will eventually adjust. Or, as Robert suggested, I need to come up with a new product in the MGBF* line: My Gay Best Friend Man-sized Hot Wate...

Friday, I woke up from my disconap at 10PM and hopped in the shower. As I was drying my hair, Mike called. "I'm too tired," he said groggily. "I can't go out tonight." We had planned to hit Apex for dancing, but, deep down, I think I knew it wouldn't happen. His call came at about 10:45. If I decided to go on my own, by the time I finished getting ready, caught a bus to the metro and took the train to Dupont, it would have been well after midnight ... possibly close to 1AM. There was no point in going. I texted a few friends to let them know I wouldn't be there. Then, I made a martini (mmm) and knitted and watched Hairspray . Good lord. That is so gay. Saturday, Mike picked me up and we met Robert at Hinckley Pottery , where Robert takes lessons. Jill Hinckley had her annual show. Most of her pottery is good, but not to my particular taste. I also think her work is too expensive for functional pieces. After wandering through the studio, grazing on co...

As I wrote yesterday, I ate an entire bag of potato chips for lunch and didn't feel quite right about eating an entire bag of microwave popcorn for dinner. Instead I wandered around Whole Foods after work randomly picking out ingredients for a bit of experimental cooking. This was the result: Assorted mushrooms, green squash (aka zucchini), tomato, corn, and 1/2 cup of fresh cranberries sauteed in olive oil and rosemary from the front yard. Served with a side of couscous, also cooked with rosemary from the front yard. It was surprisingly tasty. I liked the little * ZING!* the cranberries added. Prior to dinner, I created a cocktail: The Eggnogtini 1 part egg nog 1 part cold coffee 2 parts spiced rum Shaken over ice, strained, and sprinkled with cinnamon! It wasn't too bad, but not egg noggy enough, so for the next ... erm ... 3 that I drank, I left out the coffee and added more egg nog. Finally, as I was watching Harry Potter movies, I finished my hat: I sort of screwed up the ...

and gets fewest hits in WEEKS. From now on, I am only going to blog about non-Thinky matters ... Earlier today, I dumped my lunch on the floor. It was an accident. I only dump other people's lunches on the floor on purpose. Instead of yummy avocado sushi rolls, I ate a bag of potato chips - Kettle Chips Buffalo Bleu [barbeque and blue cheese]. They were tres yummy. I almost bought the other new Kettle Chips flavor, Mediterranean Three Cheese, as well, but decided to save those for another day when I [accidentally] dump my lunch all over the floor again. Now, after consuming nearly the entire bag of chips, I feel I can not justifiably eat an entire bag of microwave popcorn for dinner, as I had planned. I feel like I must eat something *gasp* healthy, like salad. Or something. Maybe an omelet. Or maybe I'll buy egg nog. Egg nog is good. And I'll try not to dump it all over the floor. *sigh*

... to laughter. "That's why I don't want to have to deal with global warming, to tell you the truth." Court Hears Global Warming Case: Justices to Decide Challenge on Greenhouse Gas Emissions is an interesting article in this morning's WaPo . Basically, 12 states and the District of Columbia are asking the Supreme Court to ask the EPA to reevaluate its decision not to pursue stricter carbon dioxide emission limits on cars and trucks. The EPA argued that it does not have the statutory authority to regulate greenhouse gas emissions (um? hello? Clean Air Act?) and -even if it did (which it does) - it is not required to use it (which it should be). He [Justice Anthony M. Kennedy] noted Milkey's "perhaps reassuring statement" that the court does not have to make a judgment about global warming. "But," Kennedy asked, "don't we have to do that in order to decide the standing argument, because there's no injury if there's not ...

GayProf , aka the Most Desirable Man on the Blogosphere, was unhappy with my response to his previous comment, so, now, I am devoting an entire entry on how I make a martini. You're welcome. I only use Bombay Sapphire gin, which I store in the freezer. I keep my vermouth in the refridgerator. I tried keeping it in the freezer, too; however, I soon discovered an interesting fact: Vermouth freezes! Who knew? Prior to making a martini, I put the martini glass in the freezer as well. I measure out approximately 3.5 oz of gin in this cool cocktail measuring glass that I have and add a splash or so (0.5 oz) of vermouth. Next, I dump in some ice cubes and let it chill for a bit. While it's chillin', I take the martini glass out of the freezer. I place 2 or 3 olives in it and a one or two tablespoons of olive juice. I give the gin and vermouth a quick couple of stirs and strain into the glass. I like to add a few bits of ice too. And, there you have it. A VUBOQtini. As for drinking...

Last night, I got home, fixed myself a martini, put in a movie, and began knitting [I'm making myself a SUPERCUTE hat]. The movie was The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada [which if you haven't seen, see it! It was excellent!]. About halfway through the movie, I started to get hungry. I decided to make my Meat-Free Monday meal, which I didn't make yesterday because I had leftover pizza. Mmm. Pizza. On Monday, I had purchased a sweet potato, a bag of spinach, some goat cheese, and pine nuts. I couldn't wait! Goat cheese and sweet potato is one of my favorite combinations. I know it sounds a little gross, but, for some reason, the tangy goat cheese and sweetness of the potato really work! I planned on microwaving the sweet potato. Then, adding the sauteed spinach and pine nuts and covering it with melted goat cheese. However, when I pulled the sweet potato out, it was soft and covered in mold. How could it have gone bad in only one day??? I was so disappoin...

Every year, for my annual Xmas Letter, I draw a very simple StickSteven Year in Review. You can see the very first StickSteven letter here: 2003 , and the very second StickSteven letter here: 2004 . I'm not sure if I ever uploaded the very third StickSteven letter. **We interrupt this blog entry for a very important announcement** A caller asked me: "How do I clean up toxic pigeon feces?" I referred her to her EPA Regional Office. Silly Virginians. **We now return you to our regularly scheduled blog entry, already in progress** This year's StickSteven letter seems to be gravitating towards lots of toilet humor. And, I have discovered that I can't draw toilets worth crap. *heh* "crap" I'll either need to practice my toilet-drawing or think of some other non-toilet related items for my letter. Oh! The Dilemma!

*whew* I'm exhausted. So far this morning, I have: - rented a car [for my Xmas trip to NC] - made a hair appointment [Tuesday, 6PM] - typed up a brief issue for the weekly report - completed and distributed the weekly report for in-house approval - came to the sudden and shocking realization that if I don't transfer funds from savings into checking TODAY my mortgage check will bouncity bouncity bounce bounce - transferred funds I think I'm going to take the rest of the day off and devote it to blogging! *woot* Hm ... what do I want for lunch ...

I stopped by the Whole Foods on my way home last night to pick up ingredients for Meat-Free Monday. However, once I opened my fridge, I was reminded that I had leftover pizza from Saturday night which needed to be eaten. I will cook my planned Meat-Free Monday meal tonight. It will be Monday somewhere in the world, right? Right? Dykewife asked about liquid cheese ... which is also called "cheese dip." It's basically melted cheese with jalapenos and stuff in it. You dip tortilla chips in it. The easiest way to make liquid cheese is to cube about 8 oz of Velveeta (mmm ... Velveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeta), add a can of diced tomatoes with chilies (or salsa, I suppose), and nuke that stuff until the cheese melts. Simple. Delicious. The stuff you get at Mexican restaurants tends to be a bit higher quality than Velveeta. Anyway ... after making a martini and eating leftover pizza, I paid bills (woo hoo! which reminds me I need to transfer some funds into my checking account)...

And, I really need to update before I get sucked in to reading everyone else's blogs ... Here's a brief rundown of what I did: Wednesday : Left work at 4:30. The weather was crappy, so I bought a giganto bottle of gin, some garlic-stuffed olives, and I drank martinis and knitted all night! See: Parental knittens! I am totally loving them! AND, now the fam's Xmas presents are DONE! Must start to work on the friends' presents now. A knitter's work is never done. *heh* Thursday : I got up around 10. Assembled the Not Chelsea Clinton's Sweet Potato Casserole and the Cranberry Apple Casserole. Mike picked me up at 1. I hung out at his house, baking and drinking until everyone arrived around 5ish. We ate. It was good. See: Mike yelled at me when I took this picture, because it "messed up the casserole." Little did he know that I come from a long line of "people who sample the cooking then make it look like no one has touched it." [W...

[and, technically, I am *NOT* stealing this idea from the Most Desirable Man on the Blogosphere , because I was thinking of doing an "I'm Thankful" entry last night, before I read his this morning. So there!] Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays, probably my second favorite after the GREATEST DAY OF THE YEAR, St. Patrick's Day. I like it for two main reasons: 1. It's all about cooking and eating and food and drinking and family and friends. And I love cooking and eating and food and drinking and family and friends. 2. There is none of that stupid gift-giving madness associated with it. Now, granted, I like to give gifts. And, god knows, I love to receive them. BUT, I hate the gift-giving obligation that accompanies some holidays (and, I'm looking at YOU, Christmas). Seriously, how many times has a friend given you a gift at Xmas and the first thing you thought of was "OMG. I didn't get him anything?" I'm sure that's not ...

When I was a sophomore in high school, my brother was a senior. He drove a 1979 metallic pine green AMC Spirit, which we dubbed "The Green Hornet." My brother was not the best of drivers. In fact, I frequently imagined myself being killed in horrible car wrecks with my brother at the wheel - flames, plummeting over bridges, smashed under trucks. Such was my existence with my brother at the wheel. But, it was either suffer that existence or suffer a far worse fate - riding the bus to and from school. *shudder* In the Spring of 1986, my brother was driving me and our friend, Brian, home from school. It was the day before Spring Break started and the day before we were going to Florida on a school trip (woot!). I had loads to do before leaving - pack, go to the bank to get traveler's cheques, etc. etc. etc. As my brother sped down the road towards home, the driver of the car in front of him suddenly decided to stop and turn left. *screech* went my brother's brak...

So back off, bitches. My blog has had a few hits in the past few days for people searching for Chelsea Clinton's sweet potato casserole . And, yes, I did post a recipe for a sweet potato casserole, but it's not Chelsea Clinton's. It's MINE!* And I expect FULL CREDIT!!! So, I've made a few changes to that post . I seem to be feeling a little me-me-me today ... which, come to think of it, isn't all that different from any other day. Nothing of note happened yesterday. The Storehouse where I bought my sofa is going out of business and is having a huge clearance sale. Unfortunately, most of the good stuff is already gone. And if I wanted to pay $400 for a table, I'd buy one that wasn't all beat up and scratched and shit. I'm thinking of applying for a part-time job at Borders. Not that I'm all that desperate for the money, but it would be nice to pad my savings account a bit. Well, that and EMPLOYEE DISCOUNTS! In a BOOKSTORE! GAH! I would ...

It's like a meme ... only it's not. The Washington Post has been running this weekly feature called "Date Lab," in which singles fill out a questionnaire, the WaPo editors read it, and match up couples. They then interview the couple about the date and publish it for all of us to read. Apparently, they only match up the Straights. [You can read past Date Labs here .] Anyway, I decided to type my answers to [most of] the questionnaire ... 1. In six words or less, tell us what you do for work: I answer the telephone. 2. Rarely is someone living in D.C. actually from D.C. So how long have you been here? 7 years [and I don't actually think being a D.C. native is all that "rare."] 3. Where are you from originally? North Carolina 4. Do you: Smoke? No 5. Drink? Yes 6. Work out? No 7. Attend religious services? No 8. Eat meat? No 9. Have pets? If so, what kind? Yes. A cat, named Isabella. 10. Quick-what's the first thing you do when you get up in...