Friday, April 28, 2006

Remember this picture in 2008



This is Senator George Allen's high school photo. Remember this when he tries to tell you he's a racial moderate. Also remember that he once flew a rebel flag at his house and that his fraternity at UVa flew it while I was student there.

For my bud in Sri Lanka


This is for my buddy Leo, now chillin' with his wife in Sri Lanka. Last spring, Leo introduced me to an incredible band - Nickel Creek (I wrote about it last year). He took me to a show of theirs at the Birchmere and it was incredible. They're classified as bluegrass, but I don't think they really fit one simple genre, as this sound clip and video of them covering "Toxic" by Britney Spears shows.

I just got their most recent album, "Why Should The Fire Die?" yesterday, and it's fantastic.

Here's to you Leo!

PS - have I mentioned that I own a mandolin? 2 actually. Gotta learn how to play them this spring

It's a "hookerific" Friday

"Federal prosecutors are investigating whether two contractors implicated in the bribery of former Rep. Randall "Duke" Cunningham supplied him with prostitutes and free use of a limousine and hotel suites, pursuing evidence that could broaden their long-running inquiry."

Thursday, April 27, 2006

Old friends


I got an e-mail Monday night from one of my oldest friends, Mike Rendino. When I say oldest, I really mean it - we met in 2nd grade! My family moved not long afterwards, but we reconnected in high school and went to college together as well. Anyway, he was in town for a few days (he recently moved to Charlotte) and had an extra ticket for the Nats game Tuesday night vs. the Reds. We had a great time, and ran into another old friend, Shaun Mohler, who was in my suite 1st year at UVa - 20 years ago! Here's a pic Rendino took with his phone - not the best shot, but who cares, we had a great time!

New bloggin location


Sorry for the lack of posts lately - work has been incredibly busy. Did I mention I got promoted a month ago? Anyway, I've been crazy busy with work, the new home, soccer, etc. But I've got alot of stuff to write about, and I will very soon. But for now, here's a pic of my new, super secret, blogging location.

More soon.

Thursday, April 20, 2006

Perfect Weather




The weather in DC today is perfect, so I decided to walk the 4 blocks from my office to the White House with my new camera, to see if I'd find anything interesting. And I did - hundreds of people protesting the visit of China's president Hu Jintao. They were protesting China's deployment of hundreds of nuclear-capable missiles aimed at the Republic of China (Taiwan) and call on Dubya to invite Taiwanese leaders for official visits to the United States. Like that's going to happen. Anyway, here are a few pictures.

Saturday, April 15, 2006

How My Dog Spends His Day


Rough life, eh? Watching the squirrels out the window, just waiting for a chance to get outside. Tell me boy, what are you going to do when you finally catch one?

Wednesday, April 12, 2006

Update on the Crazy Neighbor

My wife just called to tell me that the Crazy Neighbor (tm) is at it again. She had someone from the Condo Association over to look at our planters, dog poo can, etc. And get this, the Condo lady told her our stuff was fine! My wife is headed over to the condo office now to see what the hell is going on.

Dumbfounded

What do you do when someone you're friends with, a co-worker, says something racist and admits it? The other day, I was talking to a couple of friends at work about the whole immigration issue. One of my co-workers proceeded to go off on a rant about Latinos - how they only have babies to stay in this country, they're ruining our education system because teachers have to spend time with kids who don't speak English, how her tax dollars are supporting them, etc. Just ugly, vile stuff. I called her on it, telling her that she was full of shit, and she just said she doesn't care, and that when I have kids I'll agree with her. And get this, her parents are immigrants from the Caribbean!! What the hell?

I work for a very progressive political organization and it sickens me that someone who works here can have such a mindset. The question is, what should I do, if anything? Like I said, I told her that her facts were wrong and that you can substitute "black" for "immigrant" and it's the same thing racists have been saying about us forever. I'm just in total shock.

Monday, April 10, 2006

Welcome to the Neighborhood

We've been in our new home for 2 weeks now, and have met a few of our neighbors. They've all been very nice, 30-something couples like us. But we haven't met our immediate neighbors yet, which to me is pretty strange. It seems to me that when you notice someone new moving in, especially right next to you, you at least say "Hi, welcome to the neighborhood". Hasn't happened. Yet Saturday morning, I did have an encounter with the woman who lives directly across from us.

It was around 8:00 Saturday morning and I was headed back from taking our dog Kaleb for a walk. It was cold and rainy and I noticed the lady who lives across from us outside doing gardening. She saw me headed to my front door and came over saying "You know, they have trash cans around for your dog", "Yeah, I know". "Then why do you have that trash can on your porch"? Now, we have a small (around 8 inches high) receptacle we use to put Kaleb's baggies in after we take him for a walk - hardly a trash can. "Um, because I don't see why I have to walk 1/4 mile to throw this away". "Because it's against the rules" she wined. "Well, we've lived in ParkFairfax (0ur community) for over 3 years, and we've always had this receptacle. As a matter of fact, if you walk around, you'll see that everyone who has a dog has some sort of container on their front steps". "It's the rules", she repeated. "And why do you have a child's potty on your porch?". "What?" I said. "You have a child's potty on your porch and that's also against the condo rules". She was pointing to a planter we have on our front step that my mother-in-law gave us. It's basically a very small bench with a flower pot in the seat. It is not, by any stretch, a child's potty. Unless the child is the size of a baby doll, in which case, it wouldn't be using a potty, would it? "Ma'am, that's not a potty, it's a planter my mother-in-law gave us", "No it's not, it's a potty and it's against the rules". Now, I was really getting pissed off now. "Is this how you welcome people to the neighborhood? We've been here 2 weeks and you haven't said a word to us. Not a "Hi, how are you". Nothing. And you come up to me and start bitching about a goddamned planter?" "It's against the rules and if you don't like it, you can move". This is when I lost it. "This is my God damned house that I just bought. No one tells me where I can or can't live!! Are you crazy? Look at all of the shit you've got on your porch! I'm sure it's against the rules for you to have that craptacular lawn furniture sitting in front of your house!!!" By this time, my fabulous Wife heard my rising voice and came outside. "What's wrong honey", she asked. "Nothing, just talking to this crazy-ass neighbor of ours" I said in a very loud whisper. My FW hushed me and told me to go inside while she talked to the crazy lady. "What's the problem?" she said. "Nothing personal, I just don't like what you have on your porch" crazy lady responded. "Well, we like and it's staying" said the FW. With that, she came back inside and proceeded to try and calm me down. But the calmer I got, the more upset she got over total rudeness of crazy lady. Seriously, I'll have to post some pictures of the tacky shit she's got outside.

The coolest thing about the incident, is how I was channeling my dad. I've seen him go off on people for doing stupid shit - and after I got inside, I realized that I sounded just like him! Pretty neat.

The joys of being a homeowner!

Wednesday, April 05, 2006

Arsenal advance to the Champions League SemiFinals!!


Vieira, woo-o-o-o, Vieira, woo-o-o-o, he left the Arsenal, and then he won fuck all!!!!!!

Dang, I hate it when I have a life!

Sorry for the lack of posts recently - I've been crazy busy with the move and with work. Hope to have some new stuff up over the next few days.