Windy DC

These blinds show how much my office is swaying in the wind. The walls are constantly creaking very loudly and they've never done this in the 4+ years I've worked here. While I am not generally afraid of heights or wind, this is legitimately freaking me out. I hope this mobile video post comes through...

Goodbye Bohemian Caverns Mural

I came home to find two men repairing the badly weathered wall behind the Bohemian Caverns. They appear to be covering the old brick with a layer of concrete. I asked if the mural would be repainted, but they didn't speak English. Using my rough Spanish, I determined they didn't really know if it would be replaced. Click here for a pic of the damaged mural before repair.

I will miss my historic view if they don't bring it back!

Lonely

I am apparently the only person going to work today. The U Street Metro station is completely abandoned with nobody waiting for a train in either direction.

I'd bleed for you two...

Fun holiday times!

We might be the only people left in the city, but there are no complaints! We be making friends at Cobalt's bear happy hour looking thin, young, and cute!

Sweater Head

T2 thinks the sweater head mannequin is scary but she jumped right up on the opportunity to pose with it! I had to visit Macy's to do a little clearance shopping and exchange some gifts. Time for some weekend drinking with the 3 other people left in the district this holiday weekend!

Name My Nephew

Please comment on this post with first & middle name suggestions. Lets help Steve & Lisa name the baby! This is pic was taken this morning with 127 days to go!

Good Christian Panties With a Godly Cotton Panel

It is Sunday morning and I have nothing to do but listen to Cynthia and Cynthia bitch so I've barricaded myself into the guest room in search of YouTube church. This will do...

Happy Holidays!

I predict fun times with friends and family and will follow with a holiday road trip summary. I decided at the last minute not only to decorate, but also to throw a "Leftover Party" on Christmas day. We will be partying with the people "left over" in the city. Since our U Street trailer is so petite, it is best suited for gatherings of this size and most everyone I know has escaped, or will be going out of the District for the holiday.

So...this week:

• I dined with friends at ThaiTanic on my day off (Wednesday.) I haven't previously been to this restaurant and found the food to be unbelievably delicious. The Bangcock Sunset was tasty too. We had an enjoyable discussion of the decor. RJ speculates the Angel dolls hanging from the ceiling represent the victims who went down with the ship...
  
• The Prince of Petworth praised Solly's Tavern with a profile on my friend, the one and only John 'Solly' Solomon!
• There was drama on 11th Street Tuesday morning; just a few blocks South of U Street, a gay man was shot and killed walking home from places where you might find many of my friends on any given night. Scary.
• Last Saturday, while we peacefully cocktailed with peeps at Ulah Bistro, an 18 year old girl stabbed someone in the U Street Metro just a few steps away from us. This is yet another reason to keep underage people out of the bars...nice work Republic (formerly Republic Gardens) at bringing inexperienced and immature bar kids into my neighborhood.

The Beyonce Experience Truck on U St.

The ladies of leisure are lunching on a day off. Something tells me this one had a different kind of 'Bouncy' experience last night!

The Alternative Reindeere

Sighted in Shreve, Ohio...Rudolph and eight tiny John Deere prepare for Santa

Happy Birthday!

When Grandpa chooses the restaurant for his birthday, you drive a long way to eat at Perkins. Surprisingly, they served up a delicious breakfast and it was so cheap I would almost consider it free. There have been many a DC brunches where the gratuity alone surpassed the entire bill for our party of 6.

Grandpa is 63 today, but he swears he's only in his late 50s. There is certainly a theme of age denial in this family! I rarely get home for his birthday being so close to the holidays so it is a very special treat for all of us.

Sometimes...

...when nobody else is dancing the dentist just has to work it out on the floor

editor's note (Fri AM): apparently The District just can't stay in for a quiet night...at least he went to bed in time to get up for a productive work day!

The Falls!

I had no idea the actual falls were under the hotel! Beautiful!

No falls in The Falls

My Aunt Katie canceled our dinner and ice skating plans in Cuyahoga Falls due to a little confusion with the dates. I thought about going alone but it is FREAZING here. The rink is tiny and filled with children going in all directions anyway. I decided to dine in the hotel and will turn in early. The plan is to catch her next time around.

The $1 ATM

I am thrilled to be feeling better and mobile blogging. We hit the street in an attempt to eliminate the caged feeling and catch up on Toya's travel adventures. Tonight's discovery was this new freestanding ATM between the Madjet Restaurant and Solly's Tavern on U Street. I'm curious to see how long before it is ripped away and intrigued by the advertisement claiming it disburses in amounts starting at $1. How much in bank fees for a single dollar withdrawal?

DC's Abominable Water

Today's Gay List Daily prompted a little research on our tap water quality. The most recent reference (August) from Andy Dehart, Director of biological programs at the National Aquarium, said, "D.C. water is abominable. It cannot sustain life..." Apparently they use DC tap water to fill the tanks, but put it through an extensive purification process first. We are supposed to drink it?

I've never been to the National Aquarium and don't even know where it is...perhaps something for the "to do" list. I'm assuming it isn't a world class aquarium since I haven't heard a single friend talk about it in 4+ years in DC. I just realized I passed the four year mark! I moved to DC on December 5, 2004! Perhaps I'll have to wait for January to officially celebrate since I was stuck in corporate housing until closing on my condo in the city. As much as we judge the B&Ts, I best not try and count my first 2 mos across the river as actual time in the District! I digress...

Earlier in the year, Sustain Lane ranked DC's tap water as endangered. It is apparently worse than both Cleveland and Detroit. I know they have the Great Lakes next door, but the Nation's Capital should be able to set an example. Last year, the EWG wrote about high levels of toxic chlorination byproducts in our water and recommended carbon filtration.

I guess the solution is either to go on using my Brita filter or to buy $14/bottle Christian Lacroix limited edition Evian as suggested by Gay List Daily. Who buys limited edition bottled water? It IS fabulously ridiculous.

Anticipating Toya!

Toya left for mad adventures in Central and South America back in August. I can't believe she's been gone so long, but she is scheduled to return 'home' tonight! This was her final going away pic as we documented her trudging down 11th Street with enough gear to last her 3+ mos. in the wild. I don't know how she did it! I'm anxious to hear what is next on her global agenda!

We're excited to have her stay with us over the holidays. Thankfully, we had time to clean the house from top to bottom over the last few days in preparation for her arrival. I guess being on sickness lockdown does have some nice side effects. No money rolled out the door this weekend and the house is sparkly. There are only a few more things to do after work today and it will be finished!

Unfortunately, we did make the painful decision to forgo holiday decorations this year. With all the pending travel, and the hassle to get them out of storage, it just doesn't make sense. Thankfully, Steve & Lisa have offered to let me 'share' their tree during our visit as long as I bring along at least one ornament. Done and done.

44 Days 'til 44th President!

I am looking forward to the free Let Freedom Ring concert featuring Aretha Franklin at the Kennedy Center. I discovered this while researching things for my family and friends to do in DC on Inauguration Weekend. Market Watch published a Destination DC press release featuring 44 things to do until the 44th President is inaugurated 44 days from today. Check it out! Oh yes...and 143 days 'till Baby H!

In case you missed it, Loretta Lynn's concert at the 9:30 Club has received positive reviews on the street. Sister Disco reports how our mutual friend was disappointed there were so many gays and not enough hard core country straight boys for him to look at while Rita Jean couldn't get past the tour bus without blogging...I recovered at home with a bad movie, but finally got a chance to watch MTV's Britney: For The Record . Timmy thought it would never end...and then I watched the fan feedback special. There are three TVs up in this trailer; he had options, but I think secretly enjoyed it.

Jason Dottley Sucks?

I don't understand my fascination with Jason Dottley, but I owe no explanation for this position. He, however, may need to explain this series of photos from Mavrixonline.com. Is it a penis substitute? Is he trying to be a candy kid? He isn't dressed like he's coming from a rave? Is it an ecstasy reference? WTF? Perhaps it was just to get silly people like me to look...Click the thumbnail for the full article and all the pics.

Nurse Timmy

After 16 mos. of grueling pre-reqs, Timmy took his nursing school entrance exams a few weeks ago. You might recall this caused him to miss the Madonna concert. Yesterday he received an acceptance letter from the University for their RN program! I believe they only selected between 25-30 people for this program out of 90+ applicants that qualified for the test. This is an excellent accomplishment! Kudos to Timmy!!!!

Now, I have a suggested training video for him (NSFW / NSFS) but I'm sure he'll be too busy for that while he takes all those crazy medical classes that gross me out. And no RJ, this doesn't mean he can now write scripts. For the 19th time, even when he's finished with school, he will not be able to write your hall passes to the Wrong-Aid! You need a Dr. friend for that!

Speaking of Doctors...I may have to go back to mine. We tried to go out for a celebratory cocktail at the P-Rat last night. Timmy finished his single beer, but I could only get down about 20% of my cocktail. That cold dry air just tore up my lungs on the 2-1/2 block walk. My chest is now getting worse again and I just took my last anti-biotic. Uggh. I hate this.

BTW - in my search for today's graphic, I came across a picture of Dean Thorpe dressed as a nurse. The frightening things you find on a google image search....

P-Rat Defined

We have our beloved neighborhood haunts and many of you have picked up on my utilization of "P-Rat" to describe a particular rat infested, but dear to our hearts, watering hole. In an effort to ensure we hadn't "outed" the owner's skank sanitation, I searched the term. While there are no stray references on any of our blogs, I was led to this definition on Urban Dictionary. I didn't realize that "prat" was a defined word, but oh how the definitions fit our little place on U Street!

Holiday Gift Giving 2008

First, I thank god for antibiotics and pain pills. My chest is nearly normal after only two days of treatment for this nasty infection. While it is probably too early to do so, I'm going in to the office for at least part of the day. Working from home when sick is no treat. I won't, however, be my normal green Metro riding self. I need as much climate control as possible so Ms. Louise will be taking me to and fro.

Now for the holiday giving. I rarely purchase gifts for friends, my siblings limit our gift giving to something cheap or fun to open, often a silly something-or-another, and Tim's family has finally stopped exchanging gift certificates for the same amount each year. That futile exercise got a bit ridiculous. This leaves me with my parents, my partner, and my daughter.

My parents have little and want for less so they are fairly easy to please. Mom may not actually use half the things we buy her, but at least she appears appreciative. My partner and I have agreed to do a token exchange (again to have something to open) as we'll use our holiday dollars for vacation expenditures. My daughter, well, she needs a lesson in excessive consumerism. I plan to give her a few small green items and a dairy goat since she is so blessed to have more material things at age 14 than many adults. No designer purses or jewelry from Tiffany & Co. this year.

You might ask what she'll do with a dairy goat....it doesn't exactly go to her. The goat will go to a family in Kenya, Haiti, or some other less fortunate country. There are several organizations that do this, but I've decided to go with Heifer International. They are the most comprehensive in their efforts and are not religion based as many of them. While I don't universally knock the religious organizations, I have no idea what they are teaching and it generally doesn't include diversity. Click Over to their site and check out the options available at various price points for a meaningful holiday gift.

I know a farm animal gift does not suit most of your buying needs. That being the case, you may want to follow the Gimme Gimme series over at The Mango & The Jayhawk for more suggestions. Please also consider HRC's Buying for Equality guide and make your purchases from fair minded businesses. Finally, don't forget to buy local products. That hemp handbag may appear green, but you can't imagine the carbon footprint created if it was woven in China!

Sordid New Years?

I'm terribly excited about this silly New Years Eve party. It appears Jason Dottley and Dell Shores are opening their home (pictured here) and selling tickets for a Sordid Lives themed New Years Eve Party. For $275, you can buy a ticket on eBay. Now that GlitterGirlTiff is moving back to the OC, I could surely stay with her, but dare I consider such a wasteful expenditure in these lean times? (Hopefully Glitter Girl will be blogging her cross country moving adventures with Little Ricky.)

Surely this doesn't mean Dell is trying to boost his cash flow with the end of Sordid Lives as implied by TMZ's coverage back in October when he first sold memorabilia on eBay. According to a Sordid Lives Fan Blog, LOGO ordered Season 2 with 18 episodes back in August, but I haven't yet been able to find any formal announcements or press release that this happened. I will be sad if it goes away. If you've heard otherwise, please let me know!

All Night Boozin' Approved

According to the Washington City Paper, DC City Council approved extending drinking hours to 5 A.M. during inauguration weekend with a 9-4 vote. They also approved late night drinking for nightclubs with an 8-6 vote.

I don't know about you, but with my history of self control around holidays, vacations, and special events, I appreciate a "last call" to remind me it is time to stop...or at least think about stopping. I just hope the bridge/tunnelers & tourists don't fux with my fun that weekend.

Britney, All Night Booze, and Pain

Laugh if you wish, but I would like to see Britney Spears on tour. Unfortunately, we'll be on vacation in South America when she's in this part of the country, and I can't justify flying somewhere to see her. Bummer. To see if she'll be coming to a city near you, head on over to BritneySpears.com! Apparently, typing "IheartBrit" into the special offers box will allow you to purchase presale tickets through 12/5 at 10 PM. (BTW...Happy 27th Birthday Britney!)



Thanks to Kevin for posting this article from the Examiner. I'm not sure why he's reading that paper, but this is interesting information that could spell death for all of us during inauguration week. It is gonna be fun!

"...A measure put forth today by D.C. Councilman Jim Graham - who represents the party-friendly Adams Morgan neighborhood - would allow bars and restaurants licensed to serve alcohol to keep pouring until 5 a.m., and to keep doors open 24-hours per day between Jan. 17 and Jan. 21..."

Now back to sleep. I had such serious pains in my chest that I nearly went to urgent care last night. With Nurse-in-training Timmy's assurance that it wasn't my ticker and I wasn't dying, I waited until this morning. The doctor tells me it is likely pneumonia. Since I am able to breathe, a treatment on a machine, some antibiotics, an expectorant, and some ibuprofen should do the trick. He didn't think an x-ray was necessary because the anti-biotics will get it regardless what kind of nasty infection it is. I guess with the bloody phlegm and severe pain, it is beyond the common cold or flu which I've been suffering for a week.

Who the champ?

There must be an event...or Something to bring this trainload of WT cursing kids from VA. They brought along a WWE Champion belt on the train and they are passing vile gas and talking about wrestling autographs and collectibles. Hard core dolls most likely.

All I want to do is take my sick azz home and sleep. My lungs and throat now hurt so bad from coughing that I might croak.