movie reviews?

Absolutely not. Wapo was fucking with me last night when it told me that "House of Flying Daggers" was showing at Ballston, three of my friends (several figured out before hand or decided to stay home and pay bills ;) showed up to find out that it wasn't showing at 7:40 but at 9 PM. So we had beers at Bailey's ... a place I never went to unless it involved comped food and drinks by a) the partner of my ex-consulting firm or b) a Guiness promo party. Well my cat is chomping on the power cords so I should go before he electrocutes himself. I promise I'll try to write something more meaningful next time :)

rar! go me!!! 

and to prove that i was there :) 

This blog has been missing some pictures, and to prove to you all that brave warriors scaled Old Rag Mntn on Inauguration Day, here's one picture of this event. 

the handsome guy who wakes me up before my alarm ... an hour earlier 

LOTR has semblance in today's world

I had just put on my gloves when the cover of the WaPo magazine caught my eye. Instantly I was engrossed in a story worthy of a season on Jerry Springer or whatever talk show is on. I never actually thought that people on Jerry Springer's shows really existed or at least there were very few. This article however convinced me that there are some screwed up people out there in the boondocks, more so than any city soul around here. Of course all I really needed to believe in were those X-Files episodes. But one quote was quite telling:

"It was like the money was eating away at whatever was good in him," Misty says. "It reminds me, like, 'Lord of the Rings,' how that little guy -- what's his name? Gollum? -- was with his Precious. It just consumes you. You become the money. You are no longer a person."

And this is from the stripper who connived to rob him. I suppose you can steal anything if it's from gollum.

The article makes one wonder, 'What would I do if I won the Lotto jackpot?' Not having ever won a jackpot, I think the first thing I would do is hire a financial manager who would invest it for me and I would just live off the interest made. I would like to think that I would keep my job, pay off my mortgage and student loans ... and all the rest of that baloney like find some charity to give to.

Movie marathon weekend

This weekend I managed to see 3 Oscar nominated films and one very silly film. Friday night I saw Sideways again, which was much better the second time around. The first time I saw it with my sister for lack of anything to do in New Orleans on the 5th day in the freezing rain. We thought it might be one of those lackluster films the Oscars nominate because all that came out in 2004 was crap ... like the years About Schmidt or As Good As it Gets came out. We were pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a wholly depressing movie and had funny parts. This time I saw it with several friends and a few bottles of wine between all of us. Definitely better when the anticipation of the funny parts makes up for the slow parts and you know you're not going to end up feeling depressed after the movie. Also makes one appreciate lines like "tighter than a nun's asshole."

Saturday my mom and I saw two rather very good films.

The first was The Aviator. Normally I'm a fan of Martin Scorcese even though I didn't like all of his films. Mostly because Daniel Day-Lewis idolizes Martin Scorcese and I idolize Daniel Day-Lewis. Also despite diCaprio's playboy hollywood image I grudgingly admit he's a terrific actor, especially after having seen What Eating Gilbert Grape? It's a good film, and not terrible downing even though it chronicles partly a man's descent into madness. I get the sense that Scorcese films aren't meant to be experienced, but just watched.

Afterwards we saw Million Dollar Baby. I'll spoil it for you but it's a tear-jerker. My theater was filled with middle aged and elderly people who were sobbing by the end of the film, the men included. Although it's a much better effort by Clint Eastwood than Mystic River, which I HATED!!!! How can someone stand through an ultra long movie and see Sean Penn cry most of the time??? Well back to Million Dollar Baby, I haven't seen so many people in a theater cry since Whalerider. The film is not about Swank's climb from trailer trash to sell-out Vegas boxer but really more about Eastwood's character. The boxing and training scenes gave me the itch to get back into Taekwondo training. Hilary Swank's body in the training scenes were to die for, how many New Year's resolutions have I made to try and look like that by the time I hit the ring .. to make my opponents cower in fear and throw in the towel??? Sigh if only I didn't have to work full-time I would probably try to work out 6 hours a day in hopes of fulfilling my closet dream of going to the World Champs as the US Lightweight Champ. Well acted, well scripted, well filmed ... the boxing scenes definitely got the adrenaline running in my veins. The climax scene (well there are several climaxes) where Swank's Gaellic aliased character has to fight the most vicious possibly evil character in the whole film (not including her family) Blue something for the title, positively sent shivers down my back. The Blue character, a mean looking man-chic who disregards the rules, much to the detriment of her opponent's lives would send me running or if I absolutely had to fight her I would pull every dirty Hap Ki Do move I knew plus any drop kicks I could land on her ugly face in hopes that she would just die. Of course Swank wants to box, not get involved in an alley fight and has respect for rules of the ring, much to her demise .... well okay, I told you I was going to spoil it a bit. But GREAT film, heartily recommend it, but take some Kleenexes okay?

Also to make the evening more lighthearted saw a quality film, "The White Chick" with my high school cousins after being stranded in Herndon. Funny, in that comic crime solving race/gender stereotype way. But funny how race gender stereotype movies are so funny. I laughed, shamelessly.

unproductive weekend

unlike last weekend, this weekend was decidedly un-productive. Yesterday I meant to go home and come right back in the evening, but the snow and sleet kept me in Herndon. I finally escaped in the afternoon today ... got my supply of curries and sundries from mom, refueled the car, hit the ATM and went to Giant for Cranberry White Chocolate Oatmeal cookie ingredients.

I don't usually bake ... and I mean bake cookies or sweets in general. I did bake a chocolate frosted chocolate cake for a boyfriend's birthday once ... and ate most of it myself (he really liked pies and that was too ambitious for me to make in the short time I had between work and when he was coming over). But anyway, most things I bake, like biscuits and stuff usually come out of the oven resembling charcoal or building materials. I'm a Great cook, and I'm Great at baking meats and veggies in the oven, but things that are supposed to rise while baking confound me.

So tonight I'm going to attempt to bake these cranberry white chocolate chip oatmeal cookies which i once had at a diplomat's house. That is hopefully before I tear into the Craisins and eat them all.

Even though I haven't written my presentation or paper for Thursday's class, I did screen some Oscar nominated films.

my good deed

I'm a slacker but I did some good last night. This man from the 'burbs approached me as a I left the Farragut West stop. He told me he didn't have his wallet and needed fare for the metro to get back to Vienna. Well lucky for him I had just received my metrocheck allotment, and out of the generous-ness of my heart gave him a metrocheck worth $30. He looked at me quizzically and gave me a half-hearted thanks. I guess he wanted the money instead.

In other matters, this is why, even though I've become a dc resident will always despise Marylanders. Read and laugh your heart out!!!

blog fever

For those of you blog fans the competition is underway according to this BBC article. I couldn't even get onto bloggies site because of the limited bandwidth. Very curious. Well I'm glad to know that I am not in the 40% of blog starters who don't update their blog more than 2 times a month!

*wink, wink, you know I'm trying hard :) Also it makes me feel loved and wonderful when somebody comments on my blog, which hasn't happened yet. So lemme know! Although I've heard from other blogging friends who have seen my blog,

notably:

Unrequited Narcissism (Catherine & Tom)
The World As Only I Know It (Naomi)
and then there's Julie's blog which I was quite enjoying reading but since I would access it from Catherine & Tom's blog which for some reason the link is gone, I haven't kept up with it.
Also there's Becca's blog which I can't get to for the same reason
Shoulda bookmarked it.

more tourism

this is my second tourism related post. I am particularly fascinated by unique and different tourist experiences and would like to consider myself a traveler but other things seem to get in the way.

Can a bordello really be sold as a resort destination? Nevada is the only state in the union where brothels are legal, but prostitution is by no means a hallowed trade. Brothels are usually seedy affairs, tucked discreetly away from churches, town halls and the like (or so somebody we met in a bar once told us). But Lance Gilman, who owns both the Wild Horse bordello and the trademark for the Mustang Ranch, is building a sex village complete with museum and souvenir shop.

Vegas is certainly an interesting place, one cannot ignore the fact that once you leave the hotel, it takes you about 30 mins to actually leave the grounds of the hotel, all the while seeing hispanic immigrants shuffling porno ads for service like a deck of cards. They like to decorate the fences with these ads as well. One makes you wonder if they can read or understand what they are distributing, as I've seen women also passing these out too.

what's the point

One of the greatest things about being a govee is the pay scale system. Regardless of who you are, Congress will typically vote in a cost of living adjustment, anywhere from 3-6% to keep up with inflation. So even if you get bad ratings in your performance your salary will still increase every year. That's something the private sector does not enjoy. I've known friends in the private sector who've had the same salary since they got the job ... three years ago!!! Most of them have moved onto other rival companies to increase their salaries and job potential. Also, in the government, every year you get a step increase within the grade, automatically giving you another 3% or so raise. Usually, you don't have to resort to that. Barring absenteeism and never getting any work done, its practically assured you will be promoted to the next grade, non-competitively, ensuring an additional 5-7% or more raise.

Well now the government is looking to experiment with the pay-band scale. Commonly used in the private sector. Why the freak did I transition from consulting to government anyway? Besides having a more interesting job, more security, it was the civil service scale ... which ensures practically regular promotions. Although I make less than my private sector counterparts, unlike them, I don't face a big risk of lay-off or having my salary/promotions stagnate, forcing me to look for a job elsewhere.

Okay so I'm done ranting. But I will be pissed if this thing comes to fruition. For my private sector friends, if this thing happens, look to me for a possible referral bonus :)

bp city culture

Okay so one more post, but it'll be the most I do this week!!! I promise (not). I had no idea gas stations were a place to purchase habit accoutrements of the restricted kind.

But Washington isn't buying the sweet sentiment attached to the item. "There is no other reason to sell it," he says. "You're not going to spend $3 for a plastic rose to give to a loved one. You're not telling that person much about how much you care for them—unless you're a crackhead."

I really had no idea. I will never look at a plastic rose in a gas station the same way.

so much going on Jan 20th

I didn't stay in town for inaugural day, but seemed like the place was quite hopping.

For instance there's already a trial underway for someone attempting to blow up the White House.

The hearing was the most detailed public account yet of the standoff Jan. 18 in which Timmers allegedly threatened to blow up the van and White House. The incident, at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW, occurred when the city was teeming with security because of inaugural events and forced the closing of many downtown streets during the afternoon and evening rush hour.

Anarchists in Adams Morgan.

Okay, well I'd continue but I should get to work.

whine

Yesterday blogger didn't work so I couldn't post the Harry Potter 6th book coming out madness commencing mid-July. I'm already looking forward to summer. Also it's Wednesday, one more day that I have to work that I didn't work last week. I was spoiled rotten last week by having only to work two days because of the holidays. This week is shock treatment: 40+ hour week in addition to a full week of evening course. Otherwise, I'm fairly excited about a class at GWU that I just managed to slide into: Diplomatic Negotiations Course. I like the fact that a) there's very little reading b) all the work is done during class hours rather than outside ... hopefully it will be one of those graduate classes that'll actually be useful in the outside world. Also found out next Tuesday's course is cancelled. I must treat myself!!! This opportunity may not happen again ... quick must make plans ... but what must do? Pho? Black Cat Show? Cook? Dinner with friend haven't seen in long time???? Late night avante guarde theater??? Movie???

things that make you go hmmmm....

And I thought South Asians were particularly big on conspiracies. Arabs as well as Iranians.

Nearly half of the 500 African Americans surveyed said that HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, is man-made. The study, which was supported by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, appears in the Feb. 1 edition of the Journal of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndromes.

*Last* Sunday night

Last night I saw a Cartel show at the Black Cat. Very good. Very local dc band. Very interpol-esque. They only have an EP out but hopefully soon they'll have a full album. I figured this would be my last evening out ... until May at least; so I braved the below 0 Celsius temps to walk up to my favorite dc nite spot at the request of friend of mine. I think for another one of their shows I'll try to make it out before May :)

i know, so many have already spoken of this

Yesterday after I finished doing everything I thought could be productive and attempted to watch "The Tango Lesson." I was very excited to discover that my $100/mo. cable package comes with the Sundance and International Film channels. Well truthfully, my brain was not really in the mood to watch t.v. so I continued reading the 9/11 Commission Report. I must say very good read. There were two places the book got me completely choked up. The first was the introduction where it described the events on that infamous day and second was when it went into details about the rescue ops in the Chapter entitled "Heroes and Horrors."

It really brought back memories of my own rescue squad days, attempting to play hero every Sunday night from 6 PM to 6 AM at the Scottsville Rescue Squad. Very little actually ever happened at the Rescue Squad because it seemed maybe 12 families lived in our section ... (well I exaggerate). But I suppose its an extraordinary thing to be someone who put their own life at risk so that they may save other lives. Anyway, that was tearful part of it.

Well I just got back from working out and cleaning the snow off my car before it hardens and my car becomes encased in an igloo. Now I'm working up the courage to go to Whole Foods, only three blocks away to do some grocery shopping. So I can cook my Bengali-style Lebanese meatballs!

i didn't say it

Larry's Blog

dc+white+Saturday=productive

So this morning I slept in and still managed to work out, do the laundry, clean my entire place and have a conversation with a professor on the phone about the first day of class that I missed. Upon trying to figure out other productive things to do not involving leaving my building, I decided to explore other blogs. Hahaaa, and I found a good one. I haven't actually read anything but I'm impressed by his pictures. This particularly impresses me because using that thingy blogger makes you use to post pictures confounds me and seems to take too long.

I think the rest of the day I'm going channel surf and drink homemade chai which for any of you interested is worth the time to make b/c the stuff they serve at coffee shops is not chai. It is concentrated crap. Although i will buy and drink it because I'm lazy. But in case you are interested; here is Naz's recipe for superb chai (measurements approximate):

Real Chai:

put one part milk, one part water in a small saucepan, put heat on low. Put however many teabags or loose tea ... loose tea from 'desh is preferable but if you must resort to store bought teas I recommend PG Tips bag tea or loose Twinings English Breakfast.

pinch of ginger, ground or fresh
brown sugar or honey to taste
an inch of cinnamon stick
cloves to taste
ground cardamom to taste

continue heating on low until evaporated to a thick consistency and a nice creamy brown color ... usually 20 mins. or so. Serve.

I am Hardcore

Despite the raised eyebrows from my friends who saw the e-mail invite to hike Old Rag yesterday, after Wednesday nights snowfall ... we did it. There were five brave warriors who trudged up Old Rag Mountain under snow fall in treacherous icy conditions. I also realized on the ascent that I was sorely out of shape ... I think even my lungs are sore today (and for some reason my shoulders). Well I know why my shoulders are sore, I was vaulting over dinosaur sized boulders, precariously close to a 3,000 foot drop at the summit. We also ate and drank so much at the Bavarian Chef that it took us just as long to figure out the check as it did for us to eat the meal.

Last night I had barely enough energy to take a shower and collapse in my bed.

yum

Reading this article made me very hungry, although I'm actually full. I think my interest on what's on the presidential plate stems from when my mom boasted of making a dish the President ate, that being beef stroganoff ... she made it with Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup, for some reason I don't think the presidential chef was that quick to cut corners.

Well rather than stay in town, listening to people in cowboy boots revel, some friends and I are getting the heck out of the DC metro area for a hike ... mostly to feel good about stuffing ourselves at the Bavarian Chef. My only experience with German cuisine being in Epcot center, so I was quite delighted with the fare.

Well I didn't make it to class. After a balancing act on a slowly moving metro bus shuttle, I collapse in exhaustion (or lack of sleep). I awoke upon hearing fireworks. I forget that I share a metro stop with the White House.

even the cabbie quit

So I had no class tonight. But I stayed just in case and found three other people who were just as confused about today 'being the first day of classes' not realizing that GWU has an unwritten exception for one credit courses. After walking a mile in the blustering cold, I was determined to catch a cab. Once hopping into one, I kept hearing the cabbie mutter about the atrocious traffic. After spending 15 minutes in grid, he made it to the metro stop closest to the Elliott school, where I had just departed, and told me to get another cab and that he wouldn't charge me. He claimed the traffic was impossible. Before he did that, he called somebody and complained in Hindi about his passenger whom he had to drive (that being me). Well I gave up looking for another cab driver, hopped on the metro, changed out of my 3 in stiletto heeled boots and legged to it my building. Grudgingly. Every cab I saw was occupied. Why can't the inauguration be in freakin' Texas? My car is currently block locked, I can't drive South (towards the major arteries that will lead to VA) or East (the other way to get out to VA). Well it's good to be home and better to have gotten my little workout. Now I really hope that tomorrow I actually have a class, because I'm heading down there again.

mutiny

I've tried to refrain from writing about the weather, but it is doggone cold in the district. A mutiny on the orange line at the Metro Center stop ensured my walking to the Elliott School in Foggy Bottom, that's practically a mile, and given all the detours I had to make because of all the road and apparently pedestrian closures, I was nicely rosy cheeked from the windburn when I arrived at school. Only to find out that I probably didn't have class today!!!! And here I was thinking that I would break my exercise streak by having to pick up an add/drop form before the registrar closed and attend a class I'm not even registered for. Well just in case the GWU schedule system is really f*ed up, I'm going to stay until 7:10, the official start time of my class just to make sure that I really did walk here in the cold to find that class doesn't start till next Tuesday.

Otherwise, the mutiny on the metro ... of course the usual delays, and then the operator started threatening to discontinue service and make everyone offload if people didn't get out of the doorways. Well somehow that didn't connect and the doors still couldn't close. Nevermind that the orange/blue lines were running 20 mins behind, the operator, either out of being a sheer asshole or the passengers having really broken the train had to disembark. Hence my journey to the Elliott School.

We've Got Heart

I thought this study in the Economist article is very interesting:

WOMEN live longer than men. It is unfair, but true. In developed countries, the average difference is five or six years. In the poor world the gap is smaller, owing to the risks of childbirth. But nowhere is it absent. The question is, why?
That question can be answered at two levels. An evolutionary biologist would tell you that it is because women get evolutionary bonus points from living long enough to help bring up the grandchildren. Men, by contrast, wear themselves out competing for the right to procreate in the first place. That is probably true, but not much help to the medical profession. However, a group of researchers at John Moores University, in Liverpool, England, has just come up with a medically useful answer. It is that while 70-year-old men have the hearts of 70-year-olds, those of their female peers resemble the hearts of 20-year-olds.

Very interesting to know, although good news for my male brethren the effects can be mitigated by exercise and a healthy diet.

I'm blogging a lot today because I fear that once classes start (tomorrow) entries will be scarce, plus I felt that today was a pretty stimulating day.

more acts of war

while my mom was here visiting DC as a tourist (even though she comes here everyday to work), we visited "The Enemy Within" at the Spy Museum. I learned some fascinating facts, like 9/11 was the not the first terror attack in New York by foreigners. During the 1st World War German saboteurs exploded a shipment of munitions on an island near New York City, which resulted in hours of allied-bound munitions exploding, creating a crater where Black Tom used to be.

Afterwards, we went to see "A Life Aquatic", it was interesting, but I was still battle weary from fighting with my cat the night before that I slept for the first ten minutes of the movie. Kinda wish I had seen "House of Flying Dragons" instead.

feline problems

I'm a stupid cat owner or something. The several times I've had to transport my precious cat, Valdemar, I've managed to shock him senseless and ended up in a catfight in the bathroom sink. He for some reason, I'm guessing in absolute terror, ends up shitting and pissing in his carrier while en route. What it means for me is enduring a very smelly drive and trying to bathe him at my destination, which ends up with me being scratched and feeling like a horrible person as I try to keep him in the sink by brute force. Last night had to be the worst ... he shitted and pissed on himself, and then I had to clean him in a newly painted beautiful red bathroom. He managed to escape midst torturous sink basin bath and escaped to his litter box, which I should've known better than to have kept open. Imagine, wet cat plus clay cat litter. Not pretty. After he got out, he shook himself, splattering clay kitty litter on my newly painted walls and on me. I had to give him another bath. Plus, he hasn't had his claws clipped in over two weeks, so rather than getting scratched I got punctured, on my shoulders, arms, and yes, even my neck, as he tried to escape into my hair or something. Finally, I gave up, hoping that I had at least gotten the shit off him and that he could clean himself of the clay litter. I feel so bad!!! Here's a cat who craves seeks and begs for affection and attention, and I can't even hold him or let him on my bed because he's still got litter stuck to him. :(

WAR, what is it good for?

Last night I had my mom come up for a sleepover, so much for dancing till the early morning to house music until dawn, but we had a very good day. My mom had never seen the National Cathedral ... (my experiences have been: 1) great makeout spot in the Bishop's Garden, ahem ... according to sources and the one time my friend and I decided to visit afterhours and sent lovers nesting in the grottos startled and fleeing like a pack of doves 2) horrible place to picnic on a day commemorating a religious event, the bells chimes every fifteen minutes for 12 minutes, figure out how much tranquility you have then). So today we stepped into the gothic monstrosity expecting a pleasant stroll looking at the stain glass murals. Instead we were greeted by thousands of pairs of shoes. Each belonging to a soldier who died in the war in Iraq or an Iraqi civilian. This exhibit is making its rounds among many churches in the East. It was quite sad to see the entire nave covered with shoes, and if you've seen the nave, then you know its a sizeable and staggering amount.

a crime in f*cked up good ole dominion

all these years, I've been committing a crime .... obviously I must've had a martini because this is much too personal for me to broadcasting over the web. Although my parents probably in their hearts know this, they will not be marrying me off as a virgin ... oops, again too much information

The case involved a woman who sued her former boyfriend. Muguet S. Martin of Dinwiddie asked for $5 million in damages from Ziherl when she learned she had contracted herpes after they had had unprotected sex. She alleged that Ziherl knew about his condition but failed to inform Martin.
Circuit Court Judge Theodore J. Markow in Richmond dismissed the lawsuit, concluding that Martin was not entitled to sue for damages that occurred during an illegal act (who'da fuckin' knew???). The state Supreme Court ruling reinstates the lawsuit, which will proceed in Circuit Court.
"I can't say we're pleased we made Virginia safe for fornication," said Neil Kuchinsky, Martin's attorney. "Though some will thank me, I'm sure. What we're saying is, there's a new sexual rule of procedure in Virginia. That is, 'If you're not asked, do tell.' "

Well I'm glad I live in the wonderful semi-state of the district of columbia now, although the point made in this article is pretty important. Anyway, I shall retire this early morning, so that I can greet my wonderful painters in hopes that by Sunday morning my home will be a beautiful colorful place and I'll have a harmonious bathroom that will no longer inspire sinus pain.

Noooooo!!!! Not the ECHO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Toyota is getting rid of my favorite car!!! I'm never getting rid of my Echo ... although the first time I saw it I thought it looked like a cheap weird little space vehicle, but once I test drove it, from the practically non-existent nose to the interior bubble shape with perfect acoustics and the headlights twirled up like flirty eyes, I knew I was in love. I couldn't stop the stupid grin that kept lighting on my face whenever I drove it for the first six months. Of course, right now my car could be a VBIED ... it's got 5 gallons of oil-based primer in the trunk, I hope no one decides to slam into its back tonight.

While getting the primer at the Home Depot, crossing on appropriate zebra stripes, I was almost flattened by a wildly swerving backwards driving piece of crap car ... I yelled, boy did I yell. I hope those nice paint contractors who threw in painting my pipes (the water and gas pipes) lacing my ceiling and cauking the airholes in the cement won't mind hauling up those two 5 gallon buckets of paint they told me to purchase.

can't resist

sometimes i find a blog that's pretty funny, I'm going to try and do the same thing she does, just for fun.

Quiz thingy!
[ A Last time for everything.. ]
Last book you read : Am reading The Curse of the Singles Table: A True Story of 1001 Nights Without Sex (Eid present from LISA!!! My only Christian friend who gives me Eid presents!)
Last movie you saw :Meet the Fockers
Last song you heard:Misunderstood/Better Than Ezra
Last thing you had to drink: Apple cider (usually I have it with a good swig of bourbon, heated w/ whip cream, cinnamon and caramel ... yummm)
Last time you showered: Last night (will in 5 mins)
Last thing you ate: Brown rice with bad curry, tomato khata and tuna
Favorite band ever: Pearl Jam, always, although I don't listen to them anymore
Most listened to bands:Recently Modest Mouse, Interpol, Liz Phair, Belle & Sebastian, all those semi indie guys
Do you find any musicians good looking- Kevin, lead of Better Than Ezra ... too HOoooott in that homosexual kind of way ... I totally dug him after he called out a punk who threw a soda bottle into the crowd and had security escort him out; the lead for Ash is pretty too but he's too short
Can you play an instrument:brief short lived periods of play: the recorder, trumpet, baritone, guitar, piano
Type of music listened to : Rock
Type never listened to: Country
Favorite book: Ishmael by Daniel Quinn or for Herald Mage Trilogy by Mercedes Lackey
Whom do you believe is the smartest man alive at the moment: Smart man whatchya talking about? Everyone knows its Marilyn (from Washington Post's Parade ... okay I know its a syndicate column)!!! And she's a woman!!!!
What do you prefer, a sunny or rainy day:What a dumb question; both, I need rainy days to sleep from my hyperactivities on sunny days

okay now the questions are getting super dumb so i'm going to stop, it's also not amusing anymore, probably not for you either.

WMD & Rotten Curry

I'm still pretending that people are actually reading this, but I am glad to hear that we have stopped looking for WMD's in Iraq ... I mean it sucks that what some people believed was a legitimate reason to go to war in Iraq is completely unfounded, but at least the administration has realized it can't keep this charade up any longer.

Otherwise, this evening after realizing I had incorrectly thought tonight I would be meeting a friend for my favorite vietnamese noodle soup treat, I got out my tupperware containing curry from I think two weeks ago. I ate it on Sunday with my dad and it was good, but today it smelled a little funky. I thought hey, maybe the mushrooms in it are taking over the flavor, so I ate a bit anyway and froze the rest. I suppose we'll see if I was correct in my prediction that it had not actually gone bad ... it would not be good to call in sick for a second time this week. Curry is perfect buffet food, because it is essentially overcooked food, which means nothing can grow in it, it's practically sterile, although I wouldn't apply it to a wound because of the cayenne content in it.

Idiocy, I rule at it.

murderous red

In my relative week of freedom (until I regain my status as a graduate student--yikes one week left!!!), I've decided to embark on home improvement. Many have already heard about how my boring my beige/taupe whatever non-exciting paint scheme will be replaced by bold colors, like deep red in the bathroom, pale lime wash in the living/bedroom area, and deep blue accent near the front door. For sure I would need a professional to do this ... also I wanted to paint my ceilings, which are exposed concrete, with exposed pipework (making it a royal pain in the ass to paint). When I told my dad all this, he was like, 'we can do it!' So Saturday evening I went out and bought my paints ... Sunday we started painting. It took the whole day just to get two coats on the ceiling to cover the concrete, mostly because it took an hour at least to paint around the pipes. My dad did all that ... I attempted the bathroom. "Luscious" was the color ... my bathroom is in ruins. Today I started calling paint contractors, one guy I looked at it and said they have to fix the drips and it's a 'do over' wished i had 'called them before i started'. Another guy concurred about it being a do over. Ugh, my beautiful walls ... ruined! I'm not sure about the red either, it's kind of jarring, makes me feel unsettled and glad to be back out in my neutral white and cream colored hallway & kitchen.

So I'm not sure if the headache pounding in my head is linked to my drippy streaky blood red bathroom or the hammer pounding on my sinuses. Sore throat and all that made me stay home today with my favorite, the paint contractors section of the Yellow Pages.

7 Days/7 Nights: Cradle of Civilization and Sandy Beaches

Hmmm, perhaps in a couple years I'll actually want to pack to this destination, sort of reminds me of this Economist article:


Tourism in Somalia Far from the madding crowd
Mar 4th 2004 MOGADISHU From The Economist print edition
Well, far from other tourists, anyway
HE HAS perhaps the world's hardest job, but very little to do. Abdi Jimale Osman is Somalia's minister of tourism. His inbox is always empty; unsurprisingly, given that his anarchic homeland has not had a single officially acknowledged tourist in 14 years.
Somalia is not without attractions. The sun shines, the beaches are sandy and you can dine on lobster on the roof of the Sharmo Hotel, which commands a splendid view of the capital, Mogadishu. It is not safe, however. The Sharmo advises guests to hire at least ten armed guards to escort them from the airport.
Since civil war broke out in 1990, Somalia has been divided into some two dozen warring fiefs. But Mr Jimale is undaunted. “Tourists can still go and see the former beautiful sights,” he says. “The only problem is they're all totally destroyed.” Your correspondent admired what was left of the cathedral. Graffiti outside warned “Beware of landmines”.
Mr Jimale wants donors to help rebuild Somalia's national parks, though they mainly lie in areas the government does not control. “Most of the animals have disappeared too,” he concedes, “Because we have eaten them.”
Brave tourists can find unusual bargains in Mogadishu. In the market, a hand grenade sells for $10, a Howitzer for $20,000. For those who remain unconvinced, Mr Jimale is reassuring. “I'm sure tourists would leave Somalia alive and I'm hopeful they wouldn't be kidnapped,” he says. “At least, we would try to make sure they were not kidnapped, although it can happen.”

7 PM Bedtime

Last night it was beautiful to go to bed at 6:45 PM. Some things I can appreciate about the winter is it getting dark early enough that it feels like i ought to go to bed when I my alarm is set for 3 AM the next day.

Otherwise, this afternoon I have a hair appointment for a hair cut and COLORING!!!! Somehow on my way back from partying on eve of New Year's eve I got the brilliant idea with it being so dark outside in the evening, it would be good to get a little lighter. I'm trying a new hair salon recommended by a friend who says they won't argue with me about getting bangs. I actually got a trim a few weeks ago while in Florida but like many other stylists before her, she argued that I should do the 'angle' thing with my hair, which is what every hair stylist does to me! I'm really tired of it, I don't want to be asked what my profession is and then end up with a conservative hair cut that's really not me.

curry

I always knows that curry was relatively healthy ... I can't vouch for the stuff that you find in Indian buffets or even Indian restaurants, usually swimming in a vat of ghee or just oil. However, anything simmered with tons of veggies, spices for flavor, garlic and onion has to be good. But check out this article on turmeric. Turmeric is great to use in fried fish (with loads of onions and chilli peppers), tomato khata (Sylheti specialty), and any chicken curry. Also it has an old fashioned use as a beauty paste ... I'm not sure what my ancestors were thinking (clearly too many hits off the hookah pipe), but they seemed to think a bright yellow face before a wedding was very attractive. Now I hope they found some great benefit for using coriander, because that's probably my numero uno spice ... and I put it in EVERYTHING ... hamburgers, meatballs, even tomato sauce.

'You know you're S. Asia/Bengali if the fingernail whites of your right hand are neon yellow"

new year in fear

i am in fear of being caught blogging on official government equipment, but i have just finished a dreadful task and am looking forward to this time of doing nothing ... like trying to decrypt the answering machine message on my dentist's phone explaining the various hours they are open so I can schedule a time for when I'll get a cavity filled ...

my new year's was great ... it was all about going on Thursday night, the eve of New Year's eve, and then chilling at a pj party the next evening ... i shook it up the next night at MMXXIII (that's probably the wrong way to Roman enumerate 1223) ... I forgot how strong martini's are, the small glasses looked deceptively innocuous ... my friend and stumbled back to her place after finding out that the cab fare to my place was an additional $5.50, for only five freakin' blocks! But I was really too out of it go back to my place, I had broken my feet with my new 9 West 4 'in unbelieveably hot strappy sandals, and by mid morning Jan 2nd, my friend and I were both taking turns hugging her toilet ... I think I was still smashed around noon that day ... and now alarming news

read the last line ... my favorite dms (during menstrual syndrome) drug could possibly be linked to heart attacks ...

but for a feel good fuzzy feeling that actually brought tears to my eyes ... US-Indonesia Divide ... although I can complain about the US hesitating (or Bush anyway), and obviously this will be used as a major campaign to improve US perception abroad, I think this story is great ... these days the newspapers don't have very happy news stories and it's good to see one once in a while :)