santana

reminds me of California. Reminds me of winding roads, particulary Sunset Blvd, first going through the crappy parts of L.A. and then hitting the strip, winding up and down the hills of Beverly, up towards to Santa Monica ... hitting the pacific highway, as the cool mists provide the white-capped contrast to the iron rich hills. Malibu homes unseen, wooden gates, and the peek of the high performance foreign car; the black Ferrari that already sped past my white Ford rental ...

the creepy mist further up, obscuring the prehistoric giants of Big Sur, the sky a hallucinatory oasis, perhaps just a hint of azure in the grey above. Baby seals and all that ...

La Jolla, white facade designer shops, Sushi on the Rock really rocks out with the best spicy tuna roll I've had in the continental US. Walking along Torrey Pines beach during sunset, clearing the limestone cliffs, seeing the rainbow festooned hot air balloons take off into the fiery sky ...

And San Diego, the Silver strand, Coronado red tiled peaks and blue bays dotted with white sails ... an hour from Tijuana.

things i've never done (and may never do)

1. Smoked a cigarette
2. Cheated on someone
3. Scuba dived
4. Smoked marijuana
3. Killed someone
4. Went Caving
5. Taken any illegal drug that had no age restrictions
6. Driven a motorcycle
7. Swam a lap
8. Been to the Southern Hemisphere
9. Played drums
10. Left the DC metro area for another place to live
11. Travelled 4 times to the UK and went to Scotland or Ireland
12. Skied a Black Diamond
13. Pulled off a successful turning hook kick in a taekwondo tournament
14. Serenaded a man
15. Owned a dog
16. not talked to my mom for a week
17. talked to my dad continuously for a week
18. gotten married
19. had kids
20. owned a sports car
21. Been to Amsterdam, Luxembourg, or Monaco
22. acted in a widely distributed film
23. hang-glided
24. landed a single propeller engine airplane
25. been to the Middle East for more than 18 hours
26. gotten into a street fight
27. stood up a date
28. faked liking a boy
29. pledged a sorority
30. saw the 'drag races' in Dupont
31. driven a car on a race track
32. Sailed a boat on my own
33. ice skated without falling
34. gone to the Phillips collection
35. Been to Washington state
36. painted a room all by myself
37. held a spider
38. been to Eastern Europe
39. defended a dissertation
40. Looked out the telescopes on O'Hill
41. Had surgery
42. completed climbing Romeo's Ladder
43. rafted the Gauley River
44. fallen for a South Asian man
45. not had a boyfriend who wasn't some part Anglo-Saxon
46. voted Republican
47. Voted before 2004
48. gone to Fur
49. tolerated cigarette smoking very well
50. played foosball with any skill
51. gotten into the top four in the National Taekwondo Championship

therapy

Certainly a blog can serve as one, maybe I'm just particularly teary, especially after seeing Chokher Bali. But the whole film made me question if being a widow is really worse than losing someone to something other than death. The shame and the humiliation from family and the questions, the expectations of your friends, particularly those who are catching up with you after several months, and they ask, "so no chance, not in a couple years?"

UVA did a study on couples ... I saw ads for it on the University Transit System aka, bus system run by disgruntled students who realized UVA's fratty conservative atmosphere did not embrace them too well into its white columned brick neo-classical structures. They asked for couples to be part of a psychological study. Actually they didn't care if the couple were still together ... the interesting part came when the two called it Splitsville. What they discovered was that losing someone to a failed relationship was worse than losing someone to death. With death, they are gone forever, it takes a far leap in spirituality to think you might be reunited with them again ...

In life, it is not so, in life, there's always the chance you'll run into them at a party with your new boyfriend, or worse, you'll see them with someone else (admittedly the former is much better than the latter). In life you'll wonder what you could've done differently, in life you may try to be friends. And then wonder, why was this person my life, and now I can't even bear to see them? In life, you think if that was your last shot, if you would have to settle for something less, or worse, nothing at all.

an end again

They say an end can be a start /Feels like I've been buried yet I'm still alive
It's like a bad day that never ends / I feel the chaos around me
A thing I don't try to deny /I'd better learn to accept that
There are things in my life that I can't control /They say love ain't nothing but a sore
I don't even know what love is /Too many tears have had to fall
Don't you know I'm so tired of it all /I have known terror dizzy spells
Finding out the secrets words won't tell /Whatever it is it can't be named...
Now I know that a breeze can blow me away/ Now I know there's much more dignity ..
If I ever feel better /Remind me to spend some good time with you ...


Hang on to the good days/ I can lean on my friends
They help me going through hard times /But I'm feeding the enemy
I'm in league with the foe /Blame me for what's happening I can't try, I can't try, I can't try...
No one knows the hard times I went through /If happiness came I miss the call
The stormy days ain't over /I've tried and lost know I think that I pay the cost
.. Dark is the night, cold is the ground/ In the circular solitude of my heart
As one who strives a hill to climb I am sure I'll come through /
I don't know how
They say an end can be a start /Feels like I've been buried yet I'm still alive

---Phoenix "If I ever feel better"

blog credits go to Indebleu and their amazing Lycheetini, blackberry Mojito, and something with pineapple and coconut in a martini glass.

artless life

What would life be like without entertainment? There would be no blogs, there would be no DC Filmfest, I'd live in the drudgery of international affairs without the distraction of The Onion, no dancing out my knees at the Black Cat, and white chocolate would be an acceptable form of dessert. No maybe not the white chocolate, but it is an abhorrance of a treat. I'm clearly rambling here ... but you know I was just thinking of all the things that I'm thankful for that keep me distracted from doing meaningful things like applying for a promotion and writing a stellar research paper. Primarily doing things like checking out if there's another feline I roar at in hysterics on the web or surfing my 7 HBO channels which have absolutely nothing worth watching on.

Also without entertainment I couldn't stalk my friends Catherine, Tom, Julie, and Naomi as they happily traverse across Italy. That's okay in a few weeks I'll be juggling a pina colada in one hand and a Hawaiian Tropic in the other basking in the Cancun Mexico sun ...

can't help it

I swear if anyone (as anyone reads this) I can take it off. Anonymous ... the discussions going on in my beautiful Logan circle condominium over prostitutes (different people for each line break):

-Without disputing anything you say, as someone who survived the crack wars of the 80's on DC streets, I suggest that we can make it more advantageous for these lovely ladies - and lovely lady look-alikes - to ply their trade elsewhere. At least I think we can.

-Thank you. As I realize it is part of the urban atmosphere I didn't pay the kind of money I paid for a condo do have prostitutes turning tricks underneath my window.

-Just type in "Logan Circle Prostitution" into google to see the long history of the problem and all the things that have been tried to stop it. If you try to get too tough on the problem civil rights groups come after the lawmakers. Anyways, it is a difficult problem. By the way, at the last ANC meeting Lt. Smith gave his department's email address "PSA307@hotmail.com" and urged residents to email problems and crime reports to that email address, as the police are supposedly very responsive to this.

-Horrible! Did you happen to hear how much they were offering their services for?

-I'm pretty sure it's cheaper than one month of Comcast.... ;)

-i dont think so...unless you only want 15 minutes of comcast

-Wow this is like a scene out of an episode of sex and the city when Samantha was living in the meat packing district..she had a dif't way of handling it and not so effective!

- I think making our voices heard is still valuable.Please let me know if you have other suggestions.

-Just wanted to acknowledge the great work so & so is doing. I don't know any other building that is so on top of everything. On another note, I just wanted to warn any touchy feely couples to be careful not to spend too much time in the car making out or doing anything else for that matter around the building (like when dropping your date off) because the police might stop and interrogate you, especially since they are now so sensitive about all the prostitution. There is nothing worse then having to try to explain to a cop that your girlfriend is not a prostitute.

-I have a laser pointer...was thinking of using that to flash in their eyes to annoy them away if they wake me up again. I've heard them on the N Street side.

-fyi, you should never point a laser pointer into someones eye...it can cause damage to the eye (i.e. retina)

-Forgot that in Democrat liberal DC that people who break laws get more sympathy than taxpayers. My mistake.

-hmmm...I wonder which side of the senate you're staffing! Prolly the side that supports pedophile preists and gun-toting wildmen like Ted Nugent? The rent is cheaper in VA ya know.....

-Call 1-800-TALIBAN for all your immoral miscreant removal needs. Guaranteed to be faster than the U.S. judicial system, or your money back!

-I left this morning for work at 6:30 am and two of them were chatting at 13th and Mass. They sure looked like they had reach their expiration date.

creeping closer

So all good things must come to an end ... at least for this year, the 2005 DC Filmfest closes its doors this afternoon, and I don't have the excuse of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to see foreign flicks that won't hit the American market. I've certainly done my binging on cinema this past week. I caught Peacock ... which unfortunately was disappointing, saw the hilarious tongue-in-cheek Manual for Love Stories and last night saw the thriller Private, based on trues stories in the occupied territories.

Today I revisited Hollywood, forgetting cry-baby Sean Penn was starring in this movie, and saw The Interpreter ... but I do love Nicole Kidman. I'm sure I'll find other diversions from writing my paper, all 15 pages due in less than two weeks.

nimby

So it's getting warmer, the conventioneers are flooding the town (the new Convention Center is only 6 blocks to my East--hotels around Thomas Circle are just around the corner), and now when I leave my building I might be affronted by a woman wearing a bright pink fishnet mini and thong ... yep, the prostitutes are back. When I first moved to Logan circle I saw them twice: once while walking home from work and another time going to work. Generally people feel very strongly about prostitution one way or the other or feel like it's not a big deal.

Well in general this is the way I feel about it: once a friend of mine told me she often gives money to homeless people, after I described a story about my homeless person encounter:
Upon reaching for the keys in my building, a man approached me, begging for money so he could pay the $3 fee to get a bed in the homeless shelter (less than a block away from me). Feeling reluctant and realizing many of these guys are great actors, I still gave him the remaining amount for him to get a bed ... I saw him run off the opposite direction from the shelter, towards the liquor stores on 11th St.
My friend told me if she was homeless she would be an alcoholic too and it's fine to give them money to help with their addiction because she could afford to spare a little change. Well that was was some wacked up justification if I ever heard one. I said 1) you are a suburbanite, these guys are my neighbors ... and frankly I don't want to step over their passed out forms when I'm walking home from work, 2) nor do I want my neighborhood to go back to being trashy and have the investment in my home dip down 3) I don't want them getting so addicted that they have to resort to crime. It's my neighborhood, I care about it, don't pretend you care about homeless people by giving them money.

I think that's the way some people in my condo feel about prostitutes. They don't necessarily always attract the conventioneers ... if anything they likely attract the sleazier types who may indulge in a little crime besides sex offenses. I don't know the statistics or correlation if its true, but I would rather err on the safe side. When I bought my condo, my parent's freaked because of its proximity to 14th St. which to them over 25 years ago was DC's notorious red light district. Prostitutes are heavily ingrained in Logan Circle's history, and countless battles between council members, advocates, and law enforcement confirm that. Anyway it's an interesting problem that people in my building have started recording to submit to law enforcement et al.

rock creek death

Melodrama, well I really had the scariest bike ride ever on Rock Creek Parkway recently, not withstanding my earlier escapade where I was on the Parkway (which is very illegal--I noticed while driving one day). I decided at 8 PM to bike from Foggy Bottom all the way up to Tenleytown, surely the quickest would be the parkway ... until it got dark, and quiet, and the path weaved a bit a way from the road, and the cars were coming too fast to notice a bicyclist flitting through the trees, furiously peddling, hoping the boogey man, or serial rapist murder lurking in this metropolitan oasis would not be fast enough to lurch out of the shadows, under the bridges, by the sinisterly calm trickling creek to slam me to the ground and perform unspeakable horrors on me.

Eventually I found a jogger who told me how to get out of the park, because I literally couldn't find a way to exit. Although his directions were still scary, something to the effect of, 'go over bridge, go up steep dirt path to the right' ... I think my thoughts were thinking, uh? through brambles bushes, the forest of evil?!?! Apparently this was my only hope for finding well lit, trafficked, pedestrian filled lively streets lined with shops and eating/drinking establishments. It was either that or risk getting on the Parkway, enduring the cars that suddenly believe they are missiles when not confronted with a stop light every 50 meters, or bike an exit ramp the wrong direction uphill in serpentine fashion, and probably not well lit. I decided on the dirt path. Luckily it did not involved delving into the Forest of Shadows but happily onto Calvert which brought me into the heart of Cleveland Park. From there I took the metro to my destination in Tenleytown. On the way back, I opted to take advantage of my friend's newly bought overhead bike rack on his shiny four-wheeled vehicle.

advice to pedestrians

I am one too and probably guilty of all these things; but these are observations I notice mostly when I'm on my bike:

1. Walk in a straight line, do not weave around, there could be a bicyclist behind you trying to figure where you're trying to go so they can avoid hitting you

2. When listening to your music or talking on your cell, do not look at the ground, look up and around you. Multi-tasking: I know it's tough after a hard day at work

3. Just because you're in a group, doesn't mean you can take up the whole sidewalk, ownership of concrete by numbers does not apply in the District

4. Pedestrians tend to weave back and forth like squirrels when they see an oncoming bike and are surprised by it. Do not behave like a squirrel, you are smarter; pick your first direction and go with it, bicyclist will adjust accordingly.

5. Be mindful of the arms signals bicyclists make. A straight arm (with left arm) means turning left, a left arm bent at the elbows at a 90 degree angle means turning right.

7. This is a common on a bike path, if you hear 'on your left' that means stay to your right, that does not mean turn around and put yourself in the path of the bicyclist.

I realize bicyclists are guilty of many errors and audacious maneuvers on roads and sidewalks, particularly since DC does not have bike lanes, the bike lanes are the roads. And yes, I heard somewhere that bikes aren't allowed on sidewalks, but I've yet to hear of a DC cop enforce that one ... [I've blatantly run red lights (when no one is going to be crossing for miles) in front of cops and have yet to get a ticket ... I suppose my day will come].

so what's with all the blogging

You know why, it's that time of the semester, close to finals!!! Anyway, inspired by Greek Tragedy, I'm also adding a 'favorite posts' to my sidebar. The absolute essentials if you want the best of the crap on this website.

candidity

I discovered a blog today called Greek Tragedy. Catherine pointed this out in one post about bloggers who are turning into book authors, their words written in real print. Anyway, I'm loving reading about Stephanie Klein's life ... her blog seems genuine and not fictional, and even it were fictional it such a good read. I was asked by one male friend to 'juice-up' my blog. Yeah, I don't think so, my mom has the URL and I have a sneaking suspicion my ex has it bookmarked. Anyway, if I wrote everything down here, what would I have to chat about over 2 Amy's pizza with my girlfriends? I need to save my juicy bits. Although reading Stephanie's blog does make me wistful ... one that I could write like her, and two be that candid.

In other news, I had given my mom the okay a few months ago to play matchmaker. She says now that my two uncles and a cousin are already fixed up, its my turn and her and the aunties are looking in earnest. So ma, if you're reading this, remember these are my requirements (and good luck finding them in a Bengali dude):

-Over 6'2 ft in height (must be able to wear heels without embarrassing said hubby)
-Western education (higher than BA preferred, preferably not IT)
-US citizen, primarily brought up in the United States or other English speaking country
-fit (works out cares about appearances)
-comes from progressive family (read--westernized)

Hopefully these requirements don't make me seem too shallow. Although I think my wish list is longer for guys I meet on my own. The funny thing is my dad isn't so hell-bent on me marrying me Bengali, only cares if the dude is Muslim. However given my mom's and aunt's circle of friends, I don't see how they'll find anyone but a Bengali Muslim.

fever broke and ramblings

I think my fever broke this afternoon. Shivering in my shorts & tank with my thermostat set at -50 degree I decided to turn off my A/C and open the windows. Although I'm still cold even though it is 83 degrees outside .... so maybe I still am feeling feverish.

I've noticed an alarming trend ... people are not like me. Just kidding ... although it's true. I suppose I should feel rather fortunate that at age 24 I'm in a career that is fulfilling, interesting, challenges me and keep me motivated and isn't a complete waste of my time like other jobs I've held. One thing I realize is that there are a lot of people, older and younger, who haven't even yet figured out if they want a career. Its kind of like, they're happy with whatever brings in the money to sustain their hobbies. It almost alarms me. I know in old fashioned times, the parents dictated to kids to become doctors or lawyers or teach or something, and now the whole educational system is based on, "explore your interests! Pursue your hobbies!!! Do what you want to do!" Which now strikes me that people clearly don't know what they want to do, except for maybe their hobbies. There are those who are stuck in jobs, in a rut so to speak, because they're still waiting for the proverbial open door, at least they know what they want, they just don't have it yet. It's the others, those who don't care that they don't know know what they want.

For me this just means I think it will make it harder for me to find what I'm looking for in a partner. I'm ambitious and hope that I can find someone with the similar intensity of ambition. Hopefully in a respectable career. Some of those people who may not have a clue that they might want a career are the same people who tell me they value time with their friends and family. That's fine, really it is, but not at the expense of being in your death bed, looking at your life and realizing before retirement, those forty hours spent every day at the office was a complete waste of time. Also I don't believe other people when they tell me all they need to be happy is to make others happy. It's nobody's job to make everyone happy, except for the psychiatrists.

feverish nightmares

Last night I spent much time alternating between shivering with chills or sweating profusely and having nightmares about Damian's psychopathic character in Cronicos (see previous post). Yesterday I had woken up with my temperature 4 degrees above normal, today only 2 degrees above normal. I feel like this is the most I've ever gotten sick, since high school anyway. Usually I'm impervious to colds and flu ... although this year I didn't get a flu shot like I normally do (thanks to wonderful flu vaccine shortage) ... I don't know if that has anything to do with it. For some reason I didn't feel like taking my usual pre-cold treatment of echinacea every hour for eight hours, maybe that's why I'm still feeling sick. For the past two days I have been drinking copious amounts of herbal tea, which while I'm drinking does make me feel better.
It sucks being sick, like I know every minute I'm falling more and more behind at work, and for some reason even though I stay home, I'm never able to make a productive day of it like tidying up my place or catching up on homework or trying to get ahead in graduate studies. Instead I mope ... the temperature gauge from the Weather Bug says its 77 degrees outside. I feel crummy enough with two massive red volcanic zits on my face, un-showered, hair unkempt, and still in mismatched PJs to walk across the street to buy some ginger ale or get some Tazo juiced iced tea from Starbucks, only three block away.
Also I don't get why people at work, on the metro, who are sick decide its okay to show up in public and spew their germs on the healthy ones so we get sick. It's simply irresponsible. SICK PEOPLE STAY AT HOME!!!

aficionado

I can't resist DC International Film Fest being in town. Last night I went out to see "I Love Cinema" (Egypt), funny, macabre, and wonderful at the same time. Heartily recommend seeing it.

Tonight I watched a rather disturbing film with John Leguizamo called Cronicas (Mexico). First its about the investigation into a serial child rapist/killer of over 150 boys and girls in South American. Besides knowing that from the description, there's a rather brutal lynching scene ... however you must get past your queasiness if you want to get through the rest of the movie. Some people will hate this movie, you come out essentially feeling pretty disgusted at the whole human race, particularly given the performance of Damian Alcazar (Crimes of Father Amaro) who plays the main suspect ... quite riveting and desperately believing. All in all, a pretty dark film about an ugly hideous overcast world where corpses of little girls are found in the mud and fathers are set on fire in front of their sons and pregnant wives. Nobody comes off squeaky clean. Oh, and then there are the sounds of flies intermittently through the movie; particularly at pivotal scenes ... to remind you that the Devil and Hell are also unseen characters in the script.

disturbing

I found this in my fortune cookie tonight. I suppose its supposed to be inspiring but at the same time (yes I must spell it out) quite macabre.

one of those things I don't get

So the new Nationals mascot was unveiled yesterday. I think it's hilarious its name is Screech. Kind of a cute dude. But it one of those things that makes me wonder? Like who is the person in that suit? Do they get adequate compensation for the humiliation?


Baseball is something I never understood, therefore I must find amusement in the sport like contemplating other things when watching ie: is he chewing gum or tobacco? What exactly is Screech trying to say there?
My only relationship to Washington baseball is that once I was in the musical, "Damn Yankees" performed at my high school which featured the Washington baseball team, "The Senators." The musical was a Faustian adaptation about a guy who would do anything to make the Washington team win. My contribution to the play was 'Fan #1' and 'Chorus.'

if you think this is hilarious

Check out My Cat Hates You


my turds have finally met their match

dutious

If you are someone who tried to master the moonwalk, typewriter, and mimicked x-rated dance moves in front of your bedroom mirror while listening to Blondie's "Touch Myself" or played air guitar to Joan Jett's "I love Rock'n Roll" then Friday night's party at the Black Cat was the place to let your inner child out ... props to Selector Seth for another super fun night.

Most of the gang of 15 who took the field trip out of the building to the Black Cat ended up going to Agua for international dance night (also without cover). Anyway, after listening to the girls over brunch the next morning at Peacock Cafe in Georgetown, who talked of dancing till closing ... I was curious, very curious ... another night; another night.

Anyway, I was shocked by the prices of Georgetown's Zara. This is supposed to Spain's answer to H&M!!! But no, despite my expectation of bargain fashions my enthusiasm for cool hip clothes were curbed by sticker shock. Still didn't stop me from buying two new shirts, (they were cute and if you believe the re-stickering, marked down).

curiosity made the cat crave

Pho is something I've enjoyed without thinking too deeply about what goes into making the broth. While eating an equally tasty dinner of fish and radish curry, I began to ponder the ingredients in Pho. I know I've heard ox tail before ... so I looked it up, and rather than being horrified, it made me want to hop on the metro for a savory bowl of noodle soup in Rosslyn.

Now if you gave me a plain bowl of pho with no garnish-ments I'd be kind of upset. Sometimes I wonder if eating pho is not just an excuse to squirt a bottle of Sriracha sauce into the bowl ... which makes the yummy treat absolutely addictive. And frankly if you want me to eat anything, just put Sriracha sauce on it.

DC Film Fest

Check it out!!! If I'm a good girl, I hopefully plan to catch at least two films. Last year I saw several amazing films, one being the first cut of a BBC documentary: Al-Jazeera Exclusive, which showed the unseen footage of the beginning of the US air campaign above Baghdad and another: Route 181, a film even the French censored for being too inflammatory... both awesome films that sucked me into being a fan of the documentary genre.

curb my enthusiasm

Yay! So Naomi actually tagged me for an mme! I have no idea what that means but it's cool because I can now blog about this topic:

List five things that people in your circle of friends or peer group are wild about, but you can’t really understand the fuss over.

1. Bars--yeah everyone in DC is nuts about them ... clearly I have a thriving social life ;) But this hatred of bars is already well documented.

2. Lost--that show with dinosaurs and stuff ... After the Alias creators lost me on Sydney's two year 'bout of amnesia in Season 3, I decided the creators were whack ... and I couldn't be sorely disappointed by a new series again.

3. Marathons--I used to think getting into a ring with a complete stranger and battling it out for 3 2-minute rounds in a Taekwondo tournament in some godforsaken mid-Western city like Cleveland or Detroit , paying for hotel, airfare, and tournament fees only to get my ass whipped was bad ... but DAMN running 26 1/2 miles???!!! Props to masochists!!! No, truly I respect you, but it's not on my list of things to do.

4. Arlington-it sucks and YOU GUYS ARE NOT FROM DC!

5. The Yuppie thing-people are actually proud of that ... how can you be proud of that??? Stupid smarmy SUV riding-yellow 'support the troops' ribboned weapons of bicyclist-death. The irony of the 'support the troops' sticker on a SUV ... need I say more?

Even though people don't read my blog, I hope anyone who reads this isn't pissed at me. Really I love you Becca, Julie, and Naomi ... you guys and some other friends are the only reason I'd think about getting off the metro at an Arlington stop .... that and Pho 75. I do have to say, Arlington rocks because it does have a Pho 75. Marathoner's do rock ... my body and mental abilities are just not up to the task. And I've never seen an episode of 'Lost', but the Alias writers have truly scared me from ever watching any of their creations. I still stand by yuppies and bars sucking, which is why it's harder to drag me into Arlington imbibing establishments than a true redneck establishment.

amazement

New Order came out with a new album recently: "Waiting for the Siren's Call." I thought back in 1998 when they renamed themselves Monaco and I bought their album, "Music for Pleasure" they were gone for good. This new album will definitely be on my summer play list. Awesome awesome ... for lack of my ability to write snarky uber-intellectual hipster reviews of albums like they do in Pitchfork (which seem to consist mostly of chatter not having anything to do with the review, but a little esoteric back-pat for the author). Along with The Bravery's new album, I will be spinning Phoenix, introduced to me by Catherine who saw them at 9:30 Club.

under the pink canopy

Yes those trees are quite pretty. Despite not having much sleep from the weekend's merriment at Home nightclub with Chopingal (became such a weird scene recently ... a lot of under 21 college girls and ultra sleezy older guys), a peek into the ultra-exclusive IndeBleu, and wonton soup and bubble tea at a chinese restaurant in chinatown Saturday night ... also a Sunday beautiful morning of bouldering precariously on the VA side of Great Falls park (due to me not seeing the extra borrowed harness in my trunk) ... I decided to bike to the tidal basin and read my wonderful texts on globalism under a 'pink canopy.' Except it got too chilly and I decided to bike home ... and now doing my favorite activity, procrastinating!!!

Oh and Sunday is a very bad day for anyone's battery to die ... Most of the day was spent on the great battery scavenger hunt ... from DC, I finally found the WalMart in Sterling will replace and install your battery. Also I found out if AAA sends you a contract towing company they won't provide full services like a real AAA serviceman would.

crappy mobile pix of cherry blossoms

attempting to study

procrastinating again

yar, so here I am because I totally screwed myself last weekend by not researching my paper at all, particularly with the weather being gloomy and inhospitable to anything but burying myself in the stack of yet unfamiliar GWU's Gelman Library. Now I look wistfully out my window at the gorgeous day passing me by. While I research Bangladesh and terrorism for my final paper. I received a pretty good grade on the midterm for that class, so I'm not overly concerned, but I pride myself in being able to write decent papers, thus the hard work.

My other class not so wonderful. I think I literally had a brain fart the day I took that midterm. Came home from work, tried to study, but my body literally lethargically lay itself down on soft bed and I had the hardest time getting each of my muscles to move when it came time to get going, or get my brain to work for that matter. I mentioned in a previous post hitting a pedestrian, well that was on my way to the midterm, it should be no surprise that my brain clearly couldn't work through a midterm if I had made the brilliant decision to run a yellow/red light five minutes before on K St. while midst rush hour traffic ... on a bike. Facing a choice between an intimate encounter with an out-of-state SUV (yea u MD and VA plates are out-of-state in the District) or navigating my way through a river of pedestrians crossing, its no wonder I should choose the former.

Aargh, maybe if I'm productive now I can go climbing tomorrow!

it's official

HFStival is actually happening, despite actual radio station going away. The TicketBastard sales page confirms it. Has probably the best line-up I've ever seen in years ... Unfortunately, I will be going far away that day (May 14). An unofficial website seems to be the best source for news.

I have many fond memories of previous HFStivals ... like my first one in 1996 when my best friend and I accidentally got stuck in a vortex of mosh pits five feet away from a gyrating Gwen Stefani, I lost my shoe and sun glasses, and had to crowd-surf out while other damsels fainted from the exertion of the hot beating June sun ...

In 1997 when I got my first taste of electronic music and broke it down like the future (and now past) club kid I became to the delayed and much anticipated Crystal Method set ... and earlier fell in love with the now defunct Kula Shaker.

1998 ... that was my last one, for some reason that one must've been tame because I can't remember it ;)

hate post

stupid yuppie Capitol Hill douche bags that you saw towards the end of the night ... just absolutely rude fucking assholes, pardon my french

That's a direct quote from an e-mail I wrote yesterday to a friend. I'm going to use the power of blogger to write a hate post about two particular NOT gentlemen I met at Local 16 Saturday night: Laslow (some weird Hungarian name) and Nathan ... you two are absolute fuckwits.

The story: Laslow comes up to me, starts talking while his wingman Nathan hangs out beside me. A friend of mine visiting from 'out of town,' gets very protective. Suddenly Laslow ends conversation and leaves. Friends says, 'biggest douchebag ever.' I wish I had listened. See them an hour later, this time its Nathan hitting on me and Laslow observing (what kind of weird social behavior is THIS???!!!). I ask Nathan if he wants to meet a friend, all of sudden I hear a barrage of, "ARE YOU TRYING TO PUNT ME???" and then from Laslow, "ARE YOU TRYING TO PUNT MY FRIEND???!!!?" Nathan meets said (a girl) friend, acts like an utter prick and leaves. (Girl) friend says, what a fucking asshole??!!!

Amazing that actually managed to spoil Local 16 completely for me. I like Chi-Cha better, even though people are somewhat anti-social and only want to hang out with their own posse.

I must take choice quote from Laslow to describe Local 16:

'Don't do Citron, not into the eurotrash scene (and since when are World Bankers & IMFer's eurotrash?) ... Local 16 is where the yuppies hang out.'

Yea, that describes it ... Local 16, cool bohemian ambiance, absolute yuppie fuckwits crowding the space, acting more uptight than they do at work, and their idea of cutting lose is to be rude and act like assholes.

genuine dc blogs

I have some blogs I frequent, which unfortunately because I'm not good at this html crap, I haven't figured out how to add a links section and post all my favorites. But I discovered an ultra-cool one: crazy goofy world. I like how that she is a real DC native, and knows what I'm talking about when I make references to the real DC. And frankly I'm just a poseur, b/c I'm really a NOVA (northern virginia) native who's wet dream (yea girls get them too) of eventually moving into the beloved beautiful sprawling river delta metropolis of DC came true only last August.

And I still love it, even though those same people who scrawled 'yuppies out of shaw' (from another blog I shamelessly link to: unrequited narcissism) sometime yell at me as I'm walking home from the Mt. Vernon Sq metro.

concert/dance party roll up for this spring

Events I'm aspiring to go to. Call/e-mail me to let me know if you're interested too.

Apr 15 (Friday)--Notorious Dance Party--- Free, Seth DJ's 80's dance party @ Black Cat

SAT APR 30- GIRL FRIDAY presents DJ REKHA: bhangra and hip-hop dance night $8adv/$10day 9:30 @ Black Cat

The Decemberists ($15) I already bought tix so I'm definitley going--Friday, 5/6/05 9:00PM EDT 9:30 Club

May 12 Thurs. Sarah McLachlan ($ 35-50) Patriot Center, GMU; already bought tix so definitley going

SAT JUNE 4- STEPHEN MALKMUS $15 mainstage 9:30 @ The Black Cat--not sure when this is going on sale

Rio vacation next winter?

Well after seeing this article:

The killings were shockingly brutal even for this city, which has one of the world's highest murder rates, and where massacres occur with disturbing frequency. The death toll was higher than the 1993 Vigario Geral police massacre of 21 people ...
"Experience has shown that this type of crime is always carried out by the underworld of the police apparatus," said Jorge Piciani, president of the Rio de Janeiro state assembly.

I'm not so sure anymore. Will I be safer in the jungle? Or can I expect to be eaten by truck sized ant?

El nino, God whatever

Please do something about this weather. I know its really cliche to whine about DC weather on a blog, but COME ON!!! You're absolutely ruining my plans to try out my new hydration pack and break into my new hiking boots, plus just get a decent afternoon to go rockclimbing ... which like I predicted (big tongue sticking out of face to rockclimbing friends) Friday was beautiful!!! But no, I suffered horrible allergies, debating whether I would get a phone call in time to head out to Great Falls NP or Carderock and shoot up on some steroid nasal spray to make a sweaty dirty daring afternoon of it, hanging precariously above turbulent swollen Potomac waters off of Mather Gorge ... UGH! AAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!!!! Instead I went to bed at 4 PM and didn't wake up until 7:30 AM the next morning.

I am uber squirrelly, thankful for rainy allergen free days, but itching to get out on a sunny spring day!

no u did'Unt!

I was all set to watch a serious, mature documentary, Born Into Brothels, this year's Academy Award winner for best foreign documentary/film or whatever, but instead I got waylaid by Guess Who, yes that silly Bernie Mac and Ashton Kutcher which got lukewarm reviews from every critic.

Instead I immensely enjoyed the film, if you like utterly black and white (metaphorically) comedies. And I wished I had a boyfriend just like Ashton Kutcher, funny and cute. But I guess I'm too young for him, lucky Demi.

Eee! Eee! Eee! Hair is GONE!

Happy April Fool's Day

Take a look at the pix above. Yes its gone, its all gone ...Mmmmwwwaaahhhaaaaaa, silly me being narcissistic when I have no right to be with 3 AM shadows under my eyes.

a loving cat ... now in Herndon ... hopefully happy