What are you all doing for Halloween Night? I'm going to Markoff's Haunted Forest. There is a menu at the top with pics and such.
This thing has me amped up. You have to sign a waiver too. A WAIVER! Wee!
I'm sure I'll have a story or two after this beast.
Monday, October 30, 2006
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Opps
So I went to the Maryland vs FSU game yesterday with the Dad, my sister and her husband.
Here is our view:
Anyway, I knew it was going to be windy but it was in the low-60's when I headed out I just tossed on a pull-over windbreaker thing over my shirt. Well, that obviously wasn't enough because the temp dropped like a brick to the mid-40's and the wind was NUTS. So now I'm fighting a stupid cold, trying to kick it before Tuesday night's feastivities.
The game was awesome, though. The last five minutes are why I like football. It was intense. FSU is a hated team by Maryland and beating them has only happened twice in recent memory. Beating them was a BIG DEAL (tm) for us plus it made us Bowl Eligeable for the first time since 2003.
Here was the scene after the game:
Here is our view:
Anyway, I knew it was going to be windy but it was in the low-60's when I headed out I just tossed on a pull-over windbreaker thing over my shirt. Well, that obviously wasn't enough because the temp dropped like a brick to the mid-40's and the wind was NUTS. So now I'm fighting a stupid cold, trying to kick it before Tuesday night's feastivities.
The game was awesome, though. The last five minutes are why I like football. It was intense. FSU is a hated team by Maryland and beating them has only happened twice in recent memory. Beating them was a BIG DEAL (tm) for us plus it made us Bowl Eligeable for the first time since 2003.
Here was the scene after the game:
Monday, October 23, 2006
Weekend Summary
So, here we go. After spending most of the week in a social comma I went out to Happy Hour with the Ashburn Singles Meetup group at Old Dominion brewery. Maybe 15 people showed up? If you remember, the last time I went to the Happy Hour with this group I ended up in a heated discussion with a Christian gal about religion. Anyway, the first part of the night was fun. Some people thought I was from California, partly because of the white streak thing I have going on apparently.
The group split up, some people went home and some people to a different bar to see a band and then over to a different bar afterwards. This all happened around closing time of the brewery around 10 pm. Myself and four others tried the second bar to see if we could hook up with them but there was a cover and the smoke was insane, so we headed over to this big ass bar in a steakhouse instead. We were able to snag a booth.
So it was myself with these four ladies all over 38 with kids. We had some good conversation, even if it did get out of hand a bit from time to time. The funniest thing though was this waitress that was waiting on us. So I was giving her this hard time because of the music that was playing. The music was pretty good at first but it varied widly, I mean it went from Gun's and Rose's to f'ing Paris Hilton, one after the other! So she kept coming back to tell us she put different songs on for us. This prompted the ladies I was with to be convienced that the waitress girl was into me. This also prompted me to do a LOT of blushing. Fricken women.
Ok, so that was Friday night...good 8 hours of fun. Saturday was another social coma. Sunday was the last day of the Ren Faire. I went with Les and two guys I know from various Meetup groups. We spent the entire day wondering around and drinking. It was pretty cool because of the customs that were there. A lot of gay people in drag (never seen them there before) were hanging out and lot of Star Wars outfits. It was pretty cool.
Leslie, being Leslie, got flirty after the drinking and was hanging out with one of the guys we went with. Apparently they both get flirty drinking so they kept wondering off while Kevin and I were making fun of them. Well, at one point they headed over to the bathrooms and Kevin and I were delayed because we were hungry. By the time we got over there they were no where to be seen. We hung around for a bit then gave up and headed to the bar we were ultimately going to end-up at anyway. We sat around there for about 30 minutes before Jim called and asked us where we were. Leslie wasn't with him (arg). So we head over and meet him and I slap him around for not keeping an eye on Leslie. I mean, you gotta keep an eye on that girl when she's been drinking. So I ask them to stay where they are and head out to find Leslie. I was pretty sure would eventually find her way over to the bar in the middle where we were all headed anyway so that is where I went. Low and behold there she was! She was shaken up but all was good. The rest of the day was low key except for the end. Leslie and Jim wondered over to shoot arrows and Kevin and I sat in front of the Dragon's Pub or whatever that one is by the elephants and watched the belly dancers...one of whom was a guy that was just plain scary. :)
So anyway, all in all a good weekend.
The group split up, some people went home and some people to a different bar to see a band and then over to a different bar afterwards. This all happened around closing time of the brewery around 10 pm. Myself and four others tried the second bar to see if we could hook up with them but there was a cover and the smoke was insane, so we headed over to this big ass bar in a steakhouse instead. We were able to snag a booth.
So it was myself with these four ladies all over 38 with kids. We had some good conversation, even if it did get out of hand a bit from time to time. The funniest thing though was this waitress that was waiting on us. So I was giving her this hard time because of the music that was playing. The music was pretty good at first but it varied widly, I mean it went from Gun's and Rose's to f'ing Paris Hilton, one after the other! So she kept coming back to tell us she put different songs on for us. This prompted the ladies I was with to be convienced that the waitress girl was into me. This also prompted me to do a LOT of blushing. Fricken women.
Ok, so that was Friday night...good 8 hours of fun. Saturday was another social coma. Sunday was the last day of the Ren Faire. I went with Les and two guys I know from various Meetup groups. We spent the entire day wondering around and drinking. It was pretty cool because of the customs that were there. A lot of gay people in drag (never seen them there before) were hanging out and lot of Star Wars outfits. It was pretty cool.
Leslie, being Leslie, got flirty after the drinking and was hanging out with one of the guys we went with. Apparently they both get flirty drinking so they kept wondering off while Kevin and I were making fun of them. Well, at one point they headed over to the bathrooms and Kevin and I were delayed because we were hungry. By the time we got over there they were no where to be seen. We hung around for a bit then gave up and headed to the bar we were ultimately going to end-up at anyway. We sat around there for about 30 minutes before Jim called and asked us where we were. Leslie wasn't with him (arg). So we head over and meet him and I slap him around for not keeping an eye on Leslie. I mean, you gotta keep an eye on that girl when she's been drinking. So I ask them to stay where they are and head out to find Leslie. I was pretty sure would eventually find her way over to the bar in the middle where we were all headed anyway so that is where I went. Low and behold there she was! She was shaken up but all was good. The rest of the day was low key except for the end. Leslie and Jim wondered over to shoot arrows and Kevin and I sat in front of the Dragon's Pub or whatever that one is by the elephants and watched the belly dancers...one of whom was a guy that was just plain scary. :)
So anyway, all in all a good weekend.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Grude 2, Thursday Night, and The Satanic Verses
So I figured this will be a general catch-all post since I've been a bit remiss in posting. I've been hiting a bunch of different Meetup groups and it has kept me pretty busy.
Thursday night I went to a group in Arlington that was a happy hour. They reserved the top floor of this bar and some 100 or so people showed up. I got there about 6:30 pm and left around 1 am. In the process I had far too many glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon, then we moved onto Mimosa's and shared a Hookah! I've been wanting to try that thingy, it was pretty interesting. Had a melon flavored one and shared it between 7 of us or so. The music was pretty loud but all in all it was a good time.
However, I spent most of Friday sleeping off the hangover. I went to bed about 1:30 am and slept until about 9:30 am. I got up and staggered down stairs and read some email, etc. About 30 minutes later I start to feel pretty crappy and crawled back up into my bed to sleep it off. Ended up sleeping until about 3:30 pm or so...opps.
So I get up, right...and head out to Fairfax to catch a different meetup group doing dinner and a movie. We went to Joe's Crap Shack and caught Grudge 2. Now, I've explained how much a fan of Sam Raimi I am before and he totally didn't let me down on this one. The man has a gift. Needless to say, I will be sleeping on the couch tonight with the TV on. Scared the crap out of me.
Now, one of the conversation that have come up at various meetup groups are book clubs. There are a few in Washington and it is something I've always wanted to try since I like reading and I like having conversations, so it seems like a good deal to me. I signed up for one that meets once a month around the 24th. They are reading Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses'. This book was very controversial and the author actually has a bounty on his life in a few countries. I've heard about it over the years and am pretty excited to give it a read. The thing is 550 pages and I have just over a week to read it. Crap.
Anyway, there you go, now you are up-to-date.
Thursday night I went to a group in Arlington that was a happy hour. They reserved the top floor of this bar and some 100 or so people showed up. I got there about 6:30 pm and left around 1 am. In the process I had far too many glasses of Cabernet Sauvignon, then we moved onto Mimosa's and shared a Hookah! I've been wanting to try that thingy, it was pretty interesting. Had a melon flavored one and shared it between 7 of us or so. The music was pretty loud but all in all it was a good time.
However, I spent most of Friday sleeping off the hangover. I went to bed about 1:30 am and slept until about 9:30 am. I got up and staggered down stairs and read some email, etc. About 30 minutes later I start to feel pretty crappy and crawled back up into my bed to sleep it off. Ended up sleeping until about 3:30 pm or so...opps.
So I get up, right...and head out to Fairfax to catch a different meetup group doing dinner and a movie. We went to Joe's Crap Shack and caught Grudge 2. Now, I've explained how much a fan of Sam Raimi I am before and he totally didn't let me down on this one. The man has a gift. Needless to say, I will be sleeping on the couch tonight with the TV on. Scared the crap out of me.
Now, one of the conversation that have come up at various meetup groups are book clubs. There are a few in Washington and it is something I've always wanted to try since I like reading and I like having conversations, so it seems like a good deal to me. I signed up for one that meets once a month around the 24th. They are reading Salman Rushdie's 'The Satanic Verses'. This book was very controversial and the author actually has a bounty on his life in a few countries. I've heard about it over the years and am pretty excited to give it a read. The thing is 550 pages and I have just over a week to read it. Crap.
Anyway, there you go, now you are up-to-date.
Friday, October 13, 2006
Public Service Announcement
As if having to deal with terrorists and a resurgent Taliban wasn't enough, now they have to deal with this. Run for you lives!!
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Alternate Reality: What Would You Be Doing
I was watching me some crappy Sci-Fi today, as I often do whilst I work, and this particular crappy episode involved alternate realities in alternate dimensions. The theory, as was put forth by this crappy tv show, was that there are an infinite number of alternate dimensions presenting us with an infinite number of alternate realities, some of which are close to are own and some that are very different. Got it? Sounds good to me - who am I to argue with such a theory anyway.
So I got to thinking...what would I be doing in some of these other dimensions? I could be the preznit, or I could be living in a box. I could be some famous movie star or some infamous murderer. Hell, I could be a gay pumpkin harvester in Alaska for all I know. Gee...how appealing.
All in all I like to think I wouldn't be all that much different than who I am now. If I was, I wouldn't be me, would I?
What would you be doing?
So I got to thinking...what would I be doing in some of these other dimensions? I could be the preznit, or I could be living in a box. I could be some famous movie star or some infamous murderer. Hell, I could be a gay pumpkin harvester in Alaska for all I know. Gee...how appealing.
All in all I like to think I wouldn't be all that much different than who I am now. If I was, I wouldn't be me, would I?
What would you be doing?
Monday, October 02, 2006
I Feel Like Rambling
So it is 1:39 am on Sunday night (not all that late by my standards on some days) and I am in a weird mood. One of those semi-surreal moods where one side of me just doesn't care and the other side is stressed and everything around me has kinda faded a bit. I have a prediciment that I guess is a good one to have but is stressing me out anyway. Ya see, I got this email late last night saying that a spot on a singles cruise opened up...not just any spot but a spot in an Oceanview cabin. It retails around $900 but since the dude dropped out but paid the deposit I can get it for about $700. Its for a week at the begining of Novemember and going through the Carribean, hitting some places I hit on a cruise several years back.
Why aren't I jumping at such a deal? Well that is the pisser of the whole thing. I was unemployeed for a few months over the summer and I'm close to having my finances back in order. One of the things I wanted to do was to build up some savings in case something comes up. I have an invoice in to my main client that should be paid in the next couple of days that will allow me to catch up on the remaining outstanding bills. I should be able to get one more in and paid before the cruise. Assuming that works out I can pay my mortgage, etc etc and maybe be able to pull off the cruise as well. The problem is I'm not totally sure. And that would be $700 that wouldn't be going to savings. And let's be honest here, it'll be another $300 or so on travel expenses to and from the boat (car pool) and the boos on the boat, which isn't included (although everything else is).
Additionally, my brother, Dad and I are trying to plan a weekend to go camping and we were talking about the first weekend in Novemember, which happens to be the weekend that the cruise starts. Now this is something I've been looking forward to but no specific date is set. Also, I'm not even sure that weekend works for my Dad or my brother...so, damn it.
So I'm vexed. Do I commit to the cruise, have a fucking awesome time, and deal with any financial issues afterwards...or do I decline the cruise, kick myself in the ass for it later, but finally get back on my feet financially.
It is now 1:50 am on Sunday night and I find myself leaning towards going again...but I've been back and forth on this about 20 times today.
Damn it.
Aww hell, there goes the TV switching to Univision again.
Damn it.
Why aren't I jumping at such a deal? Well that is the pisser of the whole thing. I was unemployeed for a few months over the summer and I'm close to having my finances back in order. One of the things I wanted to do was to build up some savings in case something comes up. I have an invoice in to my main client that should be paid in the next couple of days that will allow me to catch up on the remaining outstanding bills. I should be able to get one more in and paid before the cruise. Assuming that works out I can pay my mortgage, etc etc and maybe be able to pull off the cruise as well. The problem is I'm not totally sure. And that would be $700 that wouldn't be going to savings. And let's be honest here, it'll be another $300 or so on travel expenses to and from the boat (car pool) and the boos on the boat, which isn't included (although everything else is).
Additionally, my brother, Dad and I are trying to plan a weekend to go camping and we were talking about the first weekend in Novemember, which happens to be the weekend that the cruise starts. Now this is something I've been looking forward to but no specific date is set. Also, I'm not even sure that weekend works for my Dad or my brother...so, damn it.
So I'm vexed. Do I commit to the cruise, have a fucking awesome time, and deal with any financial issues afterwards...or do I decline the cruise, kick myself in the ass for it later, but finally get back on my feet financially.
It is now 1:50 am on Sunday night and I find myself leaning towards going again...but I've been back and forth on this about 20 times today.
Damn it.
Aww hell, there goes the TV switching to Univision again.
Damn it.
Sunday, October 01, 2006
Kiss of the Devil
I went to the 31st Annual Wine Tasting/Show thingy on Saturday. 55 of Virginies 100-some vineyards were represented under four big ass tents. $25 gets you in the door and unlimited tastings, quite the deal. I met up with a MeetUp group (http://www.meetup.com) and proceeded to drink. The process basically was picking a tent, going to all the vineyards in there and trying their wine, then going to get something to eat and repeat for the next tent. By the time one tent was finished you had something like the equivlant of four or more glasses depending on how generous they poured. So, there was quite a bit of inebriation going on.
Anyway, I was there for something like 7 hours and towards the end of the day we found this vineyard called Peaks of Otter that didn't really have wine, just different weird stuff. One was called a Chilli Dog where they squirted some easy cheese on your hand like you would salt for a shot and you licked the cheese then slammed the wine. Tasted like a chilli dog. However, the most unique one was called 'Kiss of the Devil'. This was made out of various peppers, chief amoung them the Habernaro. This drink...it had no taste. It looked like lime juice and the smell made your eyes water. Drinking it...wow...it was just pure sensation. Lit your face on fire and felt it all the way down your throat. As much as it hurt it was so unique I tried it three times. Mmmm...so good.
Anyway, this picture has nothing to do with any of that but god is it funny:
Anyway, I was there for something like 7 hours and towards the end of the day we found this vineyard called Peaks of Otter that didn't really have wine, just different weird stuff. One was called a Chilli Dog where they squirted some easy cheese on your hand like you would salt for a shot and you licked the cheese then slammed the wine. Tasted like a chilli dog. However, the most unique one was called 'Kiss of the Devil'. This was made out of various peppers, chief amoung them the Habernaro. This drink...it had no taste. It looked like lime juice and the smell made your eyes water. Drinking it...wow...it was just pure sensation. Lit your face on fire and felt it all the way down your throat. As much as it hurt it was so unique I tried it three times. Mmmm...so good.
Anyway, this picture has nothing to do with any of that but god is it funny:
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