Target: Women...Yogurt Edition

This is why I don't buy nice clothes.

I just spilled cold coffee, leftover from a meeting earlier today, down my pant leg.

It feels super, looks smart, and I smell like Yuban.

I'm looking forward to the coffee-induced chapped leg that I'll have by tonight.

Please watch.

Question of the Day

What's the deal with people/things that I like doing things that I don't like?!?

Example #1: http://wsucougars.cstv.com I went to the Cougar Athletics site today, because, apparently we're in the NCAA tournament, and I'd like to know more. You see, here in DC, it would seem that no one cares about or covers anything west of, oh, I'll say Fairfax Virginia. Once I'm at the site, I can't get rid of this annoying hovering pop-up-like ad for "tournament gear." (right, because I'm supposed to have both a home jersey AND an away jersey for game watching? Cripes.) I don't consider myself completely computer illiterate, so why is it so hard to get rid of this ad? It's blocking the site content and making me mad! Why Cougars, why?

Example #2: The deluge of e-mails from a Clinton family member (except, one the other day which was from Elton John) asking me to donate more money. I know it's a money raising game, but come ON. Can't we be gracious and just say thank you for what I've already given? Seriously getting a least 2 e-mails a day. These are almost getting to the point of ScarJo's "Please, vote for change" phone calls in terms of obnoxiousness. Why Hillary, why?

Question of the Day

Are there any Boeing Machinists out there who are capable of NOT using the phrase "bull crap" during national media interviews?


Follow-up question for tomorrow: Could someone --anyone-- with a vested interest in appealing the Air Force tanker contract to Airbus/Grumman please tell each and every Boeing Machinists to STOP speaking with media? I'm kind of thinking that they don't "sell" their ideas very well.

Bulb Watch 2008

I have officially gardened. I made an impulse buy at Costco this weekend- some bulbs. As in flower, not light. I was assuming that now is a good time to plant them, as they were for sale at Costco, and Costco is rad and wouldn't lead me astray, right??

Heck -if they don't bloom this year, there is always '09, yes?


I still need to prepare the dirt outside in the ground in order for it to support life, but last night, I planted some Begonia's in large pots. Some day, I hope to have these pots full of flowers on the front steps of my house. A girl can dream.

So, aside from playing classical music for and reading to my baby begonia bulbs, what can I do to make them flourish into productive members of my front porch? I'll be sure to post immediately if/when I see any signs of life.


I also pruned our rose bush. And when I say "pruned," I mean, "hacked away at."

Celebrities behaving badly

I was thumbing through my music collection to prepare for my 80's ski party this Saturday, and came to an old favorite- These Dreams by Heart. I was listening and thought to myself, "self, these vocals don't sound like the powerhouse that is Ann Wilson... is this Nancy?" so I went to the interweb to answer my question and came across something that really helped me wrap my mind around this whole BarackOmania thing that's going on. And by BarackOmania, I mean this fanatic cult following that has seemed to develop over Barack Obama. The recorded phone calls from Scarlett Johansson urging me to vote for change, the hipster celebrity montage videos, the trends of seemingly thoughtful and reasonable people throwing themselves to his cause in the manner of...born agains? Don't get me wrong, I think he's a good guy, but we are lucky enough at this point to have choices, and I don't think he is the best choice.

This video from Heart helped me understand. It reminded me that sometimes even good people can be lead into some seriously questionable decisions. I mean, you can't get much better than Heart. And the fact that the Wilson sisters made video # 1 helps me to keep perspective on the fact that some Generally Recognized as Cool Celebrities (GRACC) all participated in video #2, which- to be honest, seems like the precursor to a group cool-aid sipping session.

And I present Video #1. (enjoy!)


And video #2. (hopefully this will be funny some day too)



But perhaps the biggest lesson learned/reminder of the day is.... never forget that celebrities are just that.






On a side note: I think I'm going to use this as an excuse to stop watching Private Practice. It really wasn't all that good, and the Teevee rots your brain anyway. I'm probably going to still go see The Other Bolyn Girl though, because the book was such a fun read. But I'm going to have a problem getting over ScarJo. Thankfully, she plays opposite Natalie Portman, who should help me to enjoy the movie a bit more. The problem being that Miss Portman's character is going to be really hard to like.... What to do, what to do...

Happy Potomac Primary day!

I voted on my way into work rather than on my way home, so I could rock the "I Voted/ Yo Voté" sticker all day. There was an Obama volunteer outisde giving out donuts and she was like, "Thanks for voting! Do you want a donut?"


And I'm all: "Um, no- I'm a Dietitian. And I voted for Hillary. Peace out."


Okay- I didn't really say that, but after I got in my car and started driving away, I thought of how COOL it would have been if'n I DID.



(sorry, I just finished reading No Country for Old Men, so I'm feeling the need to use terms like "if'n" more often)

What will you do with your $600?

Word on the street is that red blooded, tax payin' 'mericans are getting tax rebates of $600 or so. Perhaps by June!

In keeping with the whole point of economic stimulus, we NEED to spend this cash-o-la! Hooray for spending!

So- I'm starting to think about what I'll spend mine on. How can I be most responsible and economically stimulating with this money?

Purchase a CSA farm share perhaps? Dine at locally owned restaurants and order domestic wines?

Yes, both good ideas.


But what about a weekend in Vancouver BC?? Perhaps a quick trip to Mexico?

On what will you spend yours?

The 'Hawks are Undefeatable...

Yes, please sing the above title to the tune of Robert Palmer's "Simply Irresistible." (you folks who remember that song on the radio get one gold star for living in Seattle in the late 80's. And listening to KUBE. Or was it KPLZ??)

It's that time of year again when people and radio DJ's in DC are saying things like "Seattle? Where is that? Do they even HAVE a football team?" with undertones of snottiness and some sort of lost legacy of football greatness.

Ever since a misguided trip to Hooters on Lake Union circa 2004, when I witnessed and entire family of Hawk people (seriously, even the baby was donning Blue regalia, and I think wearing a beak), I can attest that yes, Seattle DOES have a football team. Not only that, but crazy wacky football fans too. Am I one of them? I answer that with a resounding, "not necessarily." (I admit, I've never really cared much about professional football. Can you blame me though, I grew up in the era of Brian Bozworth.) BUT-- I sure as heck would cheer for the Seahawks more so that that OTHER football team that plays its home games in Seattle. Especially when they're playing the Red Skins. So on this occasion, I offer a hearty "Go Hawks!" to the team in the town that I love.

Here is a fun little article that I wanted to share from the Examiner. I like articles like this, that make it so easy to write off your opponents as total idiots. The comments about the rain and umbrella loss are almost too good to be true. So reminiscent of "But it was snowing! Whaaaa" that it makes my little heart flutter.

And what is this ihateseattle.com business? (No, I'm not even going to give him/her the gratification of a hyperlink.) A dumb little web page with only 4 inarticulate reasons to "hate Seattle"?!?! Please. Anyone worth reading could come up with a whole web SITE teeming with proper reasons to hate Seattle. Was this a lame attempt to copy whyihatedc.blogspot.com?

And I happen to like my Subaru very much. Jerkface.



PS- Is it just me, or does anyone else kind of feel icky when people refer to the Red Skins simply as "The 'Skins"?

Hi 2008! Let's have a fun year!

Happy New Year reader(s)! Why must blogging and exercising be things that I get really into for months at a time, then blissfully abandon? Don't answer that.

So it's 2008 which is just, well, awfully futuristic sounding to be the present year. But I'm dealing with it, and hoping that this year will have all of 07's pluck with a tad less of its yuck. Hell's bells, I should write for Sassy Magazine!

January 2008 not only marks the beginning of a new year, but also the beginning of my THIRD year in DC. Wherethehelldidthetimego?? I swear I just moved here. I'm still a hip and with-it Seattle type.... right? I know. I know that "hells no" is the only true way to answer that question, but I grasp at the possibility that I'm still a West coaster type (and by that, I mean all the good things about being a west coaster, none of the crap things). I still certainly feel like an east coast outsider. Not that DC is really "east coast" per say, but there sure are a lot of Pennsylvanians and New Jersey-ites around here. (I suppose the New Yorkers stay in New York?) But when I spend more than a few hours around Californians, or- dare I say, even Seattleites, I realize that... I'm not like them either. I'm not nearly politically correct enough or mercury-content-aware enough to fit in at their cocktail parties anymore. But I AM enjoying the Uptight Seattleite column in Seattle Weekly. It's probably been around forever, but I just started reading it.

Heck, maybe I just need to get over it and move to Eastern Washington.

Irritating trend of the day

Restaurants who bend over backward to ask "Does anyone in the party have any food allergies or restrictions we should know about?"

I'm irritated by this for a couple of reasons:

1) I really don't like ratings/money-getting tactics that are so thinly disguised as genuine concern and care for the customer, like a local real estate developer who noted that "we did our research and determined that we could better serve the community by converting this new housing complex to rental apartments rather than selling them as condos" (as they'd originally planned. Better "serve the community" (by offering luxury rentals) or "not lose tons of money on our investment"?

2) Are we, as a people, SO unable to take responsibility for our own well-being that we need a waiter to remind us of our dietary restrictions? What's next, 'Is anyone here on a blood thinner called warfarin? Because if so, I'll let the chef know to pick out the spinach for you." I can MAYbe see this as a good practice at a place that catered to kids or families with kids because, well, I'd imagine that sometimes parent's brains can get a little fried after a long day, and this could be a helpful memory jogger ("Oh crap- I almost forgot that Lexi will go into anaphylaxis if she eats soy..."). That being said, I should clarify that I'm referring to this practice in restaurants that in no way cater to kids.

3) This just seems like the kind of activity that will someday lead to a human being muttering the words, "Well Hank, he said 'warfarin' how was I to know he was talking about my coumadin?!?" (while trying to harness the blood flow from a paper cut)


4) But mostly I'm irritated by this practice because lately I've seen a lot of restaurants that people are calling "good" doing this. As if it's some sort of indicator of "whoa- hold on to your seat, this food is going to be fantastic because this is a fancy, progressive, cutting edge type of place!" and you're starting to buy into that idea because the decor is classy and the people are attractive (for DC at least) and the music makes you happy....and then the actual food is A-OK. I don't say "bad" because, well, its not really bad food, just not good enough to merit a popular buzz and or jacked up prices.

I suppose if that's all that is bothering me this week, I'm doing pretty well.

Now I just have to convince my dog...

...that I am a Benevolent Leader.

I want some Sky Blue Waters. I want some Cool Enchantment.

But I don't know where to find it!?! Does anyone know where I can get some Hamm's Beer these days? Preferably in the Greater DC metro area?!?


I'm assuming that if it is still in production that it is brewed by Miller, Coors or Bud. Does anyone make it at all? I so wish THIS was the beer that got all hip and cool instead of PBR.... that would have ensured its longevity....

I have a sad suspicion that it might be extinct, but I will wait, with guarded optimism, for any advice or tips.

202

I have a family friend who works at the White House. When he calls, my cell phone just says "202" (the area code for Washington D.C.). I just think that's cool.


Wouldn't be nearly as fun if it said "301" in your phone when I called you from work, would it?

A post that is a long time coming.

I've been meaning to make a post lately entitled, "I hate Flash" or "If you have a flash based web site, I probably hate it." But everytime I find a doozy of a Flash nightmare, I usually end up so irritated and head-achey that blogging is the last thing I want to do.


So--- I have a big announcement. Today, for the first time, I found a flash site that is actually... quite fantastic!

It actually has NAVIGATION (which apparently is something some web designers think they are too cool for?)and uses flash animation in a way that enhances the site WITHOUT interfering in its functionality.

And guess what? Its a GOVERNMENT site! So, huzzah and kudos to the Department of Health and Human Services, for putting out an excellent example of how to use Flash for Good instead of Evil.

Ironically, it was Microsoft who put together this EVIL, EVIL Flash site which makes me want to bang my head on a wall.

I mean, I guess if you're into the pseudo-dominatrix Librarian with a horse whip type of thing, this might get you a little excited about your next web search. But for the rest of us, this is just a flagrant misuse of "fancy." I don't know if I should be offended by, or just plain angry at "Ms. Dewey". Is it just me, or does she remind you of your really cool guy friend's new girlfriend? And he's all into her at first, because she's pretty, but you KNOW that she's going to be THAT girl who drives everyone crazy and slowly wedges herself between him and all of his friends because she is so needy, jealous and childish? And you really want to tell him, but you can't because you're trying to be more supportive and less cynical?

No? It's just me? Why do I hate her so much? Is it the over the top flash that interferes with the sites usability? Is it the fact that you really have no idea what the site... IS or DOES (it is a search engine)? Is it the insanely uncontrollable scrolling that you have to endure to browse your search results? Just a bad actress? Whatever it is, I no likey.

The mean streets of DC...

I got this via an e-mail forward today. I'm off to Chicago for a conference, otherwise I'd look into it further. Can anyone confirm or dispute these figures? At first glance, I think it might be comparing a monthly stat to an annual statistic...



Subject: Death rate in DC

Regardless of where you stand on the issue of U.S. involvement in Iraq,
here's a sobering statistic:

There has been a monthly average of 160,000 troops in the Iraq theatre
of operations during the last 22 months and a total of 2,112 deaths. That
gives a firearm death rate of 60 per 100,000 soldiers.

The firearm death rate in Washington D.C. is 80.6 per 100,000 persons,
for the same time period, 22 months.

That means that you are about 25% more likely to be shot and killed in
the Capital of the United States, than you are in Iraq.

And we cant have a gun legally in the District!





PS--- the last line isn't *entirely* true... we can have shotguns.

Overdue for a lightening round

Lately I've been feeling a lot of thank-you-note-feelings toward blogging. The kind of feeling that you get when you haven't done something for so long, and you know you should (in the case of thank you notes) or want to (in the case of blogging) but you've put it off for so long that you feel like you need some really compelling opening line to kick it all off again.

Eh- I have no opening line. But I did send off about 14 thank you notes yesterday, so I'm feeling quite excellent about THAT.

Life has been fast in the last year. Strangely, wonderfully, horribly fast. I've learned that time flies when you're having fun. And equally fast when you're not. I don't remember what its like to have time move slowly. (I take that back. Time spent jogging and riding my bike on its trainer in my living room is slow time. Minutes are twice as long in these situations. I refer to this as 'treadmill time'.) My hair is getting grayer faster. The skin on my face, especially under my eyes, is getting thinner and more paper-like. It's happening so fast that I can I see it changing.

So here are some thoughts n' things that have been going on in-between the objetos de la vida mas grande:

• I've always thought it would be fun to be the kind of person who makes up phrases in foreign languages, then uses them in italics.
  
  
• My husband told me the other night that he’s breaking up with the dog. He maintains that they’re in a fight. Not growing up with pets, I think he’s having a hard time accepting the fact that she only *really* loves him (or me for that matter) for what he can give her (scraps and walks!) and not who he is as a person. Until now, she’s done a stand-up job of convincing him that she, as a dog, is capable of human-like emotion, reasoning and compassion. The good news is, we both still enjoy playing pranks and practical jokes on her. I figure that since she isn't a human child, it's fine to have fun at her expense. Right?
  
  
• My sister and my aunt came to visit last weekend and it was GREAT. Fabulous trips to the White House and dining (oy! and wining!) at the Willard didn’t hurt, but we would have had a nice time regardless.
  
  
• I’m noticing an extremely reduced ability to tolerate annoying restaurant servers. Seriously. I should be required to wear some sort of badge, tag or other identifiable warning device..
  
  
• I found a great indoor pool which is on my way home from work. And FREE for DC residents (a community recreation center) Good-BYE 5:30 AM groups swims in Georgetown! We still try to make it, but just knowing that I could just as easily hit the pool at a civilized hour later in the day makes Monday nights (and Tuesday Mornings) much more friendly. The most outstanding part of the pool- every time I’ve been between the hours of around 6-8 PM there have been at least two lanes totally open. It’s a ghost town during what I would think would be peak use hours. Hopefully there isn’t something wrong with the pool there that everyone but me knows about... Oh crap, now I’m nervous.
  
  
• For fun, I recommend peppering your day-to-day conversations with "oh crap..." spoken with a slight twinge of Minnesota-nice a la Kristen Dunst in Drop Dead Gorgeous.
  
  
• If you feel like laughing at someone rich and famous, and Lindsey Lohan just won't do the trick, head to your nearest Starbucks and check out the Paul McCartney CD. I guess when you get to a certain point in your career, you can override any sensible publicist’s veto of an album photo, but seriously Paul, if I thought you had bad judgment a few years ago for not getting a pre-nup with Heather, this just proves to me that you’re in fact, a total spaz. When I look at this photo, the first thing that I hear in my mind’s eat is “ ‘ello Govna’!” in a excruciatingly Tiny Tim-like cockney accent. What do you hear?
  
  
• I think that a lady who lives a few houses down from us instantly wrote us off as worthless yuppie gentrifiers who’d be the death of all things community oriented and fabulous through her eyes (of an aging hippie wannabe save the world greener type—which is what I wrote HER off as) as soon as we mentioned, in passing, that we were training for a triathlon. As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I could SEE in her eyes that her mind was saying “Grand. Just what we need. More of YOU types….” Now every time I see her I want to run up to her, tell her I’m a do-gooder type too AND from Seattle, and that aught to get me SOME sort of blue-state street ‘cred. But I haven't.
  

Donuts

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/photos/dailydozen/


I love DC, but watching this photo montage made me suddenly so homesick, and ache a little for Seattle. If you've had them, you'll "get" it.






Not much more to report just yet. I'm on jury duty this week (as in, yes, I'm actually on a trial) and I can't talk about the case until it's over...

Gitty. Up.

Tomorrow marks the first 5:30 AM group swim in the Georgetown pool for Team in Training. Wish me luck....



PS- Went for a bike ride along the Capitol Crescent Trail yesterday. It reminded me why I like cycling so much. Had to remind myself to keep my "Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!" to an inside-voice.