On the IJ Side of Life
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January 21st, 2012
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| Another year, another crazy long posting hiatus from me. *sigh* Anyway, to quickly recap the past two months, Brooke and I went to New York for Thanksgiving to see our friends Natalie and Judith. We had a great visit, and the weather was fantastic. Pictures from the trip are here. I performed in another belly dance show. This time I had a sword on my head. If you want to see a video of the performance, go here. The password is ‘RCS’. I am in the Raquettes Tahia 8pm piece. I’m looking forward to the next show in May when I will get to have fan veils. While home for Christmas, I spent a few days in Mobile with my friends from undergrad. We had a great time (as always). We also visited the Alabama Gulf Coast Zoo for the first time. It’s pretty good for a small zoo, but I wish their signage was better. The day after Christmas, I got to go to my 2nd Saints game. My sister and I bought tickets for Dad as his Christmas present, and she got pre-game field passes for us through her boss. It was a really awesome day. We beat the Falcons, Drew Brees broke Dan Marino’s single season passing record (on a touchdown pass just to be more awesome), and we won the NFC South. The day I got back, I went to see Aficionados, Make Do and Amend, Screaming Females, mewithoutYou, and Thursday with ![[livejournal.com profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif){kind=small} mizubyte. Pictures start part way down this page. Then I got to keep Miz for several days during which there was some sickness and much visiting of friends. All in all a great end to 2011 and a great start to 2012.I have started volunteering with Community Tax Aid DC to help low income people in NoVa, DC, and parts of Maryland prepare their taxes. If you know anyone who make $25K a year or less (filing as an individual) or $45K or less (filing as a family), there are many locations in the area they can go to for help. | ||||||
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November 18th, 2011
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| 3-day weekends make for awesome birthdays. Last Friday I went out for delicious Ethiopian food and karaoke with about half of the DC crew. Private karaoke rooms are amazing. No listening to songs you hate butchered by people you don’t know! Other highlights of the weekend include watching Clueless, goodies from Lake Champlain Chocolates from my parents, and lots of sleep. Next week, Brooke and I will make our regular trek up to New York for Thanksgiving. I have been instructed to try to get to New Museum as there is an exhibit with a 3-story slide to ride down. While in Chicago last month, I picked up a book of Star Wars mad libs. Feel free to fill out the first one in the comments. I will post the full text of the mad lib with my favorite answers filled in next week. 1. The Power of the Force Adjective Plural noun noun Adjective Part of the body Adjective Plural noun Part of the body Adjective Adverb Noun Part of the body (plural) Adverb Lastly, I will be performing in a belly dance show December 10 at 8pm. Tickets are $20. In this show I will be dancing with a sword on my head which I think is pretty awesome. | ||||||||
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November 2nd, 2011
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| I saw Foxy Shazam and Patrick Stump open for Panic! at the Disco on Halloween at the 9:30 Club. Since it was Halloween, the crowd was in a great mix of costumes. I went as a belly dancer. It was great fun meeting and hanging out with new people I had previously only known online while waiting for doors to open and the show to start. Foxy Shazam did not dress up, but it was hard to tell based on their usual stage clothes. I liked their music but not their lyrics or mottsy stage banter. Patrick Stump put on an amazing set. However, he was a lying liar that lies at the radio show because he told me there would be no costumes or other Halloween surprises. Then he opens with the Ghostbusters' theme wearing light up devil horns, a red suit, and face paint. Except he later told us he couldn't find white paint, so he used baking soda. According to Patrick, baking soda makes your face feel like it is on fire. 'Awwww,' went the audience. 'No, not awwww. I'm an idiot,' Patrick said. He is quite tricksy. In other news, I love Michael Day's face and Matt Rubano's ridiculous bass-keytar hybrid thing. During the set, Patrick played a mini trumpet, guitar, drums, sang, and strutted all over the stage. It was great to see them all have room to move and dance and be ridiculous. Panic! at the Disco really brought it in the costume department. Brendon Urie dressed as Jesus complete with stigmata and crown of thorns. He gave up on the robe pretty quickly though and performed most of the show as Sexy Jesus in jeans, a wig, and the crown of thorns. Dallon Weekes dressed up as the lead singer of Foxy Shazam, and it was pretty hilarious. Dallon did a great imitation of his voice and mannerisms. Ian Crawford was the most adorable, headbangingest Hit Girl. Each time he changed guitars, the tech had to adjust his cape, so it was free from the guitar strap. Spencer Smith won the night though as Pantsless Ron Burgundy. He didn't keep the jacket on for very long though, so we were treated to Spencer Smith drumming in a button down shirt and no pants for most of the show. It was glorious. (Note: watch this video on mute. My camera is not always great with sound.) While I enjoyed Panic's music very much, I was not a fan of Brendon's banter during much of the set. It felt like he was using the night as religious therapy hour, and it got old pretty quickly. To give you an idea how bad it was, his banter at the end of the show about wanting to fuck the entire audience was less mottsy. After the show, ![[personal profile]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small} siegeofangels and I left pretty quickly since we both had to be up early for work the next day. On the way out, I saw Michael Day (Patrick's guitarist) and complimented him on a great set. He said thanks and that he liked my glittery eyelashes. He is adorable. The next day I commented on the 9:30 forum that I had seen Seth (owner of the 9:30 Club) out on his balcony a lot during Panic's set and that I didn't know he was such a fan. Seth responded and totally owned up to loving the Pretty. Odd album. He is great.All my pictures from the show start on this page. | ||||||||
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| alpheratz won a radio contest to see Patrick Stump play a short acoustic set and Q&A session. She brought me with her because she is the best! They gave us pizza which was an awesome surprise because I had not made time for lunch at all. Then the ~20 people there were all taken to a room with a little stage to watch Patrick play. alpheratz and I got front row seats! Patrick played "Everybody Wants Somebody", "Run Dry", and "This City". In between songs, he took audience questions. Someone asked what music he's currently into, and he mentioned a band called King (might have been Kings) with 3 female singers. I asked if there would be any Halloween surprises at the show at the 9:30 Club that night, and he said no because all the cool costumes had masks. He really wanted to be Darth Vader, but he didn't think he would sound that great singing through the mask. Someone else asked what inspired all the hidden things in the liner notes for Soul Punk. Patrick said it was all his idea because he like pop music, but he felt that the word 'pop' connotes (yes, he actually said 'connotes.) something not great, not intelligent. He wanted to show subtextually (again, he actually said 'subtextually', twice.) that there could be a message, an intelligence, a cleverness to pop. He is really articulate and interesting. One of the radio djs asked if he still drank like the lyrics in 'Run Dry', and Patrick told us about how little alcohol they ask for on their rider. They ask for stuff like Kashi cereal and almond milk. They do request one bottle of wine because his drummer, Skoota, likes to have a glass of wine and a cigar after a show. He said clubs often give them more alcohol than they ask for but are hesitant about the cereal and milk because that's not anything they have in stock, and it's so much extra work to send someone out all the way across the street to get it. The last question I can remember was about the differences between doing every single track for every song as a solo artist versus just tracking guitar and vocals when he was in Fall Out Boy. Patrick told us he actually tracked everything when he was in Fall Out Boy, too, because no one in FOB can read music. Patrick wrote all of the music for FOB. To teach the other band members their parts for recording, Patrick would go in and track everything himself. Then the other guys would come in and 'do it better'. For 'I Don't Care', both Patrick and Andy are playing drums on the cd because the producer liked the sound from Patrick's track better for part of it and Andy's track better for another part. Patrick said the difference is now he plays all the tracks and goes 'Here, have an album.' where as before he played all the tracks, and everyone would come in behind him and do all the tracks again. After the set and Q&A, we all got to take pictures with Patrick and get his autograph. I gave him pumpkin chocolate chip bread that I made and thanked him for the experience and for the recommendation to see the Museum of Science and Industry while I was in Chicago. He was really enthusiastic that I had liked it and referred to it as the best place ever. The radio station has posted the pictures they took during the show. I'm in a couple. My pictures are on this page. The radio station posted the video of the whole thing! | ||||||||
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| This weekend was full of awesome things! So many things that I feel the need to break it into several posts and spam your flists/circles. Chicago I went to Chicago for my friend Chantal's wedding this weekend. I'd never been before, and I had a great time doing touristy things. I went up the Sears Tower and stood on the sky ledge. It is seriously trippy to be able to see the ground right below your feet from 103 floors up. I ate deep dish pizza and don't really feel the need to do that again. I rode the El and was surprised at how small the loop was. I spent most of Saturday at the Museum of Science and Industry. It is really amazing. There are lots of interactive displays and staff members with carts containing more experiments. They have a daily ball drop where they drop things 25 feet to see what happens. Since I went in October, the grand finale of the ball drop was a pumpkin. Watching a pumpkin splatter after being dropped 25 feet is a pretty great experience. They had a Dr. Seuss exhibit of some of his concept drawings and private art that he had requested only ever be displayed after his death. He had a really amazing creative mind. I had a great deal of fun in the gift shop where I purchased angry robot matryoshka and a Star Wars mad libs book. Since I spent so long there, I didn't get to the Art Institute, but I did take some time to walk along Michigan Avenue and see some of the parks and public art work. I look forward to visiting the city again when I'm not on such a short time frame. My pictures are here. Chantal's Wedding The wedding was a pretty stand Catholic event. There was a bit of hilarity with both Chantal and Joe having trouble getting the rings on each others' fingers. The reception was nice but awkward since I didn't know anyone else there. I did enjoy the photobooth with its crazy hats and sunglasses, and they had a great mariachi band play during dinner. Chantal and Joe's first dance was to 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight?' because Chantal loves Disney musicals. Once the open dancing started, there was no more awkwardness because I never the most embarrassing person on the dance floor. You really have not lived until you have seen a pack of drunk 25-30 year old men sing along to every word of 'Party in the USA' by Miley Cyrus. All the pictures are here. | ||||||||
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October 23rd, 2011
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| To anyone who is interested in volunteering at anything ever, I have a few notes for you. 1. Show up on time. 2. Take the assignment you are given. Do not whine and complain and try to find another assignment that you think will be less work (protip: it's not). 3. Don't quit in the middle of your shift. 4. Don't try to steal a case of candy (or anything else) at the end of your shift. 4a. When caught stealing a case of candy (or anything else), don't lie and say your supervisor said you could take it. We all have radios and will check with said supervisor who will tell us you are lying. These tips brought to you by last night's Boo at the Zoo volunteers. | ||||||||
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October 16th, 2011
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| I got my plane tickets, hotel, and rental car booked for Chicago. I'm flying in Thursday, Oct. 27 and flying out late Saturday, Oct. 29. I welcome any suggestions for things to do/see/eat while I'm there. I went to a winery with alpheratz, cincodemaygirl, and siegeofangels today. The weather was fantastic, and we ate delicious apple cider donuts at a bakery near the winery. We had actually planned to go to a different winery, but we asked the lady at the bakery for suggestions. She told us 'Aspendale up the road has great wines.' We mentioned out plans to go to Naked Mountain Winery and asked her thoughts on it. She replied, 'You know, Aspendale has great wines.' Ha. She's right though. Aspendale does have some great wines. It is also very picturesque.Next weekend is Boo at the Zoo, and I get to be in charge of the crossing ghouls again. This means I get to drive a golf cart, have a walkie talkie, and spend most of the night gossiping with the volunteer coordinators in the visitors' center. I love my volunteer work. | ||||||
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October 10th, 2011
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| I'm going to Chicago for a friend's wedding at the end of the month. Anyone else going to be in the greater Chicago metropolitan area October 27-30? Maybe we could meet up. Also, anyone who had been to Chicago is encouraged to offer suggestions on things to do and places to eat while I'm there. My hotel is in Bolingbrook owing to the location of the wedding, and I will have a rental car to get wherever in the area. | ||||||||
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September 16th, 2011
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| So way back in July, I went to Snore & Roar at the zoo. You get to do a behind-the-scenes tour of one part of the zoo, spend the night at the zoo in tents they provide, and you get breakfast in the morning. The Snore & Roar I did had behind-the-scenes of the Reptile Discovery Center. I got to feed an aldabra tortoise and learn that they feed the cockroaches that are fed to the reptiles Milwaukee's Best. It was super fun. Pictures are here. Brooke and I have spent the past few weekends watching MST3K. We feel this is time well spent. If you have any particular episodes to recommend, please do so in the comments. In awesome good news, I paid off my car this month! The title came in the mail, and Doom Buggy is all mine. Yay! | ||||||
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September 10th, 2011
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| I have once again been ridiculously negligent in posting. This is pretty much going to be a rundown of flickr links for interesting stuff I've done in the past few months. Italy was amazing. I probably posted way too many pictures, but everything was so cool to look at. Here's a quick rundown of what we saw in each city: Rome - Forum and Colisseum, Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Vatican Museums and Sistene Chapel, Borghese Museum Impruneta - south of Florence, homebase for most of the trip, excellent villa with pool and neighboring cat Florence - Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, Leather Working School Wine Tours - Castello di Verrazzano, Il Palagio aka Sting's Place (yes, that Sting) Siena - Il Palio (annual horse race dating back to the 1300s), escalators Thursday - Lemon Museum, thermal spa with hot springs and grotto Lucca - walled city Concerts were a big part of August. I saw the B52s, My Chemical Romance (twice), and Patrick Stump with an amazing opener named Wynter Gordon. I continue to perform in belly dance shows, and I went to a week long belly dance retreat in Costa Rica. 3 of us reprised our performance piece for the talent show. Ta da! I'll try to be better about posting. I have gotten more into twitter recently, so you can follow me there (jrho_jrho) if you like. | ||||||||
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July 13th, 2011
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| I had been gearing up to write about my trip to Italy (which was totally great!), getting pictures up on flickr (I'm making progress.), and vaguely dreading my dentist appointment this afternoon. But then Dad called to tell me my great-grandmother and his grandmother, Mommie Zip, died. Tomorrow I'm flying home for the funeral of a woman who once gave me used (but clean, she reassured me) underwear for my birthday, a woman who considered 7 bangles on each arm everyday jewelry, a woman who had 2 glasses of scotch most days of her adult life, a woman who always told me how proud my dad was of me every time I visited, a woman who always told me how lucky and blessed she was to have such wonderful grandchildren and great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren, a woman who lost her husband almost 50 years ago, a woman who loved attention and dancing and chocolate, a woman I didn't realize I would miss as much as I do right now. She was 108 years old. This is part of the write up my uncle is doing for her obituary: Zip McAdams Quinn was born in a Baton Rouge that had less than 12 thousand people and died in a city of over 400 thousand. She knew horse and buggy, life without electricity, the coming of the automobile and airplane, lived through two World Wars, sailed on the Queen Elizabeth, and loved to dance every dance. She was the oldest person living in Baton Rouge and died just blocks from where she was born in historic Spanish Town in 1902. | ||||||||
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June 22nd, 2011
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| Once again I have fallen off the face of the internet. This time it was mostly due to seeing internet people in real life. (I know! What sort of madness is this?!) I spent a couple weekends at kinetikatrue's place meeting many people I have seen around online and having ridiculous fannish conversations with them.Also I attended the Big Fat Lesbian Pirate Wedding Reception (US version) for my dear friends ell and temve and caught up with several other internet folks.Now I am getting ready to fly to Italy for a vacation with my friend and coworker, Kim, so I will once again be rather absent from the internet. If anyone has any suggestions on things to do/eat/buy while in Rome, Florence, Siena, Bologna, or any other part of Tuscany, let me know. We only have a few solid plans right now. 1. We have tickets for the Vatican Museum, so we'll probably go around other parts of Vatican City as well. 2. We are going to Siena for one of the days of the Palio di Siena horse race festival. 3. Wine tasting at a winery owned by Sting (I did not plan this one.) and at another winery that has very good reviews. 4. Spend part of a day at a hot springs spa south of Florence. 5. Eat delicious food, especially gelato. 6. Drink delicious wine. | ||||||||
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May 26th, 2011
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| Internets, since last we spoke, there has been much awesome music. Last week I saw Gold Motel again. Pics start about halfway down this page. They played an excellent show as always and performed two new songs. I liked both of them, so I'm looking forward to whenever the new album is released. I made a new friend at the show, too. (Hi, kinetikatrue!) Saturday, I spent the day at the DC101 Chili Cookoff consuming zero chili. Instead, I watched awesome bands play awesome music. Pics start here. I got there during Paper Tongues set. I'd never heard of them, but I'll probably look into buying their music. Then Neon Trees played an amazing set, and I started getting tired of crowdsurfers. Panic! at the Disco played next, another great set. The lead singer made several ridiculous comments about the Rapture and trying to fuck everyone after the show. I'm not entirely sure those comments were unrelated. After getting knocked in the head by one too many crowdsurfers, I got out of the crowd by getting to the barrier and having security pull me over. I met up with my friend from work and her boyfriend, and we sat in the shade for Papa Roach and Seether, neither of whom we were interested in. Then once the crowd cleared out a bit we went up to watch Weezer close the show. We managed to get a spot in front of the sound board barrier to make sure crowdsurfers would not be an issue. Weezer played a fun set that was pretty much their greatest hits, and Rivers Cuomo came down to the sound board area for one song. My friend got a high five from him. Then on Sunday, I went to Soundbites at the 9:30 Club. Pictures start about halfway down this page. Soundbites is an annual fundraiser for the DC Central Kitchen, and many local restaurants had delicious food samples. Ra Ra Rasputin, The Pietasters, and Trouble Funk all performed. I continue to enjoy seeing The Pietasters and Trouble Funk. Maybe I should look into actually buying their musics. May has been quite a month for shows. July's going to be like this, except I'll be at the Kennedy Center every week. (Yay Wicked!) August will be back to shows with the big one being the Honda Civic Tour co-headlined by blink-182 and My Chemical Romance. I'm currently planning to get tickets with my friend from work and her boyfriend since we had a good time at the show this past weekend. She's a big Blink fan, so we can take turns being excited about things. Anyone else planning to go and looking for someone to carpool with? Unrelated to music, they put up pictures from the tech rehearsal of the belly dance show I was in a few weeks ago. Pictures from my dance start on this page. | ||||||||
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May 14th, 2011
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| Internets, I have been very productive today! After taking off work yesterday to deal with this cold and catch up on tivo, I spent today busily uploading pictures to flickr and reading all the internet things. Pictures from Mom and Dad's visit last week are here. I'm trying to get pictures of the belly dance performance from some of the other women in my class who had people in the audience with cameras, but everyone is being slackers with no photos uploaded yet. Pictures from the 13th Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race are here. I would like to note that I consumed somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of that massive margarita. Pictures from the My Chemical Romance show on Tuesday are here. I don't think any of my pictures are as good as the ones from the show in December, but I'm ok with that since I was so much farther back in the crowd this time. | ||||||||
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May 12th, 2011
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| So I got to the show about 10 minutes before MCR went on. I couldn't get there any sooner because of the time of my new belly dance class. (I actually had to cut out of that 15 minutes early and take a taxi to the show to make it when I did.) The show opener 'Look Alive, Sunshine' was a bit of a let down as a recording after having Dr. Death Defying himself come out for the NYC show in December, but it's still a great set kick-off. I was super excited to hear 'Thank You For The Venom,' 'Planetary (GO!),' 'House of Wolves,' 'Vampire Money' (Frank did a hilarious shrug when asked if he was ready, and you still couldn't hear Mikey's response.), 'SING,' 'Vampires Will Never Hurt You,' and 'Bulletproof Heart' (It really ended the show on a high note with good energy.). Scattered throughout were random jams and Gerard singing bits and pieces of stuff I felt like I should recognize, but I don't. Dewees had some great keyboard intros and interludes. I don't think I realized how many songs he sings back up on. Gerard was sassing it up all over the place. Frank took many opportunities to stand on the amps at the front of the stage. He was singing along to most of the songs even when he was no where near a mike. Mikey was rocking out when I could see him, but he was often blocked by this tall dude standing in front of me. Ray played hard and gave great smiley face (as always) but didn't really move much, probably owing to his foot. Mikey and Frank signed after. They are both tinier than expected. When Mikey got down to my part of the line, I told him it was an awesome show and that I'd seen them in NYC in December. He said thanks and that he thought the NYC show was one of their favorites of the tour. Then he moved to the girl next to me and said "Suzy, right?" with this grin on his face. She was confused but excited 'Wait, how do you know my name?' Mikey then unfolded a note, grinning like mad, and read 'Suzy, will you go to the prom with Marco?' Then he looked up at the guy behind me and gave him a high five. Suzy said 'Marco? That's my boyfriend. Oh my God! Yes, of course.' She looked around to find Marco and managed to maneuver around to give him a kiss. Mikey was still grinning, sort of silently laughing to himself. He seemed really pleased that he got to do something sweet for one of the fans. Suzy was over the moon, and rightfully so. She had a rock star ask her to prom. Frank did not ask anyone to prom, but he was still very nice about signing anything put in front of him and giving high fives. I heard both Mikey and Frank get asked for hugs, and both of them said they weren't allowed to do hugs. High fives and fist bumps were ok though. So overall - YAY! SHOW!! A++ Would rock out again. I'll get pictures up when I get around to it. | ||||||||
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May 9th, 2011
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| That was almost 'May Has Been Busty.' Also a true statement. The belly dance show went incredibly well. Our piece was very tight and fun both nights, and all the other dancers were really on as well. I'll be sad to leave Monica's choreography this summer since I am moving up to a performance class involving props. For the summer show, I will be dancing with a veil definitely (and maybe also zills). I am looking forward to the challenge, but I'm a bit nervous since I've never done veil before. Pictures to come later. Mom and Dad enjoyed the show and the rest of their visit. Dad didn't get to see much since he was only here for 2 days. Mom stayed longer, so she and I spent Tuesday in Annapolis. It has a nice little downtown tourist area by the marina. We did take a boat tour and got to see part of the US Naval Academy and the Chesapeake Bay. I want to go back when I can spend more time there, possibly on a weekend so I can do the 3 hour pirate themed boat tour. Arrrr. Pictures to come later. Saturday I was back in Maryland for the Baltimore Kinetic Sculpture Race with friends and coworkers. The weather was fantastic, and the race entries were really entertaining. My favorite was the Egyptian-themed Ankh-ers Away. We took the water taxi around the Inner Harbor to catch various points of the race including the water loop and the obstacle course. Also quesadillas and margaritas at Nacho Mama's are highly recommended if you do not have a fear of Velvet Elvises. Again, pictures to come later. Sunday was my zoo volunteer day, and I learned how to operate a laminating machine. That shit is tedious. Since I was there, I took the time to check out the wattled crane chick that hatched in March. It is still very fluffy with chubby cheeks that have not yet descended into full wattles. Also, I wanted to see the lion cubs. They are not quite as tiny and adorable as they were in January, but they are still cubs with feet way too big for their bodies. Pictures to come later because it would be another month without posting if I waited until I got my act together with flickr uploading. Tomorrow night I get to see My Chemical Romance again, this time at the awesome 9:30 Club. Owing to the time of my new performance class, I'll have to miss the opening acts who I've heard are both really good live (The Architects and Thursday), but I will get there in time for MCR's set. This will lead to me being extremely brain dead at work on Wednesday, but my big important meeting got moved to Thursday, so it doesn't really matter. | ||||||||
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April 25th, 2011
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| Belly dance show this weekend! I'm in Show 2 (8pm Saturday and 4pm Sunday). Go here to buy tickets. I added a few new pictures of the cats at the end of this page. They were quite taken with the bunny munching away on grass right outside my bedroom window. Just in time for Easter! Side note: Brooke wished me a 'Happy Zombie Jesus Day!' except I heard 'Happy Samba Jesus Day!'. Now you all have a samba dancing, zombie Jesus image in your heads. You're welcome. Thursday I got to see a great show by Beats Antique with Zoe Jakes and Kami Liddle performing tribal-style belly dance. Zoe is also a member of Beats Antique, so she drummed for some songs and danced for others. I was pretty much in awe watching her dance. There are some moves that I cannot figure out how the hell a body can do that. | ||||||||
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April 13th, 2011
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| We had a great trip to the UK. Gobs and gobs of pictures here. In London, we saw Westminster Abbey and Kensington Palace, took the Tower Bridge tour, failed to tour the Globe Theater, and walked over the Millennium Bridge. The only bad weather we had was the day we went to Stonehenge. It was rainy, windy, and cold, but we still had a great time. The audio guide did drone on and on though. Moving on to Cardiff, we really enjoyed touring Cardiff Castle with its much superior audio guide and awesome trebuchet. I do have a number of pictures from the Dr. Who exhibit as well as the fountain that leads to Torchwood HQ. From Cardiff, we went to Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlll For the last volunteer meeting at the zoo, we got to go behind the scenes in the cheetah enclosure. Pictures here. It was really cool to see the animals so close up. They really are so much like house cats. The zebras were fairly good natured, and we got a great view of the maned wolves, lured close by treats. I really like learning about how the zoo runs and how the animals are cared for. I hope the next meeting will be behind the scenes at the reptile house. Natalie and Judith were here last weekend. We spent Saturday at Monticello. Pictures here. That place is in the middle of freaking nowhere, but the drive was worth it. The museum, house, and grounds were all really interesting. The house tour was made better by our tour guide sporting a bow tie. Sunday, we hit a few of the Smithsonians to check out their temporary exhibits. The crocheted coral reef at Natural History was pretty awesome, but I think the pop-up book exhibit at American History was my favorite of the day. In belly dance news, I'm performing in the spring show April 30 and May 1. Tickets can be purchased here. I'm dancing in Show 2. Mom and Dad are coming up for the weekend, and Mom's staying for a few days extra. I think I'll be able to take off work at least one of the days she's here. Maybe we'll go down to Annapolis for a change of scenery. If anyone wants to go to the DC101 Chili Cook-off, let me know. I'm going and meeting up with one of my coworkers and her boyfriend, but I think I'm going earlier than they are. She's really only interested in seeing Weezer, and I want to go early enough to see Neon Trees and maybe Panic at the Disco. A regular ticket ends up being about $50 with all the stupid fees, but I still think it's worth it to see 2, maybe 3, bands that I like. | ||||||
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March 15th, 2011
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| Not that it will be very obvious, but I'll be mostly away from lj/dw until the 26th since I'll have limited internets in the UK. Also, I'll be busy being on vacation. I actually have awesome vacation plans for the rest of the year. At the end of June, I'm going to Italy for 10 days with my coworker/friend Kim. We're going to see Rome, Florence, and Milan definitely. Possibly other cities if we can figure out the timing. At the end of August, I'm going to Costa Rica for a belly dance and yoga retreat. I've taken workshops with one of the instructors for the retreat, and I'm really looking forward to learning from her again. She has a great teaching style and a fun personality. This excitement will be financed by the promotion I'm getting at the end of May! I'll starting getting the salary bump in June, just in time for Italy. While I'm gone, my dear friend ell will be flying to Germany to marry my dear friend temve. I am so happy for them! Fröhliche Verpartnerung, Ell und Tem! (Note: this is probably very bad German. Please feel free to offer corrections.) | ||||||
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March 7th, 2011
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| A couple weeks ago, I went to the zoo with some coworkers. Pictures start at the bottom of this page. More lion cub pics are here. I think they are noticeably bigger than the January pictures of them. Also, Brooke and I saw Lady Gaga in concert. The Scissor Sisters opened and were amazing. I really wish their set had been more than 30 minutes. Pictures and some videos are here. There were so many amazing costumes and set pieces for the show. (Also in the audience. Fans really went all out on costumes.) Rev. Al Sharpton spoke at my office last week for Black History Month. He is an amazing speaker, very funny, and excellent at getting his message across. I liked how he managed to highlight the African-American civil rights movement while always circling back to how you can't work for civil rights for some people unless you work for civil rights for all people with specific mentions of Latinos, the LGBT community, immigrants, the poor and working class, and women. There is again the possibility of a government shut down if no budget passed by March 18. The previous deadline was March 4, but they managed to pass a stop-gap 2 week budget. Now if this shut down does happen, it won't matter much to me because I'll already be on vacation. I might not get paid for the days of the shutdown, but I wouldn't have to take leave either. So anyone who wants something from London, Stonehenge, Cardiff, Llanfair PG, Edinburgh, or Glasgow, let me know soon. We're leaving on March 15 and coming back on the 26th. Also if you want a postcard, please email me your address. ( temve, please send me your address again. I accidentally deleted your last email.) I welcome all suggestions for sights to see, things to buy, and food to eat. I am so excited for this trip! I have made a packing list and a shopping list and google maps for each city, and I got a new credit card with no foreign transaction fees (Yay, Capital One! Boo, Bank of America!) to use while in the UK! My new passport will get its first stamps! | ||||||||
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On the IJ Side of Life
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