On the IJ Side of Life
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November 11th, 2009
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It was a very eventful Halloween this year. Pictures from various activities can be found here. The Tuesday before Halloween was the 24th Annual High Heel Race in DC. What seemed to be ~100 drag queens in various fantastic costumes raced down four blocks in ridiculous heels. ![[info - personal]](http://s.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small} ell and temve were great company for such an excursion. On Thursday we went to see Up for a dollar at the cinema drafthouse near my apartment. They serve really delicious fried mac&cheese bites. It was a cute movie, but I think I would have liked it a lot more if Ellie instead of Russell had been on the trip.Brooke and I went to stay with Natalie and Judith in New York for Halloween. We saw The Nightmare Before Christmas in 3D. It was pretty awesome. I'd never seen the movie before and enjoyed many of the songs. After we, along with a group of Natalie and Judith's friends, went to the Greenwich Village Halloween Parade. Unfortunately, it started raining just before the parade started and didn't let up the whole night. We didn't stay for all the parade, but the part we did see was fun. They had large skeleton puppets and zombies doing the "Thriller" dance and someone dressed as the Caterpillar from Alice in Wonderland. The trip back was also fun because we got the upstairs front seat of the bus. Great views through the upper windshield. For the election this year, I worked in the absentee voter office counting, sorting, and verifying absentee ballots. I think I liked it better than working at a precinct because we didn't have any set-up or take-down work, and we didn't have people in and out all the time. We did have a lot of downtime though. I will be sure to bring cross-stitch and/or a really big book if I get assigned the absentee office again. Sunday, Brooke and I went hiking in Great Falls National Park. Pictures here. The weather was fantastic, and the views along the River Trail are really nice. The trail we took wasn't too strenuous, but it also wasn't boringly easy (except for one section). I think we'll try to go back there in the spring to see everything in bloom. Now for the future exciting stuff. Mom and Dad will be here in a few hours to commence my birthday celebrations. Woooo! Tomorrow night we're going out to Chef Geoff's in DC before heading to the Kennedy Center for A Streetcar Named Desire starring Cate Blanchett. My life is so awesome! I'm not sure what else we're going to do while they're here, but we're going to try to hit the National Archives and Arlington House. Thursday of next week is Amanda Palmer's show in Falls Church. I already have my ticket and am super excited. Does anyone else want to go with me? Now for the part where I ask for advice. I am thinking about auditioning for a V-Day performance of The Vagina Monologues next Wednesday. All audition materials are provided at the audition, so I can put off making a decision until about 15 minutes before the auditions start whether or not to drive out there. It's been over 5 years since I've done any acting, and I do miss it. But it's been even longer since I've done any acting with complete strangers. Any thoughts yay or nay? | ||||||||
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October 24th, 2009
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| My cousin was successfully married on Saturday. The event was fun and a bit weird, totally their style though. I still need someone to explain to me why "Benny and the Jets" was their exit wedding/enter reception song. My favorite part of the reception was the milk fountain surrounded by plates of cookies. The cups for the milk were wide and short enough to dunk the cookies, too. It was nice to be home and see various family and friends. For anyone in the Baton Rouge area, I highly recommend The Strand downtown for delicious pastries, chocolates, and teas. I understand the coffees are also amazing. My family and I did a high tea there, and everything they served was delicious. Ru and her uncle were also there, so I got to visit with them between courses. We have made plans to visit The Strand again when I am home for Christmas to sample more delicious items. I met up with Ru and her boyfriend, Stelly, the next day to see Where the Wild Things Are. It was a really great movie. I especially enjoyed how they did the scene when Max leaves the island. (Note: I don't consider this a spoiler since the book has been out for decades.) There were less than 10 kids in the theater which I understand since the movie was marketed to adults. However, I think kids would enjoy it. | ||||||||
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May 28th, 2009
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| Comment and get five questions of your very own to hug and squeeze and call them George. Courtesy of the lovely modillian:1. Have you ever dyed your hair pink? Ever wanted to dye your hair some unnatural color? I had hot pink streaks in grad school. I didn't maintain them because I didn't feel like spending the money, but I loved how they looked. Every now and then I think about doing something in blue or purple though. 2. What is the best restaurant in your city? How is it the best? It really depends on what kind of food you want. Italian Cafe is the best for Italian food. Their tomato sauce is amazing. Matuba's is my favorite for sushi. They have awesome Alaska rolls. Old Ebbitt's is more expensive, thus reserved for when parents are around to pay for it, but it has the best upscale Americana food. 3. If a knick-knack-paddywhacked, would you give a dog a bone or send him rolling home? I don't take that kind of sass. That dog is rolling home. 4. When you're sporting a red hat and wearing purple and sitting in a rocking chair at the ripe age of 80, what do you want to look back on your life and feel proud to have accomplished? I don't want to have ever stopped going and moving and doing. 5. Let's say next year there will be another Star Trek movie with the same cast as this year's movie and they're rooting about in the universe in the 23rd century. Who would you most like to see in a role/cameo and why? I want Shatner and Patrick Stewart to both have ~1 second, uncredited crowd cameos to watch the internet explode with fanboys trying to figure out whether they're actually in it or not. | ||||||||
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May 25th, 2009
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| This has been quite a weekend for awesome stuff. Friday night, I saw Arcadia at the Folger Theater, a Shakespearean theater in DC, and it was amazing. Despite having studied Arcadia in undergrad and written my huge honors paper on chaos theory and Arcadia, I had never actually seen it performed. The Folger cast made up for it tremendously with their show. The woman who played Thomasina (aged 13 for most of the play and 17 for the last bit) was fantastic at convincing the audience she was a good 20 years younger than her real age. It was so much fun to watch with a smart and engaged audience as well. I had a great time chatting with the couple behind me during intermission about how we came to see Arcadia. I think I will make a point to try and see more shows at the Folger because the atmosphere is really nice there. Saturday, Brooke and I saw Star Trek with ell, and it was hilarious and full of awesome. I met up with ell for a very tasty dinner at a pub in her apartment building. They had double chocolate bread pudding. This has inspired me to search for chocolate bread recipes. I think it would taste quite good with honey or peanut butter. So everyone totally needs to see this movie. It really doesn't matter if you don't know anything about the tv series (any of them) because the movie is really funny and accessible. Yes, you will get more jokes the more familiar you are with i>Star Trek</i>, but I think the concept of a switch blade axe should be pretty hilarious to the general public. Also, freaking everybody is in this movie. You will see actors you never expected around every turn. Paul McGillion (aka Carson Beckett from SGA) has a 10 second cameo. (PS. Sorry to everyone in my theater that heard me shout "Oh man, that was totally Paul McGillion in that scene." right after his cameo was over.) Also, I am all about Kirk/Bones their love is so exasperated.Sunday, I bought a new bathing suit. I realized when we went to Disney that my main suit didn't really fit me right any more. The suit I got from Fashion Bug, it was the first one I tried on, and it was on sale. This does not happen to me when it comes to swim suits, so I will strongly encourage any other women who wear plus sizes to check out Fashion Bug if you are looking for a swim suit. Today, we went to Rachel's for a Wii Party. Lots of fun, lots of everyone swearing at each other in Mario Kart. I played one round to be a good sport and screwed up tremendously which was fun. There was also delicious ice cream cake. Yay for long weekends full of awesome! | ||||||||
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May 18th, 2009
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| I had my first hula fusion belly dance class. So much fun! For the August show, we are dancing to "Rock a Hula" and "Can't Help Falling in Love With You" by Elvis. I'm sure I will be very sick of both songs by August, but "Can't Help" is one of my favorite Elvis songs. Zoo work is going well. They ordered me an official name tag, so I can get discounts at the gift shops and concession stands. Yay, perks! I also get free parking, but driving up there isn't worth the hassle with the metro so close. Last night, Brooke and I watched Twilight with the RiffTrax (guys who did MST3K), and it was hilarious. I was near tears a couple times from laughing so hard. Now I'm tempted to go through the website and buy RiffTrax for any movie I own. I am also tempted to watch the movie again with Robert Pattinson's commentary because I know how completely off track he can get in interviews. In upcoming travels, I'll be in Seattle around Labor Day for the LSU-Washington game. Mom, Dad, and I (and maybe my sister, too) are going to meet up there and stay with friends of the family. I haven't seen them in years, but Mom and Dad have visited more recently. This will mark my 2nd ever trip to the Pacific Northwest after my trip to Portland in June. While my birthday is many months away, I already know what I'm getting from my parents - tickets to see A Streetcar Named Desire at the Kennedy Center with Cate Blanchett playing Blanche DuBois. EEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! It's running end of October through November, and tickets go on sale in August. I'm currently debating between trying to get tickets as close to opening night as I can or getting them on my birthday. Mom and Dad are going to fly up for the occasion, whenever it is, so they are going to the show as well. | ||||||||
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March 10th, 2009
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| 1. Ell's awesome Un-Valentine party. I met some of ![[info]](http://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} shrieking_elll's awesome friends and their awesome kid. We had a great time drinking while watching Empire Strikes Back, The Big Lebowski, and Buckaroo Bonzai. I think I need repeated viewings to get what the hell was going on with Buckaroo Bonzai owing to the effects of Jeff Goldblum in chaps and lots of rum.2. Coraline in 3D. Unfortunately you can't see it in 3D anymore because the stupid Jonas Brothers concert movie took over all the 3D screens a couple weeks ago. The movie was very awesome with an appropriately creepy soundtrack. There were some large differences from the book, but they added to the story. 3. NSO's Prokofiev, Ravel, and Stravinsky concert. The National Symphony Orchestra periodically has ticket specials for only $20. I was thinking about going to their Prokofiev, Ravel, and Stravinsky concert but wasn't sure if it would be worth the effort. Then I read an interview with the composer for Coraline. He mentioned Prokofiev and Stravinsky as being two of his favorite composers. This totally sealed the deal for me as I loved the Coraline soundtrack. The concert was incredible. The audience gave a standing ovation after each piece, and the piano soloist for the Prokofiev concerto had 3 curtain calls. She was really amazing. I need to make a point of going to the theater more often. 4. Mom's visit. Mom and I started the sightseeing with a visit to the newly restored American History Museum. It was not as awesome as I remembered the previous incarnation being. Needs more First Ladies and pop culture stuff. Then we went next door to the Natural History Museum. They have recently opened a new section called the Ocean Hall which has many interesting specimens (by that I mean totally freaking creepy looking) from various ocean depths. The large replica of a whale that hangs from the ceiling is especially impressive. We went through the Butterfly Garden after, and Mom had a butterfly land on her pant leg. Now Mom, Dad, and I have each had a butterfly land on us. Last we enjoyed a special exhibit on orchids. The exhibit room was full of hundreds of flowers and smelled wonderful. Unfortunately we had come too late to hear the Smithsonian’s horticulturist speak (I didn't even know the Smithsonian had a horticulturist. I can't imagine there was much competition for the job.), but it was really cool seeing all the different colors orchids come in. Pretty much anything in the purple-red-orange-yellow-green spectrum was an option. The next day we spent 5 hours at the Newseum, and we would have stayed longer if we’d sat through all the different films they show. They have newspaper front pages from as far back as the 1200s all the way through a daily changing display of current front pages from newspapers around the country. After the Newseum, we went to the Wax Museum. They have several figures of presidential figures, including President Obama in a mock Oval Office. The most interesting part was the video about how the figures are created. Over 200 measurements of the subject are taken while the subject is in the pose the figure will be displayed in. They use make up artists and hair stylists to match the subject’s skin and hair colors as closely as possible. When the final figure is assembled, each strand of hair is inserted one at a time. It takes weeks to create each figure in the museum. We had a pretty heavy snow here which kept Mom an extra day. We didn’t mind since we played board games and baked cookies. The only annoying part was getting through to the airline to change Mom's flight. We were on the phone for over two hours, most of the time spent on hold passing the phone back and forth so no one's arm went numb. 5. Hafla. My belly dance school has a hafla (party) mid way through the session to give the students a chance to perform for each other in a casual environment. No one is required to go (except the teachers), and you don't have to perform even if you do go. Each teacher choreographs a short dance for each of her classes, so there were about 20 performances total. It was fun, but our performance was so short that it almost seemed pointless. I know they wanted all the classes to have time for a short dance while also having time for open dancing, but I think we could have danced for a little more than 1 minute. My teacher said I did a really good job and that I have great control over my hip movements. 6. Pi Day Party March 14. As some of you already know, Brooke and I are hosting a Pi Day party on Saturday, March 14 at our apartment. There will be wii gaming, pies, and costumes. I promise I will not make anyone do math! Costumes are encouraged but not required. If you do wear a costume, it should be of the geek/nerd/dorktastic variety. I will be dressed as Hypatia, the first female mathematician, which basically means I will have a bed sheet awkwardly wrapped around my person to simulate a toga. Please feel free to bring guests, but please let me know. I don't want to run out of food and/or drinks. Email me at jrho.jrho at gmail dot com if you need my address and/or phone number. ETA: I uploaded pictures from Mom's trip here. | ||||||||
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January 16th, 2009
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| Sunday, Brooke and I saw The Curious Case of Benjamin Button which we both enjoyed. I want to be as awesome as Cate Blanchett some day. Monday, I got pointed in the right direction on a problem I was having with a program at work. It's going to take me a while to make all the changes I need, but I at least know how to start on them now. Tuesday, I got yet another pair of free underpants from Victoria's Secret. I get at least one coupon for them every 6 weeks. This particular coupon was for a special limited edition underpant not described on the coupon. As it turns out, the special underpant is a pink thong. So now I have a pair of delicate pink buttfloss (seriously, it's a string thong) underpants. Nothing I would have ever bought for myself, but an interesting thing to get for free. Wednesday, I had my first belly dancing class at Sahara Studios which has a location conveniently on my way home from work. The class went well, and the teacher seems nice. She suggested that everyone have hip scarves for class and let us borrow some extra scarves for the first class. I used a coin scarf which was not as much fun as I had hoped. The hip shimmies really make the coins swing back and forth, and my butt got sore from getting constantly hit by all the coins on my scarf. I told the teacher that after class, and she laughed and said at least I know what kind not to get now. I'm thinking I'll try one with beads or maybe just fringe for class. Thursday, I went to bed at 7.30 and slept until my alarm went off this morning. Really good night's sleep. Please take a moment to note how well my week has been going. Today, I feel like Alexander, he of the Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day. I telecommuted on a computer that decided today was the day to be slow as molasses. It's freezing cold outside. When I left my apartment for an eye doctor appointment, I found that someone had hit my car, knocking off a hubcap and the driver-side mirror, and didn't leave a note. I froze my hands taking pictures of the damage. I was late to my eye doctor appointment (which actually went pretty well). I called the insurance company after I got back and listened to crappy hold music. Then I found out my car is technically "undrivable" because it's illegal to drive without a driver-side mirror (I did not know this). I do get a rental car while repairs are done on the Jetta though. However work will not start on the Jetta until tomorrow or maybe Monday because they have to tow it to the shop a mile down the street from my apartment what with it being undrivable and all. I was given a Nissan Altima for a rental car, with a keyless ignition, that no one told me how to use. I had to go back in the rental car place to get the woman to show me how to start the car. The car started to make strange noises after I drove off. I realized the engine wasn't shifting gears because Altimas can be switched from automatic to manual, and this car is set on manual. I had no idea how to change it back, and I could exactly read the instruction manual while I was driving. I'm going to look up how to do it tomorrow. I did figure out how to shift gears, but it's awkward. For dinner we got Lebanese take out. They had run out of my favorite dish (stromboli), so I had to settle for lamb gyro which isn't nearly as good. So that was my Terrible, Horrible, No-Good, Very Bad Day. And there's not even a new Stargate: Atlantis tonight to cheer me up because the very last episode aired last week. | ||||||||
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October 29th, 2008
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| We finally got around to scooping out the pumpkin on Sunday, so Brooke could roast the seeds. After we put both pumpkins out on our tiny porch. Someone stole the larger pumpkin sometime Sunday night/Monday morning. The smaller pumpkin is still there which I don't understand. Why not take both? Well, why take either of them, but you're going to go to the trouble of stealing one, so why not take the other? Lame. Also on Sunday we rented Persepolis which was nominated for an Oscar this year. It's an animated movie (in French) about a girl born in Iran then living in Austria and moving back to Iran. Both Brooke and I enjoyed it. It's not exactly an uplifting movie, and I felt very pensive watching it. I've been playing Where in the World Is Carmen Sandiego?, and it's just as much fun as I remembered. I'm pleased that my knowledge of geographic trivia has not faded very much. I always wanted to be on the game show when it was running. I just knew I could win and get the trip to anywhere in the Continental US I wanted. I think I'll go check YouTube for show clips. | ||||||||
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August 24th, 2008
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| I really haven't felt like going any where or talking to anyone recently, probably a combination of having been sick and dealing with people last weekend. My friend's wedding was nice. It was weird for me to see the service officiated by a woman as I was raised Catholic and have not attended very many services of other religions. I liked the vows and what the reverend said as advice to the couple more than what I've heard at the other weddings I've been to. I don't know if they were standard vows for Presbyterians. I don't think the couple wrote them themselves. The reception was nice because there were several other people from work (that I like) there, and we had a table together. I didn't get any good pictures though, probably a combination of being sick and having my batteries die early in the reception. Seeing The Dark Knight in IMAX was a completely awesome experience. If I see it again in theaters, it will definitely be in IMAX. The big sweeping panoramic shots scattered throughout the film are so amazing on the extra big screen. We did end up going to the late showing because the earlier one was sold out. Brooke and I ate dinner and hung out at Barnes & Noble while we waited. As we ignored one of the beggars we walked past, he shouted "Thanks for being modest." after us. I don't know what word he meant to say or if he thought modest was a bad thing, but he sounded like he meant it as an insult. We were both very o_O. At the theater, the usher had to yell at people to shift seats so that 3 deaf guys could sit together with their close caption filters. They have these screens that attach to the seat arms that let a person read the close caption on the bottom of the screen. It's a very clever way to allow everyone to watch the movie without having some tool complain about the words on the screen getting in the way of his movie. Work was hectic when I was there this week. I missed more time due to sickness. I spent a ridiculous amount of time trying to debug a problem with my code, only to find out the problem was with the data set I was given. Rar. I did have other things I needed to work on, too. They won't all get done this week either because Mom and Dad are coming in on Wednesday; I'm taking Thursday and Friday off. We have a list of stuff we're going to try and do, including getting my new car. I did put some new pics up on flickr, all of the cats though. In less than awesome news, SGA is being cancelled at the end of this season, a season which has so far contained some of the best episodes of the series. I understand they're doing it for financial reasons, but I don't have to like it. They are going to make a movie after this season and start up a new Stargate series. I don't know if I'm going to be able to get behind a whole new cast of space adventurers with such an abrupt transition. | ||||||||
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August 15th, 2008
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| Wretched sore throat plus earache kept me home from work today. I couldn't get a doctor's appointment until 6 pm though, and I called when they opened this morning! They did a strep test which came back negative, so they did a mono test as well. Apparently sore throat with swollen lymph nodes is a symptom of mono. I'm not any more tired than usual, so I doubt that test will come back positive. Usually I would just wait this out with tylenol and juice, but my friend is getting married tomorrow, and I'm going to see Batman in IMAX on Sunday with Brooke and Toni. Thank goodness for prescription drugs. Otakon last Sunday was fun. It was great seeing Natalie and Judith. I spent way more money than I should have, of course, but I'm very pleased with my purchases. Particularly pleasing is my new red shirt. It has a drawing of a strawberry dressed as a ninja and reads "Berry Ninja for Great Justice." Awesome. The latest news from work about telecommuting computers is interesting. I can have a tower, keyboard, and mouse right now. However, there are no available monitors until October when the new fiscal year starts. Whatever. I went ahead and bought a desk from IKEA because I wanted to do that while I still had the truck. It has been assembled and will, presumably, sit empty until I can take a complete computer home from work. The office area of our apartment looks much more office-like now though. The desk comes with a whiteboard section. Once I buy some dry erase markers and an eraser, I'm sure the board will quickly fill up with drawings of dicks, boobs, and stick people in inappropriate positions. | ||||||||
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July 29th, 2008
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| I know it's been over a month since I posted. I went on family vacation, and I wanted to wait until I'd put my pictures up on flickr before I wrote about it. Still haven't gotten the pictures on flickr yet. Maybe that'll happen later this week. ( Vacation ) ( Work ) ( Anonymous ) ( Fangirling ) ( Family ) | ||||||||
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June 21st, 2008
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| The Friday night Mystics game was fun. Like with all his season tickets, Stewart had the best possible seats, right behind the opposing team's bench. May I just say that both the Atlanta Dream and the Washington Mystics are comprised of very attractive ladies. The first half was badly played by both teams, but the second half was really good. The Mystics won, mainly by being more proficient at free throws. Now I have been to at least one game of each professional sports league in the US. I'm quite proud of myself for this. This afternoon I went to a Can't Stop the Serenity showing at the Arlington Cinema 'n Drafthouse a few blocks down the street from my apartment. I didn't get to see Serenity when it came out in theaters because I was in Germany, so I was happy to get the chance to see it on the big screen. The Drafthouse is pretty cool and in walking distance. They show a small number of movies after they've stopped running in regular theaters, tickets $5, and they have live shows, usually comedians. The seating is at staggered bars and tables throughout the theater, and the waiters serve food and drink throughout the shows. I had the mozzerella sticks, and they were quite good. On my way into the show, I noticed a street festival which I explored after the movie. It was a blues festival with a live band playing. Many of the area restaurants had booths. One place was selling quarts of fruit salad for $1! That's an awesome deal for a mixed quart of grapes, strawberries, and pineapple. I stayed until the festival ended at 8 then came home to tell you all about my awesome day. | ||||||||
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On the IJ Side of Life
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